Category Entertainment News

As a beauty writer, it’s my job to test out the latest makeup launches, but when Kylie Jenner announced the launch of her latest Kylie Cosmetics Natural Blur Powder Foundation I could practically hear my dry skin crying. As someone who has to use all kinds of heavy moisturisers, face oils and liquid makeup products to stop my skin from being patchy, tight and flaky, I thought there was no way a powder foundation would work well on my skin.

However in the interests of research, and helping my fellow dry skin sufferers find products that work, I decided to test it out. The Kylie Cosmetics Natural Blur Powder Foundation retails for £29, and comes in nine different shades, promising to give you up to 12 hours of wear with a lightweight, matte finish.

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To keep things fair, I did my skincare routine just as I always would, with the same amount of serum, moisturiser and oil that I would always use in the morning, and let it settle before applying the powder, just as I would before using a liquid foundation. The Natural Blur Powder Foundation comes with its own soft applicator sponge, but does say you could use a foundation brush to apply it if you prefer.

I tried my brush first, and found it blended surprisingly well for a compact powder. I also tried out the sponge applicator, which was better for more instant coverage but gave a heavier finish, so you can pick your preference depending on what type of coverage you want.

The Natural Blur Powder Foundation has a lovely silky texture that doesn’t feel chalky, and it did feel instantly weightless on my skin, rather than powdery or heavy like some powders do. It also felt soft to the touch and didn’t have that “dusty” feel that happens after using other powder products. However, the matte effect was a little intense for me, even as someone who isn’t a big fan of a super dewy look.

It did blur my skin and covered up some redness and texture, but the overall matte effect made my face look a little flat. I used my usual bronzer to create some contrast, which definitely gave it a more dynamic look, and was pleased at how well the two powder products blended together; there was no patchiness or separation in sight.

I left it on for the whole day, which included work and a dog walk, and when I checked at the end of the day I was really impressed to see it was still in place. There was some fading around my cheeks, which tend to be where I carry redness, but the rest of my skin still looked smooth and covered, and it had actually settled into my skin more which gave it a softer, less matte finish.

Usually by this point in the day my makeup goes a little patchy as certain areas start to dry out. But the Natural Blur Powder Foundation had managed to avoid settling or flaking on those dry patches.

As I loved the blurring effect but was less into the super matte finish, I think I’ll keep the Natural Blur Powder Foundation as more of a touch up or finishing powder, rather than an all-over foundation, which it’s also designed for. However dry skin sufferers, let this be proof you don’t need to avoid matte or powder products like the plague – you just need to use them in different ways.

I am, however, a major fan of the Kylie Cosmetics Skin Tint Blurring Elixir Foundation, which is currently on sale down from £26 to £20.80. I find it really lightweight and hydrating, and it blends like a dream for a natural looking finish.

If you’re keen to try other powder foundations, the Nars Soft Matte Advanced Perfecting Powder, £32, lasts up to 24 hours and is infused with niacinamide, which helps minimise the appearance of pores and encourages a smoother skin texture when worn regularly. If you want a more diverse shade range, the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Powder Foundation, £35, has a massive 50 different shades to choose from that cover all skin tones and undertones.

Since the late 2010s, fitted jeans have been virtually non-existent, with many shoppers opting for baggy and wide-leg styles instead. However, like most trends, which tend to be circular, skinny jeans have started to make their inevitable comeback.

American rapper Kendrick Lamar performed at the Superbowl during halftime wearing light blue boot-cut jeans. While many took to social media to praise his performance, some fans quickly pointed out his denim choice, with one TikTok user commenting, ‘All I was thinking about was Kendrick Lamar wearing flared jeans’.

Taylor McNeill is the stylist behind Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl look. The now famous jeans, which retail at a hefty £830, are from the luxury French brand Celine and were designed by Heidi Slimane. These low-rise flared jeans have taken the internet by storm, cementing the re-emerging skinny and fitted jean trend.

Conversations about the return of skinny jeans started only two weeks ago when TikTok influencer Alix Earle launched a collection in collaboration with FRAME Denim.

Earle is a US-based influencer who rose to fame in 2023 for her relatable and honest ‘get-ready-with-me’ videos, which she posted to TikTok daily. Since then, she has secured the title of ‘it girl’ and is a go-to source for feminine fashion trends.

With over 7 million followers on TikTok, Alix Earle has become a trendsetter. Since the launch of her skinny jeans in collaboration with FRAME, the jeans have already sold out in the UK and are now only available for pre-order, with expected delivery at the end of March.

Those who have managed to secure a pair of ‘The Alix’ jeans have taken to social media to show off their new outfits. However, many quickly noted that all the skinny jeans were styled with tall boots, conveniently hiding the most defining (and controversial) element: the tight-fitting ankle.

On the other hand, some designers never ditched the slim-fitted trousers. Brands like Celine, Isabel Marant, and Marni have continually showcased skinny jeans on their runways throughout the years, begging the question of whether the style of jeans ever entirely disappeared.

Over the past decade, there have been ongoing conversations about the popularity of skinny jeans. Gen Z has expressed disgust for the style, while Millenials have constantly tried to prove their loyalty.

Regardless of your stance, Kendrick Lamar and Alix Earle will go down as the names behind the return of the infamous skinny jeans in 2025.

The organisers of the BAFTA Film Awards, which are taking place on Sunday 16 February, are reportedly tightening security to prevent anyone gatecrashing the ceremony following an embarrassing incident last year.

At the 2024 Awards, the Christopher Nolan-directed Oppenheimer won Best Film, but when the cast and crew walked to the stage to accept the BAFTA, they were joined by a YouTube prankster who goes by the name of Lizwani. He was seen standing and smirking in the background behind Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy as Nolan’s wife, producer Emma Thomas, gave her acceptance speech on stage in front of a celebrity-packed audience and millions of viewers at home.

At the time, BAFTA said: “A social media prankster was removed by security last night after joining the winners of the final award on stage. We are taking this very seriously, and don’t wish to grant him any publicity by commenting further.”

The prankster, who has a relatively small 10,000 followers on YouTube, previously infiltrated other ceremonies including the 2022 BRIT Awards and Soccer Aid in 2021. He has only posted one video since his appearance at the BAFTAs.

The film awards ceremony is once again taking place at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank and attendees are expected to include nominees Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, Demi Moore, Timothee Chalamet and Cynthia Erivo, while David Tennant is returning to host for the second year in a row.

A source told The Sun that organisers are determined to make sure that no uninvited guests will get the chance to infiltrate the event this year. “The Baftas are taking no risks after last year and security at tomorrow’s event has never been tighter. Everyone going in and out of Festival Hall will be checked and there are more security guards on call. It’ll basically be the safest place to be in London because of the amount of eyes on it.”

The source added that security would also be increased inside the venue, with more checks so no one can get close to the stage who isn’t supposed to be there. The Mirror has approached BAFTA representatives for comment.

Last year, the big winners at the BAFTA Film Awards were Oppenheimer, with seven wins including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, while Emma Stone won Best Actress for Poor Things and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers.

This year, contenders for Best Film include drama Conclave, starring nominee Ralph Fiennes, crime drama Anora, period drama The Brutalist, starring nominees Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, featuring nominees Timothée Chalamet (as Dylan) and Edward Norton (as musician Pete Seeger) and the controversial Netflix musical drama Emilia Perez.

As well as the main awards, Star Wars and Willow actor Warwick Davis will receive the BAFTA Fellowship and the charity Medicinema will receive an award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Patrons the Prince and Princess of Wales are not attending this year, but fans at the ceremony and watching the BBC’s broadcast at home will be treated to a performance by Take That, whose song Greatest Day appears in the movie Anora, while acclaimed actor and musician Jeff Goldblum will deliver a piano performance during the In Memoriam segment of the show.

The BAFTA Film Awards will be on BBC One on Sunday 16 February from 7pm.

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TV star Alison Hammond has posted a rare photo of her toyboy boyfriend as she gushed over him for Valentine’s Day.

The TV presenter typically keeps her romances away from the public eye, yet decided to shake things up as she celebrated the day of love. She posted a rare photo of her partner David Putman as they cosied up to each other in the loved up snap. Alison, 50, had faced split rumours with David, 27, after they spent time apart over Christmas.

Yet, she has squashed any speculation of a breakup earlier this month as Alison made a big marriage confession. For the loved-up selfie, the couple wrapped up in coats and beanies and beamed at the camera as Alison said: “Valentines Day.” She also tagged her boyfriend in the photo and added love heart emojis around his name.

Earlier this month, Alison revealed she would marry David “tomorrow” if she could. Speaking earlier this month ahead of her 50th birthday, Alison quipped on the Smart TV podcast: “Oh do you know what? This is going to make headlines but, yeah, I would marry him tomorrow.”

The This Morning host embarked on her relationship with masseuse David in December 2023. They have come under some scrutiny over their 23-year age gap, yet Alison and David have been able to shrug it off. She recently insisted David is “mature and sensible” when she was questioned about her romance last year.

Over Christmas the pair sparked split rumours after they chose to spend some time apart. David shared snaps from a sunny beach as he jetted abroad for the festive season while Alison remained in the UK as she carried on her panto work. In December, Alison decided to open up on her romance with David as she said they fit together “like a jigsaw”.

She admitted she pays no attention to their age gap as they balance each other out perfectly. “I can see how, on paper, you’d notice the age difference,” she told Good Housekeeping magazine. “But honestly, when we see the word ‘toyboy’ written about us, it bears no relation to what we have at all. Yes, I’m 22 years older than he is, but if you saw us together, you’d understand.”

Alison is said to have first encountered David when she hired him for a £150 massage, leading to a blossoming romance from what began as a friendship. Her partner David, who stands at an impressive 6ft 10 inches tall, hails from Russia and is a model by profession. Due to anticipation of inevitable public scrutiny, Alison was initially hesitant about going public with their budding romance.

This Morning co-host Dermot O’Leary was the one who broke the news. In May 2023, Dermot turned to Alison and said that she was “no longer available.” Playing coy, Alison asked: “What do you mean I’m not available… you trying to say that I’m not available?” Dermot then noticed her tone and quickly said: “I don’t know, now I’m really confused!” However, Alison interjected and said: “Am I not unavailable? Is there someone in my life? Well, you’ve just told the whole world, thanks!”

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A former X Factor contestant has revealed what it was really like on the show.

American singer-songwriter Spencer Sutherland made his debut on the programme back in Summer 2017, auditioning for Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. During his first audition, the musician received harsh criticism due to his performance habits – before the judges finally complimented his vocal ability, sailing through to the next round with four yeses.

But it wasn’t just the audition round which saw Spencer impress the judges, the 32-year-old found himself sailing through the competition, passing Bootcamp and Judges Houses, before landing a spot in the live shows. As part of the Boys category, alongside Lloyd Macey, Leon Mallett and Sam Black, he was mentored by Louis Walsh.

However, in the first round of the live shows, Spencer lost out to fellow Boys star, Leon and was ultimately sent home after receiving the lowest public votes. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Spencer said: “It was really fun. It’s funny because they always try to create a little bit of a drama and a little bit of panic.

“I think it helps with the TV show aspect of it – it’s all in good fun. It clearly works for a reason because people love the shows and I loved doing it. I had such a blast doing it.” Reflecting on Cher Lloyd’s recent comments about the programme focusing on the reality TV aspect, rather than music, Spencer continued: “The whole story of me doing was, I flew over from Ohio, with a dream in a bucket and I did.

“They sort of sought out an American, I was talking to producers before I even auditioned – it’s funny how those shows work.” But prior to appearing on the programme, Spencer had already had a brush with fame, in June 2017, he was chosen as Elvis Duran’s Artist of the Month on NBC’s The Today Show with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, with his track Selfish.

Since then, Spencer has become friends with Elvis and recently appeared on his show to promote his album, The Drama. “He’s become a dear friend now,” he said, adding: I just love it when that kind of stuff happens. People just continue to support for years. Now, we get to hang out and talk about an entire an album, instead of just discovering me as an artist which is fun.”

But one of Spencer’s highlights was joining forces with Meghan Trainor for his 2023 single, Chicken Little, admitting that she was the “best person ever”. He explained: “The thing I love about her is that she’s a giant proponent of up and coming artists. So she loves to help out people on a bunch different ways. She messaged me which was really exciting because I’ve been a fan of hers for a decade.

“She asked to get on a song that I had written and I was like ‘How can I say no to that? I wanted to ask you but I was nervous’. I love hanging out with her and her husband, they are just some of the good people in the industry,” adding that everything you see from Meghan is “all real.”

Currently, Spencer is on a world tour, having performed at Manchester’s Gorilla bar on Thursday. “It’s insane to be across the world in places like Berlin, Milan, I think I’ve outdone my dreams,” he said before struggling to contain his excitement over the “coolest thing ever.”

“The X Factor taught me so much,” Spencer said about his music. “I don’t know what my genre is, that’s my biggest takeaway from that.” The musician who has released a staggering 26 singles went on to say “I just try to release as much music into the world that I was proud of. My first two albums, I’m just so proud and feel like I’ve finally honed in on my rock and roll and my glam rock style – it just feels so like me.”

Although he’s been on a journey of self-discovery, Spencer revealed that it’s “uncomfortable” to face such harsh realities about yourself but it’s “necessary” to help you discover who you are as a singer and your stage persona. “When I was doing X Factor, I thought I was ready but I was so far off,” he joked.

Singing isn’t the only thing Spencer is passion about and in 2021, the musician turned his hand to acting, starring in the Netflix hit movie, Afterlife of the Party. The film, during which he played Koop, instantly became a smash and one of the most viewed films on the entire streaming platform.

“It was a great transition because I played I played like this big pop star in a movie,” he said. Spencer continued: “I got to write the music for the movie and it felt like a nice kind of crossover. I’m still auditioning, I would love to do more. It’s hard when you’re touring a lot.” However, Spencer revealed that nobody expected the movie to take off so quickly.

Despite currently being on tour, he’s still attempting to write for his third studio album when finding gaps in his hectic schedule. “I’d like to put out a deluxe version of The Drama,” he teased. He added: “We’re working on more tour dates, more support stuff and headline. I just dropped my own coffee bean brand with my guitarist called The Drama Blend, so just trying out all sorts of fun.”

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