Imagine a gorgeous place where your favourite beauty brands come together. That would be enough, right?
Add some beauty experts edits and opinions, from a leading magazine, to make your life easier when choosing the best products for you.
Then, top it off with a real shop full of friendly and approachable professionals in the counters.
Enough? Thought so, but there’s more: online shop with the superb Ocado delivery service, within a chosen 1 hour time slot.
Too good to be true? Maybe, but it’s real. All this is Fabled by Marie Claire.
And you can experience it right now as I have an exclusive 15% discount code for you, lovely readers, to start shopping online right now: VOU039323938, valid until the 26th October 2016.
To me, the concept is genius: an online shop tons of amazing beauty brands covering makeup, skincare, hair and fragrance, supported by the magazine expert edits, reviews and trend watching.
Beauty lovers that might be short for time, or are not sure about what red lipstick to go for, now have a haven to make their lives easier and help them nail they beauty needs.
And The Fabled Shop in London’s Tottenham Court Road? Dreamy!
I was about to place my order at fabled.com and decided I needed a new foundation. Took the opportunity to try the new Urban Decay All Nighter foundation.
So I went to the shop for a colour match, as I work nearby. Even though I told the lovely makeup artist on the UD counter I was not buying, she was lovely, helpful and super friendly.
I also wanted to get myself a new eyeliner – I went for Estée Lauder Little Black Liner. Obviously both will be reviewed soon!
Now to the order. The site is clean, well categorised, so it is easy to use and find what you’re looking for. You can also look for specific brands, skin concerns, the Marie Claire edit and specific filtering within categories.
They have an online chat to help you in those decisive hours and placing the order is very quick and painless, with Ocado delivery (free over £15, £3.90 otherwise) slots from 5:30 am to 11:3pm.
And you can attach it to your grocery shopping. Now, that’s as exciting as it is dangerous!
Remember, you can get 15% off right now with my code VOU039323938, valid until the 26th October.
At fabled.com and at their fabulous The Fabled Shop at 21 Tottenham Court Road, London, you can find Aveda, Aromatherapy Associates, Balance Me, Bobbi Brown, Benefit, bkr, Burberry, Clinique, Caudalie, Crabtree & Evelyn, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Essie, Eyeko, Estée Lauder, Eylure, ghd, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Hugo Boss, He-Shi, Lancôme, Lipstick Queen, L’Oréal Paris, Marc Jacobs, Maybelline, Nails Inc, NARS, OPI, REN, Rimmel, Seche, St. Tropez, Skin & Tonic, T3, This Works, The Balm, Tom For, Urban Decay, Zelens (breathe) and much more.
Now, I’ve had my eyes on Skin & Tonic London for a while and was thrilled to try their new product: the Naked Beauty Oil.
It is perfect for the colder season just coming in and at £25 for 30ml, it is a real bargain.
Stop press. I have succumbed to something liquid on my lips.
I was at The Apartment over LFW and Collection had a fab area. Amongst other goodies to pick up, were they yet to be launched (and now on the shelves) Velvet Kiss lipsticks.
Wella is a brand that for me holds nothing but great memories. Before I bought my own shampoo and conditioner of choice, my mum used to buy the good old Balsam and Revlon Flex and Aquamarine. So my hair grew up with that.
The Wella System Professional Balance shampoo provides gentle cleansing. It lathers well and leaves hair squeaky clean without stripping. it is great for sensitive, irritated and itchy scalp.
We all love a good mask and I was given that and not a conditioner. Weird, I know, but it works, to be used twice a week, the System Professional Volumize Mask is a dream. It reinforces the hair structure from within and delivers super moisturisation.
The System Professional Hydrate Quenching Mist is great to use. It can replace the conditioner most days; it gives the hair that extra hydration without weighing it. It is leave-in and helps with detangling for stress-free brushing/combing and smooth hair.
I also got the System Professional Alpha Energy, a scalp spray to help strengthening the hair, also from the within. It works at hair structure level for healthier, stronger hair. That translates in less damage, more manageability, less irritation and better moisture. After continuous use, scalp should feel rejuvenated and less irritated.
Here I go say it again: I love oils. I know I keep going on about it but there are so many amazing products now on the market I cannot help but rave about it.
The best thing is that is does not compromise the foundation finish (except for a subtle added glow) and durability. Skin does not feel greasy, heavy or as if it is about to melt.
Golden nails. I’ve always had a penchant for them. Finding the right shade is a bit tricky, as I don’t like it glittery, but the new Nails Inc Paint Can in Good as Gold comes as close to golden perfection as possible.
Feelings towards the product remain the same as when I did my original review: love the novelty, the colour is great, pigmentation on the gold seem a bit more scatty then the silver (I went over twice) and the durability is good.
*Maybe* I over sprayed onto my fingers on purpose. There’s no denying I wish I could se the pre-tidying up version and sport fingers dipped in gold, but that wouldn’t go well in the office, I am sure. But, oh, it’s so tempting!
Advantages include the fun (seriously!), the act you can quickly apply on top of any nail polish you’re wearing for a quick change, and of course, I made a meal out of it, but you can be much more targeted with the application to make clean up easier.
Nails Inc Paint Can now comes in eight shades with 
A scented love letter. That’s how the new Michael Bublé fragrance, By Invitation, is described.
The bottle, a lovely glass circle suspended within a golden ring, with the top being a metal version of an atomiser, is just very elegant and looks amazing on the dressing table. However, I think if it was a real atomiser, it would give this perfume the luxury edge.
Bublé, a self confessed hopeless romantic, is through his perfume, inviting his female fans to experience “love in a bottle”, he says.
Of course, Mr. Bublé is no perfumer and renowned French perfumier Karine Dubreil-Sereni is the expert behind it.
As a lover of all colours on my nails, I am not one to say there are summer and winter colours, but let’s agree that some colours for better in certain season.
Six extremely wearable shades (it’s not always that a full collection feels like that to me) will take you through the new season.
They are gorgeous alone or mixed. Follow that up in your season timeline with a shade I fell in love with: Now and Zen, the perfect safe grey.
On the warmer spectrum, a classic berry shade, quite vivacious, Maki Me Happy and the biggest surprise for me, Playing Koi, an almost vibrant bold orange rust colour, which looks amazing on my nails.
In modern society we many times concentrate on the physical and end up forgetting about our minds.
The Inner Strength Skin Recovery Moisturiser is a protective moisturiser that calms an soothes, helps build the skin protective barrier and helps restore the skin healthy aspect.
Skin, as well as the mind, feels revitalised. It’s moisturising, plumping, strengthening and soothing.
Yet another product on my new favourite skincare/makeup hybrid category, anything that promises me exceptional coverage, as well as care for problem skin deserves at least a good go, given my skin history.
It’s oil free, suitable for sensitive skin and has salicylic acid and eperulin to help combat acne, fight irritation and pigmentation scars.
And what’s more, there’s a whole 
So Many Lovely Things 