Slap it on; Beauty with Abby Knight

Sunday Mirror, Sep 24, 2000 by Abby Knight

Great giveaway

Margaret Astor is Europe's best-kept beauty secret. It is Spain's and Germany's most popular make-up brand - and is now available in the UK from Boots and Superdrug.

But you can make-up for free as we have 100 dinky silver bags (left) stashed with Margaret Astor cosmetics, worth pounds 40 each, to give away.

The make-up, called the Colours Of The Light, features loads of light and neutral tones to give you a soft, sexy look. The giveaway includes Anti Shine Make-Up, Perfect Finish Powder, Soft Sensation Lipstick in Mexico, and Eyeshadow Mono in Berry. Available to buy is also a Long Life Mascara and fast-drying 60 sec Wonderlast Nail Polish. For your chance to win one of the goodie bags, send your name and address on a postcard to Personal/Margaret Astor Offer, BMA Communications, PO Box 12897, London SW17 7ZR.

The winners will be the first 100 postcards picked from the bag after the closing date of Tuesday October 3, 2000.

Normal Trinity Mirror rules apply with no cash alternative.

Hairwatch

Farrah's back

"The Farrah Fawcett flick was one of

the most widely copied styles of all time."

So says celebrity stylist Andrew Collinge.

And now that style is back. That means lots of luscious layers, you know - like the ones you were trying frantically to grow out at the beginning of the summer. According to Andrew, the reason that Farrah's look was so popular back in the Seventies was because it was feminine and flattering - it framed the face and suited just about everyone. "But unlike the wild and fluffy look of the original, this time the style is sophisticated, with more precision layering and a hint of a flick," he says. "And the best bit is you don't need to have a fringe to try it."

Here's how to get the look:

1 Towel dry your hair, apply a firm hold mousse and dry upside down to boost volume.

2 When your hair is 90 per cent dry, style the flick. Take a section of hair from the front and curl it around a styling brush. Spray with a setting gel such as Andrew Collinge Salon Solutions Styling Gel spray, pounds 3.50 for 200 ml.

3 Then use your hairdryer to set the curl in place, allowing the hair to cool down on the brush to encourage the look to last longer. Repeat with another section of hair, and practise the flirty flick.

The knowledge

Gorgeous Kelly Preston, star of For The Love Of The Game and Jerry McGuire, puts her glowing skin down to regular pampering with the Environ antioxidant range. The packaging might look high-tech, but the ingredients are all natural, including vitamins A and C and willow bark extract that help with skin cell renewal. Not cheap, the Cel-C-Lift kit (020 8450 2020) costs pounds 54.95, but it does promise a visible difference in just a few weeks.

Meanwhile, Catherine Zeta Jones keeps cool using Caudalie's Eau De Beaute (0870 2412163), pounds 11 for 30ml. The rosemary, orange and rose flower extracts should work like a pick-me-up for hot, tired skin so it's worth keeping the mini bottle in your handbag.

BEAUTY TREASURES

One of the best bits about the nights drawing in is the excuse to swap showers for a relaxing wallow in the tub. And you could turn your bath into an inter- galactic experience by shaking in a capsule of Paco Rabanne's Ultraviolet Effervescent Bath Crystals. Designed to look like comet dust from the planet Venus, these fizzing, scented crystals transform ordinary tap water into a shimmering purple sea and leave your skin softer into the bargain. They cost pounds 33 for the coffret which includes two 30g crystal wands and 50ml eau de parfum.