A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

How do you keep subscribed to my updates. You know, since 2009 there have been over 2790 of them! That’s a lot of blogging, think of all the things I could have been doing with my life instead?! No actually, don’t…

What I want to know is… how do you follow my inane ramblings? In case you’re in need of a little update… here are some of the ways we can keep in touch…

Bloglovin‘

Bloglovin‘ is an easy way to find and store all of your favourite blogs in one place. It’s quick to log on and check for updates, giving you the gist of a post so you can decide whether or not you’re interested in clicking through to read more.

click here to subscribe via Bloglovin’

Email

For the least amount of effort on your part, subscribe to my daily mail out. You’ll only receive one email per day (and that’s only if I’ve updated!)

Any posts will be waiting for you to read from the comfort of your email inbox whenever you get a spare minute.

click here to subscribe to my daily email

Twitter

Incase you don’t know, I’m a wee bit of a Twitter addict (50,000+ tweets and counting!) If you have any questions or want to shout at me about something, this is the best place to find me! I use Twitter to promote my latest posts with a single link and automate a couple of links a day to older posts that you may not have picked up on the first time around.

Twitter is also where I link extremely time-sensitive info (deals, voucher codes etc.) and retweet lots of completely and utterly fascinating (honest!) snippets that I discover!

click here to follow me on Twitter

Facebook

I don’t really use Facebook if I’m honest…. but if you’re an avid fan, you can follow my page which will, by the power of the magical internet, feed my latest updates into your timeline.

click here to follow me on Facebook

Instagram

My Instagram account is more personal than blog-related. Generally involving attempts at healthy and not-so-healthy(!) dinners and treats, a wee bit of Leila’s antics and not much else!

Click here to find and follow my Instagram account

However you choose to follow my blog, if you do – thank you very much!

I did plan on catching up with my beauty blogging today, jumping back into the routine of photo-taking, editing, and tapping away at the keyboard that I’ve missed dearly.  What is it they say the best laid plans of mice and men?

Well, my plans went awry the moment Leila came snotting her way into our bedroom at 2 o’ clock this morning, coupled with a raging temperature and a hacking cough that made me want to throw one of us out of the window by the time 7am rolled around.  One quick phonecall to the school office later and our fates were decided… 11 hours later, we’re still in our pyjamas!

Starting with a bit of card-making (her current crafty obsession), some clothes-sorting and drawer rearranging… and a couple of books later… boredom struck.  Until I remembered a pack of Shrinkables that my friend Soraya from Powder Rooms had gifted Leila over the weekend.  If you’ve ever watched an empty crisp packet shrink in a pre-heated oven, you’ll know exactly what to expect from this novel little stocking filler!

We coloured and cut, scribbled and snipped until we were satisfied with our creations… our attention spans held strong until the last prince needed decorating, and while Madam was busying herself stealing a piece of her Dad’s fudge, I took over and ensured that the final Prince Charming was suitably suited and booted!  To be honest, it’s not often I can summon up the patience to do this kind of thing (making Play-Doh ice cream cones makes me want to go on a killing spree) but there was just enough colouring to keep her occupied and not too much to start her on a one-colour, screw-staying-in-the-lines rampage.

Three minutes in the oven later (our noses practically pressed to the glass) and we’d created a full set of mini (shrunk to about a 1/4 of their original size), hard plastic fairytale characters.  We discarded the stands (they weren’t very easy to attach) and Leila has lined them up lovingly along her windowsill, calling them her “stained glass” people.

Shrinkables are available in a Fairy Tale and Pirate variety from powderrooms.com. Priced at only £5 each, they make an excellent and original stocking filler for both big *cough* and small kids alike!

All in all, a lazy afternoon well spent.  When was your last pyjama day and was it as fun as mine?!

It’s Amazon UK’s 15th Anniversary today and it’s testament to how far online shopping has evolved over the years that we can buy all manner of beauty products from the comfort of our sofas.  I wouldn’t generally call Amazon UK my first destination for beauty but it’s one of those sites that will often pop-up offering a bargain as a result of a quick internet search.

I thought I’d share with you today the top 15 beauty bestsellers on Amazon UK.  They’re a motley crew and the lack of colour cosmetics proves to me that there’s still nothing quite like “swatching” before purchasing when it comes to those colour-crucial purchases!

Please excuse my random ordering in the above image, photoshop was not being my friend this morning!

Luxembourg – 15^th October 2013: Today marks the 15^th anniversary of the launch of Amazon.co.uk, and the site has revealed the top 15 bestselling beauty products from the site’s Beauty Store:

1. Olay Regenerist Daily 3 Point Treatment Cream
2. Riemann P20 Once a Day 10 Hours Protection SPF 20
3. Tangle Teezer Original Professional Detangling Hairbrush
4. Bomb Cosmetics Chocolate Ballotin Assortment Bath Gift Set
5. Bomb Cosmetics Luxury Ballotin Assortment Bath Gift Set
6. Olay Regenerist Daily 3 Point Treatment Super Serum
7. MoroccanOil
8. Fudge Matte Hed Firm Hold Texture Paste
9. The Edge Cuticle Pusher
10. Fudge Hair Shaper Strong Hold Texturising Creme
11. Travalo Easy Refill Travel Perfume Atomizer Spray Bottle
12. Avon Skin So Soft Dry Oil Body Spray
13. Dead Sea Spa Magik Dead Sea Bath Salts
14. Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum
15. St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse

Somewhat humourously, I’ve actually purchased four items from the above list myself… from Amazon UK!  I couldn’t even remember I had until I was clicking through the links (to nab the images) and kept seeing a little toolbar tip at the top of the screen giving me the option to click through and view my previous order!  Shopping problem?  Who me?

Have you bought anything from the list of Amazon UK’s Beauty Bestsellers?

As a terminally unfashionable sort of person, you know what you can do with your fashion weeks don’t you?  Which is why you didn’t read a single LFW-related post on this here blog this year.  Beauty weeks however… well, that’s a whole different ball game!

Fenwick (of Bond Street) have long been my favourite beauty destination whilst in London.  The venue is less frenetic than that of Selfridges, the atmosphere calmer.  The brands feel more “at home” and hand-picked, in a similar way to those at Liberty and they’re not afraid to clear their end of season beauty products at great prices.  From cosmetics to fragrances, I’ve picked up some wonderful high-end bargains over the years.

So what’s this Beauty Week about then?

In celebration of the launch of the store’s online beauty department, Fenwick will be hosting a week-long event devoted to demonstrating the latest beauty looks, skin-care, and makeup.  There will be a range of complimentary treatments available as well as demonstrations and surprise treats.  I’ve outlined the happenings below:

Saturday September 28

• Martin Carter, pro-celebrity make up artist for Stila
• Bethany Burrill, make-up artist for Estee Lauder
• Ferdinand Cadavid and Chantecaille’s national artists
• 12-3pm meet Ray Burns, founder X-Ray fragrances
• Meet Sotiris Lovaris, national make-up artist for Lancome

Sunday September 29

• Carl Grownwald, fragrance consultant for Dior
• A free mini polish from Nails Inc. when you buy their monogram manicure kit

Monday September 30

• Meet Gun Novak, founder of FACE Stockholm
• The Clarins Beauty angels descend
• Meet the Cosmetics 27 beauty technician

Tuesday October 1

• Meet Julien Azencott, co-founder of customized Codage skincare
• Meet Noelle Herzog, MD for Karin Herzog
• Meet Midori Fujiyama from Shu Uemura

Wednesday October 2

• Meet Dominic Devetta, co-creator of Shay & Blue
• Guerlain’s Make-up artist, also October 3
• Andre Suard from Geilly Green demonstrates hair up-do’s

Thursday October 3

• Meet Dr. Marko Lens, founder of Zelens.
• 1-6pm, meet Flavien, founder of Touche by Flavien hair
• Christopher Howells, national artist from Laura Mercier

Friday October 4

• Fred Letailleur, YSL’s international make-up artist
• Benoit Dumont, Nars’s international make-up artist
• James Read, founder of James Read Tan
• Meet Andrea Maack, founder of Andrea Maack fragrances
• Jo Martin, national make-up artist for Paul & Joe
• Christopher Howells, national artist for Laura Mercier

Saturday October 5

• Nars, James Read, Paul & Joe, Andrea Maack and Laura Mercier
• Tina Sogaard from Karin Herzog

Rather helpfully, no appointments are necessary… so if you find yourself in the area with a spare half hour, you’ll be welcomed at any event.  For further information and more details, you can follow @FenwickBondSt on Twitter or ring the store on: 020 7629 9161

Will you be popping by for your beauty fix?

How do you keep subscribed to my (almost) daily updates.  You know, since 2009 there have been over 2750 of them!  That’s a lot of blogging, think of all the things I could have been doing with my life instead?!  No actually, don’t…

What I want to know is… how do you follow my inane ramblings?  In case you’re in need of a little update… here are some of the ways we can keep in touch…

Bloglovin’

Bloglovin’ is am easy way to find and store all of your favourite blogs in one place.  It’s quick to logon and check for updates, giving you the gist of a post so you can decide whether or not you’re interested in clicking through to read more.

click here to subscribe via Bloglovin’

Email

For the least amount of effort on your part, subscribe to my daily mail out.  You’ll only receive one email per day (and that’s only if I’ve updated!)

Any posts will be waiting for you to read from the comfort of your email inbox whenever you get a spare minute.

click here to subscribe to my daily email

Twitter

Incase you don’t know, I’m a wee bit of a Twitter addict (50,000+ tweets and counting!)  If you have any questions or want to shout at me about something, this is the best place to find me!  I use Twitter to promote my latest posts with a single link and automate a couple of links a day to older posts that you may not have picked up on the first time around.

Twitter is also where I link extremely time-sensitive info (deals, voucher codes etc.) and retweet lots of completely and utterly fascinating (honest!) snippets that I discover!

click here to follow me on Twitter

Facebook

I don’t really use Facebook if I’m honest…. but if you’re an avid fan, you can follow my page which will, by the power of the magical internet, feed my latest updates into your timeline.

click here to follow me on Facebook

Instagram

My Instagram account is more personal than blog-related.  Generally involving attempts at healthy and not-so-healthy(!) dinners and treats, a wee bit of Leila’s antics and not much else!

Click here to find and follow my Instagram account

However you choose to follow my blog, if you do – thank you very much!

God, I love a beauty gimmick. In reality, I generally hate them… but it’s the promise of pure innovation that I just can’t resist!

It looks a bit like a handbag-sized torture device doesn’t it?

Have you already spotted it online?  Can you guess what it is?

I didn’t think it would bother me.  I thought that I was immune from the neuroses of the Mum at the school gates, sniffing into her hanky and waving goodbye to a piece of her woman-hood.  I mean… seriously, I’m better than that?  I don’t need validation through my offspring!  Sure, I’m not the self-validating “woman” I should be… heck, the word “womb” still makes me feel a bit squirmy, stuff of a feminist’s wet dream I am not… but neither am I reliant on other people to make me complete.

And yet, as I sit here… a few nights before Leila starts school, I’m a mess.

You see, I feel like I’m losing my little friend.  My beautiful little creature.  Someone I’ve nurtured, led, and loved for the past 4-years.  It’s not even as though I’m letting her spread her wings to go and fly amongst the clouds.  We’re being parted… unwillingly.  Whenever I ask her about school, she says… “it’s boring”.  She had a couple of trial days, and on the basis of this, has decided that school involves never leaving you chair as you please… putting your hand up to go to the toilet, and being told what to do and when to do it.  And let’s face it… she’s a little bit right.

A wee bit rebellious in my psyche, I think of school as a fast-track to learning how to “sit still, shut up, and listen”.  Ideal for working life.  Wear a tie, wear a blazer… do what you’re told, and conform.  But at the same time, it does give you (in a round-about way) the tools to question our world… the most powerful gift of education.  Leila loves to learn, I watch her confidence grow with every number and letter mastered.  I don’t push her… I’m a huge underachiever myself, quietly disappointing people around me but learning to the beat of my own drum.  She thrives, as most children do, from praise… and the satisfaction that she’s doing a good job.  How could I ever wish for her not to experience that joy?

Of course, I don’t.  But I worry….

I worry that she won’t make friends readily.  I worry that she won’t have anyone to sit with at lunch-time.  I worry that she won’t push herself to make connections… just reach out Leila, please reach out.

She has a good heart, one of the best I’ve come across.  I say that with as much bias as I do earnest-ness.  She has a kindness in her that makes her give pause after a strop… a sense of right and wrong that allows her, despite her young age, to apologise without prompting when she’s done wrong.  I’m not saying that she’s rare… but she is a good egg.  That’s all I want for her… to love, and to be loved.

So my darling girl… as I prepare to leave you outside your classroom on your first day of school.  Shoes as shiny as they can be, lunchbox as imaginative as it is tasty…. show your true colours to your friends.  Let them know that you are good, that you won’t ridicule, that you won’t judge without good reason.  You will go a long way.  A long way.  And ultimately, you will be happy.

And then I will be happy.  And proud to watch you every step of the way.

Good luck Leila, you’ll be grand!

I love TKMaxx more than I love almost anything. Whenever we nip into town, Paul takes L off to the nearby kids play place for an hour and laughs at me because he knows what’s coming before I’ve even opened my mouth…

“I’ll just catch up with you, I’m just gonna pop in here first” I say, gesturing wildly and excitedly at the entrance to TKMaxx.

You see, it’s a bit like one of those Lucky Dip boxes at school fetes. Except you don’t even have to pay 50p to see what they’ve got in stock!

My usual modus operandi once in store, is to head straight for the beauty bits. In our local store, this area seems to get less stock each time I look which makes me do a sad because I bloody love rummaging around the red stickers, glaring disapprovingly at other shoppers who think it’s ok to swatch on the spot. There’s a special place in Hell for people who swatch, spritz, or dig their nails into stock in TKMaxx. I hope it’s extra hot.

So anyway, beauty bits first… then home stuff… candles mostly. Where our TKMaxx is light on the beauty stuff, it goes heavy on the candles. There are always lovely bits from Bahoma, English Eccentrics, Parks, Jonathon Ward, Tocca, and various unknowns that only reveal their true delights when you have a sneaky sniff.

Finally, I move on to the kitchen stuff… I bought all my Circulon pans from TKMaxx, slowly building up my collection as and when funds allowed for it. Anyway, here’s what I treated myself to yesterday.

First up is the beautiful candle from the National Trust.  One sniff and I was sold, Beechwood and Bramble is gorgeously green without being fresh… it’s earthy, damp-smelling, woodsy… it’s a bit like Diptyque’s Feu de Bois but with some blackberry sprinkled in for good measure.  I love it so much, that I logged straight online and bought the matching EdT when I got home!

I spotted my new iPhone case from a mile off, well… in that colourway, you would wouldn’t you?!  The coral/orange chevrons screamed at me from across the aisle.  It’s from US Brand Agent18, really good quality and you can log-on to their website and download matching wallpapers for most of their designs.

Korres offshoot Kings & Queens remain one of my favourite “toiletry” brands, I may have mentioned this one or 574895 times before!  Usually I see sets of showee-gel minis on the shelves in TKMaxx but whenever I see a full-size product, I’m hard-pushed not to pounce on it.   The shower gels are my favourites but there will always be room in my bathroom for a Tsar Peter Tobacco Soap!

The Zirh Warrior Collection shower gels are actually aimed at a more masculine audience but I fell in love with the zingy citrus scent and couldn’t resist adding it to my basket.  I umm’ed and ahh’ed between this and some verbena bath salts (beautiful glass bottle, to-die-for scent) but I don’t take many baths!

My last acquisition was Jamie’s America which I nabbed after seeing some reviews online which talked about how he’d taken the oft-maligned US cuisine classics and showed how they can shrug off their “junk” food labels.  Waldorf Salad prepared with low-fat yoghurt for one.  The recipes are diverse and the photographs inside, beautiful.  I know Jamie’s been working his hardest at making himself look (and sound) like a massive tool recently, but my soft spot for him is showing no signs of firming up!

What was the last thing you bought in TKMaxx?

I do love other blogger’s What’s In My Bag posts.

Probably for the same reason that I get all hot under the collar when Through The Keyhole gets repeated on Challenge, the truth is… I’m nosey as hell.  Not in an intrusive, knock-on-your-door-always-in-your-face kinda way… more of a stalkerish, I’m-gonna-check-out-all-your-facebook-friends kinda way.  Don’t think I don’t know your IP address.

So anyway, there I was… getting all seal-clappy about doing my own What’s In My Bag… because, after all… four years is a long time for a blogger to go without doing one of these posts…

…when all of a sudden, I looked in my bag and got the blog wobbles.  You see, there really isn’t anything of interest in my bag at all.  Put it this way, I’m not about to unearth some wonder-product that I, as a beauty blogger, ardent ignorer of trends, swear by.  Life’s just not that interesting.

But I’ve snapped the photos… and I’ve already written about 200-words, so we’re both stuck with it.  Christ, even my bag is boring…

My bag, from Oasis (a shop with shoes so hot) is a lovely dark chocolate leather with magenta lining.  It’s a bit of a mum bag to be fair, cross-body style with a substantial zip so I can perform various death-defying tying shoelace stunts without spilling the contents across the pavement.

Told you it was boring… but at least it doesn’t look like Cath Kidston puked in it.

01: Kleenex Balsam. When nose-grating tissues just won’t do.

02: My prescription.  I finally got my inhalers sorted out at our new surgery just in-time for my annual under-used pre-payment prescription thingy to run out.  And so now I’m carrying this around in my bag, umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether to renew my PPC or just stop taking my medication. (I jest).

03: Selly’s Loyalty Card.  Most of these are in my purse but I just got my brows threaded and this slippery customer didn’t get tidied away.  I think I get a free blow-dry or something when I fill ‘er up and Selly’s is my favourite place to go locally for some sharp, non-poncy threading.

04: Lipstick Queen Chinatown Glossy Pencil in Thriller*.  It’s sheer enough that you can apply on the go without being so sheer that you needn’t bother.  I’ve got a FOTD type post coming up on this later on this week.  £22 from SpaceNK.com

05: iPhone5.  Hate myself for being so utterly addicted to this thing.  Love it more than chips.

06: Mason Pearson hairbrush.  This one’s Leila’s… mine is bigger, muckier and much, much older.  I steal hers though because it fits in my bag so neatly.

07: Herbacin Glycerine Hand Cream.  I use it on my cuticles, it’s nice for keeping in your handbag because it’s not too heavy and doesn’t leave huge amounts of residue behind.  The tin is stupidly cute and it costs £1.50 from John Lewis.com

08: Lidl Receipt.  Keepin’ it real… I’m glad that the photo is too small for you to see what I bought.  Oh ok, it was nail polish remover (in bulk) and bourbon whiskey (not in bulk).

09: Purse.  Tattered, in need of a new one…. stuffed with receipts, sadly not money.  I always go to TKMaxx for my purses, they’re always BIG and boringly plain in style.

10: Lush Solid Shampoo.  I can’t go into town without nipping into LUSH, I just can’t.  I really enjoyed using Jumping Juniper and asked the SA to recommend me another shampoo for my greasy roots/dry ends combo.  She did, and I ignored her and bought Seanik instead, £5.50, LUSH.co.uk

11: Miller Harris La Fumee EdP.  I’m ringing in the end of Summer with this beautiful smoky scent from Miller Harris.  It’s so dry and intoxicating, I can practically feel the crackle in the air.  £65 from Escentual.com

12: Lanvin Me EdP*.  I’m carting this sample bottle around with me at the moment because I’m trying to get to the bottom of it.  It’s a juicy, fruity, woody concoction that smells more grown-up than most but probably not enough to entice me over to the dark side.  £49 from HarveyNichols.com

13: Children’s Hair crap.  Various shades of pink and/or red usually.

14: Coppertone UV Protect Perfect UV Cut Cream SPF50/PA+++.  I love Coppertone sun protection and this one is great for light-feeling, no-compromise face coverage.  I don’t usually wear SPF50 at any point except for high summer despite my uber-pale skin, so this one will be superceded by an SPF30 soon enough.  Bought from the 99p shop, if you spot one, buy one but do make sure you test it before entrusting your face to it – I don’t know how old their stock is but I haven’t had any problems with my purchases in the past.

15: Magnetic Reception Year Words.  Just bought it, haven’t taken it out of my bag yet.  I’m trying to expand my vocabulary.

Want what’s in my bag?  What’s in YOUR bag?

* press sample

1. You say you want it short.  You moan about being bored with the same style.  They cut it, you cry.

2. You bring in a picture of Monica Belluci and actually expect them to make you look like that.

3. You pretend that you didn’t attempt your last fringe trim yourself, with a pair of Ikea scissors.  THEY KNOW YOU KNOW!

4. You tip in shrapnel.  Ain’t nobody got time for that.

5. You don’t tell your hairdresser that you’re not happy with the cut, you just tell everyone else.

C’mon, be honest… how many of these are you guilty of?!

I haven’t been strawberry picking since I was a small child, no doubt eating far more as I went along than ever made it into the basket.  In fact, I remember it being so much fun, I don’t know why it never occurred to me until now to take Leila, she’s an absolute fruit fiend (having hated vegetables from day one) and loves to feel “in control” of preparing her food.  A match made in heaven.

As far as I’m aware, there’s only really one major strawberry picking field left near us… we used to have one just down the road from my old house but it got carved up and used as a car boot field many years ago.  If you’ve never tasted pick-your-own strawberries, you’re truly missing out.  Sweeter, juicier, and far more tasty than the bland versions the supermarkets stock… they’re an absolute joy.

There were marrows bigger than my bum!

Strawberries as far as the eye could see

The queen of strawberries

Incase you’re wondering, she’d made the crown that morning… wasn’t giving it up.

“Leila! Don’t eat them, we’ve not paid yet!”

“You took my stwabwees off meeeeee!” (hush you, dwarf bean!)

Winning!

There should be a couple more harvests left before the end of the month (and then it’s blackberry season!)… if you haven’t picked your own summer fruits yet this year, what are you waiting for?

I’m just about to disappear again on another little unplanned break away for a few days, Mr L suggested that we should perhaps make the most of this last month before Leila starts school so we’ve booked a ferry over to the Isle of Wight on Tuesday, somewhere that despite living on its doorstep for the last 32 years, I’ve only visited twice… both of which for work-related reasons!

We’ll be taking in the sights of the Island and I’ve booked a few nights in a guest house near Ventnor.  I’m hoping that this wonderful weather will continue for another week and not turn on us just as we jump on the ferry!

What is it about the beautiful weather that makes driving so much more pleasurable?  There’s nothing quite like driving through the countryside with the windows down, enjoying some of your most favourite tunes.  Moneysupermarket.com contacted me a couple of weeks ago with an opportunity to share my Ultimate Summer Driving Playlist and take part in their blogger competition for the chance to win a 32gb iPad.  To be honest, I was chomping at the bit for any excuse to fire up spotify and spend an evening arguing debating with Mr L over what constitutes a great driving song!

1. Elton John – Tiny Dancer
2. Beta Band – Dry The Rain
3. Sugababes – Freak Like Me
4. Primal Scream – Loaded
5. Belly – Now They’ll Sleep
6. Eels – Mr E’s Beautiful Blues
7. Teenage Fanclub – Sparky’s Dream
8. Blondie – Union City Blues
9. Garbage – I Think I’m Paranoid
10. Stranglers – Always The Sun

Unlike many compilation albums would have you believe, a good driving song has nothing to do with cheesy lyrics about hitting the road and everything to do with heavy bass-lines, anthemic choruses, and spirit-rousing sing-a-long bits!  The ten listed in the You Tube playlist above have been on my car stereo this Summer… but do you agree with any of them?

If you want to get involved in the conversation, the twitter hashtag is #UltimateDrivingPlaylist

C’mon… before the sun disappears for another year, gimme your top driving tunes!

* this is a sponsored post on behalf of Moneysupermarket.com for which I have received payment.