Helllo all!! It is my very ‘tres excited’ pleasure to introduce to you TANGENT MAG’s new ‘London beauty correspondent’ Liz Frost.  Reporting on ‘aaaaal things – Bright and Shiny – Fun and Fabulous’ in the world of beauty from ‘across the seas’, miss Liz will be coming to you with a ‘monthly’ L.B.R (aka: London Beauty Report) from my fave ‘home town’….Enjoy!!

Magic in our make up bags…

With winter in full swing, we’re swathed from head to toe in scarves, hats and woolly jumpers. Our summer dresses have long since been relegated to the back of the wardrobe and we look 5lb heavier due to all the thermals we have to stash under our clothes.  Gone are our sun-kissed cheeks, replaced with an altogether more deathly shade of pale as we sadly bid goodbye to our summer glow.

But with Christmas on the way, this is the season to be jolly and one good reason is the magic it brings to our make-up bags.  Our complexions are crying out for a bit of razzmatazz to counteract the winter blues and there’s no shortage of glitz and glamour to make even the sallowest skins sparkle.

Go to any party and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d travelled back in time to the 70s or 80s.  Everywhere you look there are dramatic pastel eyes, glittery liners and glossy lips.  Eyelashes are long and thick, coated in luxurious mascara and cheeks are rosy red and simply radiant.

Barry M have a fantastic range of Metallic liquid eyeliners, super soft matt eye crayons, eyelash glitter and glossy lip wands to create the below looks.

Glitter on our dance floors…

Jewel studded vest, £60 from Topshop

With all this jazzy make up, a classic Little Black Dress doesn’t always cut the mustard.  We’re dressing up in sequins and glitter that any disco ball would envy, and not just on the dance floors…

People have stopped me in the street to enquire about my slouchy sequin over-sized bag from Primark (£8). This year-round beauty would also be a hit on the beach.

And Vampires at heart…

First there was the film, Twilight, then the series, True Blood.  In Britain, we’re truly crazy about Vampires. The glam goth trend has been causing quite a stir, with deep plumy purples, navy blues and metallic silvers, sneaking their way onto our make up bags.

YOUNGBLOOD Mineral Cosmetics have taken London by storm with their Loose Natural Mineral Foundation; Mineral Primer; Crushed Mineral Eyeshadow and Brow Artiste (Prices range from £12.50 to £41.00).

And Cheryl Cole was recently spotted with navy blue nails from Nubar’s eco friendly Twighlight collection called Dolcetto, £8 from www.beautyshed.co.uk .

Die hard vamps can get blue lips with Barry M’s new shade (£4.25), packed with natural moisturisers to protect our lips from the winter winds.

The temperature might be dropping by the day, but with all this razzmatazz, nobody could say us Brits aren’t sparkling this winter!

Liz Frost, your London correspondent.

Liz Frost is a London-based freelance writer for Newspapers and Magazines.  To see more of her work go to: www.lizfrost.com

WELL, I hope that you have ‘thoroughly’ enjoyed this weeks FBB (aka: fabulous, beauty, blog!)  ‘Greetings from Big Ben’…sweeeet dreams of all things very very London…till next tine sweet ladies …’’TaTa’’ …innnnit!

Ferni – www.fernmadden.com