A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I was sent a new finishing powder from Urban Decay recently but the shade wasn’t suitable for me to trial.  I gave a shout-out on Twitter looking for a darker-skinned blogger to help me out and Annie from www.epiphanniea.co.uk came to my rescue… take it away Annie…

I think the Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Loose Finishing Powder gets an award for the longest product name in 2014. Was the plan to turn this new finishing powder from Urban Decay into some sort of beauty blogger tongue-twister because I certainly believe they achieved that.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Loose Finishing Powder in Dark – henceforth known as UDNSKUDLFP for short – is a warm-toned, lightweight, mineral finishing powder designed to set your foundation flawlessly and drastically cut down on the amount of shine on your T-zone.  I’ve been asked by Charlotte to review this new offering from Urban Decay and to see whether it actually delivers a luminous and virtually undetectable finish on skin . . . or if it’s all just a marketing spiel.

Before I even get round to reviewing this powder, I just want to step back and thank Urban Decay for releasing a range of Naked Skin powders where the darkest shade is actually quite Dark. More often than not, most products labeled as dark as just one step above beige so the fact that Naked Skin Loose Powder in Dark is ACTUALLY designed to work well with medium to very dark skin shades is a blessing in disguise. Taking a light dusting on my powder brush and gently tapping the powder onto my face; targeting my T-zone area and my top lip.

As promised, the Naked Skin Powder does set makeup and leaves a super lightweight, “invisible finish” to your skin – so if you are looking for a powder with some coverage this isn’t for you – As it has a light-reflecting formula you gain a very subtle, luminous glow to your face but I honestly have to step in and object where it claims to airbrush away imperfections, leaving your skin with a soft focus effect. I’m not exactly sure where Urban Decay is going with this claim as all powders tend to give skin a matte, almost flawless canvas but I will admit that this powder doesn’t look chalky or settle in the fine lines around my eyes and last for about 6-7 hours before fading away completely.

While I do think this loose finishing powder is very creamy, subtle and lightweight, I’m not a complete fan as I don’t find it very buildable.

The Urban Decay Naked Skin Loose Finishing Powder is priced at £22.00 and comes in five shades; Light to Dark. It’s available to purchase from your nearest Urban Decay counter or online at Beauty Bay, Look Fantastic & House Of Fraser.

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February must be formula month, because I’m going gaga over some perfectly-created lipsticks.  Don’t get me wrong… I’m a sucker for some pretty packaging too and can be driven equally wild by a product based purely on it being the perfect shade but the perfect formula?  Well, like I said, it must be a month for it because not only did Clarins blow me away with their sheer (gerrit?) perfection earlir this month, it’s now Estee Lauder’s turn to get me all of a flutter with some incredibly-formulated, deeply-pigmented lip colours.

The new Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipsticks – launched just this month – feature a range of 20-shades that should particularly excite my fellow bold lip fans.  The collection promises to deliver saturated colour and continuous moisturisation with a formula that stays true for up to 6-hours.  Formulated with a new and exclusive Time Release Encapsulated Moisture Complex with Hyaluronic Acid, I’ve been rather impressed with the happy medium the brand have managed to capture between long-wear and comfort.

Have a little look at the two shades that I’ve got here… Tumultuous Pink and Red Ego…

First of all, the packaging is a bit of a departure from Estee Lauder’s classic heavy gold styling… these lipsticks are dressed in navy with gold accents.  The heavy-weight feel is still there but it’s a little more understated in design with that incredibly addictive magnetic closure that feels so satisfying to use.  Application is easy straight from the bullet but as with most bold shades, I prefer to tidy up the edges with a lip brush and the formula of these offers enough slip that I can achieve this easily with just a little extra product applied near the lip-line.

Talking of the formula, although creamy… it feels very light-weight for the amount of pigment it provides.  Infact, I almost want to describe them as being more like a rich gel formula, either way… you know when something just feels technologically advanced?  It’s like wearing an old skool Rouge Volupte without any of the weight or inconvenience of migration/feathering.

The swatches above show two swipes taken directly from the bullet, you can see the shine and the depth of pigment that the two shades – Tumultuous Pink and Red Ego – provide.  Upon fading, they leave a stain which makes them perfect for blotting if you’re not keen on a high-shine lipstick.  I tend to blot Red Ego once but leave Tumultuous Pink just as it applies, it’s a personal preference.

I’ve included shots below of both lipsticks worn on the lips, the pink leans a little more fuchsia on my lips than I expected from the bullet and the hand-swatch but I’d imagine that this may not be quite so apparent on a warmer skintone.  From the shade range on offer, Dominant looks to be a bluer-pink (or possibly just a little lighter) than Tumultuous Pink.  Definitely worth swatching on counter first though to get your perfect pink match!

Red Ego is simply a dream.  Shade-wise, it’s my perfect red… rich and dark with just enough of a berry hint to complement a cooler skin-tone.  It looks darker in the bullet than it does on the lips, especially when blotted, but it still retains the kind of richness that your standard pillar-box red just can’t deliver.

The Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipsticks are available to purchase on counter and online from esteelauder.co.uk now, in a range of 20-shades (+ one online exclusive), priced at £24.00 each.

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Question of the Week: Is there a makeup application technique that you’ve tried to master, but just can’t seem to conquer?

Answer: I’m still not particularly consistent with my eyeliner flicks!  I have a theory that just as I get used to the angles needed to create even flicks on my oddly-hooded eyes, one eyelid decides to droop another millimetre… throwing me off.

Pink Sith – is positively blushing at the name of the NARS Blush called “Sex Fantasy”. Not that she’s a prude or anything.

Prime Beauty – has finally found her Prince Charming…kinda. He is just one of the many calorie-free limited edition treats from the Valentine’s Day Collection at LUSH! Indulge yourself and your sweetheart with no guilt! Trust me, you’ll want to stock up.

Phyrra – Phyrra share all of her favorite Complexion Perfection products. Find a new favorite foundation here!

we heart this – Mega pores? Yeah, us too. Check out the latest from the Benefit POREfessional line and it can be our little secret.

Chalkboard Nails – created a geometric nail art look using the neutral shades from the brand new OPI Brazil Collection.

Clumps of Mascara – has come across an amazing mascara. No seriously. Too Faced’s Better Than False Lashes is one of the coolest mascaras that I have ever tried.

Gouldylox Reviews – These five hairsprays will change how you handle your hair.

My Beauty Bunny – Manis, manis, manis! Jen and friends get ready for Valentine’s Day with gorgeous nail art from Plush Beauty Bar. Come look and see.

Nouveau Cheap – Do you like the idea of long-wear lip colors, but hate the moisture-sucking properties that often go along with them? These might be just the ticket (and they’re only $3.50 each)

Guest Post of the Week, as chosen by Pink Sith – A simple yet lovely blog post about beauty. Here is a beauty epiphany from Alice In Nappyland and what a $1.99 lipstick taught her.

Is there a makeup application technique that you’ve tried to master, but just can’t seem to conquer?

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Had I not spent the day trying to find a quiet little hole to climb into, I would have blogged this within seconds of it landing in my inbox this afternoon.

But as things stood, what with Leila trying to cough up her knee-caps all night, I didn’t get much sleep.  Excuse my tardiness, infact I should be in bed now, catching up on my beauty sleep… but I couldn’t bring myself to leave this unblogged any longer… because ladies, Crabtree & Evelyn are presenting us with an offer that will send us scrabbling for an unloved tube or pot of hand-cream!  On your marks, get set…

…GO!

It’s only a mother-funking Hand Cream Amnesty!  Who doesn’t love a beauty amnesty?  Don’t know what one is?  Let me give you a little insight…

Basically, take any old hand cream (not a C&E one, that would be stoopid!) into your nearest Crabtree & Evelyn store before the 12th March and – while stocks last – a kindly sales assistant will swap your surrendered hand cream for a free Crabtree & Evelyn 25g Hand Therapy worth £5.00!  That’s all there is to it but do check out the T&C in the image above just incase.

Do you have any half-empty hand-creams that you’re willing to part with?  I know I do!

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New for this season, Clarin’s Mineral Eyeshadow in Smoky Plum is a beaut.  But then I would say that, it’s a gorgeous, mauve-toned taupe… just the kind that gets me far too excited about eyeshadow.   Clarins make some of my favourite eyeshadows, they’re generally on the sheerer side… something that I’ve grown fond of as I’ve gotten a little older.

They also do light-reflecting without any of the over-the-top-shimmer that you’d expect from a more metallic finish.

Smoky Plum delivers a nicely-textured formula that can be used either wet or dry.  To be honest, I rarely use my eyeshadows wet… for a day to day look, I almost always use a sheer wash of colour over the lids with a staple darker matte in the crease for a little definition.  Nowadays, I don’t get much more adventurous than this, so I look for longer-lasting formulas that deliver a subtle sparkle.

This little Clarins number does what it says on the tin, in a shade that I’d wear day in-day out with no grumbles at all.

You should be able to pick up on the sparkle in the above swatch, this is one swipe… it can be built up in intensity… but not by a huge amount unless you apply it with a damp brush.  If you’re looking for some power-pigment, my advice would be to steer clear of Clarins but if you’re looking for something eminently wearable, non-aging, and long-lasting… do give the Clarins Mineral Eyeshadows a second look, this one particularly if you want a beautiful cool-toned neutral.

Clarins Mineral Eyeshadow in Smoky Plum is priced from £13.60, available to buy online from escentual.com and on Clarin’s counters (£17.00) nationwide.

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Is there room in your collection for a pale apricot creme nail polish?

Butter London’s Shandy from last year’s Starkers collection delivered a trio of nudes and this one is an extremely pale hue which leans warmer than neutral.  It would make a great nude shade for fellow sun-dodgers who have less pink in their skin-tones than I do.

On me, it’s a little stark because it’s yellow-tones stand out against my skin but it’s not unnervingly so and thanks to a great formula, it was easy to build this one up to full opacity in three coats.

The only thing I wasn’t sure about was that as wear-time increased, it began to look a little dirty in a nicotine-kinda way.  However, as an ex-smoker, I may well be a little more sensitive to this than others!

Butter London Shandy is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

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I have a soft spot for limited edition beauty “collections”, especially when they contain premium bodycare products that, to be honest, I’m too tight to spend full RRP prices on.  You see, I don’t mind splashing the cash on my face or my makeup collection but I’m a terrible tightwad when it comes to body products.  I’m just not dedicated enough to spend £££ on body lotions and bath elixirs, I usually only remember that I’ve forgotten to moisturise my legs when I feel my winter-ravaged shins scratching against my tights halfway through the day.

Elemis have released a Limited Edition Top-to-Toe Beauty Skincare Collection which features a full £115.80-worth of products for £55.00, that’s a £60 saving on the retail prices!

There’s also none of your meagre 5ml or 15ml sample-sizes, each product included in the collection – even if “sample” sized – delivers a minimum of 30ml, which is as much as many full-size products on the market, ensuring that you’ll get to give each item a proper trial.

One of my favourite things about this new collection is the simplicity of the items included.  Elemis haven’t included any of their more “niche” products in this, there’s no cellulite-reducing products… no foot creams, no temple balms.  Basically, there’s nothing in it that I wouldn’t use on a regular basis in my normal routine, ensuring that I’d get my money’s worth on every item.

Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, even Birthdays… this is one of those beauty collections that simply won’t disappoint, each and every item an Elemis classic, a hero-product.

The Elemis Top-to-Toe Beauty Skincare Collection is available to buy on counter and online now from timetospa.co.uk and johnlewis.com, priced at £55.00

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I haven’t really explored the B. range at Superdrug since its launch, to be honest… I just can’t say that any of the brand’s releases have inspired me to make the trip further-afield to a better-stocked Superdrug.  I saw a press release for their new B. Vibrant Lip & Cheek Colours, and for one moment… I thought I might well be converted by the look of these chubby lip crayons.  But was I?

Along with one of the new B. Vibrant Lip & Cheek Colours in Fandango* – a hot pink, I was sent the new B. Sculpted Contour Kit in shade Dark*.  I’ll start with the Lip & Cheek Colour first…

It’s packaged in a traditional, crayon-style format with a twist mechanism to raise and lower the waxy nib, perfect if like me, you hate having to sharpen anything!  It feels well-made and the colour glides over the lips effortlessly.

Perhaps a little too effortlessly, you see… it feels quite greasy and to achieve anything like the kind of vibrancy I was expecting, you need to layer up.  More layers = more grease.  It’s not a great combination.  I wasn’t expecting a matte formula but there’s just something about the way this feels that doesn’t appeal to me.  It’s not sticky and it’s not overly heavy, it’s just… not quite there.

Once I’ve built up the pigment to a medium-high finish (the swatch above shows about 5 swipes with the crayon), I tend to grab a tissue to blot.  That’s the only way I can enjoy wearing this shade on my lips.  To be fair, this doesn’t take down the pigment too much and possibly increases overall wear time but I just wanted something more instantly vibrant from a product that calls itself… vibrant.

As for my cheeks?  Perhaps the multi-use function of this product has something to do with why the formula feels the way it does… but you know about my distaste for sharing my lip products with my face and if I saw someone smearing their lip crayon around on their cheeks after I’d just watched them apply it to their mouth, I might be forced to spit on a tissue for them.

The B. Vibrant Lip & Cheek Colours come in five shades, ranging from a soft pink through to a rather striking mandarin.  I’ve only tried the one shade and would be interested to hear your thoughts on the others!

The other new release from the brand is a Sculpted Contour Kit that is available to buy in light, medium, and dark.  This is the “dark” shade choice.  The kit is split into two pans containing just over a total of 10g of product.

The powder, the contouring side of the pan feels finely-milled with a nice, soft texture and a good amount of pigment pay-off.  The cream highlight shade is an oddity.  When I first saw it in the pan, I angled it under the light, expecting to see some mica particles glimmer back at me.  But no, either mine is defective or it’s just a translucent white cream.  Much like a thin, theatrical greasepaint.  On my skin, it doesn’t do an awful lot other than look… greasy.

Once blended, it reminds me of putting a slightly more-refined version of vaseline on the high points of my face… there’s nothing wrong with this, women have been using vaseline as a highlighting trick for years, it just wasn’t quite what I anticipated.  It’s best applied at the end of your makeup routine, otherwise any setting powder that you apply will ruin the effect.

All in all, I’m not excited or enthused about these two releases from the budget high-street brand.  In 2014, I expect better formulas for the not unsubstantial RRP price tags of these products.

B. Vibrant Lip & Cheek Colour in Fandango is priced at £7.99 but currently a third off at £5.32 for a limited time.  B. Sculpted Contour Kit in Dark is priced at £11.99 but currently a third off at £6.99 for a limited time.  Available to buy instore at Superdrug and online at superdrug.com

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Despite having lived through all but the first year of the 1980s, I struggle to think of myself as a child of those iconic years.  Perhaps we don’t become acutely aware of our surrounding popular culture until we hit our double-figures or start secondary-school, either way… I definitely relate more as a product of the 90s than the decade of power-dressing, boom-boxes, and very, very large shoulder pads.

However, were I to need any kind of instant appreciation for those 10-years preceding my cultural awakening, Clinique have provided this in the form of Calyx*, their new fragrance that hit counters last month.

I say “new”, but there’s an interesting story behind Calyx, originally an old Prescriptives scent.  Now, my memories of the brand Prescriptives are fairly limited, they were a company already on their way out as I was only just beginning to get serious about the cosmetics that lay beyond my local Boots and Superdrug.  Anyway, to all intents and purposes, Prescriptive’s Calyx was a hugely popular fragrance which achieved cult-status, nay, notoriety… particularly – of course – once it had been pulled from the counters.

When it was originally launched, Calyx stood out like a beacon of light, a fruity-floral among an army of heady and downright brazen scents including the likes of: Poison, Opium, and Obsession that the 1980s were famous for,  Calyx was the fragrance that offered something for those who were craving a different olfactory experience.

Operating under the same Estee Lauder Companies umbrella, Clinique have now relaunched the iconic fragrance with a much wider distribution, remaining faithful to the original’s notes and exhilarating freshness.  Calyx is a mood-setter; An uplifting, ignore-me-if-you-dare type of fragrance that throws a tart fruit-bowl in your face, mouth-wateringly juicy and gourmand but not in the recognizable (read: overdone) berries and vanilla kinda-way.

There’s no creaminess here, instead it’s all about revitalisation with a citrus kick up the arse, you know… that one you were crying out for when you dragged your weary bones up for work this morning.

As you first spritz Calyx onto your skin, you might worry that it will never settle down.  That instant gratification of grapefruit, and all those other slightly-sour fruits are great for breakfast, but you don’t want them for lunch, dinner, and supper too right?  Well, worry not because Calyx isn’t a one-trick-pony after all.  It takes about twenty-minutes for the florals to come to the fore on my skin, and when they do… I get mostly Lily of the Valley and a bright sense of cut grass on a sunny day.

The verdant qualities of this perfume leave me feeling clean and well-groomed… dispensing an impressive but not too overwhelming sillage with a long-lasting hold on my skin’s chemistry. Calyx will be too crisp for some, simply too sharp and fresh… but if you’re looking for a truly “happy” scent, something that will carry you along with its composition, do take a sniff the next time you’re passing by a Clinique counter.

Clinique Calyx is available on counter and online now, priced from £46 for 50ml.  Also available in 100ml.

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I’m watching the poor postman out the window in his flourescent orange windcheater. He’s got an armful of a envelopes and is being blown all over the place… I’d have even more sympathy if he’d already passed my flat but I’m guessing that a couple of those envelopes might belong to me… so hurry it along mister.  It’s wild out there today, truly horrible and from what I read on Twitter, our capital city has gone into a transportation meltdown thanks to a number of tube strikes across the network.  Nice week for it.

So, in a bid to inject a little calm and tranquility into an otherwise turbulent week, let me introduce you to a polish from Butter London’s Summer 2013 collection.  A collection that was based mostly upon metallics, except for this little odd-one-out.  Butter London Poole is a dusky aqua blue with a hint of green… it’s namesake, a town not far down the coast from me, is an absolutely beautiful place to go in the Summer and the birthplace of LUSH Cosmetics dontchano?

What a lovely shade eh?  Not entirely undupe-able but very pretty nonetheless.  The formula was ok, not one of Butter’s best… it needed a bit of smoothing and lacked the nice, even flow that most of their polishes provide.  Opacity was good in two coats, I thought it might need three but the second coat pulled it all together.

Butter London Poole is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

What shades are  you loving at the moment, do I need to prise your fingers away from your Winter staples yet?

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I’m not doing any Valentine’s gift guides this year because, quite frankly, I can’t even come up with a single gift for my lovely husband, let alone a heartfelt collection that you lot could choose from.

A Twitter friend suggested that I just need to look down to find his gift, I assumed that she was talking about my baby bump rather than my vagina, but either way… after 10yrs of marriage and one snotty five-year old, I don’t think either suggestion will raise more than a sarcastic eyebrow.

However, the one Valentine’s-related release that has made my blood pump a little faster is this beautiful collection of sultry reds from Illamasqua.  If you’ve been reading Lipglossiping for more than a few seconds, you’ll already know about my love affair with red lipstick.  I only own the one from Illa’s range (Sangers), so to see the ridiculously feisty Maneater in my parcel evoked a couple of mid-air heel clicks.

The new I’m The One Collection* contains a total of four passionate pieces from the British makeup line.  Including:

NEW! Intense Lipgloss in Touch (£14.50) – Infused with fine shimmer particles, this plush gloss will add depth and fullness to your lips.

NEW! Colouring Pencil in Feisty (£14.00) – A creamy addition to your lip collection, use our Feisty pencil to create a precise and alluring red lip.

Lipstick in Maneater (£16.50) – An intense, full coverage formula, apply this lipstick to bare lips for a long-lasting pop of colour.

Nail Varnish in Throb (£14.50) – Apply two coats of this glossy blood red shade for an elegant, classic manicure.

From left to right: Feisty Colouring Pencil  |  Maneater Lipstick  |  Touch Intense Lipgloss

Of all the items in the collection, I have to say that I fell in love with the least likely offering.

Feisty, the brand new lip pencil is one of the most pigmented-yet-creamy red lip-liners I’ve ever had the pleasure to use.  With a deep, long-lasting pigment… you usually have to compromise on the texture and a dry, unyielding lip pencil is something that many of us will be familiar with.  No such compromises are necessary here, it’s an absolute dream.

I’ll leave you with a couple of extremely pose-y FOTDs featuring the new Feisty Colouring Pencil and Maneater Lipstick.

If you fancy the chance at winning some hand-picked pieces from the new collection, you have until the 15th February to brush off your Social Media skillz and tweet @illamasqua a Red Lipstick Selfie, using the hashtag #ImTheOne – good luck!!

The Illamasqua I’m The One Collection is available to buy on counter and online now at illamasqua.com, priced at £50.00

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Question of the Week: Name the most expensive and inexpensive products in your current daily makeup routine.

Answer: That’s hard to answer because I chop and change my cosmetics daily.  So, I’m gonna cheat and change the question from “makeup routine” to “beauty routine”.  The most expensive would be my perfume, the Liz Earle Botanical Essence No15 which I’m completely stuck on at the moment… and I suppose my most inexpensive would be my choice of night cream, Eucerin Even Brighter Night Cream, which at under £20, is pretty affordable for a targeted piece of skincare.

Nouveau Cheap – For most of us, Bonnie Bell is synonymous with Lip Smackers lip balms. But have you seen their new nail lacquers, lip lacquers and lipsticks? Come take a peek at some swatches–they just might surprise you!

Pink Sith – takes you on an island adventure to Kauai when she tells you all about the NARS Spring 2014 Eyeshadow Duo in Kauai. It’s 72 degrees and sunny there right now!

Prime Beauty – has two major obsessions: Makeup and Chocolate! She can get her get her fix for both with the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eye Shadow Palette–it’s a cavity free sweet treat you NEED to indulge in!

Phyrra – is ready for Spring with the Kat Von D Esperanza palette! She loves it so much she’s giving one away. Open Worldwide.

we heart this – the next in the line of infamous tints is a sweet as a lollipop and as on trend as can be; check out the Radiant Orchid hued Benefit Lollitint.

Clumps of Mascara – is running her first race of the year but she’s picked the ideal lippy for her race face…Tarte’s Power Pigment!

Gouldylox Reviews – The Too Faced Chocolate Bar is sinfully delicious. Just when you thought browns were boring, think again.

Lipglossiping – ponders whether anyone would consider taking the plunge and invest in some eyebrow extensions! Well, would you?

My Beauty Bunny – Jen got a chin implant! Read all about it and why she made the decision. Plus, see the before and after pics: Why I Decided to Get Plastic Surgery.

Guest Post of the Week, as chosen by Nouveau Cheap – Whenever one of my lovely Canadian readers says to me, “I wish there was a blog like yours, but for Canada” my response is always, “There is!” If you’re looking for Canadian drugstore beauty info and sale alerts, check out Sparkled Beauty, written by my long-time blogging pal, Halifax. She’ll hook you up!