A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

How do you keep subscribed to my updates. You know, since 2009 there have been over 2790 of them! That’s a lot of blogging, think of all the things I could have been doing with my life instead?! No actually, don’t…

What I want to know is… how do you follow my inane ramblings? In case you’re in need of a little update… here are some of the ways we can keep in touch…

Bloglovin‘

Bloglovin‘ is an easy way to find and store all of your favourite blogs in one place. It’s quick to log on and check for updates, giving you the gist of a post so you can decide whether or not you’re interested in clicking through to read more.

click here to subscribe via Bloglovin’

Email

For the least amount of effort on your part, subscribe to my daily mail out. You’ll only receive one email per day (and that’s only if I’ve updated!)

Any posts will be waiting for you to read from the comfort of your email inbox whenever you get a spare minute.

click here to subscribe to my daily email

Twitter

Incase you don’t know, I’m a wee bit of a Twitter addict (50,000+ tweets and counting!) If you have any questions or want to shout at me about something, this is the best place to find me! I use Twitter to promote my latest posts with a single link and automate a couple of links a day to older posts that you may not have picked up on the first time around.

Twitter is also where I link extremely time-sensitive info (deals, voucher codes etc.) and retweet lots of completely and utterly fascinating (honest!) snippets that I discover!

click here to follow me on Twitter

Facebook

I don’t really use Facebook if I’m honest…. but if you’re an avid fan, you can follow my page which will, by the power of the magical internet, feed my latest updates into your timeline.

click here to follow me on Facebook

Instagram

My Instagram account is more personal than blog-related. Generally involving attempts at healthy and not-so-healthy(!) dinners and treats, a wee bit of Leila’s antics and not much else!

Click here to find and follow my Instagram account

However you choose to follow my blog, if you do – thank you very much!

Is it purple? Is it blue? Neither, this is AUBERGINE bitch!  Well, kinda…

It also happens to be a one-coat wonder, unless you’re ridiculously meticulous and couldn’t possibly leave it at that.  Me?  I left it at that.  The finish is smooth and glossy and application harks back to some of Butter London’s best from a couple of years back.  When you’re dealing with bold colours, you really appreciate a faultless application and this can unquestionably be described as an easy-to-work-with polish.

Butter London Bramble was released as part of the Holiday 2013 Illusionists collection alongside a trio of top-coats and I’ll be blogging it again, combined with one of the top coats from the set: Stardust, which gives a wondrous, galaxy-esque finish.

I’m loving these chic darker shades at the moment, especially on shorter nails, what colours are you loving at the minute?

Butter London Bramble is available to buy online from powderrooms.com, priced at £11.95

Question of the Week: What were some of your favorite blog posts that you wrote in 2013?

Answer: 2013 wasn’t a great blogging year for me.  Like the girl with a little curl, when I was loving it… it was very, very good, but when I was off form, it was horrid.  Having said that, I still managed to squeeze in 311 posts over the last 12 months, so it couldn’t have been that bad!

My favourite posts are usually the ones that make me laugh to myself in a “finding yourself hilarious really isn’t the done thing” kinda way.  Either that or the FOTDs that make me look prettier than I really am and those moments when a camera really captures the beauty of a product.  C’mon, I’m a girl, with a makeup blog. This shit matters! 

So with that criteria ringing in my ears, I’d have to submit this (my favourite nail collection of the year), this (because I fell asleep that night still chuckling) and this (I couldn’t find a FOTD of me I liked v. much, so have my girl crushes instead!) as my favourite posts of last year.

Gouldylox Reviews – Want to look chiseled without the workout ? All you need are the right colors to look like you’ve been hitting the gym.

My Beauty Bunny – Start the New Year by winning a Nouveau Organica Makeup Palette – a gorgeous collection of 12 vegan and organic shades valued at $89.99!

Nouveau Cheap – It’s that time again! Here’s my list of the Best in Drugstore Beauty for 2013, otherwise known as the 5th Annual Cheapie Awards!

Prime Beauty – loves the all matte IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Eye Shadow Palette, but wait there’s more….it has transforming powers. Read on!

Phyrra – introduces us to a new indie company, Whip Hand Cosmetics. Find out her picks for best products!

we heart this – Pregnant with pimples? We’ve got the only ingredient you need to clear it up naturally.

Beauty Junkies Unite – Amber has the review and swatches of the much anticipated OPI Gwen Stefani Collection. Which shade/finish is your favorite?

Clumps of Mascara – shared 5 of her beauty resolutions with some of the other girls in the Makeup Wars.

EauMG – Have any New Year’s Resolutions? Victoria has a “guide” to perfumes that will help (or hinder) your resolutions.

Guest Post of the Week, as chosen by Gouldylox Reviews – I don’t really read a huge number of blogs….weird, I know. But when I have the time, I love 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic. Christine always has great real world advice and fun photos!

There’s a certain flatness to this time of year that engulfs all that’s gone before.  The “party season” is nothing but a distant memory of too much Prosecco and too many mince pies and all that’s left behind is the depressing knowledge that it will take far longer to shift the Christmas podge than it took to gain it.  If you’re really lucky (like me), you’ll also be haunted by the thought of your tax return that needs to be filed imminently and a daily mirror reminder of how much your skin detests the combination of pregnancy hormones being wreaked upon it.

I’m dry.  Drier than a teetotaler at an AA meeting.  Sitting here now, I can run my fingers over my face and feel the rough patches… I yearn for the warmth of some Summer sun on my skin and despite my half-hearted efforts at making adjustments to my daily skin care routine, the hormones are winning.

Elemis have recently launched four new Radiance Collections to target particular post-Christmas skin concerns which are ingenious in a neatly-packaged, do-the-hard-work-for-you kinda way.  I’m hoping that one of these releases in particular will go some way to improve the current bleak outlook for my skin, no prizes for guessing that my collection of choice is: Rehydrating.

The four collections: Rehydrating, Balancing, Resurfacing, and Illuminating each come packaged in a mesh wash-bag and offer a minimum of 40% savings over purchasing each item individually.  It’s a great way to kick start your New Year skin care routine in the direction that it’s demanding without completely breaking the bank.   There’s nothing overly-complicated or particularly fancy about these collections, but they’re a good way to take stock of current cleansing routines and shift them up a gear to target particular concerns.

The Rehydrating Collection (for dry and mature skin types) contains: Rehydrating Rosepetal Cleanser 200ml (full size), Rehydrating Ginseng Toner 200ml (full size), and Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm 15ml.

The Balancing Collection (for normal/combination skin types) contains: Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser 200ml (full size), Balancing Lavender Toner 200ml (full size), and Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm 15ml.

The Resurfacing Collection (for skin types in need of post-Xmas detox) contains: Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash 200ml (full size), Soothing Apricot Toner 200ml (full size), and Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm 15ml.

The Illuminating Collection (for dry and mature skin types) contains: Pro-Radiance Cream Cleanser 150ml (full size), Soothing Apricot Toner 200ml (full size), and Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm 15ml.

How is your skin faring after the excesses of Christmas?

The collections range in price between £30 and £35 and are available to buy on counter and online from timetospa.co.uk, while stocks last.

* press sample

When I first reviewed the L’Oreal Color Infallible range a couple of years back, I was impressed with the amount of pigment these little pots delivered.  They were obviously hot on the heels of Armani’s Eyes to Kill Intense/Chanel Illusion D’Ombre high-end releases and presented an inexpensive way to jump on the is-it-cream-or-is-it-powder bandwagon.

My only issue with them back then was with their staying power as I found them sliding around on my lids after a few hours, both with or without a primed base.

However, I’m a sucker for my purples and the limited edition Metallic Lilac release had been haunting me ever since I saw swatches a while back.  Still not quite enthused enough to hot-foot it down to Boots (how many purples does one woman actually need?) I held off until I was reminded of its existence during a late-night eBay browse.

The particular beauty of this shade for me lies in its irridescence.  It has a delicate sparkle that remains on your lids without too much migration and injects the area with reflected light… something that I’m particularly partial to when I drag my sorry bones out of bed in time for the school run.

The flashes of pink in the powder prevent the shade from being too icy, and there’s a subtle greyed-out quality that will appeal to those of us who don’t want our eyeshadows to scream too loudly at passers-by.

I use a flat brush to apply this to the center of my primed lid before buffing out the edges for a softer finish.  I’m wearing it today on the lower lashline, a little heavier than I would across the lid and it adds a look-twice amount of colour without being over the top.  Longevity still isn’t the greatest on the lids for me but I’m a little more lenient nowadays, less demanding of staying power in my old age… perhaps I just don’t need all-day-long wear anymore.

That being said, I still get around 5 hours with a primer, so it’s not too bad.  I also should point out that I do believe that I’m in the minority with grumbling about wear issues with this range of eyeshadow.  Most bloggers tend to find that this gives great all-day wear with a primed base.

You can pick the L’Oreal Color Infallible Eyeshadow in Metallic Lilac up on eBay from £2.25 with free postage.  Or you can go to Subway and buy a bacon sub with a drink for £2.00 – I won’t hold it against you if you choose the bacon, there’s no easy answer to this one.

I know that I’m not alone in announcing a mild disappointment with the post-Xmas beauty sales, I usually clean up and feel the inevitable spending guilts for weeks afterwards.  This year, not so much.  Infact, in my quest to add some new blood to my beauty cabinet, I’ve all but failed.

All but…

Thank God for Fragrance Direct and their bounty of Becca goodies that have seen me through this extremely dry patch.

There are still many Becca products available on the website, infact… most of the items that I purchased on Boxing Day are still available so I’ll just get some pictures up with their corresponding swatches in an effort to siren-song you into some lemmings.  Do we still use that word?  Oh, I’m so 2008.

my haul

Becca Sheer Stick Foundation (sherbet), Becca Radiance Primer, Becca Luminous Skin Colour (porcelain)

Becca sheer stick foundation in Sherbet

Swatch of Becca Sheer Stick Foundation in Sherbet

Swatch of Becca Radiance Primer

Becca Luminous Skin Colour (porcelain)

Swatch of Becca Luminous Skin Colour (porcelain)

Becca Eye Tint Water Resistant Colour in Vicuna

Swatch of Becca Eye Tint Water Resistant Colour in Vicuna

Becca Professional Polishing Brush 57

Becca Sheer Tint Lip Colour in Valentina

Swatch of Becca Sheer Tint Lip Colour in Valentina

The Becca stock on the Fragrance Direct website starts from around £2.99 and whilst I haven’t had long enough to provide defnitive reviews of everything, I’d really recommend picking up some of the Sheer Tint Lip Colours and a Luminous Skin Colour as a matter of urgency!

As far as freshness goes, considering that these will be old stock… I haven’t got any complaints.  Even the Eye Tint is showing no signs of oil/pigment separation and everything still smells fresh to me.

Are you going to be taking a look at what’s on offer?