A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Hello Trout Pout, 1983 called – they want their nail polish back.  This is one seriously retro shade that deserves pride of place in Wham’s Club Tropicana video.  It’s neon-leaning with enough pink to keep it looking acceptable on cool skintones.  My picture below sadly makes this look a little less bright than it is in real-life but the shading is accurate.

This is a beautiful shade for sandal-ready toes this summer and applies in two coats, though I did experience the same weird runny-yet-thick texture that I found with Bossy Boots so just be aware of this to prevent any cuticle pooling or bubbles… thin coats required!

Butter London Trout Pout is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

Who’s da boss? Leila’s da boss (when I’m not around – sorry Mr. L!)

It’s Leila’s 3rd  birthday party today, though she doesn’t turn three until the 16th May it was the only day available at the venue so I’ve been trying to explain to a very confused tot why it isn’t actually her birthday yet but everyone will be wishing her a Happy Birthday – cue confused face.

I’m wearing Butter London’s Bossy Boots from their Spring/Summer 2012 collection in honour of the occasion, seeing as I’ll be rounding up a few under 8s, I thought it quite appropriate!

Isn’t it Spring-like?  I love muted shades but whoulda thunk I’d go gaga for a pistachio shade like this!  I like that Butter London haven’t made it too dirgy or grey and have kept it feeling somehow fresh and airy without sounding the “woah green nails” klaxon.  I’m absolutely, positively against wearing green nail polish on your toes usually (fungal feet) but I’m gonna admit to being tempted by this one.  Talk me out of it please!

Opaque in two coats, it needs the second to get rid of pastel streaks – the formula covered nicely but did have a tendency to pool around the cuticles… thin strokes required!

Butter London Bossy Boots is available to buy online from PowderRooms, priced at £11.95

Budget beautifiers BeautyUK have released a special charity gift set comprising of three super-PINK nail polishes in support of Cancer Research UK.

The set was developed after one of the brand’s fans (who’s Mum was going through her own breast cancer battle) expressed a wish for them to create a range of pink polishes that would not only make her Mum feel pretty but also help raise money to help battle the disease.

And lo it was born…

Hope, Love, and Strength…

The set is priced at £5.99, with £1 from every sale going directly to Cancer Research UK.  The set is available to buy now online and instore nationwide at Superdrug.

In addition to the new long-wear cream shadows, and eye pencils which I talked about here, the Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara* is putting in an appearance and promising to deliver results that last for up to 16 hours.

It’s probably fair to say that when I think of long-lasting makeup, I’m not sure that I’ve ever cursed any of my mascaras for not lasting the course of a day?  Sure, some are more smudgy than others and then you have the ones that flake a little as the day goes on but I can’t remember ever looking in the mirror and thinking “awww crap, where’s me mascara gone?”.  Or maybe they just mean that it won’t flake or smudge… but then again, don’t they all promise that?

If you experience this kind of problem on a daily basis, then perhaps the Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara is your next dream come true?

The packaging is particularly sexy with a metallic-chocolate finish and sleek lines whilst the brush inside is teeny, tiny… and for me, its main USP.  This fabulous brush reaches every lash from the longest to the shortest.  The brush consistently pulls out the perfect amount of product and you can feel the packaging doing its job at sucking back in the excess as you pull the brush from the neck of the tube.  As a result, I can’t see this one drying out too quickly either.

You can see how narrow the brush is in the above photo, a really great shape for women with shorter, sparser lashes to define from root to tip.  I particularly like this mascara for my lower lashes, it separates nicely, fanning each one out without leaving clumps or excess product in its wake.  As for the top lashes, well… it’s not quite volumising, nor lengthening enough for me.  My lashes can take a hefty dose of product before they begin to look worse for wear and this doesn’t provide the lash-drama that I’m forever craving.

It does, however, provide a better-than-natural finish that you can build without too much protest.  As for longevity?  Yes, it lasts the day without smudging – well done.  I do see a couple of flakes if I apply more than two coats but nothing that I’d worry myself over.  Removal is easy with just warm water, though my cream cleanser (waterless cleansing) didn’t experience any issues with sweeping it away at the end of the day either.

Overall, I really recommend this mascara if you’re looking for a good, solid formula with a fabulous brush that helps create precision definition without missing a single lash.

Bobbi Brown Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara is available to buy on counter and online, priced at £18.00

* press sample

As the summer approaches, my thoughts turn to bullet-proofing my makeup to last the course of a hot, tiring day.  I don’t know about you but despite my dry skin, the first to make a dash for freedom is any and all makeup down the bridge of my nose.  Then my eyeliner melts into my tear ducts, developing into hugely attractive eye bogies before the last of my foundation gives up the ghost and literally puddles in the area where my nose meets my face (hello face).  If it’s really hot, my eyeliner will also strive for symmetry and create matching lines across my upper eyelid where the “hoods” rest gently on the lash-line.  It’s a beautiful sight to behold.

Bobbi Brown’s new Long-Wear Eye Collection promises to stay the distance without letting you down or showing you up.  The eye pencils from the new collection are richly-coloured and deeply-pigmented.  They’re creamy and have that soft, gel formula reminiscent of my beloved Avon Mega Impact/Supershock Gel Eyeliner (whatever they’re bleedin’ being called at the moment).

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils* are available in six shades: Jet, Mahogany, Black Navy, Black Plum, Hunter and Smoke, providing a colour option whatever your personal taste.  I really like an off-black range that carries the density of an inky black but without the harshness on maturing features.  Not that my features are maturing, shutup.

These pencils haven’t given me any trouble sharpening, the uber-softness of the Avon ones means that I do need to chill them in the fridge for half an hour prior to sharpening, total pain when you need a pencil stat.  I didn’t have to do this with the Bobbi Brown pencils.

Mahogany is swatched on the left, Smoke on the Right.  You can see the density of pigment is really quite impressive.  It’s a teeny bit less pigmented than the Avon offerings (which are insanely pigmented) but as I said earlier, they do provide a little more precision during application thanks to a firmer texture.

Here are the same swatches after scrubbing the back of my hand with soap and water for a good 30/40 seconds.  I was impressed that they didn’t smear or transfer as I swiped and rubbed.  You can see that the pigment has eroded in places but if you imagine that swatch as drawn across your lash-line, I think you’d be fairly happy to emerge from the swimming pool 3-hours later with that much still intact no?

Unfortunately, whilst I think these pencils are brilliant.  This is where the praise ends.

I’ve been comparing these all along to the Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner pencils (which don’t come in as many shades admittedly) simply because the Avon ones are my benchmark and indeed, my daily staples.  As I swatched both alongside one another, I expected the Bobbi Brown ones to outlast the Avon.  They don’t.  They wear identically both on the back of my hand and on my waterline, around 5 hours.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils are priced at £17 each.  The Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner pencils are currently priced at £4 each.  And there’s the rub, I’m not going to recommend that you spend extra money needlessly… both are fabulous long-wearing, densely pigmented pencil liners.  The Avon ones are substantially cheaper.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils are available to buy on counter and online from BobbiBrown.co.uk

* press samples

I’ve got two NOTDs to show you today, and I thought I’d bunch them together seeing as they both fit neatly along a theme. Union Jack Black and Saucy Jack… err, you’re getting the connection right?

Butter London – Union Jack Black

Butter London – Saucy Jack

Union Jack Black is a rich black with a patent, high-gloss shine.  At three coats, it requires one more than I’d like to reach full opacity but it applies effortlessly and dries rapidly.  When I got to meet Nonie Creme, she ranked Union Jack Black as one of her personal favourites from the line.

Saucy Jack is an intriguing shade with its almost jelly-like finish and blood-red hue.  It gives a stained glass-like impression that is really intriguing and ranks up there as one of my most vampy shades.  Most jellies are quite soft and squishy looking, this is far more gothic in its interpretation.

Talking of Jacks… my brother used to get mistaken for Jack Black a lot.  This is not really relevant but watching this clip always makes me laugh.  Not only does my brother look a little like Barry.  He basically is Barry, albeit slightly less hyperactive.  Also not relevant to the post, but my other brother played bass on Dry The Rain, also in the film here.  It’s like trufax Thursday right here!

Both shades are available to buy online from Powder Rooms, priced at £11.95 each.

Share a random trufax with me!

Well, not entirely monstrous, but green is not a colour that I can pull off with much success.  Mr. L, who never comments on my makeup (other than to tell me I look lovely when I drop enough hints that he ought to be saying something), readily agrees that green is not a colour I should allow into my makeup-playing repertoire too often.  About halfway through the day I asked him, “Have you noticed that I’m wearing green on my eyes today?”.

“Yes. *pause* It doesn’t look too bad does it?”

And that ladies, clearly means that it looks amazing.  Or not.  I’ll go with the former.

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re getting a bit old to wear bright colours on your eyes?  I do.  I mean, when I was 27…. I thought I was getting too old, but now that I’m 30 and I’m looking at the photo thinking, “I think it doesn’t look too weird” but, I surround myself (online) with beautiful women who love to have fun and enjoy a passion for makeup.  What must women who don’t share our creativity when it comes to slap think?

Of course, one totally shouldn’t care what other women think and I’m neither fishing nor asking for validation here, it’s just that being on the cusp of the wrong side of 30 makes me hesitate.  Nothing more and nothing less, I guess it comes down to the fact that you can’t really pull off the “cute” thing once you reach your thirties, and so there’s no room for error in the same way as when you were younger.

“Should know better”.  I’d like that on my headstone… along with “One Day”, a long-held shot at faith.

I usually only have time in the morning for the basics when it comes to makeup but Mr. L has been super-generous with his time in the run-up to releasing his next game, so you can expect a few more FOTDs than normal simply because it feels lovely to walk out of the house in a proper made-up face once a week you know?  The type where you’ve played and pontificated over choosing what to apply rather than reached for the quickest, most fool-proof things you own.

Anyway, I’m really rambling.  I’ll do a quick product breakdown.

Face

Face Atelier Ultra Foundation in Ivory
Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage SC-1
Guerlain Terracotta Moisturising Bronzing Powder in 00

Eyes

GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Green Grass on the upper lashline
Purple Eyeshadow from the Smashbox Muse Artist Eye Palette on lower lashline
Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara*
Illamasqua Eye Brow Cake in Gaze

Lips

Bourjois Sweet Kiss Natural in 09 Sienne Kiss*

What’s your colour nemesis?  Do you hesitate when it comes to colour?

* press sample

There’s nothing more intimidating in the world than a pair of super white teeth, except for perhaps super-white, super-straight teeth and for those of use who don’t want that freshly-veneered look, there are thankfully other, more affordable options.

One of the most affordable comes in the form of Spanish brand Yotuel*, which via the magic of BuyaPowa is available to buy today for less than the price of a tooth-staining coffee and bun.

I have a sneak peek of what this co-buy is going to look like (don’t tell them I’ve shown you it, they might send the monkey after me)… it’s barely more expensive than your regular toothpaste, especially if you’re a Sensodyne user like me (frankly more expensive than my crack habit).

£4.50?  £4.50?!  I think this tooth-whitening duo is going to sell out quickly.

Let me tell you a bit more about it…

I’ve been using it for a few days and as far as whitening goes, it’s too early for me to tell though I haven’t yet experienced any sensitivity (something I’m prone to with all whitening products).

The duo (75ml Toothpaste, 250ml alcohol-free whitening mouthwash) offers xylitol/fluoride-based protection against cavities, with the whitening properties coming from the carbamide peroxide, the same stuff they use in the dentists but at a lower concentration.  You’re supposed to brush 3x a day with this… hmm, that’s not always easy is it?  Are you supposed to take it to work with you?!  I guess so long as you brush as soon as you get home from work, it’d be ok.

The mouth-wash is zingy… super-zingy.  I can’t keep it in my mouth for the full minute!  The duo is free from SLS, detergent, sugar, alcohol, and is neutral pH and the toothpaste won Best New Dental Product in the 2010 Pure Beauty Awards.

If you’re wanting to lift some light-staining in time for the Summer, I think it’s worth a punt.  It feels like a gentler solution that would be good for maintaining a whiter smile rather than creating glow-in-the-dark gnashers.  Basically, I doubt it’s gonna give your TOWIE teeth overnight, but then… um, that’s a good thing right?

The Yotuel duo will be going live on BuyaPowa today in a very limited quantity.  Sign up to be notified!

* press sample

** I will of course come back and let you know in due course if the duo is the best thing since sliced bread, I may start doing FOTDs with my mouth open!

Good morning, this is your captain speaking.

On behalf of my crew today, I’d like to welcome you aboard flight number L1P6L0551P1N6 from Heathrow to Antigua.  We are currently flying at an altitude of 35,000 Boots points midway across the Atlantic.  If you look out of the windows on the starboard side, you should get a great reflection for reapplying your lipsticks – alternatively, please await the cabin crew’s further instructions as we have a rather special purchase to show you today.

Virgin Atlantic have teamed up with bareMinerals to create a mile-high red lip that’s worth a swoon or two.  Upper Class Red* is taking off in style with the signature Pretty Amazing Lipcolor formula combining the coverage you’d expect from a lipstick with the high-shine of a gloss.  The scarlet shade is synonymous with the cabin crew’s glamourous image as seen in the airline’s latest advert.

Having been adopted as an official piece of uniform for the Virgin Atlantic cabin crew, you can imagine that this formula really needs to live up to the demands that will be placed upon it in a working environment and none is more important 35,000 feet up than longevity.  While not completely bullet-proof, the colour wears very evenly and transforms from an opaque, glossy covering to a pigmented stain after a couple of hours that lasts throughout the day.  I actually prefer the slightly more subdued stain to the pow-pow in your face-ness of this particular red.

The applicator has a flexible, rounded tip that helps to apply such a strong colour with the kind of precision required for the task.  The texture is thick and I’d suggest wiping any excess product back into the neck of the tube as a little will go a long way.  Once applied, the finish is super-shiny and I prefer to blot it once on a tissue to get rid of  that sticky gloss feeling without losing any of the incredible pigmentation.

To my eye it’s a warm-toned red… not enough to actually be classed as a “warm red”, but you should be able to see that it leans away from the cool end of the spectrum with my pinky colouring as a backdrop.

You can check-in (groan) with ‘Upper Class Red’ exclusively at Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Spas before it’s made available for pre-order on board Virgin Atlantic flights.  Later in the year, it will become available to purchase from selected bareMinerals stockists.

If you can’t wait until then, check out some of the other Pretty Amazing LipColors available to purchase online at BeautyBay.com

* press sample

Still on the theme of warming things up a bit in hopeful anticipation of a glorious Summer, I’ve got another lovely bright lip to show you.  This one comes with a difference though, it’s a liqui-gel formula that can also be used as a long-lasting cheek stain.

Beauté Cosmetics hail from Canada, brainchild of makeup artist Beau Nelson.  The range includes lip cremes, glosses, brushes and these lovely liqui-gel stains.  I already own a lip creme (which I don’t believe I’ve ever blogged about) but knew that I wanted to buy one of the liqui-gel stains after reading about them a couple of years ago on LondonMakeupGirl’s blog.

How ridiculous(ly cool) does it look in the tube?  I think, if I’m honest, it’s probably what attracted me in the first place.  Super-neon coral with a cool pink flash?  Awesome.  Don’t worry though, it doesn’t apply anywhere near as scarily as it suggests it will!  Once applied and blended on the lips or cheeks, it’s a really wearable warm pink – perhaps a little vibrant for some, but so very beautiful.

As far as application goes, it’s pretty forgiving once you get used to the texture.  It doesn’t set immediately and gives a fair amount of playtime to get things right before you’re stuck with clown cheeks for the entire day.  Buildability is the key to success with this one, don’t apply a load in one go, especially on the lips or you’ll struggle getting the formula to sit well.  Once the stain has set (after about a minute) you’ll be rewarded with some delicious colour that won’t budge for hours.

The above photo shows Fluoron worn alone on bare lips with a little on my cheeks, I should have applied a touch more for the sake of the camera but I was wary of overdoing it.  Hopefully, you can still make out the colour well enough.  I don’t generally enjoy wearing stains too much but I’m making an exception for this one, or should I say… it’s made an exception for me.

Beauté Liqui-Gel Lip and Cheek Stain in Fluoron is available to buy online in the UK from GuruMakeupEmporium and CocoBeau priced at £23.50

What’s your favourite lip and cheek stain?

Jen is from London and works in PR/Social Media.  She’s a bonafide beauty junkie with a self-confessed “mild” shopping problem!  The following article is a guest submission, you can read more from Jen at A Beauty Junkie in London.

Hello!  Jen from A beauty junkie in London here!  Whilst Charlotte is away on her holidays (not that I’m jealous at all) I’m doing a little guest post for you!

Here’s a little look at the new Khol & Contour Shadow and Light Pencils* from Bourjois.  These pencils each include a light and dark liner shade that compliment each other.  The light shade in each of the pencils has a metallic sheen to it whilst the darker one is matte.

Bourjois Khol & Contour Shadow and Light Pencils

Natural Light

With Flash

Shade wise, the dark shades are all consistently pigmented and feel creamy when used.  Of all of them, the navy blue is the weakest in colour pay off.  The paler shades on the other hard really vary, of course as they are the paler shades the colour pay off naturally contrasts with the darker ones… but when looked at alongside each other the ‘dragee’ shade (the one with the blue) is a bit lame.  So overall, the marine/dragee shade is my least favourite.

I also found that the texture of the lighter shade was a little crumbly, with the tip of the pencil breaking off of when I went to swatch them – because of this I’d definitely swatch them before first use as you don’t’ really want it going in your eye.

The two stand out colour pairings are the khaki and the champagne gold and the brown and the ‘caramel’ purely on the strength of the pigment and how the colour combinations are safe and neutral – but still slightly more unusual. If I was to choose one, I’d go with the khaki/champagne!

* press samples

If you would like to submit a non-commercial post to be considered for inclusion on Lipglossiping.com, please email for more details.

Halloween-mad Liloo is passionate about makeup and its effectiveness at allowing people to feel more confident.  The following article is a guest submission, you can read more of Liloo’s writing at Le Petit Jardin de Liloo.

To complement the recent release of their Foils Collection, BeautyUK have launched The Gemstone Collection*, a stunning selection of six pastel polish shades with a difference: a smooth and glittery finish.

If you’re new to the brand, Beauty UK is a British brand of affordable makeup, mainly sold in Superdrug but usually shoved at the back of the shop.  Why is this so?  I really don’t know.  A crying shame for the brand in my opinion, as their nail polishes offer impressive coverage in a minimal amount of coats and are a doddle to apply.  The new Gemstone polishes are no exception to the rule.  In honour of the semi-precious stones where BeautyUK took their inspiration, the Gemstone Posh Polishes are donning a fancy cap for the occasion, reminiscent of Nails Inc. polishes but at a much more budget friendly price of £3.49 each.

They say: Inspired by precious gemstones, these metallized pastels combine subtle hues with a light shimmer and superb coverage to bring a touch of class to any look.  Treat yourself to a bit of posh in any of the six shades – Amethyst (lilac), Sunstone (blush), Topaz (taupe), Silmaril (gold), Elfstone (green) and Moonstone (blue).

The brunette in me had to try the amethyst shade first as I like to think that purple shades really make my brown eyes stand out.

Application for the gemstone polishes was even easier than normal thanks to their forgiving pastel nature. I was able to apply my polish even more sloppily than normal without feeling too self conscious.  All my photos show two coats but I could have gotten away with one.  Drying time was a little slower than usual, but nothing as slow as Boots No.7 Sultry Sands and Golden Palms which have to be the slowest-to-dry polishes known to mankind.

These are Moonstone and Elfstone:

At first glance, the golden shades Silmaril, Topaz and Sandstone will look very similar in their bottles. Wear them all on one hand on a bright sunny day and you’ll be able to marvel at their subtle nuances.

Don’t ask me to choose a favourite. At the beginning, my heart was set amethyst, but looking at the photos again, I just want to wear topaz and sunstone as the same time, in a muted ‘ombre’ kind of manicure.

If you’re fussy about your polishes and want something ultra wearable, subtle but eye catching simultaneously, shimmery/glittery but without the removal nightmare of traditional glitter polishes, pastel shades evocative of the Spring season, *and* inexpensive, the gemstone collection might just well be for you.

*Disclosure: Polishes were sent for review purposes

If you would like to submit a non-commercial post to be considered for inclusion on Lipglossiping.com, please email for more details.