A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Question of the Week: – List every beauty item that’s in your purse at this very moment.

Answer: – I’ve only got a single lipstick in mine at the moment (bad beauty blogger), and it is…. Maybelline Color Sensational in 112, Ambre Rose!

Beauty Junkies Unite – You tell us: Is the new China Glaze Summer Neons collection hot or not? Check out the review and swatches and let us know!

Clumps of Mascara – has finally come across a mascara that wow-ed her so much that she gave it a 5 out of 5. And guess what? It’s a drugstore mascara!

Gouldylox Reviews – has discovered THE facial you want if you want to look fabulous for an event or remind someone what a mistake it was to end the relationship. Plumped lips, raised brow, firmer jaw and no pain. I can see why Madonna travels with one of these beauties on tour.

Krasey Beauty – wants you to win awesome prizes from Amazon.com Be sure to enter her giveaway!

Lipglossiping – puts Bobbi Brown’s new long-wear eye pencils to the test against a well-known budget brand and concludes that you should save your pennies!

Nouveau Cheap – Looking for a bold and daring magenta-purple lipstick to wear this summer? The answer might be as close as your nearest drugstore.

Pink Sith – turns an otherwise boring review about a facial toner into a fun extravaganza by adding in Will Wheaton, Jazz Hands and Thor!

Prime Beauty – harvests the fruits of the Lipstick Tree with Tarte’s Gifts From The Lipstick Tree Trio—the perfect summer pop of color!

Phyrra – has great photo tips for beauty bloggers.

Vampy Varnish – thinks if you like mini nail polishes, you might like the new Urban Decay Showboat Nail Kit for summer!

we heart this – have a passion for fashion? Swing on over to we heart this; we’re looking for a new fashion writer. And psst…we pay in makeup!

What beauty items are you carrying in your handbag right now?

I may have mentioned once or twice (or seven or eight times) that Leila was having her 3rd birthday party this weekend and barring a mild-meltdown the day before – it all went well, the meltdown being from me, not Leila by the way!  I couldn’t find a cake… who knew it was so bloody difficult to find a Thomas the Tank Engine cake that hadn’t been horrifically disfigured in some kind of supermarket shelf accident.  I phoned stores across the county and every single store, bar one (who didn’t pick up) told me that they had a cake… but that it was damaged.  Sort it out supermarkets.

Anyway, just before midnight on the eve of her party, I found a lovely train one in an Asda quite a few miles away, it wasn’t Thomas but it was carrying a cargo of jelly sweets!  I pretty much did the happy dance in the middle of the aisle!  Thank you to all the lovely tweeters who calmed my frayed nerves, gave me great suggestions on Thomas alternatives and brilliant recipes for train biscuits!

I’ve just compiled a video of some clips from her party and as I’m uploading to facebook for our far-away relatives, I thought I’d stick it on here too seeing as she considers many of you her internet Aunties anyway!

I’m knackered and have to do it all over again on the 16th (her actual birthday), we’re also heading into London together on Tuesday for some serious Hamleys/Rainforest Cafe/girly time!

Hope you’re all having a brilliant weekend and (if you’re in the UK), finally enjoying a little bit of sunshine!  A Happy Mother’s Day to my international ladies too!

Back when I purchased my beloved Shiseido Accentuating Color Stick in Peach Flush, I was torn – too many pretty shades and not enough pennies in the purse for all of them.  Sure, I spend too much money on makeup and skincare but I get the guilts like everyone else and sometimes you just can’t twist it enough to justify it, not even to your spendy-self.  Fast forward twelve months and I found myself once again perusing a Shiseido counter.  Just for old-times sake, I reswatched the color sticks and instantly fell in love (again) with Champagne Flush.

From a completely superficial point of view, I love how these things feel so luxurious.  They’re glossy, sexy, and have some beautiful symmetry going on – I realise that I sound a bit crazy right now.  Champagne Flush is one of the most subtle highlighters that I own, which makes it a-ok by my standards.  I’m always looking for a highlighter that I can really luminise my face with and this ticks the boxes on that score.

It’s a pale champagne shade with slightly pink leanings that don’t turn it too silvery, though I would say that it’s definitely best-suited to similar-toned complexions as mine.  It contains no glitter or shimmer particles, it just imparts an allover, barely-there glow.  It doesn’t even really catch the light when you turn your face in the same way that other highlighters do… it just, somehow lifts a tired and dull complexion, giving the illusion that you are far more fresh and alert than you feel.

This is an awful swatch photo but you should be able to make out the pale highlight that runs from the crease where my thumb and index finger meet, backward towards my wrist.  It looks like a ghostly silver and that’s only because I’ve had to build it up quite heavily for the swatch.  I wouldn’t wear it this heavy on my face.

My only wish is that it weren’t in stick form because I’d love a liquid this subtle that I could blend into my foundation directly.  This, would infact, be my holy-grail highlighter if only I could find it – please Shiseido, make a liquid version!

Shiseido Accentuating Color Stick in S6 Champagne Flush is available to buy on counter, priced at around £26

Who’s da boss? Leila’s da boss (when I’m not around – sorry Mr. L!)

It’s Leila’s 3rd  birthday party today, though she doesn’t turn three until the 16th May it was the only day available at the venue so I’ve been trying to explain to a very confused tot why it isn’t actually her birthday yet but everyone will be wishing her a Happy Birthday – cue confused face.

I’m wearing Butter London’s Bossy Boots from their Spring/Summer 2012 collection in honour of the occasion, seeing as I’ll be rounding up a few under 8s, I thought it quite appropriate!

Isn’t it Spring-like?  I love muted shades but whoulda thunk I’d go gaga for a pistachio shade like this!  I like that Butter London haven’t made it too dirgy or grey and have kept it feeling somehow fresh and airy without sounding the “woah green nails” klaxon.  I’m absolutely, positively against wearing green nail polish on your toes usually (fungal feet) but I’m gonna admit to being tempted by this one.  Talk me out of it please!

Opaque in two coats, it needs the second to get rid of pastel streaks – the formula covered nicely but did have a tendency to pool around the cuticles… thin strokes required!

Butter London Bossy Boots is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

I like most food, you may be able to tell from my ongoing battle with being a greedy bitch that I’m not mega-fussy with what I put in my mouth (shutup).  Having said that, there has always been one substantial food group that I’ve gone out of my way over the past 30 years to avoid… fruit.  My daughter can’t get enough of the stuff, which is just aswell because she won’t touch vegetables.  Me?  I love veggies… always have but I think I’m just a savoury girl through and through.

It’s not that I have a full-on aversion to fruit, I wouldn’t pick it off my plate if it were served alongside something else but you will never catch me digging into the fruit bowl or craving the taste of an apple.  It’s just not on my radar.  I’m making baby steps to changing this, and it really helps when you’re on a ‘diet’ that rewards you for these changes by not penalising you when you indulge.  This week has been fruit salad week… amped up.

Look…

That’s our fruit box.  It’s a great big, 4L lock and lock box which I bought at The Range – as you can see, it stores quite a bit!  I’ve budgeted £6.50 per week for fruit for everyone and make sure that as soon as the shopping arrives, I’ve got the peeler, corer and paring knife out to put an end to my procrastination and get it all chopped up into bite-size pieces with a good squeeze of lemon juice to help it last.  So far, my plan is working!  It’s  infinitely more appealing to fill a bowl with a couple of spoonfuls of this than it is to reach for a sorry-looking apple in the bottom of the fruit bowl.

This weeks fruit box contained: plums, tinned pineapple (in natural juice), apples, kiwis, melon, strawberries, and grapes – though Mr. L says that the cheap melon I bought tastes more like cucumber.  I know that my fellow fruit-dodgers won’t be convinced by my arguments for upping your 5-a-day just yet… so how about I share with you exactly how we’ve been eating it?

For the grand total of 2 Weight Watchers pro points (I’m on 28 a day), we’ve been submerging a meringue nest under a pile of the healthy stuff before topping it off with a Weight Watchers yoghurt or a mini Petit Filous.  Trust me, it doesn’t taste quite so healthy when you add meringue to the formula and yet, amazingly, it’s still pretty damn good for you (and far more edible!)

It’s a simple change to my diet and not the most groundbreaking Food Friday post, but I’m determined to keep this new habit going, especially with Summer round the corner and hopefully, cheaper berries!

Are you a natural fruit fiend or do you find ways to incorporate it into your diet?

Budget beautifiers BeautyUK have released a special charity gift set comprising of three super-PINK nail polishes in support of Cancer Research UK.

The set was developed after one of the brand’s fans (who’s Mum was going through her own breast cancer battle) expressed a wish for them to create a range of pink polishes that would not only make her Mum feel pretty but also help raise money to help battle the disease.

And lo it was born…

Hope, Love, and Strength…

The set is priced at £5.99, with £1 from every sale going directly to Cancer Research UK.  The set is available to buy now online and instore nationwide at Superdrug.

Want some tips on creating the perfect ‘flick’?  Need some guidance in mastering your smoky eye technique?  Well cancel any plans you’ve made for this Sunday because Illamasqua are holding their inaugural Beauty School Drop-In at their Beak Street store.

The brand will be running a series of 15-minute makeup classes to give you the confidence and know-how to wield your makeup brushes without causing any traffic-stopping beauty faux-pas!  And best of all?  It’s completely free to attend!

The class timetable is available online now, so click through and take a look – you can attend as many or as few as you like, though don’t be surprised if the store gets kinda busy!

Which of the classes is taking your fancy and will you be attending beauty school this weekend?

Fourteen days, that’s approximately 336 hours, or 20,160 minutes.  In other words, a fair amount of time.  In the world of long-lasting manicures, just what you do with that time is almost as important as the duration spent doing it.  For me, that time was spent typing, packing, cooking, swimming, running, playing at Butlins, and chasing ants in the dark.  I like to think that this manicure has been put through its paces over the last fortnight.  The question is, did it survive?

See for yourself…

I think that it’s coped fairly admirably no?  There is a small chip on my index finger but that was it for the tips… across the entire manicure – spending that extra time to ensure that I had capped all my nails really paid off in this instance.  Infact, you can see that most of the ‘damage’ actually comes from the other end of the nail bed where I’ll happily admit that I didn’t do quite so well at applying with the kind of precision one needs.

I suffered some pooling in the cuticles with the base coat and on a couple of nails this led to a small amount being cured over the cuticle so I wasn’t particularly surprised when I experienced a little bit of lifting after a few days in those areas.  What I was surprised at though is that despite the lifting, I was able to gently clip those areas off without causing any further damage to the manicure.  Most of what you see in the photo above is actually new growth at the base of the colour.

Now, whilst this is a glowing report so far, I do have one issue that I’d like to talk about… removal.

Damn, this stuff is a bitch to remove without damaging your nails.  I lightly buffed the surface of my nails firstly to remove the shine and create a penetrable layer for the remover to do its work before soaking pre-cut cotton pads in acetone remover (where acetone is the primary ingredient) and laying them down over the nails.  Wrapping the tips in foil, I gave it a full 10-12 minutes before sliding the foil tips off my fingers, expecting to see the gel slide off with them.  Uh, not a chance.  The surface had bubbled and warped and the edges had further lifted but it wasn’t giving up without a fight.  I ended up using an orange stick to (as gently as I could) scrape off the gel polish before buffing the surface of the nail to remove the residue.

My nails are definitely in worse condition post Sensationail but seemingly nothing that a hefty dose of almond oil (thanks Squarrell) can’t sort out – I’d say that they’re halfway back to feeling “normal” within a day of diligent oiling.

Hopefully that’s provided an indepth (enough) review for you from application, to pricing, to wear and finally removal.  I’d be really interested to find out what you think about the product in terms of value, I’m confident that it provides the kind of long-lasting, salon-quality manicure that we pay £20+ a time for – but despite knowing that, I’m curious if the initial price tag would still put you off?  I think that this is probably a great bit of kit for a group of friends to pool together and purchase, otherwise – you’ve got to be a very dedicated nailista – know any of those?

The Sensationail starter kit is available to buy online from Boots, priced at £85, additional shades are available at £15 each.  You can get more tips and tricks from the brand’s facebook and twitter pages.

All-in-one neutral palettes have never been more popular, they’re a quick solution to the eternal morning dilemma of eyeshadow selection when all you really want is an extra five-minutes in bed.  Stepping firmly on the bandwagon with their latest palette release is U.S. brand, Stila in the form of their In the Light eye shadow palette*.

A cardboard palette, lightweight and without a mirror makes this a slightly more portable (if flimsy) choice than the Urban Decay Naked franchise.  The palette contains 10 pans of colour, both a mix of shimmer and matte shades.  Each pan provides 1.4g of product, around the same quantity per pan as the Urban Decay offering, but two less pans in total.  The stock images that you will see online of the palette don’t reflect the true shades within, both bliss and sunset do not swatch pink as described in the official colours and shown in the stock photo.  All shades can be used both wet and dry.

The ten shades vary in pigmentation and texture, some feel quite soft and creamy whilst others are more firmly-textured and require building up to achieve rich colour.  None feel chalky and they all share excellent blendability.  There are four matte shades in total: Bare, Bliss, Sandstone and Ebony allowing you to create a fully matte look with a range of neutral shades if you so wish.

I like this option a lot… it allows me to create a fully matte eye look as my base before adding in a ‘pop’ of something more shimmery without going into disco territory.

The shades are mostly warm-toned with the exception of Night Sky and Luster.  Also included in the palette is a 0.28g black, retractable eye pencil (smudge stick) which provides rich colour with a smudgable but long-lasting formula.

A quick FOTD showing Bare, Bliss and Sandstone with a pop of the inimitable Kitten on the inner corner to brighten the eye area.  Kitten has long been one of Stila’s most cult shades, and I can see why, it’s a very pretty champagne highlight that opens up and lifts the eye area when used as a highlight.

The Stila In the Light eyeshadow palette is available to buy instore at SpaceNK, online at BeautyBay and Escentual.  It’s also available at Stila’s freshly-launched website: stila.co.uk – priced at £25.00

* press sample

quite.

I first blogged about this challenge a couple of years ago, but the London College of Beauty Therapy are at it again and want to set another world record, this time with the help of nail guru, Andrea Fulerton!

So, just what do they have to do to reclaim the world record?  They’re going to attempt to paint and file 3000 volunteer’s nails in just 8 hours – that’s 375 pairs of hands every hour!

This all sounds like rather good fun but there is a more serious side to the proceedings and the students and staff at LCBT are also delighted to be using the occasion to help raise awareness for charities Ray of Sunshine and All About Eve.

So, what can you do to help?

If you’re available to volunteer your lovely nails, you’ll be very well received at the London College of Beauty Therapy, 47 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7JP.

The challenge takes place in two days time on Thursday 10th May 2012 from 11am to 7pm, and they really do need as many volunteers as possible!  In addition to receiving your shiny new manicure, you’ll also walk out with a lovely goodie bag and the smug feeling that you’ve risen to the challenge.

Click to register your place at the event and follow @lcbtsalon on Twitter to find out if they really can nail it!

In addition to the new long-wear cream shadows, and eye pencils which I talked about here, the Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara* is putting in an appearance and promising to deliver results that last for up to 16 hours.

It’s probably fair to say that when I think of long-lasting makeup, I’m not sure that I’ve ever cursed any of my mascaras for not lasting the course of a day?  Sure, some are more smudgy than others and then you have the ones that flake a little as the day goes on but I can’t remember ever looking in the mirror and thinking “awww crap, where’s me mascara gone?”.  Or maybe they just mean that it won’t flake or smudge… but then again, don’t they all promise that?

If you experience this kind of problem on a daily basis, then perhaps the Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara is your next dream come true?

The packaging is particularly sexy with a metallic-chocolate finish and sleek lines whilst the brush inside is teeny, tiny… and for me, its main USP.  This fabulous brush reaches every lash from the longest to the shortest.  The brush consistently pulls out the perfect amount of product and you can feel the packaging doing its job at sucking back in the excess as you pull the brush from the neck of the tube.  As a result, I can’t see this one drying out too quickly either.

You can see how narrow the brush is in the above photo, a really great shape for women with shorter, sparser lashes to define from root to tip.  I particularly like this mascara for my lower lashes, it separates nicely, fanning each one out without leaving clumps or excess product in its wake.  As for the top lashes, well… it’s not quite volumising, nor lengthening enough for me.  My lashes can take a hefty dose of product before they begin to look worse for wear and this doesn’t provide the lash-drama that I’m forever craving.

It does, however, provide a better-than-natural finish that you can build without too much protest.  As for longevity?  Yes, it lasts the day without smudging – well done.  I do see a couple of flakes if I apply more than two coats but nothing that I’d worry myself over.  Removal is easy with just warm water, though my cream cleanser (waterless cleansing) didn’t experience any issues with sweeping it away at the end of the day either.

Overall, I really recommend this mascara if you’re looking for a good, solid formula with a fabulous brush that helps create precision definition without missing a single lash.

Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara is available to buy on counter and online, priced at £18.00

* press sample