A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I think I rank pretty highly on the sad-o-meter… I don’t feel very confident until I’ve put some sort of war paint on in the mornings, I can’t walk past a beauty counter without going in for a closer look and my bank statement reads like the exhibitor list at IMATS.

But what about you?  QVC have commisioned a survey of over 2000 women in celebration of their annual July beauty month which reveals that more than a 1/3 of British women won’t leave the house without makeup on and that 21% of us admit that putting on our makeup is the most important part of our day!  Say what?!

If you think that’s a bit extreme, read on…

Instead of thinking of our loved ones, a third of British women admit that their beauty regime is the last thing on their mind before they go to sleep and for one in seven British women, it’s also the first thing they think about when they wake up!!

But why do we do all of this?  Well… perhaps the next juicy snippet from the survey will answer that question…

Over a third of women (31%) revealed that they are more concerned with looking good for other women as opposed to impressing the opposite sex, perhaps because 65% of British women believe they are judged by other women more than men.

Craziness!

What do you guys think about this?  Do you feel judged by other women and c’mon own up, who thinks about their beauty regime last thing at night AND first thing in the morning!

Yeah, that doesn’t rhyme too well but ‘bossiping’ wasn’t a word last time I checked.  It’s 2.20am and I’ve spent all evening playing with makeups. Infact, I’ve been so preoccupied painting my face that I haven’t blogged and whenever I don’t blog, my head fills up with “stuff”. Stuff that will stop me from being able to sleep if I don’t turn the tap on my brain and let it flow somewhere, anywhere. I think is probably the #1 reason why I blog… when my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light. No messing. No time for books, telly, nothing. In the empty space between my photography blog and Lipglossiping, I used to lie awake for hours each night constantly searching for the cool side of the pillow and trying not to look at the alarm clock for fear of jinxing sleep forever. Blogging is good for me and it gives my night-owl habits a great excuse to manifest.

Anyway… Lipglossiping is Bossing just means that I’ve got another list for you. A list of ‘Do Its’. No reason, they’re just snippets of things I want to say I like without having to analyse in the minutest of details exactly why I like them because frankly, I’m gonna hit that pillow hard tonight.

IMMERSE: The Everyday Beauty, Long Tall Ally’s Tales from the Scales & Rouge Deluxe

ENJOY: Skinny Sugar Free Iced Vanilla Latte (tricky not to look like a twat asking for something so pretentious-sounding though)

ANTICIPATE: Clinique Black Honey Collection & Studio Look Books at Superdrug

LISTEN: Nouvelle Vague – Dance With Me

FOLLOW: @inmywindow, @lindseykelk, @cosmetic_candy & @beautie

BUY: GOSH Natural Touch Foundation, OSMO Intensive Deep Repair Mask & OCC Lip Tar in Memento

LUST: Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée

WATCH: But that’s the button for the internet…

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Have a lovely weekend people!

If I could pick only one lip colour to share the rest of eternity with, I would be faced with a decision-making crisis like no other.  I would find it preferable to contemplate chowing down on nothing but beans on toast for the remainder of my days than make an ultimate choice between my pinks, reds and nudes.

Having said that, the first step in the decision-reaching process would be the easiest.  Bold or neutral?  For me, it’s bold all the way.  I adore a bright lip, a pop of colour can work wonders to liven up a dull complexion, lifting weary expressions along the way.  Simply put, a new bright lipstick is one of the quickest, easiest and most affordable pick-me-ups known to (wo)mankind.

Some ladies wear their lip shades with an attitude that allows them to rock any colour they choose but the nervous among us have to be more cautious with our selections.  To play it safe, cooler-toned ladies generally look better in pinks and plums while warmer, olive-toned beauties sparkle in corals and fire-engine reds.  Of course, as with most things in life… rules are there to be broken but it’s always good to know the “rules” first in order to break them with confidence!

My favourite way to wear a bold lip is with good skin (hormones permitting), a slick of eyeliner, a hint of blush and nicely defined brows.  Bright lips can be quite draining so try to remember “fresh” face, not “freshly-dug-up” face when considering your overall look.  The key is to create a balance across the canvas that achieves a harmonious result, easier said than done but work on the basis that less = more and you’re halfway there.

My final consideration in the quest for lip perfection is upkeep.  Bold shades are the Mariah Carey of the lip world, they’re high maintenance and need careful care and attention to avoid a midday meltdown!  For long-lasting lustre, I recommend a liner to avoid bleeding, exfoliation and moisturisation to avoid the colour settling into furrows and the “apply, blot, reapply” technique to fortify dawn-to-dusk colour.  Failing that, just make sure you carry your lippie with you for mid-afternoon top ups!

I’m all about the lipstick but perhaps you’re more of a gloss girl?  The final decision lies with you but don’t forget to share your thoughts!

Tesco Magazine are running their latest campaign, Tesco Your Beauty Awards 2011 where you stand the chance to win lots of lovely beauty bits and if you’re very lucky, a trip to Antigua!

Head over there now and vote on your favourite beauty buys for unleashing the perfect pout!

* this is a sponsored post

Teeny quick update (knew I wouldn’t be able to stay away!)…

I’m having the bestest day thanks to the most thoughtful husband a girl could ever dream of.

Infact, I’m composing this post on my new phone and if it works it’ll hopefully make updating on the go a real possibility! (you poor, poor things).

Anyway, look at my lovely birthday presents!! How lucky am I?

Thank you for all your kind birthday messages, this getting older lark really isn’t that scary after all!

Eek! I hope this publishes without messing up the blog :/

drinking practically illegal amounts of tea

marvelling at how much joy this one brings

doing a bit o’ cooking and baking…

…but resorting to cheese on toast when the going gets tough

reliving my past…

…enjoying the present…

…and welcoming the future as I hit the big 3-0 on Sunday.

Please tell me it’s not gonna smart too much?  I’m a little apprehensive!  Posting may be sporadic over the next few days and if it isn’t… I really do love blogging a bit too much.

Have a great weekend people, I’ll see you on the other side!

…Le jour de gloire est arrivé!

I have strong connections to our neighbours over the other side of the English Channel and I’m not just talking about my love for Steak Frites!  I spent every Summer, the entire 6 week school holidays practicing my rubbish French and playing with the local kids not too far from La Rochelle.  My parents still visit for a few months every Summer and still try to drag me over there for family holidays fifteen years later!

It’s been a good few years since I visited for longer than a day trip, I think the overkill when I was a child/teenager may have put me off a little but the country will always hold a special place in my heart.

So, in honour of Bastille day and the fact that ordinarily (were it not ‘weigh in day’) I would be stuffing my face with Brioche and Pain au Raisin to mark the occasion, I’m gonna pay tribute to some awesome and lesser-known French brands that you ought to know more about!

1.  Darphin – Hailing from Paris, Darphin is a professional, botanical skincare line that takes a more holistic approach.  Priding itself on its aromatic, plant-based formulas, the latest addition to the line: Melaperfect* is an Anti-Dark Spot Perfecting Treatment designed for skin with hyper pigmentation.

2.  Rouge Baiser – This French drugstore brand is best known for creating the first ‘kiss-proof’ lipstick in 1927.  I own #405 L’Authentique… isn’t the packaging to die for?

3.  Nuxe – Born out of a small laboratory in Paris, Nuxe is now one of the best-selling brands in pharmacies today.  Another brand firmly based in natural origins, their dry oils have a global fan-base.  Apply a few spritzes to your skin, face, hair… anything that could do with a gentle golden shimmer!  The Huile Prodigieuse Or* is an iconic holiday essential.

4.  Payot – Created in 1927, this Parisian (I’m sensing a theme) Spa brand offers a huge range of products and spa treatments.  The philosophy of the brand is also heavily invested in massage techniques and facial exercises, practically pioneering beauty rituals that are still used in spas today.  The Payot Lift-Performance Firming Remodelling Care has been put to work on my (many) wobbly bits in the hope of some remodelling of my own!

5.  Caudalie – Born from French vineyards, the philosophy behind the brand is based in the anti-oxidant properties of the grape and the grapevine polyphenols.  The Caudalie Beauty Elixir promises to tighten pores and provides an instant burst of radiance to the skin.  I’m a long-term fan of the Grape Water spritz as an alternative to my Avene in hot weather so I’m looking forward to seeing if I can achieve any ooh la la miracles with the power of wine grape.

6.  T. LeClerc – The T. LeClerc line is steeped in heritage and prestige, best known for the iconic T. LeClerc powders in various correcting shades.  One day, I will get my hands on Banane but as things stand, I will make do with my blush and lipstick in all their beautifully packaged glory!

7.  Bioderma – You can’t enter a French pharmacie without being greeted by the same staple lines: Avene, Vichy, Bioderma, La Roche Posay and Biotherm to name just a few.  Of course most people know about the Bioderma Crealine H2O by now but the brand make some other lovely products too!  Bioderma Sebium Foaming Gel is a gently foaming wash for combination skin that doesn’t strip my face of moisture.  I’m getting my Pharmacie dealer (a.k.a Mum) to bring me back some more Pharmacie goodies this Autumn!

8.  Parfums D’Empire – My most expensive perfume purchase to date is Ambre Russe from Parisian fragrance house, Parfums D’Empire.  The most decadent combination of rum (though I think I’m supposed to smell vodka), amber, leather, tobacco and tea that catapults you straight into the grand corridors of an imperial Russian palace of yesteryear.  It’s completely over the top and a love it or hate it scent.  Can you tell I love it?  Love.  It.  Next on my list is Cuir Ottoman… just as delightful.

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What are your favourite French brands in honour of Bastille Day?

* press samples

Having a little tidy up this morning and I uncovered some more precious bits and bobs to put in Leila’s box of memories.  I unashamedly hoard for this collection of papers, objects, cards and photos that make up the parts of Leila’s life she’ll never remember.

Mr. L has to keep me in check a little.  I want to preserve ever memory we ever make together but let’s be honest, I don’t think they make boxes big enough.

From photos of her first day at home, a postcard from our first family holiday, her first lock of hair and even her name translated into Arabic by a friend who was delighted we’d kept the original spelling…. everything is here for her to look back on when she is big and has babies of her own.

I’m posting this here because I’ve noticed that the collecting has ground to a halt and I want to remember that even only 2 years on, these precious snippets of her life are moments I’ll never re-live.  When she’s five, I’ll want to remember her as she is now too.

Live in the moment, live in the past and live in the future… where my girl is concerned, I want to absorb every last second.

Do you collect memories like this?

Yes.  Christmas.  In July.

The Christmas press events (don’t know what they are? read BBB’s post here) are rolling in and I attended my first couple of the year yesterday.  They’re my favourites and I wish I could get in to London to attend more because the PR crowd (kinda like the IT crowd but with nicer hair and shoes) always work very, very hard to make the venues look super special and it really does bring a sense of Yuletide festivity to even the warmest of London days!

I know it’s all about the commercialism but you have to be a hardened cookie not to crack a smile when you enter the fairylands on display.

The Christmas events are always pretty packed too which gives me an opportunity to sneak around indulging my inner (wide-eyed) child and taking photos of all the beautiful things without getting (too many) strange looks.  I always feel like someone’s gonna wanna know why a beauty blogger is taking numerous photos of port & stilton.  I still haven’t come up with an answer but I think I should just pat my belly and lick my lips by way of a response.

Can you stomach a bit of Christmas in July?  Don’t worry… I’m not showing you the beauty offerings yet, unless it’s something super-duper hold-the-front-page exciting, they can wait until I’ve heard A Fairy Tale in New York for the first time on the radio.  So probably mid-August then…

But I can’t resist sharing some of the other pretty…. the pretty pretty.  Go on, whistle me a little Winter Wonderland.

OK, I promise not to talk about Christmas again until September.  Maybe.

Much love, me (and the elves) x

I had the best weekend I’ve had in ages… you know when you just can’t stop thinking about it despite how rubbish the following week is turning out to be?

Saturday I did a little shopping (just a little) and picked up some drugstore UK brands for a friend in the U.S. and perhaps a couple for myself too (but don’t tell anyone).  Then I hit Primark with all the gusto of someone with £20 burning a hole in their back pocket.  Bargain-a-rama.  Biscuit making and a round of catch the pigeon with Leila made for an alltogether exhausting afternoon!

Sunday was a beautifully lazy day spent in our local park (L loves the mini train!), cooking roast dinner and bread & butter pudding, playing with another WnW palette, talking to my Mum in France and generally being idle.  Bliss!

Some photos from my weekend (apologies for the food overload!)…

Did I mention Leila inally gave up the dodie too?  I told her the new baby down the road (there isn’t one) was crying because he didn’t have any dummies and that now L was a big girl… could she give him hers?  She wasn’t sure…

We put all five of her dodies in a fancy Jo Malone box (she would settle for nothing less) along with some ribbon and tissue paper.  Sealed the box with a big kiss and Mummy disappeared up the road (round the block twice) before returning with another box.  Leila was confused until I explained it was a present from the baby who was so pleased with his new dodies.  Leila opened the box to find a new pink and yellow toothbrush, so searingly obnoxious in colour she could do nothing but fall in love.

We brushed her teeth 4 times yesterday.  My clever, brave girl.

Hope you all had good weekends too, bring on the next one!

So, the news has broken.  Hold the front page.  Chezza’s got a noo doo.

Cheryl Cole by Lipglossiping aged 29 and 3/4

I’m bracing myself for the inevitable flurry of press releases for blonde hair dyes, root touch ups, tanning products that suit blondes, shampoo for fair hair, dog biscuits for dogs with owners who have golden manes… you name it, they’ll be an angle for it.

Then will come the scrutiny… ‘is it really blonde?’.  We’ll have blonde experts on morning telly firmly assuring the nation that what we’re witnessing is really caramel and not true blonde at all.  Then the cynicism as people wonder what new hair products L’oreal are trying to flog off this ‘momentous’ shift in the universe.

I just want to let it be known that I couldn’t give a flying chuff.  As you were.

…is one of those phrases you try to desperately scrub from your psyche, you can’t say it without rendering yourself a total twat.  It’s true, I’m sorry.  If it’s any consolation, I said it about 20 minutes ago and got a look from Mr. L that would have made Bowie feel uncool.  No mean feat.

Anyway, seeing as there’s no Lipstick League this weekend, I thought I’d list some blogs that I check daily.  I don’t have time to read many on a daily basis… I usually have a mega-fest once a week or something, literally devouring blogs in my path… but these are the ones I will get back out of bed to check if I’ve forgotten (ok, I’m lying but you get the idea).

LondonMakeupGirl – chief enabler and show-er of interesting stuffs.

Cosmetic Candy – the first British blog I read religiously back when it was called something really tacky like MostlyMakeup.

Lotus Palace – Kathi buys some seriously cool things.  I covet.

Eyeliner & Spray Paint – Robyn wears all the colours I don’t… it’s like my makeup alter-ego, plus she makes me laugh.

Beautys Bad Habit Blog – Lily has talentz, she makes me want to do crazy things like add jewels to my eye makeup and eat deep-fried ice cream.  Admittedly, it doesn’t take a lot to make me want to eat deep-fried ice cream.

Makeup For Professional Asian Women – Jamilla makes me want to buy stuff.  I like it when bloggers make me want to buy stuff.  Jamilla is an expert in this field.

Sailboat – Jennie’s blog transports me to a land of whimsy and cute jewellery, I always feel uplifted after a flick through the archives.

Makeup Your Jangsara – Makes me want to put makeup on at 2am, without fail.

Temptalia – It’s just total makeup porn isn’t it really?  I almost feel dirty peering closer at the screen to check out the swatches.

Designer Spray – Halima makes me want to be a cooler person.  It ain’t gonna happen so I read her blog instead.

Scrangie – Never have I bought more nail polish than after a few minutes spent over at Scrangie’s place.

Dempeaux – This chick would look good in a binbag and I want her wardrobe.  And makeup.  And she’s got a pet sheep that would totally love my back garden.

Ok, I’m gonna stop there… considering that there’s at least another 10 I could reel off without having to actually think about it, I’m re-evaluating my moans on never having enought time to read blogs on a daily basis…

I should stop bellyachin’ about that.

What are your DAILY reads?

What do you reckon this is all about then?

I’ll give you a clue… it’s not a lipstick.