A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

If you like your purples, get ready to put a padlock on your purse.

NARS Purple Rain is such a beautiful, beautiful colour.  A warm-toned purple that has that ethereal ‘lit from within’ quality with it’s blackened edges and glowing centres.  Packed full of grown up shimmer (I can see red and blue in there).  2 coats for full opacity with no formula issues at all.  I’m deducting one point for the handle.  I had to do some major q-tip clean up because I found that huge chunky square handle a nightmare to wield with any accuracy.

Longevity is great so far… 3 days with barely any tip wear and not a chip in sight.  I guess I should be going for some lighter more spring-like shades now…. too bad I still have loads of dark polishes I haven’t played with yet!

Follow Nonie Creme, co-founder of Butter LONDON as she shares her daily video diary from behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week Fall 2010.

Nonie is already setting trends for AW/10 fixing up the Vena Cava ladies with what has been described by Style.com as a “curious shade of cloudy, sparkly eggplant”.

Is it bad to be excited for Autumn when Spring is still in hiding?

So, 8 of you sealed my Aussie ‘Hair Mare’ fate.  But when I dug out the promised photo, it kinda didn’t look as bad as I remembered, you can see for yourself… it’s bad… but it’s not a patch on The Agassi is it?  I decided it was only fair to share a few more. Upping the ante as it were.

So… as promised… my shameful hair mares…

A). Honestly?  I’m too busy looking at how tight my necklace is to concentrate on the hair.

B). In my defence, I look about 7.  This is my MOTHER’S shame, I’m not carrying this one.  Who lets a 7yr old have a perm anyway?

C). OK, this is the spiral perm… but it’s hard to see.  So let’s concentrate on the bum head parting instead.  Not only that, so much mousse… those curls were crusty. and flammable.

D). Dec 31st 1999. Man I thought I looked cute. I was… um… *counts*… 18.  Old enough to know better.  That spidery hairpiece took about 3 hours to ‘attach’ too, so it’s not like I had made a rash decision.  Just a bad one.

Since my last post, Aussie got in touch… and want to send one of you lovely ladies some product to steer you back onto the path of hair righteousness.  If you’ve already commented to confess your secret hair embarrassments, you’re in.  If you’ve yet to share your secret barnet shame… better do so now, ‘cos only Aussie can help!*

*well… Aussie or a great big sombrero.

I’ve already told you about my triangle hair… and my spiral perm from 1992…

Now it’s your turn…

Aussie, Agassi and me want to hear about your hair mares!

Go on, tell me about your nightmare ‘dos!’

If I get five horror stories I’ll upload a pic of the spiral perm.  And let me tell ya, it makes Agassi look coiffured to perfection.

Baahhhh!

Like the sheep I am, I knew I had to have this after reading about it on the fabulous LionLovingTiger‘s blog.

LUSH Mint Julips is a sugar-rich scrub for your lips, housed in a fully unsanitary little black glass pot.  It’s possibly the most travel unfriendly item I own, and yet I tote it around with me everywhere, sneaking it out of my handbag whenever I’m in a semi-private place to give my lips a quick rub.  I did tell you they were mega dry!  Mint Julips works well, it scours them giving my lips a smoother surface for applying lipstick whilst leaving a little oil behind to moisturise.  I do find myself applying some balm ontop for extra hydration though.

It’s not a clever product, as many bloggers before me have poined out, you could easily make it yourself at home.  But I’m as lazy as I am flakey-lipped.

The new LUSH Lip Scrubs come in three flavours: Mint Julips (After Eights!), Bubblegum (Bubblegum durr) and Sweet Lips (Chocolate).  They taste far too nice for cosmetic products and it’s a struggle to keep them on your lips and off your tongue.  Or is that just me?

I love the product and hate the packaging, alhough I’m not sure how they could have improved it.  Have you tried these?

LUSH Mint Julips Lip Scrub – £4.50 available online and instore.

Whilst up in London for IMATS, I had lots of trouble dragging myself away from Inglot in Westfield.  I was in there searching through the lipsticks for AGES!  Such a variety, but despite this… nothing was really catching my eye.  And then I spotted a small group of maybe 12 lipsticks off to one side, and immediately, 2 shades popped out at me.

I asked the SA to tell me about these taller, thinner lipsticks that bear more than a passing resemblance to the MAC Slimshines.  The SA explained that these were their new Slim Gel Lipsticks which have a lighter, more moisturising feel to them whilst still retaining a good colour payoff.

Sold to the lady with the mega dry lips!

I purchased #61 (left) which I would describe as a mauve pink… it’s a medium toned pinky nude on my skin, proper nude… not concealer nude.  I also purchased #41 which is a brighter, more vivid shade bordering on the coral *eek!*

I love both of them, they are moisturising… they’re also a teeny bit sticky, which does wonders for their longevity.  One application of these happily lasts me through to lunch time.  They have a glossy, shiny finish and I love the hardwearing metal packaging that houses all of Inglot’s lipsticks.

I do have one concern though… they don’t seem that steady in the tube.  If you do buy one of these, make sure you don’t wind the product up too high when applying.  I really think that unless you take considerable care, these would be prone to snapping.

Left: #61, Right: #41

I’ve also noticed that I seem to be going through the tubes at a rate of knots!  You only get 1.8g of product per tube, compared to 2.3g in a MAC Slimshine or 3g in a standard MAC Lipstick.  I threw away the receipt but I think I paid around £9 each for these.  So quite expensive gram for gram I think.

I shall forgive Inglot this time , these are beautifully easy to wear lipsticks and I’m very pleased I made the purchase.

So, Tsunimee and I were bitching on twitter that we didn’t really like metallic finishes to our polishes, and of course… that same day one of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL metallic nail polishes EVER showed up in my little ASOS haul.

It has that Quality Street wrapper quality doesn’t it?

Of course I had to apply it immediately…

I love it. And this photo… does not do it justice.  In real life, it looks like someone has foiled my nails with this glorious jeweled ruby red.  It’s perfect.  It looks like there are brush strokes in the image… which is hugely unfair, because I’m squinting at my fingertips now and I just can’t see any.

You pop off the clunky square ‘lid’ with a sharp tug and it reveals an altogether easier to manipulate round handle for application purposes.  Unfortunately, the brush is a STUPID thin thing, like in my Orly polishes… but other than meaning it needed about 5 strokes to cover the nail bed, it didn’t cause me any issues.

Application was *nearly* spot on.  Opaque in the first coat, I needed to go back in for a second just to tidy it up…. however, I did experience a couple of bubbles on 2 nails, which sucked especially as I know I wasn’t applying it too thickly.  Still, it’s so beautiful I don’t really care.  Plus, when the polish had dried (very quickly I might add) I could barely see these two bubbles… but I needed to mention it as bubbling isn’t something I usually experience with polishes.  Longevity is amazing for a metallic, I’m on my 3rd day (with no top coat) and it looks as good as new.

This was my first Butter London and I’m smitten.  They’re not cheap at around £10 each, but I want more…

What are your Butter London favs?

For someone who can’t be bothered to find the time to moisturise… I’m doing an awful lot of moisturising recently.

My skin is DRY DRY DRY… and nothing is making it better.  Not even tried and tested solutions that have kept my skin in good condition over the years.  Infact, not even my trusty body oils are providing long-term relief.

I re-discovered this Lula Bloom Body Butter in the parcel that housed the GOSH smoky eyes palette I was sent by Superdrug PR.  I was in two minds about it, remember?  I hope this fares better.  I have a bit of a backlog I need to work through…

I wasn’t gonna crack it open, ‘cos it looks like one of those all style-no substance products doesn’t it?  Plus I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at teenage skin… it just has that look…  I was gonna give it to a younger family member, except I forgot.

After having a quick look at the ingredients and noticing that one of my favourite moisturising bases (Cocoa Butter) is right up there near the top of the list, I decided that I’d give it a go.

Lula Bloom Body Butter (stupid name) is housed in a satisfyingly heavy glass jar.  This won’t appeal to half of you, but I’m not wanting to carry it about anywhere other than to and from my bathroom shelf so I’m not bothered.  I like it.  I’ve already mentioned that the artwork on the packaging gives me the impression that this is aimed at a younger audience, but the price tag doesn’t really match those impressions.

£6.99 for 250ml.  That’s quite pricey.  I know as a teenager I wouldn’t have been able to afford something like this.  I had more important things like 20 Lambert & Butler and 3 litres of White Lightning to spend my pocket money on.

Ignoring my misspent youth for a moment, I was truly surprised by how creamy and smooth the texture proved to be.  The consistency is very thick and a small amount spreads a long way.  I can see a pot of this easily lasting me at least a month of daily use.  Yet, despite being thick, it feels quite light once it’s on the skin.  A winning combination.

The scent is overpowering… it’s nice, but it’s too “in your face” for me.  Again, it makes me think that the product is aimed at a younger audience.  It’s fruity, tropical… everything that a 14yr old girl would want to saturate herself with.  It reminds me of my younger self stood at The BodyShop’s perfume oil carousel display.  God, I’d come out of that store with a dewberry/fuzzy peach induced headache.

Overall, I really like the product… but it suffers from some kind of Body Butter schizophrenia.  It’s a top quality moisturisier, leaving my skin soft and conditioned for many hours… but it’s as if some prat in the development team (probably a bloke) has come along and ruined the delicate balance by chucking half a ton of tropical pot pourri in the mixing vat.  What gives Lula Bloom?

It needs to either ditch the overpowering smell and horrible artwork…. or shave about £3 off the price.  Have you tried this?  Am I too harsh?

I’ll tell you what though… if you happen to know a 12-17yr old you fancy treating… *points at the body butter* you wouldn’t go wrong with this.

Superdrug has a whole Lula Bloom range going (the body scrub is decent too! Lurid pink packaging though…).  Check out the range on the website here

… I realised I hadn’t shown you the lovely Underland from the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette.  It’s a beautiful shade although I do wish it were a bit more pigmented… it’s not that it’s NOT pigmented… ‘cos it is.  It’s just not as heavily pigmented as say Alice or Oraculum.  It’s more along the lines of Absolem/Homegrown, that pretty green that was in the BOSII, remember?  Alice swatches are here if you want reminding.

Face:
~ Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid – so quick to apply and blend with a lovely finish, but staying power is kinda sucky if you’re at all oily.
~ Illamasqua Blush in Rumour
~ NARS Orgasm Illuminator on the cheekbones

Eyes:
~ Urban Decay Primer Potion
~ Drink Me. Eat Me across the entire lid
~ Underland applied lightly from the inner 1/3  gaining strength towards the outer corner.  Also swept under the lower lashline.
~ Jabberwocky lightly applied along the lashes to line.
~ Rimmel Glam’Eyes Lash Flirt Mascara

Lips:
~ MAC Speed Dial Cremesheen Lipstick
~ NYX Round Lip Gloss in Whipped to tone down the lippie a touch.

Hope you can’t see my rotten nose crusties *blows nose*… I moisturised and picked at ’em like a demon before attempting a FOTD…. TMI?

Wondering whether you should be throwing out that favourite discontinued lippie lurking in the back of your drawer? Cosmetic guidelines have always been quite stringent with regards to shelf life…

Judy regretted not throwing that old cream foundation away…

Do you follow the guides?

Have a look… (red denotes how long it takes me to dump stuff)

• Oil-Free Foundation: 1 year (if it looks/smells and feels ok, I’ll still use it)
• Cream or Compact Foundation: 18 months (12 months… I have a “thing” about cream compacts)
• Concealer: 12-18 months (if it looks/smells and feels like new, I’ll still use it unless it’s in a compact…)
• Powder: 2 years (indefinitely)
• Blush and Bronzer: 2 years (indefinitely)
• Cream Blush: 12-18 months (12 months… it’s the whole compact thing again)
• Powder Eye shadow: 2 years (indefinitely)
• Cream Eye shadow: 12-18 months (compact? 12 months)
• Eyeliner: 2 years (gels – till they inevitably dry out, pencils – indefinitely)
• Liquid eyeliner: 3-6 months (um, till they run out?)
• Mascara: 3 months (till they run out or become unworkable – yes, cardinal sin I know!)
• Lipstick: 2 years (till they get that funky crayon smell)
• Lip liner: 2 years (indefinitely)
• Lip gloss: 18-24 months (yeah, probably no more than 2 years)
• Nail Color: 1 year (till they become unworkable)

I think that a little common sense goes a very long way in situations like this.  If you live in a warmer climate, your cosmetics aren’t going to last as long.  If you buy mostly natural products containing less preservatives, you’re going to want to have a clear out more often.  If you share your cosmetics with your sister or best friend, then I’d be far more vigilant.  If anyone touches mine… they die.  I say trust your nose!

The oldest item in my collection is this 6 year old Bobbi Brown Palette:

My eyeliner obsession started with my Bobbi Brown Shimmering Eye Kohl palette which I bought back in 2004… I’ve dropped it twice (as you can tell – sob)

Tell me about your oldest cosmetic item? What is it and why do you still have it?

As previously reported on BritishBeautyBlogger, the Alice in Wonderland Palette will now be released online at Debenhams.com on the 22nd February and will be available instore from the 28th February.

Get hunting for those free delivery codes!

This is another from Mavala’s recently released Mystic Collection that I was sent last month.

Mavala Black Velvet is a dark purple-black with a very subtle shimmer which unfortunately is more apparent in the bottle than on the nail.

There is a great swatch of it over at HeijastusPinta

I’m in two minds about this collection.  So far, I like how they look individually… but now my nails are getting a bit longer, I think they’re a touch vampy for me.  If you have short, well-groomed nails, this would be a great collection for you.

I have two more to show you and I’m gonna hurry them the hell up, because Spring is nearly upon us… and if you give a fig about staying on trend, you might not want to see them ’till next Winter!

You can buy Black Velvet online at Mistrys Pharmacy – £3.95 a bottle.