Paul & Joe‘s Soleil is a juicy tangerine shade from Spring 2009 (though still available online). It’s a shimmery jelly shade with a few golden sparkles thrown in for good measure. Oh… and let’s not forget the typically beautiful Paul & Joe packaging *swoon*
I was on the hunt for a juicy but non-neon orange and this fits the bill perfectly. The above shows 4 coats with a topper of Seche Vite. I think it could probably do with a few more bits of sparkle, as you can see it’s only really my middle finger that managed to attract any gold specks.
Is orange a shade that you’re into at the moment? It’s not a favourite on my skin tone, but nothing screams Summer quite like it!
ASOS, is there anything you won’t do to make me shop with you?
Free delivery, free returns, clothing in sizes I can shoehorn myself into?
Now, admittedly… you don’t ALWAYS get it right… but by George, you know how to tempt me back time and time again.
Japanese beauty brand RMK have intrigued me for a few years and I’ve had mixed success with the line so far. I’ve loved some of their sheer, juicy (word of the day?) lip colours but not so much their pencil liners. I’ve also meant to try their ingenious gel eyeliners for ages which generally enjoy rave reviews.
Have you had much experience with RMK? Tempted to?
July is an exciting month on Zuneta. Mark the date in your diaries ladies, for the 12th July will see the launch of U.S. brand Edward Bess.
I have been lemming the Daydream Bronzer (apparently a great choice for pale skins) for longer than I care to think about and Zuneta, in their endless quest to fill the voids in our makeup-loving hearts have their finger’s well and truly on the pulse with this latest import.
As if that weren’t enough…
Zuneta are inviting 5 lucky customers to attend the press launch in London on the 14th July!
Click here for more details on how to win this great opporunity to be one of the first to see the full line up and meet the man himself!
I’m delighted to introduce my latest guest reviewer Rachel from the delightful QueenofTurquoise. As a more suitable candidate age-wise than me, she’s been trialling the Liz Earle Young Skin Try-Me Kit, and this is what she thought of it….
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I received this kit from Charlotte at the end of May and I’m far more impressed by it than I expected to be! I was kind of thinking it would just show me that I wasn’t missing out on anything with my cheapy products.. Wrong 😉
I’ve been using it for three weeks now and I’ve noticed considerable changes…
Before I started using this I had quite a few little spots/bumps on my forehead, noticeable pores around my nose and the little creases around my nose were quite dry and red. Primer was a necessity as my skin suffered from random flaky patches of skin that weren’t visible until foundation was applied. I also had some stubborn blackheads on and around my nose and chin… Although I wouldn’t describe my skin as particularly oily it has it’s moments and breakouts are relatively common!
The difference in three weeks is quite dramatic, the pores around my nose appear smaller, noticeably more radiant skin (if I do say so myself!) less blackheads, spots disappear faster, and my odd flaky bits of skin have vanished making primer optional rather than essential!
The hot cloth cleanser is amazing, and boasts ingredients of Rosemary, Chamomile, Cocoa butter and Eucalyptus essentiol oil.
At first I was a little unsure of the consistency as I’d never really used anything like it before, but it soon grew on me as I watched my skin become smoother and softer. The muslin cloth part of this really makes all the difference, particularly to the radiance factor! The cloth provided in the kit is lovely, really good quality and a great size. The only down point for me is that I’m not keen on the scent of the cleanser, which is a shame as using it feels lovely and luxurious, and not liking the scent is a little frustrating! I’d love this so much more if it had the same scent as the toner… Something I’d definitely consider buying full size for myself (which is saying a lot, I’m normally a £5 cleanser girl!)
Next in my new routine was the Skin Tonic Spritzer. It smells absolutely gorgeous, I’d really like a perfume of it! The scent really makes this product for me. The naturally active ingredients are listed as Organic Aloe Vera, Calendula, Cucumber and Vitamin E. There’s really nothing that this little wonder can’t do, used after cleansing my face felt smoother and softer, used during the day to refresh and cool through this weird British summer it did it’s job perfectly, and it sets make up amazingly! Wonderful wonderful stuff, incredibly reasonably priced, I can see myself buying this forever more!
The third step is moisturiser, and for this the kit provided me with Skin Repair Light for Combination/Oily skin. It’s described as “light, gentle and balancing” which I can only agree with.
I tend to have huge issues with moisturiser, I’m really fussy and I want it to do everything, be rich enough to moisturise well, yet still be light enough for it to be absorbed quickly enough to use before applying make up in the morning and more! This ticks all the boxes, despite not claiming any mattifying qualities it doesn’t leave me shiny, it’s beautifully light yet creamy and it moisturises perfectly, plus I can put primer and make up over the top after just a couple of minutes without it “rolling” off in little bits everywhere! Again, another top product and an essential one if you struggle with combination/oily skin, or even if you just like a lighter moisturiser in the morning.
The last product in the kit is the “Spot on” which is described as a “rescue treatment for blemishes, bites and cuts”. I really didn’t like this on my face for spots, sticky and just yuck, for me it doesn’t fit with the luxurious experience the other products provide and that was disappointing. It smells like any other spot treatment with tea tree and made very little noticeable difference to spots for me. As you can tell, I was totally unimpressed with this until I got totally attacked with bites that kept me awake most of the night and nothing that I put on made any difference until I tried this, instantly cooling and soothing and it did a really great job considering the nasty allergic reaction I had to the bites!
Overall, an amazing kit to try, would really recommend it to anyone looking for a new routine with gorgeous products!
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Thanks Rachel, a great indepth review!
The Liz Earle Young Skin Try-Me kit is priced at £23 and available online from Liz Earle.
Did you know that you can subscribe to Lipglossiping.com by entering your email address in that little box over there…. no, not *there*, THERE! On the right! —————————->
Wait, let me bring it closer…
Voila!
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Lipglossiping.com is updated multiple times a day depending on how chatty I feel and how much caffeine I’ve consumed, it’s a fine balance of work vs. skiving and I’ve got it down to a fine art.
If you subscribe by email, you receive one email a day from me. I try to time it during your mid-afternoon slump. I’d like to include cookies and narcotics but unfortunately your workplace doesn’t like that very much so instead you’ll find a convenient way to catch up on my latest ramblings and photos.
Try it, you might like it! And if you don’t, you can always click ‘unsubscribe’ and go back to your usual method of blog stalking. Not that I’m calling you a stalker… though, it takes one to know one right?
I wanted to get these out quickly in the hope that the photos/swatches over my overspend haul may be useful to those still making up their minds on what they want to order. But I failed…
I’m not gonna do any proper reviews, I’m just trying to put some shots out there that are as colour accurate as I can manage.
Without further ado…
The Haul!
Stereo Rose MSF – surprisingly wearable on my pale, cool-toned skin.
I’m a confirmed night owl. I’ve always been happier to work and play when others around me are sleeping. I won’t lie, it’s tough balancing that lifetime ‘philosophy’ with being a Mum.
When I do eventually drag myself to my pit bed, my mind is usually swimming with ideas and thoughts of things I want to accomplish the following day. I simply find it hard to switch off.
Research in the UK has shown that following a warm bath, you go to sleep around 10 minutes earlier and enjoy a deeper slumber. So: immerse yourself in the water, leave all tension and thoughts behind, experience deep peace and relaxation. In Chinese Wu Wei, this ‘Go with the Flow’ is a key concept in Taoism.
Wu Wei is a cream bath foam that forms part of their new Tao Rituals line up. I wrote about this range last month and have been putting this sample through it’s paces in the name of relaxation and bubbles.
The packaging is adorable… well, not quite… the lid is adorable. Stupid thing to get hung up on, but it’s bamboo… it’s *squee* cute. Ok, I’m over it now.
What can I tell you? Wu Wei bubbles nicely… feels creamy on my skin and it smells like a 1000 angels have pooed in my bath (that’s a good thing by the way).
A little goes a very long way indeed… I’ve been using this 500ml bottle twice a week for the past month and don’t think I’m even halfway through the bottle yet… so that’s *counts on fingers* 8 baths so far which works out far cheaper than those pesky Lush Bubble Bars no?
Does it help me fall asleep faster? No. Anyone got a big mallet?
Rituals Wu Wei (£10.50) is available to buy online and in selected stores (check the website for details).
Hmmm… that makes this post sound far more dramatic and exciting than it actually is.
Perhaps if myself and VexintheCity hadn’t been gently chaperoned to the exit when it was time to go home, I’d have had the opportunity to ‘lose myself’ and run around QVC HQ in a style akin to Mission Impossible… camera flailing… whilst being chased by 3 burly security guards and papping Dale, (the ‘Housewive’s Choice’) secretly devouring all the biscuits in the QVC kitchen.
Not that it wasn’t exciting or interesting… It was! But the one thing that struck me above all else was simply how quiet and relaxed the place was. Now, I know we arrived after ‘home time’ for most, so the offices were understandably peaceful… but the live studios were also incredibly relaxed, almost serene.
Anyway, let’s have a look around…
The offices… where all the model booking, show planning, product organising and general adminy stuff takes place.
The prep room! Like a well-oiled machine… all the trolleys get stacked with products relevant to the show they’re destined to appear in. This is the beauty trolley for that evening’s 10 o’clock airing. I spy Decleor, Nails Inc, Bare Escentuals and other lovely things.
The prep Kitchen! They were showcasing utensils and a range of cookware. Gotta have some food to put in ’em right? It was HOT in there, but the gorgeous foodie aromas that were wafting down the corridor were immense!
Check me out, I done a panoramamama! What a geek! (Click the picture to see it LARGE)
This is one of the studios (I forget which number – there’s 6 in total I think). QVC headquarters and studios will be relocating in the next couple of years to Chiswick. Their current location was never supposed to be permanent, though they’ve been there 17 yrs now!
The building they’re in wasn’t designed to house studios. Natural light floods in from the atrium above and needs to be blacked out and checked before they go live each time, which obviously isn’t ideal.
Oh, oh, oh! We got to stand behind the cameras whilst a show was going out live! Mobile phones OFF and super quiet creeping about was the order of the day. At one point, I had to physically restrain VexintheCity who admitted an overwhelming urge to run infront of the camera waving her arms about like some day-release. I would have TOTALLY pretended not to know her.
As I said earlier, the studios were really quiet…. even the live ones. Imagine it… big room, two presenters, 1 floor manager (have I made that job title up?) and 1 camera man. That’s it. Eerie! It was pure QVC cheese too… I loved it. Jilly Halliday was demonstrating some funky *cough* clothing, whilst Dale Franklin was asserting his charm over the nation’s ladies, encouraging us to part with our cash for some of the latest and greatest jewellery on display. Flippin’ fabulous!
Control Room/Production-y bit…. Like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise! Lots of buttons…. wanted to dive forward and press a couple. Accidentally slip and sit on about 20 at once, you know the score. I behaved myself.
This lady was watching Dale do the jewellery presentation… she was nice. Are you still with me? Hello? Hellooo?
After all that tour excitement, we retired upstairs to where Bare Escentuals had set up a little room to give us a sneak preview of their new (to the UK) matte foundation. I’d had the pleasure of meeting their national makeup artist SJ previously but it was good to see her work her magic again.
Bare Escentuals Matte is due for release on QVC on the 10th July… we were given a sample, but I’ve already got a pot (in a better colour match) that I scored in a blog sale a month ago. I promise to review it before it releases over here (tick tock). It’s a great alternative for those among us who like the idea of mineral makeup but dislike the dewy finish that minerals tend to give. I predict it’s gonna be a big seller throughout the Summer.
SJ getting to work on the beautiful Keren who’s currently guest blogging for Lindsey at Beauty Mecca.
And the finished result. Subtle but flawless.
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It was a fabulously fun evening and a real change from the norm for me. I hope you enjoyed a little sneak peek behind the scenes. Don’t forget, it’s beauty month at QVC… there’s lots of tempting TSVs coming up and check out the Bare Escentuals big Matte launch day on the 10th July.
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For more info on what you can expect from QVC’s Beauty Month, watch this video with Alison Young below:
Beautiful shade, great looking finish, 2 easy-to-apply coats and truly, truly inexpensive at £1.50 a bottle.
Which is why the terrible wear breaks my heart.
This is how it looked at the beginning of the 2nd day. It didn’t look much better halfway through the first day either (I just didn’t have my camera with me).
Have you been lemming the new mineralize shadows from MAC’s In The Groove collection but can’t quite stretch to £15 a piece?
I’d like to tell you to get theeselves down to The Body Shop to check out their new Baked Eye Colours. But at £9.50 a piece, they’re no bargain alternative.
Here’s a swatchfest on the samples I received from The Body Shop.
It’s a picture-intensive post, so if you wanna check out more swatches from The Body Shops new Baked Eye Colour range…. read on… (W = Applied Wet, D = Applied Dry)
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