A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Dare I say it?  Oh… I dunno… eek.  Can I whisper it?

Boots No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara is verging ever closer to holy grail!

Did you catch that?  I don’t like declaring stuff like that… I’m not even sure if I believe in ‘holy grail’ products… but my word, do I ever love this mascara.

I only picked it up because I wanted the free eyeshadow palette that came with it.

The brush is well designed, incorporating features from rival brands and merging them seamlessly onto the one wand.  I particularly like the spikey tip that ensures good product distribution into the corner lashes.  The other features on the brush include both long and short spikes which really do allow for a good comb through.

Something else that this mascara manages to avoid courtesy of a well-designed brush is product overload.  My mascara pet peeve is when a brush holds SO much product, it makes my lashes clump from 4 feet away.  I can really comb through my lashes with this over and over if necessary and they just. don’t. clump.  Amazing.

Before obviously on the left, after on the right.

That’s some definition right there isn’t it?  That’s also only one coat.  I do spend a little time combing through with this wand… not because I have to… but the application seems to perfect itself if you take 30 seconds to properly wiggle the wand about and ‘place’ your lashes.

This may look a bit spidery for some… in fairness, my lashes always look a bit spidery when I wear mascara with no eyeliner, I should probably make sure to apply some before the photos, but I quite like being able to show you how effective/rubbish the wand is at getting to the roots of the lashes.

Boots No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara is priced at £12 (but you can get it for £7 when the No7 vouchers are in circulation… I think the current lot expire today?)

Oh my… I nearly forgot one of the most important things I wanted to say about it!  Absolutely no smudges.  None.  Nada.  No flaking either.  It is a bit of a bugger to remove though… proper dedicated eye makeup remover/cleansing oil needed.

Have you tried it?  What’s your current favourite mascara?

Surely not… I’ve been harping on about it often enough but I just had to mention that the brand is finally available to buy in Boots.  Unfortunately, it’s only online for the moment… but all that will change in January, when it launches instore too.

Not sure where to start with the Aussie range? My pick has to be the 101 ointment.  Literally, 101 uses for this little tube of lip-loving moisture.

I requested some better pictures of a few pieces from the upcoming Boots (Strictly Come Dancing) Strictly Fab-U-Lous releases, ‘cos frankly… mine were shiteous.

Strictly The Lip Gloss Collection, RRP £6

Strictly Come dancing Look Books: Stunning, Beautiful, and Latin, RRP £10 each (I think these were my favourite!)

Strictly Fab-u-lous Lip Collection, RRP £12.00

It’s back on our screens proper from 1st October I think… Strictly is such a guilty pleasure for me.  Keep your X-Factors… I’m all about the sequins!

Back in early July, I attended a Boots Press Day featuring all the Christmas goodies they have in store for us this winter – it seemed silly to tell you about it back then… but with Strictly heading back to our screens next month, I figured that now would be pretty darn apt!

Enjoy some craptastic iPhone photos of some of the Strictly Come Dancing themed gift sets we can expect to find instore.

One of the dresses from the last series!

Cosmetics Palette – £20

Large Vanity Case – £TBC

Read the rest of this entry »

Whilst on holiday, I’m working on a shockingly bad laptop with a screwy backlight… in conjunction with an internet connection best suited to 1994, I’m struggling!

I hope that these images are at least somewhat colour accurate… If not, I’ll fix them when I get home – but for now I want to chat about the infamous and generally well regarded Boots 17 Mirror Shine lipsticks.  In particular, the popular shade Beehive.

Thanks to the UK blogging community, I heard about these lippies aaaaages ago… and have been trying to find Beehive in stock for a long time.  Somewhat ironically…. of all places, I finally found it on one of the busiest shopping streets in Britain.

Beehive is a creamy, shiny and almost balm-like lipstick.  The formula is soft and as a result, prone to snapping halfway down the bullet.  Apply with a gentle hand and don’t store anywhere it might get warm to preserve it for as long as possible.  These are quality issues that need looking into, but the sad truth is that if they’re addressed… the lipstick probably wouldn’t feel half as siky as it does in both application and once on the lips.

If you’re looking for a pigmented lipstick, these aren’t for you.  Glossy and sheer are the key words to remember here, but this makes the range light, easy to wear and comfortable with just a hint of colour.  Beehive (£4.49) is a pinky nude shade that evens out the tone on my lips and adds a degree of shine.  It doesn’t blow me away, I don’t think it deserves it’s place on the pedestal it occupies (especially considering it’s quality flaws) but I’m happy to own it and I reach for it when I want a quick polished finish to a natural look.

Last year, they were everywhere and they divided opinion.  Some loved ’em, some hated ’em.

What am I talking about?  Matte Nails of course!

17 Nails Xtras Matte Top Coat Polish 8ml (£3.99) from Boots is due to be released in September and I’ve got a sneaky peek for you!

Well… finally!  A really, thoroughly decent matte top coat with great availability and a price tag to match!

It may a little late to the mass market to be considered the height of fashion, but this budget matte top coat from 17 Cosmetics is gonna be a hugely popular seller in my humble opinion.

It applies a true matte finish, none of this satin semi-matte nonsense.  So far, I haven’t noticed it accentuating any ridges or imperfections in the polish application underneath and it dries fully in minutes.  Actually, that’s my one caveat… you need to apply the top coat quickly as it will dry rapidly.  Once you realise this, it’s not a problem as the polish glides on smoothly anyway.

After wearing for a couple of days, the matte finish does get slightly shinier… more satiny.  But I haven’t noticed an increase in chipping or tip wear as a result of topping up my standard manicure with this little gem.

£3.99?  You’ll want to get this!  Hurry up September!

Soooooooooo The Boots Smooth Skin by iPulse IPL System…

Armpit or Leg…

Arm. Pit. or. Leg.

I tossed a coin.  You get to see my hairy legs.  Or, leg even.  Just below the knee… to the right of the 2nd thread vein from the left.

I dunno why I watermarked it, it’s not like I wanna claim it as mine.

Random Internet User:  “Hey, lady… is this your photo of your pasty white leg with dry skin and multiple hairs protruding from one follicle (you freak)”.

Me: “Um, nope… no, doesn’t look like one of mine”.

Random Internet User:  “But it says here… Lipglossiping.com”

Me: “…”

On the positive side… we’re kinda meant to have hairy legs.  I feel normal posting this in comparison to the hairy chin pics.

Until I can put the The Boots Smooth Skin to work on maintaining my facial in-clinic laser hair removal, I thought I’d best put it to good use on some other hirsute part of my anatomy.  Stop making gagging noises and be bloody grateful you were spared the bikini line bitches.

So this is the benchmark, here we are. Day One.  Well, not day one… this photo shows about 4 days worth of growth actually.  I’ve done my test patch and I’m good to go…. raring even.

I’m a little bit sad that I can’t fake tan my legs whilst I’m zapping but in the grand scheme of things, I’d rather be white than hairy.

Wish me luck, I’m going in!

They say that tattoos are addictive… I don’t have any of those but I’m here to tell you that you can add hair-removal and Foxes Coconut Crinkles to the list of things that “Lipglossiping got herself addicted to” in 2010.

The question is, will I have a single hair left on my body come Christmas?  Will I get carried away with it’s fabulosity and start chasing the neighbour’s Persian moggy round the block once I’m done with Mr. L’s hairy back?

The Boots Smooth Skin by iPulse IPL System arrived last week for me to try and report back on, and being the hairy Mary that I am… I honestly couldn’t think of a better candidate.

Until I read this:

I was all of an “OHMYGOD, I CAN’T USE IT!”  I may even have squeezed out a couple of tears…  and then a few more for the benefit of Mr. L (who missed them the first time round) after he looked up from Micro Mart to determine whether the wailing was coming from me or the baby.

After some email to-ing and fro-ing with the people behind the device, I learned that they’re actually in the process RIGHT NOW of updating the UK manual for the machine.  Infact, here it is in black and white from the rep:

…I have managed to get you the most up to date info on the suitability of Boots Smooth Skin for PCOS sufferers.

As you know, in the UK manual, it states that Boots Smooth Skin is not suitable for PCOS sufferers.

We are in the process of updating the UK manual with Boots to give a better explanation of the considerations when using Smooth Skin with PCOS.  We know many PCOS sufferers have found good results with Smooth Skin and some have posted their positive reviews on boots.com.

As you will know, in essence, PCOS is related to a hormonal imbalance.  Hormone changes may cause dormant hair stem cells to grow into new hair follicles.  So it is likely to take longer to be hair-free and require you to top up.

But we also know and understand what a huge comfort it is to PCOS sufferers not to have the extra hair that the condition causes to be so visible…

…We want to do the right thing by our consumers, and while we go through the final rounds of approvals with Boots we would love to give you the chance to get ahead of the UK change.

So there you go.  You heard it here first (maybe).

In all honesty as a PCOS lady, this device wouldn’t be my first stop for hair removal.  Not for my face anyway, which is precisely why I don’t already own one.

I’ve looked at this particular device many times in the past (it’s one of the few that claim PERMANENT results) and I’ve never been confident enough in it’s claims to go to Boots and lay my debit card down on the counter.   I think it’s important that you know this, and that I tell you why.

Regardless of whether there’s any substance to my opinion, as someone with a “proper” problem with excess hair, I knew that I was always going to opt for something that I perceive to be stronger.  I want FULL ON peeow peeow laser beams blasting my face yano?  I want someone with a clipboard to be operating a machine that takes up at least 10sq foot of floor space and puts a minor dent in the national grid everytime it’s fired up.

I won’t be using this on my face or my chest.  I don’t want it to interfere with the results that I may or may not get from the SK:N treatment that I’m currently undergoing.

Instead, you get to see my gorgeous hairy pins.  You lucked out.  Don’t worry though… I’m not showing them today, your appetite is safe for now.

Check out this instead:

It’s all very neat and compact… slotting into it’s own little vanity case that has been discretely designed without the words LASER HAIR REMOVAL emblazoned all over it.  In other words, you can totally leave the IPL stuff behind and take the case on a dirty weekend filled with furry handcuffs and the like.  Or if you’re me, Minstrels.

So, the plan is to do one leg.  Just the one.  Don’t worry, I’m still gonna shave the other one… but I think that doing it this way will leave me under no illusions by the end of 12 weeks whether I’m actually seeing concrete results from the Boots Smooth Skin.  I’m also going to pin down Mr. L (he really does have a hairy back and this is the only home IPL system suitable for men) – he’s gonna. love. it.

Much, much later on… god knows if you’ll still be here with me or even care, but I’ll put phase two of the hair-blasting attack into action.  I’ll use the Boots Smooth Skin on my face to maintain whatever results I achieve from my SK:N treatment once it’s finished.

For the purposes of the trial and for you ladies with PCOS, I wish I could do that bit NOW – but bad timing forces my hand and I simply can’t.  It’s pretty common for hirsute women with a hormonal imbalance to need extra professional laser sessions.  Sometimes as many as a couple of times a year to maintain completely smooth skin.  I’ve made peace with that, but for me… that would mean £220 for each topup session.  The Boots Smooth Skin currently retails at £274.99.  It makes economical sense for me to purchase one of these for maintenance and I would (despite my cautious attitude towards it’s claims) be confident enough in the device’s abilities to lay down my cash in an effort to maintain an area that’s already been treated.

Anyway, I’ll introduce you to the more technical aspects of the machine next week when I’m confident that my tan has completely faded (you can’t use the device on fake-tanned skin).

*glances up* Jesus, I can’t half go on.

Now that I’ve had some time to play with the products I chose to bring home with me from the Une Natural Beauty blogger unveiling, I thought I’d share my thoughts on some of the pieces and a little FOTD with them.

Une Natural Beauty is a new brand with “natural formulas for a natural result, for a natural style”.  It boats impressive eco-credentials and with prices ranging from £4.99 – £13.99, it’s accessible to all.  This is all well and good, but how do the products perform?

I chose 2 eyeshadows, a creme blush, a lipstick, 2 eye pencils, a brush and a concealer.

I didn’t like the shade selections for the base products, so I left those alone.

Let’s start with the Une Multipurpose Brush.  It’s goat hair, and a little scratchy.  It’s densely packed and the most perfect shape for sweeping blush onto the apple of the cheeks and outwards.  It just fits my cheeks brilliantly and totally stops me from applying too low or too high.  I’ve also experienced only one or two shed hairs.  Priced at £7.99, I’m pleased with it.  I’d love it to be a little softer, but hey, it’s less than a tenner.

Glimmer Eyes Shadow G02 is a neutral cream shadow with shimmer.  It feels greasy and although the shimmer is indeed beautiful, it invariably ends up in the socket line less than an hour after applying.  I’ve tried with UDPP underneath and setting with eye shadow ontop.  I’ve decided that the best way to work with this is to pat a tiny amount near the tear duct for a subtle sparkle and resign yourself to a bit of creasing.  I’m cool with that, but I just can’t work with this as an allover lid shade.

Sdumato Eyes Shadow S23 is a matte aubergine.  It’s quite… powdery and kicks up a lot of dust when picking up the product with a brush.  It’s not the best matte I’ve worked with in terms of pigmentation but it’s buildable and the texture is pretty soft.  Lasting power over a slick of eye primer is fair.

Overall, I think the eye shadows that I’ve tried here are overpriced at £8.99 each.  That’s a lot for a high-street mono eyeshadow, at least £2 too much in this case.  Though you do get a fairly generous 1.8g of product, they just haven’t blown me away.

Une Natural Beauty’s Breezy Cheeks blush in B02 (£8.99) on the other hand, has.  It’s a beautiful mid-toned pink (leaning towards mauve) cream blush to powder formula.  Applies like a dream with my fingertips and blends beautifully, leaving a subtle colour that is pink without being too flushed.  It doesn’t have the most amazing staying power, but I can get through most of the day without needing to reapply.  I’d absolutely repurchase this product.

A quick note about the packaging…

Slidey mobile phone of 3 years ago-esque.  I reckon it’s a brave choice… love it or hate it, it does what it’s designed to do which is be easily recyclable.  It’s a little chunky, but not particularly cumbersome.  I’m a fan.  It has that slidey satisfaction thing too… yano when you close a drawer?  And the last couple of cms glide to a satisfying stop?  This does that.  By the way, I’ve left the peel-off stickers on… underneath, the surface is mirrored… generously so!

All the eye pencils from the range are reasonably priced at £4.99 each.

The Sfumato Eyes Pencil in S23 is a color match to the Sfumato Eye Shadow I mentioned earlier.  An earthy aubergine shade.  One thing that I adore about the Une Natural Beauty range is the colour selection.  I’m all for creating a collection based solely on natural and muted colours, and I think that this has been done exceptionally well here.

However, some of the formulas, just don’t work for me.  I understand that a lot of the products are sheer in support of the natural beauty ethos, and I commend that.  Infact, I’m often a fan of more sheer products (especially in darker shades) as I can be heavy handed and prefer the option to build colour rather than desperately try to remove it once overdone!

Unfortunately, I’m finding the Sfumato Eyes Pencil is just too hard and sheer.  It drags across my lashline and doesn’t deposit enough colour to make the uncomfortable application worthwhile.

The Glimmer Eyes Pencil in G13 is sadly even harder.  Such a shame as it contains the most beautiful and fine-particled glitter… I adore how it looks.  Infact, once on… it’s more comfortable than my NARS glitter eye pencils, but what a total drag it is to apply.  Pun intended.

The Skin Glow Pencil in G01 is slightly more expensive at £6.99 and is the most perfect colour match concealer for pale cool-toned ladies I’ve seen on the high street.  It’s creamy and soft and applies really nicely.  I’ve been using this around my nose and in the corner of my eyes to highlight and lift areas where I’m naturally more shadowed.  It’s a great pencil that fills a void in my collection.

My only wish is that it were chunky.  I’ve only used it twice and already it needs sharpening.  I’m literally gonna go through one of these every few weeks if I use it daily.  Bigger please!  More product for the same amount of money, thank you!

Finally the lipstick, Une Lip-Toned Colour in L02.  Love it.  It’s a beautiful nude… a proper nude, not one of your concealer-lip nudes.  It’s creamy and glossy without being too sheer.  No hint of frost, just proper ‘my lips but better’ goodness.  A makeup bag staple done well.  Priced at £7.99, it’s what I’d expect to pay.  Another definite repurchase!

Finally (are you still with me?!), my Une Natural Beauty FOTD.

Eyes

~ Une Natural Beauty Sfumato Eyes Shadow in S23
~ Une Natural Beauty Glimmer Eyes Shadow in G02
~ Une Natural Beauty Sfumato Eyes Pencil in S23
~ Avon Super Shock Mascara in Black

Face

Une Natural Beauty Breezy Cheeks Blush in B02

Lips

Une Natural Beauty Lip-Tined Lip Colour in L02

.

Une Natural Beauty is a huge brand launch and I’ve only delved into a tiny percentage of the 25 new products and 148 shades.  It’s a varied review with a couple of stand outs and a couple of disappointments with one or two “OMG this could be awesome if only they…” thrown in.

Une Natural Beauty is available in the UK online and in selected stores at Boots.  It should be rolling out into Superdrug from September 2010 and launching in Irealand sometime in August.

Let me know if you’ve tried anything from the range yet!

Today will go down in history.

I finally reached the bottom of my seemingly bottomless bottle of Soap & Glory Clean on Me.  Usually, when I get bored of something shower-related I tell Mr. L to use it up for me.  That way, I don’t feel guilty cracking open something new when I’ve still got half a bottle/tube/whatever of something else on the go.  But Mr. L wasn’t playing ball with my S&G – too girly smelling apparently *eye roll*.

I picked the Boots No7 Luxurious Foaming Shower Oil up a couple of months ago and it’s been gathering dust ever-since.  Just as I’d turned the shower on this morning, I realised I was all out and hot-footed it across the landing, dripping water as I went.  Once I’d remembered where I’d stashed it, I dripped my way back into the shower only to realise that I hadn’t taken a photo of it for the blog!

I left the shower again and drip, drip, dripped my way into the bedroom, grabbing my camera as I went. Plonked the box on the windowsill and started snapping away.  3 minutes later, I’d finished snapping and glanced up to see my neighbour’s curtain twitch.

So now, not only does my neighbour know that I have one boob bigger than the other.  He know’s WHICH FREAKIN’ BOOB IT IS.

Dedication.  This review had better be worth it.

Oh yeah… the review…

I didn’t like it.  It barely lathered.  Wimpy, weak lather that didn’t smell of anything much at all.  Very, very lightly scented.

I tried again… and used enough to bathe Geoff Capes twice over and still…. it just gave me a thin surface layer of bubbles.  Didn’t feel much like luxury to me.  Being an oil and all… did it make my skin feel smoother or softer?  Nope.  Nothing more than any other moisturising shower gel.  It didn’t strip me of any moisture…. but let’s face it, this stuff is £8.75 a bottle (cheaper with a No7 till spit) but still… it’s a MEH kinda product.

And that’s my official rating.  At least my neighbour enjoyed it.

I was starting to run out of things to spend my £5 No7 vouchers on when I spied these unassuming little tubes on the No7 counter.  I’m a total sucker for cream eyeshadows and when I swatched these, I knew I had to have them!

They’re a very light mousse formula and although the tubes are teeny tiny, a little goes a very long way.  I keep squeezing out too much!  Easy to apply and blend, I usually use my finger before running a brush over the edges just to make sure that they’re softened.

I bought them without doing any blog research and was concerned that they’d last approximately 5 seconds before creasing on me.  In general, I’m not a HUGE No7 makeup fan… there’s definitely some real stand outs from the line, but it’s not usually a brand I purchase from without doing a bit of research beforehand.

I have to say though, I made a good choice with these!  They last a decent 5/6 hours when used with no base before they begin to travel upwards… combine with a slick of UDPP and I can get about 7/8 hours wear out of them.  I haven’t tried setting them with a light dusting of complementary eyeshadow… but I think that would prolong wear even further.

Not too shabby really.

The colours are beautiful and what attracted me to them in the first place, there’s one more (a bronzey shade) that I like the look of aswell, but I’ll wait ’till the £5 off No7 till spit comes round again before adding it to my collection.

£8.75 each from Boots instore or online.

Have you tried these?

Boots No7 Summer 2010 collection will be hitting counters nationwide next month I believe and here’s what it should look like!

MizzWorthy and BeautyJunkieLondon have got sneak peeks of the collection, so go check them out!

I’m definitely gonna be checking out the silvery looking nail polish, the eye shadow quad and the bronzer.  I really like the look of the shadow quad, gold and silver are a lovely pairing to spice up those two neutrals.  I’m still useless with bronzers, always look like I’ve gone and rubbed my face on the garden.

The rest I probably won’t bother with… gloss in a pot?  Hate getting anything under my nails…  down with pots.  The other nail colour looks a bit of a snore too no?

Anything take your fancy?