Monday 8 November 2010


Xen Tan


So…as the clocks go back and with it, we banish our gladiator sandals to the deepest, darkest corners of our wardrobes, it would be easy to let ourselves slip into a state of un-trimmed, un-polished and un-groomed chaos. Thankfully, a small glimmer of hope landed on my desk in the form of Xen Tan (
First impression? I’ll be honest it looks rather alarming; think mushed green lentils and cabbage. However, it smells simply divine - like a particular brand of vanilla corner yoghurt – YUM! If I wasn’t on yet another diet, I’d have been tempted to spread this on a digestive biscuit  - despite its dubious colour!  It’s a surprisingly scrumptious change to the overpowering chemical smell, which all too frequently wafts past whilst out throwing shapes on a Saturday night (and sometimes when my colleagues walk past me in the office…no need to mention names, you know who you are!)
Tried and tested by my work peers, not to mention a firm favourite amongst Celebrity’s such as Gok Wan, we all agreed that the colour was even although not particularly dark, but then we don’t want to be walking round tanned up like Peter Andre in the “mysterious girl” days, do we?
Easy to apply (no Micky J gloves required) the tan went on smoothly and left my skin feeling moisturized and dewy. Although the bottle states 3-4 hours development time, I didn’t fully appreciate the colour until the next day so would recommend doing this the day before you wish to look bronzed! It lasted approximately 2-3 days before I returned to my normal – Mortitia like – complexion.
Overall…a delightfully fragranced tanner, which I would recommend to most skin types but particularly for pale to medium bodies.

Katie Ingram – Head make-up artist for SandraReynolds Model Agency and Shoot Production

Welcome to our beauty blog, we hope you will join us for good girly chatter about all things Glam.
Before you invest your hard earned pennies on some invaluable products we will endeavour to offer  extra opinions and advice on some featured items….maybe even a bit of gossip along the way.

Im supposed to write a little about me…well, I’ll admit im a first time blogger but avid writer (and talker) so I was thrilled to be invited to help my very good friend  Make Up Artist Maria Giles, (Glam.R founder and owner) launch her blog. Despite conceiving the idea whilst sipping cocktails round a pool in Ibiza, Maria seriously wanted her customers to have some independent critiques on her products. Glam R. is an ever expanding business and Maria is fantastically driven to provide some supeb products, which is going to make my job a lot harder as I intend to give an honest opinion but with excellent products it may be hard to find fault. If nothing else we can provide good advice on which products will suit each individual…let’s face it you definitely can’t say one size fits all in the world of beauty products!
I fell into my career by accident. Wishing to do something different in my gap year before university (and thoroughly backed by my parents - never ones to conform!) I embarked on a Media make-up course at my local college…never realizing that it would become my ideal job. I was lucky enough to have a fantastic tutor whose insight into the industry spans over 20 years and gave me the chance to interview for one of the UK’s most highly respected commercial model agencies, “Sandra Reynolds”. So I waved goodbye to University and embarked on my professional make-up journey.
Working with some of Norfolk’s leading photographers, ad agencies, art directors and publications has shaped the work I do today, and led me into further training at London’s ‘Greasepaint’ where I was able to work alongside some of the BBC’s chief make-up designers and train in High Definition Airbrushing.
               Although the industry can be competitive, and at times hard work, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, there are always new things to study, people to meet, and adventures to embark on! As I always say…“find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”.


Monday 1 November 2010

Glam R Make up: Glam R is the place to be

Glam R Make up: Glam R is the place to be: "Hi all u Glam.R followers, We have lots of new things planned so watch this space to keep up to date with everything beautiful, colourful,..."