A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I’ve read that Cory Cosmetics offer some of the highest coverage for mineral foundations and despite the mixed reviews on MUA, I’ve plumped for a selection of foundation and blusher samples for those days when we need that bit of extra confidence in our foundation.

Cory Cosmetics is also purported to be one of the ‘purest’ mineral makeup lines – even doing mica free versions of their products.  Not hugely relevant to me, as I don’t seem to have too much in the way of sensitivity problems towards mineral makeup.

Samples are $.45 each – I’ve ordered 13 samples which combined with shipping came to a total of $10.80.

I’m really looking forward to comparing them to my Elemental Beauty foundation (review) which I am still totally in love with.  Infact, the only reason I’m cheating on it is because I want to try some mineral blushes and can try so many more different shades for the same price from Cory Cosmetics than I could from Elemental Beauty.

Will be back to let you know how they fare!

I was on the lookout for a replacement for my beloved DHC Deep Cleansing Oil (which at £16 a bottle is a touch rich for my blood whilst currently hemorrhaging money in preperation for my new arrival)… when I came across Smashbox Cleansing Oil on eBay for £5 a bottle.

I’ve been trying it for 3 weeks now and thought I’d give my verdict on how it compares to DHC.

It’s a huge bottle in comparison to most branded Cleansing Oils weighing in at 345ml and is definitely thinner and lighter so a little really goes a long way!  It doesn’t cause me any sensitivity – even practically rubbing it into my eyes (and I often react to the mildest of products).  It removes all that DHC does and removes everything perfectly – so far top marks…

I’m not a huge fan of the smell, it’s slight cucumber-ey in a cheap rather than refreshing way, but it’s not terribly noticeable.  The real problem though…

…It just doesn’t emulsify well at all (which DHC does brilliantly), this stuff sticks to my face-cloth and skin like tar no matter how many times I rinse in hot water.  Which means that even after the next step of washing my face with my favourite cleanser/mild soap I can still feel the oil on my skin thanks to it transferring back from my face-cloth. 

I also have to scrub the sink everytime I wash my face as it leaves a ring of make up on the sink – not really a problem (infact it’s quite satisfying looking at all that makeup grime in a gruesome sunburn-peeling kinda way) but worth mentioning.

This ‘problem’ as I see it might not bother you if you’re used to traditional OCM, but if you’re prone to breakouts – you need to be extra vigilant to ensure your skin is free from the product after cleansing.

I bought my Smashbox Cleansing Oil from this seller, it’s available from other sellers and also some of the discount cosmetic websites have it in stock at a good price as it’s now a discontinued Smashbox skincare item.

However, I won’t be buying it again – I just don’t have the patience last thing at night to meticulously go over my skin a 100x to ensure all the oil is removed.  Such a shame, ‘cos everything else about it is truly spot-on.

I can’t bring myself to bin it either seeing as it does work so well in all other aspects.  I shall have to invest in some more face cloths and ensure I only use one for the oil and refill the sink a couple of times inbetween cleansing… makes it all a bit high maintenance though!

Oh, I hate to give it such a low score – but that singular problem is a BIG deal for me.

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Just a heads up incase you weren’t aware that Clinique’s bonus time begins tomorrow on the 14th May at House of Fraser store’s nationwide.  If you’re going to make 2 or more Clinique purchases, this is the time to do it!

Bonus time items include*:

Golden/Bronze makeup bag (with golden circles)
7 Day Scrub Cream
Superdefense Age Defense Moisturiser
Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick in Delovely
Eyeshadow in Like Mink
Uplighting Liquid Illuminator in Natural
True Bronze Pressed Powder in Sunkissed
Small Blush Brush

I shall add a picture to confirm items included if/when Clinique updates their website. Picture added.

*Free with the purchase of any two Clinique products or more.

So after loving a Joe Blasco concealer I’d recently hit pan on and lemming the Ben Nye concealer wheel palette for about 100 years but not having the willpower to save up for it, I hit a dead end in my search for an industrial strength concealer.

I don’t really bother with many high street concealers nowadays, although I still carry my trusty stick of Rimmel Hide The Blemish in my glove box.  Having said that, seeing as I literally can’t remember the last time I used it, I probably shouldn’t get within 10 feet of it without wearing full on hazmat gear.

Where was I?  Oh yes, Grimas…

Grimas are a Dutch company who as well as being founded the year I was born are also sharing enough to let us know that they employ 3 mentally disabled members of staff.  I kid you not, check here – it really does say that.  Equal opportunities rock!

Anyway, back to the products…

I picked up a camouflage concealer in shade G0 and a creme make up base/foundation in G1.

Camouflage Concealer:

Creme Base/Foundation:

The texture of the concealer is quite hard, but very pigmented (as you would expect from a stage makeup brand) – a little goes a very long way!

When I swatched the concealer I thought it was going to be wayyy too pale for me, but it actually blended in really nicely and although I wasn’t expecting it, I found that it neutralized redness better than anything I’ve ever tried before – including various specialized green and yellow concealers.

The foundation is a little dark for me to be honest so I may end up going back for shade G0… I need some honest opinions from my husband and some good light to see if I’ve tangoed myself so I’m reserving judgement at the moment.  The texture of the foundation is a lot thinner and oilier than the concealer making it easier to blend.  However, it’s still highly pigmented and a light touch is the order of the day!

The foundation applied nicely with my stippling brush which I was pleased about as I’m loathe to use sponges which always seem to make cream foundations streak terribly on me.

On to the swatches…

G1 Foundation on the left/G0 Concealer on the right – note* my face is a shade or two darker than my hand!

Considering they’re supposed to be 1 shade different from each other – that shade difference is a yawning chasm and I’m blatantly somewhere in the middle of it.

As I said, I’m not completely convinced that despite this, it doesn’t still work for my skin tone.  However I’ll let you be judge, jury and executioner with another of those hideous before/after shots.

The concealer (like most thick concealers) will settle in fine lines, so I’d avoid the undereye area with this stuff.  I was also impressed by the fact that it didn’t seem to need setting with powder.  Before I’d had a chance to set it – the doorbell rang with my Asda food shop so I was distracted for over half an hour and when I remembered that I hadn’t powdered and looked in the mirror expecting to see huge amounts of shine and slip – it still looked as matte as it had when I first put it on.  Not massively high maintenance then!

I purchased Grimas from Facepaint UK as they were the only company I could find that charged a reasonable £2 p&p within the UK.  I’m also pleased to report that delivery was super quick (1 working day from ordering).

Overall, I’m really pleased with my experiences with Grimas – especially at how good the concealer neutralizes any redness.  My only disappointment is with the shades on offer – I’d love there to be something inbetween G0 and G1.

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Miners have a special offer on a range of their polishes at the moment costing just 97p a bottle.

I haven’t tried anything from their nail polish ranges yet so can’t comment on quality but seeing as I just made myself a mini haul of some pretty colours, I thought I’d share the love.  It’s a great excuse to try some colours that you wouldn’t normally be brave enough to purchase without spending too much!  I’ve gone for:

Purple Hologram
Lemon
Hologram Turquoise
Pale Mint
Rain Glow
Raw Edges
Babyziz

All for a grand total of £8.26 inc. P&P – Bargain!

Stock up on some cool colours for summer!

Yes it’s ridiculously cheap, yes it’s a lovely colour for pale cool toned skin.  No I won’t be applying it again unless I develop a masochistic streak.  5 coats…. 5 coats of colour (with another base coat inbetween), I kid you not and I can still see through my nail tip if I hold my hand to the light!

I have another Opia polish in Navy and that’s an absolute dream in terms of opacity (almost a perfectly smooth 1 coater)- so for a solitary £1 it’s always worth a punt if you see a colour you like.  Unfortunately, I can’t find any reference to the name of the shade of this polish.

Above image shot with the flash popped up.

Application was really easy due to the consistency being so thin and transparent.  If you like sheer polishes, I would totally recommend this.  If you don’t, steer well clear of this shade.

…Why is it when I finally earn enough Pigsback points to get myself a lovely £10 discount on Nars Orgasm (which I’ve never tried and have been lemming like forever) HQ Hair don’t have it in stock.

One day my pretty…

As you may have noticed, I have an eclectic range of cosmetic tastes.  I couldn’t really be much further from a makeup snob if I tried – mainly because my budget simply wouldn’t allow it.  I’m as happy as a pig in shit to trawl both Space NK and Superdrug looking for new products (although I’m always a little happier at the till in Superdrug!)

I quite like it this way, it means that I have to work that little bit harder to find good quality products at great prices, it also means that I have accumulated more crap than the average beauty junkie, but there’s always a friend or relative nearby who is happy to play with my cast offs and vice versa!!  It really works for me.

I’d love to hear about your tastes – the high street/drugstore brands that work so well for you, you haven’t found better value for the money.  Tell me about those higher end products that you’ve been craving for so long that they’re now firmly ensconced on that pedestal and the thought of purchasing them fills you with fear that they’ll never live up to your now exagerrated expectations.

Anyway, to cheer myself up after being so close yet still so far from my pedestal product, I went and bought a Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara to keep me going whilst I wait for HQ Hair to pull their fingers out!

You’ll have to do for now!

My skin is typical combination/dry, so I’m always looking out for a moisturiser that’s gonna quench the dryness without making my t-zone look like an oil slick.  I also have the added bonus of sensitivity.  Not hugely so, but if my skin isn’t liking something, it reacts by tingling, reddening and leaving little dry scaly bits once the redness subsides.

After testing a new anti ageing night cream, I developed those unwanted sensitivity effects.  I was left cursing and battling this by slathering on my Eucerin Q10 Active Fluid (love!) which always helps to tame the dryness without leaving the greasies – great stuff!  However, as much as I love Eucerin, my fickle soul is well aware that it’s not kind to my purse at £17.51 for 50ml.  So when I ran out, I was on the hunt for an alternative.

Enter Adrien Arpel Daily Defense Moisturiser SPF15.

I came across this whilst browsing Direct Cosmetics for the princely sum of £4.99 (DC is one of my absolute fav places for bargain hunting – check it out!) and in hindsight I wish I’d bought more than one pot seing as it’s disappeared from the website now.

I like my day moisturisers to have SPF, and during the summer months, I layer this with even more sunblock – either that or I end the day looking like Rudolph.

Adrien Arpel Daily Defense Moisturiser SPF15, comes in your standard frosted little glass pot, I do wish that the pot were more opaque as I’ve read that sunlight can diminish the potency of antioxidants, regardless – it just means I store this in a darker place – ‘cos I’m a geek.

Let’s see what it says on the back of the box….

…not a huge amount actually.  I’m not sure what a ‘measured’ dose is either.

It’s a fairly thick cream, slightly solid (in the same way good old Nivea Creme is) with a slight pearlescent sheen.  Doesn’t feel at all greasy to the touch and feels very light to rub in.

It does leave a slightly white cast if you’re not meticulous with rubbing it in or layer it on a bit too thick – but I find that quite normal with any products that contain SPF.  You just need to be a little more careful to ensure that the product is evenly spread as it does disappear.  My skin drinks this stuff up like there’s no tomorrow – it causes me absolutely no irritation.  It sinks in beautifully and doesn’t make my nose look like an oil slick.  Most importantly it leaves my skin feeling super soft to the touch and is a lovely base for my makeup.

Keep an eye out for it (I know I will be!), it seems to belong in the same category as the Gale Hayman stuff and often appears heavily reduced on the various cosmetic discount websites.

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So I mentioned this cake eyeliner a few days ago.  I bought mine on eBay for £1.95, I’m sure I’ve seen some Stargazer products in Superdrug, but I’m not sure if they stock the cake eyeliners.

Stargazer seems to be a bit of a Raver/Goth/Emo alternative cosmetics brand, with neons and bold colours featuring heavily in their range.

The eyeliner comes in an unassuming little pot, which although plastic, feels quite solid and sturdy.

‘Cos I’m so boring, I bought the brown shade.  You can choose from: Blue, Silver, Violet, Gold, Black, Red, Pink, Grey, Green and White.

Once you wet your eyeliner brush (either in water or a mixing medium of your choice) – swipe it across the pan to pick up some colour and get painting!

It’s really well pigmented – and once dry, simply doesn’t budge off my eyelids.  This wouldn’t be any good for waterlines though as it doesn’t take too much water to make it disappear into thin air.  But for the upper eyelid this is a fab bargain find!

It glides on super smoothly (it’s like painting with a watercolour).  Out of all my solid liners (gel types) this one allows me to get the most precise line thanks to it’s fluidity.  It dries very quickly and I usually go over a couple more times to build up the pigmentation a touch before the brush dries.  It can be a little tricky to ensure that the second coat doesn’t ‘dilute’ the first colour-wise.  However, I’ve found that as long as I work fairly quickly and don’t keep re-wetting my brush then I can get VERY strong pigmentation, but it’s a case of trial and error.

I’ve got my sights set on the other colours now.  Staying power is really great, I thought that seeing as it’s just a powder/water combination that it may crack and flake by the end of the day – which is a regular problem I have with cheaper liquid liners – not so here!  I’ve only ever mixed water with the liner and haven’t experienced any flaking so far.

For the price, I’m not sure these can really be beaten.  Grab them all!

P.S. I’ve got Blinc Mascara on in these shots.

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This is a really soft wearable palette – not massively pigmented but with just the right amount of shimmer.  I particularly like the cream blush which is ultra blendable and not too sticky.

The lip glosses were not pigmented enough for me to be honest, as you can see they added more of a shine to my lips rather than any actual colour.  The eyeshadows are soft and shimmery, again – not highly pigmented, but not so subtle that you have to pack the colour on.

I’m also wearing Blinc Mascara and Stargazer Cake Eyeliner in Brown (which I’m currently loving considering it’s price – full review coming soon!).

The eyeshadow shades are perfect for wearing to work, the highlighter shade (bottom right) is particularly nice, as is the brighter pink to it’s left.  The darkest shade in the middle of the palette is one that could have easily done with being a little more pigmented.  All colours were easily blendable ontop of UDPP.  I didn’t use the top 2 colours in the FOTD.  The pink is actually a little more saturated in real life than it is in the FOTD photos which aren’t quite doing that particular shade justice.

I didn’t use the concealer (bottom right) or the darker brown gloss (top right).  The cream blush (bottom left) looks brighter in the palette than it does on the skin, it’s a coral type colour.  I initially just applied the top left bright pink lip gloss – but added the middle one aswell when I wasn’t getting ANY colour payoff from it.  I still didn’t achieve any pigmentation to speak of after adding the second colour.  Disappointing really.

Overall, I’m pleased with this palette.  My first impressions from yesterday confirm that there’s nothing earth shattering contained within.  But it’s a completely wearable ensemble that would particularly flatter paler skin tones to create a subtle but fresh daytime look.  I’d definitely recommend everything bar the lip glosses, which seem to be a waste of space.  The packaging is cheap looking but very cute, and totally portable – complete with mirror, you could quite happily cart this around in your handbag for any touch ups.

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I could spend all day in TK Maxx rummaging, especially among the body lotions, beautifully wrapped soaps and lovely purses.  (purses are more my thing than handbags.)

I grabbed a few things today:

a beautiful organic muslin swaddling blanket

A weird rolling massager, which may or may not be completely useless during labour:

Some pretty italian hand crafted soaps, natural sea sponges and….

an Eyeko Manga Book palette for the princely sum of £2.00 – woohoo!

The eyeshadow colours are just up my street – I’m pretty boring and conservative when it comes to eyeshadow shades (I just can’t wear bright colours well).

On the left we have:

(From top to bottom):

3 lip glosses, a cream blush and a concealer.

…and on the right:

5 eyeshadows with varying degrees of sparkle/shimmer.  It’s a really wearable palette – not gonna blow your mind creatively, but for day to day wear it’s really nice.

I’ll do a FOTD with this palette soon.

Whilst on the subject of GOSH, I’ve just come across their new haircare range which is currently on offer in Superdrug.  Usually priced at £4.39 each you can currently pick up 2 for £5.99 – definitely worth a look.  If you’re ordering from the website make sure you enter: abbey100809 during the checkout stage to get a further 10% off your order (valid ’till November ’09)

Standard shampoo/conditioner range includes:

Damage Control

Nourishes and recharges dry, damaged and chemically treated hair with revitalising moisture…

Pump up the Volume

Contains special proteins which add body and fullness while rstonring elasticity and strength…

Colour Rescue

Protects the colour in dyed hair from fading and daily UV exposure…

The images on the GOSH website show the bottles as pump bottles (which I prefer to these squeezy tube types) but maybe that’s for the European market.

There are other products in the range, they appear to have introduced a full range of styling products – but you’ll have to head in store to check those out as Superdrug’s shitty website only displays the shampoo and conditioners.