Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette – The Shadows

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 25 - 2010

This is Part 2 of a 3 Part UD Alice Extravaganza! – Click here for Part 1 and Part 3!

Clockwise from Top Left: UNDERLAND, ALICE, CHESSUR, WHITE RABBIT

Clockwise from Top Left: ORACULUM, QUEEN, WONDERLAND, CURIOUSER

Clockwise from Top Left: MUCHNESS, MUSHROOM, ABSOLEM, DRINK ME. EAT ME.

Clockwise from Top Left: MIDNIGHT TEA PARTY, VORPAL, MAD HATTER, JABBERWOCKY

Left to Right: 24/7 Liner in Zero (black), 24/7 Liner in Flipside (blue), Urban Decay Primer Potion (mini)

On colour alone… I’m absolutely loving the look of:

~ Oraculum
~ Alice
~ Vorpal / Underland (I can’t choose between them – please don’t make me!)

Come on… which are your top 3?

Swatches and my thoughts on the individual shades tomorrow xxx


NYX Lip Gloss in Doll Pink, Ballerina Pink & Whipped

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 25 - 2010

From L-R: Doll Pink, Ballerina Pink & Whipped

I’m love the NYX Round Lip Glosses, they’re fairly pigmented, non-sticky (can’t abide sticky glosses), pleasant smelling and affordable!  My only criticism is that they’re not particularly long-lasting… but most non-sticky glosses can’t last through lunch anyway.

Swatched: L-R: Doll Pink, Ballerina Pink & Whipped.

Do you like the NYX Round Lip Glosses?  What shades are your favourites?

I bought these from Cherry Culture.com and paid $2 a piece, at that price… you can’t go wrong.

Advent Giveaway Update

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 24 - 2010

If your name is listed below, please get in touch with your postal details so that I can get your prize sent to you!

17th: Dv (Elizabeth Arden Hydrating Cream Cleanser)

My contact email is over on the right there, alternatively you can click through to my contact page and fill out the form – thank yoo!

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette – UK’s First Look

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 24 - 2010

This is Part 1 of a 3 Part UD Alice Extravaganza!  Click here for Part 2 and Part 3!

After my not so subtle hint-dropping yesterday, I’m sure that most of you have figured out that I took delivery of Urban Decay’s heavily anticipated Alice in Wonderland Palette (yay!).

I’m feeling priviledged to have been chosen to ‘unveil’ this to you wonderful UK beauty addicts as only one sample box was released to the UK blogging community.  Forgive me just a teeny bit of smugness, but if it gets too much, feel free to slap me.  I’d do the same to you.

Anyway… I’m going to break the ‘unveiling’ into 3 posts… I’m not falsely modest and know that photos are what I do best.  So you can expect each post to be picture heavy (which I am hoping, is a good thing).  This first post will focus on that wonderful pop-up scene.  The artistry that’s gone into the palette is breathtaking and a large part of the overall appeal for many of us.

So, without further ado (or let’s be frank… rambling)… I bring you, Urban Decay’s Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows.

Open the palette to reveal a pop-up scene of Alice in the mushroom forest. Her “drink me” bottle discarded, she staggers past towering mushrooms, only to cross paths with a very peculiar, hookah-smoking caterpillar. A large mirror rests behind the scene – you feel as if you are transported into the film itself.

The Alice in Wonderland palette is due to be released in the UK on the 22nd February online with a store-wide release set for the 28th February.  It will be a Debenhams exclusive.

BBLL – Saturday 23rd January 2010

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 23 - 2010

~ theNotice has a three-part video series on how to contour your cheeks — check out the first tutorial here!

~ MAC Mineralized SatinFinish gives a beautiful finished look according to Eve’s review at xLovelymakeupx.

~ Marina from MakeUp4All reviews and swatches Illamasqua’s Cream Blusher in Rude and Illamasqua’s Lipstick in Over.

~ Lipglossiping asks if the modern age has spawned demon digital artists.

~ This week, Louise wonders if the nude lip is all it’s cracked up to be.

~ Krasey Beauty takes you back to school with Skincare 101

~ Head over to Beautifully Glossy to check out L’oreal’s Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer.

~ It’s Carnival time in Trinidad and Tobago, so check out some makeup looks inspired by the costumes!

~ Jellyminx swatches her cream eyeshadows!

~ Lisamarie at Beauty Crazed visits the Benefit Brow Bar for the 15 minutes that changed her life.

~ Sarah over at I Heart Cosmetics has found a really cool new invention for your makeup brushes!

~ Liparazzi has found the perfect concealer to brighten up her life, put a boi-ing in her step and Benefit her on her wedding day.

~ Jo over at Music & Make Up is having a one year anniversary giveaway.

~ Lisa Kate from Sparkle is my Crack! shows you how to look like a Cheer Bear!

~ The Makeup Snob shares her opinions on a couple NYX lip and eye palettes.

Scoop Alert!!

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 23 - 2010

I have a VERY exciting UK exclusive coming up tomorrow… I’m making all kinds of “squee” noises over this one!

Don’t miss it!

I won’t say too much in advance, but I will leave you with an inkling…

Curiouser and Curiouser 😉

Transformulas Lip Volume – Review

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 23 - 2010

Transformulas tagline reads: Beauty without Surgery.

It’s an ethos that stands out.  It packs a punch… but it better make sure it can deliver the results.

I was sent a couple of Transformula’s products to try and the one that piqued my curiosity the most was their Lip Volume.

I’ve tried many lip-plumping products before, and I used to favour Pout’s Lip Plump before they selfishly went out of business.   These products are mostly based on the same concept.  The Tingle.

The Tingle is an odd thing, some women can’t abide it… other’s kinda like it (kinky).  I actually quite like it… the only one I couldn’t stand was a Boots Time Delay one which had me wiping tears from my eyes and begging Mr. L to point his desk fan at my face.

As fellow beauty addicts, I know you won’t look at me with a mixture of concern and bewilderment when I tell you that my lips have been pissing me off all winter.  You’ll know what I mean.  For you, it may be your skin, your oily eyelids, that blackhead that won’t shift from the end of your nose… Regardless, most women have something on their face that’s troubling them.  For me, this winter… it’s been my lips.  The furrows that map their contours ensure that all lipsticks look like crap on me.  I’ve been resigned to using only the glossiest lippies I have in my collection.  Mattes? Only if I want to look like I’ve been smoking 60-a-day for the past 45 years.

Would Transformulas Lip Volume come to my rescue?

Hmmm… Increase your lip size without needles…

To be fair, my bottom lip is the size of China… it’s hereditary.  My top lip doesn’t match for which I am actually fairly thankful, for if it did I’d surely be able to wipe out whole continents with a lip smack.  So increasing size is not something I’m really looking for… what I want is less fine lines, a smoother palette for lipstick.  That’s not a huge amount to ask when some people really do want the product to deliver trout pouts is it?

Now, the thing I need to make clear about Transformulas Lip Volume is that it claims not be a simple lip plumper.  It promises to deliver cosmeceutical results… semi-permanent results.  It boldly claims to stimulate natural collagen to increase the lip shape within 30 days.

Opening the product, I felt excited!  It reminded me of that scene in “Death Becomes Her” when they’re unveiling that vial containing the secrets to immortality…

You get 10ml of product, which by their reckoning should last you about 6 weeks of daily use.  As I said, I don’t want bigger lips, so apologies if you feel short-changed by my review but I’m not really testing for the claims of increased lip size.  I wanna use this as a lip plumper… but what I am hoping, is that after using it 3 times a day for a prolonged period, I will notice an effect that works beyond that of much cheaper alternatives.  Make sense?

The applicator is a standard doe-foot affair and seems to grab onto just the right amount of product per application.  The product is really nice, it’s non-sticky… smooth to apply, it literally glides on and doesn’t make your lips feel as if they’ve been coated with gunk.

Then comes The Tingle.  It’s niiiiiice, just right.  Not too strong but it’s enough to let you know “Oh hai! I’m here to irritate your lips with a peppermint blast”.  I’m assuming that the peppermint oil it contains is what creates the initial effect of plumping, but that the other (more sciencey ingredients) are what helps to achieve a more semi-permanent result.

As a temporary plumper, I’m liking it a lot… It has the balance just right.  I also appreciate the texture qualities that I mentioned before and the fact that I can still feel it working when I wear it ontop of lipstick.  Oh, I also like the sheen it gives my lips and the fact that it doesn’t appear to dry them out.  If I had noticed any dryness, it would have been in the bin in a flash.

Does it have any more lasting effects after using it for the last 3 weeks?  Well…  I’m pleased to report that my lips seem to be smoother.  The canvas for lipsticks is more velvety and it feels as though I don’t have to ‘drag’ my lipsticks over my lips quite so much.

I know I said that I wasn’t testing for increased lip-size, and that I’ve only used it for 3 weeks so far… but I have to say, I haven’t noticed any increase in my lip size… but perhaps it needs longer testing?

Anyway, would I buy this again?  I would.  But only if I felt that my lips were in trouble yano?  I’d buy it as a treatment rather than an ongoing concern.  It’s not cheap.  10ml of product will set you back £25.50 on their website.  Although, you’d be a fool to pay that.  Half Price Perfumes has it in stock for £7.99 if you wanted to give it a go yourself.

Advent Giveaway Winners! Dec 17th-25th

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 22 - 2010

The last installment, here’s hoping you get lucky!

Um, they’re Lucky Charms incase you’re not familliar with the breakfast cereal favoured by millions of 7yr olds all over the US.  Healthy-looking aren’t they?

Anyway…. the winners are:

17th: Dv (Elizabeth Arden Hydrating Cream Cleanser)

18th: witoxicity (Nails Inc Nail Polishes – London Nights & Motcomb St)

19th: Rosa (Urban Decay Ink for Eyes in Binge)

20th: kelliegonzo (ASDA £5 Gift Card or 3 George at Asda Polishes)

21st: Rae (Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick in #542 Peche Frivole)

22nd: Maggie (Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited BG945)

23rd: Louise (Jessica Nails Care Set)

24th: pfefi (Paper Soap and Hair Velcro)

and finally..

25th: Louise (Helena Rubinstein Beauty Shows Palette) – 2 prizes… you lucky thing, quick – get the lottery on!

Yay winners! Do the happy dance! And then email me your deets so I can get your prize in the post to you.

If I don’t hear from you in a week, I’ll try and find your email in the myriad of comments and if I still don’t hear from you after that, your prize will go to someone else.

That concludes my Advent Giveaway Extravaganza!!  Thank you all for taking part and getting into the spirit of it.  Sorry if you were unlucky this time 🙁  I have more giveaways coming up… the prizes are backing up in my spare room as I type!

Lots o’ love, me xx

NOTD OPI – Absolutely Alice

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 22 - 2010

It is love.

I was hugely excited to find OPI – Absolutely Alice in my latest parcel of goodies, although I can’t pretend I’d forgotten I’d ordered it… I have been pacing like an expectant father ever since handing over my Visa deets!

Absolutely Alice is amazing, a true blue and the sparkles? Oh my… the sparkles are breathtaking.  I couldn’t stop twirling the bottle in the light, watching the glitter dance and flash blue and silver.  Fantastic.

Photographed in daylight..

Photographed in artificial light.

Photography doesn’t really capture the sparkle that emanates from this polish, but the hue is true to life and you can see how great the coverage is from 3 coats.  The glitter is suspended in a sheer jelly base, so I’m pleasantly surprised at the opacity I was able to achieve.

Dear god, I’m not looking forward to removal.

Do you like it? I’m trying to stop myself from buying OPI – Mad as a Hatter, but  I know I’m gonna cave when I see you UK girls start swatching it…

Screw it, I’ve just ordered it.  Man I’m a good enabler!

EDIT: Rhamnousia reminded me, I forgot to say… This definitely needs a couple of coats of top coat to make it bearable to touch!  Gritty glitter!

EDIT EDIT(!): You can purchase this online in the UK from Lena White

EDIT EDIT EDIT(!!): How many edits can I get on a post?

Ok… shouldn’t really add this but before you think I’ve gone completely mad.  Let me explain something about focus.

You focus to achieve optimum sharpness within an image.  That is a given right?  If your focal plane is off, you will achieve blurriness, but a pleasant side effect of blurriness is a little something called ‘bokeh’.  Bokeh is the technical term for the out of focus areas in a photograph and a very pleasing aspect of Bokeh are the discs of light that appear at the source of any highlights in an image…. it could be true light sources or reflections that cause this kind of bokeh.

Are you with me?

See the discs?  Every reflect from the sparkle on my nails are causing those… so you can see that from tip to base it’s sparkle-rama *admires nails*

But yanowot?  I don’t feel like a child in this polish.  And we all know that I suffer ‘hand-hiding’ syndrome if I feel at all silly in a polish.  But this shade and sparkle makes me feel amazing.  High praise indeed, but I realised it was true this afternoon, before this edit.  I simply couldn’t shop showing off my fingers when I was in the supermarket.  I was rocking it!

NOTD – OPI Holiday Glow

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 21 - 2010

So, it’s not the Holidays anymore… it’s mid January and I certainly don’t feel very ‘glowy’.  Wearing this now, makes me incredibly unfashionable and like “SO” last season… Regardless, check this beautiful shade out!

OPI Holiday Glow is a 3 coater to fill in any baldy patches and get the best from it.  It’s undoubtedly a glitter but you could get away without using a top coat if you were feeling particularly lazy thanks to the small, smooth glitter particles.

I couldn’t decide if the base colour was brown or burgundy, so I’m calling a” BRugurndy”.  See how I did that?  No, please don’t applaud, you’ll only make me blush.  The glitter is a nice mixture of gold and silver, the combo works so well as a whole.

I ended up buying 2 of these by accident.  I thought I’d bought this and Merry Midnight… turns out, I’d just bought 2 of these.  No matter, I’m giving one away on twitter this evening.  So, if you fancy being tragically last season too, find me on there to be in with a shot of winning it.

Do you like? This is probably one of the most sophisticated glitters I own… I love that OPI wide brush too…

Garnier 2in1 Tinted Eye Roll-on

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 21 - 2010

ON the 15th January, Garnier released the long-awaited update to their original Eye Roll-on which has accumulated fans across the globe.

Garnier 2in1 Tinted Eye Roll-On.

I don’t count myself a fan of the original non-tinted version. Despite finding it refreshing and a pleasing object to use, I just didn’t notice enough difference to justify a £10 price tag.  I was sent the new tinted version last week and have been excited at the prospect of a comparison!

I don’t have a particular problem with eye-bags, but dark circles are pesky nuisances that appear frequently thanks to late nights and early starts and concealer in that delicate area is something tricky to get right – especially on-the-go.  I’ve used many products and am currently favouring Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer Kit (kindly gifted to me by LondonMakeupGirl) – it’s a fantastic product, but it’s not something I could use to touch-up with during the day.  I’m also not a fan of YSL’s Touche Eclat, I hate how it photographs and think it’s a particularly overrated product.

Like it’s counterpart, Garnier’s 2in1 Tinted Eye Roll On, comes in a purse-friendly tube, ergonomically shaped to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.  It promises two things:

1. Immediate Coverage

2. Reduce the look of fatigue

Well, does it deliver?

Yes and Yes-ish…

It has the same roll-on application system as the original.  That roller ball is a joy to use, it’s smooth… never drags and is cooling to the touch.  Innovation at it’s absolute best.

It delivers a steady stream of product and in my (limited) experience, hasn’t blocked or clogged on me.  I put the original version in the fridge in the Summer for an extra-cooling experience, but I’m not sure how that would translate now that it contains coloured pigments.

Available in 2 shades: Fair and Medium, I received it in Fair.

As you can see, it’s a little darker than my (very pale) skin tone and a bit warmer aswell.  It claims to be able to “perfectly adapt to your skin tone”… I was unconvinced upon swatching.

Once rolled onto the eye area, it looks a better fit.  It blends easily and smoothly.  I use my ring finger to blend gently, I want to blend it with my skin… not rub it away!

Once blended, I’m pretty happy with the effect.  I don’t think it will replace my Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit (which is more heavy duty) – but I’ll definitely be carrying this in my makeup bag for touch-ups throughout the day.  It needs precise blending on me thanks to being a little too warm for my skintone, so I wouldn’t dare use it without a mirror… but I’m always gazing at my reflection in various shiny objects, so I’m sure I’ll be ok 😉

Oh, also! Very important and hugely positive.  No creasing!  I even layered it for more coverage and didn’t notice it seeping into the fine lines at all.  It has the same cooling effect as the original, but I still don’t notice any significant hydration of the area or anything that would suggest I’ve had 14hrs sleep… maybe I just need 14hrs sleep?

This is currently a Boots exclusive in the UK. Get it online here, priced at £9.99

Advent Giveaway Winners! Dec 9th-16th

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 20 - 2010

Read on to see if lady luck has been smiling down on you…

9th: Daisy (Burts Bees Facial Kit)

10th: LashAddict (Revlon Fantasy Lengths Falsies)

11th: AlicatAHL (The Body Shop – Cucumber Cleanser & Toner)

12th: Justine (Barry M Nail Paint and Eye Pencil)

13th: Victoria (The Body Shop Bath Lily & Soap & Perfume Oil)

14th: Natalie (Benefit Powder Pop)

15th: Shela (Palgantong Set)

16th: Natalya (Hair Band and Treatment)

Yay winners! Do the happy dance! And then email me your deets so I can get your prize in the post to you.

If I don’t hear from you in a week, I’ll try and find your email in the myriad of comments and if I still don’t hear from you after that, your prize will go to someone else.

Congrats!

RANDOM

You guys are the best!

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CLOSED: Competition Time: Givenchy Very Irresistible L'eau en Rose Perfume!

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Win a gorgeous "glow" trio with prizes from Urban Decay, New CID, & Arbonne!

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Hello? Is this thing on?

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Avoid the brush off with Oral-B Pro-Expert

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Big savings on French Pharmacy brands, win my Escentual.com top picks!

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