A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

You may have already heard about Karen Alder’s new lipstick creation – TRUST which has been developed to raise funds for the youth charity, The Prince’s Trust.

100% of the proceeds from the sales of TRUST (exc. VAT) will go directly to the charity!

I thought I’d share some images of the celebrity supporters sporting the lipstick (in various guises!) and I particularly adore Kara’s playful pose! (bottom right)

Karen Alder, Celebrity Makeup Artist and creator of the TRUST lipstick said…

I love the power of the colour red – no other shade has such an impact.

I call it a not-so-secret weapon.  My new creation – TRUST – is a foolproof easy to wear bright red, packed with Vitamin E. To me, this is the perfect red, striking the balance between the orange tones and blue. Its satin finish really makes it easy to apply without bleeding, yet keeps the look contemporary.

What with being ALL about the red lipstick, I’ll be logging on to snap one of these babies up quicker than you can say ‘big ears’.  Wait… can I get put in the tower for that?

The limited edition lipstick will go on sale on the 2nd of April exclusively at QVC UK.

You will be able to log on to the QVC website or call 0800 50 40 30 to buy one and it’s priced at a bargainous £8.00

When I was in London last week, I was on a lipstick mission… overtaken by the urge to find something to tempt me, I came home with more than I bargained for – a new lipstick obsession!

The new Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color’s had been piqueing my interest for a few weeks now and I headed to the counter in HoF Westfield to take a closer look.

The new Rich Lip Color range comprises of 12 relatively bright shades which definitely lean more Summery than Autumn/Winter in my opinion.  I chose two from the 12: Mod Pink and Guava.

Mod Pink was a shoo-in from the moment I spied the bullet.  It’s a lovely pink for Spring/Summer.  I took a bit more convincing with the other despite previously professing my love for all things Guava!  I was just a little unsure if it would be too warm and be a bit too “Oh HAI lips!”

I am pleased with myself that I pushed out of my comfort zone… not only that but I completely avoided Old Hollywood, a particularly lovely-looking red!

The packaging is the typical, sleek Bobbi Brown affair… nothing particularly exciting, just understated and elegant enough to pull out in public should you do that sort of thing!

God I love new lipsticks! *drool*

The texture of these is good!  Firm but smooth to apply with barely any drag on the lips.  Pigmentation is high (as you would expect from a range called “Rich Lip Color”.

Finish-wise, the two that I own are both semi-matte and despite this, they feel extremely comfortable on the lips and not particularly drying considering the very good wear I achieve from them.  I would estimate at around 4/5 hours without eating or drinking.

And here’s how they look in context with my face…

Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color Lipsticks are priced at £16.00 each on counter but are currently available on the House of Fraser website with 10% off.

Next on my list is Bikini Pink!

Are you planning on checking these out? Have you bought any already?!

Hello ladies,

I really appreciate ALL feedback on the new site, both good and bad because I recognise that a). you’ve taken the time to leave it and b). you’ve (mostly) broken the bad bits to me gently!  Thank you x

I want to address a couple of things and I’ll try not to ramble too much…

Ads

There are actually LESS ads on the site now than before the redesign.  Previously, the homepage contained an ad below each post, 1 in the sidebar and the leaderboard ad under the header.  Now the homepage contains the leaderboard ABOVE the header (I wanted to separate it further from the content) and 1 in the sidebar.  The in-post ones now only display inside the ‘actual’ posts.

I wanted to clarify that one so you don’t think the redesign was some cynical money-making opportunity!

Personalisation

I like to think that the site personality comes more from the content than the boxes that surround it but all I can really tell you is that I’ve injected SO much thought into choosing clear fonts, contrasting labels, a ‘snazzy’ header that actually represents my obsession and trying to increase interactivity with you guys in the form of linkbacks to you (if relevant) through comment listings etc.

What I’m getting at is that I didn’t just pick a generic corporate style template and click ‘activate’.  I picked a basic layout design, then ripped it to shreds and started again.  It’s got personality by the bucketload, I can’t help it if I’m a bit boring! 😉

I wanted you to have access to as many posts at a single glance as possible.  This was the trade off between the original scrolling design and how it looks now.  To be completely honest, I struggled like hell with this one.  Do I give you all an extra click or more content at a glance?  The thing that swung it for me was being told that doing it this way *should* reduce site load time.  With my previous design, it was having to load anything up to 20 fullsize images with every load, this way… it caches the thumbnails after the first load and that’s it.  Having said that, I’m aware that my site load time has been shit for about three days now and I’m just about ready to move hosts again.

Professionalism

I’m not sure if it’s considered a bad thing to have a professional looking blog.  I can’t quite tell from your comments.  But my personal feeling on this is that when I dedicate a minimum of 3/4 hours on this labour of love each day… hell yeah I want it to look as “professional” as possible!

Busyness and Background

Yes, there’s more content in a smaller area (on the homepage)… hopefully, there is enough spacing, labelling and separation for things to be quite straightforward once the dust settles and you get used to looking to different parts of the page to achieve/view different things.  I’m going to give that some time to “settle in” before considering any changes incase the busyness view is influenced by the fact that it’s all very new and unfamiliar.

The background… I know that my site is associated with a white background.  2 years ago, the site really stood out by being so minimalist in the beauty-blogging community but now, I feel that the overall look has become quite generic.  I’ll never be one for teacups, garlands and textured backgrounds and want something different again.  If I’ve achieved that (even if you’re not sure about it!) then hand on heart, on a personal level – that makes me happy.

However, I’ve always been the one to point out that black backgrounds are less user-friendly for reading text (which is why I’ve retained a white background for the content!)  I think this is another aspect of the redesign that I’ll look at again in a few weeks.

Overall

Ok, I can tell I’m starting to ramble so will leave it there.  The new site is my baby and like every proud Mum I want to show it off and I want you all to think it’s not a cabbage patch doll.  BUT sometimes, babies take a while to grow into their features.  I hope you give mine a little bit of time to develop, it’s your views I care about most of all and I am listening.

Some savings are worth taking a closer look at and this one from Stylist.co.uk definitely had me going in for a more detailed inspection!

Stylist have teamed up with cult British brand Illamasqua to offer a 25% discount online at Illamasqua.com – the discount code remains valid for use until 5pm on the 6th April, so you still have some time to get your shopping lists in order!

To get your hands on the code and to read the terms and conditions, click through to Stylist.co.uk and take a look.

Happy bargain hunting!

If pastel pinks are your thing, you’re in for a treat!

Now… I don’t wanna get too cultural about things (says the lady with the degree in Cultural Studies) but DUDE! What’s with calling a Mod Pink “Teddy Girl”… tsk.

Names aside, Teddy Girl is a very striking pepto-bismol pink creme that needs a few coats to rescue it from streaksville.  This isn’t uncommon with these ‘white-out’ shades but it is irritating nonetheless when you get pretty good cover from the first coat.

Once any patches have been evened out, wear is perfectly adequate and the shade is super-striking.  I love combining it with a black outfit to really make my nails POP!

Butter London – Teddy Girl is is available to buy online now from PowderRooms priced at £11.95

Let me introduce you to the “Acqua for Life Challenge”.  A facebook campaign set up by Giorgio Armani Beauty (in conjunction with their popular fragrances Acqua di Giò and Acqua di Gioia).

The campaign aims to provide a minimum of 40 million litres of drinking water to populations without any access to it, working in partnership with Green Cross International to raise everyone’s awareness of this issue.

900 million individuals are still deprived of safe, clean and healthy water for their daily essential needs. Water that is essential for drinking, eating, guaranteeing a minimum of hygiene and maintaining one’s health.  The goal of this challenge: To offer this year a minimum of 40 million litres of drinking water to populations in need.

Because they are the most vulnerable to water-borne diseases and it is their future that is taken hostage by this uncertain water supply, children will be the primary beneficiaries of the donations collected by the “Acqua For Life” campaign.

The operation will initially begin in Ghana, supporting the Smart Water for Green Schools project: In this west African country some 40% of the rural population does not have access to drinking water.

The money raised will then be used, over time, to finance similar operations in other countries.

So, how can you contribute?

Easily and quickly.

I’ve set up a Lipglossiping Acqua For Life Facebook group and all YOU need to do to contribute 10 litres of water to the cause is join up.  It will literally take you 15 seconds.

Click the link above and grant the app access (it won’t do any funny business with your account!)

SEARCH for the term Lipglossiping in the left hand side community search bar and hit on JOIN.  Thassit!  All signed up, 10L of fresh, safe drinking water with your name on it!

If you join up, consider your good deed for the day done and dusted and have a BIG thank you from me. x

Welcome to the new look Lipglossiping.com – I had a mini heart attack when I flicked over to the new design.  Properly too, my fingers tingled as I got flashbacks from Christmas!

Thankfully, everything still seems to be in place with no major casualties (apart from my blogroll which I’ll update next week).

I do hope you like it and I’m sure it will take a bit of getting used to… it’s a completely new navigation system but you should get enough of an idea from the front page as to whether or not the featured posts hold any interest for you before clicking through to read them in full.

Plus, you get the tabs over on the right to browse through some of my most popular posts, play russian roulette with a random pick and see who’s commenting on what!

Other features include tags and categories that are much clearer to read and easier to access whatever it might be that you’re looking for!

And let’s not forget the most important feature of all.  The chick up there… there, in the header!  She applies her lipstick when you hover over her! *dies*

*deep breath* go on, let me have it… do you hate it?

You may have noticed that things are looking a bit wonky around here.  Ad placements a bit skewed, links appearing and disappearing?  Well, that’s because Mr. L is working tirelessly on a site redesign and I’m hoping to go live with it later in the week!

I’m a little bit excited (understatement) because I’ve wanted the site to be more navigable for a long time.  There’s so many posts now and a lot of them never see the light of day thanks to a rubbish category nav system.  Hopefully, this will soon be improved, though if you’re like me, it might take some getting used to.

I hate it when websites change, I’m used to clicking on certain buttons to achieve certain things and when I get the rug pulled from under me, I’m not a happy bunny.  I hope you like the changes and get used to them quickly!

Also, I’m attempting a FAQ page… and this is where you come in.  Do you have any burning questions? About the site? Blogging?  Would it be useful to know things like my shade matches in foundation?

Anyway, if you have a question – I’d love for you to take a minute to pop it in the form below and hit send, it’s all completely anonymous (which I’ll probably regret!)

Thank you, I appreciate it (unless you just took the opportunity to mean ;))

When the new site goes live, please let me know if you notice any problems or bugs and I’ll get my whip out.

UK ladies, you don’t have long left to enter to win a fabulous prize…

WIN A £100 URBAN RETREAT VOUCHER PLUS A PAMPER HAMPER!

Head over to the secret page on Beautique that’s been reserved for Lipglossiping readers and answer one simple question.

Get your skates on and don’t forget that aswell as London, there’s an Urban Retreat in Manchester too!  Northern ladies – you’re not left out.  Good luck lovelies!

Have no real use for your retinas?  Good… read on then…

Eyeko Punk Polish is a searingly obvious fluoro-pink!  If you want people to comment on your tips (I said tips), opt for a shade as blisteringly bright as this one!

As a mega Clash fan, I’m a little partial to the shade that proclaims on its website: “Pink is the only true rock n roll colour” Paul Simonon.

It’s quite thick and needs speedy work to get it to apply nicely… but if you can persevere with the less-than-perfect application, the results are worth it!

Two coats to achieve opacity and perfectly fine wear make this a great Summer choice.  Do combine with a top coat for a glossy finish though, as with most neon or near-neon shades, this has a tendency to dry a little matte.

Eyeko Punk Polish is available to buy online from Eyeko or at the original (pre price-hike price) from PowderRooms.

Brand loyalty is a funny old thing.  Personally, I don’t think I’m brand loyal so much as product-loyal but I can definitely name a couple of brands that seem to attract super-fans.

Liz Earle is the one that always initially springs to mind.  Their supporters go crazy for the brand, the products, the shows… infact, both the brands that I had in mind when considering this post present on QVC.  Coincidence?

When I went to the Isle of Wight last year to attend Liz Earle’s 15th Anniversary Event… it opened my eyes.  I didn’t realise that us women could be so passionate about a brand.  Beauty in general?  Yes.  But a single brand?  A company?  A business?  I was left bemused by the (literally hordes of) women doing their utmost to maintain a sense of middle-class decorum while simultaneously clambering to get close to ANYONE at the event who looked like they were representing the brand.  It was the politest scrum I’ve ever been in!

Of course, it helps that at the head of this company… is Liz Earle.  Instantly likable on screen, she always appears effortlessly chic, calm and collected.  When she opens her mouth, she’s eloquent, charismatic… engaging and most of all, appears interested in what others have to say.  Yes, I’ll admit – I’m under her spell too.  Infact, I won’t name names… but I was in the company of a perfectly intelligent blogger (kinda) who’s words as we left the room in which we’d been introduced to Liz went something along the lines of… “OMG… I want a mummy Liz.  Do you think I can get her to adopt me?”  Of course, it was said in jest… and incited a riotous giggle amongst a group of women who are old enough to know better but it showed the Liz effect in full force!

I suppose that the phenomena could be attributed directly to the products.  If you find the solution to a skincare problem that’s plagued you for years within your Cleanse & Polish, your interest in everything the brand releases is going to be piqued.  And in all honesty, as superficial as we’re told all this beauty nonsense is… it runs deep for many of us.

Infact, as I write that last paragraph, I’m beginning to feel a little shame-faced and hypocritical.  I may not be evangelical about Cleanse & Polish (I don’t get the hype) but there is a certain product that I will forever hold in the highest regard and as such, it’s had a knock-on effect to the rest of this particular Antipodean brand.  My fangirl self even gets annoyed when I hear of other people not loving their products as much as I do!  Common sense?  Where did you disappear to?!

In analysing my own feelings for this brand, I can stem my cheerleading from the moment one of their products worked wonders on an issue that was troubling me in a way that did go deeper than the superficial.  In solving the physical issue it also removed a weight from my shoulders.

Oh dear… I’ve just thought of another brand that encourages my inner rah-rah girl.  Sigh, there goes my delusions of being even just a tiny bit cool.

Perhaps, before scoffing at what I perceive as other people’s foibles… I should remind myself that we all have a fangirl inside of us just waiting for that miracle product to bring her out, pom-poms flailing.

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Which brands do you think attract super-fans?  Do YOU have the potential to be a fangirl?

I’m subscribed to KGBDeal updates and this one landed in my email inbox yesterday…

these eyeshadow kits for £16.99 (p&p inc. in the price).  I have a couple of Bellapierre single eyeshadows already but have never tried the makeup base (which appears to be a cross between a pigment mattifier and primer) or any of the brushes.

So what do you get for £16.99?

Kit Includes:
• 3 Shimmer Powders (2.35g)
• 1 Make Up Base (8.5g)
• 1 Liner Brush
• 1 Oval Eye Shadow Brush

Bellapierre website, the kit ordinarily retails for £39.99 which is a saving of 63% over the original price.

The colour choices are as follows:

the deal, it’s available for the next 6 days only.

I thought it might be useful to include a swatch (dry, no primer) of the Bellapierre shadows that I own, so for your viewing pleasure: Jadoo and Celebration

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Will you be taking advantage of the KGBDeals/Bellapierre offer?