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Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler was born at the beginning of the First World War in a privileged family in what was still the Austro-Hungarian empire. At the tender age of 16, she was discovered by producer Max Reinhardt and started working in the world of silent movies.
In 1933 she caused a scandal when she acted naked in the Czech film “Ecstasy”. From then on an indefinable atmosphere of controversy will be surrounding the young actress and it will never leave her.

She met Louis B. Meyer in Paris, who was scouting for talent in Europe. Meyer hired her and will later on asked her to change her name. Back in Hollywood he promoted her by saying she was “the world’s most beautiful woman”, no less. It will takes some time for her to re-invent herself as Hedy Lamarr in the US where MGM is still looking to find a new Garbo.

Despite real acting skills and beauty described by most of her contemporaries as truly stupendous, her career on screen fluctuated between failures and successes.
But the beautiful brunette had more than one string to her bow and in 1941, she invented in collaboration with composer George Antheil a revolutionary radio system using the principles of how pianos worked to identify a way to prevent German submarines from jamming allies radio signals. It is still used today for technologies like Bluetooth, GPS and wifi on which we depend on daily.

It was only years later that this major scientific contribution would be publicly recognised as the star’s idea. On the 9th November 2015 which would have been the 101st anniversary of her birth, Google paid tribute to Hedy Lamarr’s contributions to scientific advancement and her work in film with an animated Google Doodle.

Film star, she was and as such, she married six times and had many love affairs. Her seduction was irresistible however her capricious nature and obsession for her beauty caused her great harm on film sets.

As she got older, Lamarr turned to plastic surgery to preserve the looks she was terrified of losing however the results were disastrous. She had many operations thinking it could revive her looks and her career, but sadly it backfired and distorted her beauty.

Arrested several times for shoplifting, she worked less and less during the 70’s and progressively became a recluse. Forgotten, she died in California at the age of 85 in 2000.
But unremembered in the new century, contemporaries of her hours of glory often spoke of her and always remembered her great beauty.

Lana Turner, another icon of glamour wrote in her memoirs “When I met Hedy Lamarr about twenty years ago, she was so amazing looking that every conversation stopped as soon as she entered a room. Wherever she went she became the centre of attention. I doubt if there was a single individual who wondered if there was something behind that beauty. Everyone was too busy to stare at her, speechless. ”
But the beautiful Hedy was not fooled by her Hollywood impact and she said : “Any girl can be glamorous, all you have to do is stand still and look stupid. ”

                                                  AM x

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Born in 1915 in Boston, Barbara “Babe” Paley belonged from childhood in a privileged world.

When she appeared in society as debutante in1934 during the Great Depression, her exceptional beauty already made great impression.

In 1938, she began working as a fashion editor for Vogue, the magazine gave her an aura of glamour and she did the same for the magazine. So much so that she soon joined the list of the ten best-dressed women in the world, reaching second place, the top of the podium was usually occupied by another American, the invincible Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.

After a first marriage followed by divorce, Babe become Paley became in 1947 by marrying the extremely wealthy president of CBS, William S. Paley, and also became one of writer Truman Capote “swans”.

Although they were very close friends, the writer will be rejected by Babe and her world after the publication of excerpts from his unfinished book “Answered Prayers” in which under very transparent alternative identities, he revealed high society’s unflattering secrets.

Ironically, it is thanks to Truman Capote’s literary legacy and his own legend that Babe Paley is remembered along a few high society “it-girls’ of their time and without him they might have been completely forgotten. He famously said “Babe Paley only had one fault. She was perfect. Otherwise she was perfect.”

With her classic & avant-garde style, Paley fascinated a whole generation of American women who were eager to imitate her. Like Diana Vreeland, she mixed the most luxurious with cheap items and showed a taste for large costume jewellery, a novelty at the time.

One accessory, however, was to be fatal, cigarette. There are very few photographs where the beautiful socialite – shrouded in a cloud of smoke – does not have a cigarette in her hand. Two packs a day was to be the cause of her death when she was barely sixty.

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AM x

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Born in Egypt to an Italian father and opera violonist under the name of Yolanda Gigliotti, the future Dalida participates in beauty contests in her homeland and follows a traditional way at the time to fame and glory.

After winning the title of Miss Egypt, she travels to Paris in the 50’s still raven black hair, to become an actress. But the french capital only pays little attention to Miss Yolanda from Africa so she moves towards a singing career and after a not very encouraging start, she finally breaks through and multiplies her successes becoming like Brigitte Bardot, an role model for girls at the time.

Having changed her hair colour to Venetian blonde, her exotic accent and Middle-Eastern dance gestures will enable her to successfully traverse several different musical eras and never go out of style, thus eventually becoming a true icon.

Still wrapped in sequinned tight dresses, she undulates in television studios where she sings in all languages and each of her stage appearances always sell out out.

Paradoxically, her private life is a complete disaster and by a strange curse, almost all the men in her life put an end to their lives, casting a perpetual morbid shadow over her while her public persona expresses the most triumphant joy.

Behind the brilliant Dalida still remains small Yolanda unable to be heard when her public image offers all the dazzling image of happiness. Unable to get rid of this status, the singer puts her own life but does not fall into oblivion, in France, she remains ubiquitous and still sells many records and her success endures in spite of everything.

Dalida’s look was furiously glamorous, with her cascading mane of thick blonde hair, she wore strong eye makeup, her cheeks contoured by warm blush tones and her lips painted in coral, brown or beige colours. Dalida’s career was hugely successful and she is remembered in France as flamboyant singing icon.

                                             AM x x

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Agnes Moorehead was born just at the beginning of the previous century. She studied and gained a degree in literature which was quite an unusual asset in show business at the time. She first began a prolific radio career before joining the legendary Orson Welles’s group Mercury Theater. She acted for the boy wonder in two of his biggest films “Citizen Kane” and “The Magnificent Ambersons”. However beyond participation in these two monuments of cinema and in many other films where she was never lacking in glamour, it is the small screen that will make her more than just a familiar face. By endorsing the brilliant character Endora, the hateful, arrogant, sarcastic stepmother in “Bewitched” Miss Moorehead became a hugely famous figure of popular culture and that status is very much unchanged to this day ! Besides the incessant torment she inflicted with great style to her son-in-law, her intangible and unique look did much for the huge success of the show. Her character dressed in purple ( Agnes often wore that colour in real life ) and green, her almost expressionist outrageous makeup matched her big hairstyles did not make her the most loveable persona however after forty years she is still recognised with a simple glance by several generations of fans. Agnes as Endora still is simply the most famous of TV witches, stylish and always witty !

                           Anne Marie x

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I went on a fun shopping expedition with my daughter a couple of weeks ago in London to kit her out for Winter with clothes that fit her forever growing body . We were in shopping “heaven” in Westfield and enjoying a free Friday thanks to a teacher’s Inset day – when I say shopping heaven it very much depends on your perception of shopping as a pleasurable activity as it can easily turn into hell if you get there on a busy weekend, without any money or worse with a few credit cards… However we were sticking to our budget, mine was mainly splashing out on a lovely lunch, snacks and treats for my precious daughter and hers was a very reasonable sum given by her generous grandmother ( in euros which led to a heated debate onto how to find the best exchange rate ).

We found ourselves in one of largest Boots store where I directed her to the reasonably priced Boots Botanics range which seems perfect for a teenager’s budget – no overpriced luxury brands allowed until she is in full work mode even with generous grandma – as she wanted some new skincare basics. We bought 3 products: a moisturiser, a toner and the cleansing balm which we have been using in a mother & daughter duo trial.

I have read a few positive reviews from beauty journalists and bloggers about the Boots Botanics range, in particular their cleansing balm. In the past I have used the Eve Lom Cleansing Balm which is excellent but pricey, then a Ren cleanser which I loved, and the famous Liz Earle cleanser which I did not like at all as it gave me lots of little spots. So when I looked at the ingredients of the Boots Cleansing Balm I was very pleased to see that it was not full of cheap ingredients which is often the case in cheaper High street beauty products. In fact I have grown to really like this balm and have been using it on alternative nights ( I am trialling another cleanser at the moment ). It does ‘what it says on the tin’ and it does it extremely well. My advices is be very careful not to use it on the delicate eye area which I did regrettably once, ouch it stings! and to ditch the provided muslin cloth which is a little on the rough side. It probably offers extra exfoliation but it feels harsh on the skin and quite cheap. Otherwise this balm really cleanses the skin beautifully, removing all makeup, dirt and leaves the skin bright and very soft. I love the aromatic scent, the soft cream texture which melts on the skin and the fact that a little goes a long way. The Botanics range is using partly organic ingredients, and is developed with world expert in plant science from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. The cleansing balm is 97% organic which is a plus in my humble opinion. As far as my daughter is concerned she has enjoyed using this balm too, often while having a long hot bath spa-style. She has a typical combination skin and regular teenage spot breakouts so the gentle exfoliation does help and is better then using harsh astringent products which can inflame young skin and can make the spots worse. ( use several soft muslin cloths and make sure you wash them in boil wash ).

I think the price, £ 5.99 (65ml) instead of £ 40.00 for the Eve Lom Balm (50ml) seems a very good deal. We paid £ 4.99 as the balm was on an offer. Boots almost always have offers going on so it is well worth looking online and waiting for that special deal. You can buy it online here.

For a completely organic, versatile alternative option you can simply buy a large jar of organic coconut oil ( buy for best possible quality ) and use that as a cleaner, moisturiser, hair/face mask, for cooking etc…

I would recommend this potion as a well priced, quality and honest product. However do check the ingredients carefully as aromatic oils can cause an allergic reaction if you have sensitive skin.

Have you used this balm or know of other good cleansing products ? I would love to hear your opinion so get in touch. I hope you have enjoyed reading this little post. By the way there is no Pomegranate extract in the Cleansing balm, I just love them and it looked pretty as a background prop in the photo !

                              Anne Marie XoXo

Boots Botanics Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm Ingredients

Olea europaea (Olive) fruit oil*, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) seed oil*, Cera alba (Beeswax)*, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter*, Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet almond) oil*, Cetearyl alcohol, Rosa canina seed oil*, Limonene, Citronellol, Pelargonium graveolens flower oil, Citrus aurantium dulcis peel extract*, Linalool, Citrus aurantium bergamia (Bergamot) fruit oil, Citrus medica limonum (Lemon) peel oil, Geraniol, **Parfum (Fragrance), Citral

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For the hair I used Bumble & Bumble Styling Creme, here on damp hair, dried the hair upside down, backcombed it a little and then gently gathered it back, tied it with a hairband and twisted it into a soft bun. I picked a few stands, and used a little water to create gentle curls. I love the simplicity of this look, it is very flattering with defined brows, eyes and cheekbones,

                                 Anne Marie x

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