IT’S lucky that 22-year-old therapist Paula Anderson, from Cramlington, Northumberland, has a steady hand and patience. Serenity in the City in Jesmond, Newcastle, has just introduced lash extensions, and she’s a bit of a whizz at it. The two-hour Nouveau Lashes application (£70) is complicated, involving almost surgical precision as she grafts lash extensions on to existing lashes (and no, you can’t see the join), but totally relaxing for the client lying back listening to soothing sounds. Our tester was thrilled with the results. “Paula has tailored the extensions to suit my eye shape, they’re fuller and more youthful, yet it still looks totally natural,” she says. Results can be expected to last well over a month. However, if you like the never-having-to-wear-mascara-again look, an ongoing maintenance treatment is recommend every two to three weeks. Call (0191) 281-9222 for further details. THIS is a new Brush-On Cream Liner from the Play in the Darks collection from Clinique. A clever creamy gel, it’s easier to apply than a liquid liner because you can dab off any excess on the back of the hand, as an artist would using a palette. An excellent tip if you’ve not got a steady hand is to draw three dashes along your lash line, outer corner, middle and inner corner, then go back and connect the dashes. It costs £12 from Boots, Fenwick and John Lewis in Newcastle, and House of Fraser, MetroCentre, Gateshead, and comes in graphite, Egyptian, black honey and deep brown. A NEW-to-you range of cleansing products often triggers off a renewed vigour to properly care for your skin. We all need a change and it doesn’t have to be an expensive one. The Nivea Essentials range is at purse-friendly prices (under £7.50) and makes it easy to create your own cleanse, tone and moisturise routine with two variations for either dry/sensitive and normal/combination skin. The two daily moisturisers, Rich and Light, are very good value at £5.09 and both have UVA/UVB protection. From most supermarkets and chemists. SOMETHING worth splurging on is the new Tom Ford Black Orchid fragrance, newly arrived within Fenwick, Newcastle. Tom Ford is something of a legend. His creative director skills for Gucci and Yves St Laurent made them into worldwide luxury brands. Now he’s doing his own fashion and beauty lines. Black Orchid is the latest fragrance. It’s luxurious and sensual with black truffle and blackcurrant as top notes, lotus wood in the middle and vanilla tears at the base. It’s £345 for the 15ml perfume or £52 for the 50ml eau de parfum. Expect to wait in line for the tester bottle. REMEMBER Nulon? It used to be the only brand of handcream in the 1950s. Where it’s been hiding we’ll never know, but it’s back now and who could resist this fabulous retro packaging? New formulations mean it’s more effective than ever and the range has extended to include some excellent home treatments. We particularly like the sound of Heat Activated Spa Gloves, £4.99 for three pairs, with hazelnut oil, and the Hand Treatment Scrub, £3.99, as a preparatory step before the Overnight Hand Treatment Cream, £4.49, with wheatgerm and sweet almond oil. Available from Superdrug. | 
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