A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Another one of my IMATS purchases from earlier in the year was this Yaby Freestyle palette… ‘freestyle’ because it holds any shape of pan in the same way the more well-known z-palettes do.

Being a Yaby palette, it’s not exactly large… at around 15cm (longest side), it’s smaller than MAC, Z-Palette, Unii and MUFE palettes but as my end goal is to fill it with Yaby products (which are teeny tiny too), I don’t have a problem with the compact sizing.

Mine is currently filled with a few randoms (5 Yaby eyeshadows, a Yaby brow powder, 1 MAC eyeshadow, a Yaby blusher and a Stila eyeshadow to be precise!).

The palette is well-constructed with solid hinges, strong magnets and sturdy housing.  The mirror is large and without any obvious distortions.

It’s pretty much a delight to take away on holiday and I can’t wait to fill it with more baby Yaby goodies!

I bought my Yaby Freestyle Palette from The Makeup Artist Boutique (who were exhibiting at IMATS).  It is priced at £10.99 from their web store.

Despite the moniker, lip glosses aren’t really my bag.  I find them gloopy, sticky, uncomfortable to wear and unless careful not to overapply, can make you look like an extra from Saturday Night Beaver.

Admittedly, they’re less high maintenance than lipsticks and are undoubtedly nifty for quick touch ups when your lippie has all but been eaten away.  However, for me… they come a poor second to my faithful lipstick devotion.

So, how about a hybrid?

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils are still fairly new additions to the market.  Launched in February, they promise the convenience of a pencil with the application of a lipstick in a jumbo-size crayon design.

Well, first things first… you can kiss the gloopiness issues goodbye.  Thanks to this delivery method, you can apply a thin, even layer of gloss over your lips without any thickness or pooling.  Yes, they’re still a touch tacky on the lips but there is no risk of those disgusting stringy gloss strands when you open your mouth… and we’ve all seen too many of those on over-enthusiastic gloss wearers right?

I was sent two shades from the lineup: Hopi (Honey Beige) and New Lover (Strawberry Pink laced with Gold).

New Lover on the left and Hopi on the right.

The texture is soft, really very soft… take care when sharpening these babies.  I would have preferred to have seen them in a twist-up form but alas, they are what they are.

Again, New Lover is on the left and Hopi on the right.  They’re well pigmented with great, natural colour.  I feared that their pencil form meant that they might go down faster than a fat kid on a seesaw but they’re holding up better than I expected on that score.

Because of their convenience, I keep New Lover in my bag for when my lipstick wears off and have been substituting it for quick fixes post-lunch.  I also have my eye on Baroque which seems more to my taste with its bolder, raspberry undertones.

Finally, a lip swatch of both so you can see how they look applied…

They’re pretty, understated shades that dodge my lipgloss-hating bullet well.

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils are priced at £17.50 a-piece and are available online and on counter now.

…but damn I can make a decent Hob Nob.

And now that I’ve blown my own trumpet so voraciously, it’s time to admit that these aren’t made from any recipe plucked from my brain.

These are what are known as Twinks Hob Nobs.  Twinks is a poster on MoneySavingExpert who one day, innocently unleashed her Hob Nob recipe on the world.  You can read her post and the resulting thread here.

The absolute trick to these is to not overcook them.  Take them out from the oven when they’re *just* golden and looking barely cooked.  They’ll be soft but will harden as they cool.  I usually half the original recipe and get around 15 chunky biscuits.  I turn into a total Gannet around these biccies so halving the quantity saves me from myself (sometimes).

4oz Self Raising Flour (113g)
4oz Sugar (113g)
4oz Porridge Oats (113g)
4oz Margarine/Butter (113g)
1/2 tbsp Golden Syrup
1/2 tbsp Hot Water
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Mix the flour, oats and sugar together in a bowl.  Melt the marg/butter, syrup and water in a pan.  Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and add it to dry mix.

Mix well and mould/press into smallish balls (ping pong size!) which you then put on a greased tray and flatten slightly with a fork.  Put in the oven at 170 degrees C for 12/13 mins… and leave to cool on the tray.  The aim is to get them golden in the oven and not brown.

Do give them a go if you get a minute, they taste 100x better than shop bought Hob Nobs, there’s barely any washing up and they’re done and dusted in under 30 minutes!

Back to the makeup tomorrow!  What have you been cooking up this week?

I’ll admit that when I first saw this shade in the bottle… I thought it looked a bit mauve/rose-granny-chic.  I’m still not sure it feels very Spring/Summer to me but it thankfully has enough raspberry in it to keep it looking modern.

Dahling *air kisses* is a pleasant enough shade.  It doesn’t knock my socks off but it does look good with most outfits and is conservative enough to wear whenever a red might be considered a touch too saucy!  It’s one of those shades that you’d reach for when you want a neat/polished look with little thought.

Application was solid with no issues to report… wear was average too… it’s an all round average kinda polish that will fulfil all your polish needs without blowing your mind.  And let’s be honest, we all need something we can depend on sometimes!

Dahling is available online from PowderRooms priced at £11.95.

Are there any polish shades that you can’t get excited over?

The problem with being on holiday is the amount of catching up you have to do when you get home!  Apologies for the late posting of this week’s Lipstick League – hopefully I shall be back on track next week!

This week’s question of the week…

What’s your signature lip color?

Well, I guess it’s got to be red really hasn’t it?  There are many, many women that wear a red lip with far more confidence than me but I don’t personally know any of them which makes red seem like ‘my’ colour to lots of people around me.

Me?  I still feel a bit like I’m playing ‘dress up’ in it… but that’s probably half the reason I love it so much!

Lipglossiping – contemplates the best way to store her ever-growing collection of nail polish, thank flatpack for IKEA!

Orange to LA – has a Liquid Eyeliner Showdown between her 3 favorite liners, who won? See the results, was it high-end, drugstore, or Japanese?

Pink Sith – Gets nostalgic about lip color and her old flute teacher while telling you all about Giorgio Arman Rouge d’Armani Lipstick # 516.

Phyrra – tells you about an awesome new hair product, Redken’s Radiant Sea Spray.

we heart this – Ready to be blinded with hair science? Living Proof No Frizz shampoo and conditioner makes hair look scientifically better!

Beauty Junkies Unite – gives you a sneak peek at the new OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Collection that launches in May!

Clumps of Mascara – shows the beauty behind one of the greatest places on Earth, Disney World!

EauMG – reviews natural fragrances for Earth Week. Check out this “flapper” jasmine by LUSH.

Nouveau Cheap – shows you five more shades of the amazing new Milani Baked Blushes and each one is prettier than the next.

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What’s YOUR signature lip colour?

Sometimes I get a little bit guilty looking at all the lovely things that I’ve bought and haven’t gotten around to swatching for the blog and after a conversation on Twitter last night with @PinkSith, @LondonMUGirl and @Fauxlivia – it shamed me into grabbing my ‘waiting’ box and dragging the things out of it that I knew I should have gotten around to swatching a bazillion years ago.

7 lip tars (I didn’t bother with the less wearable shades I own) and a pair of slightly sore lips later…

L-R: Hush / Memento / Grandma / Trollop / Pageant / NSFW / Stalker

They all need to be applied with a lip brush and each gives great coverage with just a small amount.  I tend to use a little more than I’ve read *should* be needed but I always end up blotting after because they transfer to my great big front teeth like a total bitch if I don’t.

~ HUSH is the palest shade I own… it’s a beige nude which works well with a smokey eye and is *just* dark enough to avoid the corpse bride look.

~ MEMENTO is a darker, more wearable nude on my skintone thanks to a pinker hue than HUSH.

~ GRANDMA was a gamble for me when I bought it… I thought it would be far too warm for my skintone but it actually turns fairly neutral on my lips despite the tube colour.  One of my favourites for Summer and can be built up to a rich coral with a couple of coats.

~ TROLLOP was purchased purely on the basis of its awesome name so I’m really pleased that I love the colour too!  I’d describe TROLLOP as a warm pink… verging toward the guava territory but not as warm as GRANDMA gets after a couple of coats.

~ PAGEANT was my first Lip Tar… I wanted a hot pink that wasn’t quite neon and found it in this shade.  If you want something a touch bolder than this, go for ANIME (which I don’t have).

Ahhh… the reds…

~ NSFW is the classic neutral red and it really is one of the most bang-on reds I own.

~ Thinking that I didn’t need another OCC red when I was already in love with NSFW, I almost didn’t pick up STALKER.  But oh boy am I glad I did?  It’s a true vampy cool-toned red that works verynicelythankyouverymuch on my skintone.

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Now, I don’t really wear these as often as I should… they need a brush to apply, don’t be trying from the tube unless you have some serious skills.  They can also feather if you over-apply or generally suffer from this anyway… clear lip liners for the win!  I’ve also mentioned the transfer issue… a slight purse of my lips and my teeth get a nice coating too.

Does this mean that I regret buying them?  God, no.  I just regret being too lazy to take the extra little bit of time to ensure that I do these justice.   I hereby solemnly swear to break out my OCC pinks a little more this month!

OCC Lip Tars can be bought in the UK from sites: MakeupArtistBoutique, Cocktail Cosmetics, GenieCosmetics and LoveMakeup.

Do you own any OCC Lip Tars?  Which ones are on your wishlist?

From the upcoming Fall 2011 collection, Touring America…

Personally, I eat Mainely everything but if you want your nails to look like the inside of a ripe, juicy watermelon this Autumn, you’re gonna need a bit of OPI’s I Eat Mainely Lobster* in your life.

I Eat Mainely Lobster is a shimmering almost-neon coral with enough pink in it to keep it looking good on cool skin tones.  It has a pretty under-stated shimmer that catches beautifully in the sunlight.

The image above is underexposed so don’t trust it for shade depth but I wanted to be able to capture the almost molten shimmer particles in this polish… aren’t they pretty?

Formula is quite thin for OPI but it packs enough pigment to have your nailbed covered in two coats.  It dries quickly but lacks glossiness which I’m putting down to the intense brightness of the shade… a quick lick of top coat rectifies that issue.

Overall, I Eat Mainely Lobster is an unusual but winning choice for Autumn/Fall 2011 and I can envisage many toes catching the last few rays of Summer sunshine whilst flashing this shade!

O.P.I – I Eat Mainely Lobster will be available on our shores this August from LenaWhite.

* press sample

There seems to be lots of blogiversaries about at the minute!  Well, just to throw another one into the mix, I wrote my first post on Lipglossiping.com TWO years ago today.  It feels like a WHOLE lifetime ago.

For once in my life, I’m not gonna take the opportunity to waffle on about what blogging means to me.  Suffice to say, I’m a little bit addicted to it.

Thank you for still being here with me.  I hope we’re all a bit prettier than we were 730 days ago 😉

x

Courtesy of Cocktail Cosmetics, I’m delighted to be able to offer one of my lovely readers the chance to win a full 12 pan La Femme Blush palette complete with 12 amazingly pigmented blushes!

If you want to see the awesomeness of these blushes in action, check out my review here for some swatches.

To win the La Femme Blush Palette, simply answer the following question…

How many shades are available in the full range of La Femme Cosmetics Blush On Rouge Refill Pans?

Tip: You can find the answer at the bottom here

T&C
1. Entry open to UK & European residents by email only.
2. One winner will be picked at random from all entries.
3. One entry per email address.
4. Lipglossiping.com is the sole promoter of this competition.
5. Competition closes on Monday 2nd May 2011 at 23.59.
6. Winner will be notified by email within 5 days of the close of the competition.
7. No email addresses will be stored once the competition has closed and will only be used to contact the winner.

I’ve been wanting this discontinued China Glaze polish for the longest time and when I saw it on the ‘Bay, I had to jump on it!

Unfortunately, my swatch is pretty darn naff but just look at the bottle to see the gorgeousness that exists within those glass walls.  It’s like looking into a gilded nebula of awesomeness.  Or something.

I wore China Glaze Wagon Trail to destruction, literally.  I’ve just spent 14 days at the inlaws and it was still on my fingernails 12 days into the trip – ok, it looked pretty horrendous on most of my fingers by that time but to give you an idea of longevity, the above photo was taken on day 4 of wear (with my usual top coat).

It’s a two coater with a smooth, fluid consistency… a really great polish that I’m happy to cheat on my Spring/Summer shades with.

Smoky, boozy, warm and decadent.  Richly opulent with a vanilla that transcends all.  The vanilla is a true, gourmand vanille as opposed to anything too playful or overly sweet.  It harmonises and mellows the tobacco beautifully.

Tobacco Vanille* is a fragrance that oozes warmth, breathe it in deeply and you’ll feel the scent warm your belly like the sun.  This makes it quite a difficult fragrance for some to wear during Summer months where the headiness may become overwhelming… but for me, it’s the perfect accompaniment to sultry, Summer evenings.

At £118 for 50ml, a Tom Ford Private Blend fragrance isn’t a purchase to be entered into lightly but these exquisitely blended perfumes stand alone with personalities that cut through the myriad of other frags on the market.  Complex and deep, I’ve sniffed the 12 scents in the Private Blend collection and appreciate the quality of each one.  This doesn’t mean I love all of them but it stands out to me that I only dislike certain blends because the personality of the scent disagrees with my tastes and not because it lacks anything in terms of quality.

The line of Private Blends are described as unisex and this is definitely true for Tobacco Vanille that wears just as smoothly on my skin as it does on my husband’s thanks to the craftsmanship displayed in creating the perfect balance.  The spicy tobacco adds a bitterness to the creamy vanilla whilst the vanilla and honeyed tones smooth the rough edges from the tobacco leaf.  The feminine/masculine tones simply dance a tango in the bottle.

My one wish would be for a couple more hours wear from Tobacco Vanille which lasts around 6 hours on my skin whilst my husband manages to achieve around 16 hours from a coupe of sprays!

If you like sweet, rich scents but feel that the majority of mass scents on the market smell a little too young or fruity… you must visit your local Tom Ford counter to experience Tobacco Vanille on your own skin, then make your partner fall in love with it too, there’s nothing like going Dutch 😉

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille is available from Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods and priced from £118

* press sample

I walked up Primrose Hill once and it is most definitely a perfect spot for a picnic (just be sure to dodge all the yummy mummies and their icandy prams).

See?

But perhaps even better than that view, is the view I get when I look down at my nails and spy Butter London’s version of a Primrose Hill Picnic.

A gorgeous summery pink that instantly makes me think “fruit salad”.   Though, in fairness, it doesn’t take much to make me think of food.

The formula was a touch thick and a little draggy which made it one of those “comes good on the 3rd coat” polishes.  Not at all unworkable (less thick than BarryM polishes) but worth a mention incase you can’t stand a hint of gloop!

Wear was fine for me, 3 days before I noticed any real tip wear and no chipping.

Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic is available online from PowderRooms and priced at 9.75