Recently in Anna Mason Category

Tamanu oil has so many amazing health-boosting properties, I didn't know where to start describing it. Then I came across a case which I thought best shows just how powerful this stuff is. A woman was admitted to the St Louis Hospital in Paris with a large gangrenous ulcer on her leg that would not heal (I know-lovely). The doctors thought her leg would have to be amputated, but the woman was being given regular dressings of tamanu oil and in a short space of time, the wound healed completely- leaving a smooth, flat scar.

I usually really dislike going to the hairdressers. The way the washbasin digs into your neck. The old is-it-rude-to-close-my-eyes-and-go-to-sleep-while-she's-washing-my-hair dilemma. Having to sit in front of a mirror for all that time, scrutinizing your appearance. Do I really pull those daft expressions when I speak?
Getting fidgety when the blow dry takes too long; the expense of the whole palaver; the chunk of time it takes and of course, the horror of seeing your colour come out all wrong.

Lasering unwanted hair at home might seem like a very, very bad idea, but believe me, going to a salon to have it done can be disastrous if the person wielding the laser isn't properly qualified.
A couple of years ago I visited a salon to have my bikini line done and ended up with a nasty burn that was excrutiatingly painful at the time.

We are used to hearing about cosmeceuticals these days. Cosmeceuticals are those cosmetics marketed like medicines in a bottle: think NV Periccone MD, Dr. Nick Lowe, SkinCeuticals, The Organic Pharmacy, M Lab and Dr. Sebagh (etcetera etcetera).

It seems we Brits have fallen very much in love with high-tech beauty products. The UK market for cosmeceuticals is worth 102 million pounds. Bigger, more mainstream companies such as L'Oreal and Dior have wisely jumped on the bandwagon, putting out things like Youth Code, inspired by the science of genes.

Usually I use cheap products by Simple or Boots to take mascara off at the end of the day. I can't see the point of spending a lot on something that is to be wiped on and off. So long as it is gentle, non-drying and does the job, that is fine by me. I chucked a bottle of Lacura Bi-Phase Eye Make Up Remover into the trolley while shopping at Aldi the other day. At 2.49 a pop, it's pretty good: effective, conditioning, yet not too oily.

The thing about staying overnight in a swish hotel is that, when you come home, your own set up seems a little grubby by comparison. Or a lot, in my case. I stayed at Hotel Du Vin in Newcastle on Sunday and by Monday night found myself surveying the mess in my own bathroom in a new harsher light. Back to reality meant back to standing on plastic pirate play figures, an overflowing laundry basket, a trail of sand on the floor and sink, little coloured waterbombs dotted everywhere, a temperamental shower that may or may not get hot depending on how it feels that particular day, and a shower curtain positioned too close to the shower so that it sticks to you when you get in.

So Naomi Campbell has been testifying in court about the alleged blood diamond gift from Liberia's ex-warlord, Charles Taylor. Campbell's old agency boss, Carole White, went on the record to say that Miss Campbell was 'mildly flirting' with mass murderer Taylor at a Nelson Mandela charity fundraising dinner.

Now fourty years old, Naomi Campbell's looks may have survived better than her reputation. The outcome of this newest saga is for the Sierra Leone court to decide. While scanning the details I came across plenty of other Campbell controversies, amongst them her beauty and diet secrets.

Apparently she favours the maple syrup diet; syrup mixed with just cayenne pepper, lemon juice and water, to detoxify her system. The longest she says she has done it for is eighteen days.

Campbell turned 40 in May. Here's a little about what the other '80's Supers are doing to preserve their stunning faces and bodies, too:

The Boots website crashed this morning as thousands of women attempted to get hold of a bottle of RapidLash's Eyelash Enhancing Serum. The serum, which costs 39.99, claims to boost lash growth by 50% over the course of eight weeks, was being sold a bottle a minute on Saturday.

Such is the excitement, that sales may even beat those of No.7 Protect & Perfect. Remember women queuing through the night to get their hands on the 'magic' anti-ageing serum?

But before you rush out and slap down your 39.99, hang on a minute.

Hard skin on your feet can be a real pain. It's a bit like having an unfortunate Facebook pest that just won't go away, no matter how hard you try to get rid: persistent, always coming back and definitely not pretty.

I've tried all kinds of things on mine. In my naive teenage years I thought that a mere pumice stone would do the trick (ha!). Then I progressed to foot files, in all shapes and sizes, in a bid to achieve baby soft feet. I learned that just because a file comes in the shape of a foot, doesn't mean it's going to be any better than the last oval shaped one.

The bottom line is, none of this really works.

I feel bad for France's First Lady Carla Bruni. She is always in the press, even more so than French President Nicolas Sarkozy, it seems. Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy is forever being scrutinized and compared with the other First Ladies over her appearance. So it's no wonder if she goes to extreme lengths to look good. After all, all the world is watching her.

I've only ever seen one bad picture of Carla Bruni, taken back in March, with her face looking strangely taut and the skin kind of roughly-textured.

This led to speculation about plastic surgery, but one savvy Medical Doctor suggested Carla had been for fractionated laser treatment. These laser treatments stimulate the skin into making more collagen, resulting in a firmer, smoother face.