17 beauty blog

17 beauty blog: July

Get the Miami look

In life there are "winter" girls, who make toasty knits and chunky boots look good, and there are "summer" girls, whose effortless, beachy style we envy all summer long. And then, on a different planet completely, there are Miami girls. Sexily tousled hair, honeyed skin all year-round, and that nonchalant way they rock a colourful pop of neon-bright make up...jealous? Us? Not now we've got a stack of new make up weapons from the 17 beauty cupboard! As you know, we're the sharing types, so here's the skinny...

First discovery: The limited edition 17 Miami Pop collection

Containing everything you need to whip up that Miami party look, 17's Miami Pop collection is inspired by Miami's colourful Ocean Drive, "and focuses on the unexpected pop of colour that can transform a look," 17 make up artist Vanesa Guallar tells us.

The big news? The marbled Miami Pop Bronzer, which comes in two golden shades. "It's perfect for giving you that deep, desirable honey glow seen on the Miami party scene," raves Vanesa. Add to that a splash of juicy bright colour on your nails courtesy of the Miami Pop Nail Colours (try Down Town, a bright orange, or the hot pink Palm Beach) and a final slick of the new Miami Pop Lipgloss and you're ready to rival South Beach's finest.

Second discovery: 17 Falsifeye False Lash Mascara

Our final make up find doesn't actually hit shelves until 13 July, but here on Boots.com there's a sneaky peek. We've fallen for our new 17 Falsifeye False Lash Mascara which boasts a super-sized brush - perfect for revving up your lashes, for a false lash look. "For a dramatic, night-time look, curl your lashes and apply a coat of Falsify False Lash, then slick on a second coat before the first has a chance to dry," says Vanesa. "Your lashes will look thicker and longer, giving your eyes that sexy wide-eyed look."

Go show those Miami girls how it's done!

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: June

Found: Summer's must-have foundation

Months ago you packed away your autumnal lip colours, swapped your winter boots for wedges and waved goodbye to those 80 deniers. But have you made the foundation switch yet? Balmy summer days and dusky summer nights demand a fresh approach to coverage. Thankfully, we've got just the ticket: the new 17 Adapt-itude Foundation. All you need for a flawless, weightless finish, this is our first skin-adapting foundation. Think super-blendable, think seamless, think light-as-a-feather coverage. Oh, and there's the all-important SPF15 for everyday protection, too.

Love it? Us too. Hotfoot it to the 17 stand, pronto!

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: May

Tan tricks

Snapped up your white summer dress yet? We are love, love, loving fashion's new white palette but, sheesh, is it high-maintenance on the fake-tanning front. We've practically worn away our tanning mitt! So we've taken our foot off the fake-tanning gas and been working a few other bronzing tools in tandem. Interested? Here are your options:

Foolproof and super-easy to use, you can add a glow in seconds with a sweep of these babies. Use a large powder brush to sweep lightly across your cheekbones, forehead and down the nose ? all the places your face naturally catches the sun. You can even sweep along your décolleté for a beautifully sunkissed result.

Want a deep, matte tan one night, but a lighter honey hue the next? Cue 17's Instant Glow Skin bronzers. The genius thing? You can use them to build up your perfect colour (bespoke, no less), then wash them off when you're done. Choose the matte texture for a daytime look, then switch to the shimmer version for a night out.

As every make up pro will tell you, the secret to a natural-looking tan is dimension ? a bronzer on its own can sometimes leave your face looking flat. Use this bronzer and highlighter to breathe life into your tan, add radiance and keep your look light and fresh.

Here's hoping for some bank holiday sun to show off some skin.

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: April

Havaianas at the ready?

The time has come to drag our tootsies from their hibernation, shape them up and expose them in all their glory for the world to see. Gulp! Being a dab hand at this big spring reveal, we've found the speediest route to twinklingly fresh-looking spring feet is to sidestep the buffing/scrubbing/hard work and reach straight for the nail polish.

Waste precious time reapplying fresh coats every two days? Not us! We bagsied a stack of the new 17 Supreme Shine Nail Polishes to try a few weeks ago and we've been mightily impressed. High gloss colour? Check. New, wide brush (for super-easy application)? Check. Professional-style finish that lasts up to ten days? Oh yes. And they even come in 15 fabulous shades.

We ask you, what's not to love? The perfect excuse for a brand spanking new pair of pedicure-baring flats to show them off, we think?

See you next month!

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: March

True romance: We heart pastels

Since last month's entry, we've gone a little crazy for pastels. Super-flattering, fresh and oh-so pretty, they're practically spring personified. You can forget their old-fashioned, staid reputation. Proof? Just check out the glowy pink cheeks at Stella McCartney (swoon), Valentino and Ralph Lauren. Better yet, they work a treat with this season's floaty floral fashions and crisp white palette. Here are our top tips for trying the trend:

1. Ditch the bronzer. Pale, pastel shades work with a tonal palette. For a delicate, pretty cheek, snap up the new 17 Blushers in First Flush or First Kiss. Both shades are shot with shimmering gold pearl for a thoroughly modern glow.
2. Going for light, ethereal pastels on your eyes? Black mascara may appear a touch too harsh against pale shades, but completely bare lashes can make eyes disappear. Try switching to a brown mascara instead.
3. Breathe life into nails with a swipe of pastel nail colour (try one of the six new 17 Vintage Love Nail Colours ? Sweet Kisses is to-die-for). It's a quick, easy way to rock the pastels trend.

Who said pastels couldn't be sexy?

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: February

Get glowing for spring

It's cold. It's dark. It's February. But we're currently of the opinion that it's never too early to break out a hot new S/S2011 look. We've been dying to ditch our winter make up in favour of a glowy, spring-inspired style since we clapped eyes on the new (and limited edition) 17 Vintage Loves spring collection, which is available from 23 February.

So straight to our weapons of choice: the two new Vintage Loves eye palettes in Metallic Nude (natural browns and golds: perfect for channelling the sheeny metallics at Donna Karan) and Pretty Pastels (soft, muted pastels - very Preen S/S2011). "They're perfect for brightening up your make up after the cold winter as the hint of colours adds warmth and glow at the same time," raves 17 make up artist Vanesa Guallar.

How to wear? For a sheeny Donna Karan-inspired gold eye, snap up the Metallic Nude palette. "Try blending the gold and the soft brown shades together on the top of your eyelid for a classic, glowy spring look," says Vanesa. Finish off with a few coats of Photo Flawless Mascara to accentuate your eye colour and you're good to go.

For a very on-trend wash of muted pastels, make a beeline for the Pretty Pastels palette. "Choose two colours, like pink and green or pink and brown, and blend them together with a soft brush," says Vanesa. "The texture will brighten your eye to give a gorgeous spring lift." (Tip: for a matchy-matchy look, team with one of the four new Vintage Loves Nail Colours - we like Chaperone.)

This range is only available for four weeks so make sure that you don't miss out - visit Boots.com or your local Boots store from 23 February to get your hands on these pretty beauty goodies.

So that's spring sorted, then. If only the sunny weather was as easy to organise...

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: January

Get ready for your close-up

Next month is red carpet season (the Oscars, the Baftas, the Golden Globes...) and yet it hasn't escaped our notice here at 17 Towers that January is a bleak month for skin. Radiance? Ours clearly packed up its bags and headed off into the sunset with 2010. We're certainly not ready for our close up. And while our photo may not be beamed all around the world, red carpet-style, it's always nice to load up an impressive Facebook pic, no? So here are three ways to get that A-list-style photo finish:

• Apply a primer.
  Our make up artist, 17 pro Vanesa Guallar, likes 17 Photo Finish Primer. "It helps minimise the appearance of pores to create the perfect canvas, allowing your foundation to glide on evenly to achieve a longer lasting, professional and flawless-looking finish," she tells us. Her tip: "Apply the silky formula all over your face, including the eye area, and massage into the skin."


• Avoid shimmery foundations.
  One ping of the flash and - uh oh - suddenly you're looking washed out. A matte foundation like 17 Photo Flawless Foundation (coming soon) is friendlier and will seamlessly help cover spots and eye bags for up to 24 hours.


• Get standout eyes.
  Eyes can disappear on photos if they're not adequately defined. Our best find right now? The new 17 Photo Flawless Mascaras. The secret is the colour combo: a carbon black shade mixed with a pearlescent colour to brighten your eyes on camera. Just pick the one closest to your eye colour (Black/Blue, Black/Green or Black/Copper) to intensify it. "The intense pigment in the formula accentuates the colour of your iris, brightening up your eyes, making them appear bigger and your lashes full of volume," says Vanesa.

Go forth and give those A-listers a run for their money.

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: December

It's treat time at 17!

If you're anything like us, right about now you've spent up on family Crimbo presents and have squandered all your pretty pennies on a snazzy party outfit or three (hey, who's counting?) thus leaving you a bit short in the purse department. So how about a little treat to perk you up? Well, we've got just the thing. Introducing the 17 Glam Rocks Eye Palette.

Why we love it:

• It's packed with six of this season's most covetable eye colours ? from vivid violet to metallic black gold. (Practically guaranteeing you a moment under the mistletoe).
• It's the sophisticated way to go metallic this Christmas ? think a gentle, glam sheen, rather than all-out glitter.
• It's multi-purpose; use the darker shades to create an intense, smouldering result and the shimmering shades for a high impact finish. Or for a more subtle eye-brightening effect, dot the ice-silver shade on your inner eye corners.
• It's free when you spend £6 on 17 cosmetics!*

Now you can't argue with that.

Merry Christmas!

The 17 Team x

*must be spent in a single transaction. Excludes 17 Christmas Gift.

17 beauty blog: November

Statement Lips

Call us super-organised (or perhaps a tad obsessed) but we've already found our favourite party season "look". Yep, we'll be working that old favourite: the statement lip. Only this year we're adding a runway-style element of edge by swapping our usual party red for a darker, super-deep berry shade. (Well, if it's good enough for Dior's Autumn/Winter show...) Our weapon of choice? 17's Lasting Fix Lipstick in New Black. A sultry berry shade, it's almost black on the lips but, thanks to its purple undertones, it's super-flattering, even on the palest skintones. Team with lashings of mascara and you're good to go.

Oh and we've found the perfect nude lipstick to wear with a partytime smoky eye: 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive. Slick it on to balance your heavy eye for clean, polished result.

All you need now are the party invites...

The 17 Team x

17 beauty blog: October

Four ways to an on-trend autumn look

Stuck in a style rut? Feeling a little too Spring/Summer 2010? Panic not, we've put together four easy autumn updates so you can take the speedy route to a new season look. Try one, try them all. Just don't say we never give you anything...

1) Rev up your lashes:
Fashion's love of lashes continues (the lush ones at Elie Saab would've given Cheryl a run for her money). The best way to amp up yours? Use the new 17 Wild Curls Mascara in Wildest Black* and apply as close to the root as possible, says 17 make-up artist Vanesa Guallar. "This will help make your lashes look super-long, bold and striking. For a more dramatic party look, add multiple coats ? you can never have too much volume!"

2) Go matte:
Sometimes a style tweak is all you need and matte is still where it's at when it comes to on-trend nails. Just swipe 17 Nails Xtras Matte Top Coat Polish* over your favourite polish. Easy.

3) Get metallic:
According to Vanesa, metallic eyeshadow colours "are the ideal shades to turn to for a new season look". Check out the new 17 Starry Eyes Trios* for an easy smoky eye. Our fave shades: Starstruck, Galactic, Neptune and Moondust.

4) Line 'em up:
When a full metal eye feels too much, take a tip from the beauty pros and sweep on a glimmering eyeliner instead. We're snapping up the new 17 Starry Eyes Glitter Liners* ? make a beeline for the silver liner, Northern Star, or the gold one, Stardust. You can even team them with one of the Starry Eyes Trios* (we'd suggest using Northern Star with the Stardust or Moondust shadows, and Stardust with either Galactic or Neptune shades).

Get practising ladies, get practising.

The 17 Team x

* All products available in store.

17 beauty blog: September

Autumn beauty ? it's all about gemstones

A/W2010 trends tip-off alert! Okay, so we're barely out of our gladiator flats, but we're already getting giddy about the new season's beauty trends ? namely the rich, gemstone-inspired shades our beauty spies have spotted on every catwalk from Carolina Herrera to Lacoste. And the good news? Not only were they popular on the A/W catwalks but, according to 17 make up pro Vanesa Guallar, they're also universally flattering.

So, never ones to miss the opportunity to indulge our make up obsession, we've been experimenting with the new goodies we've rustled up from the new 17 autumn collection (helpfully inspired by gemstones and jewels). Here's the skinny on our favourites:

• If you want to go classic metallic ? think pearly grey, á la Michael Kors' A/W show ? try the matte grey 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Midnight Pearl.
• For a pretty twist on the trend, and a softer pinky look, we like 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Rose Quartz.
• Glam metal addicts will love, love, love the new 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Gold Emerald. We've already got our eye on this for the party season.
• Finally, for those of you who like a statement eye, the coolest members of our team are rocking a strong matte purple shade, courtesy of 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Violet Rock. Just add a sprinkling of attitude.

Not ready for full-on colour just yet? Make like the fashion insiders and let your nails do the talking. Gem-style shades are big news when it comes to nail polish this season, so dive into the new 17 Fast Finish collection and take your pick from Gemstone (a rich plum), Ruby Gem (a raspberry red), Garnet (a sparkling scarlet), Smoky Marble (a metallic grey), Purple Jewel (a bold fuchsia) and Tigers Eye (a rich beige). Our tip: whatever shade you go for, keep nails short and immaculate and you can't go wrong.

Until next month...

The 17 Team x

P.S 17's Fast Finish Polish delivers one-coat colour in 60 seconds ? we've timed it!