Victoria Meets Jo Fairley

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You might have read one of the many features she’s written for VH over the years, including Getting Your Yoga Mojo Back or the Apps That Make You Happier, but there is more to Jo Fairley than simply being a journalist and over the years she has added many strings to her bow…

Can you tell us a bit about your background?

I left school at 16 with 6 ‘O’ Levels – and a lot to prove, having been told by my careers teacher that I would never amount to anything. I trained as a secretary and worked my way up through magazines, becoming the youngest-ever editor of a magazine – Look Now (a title for nice teenage girls) – at 23, then going on to edit the fashion title Honey, where over the three years of my editorship I worked with amazing photographers at the start of their careers, such as Mario Testino and Ellen von Unwerth, and had Mary Greenwell and Sam McKnight as my ‘resident’ hair and make-up team. Read More…

The Beauty Bible Spring Skincare Edit

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Pink Tutti London

As some of you may know, for aeons now we have been sharing products that Beauty Bible loves every single weekday on Beautybible.com, having sifted through the literally thousands of products which land on our desks each year to find the gems.

It probably will not come as a surprise to VH devotees that many of our finds happen to come from this very website. So – in case you missed them – here are some of our recent faves and our spring skincare edit… Read More…

Nail Clinic: How To Stop Bad Nail Habits

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Flaking, breaking, snapping, peeling, biting: many of us are afflicted by nail ‘woes’ which stand between us and and manicure ‘perfection’. In fact, nail woes rank very highly, when it comes to advice requests to beautybible.com. (If there’s a woman out there who’s 100 percent happy with her nails – particularly as the years roll by – we’ve yet to meet her.) So here’s our wisdom on tackling some of the most common nail habits. Read More…

Small Changes In Difficult Times

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light

Nobody reaches adulthood without discovering that life is a rollercoaster. Sometimes we’re up – elated, overjoyed, beaming ear to ear. But unavoidably, we all face challenging times, facing sadness, grief, frustration, depression or simply fear. (Certainly, pick up any newspaper right now and the world can definitely feel quite scary.)

We’ve long believed that small changes can make big differences to how we feel – and that’s definitely true when facing life’s challenges. So when you’re on the low of that rollercoaster, here’s what we know works – on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level. Read More…

The Neck’s Best Thing

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Fact: as with hands, your neck can give your age away faster than a glance at your passport. Even smooth-skinned British beauties tend to ignore what happens below the chin-line – in fact, for many women, a cursory swipe with a flannel constitutes neck care. The result? Sagginess. Wrinkles. Tell-tale crêpiness. In short, a neck that looks older than the rest of you.

Yet on the Continent, it’s a different story. There, the neck is an erogenous zone, on which TLC is regularly lavished. The result? Necks that stay firmer, smoother and more swan-like for longer. As Paris-based facialist Jickie Leray explains, ‘French women regard their neck and décolletage as an extension of their faces. So everything they do for their face – cleansing, protecting, ritually moisturising – is extended right down to the bust-line.’ And if your new beauty resolution is to take more care of your neck, that’s a pretty good blueprint. (Starting with tonight…) Read More…

Fast Fixes For Winter Skin

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This is a time of year when skin can look a tad washed out and you feel all ‘blah’. So we thought this month we would share with you some of our top tips for instant sparkle – and beyond that, some of our favourite quick-fix products.

  • Start by breathing – it’s the foundation of everything. It calms you down, peps you up – oh, and keeps you living. So if you want to be more alive, practice this simple, quick technique at least twice a day for five cycles – more is better. Unfold your arms and legs, sit, lie or stand loosely and close your eyes (if possible). With your tongue just behind your top teeth, inhale to a count of four down to your belly, hold for seven (without letting your shoulders rise), exhale through rounded lips for eight. Brilliant for stress control (and one of the basics of Tantric sex, you might also like to know!)
  • If you can, go for a 20-minute walk in the fresh air. If you’re stuck indoors, march on the spot, arms swinging, knees coming up, then speed up and downstairs. Try jumping up and down – or even some star jumps…

Read More…