A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

With ever-increasing emphasis being placed on design and aesthetics, it’s no wonder that nowadays, we’re inundated with beautiful products to “enrich” our buying experiences.  I will admit that I’m a total sucker for a beautifully packaged object… it all adds to the delight of cradling that new purchase in your hands and feeding…well… kinda ‘good’ about it no?

How horribly shallow.  I will have to feed my soul with some wholesome, profound and worthy thoughts about BINTM to make amends…  <…>  …Ok, I’m over it.

But it’s always good to remember Aesop’s words reminding us that “Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.”  It’s all too easy to get swept along on a tide of “ooh pretty” and forget about the product inside.  Perhaps more than any other, the beauty industry should be driven by physical results, why else would there exist so many beauty bloggers slathering products on their faces like no tomorrow, eager to share their findings?  So is it kinda ludicrous that there is such importance placed on how products look externally?

Probably.  Case in point…

I want these limited edition Steam Cream Xmas tins from Selfridges… I don’t even really like the product (it’s nice enough but doesn’t rock my boat) and yet, gimme.

And how about those Guerlain palettes… you know the ones, the horribly expensive but atthesametime ridiculously beautiful chrome cut-out ones.  They’ve generally received luke-warm reviews, but I still want to stroke one and make it mine.

And of course, Paul & Joe… well they know how to make a product look nice don’t they?

Whenthey tweeted an image of the lipstick below a couple of weeks ago, I knew I wanted one.  Of course it helps that the shade shown is hawt but still, I reckon I would have bought one even if the shade was a bit boring.  Art Deco styled lipsticks?  GOD yes.

Now, don’t get me wrong… I am admitting to shallowness and I’m admitting to having my head turned more readily by something that appeals to my inner magpie.  But I’m not saying that style overrides content.  It just… helps.

Are you a sucker for beautifully presented beauty products?  What is your most ‘beautiful’ purchase?

I think I rank pretty highly on the sad-o-meter… I don’t feel very confident until I’ve put some sort of war paint on in the mornings, I can’t walk past a beauty counter without going in for a closer look and my bank statement reads like the exhibitor list at IMATS.

But what about you?  QVC have commisioned a survey of over 2000 women in celebration of their annual July beauty month which reveals that more than a 1/3 of British women won’t leave the house without makeup on and that 21% of us admit that putting on our makeup is the most important part of our day!  Say what?!

If you think that’s a bit extreme, read on…

Instead of thinking of our loved ones, a third of British women admit that their beauty regime is the last thing on their mind before they go to sleep and for one in seven British women, it’s also the first thing they think about when they wake up!!

But why do we do all of this?  Well… perhaps the next juicy snippet from the survey will answer that question…

Over a third of women (31%) revealed that they are more concerned with looking good for other women as opposed to impressing the opposite sex, perhaps because 65% of British women believe they are judged by other women more than men.

Craziness!

What do you guys think about this?  Do you feel judged by other women and c’mon own up, who thinks about their beauty regime last thing at night AND first thing in the morning!

Yeah, that doesn’t rhyme too well but ‘bossiping’ wasn’t a word last time I checked.  It’s 2.20am and I’ve spent all evening playing with makeups. Infact, I’ve been so preoccupied painting my face that I haven’t blogged and whenever I don’t blog, my head fills up with “stuff”. Stuff that will stop me from being able to sleep if I don’t turn the tap on my brain and let it flow somewhere, anywhere. I think is probably the #1 reason why I blog… when my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light. No messing. No time for books, telly, nothing. In the empty space between my photography blog and Lipglossiping, I used to lie awake for hours each night constantly searching for the cool side of the pillow and trying not to look at the alarm clock for fear of jinxing sleep forever. Blogging is good for me and it gives my night-owl habits a great excuse to manifest.

Anyway… Lipglossiping is Bossing just means that I’ve got another list for you. A list of ‘Do Its’. No reason, they’re just snippets of things I want to say I like without having to analyse in the minutest of details exactly why I like them because frankly, I’m gonna hit that pillow hard tonight.

IMMERSE: The Everyday Beauty, Long Tall Ally’s Tales from the Scales & Rouge Deluxe

ENJOY: Skinny Sugar Free Iced Vanilla Latte (tricky not to look like a twat asking for something so pretentious-sounding though)

ANTICIPATE: Clinique Black Honey Collection & Studio Look Books at Superdrug

LISTEN: Nouvelle Vague – Dance With Me

FOLLOW: @inmywindow, @lindseykelk, @cosmetic_candy & @beautie

BUY: GOSH Natural Touch Foundation, OSMO Intensive Deep Repair Mask & OCC Lip Tar in Memento

LUST: Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée

WATCH: But that’s the button for the internet…

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Have a lovely weekend people!

Teeny quick update (knew I wouldn’t be able to stay away!)…

I’m having the bestest day thanks to the most thoughtful husband a girl could ever dream of.

Infact, I’m composing this post on my new phone and if it works it’ll hopefully make updating on the go a real possibility! (you poor, poor things).

Anyway, look at my lovely birthday presents!! How lucky am I?

Thank you for all your kind birthday messages, this getting older lark really isn’t that scary after all!

Eek! I hope this publishes without messing up the blog :/

drinking practically illegal amounts of tea

marvelling at how much joy this one brings

doing a bit o’ cooking and baking…

…but resorting to cheese on toast when the going gets tough

reliving my past…

…enjoying the present…

…and welcoming the future as I hit the big 3-0 on Sunday.

Please tell me it’s not gonna smart too much?  I’m a little apprehensive!  Posting may be sporadic over the next few days and if it isn’t… I really do love blogging a bit too much.

Have a great weekend people, I’ll see you on the other side!

Having a little tidy up this morning and I uncovered some more precious bits and bobs to put in Leila’s box of memories.  I unashamedly hoard for this collection of papers, objects, cards and photos that make up the parts of Leila’s life she’ll never remember.

Mr. L has to keep me in check a little.  I want to preserve ever memory we ever make together but let’s be honest, I don’t think they make boxes big enough.

From photos of her first day at home, a postcard from our first family holiday, her first lock of hair and even her name translated into Arabic by a friend who was delighted we’d kept the original spelling…. everything is here for her to look back on when she is big and has babies of her own.

I’m posting this here because I’ve noticed that the collecting has ground to a halt and I want to remember that even only 2 years on, these precious snippets of her life are moments I’ll never re-live.  When she’s five, I’ll want to remember her as she is now too.

Live in the moment, live in the past and live in the future… where my girl is concerned, I want to absorb every last second.

Do you collect memories like this?

I had the best weekend I’ve had in ages… you know when you just can’t stop thinking about it despite how rubbish the following week is turning out to be?

Saturday I did a little shopping (just a little) and picked up some drugstore UK brands for a friend in the U.S. and perhaps a couple for myself too (but don’t tell anyone).  Then I hit Primark with all the gusto of someone with £20 burning a hole in their back pocket.  Bargain-a-rama.  Biscuit making and a round of catch the pigeon with Leila made for an alltogether exhausting afternoon!

Sunday was a beautifully lazy day spent in our local park (L loves the mini train!), cooking roast dinner and bread & butter pudding, playing with another WnW palette, talking to my Mum in France and generally being idle.  Bliss!

Some photos from my weekend (apologies for the food overload!)…

Did I mention Leila inally gave up the dodie too?  I told her the new baby down the road (there isn’t one) was crying because he didn’t have any dummies and that now L was a big girl… could she give him hers?  She wasn’t sure…

We put all five of her dodies in a fancy Jo Malone box (she would settle for nothing less) along with some ribbon and tissue paper.  Sealed the box with a big kiss and Mummy disappeared up the road (round the block twice) before returning with another box.  Leila was confused until I explained it was a present from the baby who was so pleased with his new dodies.  Leila opened the box to find a new pink and yellow toothbrush, so searingly obnoxious in colour she could do nothing but fall in love.

We brushed her teeth 4 times yesterday.  My clever, brave girl.

Hope you all had good weekends too, bring on the next one!

So, the news has broken.  Hold the front page.  Chezza’s got a noo doo.

Cheryl Cole by Lipglossiping aged 29 and 3/4

I’m bracing myself for the inevitable flurry of press releases for blonde hair dyes, root touch ups, tanning products that suit blondes, shampoo for fair hair, dog biscuits for dogs with owners who have golden manes… you name it, they’ll be an angle for it.

Then will come the scrutiny… ‘is it really blonde?’.  We’ll have blonde experts on morning telly firmly assuring the nation that what we’re witnessing is really caramel and not true blonde at all.  Then the cynicism as people wonder what new hair products L’oreal are trying to flog off this ‘momentous’ shift in the universe.

I just want to let it be known that I couldn’t give a flying chuff.  As you were.

…is one of those phrases you try to desperately scrub from your psyche, you can’t say it without rendering yourself a total twat.  It’s true, I’m sorry.  If it’s any consolation, I said it about 20 minutes ago and got a look from Mr. L that would have made Bowie feel uncool.  No mean feat.

Anyway, seeing as there’s no Lipstick League this weekend, I thought I’d list some blogs that I check daily.  I don’t have time to read many on a daily basis… I usually have a mega-fest once a week or something, literally devouring blogs in my path… but these are the ones I will get back out of bed to check if I’ve forgotten (ok, I’m lying but you get the idea).

LondonMakeupGirl – chief enabler and show-er of interesting stuffs.

Cosmetic Candy – the first British blog I read religiously back when it was called something really tacky like MostlyMakeup.

Lotus Palace – Kathi buys some seriously cool things.  I covet.

Eyeliner & Spray Paint – Robyn wears all the colours I don’t… it’s like my makeup alter-ego, plus she makes me laugh.

Beautys Bad Habit Blog – Lily has talentz, she makes me want to do crazy things like add jewels to my eye makeup and eat deep-fried ice cream.  Admittedly, it doesn’t take a lot to make me want to eat deep-fried ice cream.

Makeup For Professional Asian Women – Jamilla makes me want to buy stuff.  I like it when bloggers make me want to buy stuff.  Jamilla is an expert in this field.

Sailboat – Jennie’s blog transports me to a land of whimsy and cute jewellery, I always feel uplifted after a flick through the archives.

Makeup Your Jangsara – Makes me want to put makeup on at 2am, without fail.

Temptalia – It’s just total makeup porn isn’t it really?  I almost feel dirty peering closer at the screen to check out the swatches.

Designer Spray – Halima makes me want to be a cooler person.  It ain’t gonna happen so I read her blog instead.

Scrangie – Never have I bought more nail polish than after a few minutes spent over at Scrangie’s place.

Dempeaux – This chick would look good in a binbag and I want her wardrobe.  And makeup.  And she’s got a pet sheep that would totally love my back garden.

Ok, I’m gonna stop there… considering that there’s at least another 10 I could reel off without having to actually think about it, I’m re-evaluating my moans on never having enought time to read blogs on a daily basis…

I should stop bellyachin’ about that.

What are your DAILY reads?

What do you reckon this is all about then?

I’ll give you a clue… it’s not a lipstick.

In the four years since I first fell in love with makeup, I’ve become a snob.  Caused by a simple case of exposure, or should that be overexposure to brands.  Without wanting to sound like someone you’d like to stab in the kidney, I’m in the fortunate position where brands sometimes send me products to try for free but I can honestly say that in spite of this… I’ve never spent so much money on makeup and beauty products in my life.

Three years ago, I would have considered a MAC eyeshadow a luxury purchase and when all is said and done, at £11.50 for a bit of coloured powder in a pot.  It is.  Of course, it’s all relative really… I don’t earn more than I did three years ago but my priorities have changed and beauty hits the top spot for those hobby spends nowadays.

So back to this makeup snobbery.  It’s like a slow rot.  I almost find it hard to believe nowadays that I’m going to find the quality I’m looking for in a drugstore purchase.  That my now ‘more discerning’ tastes (I know, hit me) won’t be catered for on the high street.  Bull.  Shit.  I just might need to look a little harder… and I’d completely forgotten the excitement to be had in uncovering awesome gems for little monies (until last night!)

Now, that’s not to say I’m going to turn my back on my high end purchases (heaven forbid!)… I’m still a sucker for a bit of luxe packaging and that superficial (and it is!) thrill of owning something horribly covetable.  I just hereby promise to spend a little bit of time having a play in Superdrug again, I genuinely forgot how much fun it was to be LEFT. ALONE. to swatch!

Do you think “snobbery” is a natural progression for hobbies that become more consuming?  Have your purchasing habits changed much over the last few months/years?

Have you ever read the Malcolm Gladwell book?

I first read Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking back in 2007 and as a notorious over-thinker of everything… the book, which places value on the snap reactions and decisions we make everyday, struck a chord with me.

I’m the type of person who over-analyzes every word that leaves my mouth to the extreme where I regularly decide it would be preferable to say nothing at all.  Then I go on to listen to everyone around me spew the same words I was so desperate to contain… coming from them, they never sound as ridiculous as I imagined they would leaving my mouth.

Over-thinking, in some cases can be a debilitating condition though that’s not to say I find it preferable to watch people shoot their mouths off… it’s all about striking a balance right?

So nowadays I try to put more trust in my first impressions, initial instincts and have faith that although a little wariness is good, so is realising the potential merits of this “rapid cognition”.

Nowhere is this more apparent than when I’m taking photos… once I learnt a bit more about the processes behind the technical aspects, I struggled with wanting to create perfection.  It’s taken until today to learn that some of my favourite shots are the ones that took absolutely no thought at all.

Blink.  ‘Cos I’ll miss it when she’s taller and loves her friends more than her Mum.

Hope you’re having a great Thursday you beauty-loving bunch x