WHAT'S HOT IN FASHION AND BEAUTY

Luxury French fashion house Hermes finally arrived in Ireland last week in a flourish of leather and silk. The company which has 254 stores all over the world from Honolulu to Guam opened its doors in Brown Thomas in Dublin. The brand has been a favourite with Jackie Onassis, Ingrid Bergman and of course Grace Kelly. And of course there is the Birkin bag which has a waiting list, and a price tag that starts at around ?5,000. The company started out making saddles but now produces clothes, perfumes and jewellery. The concept manager, Veronique Duchesne says, "Dublin is a 'magasin-bijou', a little gem of a store: it may be on a small scale but it displays all the crafts of the House of Hermes with simplicity and clarity. "The opening of the Dublin store is like an echo of all those magic moments of birth that have marked out the history of Hermes since its discreet beginnings in Paris, as a maker of harnesses and saddles." Quite! So if you're ready for a rebirth or just a nose around some top flight accessories you know where to go. BEAUTY The pubs may be smoke free but the looks for eyes this Autumn/Winter is anything but. Judge for yourself as Catherine Zeta Jones - the new face of Elizabeth Arden - is wearing the new Elizabeth Arden collection out in the stores this week. The Color Intrigue eye kit (?27) has five sets of colours. Catherine's eyes are made up with Vintage, dusted with Sparkle on the brow bone, Jewel on the outer corner and layered with the darkest colour Urban. They have also used a the Smoky Eyes powder pencil (?15) smudged on the upper lid in Smolder (black) and lined on the lower lashes with Seduce (plum). Double Density maximum volume mascara in black (?18) has been used on her lashes. The lipstick is part of a Color Intrigue lip kit (?27).