2009 August | Lipglossiping

August, 2009

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Products I’m loving right now – August 2009

Shamelessly stealing this tag for a bit of filler whilst I’m on my hols!

Shampoo: Dove Colour Care for Dark Coloured Hair
Conditioner: Dove Colour Care for Dark Coloured Hair
Styling products: Fudge Erekt and Tresemme Heat Defence Spray
Shower Gel: Soap & Glory Clean on Me
Body moisturiser: Body Shop Coconut Body Butter – yes I smell good!
Deodorant: Vaseline Aloe Fresh Anti-Perspirant
Fake Tan: None
Cleanser: Shiseido Perfect Oil followed with DHC Mild Soap
Exfoliator: Queen Helene Mint Julep Natural Facial Scrub & Garnier Body Tonic Sugar Scrub
Primer: L’oreal Paris Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer
Foundation brush: Pout Airbrush
Concealer: Art Deco Camouflage Cream
Powder: Art Deco Silk Touch Loose Powder
Blusher: Illamasqua Cream Blush in Sob
Bronzer: Barry M Natural Dazzle
Highlighter: Prescriptives, The Illuminator
Eyeshadow base: Urban Decay Primer Potion
Eyeshadows: The Body Shop Eye Colour Mattes 05 & 10
Eyeliner: Gosh Velvet Touch on the lower waterline, Shu Uemura Painting Liner in Brown on the upper lashline
Curler: None
Mascara: Rimmel Sexy Curves
Lipstick: Revlon Matte in Pink Pout
Lipgloss: Barry M Lip Gloss Wand in Toffee
Nail Colour: Nails Inc. Mayfair Mews

I tag anyone else who has yet to do this (there can’t be that many of you still about!)

Posted in Product Love, Rambles | No Comments »

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

We’re all going on a…

…Somerset holiday. *childish*

I nearly forgot I booked this el-cheapo Travelodge jaunt back when they were doing rooms for £9 a night. I was pregnant at the time, and obviously delusional thinking it would be fine with a 3mnth old in tow. Travelodge’s have no fridges… so I’ve spent a small fortune on those little pre-made formula cartons.

I only have a small car. A small, 3-door car. This barely computes – the amount of crap I have to pack today beggars belief.

overloaded-car

Anyway, enough of all that…

I’ll be back on Wednesday in time for the Illamasqua Dystopia preview on Thursday. I haven’t arranged to meet anyone, so I’m bricking it a little at the thought of going in alone… ho hum… *don’t think about it, denial denial la lala la la*

I have at least one blog post scheduled, but things are probably gonna be VERY quiet around here ’till Friday. Have a fab week lovely readers – weather forecast looks set to be crap so send me some holiday sunshine vibes (oh, and some extra confidence for Thursday!)

Much love,

Me xx

Posted in Rambles | 4 Comments »

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Operation Comfort Zone

I am very lazy with my makeup application. I rarely apply more than one colour to my eyelids. I never bother with things like lip liners (despite owning many). I rarely contour (it scares me) and most of the time I can’t be arsed with highlighting either.

And I call myself a makeup fanatic? *hangs head in shame*

This week, I will endeavour to make more of an effort. What’s the point of having all these lovely products if I don’t use them? So, amongst other makeup resolutions, this week I will be ditching my taupe-y eyeshadows and may even attempt blue again *eek*

I also have a confession… I don’t own a blending brush. There, I said it. Disown me if you like – just don’t tell me that you could ‘like, totally already tell from your FOTD shots’ or I might have to find a dark corner to sob in.

zebraeyeshadow

look, my skillz are awesum!

Anyway, I know that the pinnacle of blending brushes involves the MAC 32174893 *bleh, I can’t remember numbers* – I know what one I’m talking about. However, funds aren’t gonna stretch this month… so please recommend me a relative cheapie that I could cut my teeth on. I’ve heard some good things about a Boots No7 one and also a Revlon one I think?

Posted in Hauls, Rambles, Tools | 8 Comments »

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

Saturday’s Innies and Outties…

~ Controlling my urge to spend at Portsmouth’s CCO this week – all the more for London!
~ Finding a cheap train ticket to the Illamasqua event next Thursday
~ Looking forward to my break in Somerset this weekend!
~ My gorgeous winter woolly tights from Marks & Spencers (simple things!)
~ Shopping with my lovely sister-in-law
~ Tisserand Bath Oils… review coming soon.
~ SJP – Covet, I love that it’s a little bit brave for a celebrity perfume.
~ The Tesco checkout man letting me use all my newborn nappy coupons even though I wasn’t buying the nappies – woohoo, saved £8 off my weekly shop!

OUT

~ Short hair getting greasier quicker than long hair - why?
~ Procrastinating about getting my winter boots stretched
~ Cutting Leila’s fingernails – terrified I’m gonna slip with the baby clippers
~ Waiting impatiently for new gel eye liners to come in stock
~ Leila outgrowing her beautiful clothes faster than I can put her in them
~ Washing mountain piling up in the spare room.
~ Being super nervous about not knowing anyone going to the Illamasqua event
~ Revlon Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude looking orangey on me

Posted in Saturday's Innies and Outties | 2 Comments »

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Revlon Matte Lipstick Swatches 001 Nude Attitude & 002 Pink Pout

revlonmattes

I treated myself to these 2 much talked about lippies a couple of days ago.

revlonmattes2

Nude Attitude is quite warm and tan, I can imagine that it would look awesome on medium/olive skin. However, it does absolutely nothing for my cool toned complexion unfortunately.

Pink Pout on the other hand is quite a nice choice for me… It’s a very cool toned pink with a hint of lavender. Both shades are matte (as you would expect from the name of the line!) They’re quite easy to apply considering their texture… but aren’t particularly forgiving if your lips are at all dry. I would definitely pair this up with a good coat of lip balm underneath.

revlonmattesswatches

Pink Pout is looking a little warmer in the swatch above than it does in person, the shot was taken early evening as the sun was going down. Ha! shows how ridiculously pale and ‘blue’ my skintone must be if this is warm!

I shall include Pink Pout in my next FOTD in the hope it gives a truer impression. As for Nude Attitude, I’m not keeping it. £5 inc. postage (within UK) if anyone wants it?

Are you loving the Mattes range? What are your favourite shades?

Posted in Lip Colour, Revlon | 5 Comments »

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Mavala Autumn/Winter 09-10 collection – Review

You already know by now that I’m a big fan of Mavala polishes and further to my post a few weeks ago on Mavala’s “Ruby” polish, I was sent the remaining 2 colours of Mavala’s Autumn/Winter collection for review.

The collection is called Viva La Colour! – a brave slap in the face to the usual Autumn/Winter collections showing up around now.

The first shade I want to show you is “Liberty”, an elegant soft nude.

mavalalibertyswatchweb

This is a sheer, but it builds up opacity quite nicely thanks to Mavala’s reliable formula which never fails to please me. The above is a total of 4 thin coats, a little more than I would prefer to apply – but it’s not a chore thanks to the smooth application. If you did want to wear this sheer, it would be a lovely shade to compliment a french manicure… as for me, I don’t do sheers – so I’m glad I was able to build up the opacity, especially on such a lovely work-appropriate nude. Work-appropriate nude? An oxymoron if ever I heard one!

Before I continue, I have to tell you that “Viva La Colour!” is a collection of mattes. Which probably goes some way to explain why I wasn’t delighted with the finish of the Ruby shade I tried earlier this month.

To be blunt, I don’t regard this collection as matte. We’ve all seen the mattes on offer this season from the likes of O.P.I, Zoya and Nubar… I’m not a fan, but regardless of my personal taste, these ‘matte’ offerings from Mavala just aren’t… well, matte. Semi-matte perhaps, but they’re definitely still fairly glossy. This might be the ideal compromise for you if you’re a little too conservative to rush headlong into the new trend.

For me, this finish just misses – I get a non-commital vibe from the collection which is a shame, but as I’m about to demonstrate… easily remedied by a swipe of your favourite top coat.

mavalatokyo

Introducing Tokyo, the final shade in the trio. It’s a beautiful deep dark blue with more than just a hint of purple on display. Lovely colour, shame about that finish.

But wait… 1 top coat later…

mavalatokyogloss

Oh my!… Hello lover! You’re beautiful in all your ultra glossy loveliness. You remind me of Cadbury’s chocolate wrappers. You make me feel all dark, mysterious and sophisticated – quite an achievement!

So, to sum up… if you’re into your mattes, I’d steer clear of this collection.

If you just want some gorgeous Autumn/Winter nail styling that’s bang on trend, a dream to apply and beautifully finished (with a top coat – ahem) – then look no further.

The collection is available from Greenhands and priced @ £3.75 each

Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’m off to stuff my face on Dairy Milk.

[starreview tpl=14]

Posted in Mavala, NOTDs, Nail Polish, Reviews | 5 Comments »