A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Last weekend saw VexintheCity and myself wandering the streets of Paris, city of lights and painfully stylish women.  What is it with Parisienne ladies anyway?  Do they teach eyeliner in schools?  I didn’t see a single pair of eyes that hadn’t been expertly rimmed with smudgy black kohl.  It was both refreshing and slightly intimidating.

Here’s some shots from the (very long) day out, starting with the Paris essentials:

A map, we looked at it blankly all day long.

Jaffa Cakes – Don’t attempt the Eurostar at 6.22am without copious amounts of sugar close at hand.

Papped – I swear to God I did not pose for this!  Red lipstick made me feel almost cultured enough to tread the cobbled streets though.

Undeniably Paris!  Napoleon’s rebuild of the great city renders it thoroughly iconic with it’s long, wide Boulevards and grand Avenues!

Ahhh Sephora!  My first ever visit!  This is the one on Champs Élysées, we arrived v. early and as you can see, it wasn’t too busy at all!

Makeup, makeup as far as the eye can see!

Can you believe we sat our bums down on the posh chairs in Ladurée only to be told that we were too early for cake?  Too early… for cake?  So we boycotted all things French and went to McDonalds instead.  No really… we were famished!

As night fell, we indulged in a little of Paris’ notorious cafe culture… I recommend the house Merlot at Café Kléber, though I was a bit squiffy after only two glasses!

As you can probably tell by this photo.

But not this one!  Oooh La la!  Je t’aime La Tour Eiffel!

So what did I buy in the capital of fashion, beauty and all things ladylike?  Not a lot actually.  I’m saving my pennies for this weekend at IMATS but I did pick up a couple of bits…

See?  How restrained was I?

Despite all your fabulous advice and words of temptation, (for which I was immensely grateful and will be relying on when I return later in the year!) I held back and only picked up a Bioderma cleanser (for Mr. L!), a MAC CCB (I know, sacrilege to go to Paris and buy MAC right?) and a Rouge Baiser Lipstick (described as the world’s first ‘kiss-proof’ lipstick!)

Did I do well?  I also played with some MUFE in Sephora and expanded my IMATS wishlist tenfold.  Oops.

It’s the 26th January and in honour of Australia/Survival Day, I’m showcasing some great products born from the land Down Under!

It’s fair to say that the island nation are becoming a beauty force to be reckoned with and 2011 is sure to see tremendous UK growth for Aussie-grown brands such as Hissyfit, Shizen and Lanolips to name just a few.

I admit to having a soft spot for these Antipodean enterprises, it’s a part of the world that I hold close to my heart.

And so, without further ado – here are some of the brands in my beauty cupboard that hail from the land that brought us Neighbours, Tim-Tams, Kylie Minogue and more deadly snakes and spiders than you can shake a stick at!

1. Aesop – Aesop’s Rosehip Seed Lip Cream wasn’t quite intensive enough for my lips… but it makes the most delightful smelling, fast-absorbing cuticle butter around!

2. Naive Beauty – Naive’s Magneteyes Under Eye Algae Mask* is a welcome quick fix for tired eyes.  Cooling, refreshing and moisturising – the pack of 10 eye pads can even be re-used if you treat them with care!

3. Glitter Gal – The Holographic Nail Polishes* from Glitter Gal are to die for!  Super blingy, super holo and super gorgeous.  They need to be more accessible in the UK though!

4. Lanolips – Lanolips ultra-nourishing lip ointments are my everyday staple, the new (and sadly limited edition) Lemonaid Lip Aid* is an innovative take on the original formula, combining organic lemon oil to naturally exfoliate whilst the lanolin takes care of the moisturisation!

5. Invisible Zinc – The cult Aussie suncare brand have rendered themselves squeaky clean with IZ Cleanser, a 12% glycolic acid cleanser.  I use this weekly as an exfoliating cleanser to leave my skin smooth as a baby’s bum!

6. Becca – Becca hails from Perth in Western Australia and is the brainchild of MUA Rebecca Morrice Williams.  I love the brand’s Pressed Shimmer Powders as seen above in the shade Princess.

7. A’kin – Australian made and owned natural skincare brand A’kin produce products using only botanical ingredients, fairly well-known in the UK… I love their Cellular Radiance Serum when my skin is being particularly reactive and badly-behaved!

8. Alpha-H – Another Aussie brand to have developed a cult following across the globe, Alpha H are well-known for their best-selling product, Liquid Gold – a glycolic based resurfacing lotion.  Their simple packaging belies a whole host of cleverly formulated products that promise anti-ageing nirvana!

9. Inika Cosmetics – This sleek mineral makeup brand is another Antipodean delight with a core range of over 70 products.  I’ve recently discovered their Liquid Mineral Foundation, which I’m enjoying for natural and moisturising coverage.

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Do you have any favourite Australian beauty brands?

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* denotes PR sample.

What better way to start a Monday morning than with the news that TESCO has launched new health and beauty services for beautiful recessionistas and time-pushed lovelies everywhere!

The services are currently being trialled at stores in Wembley, Cambridge Bar Hill, Milton Keynes Kingston and Manchester (Walkden) where they are offering nail treatments and threading at competitive prices.

From the end of January, stand-alone TESCO beauty salons in Leicester and Chesterfield will also offer hairdressing services.

Prices will be competitive – £20 for a cut and blow dry, £15 for a shampoo and hair cut and £12.50 for a hair cut.  A half leg wax is £10 and full leg £15.

Would you be happy to entrust Mr. T to look after your barnet?  How about a quick wax and home before your Aunt Bessie’s defrost?!

…here’s an interview I did with the lovely Emily from Sparkle and Shade.  You can check it out if you’re looking for something to fill a boring morning with… I can’t promise it’ll make it any less boring though!

Well, what a whirlwind the last 4 days have been!

I’ve been up and down to London more in the last week than I have in months and then I headed off to Paris on Saturday with the infinitely good-humoured VexintheCity!  I didn’t spend as much money as I feared I might but what I bought, I’m very happy with.  I shall do a little Paris post later this week.

I’m playing catch up with emails, comments and posts so please bear with me and if I’ve missed a question (either by comment or email), do chase me up.

Have a great week friends x

I’m going to Parreeeee!  Not Paris… PARREEEEEEEE!

Innit.

What can I buy?  What would you buy?

Now bear in mind that being in the city of lurve will grant me access to the holy shrine of all things makeup – Sephora.  Are there any must haves?

The thing that I need to bear in mind is that the following week, is IMATS which means no MUFE shopping in advance of potential 40% discounts.

What goodies would you come back from Paris laden-down with?

Picture the scene… you’ve spent the last fortnight trying to come up with a blisteringly cool gift idea for your husband’s birthday.  You want something that says “I think you’re the greatest person walking the planet”. Not easy is it?

Things get harder when you have a husband who doesn’t really put any value on material possessions.  When he moved down from the North East 10 years ago, we were able to fit everything he owned in the boot of my hatchback.  I reckon we could probably do the same again today (although Leila might take some wedging in).

I toyed with the idea of programming books (but didn’t know which ones would flop), a short break (but we’re already going away this month), novelty gadgetry (dust gatherers), an iPad (he pretends to hate Apple ‘cos he’s a flash programmer but I know he really wants one regardless).

So, I was all set on the iPad (though wincing evertime I looked at the price) when I heard him discussing that “iPads are just about to be superceded by some amazing tablets”.  Brakes on that one sharpish then.

So there I was… secretly glummer than glum on the morning of his birthday because I hadn’t got him anything other than a novelty JUMBO keyboard to take the piss out of his old age with.  As a wife?  I FAIL.

When suddenly on my twitter stream, I’m reminded of this lady.

I fire up the Tweetdeck DM panel…

“How quickly can you dispatch a box of 12 cupcakes to my husband?” (we live in the same area)

“Is tomorrow morning too late?” (it’s gone midday by this point)

“A bit… I was hoping to get them today” (i’m never usually that cheeky – shows how desperate I was!)

“Let me see what I can do”

£18 and less than three and a half hours later(!), these were delivered directly to Mr L:

When the doorbell rang (after a quick “I’m on my way” tweet warning from Heidi!), I hid in the kitchen listening to Mr. L tut at having to answer the door.  His frown didn’t last long when he saw the beautifully presented box of goodness being held out for him!

“Happy Birthday!” Heidi cheerfully announced whilst I stifled my giggles in the next room.

But most importantly… how did they go down?

Pretty quickly actually!

If you’re local enough in Hampshire to take advantage of Heidi’s cupcake and buffet services – you should.  You REALLY should *wipes away the crumbs*.  You can check out her website here and follow her on twitter here.

Thank you Heidi for going “above and beyond” in my hour of need!  She must have raised an eyebrow at the random crazy lady tweeting her, but talk about saving the day!

An official statement on the current HQHair situation:

Unfortunately HQ Hair went into administration last week.  However in a bid to save the brand and the site it has been bought by The Hut Group. At the moment there is a holding site so some brands will not appear but the plan is to relaunch in a big way. HQ was a leader in the online beauty world and we want to keep it that way by investing in the technology and introducing exciting new hard-to-find brands as well as supporting those we currently stock. Please keep with us while we make the transition. All customer orders will be honoured and everyone will be looked after as always.

Kind regard
Hilary Andrews
MD

There’s much talk at the moment about what might and might not be happening with regards to the popular beauty site HQHair.  I know that for many European girls, the site was their main source for hard-to-obtain brands such as NARS (a brand that has been removed from the HQHair brand portfolio in the past few days).

I do hope that the company can get back on their feet soon.  in the recent past, I’ve felt at times that the online emporium haven’t been quite as focused as they should have been, though to be fair… the CS issues I have had have been rectified promptly when brought to their attention.

Perhaps this will be the kick needed to relaunch into the beauty leader they want to be.  Until then, my thoughts are with those who have lost their jobs at the brand.

I know you’re all raring to get back into some beauty-related ponderings (heaven knows, I am!) – but I wanna take a minute to share Leila’s first Toffee Nut Latte with you…

Doesn’t she look bored with her water?  Perhaps she’s ready for the good stuff…

mmmm… did you know that a vente eggnogg latte contains nearly 500 calories? So glad I limited my Starbucks festive drink intake to the double figures this Christmas.

“But what’s this?”

“Mam-meeee?  What’s this?”

tentatively… softly softly catchee monkey…

nom. nom.. NOM…

That’s my girl.

Let’s just say… I didn’t get any cream with my coffee.

Have a glorious Friday people, promise I’ll be back tomorrow with makeup-related frippery – thank you for all your kind comments, you’ve given my New Year a spring to it’s step! x

Well, it’s just over a month now until the biggest makeup show in town rolls around again.

IMATS, which is produced by Make-Up Artist Magazine stands for International Makeup Artist Tradeshow.

I attended this year and will be doing so again next month – I thought I’d compose a little post for anyone who’s thinking of attending.

Wanna know what to expect?  Read on…

Primarily and most importantly… IMATS is a trade show for trade professionals, though (with the exception of Sunday morning) it is open to the general makeup-loving public.  If you’re thinking of going and expecting to see all the brands you’re familliar with in Boots, don’t.  It’s not Selfridges beauty hall.

What you can expect to find are some fantastic pro brands such as OCC, Yaby, Kryolan, Ben Nye, Paris Berlin, Hakuhodo, Graftobian… really, it’s a dream for discovering some amazing new products and my shopping list for 2011 is getting dangerously long.

£20 will gain you entry to the exhibit floor and claim any available discounts, £33 will let you hear the speakers discuss their craft and share their tips.

So what about these discounts?  The discounts vary from the unimpressive to the very good.  The average is around 20%, though obviously the exhibitors who offered greater discounts (some around the 40% mark) saw their stalls rammed with customers the entire day.

If you want to see a list of the exhibitors who will be at the show next month, you can check them out on the IMATS website.  If you want more specifics on show day discounts, I suggest getting in contact with the exhibitors directly a little closer to the day.

So apart from the shopping… what else is there?

Some of the exhibitors produce fabulous demonstrations that are total eye-candy to watch!  If you pay the extra to listen to the speakers, you get to benefit from the knowledge that the best in the industry have to share.

The speakers for this years IMATS are listed on the IMATS schedule, do keep checking back as they’re sometimes subject to last minute changes.  One word of advice regarding the speakers… make sure you’re there EARLY.  Last year saw some disappointed show-goers who couldn’t get in to Terry Barber’s class due to the sheer numbers that turned up.

The Make Up Museum which showcases some famous works from the top professionals will be returning this year.  I spent a good 10 minutes being completely grossed out by this little makeup masterpiece from last year’s museum!

The show runs for two consecutive days: Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January and is held at Alexandra Palace in Wood Green (North London). You can buy your tickets in advance online and you should note that from this Friday (17th December), ticket prices will be going up.  Don’t delay!

Will you be going to IMATS next month?  If you’re planning on attending, hope I’ll see you there!

* all photos used in this post were shot at IMATS London 2010 – you can see more of my photos from the day here and here.

Morning stinkers!

Are you excited for Christmas?  I’m just starting to feel it properly now yano!  I haven’t got the tree or any decorations up yet… am I the last person in the world?

Oh god, I need to write and send off my Christmas cards too… and finish buying the last few pressies… and wrap them… and food shop… and stick my head in the oven from the stress of it all.  I bet you’re all organised aren’t you?

I hope you’ve been enjoying this year’s Advent giveaway so far and I’m sorry that some of the prizes are only available for the UK girls.  This will become even more apparent in the last week of giveaways I’m afraid.

These are all the prizes that have been donated from various brands and companies from within the UK and whose dealings and interests are all UK-based.  A couple of you have queried the reasoning behind the “UK only” thing and I wanted to let you know that there’s nothing discriminative about it… everything that I’ve purchased for the giveaway myself has been available to all of you lovely people.

What else…

My Red Lip series is proving to be so much fun!  Although I do feel terribly vain everytime I load the site up and see my gurning fizzog about 5 times over on the front page.  I am also taking delivery of far too many red lipsticks!  I just can’t stop buying them – every time you guys send me a photo, I’m off googling the lippie you’re wearing and heaven forbid I find it on eBay… I’m done for!

Talking of your photos, they’ll be going up in batches shortly – I love them and thank you SO much for getting involved.  Everyone loves a red lip (apart from Mr. L) and it’s brilliant that we’re encouraging each other to get a little bit bolder.  Christmas is a great excuse to use too for the shyer types among us!

Wendy at Bloggin’ Beauties was kind/lacking in better offers/bored enough to feature Lipglossiping in her Sunday Spotlight last week!

I’m really honoured… and if you’d like to learn a bit more about my blog (and the ugly mug behind it) head over there to have a squizz at the interview (which is in English)…

http://www.blogginbeauties.nl/featured/sunday-spotlight-lipglossiping/

While you’re there, check out her frankly incredible Halloween look… it makes me want to turn the clock back to October!

Thanks Wendy!  Hope I didn’t send your readers to sleep xx

OK.. so I think that’s all I really had to say [only about 5748957934 words then?]

Enjoy the rest of your week, I hope that all your Christmas plans start to come together (and mine too!)  Don’t forget to keep entering the giveaways and loads of luck to each of you. x

I promise after this, I’ll shut up about the snow.  Infact, it’s gone 10pm as I’m writing this and I’m a bit bored of it now.  I’m going to London tomorrow and I’ve just had to dig the car’s back tyres out of a 15″ drift.  Over the course of the day only a little has melted… the rest has compacted and is now really slippy.

I live on top of a hill… I’m not sure the car will make it down it.  I may have to slide down on my bum.

Still…. regardless of tomorrows potential problems, today… was a very good one.  Leila’s first taste of a Winter Wonderland and that little flump DID NOT want to come back inside!

We couldn’t stay out too long ‘cos L wouldn’t keep her gloves on!  I think we’ve lost one… it’s white, so we’ll have to wait for the snow to thaw before we’ve got a hope in hell of finding it again!

I also wore my blusher in a different way today… does it look ok?

Don’t laugh at that rather vain statement… I’ve struggled for years with blush placement.  I have what I like to refer to as ‘hamster cheeks’… the fleshy bit is rather… fleshy… and quite high.  This placement was recommended by a very special makeup artist that I had the pleasure of meeting on Tuesday.

I’m hoping to post tomorrow about that little encounter!

If it’s cold where you are, I hope you’re staying warm and wish me luck that I can get to where I need to be today! xx