A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

During one of my recent Fyrinnae splurges, I picked up their highly-regarded Pixie Epoxy to use with my mineral shadows.

In the tube, it reminds me of when clear mascara goes rank!  I used to buy clear mascara to set my brows, but it always went this cloudy consistency after a couple of months.

Anyway, Fyrinnae’s Pixie Epoxy isn’t supposed to be a primer… it’s a foiling agent.  Nothing to do with espionage and everything to do with making mineral eyeshadows extra purdy!

Slick some of this Pixie Epoxy over your eyelid… wait about 30 seconds and apply your mineral eyeshadow as normal.

Fyrinnae advise that you use the teeniest amount you can manage… and for super staying power, apply it ontop of your usual eye primer.

On the left is a mineral eyeshadow applied over bare skin, and on the right… the same eyeshadow applied over a small quantity of Pixie Epoxy.  Look how much more vibrant it is!  The bottom photo is after I did a single heavy-handed smudge in an attempt to dislodge the product.  You can see that the Pixie Epoxy has great staying power.

Available online from Fyrinnae and priced from $1.50 ($7.00 full size)

Have you tried Fyrinnae’s Pixe Epoxy?  How do you make it work best for you?

OK… bit of a sensationalist title… apologies, but I’m thinking of the google keyword search!

A reader requested a list of the CCS/CCO outlets in the UK as she was struggling to find the information on Google.

Here are the ones that I know of… if you know of any others, please let me know so I can update the list!

1). Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth Harbour
2). Bicester Village, Oxon
3). Designer Outlet, York
4). Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port
5). Designer Outlet, Swindon
6). Junction One, Antrim

What is a CCS/CCO?

If you’re not sure what it is, let me explain…  CCS/CCO stands for Cosmetics Company Store/Outlet.

They sells discounted Estee Lauder owned company’s cosmetics… which includes brands such as: MAC, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown and Origins… I would imagine there’s probably a shed-load of Prescriptives in the outlets at the moment aswell.

The discount is generally in the region of 30% and often includes discontinued or hard to find products (including past MAC collections).

Stock changes frequently, so if you see something you like… buy it.  It probably won’t be there next week.

If you’re looking for something in particular, it’s worth googling for the phone number of the store you’re planning to visit.  Give them a ring and check to see if it’s in stock to avoid disappointment.

Sounds good, why isn’t there one in London?

Dunno…

But… if you’re in London, your nearest would be either Bicester or Gunwharf Quays.

Gunwharf Quays is my local and boasts a train station right outside (Porsmouth Harbour).  You can purchase a megatrain ticket from London Waterloo which costs around £12 for a return and takes just over an hour and half journey time.

I’m biased… but Gunwharf Quays makes for a fabulous day out, especially in the Summer… if your other half isn’t interested in the discount shopping, Portsmouth’s historic dockyard is worth checking out next door.  Just make sure he leaves his wallet for you to look after ok?

Another mini splurge from last week!  I know you’ve seen these 100 times now, sorry!

I only bought two things from the range though, aren’t I good?

I was tempted by the chunky lip pencils and the LE eyeshadow trio too (gold,blue,red one)… but I resisted!

At £6 each, I think these blushes are brilliant value for money and there are some lovely shades available.

Flush is a warm pink… I would say Guava, but I keep going on about Guava shades… *whispers* Guava.

Butterscotch is a natural neutral shade… it’s warm without being orange… lovely!

This is heavily swatched and unblended.

My favourite thing about these blushes is the finish… they’re cream to powder and they blend soooooooo smoothly.  I’m crap at blending and I can blend these with my eyes closed.  They’re completely forgiving to makeup incompetence.

I really hope that Topshop bring out some more shades in the blushers… is there a cool-toned pink in the range? I don’t remember seeing one and I want one!

If you don’t have a Topshop that stocks the range nearby, you can purchase online. Prices start from £4.

I broke ’em while bowling at the Sleek MakeUP do last week *sniff*

Still, every cloud and all that… it gave me the opportunity to break out a nice nude in an attempt to elongate my fingers.

Essie’s Jazz is just that.  A great nude!  It’s slightly ‘dirty’ toned which I love!  It just gives it an edge.

Formula was fabulous… 2 coats gave plently of coverage and the quick-dry glossy finish meant that I didn’t need to top coat it at all.  A super mani for lazy sods like me!

Do you prefer nude polishes on long or short nails?  I can never decide which looks best!

…with a neat video showcasing three very different looks created around three very different lipsticks from the Chanel Rouge Coco range.

Which look is your favourite?

Straight ones, short ones, long ones, curly ones.  Pubes Eyelashes, they’re the business.

They’re the shields that protect our precious eyes from debris every second of the day, they’re sensitive enough to let us know when that mascara wand is getting perilously close to our eyeballs and trigger the reflex that clamps our eyes shut just before we stupidly poke ourselves with it.

The problem with eyelashes though?  They’re just not long enough.

Horses have fab eyelashes, have you ever noticed?  Straight as a poker… you’d need to put the Shu Uemura’s to work… but still, mega lashes.

I was contacted by the PR for Trish McEvoy who are going to love the fact that my feature about their lash enhancer has already managed to mention pubes and horses when we’re barely 100 words in… but nevermind…

Where was I?

Oh yes, nice PR lady said “Hello!” and “Would you like to try our new Lash Enhancer?”.

“Hmmm” said I… “I’m already using some lash enhancing stuff that I bought, but if you don’t mind a potential guest reviewer I have just the person!”

Meet my cousin… A.

I don’t like this before picture… she’s not as good at taking photos as me.  She says she has some more, so if and when she emails me them… I shall add them.  But this will do for now.

She’s desperate for longer lashes and infact… this photo is the first time I’ve seen her for ages where she isn’t sporting either extensions or a pair of falsies.

We’re gonna give it a couple of months and see how she gets on with the Trish McEvoy Lash Enhancer.

This stuff isn’t cheap by the way… around £89 for 4 months supply.  I hope she doesn’t drop it down the loo or something stupid like that.

Let me give you the rest of the blurb:

Lashes lose fullness due to day-to-day wear-and-tear, makeup removal, eyerubbing, and the aging process. Using highly potent SymPeptides™ and an abundance of powerful proteins, vitamins, and moisturizing ingredients, Lash Enhancer helps condition, hydrate, strengthen, and nourish lashes to help them withstand the mechanical, natural and environmental aggressors as well as aging process that may shorten their life.

A single nightly application of Lash Enhancer Nighttime Conditioning Treatment will promote the stronger, fuller, healthier lashes of your dreams. In just 2 weeks of daily use can you experience as much as a 25% increase in volume. A few quick seconds each night will put you on the road to fuller lashes.

So… fundamentally this stuff is different from the more pharmaceutical lash enhancing treatments.  Most importantly, you can apply this stuff without fear of your eyes changing colour or growing a second head.  Which is always reassuring.

The packaging is sleek, sexy and heavyweight…

A nice precision applicator so you don’t waste too much product during application and deliver the good stuff right to where it’s needed.

I’m excited!  I like these kind of trials… I like tangible results!

Fingers crossed for A that Trish McEvoy’s Lash Enhancer can turn those puny lashes into floor sweepers!  Stay tuned!

While up in London last weekend, I headed over to Fulham to check out Guru Makeup Emporium in person… it’s down this super cute little cobbled mews.

The shop itself is lovely… spacious and well stocked and the lady behind the counter couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating.

I actually went there to have a look at the MUFE HD Blushes, but when I was swatching I was finding them quite hard to blend aswell as being perhaps just a little too pigmented for me.  I’m fairly ham-fisted with blusher and to put it simply, my skillz weren’t up to the job!

Anywayyyy

I was distracted by the new Aqua Creams.  I’d snagged one already from one of Goss’ infamous blog sales but I figured I’d check out the other shades… I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with 3 of them *eek!*

£16.95 each maketh for an expensive splurge.

But check out these shades….

Beautiful no?  There was another one that I really loved too… a medium bronzey shade… I think it was #14.  But I had to bitch slap myself and remember that my family need to eat.

#13 (Warm Beige) is a shimmering nude champagne, it’s a great lid colour.

#2 (Steel) reminds me of Benefit’s Skinny Jeans, but it’s more cool-toned… slightly greyer and more complex.

#5 (Peach) I bought to use as a blush.  In the pot it looks like everything I wanted NARS Enchanted to be… on the cheeks, it’s nicely pigmented but there’s too much gold glitter for me to use as a blush *sigh*.

So how do these work?  Are they cream shadows? blushes?

Well… they’re described as multipurpose.  They’re simply waterproof cream colours that can be used on your eye, lips or cheeks.  I’m not really interested in using these on my lips… I’ll mostly stick to using them on my eyes.

Are they crease-resistant?  Not completely… but kinda.  If you don’t have any problems with the Benefit Creaseless Creams, then I think you’ll be good with these aswell.  On me, they don’t crease or ball-up… but they do settle a little more deeply in the lines after a few hours.

For £16.95 you get 6g of product compared to 4.5g in a £14 Benefit Creaseless Cream so it’s not too bad value-wise (although of course, you can get the Creaseless Creams much cheaper if you shop around).  The obvious benefit to the MUFE Aqua Creams is the huge range of shades available.

Would I buy more… oh yes!

MUFE Aqua Creams are available to buy from Guru Makeup Emporium who do mail order and have a pricelist on their website!

I purchased this in my local CCO last year and it’s a valuable addition to my highlighter collection!

A great product to take on my travels as a multi-use powder/highlighter.  The shimmer side is smooth and I particularly enjoy applying this highlighter with a dampened brush for a smoother sheen.

Applied dry, it’s quite a golden sheen which means that on my cool skintone I prefer to use this one in the evening as it’s a touch too obvious for daytime wear.

If you can get your hands on it, I recommend!

ARGH!

I hate it when the seasons change!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to Summer… but my scalp is itching and sore!  I have fleas!

I don’t really have fleas… but twice a year (Spring>Summer & Autumn>Winter) my scalp goes to crap and I’d love to know if this is some weird personal freakishness or something that other people experience too?

Anyway, I mentioned it to a PR lady ‘cos I was explaining why I wasn’t suitable to review some other hair products at the moment and she mentioned this Philip Kingsley range to me…

Flaky/Itchy scalps…. sexy.

The fact is though… I don’t care if it’s a bit taboo… a lot of people suffer!  I can’t wear black tops for at least 2 months of the year whilst I’m going through these flare ups and trust me, nothing makes you more HUGELY self-conscious than feeling your husband gently brushing the flakes off your shoulder whilst you’re standing in a checkout queue.

The Philip Kingsley Scalp Mask is basically an exfoliator for your scalp.  It’s a tricky product to apply and if my hair were longer and thicker I’d have struggled to use it.  I got instant relief from it though and I was able to use it despite my scalp being quite sore.  It gives a lovely cooling sensation and simply eased the itch and temporarily cleared the dry skin that was clinging around my hairline.

I was also surprised at how reasonably priced it is, £3.85 and available with free shipping from FeelUnique!

The other product I was sent was the Philip Kingsley Shampoo for itchy/flaky scalps which I have been using in conjunction with the mask.

Sadly, not quite so affordable.  A 250ml bottle will set you back £16.15 delivered from Feel Unique.

But it’s worth every penny.

3 shampoos in and I’m clear of the scabby bits (gosh, how attractive)… I’m still a touch flaky along the hairline, but it’s really easing off and at this rate I’m gonna be completely clear in a few more days.  I’m going to continue to use it for maintenance twice a week and if I only have to purchase it twice a year, it’s really worth it for me.

In addition to the fact that this stuff simply works, it’s also gentle… I colour my hair regularly and anti-dandruff type products are notorious for stripping and dulling coloured hair.  This isn’t having any effect on my dye-job!

I’m not gonna ask if you ladies are in need of a product like this, but I’d love to know privately if you’ve noticed any correlation between the changing seasons and the condition of your scalp?

…only a teeny haul!

It was 3 for £12… and there were 3 further colours I was tempted by, but I’m not convinced of the quality so held off splurging further until I’d given these a try!

L-R: Mouse, Peacock, Factory Grey.

I wore Peacock to the Sleek event, and whilst I love the colour… I wasn’t too enamoured of the formula which was a bit gloopy.

I would have a NOTD for you but I fractured 2 of my nails whilst bowling (of course) so have given them all a much needed prune instead!

Have you tried the American Apparel polishes yet?

Set for a June UK release, here’s a sneak peek of the new Revlon Colorburst lipstick range.  Beautifully packaged in a sleek, quilted tube… Revlon Colorburst is a good-looking range!

12 Shades are set for UK release ranging from a deep vampy plum through to natural nude shades… I believe the US has 20 available, so we’re short a few!

The formula is creamy, smooth and pigmented with various finishes including cremes, shimmers and all out frosts.

Despite packing a vibrant punch of colour, the lipsticks feel extremely lightweight and easy to wear.  I’ve found them fairly… no I’m not using the term “moisturising”, ‘cos I’ve never found a lipstick GIVE moisture… but some steal more moisture than others, and these aren’t too drying at all.

Check out the REVLON embossing on the bullet!

Finally, some swatches…

Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks are set for a UK release of 2nd June, retailing at £7.99 each.

Any of the shades calling out to you?

Truly excited by this…

It’s gorgeous no?  I dug it out of my goody bag that I was given at the Sleek MakeUP blogger event this week.

I’m loving the new Sleek i-Divine cardboard sleeves… not so much the coloured cases, but the sleeves are a total win for me!

Visible from outer space.

It’s a bright palette… I personally wouldn’t wear these as eyeshadows… but I’d buy it anyway, ‘cos these are gonna make some cracking Summer eyeliners.  I’ve already worn both blues blended tightly along the lashline… fabulous!

Like the Bohemian palette before it, the Sleek Circus palette contains a mixture of shimmer and matte shades.  Mostly heavily pigmented (with 2 exceptions) this is an exciting selection.  It’s exciting because it’s pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone… without going too far.  It’s not the acid palette… I couldn’t wear that one.  This, I can work with… it’ll spice things up nicely!

Here’s a quick colour description of the shades…

1. Guava Pink (Matte)
2. Purple (Shimmer)
3. True ‘shrimpy’ Pink (Matte)
4. White (Matte)
5. Bright Yellow (Matte)
6. Fuschia (Slight Shimmer)
7. Black (Matte)
8. Greyed Lilac (Matte)
9. Chartreuse (Shimmer)
10. Azure Blue (Matte)
11. Midnight Blue (Shimmer)
12. Orange (Matte)

They will be getting named in due course by one of the lucky bloggers who won the opportunity at the event!

4 & 8 are crapola.  Heavily swatched, I’m just not getting any colour payoff from them dry or wet.  They’re write-offs unless you have incredible patience.  I’m not bothered about the white, but it’s a shame that the lilac is so disappointing… it’s an interesting shade.

Stand out shades for me are: 1, 2, 5, 9, 10 and 11.

Infact, I’d buy the palette for 11 alone.  It’s perfection.

The Sleek Circus Palette will be released in June, what do you guys think?  Impatient or Indifferent?