Jack & Hill: A Beauty Blog - make-up, cosmetics, perfume, and the substance of style

Holiday beauty gifts 20% off for Jack & Hill readers!

Just in time for the holidays, we're happy to bring you another exclusive offer for Jack & Hill readers: Shop on Lookfantastic.com throughout December and enjoy a further 20% discount on red-starred items when you quote the code 'jackandhill' at checkout.

Of course, this discount will come in handy when shopping for others, but I have to confess that I plan to use it to stock up on hair care, skincare, and make-up for me, myself, and I. I'm just selfish that way. You have my permission to be just as greedy.

UPDATE: Lookfantastic also has another special code offer right now: Input the code 'WELOVEYOU' at check-out, and get £2 off your order. You can use this to buy any product on the site, not just red-starred items. Yay!

Extended: Exclusive Jack & Hill reader discount

Great news, guys: Lookfantastic.com is extending the exclusive 20% discount for Jack & Hill readers through the month of September!

Shop on Lookfantastic.com throughout September and enjoy a further 20% discount on red-starred items when you quote the code 'jackandhill' at checkout.

If you'd like some inspiration, here are a few products I would recommend picking up:

• Sebastian Body Double Thickefy Styler (my review is here)
• KMS Hair Play Molding Paste (my review is here)
• Anything from the Sebastian Laminates line; I'm loving the shiny, non-stiff hold of the Sebastian Laminates Hair Spray (on which I used my Jack & Hill discount!)
• L'Oreal Professional Tecni Art Hairmix Sublime Shine (Lookfantastic.com's Head of Marketing, Jason Russell, gave me a bottle of this serum and it's fab)

Of course, you can still shop for items which are not red-starred and include those in your order, but the discount will apply only to the red-starred items. (Items without the red star already have 15% marked off the price, so you save on those too.)

Jack & Hill reader discounts for August

Just a reminder that these are the last few days for the Jack & Hill reader exclusive 20% off discount at timetospa.com and the Jack & Hill reader exclusive 20% off discount at lookfantastic.com. Get your bargains in while you can - and check out the Elemis category and Lookfantastic category on this blog for a sampling of the products we've tried from each of these great sites.

Last day (er, not) for Jack & Hill discount at Lookfantastic.com!

Okay, people, the special 20% off all red-starred items at Lookfantastic.com for Jack & Hill readers ends at midnight tonight (GMT), so you best get shopping if you want to get in on this one! will continue through August, as of fifteen minutes after I posted this item! Let the savings flow unabated...

I know that a number of our readers have picked up some fantastic deals through this offer over the last two months, which is what it's all about. (We don't take any money from Lookfantastic or any other company that wants to give you guys discounts. If they want to help us bring y'all some genuine value, we're more than happy to help!)

I'll be announcing the details of an additional August discount partner tomorrow, so watch this space to find out where you can next save some money just by reading our humble blog...!

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream: Eh

I spent yesterday at ValueClick's Commission Junction University event, where I presented to CJ's publishers on how they and advertisers can monetise blogs, podcasts, and RSS feeds. At left, the super cute Tina Judic, CJ's operations director, who told me to go to Fordham White for my next cut and let stylist Jason work his magic. Will do!

Other tips I picked up from various beauties at the conference:

1) Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick is a worthy balm.

2) Unlike Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, which is just plain greasy (this has also been my experience). Another product for the 'whistle that only dogs hear' category, methinks. (In Paula Begoun's words, it is an ordinary emollient moisturizer for dry skin that contains mostly Vaseline (over 55%), lanolin, mineral oil, fragrance, salicylic acid, plant oil, and vitamin E. The teeny amount of salicylic acid here is ineffective as an exfoliant.)

3) My gorgeous friend Susie K is still very much in love with Decleor products. She cannot speak highly enough of their various creams and lotions, and is also a fan of the Decleor massages you can get.

4) The 20% discount offer for Jack & Hill readers at Lookfantastic.com struck everyone as quite an exceptional deal. I totally agree, and suggest that you hurry to take advantage of the savings before the bargain expires at the end of July.

Discount for Jack & Hill readers extended through July!

The 20% discount for Jack & Hill readers on Lookfantastic.com has been extended! Now you can shop on Lookfantastic.com throughout July and enjoy a further 20% discount on red-starred items when you quote the code 'jackandhill' at checkout.

If you'd like some inspiration, here are a few products I would recommend picking up:

• Sebastian Body Double Thickefy Styler (my review is here)
• KMS Hair Play Molding Paste (my review is here)
• Anything from the Sebastian Laminates line; I'm loving the shiny, non-stiff hold of the Sebastian Laminates Hair Spray (on which I used my Jack & Hill discount!)
• Any of the Aveda All Sensitive skincare products
• Any of the Aveda Men's products
• L'Oreal Professional Tecni Art Hairmix Sublime Shine (Lookfantastic.com's Head of Marketing, Jason Russell, gave me a bottle of this serum and it's fab) - buy two L'Oreal Professional Serie Expert or Tecni Art products and get this gorgeous summer bag (I have one and it's too pretty for words) free.

If you make use of the discount, leave a comment and tell us what you got and how it worked out for you!

Sebastian Body Double Thickefy Styler

I'm back from San Francisco, with a new camera, lots of new products, and a stonking great cold to boot. Oh well.

In case you are wondering, I didn't make it there without an explosion of products: Both my Bumble + Bumble South Surf Spray and my new Sebastian Body Double Thickefy Styler (purchased with the Jack & Hill exclusive 20% off for June at Lookfantastic.com) leaked en route. Actually, the Sebastian bottle must have a hole in it, because the product is still leaking. I quintuple-wrapped it in hotel shower caps and plastic bags before double-wrapping it in tote bags for the journey home, and I'm pleased it didn't leak through all those layers and onto my clothes.

I'm loving the Sebastian Body Double Thickefy Styler, so I was pretty crushed to see any of it go to waste. It really does give good volume, and the day after I use it, my hair still looks great (so much so that I can skip a day of shampooing). Two thumbs up.

Photo above by Brian Oberkirch, taken in author Shel Israel's beautiful garden. His biz partner, Alex Muse, took a picture of my hair looking good with the help of Sebastian, too:

Lookfantastic.com offers free hair loss products to our readers

In the comments to my post on Gail Porter and alopecia, Lookfantastic.com's Jason Russell says:

Just seen your Alopecia article and thought I might as well mention that we have some really good products that help this condition. (Really sorry for the plug) David Satchell & Eucaderm. David is one of the industry's leading lights on this delicate subject...We have had some great reviews on these products. Thought I would offer the chance for your readers to try them, so I am offering the first 2 people to email me (jason@lookfantastic.com) about Alopecia and I will send them a shampoo & conditioner (Have a look at our site as there are different alopecia products for different hair conditions).

There is no catch - Jason only asks that you genuinely have alopecia if you ask for these products. It would also be nice if you could, after trying them out, post a review on Lookfantastic.com - positive or negative, as long as you're honest and your comment helps others decide whether or not the product is worth trying.

I suggested to Jason that he also contact the Help4Alopecia.com bloggers and extend the same offer to their readers, which he has now done. He also is sending some of the products to a close friend of mine who suffers from alopecia. Yay, Jason!

NB Jack & Hill readers get an additional 20% off Lookfantastic.com red-starred products through the end of June.

20% off all products in June for Jack & Hill readers!

My new pal Jason Russell, head of marketing at Lookfantastic.com, has set up a great deal for readers of this blog. Here are the details:

During the entire month of June, you will get 20% off all red-starred products at Lookfantastic.com when you use the discount code jackandhill. Just enter the code on the checkout page and bob will be your well-coiffed uncle.

Thanks, Jason! And guys, do let us know what you buy and how you get on with it. (For starters, I recommend the KMS Hair Play Molding Paste.)

KMS Hair Play Molding Paste: Quickie Review

After I met up last week with Jason Russell, head of marketing for Lookfantastic.com, he was kind enough to send me a small sampler box of hair goodies. The product I was most excited to try was KMS Hair Play Molding Paste. In to and out of my life, gels and mousses have moved, but never a molding paste. The allure of strange fruit had me washing my hair just so I could try out the KMS.

What I had on my hands was actually strange glue. I've never come across a product like this. To wit:

• It was not sticky.
• Applied to wet hair, it first gave my locks a gelled 'wet' look that soon settled into soft, bouncy waves.
• My hair did not look as if it had any product in it.
• My hair did not feel as if it had any product in it.
• My hair had more volume.
• The next day, my unwashed hair still looked good.

I don't quite understand what distinguishes molding paste from gel or mousse in physical terms, though the results are quite different. The next step is to apply the KMS molding paste to dry hair, for a 'piece-y' look.