A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I don’t usually post information straight from press releases unless I find something to capture my imagnation and I think it’s safe to say, what with me being a tad red-lip obsessed and all, that not one two three four five but six new (and reformulated) red lip shades from Chanel was enough to turn my head!

So, you want to know more about these reds?

INCANDESCENTE (shown above): a flamboyant red with insolent radiance.
COROMANDEL: a luminous and precious orange-red.
PIRATE: an ultimate, slightly bluish red.
PALPITANTE: an exquisite shade of raspberry red.
PASSION (reformulated): a dazzling and absolutely glamorous red.
INIMITABLE: an intense, irresistible red with pearly reflections.

Be still my rapidly-beating heart.  But, where’s Dragon eh?

Of course, it’s not ALL about the reds (though when Chanel release six in one collection, you know you’re gonna be seeing a lot of RED this season), for swatches and more information – may I please point you in the direction of the inimitable Cafe Makeup who can make me drool over a swatch on a piece of paper like no other.  Go on, you know you want a new lip lemming to ease you into Autumn.

Dare you.

Shade from the new Chanel Rouge Allure collection are priced at £25 each and are available to buy online and on counter nationwide.

I don’t have quite the owl fascination that I know many people share but I can’t fail to appreciate a pretty design when I see one and this owl-inspired eyeshadow set is sure to get many of you hooting (groan – sorry).

The eyeshadow palette from the M&S Limited Collection features five neutral shades, and one flash of bold colour in the form of a jewel-toned blue.  All shades are shimmery, but is it a case of style over content when it comes to usability and value for money?  Or should you be owl over it before it flies from the shelves? (sorry, SORRY!)

The packaging is lovely, a substantial cardboard design reminiscent of many popular palettes featuring some extremely cute owl motifs on the front.  There’s no obvious mention of M&S as a brand, the packaging alludes simply to the Limited Collection rather than the shop where you buy your comfiest knickers.

Under the lid sits a generous, distortion-free mirror and six eyeshadow pans, each featuring a cut-out owl design.  These cutouts prove to be a little tricky when it comes to accessing the eyeshadow and I imagine that the sharp edges will begin to look fairly worn shortly after the initial use.  The palette comes complete with a sponge applicator… an actual brush wouldn’t have gone amiss when you have six shades to work from.

The textures are quite hard and sadly, I achieved little to no pigment from the top left shade, which on paper, was easily my favourite.  Taupe anyone?  The other shades deliver better results, some only marginally.  Swatches coming right up…

As previously stated, the top left shade is no bueno – don’t buy the palette because you think you’ve fallen in love with a new pretty taupe, you’ll be disappointed.  The remaining two shades on the top row are also a bit of a let-down.  They’re patchy and unpigmented for such strong colours (the swatch shows two swipes for each) – workable, but they make you graft to get a result.

The bottom row, however, tells a different tale.  All three shadows sitting across the lower half of the palette are quite delightful.  Rich in colour, smooth to apply and softly shimmering without any chunks of glitter.  The highlighter on the bottom right in particular is a very pretty warm champagne which will open up the eye area beautifully.

Ultimately?  Unless you absolutely must have it because you’re batshit crazy about owls, you don’t need this palette.  The shades are infinitely dupable in better formulas on the high street and because of the underwhelming performance of those top three shades, it just doesn’t offer value for money.

If you are a bit of an owl-obsessive, who cares what the shadows are like because let’s face it – you’re probably just going to stroke the box anyway.

M&S Limited Collection Shadow is available to buy instore and online at M&S, priced at £7.50

* press sample

Don’t hit me.  I’m not about to start my Christmas gift lists… but if you are the kind of sick puppy who’s so damn organised that they’ve already budgeted, drawn up initial Christmas lists, and scoured the loft for last year’s leftover Christmas cards, you might quite like this potential gift idea.

From September 16th, Harrods are holding an exclusive event in partnership with Guerlain, featuring renowned calligrapher Paul Antonio.  The above image shows the original Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire bottle, alongside a trio of alternative “little black dresses” which will be featured on limited-edition bottles of the brand’s freshly re-worked fragrance, known as “Ma (my) Petite Robe Noire”.

Simply choose which of the three dresses matches your (or your lucky gift recipient’s) taste in evening wear and have the limited-edition bottle personalised with their name or initials.  The perfect fusion for a fragrance-loving fashionista!

The complementary calligraphy sessions will be available only on the following dates:

Friday 21st September: 16.00 – 20.00
Saturday 22nd September: 14.30 – 18.30
Sunday 23rd September: 14.30 – 18.30
Friday 28th September: 16.00 – 20.00
Saturday 29th September: 14.30 – 18.30

If you’d like to read my review of Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire, please click through to this page to hear my thoughts on the fragrance.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve come to rely on a handful of products to see me through the times when the majority of my makeup and skincare have been inaccessible, buried deep in the depths of a cardboard box.  A mis-labeled cardboard box as it happens.  I didn’t take much time over thinking about which cosmetics I’d like to keep close by me during the moving process.  To be honest, I thought that I would have everything unpacked within the week.  Naive.

If I’d thought more about which products I was going to keep available, I probably wouldn’t have chosen this one.  I assumed that it would be far too sheer for me, too much like an insipid lipgloss.

I was wrong.

Pixi Succulent Lip Twin in Poppy, as it turns out, is a rather wearable red that doubles-up as both a lip and cheek product.  It packs a decent amount of pigment whilst remaining a long-way from being an in your face red.  The Lip Twin comprises a squeezy tube of sheer-to-medium pigmented ‘goop’, suspended in a jojoba oil-infused formula that doesn’t feel sticky.  You could wear the ‘gloss’ part alone, adding just a hint of colour to your lips – but I prefer to use the balm initially to amp-up the pigmentation.

When it comes to cheek application, I actually prefer to use the ‘gloss’ part on my cheeks, the balm delivers a little too much pigmentation for my fair skin.

The trouble with a great red lipstick will always lie with the upkeep, the most difficult colour to maintain and once it starts looking bad, it lookds *really* bad.  The Pixi Succulent Lip Twin in Poppy Red makes a great multi-tasking casual red to tote around in your handbag, making on-the-go maintenance a doddle, which is just as well because longevity (at around 2/3 hours) isn’t its strong point.

Pixi Succulent Lip Twin in Poppy Red is available to buy online at pixibeauty.co.uk, priced at £12.00

* press sample

As we say goodbye to Summer and hello to the first breaths of September, it’s also time to welcome a new cologne from Jo Malone. 

Blackberry & Bay is boldly described by the British brand as “the scent of innocence” and when aided by campaign images showing this kind of cuteness, it’s easy to see why.

Blackberry & Bay is as full-bodied as you might expect, but perhaps not quite in the way you’d imagine.

A wholly ripe affair with an uplifting, generous dose of blackberry and grapefruit from the first sniff.  However, don’t be fooled into expecting something sweet or creamy, Blackberry & Bay is juicy-yet-tart, comforting-yet-sharp.  It’s blackberries in the rain with your ponytail lashing at your nose and cheeks.

The bay leaf provides the ‘edge’ and indeed, the leaf needed to bring the fragrance down to earth and evoke the practicalities of blackberry picking in our, end-of-Summer climate.

If you’re looking for something to wear that spans the two extremes of our seasonal weather, you could do far worse than check this one out.

Blackberry & Bay has both aroma and soul.  It also surprised me by lasting longer on my skin than their recent Cologne Intense Velvet Rose & Oud release.

Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay launches today both instore and online at jomalone.co.uk, priced from £38

* press sample

I spotted these Diego Dalla Palma Antiage Lipsticks on Tesco Direct last night, normal price £14, currently reduced to £7 each.  There are four shades available in the classic “my lip but better” shades.

The formula promises a moisturising finish with olive and jojoba oils offering hydration and hyaluronic acid spheres to work as a filler to give the appearance of fuller lips.

Have you tried the Diego Dalla Palma Antiage range before?

Following the roaring success of last year’s Crème Brûlée sellout, Vaseline have once again returned with another Limited Edition Lip Therapy flavour to tempt our senses.  What will it be?  Nobody knows for sure until the official launch on the 5th September BUT the team have been tantalisingly tease-y to the blogging community with a little challenge that you may have seen popping up on beauty blogs across the ether…

In hot pursuit of the chance to win a pair of trips to Paris (one for me AND one for a Lipglossiping.com reader – ooh la la!), I’ve been given the opportunity to guess the new flavour (from an unbranded tin) and decorate my own Lip Therapy tin, using the hints they sent as inspiration!

So, without further ado (and because my fingers are partially still super-glued together)… I’m very proud to show off my decorated tin!

Presented with a variety of hints which included: a pink candle (cupcake optional), a champagne flute filled with bubbles, a pink balloon, and a box of champagne truffles, it didn’t take me long to notice a bit of a theme.  I mean, it’s like a doggy bag from a Barbara Cartland party isn’t it?  Pink is the colour… but what is the flavour?

Taking a deep sniff of the unbranded tin, I detect a fizz – not quite sherbert-y, but with a definite tang that reminds me of pink grapefruit.  But those clues… those clues… I can’t overlook the champagne glass, and neither can I overlook the mention of “wine extract” in the ingredients list…

I chose to decorate my tin with a sparkly base of gold glitter and stars to embrace the obvious glamour abundant in the clues.  The motif could only be one thing for me, a champagne flute!  If you turn it upside-down, it also looks a bit like the Eiffel Tower right? RIGHT?  Come on girls, we want that trip to Paris!

I finished my decorations by studding the edge with pink diamantes and black seed beeds (about a billion of them, which I will be hoovering up forever more).

Which leaves me with only one thing left to say… my guess for the new Limited Edition Vaseline Lip Therapy flavour?

  Pink Champagne!

It’s girly, fizzy, glamourous, and it makes you do silly things when you’ve had a glass too many!  It’s the perfect antidote to a lacklustre evening and should be compulsory at all parties.  If I’m right, I’ll even put some red food colouring in my White Lightning to celebrate.

What flavour do you think would make the perfect Limited Edition scent?  In a straw poll of my living room – one said “toad in the hole”, and the other said “Quavers”.  Let’s stick with Pink Champagne for now shall we?

If you want to keep up with the latest clues on the new flavour, head over to the Vaseline Facebook page for hints and updates.

The new Limited Edition Vaseline Lip Therapy tins will be available at Selfridges from the 5th September, priced at £3.49 each

Going a bit ga-ga in the search for a lovely green polish to see you through the drearier months?

Green isn’t a colour you’d usually associate with the final weeks of Summer is it?  We’re used to seeing the shade fill Spring collections and lead the way when it comes to the pastel trends but put that thinking aside because I’ve found a rather lovely green that will work beautifully for the more subdued months ahead…

Introducing, Marks & Spencer Limited Collection Polish in Leaf.  A dusty green creme that will set you back just £3.50 for an 8ml bottle.

Two coats will achieve opacity from a formula that doesn’t need chasing around the nail to get it to lie smoothly.  For the shiniest of finishes, you’ll need a top coat but don’t let that put you off because this mini-marvel packs a punch when it comes to pigmentation.

Marks & Spencer Limited Collection Polish in Leaf is priced at £3.50 and available both instore and online at marksandspencer.com

Have you tried any M&S polishes since they revamped the line?  How do you find them?

Morning campers!  It might be early but I’ve got something to encourage you out from the bottom of that coffee mug… look lively, it’s giveaway time!

Boots 17 have been setting lashes a-fluttering across the country with the release of their latest mascara, forget big hair… we want bigger lashes.  SIX lucky winners will each receive a tube of the NEW 17 Blow Out Mascara (£6.29) which promises up to 12x volume thanks to an oversized brush and a thickening, argan oil-enriched formula.

Sound good?  Enter via the widget below to throw your name into the virtual hat – good luck ladies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

T&C

01: Start date for this competition is 30th August 2012 at 00.01 BST
02: Closing date for this competition is 6th September 2012 at 23.59 BST
03: There are six prizes to be won, each comprising of a tube of 17’s NEW Blow Out Mascara (worth £6.29) varieties will be chosen at random and specific product requests cannot be accomodated. No cash alternatives.
04: UK entrants only.
05: Lipglossiping.com is the sole promoter of this competition.
06: Only one entry per email address will be accepted.
07: Personal details will not be kept or forwarded and are only used in the context of this competition to inform the winner(s) of their prize status.
08: Six winners will be selected at random from all entries received.
09: Winners will be notified within 5 working days and will be expected to reply to an email sent to the address used to enter the competition within 5 working days or risk forfeiting the prize.

Fancy some bargainous nail candy to feast your eyes upon?

C’mon…  it might even take the edge off the gloom from the knowledge that yes, Autumn… it’s just around that corner there.  Don’t focus on thoughts of darkening evenings and frosty mornings, think instead of glittery nails and vampy cremes.  Looksie!

That’s not a bad Autumn/Winter lineup now is it? Read on for shade details and be prepared to take many, many detours past the shampoo and into the beauty aisle for many, many, little pickmeups this season.

01: Magic – a pretty Autumn plum with a silvery shimmer
02: Dream – striking charcoal blue/grey that will never go out of style
03: Potion – be hot on trend with the perfect berry colour for the season
04: Fairy Tale – golden, glamorous and perfect for Christmas
05: Spellbound – wear alone for a subtly sparkly look or add to a colour for stand out glamour
06: Liquid Lane – a pretty shimmery pink to complement this season’s berry trend
07: Wizardry – a more subdued glitter to be used alone or works perfectly with Fairy Tale
08: Once Upon a Time – warm up your winter look with this fierce fuchsia

Barbara Daly polishes are available instore and online at tesco.com, priced at £3 each – anyone spotted these shades gracing the aisles yet?

In honour of the 1st anniversary of their not-so-new-anymore beauty hall – which by the way – is amazing, iconic London store Liberty have launched their own range of body-beautiful products in the form of: a hand wash, body wash, hand lotion, and a body lotion.  For a company where good design is so fundamental, you’d expect nothing less but for the range to look as great as it smells!

Liberty have chosen some quintessentially British garden-scents to infuse their new range, including: Geranium, Lavender, and Rose.  I personally love the tangy, slightly peppery scent of Geranium and think it’s a much under-used lead fragrance in body products, so I’m interested to discover which variety of the plant has made its way into the bottle.  I used to have a “lemon fizz” geranium that I’d purposefully brush past (a little roughly at times!) just to transfer some of the scent onto my clothes!

The range promises a long-lasting fragrance with non-greasy lotions that absorb easily.  As for the packaging?  The labels have been designed by the Liberty Graphics team and incorporate a reworked version of the classic Liberty print Claire-Aude, an abstract floral which was designed for Liberty in 1975.

Prices start from £18 and are available to buy online and instore now. 

I am such a sucker for a posh hand wash.

What do The Grand Canyon, The Aswan Dam, my blackheads and the Great Pyramids all have in common?  All totally visible from space.

I’ve been reliably informed that my unwanted facial potholes have often been mistaken by the Mars Rover as an interplanetary field of black holes, thoroughly capable of sucking all living matter within a 1000 mile radius into them.

Sounds about right to be honest.

I’ve been trying a daily scrub from Neutrogena which promises to help eradicate these ‘orrible blighters and although it’s early days, I’ve been pretty impressed with the results so far.

There are a billion blackhead-busting scrubs out there but what makes this one a little bit different is the fact that instead of being advised to use it only a couple of times a week, Neutrogena have formulated this one gently enough to be used every day as a replacement to your usual cleanser.

The key ingredients which should make all the difference to our beloved blackheads in this instance is 2% salicylic acid.  A rather brilliant beta hydroxy acid which helps break down congestion deep inside the pore – and used regularly (which you can with this scrub) – will help keep pores free from debris.  Combine this with the manual exfoliation and massage provided by the synthetic microbeads, and it’s a pretty decent way to encourage clogged pores to remain clear.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will also notice that the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub contains no SLS, and as a result, doesn’t foam much.  The wonderful side-effect of this, for me at least, is that I don’t have to run screaming from the bathroom in a dash to slather moisturiser on my rapidly-tightening face.  I find it a touch drying but nothing that would stop me from using this daily.

Because of the salicylic acid, I’ve actually been leaving this on my skin a little longer than you may expect in order to give the chemical the best chance at having an effect on my deep-space-nine (billion) blackheads.  I’m not the biggest fan of the microbeads because they feel a little granular to me and not quite as smooth as I’d like but I’ve been gently rubbing them in a circular motion around the sides of my nose (area of most congestion) and then leaving the product on my face for a couple of minutes before rinsing my skin clean.

I’ve noticed an improvement in the appearance of my blackheads, especially the larger ones… which I suspect, are the ones that are probably the easiest to flush out.  I’m not sure that I love using the product enough to use it daily for like the. rest. of. my. life.  It smells kinda unpleasant…. in a medicinal way but I’ll definitely reach for it often when I notice those little alien heads peeping out of my pores.

Beam me up spotty.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub is currently on offer at Superdrug, priced at £2.34 – definitely worth a punt for those among us who are blackhead-affilicted!

Got blackheads?  How do you bust them?