A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

It’s June and the mercury is soaring.  Great.  “Woohoo”, you all shout! (collectively, go on…)

But, this has put me in a quandry… you see, I don’t wear red lipstick when it’s hot.  You know how it is, your moustache sweats and the last thing you want is red lipstick smearing in a southerly direction down your chin.

And for that image?  You’re welcome.

But the thing is, it’s an important week… it’s Cervical Screening Awareness Week and that can only mean one thing…

It’s time for THE Red Lippy Project.

From today, until the 15th June, I’d be super-proud of you all if you grabbed your most obnoxiously beautiful red lipsticks and gave them a twirl.  Put them on rotation and give them a thorough outing.  If anyone asks why, tell them all about The Red Lippy Project and how you’re doing your bit to promote Cervical Screening Awareness Week because ladies, 20% of us still dodge our smear tests.

Let’s talk about that for a minute.  Twenty freakin’ percent.  Seriously… we’re not all immune from the big C, our bloody wonderful NHS provides us with a free screening that saves up to 5,000 lives every year, and 1 in every 5 of us aren’t actually using this opportunity to get checked out?  Madness.

I’ll be wearing seven of my most impressive, in-yer-face red lipsticks this week and instagramming them as I go.  I’m not gonna pretend that wearing red lipstick is a hardship for me, and the thought of asking my family and friends to sponsor me to do so is akin to asking them to donate generously whilst I eat cake.  It’s not gonna happen.  So, instead I’m donating £10 to the cause by texting TRLP80 £10 to 70070

Men grow their silken moustaches in November in the name of charidee and you know damn well that we look far more sassy sporting a hot red lip.  Even if it does end up on our teeth.

If you’re getting involved, link me up to your blog posts, instagram pictures, facebooks and tweets below! 

And most of all, tell your friend/sister/daughter/mother/neighbour to go get her cervix scrutinised.

Our second day in Paris should have started a few hours earlier than it did.  Our alarm went off at 8am and I hit the snooze button with as much force as I could muster.  Over, and over… and over again.  We eventually left the hotel at 11am, having decided that without the early start under our belts, we didn’t have the resilience to deal with any potential queues at the Catacombs, which for safety reasons, only allows a restricted number of visitors in at any one time.

We opted instead, for a more leisurely stroll through Le Marais, starting at the Place de la Bastille.

the Parisian Metro system

A quick note on the Metro system… we bought “carnets” of 10 single-use tickets as and when we needed them, instead of the daily Mobilis pass (travelcard), our decision worked out cheaper over the course of three days.  However, the downside was that these tickets constantly became demagnetized by going through security checks at the various tourist attractions.

The Metro staff are at least, clearly used to this and were happy enough to respond to my cries of “ça ne marche pas” whilst frantically waving the tickets about infront of them.  I got used to the eye-rolls eventually.  In other words, if your tickets fail to open the barriers… chances are, it’s not your fault.  Go and get them checked at the ticket window.

Place de la Bastille

Now, I’m no French history buff but I spent every summer growing up in the West of France, in the Vendee… an area that has a reputation for its anti-revolutionary, royalist history which culminated in an uprising against the republic and the eventual defeat/massacre of over 150,000 Vendeen people… controversially described as the first genocide in modern history.  Infact, in the small field next door to our house remains an underground tunnel believed to lead all the way to the local Chateau which was built as a means of escape for when the going got tough for the local aristrocracy!

The storming of The Bastille (a prison originally located on the site of the above column) in Paris on July 14, 1789 by the city’s commoners led almost directly to the French Revolution.  If you walk around the Place de la Bastille you can see the outline in the ground, marking the location of the prison’s original towers – a hugely understated nod to such an important time in the country’s history!

Place des Vosges

The gardens at Hotel de Sully

We moved on in the direction of the Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris.  It was packed with people enjoying their lunch in the sunshine, and although we only stopped en-route (our tummies were grumbling for lunch), I really recommend it as a place to hide away from the masses.

Now firmly in the historic Le Marais area, we headed into the old Jewish quarter on the hunt for what is often described online as “the ultimate falafel”.  It didn’t take long to spot the lunch queues snaking up the Rue de Rosiers so we joined the line at L’As du Fallafel to get a taste of what we had been missing!

the lunch queue

the “falafel special” at L’as du Fallafel on Rue de Rosiers

In order to keep the queue moving quickly at peak times, your order (and payment) are taken whilst standing in line, this means that your food is ready and waiting by the time you reach the front.  Although the queue was long, it was super-efficient and we were walking away with the fattest falafel-filled pittas within 10-minutes of joining.

If you’re on a tight budget – at only 5.50€ each, they make a great purse-friendly option (especially if you find a local park to eat them in and combine them with a cheeky pastry from the patisserie up the road!)

The Pont d’Arcole looking South West

Bellies filled, we roamed the back streets a little longer before heading across to the Ile de la Cité, onto the major tourist path with Notre Dame firmly in our crosshairs.

The city council have erected a huge (temporary?) grandstand infront of the cathedral, which spoiled every photo opportunity possible and we very nearly didn’t bother joining the queue – which again, was frighteningly long.  I’m glad we did though as it was the fastest-moving line I’d ever seen and we were in within only five-minutes.  What can I say?  Many of these Parisian queues are terribly deceptive!

Notre Dame’s impressive exterior

Having said that, Notre Dame is definitely more impressive from the outside, not to say that the interior isn’t worth bothering with… but the carvings and sculptures that adorn the facade are something very special, as is the sheer scale of the building.

If you’re up for visiting any other attractions in the vicinity, I thoroughly recommend the lesser-known Sainte-Chappelle, only one block away, with its extensive 13th century stained glass windows which make you feel as though you’re standing inside a kaleidoscope.  It’s an unforgettable experience and truly atmospheric, having often been described as one of the world’s most beautiful buildings.

the lower chapel at Sainte-Chappelle

the upper chapel at Sainte-Chappelle

By this point in the day, our feet were killing us, so we escaped the island for somewhere to stop for a glass of wine and a treat before continuing.  As with most tourist cities in Europe, you definitely need to head off the main thoroughfares to get anything that comes close to resembling value for money and for your efforts, you’re generally rewarded with better service and food!

some of the food choices along the main tourist routes (mmm brie)

tartes, tartes everywhere!

We had originally planned to take a night-time Seine cruise with Bateaux-Mouches but our feet simply wouldn’t allow us to travel from our random location on the left-bank across to the Pont de l’Alma where these boats departed from… plus the fact that it was still only 6pm and around 3hrs away from nightfall!

In the end, we trudged a few hundred yards onto the Pont Neuf and took a cruise from the smaller company, Vedettes du Pont-Neuf.  It was “ok”, a little rushed perhaps but one of those “things” that you would probably regret not doing, you know?  If you book online in advance, you can get a 5€ reduction per ticket, making it a really affordable experience.

anonymous

Later on that evening, we passed by a peaceful demonstration of people showing solidarity with the Turkish citizens… the French sure know how to throw a good protest!

We finished the day with a real trip highlight, a well-timed jaunt up to the top of Montparnasse Tower to see the city’s lights laid out below us.  Rumour has it that the tower has been under threat of demolition for years… the city hates it and considers it a blot on the landscape.  The only thing saving the 210m tall building?  It’s absolutely riddled with asbestos and they simply don’t know how to take it down safely!

the observation deck – a 360 degree view of the city

a birds-eye view

For me, it’s one of the best spots in the city from which to appreciate the Eiffel Tower.  I just couldn’t believe how empty it was up there, it seems that so few tourists take advantage of this location and it was a magical spot to watch the sun go down over the horizon.  We spent a good hour up there until just before closing time when we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep ahead of our last day of exploration.

some instagram shots from day 2

Final day tomorrow… (and a peek at my beauty buys!)

Well that was tiring.

The fundamental problem with trying to fit 5-days worth of sightseeing into just over 48hrs is that, something… somewhere has to give.  In my case, it was very nearly my sanity (and my feet).

We arrived in Paris at lunchtime on Monday and headed straight to our hotel to make use of their left luggage facilities.  Fortunately for us, they were good sorts and just let us check in early instead.  Our hotel was the Astoria Opera, whose nearest metro stop, Rome, was only a 2-minute walk away.  It’s really well-located for using the public transport and has a great bakery around the corner for late breakfast treats!

A pretty big room by Parisian standards!

The first thing that I want to recommend for your trip to Paris… is two iPhone apps that were paramount to our enjoyment of the city.  The first is Paris Metro, where a paltry 69p will ensure that finding your route across France’s capital is a doddle and this one doesn’t need a data connection to work either.

The second app that was invaluable for getting around the city was Digi Guide Paris, another inexpensive 69p purchase.  I didn’t really use it as a “guide” but the offline maps capability made sure that I was always headed in the right direction.

These two nifty tools really did ensure that our trip was as stress-free as possible.  A final, honourable mention goes to the free TripAdvisor Paris City Guide which had some useful last minute information on opening times (we found out that one of our intended museums was closed on a Monday thanks to this).  Just make sure that you download as much information as possible for the app before you set off.

Exterior of The Louvre from Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre Metro exit

As soon as we’d dumped our luggage and caught our breaths, we jumped on the Metro and headed for The Louvre.  I knew in advance that I wanted to make a beeline for the quieter Porte des Lions entrance, and catching sight of the queues snaking into the Pyramid, I was keen to quickly locate it across the courtyard.  Unfortunately, it was closed!

The Louvre with its famous pyramid!

I had a moment’s frustration (because it should have been open, damnit!) before I engaged plan B and headed for the underground mall at Carousel du Louvre.  Thankfully, we only had to queue for around 10 minutes to buy our tickets and get through security before we were in!

galleries that go on forever…

When people tell you that it would take days, or even weeks to appreciate the museum properly, they ain’t lying.  If I used only one word to describe this Parisian gem, it would be: overwhelming.  The sheer size of the place is something you can only really appreciate in person but it’s worth ensuring that you’ve got a pair of comfortable shoes on your feet for when you attempt it!

…end ever!

We literally only discovered about 3% of the museum by concentrating on the major sights but even with our guerrila-style attack on the attraction’s jewels, we still lingered over a few pieces that caught our eyes, in particular, everything on display by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson who I don’t mind admitting, I’d never heard of before.

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa face-to-face with her (many) admirers

I enjoyed documenting the crowds infront of the most well-known pieces more than the art itself.  Mr. L kept laughing at me that I was standing back and taking pictures of everyone else rather than pushing to the front to enjoy what they were capturing.  If you’re really into seeing these masterpieces, it’s well worth getting there for opening time as the ambiance is definitely spoilt by the sheer number of people around you.

You will struggle to have any kind of “moment” with these icons otherwise, so Google for an early-morning action plan, complete with the ideal route for getting through The Louvre before the throngs of people appear behind you!

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

My favourite spot in the museum (well, of the bits that I saw) was this precise location above the Daru staircase in line with the majestic Winged Victory statue.  It was relatively quiet from up here and gave us a moment to gather our thoughts while gazing down at everyone doing their thing.  I couldn’t help but laugh at all the people taking photos with their iPads, it looks so funny and always puts me in mind of Penny from Inspector Gadget with her computer book!

Another crowd-pleaser, the Venus de Milo

After our whistlestop tour of The Louvre, we were famished and headed back down into the Carousel du Louvre for a bite to eat.  Unfortunately, it was proper food-court stuff so we settled for a sandwich from McDonalds and promised to self-flagellate later in penance for our sins.  Keeping it real.

Underneath the pyramid

We had pre-booked a behind-the-scenes Eiffel Tower tour to ensure that we bypassed the worst of the queues and I was so glad I did!  When we arrived, the queues were horrible, definitely don’t be thinking you can rock up to this attraction and wait in line for ten-minutes… we’re talking hours upon hours of queueing.  The excursion I booked was via Cultival.fr and cost around 22€ each which included a guided tour of the bunkers underneath the tower and the operating room of the pillar lifts which were installed over 100-years ago. Nerdy stuff!

On the ground, looking up!

The thing about the tower is that it just doesn’t disappoint.  You see it in films, on TV, and immortalised in people’s holiday snaps the world over but it just doesn’t compare to standing infront of the structure and looking up.  There’s something about its skeletal form that trumps any skyscraper. Brilliant!

The incredible view from the 2nd floor

From across the other side of the river with one of the Bateau Mouches cruises passing by.

Once we’d bored ourselves senseless with the tower’s history, we headed across The Seine over to the Jardins du Trocadero where some daring skateboarders were piling up industrial-sized rubbish bins and ramps to impress the crowd. We grudgingly walked up to the Trocadero above, still not really wanting to leave the tower’s magnetic pull.

Once we got to the top – dodging the numerous street hawkers on the way – we decided that it was surely time for dinner and headed for a bistro over the road where I’d spent a few happy (and slightly drunken) hours on my last trip to Paris: Cafe Kleber.  We expected to pay through the nose for its location but at 60€ for both of us for two courses and a glass of wine each, it could have been much worse by Paris’ expensive standards.

I’d been hankering after Steak Frites and am pleased to say that this one didn’t disappoint!

We headed back to the hotel after a Nutella and Chantilly crepe from a nearby food stall overlooking the tower’s dazzling 10pm light show.  What a perfect way to end our first day in Paris!

Here’s some instagram shots from our first day, I was switching between cameras like a loon:

Day two coming up tomorrow… tell me what your favourite sights of Paris are?  If you haven’t been, what do you dream of visiting in the city of love most of all?

If you’ve been layering on the mascara, coat after coat (after coat, after coat) in the quest for lashes that sweep the floor.  Stop it.  You look like you’ve got spiders frantically trying to escape from your eyeballs.  I’ve even known girls who wait for their mascara to fully dry before adding more coats.  A surefire way to achieve lashes crispier than a KFC chicken wing.

Powder Rooms will be holding a Lilash/LiBrow Flash Sale tomorrow, Friday 7th June between 2-3PM BST.  This much-heralded wonder serum is known for strengthening, fortifying and boosting your lash power to the max.  But don’t take my word for it… check out Muhsine’s great post here with some impressive before/after pictures.

LiLash and LiBrow can be tricky to get hold outside of the U.S. and Powder Rooms is the UK’s only authorized online stockist, ensuring that you get fresh stock that won’t cost you a bomb in customs duty!

It takes around 3 months to see the full results from a course of LiLash, though some have reported dramatic effects after only 3/4 weeks.  If you’re interested in receiving 15% off the standard price, be sure to log on to Powder Rooms tomorrow between 2-3PM BST (ships worldwide) and make a rare saving on this cult product with the all important code: lashflash

Why are some nail polishes so damn hard to capture on screen? In real life, they can be as pretty as a flower… but through my camera lens? We be talking cauliflower.

Powder Rooms sent me this polish to photograph for their site late last year, back in the murky depths of dark nights and well, even darker days.  It made for a frustrating assignment.  Butter London’s Trustafarian basically only sings in the sun, it needs strong daylight like I need intravenously feeding Pepsi Max.

Check it out.

indoors

outdoors

Ahhh, you beauty. You pain in the arse beauty.

It applies with three smooth coats and dries quickly enough not to give me any major application issues. You can see that the holographic effect, although fairly subtle, is still super-pretty in a pixie-esque, twinkly kind of way.

Do you need this in your life? Possibly, particularly if you live in a country whose weather patterns consist of more than just perma-drizzle.

Butter London Trustafarian holographic nail polish is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

I do love a bit of eyeliner, I mean… it’s only taken me approximately 15 years to get the hang of applying it, so I feel entirely justified in my urge to play around with it a bit.

Enter YSL’s latest release in the form of their Rose Baby Doll Eyeliner, launched as part of their Baby Doll collection and currently on counters now.  Rose Baby Doll isn’t actually as pink as the name might have you believe. It’s a rosy-copper shade with more shine than a new penny and works really nicely on green eyes. Even if I do say so myself!

It applies with one of those spindly, super-fine brushes that gives utmost precision but tends to get tangled up in my lashes, resulting in an ocassional “splodge” of colour just where I didn’t want it as the brush flicks back, untangling itself as it sweeps across the lashline.

I will always prefer felt-tip style nibs for liquid eyeliner but when you’re crafting colour with as much shimmer and depth as this one delivers, this is the only style of brush that really cuts the mustard.

Whenever I wear a coloured eyeliner, I almost always pair it with a black line… doubling up, so to speak.  My eyes need the added definition that a slick of black brings, and I love the contrast which almost always evokes a compliment from someone at some point through the day.  Not about me, just my eyeliner you understand!

I often find that with this style of highly-foiled eyeliner, I suffer from flaking.  Illamasqua Precision Inks, Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid (some of them), and the old-style Guerlain Divinoras do this to me and by the end of the day, I’ll look into the mirror and see chasms of emptiness across my lashline where the coloured liner has simply peeled off in sections as the day has progressed.

Which makes me rather pleased to state that I had absolutely no problems with this one.  Infact, it lasted so well… that even the flicks were still intact 8 hours later.

This particular shade is selling out fast, and is already out of stock at many of the major retailers so if you want to jump on the rose-gold eyeliner bandwagon, do it quickly!

Do you wear coloured eyeliner?

YSL Rose Baby Doll Eyeliner is available to buy on counter and online now, priced at £24.00

* press sample

So, Rimmel… and their “apocaliptic” hybrid gloss/lipstick.  Available in eight shades of lip-smacking colour from vampy plum through to pale nude, has been setting the blogging world alight from day one.  Except, I can’t for the life of me work out why.

First things first, they smell bad.  I’m not the kind of blogger that harps on about scented products being the root of all evil, I couldn’t normally give a chuff about scented/flavoured products but these are so horribly synthetic, I find them almost offensive.  Smell and taste are so closely linked, that if something smells bad… it often tastes bad too and I just don’t want this genetically-modified Jolly Rancher crap on my lips with it’s faux fruit salad gooeyness mere centimeters from my nostrils.

When it comes to application, the wand – complete with product dip/well – doesn’t work properly.  There’s no real give to the sponge, the product contained within the well is staying there.  For all eternity.  It’s not coating your lips, you’re just double dipping it back into the container each time you use it.  Give it up.

When I headed down to Boots, finally giving into the hype I was reading everywhere, I umm’ed and ahh’ed over the shades… in the end, I settled for Celestial, and the colour is indeed very, very, pretty.  That neutral kind of pink that goes with everything… looking good on practically every skin-tone.  But my love for the shade just cannot overcome.  Let me tell you what else I hate about this product.

It feels heavy on the lips.  Like tar.  Like a new kind of tar that has been created from lead.  Spread over my lips and left to bake in the sun.  It’s 2013, lip products don’t feel like this anymore.  I crave lightweight textures that deliver strong pigment without making me feel like my lips have been glued together with eye bogies.  And because the product just kinda sits there… it travels.  Within the hour, I experienced the kind of feathering you’d expect from a siren-red lipstick that had been applied with a trowel.

At least you’d think with that kind of “creamy” coverage, your lips would stay well-nourished underneath?  No.  I found the formula drying and unforgiving to my “not even very dry” lips.  The product settled in the furrows and felt less and less comfortable with every passing minute.

And so, for its parting demonstration… did it stay on for long?  No… it lasted no more than a couple of hours before wearing away without leaving even a hint of a stain to see me through the afternoon.

I have basically been violated by a lipstick.  And that my friends, is a hugely disappointing sensation.

Rimmel Apocalips are priced at £4.49 each and are available to buy instore or online from boots.com, superdrug.com, and asos.com

Remember when I won a trip to Paris courtesy of Vaseline? Well, I’m jumping on the Eurostar tomorrow and finally taking advantage of my prize… I can’t. bloody. wait!

It’s the first time me and Mr. L have been away on our own in 9 years, so I’m calling it our belated honeymoon… seeing as our actual honeymoon was in Manchester. How romantic?

My little L is looking forward to a couple of nights of endless Disney movies and marshmallows with her Nan and Pops, and me? Well, I’m looking forward to endless steak frites, trips to Monoprix (so classy), and people watching at Trocadero (I don’t even care how expensive the wine is!)

I’ve got a modest shopping list in my back pocket but I’m hoping that some new stuffs might catch my eye while I’m browsing.  Our itinerary (planned military-style by yours truly) is pretty packed so I don’t know how much shopping time I’ll be able to squeeze in, I also have to remember that I’m not travelling solo!

Incase you’re interested (and because I’d like some tips), my itinerary looks a little something like this:

Monday: Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero

Tuesday: Catacombs, Pere Lachaise, Rodin’s Thinker, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, Seine Cruise

Wednesday: Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, La Defense

The thought of The Louvre frightens me, I know it’s gonna be rammed but I’m ok with being a philistine – I just wanna spot the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.  Some of the other “sights”, we’re probably not going to go inside, well… it depends on the queues…

I’ve only been to Paris once before on a school trip, and once with Vexinthecity, so I’m by no means overly familiar with the city. 

Any tips for eating (not too expensive!), sightseeing, transport etc. are as always, super-appreciated.

I’M SO BLEEDIN’ EXCITED!

À bientôt mes amies! xxxx

Question of the Week – Are there any beauty products that receive a lot of hype but don’t work for YOU?

Answer – YES! I’m just about to blog about one in particular… keep your eyes peeled for Monday’s post.

Pink Sith – Afraid of commitment? The Perlier 8-piece Mini Shower Cream and Body Balm Set will help you decide on just the right scent for your luxury bath & body needs.

Prime Beauty – discovers three little innocent looking glosses that have a power she can’t resist from Votre Vu!

Phyrra – asks, wondering how you can carry your camera in style? Phyrra shows you the Kelly Moore B Hobo bag – the best handbag for beauty and fashion bloggers!

Vampy Varnish – ready to create your Bronzing Wardrobe? Check out all eight of the Too Faced Bronzers and see which ones might suit you best!

we heart this – asks “wanna win a $150 Shopbop gift card courtesy of Nivea? Answer: Duh!

Beauty Junkies Unite – Every day is a summer holiday with these gorgeous new nail lacquers from the new butter LONDON Summer Holiday Collection!

Clumps of Mascara – adores Josie Maran and is happy to see that she’s added some shimmer to her products. Look at thaaaat!

Gouldylox Reviews – I’m wondering, where do you prefer to shop for makeup, Ulta or Sephora? Tell me, please!

Lipglossiping – favours the florals this week with a look at four of her favourite violet-noted fragrances.

My Beauty Bunny – Need to get your skin into summer shape? We’ve got a set of Nourish Organic Body Washes to Giveaway in four delicious scents; Almond Vanilla, Fresh Fig, Lavender Mint and Wild Berries.

Nouveau Cheap – puts the newest jumbo eye pencils from CoverGirl to the test. Come find out if the Flamed Out Shadow Pencils are worth your hard-earned pennies…

Guest Post of the Week, as chosen by Pink Sith – Another Canadian blogger has captured my heart! This time it’s Sheila from the *Maddy Loves blog. She caught my attention with information and pictures of the Chanel Fall 2013 collection and kept my attention with her great selection of reviews.