A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a new candle to burn, there’s something so homely, so comforting about watching the tiny flame dance against the darkest of evenings.  I refused to light this one from the Isle of Skye Candle Company until the evening my husband and I had finished decorating the tree.  I love to savour a new candle, it’s somewhat ritualistic to be honest… if I sparked it up immediately, I’d be killing much of the pleasure.  The anticipation is half the fun!

I’m also making the most of this brief ceasefire which involves my son being too much of a smallie to be on the rampage, once he’s on the go – I’ll have to restrict my candle addiction to the bedtime hours.  Failing that, adoption.

The Isle of Skye Candle Company are specialists in creating hand-poured, artisanal candles.  Each one is made with pride in the company’s workshop on the Isle of Skye where they blend a wide array of scents, most of which are inspired by their surroundings in the Scottish Highlands.

Frankincense and Myrrh couldn’t be a better choice for this time of year.  The delicate blend of sweet and spicy notes float against a rich, woody base that evokes many of the olfactory pleasures one associates with Christmas.  It delivers a calming quality, honeyed without being saccharine and mostly quite dry and aromatic.  I expected a thicker scent, more resinous but this blend takes a path less-trodden and steers away from the obvious choices.

The candle burns cleanly thanks to the natural soya wax.  I’m about a third of the way through and the melt pool has been even from the start, infact the surface is as smooth and level as it was before I lit it.  Burn time is professed to deliver around 45hrs and if anything, I’m expecting it to exceed its promise based on how it’s faring so far.

This particular scent blend is available in a variety of sizes from the Isle of Skye Cnadle Company website, including: votive, travel, single-wick tumblers, and even a triple-wick tumbler for those who like their scent throw to be all encompassing!

This large tumbler is priced at a very reasonable £15.00 and is available to buy online from www.skyecandles.co.uk

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The only thing that doesn’t completely suck about shaving your legs is taking the opportunity to steal your partner’s/dad’s/brother’s shaving foam out of the bathroom cabinet.  The burst of turbo-charged gel that turns into a rich, creamy lather as you work the product over your skin… like voodoo before your very eyes.  Unfortunately, the novelty of it wears thin pretty quickly, especially when you realise that most men’s shaving products are scented like pine-fresh loo cleaner *quack quack*.

Well, stink no more and dispense of the razors because you can get all the creamy, luxurious lather without any of the fuss AND get a clean body to boot!

Imperial Leather Foamburst is a body wash unlike most.  A canned gel that transforms into a rich lather, developing extra creaminess as you work it over your skin, emulsifying with the water as you go.

Choosing your favourite fragrance is as simple as jumping in the shower.

Depending on whether you like your bathing experience to enliven your senses with a blast of citrus, or relax your emotions with a comforting cocoon of vanilla… you’ll find your perfect match from the total of seven NEW fragrances.  Each of these new fragrances have even been brought to life via the medium of video and seven brilliantly corny Imperial Leather Foamburst Genies!

You can choose between: Spicy Ginger and Orange, Sweet Vanilla and Cherry Blossom, Bracing Bergamot and Sea Minerals, Uplifting Lime and Grapefruit, Rebalancing Green Tea and Jasmine, Bewitching Blackberry and Wild Fig, or Moisturising Honey and Almond Milk.

My personal morning shower preferences always lean toward the citrus, which tempted me in the direction of Spicy Ginger and Orange, promising a great combination of freshness and warmth.

I couldn’t resist but check out the matching genie to my shower pick… what a bonafide mentalist he is!  (INTENSE).

The new Imperial Leather Foamburst Luxurious Body Wash range is priced from £2.99, with each can promising a value-for-money 40 washes.  You can find the new fragrances on shelves at your local supermarket.

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I’m not doing any Valentine’s gift guides this year because, quite frankly, I can’t even come up with a single gift for my lovely husband, let alone a heartfelt collection that you lot could choose from.

A Twitter friend suggested that I just need to look down to find his gift, I assumed that she was talking about my baby bump rather than my vagina, but either way… after 10yrs of marriage and one snotty five-year old, I don’t think either suggestion will raise more than a sarcastic eyebrow.

However, the one Valentine’s-related release that has made my blood pump a little faster is this beautiful collection of sultry reds from Illamasqua.  If you’ve been reading Lipglossiping for more than a few seconds, you’ll already know about my love affair with red lipstick.  I only own the one from Illa’s range (Sangers), so to see the ridiculously feisty Maneater in my parcel evoked a couple of mid-air heel clicks.

The new I’m The One Collection* contains a total of four passionate pieces from the British makeup line.  Including:

NEW! Intense Lipgloss in Touch (£14.50) – Infused with fine shimmer particles, this plush gloss will add depth and fullness to your lips.

NEW! Colouring Pencil in Feisty (£14.00) – A creamy addition to your lip collection, use our Feisty pencil to create a precise and alluring red lip.

Lipstick in Maneater (£16.50) – An intense, full coverage formula, apply this lipstick to bare lips for a long-lasting pop of colour.

Nail Varnish in Throb (£14.50) – Apply two coats of this glossy blood red shade for an elegant, classic manicure.

From left to right: Feisty Colouring Pencil  |  Maneater Lipstick  |  Touch Intense Lipgloss

Of all the items in the collection, I have to say that I fell in love with the least likely offering.

Feisty, the brand new lip pencil is one of the most pigmented-yet-creamy red lip-liners I’ve ever had the pleasure to use.  With a deep, long-lasting pigment… you usually have to compromise on the texture and a dry, unyielding lip pencil is something that many of us will be familiar with.  No such compromises are necessary here, it’s an absolute dream.

I’ll leave you with a couple of extremely pose-y FOTDs featuring the new Feisty Colouring Pencil and Maneater Lipstick.

If you fancy the chance at winning some hand-picked pieces from the new collection, you have until the 15th February to brush off your Social Media skillz and tweet @illamasqua a Red Lipstick Selfie, using the hashtag #ImTheOne – good luck!!

The Illamasqua I’m The One Collection is available to buy on counter and online now at illamasqua.com, priced at £50.00

* press sample

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Well, I should probably start this review by saying that I have never been a big fan of Issey Miyake’s scents. I’d even go so far as to say that I have been completely bewildered over the years by the brand’s following and their flanker after flanker release strategy that would have even the most ardent fan spinning with confusion.

Pleats Please is the designer’s latest fragrance launch that celebrates his iconic 80s fashion line of the same name.  The Japanese designer’s interpretation of East meets West has had many women flailing over his knife-edge pleats, created by specialist pleating techniques (no, really!) that make his designs both ready-to-wear and long-lasting.

Both of those descriptions could equally be applied to the brand’s new scent.

At first spritz, I felt a huge sense of deja vu.  The initial note of Asian Nashi pear (an apple/pear hybrid) instantly put me in mind of a hugely generic synthetic, clean and fruity opening.  It’s sweet and thoroughly 2D, nothing like the designer’s wonderfully structured catwalk creations.  I was disappointed but not surprised.

And then I went about my day.

It was about 30-minutes later that I found myself tentatively sniffing at my wrist again.  The sweetness was still there but it had blossomed into a big floral.  Big in an unabashed 80s way (can I have some shoulder pads to go with my pleats?).  I’ll admit that I have a soft spot for big florals, giant bouquets that envelop you in their heady bosoms.  The kind that you wouldn’t want to escape from even if you could.  My use of the word “bosom” isn’t accidental… there’s a skin warmth in there among the flowers, unwashed but definitely not unpleasant.  Undoubtedly all this “scent” will prove too much for some but I’m rather taken by the way Pleats Please deceived me.

I hate the bottle, I think it’s a monstrous creation… but I will admit that it feels gorgeous in the hand.  Modelled on Miyake’s famous Bao Bao bag with a “pleated” white plastic top, it reminds me of a feminine Marc Jacobs Bang (without the toppling over issues).  As far as longevity and silage are concerned, providing you’re a fan of how this creation actually smells… you should be pleased with its performance on both counts.  Lingering enough to last the day, excellent for an EdT and conspicuous enough in its presence to elicit an “I can still smell you” from my husband as we lay in bed that night.

Issey, you have won me over.  Well, almost.  I still really dislike the opening… but I will persevere just so that I may appreciate the addictive, powerhouse of a dry-down.

Issey Miyake Pleats Please is priced from £33 for 30ml and available to buy instore or online at Boots, Superdrug, Debenhams, and online (from £28) at escentual.com

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Surely Illamasqua’s Magnetism from the latest Generation Q collection is the perfect lipstick to welcome the colder weather?  It’s like taking baby steps into the vamp.  Tiny little raspberry-pink coloured steps.  Now, I’m no great lover of Illamasqua lipsticks – I just don’t like the harder formula… of all the ones I’ve bought and tried in the past, I’ve only actually held on to Sangers (bit dry but beautiful colour), Atomic (the violet flash slays me), and Eurydice (because everyone needs a bit of pink neon don’t they?).

But… what I’m trying to say is that… when it comes to lipstick, I don’t go to Illamasqua for their amazing, lip-friendly formulas.  Well, not until now…

I mean jeez, dare I say it… it’s almost… almost… buttery.

I don’t think I’ve raved about an Illamasqua product for a while (well, except their eyebrow cake in Gaze, eternal HG) but this… you needs this in your life.  I’d stopped looking to Illa to provide any lipstick-love for me, are there any other buttery-smooth Illa lip formulas I’ve missed the memo on?!

Please Illamasqua, please remake all your other beautiful shades in this formula.

Illamasqua Magnetism Lipstick is priced at £16 and available to buy online and on counter from Illamasqua.

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I perpetually live in hope when it comes to the Precision Inks from Illamasqua.  For whatever reason, my body chemistry and the polymer-whatsits inside the formula repel one another.  I also know that I’m in the minority when it comes to having trouble getting them to stay on my eyelids but regardless… here’s a quick review of the latest Precision Ink from the great (Great?) British brand…

The Precision Ink provides a neatly tapered, perfectly controllable “brush” with which to dispense the product along the lashline – it’s well designed and allows both precision and decent coverage without needing to take multiple passes.  When you get the hang of how the liquid flows from the brush you can use the angles to your advantage and swiftly draw both thick and thin lines.

The formula is fairly wet and does occassionally attach itself more to my lashes than my lashline… but I find that to be true of most non-pen style applicators, whilst they’re great for providing quick coverage, you may have to do a little cleanup afterward, unless you’re very handy with an eyeliner!

Now, as for Wisdom… what makes it special?  What made me hope and pray to the Gods of makeup that the formula and I would finally, magically become compatible?

The shade.

Wisdom is an absolutely beautiful gilded olive/antique gold – it reminds me a little of Urban Decay’s old liquid liner in Honey… but perhaps a little more sheer.

I’ve swatched it above both on its own and over a black liquid eyeliner to demonstrate the depth of pigment.  Wisdom makes a fabulous alternative to the usual black and is light enough to work really well as part of a simple neutral, work-appropriate look whilst adding a little “interest” to a look that you might be a bit tired of wearing.

Unfortunately, it just doesn’t last well on my eyelids at all.  I don’t know if it’s because they’re hooded and I literally “rub” away the product with my upper lid as the day progresses or… gosh, I really don’t know.  Either way, none of the Precision Inks I’ve tried since their launch have lasted longer than around 4 hours for me without flaking off in great chunks and leaving bald patches.  Other people I’ve spoken to on Twitter find them some of the most long-wearing eyeliners they’ve ever tried.  C’est la vie.

Illamasqua Precision Ink in Wisdom is part of the limited edition Generation Q collection, priced at £17 and available on counter and online now, while stocks last.

Do you have a nemesis product that you just can’t get to grips with?

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Morning!

Hope you’re reading this from the comfort of your beds, I intend to still be fully tucked up when this post goes live – probably with one eye on Franny’s Feet, Mike the Knight or whatever else is showing on TinyPop that will grant us an extra half hour in bed in the morning.  Sweet, sweet children’s T.V.  Once that’s over and done with I’ll be heading to my parent’s house to eat my Dad’s birthday cake celebrate my Dad’s birthday.  Possibly with a little trip to the supermarket on the way back.  Not the most exciting of Saturdays is it?

Whatever you’re doing today, I thought I’d give you a little heads up to a rather tasty free delivery offer that’s gone live over at Illamasqua.com.

The deal lasts until Monday morning and is valid on both domestic and international orders with NO MINIMUM SPEND.

If you’re interested in checking out some of my favourite (and not so well liked) Illamasqua goodies, click here for an archive of Illamasqua-inspired posts.   Also worth checking out is the Illamasqua Perfect Pout bundle; The Retractable Lip Brush, any colour in Medium Pencil and any colour in Lipstick for the price of just £38.00, originally £47.50.

What are your plans for the weekend?

You know, for all the chemical exfoliators in the world, there’s still nothing quite like giving your face a good scrub. But can you actually do that past the age of 25 without feeling guilty that you’re being too harsh on your delicate skin?

Well, yes. Yes you can.

INA Crystals White Gold Glow Face Wash is an SLES-free facial cleanser that combines a rich, nourishing formula with the scrubby goodness of ground loofah and liquid crystal. The finely-ground loofah provides the perfect amount of scrubbiness without feeling scratchy or harsh against my skin.

The proof is in the post-washing glow that looks back at me in the mirror without a hint of increased redness across my sensitive areas.

Having so far waxed lyrical about the pleasures of the White Gold Glow Face Wash, I have to say that I wish it posessed a more luxurious scent.  I know many, many women can’t use highly-scented products. But, if I’m spending £23 on a face wash, I want that all-encompasing end-of-the-day relaxing experience when I take my makeup off. And for me, a big part of that is a damn-good aroma – I’d describe the scent as… earthy.

You can’t please all of the people all of the time.

That aside, the blend of sweet almond, basil, fennel, juniper berry, and carrot oils make for a nourishing experience that complements the exfoliation process and provides a longer-term moisture boost for my combination/dry skin.

Heartily recommended.

Aqua (Water), Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultane, Luffa Cylindrica Fruit, Acrylates Copolymer, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Disodium Cocoamphoacetate, Parfum (Fragrance), Sal (Himalayan Crystal Salt), Sodium Chloride, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Sucrose Cocoate, Betaine, Phenoxyethanol, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid, Inulin Lauryl Carbamate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil, Limonene

INA Crystals White Gold Glow Face Wash is available online at Zuneta.com, priced at £23 for 100ml

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I know that some of you will be reading this with your neatly arched brows raised in curiosity at just what on Earth could be considered “terrifying” about eyebrow hair.  The rest of you (more normal types) will be reading this, twirling your brow hairs around your index finger.

Left to their own devices, mine grow like wildfire – and I’m not talking Cara Delevingne grandiose brows here; more… Dennis Healy.  Given an extra coat of brow set, you could zip wire from here to Lands End on one of mine.

This ultimately means that I take the business of beating them into submission seriously.  I’ve stopped shaping them myself because, like a two-year old with a biro, I simply cannot be trusted with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying mirror.  Instead, I get them threaded every 5/6 weeks and this is enough to keep the arch well-defined.  Preventing them from thereafter developing into McDonald’s ‘golden arches’?  Well that bit’s up to me.

These are the brow tools that I simply couldn’t live without.

01: Mascara Spoolie.  You can either buy these as purpose-built cosmetic tools or (more thriftily) clean an old mascara wand and use that instead.  Either way, a spoolie is an absolute necessity in the fight against unruly brows.  Comb through the stragglers before snipping and brush them into place before filling.

02: Brow Set/Gel.  You can buy brow set products but I use a clear mascara.  The Maybelline Great Lash in clear is perfect for the job because it holds the hairs in place without making them feel crusty and it doesn’t leave behind a telltale ‘wet look’.

03: Brow Powder.  Much easier than pencils in my opinion.  My holy grail is the Illamasqua Brow Powder but the most important thing is to find a good shade match in whatever you use and unless your brows are naturally auburn, beware of warm-toned browns.  Many women use eyeshadow… any powder is fine.

04: Sharp pair of eyebrow scissors.  These are nothing special, I bought them years ago off eBay but they’re brilliant.  Super sharp with a precise point that trims the hair without pushing them ineffectually along the blade.  Always brush the hair upward toward the hairline and trim any that stray outside of the bulk of the brow area.  Go easy, you can always trim more but you can’t stick them back on!

05: Tweezers.  I favour the brand Tweezerman for my tweezers, particularly the wide-grip style.  There’s nothing more frustrating than a pair of tweezers that fail to pluck.  Particularly when you’ve psyched yourself up to grab an eye-watering one only to find that the points have clutched at nothing more substantial than air.  Don’t be afraid to attack anything that looks like it may contribute to a mono-brow or those random ones that appear to be sprouting far closer to your eyelid than your brow-line.

06: Angled Brow Brush.  A fairly stiff brush is best for running the powder through the brow area.  Always start filling-in from the middle of the brow to avoid depositing too much product on the inner third.  Unles you’re going for the scouse brow/Katie Price look – in which case, just dispense of the brush and grab the nearest Sharpie pen.  Also, get off my blog.

What steps do you take to keep from tripping over your eyebrows?  Do you thread and then leave them be or are you a serial tweezerer?

Want some tips on creating the perfect ‘flick’?  Need some guidance in mastering your smoky eye technique?  Well cancel any plans you’ve made for this Sunday because Illamasqua are holding their inaugural Beauty School Drop-In at their Beak Street store.

The brand will be running a series of 15-minute makeup classes to give you the confidence and know-how to wield your makeup brushes without causing any traffic-stopping beauty faux-pas!  And best of all?  It’s completely free to attend!

The class timetable is available online now, so click through and take a look – you can attend as many or as few as you like, though don’t be surprised if the store gets kinda busy!

Which of the classes is taking your fancy and will you be attending beauty school this weekend?

Has it really been a year since the Royal Wedding?  Amazing.  And to think that before then, no-one gave a shit about Pippa’s bum.  Oh, you you still don’t?  Me either.  As weddings go, it was quite a nice one… there weren’t any post-nuptial punch-ups outside the palace and no-one sicked on the bride’s train.

One of the wedding’s most enduring legacies (other than the arse du jour) is the brand that Kate chose to scent herself with on the big day, Illuminum.  Launched by creator Michael Boadi in March 2011, and elevated to cult status by the Duchess of Cambridge merely a month later, there isn’t a better welcome to the world than receiving an (unofficial) seal of approval by a real-life princess!

The Duchess of Cambridge chose White Gardenia Petals for her grand occasion, I chose Tahitian Yuzu simply because I had money burning a hole in my back pocket and I wanted. one. dammit. – you can see the similarities.

Tahitian Yuzu reminds me a little bit of L’Artisan’s Mûre et Musc, which also kicks off with a forest-fruit vibe.  In the case of Mûre et Musc, it’s blackberries… and in Tahitian Yuzu?  Blackcurrant.  But this is where the comparability ends.  Tahitian Yuzu blasts some major tropical notes with a sparkling cocktail of pineapple which gives real effervescence and youthfulness to the fragrance.  Mûre et Musc has a gentler, more home-grown berry feel.

Like an excitable hula-girl (yeah, they have those in Tahiti), the scent calms down as the night falls and the headier, more sensual notes of jasmine come to the surface.  Here lies the real heart of the perfume… I can still detect some lingering fruitiness but it becomes fully tempered by the softer night flowers which bring warmth and a little bit of sexiness to the fragrance.  The deeper, base notes of musk never fully surface on my skin, which is unusual because my chemistry normally carries them to the fore but I’m assuming that this is what grounds the accord and prevents it from projecting too light-heartedly.

Sillage is fairly weak which suits my interpretation of this as more of a skin-scent.  Step into a cloud of this as you step out of a shower and carry a little bit of the Southern Seas around with you for at least part of the day as alas, with my dry skin, I get low/medium longevity from this one, about 4 hours at the most.  Tahitian Yuzu is going to work beautifully on warm nights (if we get any) and I can’t wait to expose a bit more skin to the sun and see just how capable it is at transporting me to a tropical paradise!

Illuminum Tahitian Yuzu is available to buy instore at the Illuminum’s Perfume Lounge in Mayfair (I recommend a visit!), or directly from their website.  Priced at £70 for 50ml

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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