A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I received my VERY exciting Sugarpill Cosmetics order last week, and I wanted to share the beautifully presented packaging with you…

Free with every order, check out the cute decal-type sticker!

The artwork on these boxes is simply beautiful.   It’s abundantly clear that a huge amount of personality has gone into this new cosmetic venture.  Thoroughly charming and there’s no way I’m ditching the packaging to save some space in my makeup drawers!

The base of my two Chroma Lust eyeshadows (Starling and Goldilux)…  I love the adorable little bird and bow on each sticker, cute touches such as these really make me appreciate the efforts involved.  It’s also nice to note the ‘made in California’ blurb and a full list of ingredients.

The lid design has been printed directly onto the plastic and not onto a sticker.

I posted a FOTD last week, and have swatched them alongside some Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland shades to give you a hopefully useful and ‘current’ comparison.

I’ve been struggling a bit with being poorly this week (both me and the baby) so in response to a couple of naggy (but thoroughly lovely) emails.  I’m trying to get the swatch post up for tomorrow!

Just a quickie to show-off my lovely new Sugarpill loose eyeshadows (proper review and swatches coming VERY soon!)

Eyes:
Sugarpill Cosmetics in Starling on the lid and lower lashline (dry)
Sugarpill Cosmetics in Goldilux in the crease and inner corner (dry)

Cheeks:
NARS blush in Angelika

Lips:
Lanolips 101 Ointment
OCC Lip Tar in Pageant

I was recently sent two products from Sleek Makeup‘s range, focusing on a couple of shades that are suited to this year’s Spring trend.

On the left we have the Dip It in Pastel Green and on the right, an Eye Dust in Livid Lilac.

I’m a beauty addict with eclectic tastes and try not to discriminate based on price or accessibility of products.  So, I approach this review with a fully open mind.  Even when I held the Dip It pot in my fingers, twirling it…. marvelling at how incredibly cheap Sleek had managed to make it look.

The eye dust packaging doesn’t fare much better.  I mean, they’re both obviously plastic, but they’re SO lightweight I’m surprised that they’re not defying the rules of gravity.

Having said that, I ultimately only really care about how it looks if I’m gonna be seen in public with it (shallow soul that I am), how about the actual contents?

How ABOUT those contents…

Well, there they are.  In all their ‘spilled across my new desk cos the sifter fell out when I tapped the bottom of the pot’ glory.  You can only imagine how much I was loving that purple Eye Dust at this point.

When I grumbled about my little dust-spilling incident on Twitter, it turned out that I wasn’t the only one who had nearly ended up with a lapful of Livid Lilac.  Something for Sleek Makeup to investigate perhaps?

Anyway, the colour is pretty… it’s more vivid in the pot than it is swatched, a good thing seeing as it’s called ‘Livid Lilac’ afterall and looks thoroughly ‘Royal Purple’ in the container.

The top swatch shows the Dip It liner in Pastel Green.  It’s an opaque mint, and really does look like a fabulous shade for Spring.  Livid Lilac is far softer once swatched (dry) and slightly metallic.  I was really impressed with the choices for this season’s shades.

Application of the Dip It was a bit tricky.  The wand and narrow tip allowed for a precise sweep across the eye lid, but as I was drawing the line, I found that the applicator dragged at the pigmentation leaving the line of colour less pigmented in the centre than at the edges.  To be fair, nothing that a second coat didn’t remedy.  The liner dried almost instantly without transferring to the hooded part of my eyelids.

I had no issues applying the Eye Dust, it blended smoothly and the colour depth was nicely buildable.

Here’s a FOTD, don’t laugh… the shades are a bit bright for me, but I enjoyed playing!

Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended, 20 minutes later, I looked in the mirror and saw that the eyeliner had begun to flake…

Bits of Dip It kept getting caught in my eyelashes, so I ended up using an eyeshadow brush to work back and forward until I’d dislodged all the flakes.  I wasn’t left with much.

Fast forward to bed-time and my cleansing routine.  I cleansed with my ever faithful cleansing oil and a blob of Cetaphil to finish, towelled my face dry and then shrieked at the mirror when I saw a matching pair of pink-dyed eyelids looking back at me.  I would have photographed them for the comedy value, but it was kinda late and I’m kinda lazy so you’ll just have to use your imagination instead.

On the plus side, it showed that my sense of symmetry has improved.  Those dyed patches were perfect.

Overall, I was disappointed at the quality of the 2 products I was sent by Sleek Makeup which is a shame, because in the past I’ve been mostly impressed (how ’bout them 12 pan palettes eh?).

Sleek Makeup products are available from selected Superdrug stores, the Eye Dusts and Dip Its both retail for £2.99 each.

…is my hair dye.

I’ve been using Superdrug’s Colour Performance for the best part of 5 years and simply haven’t found anything better for the price.

It’s a permanent dye which is gentle on my sensitive scalp.  A few others that I’ve used in the past *cough Excellence Creme cough Nutrisse* have irritated and left my scalp sore despite patch tests.  Colour Performance leaves me with no irritation at all.

I generally either plump for the shade shown (3:0 – Natural Rich Darkest Brown) which is a very dark brown or (4:0 – Natural Dark Brown).

One of the reasons I give these hair dyes so much love is because the browns are ashy in tone.  Red or mahogony based browns tend to clash with the pink tones in my skin, so I’m happier with these ashier shades which are surprisingly hard to find on the high street.

Dying my hair is a chore I hate the thought of, but once I’m done… I’m always left wondering why I left it so long.  This dye is foolproof and has consistently returned great results for me *whispers* even over my dodgy grey roots… I’ve unfortunately been going grey since I was 19 *sniff*.

And then there’s the price… I usually buy 2 of these at a time when they’re on offer. 2 for £5.  I think individually, they’re around £3.20.  Amazing.

I actually had a mini panic attack when I saw these new packs on the shelf:

Colour Radiance 10. I emailed Superdrug, worried that it meant they were discontinuing my beloved Colour Performance.  “Of course not”, was the reply… “they’re very popular!” Phew!

Have you ever tried Superdrug Colour Performance or Superdrug Colour Radiance 10?

For someone who can’t be bothered to find the time to moisturise… I’m doing an awful lot of moisturising recently.

My skin is DRY DRY DRY… and nothing is making it better.  Not even tried and tested solutions that have kept my skin in good condition over the years.  Infact, not even my trusty body oils are providing long-term relief.

I re-discovered this Lula Bloom Body Butter in the parcel that housed the GOSH smoky eyes palette I was sent by Superdrug PR.  I was in two minds about it, remember?  I hope this fares better.  I have a bit of a backlog I need to work through…

I wasn’t gonna crack it open, ‘cos it looks like one of those all style-no substance products doesn’t it?  Plus I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at teenage skin… it just has that look…  I was gonna give it to a younger family member, except I forgot.

After having a quick look at the ingredients and noticing that one of my favourite moisturising bases (Cocoa Butter) is right up there near the top of the list, I decided that I’d give it a go.

Lula Bloom Body Butter (stupid name) is housed in a satisfyingly heavy glass jar.  This won’t appeal to half of you, but I’m not wanting to carry it about anywhere other than to and from my bathroom shelf so I’m not bothered.  I like it.  I’ve already mentioned that the artwork on the packaging gives me the impression that this is aimed at a younger audience, but the price tag doesn’t really match those impressions.

£6.99 for 250ml.  That’s quite pricey.  I know as a teenager I wouldn’t have been able to afford something like this.  I had more important things like 20 Lambert & Butler and 3 litres of White Lightning to spend my pocket money on.

Ignoring my misspent youth for a moment, I was truly surprised by how creamy and smooth the texture proved to be.  The consistency is very thick and a small amount spreads a long way.  I can see a pot of this easily lasting me at least a month of daily use.  Yet, despite being thick, it feels quite light once it’s on the skin.  A winning combination.

The scent is overpowering… it’s nice, but it’s too “in your face” for me.  Again, it makes me think that the product is aimed at a younger audience.  It’s fruity, tropical… everything that a 14yr old girl would want to saturate herself with.  It reminds me of my younger self stood at The BodyShop’s perfume oil carousel display.  God, I’d come out of that store with a dewberry/fuzzy peach induced headache.

Overall, I really like the product… but it suffers from some kind of Body Butter schizophrenia.  It’s a top quality moisturisier, leaving my skin soft and conditioned for many hours… but it’s as if some prat in the development team (probably a bloke) has come along and ruined the delicate balance by chucking half a ton of tropical pot pourri in the mixing vat.  What gives Lula Bloom?

It needs to either ditch the overpowering smell and horrible artwork…. or shave about £3 off the price.  Have you tried this?  Am I too harsh?

I’ll tell you what though… if you happen to know a 12-17yr old you fancy treating… *points at the body butter* you wouldn’t go wrong with this.

Superdrug has a whole Lula Bloom range going (the body scrub is decent too! Lurid pink packaging though…).  Check out the range on the website here

This has been on my hitlist for a little while, and was confirmed to me as a must have by GossMakeupArtist’s post on brushes here.  I use a lot of cream foundation in the winter and have struggled to find a brush that I *love* to use with my foundations.

Any of you lovelies own one of these or any other Shu brushes? At $39 dollars, this brush isn’t cheap… but we all know that sometimes it’s worth paying more for good quality brushes right?  What brushes do you use for cream foundations?

I’ve been waiting to write this review for a long time, I’ve owned the SK-II Facial Treatment Cleansing Oil since the summer, but was being a good girl and using up my Shiseido Perfect Oil before commencing a new product!

The SK-II Cleansing Oil is another string to the bow of the Japanese Skincare Line SK-II (owned by Procter & Gamble) – the USP of SK-II is a single “anti-aging” ingredient called Pitera which they claim works to allow the skin to rejuvenate more effectively.

For your money (and rather a lot of it, I might add) – you get 250ml of oil, which, thankfully… is a generous sized bottle.  The packaging itself is plastic but at a glance looks like frosted glass.  I prefer the fact that it’s plastic, which allows for safer transportation.

They say:

This delicate oil with Wild Rose Extract and Pitera emulsifies with water and ‘Lifts and Locks’ onto hidden sebum and impurities. The ‘Lift and Lock’ formulation allows oil to transform with water to gently lift away make-up and impurities from the skin. Leaves it soft and fresh.

I never notice any discernible scent when using this (unlike the NUDE Cleansing oil – review to come soon!).  It’s a clear liquid of medium consistency which spreads quite easily over my face.  It’s lighter than the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil but heavier than my Shiseido Perfect Oil.  A happy medium!

I’ve never had to use more than 2 pumps, 1 pump will suffice if I’m not wearing mascara.

As you can see from the above list, mineral oil is the central ingredient… which is a shame, and at over £30 a bottle, I’m disappointed to see that they’re using such a cheap filler that is widely known to cause skin congestion thanks to it’s pore-clogging abilities.  Did you know that mineral oil is a byproduct of the distillation of gasoline from crude oil and that it actually costs more to dispose of it than it does to purchase it?  Now, I’m no Organic junkie… sometimes, chemicals just work and I admit to being endlessly suspicious that Organic products in general don’t work as effectively as their chemical-laden alternatives… but in this case, I’d rather my £32 bottle of cleansing oil wasn’t full of one of the cheapest substances on earth.

But, how does it clean?

It cleans well… It removes all mascaras (inc. waterproof) and leaves my face feeling fresh and (as promised) soft.  As with most cleansing oils… I do however, find it a little drying with continued use.  It also doesn’t emulsify as well as my DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, leaving a slightly oily residue behind untl I’ve followed up with another cleanser (which I always do anyway).

This puts it in the same category as the Shiseido Perfect Oil… but let’s remember… gram for gram (or ml for ml) the Shiseido would work out less than half the price of the SK-II for the same quantity.  The DHC Deep Cleansing Oil also works out cheaper, and thus rendering it still my #1 choice for cleansing oils.

I mustn’t forget the Pitera… and if I were comparing anti-aging night creams, I’d have a harder time eliminating it as a reason for purchasing.. but to be honest, I want my cleansing oil to clean – I’m not fussed about it’s anti-aging, skin regenerating properties.  I’ll save those concerns (and money) for my moisturiser.

You can purchase the SK-II line from Harrods, both in store and online.

STOP PRESS!: Check out Janice’s review on the Eye Transformer too, her photographs demonstrate the whole ‘smoky eye thing’ better than mine and really give a good idea of what I was trying to explain (lamely!).

http://seekforbeauty.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-elf-studio-eye-transformer.html

The new (to the UK) ELF Eye Transformer is another product that was lurking at the bottom of my goody bag from a recent E.L.F event I attended.  It’s an unusual product, I’ve only ever seen one other like it and I think that it fits in very nicely with the rest of the E.L.F Studio lineup.

It has one main function.  Applied over a dark coloured eyeshadow base, it will have the effect on transforming the base into a new and wonderful shimmering iridescent shade.

Make sense?

Let’s look more closely…

Oh there you go, it says what it does on the back of the box… and for bonus points it gets straight to the point.  Unlike me.

Packaging is identical to the Shimmer Palette, it’s good stuff… solid and sleek.

There are four powder shades: Green, Orange, Pink and Blue.

The powders are quite dusty and I’d recommend giving your brush a quick shake or blow before applying the powder ontop of your base.

First, I laid down 4 black base swatches.  I used a black eye shadow from one of my Sleek Palettes, then I layered each Eye Transformer powder over the base…

Let’s see them in action…

As you can see, from left to right… the powders create green, bronze, purple and blue hues when layered ontop of black bases.  Very pretty and much more interesting than plain old black!

This by itself is pretty cool, but I’ve discovered an even better use for them!

I’m rubbish at true smoky eyes, I look like a panda, I find it hard to blend very strong colours.  It’s a shame then that smokey eyes are *everywhere* at the moment.  Hell, Sleek and GOSH have even brought out palettes in celebration…

Let me demonstrate my crapness…

That’s my best effort!  It’s harrrrrrrrrd!

The variations between the black in the crease and the grey on the lid are obvious to me… I just can’t get a smooth blend when I use black, which is why I usually shy away from the shade, favouring greys and browns for crease colours.

However, let’s go over the whole lot with the blue shade from the Eye Transformer Palette…

What do you think?

It’s not *so* visible in the photo as it was in person, but adding the Eye Transformer shade seems to bring the other shades in harmony with one another.

My blending isn’t the best, and I should have definitely gone over that outer edge with my blending brush.  But focusing on the actual lid, don’t the colours seem to flow better?  Am I imagining things?

Anyway, all I can say is…

The ELF Eye Transformer is not the best quality product in the world… the powders are pretty chalky and dusty.

Having said that, I’m a sucker for novelty products like this and usually a little disappointed when I try them.  But I’m really enjoying using this combined with the Sleek Graphite palette.  They simply work as they’re supposed to, opening up many more opportunities for colour.

What are your thoughts?  Have you tried the ELF Eye Transformer Palette? Want to?

I’ve been playing with Sleek MakeUP’s new Luminous Pressed Powder which I was sent just over a week ago.

It’s designed to be swept all over your face for a glowing, illuminated effect.

The powder, which is available in 4 shades is packed full of tiny light-reflecting mica pigments.  These are visible in the pan, and whilst very fine – are indeed pretty sparkly!  Unfortunately, the pigments are too fine for my camera to pick up on.  I did try!

I received shade 02, which is far too dark for me to use as an all-over powder – not that that stopped me from trying of course.

Unfortunately, the shade just looked unnaturally dark on my skin.  I can however say that the mica pigments are just about subtle enough to be used all over without looking like a disco ball.

It’s ok!  You can put the dancing shoes away!

I found that it absorbed oil effectively and didn’t clump down the side of my nose as some heavier powders will.

As it’s a golden tone, I am currently using it as a light bronzer just to warm up my skin a little where the sun (if we had any) would touch.  I was a little nervous about putting an illuminating powder on my nose fearing that it may be seen from out of space, but so far visibility is staying below the stratosphere.

Packaging is nice for a budget item, other budget cosmetic companies could learn a thing or two from Sleek MakeUP’s consistently good quality casings.

You can dispense with the silly little powder puff and just use a large fluffy powder brush to pick up the product.

If shimmer ain’t your bag (baby), then I’d refrain from applying it all over and use it more as you would a MAC MSF.  Ooh, actually… bet it would look lovely swept over your decolletage too, it’s a bit more subtle than some products designed to draw a bit of attention to the old boobies.  Make you look less like a slapper and more like a subtley shimmery ladee.  Innit.

It’s a nice addition to the Sleek MakeUP line, it fits right in and is fairly priced at £5.99.

I’m my own worst enemy.. I suffer from dry skin, particularly in the winter and one of the worst places for this are my hands.

Despite this, I hate hand creams.  I avoid them like the plague.  I am yet to find one that doesn’t leave a greasy, sticky or at best slightly clammy feeling (and I’ve tried a lot!).

The only thing for it, is to minimise anything that dries my hands out.  This was never a problem for me before I had Leila, but now she’s 6 months old and I’m dreading this winter.  My hands are constantly in contact with baby wipes, which seem to suck all moisture from them (yet they’re fine for her bottom – go figure?).

I was offered a Surya Hand Sanitizer to trial and I was pleased to do so as it’s a product I use often when out and about with the babs in tow.

The Surya Hand Sanitizer carries a little tagline which I didn’t notice in the press release and only discovered after a couple of days use: Moisturizing (yes, spelt the American way).

Surely that’s an oxymoron?  Since when are hand sanitizers (mostly composed of alcohol) anything other than incredibly unmoisturising?

Well… I actually do find this to be pretty good compared to my usual brand of sanitizer (Carex if you’re interested).

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it moisturising, but my hands don’t seem to dry out so much after use and I don’t get a tingling sensation like I do with other brands.

The scent is a little overpowering – an odd combination of mint and lavender, both seem to vye for my attention in an altogether slightly too heady manner, but thankfully the scent it leaves on my hands is a lot more understated than on initial use.

Perhaps most importantly, it dries quickly without leaving any kind of residue.  If you’re in the kind of profession where you need to use these products often – I’d really recommend this as a gentler alternative to many other brands on the market.

Surya Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer is available in two sizes: a 60ml handbag size (£7.00) ideal for busy (who am I kidding?) Mums like me, and a 200ml (£10.00) “desktop” size.

Available to buy from Liberty and online from their website.

Yano when you’re shopping… and it’s been an el-crappo experience… your money is burning a hole in your pocket but you just can’t find *anything* to commit to… everything is… for want of a better (or even actual) word… meh.

I had one of those days in town.. lots of nice money practically setting my pants alight and nothing that caught my eye enough to extinguish them.  Until I popped into Superdrug and sidled up to the Sleek stand.

I prodded at the blushers… meh.

I eyeballed the lipsticks…. meh meh.

Just as I was about to leave, frown intact – I cast my eyes downwards and caught sight of the nail polishes.  Nail polishes? I didn’t even know Sleek did nails?  Well, obviously I haven’t emerged from that rock of mine enough… cos there they were all lined up like beacons of salvation ready to save me from a shit shopping trip.

I picked up two shades: Royalty (Blackened Red Shimmer) and Poison Ivy (Blackened Green Shimmer) but got the guilts at the checkouts thinking of all those polishes sat at home still untouched and left Poison Ivy at the counter.

Anyway, how do I like Royalty?  I like it a lot!

It is absolutely packed with subtle shimmer – beautiful!

Application? It could be a one-coater if you were a little more careful with application than me.  The above photo shows two coats with no top coat (I’m so lazy about top coats).

It dries fast, perhaps a tiny bit too fast for slowcoaches like me… but as soon as I picked up the pace, I had no problems with application.

This is such a Christmassy shade, I can’t wait to check out the others available!

Nailed Nail Polish by Sleek is available from most Superdrugs.

Introducing Sleek’s new Sunset Palette, I would link you to the website.. but I can’t find the palette on there… infact, the website seems to be thoroughly out of date.  And just how long does it take to build an online shop?

Anyway…

I had absolutely no intention of buying this.  I’m a cool toned kinda girl, especially at the moment… I’m all about the greys, mauves and silvers.

However, whilst buying the Graphite palette… I couldn’t resist a sneak peek inside this one too.  Oh my!

I will probably never wear the blue or the bright orange (I know, I know – they’re the bestest ones)… but they’re just not me!  The others are deliciously wearable metallic shades that will be put into use immediately!

Absolute stand out shades for me are: Top 2nd from left (cranberry colour), bottom far left, bottom 2nd from left and bottom 3rd from right.  If you’re a neutrals girl the palette is easily worth the cost for those 4 shades alone.  Although the cranberry shade looks bright, (and it is..) it blends out smoothly making a gorgeous subtle crease colour.

I’m very happy with this palette, and delighted that it’s made it into the permanent collection – good job Sleek!