Essie Limited Addiction came out a couple of years ago and I picked it up alongside some of it’s partner releases, Sew Psyched and Merino Cool, you remember that collection? Lush wasn’t it?
I don’t own very many Essie polishes, and I don’t really like this one. As a red, it just misses for me. It’s darker-toned with a not-entirely-creme finish. You may be able to tell that despite the three coats shown in the photo above, the overall look isn’t quite uniform? It’s a little sheerer and more jelly-ish in some places and whenever I look down at my fingers, it just looks a little… untidy.
If you’re looking for a more work-appropriate red that isn’t all shouty and screamy though, this may well be the one for you.
Essie Limited Addiction is priced at £8.50 from BeautyBay.com
I’m not a body lotion type person but I have about four bottles open, each at various stages of emptiness… I slather them on and wander aimlessly across the landing and back, waiting for the icky feeling to subside. I have to use them because underneath my skin, I have scales. After showering, the water seemingly dissolves the upper epidermis leaving me feeling more horny toad than supple and soft.
The worst bits are typically in those hard to reach areas, namely that horizontal line that connects both shoulder blades. As the water evaporates, my skin tightens and I feel a familiar tingle that has me running for the body cremes. When I say “me”, I actually mean Mr. L… I’ve already said that I can’t reach. It’s a daily ritual… and one that I’m very grateful that I have a husband to help me with. I’m so high maintenance.
Enter LUSH’s latest innovation, Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner*.
Taking the hair conditioner theory and applying it to the skin, it’s basically a tub of sweet-smelling, oil-infused skin conditioner that you smear over your body after washing, then rinse off prior to stepping out of the shower. Towel dry your skin gently and you’ll feel as if you’ve just smothered yourself in a rich body creme. And unlike last year’s innovation, Toothy Tabs… I’m a massive fan.
A). It smells completely delicious, like a mixture of cocoa butter and roses… truly edible.
B). It really works.
It feels odd on the skin whilst you’re still in the shower, like you’ve just waterproofed your skin with a slather of grease to be honest. Deliciously-scented but lardy nonetheless. As I patted my skin dry with the towel, it felt simply amazing and still does, sitting here 5 hours later. *strokes arms*
A little goes a very long way and the trick is to increase its ‘spreadability’, work with a small amount and don’t be afraid to really eke it out over the skin’s surface. It’s generously rich in oils and although some parts may feel like you have more product on than others, have faith that you’ve done a good job in spreading the conditioner. It’s not the cheapest outlay but it will easily last twice as long as my regular body moisturisers PLUS, I don’t have to stand around shivering as I wait for it to sink in!
LUSH Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner is priced at £15.50 for 225g and I highly recommend it for post-shower lizard people.
Remember my post a couple of weeks ago about bringing salon-style beauty to the comfort of your own home? I wasn’t convinced that DIY options generally lived up to the expectations or convenience of salon service. Well, the people atSensationail rose to the challenge and sent me the Sensationail Starter Kit* to give it a whirl for myself. I’ll do the review in two-parts, today is the application and initial results and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to let you know how the manicure lasted.
I should also preface this by saying that I’ve had two gelish/shellac-type exeriences in a salon and both were poor, with lifting after only a few days. That’s Groupon on for you I guess? Basically, I’ll admit that my expectations aren’t all that high.
The kit is frankly over-priced at £85 in the UK. Over-priced? I hear you say. Yes, not because it’s lacking in quality (although the bottles I received did have the writing peeling off them and the labels weren’t fully stuck down which didn’t give the best impression of quality) but because in the U.S., our neighbours across the pond are charged $59.99 for the same kit. That’s around £35.
Cross-border rip-offs aside, in theory – you should still be able to break even fairly easily with this kit against the cost of getting your nails done in a salon. The average price in my area for shellac/gelish nails is around £22 – so you’re looking at around 5 manicures before you get your money’s worth. Which is all well and good, providing the kit lives up to its name and actually provides a good quality gel nail that lasts the course.
I’ll admit that application was indeed, very simple and didn’t cause a single problem for me. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, the lamp worked just as it should (although I did wonder how I was going to fit all five fingers and thumbs inside until I read that you er, don’t).
In the starter kit, you receive: an LED curing lamp, gel cleanser (basically an alcohol solution), gel primer (nail dehydrator/bonder), gel base/top coat, gel colour, and some lint-free swabs.
Following the instructions, from start-to-finish, I was completed in around 30-minutes and the nails were completely bone dry at the end of it. The beauty of the UV-activated gel is that you have ample time to get your manicure applied neatly, my biggest tip would be to keep the coats as thin as possible. The base/top coat in particular had a tendency to pool in my cuticles while I was completing the other nails, not really a fault of the system… simply a sign that my coats were not thin enough.
If you do get some gel on your skin, make sure you wipe it off before curing…. not only will it feel pretty uncomfortable with this hard resin stuck to your skin but it will also cause your manicure to prematurely lift at the edges.
Here’s my finished result… basically, it looks and feels great.
I’m going to embed a tutorial video which I found on the Boots website, you may notice that she hasn’t capped the tips of her nails with the polish (you can see this at the end) – this is a pretty crucial step when it comes to making gel nails last. If you want them to stay the distance, you need to take a little more time to ensure that you’ve bullet-proofed your manicure.
I haven’t been able to fault the application process but the bottles in the starter kit are tiny and feel/look cheap. The UK price hike is outrageous. Ultimately, my final thoughts on Sensationail’s worth will come down to how long this manicure lasts on me. I’ll be back with an update soon, but hopefully not too soon eh?
Check out the brand’s UK Facebook page for more information, they’re also active on Twitter (something this Twitter-addict always likes to see!)
You can purchase the Sensationail Starter Kit instore and online at Boots.com, priced at £85.00(individual colour gels are priced at £15.00 each)
Which tends to make one automatically assume that ugly things shall all be amaze and beauty-to-behold type things, the opposite. Well, I’m writing this post today to put the record straight and declare that beauty can be found both within and err… without? Wait, that’s not the expression I was looking for was it…
Poor phrasing aside, I received aLa Bougie Candle* sample last month and although I’m still struggling with the fact that bougie (French for candle) looks a bit like bogey, I’ve decided that at the age of 30, I should be well past that kind of childishness, and so I’ll overlook it. But not without putting it in your heads first (sorry La Bougie Candle company).
The candle arrived beautifully gift wrapped, which makes all the difference to my shallow-ass soul and I could immediately smell the scent contained within (not without this time) and I have to say, I didn’t like it.
The company kindly gave me the choice of which scent I thought I might prefer and I chose the Rockrose & Oudh because I freakin’ love the woodsy, aromatic resin in all its different incarnations. But this didn’t really have that signature oudh scent, I could detect floral, floral and a bit more floral. Until I lit it, and then all bets were off because it’s bloody divine.
It turns out that it wasn’t actually the candle I didn’t like the smell of, it was the scented tissue paper that it was wrapped in! Doh!
Just like wearing an oudh-based perfume on the skin, the accord brings an impressive amount of depth and sensuality to what is otherwise, a rather gentle floral.
It’s absolutely perfect for lighting in the bedroom or anywhere that you want to take the time to relax. I light it every evening, just as I start my “getting ready for bed routine” and as I’m picking up the toys that have been scattered by my daughter, darting in and out of the bathroom, and making that final cup of tea before bed, the Rockrose & Oudh candle works its magic, transforming my room from toddler telly-paradise to proper boudoir palace.
TheRockrose & Oudh Scented Salon Candle offers approximately 50 hours of burn-time and each La Bougie scent is developed and produced in the company’s own perfumery. The glass holders are carved, painted and polished before being hand-poured in La Bougie’s chandlery, located in West Cork, Ireland.
Lovely candles and at £29.50 for the Salon-size (room-sized) ones… not outrageously expensive either!
Rockrose & Oudh, Sweet Pea & Pear or Cox & Carnation – which scent would you choose?
Elemis fans, gather round – I have a great gift-with-purchase to tell you about occurring during May and it’s worth upto £89, yes really!
From the 10th – 27th May, the British brand are running a national GWP which will be available through their Debenhams, John Lewis and Harvey Nichols counters, and it goes something like this…
Buy any 2 full-size Elemis products and choose FOUR complimentary travel-sized Elemis fan-favourites from a selection of EIGHT. Elemis travel-sized products are generally pretty generous on the sizing and I’m peering at that picture above to see what’s on the list!
You also get the grey cotton cosmetic bag to go with it.
If you’re not sure which products you should choose from the eight on offer, the therapists on counter have been briefed to offer some tailored guidance over which would suit your skin type. If it were me? I’d totes hit up the best bang for my buck ‘cos I’m mercenary like that and plump for the pro-collagen range.
To find your nearest participating Elemis counter, click here.
Has it really been a year since the Royal Wedding? Amazing. And to think that before then, no-one gave a shit about Pippa’s bum. Oh, you you still don’t? Me either. As weddings go, it was quite a nice one… there weren’t any post-nuptial punch-ups outside the palace and no-one sicked on the bride’s train.
One of the wedding’s most enduring legacies (other than the arse du jour) is the brand that Kate chose to scent herself with on the big day,Illuminum. Launched by creator Michael Boadi in March 2011, and elevated to cult status by the Duchess of Cambridge merely a month later, there isn’t a better welcome to the world than receiving an (unofficial) seal of approval by a real-life princess!
The Duchess of Cambridge chose White Gardenia Petals for her grand occasion, I chose Tahitian Yuzu simply because I had money burning a hole in my back pocket and I wanted. one. dammit. – you can see the similarities.
Tahitian Yuzu reminds me a little bit of L’Artisan’s Mûre et Musc, which also kicks off with a forest-fruit vibe. In the case of Mûre et Musc, it’s blackberries… and in Tahitian Yuzu? Blackcurrant. But this is where the comparability ends. Tahitian Yuzu blasts some major tropical notes with a sparkling cocktail of pineapple which gives real effervescence and youthfulness to the fragrance. Mûre et Musc has a gentler, more home-grown berry feel.
Like an excitable hula-girl (yeah, they have those in Tahiti), the scent calms down as the night falls and the headier, more sensual notes of jasmine come to the surface. Here lies the real heart of the perfume… I can still detect some lingering fruitiness but it becomes fully tempered by the softer night flowers which bring warmth and a little bit of sexiness to the fragrance. The deeper, base notes of musk never fully surface on my skin, which is unusual because my chemistry normally carries them to the fore but I’m assuming that this is what grounds the accord and prevents it from projecting too light-heartedly.
Sillage is fairly weak which suits my interpretation of this as more of a skin-scent. Step into a cloud of this as you step out of a shower and carry a little bit of the Southern Seas around with you for at least part of the day as alas, with my dry skin, I get low/medium longevity from this one, about 4 hours at the most. Tahitian Yuzu is going to work beautifully on warm nights (if we get any) and I can’t wait to expose a bit more skin to the sun and see just how capable it is at transporting me to a tropical paradise!
Illuminum Tahitian Yuzu is available to buy instore at the Illuminum’s Perfume Lounge in Mayfair (I recommend a visit!), or directly from their website. Priced at £70 for 50ml
I’ve wanted Shu Uemura’s IR Brown 850 for quite a while… I think it was ever since I read it likened to MAC’s discontinued Smoke & Diamonds which I craved and couldn’t get hold of before it had sold out.
Shu Uemura IR Brown 850 is a very pretty silvery taupe. It’s perfectly neutral, leaning neither too warm nor too cool and as we have come to expect from Shu Uemura shadows, applies with a beautifully smooth texture.
By the way, incase you’re wondering where you can get it from… I’m taking a leaf out of PinkSith’s book. Sorry. Nice though, innit?
Starting tomorrow morning and lasting for 48hrs only, receive a free D.J.V. Beautenizer Fiberwig LX Mascara (worth £18) with any CultBeauty order over £40. Perhaps now’s the time to plump for the Face Atelier Ultra Foundation I talked about the other week? Or… how about this 3 Custom Color Century in Red Lip Palette that has a permanent place on the Lipglossiping wishlist (alter-ego, can’t blame myself for these wishlists).
Whatever you choose, the D.J.V. Beautenizer Fiberwig LX Mascara has a cult following and even got me rightly told off by die-hard fans when I reviewed it without reading the instructions properly!
The offer ends at midnight on Monday, so be quick!
Here’s one from the archives. And by archives, I mean that I found it in an old photo folder, not that I’m re-posting stuff from a couple of years back. I may be nearly 2200 posts down but I’ve still got plenty to show you thankyouverymuch!
I’m not a massive fan of Ciate… I don’t generally get excited about their releases if I’m honest. The bows (once you get past the cute factor) are a complete pain in the arse to re-tie and the bottle is a really awkward shape to hold for photos (SO not a valid excuse).
Ciate Silhouette is pretty though, it has a delicate shimmer running through the burgundy base and a nice amount of depth that gives a lovely velvety, plush look to the nails. It’s unremarkable in drying time and wear, I have no complaints at all. Definitely one of my preferred Ciate shades, you should also check out Starlet and Velvet Tuxedo if you want some other lovely Ciate polishes.
Ciate Silhouette is priced at £9.00 and available to buy online from PowderRooms
I don’t know how I feel about including this lipstick in my red lip series. I mean, it’s totally like the lipstick angels came down from heaven and stole all of the cherries to make it, but…
This isn’t a red lipstick and I’m sick of hearing it described as a blue-based red. It’s pink. Pink like Nicki Minaj can only f*cking dream of. Although having said that, I’m gonna propagate the “this is a blue-based red lipstick” ’cause it’ll probably work better for my SEO. Don’t tell me you haven’t been warned though. It’s f*cking pink.
Colour dramas aside (the ones in my head), Revlon Cherries in the Snow is totally worthy of all the praise bestowed upon it, feeling more like a £20 lipstick than a £7.49 one. It’s rich, luxurious, deeply-pigmented and long-lasting. You can work it into the lips like a stain or wear it in all it’s full-bodied glory. If you apply, blot, apply, blot (and I mean really blot) – it doesn’t transfer all over your glass and stays put for most of the day.
Frankly, every woman should own this – aslong as you like pink. I found it really hard to get hold of, it was never in Boots and I’ve been looking casually for the best part of 4 years (seriously). In the end I picked it up on eBay for way cheaper than the RRP anyway. Go buy it. Like now.
If you spend £35 or more on skincare from This Works, (not The Works – that would be rubbish skincare), you’ll receive a free full-size Perfect Skin Defense SPF30 worth £30 just by itself! The promotion lasts until the 15th May (unless stocks run out sooner) and is available online and in selected Boots and department stores.
The Perfect Skin Defense SPF30 is one of those all-in-one Summer solutions which combines broad-spectrum sun protection, a good smattering of anti-oxidants and a subtle tint for those who favour the natural look when the weather warms up. It sounds like the perfect product to pack for holidays!
If you’re a fan of sheer formulas that give a hint of colour without the commitment of something too bold, you’ll probably already be aware of the Clinique Chubby Stick formula which achieves just this. I like my lip colour to be a little more in your face, Stace! but I can appreciate that those of you wusses who still rely on stabilizers will probably come over all unecessary over the new shades. I’ve got one here called Oversized Orange (sounds like me after I’ve fake tanned) and it’s actually a pretty nice way to wear a shade that I usually run away from.
It glides on smoothly and despite my attempts at laying it on an inch thick to build colour (old habits die hard), it builds pigmentation only moderately but impressively doesn’t go all claggy or yukky on the lips. It feels moisturising enough and isn’t remotely sticky.
It doesn’t look like it’s made much difference at all in the lip swatch (which is why I always advocate full face shots when it comes to lipsticks!)… because, it actually packs enough colour to finish and polish a look. At least, on my fairly unpigmented lips. Please excuse the fringe, I struggled badly at flattening my cow-lick today!
Clinique Chubby Sticks are available to buy on counter and online, priced at £16 each. The eight new shades (including Oversized Orange will be available from June).
Do you own any Clinique Chubby Sticks? Like a sheerer, more balmy lipstick?
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