A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Leila has my mother’s hair.  It’s blonde, fine and very very floaty.  It kinda skims the top of her head, resting about an inch above the scalp in thick swathes of unstylable defiance.  If I brush it around the shape of her crown, it springs back…. floating, floating… always floating.

Of course, it’s beautiful… and I love it.  It’s getting long now and I lie with her twirling it gently around my fingers whilst she simultaneously grabs handfuls of mine, a look of frantic curiosity on her face.

I could deploy the old tried and tested method of spitting on my hands before swiping my palms over her barnet… but really… that’s just disgusting isn’t it?  She may be small and kinda stupid but that’s no justification for styling her with gob.

Enter Original Sprout, who make an entire line of Children’s styling saviours from Curl Calmer to Styling Balm.  I’ve got my eye on the Children’s Hair Gel.

They say:

Loved by Babies & Up, our Ultra Clean & Light Baby Hair Gel is made of nourishing emollients & gentle botanicals, smoothing frizzies, taming flyaways & supporting curls softly. Thermal Protectants keeps hair safe from styling & enviromental aggressors.

There’ll be no “styling aggressors” in this nursery *puts the straighteners down* but this has gotta be better than spit right?

And just ’cause this is about the only day in the year I can like TOTALLY get away with it:

is…

AlicatAHL

Thanks for offering your self up in the name of beauty!

Please email me your address details and I’ll pop the sample in the post.  Can’t wait to hear your experiences with it!

After reading the article over at the Daily Mail about the self-proclaimed ‘Barbie’ mother who encourages her 16yr old daughter to have Botox injections to mask any premature signs of ageing… I was full of indignations and OMGs like most people who read the article I guess…

But then my focus shifted….

I looked at the first picture of mother and daughter together:

The caption under the photo reads:

“Misguided? Hannah Burge, 16, (left) with her mother Sarah, the ‘Human Barbie’, who injects her with Botox in an effort to prevent future wrinkles”.

Sarah Burge (Hannah’s mother) has had approx £500,000’s worth of cosmetic surgery, currently holding the world record the most cosmetic surgeries.  I studied the picture and took a guess at her age…

I went for 50.

She’s 49.  Well, maybe… ‘cos she was also 49 back when this article was published over a year ago…

So really, I’m more distressed by the fact that this woman has spent half a million pounds on plastic surgery to allay the unfortunate aesthetic effects of aging and to my eyes, she hasn’t got her money’s worth.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not saying she looks like your ordinary 49/50/51 year old… of course she doesn’t.  But I’m thinking that has more to do with the hair and makeup than anything else.  A less tranny-licious hairdo and replace that ridiculous eye makeup and really… what have you got?  Probably a much more attractive woman actually.

I disagree with her active encouragement of Botox for her 16yr old, but mostly my annoyance is set-aside for her surgeons.  One day, I may consider some um… modifications?  Are they generally this ineffective unless your name’s Demi Moore?

I hate wasing money.  I bought a chicken and stuffing sandwich last week, it didn’t have any stuffing in it…. at least I only wasted £2.19 though eh?

Read the original article here.

Anyone up for doing a guest review for me?

I have been given a sample for review consideration but it’s too dark for me.

This is the bareMinerals SPF30 Natural Sunscreen.

They say:

Our breakthrough head-to-toe sun protection will change the way you feel about sunscreen forever.  This 100% natural, micronized Titanium Dioxide mineral creates a physical barrier on your skin, providing UVA/UVB protection and defending against premature skin ageing and sun damage.  It’s weightless, breathable, non-greasy and won’t clog pores or cause breakouts.  Available in Light, Medium and Tan.

Available from April 2010. RRP £25.00

I’m looking for someone with a medium skintone (NC/NW 25 – 35) please. UK only.  Oh, and it lists Bismuth Oxychloride in the ingredients, so don’t apply if you’re sensitive to that ingredient – don’t wanna be responsible for scabby, itchy faces now do I?

If you’re interested in being my guest reviewer, leave me a comment below and I’ll choose someone on Wednesday.

Thank You!

In honour of International Women’s Day, Avon invited me to write about the most remarkable woman in my life for their “Wonderful Women” competition…

Now, most daughters think their Mum is the best, but mine really is! 😉 She was 40 when I was born with more than a few complications. I was 3 months premature and back then, less babies survived those stacked odds. She spent months in hospital with me until I was strong enough to return home.

Mum retired in 1993 after developing a rare form of breast cancer. She was diagnosed in November, but didn’t tell anyone until January so as not to spoil Christmas. It’s funny, because despite numerous, gruelling operations, I never once believed that I’d lose her… she made cancer seem of such minor importance that it wasn’t until years later that I appreciated how close we’d all come.

One death-defying manoeuvre accomplished, Mum was finally free to enjoy retirement. For a few months at least, until my Nan developed Alzheimer’s and Mum insisted that her mother-in-law come live with us. My lovely Nan passed away three years ago after twelve years in Mum’s complete care. Twelve years is a long time for an Alzheimer’s sufferer to survive and Mum made sure that each of Nan’s remaining days were worth living for. My Mum is one strong and loyal lady, my remarkable woman.

Mum with Nan a few hours before she passed away – 2007

Mum finally enjoying some respite! – 2010

They’re kind of a big deal.

It’s a substantial thing to grow hair on your face.  Billions of pounds go into the development of products designed to remove facial hair, but I’m not sure we invest so much time and effort in cultivating the hair we want to keep.

Mine are a complete and shameful mess.  I’ve overplucked some areas and I continue to underpluck others…  I have a great natural arch, but no idea how to make the best of it.  Infact, I’ve managed to create total unevenness to the point where I look like I’m permanently raising one of my eyebrows when in reality, I’m not moving a muscle.

Brow powder is my makeup bag essential.  I’ll happily hit the supermarket without a scrap of colour or foundation on my face, but take away my brow powder and I’ll be walking around wih my hands self-consciously hovering near my forehead in an attempt to cover up the offending area.  Eyebrows, for me… are face framers, and KNOW that everytime I see a FOTD – I’m checking out those brows before ANYTHING else.

Obviously, this post is mostly an excuse for me to trawl the internet laughing at celebrities with dodgy eyebrows, but there is a serious message here.  Tweezers are a dangerous implement and I’m not letting Leila near a pair.  As God (or you guys)  is my witness, I’m marching her to a salon when she hits 15.  This house will be a tweezerless one.

I wish mine had been…

What a mess.  I’m a (relatively) intelligent woman who clearly lost control of all mental capabilities when my grasping fingers first touched those tweezers 13 years ago and quite frankly, I haven’t regained them.

I need help, I know that some of my lovely readers MUST be brow experts!  I see so many women with perfectly groomed eyebrows and I’m considering befriending the next one I see in Waitrose, lulling her into a false sense of security with hazelnut lattes and Heat magazine chats before slyly handing her my tweezermans and giving her carte blanche on my face.

Do you feel my pain or mock my affliction?

Where can I go from here?  Professional help?  Hands tying behind my back?  Hair transplants?  Threading?

Halp?!

My camera is a Canon 30D DSLR.  It’s a bit old now… I’d love to look into upgrading, but can’t really use ‘taking photos of my makeup’ as a justification for purchase *blush*.  I own 3 wonderful lenses, but mostly use my Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 for blog photos.

I shoot in manual mode because it gives me the greatest flexibility.

Photography was my first love and I’ve spent 4 years learning and trying to get a good grasp of the technical side of the hobby.  My ultimate goal was to be confident and never need to rely on P mode again, shooting in manual gives you control of the image, not just the camera.

I’m frequently asked how to take better FOTD photos, and my answer has nothing to do with the camera and everything to do with the lighting.

If you’re outdoors, open shade is lovely.  Beware of trees, dappled sunlight is no good.  One of my absolute favourite places to shoot portraits are in open doorways. Try it.

Stand at the entrance to your garage or open your front door.  You get a lovely amount of soft, directional light.  Flat lighting is fine but light that moulds around your features casting soft shadows and highlights is better!  Try turning slightly and see how the light falls.  I always hold my hand out and just watch how the light falls on it, tilting, angling and moving until I see a sweet spot.  Then I go and stand in it.

If you have to take photos in the evening under artificial light, your biggest obstacle will be avoiding that “rabbit caught in headlights” look caused by the flash on your camera.  Camera flashes are not kind to us ladies, they make shiny patches practically glow and accentuate any flaws whilst simultaneously washing out the great EOTD you’ve just spent the best part of twenty minutes creating.

The problem stems from the fact that the light in your image is coming from a very small physical source.  Your objective is to take that small source (the flash bulb) and make it larger.  This will diffuse the light and decrease the specular highlights and harsh shadows in your photographs.  The easiest way to do this (if your camera allows it) is to angle your flash so that the light first hits a bigger surface (like the ceiling or a white wall/cupboard door) before reflecting back on your face.

See the diagram below:

Can you see the harsh shadows behind the object on the direct flash diagram?

If you don’t have the flexibility of a flash head you can angle, you could try one of the many pop up flash diffuser options available on eBay.  I haven’t personally tried any of them so I can’t recommend anything specific I’m afraid.

Anyway, that’s a very basic lighting 101 for taking self-portraits, I hope it helps all those who have asked in the past.

… so I sent out a 2am cry on Twitter of “I haven’t blogged anything for tomorrow, please send me some inspiration!” and moments later I got a fab reply from the beautiful Liloo who said that she loves reading the odd “non recommendation” post.

So whilst I apologise for taking the path of least resistance with a nice easy “don’t have to think too hard” post, I’m quite excited ‘cos I don’t usually do taggy type posts like this!

I’d also like to apologise for the fact that I can’t count.

1. Benefit Decked Out Dandelion Palette

I bought this years ago, infact the lippie’s gone a bit hard :/ It really is time to part company with this palette.  I don’t hate it, but it’s never been worth the money I spent on it.  Dandelion was supposed to be THE blush that made me learn how to love and wear blushes on my pale skin.  It doesn’t show up on me!  I liked the bottom left eyeshadow colour (Mr. Right Now) but that’s it.  And one out of 4 just ain’t good enough.

2. CARGO Blush in Tonga

I had really high hopes for this blush that has received many glowing reviews across places like MUA and not having a Sainsburys near me that stocks the CARGO line, I was gutted when I found out there was a half price sale going on.  Rowena from Cosmetic Candy offered to pick me up this blush from her local and I was TOO excited to receive it.  It’s very finely milled with a nice, smooth matte texture, but I just find it a tiny bit patchy on me.  It also makes me look a little ruddy…  It just. doesn’t. work.

3. Silk Naturals Mineral Blush in Climax

One of the well known Orgasm dupes and very nice it is too.  But I just don’t use it.  I prefer the convenience of the Milani dupe (being a pressed powder) and now I have the real thing, I appreciate that this stuff doesn’t have the staying power of the NARS original.  However, if you’re into your minerals… I would still recommend this as an alternative.

4. EGMinerals Eye Shadow and Liner Gel

One of those sealing gel products to turn your eyeshadows into liners or to aid the foiling of pigments.  Again, I have nothing against the actual product… but I just don’ t reach for it.  If I want to foil a pigment for a liner, I spray my brush with my Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist and I get great longevity from my foiled pigment/shadow.  I’ve always got my face mist close at hand for a spritz after setting my foundation with powder anyway so it’s just more convenient for me.

5. Eyeko Strawberry Fat Balm

Don’t you just hate binning products that you’ve used once?  Well, I need to do that with this one.  For a product that you’re supposed to be able to apply on your lips, it tastes horrific.  I also really dislike the synthetic Strawberry scent which when applied to my lips sits under my nose being… obnoxious.  I find it too sticky to wear as a blush, so despite loving the shade, it’s a bit fat fail of a product for me.

6. That number *obviously* doesn’t exist to me for whatever reason I’ve buried deep in my psyche.

7. Bobbi Brown Metallic Long Wear Cream Shadows

I’ve got a few of them, which you may remember from my review.  I just don’t use them enough to justify the space they take up in my collection.  They’re very glittery, so not a huge amount of good for day wear, and I’m a sad mummy who doesn’t leave the house past baby’s bedtime soooo…

I also expected a smoother formula and less chunky glitter from a high end brand like Bobbi’s.

8. Boots 17 Eyeshadow in Mardi Gras

This is such a beautiful taupe, but it just doesn’t last for longer than about 4 hours without completely disappearing.  It’s not even that it creases… it simply vanishes.  UDPP, Art Deco Primer, ELF… I’ve tried a myriad of primers with it, it hates me.

9. YSL Rouge Volupte in #7 Lingerie Pink

Let’s be clear.  I love this lipstick. Love. It.

I have the Rouge Volupte in #1 aswell… they’re beautiful lipsticks, but at £20 a pop…. I wanna get more use out of them than I do this one.  I think I’ve worn it twice since I bought it in December.  I knew it was the infamous bright of the line up and tried it on more out of curiosity than with any serious intentions of buying it.  It trapped me.  Right then and there and before I knew it, I was handing over my debit card.  Not only that, but my cousin who was with me also bought one!  It’s witchcraft I tell thee.  And I’m not sure it suits either of us :/

.

And that’s it… my 5, 9, 8 things I wish I’d never bought.  Of course, being a bit of a hoarder means that I could quite easily add a few more to that list, but these were the first 5, 9, 8 that I happened upon whilst I was rummaging!

Now, tell me.

Anyone’s Alice palette arrived yet? I wanna know what you think of it!!

Hopefully it’ll be back online today at some point!

If you don’t read anything else today or even this week, please read this fabulously funny piece on self-portrait trends.

That is all.

*Public Service Announcement – I’m like the BBC but without the license fees.

I’m SO behind with posting things from my lovely IMATS weekend, you’ve seen my NOTD with the flakie on the right, and I’ll do one soon using my blue flakie too

They’re soo pretty, and apply far more smoothly than I thought they would.  It’s not regular glitter where you’re left crying out for a top coat to even out the surface.

In other news, I attempted white nails last night a la Lady Gaga at The Brits only to come to a “WTF am I doing?” revelation halfway through.  Yeah, it was streaking badly.

Also found a NARS Purple Rain dupe in my collection, but I’m not sure if it’s still available to buy… I’ll try and find out before posting it up.

’til tomorrow x

Ooooh I’ve just clicked ‘schedule’ on my WordPress dashboard to setup that last Beauty Blender post so that it ‘goes live’ at exactly 9.37am on this (probably grey) Friday morning… and I’m sat here fretting.

“Did that last post actually SAY anything?”

“Do I contribute to society in any way, shape or form?”

“Is my blog a big waste of disk space on the interwebz?”

“Should I shave my arm hairs before the next swatching session?”

“They’ll never get back the 3 minutes it took them to read that.”

.

And then it hit me… like a booming voice coming down from the heavens.

I’m having fun.  Can we play with some blusher next?

Oh and go check out Secret Diary of a Beauty Addict too today, cos she bought me a McDonald’s chocolate milkshake last night.  She’s the best.

With a title like that, I’m obviously referring to myself.  I thought I’d share my motives, aspirations and whatever else emerges from writing this post, which will no doubt at some point turn into a mild rant and an incredibly long ramble.

You may be aware of an ‘article’ (I want to say ‘post’, but that would suggest it was written by a blogger – heaven forbid) that has been causing a bit of a stir in the beauty blogging community.  Somewhere underneath the cloud of ridicule directed at a blog the writer has singled out for attack, she raises some interesting points.

She recognises a clear distinction between The Media (her capitalisation) and bloggers and never the twain shall meet.  Not a problem, it’s a word I don’t feel comfortable using to describe myself or this blog anyway.  You can also add ‘writer’, ‘press’ and a host of other professional sounding terms to the ‘makes me feel like a phony list’.

She sees beauty bloggers as consumers who are not qualified to give reviews on products.  She believes that beauty bloggers have too much influence over your buying trends.  It appears that as a consumer, you’re obviously not capable of reading my blog with any modicum of original thought.  You simply absorb what I tell you like some kind of foundation-fuelled osmosis.

One of her main criticisms of bloggers, is the writing style they use to feature a product or talk about the latest release.  I’m assuming she dislikes the anecdotal nature of blogging and the way we often eschew traditional journalistic methods of reviewing.

Good.  It would bore me to tears to write to you in a regimented albeit precise way.  To be fair, I don’t have the writing skillz to do so anyway.  I talk to you like you’re my friends because you are.  Don’t reach for the sick bucket just yet, I’m not arranging a sleepover, but it’s like this…

I have a passion.  A lot of you come back here day after day to share my passion and you understand why I would get excited about finding another perfect taupe eyeshadow to add to my ever-growing collection of perfect taupe eyeshadows.  I know that when I write, I’m sharing my experiences with you in an undiluted, raw way.  But as a blog reader myself, I embrace that because it’s pure and it’s true.

I write this blog because I love to see you come and read it.  I get a thrill if I notice my email subscribers jump up.  If I get linked from a forum ‘cos I’ve written something that interests you enough to come and stay awhile, my pride swells.  That’s my motivation.  PR freebies are a recent thing… probably from the end of last summer onwards.  They help me keep my content fresh and up to date and I love them.  I love playing with them, I love opening them and I love being invited to consider them for review.  Do they affect my honesty in delivering content to you?  You only have to read my negative reviews on PR acquired goodies to see that it takes more than a free sample of lipgloss to compromise myself.  Try a week in the Maldives next time nice PR lady.

I do try not to trash products, although I have on ocassion.  If I dislike something, there is usually some positives that I can include… not because it makes linking back to the PR any easier (although it does) but because I’m well aware that I’m only one person and what doesn’t work for me may be your next HG.

I do have a slight issue with PR that I’m struggling to find my feet with… perhaps the blogger/reader relationship should dictate that I keep it to myself… but being the chronic oversharer that I am…

In the article (or comments, I can’t remember which) someone raises the point about bloggers being a little sheep-like, reviewing the same thing at the same time.  It’s true.  And it’s the one aspect of this brave new world that I’m uncomfortable with.  I desperately want to come up with the goods for me, for you, for my blog.  Quality, independent features that no-one else has access to.  Why do you think I damn near peed myself when I got the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette?  Well… apart from getting to play with it before you suckers.  The problem is, I’m one of many beauty bloggers out there.  Not only that, but there are far better writers and reviewers out there too.  Until the dust settles and PRs learn how to ask bloggers for their pageviews and stats (why is that never done?) – I guess we all have to review Liz Earle at the same time.  Heck, I could turn it down if I’m so altruistic and concerned about your reading experience couldn’t I?  But I REALLY WANT TO TRY IT!  However, I am becoming much more selective nowadays.  It was only yesterday I turned down the opportunity to review the latest in nail fungal cream. (I jest…)

I accepted it. (ok, I jest again… sorry).

There is another genuine problem with the whole consumer turned reviewer aspect.  We’re fickle.  Sam raises this point in her article.  It’s a fair one.  In the past I have given you a crappy review of a product, only to fall in love with it weeks down the line.   If this happens, my intention is to go back to my initial review and update.  You may come across some of these haphazard updates in my archives.  Vice versa, we all get infatuated by a new product only for the shine to rub off a few weeks later and whilst we don’t suddenly dislike the product, newer shinier ones take precedence.  But does this make my initial review any less valid?  Of course not.  I’m a consumer and I’m doing exactly what you, Sam or anyone does.

If you’re looking for the perfect review that promises you will be as thrilled with the product as the reviewer.  Tell me when you find one.  I know I don’t need to tell you to check out lots of reviews and articles written by a variety of makeup lovers: MUAs, Consumers like me and Journos – looking at the combined picture will probably bring you closer to the perfect review than anyone can alone.

If you want shared experiences, a bit of banter and someone who lives to buy and play with makeup and beauty shit as much as you do.  Pull up a chair ‘cos I’ve just bought/been sent (delete as appropriate) this bloody gorgeous looking coral lipstick.  It pongs like grannies though.

Wow. 1110 words. 2 hours in the making.  If only I’d put that much effort into my Media & Cultural Studies degree *dons Mickey Mouse ears* then maybe I’d have those Journalistic qualifications I need to have an opinion.  Doh!