Joan Collins Timeless Beauty - Divine Lips Lipstick - Amanda*

          "I don't feel dressed without nail lacquer. It's as essential to me as lipstick"

I make no apologies for starting this post, the same way that I started my previous Timeless Beauty post, after all the wonderful Dame Joan Collins certainly knows what she's talking about. My mum doesn't wear very much make up, and rather surprisingly, given my nail polish obsession, she very rarely wears colour on her nails. What she does wear though, is lipstick and lots of it. She always says that she never feels dressed without lipstick and she never leaves the house without having a few lipsticks floating around in the car and in her handbag.

Lipsticks serves so many purposes, choose the right shade and it can bring your face to life, but choose another shade and it can make you feel like you can rule the world. Not only can this stick of oils, waxes and butters change our mood, and our complexion but pick the right one and it will also smooth and soften your lips, and give them a little bit of well deserved TLC.

That combination of glamour and care, is right at the heart of the Joan Collins Timeless Beauty line. Joan is a firm believer that make up should protect the skin and that's something which comes through in all of her make up products, which combine make up with high quality skincare ingredients.

Lipsticks are always a good starting point when it comes to trying out a new brand, and over the last month or so I've been trying out one of Joan Collins Time Beauty Divine Lips Lipsticks. There are 16 shades to choose from and everyone of the them is crammed full of moisturising and hydrating ingredients including hyaluronic acid. These lipsticks have been specifically designed to help smooth the lips and fill in fine lines, and of course they also been designed to help hydrate and protect the lips, so much so in fact that in scientific tests the lipsticks in this range have been shown to significantly improve hydration levels in the lips after 30 days of use.

Like the nail polishes, the lipsticks come boxed in a beautiful, chic matte black and gold box, with a clear product picture on the back. Open the box and your greeted with a beautifully packaged lipstick. The lipsticks in this line come in a beautiful, chic, ridged metal, gold case, with the Joan Collins logo in the centre. Unlike a lot of similarly packaged lipsticks out there, this one is has a real weight to it, it doesn't feel flimsy and you really do feel a little bit special when you pull it out of your bag.

As I said before there are 16 shades to choose from, and in keeping with the glamorous theme I was sent the shade Amanda which is one of several red toned shades in the line.

Nothing screams glamour, sophistication or even power more than a slick of red lipstick. Joan Collins herself is rarely seen in any other colour, but it isn't always the easiest of colours to wear. With red lipstick though it's all about finding the red that suits you, some people suit blue toned reds, some people can wear a more pinkie red, and some people like a warmer red, like Amanda.

It's looking a bit darker in the pictures than it does in real life but Amanda is officially described as a hazel or russet shade, but for me it's a lovely warm, rich red shade, with a soft vanilla scent and taste. You always need to apply red lipstick a bit more carefully then say you would a nude, but this one actually applied really nicely. It was creamy but it wasn't too soft so it didn't bleed or smudge.

As you can see the pigmentation is superb but the colour is quite buildible so you can apply it sparingly or blot it down and wear it as a sheer or apply it straight from the bullet for a full on block colour. A lot of reds that I've tried stain your lips and feel quite drying but this one actually felt really hydrating on the lips, and it wore well, and faded pretty evenly, even on my super dry lips.

I'm going to be honest with you and say that I normally shy away from red lipstick, or for that matter  anything that draws too much attention to my lips. My lips are very uneven and I think that colours like this can draw attention to that but I have actually really enjoyed wearing this lipstick. I did feel a bit more confident wearing it, and I really think that the colour worked perfectly with my skin tone and it brightened up my face. Throw in the beautiful, classy packaging, and the fact that this lipstick didn't dry out my lips, then I think we may have a winner. I'm definitely going to try and be a bit braver when it comes to lipsticks now, but whether you love a classic red lip, a beautiful wine, or maybe a nude pink, there will be a  colour in the Joan Collins Timeless Beauty line to suit you. These aren't the cheapest lipsticks on the market but for me they are well worth the investment. Joan Collins Timeless Beauty Divine Lips Lipsticks retail at £18 for 3.5g of product and are available from the Timeless Beauty website, Urban Retreat, QVC UK and M&S. Are you a fan of a red lip let me know in the comments x

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Joan Collins Timeless Beauty Nail Laquer - Helene*

"I don't feel dressed without nail lacquer. It's as essential to me as lipstick"

                                                                                                                   
This quote comes from probably one of the glamorous women of modern times. She's an actress, a businesswoman, an author, a Dame and an icon. Who am I talking about? Joan Collins of course. Like most people my age I remember Joan Collins from the 1980's soap opera Dynasty. There was no doom and gloom in Dynasty, it was all about cat fights, shoulder pads, and glamour. and it's heart was the queen bee herself, Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington / Colby / Dexter.

Although her work on Dynasty is only a small part of her illustrious career, the whole glamour and style aspect of it sums up the woman herself. Although she's now a grandmother and in her 80's, she's still as beautiful and as stylish as she ever was, and is showing no sign of slowing down.

One of the mantras that she lives by is the idea that beauty isn't just for the young, and she's a firm believer that you can still look good at any age, as long as you have the right products, the right tools and the right outlook.

Over the years Ms Collins spent a lot of time learning from stylists and make up artists, and now Joan has decided to pass on all of her expertise and the tips she's learnt by releasing her own line of beauty products, Timeless Beauty.

The range comprises of a wide range of luxury make up products, accessories and fragrances, that are designed to appeal to women of all ages. A little while ago now I was lucky enough to be sent two products from the Timeless Beauty range to try, a lipstick and in case you hadn't already guessed from the quote above, a nail lacquer.

The lipstick post should be up later this week but today I'm sharing a beautiful and classic nails of the day with you. There are 17 shades of Nail Lacquer to choose from in the Joan Collins Timeless Beauty line, and I was sent Helene.

The polish comes beautifully packaged in matte black, and gold box, with images of both Joan and the product on the back. Open the box and you're greeted with probably the most chicest bottle of nail polish that I've ever owned. The faceted glass bottle is topped with a long ridged, gold tapered handle which gives the polish a real vintage look. I remember going through my grandmas dressing table drawers when I was younger, and spying a similar bottle, so this one brought back a lot of happy memories. The handle isn't just for show though, it's perfectly weighted for ease of application, and the ridges mean that it's really easy to hold.

All of the polishes are named after glamorous women and this one is Helene. Helene is one of those colours that everybody needs to own, it's a classic blue based red, that goes with anything and that you can wear for any occasion, and whether your nails or long or short.

The brush was good, and because of the specially designed handle it was really easy to paint. The polish was very pigmented, and the coverage was excellent. It was also very self levelling, so I got no streaks, and it dried quickly. If you were in a rush you could probably get away with one coat but as per usual I went for two coats which as you can see produced a glossy, almost wet look finish. Although the shine did fade a little after a day or so, the wear time was still pretty good and of course you could always use a top coat to extend the wear and to bring back the gloss.

Nothing screams glamour more than a red nail polish, and this one takes the word glamour to another level. From the involvement of the lady herself, to the vintage style packaging and the formulation, this polish give you that chic movie star look, even if your wearing a pair of jeans rather than diamonds and an evening gown! This shade is perfect for the festive season but I think that any product from this line would make an ideal gift for anyone in your life be it your gran, or even for a friend that loves that vintage Hollywood look and style. Joan Collins Timeless Beauty Nail Lacquer in Helene retails at £13 for a 12ml bottle. The Joan Collins Timeless Beauty range is available from various retailers in the UK including QVCUK,  selected M&S stores and online, from Urban Retreat and from the Timeless Beauty website. Have you tried anything from the Joan Collins Timeless Beauty line? and are you a fan of red polish? Let me know your thoughts below x

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