Ellis Faas fans will be pleased to hear that one of their favourite brands is now available to buy from Space NK online and in selected stores.
The Dutch brand launched in the UK a year ago exclusively to Liberty and have seen great success and growth on these shores over the past 12 months.
The sleek products, instantly recognised for their quirky packaging and iconic colours (Ellis Red anyone?) have garnered fans globally and I’m interested to see how they fare with the opportunity of a wider UK audience.
Initially, 14 Space NK stores will carry the line though I can’t hide my disappointment when I note that 13 of the 14 stores have London addresses. The 14th and final store (for now) is in Glasgow… a little bit too far for a day trip methinks.
Here’s hoping for a all-encompassing nationwide roll out following this initial launch!
Prices start from £20 and the range can be viewed online on the Space NK website, here.
I’m a bit dubious about lash lengthening products that rely on conditioning agents and peptides rather than…yano… proper ‘drugs’ to promote growth.
Ok, so on the plus side, you’ve got no risks of iris darkening or other unsavoury side-effects, but on the negative side… will it really have any effect?
Urban Decay have released Lush Lash (£28.00), a double-ended system that boasts two products enriched with peptides that work to lengthen, thicken and fortify your lashes.
O Rly.
Let’s see shall we?
It’s flippin’ tricky to get dead on accurate before/afters for this type of trial but I’ll do my best and have memorized how I was holding the camera (and where I was looking) to try and achieve the same pose in 6 weeks time.
So what can I expect according to Urban Decay’s clinical results?
Up to 25% longer, thicker lashes in 2 weeks.
Up to 40% longer, thicker lashes in 4 weeks.
Up to 63% longer, thicker lashes in 6 weeks.
Sounds good to me…
I used Latisse last year so know the kind of results I achieved from a prostaglandin-based product and will be hugely interested to see if you can achieve the same kind of results from a trusted, high street name without the side-effect risk AND at a greatly reduced price.
Wish me luck!
Urban Decay Lush Lash System is priced at £28 and available online from BeautyBay, Debenhams and LookFantastic.
New York Cheesecake with an Edge, Vermont Va Va Voom, Toast to the Coast and Southern Belle promise scintilating flavours that leave me unsure whether I should be slathering them on my body or on my crumpets in the morning!
I’m gonna go with ‘body’… but only ‘cos I’m on a diet.
The Body America range of products has been notoriously hard to track down until House of Fraser scooped them up as part of their new Apothecary setup. The range claims 72% organics which are enriched with Aloe Vera juice to soothe and soften the skin.
That’s all great in theory… but how does the range really perform?
Vermont Va Va Voom Foaming Bath & Shower Wash (£7.00)
Green Apple, Maple and Blueberry… but particularly heavy on the apple. Thankfully, although heady in combination, the scent that’s left behind on the skin is quite light and pleasantly fresh.
I’m not usually a fan of products that foam before I get them close to my body as I find I have to use a ton to get the same kind of luxurious lather as with normal soapy formulas. This one gets a thumbs up for managing to go the distance before losing it’s fluff!
I should also note that I didn’t find this drying on my skin.
Toast to the Coast Lip Butter 8.5gms (£4.00)
All style and no substance. It smells delicious (Ocean and Grapeseed), tastes incredible but does nothing to moisturise my lips. It’s thin and spreads lightly which makes it a nice butter to apply under a drying lipstick but that’s about as far as my praise for this one can stretch.
New York Cheesecake Body & Face Scrub 100gms (£7.00)
My pick of the bunch and I will definitely be picking this up in the Toast to the Coast flavour. It’s a milky thin fluid that spreads for miles and contains minute particles of ‘scrub’. Touted as a light exfoliation, I’d say that on my skin it felt pretty full on and in my opinion, too harsh for the face. But it’s perfect for bodycare and leaves a positively edible scent behind!
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I haven’t tried any of the body butters but they’re reportedly made by the people behind The Body Shop body butters and only £7/£8 each. All products are available instore and online.
I picked this trio of blushes up in Debenhams when it was on sale a couple of weeks ago and I could barely wait until I was home to have a play!
Dandelion was my first Benefit purchase many, many, MANY moons ago and it nearly broke my makeup-loving heart. I just couldn’t make it show up on me… and back then, I’d spent a considerable amount of my weekly student budget on the damn thing. Thankfully, things started to look up when I discovered Benefit Creaseless Creams and now I’m back to give the powder blushes another go.
I know that loads of people hate the blush box-packaging, but it’s never bothered me… aslong as it’s sturdy, I’m ok with it. I don’t generally carry my blush around with me on a day-to-day basis anyway.
You get three 3g blushes in the set. Clockwise from top left: Coralista, Dandelion, Dallas.
And again…
I think this is such a great way to purchase your Benefit blushes. At £578579 or whatever it costs nowadays to buy a single Benefit blush, it’s expensive. Benefit keep releasing these blush boxsets though… and then discontinuing them. I recommend POUNCING on the sets when you see them or if you can hold your nerve, wait until they go in the sale though you risk missing out alltogether.
Dandelion still barely registers on me but the other two are delightful. I’m especially pleased with Dallas which I thought would be the ‘bum note’ of the set but I can see myself using this blush-cum-bronzing shade with a light hand.
The texture of all three shades is delightful, lasting power.. impressive and blendability… spot-on.
If you see one of these, pick it up and RUN to the till before it’s gone for good.
Whenever I buy from Boots No7, I feel like I’m taking a bit of a gamble. Each purchase I make tends to polarise my opinion and I either end up LOVING the product… big LOVE, not just fleeting love (lip liners, exceptional definition mascara, eye mousse) or out and out hating it (most no7 foundations, shower oil).
I just don’t seem to occupy much middle ground where this brand is concerned. With that in mind, I was curious to see how I’d like the bits I was recently sent from the range.
From left to right – Amazing Eyes Liner in black, Blush tint in 15 Blossom and Stay Perfect lipstick in 45 Tranquil Rose.
Let’s start with the liner…
Not my favourite type of application brush but perfect for thinner lines and precise flicks. I’m a touch clumsy so generally fare better with felt tip type brushes. Having said that, the formula is inky black, true and long-lasting. The brush holds together beautifully to achieve dainty flicks with relative ease.
No7 Amazing Eyes Liquid Eye Liner is priced at £8.75 and available in black or brown online.
Blush sticks are always a temptation for me, they’re so portable and quick to apply. The No7 Blush Tint in 15 Blossom is no exception, infact… it’s particularly foolproof. It’s sheer with a non-greasy feel and applies well over both liquid and powder foundation thanks to a non-sticky, powder-finish. I swipe this across my cheek back and forward about 5 times to build up the intensity before blending the edges with my fingers.
If you struggle with blush I can’t emphasise enough how well I think you’d get on with this product. I’ve popped this one in my handbag because it gives me a really natural flush that I can touch up without even needing a mirror. Really delighted with it’s performance. I’d like to see No7 release this in more shades.
No7 Blush Tint Cream Blush is available online in Rosebud, Blossom and Clove, priced at £10.
Finally, No7 Stay Perfect lipstick in 45 Tranquil Rose. First impressions are that it isn’t very ‘rose’ like… it’s far more vivid and corally than I’d expect for it’s name. Second impression was a distinct “Woah!” when I applied and saw how pigmented it was… I ended up reaching for my lip brush to ensure a neat application. If you go over the lines with this one, you’re gonna notice it!
For a long-lasting lipstick it’s remarkably creamy to apply but it will accentuate signs of lip dryness after a couple of hours. And how about that wear? Without eating… I achieved 5 hours of near-perfect wear but with eating… I needed to top up immediately afterward because the colour had still clung so well to the edges, it left a distinct ring!
I’m going to look into the other shades available as I do believe that Cherry might be calling my name!
No7 Stay Perfect Lipstick is available in 16 shades online, priced at £10 each.
Swatches from L-R: Amazing Eyes Liner, Stay Perfect Lipstick in Tranquil Rose and Blush Tint in Blossom.
A quick FOTD featuring the three products reviewed above. How killer is that lipstick shade?!
Do you have any No7 staples that you return to time and time again?
This has become my go-to ‘quick mani’ as it doesn’t seem to matter how shoddily I slap it on, it always comes up looking pretty neat and polished!
The above shows three coats but it’s the kind of polish that you can wear sheerly to good effect. It has a slight ethereal quality in the sunlight thanks to the pale hue and subtle silver shimmer. It’s a very pretty polish with good wear and one I’m pleased to have in my collection.
Pelican Gray is from the China Glaze Spring 2011 Anchors Away collection.
Palmolive have released a new duo of handwashes with a little twist of vintage flair. Admittedly not the most exciting of purchases but definitely one of those that I spend a little time on when in the supermarket.
If I’m going to be washing my hands X amount of times in the day… I want the process to not be too drying and above all, I want it to smell awesome.
I’ve been using a sample of the Bergamot & Verbena variety over the past few days which holds a lovely, zingy scent. Bergamot is a real favourite of mine (lavender, not so much) and Palmolive has captured the aromatics of the fruit nicely.
Ok, so it doesn’t quite lift me from the kitchen sink and place me in Southern Italy… but it does make scrubbing my hands an enjoyable experience!
The vintage styling touches on the bottle are cute without being twee and with both scents priced at £1.99 each for 250ml, they’re not asking me to pay through the nose for these extra touches of luxury.
The Palmolive Authentics Liquid Hand Soap range is currently available in Sainsburys and Waitrose.
Although ‘officially’ past that awkward inbetween length, my hair still feels very much like it’s making me endure the teenage years. Up until 18 months ago, I’d had long hair my entire adult life… but along came a baby and with her; dribble, snot, vomit and spitup – most of which used to end up coating my locks.
I’d like to say that I’ve loved having short hair, I know that in theory… a neat, slightly-angled bob has always suited my round face better than heavy curtains that hang down either side of my hamster cheeks… but theory is called theory because it’s the opposite of practice.
I simply haven’t had the patience, inclination or time to style my short hair and stop it from looking untamed. I’ve spent the last 18 months with what amounts to a bad hair day. My feelings on this were hugely reinforced on Saturday when I attached the human hair extensions that I was sent by Halo Hair Extensions.
I’m a total hair extension n00b and have never considered myself a hair extension kinda girl. I opened the package… looked blankly at the strands of hair infront of me and quite honestly thought “what the hell did I go and agree to give my feedback on these for?” Curiosity would be the honest answer to that question.
First things first, did they even match my hair? I held them up alongside my mane and Mr. L answered in the affirmative. Obviously, you don’t trust a man’s opinion on such important matters so I hot-footed it to the bathroom and checked for myself. I was sent this set in darkest brown and it’s a damn decent match to the ends of my hair… no ombre here (apart from the overprocessing I’ve done to my self).
I spread the 8 piece set out on the bed infront of me, marvelling at how the softness put my own to shame and wondering if the coarseness of my rough locks would look odd in comparison to the pieces I was about to “install”.
The set I received contained: 2 pieces of hair which are 8” wide (with 3 clips), 2 pieces which are 6” wide (with 2 clips) and 4 pieces which are 2” wide (with 1 clip).
I started with the widest pieces at the back, parting my hair horizontally with a rat-tailed comb and clipping them to my own hair. I’m rubbish at describing things like this, if you’re as clueless as I was, I suggest that you go and watch one of the how-to videos on their website for more insight and tips into how they actually attach.
Once in, they felt secure and I was able to brush through gently with my hairbrush to blend my hair with the extensions. It frankly felt amazing to have such thick, luxurious feeling hair… what a confidence boost. I admittedly spent the entire day asking my husband if he could see the clips (he didn’t once say yes) but perhaps that kind of confidence in wear will come with time.
Wanna see how they look? Bear in mind that this was my very first attempt at putting them in and they literally took me 5 minutes from start to finish. I’m so impressed with how ‘usable’ they are, I really thought I’d struggle and turn the air blue trying to get them in but I didn’t enconter a single problem.
Things I’d do differently next time…
I can see a ‘shelf’ at the back and I appreciate now that I should have included the other 3-clip piece that I left on the bed thinking that I ‘didn’t need it’.
I’d contemplate trimming them just a touch to get rid of any wispiness from the ends.
This is a real glowing review, I’m struggling to find fault with the product (and I always like to find at least a little fault!)… so I will have to be pernickity and state that I did have to spend a good 10 minutes ‘picking’ bits of fluff/tacky glue out of some of the wefts.
But that’s my only negative experience with these clip-in hair extensions from Halo Hair. Even the £39 price tag is reasonable… you could pay that easily for a decent haircut round my way. I wish I’d tried them sooner, I just didn’t realise how easy they would be to put in.
Do you wear hair extensions? Any tricks or tips to share?
Give it up, ain’t no use… I can’t help myself if I wanted to…
I’m hung up, no doubt… I’m so in love with you, for me there’s no way out…
Cause deeper and deeper, In love with you, I’m falling…
I’m gonna love you, love you, love you just a little more, baby…
I’m gonna need you, need you, need you every day…
I’m gonna want you, want you, want you in every way, yeah…
Phew!
So, I got my first Tom Ford lipstick the other day. I figured that Valentine’s Day was almost here and that you need to love yourself before you can love others right?
So… me and Tom. Tom and I… it’s an expensive relationship. Some men are just like that.
I picked up Pure Pink… I hovered for an indecent amount of time over Smoke Red but in the end, figured that I have some really lovely reds already. What I don’t have is a pink that’s going to make me long for Summer. I do now!
Pure Pink is a bright POP of colour on my lips, somehow it stops short of looking like one of my Mum’s fuchsia lipsticks from the 80s. Thank god right? That would have been an expensive alternative to vintage Constance Carroll by Christ!
It’s creamy but firm with a subtle shimmer and a hue that makes my teeth look whiter than they really are. It doesn’t feather and fades evenly. Not moisturising but comfortable.
It’s lovely. It’s not £35 lovely of course… I haven’t taken complete leave of my senses. But if you’re as daft to spend £35 on a lipstick as I was, then I hope you thoroughly enjoy it as much as I am too!
Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Color in Pure Pink is priced at £35 and available online and on counter.
Happy Valentine’s Day beautiful people, love your lipsticks especially hard today xxx
A few of you asked what nail polish I was wearing in this post, so I thought I’d put up a proper NOTD post to show it properly.
Following conversations with some of you U.S. girls, I’m thinking that this particular line of L’oreal polishes might not be available over the pond.
Maroon Sorbet is such an odd name for something so dark and vampy… sorbet always makes me think of summer! The shade itself is a blackened purple with ‘hidden’ shimmer. You may be able to make out a speck of the shimmer on my middle fingernail but it’s really quite subtle which is a shame as a little more visibility would have given this shade the lift it needs.
No complaints here about wear or application – it’s a solid high street polish that won’t break the bank!
The thought of dying my hair is genuinely one of the dreariest prospects I encounter every couple of months but for me and my grey hairs, it’s a necessary evil. It smells, it stains and it’s a downright chore.
When I first heard about the new foam hair dyes entering the market late last year, I thought “oh hai new gimmick, I’m still going to hate using you”. I was right. Just not entirely…
It’s more money than I normally pay for a home colourant but I’m sure it’s one of those that will eternally be on special offer somewhere. Having said that, it’s freakin’ fantastic. It dispenses a rich, creamy foam from start to finish with crystal clear instructions, great packaging (and awesome gloves that fit properly!)
You can tell when thought and careful planning has gone into the details… and here, the quality is apparent even down to the fact that the dye wipes off skin beautifully without compromising on potency!
However…
The available shades for brunettes suck. They’re all fairly warm-toned and if you’re a pink-faced girl with a penchant for ashy tones, this isn’t good news. Would I buy it again? Only if I want gingery grey bits when the dye fades. So, um… probably not.
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The second one I tried (and I’m sat here with freshly dyed hair now) is the Clairol Nice n’ Easy Colour Blend Foam* which normally retails at a more palatable £6.99.
Props to Clairol for a stonking range of shade availability. Everything from cool to warm tones, darkest to lightest… However, I got beef with this brand.
The instructions included in the box are terrible and led me to over-mix the formula thus producing crappy foam. The instructions state: “Shake bottle until completely mixed”.
Watch this…
Now, to my mind… “Shake bottle until completely mixed” is a truly rubbish way to communicate to your customers “give it three firm shakes and then leave it alone for 30 seconds”. No?
I followed the pack instructions, held the bottle, closed my eyes and shook vigorously for about 10 seconds until I was convinced that the products would be nicely mixed.
The result was a runny foam that applied nothing like the creamy John Frieda formula.
This stuff also stains like a four year old running around with a plate of spaghetti. As a home hair-dye veteran, I’m used to wiping the backs of my ears, that pesky patch where a strand inevitably drops onto your shoulder and the annoying bits on the temples where you want to cover the baby greys but not the skin. I usually do a grand job of it too.
Unfortunately, I’m sat here now with pretty bad skin staining on my temples. Do I risk applying a barrier cream and not getting the coverage I need on those greys? I don’t know… All in all, it’s a disappointing performance from the Clairol.
I’m genuinely upset about this because the colour selection is fabulous, the end result is good (though not as glossy as the John Frieda) and in theory, I love the foam formula which makes it almost impossible to ‘miss’ bits. I don’t have to faff about parting my hair to get into the roots… I just treat it like I’m shampooing with a creamy lather and the formula does all the hard work for me. Foam hair dyes have truly been a revelation.
Not only that, but in both instances, the dye has rinsed down the plughole like a dream with the water running clear after only a minute or two at the most.
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Which should you buy then?
If you’re looking for red tones, buy the John Frieda and do it now, while it’s on offer.
If you’re wanting a cooler-toned shade… go for the Clairol but beware the misleading pack instructions and be sure to use a barrier cream such as vaseline on your hairline.
A couple of you eagle-eyed ladies spotted the lipstick that I was wearing in my Bateau Ivre FOTD from earlier in the week. It’s very, very nude isn’t it?
The NARS shade is new for Spring and called Madère.
How do we pronounce that then? I’m opting for ‘mah-daire’ – anyone wanna wade in with an infinitely more sensible suggestion?
For a matte… it’s fairly creamy to apply, though pretty unforgiving on very dry lips. If you have deep furrows, you may need to think about some intense moisturisation and a plumping base before attempting this shade as it will highlight any areas of concern.
Many reviews from last year’s launch of these Pure Matte Lipsticks commented on how the formula of these were more moisturising than normal mattes. Sadly, I can’t say that I’ve reached the same conclusion with Madère. I felt that it was just as drying as any other matte lipstick that I wear.
Where Madère does excel is in the density of colour and it’s ability to truly blank out the lip when you want to concentrate attention on your smokey eye. If you’re a fan of true nude lips (and I know many of you are), it’s probably a shade that you’ll want to add to your collection for nights out. I feel that it would particularly suit women who feel that nudes often run too orange on their skintone.
NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Madère* is available now from NARS online, on counter and other stockists priced from £17.50
Ellis Faas fans will be pleased to hear that one of their favourite brands is now available to buy from Space NK online and in selected stores.
