A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Back when I purchased my beloved Shiseido Accentuating Color Stick in Peach Flush, I was torn – too many pretty shades and not enough pennies in the purse for all of them.  Sure, I spend too much money on makeup and skincare but I get the guilts like everyone else and sometimes you just can’t twist it enough to justify it, not even to your spendy-self.  Fast forward twelve months and I found myself once again perusing a Shiseido counter.  Just for old-times sake, I reswatched the color sticks and instantly fell in love (again) with Champagne Flush.

From a completely superficial point of view, I love how these things feel so luxurious.  They’re glossy, sexy, and have some beautiful symmetry going on – I realise that I sound a bit crazy right now.  Champagne Flush is one of the most subtle highlighters that I own, which makes it a-ok by my standards.  I’m always looking for a highlighter that I can really luminise my face with and this ticks the boxes on that score.

It’s a pale champagne shade with slightly pink leanings that don’t turn it too silvery, though I would say that it’s definitely best-suited to similar-toned complexions as mine.  It contains no glitter or shimmer particles, it just imparts an allover, barely-there glow.  It doesn’t even really catch the light when you turn your face in the same way that other highlighters do… it just, somehow lifts a tired and dull complexion, giving the illusion that you are far more fresh and alert than you feel.

This is an awful swatch photo but you should be able to make out the pale highlight that runs from the crease where my thumb and index finger meet, backward towards my wrist.  It looks like a ghostly silver and that’s only because I’ve had to build it up quite heavily for the swatch.  I wouldn’t wear it this heavy on my face.

My only wish is that it weren’t in stick form because I’d love a liquid this subtle that I could blend into my foundation directly.  This, would infact, be my holy-grail highlighter if only I could find it – please Shiseido, make a liquid version!

Shiseido Accentuating Color Stick in S6 Champagne Flush is available to buy on counter, priced at around £26

Who’s da boss? Leila’s da boss (when I’m not around – sorry Mr. L!)

It’s Leila’s 3rd  birthday party today, though she doesn’t turn three until the 16th May it was the only day available at the venue so I’ve been trying to explain to a very confused tot why it isn’t actually her birthday yet but everyone will be wishing her a Happy Birthday – cue confused face.

I’m wearing Butter London’s Bossy Boots from their Spring/Summer 2012 collection in honour of the occasion, seeing as I’ll be rounding up a few under 8s, I thought it quite appropriate!

Isn’t it Spring-like?  I love muted shades but whoulda thunk I’d go gaga for a pistachio shade like this!  I like that Butter London haven’t made it too dirgy or grey and have kept it feeling somehow fresh and airy without sounding the “woah green nails” klaxon.  I’m absolutely, positively against wearing green nail polish on your toes usually (fungal feet) but I’m gonna admit to being tempted by this one.  Talk me out of it please!

Opaque in two coats, it needs the second to get rid of pastel streaks – the formula covered nicely but did have a tendency to pool around the cuticles… thin strokes required!

Butter London Bossy Boots is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

Budget beautifiers BeautyUK have released a special charity gift set comprising of three super-PINK nail polishes in support of Cancer Research UK.

The set was developed after one of the brand’s fans (who’s Mum was going through her own breast cancer battle) expressed a wish for them to create a range of pink polishes that would not only make her Mum feel pretty but also help raise money to help battle the disease.

And lo it was born…

Hope, Love, and Strength…

The set is priced at £5.99, with £1 from every sale going directly to Cancer Research UK.  The set is available to buy now online and instore nationwide at Superdrug.

Want some tips on creating the perfect ‘flick’?  Need some guidance in mastering your smoky eye technique?  Well cancel any plans you’ve made for this Sunday because Illamasqua are holding their inaugural Beauty School Drop-In at their Beak Street store.

The brand will be running a series of 15-minute makeup classes to give you the confidence and know-how to wield your makeup brushes without causing any traffic-stopping beauty faux-pas!  And best of all?  It’s completely free to attend!

The class timetable is available online now, so click through and take a look – you can attend as many or as few as you like, though don’t be surprised if the store gets kinda busy!

Which of the classes is taking your fancy and will you be attending beauty school this weekend?

Fourteen days, that’s approximately 336 hours, or 20,160 minutes.  In other words, a fair amount of time.  In the world of long-lasting manicures, just what you do with that time is almost as important as the duration spent doing it.  For me, that time was spent typing, packing, cooking, swimming, running, playing at Butlins, and chasing ants in the dark.  I like to think that this manicure has been put through its paces over the last fortnight.  The question is, did it survive?

See for yourself…

I think that it’s coped fairly admirably no?  There is a small chip on my index finger but that was it for the tips… across the entire manicure – spending that extra time to ensure that I had capped all my nails really paid off in this instance.  Infact, you can see that most of the ‘damage’ actually comes from the other end of the nail bed where I’ll happily admit that I didn’t do quite so well at applying with the kind of precision one needs.

I suffered some pooling in the cuticles with the base coat and on a couple of nails this led to a small amount being cured over the cuticle so I wasn’t particularly surprised when I experienced a little bit of lifting after a few days in those areas.  What I was surprised at though is that despite the lifting, I was able to gently clip those areas off without causing any further damage to the manicure.  Most of what you see in the photo above is actually new growth at the base of the colour.

Now, whilst this is a glowing report so far, I do have one issue that I’d like to talk about… removal.

Damn, this stuff is a bitch to remove without damaging your nails.  I lightly buffed the surface of my nails firstly to remove the shine and create a penetrable layer for the remover to do its work before soaking pre-cut cotton pads in acetone remover (where acetone is the primary ingredient) and laying them down over the nails.  Wrapping the tips in foil, I gave it a full 10-12 minutes before sliding the foil tips off my fingers, expecting to see the gel slide off with them.  Uh, not a chance.  The surface had bubbled and warped and the edges had further lifted but it wasn’t giving up without a fight.  I ended up using an orange stick to (as gently as I could) scrape off the gel polish before buffing the surface of the nail to remove the residue.

My nails are definitely in worse condition post Sensationail but seemingly nothing that a hefty dose of almond oil (thanks Squarrell) can’t sort out – I’d say that they’re halfway back to feeling “normal” within a day of diligent oiling.

Hopefully that’s provided an indepth (enough) review for you from application, to pricing, to wear and finally removal.  I’d be really interested to find out what you think about the product in terms of value, I’m confident that it provides the kind of long-lasting, salon-quality manicure that we pay £20+ a time for – but despite knowing that, I’m curious if the initial price tag would still put you off?  I think that this is probably a great bit of kit for a group of friends to pool together and purchase, otherwise – you’ve got to be a very dedicated nailista – know any of those?

The Sensationail starter kit is available to buy online from Boots, priced at £85, additional shades are available at £15 each.  You can get more tips and tricks from the brand’s facebook and twitter pages.

All-in-one neutral palettes have never been more popular, they’re a quick solution to the eternal morning dilemma of eyeshadow selection when all you really want is an extra five-minutes in bed.  Stepping firmly on the bandwagon with their latest palette release is U.S. brand, Stila in the form of their In the Light eye shadow palette*.

A cardboard palette, lightweight and without a mirror makes this a slightly more portable (if flimsy) choice than the Urban Decay Naked franchise.  The palette contains 10 pans of colour, both a mix of shimmer and matte shades.  Each pan provides 1.4g of product, around the same quantity per pan as the Urban Decay offering, but two less pans in total.  The stock images that you will see online of the palette don’t reflect the true shades within, both bliss and sunset do not swatch pink as described in the official colours and shown in the stock photo.  All shades can be used both wet and dry.

The ten shades vary in pigmentation and texture, some feel quite soft and creamy whilst others are more firmly-textured and require building up to achieve rich colour.  None feel chalky and they all share excellent blendability.  There are four matte shades in total: Bare, Bliss, Sandstone and Ebony allowing you to create a fully matte look with a range of neutral shades if you so wish.

I like this option a lot… it allows me to create a fully matte eye look as my base before adding in a ‘pop’ of something more shimmery without going into disco territory.

The shades are mostly warm-toned with the exception of Night Sky and Luster.  Also included in the palette is a 0.28g black, retractable eye pencil (smudge stick) which provides rich colour with a smudgable but long-lasting formula.

A quick FOTD showing Bare, Bliss and Sandstone with a pop of the inimitable Kitten on the inner corner to brighten the eye area.  Kitten has long been one of Stila’s most cult shades, and I can see why, it’s a very pretty champagne highlight that opens up and lifts the eye area when used as a highlight.

The Stila In the Light eyeshadow palette is available to buy instore at SpaceNK, online at BeautyBay and Escentual.  It’s also available at Stila’s freshly-launched website: stila.co.uk – priced at £25.00

* press sample

In addition to the new long-wear cream shadows, and eye pencils which I talked about here, the Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara* is putting in an appearance and promising to deliver results that last for up to 16 hours.

It’s probably fair to say that when I think of long-lasting makeup, I’m not sure that I’ve ever cursed any of my mascaras for not lasting the course of a day?  Sure, some are more smudgy than others and then you have the ones that flake a little as the day goes on but I can’t remember ever looking in the mirror and thinking “awww crap, where’s me mascara gone?”.  Or maybe they just mean that it won’t flake or smudge… but then again, don’t they all promise that?

If you experience this kind of problem on a daily basis, then perhaps the Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara is your next dream come true?

The packaging is particularly sexy with a metallic-chocolate finish and sleek lines whilst the brush inside is teeny, tiny… and for me, its main USP.  This fabulous brush reaches every lash from the longest to the shortest.  The brush consistently pulls out the perfect amount of product and you can feel the packaging doing its job at sucking back in the excess as you pull the brush from the neck of the tube.  As a result, I can’t see this one drying out too quickly either.

You can see how narrow the brush is in the above photo, a really great shape for women with shorter, sparser lashes to define from root to tip.  I particularly like this mascara for my lower lashes, it separates nicely, fanning each one out without leaving clumps or excess product in its wake.  As for the top lashes, well… it’s not quite volumising, nor lengthening enough for me.  My lashes can take a hefty dose of product before they begin to look worse for wear and this doesn’t provide the lash-drama that I’m forever craving.

It does, however, provide a better-than-natural finish that you can build without too much protest.  As for longevity?  Yes, it lasts the day without smudging – well done.  I do see a couple of flakes if I apply more than two coats but nothing that I’d worry myself over.  Removal is easy with just warm water, though my cream cleanser (waterless cleansing) didn’t experience any issues with sweeping it away at the end of the day either.

Overall, I really recommend this mascara if you’re looking for a good, solid formula with a fabulous brush that helps create precision definition without missing a single lash.

Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara is available to buy on counter and online, priced at £18.00

* press sample

Small portions at restaurants, a child that can’t complete a sentence without repeating the word “Mummy” over and over before getting to her point, and body lotion that slides ineffectually over my skin for all eternity without actually sinking in.  These are the kind of things that get on my tits daily.

E45 have released a trio of new body creams that dodge my irritation-o-meter, they’re light, pleasantly slippy, cooling on the skin and quick to absorb.

The three varieties are best suited to normal/dry skins as a daily moisturiser, if you’re looking for something more nourishing for brillo-pad elbows and shins, look elsewhere in the range for heavier formulas.  My favourite of the three and the one that I’m classing as my “inexpensive beauty find” is the E45 Silky Radiance Body Lotion* (the one on the far right in the above picture).

This is going to be a particularly good choice for the summer months as it contains a really subtle shimmer that makes you look all glowy and healthy.  I can’t even emphasise just how crucial it is to have shimmery limbs right now – I mean, I can’t turn on the telly without being blinded by some s’lebs shiny legs and this is a far more appealing version which doesn’t like you’ve rolled around in the butter dish.

E45 Silky Radiance Body Lotion is available to buy instore and online at Boots.com, priced at £3.99 (also available from Supermarkets and the usual places)

* press sample

As the summer approaches, my thoughts turn to bullet-proofing my makeup to last the course of a hot, tiring day.  I don’t know about you but despite my dry skin, the first to make a dash for freedom is any and all makeup down the bridge of my nose.  Then my eyeliner melts into my tear ducts, developing into hugely attractive eye bogies before the last of my foundation gives up the ghost and literally puddles in the area where my nose meets my face (hello face).  If it’s really hot, my eyeliner will also strive for symmetry and create matching lines across my upper eyelid where the “hoods” rest gently on the lash-line.  It’s a beautiful sight to behold.

Bobbi Brown’s new Long-Wear Eye Collection promises to stay the distance without letting you down or showing you up.  The eye pencils from the new collection are richly-coloured and deeply-pigmented.  They’re creamy and have that soft, gel formula reminiscent of my beloved Avon Mega Impact/Supershock Gel Eyeliner (whatever they’re bleedin’ being called at the moment).

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils* are available in six shades: Jet, Mahogany, Black Navy, Black Plum, Hunter and Smoke, providing a colour option whatever your personal taste.  I really like an off-black range that carries the density of an inky black but without the harshness on maturing features.  Not that my features are maturing, shutup.

These pencils haven’t given me any trouble sharpening, the uber-softness of the Avon ones means that I do need to chill them in the fridge for half an hour prior to sharpening, total pain when you need a pencil stat.  I didn’t have to do this with the Bobbi Brown pencils.

Mahogany is swatched on the left, Smoke on the Right.  You can see the density of pigment is really quite impressive.  It’s a teeny bit less pigmented than the Avon offerings (which are insanely pigmented) but as I said earlier, they do provide a little more precision during application thanks to a firmer texture.

Here are the same swatches after scrubbing the back of my hand with soap and water for a good 30/40 seconds.  I was impressed that they didn’t smear or transfer as I swiped and rubbed.  You can see that the pigment has eroded in places but if you imagine that swatch as drawn across your lash-line, I think you’d be fairly happy to emerge from the swimming pool 3-hours later with that much still intact no?

Unfortunately, whilst I think these pencils are brilliant.  This is where the praise ends.

I’ve been comparing these all along to the Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner pencils (which don’t come in as many shades admittedly) simply because the Avon ones are my benchmark and indeed, my daily staples.  As I swatched both alongside one another, I expected the Bobbi Brown ones to outlast the Avon.  They don’t.  They wear identically both on the back of my hand and on my waterline, around 5 hours.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils are priced at £17 each.  The Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner pencils are currently priced at £4 each.  And there’s the rub, I’m not going to recommend that you spend extra money needlessly… both are fabulous long-wearing, densely pigmented pencil liners.  The Avon ones are substantially cheaper.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils are available to buy on counter and online from BobbiBrown.co.uk

* press samples

Avon Nailwear Pro+ Nail Shades are currently less than half price, reduced from £6.00 to just £2.50 a-piece. I’ve included some swatches below* so you can pick your next killer colour. Coral Reef is hawt for Summer, one of those beautiful guava shades that will suit both cool and warm skintones equally.

From Left to Right:

Coral Reef | Cosmic Blue | Decadence | Lemon Sugar | Licorice | Pastel Pink | Real Red | Romance | Sea Breeze | Star | Starry Sky | Viva Pink

Avon Nailwear Pro+ Nail Shades are available to purchase online from Avonshop.co.uk

* press samples

If you’re in central London tomorrow, it’s well worth your while taking a pot of unloved face cream along for the ride.

Say what?

Elemis are doing one of their much-loved Pro Collagen Marine Cream amnesties! Infact, it was one of these sneaky initiatives that got me hooked on the stuff in the first place!

The amnesty is only available in John Lewis, Oxford Street and is in celebration of the branch’s re-launched beauty hall! If you want to get your hands on a free 15ml tube of the legendary Pro Collagen Marine Cream (worth £26.60), simply pop along to the new Elemis counter with your current face-cream and make the swap!

Just don’t blame me if you get hooked ok?

The offer starts tomorrow and is available while stocks last. Hurry!

It doesn’t matter how many billions of blades your razor has, they all have one thing in common – they go blunt.  It may be after 7 shaves, it may be after 15 or even 20 but you can bet your bottom dollar that before you’re ready to chuck it in the bin, you’ll be sporting the freshly corned-beef look on your shins.

The Razorpit is an ingenious solution to prematurely blunting razors.  Its objective is to clear the razor head of the tiny hairs, dead skin and shaving soap that inevitably builds up in there over time.  Yeah, gross – hope I don’t come back as a Razorpit in another life.

It works quite simply, thanks to the power of friction.  We all know about the power of friction don’t we?  I’ve seen enough carpet burns over the years (not on me, obvs) to appreciate the impressive force that a bit of friction can create.  In order to fire up this power on the Razorpit, you need to apply some shaving foam or liquid soap to the flat plane of the gadget and push your razor over the lubricated surface in the opposite direction to the regular shaving motion.

My razor wasn’t particularly gunked up but it did remove a couple of stray hairs that I’d checked were firmly wedged between the blades just moments prior to testing it out.

Overall, my feelings on the Razorpit are mixed.  I think it’s a great gadget that seems to do exactly what it says on the tin, and I’ve no doubt that it will prolong the life of my razor.  I think my hesitation lies in the simply sexist fact that I think this one is more for the boys in the household?  I just feel that I can live without something like this in my life… Mr. L on the other hand is now sporting a very pink new accessory.  And loving it.

My recommendation?  Get one for the man who has everything.

The Razorpit is priced at £19.99 and available to buy online (in either pink or black!) from presentsformen.co.uk

* press sample