Alexia Inge

Alexia Inge co-founded the online beauty boutique CultBeauty.co.uk with Jessica Deluca in June 2008 because the beauty industry had disappointed them as consumers one too many times.

"We don't sell full lines of anything, like beauty curators we've focused on creating a shop where every item is stand-alone brilliant, a beauty hall of fame rather than an emporium".

Cult Beauty is an online retailer that has pioneered an expert-edited approach to beauty retailing, where customers have access to product recommendations and know-how usually available only to an A-list elite. A panel of 48 world-class hair and beauty experts filters through the excess of choice that plagues the beauty industry worldwide to present a tightly edited selection of cult products that do exactly what they say on the tin.

ALEXIA'S FAVOURITE SITES

TED -  I no longer have a TV because programming has reached the tragic tipping point where watching it actually removes IQ points, I watch TED instead! TED is a non-profit site dedicated to, ‘Ideas Worth Spreading' showcasing a continually updated selection of talks from every possible area of human endeavor - everything from bio-mimicry, hedonistic sustainability to international guerilla art projects and obsessions with octopi. It is a wonderful antidote to apathy.

Dear Photograph - There's no wiz-bang functionality to this site but if you like heart-warming, you'll love this very simple idea. It's a growing selection of images where an old photograph print - usually from the photofilm era - is held up in the exact place it was originally taken, aligned with its modern environment and re-shot to make a new work of art. This is an on-going art project where people from all over the world upload their images. Give it a try yourself.

Pinterest - The future of social media? This site has seen a meteoric rise over its first year because it's leveraged the growing onus on visual and comment as our preferred online communication tool. Everyone has their own virtual pinboard, on which they attach images, videos, news either found on the web, or from their own blogs/site with a link back to the original source. It's a great place to find inspiration, recipes, fashion & beauty tips, DIY inspiration and amusing pictures of cute pets in varying states of undress...

Secret Escapes - This company buys up empty hotel spaces last minute - nothing new there - the point of difference is the quality of their portfolio, they simply have lovely taste. The offers are so good they could have been ‘negotiated' by the mafia!

Fashion Foie Gras - I love the tone of this fashion blog. FFG avoids the normal pitfalls of most style sites i.e. only talking to people who consider a fag and a coffee to be an acceptable daily food intake, or who seriously present asymmetrical, floro turbans as recommended office attire. She writes intelligently, has a nose for the undiscovered and an eye for beautiful. The site also has one of the coolest logos I've seen in ages.

Editer.com - This one's a heads-up, an exciting launch this week from the team that brought us Fashion Confidential, they're expanding into lifestyle and if it's anything like their fashion it'll be a winner. Aimed at professional urbanites there will be beautiful photography, snappy articles and the inside on the coolest things happening in Fashion, Beauty, Food and everything else you need to fuel a fabulous lifestyle. (GWG: As we wait for launch, check out Editer Journal.)

21 February 2012