A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

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?

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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!

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** 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

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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!

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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.

I was a little bit traumatised at the sight of this shade when I pulled it out of the bag.  I mean, it’s orange.  A proper pumpkin-esque shade that I would imagine to work best on olive skintones.  Boy, was I wrong.  This is pretty much the only orange in the world that I can wear without looking like a try-hard.

It still has the vibrancy that you might want from this kind of shade but it has a subdued edge and a beautiful autumnal vibe that complements rather than screams at pink-toned skin.  A certain dusty quality that I’ve always loved in my purple shades, translating terrifically to something I’d least expect.  Opaque in a couple of coats, creamy and warm.  Lovely.

The bad news is?  It’s being discontinued so don’t expect to be able to find it once Autumn rolls around again.

Butter London Minger is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from PowderRooms

So, staunchly ploughing my way through the UK available BB Creams (but slowly, very slowly)… the next on my radar was the Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream* which was launched recently.  It comes in a few varieties, depending on your skintype: normal/oily, normal/dry, dry/very dry.  I’ve got a stock image here because I took my photos last month and can’t find them on my computer anymore… I bet I got a bit zealous in my cleaning up process a few weeks ago.

I’m really enjoying what feels like a bonus inclusion for the dry/very dry camp and this delivers well on not exacerbating any symptoms of dry skin.  It doesn’t cling to flakes and it doesn’t highlight any dry patches or look powdery as it settles.  It doesn’t however, provide enough moisturisation for me to wear it without moisutirser underneath.  Nor, at SPF15, does it provide enough sun protection on its own.  This to me, isn’t a BB Cream – it’s simply not an all-in-one solution with the kind of skincare benefits that I’m looking for.

But how does it work as a foundation or base?

Really nicely actually.  It gives more coverage than a regular tinted moisturiser but not quite as much as a light foundation.  It leaves a dewy finish that is a little tacky to the touch before settling and tones down my redness well enough to give me the confidence I need to face the world.  I usually apply this with my fingers, making it a fast 5-minute face option for mornings when I don’t need or particularly want to look made-up.  Quick trips to the shops, school-runs, the general day-to-day stuff that you feel a little happier doing without a completely bare face.

It lasts adequately and doesn’t pack any oxidisation issues throughout the day.

Although the texture is quite thick, it feels blendable once it comes into contact with skin (especially under warm fingers) and has enough slip to allow you to really work it into the face quite well.  There are two shades available in each variety (fair & medium) and fair is a good-enough match for my pale skintone, a little too warm/dark but it’s sheer enough not to cause any problems.

The Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream in Dry/Very Dry is priced at £12.95 for 40ml, and is available instore and online at boots.com

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This little polish spoke to me a couple of weeks ago when I was in my local Tesco (ok, not local – I especially went the extra 3 miles so I could visit one with a beauty aisle) picking up some baby wipes.  It’s a slightly odd colour no?  A bizarre mish-mash of khaki, nude and gold with a delicate multi-coloured shimmer.

It spoke to me.  It said, “Buy me.  You know that you shouldn’t because you already have a billion sitting unswatched, but you know you want to.  Put down the Harissa Paste (what do you need that for anyway) and buy me instead.”

Coincidentally, the Harissa Paste was £2.99 (what do I need that for anyway?) and this little polish from Barbara Daly was £3.00 – fair swapsies.

As much as I like it, it’s a four-coater – which sucks when the bottle is only 7ml but I think it’s still worth the punt.  Swap it for something less tasty though, like Domestos.

Barbara Daly Nail Polish is available instore at Tesco, priced at £3 a bottle.  I think it’s currently on a 3for2 aswell.

For some of us, makeup brushes can amount to a big investment and it pays to look after them.  It’s only fairly recently that I’ve bothered – to be honest, I’m a little bit easy-come-easy-go as my Mum used to tut at me whenever I was being less than careful with my possessions.

(foundation size – good for foundation and small powder brushes)

I use Brush Guards to protect my favourite brushes.  The mesh slips over the handle and cradles the bristles tightly, it’s not the perfect solution for travelling but I love them after washing my brushes as I can simply stand them on end (brush guard down) and this protects the ferrule whilst ensuring that the bristles dry to a perfect shape.  Infact, they’ve even recovered some of my domed brushes that I thought had lost their shape for good.  A worthwhile investment!

(blush size – great for large(r) eyeshadow brushes)

Brush Guards are priced at around £5.95 a packet and come in various sizes from eyeliner-brush sized right up to kabuki.  I bought mine a long time ago from Cocktail Cosmetics.

Do you do anything to protect your brushes? (or have you got better things to do with your life? haha)

Or… sweety nails as I like to call them.  What is it about these punchy corals that make me want to bite off my fingertips in the hope of a sugar high?  They’re just edible.

I think I should start a tag: nail polishes that make me want to self-cannibalise.  This one also does it to me.  As does this one.

As much as I love Macbeth on my nails, the fact that the above photo shows a single coat means that I may, MAY have to save this one for my tootsies.  I hate painting my toenails but it has to be done in the Summer and a one-coater coral with a beautiful formula is pretty much holy grail for ladies with short arms, big boobs and a belly.  You know what I’m talking about.

Buy this one, buy it now – it’s a fabulous shade for Spring with a brilliant formula to boot (even if it’s not the most original shade in the world).

Butter London Macbeth is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online at PowderRooms.

Late last year, I talked about a Brenda Anvari candle that I’d been burning, it was full of spice and citrus and all those wonderful Christmassy things that we get heartily sick of by January.  Well, I’m back with another product from her Persian Rose range of scented bodycare products.

Last weekend, I scraped the last few grains from the jar of Persian Rose Body Scrub* and howled a gentle “nooooooooooo” into the air as I replaced the lid.  You see, it’s a really freakin’ beautiful scent.

The rose isn’t the most complex of fragrances, I think of it as pretty universal – it’s kinda safe, being both inoffensive and rather lovely.  Brenda has taken the classic rose and whipped it into a headier form.  Persian Rose takes on a dirtier, naughtier vibe with altogether more earthy qualities.

What I’m saying is, there are two types of people in this world.  Those who like the thought of walking in to find a scattering of rose petals on their bed, and those who like the thought of being physically whipped with a rose, thorns and all.  I’ve always hated the thought of waking up with a rose petal stuck up my nose.  You know?

I also like a good scrub.  And this is a good scrub.  It’s got just the right amount of grrrr going on, it rasps a little at the skin and feels like it’s working some proper skin-smoothing magic.  But if all that sounds a little too intense for you wimps, don’t worry because the salt granules sit in a base of beautifully-scented Persian Rose-infused oil that ultimately leaves your skin feeling nourished and kissably-smooth.

I haven’t mentioned the body moisturiser* or the bath oil*, because… well… they’re ok.  There’s nothing about them that makes me not want to recommend them, they make great flankers for layering the scent but there’s nothing that screams “buy me above everything else available on the market” either.  It’s a tough world out there.

If the thought of Persian Rose doesn’t float your boat, other scents available from the Brenda Anvari bodycare range include: Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood & Black Pepper, Lime, Mandarin & Grapefruit, Orange Blossom, and Pomegranate, Raspberry  & Patchouli.  Prices start from £8.95 and you can shop online.

What bath-time scents are you loving at the moment?

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