Cornflower readers recommend ...

    I was thinking just now about how good it would be if we could harness the combined power of this website and its readers and do a sort of recommendations post, encompassing anything and everything, sharing what we have found to be good.

    For example, I posted recently about my new iron because I'm happy with it and thought that information might be of use to someone, but there must be all sorts of things that we like especially that we could mention here, and conversely, if you're looking for advice on, say, a book on a particular subject or a make or model of something, why not ask in the comments and see if anyone can suggest one?

    I'll start us off with a commodity which I don't think has featured here before, and that is makeup - let me commend to you (and this is unsolicited, I hasten to add) Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation SPF15, which is excellent, and Nikki at the BB counter in the Edinburgh branch of John Lewis who advised me. I've used Bobbi Brown products for quite a while but that one is new to me, and a few minutes of Nikki's ministrations left me positively glowing in a very natural way!

    So there's a tip for those who can use it, and what I'd like you to recommend to me, if you can, is something completely different, i.e. a good book or website on simple, straightforward meditation for inner calm and clarity (I want that glow to be more than skin-deep, if poss.).

    Anyone want to ask for suggestions and/or offer recommendations on anything at all? Please go ahead.   

PS. If you have any fiction to recommend (or ask about), here's the place to do it.

Comments

[ctussaud]

I've been using the Babyliss big hair rotating styler for about 6 months, and am delighted with it. My hair is fine and cut in a shoulder-length bob, and it needs all the additional "body" it can get. I'm still "beta-testing" products to use with it, though. Babyliss also make the same gadget but without a rotating brush: I think the brush gives added gloss and shine to my hair as the rotating brush sort of polishes it as it revolves.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddrugstore&field-keywords=babyliss+hot+brush&x=0&y=0

[Juxtabook]

May I recommend a website rather than an item. Mytights.com. I have no connection except as a customer but as someone living in a rural area when you want something specific because of an event you can't always get the right pair of tights. Mytights has a huge selection, fast delivery and cheap delivery.

May I also recommend Firebox. I don't know how to describe it except you alternately laugh at some of the items and then think blimey what a good idea.

Incidentally, my iron died as you bought yours. I read what you said and other reviews and bought, not quite that model, but a similar one by the same company as a result. It is very much better than my old one, so thank you.

[Linda Gillard]

THE MIRACLE OF MINDFULNESS by Thich Nhat Hanh http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Mindfulness-Classic-Meditation-Revered/dp/1846041066/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306415578&sr=1-1

"Inner clam & clarity" can be nurtured with mindfulness, which isn't exactly meditation. In fact it's better because you can do it while washing dishes and weeding. But mindfulness is the essence of meditation.

I question whether meditation can be learned from a book, but its principles can certainly be grasped. A tape might be a better bet, best of all a class.

[Linda Gillard]

That should of course read calm not clam. I should practice what I preach. Although I rather like the idea of having an inner clam. ;-)

[Dark Puss]

Dark Puss doesn't use makeup (it makes my fur sticky) but he knows a woman who does. Morgana, a fan of both Mac and Bobbi Brown products suggests Mehron HD Pro is excellent and cheaper. Have a look at this and other makeup tips from Morgana at Fatale Beauty. Now on Facebook too.

[Cornflower]

Glad the iron has been a good buy, and many thanks for your recommendations - I've used Firebox a few times and would certainly do so again.

[Cornflower]

Many thanks, Curzon, your comment is just the sort of thing I had in mind for this post.

[Cornflower]

Thankyou, Linda, I shall try to cultivate my inner clam!

[Cornflower]

DP, you're very well-informed on this subject, for a cat!

[Dark Puss]

You are kind, many might say I'm obsessed with Lady M ...

[Oxslip]

On the theme of good potions and ungents I'd recommend Australian brand Natio, who are new to me, though I think they've been going in Oz and the UK for years. They make very lovely quality products with plant extracts, no parabens, all of that

The list of other things I'd recommend is legion, but includes:
Folksy sellers Peony & Thistle for handmade notebooks (got a great one made of a travel Scrabble board)
Potter Adam Buick for if you ever get an unexpected windfall
Fox's mini Party Rings for their cheery icing as a pickmeup at the end of a long day

[Cornflower]

A cornucopia! Thanks so much - off to look them up now.

[rj]

Hove' Parfumeur in New Orleans has a lovely carnation perfume. I am hoarding mine until I can get back to buy some more.

I fear I may have recommended this here before, and if you are near France you might just wish to go there instead of the French Quarter. :-)

Great idea to discuss this, by the way. And, if anyone knows a good hypoallergenic lip color that's not lip gloss, I would be thrilled.

[GeraniumCat]

I think quite a few of Cornflower's regular readers are likely to be gardeners - I hate gardening in gloves, so I'm always experimenting with hand creams. My mother bought me a wonderful one, Heyland and Whittle's Green Tea Hand Lotion (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Fine-Lotion-Heyland-Whittle/dp/B003XRIAJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306501013&sr=8-1) It smells wonderful, green and spicy rather than flower-y, and absorbs well so that your hands don't feel sticky or greasy. For bedtime use, though, when I don't mind sticky hands (sometimes with cotton gloves for real emergency treatment), and because it's good for my nails, I use Burt's Bees Beeswax Hand Creme (sic - aargh!), also on Amazon but I usually get it from Real Foods in Edinburgh. I adore its smell of almonds.

Last, for real gardening hands, Crabtree and Evelyn's La Source Hand Therapy scrubs and exfoliates (I sound like an advertising copywriter!) with salt - you use it on wet hands and work it into your skin, then rinse off, and your hands feel miraculously soft afterwards - but I was probably the last person in the world to discover it, because I mostly use anti-allergy cosmetics. I've just discovered you can buy C and E products from Amazon too, which is a huge help since I'm another rural dweller, though I do like to go into the Edinburgh branch because it smells nice and the staff are pleasant.

[B R Wombat]

Just as an addendum to Geranium Cat's recommendations - Real Foods in Edinburgh have absolutely loads of good things and don't charge for postage!!! I simply can't get over this. Since the snow this winter I've been buying ecological washing up and laundry liquid and shampoo from them. No postage and no travelling to buy them means a real bargain.

[adele geras]

Let's hear it for Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation. I love it, but will go and try the Bobbi Brown at the John Lewis BB counter which is offering free make up to passers by...I'm never in a position to take advantage but will try and make time!

[Nicola]

I'm always looking for good foundations so I'm going to check out Bobbi Brown. Not sure if it's hypoallergenic, but I like Clinique's sheer lip colour - not too heavy and not too glossy.

I think you should do more cosmetics posts!

[Canyda Humphries]

I would recommend the book titled, Chocolate Mama written by author Helen Bradley Hall. I couldn't put this book down. The author of this book, displayed everyday life situation. The characters were something else. This book will take you on a journey, and you will feel as if though you were one of the characters in the book, because you can relate to the plot 100% I give this book 5 stars, you have got to read this book.

Canyda

[Rose Harding]

I'd like to recommend this www www.5x15stories.com
FIVE SPEAKERS, FIFTEEN MINUTES EACH
True stories of passion, obsession and adventure recounted live with just two rules: no scripts and only fifteen minutes each.
5x15 is an initiative of Rosie Boycott, Daisy Leitch and Eleanor O'Keeffe
I was at The Tabernacle, Powis Square - in the Notting Hill Billies footprint - last night (20th June) to hear Jon Ronson - The Psychopath Test - Sarah Bakewell - How to Live: A life of Montaigne - Lisa Appignanesi - All About Love - Anthony Sattin - A Winter on the Nile - AND Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - a crazy, wonderful evening - look out for other events on their www page - move over TV and radio...