A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

In these times of austerity, does anything seem more wasteful than spending ££££ on disposable face wipes?  But for every face-wipe detractor out there, you’ll find someone who wouldn’t be without the convenience of their skincare-enriched, disposable towels.

As someone who tries to avoid too much water when cleansing, I’ve been known to use face wipes as part of my cleansing routine.  Not to remove a full face of makeup, but to freshen my face in the mornings…  I have to admit, however, that I’ve never paid more than around £6 for a pack.  I’m not sure I could bring myself to pay any more than this… but would you part with the cash for any of these?

01: Murad Clarifying Wipes for Blemish-Prone Skin (£18.00, lookfantastic.com) – 30 wipes per pack / 60p per wipe

These wipes from Doctor-led brand Murad have been enriched with witch hazel, algae extract, grape seed extract and vitamin E.  Designed specifically for blemish-prone skintypes, the wipes promise to tighten your pores, regulate sebum and oil production and protect your skin from free radical damage.

02: Dermalogica Skin Purifying Wipes (£14.40, jerseybeautycompany.co.uk) – 20 wipes per pack / 72p per wipe

The Dermalogica Skin Purifying Wipes contain Antibacterial Triclosan, extracts of Balm Mint, Coneflower and Camphor, Salicylic Acid, and witch-hazel to cleanse, remove excess surface oil, and purify the skin.  These are particularly recommended for popping in your gym bag as a post-workout freshen-up.

03: Ole Henriksen Truth To Go Wipes (£15.00, hqhair.com) – 30 wipes per pack / 50p per wipe

For a less astringent cleanse, the Ole Henriksen Truth To Go wipes offer naturally based mild surfactants to gently lift away dirt and impurities while essential fatty acids nourish the skin.  These orange-scented wipes also include Vitamin C and Micro Algae stimulates Collagen production to lighten, brighten and tighten the skin.

04: Stila Ready for Take Off Moisturizing Cleansing Cloths (£12.50, fenwick.co.uk) 30 wipes per pack / 42p per wipe

The clue is in the name.  These wipes from Stila promise to deliver a more moisturising cleanse, perfect for the upcoming colder months.  Containing extracts of  lavender, chamomile, and aloe vera these wipes are made without synthetic fragrance, mineral oil, sulfates, parabens or phthalates, making them a great choice for more sensitive skins.

05: MAC Cosmetics Wipes (£15.00, debenhams.com) 45 wipes per pack / 33p per wipe

These oversized wipes from staple cosmetic brand MAC promise to make quick work of makeup-removal.  Saturated with M·A·C cleanser and infused with vitamin E, they offer a convenient cleanse.  Less of a skin treatment wipe, more of a fuss-free cleanse and go.

Would pay over £10 for a pack of face-wipes?  Are you a fan of any that I’ve mentioned?

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

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 limited edition Living The Life in Laguna* palette from Stila landed on my desk the other day and once I peeked inside, I knew I had to make it the focus of my makeup that evening.  The darker shades are so rich and Autumnal, I was instantly sold.

The collectible palette is one of a series of five from the US brand.  It’s a little bigger than an iPhone and made of sturdy cardboard.  It contains a (slightly too small) mirror, four eye colours, a cheek colour and a highlighter.

All the eye shades included are shimmery and can be worn both wet or dry.  The cheek shades both contain a fairly subtle shimmer that makes them suitable for both day or evening wear.  I absolutely adore the bottom right shade (of the four eye ones) – a rich, chocolatey brown with copper shimmer, it’s exquisite for green eyes.

Each palette in the Beach Girl series comes with a helpful set of instructions on a possible method of application.  I followed Stila’s instructions to the letter for this palette which created the following look…

I adore this little palette, even more so when I checked the press information and discovered that the price is set at a mere £10.00 – bargain.  If you want some real bang for your buck in an easy-to-wear palette that provides not only a complete ‘look’ but also a range of shades you’ll mix and match time and time again, look no further.

Stila Living The Life in Laguna Beach Girl Palette is priced at £10.00 and available to buy online from BeautyBay.com

* press sample

I wasn’t around to see the (re)launch of Stila earlier in the year so it was good to have a catch up recently and check out the goodies that will be heading our way before the year is through.

Have you seen what Stila have instore for us?  Here’s a quick sneak peek… I’ll be back with specific details very soon but in honour of a 4 day week, let’s enjoy some makeup porn.  Cue the dodgy Jazz!

There, now doesn’t the day feel just that little bit easier to bear?  Go on… scroll back up and have another peek, I won’t tell anyone.

’till tomorrow good people xx

Indulge me, I rarely do haul posts.  But I’m really loving the things that I picked up this week.  And just look how restrained I was at my local CCO (the MAC).

At the beginning of the week my Stila bits turned up from CheapSmells.. oh! I haven’t included my Stila Topaz Kajal in the photo!  Oh well, I got that too… But anyway, look at that lovely taupe (bottom left).  That’s Stila Cloud, a very cool toned shimmery silver taupe.

I finally took the plunge and ordered a Shu Uemura IR Beige 800 eyeshadow… I was struggling between the IR and ME versions, but felt the ME version swatched a little too pink for me.

I also took advantage of the Barielle BOGOF offer and picked up two colours from the Spring Wildflowers Collection (A Bouquet for Ava & June Bug) and two from the Summer High Steppin’ Collection (Belly Dance & Electric Boogie)

Hmm what else…

Oh, I nabbed Clinique’s (relatively) new High Lengths mascara that I’ve had my eye on for a little while… super funky alienesque brush!

Finally, I was (semi) well-behaved in my local CCO on Friday.  I don’t have a MAC counter near me… so I usually target the MAC stand quite heavily when I raid the Gunwharf CCO.  I picked up: Melon pigment, Blonde MSF and Femme-Fi eyeshadow.  Pat on the back for resisting Moon River from the Grand Duo collection and Flower Mist Dew Beauty Powder from the Ungaro collection.  (Please don’t tell me I NEED those two items in my life… I totally bend to peer pressure!)

What have you bought this week?

A mostly cool-toned FOTD bar a hint of peach on the lids.

It’s crazy how much of my eye makeup actually disappears when I open my eyes…. which kinda begs the question, “Should I walk around with my eyes shut?”

Face:

~ Max Factor Second Skin Foundation in Creamy Ivory (thanks Jen!)
~ Stila Sheer Pressed Powder in Light

Eyes:

~ Urban Decay Drink Me, Eat Me on the lid (from the AiW palette)
~ Urban Decay Vorpal in the crease and outer ‘V’ (from the AiW palette)
~ Stargazer Cake Liner in Brown on the lashline
~ YSL Singulier Mascara in Black

Lips:

~ ELF Runway Pink with a slick of…
~ …MAC Please Me ontop.

…stays in Lon… usually comes home with me in a lovely iconic yellow paper bag 😉

So, I was up in London on Saturday for the wonderful Aussie Project Angel event (more details to come later..) and saw lots of lovely things to add to my stash.

Ok, well I didn’t get *all* these bits in London.. the Stila stuff I ordered a couple of weeks ago and turned up today so thought I’d throw them in.

I went on a bit of a lipstick buying rampage – and had to be physically restrained from buying another Shu one that I had my eye on.

On the left, the unmistakable Lingerie Pink… and on the right, the lovely Shu Rouge Unlimited BG907.

I had no intentions of buying Lingerie Pink until I tried it on out of pure curiousity at the counter.  Instant love.

I first saw the Shu one when I went to the Maybelline Event last month and have lusted after it ever since.

How pretty?! – L-R: Pound Cake, Strawberry Sorbet, Baby Cakes

Kryolan Supra Color Black Greasepaint recommended to me by LondonMUGirl.  First impressions… wonderful to blend eyeshadow over compared to UDPP, but it starts creasing after 3hrs 🙁

L-R: MAC Woodwinked (been on my wishlist a LONG time), Kryolan Matte Highlight (got this by accident after SA put the wrong eyeshadow in my bag… grrr.)

Well, that concludes my first proper “haul” post… hope it wasn’t too dull.  I enjoy reading about everyone else’s newest acquisitions, but everyone is different so apologies if this was a boring read – move along, I’m done now!

Oh, and the Stila can wait ’till the rest of my order turns up 🙂