A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Brrrrr!  Halfway through the month of January and I’m lamenting the loss of Summer in a big way.  Anyone else in the UK completely fed up of it getting dark so early?  I miss the sun and so does my skin!

Not that I’m a natural tanner anyway, I sort of go a bit pink (roast beef stylee) and then white again… thank heavens for a little bit of tan fakery!

Which brings me on to today’s giveaway prize…

Xen-Tan have stepped in and generously donated one of their Luxury Tanning Collections worth £39.99!

They Say:

This glow-giving tanning collection is perfect for a darker, richer colour with a flawless finish.

Our Luxury Tanning Collection is perfect for a darker, but natural colour, so for an added boost of beauty invest in this sumptuous Xen-Tan gift set, containing Dark Lotion (236ml) Body Scrub (236ml) and a Luxury Tanning Mitt – all the essentials to warm up a sunshine starved face and body this winter.

And if you’re a bit worried about being too pasty for self-tanners, fear not…. I had a great experience with the natural golden-olive tones that Xen-Tan produces.

Leave a comment to enter.  Giveaway closes at 23:59GMT on 22nd January.

UK Only, sorry ladies.

If you’re from outside the UK but don’t want to miss your chance at winning “most dedicated” entrant mystery prize… you can still comment.  Just let me know that you’re not eligible to win the daily prize because of your location!

Winners will be announced early next month.  Info and rulez can be found here.

Time for the next round featuring all the wonderful red lips you ladies have been rocking!

1. Abbie from AbbieBabby is looking lovely in Rimmel’s Shocking Pink.  She says that she’s also wearing Urban Decay pocket rocket lipgloss in Timothy which makes it look more red.

2. The lovely Lily from BeautysBadHabit is making me jealous with that MAC Port Red again!  Such a fabulous shade!

3. Phyrra is glossing it up with MAC Lip Pencil in Cherry and MAC 3D Lipglass in Boundless – gorgeous!

4. Julia from BlessMyBag shows off her fav red lip; IZGO La Belle lipstick in RED.  Killer shade!

5. Beautiful Sarah from CityGirlsFashionBox shows off the legendary red lip that is Cherries in the Snow by Revlon.

I bought this last summer at the same time as picking up a few of their other shades.  I was so unimpressed with the gloopy formula that I found with Peacock (a teal shade), that it’s taken me until now to try one of the others!

Silly me eh?

Mouse is quite, quite lovely.  It’s a softened greige… I defy you to liken this to shit fingers you ‘orrible greige hating lot (you know who you are!)

Very sophisticated-looking (if I do say so myself) but it needs 3 coats.  The above photo shows two coats and I can see a bit of transparency on my ring finger that I didn’t spot until looking at the photo above.

Longevity is slightly less than average, tip wear was noticeable after a day so I’d steer clear if polish peels off your tips quicker than you can paint it on.

American Apparel nail polishes are available instore or online priced at £7 each.

Butter London have just announced a new nail polish shade to coincide with the Royal Wedding this year!

“No More Waity, Katie” will be a limited edition shade released late spring, named for the popular tabloid play on Kate Middleton’s perceived patience as she waited for Prince William to pop that all important question!

Described as a greyish/blue glitter infusion, I can’t waity (see what I did there? smooth…) to see how this looks in person.

More information on release dates and potential pre-orders at PowderRooms as and when I have it.

I’ll take any excuse for some new glitter-infused nail polish shades thankyouverymuch!

Shimmer and sparkle with this New Cid Cosmetics i-glow  worth £23.50.  A beautiful shimmer powder that will light up even the dullest of January mornings.

These marbelised glow powders are the perfect ‘pick me up’ for the skin. Using our famous baked formulation for easy, silky smooth application, i – glow has light reflective pigments for mimicking your skins natural radiance.

I tried to go for something fairly universal, so plumped for the shade Sirocco which would make a beautiful highlighter on darker skintones and bring a hint of warmth to other pale-ys like me.

I’m going to Parreeeee!  Not Paris… PARREEEEEEEE!

Innit.

What can I buy?  What would you buy?

Now bear in mind that being in the city of lurve will grant me access to the holy shrine of all things makeup – Sephora.  Are there any must haves?

The thing that I need to bear in mind is that the following week, is IMATS which means no MUFE shopping in advance of potential 40% discounts.

What goodies would you come back from Paris laden-down with?

Yum. Oh.

I’m a long-standing fan of Lush’s Honey I Washed the Kids soap. It’s got no whizz-bang exciting things going for it but it’s comforting. Like an old-favourite jumper washed many times over, I’ve been repurchasing it once or twice a year since my early twenties.

Which is why I was excited to see the scent launched into a new Limited Edition shower gel that goes by the name of: It’s Raining Men. Alongside the other limited edition launches for Valentine’s Day, It’s Raining Men will only be around for a short while… so I suggest you go sniff it out tout de suite!

It foams REALLY well… and to be quite blunt, when a shower gel (that doesn’t claim to contain magical properties) costs nearly £8 for 250ml, that’s an important thing to know about it.  It means that I can see this bottle lasting me for a good long time.  Judging by my usage of the sample I was sent, I’d estimate that it’ll still be going in 3 months time.  You really only need a drop on a bath lily to work up a huge lather.

As for the scent?  To me it’s a little sweeter than my HIWTK soap… just a touch.

It’s Raining Men is a saccharine feast for the shower that bubbles up beautifully and leaves my skin with a delicate honey-ed scent.  I like it and I’m purchasing a backup at the weekend in preparation for it leaving the shelves for good.

Lush – It’s Raining Men limited edition Shower Gel is available online or instore at LUSH

Due on counter next week (26th January), the new No7 Spring collection includes an array of delicately-hued goodies for the new season.

The collection includes:

Limited Edition Eye Palette – £12.50
Limited Edition Gel Eyeliners, in Navy Blue, Turquoise and Black – £10.50
Limited Edition Lipsticks, in Brigitte (pale pink) and Grace (pale coral) – £10.50
Limited Edition Nail Polish, in Sugar (pale pink) and Spice (pale coral) – £7.50

Lisa Eldridge had this to say about the inspiration behind her latest No7 collection:

“Inspired by St Tropez in the early 1960’s, the birthplace of the glamorous international jet set and Brigitte Bardot, the archetypal sex kitten, this collection focuses attention very much on the eyes – the key items being the three Gel Eyeliners and beautiful Eye Palette. The eye shadow quartet contains the prettiest washes of ‘barely there’ beiges, corals, pinks, shimmering turquoises and sea greens all evocative of the Cote d’Azur. When the strong liners and pretty shadows are combined with the pale pouty lip colours… the look is defnitely more than a little 60’s Riviera starlet.”

I’ll be diving in for a closer look at the Gel Eyeliner in Navy Blue (love a good, deep blue eyeliner!) and lippie in Grace (pale coral).

What will you be making a beeline for?

Thirteen… day 13… Unlucky for some, but hopefully not for YOU!

I have two gorgeous DuWop products kindly donated by Simple Beauty…

These take me back a few years to the time when anyone who was ANYONE was plumping their lips with Lip Venom.  The most celebrated Lip Venom lover of them all? None other than Mrs Beckham and her infamous pout!

The products up for grabs today for one lucky reader are…

Venom Flash (£14.50)

Lip Venom was the very first lip plumper on the market, creating the lip plumping category for the beauty industry. The tingly gloss uses essential oils to enhance lips’ natural color and shape by increasing circulation. The result: fuller bee stung lips.

DuWop’s Venom Flash is the same formula as Lip Venom, spiked with silver shimmer. Once applied to your lips, Venom Flash reflects the light, giving them extra sheen for the fullest, flashiest lips.

Plumping Paste (£15.00)

Plumpers have come a long way since the dawn of the original Lip Venom ten years ago. DuWop constantly strives for innovation in this category and has created a treatment masque for the lips that conditions, exfoliates, and plumps simultaneously. Plumping Paste has a rich consistency, dense with conditioners like castor seed oil and hydrogenated jojoba.

It also contains a new, highly effective ingredient to gently exfoliate and condition. An alternative to sugar scrubs, Plumping Paste uses jojoba beads that are massaged into the lips and wiped a way with a damp cloth after 10 minutes. Combined with the classic Venom formula, Plumping Paste leaves the lips supple, full and hydrated- the perfect canvas for lipstick or gloss.

.

If these two pout-perfecting goodies don’t give you lips to rival Angeline Jolie, I don’t know what will!

Leave a comment to enter.  Giveaway closes at 23:59GMT on 20th January.

Winners will be announced early next month.  Info and rulez can be found here.

Ok, I’m finishing up with the review of the bits that I was sent last month.  Click here to read my other posts on the brand.  I’m battling a bit of a backlog at the minute thanks to the frustrations of losing the site over Christmas.  Bear with me!

Milky Lips in 602 (£4.44) is a pale cool-toned pink gloss that does what it says on the tin!

It’s a bit “Barbie” for me but I can imagine it being a hit among a younger crowd.  It’s tacky and long-lasting but prone to sinking into the furrows in your lips as these milky type glosses and pale lipsticks tend to do.

Moving on…

The Eyeshadow Trio Dancing Queen in 803 (£4.24) whilst nicely pigmented is frosty as hell.  It’s just too much for me though I was impressed at the texture which was a lot softer than I would have expected considering the amount of glitter these shades hold.  Fall-out is an issue when using these so be prepared to deal with it!

The darkest charcoal/blue shade in the trio is particularly nice but like I said, it’s all a bit too sparkly for me I’m afraid.

On with the next product…

I was VERY pleased with the Paese Pen Liner (£6.08) which I’ve been using daily ever since I received it.  So far (in over a month), it hasn’t dried out at all.  It could do with a little more pigment… as it stands, you do need to go over any lines you draw twice to get a solid, opaque finish.  So why am I holding it in such high esteem?

I love pen liners, I find them the quickest, easiest way to accomplish a simple black line along my upper lashline.  You can’t beat gel for pigmentation but I’m pretty cack-handed and keep falling back on these felt-tip type pens when I don’t have all day to get a perfect line.  The tip on this is a cracker.  Not even remotely scratchy and with a fine point that allows for a nice thin ‘flick’.  There’s a bit of bounce in the tip and it never skips as I draw along my lashline.  It’s solid and dependable… something I want in my eyeliner.

And finally…

Paese Blusher in 25 (£3.32) didn’t do anything to impress I’m afraid.  It’s a nice enough peachy/rose shade with a lovely, soft texture but it’s dusty as hell.  A real shame because it also happens to contain one of the nicest and most delicate shimmers I’ve ever seen in what is essentially a drugstore blush.

It’s very pigmented and a little goes a long way but if you take more than a couple of swipes during blending you’ll notice that you start to blend the blush into oblivion and will be left wondering where the hell it went.  One of those blush on, blush off blushers!

Final Thoughts on Paese Cosmetics

I have some concerns about the website which has those horrible block swatches that don’t give a great indication of the shades available.  There seems to be some mis-labelling amongst the categories and it all seems a bit like a work-in-progress rather than a finished consumer-ready website though I can’t emphasise enough how refreshing it is to see such reasonable shipping charges within the UK!

It’s a brand worth exploring with some little gems hidden among the standard less-impressive drugstore-esque fare.  In particular, I’d recommend the eyeliner and primer as well as the nail polish.  These are the products that I would personally re-purchase.

Are you planning to give Paese Cosmetics a try?

With bamboo handles, 100% animal-free, antibacterial taklon bristles and priced at only £5.50 each… the new E.L.F range of mineral brushes are sure to be an interesting addition to the brand’s budget line-up in the UK.

From Left to Right: Powder Brush, Complexion Brush, Foundation Brush, Angled Blush Brush, Concealer Brush & Lip Brush.

From Left to Right: Liner and Brow Comb, Flat Eyeliner Brush, Smudge Brush, Contour Brush, All-over Eyeshadow Brush and Blending Eye Brush.

As well as individual brushes, you’re can also purchase two brush sets (£15 and £20 respectively):

The 4 piece set contains: Complexion Brush, Concealer Brush. Blending Eye Brush, Mini Kabuki Brush, Brush Bag

The 5 piece set contains: Complexion Brush, Eyeliner Brush, Concealer Brush, All-Over Eyeshadow Brush, Lash & Brow Comb, Brush Bag

It seems strange to me that they’ve doubled up the complexion and concealer brushes in both sets… it makes it far less appealing to purchase both sets.  Infact, you just wouldn’t would you?

I’ll be receiving a few samples from the new range shortly and will be keen to discover if these brushes are worth a punt.  I’ve learnt since first falling in love with makeup, that the one thing often worth spending a bit more on to get great quality… are brushes.

Will the new E.L.F bamboo range hold their own in terms of quality and usability?

Have you tried the new range yet?

Any excuse to pamper ourselves rotten eh?

Monu have kindly donated one of their Home Spa Sets worth at least £33!

The kit contains 100ml Warming Ginger Body Oil and 150g Papaya Bath Salt to help you create your own Spa experience at home!  There’s even a natural sea sponge included!

• All you need for a complete spa experience, this soothing treatment oil not only doubles as a nourishing emulsifying bath and shower oil, but add our bath salt, and it transforms into an invigorating scrub to smooth away dead skin.
• With Calendula, Jojoba Seed oil and Vitamins A and E.
• Restores suppleness and softness.

Tempted?  I’ll be honest with you… I didn’t wanna give this one up – the Ginger Body Oil smells immense.  It’s a lucky, lucky lady who wins this set!