A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

You know those girls on Crescent Row… Bella, Gina, Carmella et al.  They’re sugared up crack addicts, high on vanilla, caramel and everything that would make a dentist cry.  It’s not that they’re unsavoury (geddit?!), it’s just that they’re not for me.  But there’s a new girl on the block and she’s not like all the others.  She gave up on the gourmand and went for the full-on floral route instead.

And like many of the Crescent Row girls, she is a bit full-on… she’s blousey and big, unapologetically so.  There’s a lot of jasmine in there, enough to subdue the vanilla that those other girls must have spiked her with but I’m loving the hit of Tiare flower that those of you familiar with monoi oils (*cough* Elemis *cough*) will recognise.  I don’t usually cross reference brands like this but if you take everything you love from the scent of that, put it in a medium longevity, prettily packaged perfume and add a kick of dirty rose… you’ve got Benefit’s latest EdT, See & Be Seen Sasha.

And this, my lovely friends, can only be a good thing.

Benefit’s See & Be Seen Sasha EdT is available on counter and online now at www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk, priced at £29.50 for 30ml.

* press sample

God. Have I told you how much I love foundation? Oh, I have?! Well, the thing is… I really love foundation. I love the idea of being able to smooth over the blemishes, teeny veins and discolouration with what is, effectively, a new skin.

If I were a character in a horror-filled b-movie, I’d like to be the skin harvester and I’d go around, stealing people’s faces… no, please don’t leave. I’m only joking. Sort of.

So that I don’t have to go around harvesting other people’s faces, Benefit have launched a new beauty kit that will appeal to all foundation-lovers out there.  How To Look The Best At Everything claims to contain everything we need to achieve that sought-after flawless complexion.

Let’s take a closer look….

The kit is available in three skin shades: Light, Medium and Deep and is packaged in squee cute Benefit stylee, taking obvious inspiration from the series of similarly titled books.  Despite the housing being cardboard, it stands up pretty well to mild misuse… it’s not gonna crumble anytime soon, unless you put it in the washing machine or something phenomenally stupid like that.  In which case, you deserve whatever soggy mess awaits you.

Beneath the ‘front cover’ sits an assortment of Benefit’s face products… providing you ‘get on’ with the products inside, this is a brilliant thing to take away on holidays/dirty weekends and the like.  Do people even still have dirty weekends?  I feel like I’ve just stepped out of the 80s with that expression!

So, from left to right, we have:

The POREfessional primer (7.5ml) |  Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow in “Cheers to Me” Champagne foundation (7ml) | Boi-ing 01 & 02 concealer (1.5g each) | “Hello Flawless!” “Me, Vain?” Champagne powder (4g).

I’ve been doing my sums and based on the quantities of product you receive inside the kit, compared to the full-size prices…. the kit is worth approximately £44.22 on product value alone.

Which is pretty awesome considering that Benefit (who are not well-known for their bargainous prices) are asking only £24.50 for the entire set.

It’s a great starting point for anyone unfamilliar with the Benefit base makeup line and would be a lovely present for most teens *cough* and older makeup-loving ladies to open on Christmas morning.

Benefit’s How To Look The Best At Everything kit* is available to buy now online and on counter nationwide, priced at £24.50

* press sample

My poor, poor face.  I’m in the middle of a snot fest and I’m now understanding why I was brought up on a diet of haliborange.  Throughout the year I’m not a terribly sickly person (I was as a kid) which is just aswell because I’m the biggest wimp you could meet (probably).  I even have a ‘cold’ voice – you know that weak-sounding, more-than-slightly whiney tone that resonates through the nose more than the throat?  My poor family.  Anyway, this week’s cold has been particularly frustrating because of how beautiful it’s been outside!  The whole family have had it and thus we’ve been mostly quarantined indoors through the weekend.  I decided to make a break for it yesterday and thus needed a face of makeup to disguise my ravaged skin.  It’s so dry and dull, combined with the snot-induced nose flakes and hormonal jaw-line mega zits?  Not pretty.

I massaged my freshly-washed skin with a combination of Liz Earle SuperSkin Concentrate* and Alpha H All For Eve Age Delay Facial Oil* in an attempt to revive some life.  Kinda like a cardiac massage for the face before giving my driest spots (flakey bits) at light cover of Lucas Paw Paw Ointment (this stuff is great for disguising nose flakes).  I went with the spring-like weather and injected some colour onto my face with a bright streak of blue under my lower lashline.  This is my favourite way to wear the shade and I do it quite a lot in the Summer.  Anyway, enough talk.  Here’s my Springtime in the Sahara FOTD:

I think I could have done with a touch of highlighter but I’m otherwise looking fairly perky considering I felt like DEATH.  Like my Tammy Faye Baker eyelashes?  Tough – I do!  I never put that much on my lower lashes normally but now I’m gonna (until I get bored of it).

I’m wearing:

Skinfood Gingko Green BB Cream
Priori Perfecting Mineral Foundation (lightly buffed where I needed more coverage)*
Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer

KIKO Automatic Waterproof Eyeliner
Laura Mercier Luster Eye Colour in Marina under the lower lashline
Benefit They’re Real Mascara*
Illamasqua Eye Brow Cake in Gaze (I found it, I found it!)

Benefit Hervana Blush* (I did promise you a FOTD with this beauty)
Boots No7 Vital Brights Lipstick in Blooming Pink*

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What do you think?  Bit too early in the year to pull out these shades?  Hope you’re well and less snotty than me!  At least the pancakes (bacon and maple syrup!) cheered me up!

* press samples

There’s always a bit of excitement in the air when Benefit release a new boxed blusher because a). they’re generally pretty damn good and b). they’re kinda cute.  Well, the latest addition to the blusher lineup doesn’t disappoint on either of those scores and nicely fills a little gap in the Benefit blusher market for a netral-toned rose.

Despite having a total of four different shades in the same pan, Hervana is designed to be swirled together to create a single shade – infact, you’d physically struggle to load a brush with a single shade.  The packaging, despite being the usual Benefit cardboard offering, seems as though it would be substantial enough to see it through its lifetime and the brush makes for a decent application if you don’t posess a blusher brush you’re already happy to use.

My pink skin-tone pulls Hervana toward the cool side of the spectrum, obviously making the most of that fuchsia-pink shade in the pan.  This makes Hervana offer something very different to some of my other Benefit blushes which lean a lot warmer in tone.  Because of the peach shades within the Hervana spectrum, you may find that your skintone pulls the blush in a different shade direction to mine, something to be wary of when swatching for yourself.  I really love the ultra-fine satin finish which adds a little luminosity and lift to the complexion without exagerrating pore size or fine lines.

Overall, Hervana is definitely one that I’m happy to recommend.  Providing the shade works for you, I can’t see you experiencing any application problems with this one – it blends smoothly and evenly and lasts well throughout the day.

Benefit Hervana is currently out of stock on the Benefit website but is available to buy on counter or online at ASOS, priced at £23.50

* press sample

In a list devoid of MPs, philanthropists, and celebrities – I bring you 12 products that have impressed me beyond my expectations over the past 12 months. This wasn’t easy to compile. Infact, it was so hard that it’s now nearly February and I’ve only just published it.

Some were a given from the moment I used them (Avon Mega Impact Eye Liner), some were growers (Elemis Cellutox Active Body Oil), but all of them have left a real impression for achieving what their claims suggest and let’s face it, that’s what out beauty-loving hearts desire most.

Optrex Itchy/Allergy Eye Drops  |  Lanolips 101 Ointment  |  St. Tropez Perfect Legs Spray  |  Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Colors

Optrex make eye drops for seemingly every occassion and their Optrex Itchy Eye Drops have saved my poor peepers numerous times throughout the year.  I actually prefer their Optrex Allergy Eyes formula for the Summer months when my eyes are really suffering but I find them quite hard to get hold of (it’s over the counter stuff) and so pharmacists always offer me the Optrex Itchy Eye Drops instead.  To be fair, they both work but nothing soothes the feeling of wanting to wash your eyeballs under a running tap (and swill your eye sockets out while you’re at it) faster or more effectively than the Optrex Allergy Eyes formula.

Another product that goes beyond the pretty to simply make my life more comfortable is Lanolips 101 Ointment.  This nourishing, thick balm is as much a part of my nightly routine as washing my face or repeatedly checking Twitter on my phone after turning off my computer.  It’s simple existence means that my lips never peel or crack, as used to be the case throughout the winter months and if I like a new lipstick, I buy it based on how much I like the shade without caring about how drying the formula may prove to be.

My milk-bottle legs are anticipating the return of the warmer weather with a renewed vigour thanks to St. Tropez Perfect Legs Spray.  I’m surprising myself by including a tanning product in my honours list – I really don’t care much about being tanned… but, this product surpassed all expectations of turning my blue-tinged pins into something that I wouldn’t mind showing off when the sun finally peeks out from behind the UK’s perpetual blanket of cloud cover.

As much as the U.S. brand have released some stonking palettes this year, it’s these Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Colors that have been ticking all the right boxes for me this year.  They pack a supreme punch of colour, offer maximum convenience and last well throughout the day.  The shades I own are all searingly bright and obnoxious, just the way I’ve been liking my lip shades this year.  These are real beauties and I can’t wait to see if Urban Decay add to the lineup in 2012.

Benefit They’re Real Mascara  |  Elemis Cellutox Active Body Oil  |  Dr. Hauschka Neem Hair Oil  |  Avon Mega Impact Eye Liner

An everyday staple achieves its status by being dependable, consistent, and easy to use.  Benefit’s They’re Real Mascara has been my go-to mascara since its release last August.  It extends and volumises my lashes with an inky formula and doesn’t let me down by smudging or flaking throughout the day.  Once it’s time for bed – it doesn’t give my cleansing oil any arguments and I’m still enjoying the same, usable formula from the original tube that I was given all those months ago.  It’s a solid but impressive addition to my makeup bag.

2011 has been a year of weight loss (and gain, and loss again) for me.  I knew from the start that I’d be putting my skin through the mill on my quest for a less flabby existence and I’ve been using various body oils with my cellulite massager in an attempt to keep my skin elastic, supple and unblemished.  While they all did a good job at moisturising, I wasn’t sure that they were achieving much more than this until I began to use Elemis Cellutox Active Body Oil toward the end of last year.  Aside from it smelling as delicious as you’d expect from the British brand, I’ve noticed a marked improvement in skin-tone, texture and dare I say it… cellulite.

Another major concern over the past year has been the constant flare-ups that have turned my scalp into an itching, flaking mess.  I would start a new shampoo, only to be forced into discontinuing its use a month later.  I tried SLS-free which seemed to improve things for a while, though still didn’t eradicate the problem completely.  I’ve been using Dr. Hauschka’s Neem Hair Oil (non-stinky) for a few months now and have so far, touch wood, not had a flare-up that’s been severe enough to cause any real misery.  I also find the oil effective at soothing any persistent itches alongside a welcome side-effect of improving the condition of my dry hair.

If I could only choose one, my product of the year would go to Avon’s Mega Impact Eye Liner for being outrageously awesome at such a reasonable price.  The blacker-than-black formula applies as smoothly as a gel with no tugging along the delicate waterline.  Give it a few moments to set and you’ll be treated to a full day of hard-wearing, sultry lashlines that resist smudging and transfer like real troopers.  They have a new metallic shade coming out for Spring, look out for it!

Suti Rejuvenate Organic Facial Oil  |  Lumos High Speed Top Coat (try eBay if you’re not a pro)  |  Missha M Perfect Cover B.B Cream  |  NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

I’ve always loved facial oils but have only recently discovered the true extent of their capabilities.  Suti’s Rejuvenate Organic Facial Oil is a wondrous concoction that seamlessly melts into my skin to give an instant glow on those days when my complexion is feeling particularly dull and drained by the cold weather.  Perhaps even more enlightening is the oil’s ability to turn a dud foundation into a keeper.  I’ve been adding a few drops (during application) to foundations that I consider dry-skin unfriendly and have been amazed at Suti’s ability to make the formula more compatible to my winter skin.  Lots of money saved thanks to this one!

So good do I consider the Lumos High Speed Top Coat, that I’ve bought the entire family!  From salon-sized down to purse-friendly bottles, they speed-dry my nail polish without causing shrinkage or becoming a thick, unusable mess in the bottle before I’ve reached the halfway mark.  The Lumos System also encourages you to use the High Impact Bottom Coat to achieve maximum results and longevity from your manicures but as someone who doesn’t generally suffer from polish chips, I’m happy to report that for me, it works as well with or without.

2011 was the year that B.B Creams hit the Western world with a vengeance and some bandwagon-jumping efforts from the major cosmetic players have left consumers wondering if there’s any difference between B.B Creams and Tinted Moisturisers with added SPF.  If you want to try a true B.B. Cream without the big-budget advertising hype – I can’t recommend the Missha M Perfect Cover B.B Cream highly enough.  It evens my skin-tone, gives serious sun protection, and calms my redness-prone skin in an instant.

I get annoyed with the NYX Cosmetics incarnation in the UK but if there’s one thing worth picking up, it’s the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams that come in a variety of shades and offer easy application, good coverage, and long-lasting colour without causing unbearable dryness or discomfort.  Remembering that these are (to be fair) matte formulas, it’s a great option for those who wince at the thought of dragging a hard-textured matte lipstick across their lips.  There are some awesome lip-popping shades to choose from too!

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So there we have my New Year Honours List – a little late, but what’s half a month between friends?  Do you agree with any of my choices?  What would you have included in yours?

* the selection includes a mixture of press samples, repurchases from what were originally press samples and my own discoveries/purchases.

Last month saw the launch of a new highlighter from Benefit, a brand that have enjoyed great success in the past with their highlighting products that mimic how light and shadow play across the face.

Unlike liquid products like the brand’s previous highlighting options: Highbeam and Moonbeam, Watt’s Up! is a twist-up cream highlighting stick in the style of a NARS Multiple.

Packaged to be reminiscent of a light bulb, it’s cute, kitsch and all the things you’d expect from a brand like Benefit.  One end houses the product… the other, a sponge designed for blending.  Something, which in my opinion is a bit of a waste of time.

I find that the sponge does more to rub the product off than it does to blend it.  You’ll be fine just using your fingertips to get a smooth application though I do appreciate it’s existence as it could well come in handy in my makeup bag put to some other use!

On initial application, the product gives quite a warm champagne glow with a lot of reflection but once blended, it softens to a more natural, neutral hue that will flatter most skintones.  The cream has a lovely amount of slip and glides over my skin which ensures that it’s foundation friendly and blends seamlessly with whatever base I’ve already applied.

Once applied, it sets quite quickly to a powder finish and didn’t slide around on my normal/dry skin or slip during the day, oilier skins may struggle with this depending on how you usually fare with cream-to-powder formulas.

Once blended (the above photo shows unblended), I find the overall effect fairly subtle compared to some of the more pearlescent products that I’ve used in the past and I would happily wear this during both the day and for going out.

At £24.50, I think it’s quite pricey for what it is but I can’t actually find too much fault with the product – I would just like to see it about £6 cheaper.

Benefit Watt’s Up! is available to buy online or on counter from Benefit Cosmetics.

Yesterday, I talked about the behind-the-scenes atmosphere at Jean-Pierre Braganza’s SS/12 show which took place last Friday at the BFC Show Space in Somerset House.

Today, I want to focus on the look that makeup artist Alex Byrne created with Benefit Cosmetics to complement the designer’s graphical, almost art-deco tailoring.  She wanted a strong look that remained feminine, working with and not against the strength of Braganza’s designs.

are those new brushes I spy?

Alex in deep concentration (where did I put that brush?!)  Faces were kept light with Benefit’s Boi-ing Concealer where needed and a light layer of You Rebel Tinted Moisturiser mixed with Porefessional.

Loose fishtail plaits from the Toni&Guy team accompany the structured styling of the SS/12 collection

Eyes were kept neutral with Benefit Creaseless Cream in Birthday Suit, Browzings in Light and many, many coats of They’re Real mascara as an alternative to false lashes.

Some gentle contouring with Hoola Bronzer

BrowZings to define the top edge of the brow

ChaChaTint painted heavily onto the top of the cheekbone…

…and blended out with Coralista Powder Blush, the picture-perfect slices of cheek colour mimic the graphical edges in Braganza’s designs.

Benefit’s latest release Watt’s Up was used to highlight and define the top edge of the cheekbones…

…and a sneak peek of the new product in question.

Full Finish Lipstick in Mod Squad completes the look.

Jean-Pierre Braganza looking pleased with the entire team’s efforts immediately after the show

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Thanks to Benefit Cosmetics for letting me have a sneak peek to see what goes on behind the flashbulbs at London Fashion Week!

I was generously invited backstage on opening day at London Fashion Week with Benefit Cosmetics who were sponsoring the makeup for the Jean-Pierre Braganza show.

I’ll be doing a separate post this week on the makeup the models wore down the runway to complement his SS/12 collection but I wanted to share some backstage shots showing just how much effort and how many people go into making these fashion spectaculars run smoothly.

Remember, this is just hair and makeup.

Makeup Artist Alex Byrne (and is that Benefit Hoola I see?)

How many hair stylists does it take to… *insert punchline here*

don’t forget the nails!

Backstage is hot, cramped, riotous and full of tension.  It’s not a place for shrinking violets and if you want to spectate, you need to be aware of your surroundings so you can get out of the way, quickly.  All eyes are keenly trained on the clock, instructions are given and taken without questioning and there’s a tangible sense of working together to get a million different jobs done.

3 o’ clock.  It’s show time.

Come back tomorrow to see how makeup artist Alex Byrne interpreted a look to complement Jean-Pierre Braganza’s graphical Spring/Summer collection.

With London Fashion Week just a week away, everyone’s going catwalk-crazy, but for us beauty-lovers, we’re more drawn to the latest winged liner shapes and nail trends than the cut of the cloth.

The PR gang at Benefit are offering ONE lucky beauty fan the chance to rub shoulders with the industry elite with a ticket to London Fashion Week where they’ll be able to join the Benefit team and *cough* me *cough* (booby prize) to watch the Jean Pierre Braganza show live!

Click to like their facebook page and follow the instructions to enter!  Good luck!

A few of you eagle-eyed ladies have spotted that I’ve been wearing a particularly impressive mascara over the last few days.  Nothing sneaks past you eh?

Well, now I’ve put it through its paces, I’m happy to reveal that it’s the NEW Benefit They’re Real! Mascara* which is due out for release at the end of August.

From the moment I had a sneak peek at the wand, I knew this mascara would suit my lashes.  My lashes are not very dark and quite fine but there’s plenty of them and they have a good, natural curl.  I need a smooth mascara that offers tip base-to-tip coverage and doesn’t clump to achieve maximum results.  I’m not too fussed about curl but it needs to stay put so I don’t get transfer to my droopy upper lids.

This is a killer mascara in all the best ways possible.

The brush is similar to the Boots No7 Exceptional Definition (another fav) mascara with the little trebuchet on the end but the formula is more impressive and long-wearing.  I don’t get any flakes or transfer with They’re Real! but it is a bit of a pain to remove.  I wouldn’t even attempt it without an good makeup remover or oil-based cleanser.

Now for the most important bit… what point is a post on a mascara without some before/afters huh?

Please tell me I DON’T need to point out which eye has the mascara on!

I’ve also added this photo below from the end of the day so you can see how long-wearing it is.  No flakes, no droop… just as good as new.

I’m having a good week of discovering must-haves!

Now, if you can’t wait until the end of August for the nationwide release… Benefit are having a 1 Day Flash Sale on the 6th August where you’ll be able to get your hands on it before anyone else.  See below for details and where to buy.

Benefit They’re Real! Mascara has the thumbs up from me and will be released nationwide from the 27th August priced at £18.50

* press sample

This is for the lovely Deborah at ThisWeekIHaveMostly… who requested a couple of lip swatches before the weekend from my recent Hot Pinks post.

Hope this helps D!

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Oh and just because this post is super short, I’ll take a moment to tell you about yesterday. If you follow me on twitter, you may have already heard this story… so move along, nothing to see here!

So anyway, potty training.  I haven’t actually started the process… I’m just testing the water and seeing how she reacts to the potty/having her nappy off/talking about it etc.

Well, she crapped on the floor.  I don’t know why I didn’t prepare myself for something like this but I should point out in my defence that I’ve never owned a pet that’s crapped on the floor either.  I walked around the corner to see L pointing at this (impressive) turd, look of abject horror on her face while she explained to me breathlessly that she was just playing games when a coconut fell out of her bum.

Laugh? Cry? I did a bit of both to be honest.

Have a great weekend lovely people!

… I squeed when I spotted Benefit’s new mascara wand in person earlier this month.  We all have our favourites don’t we?  Some like ‘em long… some like ‘em fat and others just like them to do the job well.  If you’re smirking… you are disgusting.

Benefit’s They’re Real! mascara comes in one shade.  Black.  That suits me fine… I don’t really do coloured mascaras they make me feel like an 80s throwback.

So anyway, this brush… what the hell is so exciting about it?

Well, the Boots No7 Exceptional Definition is still my favourite mascara, I even called it Holy Grail (you can see a before/after in the previous link) and do you notice a similarity between the wands?

Boots No7 Exceptional Definition on top, Benefit They’re Real! on the bottom.

They both have the end spikes but I’m liking the look of Benefit’s longer er ‘prongs’… ok, someone MUST know the proper word for that?!

Of course, the brush is only half the story.  If the formula is pants, it’ll end up in my cosmetic graveyard for all eternity but I’m expecting and hoping for great things!

Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara will be coming to the UK in August and retail at £18.00