A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Yano when you’re shopping… and it’s been an el-crappo experience… your money is burning a hole in your pocket but you just can’t find *anything* to commit to… everything is… for want of a better (or even actual) word… meh.

I had one of those days in town.. lots of nice money practically setting my pants alight and nothing that caught my eye enough to extinguish them.  Until I popped into Superdrug and sidled up to the Sleek stand.

I prodded at the blushers… meh.

I eyeballed the lipsticks…. meh meh.

Just as I was about to leave, frown intact – I cast my eyes downwards and caught sight of the nail polishes.  Nail polishes? I didn’t even know Sleek did nails?  Well, obviously I haven’t emerged from that rock of mine enough… cos there they were all lined up like beacons of salvation ready to save me from a shit shopping trip.

I picked up two shades: Royalty (Blackened Red Shimmer) and Poison Ivy (Blackened Green Shimmer) but got the guilts at the checkouts thinking of all those polishes sat at home still untouched and left Poison Ivy at the counter.

Anyway, how do I like Royalty?  I like it a lot!

It is absolutely packed with subtle shimmer – beautiful!

Application? It could be a one-coater if you were a little more careful with application than me.  The above photo shows two coats with no top coat (I’m so lazy about top coats).

It dries fast, perhaps a tiny bit too fast for slowcoaches like me… but as soon as I picked up the pace, I had no problems with application.

This is such a Christmassy shade, I can’t wait to check out the others available!

Nailed Nail Polish by Sleek is available from most Superdrugs.

Well alright, just budge up a bit – I’m sure I can make room for both of you in my heart…

Helena Rubinstein Wanted Stellars Lipstick is available in 12 shades, whilst the gloss is available in 6.  The website sucks, so I can’t view the others..  RRP on these is €28 for the lippies and €26 for the gloss.

But now I’ve seen, I’m smitten… the red would be fabulous for Christmas, even if I only looked at it and sighed wistfully.  I’d love a true pink with sparkle too *le grand sigh*

So anyway, not only are these Wanted Stellars flippin’ gorgeous but get this info from Premium Beauty News…

The Solev company presents an innovative finishing technology called “sparkling effect” which consists in spreading on the material to decorate, in a dense and perfectly homogeneous way, colored and metallic particles to render a smooth and shiny effect.

This effect is enhanced by applying a transparent covering film, with a high gloss effect to amplify depth and light.

In order to achieve this result, Solev formulates its own special effect varnishes and to apply the particles in a dense and homogeneous way, the company has invented and developed a process (about to be patented).

A new technology implemented on Helena Rubinstein’s latest lipstick, Wanted Stellars.

Yeah, yeah… whatever you had me at “sparkling effect”.

It looks as though my nearest HR counter is in Cherbourg… ok, so as the crow flies that’s not bad… a couple of hours.  Shame about that pesky ENGLISH CHANNEL blocking the way!  Harrumph.

Anything you’re craving at the moment?

Pudsey is an iconic figure associated with BBC’s Children in Need and Jessica Nails have released a limited edition collection of bear-shaped bottles timed to appear alongside this year’s campaign.

Each bottle sold will raise £2 for the BBC Children in Need Appeal.

The ultra-cute bear shaped bottles are available in 4 colours:

~ Bazaar – A delectable deep cherry red
~ Midnight Moonlight – A deep midnight blue with a subtle shimmer
~ Pharaoh – A stunning hot pink
~ Notorious – Decadent chocolate brown with a hint of shimmer

I’m partial to a bit of “midnight blue shimmer” and if I can indulge whilst supporting a very worthwhile cause, even better!

These retail at £8.95 each and can be purchased online from LookFantastic

You can also follow Jessica Nails on Twitter

I’ve spent the last 14 years swirling, wiping and generally smearing the setting powder “du jour” onto my face.  Only in the last month have I started patting it on.  Whether with a large fluffy powder brush or a sponge… I just pat, pat, pat and get better, more even and less cakey coverage.

What else…

Oh yes, brows.. if I press my finger where my natural arch is and gently pull the brow/skin taut… I find it much easier to brush the brow powder through and I get a much neater, more defined result.

What are your application A-ha’s!?

Thank you to those who have bought and paid, it’s much appreciated.

Incase you didn’t catch my earlier tweet, I wanted to let you know that I’ve posted everything that has been paid for up to this point and you should be getting your goodies soon!

There’s still a fair amount left, so if you haven’t had a look yet then here’s the link!

Thanks again!

xx

It’s tricky to get back into this blogging lark when you take a little break huh?

Leila has started teething, so I’m finding myself fully occupied until around 8pm every night.  It’s tough to find enough daylight to take pictures, but I have much cool stuff to review, and lots of lovely things to talk about with you guys… need more hours in the day.  Simple.  Sort it someone!

I’m not delighted with these FOTDs… but hopefully they’ll be a useful stepping stone back into making notes and photographing what I do.

Anyway, my first FOTD is a green one and nope… I still don’t like green on me, but there’s 2 particularly lovely looking ones in the palette, so I had to make use of them right?

Eyes:

Sellout in the inner corners
Homegrown on the lid
YDK in the crease and blended out (not that it looks at all blended in the pic *sigh*)
Lined with Shu Uemura Painting Liner in Brown

and number two…

Eyes:

Sphinx on the inner corners
Ecstacy on the lids and up above the crease
Perversion blended lightly in and above the crease
Infinty eBay gel liner in Deep Purple

If you’ve done any looks with the Book of Shadows Vol II, link me up – I want some inspiration!

Love, (a tired) me xxx

I’m *nearly* over the whole matte top coat thing… a couple more mani’s then I’ll be able to move on.

This is Barielle’s Shades range in “Grape Escape” – It’s gorgeous.  It’s actually better glossy… but well, I’m a mattifying sheep.

Application is smooth – this is 2 coats.  No issues to speak of, perhaps a touch slow drying… but nothing a quick-dry top coat doesn’t fix.

Desperate to check out some more colours… looks like they have a lovely A/W collection out at the moment.  Let me introduce you…

Putt-E-On-Me – Classic clay

Blackened Bleu – Black with turquoise glitter

Lava Rock – Black with red pearl swirl

I don’t even like glitter and I’m salivating at the thought of the black/turquoise one!

L-R: Putt-E-On-Me, Blackened-Bleu, Lava Rock.

Check out the range at Barielle

Have a shufti down the back of the sofa and a grope in the glovebox ‘cos…

…I’ll be having a little blog sale on Monday evening at 8pm.

There’ll be a bit of Shu, GOSH, MAC, Art Deco, RMK, Stila, Nails Inc and other high street stuff too.

Open internationally and postage will be at cost +50p for the packaging.  The more you buy, the more you save innit!

Be there or be square!

Ohhh Bourjois, my favourite high street brand.  It’s impossible to pronounce your name without doing a pouty french expression, it just doesn’t seem right.

I’ve been a big fan of Bourjois’ “little round pots” for years and was beyond excited to see Bourjois’ tweet about this Limited Edition collection of vintage Parisien styled packaging.

Absolute Violet Baked Eyeshadow

…

This is quite an image intensive post, to see the other images, please click this link…

Still on the hunt for an easier to blend alternative to UDPP, I decided to give Art Deco’s Eyeshadow Base a go.

I’ve tried Art Deco products before and on the whole, I’ve been impressed.  I’m a fan of their eyeshadows and camouflage concealers in particular.

Art Deco are a German brand established in 1985 and they’ve been trying to make an impact on this side of the channel for a couple of years now.

I often spy “z”elebrities pictured in the likes of Heat magazine clutching their little Art Deco shopping bags.  You can find the brand stocked in beauty salons and the like, but they’re mostly still trying to find a way into the mainstream market.

Packaged in a sleek little black pot… nice and sturdy.  Honestly though, this is my least favourite style of packaging… especially with these long nails of mine.  HATE digging product out from under these talons.  Yes, I could use a brush, but most of the time I can’t be bothered.

The actual product is a warm flesh-toned creme with shimmer.  If you’re in too much of a hurry for full eye makeup, I have used a touch of this to even out my lids with a slick of eyeliner and I’ve been pleased with the effect.  The shimmer kicks it up a notch, and aids in making me look a little more awake than I feel.

It glides onto the eyelids smoothly and blends (with my finger) to an almost powdery soft finish.  No stickiness or greasy residue is left on the lids.

Shadows glide easily over the base, and blending is much more fluid than I find with UDPP.  Still a little trickier than with no base or the Kryolan Supracolor, but it’s fine.

The million dollar question… does it keep my eyeshadow crease free?

UDPP keeps my shadows glued to my lid like me to Eastenders on Christmas Day, they just don’t budge till the last duh, duh, duhs.

Here’s how my eyeshadow looked after 8hrs with Art Deco’s Eyeshadow Base:

That’s not bad huh?

It actually looks worse in the picture than it did in the mirror, I think the flash from the camera really makes the imperfections stand out.

On the plus side…

It’s creamy, non-drying, makes a good base when worn alone.  It’s easier to blend with than UDPP and it does a thoroughly stand up job at keeping shadows in place.

On the down side…

I don’t think I get quite so much longevity from it as I do with UDPP, but a minimum of 8hrs decent wear is probably all I really need.  I’ve just been spoilt by UDPP still wowing me at bedtime.

On the fence…

It seems to make the shadows just as vivid as UDPP and doesn’t appear to alter the original shades any more than UDPP does, but I’m not really that adept at noticing subtle changes which may well drive other people crazy with frustrations.

Overall, I’m hugely impressed.

It’s also substantially cheaper than UDPP… from memory, I think I paid around £6-£7 for my pot.

You can check out stockists on the UK Art Deco website

[starreview tpl=14]

Introducing Sleek’s new Sunset Palette, I would link you to the website.. but I can’t find the palette on there… infact, the website seems to be thoroughly out of date.  And just how long does it take to build an online shop?

Anyway…

I had absolutely no intention of buying this.  I’m a cool toned kinda girl, especially at the moment… I’m all about the greys, mauves and silvers.

However, whilst buying the Graphite palette… I couldn’t resist a sneak peek inside this one too.  Oh my!

I will probably never wear the blue or the bright orange (I know, I know – they’re the bestest ones)… but they’re just not me!  The others are deliciously wearable metallic shades that will be put into use immediately!

Absolute stand out shades for me are: Top 2nd from left (cranberry colour), bottom far left, bottom 2nd from left and bottom 3rd from right.  If you’re a neutrals girl the palette is easily worth the cost for those 4 shades alone.  Although the cranberry shade looks bright, (and it is..) it blends out smoothly making a gorgeous subtle crease colour.

I’m very happy with this palette, and delighted that it’s made it into the permanent collection – good job Sleek!

I had the opportunity to have a play with some of the new E.L.F Studio Products which should be available to buy on the website from next week – apparently the container arrives in Southampton at the end of this week.  Southampton you say?  Where’s my band of dandy highway makeup fanatics… huge makeup party at Dock Gate 4 then back to mine for a cup of tea?

No? Oh ok then.

After seeing some of the new products, I have to say… E.L.F are getting all innovative on us (but thankfully, not in a vibrating roll-on type way)

Amongst the new goodies, this one in particular stood out to me.

High Definition Powder… oooooooooooooooooh!  I’m going to look all pore-less and fuzzy round the edges.

Or am I?

Let’s have a look then…

So, we’re basically looking at a mix of dimethicones (silicones like you’d find in primers) and silica.  There’s been some controversy surrounding Silica and it’s use in cosmetics… but after a little google I found this article by The Beauty Brains (love them!).

So, it seems that cosmetic grade Silica is not something we should be too wary of using… although some people do have skin reactions to it, so as always… discontinue immediately if you get any kind of irritations.

I’ve been very impressed with the packaging in the Studio line, it’s solid… well made and does a good job at not showing you up in public.  This is no exception, the box is a chunky, solid screw top affair… nicely minimalistic – all in black with simple white text.

See? Still looking rather sleek isn’t it?  Not bad considering it’s retailing at £6 on the website.  It comes with a powder puff type applicator.  I usually throw these away in favour of using my fluffy powder brush, but the HD powder is *very* finely milled and this applicator manages to contain the flying silica dust really well.  I recommend you give it a go before deciding whether or not you’d rather use a brush.

There’s a nice deep reservoir to contain the powder and the sifter sits securely in the pot.  Overall, I’m pleased with the packaging design… I’m not sure how it would stand up to being dropped, I *think* you might be hoovering for a week… but really, that’s your fault for dropping it in the first place isn’t it.

A quick flip upside downside dispenses a nice, even amount of powder onto the puff.  I’m really liking this puff.. it’s soft, fluffy and bouncy.  The little ribbon/tab thing that you hook your fingers under isn’t annoying tight either so it’s easy to grip onto.

The powder itself is white and very fine…. when rubbed between my fingers I can feel the slippery smoothness of the silica.  If you open the pot to have a look… do be careful not to pick that exact moment in which to sneeze.  Luckily I turned my head just in time and only created a minor dust storm.

On to application…

I applied this powder over the top of my finished makeup… that’s after concealer, foundation and blush.  To apply, I placed the puff in the reservoir and inverted the pot which dispensed a thin even coat of powder onto the puff.  Bringing the puff up to my face I patted the powder over my t-zone.  I pat all loose finishing powders on, never swiping, stroking or buffing.  This stuff is *so* fine that it’s not going to leave big floury patches all over your face that need buffing in.

I noticed that it immediately absorbed any shininess without looking cakey.

To be honest, that was all I noticed…

I was disappointed, I’m not sure what I was expecting… but I wanted to see a little more than just a really good shine absorber.  To be fair to the powder, it was invisible… no ashiness on my very fair skin-tone and a lovely even, matte finish which felt silky to the touch.

It was only when I took some pictures for the review and uploaded them that I became a little more excited.

Please excuse the blotchy nose, I think I’m developing a little rosacea there 🙁  Hopefully it’s just the change in the seasons rather than something more permanent.

Anyway, I digress… as you can see, it’s left the nice, even and matte finish I described.  Nice, but no great shakes… until I zoomed in…

Wait, wait, wait… where have my pores gone?

Let me compare this to the image you thought you’d never have to look at again… sorry… but I have to…

LINK

Can you see the difference?  It’s so hard as a reviewer to explain exactly what I’m seeing… I mean, after 28 years… I *know* my face… I know where I picked a spot age 17 and left a slightly bigger crater, I can pinpoint exactly where that pesky enlarged pore on my cheek is or how deep that fine line is just below my 45th eyelash from the left 😉

What I’m trying to say (in my usual bumbling way) is this HD powder genuinely seems to be achieving something that is pleasing to my eye.  It’s not erasing my pores by any stretch of the imagination but it’s ‘softening’ them.  I think that’s the best way I can describe it.

Maybe all you want to know is… will I be buying this when it runs out?  Yes, yes and yes again.  For me, it works not only as a great finishing powder… but I’m seeing a marked “soft focus” difference in my images.  Basically, it’s doing for me what it’s supposed to do.  It’s living up to the hype of MUFE’s HD Powder at a considerably lower cost to my purse.

Do I notice a huge difference when I look in the mirror?  I’m not sure I do.  But I’ve looked at a few of my older images zoomed in, and I can see it when I compare.  I don’t know what that means… is it only visible in photographs?  That’s just weird and not hugely useful… Maybe it’s a subtle overall soft focus effect and I’m analysing it too closely when I’m looking in the mirror searching out the flaws.  Perhaps I’m able to detach myself a little when I look at a photograph instead.  I don’t know… I’m getting all psychoanalytical now, so I’m just gonna shut up.

Will it work for you? Who knows.. I’ve tried a few soft focus mineral finishing powders (from MMU companies) that have been raved about and I’ve struggled to notice any discernible differences and I really wasn’t expecting to be so pleasantly surprised by this one.

Apologies for my hugely wordy rambling review, but I guess you can tell.  I’m excited by this one.  If you buy it, please let me know how you get on with it.  I hope it works for you.

E.L.F’s HD Powder is available now from the E.L.F website.  If you can wait a couple of weeks, they usually release promo codes on their twitter or facebook page so you can often take advantage of free shipping.