A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Whether or not you celebrate Valentine’s day, it’s an event that’s pretty much unmissable in terms of marketing and hype.  A walk down the high street from mid-January is all you need to be reminded of how much of a little shit Cupid actually is.  He’s not the most endearing figure from Roman mythology is he?  I mean… for one thing, what’s with the nappies?  Does falling in love make you incontinent?  I know it certainly makes some people sprout a load of crap… but that’s from their mouths.

When I was little, my Dad would send me a Valentine’s card each year… but I became pretty high-maintenance about the effort he had to put into deceiving me that my card had actually come from a secret admirer.  It’s no surprise he stopped sending me them when I reached my tween years and discovered that my solitary valentine’s card had been postmarked from his workplace for the last few years.  Having your card sent from a category B men’s lifer prison is enough to make you not want to take it into school to show your friends.

As for now, we don’t really do Valentine’s day.  That is to say… I tell my husband that I think it’s a load of old crap because he does lovely things for me throughout the year.  Then my husband doesn’t do anything for Valentine’s day and I don’t talk to him for the rest of February because he didn’t buy me anything.  It works for us.

Here are some bits and bobs that have been catching my eye in the run up to V-day.  I suggest printing them off and drawing a massive red circle around anything you want (preferably in your partner’s blood) before leaving it taped to the front door (both sides).  Taking such precaution may ensure that you at least end up with some flowers from the local Esso garage.

01: Ladyshape Intimate Shaping Tool, for err… shaping your “lady”.  The only reason I’d do this would be to see the look of confused WTFery from my husband.  We’ve been together for 12 years, he would not be expecting this.  He would point, I would laugh, we’d all have a nice cup of tea and I’d spend the next seven days scratching. (£12.99, stressnomore.co.uk)

My skin has been coping with winter far better these last few months than it has in previous years… that is, right up until about 5 days ago when the mercury plumetted and the heavens started to rain that ‘orrible/lovely (delete as appropriate) white stuff down upon us.  Since then I’ve been battling dry patches that make the Sahara look like Centerparcs.

Not one to take this sort of nonsense lying down (unless it comes with a cup of tea and two chocolate digestives), I’ve raided my bathroom cabinet for some products that I hope, when combined, will prove to be my winter saviours.

I’ve always suspected that I may overdo things a little when it comes to cleansing, I’m certainly no skincare guru (you need Mrs. Hirons for that) but cleansing is a proper little joy in my daily routine.  So much so that I’m not averse to the double-cleanse method, once to remove my makeup and then again, to clean my bare skin.  Of course, there may be nothing wrong with this and I know that many of you enjoy a similar ritual without issue… but perhaps, when my skin is at it’s driest, it might be wise to cut back on the cleansing.  Just a little.

To this end, I’ve enlisted the help of Lancome’s Galatée Confort Comforting Cleansing Milk, especially formulated for dry skin.  I used this when I first went waterless with my cleansing last year… something that I seemed to have great success with.  I’m not going completely waterless again but I will be using as dry-a-cloth as I can get away with to remove my cleanser.  And then leaving it at that.  I know my fingers will itch to dunk my face in the sink but I’ll just have to strengthen my resolve.  The Lancome cleansing milk has a wonderfully creamy formula that defeats my makeup admirably without leaving any residue, a definited repurchase later in the year.  £21, lancome.co.uk

I’ll be putting aside my serums for a few weeks as I reach for something a little richer, Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for Normal to Dry skin*.  Free from parabens, synthetic fragrances, and artificial oils, this moisturiser ticks all my boxes for a lightweight (it’s very lightweight) yet hydrating moisturiser that’s perfect for use in the daytime.  It doesn’t contain SPF which seems like a bit of an oversight but I generally wear a separate sun protection lotion anyway.  £27, bareminerals.co.uk

I’m still as much in love with toners now as I was back when I wrote a post for Carmine (remember them?) on how I use and wear toner.  It’s a daily essential for me, although I know that many find them superfluous.  Balance Me is a great brand who seem to be going from strength-to-strength at the moment.  I recently received a sample of their Skin Bright Hydrating Face Mist* with hyaluronic acid, suitable for all skin types, and it’s a gem.  It smells incredible, dries to a non-tacky finish and delivers an instant surge of hydration to my skin.  £20, balanceme.co.uk

Daytime taken care of, it’s in the evening that I’ll be focusing some extra attention on slathering my skin (though probably not my t-zone) in something a little more heavy duty.  I still use my Elemis Exotic Cream Moisturising Mask once a week (which I mentioned in my favourite products of 2012 post) but I’ll be swapping out my regular night-time moisturiser for a new product from a brand that hasn’t let me down so far.  A new introduction to the brand’s lineup is La Roche Posay Nutritic Intense Rich*, a cream which I believe succeeds their original Nutritic Intense and promises to intensely reconstitute superior layers of the epidermis. Oh rly?  I know I could do with some intense reconstitution.  Or some intense anything to be fair.  Also available in the original formula in a convenient 50ml tube.  £13.15, escentual.com

When it comes to intense nourishment from a moisturiser-type product, I’m still firmly in the yay Selexir camp, you may remember my review from a little while ago… it’s ah-mazing.  There’s one problem with it though… I made true on my word and gave my press sample to my father.  He loves it.  But he hoards it like a mutha, as soon as I told him how much it cost to buy/repurchase, I watched the blood drain out of his face and I swear the man now only uses enough product to cover half a flea.  Frustrating.

Seeing as I’m turning over a new skincare leaf, I thought that I might aswell indulge my over-processed hair with a little bit of pampering.  Touché By Flavien* is an intensive hair treatment containing: goji berry extract, olive fruit oil, hydrolyzed silk protein, rosemary oil, and shea butter and is designed to be used in place of conditioner.  This suits me well… because no matter how great my intentions, I always forget that I’m supposed to be treatment-masking my hair until the moment that I step into the shower and get it wet, at which point… well, it’s a bit bloody late isn’t it.  I have utmost respect for you ladies that sleep in hair oils, I call that being organised.  £17, urbanretreat.co.uk

My lips are infact, the only real part of me that isn’t suffering from this cold snap.  There’ll be no surprises when I tell you that this down to a nightly dose of the lovely Lanolips 101 Ointment, there’s no more to say… it’s still a holy grail product and possibly the only one that gives me mini palpitations as I near the end of a tube!  £11.22, boots.com

My last cold-weather “resolution” (if you will) is to regularly indulge in one of those moisturising face sheet masks, partially because I’m just a bit curious about them, and partially because I’ll have fun freaking my daughter out with them.  I’ve pulled this Wei White Lotus Hydrating Face Treatment Pad out of my things that came free with shit that I bought drawer, and it’ll do for starters.  If anyone has any favourite sheet masks that they use, do let me know!  £??, thinkitsdiscontinued.com

How is your skin holding up since the snow put in an appearance?  Hope you’re all keeping warm out there!

* press sample

I can’t remember on whose blog it was that I first saw Dark Cherry from the Clarins Rouge Prodige lineup of lipsticks but it spoke to me.  It’s one of those lipsticks that hits the perfect balance between a number of shades to create “the ultimate” lust-have.  I actually don’t think it’s a very “cherry” shade despite Clarins telling me that it so is.  It seems to contain the magic amount of brown to create a neutral vampy lip that leans neither to cool nor too warm.

I’m aware that I’m not making much sense… but to be honest, I bought this lipstick based on shade alone and I am genuinely struggling to put into words just why I felt that I had to own it.  All I can say is, I’m pleased that I do.

Yeah, I nicked the bullet.  BIG SOB.  *applies lipstick*.  Over it already.

Said it before, say it again – Clarins do yum-yum packaging that’s kinda old-lady without being remotely old-lady.  Still not making sense.  The thing is, it’s all weighty and shiny… the gold is straight out of Nana’s handbag and yet, let’s face it… Nana’s wouldn’t have all those bevelled edges and tasty angles.  The formula is consistent with the other Rouge Prodige lipsticks I own, a tiny bit draggy until it warms up (which it does quickly), intensely scented (fig I believe?), and lasts very nicely thanks to a grippy-grippy formula.

You can see that it applies lighter on the lips than it looks in the tube, and really suits (if I do say so myself) my cool-toned colouring.

Clarins Rouge Prodige Dark Cherry Lipstick is available to buy online from www.escentual.com, priced at £14.00 (bargain!)

Invisibility.  Now there’s a superhero trait I wouldn’t mind playing with for a couple of days.  The places you could go, the pranks you could pull, the high-end makeup you could steal… just thinking about it warms my kleptomaniac cockles.  Out of all the paranormal abilities available to supreme beings, I think that it must rank up there in the top 3 alongside x-ray vision (you know you would) and teleportation (Seychelles anyone?)

Seeing as I’m not going to be receiving my superpower anytime soon, I’ll turn my attention to this little pot of marvel (gettit? Marvel? Oh nevermind) instead.  Daniel Sandler’s Invisible Radiance Foundation and Concealer* is, like many superheroes, part of a duo crime-fighting team, fighting the evil that is, a rubbish complexion.  The duo consists of 30g of foundation and 3g of concealer, housed neatly in the lid.

Starting with the foundation, an incredibly light formula which moves around fluidly on the skin.  It’s thinly-textured and remains tacky to the touch for a good 15 minutes or so after application.  The colour match on my skintone for Porcelain (the lightest of four shades) is near-enough spot on, but the coverage is very sheer so I would imagine that the next shade up wouldn’t be too horrendous a mis-match once blended.  Talking of the coverage, I’d liken it to that of a tinted moisturiser but with more “set” once it does eventually dry down.

At no point will this foundation look powdery or cakey, I don’t want to say that it has a gel texture because, well, it doesn’t… but it reminds me of a gel texture in the way that it behaves on the skin.  It’s buildable but I have my doubts that you could ever build it enough to mask discolouration or rosacea, for that, you would need a little help from its skin-perfecting companion…

The concealer is neatly hidden under the flip-top lid of the bottle… cute it is, gimmicky it certainly isn’t.  The dual-packaging works extremely well and makes for perfect portability.  Having said that, I’m not a fan of the spoony-spatula inside the bottle, it doesn’t retrieve enough product and I managed to ping the flexible end, splattering foundation on myself.  I know… I should probably be more careful but I was dip-dipping to get more product and getting impatient!

With the Invisible Radiance Foundation and Concealer, I apply my foundation first… with a dampened brush (as Daniel suggests) before applying a second layer of foundation across my cheeks and nose.  Before this has set, I use the same foundation brush (I favour the paintbrush style with this foundation) to apply my concealer.  I won’t call the finished effect “airbrushed” but it does look naturally-improved rather than foundation-improved and the radiant effect definitely makes my skin look healthier, which is something I’ve never really expected from a foundation.

Overall, I’d say that this duo is perfect for more mature skin, particularly if you’re looking for lighter coverage.  It’s ideal for day-wear but will probably be a little too dewy for me in the heat of the Summer (chance would be a fine thing), although nothing that a dusting of powder over my t-zone won’t resolve.  Longevity is average, good for such a dewy-finish, I’d estimate that I was very happy with how this concealed for around 8 hours.

If you’re sick of seeing your foundation sitting in dilated pores, gathering around fine lines, or giving already dull skin a death-mask appearance – this is one for the shopping list.  My only caveat is whether coverage will be full enough for you, in which case, this product does respond well to a dusting of mineral foundation and you won’t lose too much of the luminosity aslong as you use one with light-reflecting particles.

Daniel Sandler Invisible Radiance Foundation and Concealer in Porcelain is priced at £28 and available to buy online from www.urbanretreat.co.uk

* press sample

** Kleptomania is bad.  Also, don’t do drugs.

Tired of all the glitz and sparkle that Christmas brought with it?  No, me neither (come back Christmas!)

Seeing as we have a whole year to get through before we can once again feel the warm glow induced by too many mince pies,Twiglets, and glasses of Baileys – let us all take a moment instead to bask in the glory that is this beast of a glitter polish from Butter London.

Lovely Jubbly is indeed, rather lovely with a party-on-your-nails mixup of glitters.  I spy blue, magenta, red, gold… and you know the best of it?  Opaque in two coats… three if you’re being pernickity.  Of course, it’s an absolute arse to remove and needs a full layer of thick top coat to get rid of the gritty feeling.  Some of you may not mind the rough, glitter finish but it makes me want to take an industrial sander to my nail beds.  Don’t do that.

Butter London Lovely Jubbly is available to buy online at www.powderrooms.com, priced at £11.95

If you’re a regular reader of lipglossiping.com, you’ll know that I’m quite fond of the bareMinerals mineral foundations… I generally use them over a tinted moisturiser-esque base to achieve extra coverage without a heavy finish.  I find that the formula melts into my skin like no other powder, despite my dry skintype.  The only real issue I’ve ever had with the bareMinerals foundation is the fact that working with loose powders can be pretty messy.  Of course, there are also benefits: the main one being that you can generally achieve a lighter application when using powders in loose form… however…

bareMinerals have obviously come to the conclusion that they’re missing out on a major portion of the beauty-loving public’s coffers with things as they stand.  Over the past year, the brand have introduced many of their beloved products in pressed form.  And you know what?  Most reports have been complimentary.  I’ll hold my hands up and say that I was concerned that by making this shift in what seems like the brand’s USP would result in them dumbing down.  I expected eyeshadow pigments to become less impressive, formulas less… melty.  It appears (and I haven’t tried their eyeshadows myself yet) that I might be wrong.  Christine (from Temptalia), whose opinion I hold in high esteem, regularly includes her bareMineral READY eyeshadow compacts in her “top” lists of products.  And I have to admit, the swatches I’ve seen look plenty pigmented.

But… foundation?

Foundation is where the brand have really garnered legions of fans.  It’s a bold move.  I’m a little bit excited to be honest, I’m praying for the same formula.

It launched yesterday in the UK, time will tell… it’s available to buy online on www.qvcuk.com, currently priced at £20.00

British Fashion Designer, Bella Freud has taken a tentative step into the world of beauty with the launch of three candles, currently being sold exclusively at SpaceNK.  You may know of Bella’s work, via her army of celebrity fans who adore her playful slogans and signature caricatures or via her many collaborations with brands such as Christian Louboutin, Miss Selfridge and Biba.

The three candles in the collection marry Bella’s love of fashion with this new venture into the world of fragrancing by continuing her theme of working with simplistic, eye-catching designs.

One features the iconic “Ginsberg is God” slogan, the second is adorned with her “Je t’aime Jane” reference to Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg’s love affair, and the third and final candle displays her celebrated brand logo, complete with one very waggy tongue!

For this collection, I was pleased to hear that Bella Freud had teamed up with parfumeur Azzi Glasser of Agent Provocateur and Illamasqua fame.  If anyone could help guide a novice into crafting a great, individual smell – she’s the lady for the job.

I’ve been enjoying the rich, sensual, and downright exotic fragrance of her Incense Wood & Oud Candle, inspired by Bella’s first memories of a childhood in Morocco.  The scent offers a gentle incarnation of smoked incense, cedar wood, resinous amber, and myrrh.  It’s a little spicy but never peppery, calming and extremely well-rounded with a dry, smoky warmth and velvety aroma.

Incense Wood & Oud Candle* is available to buy online or instore at SpaceNK, priced at £38.00

* press sample

Awesome, red nail polishes rock my world – especially when they’re squishy jelly-cremes like this one.  China Glaze’s Igniting Love is on the warm side of neutral with those retro-leanings that can make or break a red – in this case, the shade has a strange combination of tomato-tones with a hint of pink, I think my photo picks this up quite well and it ensures that Igniting Love works really beautifully (if I do say so myself!) with my cool skintone.

The formula on this one was great, it applied smoothly and two coats was the perfect amount for an opaque finish.  The photo above shows the polish without a top-coat (hence the small amount of nail ridge that you can see on my middle finger), and although this polish doesn’t *need* a top coat per se, it really sings if you treat it to one.

China Glaze Igniting Love* is a perfect example of a super-bright red polish, the kind that will stop traffic.  Especially if you hold a stop sign in your hand whilst wearing it.  Um.

Available online, priced  from £6.95 at BeautyBay.com and www.thebeautypartnership.co.uk

* press sample

It’s not like you need an excuse to wear red lipstick, but sometimes it’s nice to fall back on the whole “Oh, well… it’s Christmas isn’t it?  It’s practically illegal NOT TO wear red lipstick this time of year” thing…

I don’t know about you but when I started wearing red lipstick as part of my day-to-day look, people (women) were genuinely curious about it and I felt that I had to defend my choice, as if I’d purposefully set out to make myself more conspicuous for a reason via my red lips.  ATTENTION WHORE!  Which is strange, because I’m hugely uncomfortable being the focus participant in any situation.  So cheers Christmas!  You make red lips a-ok.

You know what else makes red lips a-ok?  A kickass red lipstick, that’s what.  And today’s red lip is kicking some serious butt.

Daniel Sandler’s Luxury Matte Lipstick in Red Carpet is my idea of a heaven-sent formula.  It doesn’t have the dryness that I associate with some matte lipsticks *cough* MAC *cough*, thanks to an infusion of hyaluronic acid, yet it retains the essential simplicity that a matte red lip brings to your look.  It’s creamy and applies smoothly without too much slip, ensuring that you can get a neat line straight from the bullet.

Finally, it packs the kind of pigmentation and stickability that gives you confidence that a couple of lip stains on your coffee mug won’t even make a dent in its appearance.  Shade-wise, Red Carpet is a true red that leans neither too orange nor blue, I’d imagine that this teeth-flattering shade will suit most skin-tones as it has enough depth not to look garish.

To hammer home what should be obvious by now, this is one sassy red lipstick that easily makes it into my top ten.  And that my friends – from a horrible hoarder woman with over 50 red lipsticks – is no mean feat.

Daniel Sandler Luxury Matte Lipstick in Red Carpet is available to buy online priced at £13.50 from danielsandler.com

* press sample

I’m starting to wonder if and when Butter London are gonna run out of these cutesy “British” slang terms… I reckon that when inspiration is at its lowest ebb, someone in the office sticks an episode of Only Fools and Horses on the DVD player.  “Alright me old china?” <— Butter London Spring 2016 name right there.  Naturally, the polish would be an off-white cream, somewhat like a glaze.  Can I make money doing this?  Hands up if you’d give up EVERYTHING to name nail polishes for a living.

Butter London Shag from their Autumn/Winter 2012 collection is a clear nod to the season’s hues.  Reminiscent of fallen Autumn leaves (before they’ve turned mouldy), with a dazzling metallic finish that glimmers beautifully in the late afternoon light.  Well, what little we have of it.

The formula on this one was a dream and the above photo shows two coats – the polish applied smoothly and dried to a shiny finish, the above photo shows no top coat.  If you had the opportunity to conceive a Butter London polish, what would you call it and what would it look like?

Butter London Shag is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online at www.thepowderrooms.com

You know I’m a sucker for a pretty duochrome right?  And if you don’t… STOP READING THOSE OTHER BLOGS, FFS.  Anyway, I spotted these duochromes from Bad Apple Cosmetics last night and a little googling revealed that you’ve probably all known about them for some time – I’ve never been too quick on the old scoop front, or really, anything. at all.

I don’t know much about the brand behind the colours, other than they’re British, and they make somewhat pretty polishes and nail wraps (boo to fiddly nail wraps – has anyone got the hang of keeping those things on longer than 3 hours yet?)  The polishes are priced at £9.95 each on their website, apparently the usual price is £14.95 *insert raised eyebrow here*.

Slightly more tempting is the fact that there are a few available on their Amazon storefront for £8.99 each with free shipping.

Have you tried any of the polishes from the line?

Sometimes, things are worth putting in a little bit of effort to get a great result.  I stalked Mr. L online for about 9 months, and 12 years later – we’re still together… but despite this, trust me when I say that some thingsreallyare worth the effort. Bwuahahah! (just kidding Pauly!)

China Glaze Whirled Away is reminiscent of Lynnderella’s much sought-after Connect the Dots – since when did the big brands start duping the indies?!  It’s a mix of white and black hexagonal pieces suspended in a clear base with black bar glitter.  Frankly, there’s too much base and not enough glitter, which makes it a bit of a pain in the backside to apply – but did I mention that it was worth the effort?

After realising that I couldn’t get the glitter pieces to apply properly in the normal manner, I started simply dabbing them on and hoping for the best, praying to the gods of top coat that all would end well.  Thankfully, they answered my prayers and ever since, my nails have been receiving admiration left, right, and centre!

In the above photo, I’ve applied Whirled Away over another polish from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection: Def Defying.  A slightly putrid, yellow-green that was opaque in two coats.  Perfect for Frankenstein nails, pretty much revolting to my sensibilities!

China Glaze Whirled Away is available priced at £6.95 from BeautyBay.com and www.thebeautypartnership.co.uk

* press sample