A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I don’t mind admitting that it’s been a while since I hauled anything more interesting than standard repurchases and top-ups of my routine staples.  I used to be a complete brand flirt, hopping from product to product and whilst I’m not beyond those days… not at all, I do garner more comfort from sticking to the tried and tested than ever I would have in the past.

I’m either becoming less adventurous in my old age or perhaps just a bit more sensible now that I have more “grown-up person” type bills to meet each month.

Websites like Cheap Smells and Fragrance Direct always make a good job of parting me from my pennies.  You know when you just want one thing but then you look at the postage and think… “well, I might aswell make it worth it” before adding another 593494390 products to your basket?  Yeah, that.

Well, I was after a new foundation… not because I needed one… heck, I could paint the Eiffel Tower a pleasant shade of “vanilla” with the amount of unfinished foundations in my stash.  No, it was simply because one of you lovely lot suggested that I might like Elizabeth Arden’s Ceramide Ultra Lift & Firm Makeup.  You bloody big enablers, pack it in… that’s supposed to be my job.  Anyway, I spied it on Fragrance Direct at a ridiculous price of £8.99 (RRP £31) and I couldn’t resist it.

Then the whole internal postage conversation kicked in and I added a couple of bright Rimmel Kate lipsticks in #6 and #13 to my order to ensure that my makeup-receiving-grin would be even wider when I met the postman at the door.

(while I’m on the subject of FD, you should probably know that they’re selling some great OPI shades from circa Spring 2012 for £3.99 a-piece at the moment, you’re welcome)

Last weekend, I decided that I needed a muted lipstick, and I was so thoroughly sick of reading all that hype about the Rimmel Apocalips that I caved.  I bought Celestial, but I don’t like it – what a bloody waste of anticipation!  I’ll properly review it later if you can even be arsed to suffer another post about them.

My final purchase of the weekend came in the form of this lovely little tin of Herbacin Wuta Kamille Glycerine Handcream.  I bought the tin because it was cuter but John Lewis (where I picked this up) also sell a 100ml tube which is infinitely more practical.  I wouldn’t call it deeply nourishing but it’s easily absorbed and smells beautiful.

What have you been buying this week?

I spent every Summer in France as a teenager, so it was lovely to be able to rediscover some of my old haunts, particularly down the aisles of the nearest Super U.  My first stop wasn’t for skincare, but haircare.  My obsession with Dop shampoos has been a long-lasting inexpensive love affair which my poor Mother has to tend to every-time she returns to France in the Summer with a shopping list longer than her own!

This time around I decided to treat my dry hair to some of their more moisturising shampoos in the shape of their Argan-oil and Shea Butter-enriched formulas.  Ignore the 2-in-1 labels, I never actually use these without a separate conditioner.  The bottle on the left is their original formula, I find that all of these shampoos are less stripping than many of their UK counterparts, plus the 400ml bottles last forever!  I paid around £1.40 per bottle.

For conditioning, I picked up two Le Petit Marseillais products, one enriched with Shea and Argan, and one with Shea and Honey.  Both have been made for dry, frizzy hair-types and cost around £2 / £3.50 respectively.  All of the above I bought at Super U, our local French supermarket.

Next, I moved on to the pharmacies.  Outside of Paris, there’s less choice in the brands available and they tend to vary from pharmacy to pharmacy.  Our local supermarket has it’s own rather wonderful para-pharmacy attached so I didn’t have to venture too far but I still couldn’t get my hands on any Embryolisse (I wasn’t surprised, I’ve never been able to in the past outside of major cities), or more disappointingly, Avibon – of which I was told they are currently experiencing a nationwide shortage!

I did, however, manage to pick up a tube of Homeplasmine which Mr. L uses on his lips when they’re cracked.  It’s a great alternative for anyone who dislikes the feeling of balms as it doesn’t feel remotely claggy or heavy with more of a matte texture.  It’s also great for sore, post-sniffles noses, and cuts and bruises and is priced at around £3.75 for a small tube.  My final pharmaceutical purchase was for Leila and is something I always get Mum to pick up for me in lieu of Calpol!  Doliprane is France’s generic kid’s paracetamol and dosage is measured by the child’s weight rather than their age, making it far more effective (in my opinion) at bringing down fevers.  It costs around £2 a bottle.

I bullied myself into trying some new skincare products, desperate though I was to stock up on the old faithfuls.  I’m quite proud of myself that I didn’t come back with more than this!  My skin is still pretty dry and the change of water/travelling has made it quite finickity.  You may notice a bit of a Zinc theme running through my choices, blame my Dad… he’s a bit of a skincare tart (thanks to his eczema not vanity!) and led me in the direction of these tantalising treats.  What a great Dad I have!

I opted for a full set of skincare from makeup removal to cleansing, toning and moisturising.  I’m currently undergoing another round of IPL for facial hair removal, so tailoring my choices for irritated skin seemed like a good idea.

I went for: Uriage Anti Irritation Cleansing Gel (approx. £7.50), Bioderma Atoderm PO Zinc Ultra Soothing Creme (just under £10.00), a supermarket cheapie micellaire for eye-makeup removal in the shape of Mixa Eau Nettoyante Apaisante (£3.00), and La Roche Posay’s Serozinc which I’m hoping will provide additional cooling/calming after my lasering (£5.00).

As if I could forget the chocolate (or the wine, but that’s a whole other post!)

The French seem to have a greater appreciation for salty caramel chocolate than we do in the UK.  Crunchy, smooth, chewy, silky… all textures are catered for… I reined myself in a little but could have returned with far more than what you see above!

What do you think of my buys?  Anything you’d like to try for yourself?

I don’t do many ‘haul’ posts, I don’t think they’re quite as popular in the blogosphere as they used to be?  Taken over by beauty box posts perhaps?

Anyway, I’ve been having a bit of a high-street love-in this past week and in the town where I’m currently staying, I’m limited to a Boots and a Superdrug – the Superdrug is a good ‘un, the Boots store massively blows but I did spot a good discounted section at the back that I didn’t have a chance to check out.  My LUSH purchases came from my local store in Southampton just before I drove up North. Um, that’s about it really – here’s what’s prompted me to open my purse this week!

When you’ve got a full fringe, dry shampoo is your friend and I thought I’d give Batiste Cherry a spin, I usually go for the original, dark, or tropical but I think this one is my new favourite.  I’m a massive fan of Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation and surprised myself when I realised that I hadn’t given the Healthy Mix Serum version a go – again, this is a big hit with me (so far).  I think it suits my dryer skin even better and gives a slightly more translucent coverage.  The only gloss that I’ve ever repurchased is BarryM’s Lip Gloss in Toffee, it’s a wonderful colour with a pretty amount of shimmer and a non-sticky texture, I love it!

As for my LUSH dabble, I picked up another holy grail in the form of Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter, it’s the one I keep in my handbag and I generally alternate between this and CND’s Solar Oil which I use immediately after painting my nails.  I was sent a bottle of LUSH 9 to 5 Cleansing Lotion a few weeks ago and whilst I’ve been enjoying using it, it hasn’t set my world alight you know?  I’m not really expecting LUSH Ultrabland to either, but I wanted to try another cleanser to discover the differences and to see which one I lean towards in terms of formula, as they’re both quite different.  Finally, I picked up a bath bomb for Leila – yes, it’s Space Girl.  Yes, it contains copious amounts of glitter.  No, I didn’t have a say in the selection and yes, I will be the one left cleaning the bath.

What was the last beauty product you snapped up?

I’m sure I was a peeping tom in a past life because I love to see what other people have in their baskets when I’m in Boots.  Please, please tell me I’m not the only one who has a sneaky peek when the person infront is getting their basket emptied by the sales assistant.

Infact, I don’t just do this in Boots… I do it in Asda… and I judge other people’s shopping habits while I’m at it.  Not that I’m in a position to judge you understand, the only fruit that transfers to the conveyer belt from my trolley is for L but it always makes me look good while I try and hide the jelly tots and pork pies under the toilet rolls.

Anyway, here’s a peek at my lunchtime shopping basket as I zipped between Boots, Body Shop, Superdrug, Wilkinsons, Greggs… yano, the essentials.

Check out the ugly duvet cover, I think it’s vintage 1998.

So, what did I buy? (this is the lamest of lame posts… apologies, it seemed like a good idea for 5 seconds back when I started writing it).

Pantene Pro-V Style Volume & Body Hairspray (£3.36)

I don’t like hairspray… but my hair struggles to hold curls for longer than 10 minutes so this is my current hairspray of choice for when I’m wearing my hair down but ‘styled’.  I’m not a hairspray connosieur but this one doesn’t add any additional weight to my fine hair, gives a good hold and doesn’t cost a bomb.

Boots Pharmaceuticals Re-Energise Tablets Berry Flavour (£4.07)

While I was browsing the supplement aisle, a man leaned across me and picked up THREE mega packs of Berocca (they’re on 3for2) costing him £30, in one swoop… man, he must be knackered.  Me?  I’m only mildly exhausted, so whilst the simple answer would be to get more sleep and eat properly, I’d rather find solace in a £4.07 tube of fizziness than do the right thing for now.  Not that I know what these are like, they may well be unbearable.

Soap & Glory Flake Away Body Scrub (£6.64)

Yinka keeps bloody going on about this scrub and I thought it was about time I see what the fuss is about.  If I don’t come out of the shower shining like a new penny, I’ll be having words.

Sanctuary Salt Scrub Bar (£4.85)

I picked this up to fulfil the 3for2 that’s currently on in Boots and Mr. L has his beady eye on it already.  Anyone tried it?  Do I need to rescue it back to my side of the bathroom?

The Body Shop Rose Oud EDP (£6.00 in the sale)

This is LOVELY and I almost missed it.  I spritzed it without paying much attention and it was only when I’d left the store that I actually noticed it.  It’s a dirty rose trailing with sweet wood.  The warm, resinous qualities combine with a hint of spice… but to my (uneducated) nose it smells quite, quite unsynthetic, which coming from The Body Shop is a shocker.  If you’re passing a store, do pop in and check it out!

Wilkos Nail Polish Remover sans Acetone (£can’t remember)

Dull but essential, dunno if this one is any good… but it was cheap.

Good Works Good Invigorating Shower Gel (£2.05 in the sale)

On the Boots clearance stand… not much to say about this other than when I read the word ‘ginger’ it went in my basket.

Soap & Glory Hand Food Hand Cream (£4.85)

I’ve been reading good things about this hand cream recently and thought I’d give it a go.  You get a heap of product for not much money but only time will tell whether it’s worth the purchase.  Smells nice though!

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Have you picked up any lunchtime treats today?

There’s a simple truth right there.  Buying too much makes me feel guilty though and no-one likes feeling the weight of their child’s university education resting on their shoulders.  No pressure Leila.

Here are a few bits I’ve picked up this week…

Lanolips 101 Ointment (£11.22) – I’m on my last tube and thought I’d grab one while I remembered.  This is a staple purchase for me to keep my lips in good condition.

Clinique Even Better Makeup SPF15 in 01 Alabaster (£21.00) – I tend to forget how affordable Clinique makeup is when to all intents and purposes, I do still consider it a high(er) end brand.  This was an impulse buy for me… I really wanted to check out the new Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturiser but I didn’t get that far because I fell in love with the texture/coverage of this one first!  I’ve only worn it once so I’m not ready to review but first impressions are good.

Mystic Moments Murumuru Butter 100g (£7.50) – I plan to melt this and use it as a leave in conditioner… well, that’s the plan.  If it’s too rich, I’ll be using it as a pre-wash treatment instead!!

Mystic Moments Macadamia Oil 100ml (£3.75) – My Dad has v. dry skin and I’ve converted him to using a body oil whilst still wet from the shower.  Unfortunately, I haven’t converted him to the price tags that I’m happy to pay for my post-shower treats.  I’m going to do a bit of googling and see if I can fashion him a rudimentary body oil that softens and replenishes on a budget to suit him!  As for the Macadamia?  Well… I thought I’d nick a bit for my hair while I was at it 😉

Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream (£7.65) – I’m on my second tube and this stuff just works really nicely for me (thanks Nicola Pixiwoo!) whenever my skin is feeling under the weather.  I had a breakout a couple of weeks ago and I feel that this has helped me get over the ‘recovery’ period with less fuss and foundation application woes.

Avon Solutions Plus Total Radiance (£various) – This was recommended to me a couple of weeks ago by one of you lovely lot as a great tinted moisturizer and it works in the same way as the Estee Lauder Daywear Sheer Tint Release that I reviewed here.  Except that this gives less colour making it a great option for pale types who find the Lauder version deepens their tone too much.  The bad news is that it’s not available on the Avon website as I look today so if you want to give it a go, you’ll need to scour eBay.

Lucky Scent Samples (£various) – I feel a new obsession coming on… I ordered some hard-to-find fragrance samples from LuckyScent.com and they arrived within 5 working days from the U.S!  I’ve already fallen head over heels with one of them… uh oh.

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What have  you been treating yourselves to this week?  Anything I can add to next week’s list? 😉

When I was in London last week, I was on a lipstick mission… overtaken by the urge to find something to tempt me, I came home with more than I bargained for – a new lipstick obsession!

The new Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color’s had been piqueing my interest for a few weeks now and I headed to the counter in HoF Westfield to take a closer look.

The new Rich Lip Color range comprises of 12 relatively bright shades which definitely lean more Summery than Autumn/Winter in my opinion.  I chose two from the 12: Mod Pink and Guava.

Mod Pink was a shoo-in from the moment I spied the bullet.  It’s a lovely pink for Spring/Summer.  I took a bit more convincing with the other despite previously professing my love for all things Guava!  I was just a little unsure if it would be too warm and be a bit too “Oh HAI lips!”

I am pleased with myself that I pushed out of my comfort zone… not only that but I completely avoided Old Hollywood, a particularly lovely-looking red!

The packaging is the typical, sleek Bobbi Brown affair… nothing particularly exciting, just understated and elegant enough to pull out in public should you do that sort of thing!

God I love new lipsticks! *drool*

The texture of these is good!  Firm but smooth to apply with barely any drag on the lips.  Pigmentation is high (as you would expect from a range called “Rich Lip Color”.

Finish-wise, the two that I own are both semi-matte and despite this, they feel extremely comfortable on the lips and not particularly drying considering the very good wear I achieve from them.  I would estimate at around 4/5 hours without eating or drinking.

And here’s how they look in context with my face…

Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color Lipsticks are priced at £16.00 each on counter but are currently available on the House of Fraser website with 10% off.

Next on my list is Bikini Pink!

Are you planning on checking these out? Have you bought any already?!

I do love reading about the things that people pick up in their lunch breaks, so hope mine is somewhat interesting too!  This wasn’t a lunch break… more of a ‘coffee’ break with the lovely Ally.

Since getting my Clarisonic, I’ve turned into a bit of a cleansing freak and there’s nothing I like more now than experimenting with all manner of different cleansers in conjunction with the gadget!  Honestly?  I don’t know how I didn’t get the crap beaten out of me at school.

Not only that, but despite having found a total JOY in the new Elemis Melting Cleanser, I *still* can’t resist picking up these ‘just incase’.  This is my problem though… by the time I’ve finished experimenting to see if I can find a cheaper alternative, I will have spent what it costs to go and by the Elemis twice over!  Please tell me I’m not alone in that kind of nonsense!

So after that rambling… what did I get?

Well, there’s currently a rather tempting 3for2 across skincare lines in Boots at the moment so that’s where I indulged!  I picked up the Boots Botanics Organic Cleansing Balm (£6.63) after reading the on-site reviews.

I also grabbed a nifty looking Boots Botanics Organic Nourishing Eye Makeup Remover (£3.99) (US link – I can’t find it on the UK site!) and the much revered Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation in Opal (£14.30) which I’m hoping to use as a redness concealer.

One last stop near the haircare and I grabbed the new Batiste dry shampoo for brown hair.  I’m not sure if this is reformulated or just repackaged from this one.  I’m secretly hoping this can will get me through those days where it takes you longer than it should to realise that you seriously should go buy some more hair dye.  Like now.

I’m in London today and I’ll be doing my best to avoid ‘popping’ into Boots for another look before the offer ends.  Honest!

What have you been hauling recently?

The dust is clearing and I’m surveying the damage that IMATS has done to my purse.  It could be worse, it could have been better.  I set myself a budget and exceeded it (of course).  But, I don’t feel gut-wrenching guilt and my child will still be able to eat (gruel) next month.

The haul.  The picture above is oddly missing a lip tar but I don’t care enough to retake it.

I bought a freestyle Yaby palette from MUABoutique stand (served by the awesome DvoraDvine no less! *swoon*) with the intention of filling it with random Yaby purchases throughout the year.  I had to pick up a couple of eyeshadows to start my collection off too right?

I made a beeline for Guru Makeup Emporium as soon as I arrived… (having sussed out which MUFE stockist had the best discount first of course).  I wanted to try the new Rouge Artist Intense lipsticks and picked out three that caught my eye.  I also grabbed the one of the new Uplight highlighters in #11 and another MUFE Aqua Cream for my collection.  Love them.

O to the doube C – I bought 4 of these last year and although I um.. haven’t really worn them much, I wanted some of the new shades as soon as I swatched them.  Now that I’m getting more comfortable with brighter colours and wielding a lip brush, I’m hoping I’ll reach for them more frequently.  If I don’t, I deserve shooting for being stupid and flahoolick.

INGLOT were offering a cool 30% discount, so although I wasn’t intending to indulge… I really got sidetracked by a few items.  Can you tell I kinda have a thing for lipstick yet?

Finally…

This one was actually a mistake.  An embarrassing one at that.

You know the infamous Face Atelier foundation that is supposed to be like “uhmazing”?  Well…. someone clearly wasn’t paying enough attention or was high on nail polish fumes or something.  The stand I bought this foundation from was called Make Up Atelier Paris.  Slight difference there right?  My brain saw “Atelier” and swooped before engaging.

Now, idiocy aside… I actually preferred the texture of this foundation to FACE Atelier’s after swatching at the FACE Atelier stand to compare.  This one feels lighter in texture but with that same silicone slip… I’m hoping this will be a good choice as the weather gets warmer.

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So there’s my sins… I’m very pleased with them and if there’s anything you’d like me to review/swatch first, tell me and I’ll push it to the front of the IMATS haul queue.

Did you go?  What did you buy?

A few weeks ago now, I made a haul from Puresha when they were offering the Cargo Plant Love range at half price.  It’s an organic ECO-CERTed range that I’d been eyeing up for ages but this was the push I needed to commit to a closer look.

I picked up 4 things which were delivered super quickly by Puresha and tied up in a rather beautiful furoshki wrap.  I’m loving this company’s commitment to ‘beautiful living’.

But enough about the stockist, how about the makeup?

I have mixed thoughts.  For one thing, the packaging feels flimsy and unfortunately one of my eyeshadow pans had come unstuck and was rattling about inside the casing.

But… I’ll get my single biggest problem outta the way first shall I?  I experienced an epic eyeshadow fail in this order.

One of the eyeshadow solos I ordered was a rather lovely looking shade called Loon.  Here it is on the left:

It’s described as a glimmering khaki bronze.  I’d describe it as tea leaves.  And I’m not talking about the colour.

Nice texture… how about swatched?

Sadly, a completely unusable eyeshadow.  On the other hand… Blue Jay is a truly truly beautiful slate blue.  Has anyone ever experienced an eyeshadow with a texture like my Loon?  I contemplated contacting Puresha about it, but to be completely honest… at the price I paid for my order, I’d rather feel that I was robbing them by asking for a replacement.

Anyway, one eyeshadow win… one fail…. what else did I get?

I bought a lipstick in shade Yakushima.  I wanted a soft, sheer plum… which is exactly what I got.

I’m not massively keen on the scent… it’s very waxy smelling, but I do love the shade.  Sheer, rich plum with a subtle gold glimmer.  The glimmer gives the illusion of fuller lips and makes this a fantastic choice for the festive season.

The final thing I picked up was the Green Goddess Collection palette that contains 4 eye shadows and 2 blushes.  I absolutely adore how slimline this thing is… check it out…

With the exception of Rose blush, all products are incredibly shimmery.  The eyeshadow in Lily is reminiscent of Urban Decay’s MCRA-type glitter… it’s too much.  I’m not entirely sure how much wear I’ll get out of this palette to be honest.  All shades are well-pigmented although Thyme (the pale shimmery green) has a little of that tea-leaf thing going on again.

The blushes are so-so… Rose is more of a bronzer on me because it applies with quite a deep, warm almost brick-like appearance, though it looks nice with a small amount of the very shimmery Peony dusted ontop.  I just need to use a very light-hand with these two.

So overall, it’s a mixed bag.

From the rattly loose-panned packaging to the eyeshadow textures that just won’t apply properly, I think that Cargo’s Plant Love range may well have some quality issues that will prevent me from exploring the brand further.  I did wonder if perhaps I’d received one from an ‘off’ batch.  Infact, that’s what I assumed… until I read this on MakeUpAlley.  Sound familliar?

The things that I’m happy with… I’m very happy with.  The rest, a bitter disappointment.

You can purchase Cargo Plant Love products online from Puresha with prices starting from £6.50

I’ve hit the shops a few times in recent weeks in a bid to cheer myself up – I’ve been a total grump lately.  Mr. L says that extra-marital affairs are out so I took comfort in the warm arms of the high street instead.

Here’s what I’ve been indulging in recently…

I repurchased Max Factor Second Skin Foundation (£12.99) today.  It’s become an everyday staple… I wouldn’t reach for it on a night out or when I need flawless skin, but for daily wear… it’s a keeper.  Doesn’t let me down and evens out my skintone without looking heavily made-up.

Last week, I took a risk on Benefit’s Boi-ing “industrial strength” Concealer (£16.50) and whilst it’s ‘ok’… it’s not wow-ing me.  I find it quite dry and hard to blend… plus it emphasises any dry skin around my nose.  Coverage is indeed good and lasting power impressive.  I think perhaps I would have been better buying this at the start of summer rather than the prelude to Winter.

I can’t stop myself from heading for the makeup aisle whenever I’m in Asda… it’s those George nail polishes (£1.00)!  And right now, they’re back on at £1 each.  I originally picked up 2 to go towards this year’s Advent Giveaway (yeah, I’m a big spender) but I liked one of them so much, I picked it up for me too!  It’s a glass flecked orange that enchanted me in the bottle.  Very Hallowe’eny!

Talking of nail polishes, I grabbed the last bottle of Barry M’s new Instant Nail Effects (£2.95) this afternoon.  Superdrug was out of stock, but Boots came up trumps!  On my way home, I stopped off at Sallys and raided their reduced section for O.P.Is.  Only one caught my eye… infact, more than anything… it was the name.  “You’re a Doll!” (£3.50) – too cute.

What else…

Also whilst I was in Boots today, I took advantage of the return of the £5 off No7/R&M vouchers and picked up something I’d missed out on last time!  Everyone was raving about the deal where you could purchase No7’s new Exceptional Definition (£12.00) mascara and get a lovely Autumnal eye palette (at top of picture) for free.  Using the voucher meant that I only had to hand over £7 for both!  Bargain!  I need a new mascara like I need hole in the head but… um… shhhhhh.

I also sneaked in John Lewis over the weekend and emerged clutching Chanel’s Ombre Essentielle Eyeshadow in Safari (£19.50).  I don’t know how it happened… I was just browsing the concession (officer) when all of a sudden I found myself merrily handing over a crisp £20 note and sobbing at the pitiful change I shoved back in my purse.

Lastly, I scored MACs discontinued Penny Shadestick from the CCO last time I was in – which was ages ago… but I’ve only just found it in the bottom of a bag *blush*.

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What have you been buying recently?

I wanted to get these out quickly in the hope that the photos/swatches over my overspend haul may be useful to those still making up their minds on what they want to order.  But I failed…

I’m not gonna do any proper reviews, I’m just trying to put some shots out there that are as colour accurate as I can manage.

Without further ado…

The Haul!

Stereo Rose MSF – surprisingly wearable on my pale, cool-toned skin.

Read the rest of this entry »

No, really…

Unboxed Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks in Nectar and Rose for £16 each with free postage?

I’ll take both thanks.

Rose

Nectar

Let me know if you indulge, who needs boxes anyway?