A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Just a quick note for those of you who love a good competition!

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, The Organic Pharmacy are offering their fans the chance to win a prize, every day throughout February.

To enter, simply submit your name in-store OR Like/Share The Organic Pharmacy on Facebook – remember, the competition doesn’t get underway until the 1st of February, so this is one for Google Calendar to remind you about!

As part of Nicki Minaj’s collaboration with OPI this month, her collection features the infamous pale, bubblegum-esque Pink Friday* shade that first reared its head with last year’s MAC partnership.  It’s not pepto-bright but the chalky pink will stand out against most skintones – it’s not one for shrinking violets.

The formula was thick and you’ll need a little patience to ensure a smooth finish unless you’re willing to go the 3-coat option which will obscure any streakiness from the first two coats.  I’m sure the shade isn’t massively unique but I don’t actually own any dupes and infact, only two others that are remotely similar – I don’t usually go in for these finger-popping pale shades but I do like how this one looks once applied.

Pink Friday (and the rest of the Nicki Minaj collection) is available to buy online priced at £10.50 from official stockists, Lena White.

While I was comparing pinks, I thought I’d paint up a nail wheel showing some of my favourite pinks…

1. ByTerry Terrybly Nail Laque – #2
2. Nails Inc. – China Town
3. Spa Ritual – Knowledge Is Power
4. Orly – Flirty
5. Butter London – Primrose Hill Picnic
6. George at Asda – Groove
7. Mavala – Sweety
8. Nails Inc. – Pelham Crescent
9. Barry M – Fuchsia
10. Eyeko – Punk Polish
11. Mavala – Graphic
12. H&M – Sinful Senorita (holo)
13. Ciate – Plastic Fantastic
14. Butter London – Twee (layering polish)
15. Ciate – Main Stage
16. Accessorize – Pink Spice
17. China Glaze – Ahoy!
18. OPI – Pink Friday
19. Mavala – Miami
20. Ciate – Fun Fair

What are your favourite pink nail picks for Spring?

* press sample

My mother is obsessed with guessing the ages of celebrities she sees on reality shows, infact – I’m quite certain it’s the only reason she watches them.  She hasn’t quite grasped the fact that with the power of the internet, I can hop on Wikipedia and tell her exactly how old Stefanie Powers is quicker than she can analyse the tell-tale signs from the actress’ neck and hands.  She guessed correctly by the way: Mum 1 – 0 Wikipedia.  Perhaps I should point Stefanie in the direction of the new Elemis Pro-Radiance Hand and Nail Cream, the latest addition to the Elemis sp@home body anti-ageing lineup.

The rich hand cream contains a wealth of skin-loving oils including: Omega 7, Avellana Seed Oil, Macademia Seed Oil, Virgin Plum Oil and Camellia Seed Oil to promote skin suppleness, elasticity and protect from free-radical damage.  It’s delicately scented and leaves my hands feeling nourished without that sticky hand-cream feeling.  It may be a little too heavy-duty for the summer months but it’s been doing wonderful things for my cuticles and hang nails this month.

Formulated free from: parabens, sls, mineral oils and silicones, the new Pro-Radiance Hand & Nail Cream is generously sized at 100ml and will be launching next month alongside a sister (limited edition) product; Perfect Hands Anti-Ageing Treatment (£29.90) which will be contributing £8000 from sales to The Eve Appeal.

The Pro-Radiance Hand & Nail Cream will be priced at £22.00 and available from Elemis stockists nationwide including timetospa.co.uk, spas/salons, selected John Lewis, Debenhams and Harvey Nichols stores.

* press sample

I’m going all demure and sophistimicated with today’s nails courtesy of Butter London…

Hoorah Henri is a pale, creamy nude that would make a beautiful French mani with clean, white tips.  The above photo shows three coats because I wanted to see how it built up – not too badly as it happens because three coats were just about enough to disguise the ‘orrible stains on my nails.  The formula was good and drying time perfectly adequate.  What do you think, too pale?  I don’t actually own anything quite like this and it may well inspire me to attempt a Frenchie before the month is out.

Butter London Hoorah Henri is priced at £11.95 and available online from PowderRooms

New out this month is Jo Malone’s Vitamin E Moisturising Day Crème which expands on the original Vitamin E lineup, the brand’s signature skincare collection.  Packaged in a monochrome, heavy glass jar – it displays the sophisticated elements you’d expect from the British brand who have just appointed Charlotte Stockdale, as their new Style Editor.

It’s perfect for this time of year with a thick, emoliating formula which feels unusually light on the skin considering such a rich texture, basically it sinks right in – although, perhaps that says more about the current condition of my dry skin.  I wouldn’t describe this as a heavy-duty moisturiser, though I feel this is about as heavy-duty as ‘normal’ moisturisers get (does that make sense?).  I’d recommend for normal > normal/dry skin types as I’m not sure oily skins would need this much moisture – although because of the light, spreadable formula – it may just mean you only need to use a tiny amount to cover your face.

The cream delivers instant skin-soothing relief, with a cooling after-effect when applied to post-shower, dehydrated skin and gives me no issues with makeup application a few moments later.  It promises to guard against fine lines and wrinkles with the addition of barley extracts, wheat germ, rosemary leaf and grape seed extract – helping to combat free radical damage and strengthen the skin’s barrier to reduce water loss.  The cream also features broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection rated to SPF15, helping to shield skin from harmful UV rays.

I was surprised to find no discernible scent to the cream, I feel there’s something there but it’s so light my nose can’t really detect it that well and although I haven’t been using this for long enough to notice the effects of any anti-aging properties, I’ve been pleased with what is a high quality, luxurious addition to the Jo Malone lineup.  Priced for the high-end market, it fits well with the existing Jo Malone business model and will undoubtedly appeal to JM fans across the globe.

Jo Malone Vitamin E Moisturising Day Crème is priced at £50 for 50ml and available online and instore at Jo Malone.

* press sample

I recently took advantage of the L’Artisan Parfumeur January sales and picked up a couple of items to expand my collection. The first thing to land in my basket was a 100ml bottle of Tea for Two, my favourite fragrance. I’m halfway through my last bottle and waging a constant battle with my husband about his (over)use of my beloved. I watch him apply it, trying to keep calm, share nicely and not react but within seconds I’ve launched myself across the room, snatching it from his hands, screaming TOO MUCH, YOU ARE USING TOO MUCH. Then I thrust a bottle of Old Spice at him and slink away to find a new hiding place for MY precious.

Where was I?

Oh yes, this…

The coffret contains a selection of L’Artisan Pafumeur‘s best-selling scents that lean toward the female market (you can also get a male version).  Priced at £17, the set includes: Mûre et Musc Extrême, La Chasse aux Papillons Extrême, Premier Figuier Extrême, L’Eau d’Ambre Extrême and Traversée du Bosphore.  I’ve only opened Premier Figuier Extrême so far, and have already created a bit of a lemming for myself thanks to notes that include: fig leaves, almond milk, and sandalwood.

I’m not a massive fan of the way these 5ml mini-vials open… with a peel back lid not unlike a bottle of milk, there’s no way to reseal the tiny bottles, frustrating – and with a 2 year old on the rampage, asking for trouble.

Overall, for 25ml of top quality fragrance, £17 is a very good price to pay.  If you’re wanting to dip your toes in the world of ‘posh’ perfume, this would be a great place to begin.  L’Artisan’s £5 shipping charge is prohibitive and also pretty slow for the price – it took nearly two weeks for my order to arrive.  But one sniff of Tea for Two, and I’ve forgiven them.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Discovery Coffret for Her is priced at £17 and currently available in the Sale section of their website.  Probably not for too much longer.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of BareMinerals, infact not a day goes by without  a quick dust of their original foundation either as a “topper” to my liquid foundation – or during the Summer months – worn alone.  I love their little store in Covent Garden that I like to refer to as a “swatchers paradise” with some of the friendliest MUAs in the area.  If I’m honest, I find most of their ad campaigns a little twee (this one included) but they always make me take notice, and that means they’re doing their job right?

I thought I’d share their latest campaign with you — half of you will be dry heaving at the saccharine-sweet concept, the rest of you will be joining me by doing the same but with a certain degree of admiration!

Take a moment to watch this and you’ll see just what I mean…

Animal activists?  Non-profit business types?  Voracious readers?  Striving to be like your own children?

One half of me is completely inspired, the other half wants to throw my Full Flawless Face brush at the screen.  I can’t help it, I’m such a *girl*, I felt a bit goosebumpy at the end, maybe someone left the window open?  Yes, that must be it.

The final selection of faces, “blind-selected” for the campaign:

To read more about the campaign and the models selected to front it, check out the Bare Escentuals website.  What do you think: cute, nausea-inducing or a healthy bit of both?!

Japanese mascaras are hot property and DJV Fiberwig is the top selling mascara brand in Japan, Fiberwig LX builds on the popularity of the original Fiberwig formula with a new-fangled brush that promises to coat each lash with greater ease, allowing more of those lash-extending fibres to reach their intended target.

I already have fairly long lashes but lengthening is still high on the list of what I want mascara to do.  There are two things in life that can never be long enough… lashes, and um holidays? (stop smirking).

Packaged in a glossy, red tube, d.j.v. beautenizer Fiberwig LX combines a lash-building fibre formula that unlike previous fibre-rich mascaras I’ve tried, doesn’t irritate my eyes or drop little fibres onto my cheeks as the day progresses.  It has a filmy, slightly oily texture that glides onto the lashes and the curved brush makes applying the product to my lower lashes a breeze.

I found the finished effect to be more lengthening than volumising.  I have naturally curly lashes, so I’m unable to comment on how well it holds a curl but I can feel that this is a lightweight formula, so I’d imagine that it would do well for those who need to curl their lashes in advance.  The most impressive thing about the Fiberwig LX mascara is its resilience.  There was no flaking, no smudging and my lashes looked as mascara’ed up by the end of the day as they had at the beginning.  Removal was an issue… I did have to work a little harder than normal to dissolve the mascara with my cleansing oil.  The product removes in little clumps which can feel a bit disconcerting!

If I’d experienced better volumising from this mascara, I’d have it on my holy grail list – but as it stands, a girl needs more than just lengthening alone.  Unless you’ve got naturally thick lashes, in which case run RUN to CultBeauty.co.uk, where you can buy the Fiberwig LX by D.J.V. Beautenizer for £18.00

* press sample

UPDATE: I sheepishly stand corrected… this mascara removes like a dream with the help of some hot water.  Who knew water was so, err, useful? 😉

…featuring the gorgeous Elisa Sednaoui (is it just me or is she channeling a young Helena Christensen in this?)

The fragrance is described as an Ambery Floral with notes that include pink pepper, orange blossom and tonka bean and was created by Louise Turner – who is perhaps best known for the 2010 hit which was Chloe’s Love, Chloe.

Roberto Cavalli’s new fragrance will be available to purchase exclusively at Harrods from the 12th February before a nationwide roll out in March.

I prefer my wintery brights over summery brights.  My skintone loves raspberry, purples and red shades and I have to feel a little more ‘brave’ to wear skintone repel-ing orange, green and turquoise shades on my fingers.  This is one of the main reasons for my love of Ciate’s Talent Scout.  It’s a bold purple that reminds me of juicy damsons!

A little unforgiving to ridged nails, though probably nothing a basecoat wouldn’t have prevented – Talent Scout is a two-coater with a creme finish.  Drying time was also good.

Ciate Talent Scout is available to purchase online at PowderRooms, priced at £9.00

To celebrate Stila’s new beauty counter in Harvey Nichols London, the brand are giving away one of their iconic Lip Glazes to every beauty lover who visits the new counter from 10am on the 19th January (one day only) to trade in a tired, old lipgloss.  It’s a lipgloss amnesty people!

It’s a Stila Steal that’s worth £15 – so rummage through your handbag, ‘cos it’s time to retire that old gloopster in favour of something altogether more sophisticated.

Also, Manchester ladies – keep an eye out on the HN Manchester’s What’s On page as this lip-smacking deal will be heading your way soon (along with your new Stila counter!)

Will you be doing an after-work dash to throw your lipgloss (and yourself) at the new Stila counter in Harvey Nichols next Thursday?

This pretty caught my eye during that mind-numbing lull between Christmas and New Year.  I was browsing through the beauty stuffs in my local John Lewis, knuckles dragging the ground ‘cos I couldn’t find anything I really wanted, when all of a sudden an angel appeared beside me and thrust this tiny bottle into my hand*.

* this may not have actually happened

Anyway, here’s Mavala Platinum Marble, it’s quite nice no?

I’d describe it as a silvered taupe with a pearl-shimmer finish – it’s heading in the direction of frosty but minus the brushstrokes.  It’s a very pretty work appropriate shade that took three coats to achieve full opacity on my nails.

Currently priced at a bargainous £2.99 over on BeautyBay (I paid £4.10 for this one instore).

What are you wearing on your nails today?