A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I’m of the firm opinion that for the money, French pharmacy brands offer some of the best solutions for diffcult skin-types. Escentual.com have long been my online destination for French pharma-brands, the beauty retailer offers shoppers worldwide a range of continental treats that can be difficult to source on the high street.

I’m happy to share the news that from today until the end of March, the online store are once again running their popular French Pharmacy promotion. “What’s this?” I hear you ask… it’s simple, let me break it down for you…

I bet you’ve got at least one Christmas present that is still languishing unopened?

When I was a kid… Mum used to make us pile our presents into a carrier bag to take upstairs and 5 months later… the carrier bag would still be half-full in the bottom of our wardrobes.  Ungrateful sods, kids.  The thing is though, what do you do with unwanted gifts?  There’s always eBay… but the chances are, Aunty Vi has been stalking the auction site since the 26th December to see if any of her gifts have ended up under the virtual hammer.

Alternatively, you could give them away to friends and colleagues… who probably don’t want them either…

Or… if we’re talking about unwanted fragrances (novelty socks won’t work)… and you fancy a £5 off voucher for a new scent…

Tweet @escentualdotcom a picture of the fragrance with the hashtag #FragranceAmnesty, let them know which scents you’ve liked in the past, and they’ll recommend a better fit AND give you a £5 gift voucher towards your next fragrance purchase with them.

Once you’ve claimed your voucher, go one step further and donate your unwanted fragrances to a better home.

Escentual.com are collecting your unwanted perfumes on behalf of Give and Make Up, a charitable organisation that passes on unwanted beauty products to women’s shelters. Read more about the #FragranceAmnesty and how to donate your fragrances here.

Sacre Bleu indeed!  The last time Escentual.com ran this promotion, I parted with more than my fair share of cash to dip my gallic toe in as much French skincare as it could bear.

Not literally, that would be really unhygenic.

I’ll be restocking the brilliant La Roche-Posay Effaclar AI Targeted Breakout Corrector (the closest thing I’ve found to stop emerging spots DEAD in their tracks), La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP – Lipid Replenishing Body Balm (your skin will thank you this winter!),and the wonderful A-Derma Sensifluid Cleansing Lotion (massage onto skin, wipe off with a barely-damp flannel for brilliant waterless cleansing).

I may also be taking a tiny dabble with some Nuxe Reve de Miel – Honey Lip Balm (‘cos other bloggers keep making me want to try it!), the new La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 – Soothing Repairing Balm (to soothe my post-IPL skin), and a Klorane shampoo & conditioner… I haven’t decided which yet, so I’m open to suggestions!

Will you be indulging in any of Escentual.com’s French Pharmacy brands during their price promotion?

Last week, I logged onto one of my favourite online shopping destinations, escentual.com to take advantage of one of their current offers.  Until the end of March, the beauty emporium are selling their French pharmacy brands (including: Avene, La Roche Posay, Vichy and more) at 1/3 off the usual price.  It’s the perfect time to take advantage of some of those purchases you’ve been putting off!  Or was that just me?

I picked up the Avene Cleanance Soapless Gel Cleanser, the La Roche-Posay Effaclar AI (because LondonMUGirl always recommends it), the La Roche-Posay Lipikar Huile Lipid-Replenishing Cleansing Oil, A-Derma Oat Milk Soap Free Foaming Gel, and the La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP.  My order came to just under £31, so I got free delivery aswell!

My order arrived the next day!  I was really tempted by some of hte Klorane shampoo/conditioners aswell, particularly as they do some for sensitive scalps but in the end I decided that they could sit on the wishlist for a little longer, especially as I stocked up on ‘poos during my last mooch around in T.K. Maxx.

What’s your favourite French pharmacy brand?  Have you taken advantage of the escentual.com offer yet?

What is it?

Our favourite Welsh purveyors of all things beautiful, Escentual.com are demonstrating their support of Breast Cancer Awareness month with some crazy style!  A logo change and a very generous pledge to Breast Cancer Care renders them ridiculously awesome.

How much is it?

With over 30 pink-themed beauty products on the donation list, there’s sure to be something in everyone’s price range!

How much of our money goes to supporting PINK projects?

Escentual.com are donating 10% of the RRP from over 40 must-have pink themed beauty products including:
Clarisonic Classic Pink, Lacoste Joy of Pink EDT, Stila Lip Glaze’s, Tigi Bed Head After Party, Crabtree & Evelyn Rose EDT and Joop Homme Sexy in Pink.

How do I get it?

Just purchase any of the listed products on site this October and rest assured that Escentual.com will honour their part of the deal.

So, you know… I’m developing an expensive interest in fragrance. I thought it wouldn’t happen… I still have to work very hard to look beyond the obvious when it comes to perfume but the spirit is willing and my past experience tells me that this is all I need to entangle myself in a new obsession.

I went along to an Escentual.com press event some weeks ago and had the opportunity to smell my way around the room so to speak. From a personal point of view it was a real treat to be able to literally wallow in such an array of nice fragrances in a relaxed setting. It’s something so hard to do in a retail environment where you’re literally jumped on from the moment you show the slightest interest in the bottles on the shelves.

I must have raised over 30 different scents to my nose that evening, let me introduce you to some of the niche brands available at Escentual.com.

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Etat Libre D’Orange.

“Creative” only lightly scratches the surface of descriptive words one could use to describe this young, French fragrance house. Novel would be another but don’t mistake Etat Libre D’Orange simply as a cheeky maverick because there’s as much about quality as there is controversy to this unusual fragrance collection.

Their catalogue of scents include the unusually named: Putain des Palaces (Palace Whore), Fat Electrician and Don’t Get Me Wrong Baby I Don’t Swallow. And let’s not even delve into the provocative Secretions Magnifiques…

Oh ok, if I absolutely must…

Secretions Magnifiques* is their most famous scent which basically conveys bodily secretions in their full and frankly, unpleasant aroma. Blood, sweat, sperm and saliva… what more could you want to douse yourself in post-morning shower? Let’s just say… it has a certain amount of metallic authenticity to it and I keep the lid of my sample very tightly closed.

On the flip side, I adored Jasmin et Cigarette which is a floral like no other. Side order of ashtray anyone? But it works… it doesn’t pretend to be tobacco, just pure unadulterated ash tempered by the sweet floral notes of Jasmine. It’s a beautifully worked juxtaposition.

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Juliette Has A Gun.

Notorious makers of the Not A Perfume EDP that contains a single ingredient of dilluted Ambrox, this one didn’t set my world alight in the slightest. I found it as bland as quite frankly, it probably should be.

On the other hand, I recently took a passing sniff at a bottle of Calamity J which has landed itself squarely on my wishlist. A boozy, smoky, woody amber without a hint of floral or fruit to feminise it. Heaven!

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Costume National.

Finally comes a range from the Italian fashion house, Costume National. I could take or leave the feminine scents that to my nose held no interest… they’re mostly sweet, light affairs (with the exception of Scent Intense which allowed me to appreciate an amped up version!).

However, I did fall in love with the gentleman’s fragrance from the range!

Simply titled Homme, it’s a spicy scent with a base of musk and a heart of wood that is beautifully resinous without being syrupy.

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If you’re interested in sampling any of these niche fragrances, don’t forget that Escentual.com do rather splendid and affordable sample packs of many of their niche brands (and infact all of the ones I’ve mentioned above!)

* disclosure: Secretions Magnifique was a press sample

I was so excited by the idea that Escentual.com were introducing sampler sets yesterday that I immediately jumped on Twitter to whoop!  What’s so cool about it?  Well, I do a ton of online shopping… and there ain’t many UK retailers will let you buy sample sets of ANYTHING, let alone posh fragrances and skincare!

Usually, I buy frag samples from LuckyScent.com in the U.S. (who are aweseome btw) but already I’m being hugely tempted by the COSTUME NATIONAL sampler set on Escentual.com.  If I’m honest, the La Roche Posay one is also drawing me in… have you seen how much of the range they’ve squeezed in to that set?

I’m rubbish at asking for samples when I buy stuff and this takes the lucky dip aspect out of the equation when ordering online.  I’m really delighted to see Escentual.com fulfill a niche like this in the U.K and hope they keep on top of updating, restocking and encouraging great brands to allow themselves to be sampled in this way.  There’s nothing like being given the opportunity to discover something marvellous at a lower price point.

You can view the sample sets available by visiting escentual.com/try

Are you keen to see sample sachets and vials used in this way or do you worry that once companies realise that money is to be made from them, you’ll see less and freebies tucked into your order?