A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

You would be forgiven for not having heard of Aroma Therapeutics before… I stumbled across them when I was at The Vitality Show last month.  They were doing an offer on their bath and body oils and being the sucker oil lover that I am, I couldn’t resist parting with my pennies for a few.

In the bottle, they smell incredible.  Easily as good as offerings from the more well-known brands such as Aromatherapy Associates, Tisserand and NEOM… but sadly, this is pretty much where the similarities end.

Once dispensed into water… the scent dissipates far too quickly, we’re talking gone in a matter of 30 seconds.  Frankly, a fart would linger for longer.  I’m guessing that although exquisitely blended… there just isn’t enough of the potent stuff in these bottles to carry the aroma for a decent length of time.  I’ve also tried applying to my skin before jumping in the shower… but again, as soon as the water hits it, sayonara good stuff.

It truly is a bit of a tragedy because the Recharger scent (Rosemary, Ginger, Rosewood, Nutmeg and Orange) in particular is divine.  I haven’t tried any of the other products in the same scent lineup which includes massage oils and spray concentrates, perhaps I should limit the use of these purely on my skin rather than as part of my bathing routine but damn it, I bought these as bath treats!

Aroma Therapeutics are available to buy online from Fragrant Earth and are currently on BOGOF and are £26.65 for 50ml.

What are your favourite bath-time treats?

I’ll admit that when I first saw this shade in the bottle… I thought it looked a bit mauve/rose-granny-chic.  I’m still not sure it feels very Spring/Summer to me but it thankfully has enough raspberry in it to keep it looking modern.

Dahling *air kisses* is a pleasant enough shade.  It doesn’t knock my socks off but it does look good with most outfits and is conservative enough to wear whenever a red might be considered a touch too saucy!  It’s one of those shades that you’d reach for when you want a neat/polished look with little thought.

Application was solid with no issues to report… wear was average too… it’s an all round average kinda polish that will fulfil all your polish needs without blowing your mind.  And let’s be honest, we all need something we can depend on sometimes!

Dahling is available online from PowderRooms priced at £11.95.

Are there any polish shades that you can’t get excited over?

I’ve been wanting this discontinued China Glaze polish for the longest time and when I saw it on the ‘Bay, I had to jump on it!

Unfortunately, my swatch is pretty darn naff but just look at the bottle to see the gorgeousness that exists within those glass walls.  It’s like looking into a gilded nebula of awesomeness.  Or something.

I wore China Glaze Wagon Trail to destruction, literally.  I’ve just spent 14 days at the inlaws and it was still on my fingernails 12 days into the trip – ok, it looked pretty horrendous on most of my fingers by that time but to give you an idea of longevity, the above photo was taken on day 4 of wear (with my usual top coat).

It’s a two coater with a smooth, fluid consistency… a really great polish that I’m happy to cheat on my Spring/Summer shades with.

I walked up Primrose Hill once and it is most definitely a perfect spot for a picnic (just be sure to dodge all the yummy mummies and their icandy prams).

See?

But perhaps even better than that view, is the view I get when I look down at my nails and spy Butter London’s version of a Primrose Hill Picnic.

A gorgeous summery pink that instantly makes me think “fruit salad”.   Though, in fairness, it doesn’t take much to make me think of food.

The formula was a touch thick and a little draggy which made it one of those “comes good on the 3rd coat” polishes.  Not at all unworkable (less thick than BarryM polishes) but worth a mention incase you can’t stand a hint of gloop!

Wear was fine for me, 3 days before I noticed any real tip wear and no chipping.

Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic is available online from PowderRooms and priced at 9.75

Beautique are giving away 15 prizes for the princely sum of 1p each!

Get your sleuthing skills sharpened pronto because the hunt begins this morning at 11am!  Scour the site for the hidden eggs and checkout your loot first to claim the goodies for a single penny.

To read the rules and learn how to take part in the Egg-stravaganza, head over to the competition landing page to check out the finer details.

They’ll also be live updating the competition status on their Twitter and Facebook pages.

Good luck bunnies!

workhorse: noun. Something, such as a machine, that performs dependably under heavy or prolonged use.

Dior’s One Couleur Eyeshadow in Trendy Taupe is one of my go-to shades for deepening the crease.  It works well paired with anything I’ve matched it up to and blends without too much argument or swearing (from me).

Other than that… well, in all honesty, it’s completely un-exciting.  But I wouldn’t be without it.

The pigmentation is light but buildable which means that I don’t end up with “WOAH! PANDA EYES” whenever I attempt anything smoky.

Dior’s One Couleur Eyeshadow in Trendy Taupe is priced at £19.50 (ouch) and available online from House Of Fraser.  I can’t remember if it’s limited edition but I didn’t see it online at Boots.

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Anyone else suffer from the dreaded black eye effect when attempting to go smoky?

There are some rather blissful (that’s not even worth a groan of disgust, don’t bother) savings to be made on Bliss products over at the House of Fraser website at the moment.

Savings include…

1. Bliss Blood Orange + White Pepper Soapy Suds – WAS £15.50/NOW £7.50

2. Bliss Mammoth Minty Scrub Soap – WAS £13.50/NOW £6.50

3. Bliss The Love Handler – WAS £31.00/NOW £15.50

With the majority of the savings set at around 50%, they’re not to be sniffed at!

Do you have any Bliss favourites or recommendations?

We all have a few of these in our collections right?

Those products that we wanted for ages… thought about more frequently than food or sex and then when we eventually found ourselves clutching them in our hot little hands, wished we’d opted for those other thoughts instead.

Here are my current disappointments.

1. Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder – £18.50

I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for finishing powders, the right one really makes a huge difference.

The reviews for the Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder are generally pretty good but it’s just a bit too sparkly for me.  I’ve tried using different brushes to ensure that I’m not being too heavy handed but I still don’t dig the effect.  It’s a nice powder… but the (albeit minute) particles of glitter seem to catch the light in a sparkly rather than glowy way.

2. Make Up For Ever HD Blush – £21.75

Can’t. Blend. It.

It doesn’t look atrocious but it doesn’t look as well-blended as my other blushes and whilst I’m fully aware, confident even, that the problem lies more with my (lack of) skillz than the product… this knowledge doesn’t make me like it more.

Shame ‘cos the shades I own are gorgeous… *sigh*

3. Benefit Erase Paste Concealer – £18.89

I always thought that Erase Paste was for under the eye area and Boi-oing (or whatever it’s called) was for blemishes but for the life of me, I cannot make this work on my dark circles.  It cakes and gathers in any fine lines within an hour of wear.  It may be heavy duty in terms of coverage but I’m not willing to comprimise about 10 years of my youth for a bit of concealing.

I’ve tried: warming it up before using/buffing it in with a brush/patting it on with my ring finger/setting it with powder/a combination of all the above!  Disappointing.

4. Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation – £21.50

I bought this with the hope of mixing it with a moisturiser and really being able to control the amount of coverage I achieved.  It gives the ‘death mask’ look when worn alone… which is fine for a night out but unwearable (for me) during the day.  I’m fine with this though, I expected it… what I’m not fine with is the fact that everytime I try to use it, it’s separated and takes about 5 minutes to combine with vigorous shaking.

What products in your collection do you wish you loved more?  Are you like me and can’t bring yourself to ditch them incase you suddenly get an a-ha moment?

Aside from being completely in love with the name, I’ve fallen pretty heavily for the polish too!

Ciate Velvet Tuxedo is a lovely gunmetal grey with some rather special multi-coloured micro shimmer!  Sadly, the shimmer is pretty much undetectable in my photo so you’ll have to trust me that it’s there if you look closely enough!

The formula on this one was a delight and practically opaque in a single coat.  I did two coats more out of habit than necessity.  So, it’s not a very Spring/Summer shade… but do keep this one in mind next Winter because I can’t see you  being disappointed by its performance!

Ciate Velvet Tuxedo is priced at £9.00 and available to buy online from PowderRooms.

Are you a gunmetal fan?

For the love of all things shimmery, creme-y and smelling of solvent will someone PLEASE stock Diamond Cosmetics nail polishes in the UK again?

It was a dark, dark day when Flashy Nails closed and took with it the last (as far as I’m aware) of the UK stock.

Let’s have a quick recap of what we’re missing…

Yeah… we don’t really need much more convincing than that do we?  But just incase you do…

And some of the ones I haven’t gotten round to swatching yet…

Did I mention these used to retail at around $2.50 a bottle in the U.S.?  Don’t make me beg now…

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So, UK ladies – are you with me?  Who do we have to bribe with fudge to get our own way… and just how much fudge are we talking!?

Whilst this may not be the most important question we’ll ever ponder, for me… it was all I could think about a fortnight ago as I sat in the hair salon umm-ing and ahh-ing over this very dilemma.

In the end, I did what I always do in situations like this, I semi-commited.  I let the stylist cut me a hint of a fringe, a slight side sweep.  A fringe for wimps really.

I don’t like it. It’s bitty and it’s annoying… it says “Here stands a woman who has no faith in her own judgement!”

What I should have done, is bought one of these before visiting the salon.

The Cosmopolitan Collection Sexy Straight Fringe in Darkest Brown.  A clip-in fringe for commitment-phobes!

It’s the easiest thing in the world to attach, simply align wherever you want the end of your fringe to reach and press on the two clips that come attached.  Voila!

Instant fringe!

Now, whilst I am actually in love with my new fringe, it doesn’t come without issues.

1. It’s synthetic and therefore shiny.  If only my real hair were this shiny!  Now, don’t get me wrong… we’re not in doll’s hair territory, it’s not a horrible synthetic shine but it does contrast to my own hair and I need to fix this before I’d wear it out.  I’ve heard that some dry shampoo should do the trick.

2. If you have fine hair like mine, you need to play around with the back of the fringe (where it meets your hair) to ensure that the join is as well-hidden as possible.  Those with thicker locks will probably find this a doddle, I need a bit of careful placement and backcombing.

3.  Beware of relationships with partners, family and friends.  Mr. L and I are no longer on speaking terms since he called me Duane Dibley.

On the plus side, it provides instant gratification for a striking new look on nights out or when I want to confuse my 2 year old.  It’s well cut and heavy enough without being comedy-heavy and perhaps best of all, it covers my grey roots like a dream!

You can purchase The Cosmopolitan Collection Sexy Straight Fringe* online at HotHair, priced at £24.

* Press Sample

Did you know that April is Earth Month?  Well it is, so listen up!

Now in its 12th year, Aveda created Earth Month in April 1999 to raise awareness and funds for critically important environmental issues around the world, and has since raised more than $18 million for organizations that directly affect environmental change.

This year, Aveda are focusing on helping to provide access to clean water and sanitation for children and families around the world.

Lisa Snowdon and Margherita Taylor join Aveda’s 2011 Walk for Water as part of 12th Earth Month Initiative

Last week, the brand successfully organised and completed a five mile “Walk for Water” campaign along London’s Southbank, raising funds for Wateraid along the way.

The company have also released a rather lovely, limited edition “Light The Way” candle.

The Aveda Light The Way candle features a French-inspired aroma made with 100 percent certifed organic ingredients, including lavender, lavandin and clary sage sourced from the Diois region of northern Provence, France.

Formulated from soy wax, which means that the candle burns cleanly and completely from first light through to final extinguish.

The candle retails in the UK for £16.

Of that purchase price, £12.80 per candle sold in the UK will go to Global Greengrants Fund (GGF) and their water-related projects.

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Origins have established a partnership with Global ReLeaf to plant trees and restore wildfire-damaged areas which means that for every Plantscription sold during 17th – 30th April 2011, Origins will plant a tree on the customer’s behalf.

What a good way to get green thumbs without getting dirty!

In addition to this, you need to know about their trade-in/amnesty deal!

For one day only on 22nd April 2011…

Customers can bring in any current skincare product (any brand, full or empty) and trade it in for a complimentary full size of either Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash or A Perfect World Antioxidant Cleanser with White Tea.

That’s a deal worth £16/€23!  Yes, really!

To find your nearest Origins counter/store, check the Origins website and search for your postcode.

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Finally, French organic beauty brand Melvita are celebrating Earth Month and honouring their own bee-entwined roots by installing an apiary above their London flagship store in Covent Garden in an attempt to protect the declining bee population!

The apiary will be a permanent fixture on the roof of the Covent Garden store and also celebrates the launch of The Melvita Foundation which exists to protect the environment and bee populations around the world.

“We should not be scared of bees.  They are the guardians of the environment, they contribute to ecological biodiversity.  With the Melvita Foundation, you can act and protect them” Bernard Chevilliat, Melvita Founder.

During Earth Month, Melvita customers can help add more hives to the Melvita City Apiary through purchasing select Melvita products which contain honey.

•  Hydrastim – £22.00
•  Softening Hand Cream – £12.00
•  Apicosma Body Balm – £19.00
•  Softening Shower Gel – £9.50
•  Capiforce Hair Mask – £18.00

For each of these products purchased, Melvita will donate £1 to the Apiary fund, which will raise money to buy new hives and to further encourage the protection of the bees in and around London.

If you want to learn more about the Foundation, Melvita are holding a Bee Workshop on the 22nd April in the St Martin’s Courtyard store from 1pm – 4pm.  It’s open to all, so pop along to take a closer look at the bees and indulge in some free honey tasting!