Secret Salma – Food, Fashion and Fitness

Darlings, if you haven’t fallen under the magic spell of beauty goddess Charlotte Tilbury, then I don’t know where you’ve been these past couple of years. From cult beauty brand to mega makeup maven, with a beautiful boutique in Covent Garden, Charlotte Tilbury has waved her magic fairy wand over me and thousands of other fans, bringing her special blend of glamour to our beauty bags.

Charlotte’s positive mantra of self-love and confidence, and her ‘beautiful before, beautiful after’ tutorials give her brand a real old-school feminist vibe. Think Hollywood glamour, seductive boudoirs, and Marilyn Monroe singing Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Charlotte calls on the star power of both old Hollywood (with her lipsticks like So Marilyn and Hepburn Honey: still my favourite colour), and new (with Kidman’s Kiss, Secret Salma, and the rest of her Hot Lips collection. This is a celebration of pure feminine power – I bet you didn’t think you could buy that in a tube, did you?

One of the things I love about Charlotte Tilbury is her ten makeup looks – ten core makeup wardrobes that create stunning looks in a variety of themes and moods, collected together so you can just buy the lot and know they all go together.There are five daytime looks, and five heavier evening looks.

The first look I bought was The Uptown Girl, a palette of shimmery greys and pearly pinks for the eyes, and the pink neutral lipstick Bitch Perfect, wearable everyday. Each look is demonstrated in a YouTube tutorial hosted on the site, and many of Charlotte’s lipsticks and eyeshadows are demo’d on a variety of skintones, so you can see how it’ll look on you. There are even suggestions for how to kick it up a notch for evening time (and for Uptown Girl, try switching Bitch Perfect for the bolder Amazing Grace.)

Since then, I’ve purchased palettes for The Sophisticate, The Rock Chick, The Rebel and The Dolce Vita – a combination of gold, brown and deep, browny red, my ABSOLUTE favourite look, and one which I’ll wear any time, any opportunity I get. My most recent purchase was The Vintage Vamp, which is a glorious combination of pinks and reds. There’s just something addictive and simple about collecting makeup looks, and I think Charlotte completely nailed her themes and created a range of styles which will suit almost any lifestyle.

As far as lipsticks are concerned, although Hepburn Honey is my everyday go-to, I’ve actually purchased a ridiculous number of other colours – amongst which my favourites are Stoned Rose, Bond Girl, Secret Salma (actually a press sample!) and The Queen. The latter was a limited edition which was sold out, but given the popularity of The Crown on Netflix, they relaunched the shade! (Pictured above, from top centre going clockwise are Coachella Coral, Bitch Perfect, Nude Kate, Amazing Grace, The Queen, Secret Salma, Hepburn Honey, Stoned Rose and Bond Girl.)

If you’re a makeup novice, or you want to dip your toe into Charlotte’s world, or you want an everyday makeup look that’s easy to apply with great results every time (and easy to take on your travels), then Instant Look in a Palette: Natural Beauty is my number one recommendation. It’s currently available here as a limited edition. Inside the palette are three eyeshadows, two blushes, a highligher and a bronzer. You use all of these to create one, gorgeously understated and flattering look, which you can punch up and add to if you want to go bolder. It’s a massive favourite of mine, and works on so many complexions it’s unbelievable!

There’s even a new Instant Look In A Palette – Seductive Beauty, a limited edition version for £49 which has all the ingredients for a smokey eye and gorgeous cheeks! Yikes… that’s on my wish-list already!

This is my latest love – which arrived today along with Vintage Vamp! This gorgeous deep red clutch is actually storage for four mini makeup brushes! I just couldn’t resist – I wish CT would release a larger version that actually was a clutch you could fit a lipstick and a phone in, but for now this will certainly do!

Have you fallen under the spell of Charlotte Tilbury yet? Let me know what your favourite looks are in the comments below!

And even better, there are currently a few deals going on for special offers! If you spend £100 or more you’ll receive two red envelopes and an exclusive beauty surprise (enter LUNARNEWYEAR at checkout). If you spend over £75 you’ll receive two mini lipsticks in Kim K W and Secret Salma! And… if you use my link here for orders over £75, you’ll get £15 off and so will I!

At Christmas, my lovely sister in law gave my husband and me a voucher to use for The Shard, one of London’s most distinctive skyscrapers, and the tallest building in the EU. Situated along the South Bank, it was a great opportunity to go out and enjoy the sights – including gawping at the exterior of The Globe, an amazing sight for an English graduate!

Once inside The Shard, you’ll have a couple of stories of great views, plus some bars and a little digital sightseeing guide, which gives you some of the history of the views of London you can see. It was amazing to get the context of some of the buildings and areas you can see, and if you love London I’d definitely recommend visiting!

I paired my super comfy rose gold Ferragamo flats with my Lulu Guinness bag, and brought my lovely blue Ray-Ban aviators – the perfect sunglasses to shield your eyes and give you great views!

Of course, one of the best accessories was a G&T – Fever-Tree had a pop-up bar and I absolutely had to celebrate the sunny skies with a tasty tonic and London gin!

Everywhere you looked there was an incredible mixture of modern buildings and history – here’s a view taking in some of the newest and distinctive buildings in London, along with The Monument to the Great Fire of London, which you can just about make out poking from behind the white flower above. I actually climbed all the way to the top this year, and it had great views – although not as spectacular as The Shard!

If you’re heading to London, make this one of your first visits, so you can get a bird’s eye view of the city, and start to understand some of its rich and amazing history!

Before we trekked up the tower, we stopped at Brixton to try Baba G’s lamb burger – named as one of Timeout’s best burgers in London. It was definitely delicious – topped with an onion bhaji and filled with spice and flavour, and accompanied with spicy fries loaded with mango and mint sauce. Delicious!

As the weather starts to get slightly cooler, I’m digging out my cardigans and knits ready for autumn. I love adding big chunky brooches to them, and my Chanel brooch from my birthday last year is my favourite!

I also couldn’t resist adding a little more to my jewellery collection in the form of a new pair of Links of London earrings…

And, I even got some post through from Chanel, including this adorable little card!

I was also sent this amazing new lipshade C/O Charlotte Tilbury. The new Hot Lips range is incredible; a series of fantastic colours inspired by incredible women and pop culture icons. I plumped for Secret Salma, which is a rich pinky red.

Just like many of CT’s colours, I was initially worried it was a bit too strong for me, but when I applied it, the colour looked amazing (if I do say so myself!). Check out the whole range here (http://www.charlottetilbury.com/uk/new-hot-lips-lipstick) and let me know which one you would pick!

(Also featuring my Links of London earrings – the Hope Eggs! I snagged these with a discount, so it wasn’t quite as painful as it could have been…)

For our last end of summer holidays hurrah, the husband and I headed off the The Chilworth Arms for a Sunday roast of epic proportions. I’d never been there before but it was fabulous, and I’d definitely go there again, especially if it was for a special occasion.

I had a gorgeous chicken liver parfait – more crostini next time, though, please!

That was followed by a hefty helping of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, with lashings of gravy and my own pot of horseradish sauce

Finally, as I was in full-on glutton mode, I went for the cheeseboard for afters. I’ve always wanted to have a cheeseboard instead of dessert, but every time I’m too full. This time I was still too full but I had most of it to go! The best touch here were the gorgeous mini-figs drenched in syrup. They went wonderfully with the cheese – a fantastic selection. Try it if you’re ever visiting! They have some great Christmas and New Year menus. https://www.chilwortharms.co.uk/.