A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

… don’t forget to flick over to Sky Channel 640 today to check out today’s QVC TSV (Today’s Special Value).

All this for £39.96!

Contents:

• 1 x Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Tube (100ml)
• 1 x Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer (30ml)
• 1 x Skin Repair Moisturiser (50ml) – choose from Dry/Sensitive, Light or Normal/Combination
• 1 x Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion (150ml)
• 1 x Daily Eye Repair (5ml)
• 1 x Energising Body Wash (100ml)
• 1 x Energising Body Scrub (50ml)
• 1 x Foot Scrub (100ml)
• 1 x Foot Repair Moisturiser (30ml)
• 1 x Sheer Pink Lip Shimmer (5g)
• 2 x muslin cloths

It’s beauty month at QVC so I’m looking forward to finding out what other TSV’s they have up their sleeves!

What’s been some of your favourite QVC Beauty bargains over the years?

It’s Friday… the weekend is here!  Let’s have a discussion and compare notes…

How long do you spend preening, pampering and generally grooming yourself?

My answer, in absolute honesty would be…. as long as I can get away with.

I love it.  As long as I’m not too tired, I love to cleanse my skin, pluck my brows, apply my makeup, give myself quick masks, paint my nails…. I take great pleasure and comfort in the whole ‘beautification’ thing.

The one exception to this is my hair.  I’m hair-lazy.  Infact, it was only last week I turned up to a blogger event and realised that I’d forgotten to brush my hair that morning.  Thankfully it was ponytailed and no-one noticed.  I think…

I guess I generally spend about 45 minutes to an hour a day… longer at the weekends when I get more chance to properly play with makeup for blog posts etc.

How long do you spend each day on making yourself beautiful/presentable/human? (delete as appropriate).  Would you like to have time to spend longer?

I got TAGGED by the lovely Tina over at All The Vanity.  It’s been a little while since I completed a tag so I thought… why not?!

1. What is your beauty style? (Natural, trendy, etc.)

I guess I go for polished comfort.  The majority of time I stick within my comfort zone with colour and application… but my overall style is an ‘attempt’ to simply polish the features that I was born with.  I’d love to be more adventurous… but whenever I go bold it feels akin to transporting the Eiffel Tower to Texas.  Wrong and conspicuous.

2. Where do you get your beauty inspiration from?

Beauty what?  Oh… like magazines and stuff?  I don’t get inspired with looks.  I just like to make my eyeliner not clash with my eye shadow.  Nope, no inspiration… just reach for the shades that take my fancy in the morning and hope they compliment.

3. What beauty products do you have the most of?

Foundation/Base Products.  I’m a complete foundation slag.  Wanna see?

oh.. and blush.  Blush is becoming a guilty pleasure too…

4. What’s you favourite/holy grail colour for:

Eyes: Taupe.  Next!

Lips: Nude, but not concealer nude… darker, pinkier nudes like Urban Decay’s Naked.  “My lips but better” shades.

Cheeks: Anything goes, I love to experiment with cheek colours and am learning how to make most shades work for me.  The key seems to be to use a light hand.  Funny that.

Nails: Purple.  I’d like to argue with that and announce Greige… but the simple fact is, my purple drawer contains double the amount of polishes than my Beige/Brown/Grey drawer.

5. Three favourite brands of the moment:

I gotta say MAC ‘cos I’ve just spent a (very) small fortune on the In The Groove Collection.

Guerlain… It started with a Kiss Kiss Maxi Shine Lipstick and is heading into the LE Eye Palette territory (I’m blaming that pesky Anitacska)

NYX – Always, always endlessly tempted to build up my NYX collection.  At the moment I’m hankering after the cream blushes… I hear they’re niceeeeeeeeee!

Hope that wasn’t too dull for you.

I tag:

ZebyK
Sarah
Louise
Karleigh
Product Pixie
RaeRae
Georgina
Justine
Laura

You’ve got 1 week left to enter chaps!

Click the image to be taken to the entry form and question.

…totally random, unorganised and perhaps just a touch lame.

But I’m having a good makeup week.  Does anyone else go through periods of delight in discovering and more importantly re-discovering fabulous products?

Here’s my fabulous products of the week:

1. Smashbox Muse Palette – just the prettiest selection of soft, wearable shades housed in a (sturdy) cardboard casing.  I’ll do a proper review on the palette next week ‘cos I’ve spotted it on sale and a few swatches may be useful.

2. Max Factor Second Skin Foundation – Wonderful if you’ve got skin that doesn’t need too much concealing.  This foundation seems to give me an overall more even appearance without blanking out my natural skin texture.  It feels light and fluid for the summer, but lasts a really decent length of time for a high street foundation.  Big thumbs up this week!

3. NARS Crazed – I can’t believe I had this in my blog sale the other week.  Let me just say, it won’t ever be going in another.  I’ve FINALLY worked out how to apply it with a light enough hand to stop short of looking like Aunt Sally.  It’s taken me a year, but I’ve done it!  A lovely rosey flush is now mine.

4. Max Factor Lash Extension Effect – I’ve already reviewed this in the last few days, so I won’t go into detail… but this is making it into daily use for me.

5. Une Cosmetics Multipurpose Brush – I’ve said it before… it’s scratchy… but it’s made me fall in love with my NARS Crazed blush, and for that… I’ll be forever grateful.  I simply touch the flat surface to the blush pan… that’s it, no tricks nothing… it just picks up the perfect amount of colour.

6. Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator in Natural – It looks scary orange in the tube, but blends away to a lovely nude shimmer.  I’ve been wearing this all over my face under my foundation and it gives me a nice glow.  To be honest, in this weather… I don’t really need any kind of glow product.  But regardless, I’ve rediscovered it in my stash and it’s staying in the fabulosity list!

7. MAC Fun & Games – From the discontinued Hello Kitty collection, MAC Fun & Games is a beautiful peach blush that’s sheer enough for my cool-toned skin to wear.  Shimmery without being too glittery, it’s a nuder alternative to rosey pink cheeks.

8. Bourjois Khol & Contour Eye Pencil in Brun Design – Soft and deeply pigmented, I’ve been blending this along my lower lashline to give my lashes some extra definition.  Lasting power is great (though kinda crummy on the waterline) it’s real strength lies in it’s soft smudginess.  Hate a pencil that drags, don’t you?

9. Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate – Last but not least, I’ve been switching out my evening moisturiser a couple of times a week for this lovely oil and I’m noticing that my dry patches are softening up nicely.  I hate nothing more than dry flakies that foundation just loves to hunt down and accentuate.  Not 100% sure if this is the reason or if the humidity is playing a part… either way, I’m loving the smell and appreciating the feeling that a little facial massage brings during application.

My first foray into the infamous world of BB Creams!

What are BB Creams?

BB Cream stands for Blemish Balm Cream and is a very popular base product in Asia.  Korean companies in particular offer a wide-range of BB Creams to suit many different skin types.  They fill the gap in the market between cosmetics and skincare… a product designed to give flawless coverage whilst benefiting the health of your skin in one (or many) ways.

I first heard of BB Creams when I went to South Korea a few years ago, I had absolutely no idea what they were or did until I arrived back in the UK and started blog reading.

BB Creams at the minimum, offer moisturisation and coverage, with many more offering SPF, Whitening Properties and Anti-Aging to name but a few.  They’re big business in Asia and have been slowly but steadily making a splash amongst makeup aficionados worldwide.

So, why has it taken me so long to try one?  Ultimately… convenience.  You have to head to eBay or online stores that specialise in Asian cosmetics.  Then you have to work out which BB Cream you fancy trying and frankly, there are so many available… it all gets a bit confusing.

I took the plunge and settled for South Korean brand Skin Food.

Skin Food Gingko Green BB Cream #1 (50g) to be exact.

Here’s what they say about it:

A multi-function product for skin care and makeup.  Containing gingko leaf and green tea extracts rich in lecithin and vitamin B, it protects sensitive skin and improves skin tone.  Use when you want to achieve a bright, radiant skin tone.

It’s a little warmer than my skintone but ultimately blends to a decent match.  Colour matching seems to be one of the biggest issues with BB Creams and it’s always worth googling for a swatch to get an idea of how it might suit you.

The texture is truly rather lovely.  Thick but not so thick that it’s hard to spread.  There’s still enough slip to the product to stop it dragging across your face as you spread it.  Coverage is medium… it tones down my redness quite well and evens out my skintone.  Blemishes are not covered and concealer is necessary.  It really does feel like I’m wearing something different to my usual foundations… far more natural feeling on the skin.

Ultimately, this would be all you need if you’re blessed with great skin.  Oily skins will probably want something a little more matte.  I’m pleased I bought it, do I want to try more?  Oh yes….

I think I may have developed a dangerous new addiction.

Are you a fan of BB Creams?  Let me know some of your favourites!

Like it’s not TOTALLY obvious from the snap below.

QVC HQ!

I was tempted to slip my shoes off at the entrance before entering the temple of home shopping, but that would have looked kinda uncool right?

Walking round, it was interesting to hear more about the channel that’s been beaming beauty products (and more) into our homes for the past 17 years.

This is just a teaser post really, I’ll tell you more about behind the scenes at QVC over the weekend, but I’m back in the big smoke today ‘cos a little birdy told me that there might be an exciting MAC collection getting it’s first airing?… and I’m all over it!

Love Light…

Totally a layering shade, so I thought I’d just see how many coats it needed to achieve opacity.

I got to 4 and I’m just about there…

One of the best applicators of the Summer of Love set, this glides on the nail and dries quickly.  Once opaque, it’s a beautiful pale gold shade with a lot of sparkle.

It’s feminine without being too floaty.  I like it more than I thought I would on initial inspection.

Sadly it has chipped in two places along the cuticle edge which is rather odd, I think it may have more to do with a heavy handed application of top coat though… which renders that last statement rather useless.

I’ve got one more shade to show from the Summer of Love kit.. I know it’s practically old news now, but I’m determined to get them all blogged for swatch purposes!

When I was contacted and asked if I wanted to review a couple of products from the Elemis range, I tried to choose carefully.  The last thing I wanted to do was choose something that left me feeling uncertain of it’s value.  I wanted products that I could have an opinion about…. something tangible that I could describe to you.  I don’t care if it’s rubbish, fanastic or unfathomably dull… I just want to be able to have confidence in my feelings on the product.  And sometimes skincare leaves me feeling a little confused.

It’s to this end that I chose two masks that claim concrete results.  You may have already seen my Elemis Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Gel Mask review.   That mask blew me away with outcomes that I could almost instantly appreciate…. smoothing, refreshing, complexion lifting… most of it’s promises came true on my face.  A blogger’s dream and an absolute delight to describe to you.

But then it all went a bit wrong.

Elemis Absolute Eye Mask will leave your purse £27 lighter for a generous (considering how far a little goes) 30ml tube.

It describes itself thus:

Elemis Absolute Eye Mask is an eye-brightening treatment that combines vital extracts of Rose, Mimosa, Cornflower and Comfrey to help decongest, firm and minimise dark circles and leave the delicate eye area soothed and revitalized.

So… I’m looking for decongesting, firming, dark circle reduction and a soothing/revitalizing effect.

So far, I haven’t experienced any of this.

In a complete contrast to the tri-enzyme mask, this eye mask leaves me with no instant impressions.  It doesn’t tingle, soothe, feel cooling, refreshing or even hydrating upon application.  Infact, if anything… there’s a small amount of tightening.  And not in a good way.

The blurb on the back tells me to apply sparingly around the eye bone area avoiding direct contact with the lid and inner eye areas.  “Sparingly”… I like it when expensive products say that.  As previously mentioned, a very small amount will spread nicely over the eye area… this tube will last me months!

But the problem is this…

Ultimately, Elemis Absolute Eye Mask is marketed as an anti-ageing product.  Maybe I’ll see some beneficial anti-ageing effects in a years time but unlike their anti-ageing Pro Collagen Marine Cream (be still my beating heart) this doesn’t even feel that nice before, during or after application.

And there you have it.

I’ll keep using it a couple of times a week as suggested on the box, and if in 6 months time I start noticing some longer term benefits, you can be sure I’ll be back to update

But those instant mask-type results that I was looking for?  Move along… there’s nothing to be seen here.

When I was in London last Friday… I was travelling up the escalator at Oxford Circus tube station *tsking* at the impatient healthy types that were overtaking me on the left when I noticed the woman in front of me.  Or more accurately, I noticed her non-existent skirt.

For a moment I wasn’t quite sure where to look… I mean, seriously… you could see the (baggy) gusset of her tights.  I was half tempted to make her aware of this fact but decided to keep schtum for two reasons…

1).  She might have been a total exhibitionist and telling her would only have made her day.

2).  I didn’t fancy a smack in the gob.

So instead of looking ahead, I kept my eyes down and concentrated on her ankles.  I had to give a wry smile when I saw a pair of beige plasters covering the backs of her heels where her shoes had obviously been rubbing.

Priorities ladies… if you’re gonna cover the backs of your ankles you can go one step further and cover up your minges too.  I don’t care if it’s sunny… have some class.

Now… what I should have done, was tapped her on the shoulder and told her about these:

Elastoplast Invisible Protection is a new plaster on the market.  An innovation in plaster technology if you will… I’m so excited, I might just pee myself.

Ok, let’s face it.  It’s not exactly the height of glamour is it?  But I go through plasters like nobody’s business (clumsy oaf that I am) and have been known to remove and discard a plaster after half an hour if it’s in a conspicuous position and I’m feeling self-conscious about it’s placement.  Don’t try and tell me you haven’t done that too…

Elastoplast Invisible Protection simply promises to be the most invisible a plaster can be.  It’s always the simple ideas that work the best no?

Not only that… but Elastoplast are offering you a free sample so you can put their claims to the test yourself.

Click here to register for your free sample.

Elastoplast Invisible Protection plasters are priced at £2.99 and available from all major erm… plaster retailers.  What are you waiting for?  Go stick I mean stock up!

I was reminded of my NARS Mediteranee (£23) duo yesterday when talking about neon orange eyeshadow.  This isn’t neon… but it is bright.

Perfect for Summer!

My NARS Mediteranee duo also happens to be one of the most buttery shadows I’ve ever had the pleasure to swatch (esp the orange half).  I adore it, but do have to use with an incredibly light hand thanks to it’s immense pigmentation!

Scary!

It’s a wonderful duo for darker and olive-toned girls but I was determined to make it work for me too.  The warm tones really bring out the green in my eyes.  I’m wearing a tiny amount of the orange in this FOTD… just a speck and then dragged out towards the end of my eyebrow.

I think it’s probably the brightest eye shadow I own.  What’s your favourite Summer bright?