A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Another polish  from the Precision Nails Glam Rock Collection, this time a little number called The After After Party (R04).

It’s a sophisticated midnight blue with shimmer that looks very clean and elegant against a cool, pale skintone.

I was concerned that the inky blue might stain my nails, so I doubled up on the base coat… but I’m pleased to report that it didn’t even so much as stain my cuticles.  Good job!

As with the other shimmers in the range, I wish that it had just a touch more sparkle.  In the bottle, the multi-coloured shimmer is very special and that doesn’t translate to the nail.  Having said that, it’s still a very beautiful midnight blue with just enough shimmer to keep it interesting.

Another three coater, it’s one of those polishes that need that last coat to really shine.  Application was good and wear has been fine.

To celebrate Illamasqua’s 2nd Birthday, the brand are unleashing a rather fabulous competition for their fans.

One lucky winner will walk away with a five-day course in Mastering Professional Make-Up at The Illamasqua School of Make-Up Art, including travel (within the UK) and accommodation, worth over £1000, plus £200 of Illamasqua make-up!

Five runners up will also receive the new Brush Roll, including five brushes.

To enter the competition and watch the new brand film featuring Vicky McClure, head over to the website now.

Back in September, I chose a reader to trial and review the new Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus – Wrinkle and UV Damage Corrector which had been picking up some rather fabulous reviews across the blogosphere.  Helen kindly agreed to provide us with two reviews…. one partway through her trial and another once she’d completed the 12 weeks.

Today, I’d like to share her thoughts on the product that she’s been using for the past 4/5 weeks.

Take it away Helen…

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Okay – so Charlotte very kindly chose me to review this product – many thanks Charlotte.

First impressions: Nice solid glass bottle with pipette type dispenser.  Product itself is a milky fluid – 100% fragrance free and allergy tested.  Love the bottle – looks and feels like it knows what it’s doing.  Slight drawback in that you can’t see how much product you’ve got left at a glance but I’m only about halfway through so should last til the end of this review.

What it promises: ‘striking improvements in as little as 4 weeks’… how does it do this… who cares…. oh, hang on… you do… let me quote… with ‘high-level peptides to boost the production of natural collagen’ and a ‘patented enzyme blend that works to mend visible UV damage’  So in just four weeks I should notice a ‘striking reduction in the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

What it’s up against: 45 year old mother of two who, although not a sun worshipper, wasn’t particularly good at applying facial sunscreen in her younger years and has only recently seen the error of her ways.   I also wear contacts so my delicate eye area is probably suffering a bit more wear and tear than it should.  I think the ‘before’ photo probably speaks for itself… (viewers of a nervous disposition may wish to look away!)

Usage: 3 to 4 drops to face and around eye area – twice a day.  Product is easy to apply via the pipette, and sinks into skin quickly.  Left my skin immediately feeling smoother and moisturised.  Have to say at this point I was pleasantly surprised as I wasn’t expecting my skin to feel so much better so quickly – but there was a distinct improvement in the texture and appearance after only a few days.

After four weeks – well….I do still have wrinkles/lines… BUT I would swear they are greatly improved in just this short time… please bear in mind the ‘after’ photo was taken after a very hectic weekend of late nights but even then I think you can see a difference.

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Thanks Helen, sounding really promising!  Can’t wait to hear your final thoughts once you’ve completed the trial and thanks for being our guinea pig!

Clinique’s Repairwear Laser Focus – Wrinkle and UV Damage Correcter is priced at £35.00 a bottle and available online or on counters nationwide.

…and she really, really does.

I rarely get really excited about haircare – it’s happened 3 times so far this year.  First, with Pantene’s new Aqualight which I’d still be using now if my sensitive scalp hadn’t kicked up a fuss about it.  Secondly with my mysterious high street deep conditioner (don’t get too excited, it’s only mysterious ‘cos I haven’t written the review yet) and thirdly, with this fabulous offering from Liz Earle.

If you’re a regular beauty blog reader, I know that you will have read at least 10 other reviews on these products seeing as they’ve done the ‘blog rounds’ in recent months and I wish I could bring something new and exciting to the table.  But really, all I can do is offer up another rave on how lovely these products are.

Whilst I may not be sold on the powers of the original Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish (I prefer my Cleansing Oil routines), I have always been impressed with the philosophy behind it of finding a gentle but effective product to suit all skintones.  The same philosophy has been applied to the Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo (only for hairtypes) and for mine?  It works like a dream.

On a completely superficial level, I adore the scent.  I think it’s easy to underestimate just how big an influence scent plays in our bathing products.  In my bathroom, it’s right up there with performance… my haircare needs to smell divine, or I’m just not interested.  This smells… divine.  It’s understated, fruity and most importantly… clean-smelling and non-artificial.  It leaves my locks delicately scented without being overpowering.

The texture of the shampoo is almost slightly gel-like and the quantity shown above is about the amount I use to wash my hair.  Adding just a small amount of water, I lather the mixture up between my hands before applying to the roots of my hair.  Considering this is a SLS/SLES shampoo, I’m impressed with the amount of lather I can achieve.  My hair rinses clean in under a minute and actually feels clean (though not squeaky).  I only need one wash… none of that rinse and repeat stuff.  It cleanses my hair effectively and leaves my scalp happy and calm.

I was also sent the conditioner for dry or damaged hair (one of the three varieties available) and it’s a very thick, almost masque-like opaque cream.  Rich with shea butter and yangu oil (known for it’s inherent uv protection), the conditioner offers a deeply moisturising experience.  I tend to keep this away from my roots and concentrate instead on the ends and main hair shaft.  It lacks the tell-tale silicone slip that if I’m honest… I still miss but does prevent my hair from taking on a straw-like appearance once dry.

The scent of the conditioner is heavier than the shampoo and to my nose, I smell licorice which I’m putting down to the Rose-Scented Geranium essential oil… a scent that has always reminded me more of anise and licorice than roses!  Love it.

Both shampoo and conditioner come in two sizes (50ml and 200ml) and are priced at £4/£7.50 respectively.  Despite a full month’s use… I’ve only used half a bottle of the shampoo and will absolutely be repurchasing.  The conditioner tube is nearly empty and I’m not quite in love with it enough to repurchase.

Liz Earle’s new haircare ranges can be purchased online.  I’m not sure if they’re available from John Lewis, which would be my preferred source (I know the candles/bath oils aren’t) – I’ll check and get back to you on that one.

A few weeks ago now, I made a haul from Puresha when they were offering the Cargo Plant Love range at half price.  It’s an organic ECO-CERTed range that I’d been eyeing up for ages but this was the push I needed to commit to a closer look.

I picked up 4 things which were delivered super quickly by Puresha and tied up in a rather beautiful furoshki wrap.  I’m loving this company’s commitment to ‘beautiful living’.

But enough about the stockist, how about the makeup?

I have mixed thoughts.  For one thing, the packaging feels flimsy and unfortunately one of my eyeshadow pans had come unstuck and was rattling about inside the casing.

But… I’ll get my single biggest problem outta the way first shall I?  I experienced an epic eyeshadow fail in this order.

One of the eyeshadow solos I ordered was a rather lovely looking shade called Loon.  Here it is on the left:

It’s described as a glimmering khaki bronze.  I’d describe it as tea leaves.  And I’m not talking about the colour.

Nice texture… how about swatched?

Sadly, a completely unusable eyeshadow.  On the other hand… Blue Jay is a truly truly beautiful slate blue.  Has anyone ever experienced an eyeshadow with a texture like my Loon?  I contemplated contacting Puresha about it, but to be completely honest… at the price I paid for my order, I’d rather feel that I was robbing them by asking for a replacement.

Anyway, one eyeshadow win… one fail…. what else did I get?

I bought a lipstick in shade Yakushima.  I wanted a soft, sheer plum… which is exactly what I got.

I’m not massively keen on the scent… it’s very waxy smelling, but I do love the shade.  Sheer, rich plum with a subtle gold glimmer.  The glimmer gives the illusion of fuller lips and makes this a fantastic choice for the festive season.

The final thing I picked up was the Green Goddess Collection palette that contains 4 eye shadows and 2 blushes.  I absolutely adore how slimline this thing is… check it out…

With the exception of Rose blush, all products are incredibly shimmery.  The eyeshadow in Lily is reminiscent of Urban Decay’s MCRA-type glitter… it’s too much.  I’m not entirely sure how much wear I’ll get out of this palette to be honest.  All shades are well-pigmented although Thyme (the pale shimmery green) has a little of that tea-leaf thing going on again.

The blushes are so-so… Rose is more of a bronzer on me because it applies with quite a deep, warm almost brick-like appearance, though it looks nice with a small amount of the very shimmery Peony dusted ontop.  I just need to use a very light-hand with these two.

So overall, it’s a mixed bag.

From the rattly loose-panned packaging to the eyeshadow textures that just won’t apply properly, I think that Cargo’s Plant Love range may well have some quality issues that will prevent me from exploring the brand further.  I did wonder if perhaps I’d received one from an ‘off’ batch.  Infact, that’s what I assumed… until I read this on MakeUpAlley.  Sound familliar?

The things that I’m happy with… I’m very happy with.  The rest, a bitter disappointment.

You can purchase Cargo Plant Love products online from Puresha with prices starting from £6.50

The new SpaRitual Winter 2010 collection is titled Imagine and features 6 on-trend shades for the season ahead.

Unconditional Love – Deep rose foil metallic
Living in the moment – classy, understated mushroom crème
Health, Wealth & Happiness – Luxurious dramatic two-tone blue, purple metallic

Endless Possibilities – Intense black cherry plum crème
Dreams Becoming Reality – Dramatic teal blue crème
A World of Compassion – Deep lilac crème

Not only big 3 free, all SpaRitual shades are also vegan.  One of my favourite things about the brand is the packaging.  The bulbous bottles feel luxurious and curvy, whilst the caps are simply perfectly shaped and proportioned for use.  The patented design features rubber grips which are moulded for a comfortable experience.

I was sent two of the shades from the collection to swatch… I’ll start with Endless Possibilities:

Endless Possibilities is a cherry black creme, incredibly glossy with a smooth glass-like finish.  THe above photo shows no top coat… nice huh?

It applied very nicely, and was opaque in two coats.  Impressive.  I didn’t experience any chipping but as with most very dark shades like this, tip wear was apparent by the end of the 2nd day.

Another 2-coater, Health, Wealth and Happiness is one incredibly sexy shade.  A Blue/Purple duochrome… the two-tone flashes are spell-binding yet sophisticated.  Application was consistent with the other polish and again, the swatch shot features no top coat.

Wear was a little better on this polish… again, no chips but tip wear wasn’t quite so apparent.

SpaRitual polishes are priced at £7.23 (exc. VAT) each and available online from SpaRitual

Recommended!

It’s Monday morning and to lighten the inevitable back-to-work blues, Lipglossiping has teamed up with the people behind the new Sugababes fragrances to offer three readers the chance to win 1 of the new fragrances worth £19.99 each!

The collection consists of three essences: Tempt, Tease and Touch.  They’re described as spirited, uplifting, and perfect for the modern young woman.

When describing this new venture for the band, Heidi remarked: ‘Working on Tempt, Touch and Tease has been absolutely amazing for all of us, and the fragrances are everything we wished for!  I hope everyone out there loves them as much as we do.’

For more information on the fragrances and other updates including further competitions, check out the Sugababes Fragrance facebook page!

Want to win a bottle of your own?  Here’s how to do it…

Fill in the form below and click submit – that’s it!

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GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!

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THE SMALL PRINT: Giveaway will close at 23.59 GMT on Sunday 7th November 2010, Personal information is collected only for the purpose of this giveaway entry and will be deleted as soon as winners have been notified, 3 separate winners will be chosen at random and will receive one bottle of fragrance each – personal preference cannot be guaranteed, one entry per email address, duplicates will be deleted, all decisions are final, open worldwide.

My hair is pretty dry at the best of times but now the outside temperature is beginning to drop and we’re cranking up the central heating in response, it’s time to start paying close attention to maintaining our moisture levels.  And I’m not talking about the amount of vodka in our blood-streams.

Guy Kremer‘s salon in Winchester (my nearest town – I wish that made me posh by association) is a rather lovely place.  I once had the pleasure of visiting when they miraculously managed to transform my Aunt’s rather horrible NHS cancer wig into something that actually resembled natural hair.  I’ve been a fan ever since.

Here’s some tips from the celebrity stylist himself on how to combat dull, dry, limp and lifeless Winter hair.

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1. Book an appointment for a trim to get rid of those split ends and prevent further damage to your hair.

2. Take quick remedial action by using a deeply penetrating hair repair treatment, which will deliver a dramatic improvement in condition and shine.  After shampooing and rinsing hair thoroughly, blot dry with a towel and work conditioner into your hair, distributing evenly.  Massage gently, using circular movements of the fingers then leave for 3-5 minutes so the nourishing ingredients can penetrate the hair shaft infusing it with moisture and nutrients.  Comb through using a wide toothcomb before rinsing and styling as normal.

3. Blot dry with a towel, do not rub or you will ruffle the cuticle, which depletes shine. Smooth and nourish hair with a styling product, for straight hair using Straightening Balm for curly, Curl Cream. After drying smooth on a few drops of serum which coats each hair with a fine film of silicone that smoothes the cuticle, eliminates frizz, creates texture and adds shine. It also stops hair absorbing moisture from the atmosphere which can make your style drop.

4. Help restore the natural moisture balance in your hair by using specialist shampoos and conditioners for dry, frizzy hair.  These help restore natural vitality that has been lost by the damaging UV rays.  Tinted hair will be suffering from fade caused by the sun.  Refresh colour by asking your hairdresser for a semi-permanent in the same shade as normal.  It will add instant lustre and enrich the colour.

5. Bleached or highlighted hair will have soaked up minerals and chemicals from swimming pools and may well be showing signs of a green tinge.  Use a deep cleansing shampoo to strip away deposits and restore natural lustre.

6. Natural curls or permed tresses could be suffering from damaged or lifted cuticles which, makes hair look dull and be prone to tangle.  Boost curls using an energising spray which will add life.  Follow by warming a few drops of serum in palms and work through outer layers of hair to give instant shine and suppleness.

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In other news, I’ve just discovered a (new-to-me) high street MIRACLE that’s proving to be more than worth it’s weight in gold this Autumn…. more to come on that soon…

What are your winter hair tips?

I was sent these a while ago now via the brilliant r8beauty, probably around the time my camera went up in a big puff of smoke and I have been absolutely DYING to play with them but holding off until I could do them justice with a photo incase they were amaze.

Rebel Nails are a simple stick-on concept that can be customised with an almost infinite number of designs from animal print to high-shine chrome.

I found application a touch tricky, though the instructions provided were clear and easy to follow.

Firstly, I had to trim EVERY nail sticker.  They were all far too wide for my narrow nails and even after trimming, I found that I had been a little too cautious and should have taken off more than I did.  Something to remember for next time.  It looks far better once on the nail if they’re a little too narrow for your nail bed than too wide.

I also experienced more problems with creasing on the ones that I hadn’t trimmed enough.  It really is key to ensure you personalise these nails to fit your own properly.

But how does the overall effect look?

Pretty darn brilliant even if I do say so myself:

My little nail and ring finger are both perfect fits (and applications) but at the time, I thought I’d trimmed too much from the sticker.  You can see though that they look far better than my index and middle fingers yes?

Stickability is impressive.  I achieved 4 days before a little peeling but if I’m completely honest with you… I wanted them off my fingers after day 1.  I found that the free edges (no matter how well I filed) just kept catching on things and feeling ‘scratchy’.  I wouldn’t have lasted 4 days if I weren’t testing them for wear.

For me, these are great for special occasions…. nights out and the like.  They feel very comfortable on the nails… the thin membrane of sticky foil is light and unobtrusive.  It’s just that rough nail tip that I couldn’t put up with.

Removal was 100x easier than I had anticipated.  I switched on my hairdryer, gave a nail a quick blast before peeling back the sticker which left barely any residue, gunk and absolutely no damage behind.

Rebel Nails offer around 100 desgins on their website, with prices starting at only £4.99 a set.

I’m loving the look of these Snowflake Red ones for Christmas.

Do you like?

Something else that caught my eye during the recent Avon event were their range of Glimmerstick Diamond Eye Liners.  Being the magpie that I am, my eyes were drawn to these sparkly creations from 20ft away.

Currently available in a range of 6 colours, I was lured in by the cool tones and made off with the blue and plum shades named: Twilight Sparkle and Sugar Plum respectively.

I do love pencil eyeliners, they’re so versatile and I often use smudged coloured liners as an alternative to eyeshadow on lazy days.  I thought that these might bring a bit of sparkle to the festive season… and I was right!

The texture of the Avon Glimmersticks Diamond Eye Liners is a little hard and they definitely benefit from being warmed up on the back of my hand before applying to the delicate eye area.  Although in stick form, they look hugely glittery… once applied, the effect is somehow sophisticated.  It’s not subtle… but it’s not childish glitterbomb either.

The base colour of the liner holds the sparkle successfully without too much fall out, even after smudging.

Of the two shades that I was given, Twilight Sparkle is the knock out… it’s truly luminous and I’m loving adding a small amount of this under my lower lashes to spice up a bronze eye.  I haven’t applied these along the waterline because I’m not OK with the idea of having glitter so close to my eyeballs but they wear most of the day applied along the lashline.

One issue I have found with these is that the lid is quite hard to remove!  I destroyed the nib of Twilight Sparkle (as you can see in the photo) because I really had to yank at the top to remove… which resulted in a clumsy side swipe and a swift guillotine action!

The Avon Glimmersticks Diamonds Eye Liners are currently half price on the Avon website, priced at £3 each.  An absolute steal, I assure you!

While I’ve got your attention… I’ve updated my original Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner post to include a photo and a swatch of the liner in Silver as per your requests.  You can find the link here (scroll to the bottom for the update).

My C25K post generated more interest than I expected and a few of you have even started the program with me!  High five!  If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, here’s a link to the original post.

I just thought I’d do a quick update on how I’ve been getting on with the program now that I am due to complete the 3rd week tomorrow.

Clearly not me.

The program is designed to ease you from a horizontal position into a world of running and claims to have you running 5k (just over 3 miles) without stopping in 9 weeks.  Intensive much?

I’ll start by saying that there are many different versions of ‘running’ and in truth, my running style involves a very slow jog… a canter on a good day.  There’s definitely no ‘running’ going on here yet.  There have been a couple of points in the program that I have had a sneaky peek ahead at what’s to come and simply thought “no way”.  Last week was a prime example.  Let me explain…

You start the program in Week 1 by running for 1 minute and walking for 1.30 minutes, alternating between the two for a total of around 25 minutes.  At the end of Week 1, I got cocky and skipped through my C25K app to have a look at what the future weeks would have instore for me…

3 minutes running… non stop.  Ermmm…. that’s about week 7 right?  Wrong.  That’s week 3.

“NO WAY!” said me.

“NO WAY!” said my body.

Well, I’ve just completed Week 3, Day 2 and it’s totally do-able, how stoked am I?  I’m on cloud 9 and feeling mightily smug with myself.  Except for one little thing… I did that cocky thing again tonight and read what the last day of Week 5 has in store for me.

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

I read it three times to triple check and still not believing that the program expected me to really run for 20 minutes without stopping… I went online and checked on the website.  It’s not an error.

So… in approximately 5 more sessions, I’m supposed to progress from running 3 minutes… to 20 minutes.

I’m dubious, unconfident and downright traumatised by that thought.

Kinda excited too.

Have you been doing the program?  How are you finding it?

I mentioned last week a nail polish that had instantly hit all the right notes and soared into my top Winter favourites list.  Here it is:

Glam Metal by Precision Nails is a beautiful gunmetal polish with an array of multicoloured sparkle.  The sparkle is subtle, perhaps just a touch too subtle.  I would have been doing cartwheels had it been just a little more apparent.  As it stands, this is a stunning shade for a Winter manicure.  The finish makes the polish look almost chrome-like (in that slightly grungey way I love).  I’m not sure if you can make out from the swatch above… but the gunmetal isn’t an out-and-out grey.. it has the teeniest hint of purple/taupe to it.  You can see why I’m loving this can’t you?

Application was good, thinner rather than thicker and the above shows three coats.  Drying time is average and wear has been good with no chips to report.