A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Says me.  And if anyone wants to argue with that, I’ll roll up my fairy sleeves and throw all the manky, strawberry-flavoured Quality Streets at you from up there on my perch branch.

If you want to have a look at some of the lovely Christmas ideas I selected for BuyaPowa’s Christmas Gift Guide, click through the link above to have a squizz.  Because I’m not super-human, I can’t link you to the OPI Muppettes Mini Pack that sold out exceedingly quickly last night on the BuyaPowa website.  Sorry about that… but I can give you an early Christmas present and let you in on a teeny little secret…

Are you listening?  No, I mean… are you really, REALLY listening?

BuyaPowa will be going live with a co-buy toward the end of the week – it’s only gonna BLEEDIN’ be Urban Decay’s Naked Palette innit!!!  The world of co-buying is fast and furious so if you want to get a heads up when it goes live, I suggest you click through to BuyaPowa and add your email address next to the photo of the UD Naked Palette to get notification of when the sale goes live.

Don’t say I never give you nuffink *sprinkles Quality Streets*

How late am I on this trend?  I’m like your Gran when she discovered the button for the interwebz.

OK, well I’m not really late… but I’ve only just got around to photographing a mani with the Boots 17 Magnetized Nail Polishes.  I’ve decided that my favourite way to wear them is with a matte top coat which decreases their lasting power by about five years… but I dunno, they just suit the whole matte finish thing quite well.

I get some real inconsistencies with these magnetic polishes, one hand will often come out perfect… or even just three fingers in a row.  Then I completely get a dud one, despite not doing anything different.  Does anyone else experience that?  So frustrating!

Also… as an aside, I’ve been re-organizing my nail polish collection, which, let me tell you, is far less fun than it sounds.  I originally had them arranged by colour but I’ve changed it to brand and it’s made me realise that Essie is a very under-represented brand in my stash.  Better get myself in check and start nail-blog hopping to find some gems to lust after!

Boots 17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Grey is priced at £5.99 and available online or instore at Boots.

We all know how it feels to sneak five minutes of our lunch break on the way back to the office with our sarnies.  Some people will spend that precious respite browsing the news-stands, others may glance over the cosmetic counters.  The very last thing you want to do when you only have minutes to spare?  Get into a conversation with the shop assistant over the latest launches.

Alternatively, you just may be an anti-social bitch like me and prefer to shop without assistance until you request it.  Or perhaps you love hearing about the technology in the latest serums on the market but can never find an SA willing to talk shop with you?

Clinique have been looking at the way us shoppers like to prowl the counters and have come up with a potential solution to this common problem.  Complimentary wrist bands.

Three different coloured wrist bands to be precise.

Which wrist band do you go for?  Well that depends on your mood!

Green = Chat me up and tell me whatchu got!

White = Help me/Serve me, QUICKLY – The boss is coming back any minute now!

Pink = Leave me the hell alone unless I ask otherwise.

How effective this scheme will be, remains to be seen.  I popped by the Clinique counter in Selfridges (Oxford Street) on Tuesday afternoon and although the billboard was up, advertising the new Service As You Like It concept — there wasn’t a wrist band to be seen.  I asked about them and a friendly (though slightly suspicious!) SA explained that they were waiting on more bands to come into stock before they put them out on display.  She kindly let me have a look at the display box and seemed keen on the idea when I asked about it.  It was clear however that there had already been some teething issues with ‘customers’ picking them up in handfuls and simply walking away with them without even attempting to have a look around the counter!  Dreadful.

I have to applaud Clinique for tackling such an age-old problem with this scheme.  Hopefully it will ultimately mean that time is spent more effectively on customers who require assistance and will generate better relationships between the SA and the customer.  A potential win-win situation for both brand and shopper.

Here’s hoping!  What do you think?

The Clinique Service As You Like It complimentary wrist bands are on counter from Selfridges Oxford Street, House of Fraser Meadowhall, House of Fraser Glasgow, Debenhams Leeds and Fenwick Newcastle.

The U.S. have always been big on their Christmas ad extravaganzas but historically, in the UK… the only way we could tell that it was Christmas in ad-land was when we heard the opening words…  “It’s a magical place, we’re on our way there…” Extra points if you can guess the ad.

Today, things have changed and some of my favourite ads of recent years have been the Christmas specials from companies including John Lewis, M&S, Sainsburys (maybe not Iceland though eh?)

Some of the cutest in recent years have come from Boots and this year’s is no exception.  I was treated to a sneak preview on Tuesday night and it gave me that teeny little thrill down the back of the neck that reminds you CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!

You can experience the same thrill TONIGHT when The Girls go undercover in an attempt to put Christmas on the map in a big way.  The brand new Boots Christmas 2011 ad will be debuting at 8.15pm with a sixty second slot on ITV and Channel 4 during Emmerdale and Beeny’s Restoration Nightmares.  My Dad fancies Beeny.  Sorry, not relevant.

Anyway, my lips have been sealed shut and I’m not allowed to reveal more about the ad but it is a Christmas cutie… don’t tell anyone I’ve shown you the still, I may have to kill you.  Or The Girls may have to kill me, either way, it wouldn’t be very Christmas-sy.

In the spirit of all things horribly commercial (geddit?), what are your favourite Christmas Ads?

Love the name of this cheeky little number!  Butter London’s Frilly Knickers is a definite contender for a super-cool Christmas polish.  It’s a low maintenance sparkler with more bling than your Christmas lights.

Please excuse my yellow nails (yuk).  Over bare nails, it doesn’t look that incredible, although it’s still a pretty touch for those that prefer a sheer sparkle.  However…

Layer a single coat over a black or dark base and you’re cooking on turbo-powered gas!  A multi-hued, multi-faceted gem of a polish that magically saves shitty manicures with a single stroke.

I heart my Frilly Knickers.

Butter London Frilly Knickers is priced at £11.95 and available online from Powder Rooms.

Last month saw the launch of a new highlighter from Benefit, a brand that have enjoyed great success in the past with their highlighting products that mimic how light and shadow play across the face.

Unlike liquid products like the brand’s previous highlighting options: Highbeam and Moonbeam, Watt’s Up! is a twist-up cream highlighting stick in the style of a NARS Multiple.

Packaged to be reminiscent of a light bulb, it’s cute, kitsch and all the things you’d expect from a brand like Benefit.  One end houses the product… the other, a sponge designed for blending.  Something, which in my opinion is a bit of a waste of time.

I find that the sponge does more to rub the product off than it does to blend it.  You’ll be fine just using your fingertips to get a smooth application though I do appreciate it’s existence as it could well come in handy in my makeup bag put to some other use!

On initial application, the product gives quite a warm champagne glow with a lot of reflection but once blended, it softens to a more natural, neutral hue that will flatter most skintones.  The cream has a lovely amount of slip and glides over my skin which ensures that it’s foundation friendly and blends seamlessly with whatever base I’ve already applied.

Once applied, it sets quite quickly to a powder finish and didn’t slide around on my normal/dry skin or slip during the day, oilier skins may struggle with this depending on how you usually fare with cream-to-powder formulas.

Once blended (the above photo shows unblended), I find the overall effect fairly subtle compared to some of the more pearlescent products that I’ve used in the past and I would happily wear this during both the day and for going out.

At £24.50, I think it’s quite pricey for what it is but I can’t actually find too much fault with the product – I would just like to see it about £6 cheaper.

Benefit Watt’s Up! is available to buy online or on counter from Benefit Cosmetics.

You can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter…

Ta-da!!

Well, it’s not exactly subtle is it?  A warm brown base colour with a whole heap of chunky holo glitter embedded like sparkly shrapnel.  It needs a top coat to get rid of the grittiness and three overall coats to achieve full opacity.

I like it, but not as much as I thought I was going to.  Apologies for the no natural daylight photo – colour is accurate but the holo is obviously looking a little underwhelming.  You need proper sun for that kind of bling and we’re just not getting any at the moment.

What do you think?

China Glaze Mahoganie is priced at £7.99 and available online from RadiantBabe-Beauty.

Following on from last week’s FrontCover set, this week’s Star Gift of the Week at Boots is a Ted Baker Make It Big Vanity Case, picture below:

Until Thursday, 3rd November – the set will be priced at only £19 (regularly £40) and includes:

Butterfly Wings Body Wash (250ml)
Butterfly Wings Body Lotion (200ml)
Butterfly Wings Body Spray (150ml)
Butterfly Wings Body Scrub (300ml)
Origami Bath Foam (250ml)
Origami Body Souffle (300ml)
Origami Body Spray (150ml)

For a closer look at the actual case… you can watch the short video below:

Ted Baker Make It Big Vanity Case is available online and instore at Boots priced at £19.00, though be aware that the GotW’s usually sell out online fairly rapidly.

Just a quick PSA to let you know that Blistex are giving away 1000 of their new Lip Brilliance daily care lip balms.  If your lips are starting to feel the effects of the colder weather, you could do worse things than popping on over to the Blistex Facebook page this lunchtime.

You also stand the chance of winning some Topshop vouchers but…. meh.  Am I the only one who has never bought anything other than makeup from Topshop?  Don’t say yes…

I’m currently compiling a list of my top Autumn fragrances which naturally involves a little bit of pruning and today, I thought I’d show you one that just missed the billing.

Demeter Whiskey Tobacco is a fairly recent acquisition that caught me by surprise late one night as I was browsing some fragrance sites.  I love warm scents, so naturally, this time of year is like nectar to me.  I can douse myself in all my boozy ambers with the kind of abandon that hasn’t been witnessed since… oooh… March?

Demeter is a brand well-known for their fragrance library which encompasses many well-loved scents that would have passed under your nose at some point in time.  From Apple Pie to Laundromat, Mushroom(!) to Wet Garden – the range is exhaustive AND exhausting!

I couldn’t resist picking up a bottle of Whiskey Tobacco when I read the description…

We think this blend of Whiskey and Tobacco Smoke is a great masculine scent. And sometime it’s nice to be reminded of your Dad.

My father used to smoke a pipe and I was sure that if anyone were to capture that sweet, resinous scent unaltered and unapologetically, Demeter would probably be the ones to do it.  I love tobacco scents in general and was hoping this one wouldn’t disappoint!

Whiskey Tobacco, as you might imagine, is a full-on scent which I would (rubbishly) describe as less about ‘being in a smokey, boozy environment’ and more ‘alternating sticking your snout in a jar of whiskey / pouch of honeyed-tobacco’.  This distinction will obviously make you less repulsive-smelling to people around you who might not share your tastes for boozy/smoky scents but I will admit to missing the actual smokiness in this one.

Longevity is pretty poor, I get around 40 minutes tops before all traces have vanished into the ether.  However, whilst it does linger, sillage is brilliant.

Overall, it’s one to conjure memories and spritz randomly when you want a touch of (southern) comfort.  Priced at around $20 it’s cheap but not super-easy to get hold of in the UK.  E-scentialbeauty.com will ship internationally and also offer sample sizes on all Demeter scents so that you can try before you buy.

 Do you have any favourite Demeter scents?

No, my nails aren’t this long anymore – this was back in the day when I hadn’t abused them to within a millimetre of their poor, peeling lives.  Although looking at that length now, I think I’ve gone off it a bit… funny how our tastes change constantly isn’t it?

My tastes haven’t changed for Butter London’s beautiful Artful Dodger though.  When I was a little girl, I distinctly remember wanting to be the Artful Dodger… it’s not that I had a penchant for petty theft, I just thought it was a cool name.  Still do.

Artful Dodger is a super-pretty blue that feels a little different to my other squillion blues in my blue drawer.  Yes, I have a blue drawer.  What of it?  It manages to feel light, airy, a little frosty but somehow calming and mediterranean at the same time.  Plus, the beautiful BL cream formula is a dream to apply, something that of course, always helps.

Butter London Artful Dodger is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online at PowderRooms.

Fusing grand design, eco-credentials and quality home-scenting comes a partnership between new beauty and lifestyle brand: DP London and brit designer Pearl Lowe.  A limited edition candle collection which includes a re-release of three iconic fragrances from the original Davina Peace lineup contrasted with the new design flourish at the hands of Pearl Lowe.

Pearl Lowe was said to have fallen in love with the original scents and her collaboration with the brand makes perfect use of her design abilities and keen eye for beautiful things.

“For me scent is quite simply the ultimate home accessory.  I love transforming the mood with these candles and find candlelight so decadent.  They envelop a room with scent that lingers for hours, and create complete calm in my home.  The travel candles are also amazing as they help me to take a little home comfort with me and also work equally well in a guest room at home”  Pearl Lowe.

The limited edition range includes:

Pearl Lowe for DP London Spiced Punch (100% natural wax) £30 for 190g

and

Pearl Lowe for DP London Candle Trio (100% natural wax) £30 for 3x 50g (Spiced Punch, White Flowers, Citrus Fruits)

All candles are made containing a sustainable beeswax and EcoSoya blend with an organic fragrance.  The range contains no palm oil (a product that contributes to heavy deforestation) and also no paraffin (the mining of which is unsustainable).

Spiced Punch* is a hearty scent, perfect for the upcoming festive holidays.  A warming combination of bergamot, orange, cedar and cinnamon with a seasonal sprinkling of clove, ginger, nutmeg and vanilla that ensures your surroundings are evocatively fragranced for the dark nights ahead.

The DP London Body Care and Home range is available to buy online (www.dplondon.com) whilst the Limited Edition Pearl Lowe for DP London Candle Collection is available exclusively from ASOS.com and Selfridges.

* press sample