A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Looky look!!

HQHair has had a makeover!  And they have a stonking offer!

The first 2000 orders received at HQ Hair from 12 noon tomorrow (23/10/2009) will receive £5 off the total order with no minimum spend!

That’s a free fiver! I’ll race ya!

Code is: NEWHQ

Anything tempting you on the site?

This is gonna be a long one, lots to review and talk about… so grab a cup of tea and come straight back (milk and 2 sweeteners for me please).

Elemental Beauty are a British brand of mineral makeup.  I’m already a big fan of their mineral foundation.  I generally struggle to find shades that are pale and cool toned enough to be a match for me, but I get great results using their shade “English Rose”.

I had been wanting to feature a British mineral makeup brand on Lipglossiping for a little while.  I do love US Brands for their teeny baggies of eyeshadows and blushes that they’re willing to send all over the world for not much more than the price of the stamp… butwhen I want something a little more subdued, a little more suitable for everyday wear… then I tend to look a little closer to home.

I was pleased to receive some samples from Elemental Beauty and wanted to share my thoughts… Nicola at EB had been pre-warned that if I didn’t like something… I was gonna tell it like I saw it and to her credit – she was still completely game.  Confidence in your own products is something that told me I probably wouldn’t be too disappointed – and I was right!

I was sent: 3 Mineral Eyeshadows, a Mineral Illuminator & a Mineral Healing Concealer

How pretty is the packaging?

Very shabby chic, but um without the shabby.

I’d first heard of Elemental Beauty on the forums of MoneySavingExpert, where many forum-ites hold the soft-focus and healing foundations in extremely high regard.

The packaging twists open to reveal a sifter.  I’m in two minds about this sifter…

The holes are quite large, so I have to be careful when opening the jar as a lot of product is usually sitting ontop of the sifter and if I travel, I’d definitely have to sellotape over the holes.  But… I also hate sifters where the holes are so small it takes half an hour to tap out any product (The She Space sifters drive me to extreme frustrations).  I think I do prefer the bigger holes but they don’t come without that caveat.

Anyway, onto the products…

Lasting Mineral Eyeshadows:

I received three of these eyeshadows in shades: Sunbeam, Taupe and Vamp.  Here’s a swatch of how they looked foiled (applied with a wet brush) on my skin.

Beautifuly pigmented no?

Taupe for me, is the problem child.  It’s described as “softly sparkling” which I’d agree with although compared to the other two it looks positively matte!

What I’m not keen on is the name.  If I ever created my own line of cosmetics I would completely eschew the word taupe from my colour descriptions!  It’s overused… and doesn’t have any set definition or benchmark.

Taupe is a vague, unscientific color term which may be used to refer to almost any grayish-brown, brownish-gray, or warm gray color. It often overlaps with tan and even people who use color professionally (such as designers and artists) frequently disagree as to what “taupe” means. There is no single, generally recognized authority for such terms.

Taken from Wikipedia

Now when taupe is done (in my subjective opinion) right… I adore it.  for me, taupe should be a mid-toned mix of grey and brown and if it has a little shimmer or metallic edge to lift it from drabness, then even better!

Elemental Beauty’s version of taupe to me is ‘orrible.  It’s too warm and orange.  It’s a decent colour in it’s own right, but it’s not the taupe I want! *and breathe*

I freakin’ love Sunbeam.  A perfect pale gold with a spectacular amount of micro sparkle which somehow manages to stop short of looking like a glitter bomb has exploded in my face.  So far, I’ve used this with great success as an all-over lid colour (foiled), a highlight  under the brow (dry) and a highlight near the tear ducts (foiled).  It’s beautiful and really lifts my complexion.

Vamp is a tricky one… it looks like an out and out purple from my swatch no?

But let me show you something….

This is Vamp foiled on the lid… the red-undertones in the shadow are far more apparent here than the metallic purple shown in the swatch.  It’s a colour shifting-shadow!  Great!  But I fell in love with the metallic purple in the swatch!  Gimme back that vibrant purple!

The above 2 images show Sunbeam on the lid with Vamp in the crease.  See how lovely Sunbeam is?  Again, Vamp looks more red-brown than purple.

I have no issues with pigmentation and the product is nicely milled which ensures a smooth, even application.

Mineral Illuminator:

This is the Illuminator in Rosy Apple.  I wanted to capture the micro-sparkles, so although the above photo isn’t the best.  I think it demonstrates them clearly!  They’re fine and not at all chunky.

A little goes a long way!  I apply this to my cheekbones (avoiding the apple of the cheek) and I have found that using a loose bristled brush or fan brush is perfect for a rosy glow.

Above: Illuminator in Rosy Apple, Vamp on lids, Taupe in crease.

Healing Mineral Concealer:

This is the Healing Mineral Concealer in shade “Bright Eyes”

They say:

A pale yellow concealer to conceal dark circles and give you a wide awake look! Bright eyes can also be used as a blemish concealer for very pale skin tones.

I’ve been mixing this with a tiny amount of my Body Shop Vitamin E Serum to create a fairly thick paste (you only need the tiniest amount of both products).  Then I’ve been patting it with my ring finger all over the eye area.  It really gives the whole area a lift and makes my eyes look brighter and fresher.  I also love the even base it creates on my eyelids for days when I just want to wear a slick of eyeliner and mascara.

I’ll be doing a further review with application pictures on this soon.

Are you still with me?

All EB products are Bismuth Free which is essential for me as Bismuth makes my face itch.

“Our healing foundation range – containing allantoin – has been very popular with people that have difficult or sensitive skin types and we have also created mica-free foundations for people that have found themselves to be allergic to mica.”

Nicola at EB has assured me that they create and custom blend all of their shades in-house.  I thought that was worth clarifying due to recent revelations of a certain mineral makeup company repackaging wholesale shades without declaring that they’re not custom blended.

Not only that, but check out what Nicola had to say when I asked her if people could email for shade advice:

“As we are a manufacturer, we are able to offer a bespoke service providing custom foundation shades for any of our customers that are struggling to find their perfect match in our standard shade range.

We can also make special eyeshadow and blusher shades for people who want something for a special occasion to match their outfit or lipstick etc so we can offer a very personal service.”

Shades to complement a special outfit? Awesome.

She also said…

“We often receive e-mails from customers that use specific shades of foundation in other non-mineral brands and are looking for us to make a mineral foundation equivalent for them so that they can switch to mineral makeup.”

Which I think is pretty decent service as shade selection from online mineral makeup selections often involves a leap of faith, I should know… I have binned many orange mineral foundations from bad choices!

Have you tried Elemental Beauty? What do you look for in a mineral makeup company? Like what you see here?  Need a lie down after that mammoth review? (I know I do!).

…then I could do with some extra brownie points.

Post-Sproglette, I’ve become a consummate hand-washer.  Not that I’m suggesting I was a slutty slut pre-child… it’s just that I took all this hygiene stuff for granted.  I didn’t pay much attention to products designed for chores as mundane as laundry, dish-washing, hair-brushing or hand-washing.

Nowadays, things are a bit different…  not only are my hands regularly red raw from scrubbing “Eau de Baby Pooh” off them, but you will often find me lurking infront of the soaps, bubble baths, handwashes and shaving oils at TK Maxx coo-ing over the various scents and colours.  It’s a sad fact that even shaving one’s legs becomes a luxury post-bébé if it means you get to spend time alone in the bathroom.

I was therefore pleased (and secretly excited) to be sent a new hand wash to have a sniff of.

Method are a brand that pride themselves on non-toxic, environmentally friendly homecare products.  And this hand wash is no exception.  It comes in 3 varieties:

L-R: Sweet Water, French Lavender & Pink Grapefruit

They say:

Our hand washes are made with naturally-derived, biodegradeable ingredients, contain vitamin E and aloe and have never been tested on animals.  Served up in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic.

I got French Lavender which I immediately thought I’d dislike.  I’m not a huge fan of lavender (French or otherwise), I associate it with those scented drawer sachets that old ladies are so fond of… but this isn’t too overpowering at all.  It’s subtle and leaves only a mild trace of the scent on your skin after washing.

The product foams nicely and most importantly rinses clean quickly.  I hate soaps that leave residue on your skin don’t you?

Perhaps most importantly, I’ve been using this all day today and yesterday and I haven’t noticed it drying my skin out at all.

I love the smell of my Simple Peppermint & Mandarin hand wash (yes I have a favourite… sad) but it dries my skin terribly… to the point where my hands have been cracking thanks to it’s harsh anti-bac ingredients.

Perhaps the best move would be to leave all the nappy changes to Mr. Lipglossiping.  That way, I could go back to concentrating wholly on fabulous things and leave the hand-washing (and laundry) to him.

It’s a nice thought, but whilst I wait patiently for hell to freeze over I’ll content myself with a new-found hand wash that does exactly what it says on the (biodegradeable) bottle.

And even better…. until the 3rd November, you can get a 1/3rd off Method hand washes at Boots, currently priced at £2.15 each.

——————————————–

Before I go, I was also pleased to discover that Method do a nice line in baby products, look:

Squeaky Green Nappy Cream… Rice Milk and Mallow… yum! Can I eat it?

Leila has the ECO-est bum in the whole of England!

Incidentally, I’m having a little clean up round here… dust was gathering in the corners and there was a big coffee ring on the table.

My blogroll is a little out of date so if you would like to exchange blogroll links (and you aren’t listed already) or if your link needs updating please leave a comment with a linky to your blog or send me a message.

I’ve been removing unused widgets, adding a new cool (or possibly rubbish) translator for my visitors reaching me from more exotic climes and generally tweaking things to make the site as speedy as possible.

I know there were a few issues a couple of weeks back with pages continually refreshing and comments not being allowed through… I trust that this is all resolved now, but I always appreciate any feedback noting technical problems you may be experiencing!  It gives me the opportunity to use the whip on Mr. Lipglossiping (no, not like that).

Whilst I’m asking… is there anything you’d like to see added?  I was contemplating an “upcoming posts” thingamabob in the sidebar for my own motivation as much as anything… is that useful?  Or do you prefer surprises?

Apologies my lovelies, this post is about 2 weeks late.  I’ll explain why…

After exclaiming my new found love for these el-cheapo gel liners and promising a full review, I wore one of the colour ones and experienced a fair amount of transfer to my upper lid.  Enough to make me rethink whether I should be shouting about them from my virtual rooftop.

I umm’ed and ahh’ed about if for a few days, then promptly forgot they even existed until the weekend whilst playing with rearranging my stash.

I gave two of them another chance and they didn’t move an inch!  Now, the odd thing is this… I wasn’t wearing any primer at the weekend, but I was when they smudged to my upper lid.  However, it may be completely unrelated and I just had particularly oily lids that day or someting bizarro like that.

I’ve already talked about the black… let’s have a little look at the coloured ones I got…

L – R: Shimmer Sky Line, Shimmer Sexy Pink

L-R: Deep Purple, Indigo Blue

Stunning no?

I’ve included the black (from my initial order) in this swatch

Now, I don’t know why they transferred.  Once set on my skin I can run my finger over the top quite firmly and nothing smudges… not even a tiny bit.

Infact, when I tried to wipe them off with one of Leila’s wet wipes, they resisted quite heavily.

Look how hard I had to scrub to remove the pigmentation…

Yes, that is my skin gone all blotchy from the vigourous rubbing and no, they still hadn’t completely faded.  A little bit of makeup remover did the trick.  Infinity Liner indeed.

Swatched on the eye… Clockwise from top-left: Deep Purple, Shimmer Sky Line, Shimmer Sexy Pink, Indigo Blue.

These Infinity Liners are hugely pigmented, soft, creamy and easy to apply.  They take about 30 secs – 1 minute to set and once they do they’re not budging on me despite my best efforts to get them to transfer again.

Infact, as I write this… a thought has occured.  I wonder if *perhaps* there was a slight film of grease or something across the top layer and now that I’ve used them a couple of times and dispersed the grease they’re no longer transferring?  Pure speculation, but I can’t think of any other reasons.  Anddd that doesn’t explain the fact why the black one *does* transfer if I don’t powder it.

My favourite is the Shimmer Sky Line.  It’s positively electric.

Ok, enough of the review already… where did I get them from?

I purchased these from eBay seller CeliaMakeup currently priced at £4.00 each with free delivery.  Delivery is a *little* slow @ just over 2 weeks (my Deal Extreme parcels usually arrive in around 1 week) but they arrived really well-packaged which bodes well for my future orders of those 88 palettes 🙂

I’ve also experienced good customer service from them, I ordered a double-ended eyeliner brush at the same time as my initial order and one end was splayed… they were eager to replace it for me with no problems at all.

Will you be making a purchase?  If so, what colours do you have your eye on?

I bought the SK-II Air Touch Foundation back in May.  I was beyond excited to get my hands on it after it had been sat at the top of my wish-list for nearly 6 months, and that’s a long time for an item to remain on my wish-list.

I’d tried it a few times and had been disappointed with the result.  I’d found it simply too sheer to be of much use to me.

It’s a beautiful little thing isn’t it? And look! You can see me in it!

SK-II is a Japanese brand whose USP is a little ingredient called Pitera, you can read more about Pitera here – I’m far too lazy to go into all that now.

Anyway, bollocks to Pitera, all I was interested in were the words “air touch” – woo hooooo!

I was immediately picturing myself with perfect, pore-less radiant skin.  Woah, I was gonna need a 10ft ladder to get this little product down off that pedestal I’d placed it on.  Secretly, I envisaged it turning me into sodding Snow White.

Where’s the bluebirds? Oh! Here they are!

Back to reality for a moment…

The basic premise is simple.

You get a teeny tiny sachet of foundation (and I’m talking wincey).  To get hold of refills in the shade you want, you’re gonna have to do some kind of deal with the devil whilst remortgaging your house.  We’re talking £45 for 5ml.  I’d sell you my eggs for cheaper than that.

Anyway… before I digress into full-on human trafficking…

Still sexy isn’t it…

That droplet icon is the one you set it to if you haven’t used it for while… it pushes out a single droplet to clear the nozzle.

The “business” end…

I’ve read loads of “how to” tips and watched many guides for this and the general consensus is that you hold it about half an arm’s length from your face and make smooth zig-zag motions back and forth until you’re happy that you’ve got enough coverage.

Which is exactly what I did.  Or at least, I thought that’s what I was doing.

See, subconsciously I was really going…

“£45…. for 5ml? Feck, better not use too much of this then.”

Which probably goes a long way to explaining why I felt I wasn’t getting enough coverage from this little marvel.

Today, after GraceLondon gently urged me to try again, I may have been in a slightly different frame of mind…

“Bollocks to it… if it’s shit again, it can go in a blog sale.”

See the subtle tonal shift there?  Look closely, it’s easy to miss.

Ugh, another one of them no makeup faces and I didn’t even warn you it was coming this time! Bwahaha.

I put the SK-II Airbrush Foundation into action again.  This time with a little more gusto, a little more confidence and a great amount of careless-ness.

I love it! It’s smooth, even, non-cakey but sheer.  Sod “my lips but better” this is proper “my skin but better”.

The redness around my nose has been evened out and it’s given my skin some luminosity that it was previously lacking.

Unfortunately, these photos aren’t the best.  The sun was being an arse and the lighting was rather uneven so you’ve got some over-exposure on the before image which conceals some of the unevenness.

Can you see it though?  Tell me it’s not my imagination!

I’m sneakily borrowing the below image from a FOTD that I’ve got coming up at the end of the week… but I wanted to show you how my skin looked with the SK-II Airbrush Foundation after it had ‘set’ (it takes 5-10 mins to dry) and I’d added a little powder and some blush.

So pleased with the results…

Nevertheless, I’m gutted to admit that I won’t be anouncing “Holy Grail!”… despite my new found adoration for Pitera.

It’s with absolute hand-wringing regret that I have to face up to the fact that £45 a pop is a lot of money for me.  Granted, if 5ml lasts me 6 months of daily use then I may rethink my stance but even then there is another obstacle… availability.

I know the refills are sold in Harrods, but they don’t stock my shade online…  they occasionally crop up on eBay (but are they genuine?)

However, I can happily conclude that until the day that last nectar-like droplet has spritzed the last red blotchy bit, I shall continue using this with joy and reckless abandon.

Want one?

[starreview tpl=14]

I bought 4 more NYX Round Lipsticks to add to my collection…

Tea Rose: Medium/Dark Rosey Pink

Strawberry Milk: As the name suggests, very pale milky pink

Thalia: Medium/Dark Nude

Indian Pink: Medium Pink with Gold flashes

Wear on these aren’t fantastic, they don’t last much after a cup of tea, but they’re so easy to  reapply and very well pigmented for the price.

And finally… Nyx Round Lipgloss in Sorbet. Non-sticky, fairly sheer with a subtle hint of sparkle.

I’m really pleased with the lip products… my favourite is Thalia or Tea Rose.  I adore Indian Pink, it’s so unusual but it’s a little warm toned against my skin.  Strawberry Milk is gorgeous too, but I need to find a way to wear it that doesn’t remind me of Magda from There’s Something About Mary.

What are your favourite NYX Round Lipsticks?

Well, the general consensus from the bods paid to know about these things is that lightning really does strike twice.

With this in mind, after my previous experiences trying to get my hands on some NYX products from across the pond you can imagine my slight hesitation when I heard about a Cherry Culture 20% off code a few weeks ago.

I was obviously mainlining a dose of bravado when, with VISA in hand I started gaily adding items to my virtual basket until I was reminded of a). the import tax threshold and b). my overflowing makeup storage in the spare room.

Reluctantly, I pared down my overenthusiastic initial selection to items that (by this time) I’d decided I couldn’t physically live without.

The NYX prices on Cherry Culture aren’t the cheapest out there – but the 20% code sweetened the deal and I was happy that their stock list appeared to be current and up to date.

Fast forward 2 weeks later and my parcel landed on the doormat with a satisfying heavyweight thud, immediately reassuring me of a job haul well done.

Pulling apart the jiffy bag, I was pleased to see that all my items I’d ordered had been wrapped securely for the long journey across the Atlantic.  No casualties this time.

I ordered:

6 NYX Eyeshadows

1 NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil

4 NYX Round Lipsticks

1 NYX Round Lipgloss

See! I told you I was restrained!  It actually barely qualifies for ‘haul’ status!

I’m happy to recommend Cherry Culture as a distributor of NYX products to the UK.  I haven’t had need to make use of their CS team yet, and for me, this is what makes or breaks a company – but I’m pleased with the service so far!

So, after some suggestions from you lovely ladies (and before consigning the Supra Color to the ever-growing pile of “tried but don’t love” products) I thought I’d give the Kryolan Supra Color another go with some UDPP underneath.

tick tock tick tock…

So, that’s 4 hours… an hour longer than last time.  I don’t see any improvement in the creasing issue do you?

Even worse… it’s slid my eyeshadow *up* my lid so It looks like I’ve applied my eyeshadow with a freakin’ set square for precision. *That chick looks like she could do with a 217 for Christmas*

I’m admitting defeat on this one.  I wanted to love it for it’s reasonable price, the way it makes pigments even more vibrant, the way pigments stick to it like the proverbial to a blanket.  But creasing is never a good look *sniff*.

Onwards and upwards! Aqua Color next?

…my new Nails Inc. polishes!

I won these in LionLovingTiger‘s most fabulous giveaway

Look!

L-R: Victoria, Brook Street, Pelham Crescent, London Nights, Tate

5 new Nail Polishes… 5 nails… it had to be done!

L-R: Same order as the photo above…

I’ve had a rocky start with Nails Inc. polishes.  I think that freebie I received with Instyle was a shocking bad advertisement for the Nails Inc. brand and nearly put me off trying any more.  I’m so glad I persisted now, they’ve become one of my favourite ranges.

Are there any brands that gave you a bad initial impression… only for you to grow to love them?

Do you even give brands second and third chances to impress you?

I was excited to finally get the chance to try out my new L’oreal Paris True Match Roll On / Roller Foundation.  £12.99 you know! Not cheap for high street, it better not piss me off too much…

Packaging is quite nice, fairly sturdy, sleek(ish) and nice and compact.

On the left is the pan of cream foundation and over on the right is the sponge roller we’re going to be using for application.

You can better judge the size of the roller now, it’s actually easy to hold despite it’s small size thanks to some well-designed dips and ridges on the plastic handle.

You (and I) have to admit… this is all pretty cute so far!  Little compacts, Dinky rollers…  Look! I’m gonna paint my face! *squeal*

Uh oh, I’m noticing a problem… the product is building up unevenly on the roller.  The far edge has a real good coating whilst the rest of the roller remains void of product.

After a bit of swiping, direction changing and weight shifting the roller is more evenly covered… but there is still a bias towards that far edge.  Will this affect application?

Primed and ready for action!

Introducing you to my makeup-less face, not even a smudge of brow powder!

Here we go…

Look! I have a go faster stripe!

Right, as suspected… not a colour match.  Far too warm and a couple of shades too dark aswell.  I’ve been tangoed.

That’s terrible.  This is the lightest shade that L’oreal are offering (in this country at least) for their True Match Roll On Foundation.

Ironic isn’t it… “True Match”… *mutters something unrepeatable*

With all the money and technology that’s gone into this product – why on earth did L’oreal make the shade range so limited?  I *know* I’m pale… but I’m not Nicola Roberts pale, I see many people walking about even more see-thru than I am.  That’s a big chunk of the population not being catered for, and I’m willing to bet the story is the same for those on the other end of the spectrum aswell.

Anyway, let’s roller on… *hah! geddit*

One half done (your right).

The actual coverage is pretty heavyweight.  Don’t be getting this if you’re looking for sheer -> medium coverage ‘cos this is full on.

You wanna know about the application with that little roller don’t you?

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  Sure, it’s not gonna get anywhere near the inside corners of your eyes… but I didn’t have a problem around my nose.  The actual “roller” is slim enough to offer even coverage down the edge of the nose.

I also found it a speedy (if a little uncomfortable) process.  I blended with my fingers closer to my eyes and I even attempted closing my eyes and rollering in an up/down motion over my eyelids.  No, it didn’t work very well and yes, I looked really silly.

The finish is matte and looks a little deathmask-like to me (perhaps I’m not used to the heavier coverage).  I didn’t have any problems with streakiness or patchiness but when I touched my face 5 minutes later, my skin still felt tacky to the touch… it took nearly 20 minutes to dry fully.

Your final half n’ half (again, your right has the coverage).

What do you think?  The formula isn’t *so* bad… I did actually prefer it later in the day after it had had time to “fit” to my skin.

I’m torn… it’s not completely terrible, but it’s definitely a case of style over content and that poor shade selection…

I guess the easiest way to sum it up is thus…

Would I buy this again?

…Not even with your money.

“Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.” – Coco Chanel