Latest news with #Keeks
Cosmopolitan
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
M&S launches viral strawberries and cream sandwich – we tried it, here's our verdict
We've had our fair share of viral food trends over the past few months – from Dubai chocolate to all matcha everything – but M&S may have really topped them all with its latest offering in the sandwich aisle. The limited edition strawberries and cream sandwich, based on the internet's beloved viral 'Japanese fruit sando', became M&S's best-selling sarnie just two days after its initial launch. Japanese-style fruit sandwiches have become increasingly popular thanks to TikTok, seeing intrepid foodies trying to hunt them down in Eastern-style bakeries. However, this strawberries and cream sandwich marks the first time this type of snack has been widely available in a British supermarket. With strawberries and cream the nation's go-to snack during the summer (particularly with Wimbledon now getting underway), could a sandwich really be the chic new way to enjoy this British institution? There are very few things that cannot be improved by putting them between two thick slices of white bread, so team Cosmopolitan UK decided to put these unique sandwiches to the test. From the moment you tear open the cardboard packet, you will be hit by a saccharine aroma that borders almost on sickly. This, after all, is not any bog standard white bread with some strawberries shoved in – these are two thick, hearty slices of brioche-style bread which have been generously smothered in a lightly sweetened crème fraiche AND full fat soft cheese which hug the densely cut strawberries tightly. I'm someone with a well-worn sweet tooth (with the fillings to prove it), and even this seemed a little *excessive*. It wasn't so much the taste that was bad when I sunk my teeth through the thick, hearty portion (features editor Jenni decided to wield a knife to cut the sandwich into a dainty finger, while I basically deep throated my triangle), but the texture that threw me off. The cream and strawberries filling aren't the problem – they're a tried-and-tested and relatively safe combination (although the filling could have been slightly colder, but I am writing this while London scorches at 34 degrees). The strawberries are firm and tart enough to cut through some of the more overwhelming sweetness, while the soft cheese provides a slight tang to proceedings. It's the bread that's a disappointment – not sweet or hardy enough like a proper brioche bun, and a little too limp to really hold such a chunky filling with any sort of gravitas. It's basically a sandwich that wants to be a scone so badly. For me, two bites was enough before I eagerly rid myself of it as I would have found it too sickly, but the rest of Team Cosmopolitan are more forgiving than me. Beauty director Keeks compared the sandwich to a Victoria sponge cake, while Jenni said she 'wasn't mad at it' and said the sandwich paired well with a cup of tea. Would I buy it again? While M&S have (rightly) gone viral for its numerous cookie offerings, this fruit sandwich doesn't quite hit the mark; I prefer to have my strawberries and cream in a bowl rather than on bread. But it was worth being adventurous enough to try something new. I've put worse things in my mouth, after all. Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
Cosmopolitan
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Sabrina Carpenter looks straight outta y2k after ditching her voluminous hair and signature curtain bangs
Sabrina Carpenter to curtain bangs is water to a river. It's oxygen to life, it's... you get the gist. The star is just known for her iconic signature style. Normally, it's teamed with insanely voluminous and bouncy curls that Dolly Parton herself could not compete with (IMO). But today [Friday 27th June], Sabrina stepped out at the Dior Homme show at Paris Fashion Week – Menswear Spring/Summer 2026, looking completely different. With sleek, straight hair and a side-parting that Lauren Conrad circa 2006 would have been proud of, she looks totally different to her normal look. We are kind of obsessed. Teamed with her fitted skirt suit, she's serving sophistication, albeit with a y2k twist. It's not the first time she's experimented with a side-parting though, back in January this year she rocked one with voluminous waves, coiffed to high heaven by hairstylist, Scott King. If this is Sabrina soft launching her side-fringe era, we are so here for it. I mean, with a new album on the horizon, it feels natural to change up your image too, right? And, as a teen of the noughties, I am here for the return of the side part as it slowly creeps back into the zeitgeist, with celebs like Anya Taylor-Joy and Zendaya sporting them on the red carpet this year too. Now, pass me the tail comb! Follow Keeks on Instagram Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.
Cosmopolitan
18-06-2025
- General
- Cosmopolitan
The 12 best eyebrow pencils from just £3 – tested and reviewed 2025
Tea time - you guys might know me as Keeks but my nickname for myself is Strugglebrow. No joke. I've always found it so hard to grow my eyebrow hair and seethe with envy when I see my peers talking about brow threading and waxing when I literally have never had bushy enough brows even to pluck them properly. I have found a couple of brow serums that have helped fill them out a bit (shout out Revitabrow Serum and UKBrow the real MVPs) but I have come to terms with the fact that I will always be heavily reliant on eyebrow products. While I am usually fiercely loyal to the NYX lift & snatch brow pen when it comes to the best brow pens, pencils? Well, I've dabbled in a few. So, now I'm presenting you with the best of the best, including a £3 steal and one that literally survived a rooftop party in 30-degree heat. As someone with about five eyebrow hairs, I tested these pencils every day, without fail, on rotation, drawing in my eyebrows in the morning and checking how they were holding up throughout the day. I looked out for things like transfer, water resistance, smudging, wear time and more. I also took into account just how easy (or not) each pencil was to apply – did it tug my skin? Was I able to achieve precision? Is the pencil full of pigment? As someone with super dark brown/black hair, I also was looking out for how richly black each pencil is as some can apply a bit too grey for my liking, but this will only be an issue for you if you have dark hair.
Cosmopolitan
21-05-2025
- Health
- Cosmopolitan
From Coconut Curling Cream to the new Weightless range – the 10 best Cantu products for type 3 and 4 hair
When it comes to washday, Cantu is a brand that has become completely synonymous with many of our routines. As a beauty journalist, there are very few brands that my non-industry friends and family (who have lives that don't revolve around beauty 24/7) will rave about, but Cantu is one of them. With products like the Coconut Curling Cream and Shea Butter deep treatment mask, they have become a staple in the Black community but I have to admit, as a straight natural, I always worried that their products are were too heavy for me and the way I like to style my hair. So, bar using their Deep Treatment Masque and Edge Control gel for sleeked back buns, I didn't incorporate Cantu as regularly into my weekly routine. But, after some feedback, the brand has slowly been reformulating their range to make products less heavy and more suitable for all curls, coils and wave types. So, we decided to put an array of the products to the test to give our honest verdict on how we rate Cantu for our washday routines. Here, Cosmo's Beauty Director Keeks is joined by Black Beauty Hub tester Shyvonne to try out the best Cantu hair products. Keeks and Shyvonne were sent an extensive range of Cantu products to try and picked the ones most suited to their hair type and styling needs. Both tested the products and tools over weeks, spanning multiple washdays to see how they worked amongst their regular routines and to see how their hair felt in comparison to before they tested the products. Hair type: Type 3 fine curls Hair story: I used to wage war against my thick curls – my straighteners in one hand, and my soft brush in another – all to 'tame' my curls (they used to break hair brushes) and live up to the poker straight hair trends of the noughties. Years later, and with lots of heat damage and thinning, I regret not loving and caring for my naturally curly 3B hair. I've been through loads of products trying to find the ones that work for my hair and Cantu's latest line for curly hair has exceeded my expectations. Avocado is meant to be great for hair due to its dense nutritional ingredients such as Biotin, healthy fats and oils – which my hair is crying out for. The shampoo is infused with Avocado oil and Shea Butter and is super silky and smooth when pouring it out of the bottle. It lathers up in an instant and is probably one of the first shampoos that hasn't left my hair feeling as rough as straw after washing. It helps that it smells amazing too. A conditioner without the nasties – there are no SLS/SLES sulphates, silicones or mineral oils which can strip moisture from the hair leading to frizz, breakage and dry hair. The thick conditioner needs some arm strength and plenty of shaking and tapping to get it out of the bottle which can be difficult when your head is tipped upside-down. But, after applying a generous amount, working it from my ends towards the roots of my hair, and letting it sit for a few minutes before detangling it, I could see the difference it was making. I then rinsed it off with cool water (a step that is also mentioned on the back of the bottle), and the conditioner left my hair feeling soft, smooth and silky. As a bonus I could also see my curls starting to form. This is definitely going to be my go-to conditioner. I absolutely hate detangling my hair (hence the years of straightening), but as part of the new, curly-haired me, I'm going to have to find a way to do it that's manageable. The flexible detangling brush was a dream to use. While the conditioner sat in my hair, I worked my way from the tips to the roots with the brush which practically glided through the hair and didn't put stress on the other strands with it's anti-snagging skills. I even used it on my toddler's corkscrew 3C hair, and it was super gentle in her hair which meaning we finally had a good hair brushing experience – she wasn't pulling and screaming at me due to the pulling, and I wasn't trying to rush through because of her screaming and pulling at me. Win win. Cantu snapped with this curl cream – when they said weightless, they meant weightless. Curl creams usually leave my hair weighed down, flat and lifeless, which is not the one when your hairs already as thin as paper, but this curl cream is a game-changer. I applied the cream to my sectioned, damp hair working it upwards towards the roots, before using Cantu's Curl Definer Brush, (because my hair re-tangles easily) to help detangle, separate and define the curls. After some scrunching and a little diffusing on a cool setting I was able to get loose, bouncy curls that were featherlight. The weightless formula is also free from drying alcohol, mineral oils, silicones, paraffin and parabens and also contains organic blue agave which, according to the bottle, is 'known to help promote stringer, smoother, healthier-looking hair'. Cantu's Curl Sculptor is a tool to help to create curls like you would with a regular brush. I found it quite fiddly to work with and although I followed the instructions to insert the hair, roll and hold and then slide the tool out, due to my hair's thinness and new-found silkiness. it would just slide right out during the 'roll and hold' step. The instructions still tell you to scrunch the hair and I felt that just going straight to scrunching was a better step for me. I think if you have long, thick curly hair, this tool will help save a lot of time, but it's just not one for me. My dry curls are ready for some styling. Using the Updo brush I smoothed the top half of my hair into my half-up, half-down style. The brush done its job gathering and smoothing the hair into my hair tie. My only critique is that it's quite dense and the bristles were a little rough for my head which I found irritating on my scalp. I would love to see this brush in more bristle types as I prefer a softer brush. Hair type: Type 4 medium density coils Hair story: I have very dense natural hair but it's actually not thick. So, while there are many strands on my head, they get weighed down easily with heavy, greasy products. While my hair is natural textured, I'm a straight natural that blow-dries every washday and gets a Texture Release twice a year, so for me, my hair products need to hydrate but able to somewhat repair. This is an excellent shampoo for just getting rid of build up and grim, and because it's lightweight, everyone can use it; from fine hair to super thick. Essentially, if you need a clarifying shampoo without any of the dryness that traditional ones can leave, you need to add this to you basket, stat. I found that a double cleanse was the sweet spot for me but if you don't use a lot of oils or gels then a single cleanse once a week with this is excellent. This teamed with my Weightless Shampoo was really a dynamic duo. My hair really cannot stand a heavy conditioner. Whew, if my hair is gone-with-the-wind Kenya Moore, then a heavy conditioner is Phaedra Parks, chile. So, beside an infrequent hydrating treatment, I stick to lightweight conditioners like this. It contains organic agave and shea butter to smooth and moisturise hair, so it gives a nice, natural slip. If you're used to silicone-based conditioners you might find this doesn't feel as smooth but I promise it's just because you're used to a synthetic feel but the softness is real. While the active part of my washdays (the bit in the shower) are pretty quick, I always start my care the night before with a scalp treatment. This one is for the hair and scalp but I preferred using it just as a scalp treatment that I wash out in the morning. I apply it generously to my scalp and then use the pads of my fingertips to massage it in, before plaiting my hair and going to bed. It has such a lovely herbaceous scent and soothing feel and while I can't comment on it's ability to help with hair growth (as there are too many variable factors in my routine right now) it helped with my scalp dryness and soothing itchiness in abundance. When I do wear my hair out with so of its natural texture this is my go-to cream. The brand has recently reformulated it (and changed the packaging) and I think it's better, as it feels lighter which means I don't feel like I want to wash it out the next day. I like to use this cream for braid-outs so I rewet my hair after blowdrying so it's slightly damp and then apply a little of this, about a grape-sized amount and then cornrow my hair into four, letting it dry overnight. My hair feels so smooth and soft the next day, which I love, but if you want more hold you can cocktail this with a gel to help it set better. Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.
