A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

As I look through my collection of cosmetics, I see the same names appear over and over…

and over again…

NARS, MAC, Shu Uemura for the high end stuff.

Bourjois, NYX and GOSH for the high street.

I’m a creature of habit it seems.  It’s not that I don’t love to expermient… a beauty blogger is nothing if not adventurous and as I’ve said from the very beginning… this has never been a quest to find my holy grail items.  If I stopped looking and being tempted by new products, the fun would be gone for me.

However, in a beauty world that promises you the Earth… I tend to fall back on brands that deliver time and time again.  Brands that perform well for my particular needs.

So I’ve started to think about the brands that I haven’t taken the time to explore and get a feel for…

For me, it would have to be:

Laura Mercier, Lancome, Bobbi Brown (though I’m just starting to) and Giorgio Armani (high end)

Max Factor, Milani, Too Faced and Prestige (high street)

I’m curious to see if we get much repetition in brand names…

Which brands remain relatively unexplored territory for you (both high end and high street)?

“Don’t sit on that cold step, you’ll get piles…”

“If you sit too close to that TV, your eyes’ll turn square… ”

“You’ll catch your death if you go out without a coat on…”

That’s my Nan talking up there incase you’re wondering. My beautiful Nan… she’s not with us anymore, but you can be sure that wherever she is, she’s got a glass of Guiness in her hand.

Oh, she’ll also have a bag of fluff-coated cough drops somewhere in her handbag (the white Maggie Thatcher-esque one that never left her side).

But what does any of that nonsense have to do with a skin primer that hails all the way from Japan from one of my first-discovered ‘exotic’ (for me) brands?

Absolutely sod all.

Sorry for wasting the last 30 seconds of your life. It was just the words Skin Coat made me think of not leaving the house without your coat on…

DHC’s Velvet Skin Coat was sent to me for review consideration a little while ago.

It’s one of those silicone, skin-smoothing primers like Smashbox Photo Finish. In this instance, you get 15g for £12.50 which puts it a nose ahead of the Smashbox version in terms of value.

I find the packaging of the DHC Velvet Skin Coat preferable to Smashbox’s pump action bottle which always used to spew out too much product. The (rather plain) squeezy tube from DHC offers complete control over how much I’m dispensing without any wastage.

So far, it’s looking good for the DHC… But what does it actually claim to do?

[stextbox id=”custom” bcolor=”b0c4de” bgcolor=”e6e6fa”]Prepare your skin for pristine make-up application. This transparent silicone gel helps temporarily fill in fine lines and promote a more even-looking, refined skin texture – creating a perfect, silky-smooth make-up base. Just slide our primer between your skin and foundation to absorb excess oil and encourage longer-lasting wear. If you prefer a more natural look, use it on its own for a truly gorgeous matt complexion that is velvety-soft to the touch.[/stextbox]

Pretty much everything then *rolls eyes*

From personal experience, it achieves about half of those things… It creates a matte texture that feels velvety and soft. It doesn’t pill, ball-up or interfere with my other products when I’m applying it alone or in conjunction with foundation.

If I’m applying my foundation with my fingers, then I can definitely feel my foundation gliding on more smoothly… as for longevity… hmmmm… undecided. As for filling in pores? hmmmm, not really. In fairness though, Smashbox doesn’t do these things for me either.

Can you make out much difference between the 2 sides of my face?

Because of it’s clear texture… it also sadly doesn’t do anything to disguise the redness in my skintone and neither does it offer any SPF protection.

The only primers I’ve found that work well for me are the less silicone-y ones… the Shu Uemura UV Underbase and Paul & Joe’s Moisturising Foundation Primer (which gave some great longevity). But having said that… so many people swear by Smashbox Photo Finish (c. £28), L’oreal’s Studio Secrets (£12.99) and other silicone-heavy offerings that just because I haven’t found it working wonders on me, doesn’t mean that you won’t love it.

Final Verdict: If you’re a Smashbox Photo Finish fan, try this purse-friendly alternative! Hell, it’s even cheaper than L’oreal’s Studio Secrets (and it’s far better than that!)

DHC Velvet Skin Coat is priced at £12.50 for 15g and available online from DHC. While you’re there, pick up a bottle of their Deep Cleansing Oil… you’ll thank me for it.

The word on the mean streets of Southampton is that I’m guest blogging over on Zuneta today!

Fancy a bit of makeup nostalgia from your teens oh 90s children?

http://www.zuneta.com/blog/?p=1634

Head on over there and don’t forget to leave a comment, I wanna know if you were a coffee shimmer cool chick or a heather shimmer honey!

If you ever need a brand to remind you that it ain’t just about the pretty pretty, Illamasqua is a pretty good choice to be the one to do it.

Art of Darkness is their new Autumn/Winter collection for 2010, and if there’s one thing they do very well indeed…  ‘Dark’ just about sums it up.

Launching nationwide on the 16th September, the collection will introduce new liquid eyeliners priced at £16.50 each called Precision Inks.  An antiqued gold going by the name Alchemy (as seen in the above image) and the usual ever-useful black.

I’ve also heard tales of other new delights including a shimmering teal green nail polish called Viridian, which I think is safe to assume can be spotted in the above campaign image… and to complete your Christmas mani?  A metallic red going by the name Scarab.

If that weren’t enough to whet your appetite… how about a new gold powdered metal or a vampy intense lipgloss?

Are you looking forward to the new Illamasqua collection or have we seen it all before?

Are you into your khakis?

Unless a man is wearing them… then, no.  Not really… though I’m getting sorely tempted by one of the new polishes from the Les Khakis de Chanel collection.

Going all out on the sludge, Chanel knows how to hit our purses hard when leading the trends.

I’m surprised by Khaki Brun… perhaps simply a clever trick to entice all those that missed out on Particuliere earlier in the year.  Khaki Rose *could* be lovely, though it’s a bit granny no?

Khaki Vert is my pick of the bunch…. look at all that grey blended with the green.  Like something from the bottom of a smelly swamp.  Just lovely 😉

Are any of these calling to you?  Bored of the grungey colours now?

The Telegraph reports a bit of a falling out between top department store Selfridges and Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana.

So severe is the reported dispute, that as from next Spring… the entire D&G line will be unavailable instores.  It is unconfirmed which brand made the decision to step away from the partnership.

The two companies had previously enjoyed a good relationship, even up to the point where D&G used Selfridges as the venue for the launch of their first make up collection last year.  The falling out is reported to be over a proposed change to the lines’ in-store positions.

Unless a reconciliation takes place, (and sooner rather than later!) Selfies fans had better make the most of the new Autumn ad campaign featuring (as always) the tirelessly beautiful Scarlett Johansson before looking to Harrods for their future D&G makeup fix.  Look at those vampy lips!  Are we in for another splurge of Gothic lips this Winter?

One of my purchases from last week includes an addition to my steadily growing Illamasqua Cream Blush family!

Illasmasqua Cream Blusher in Laid is a beautiful pink that leans toward the berry family… cool toned… almost raspberry-ish.

I love the Illamasqua Cream Blush formula…. it’s all melty, thin and beautifully blendable.  It never clumps or drags on application and despite being heavily pigmented, it’s forgiving in clumsy hands like mine.

I have VexInTheCity to thank for this purchase… I’m such a sheep.  She bought one and I didn’t want to be left out.   You’re not supposed to covet thy neighbours blushes are you?  Or something like that….

On the left is 2 swipes and on the right shows the blush blended.  What other Illamasqua Cream Blushers do you guys recommend?  I already have Sob and Rude…

Oh.. one last thing!  These blushes last SO well on me considering their cream formula… easily 6-8 hours before showing signs of fading.  Though I will say that this is on normal/combo skin.

Illamasqua Cream Blush in Laid is priced at £16 and available from counters nationwide or online.

What a strange little polish Butter London’s Victoriana (£10) is… it applied with an almost fibrous quality.  If you can call that a quality.  But what I will say is that on me… this manicure lasted 5 days before I saw any tip wear.  Was I painting polish or carbon fibre?

The first coat was a hot mess because of the thick texture…. if you’re smart fngered and can cope with thick polishes, this may be a one-coat wonder for you.  I needed a second to even out the edges and fill in the drag marks.

The muted green/blue tone looks soft against my skintone… in the picture above it’s a little brighter thanks to the sunlight, but it shows up the dense silver sparkle nicely.  Removal was a little tedious but nothing major.  Just hold the remover pad to the nail for a touch longer than normal before wiping clean.  No need for foil or anything hardcore like that!

I was truly amazed by the 5 days of wear I got before noticing any flaws in it’s appearance.

What do you think?  Do you like the look of Victoriana?

Last weekend, Lipglossiping reader Charlotte (what a great name!) alerted me to the fact that Debenhams online were charging £35 each for the new Limited Edition Soft Touch Chanel Eyeshadows in Taupe Grisé and Vert Khaki.

Yeah, really….

I informed Debenhams of this last Sunday evening (15th August) and was told that the misprice was indeed a technical error… 3 days later, on Wednesday evening… the error was fixed.

I’ve since asked Debenhams Beauty if customers would automatically be refunded if they had been overcharged.  Unfortunately, the answer is no.  I quote:

If you bought it at the higher price you need to call our Customer Services on 08445 616161 with your order number to sort out refund!

So there you have it.  If you’ve been stung by this technical error, hopefully you’ll realise and get in contact with Debenhams who will then happily refund you.

Although it doesn’t quite end there…

Charlotte claims that her local Debenhams counter in Ipswich also charged her £35 each for the eyeshadows, though I have no way of verifying this.  Perhaps they were following the online pricing?  I’m not sure… but it might be wise for Debenhams to get a memo out to their counters to ensure that customers aren’t paying over the odds for the new releases.  STAT!

I mean sure… they’re pretty, but they’re not THAT pretty.

Have you paid over the odds for these new releases or seen your local counter charging more than £19.50 a piece?

To all of you who commented on and contributed to my SLS-Free post.

I’ll be honest, my head is spinning a little from all the recommendations, advice and suggestions – but I’ve learnt more from you lot in one day than I had in a week of googling.

It just goes to show how much brands underestimate their consumers, ‘cos you lot are flippin’ savvy!

I’ve made a start and swapped my usual products for the new Body Shop Rainforest Moisture range and I’ve got many new suggestions in standby.  The wonderful Jessica from OutInaPout has convinced me to keep a ‘scalp diary’ (how glamourous!) so I can track the progress (if indeed I experience any!).

I’m going to go back through the comments over the weekend ‘cos there’s loads of things I want to reply to!  But you know I’m rubbish, so most importantly… I wanted to make sure that I expressed a big thanks on here.

You lot really are the best.

It’s backkkkkkkkkkkkkkk….

Get 20% off your Cherry Culture orders until Tuesday night with the code: B2S20

Let me know what you’re planning to pick up!

Bubble & Balm may only be a year old, but their products are already making a splash at one of the UK’s top supermarkets!

The range includes a selection of liquid and clear glycerine bar soaps that are the first natural soaps to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK.

Available in Citrus or Lavender and made in the UK using traditional methods, each product is naturally formulated with plant and essential oils and enriched with glycerine to soothe and moisturise. The entire range is suitable for vegetarians to use and is free from parabens, sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate and phthalates.

The luxury hand wash retails at £4.95, and the bar soaps – which are packaged in a watertight aluminium tin that doubles up as a soap dish are priced at £4.85 each.

Have you spotted these whilst doing your weekly shop yet?