A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Get it wrong and Mum will serve you up the sad, soggy-looking roast potatoes forever more.  That smug brother of yours?  He’ll get your crispy ones.

On a budget?  Never fear… here’s my pick of the best Mother’s Day Gifts for £15 and under!

1. Cath Kidston Cherry Blossom, Jam Jar Candle (£15.00)

Large Jam Jar Candle, fragranced with Cherry Blossom from Cath Kidston’s latest home fragrance collection.   Burn time 40 hours.

I think it’s like… THE LAW… for Mum’s across the land to swoon at the altar of all things Cath Kidston.  There is no way on Earth you can go wrong with this purchase.  Cherries?  Kitsch?  Kidston?  Those tatties are yours.

2. Woods of Windsor, True Rose Perfect Pairs (£13.25)

A fabulous gift for any occasion, featuring Eau de Toilette (30ml) and Hand & Nail Cream (125ml) in a beautiful presentation box, fragranced with our elegant rose petal scent, combining crisp green violet leaves, rose otto and warm damask rose.

I have the hand cream* and it’s a gently-scented, nourishing cream that leaves my hands feeling soft but not greasy.  Not intensive enough for cuticles but a really nice all-rounder with a delicate true rose fragrance.  Tres jolie!

* my hand cream was a PR sample

3. Illamasqua ASOS Exclusive Nail Duo / Viridian & Scarab (£10.35)

Bejewel your nails with the ultimate Christmas duo, deepest emerald and decadent ruby. Talk with your hands and make a statement.

I don’t need to tell you how much of a bargain this is… just don’t tell your Mum it’s a Christmas set and you’re laughing (at your brother) all the way to the oven!

4. Vaseline Pink Therapy Tin (£6.99)

Smelly men. Let’s face it, they’re a real problem.  Stinky brothers, shower-dodging boyfriends and husbands who think that turning their undercrackers inside-out consitutes a legitimate change of clothes.

Thankfully LUSH are on the case and have introduced a whole range of pampering goodies for the fellas in our lives.

The inspiration behind the range comes from the original men’s Dirty scent that was released in 2009 by B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful (LUSH’s defunct sister brand).  The scent proved to be such a hit that LUSH wanted to find a way to re-incorporate it into their current range of products.   That all sounds straightforward enough, launch a range of men’s products that smell like an old favourite cologne and watch the pennies roll in!

Though it gets a bit more interesting than that because Mark & Simon Constantine, otherwise known as The Gorilla Perfumers decided to introduce men to the concept of layering.

Us women know what layering is all about right?  Usually… we get our Xmas gift sets of our favourite fragrances and on special occasions we’ll use the shower gel followed by the matching body lotion before spritzing on the EDP before we walk out the door.  Simple!  A lovely layered scent that has been built up to full intensity and is guaranteed to last longer than our dates.

With the new Dirty range from LUSH, each product contains single notes from the original Dirty cologne.  Thus, instead of layering the same complete scent over and over, you’re actually building the fragrance from the ground up!  How freaking cool is that concept?!?!

Let me show you some of the products available in the new range:

Spring Wash Shower Gel (£4.25 100g / £8.50 250g / £14.95 500g) is a skin-softening and skin-tingling shower gel for the body and hair.  Sodium Bicarbonate works to soften the water and deodorise the skin, whilst the spearmint, menthol and fine sea salt will leave you feeling refreshed and revitalised… like you’ve showered in a mountain spring!

This smells like Spring and Summer rolled into the perfect package… it’s zingy, fresh and invigorating.  Mr. L likes it because he can wash his hair without having to reach for another bottle *tsk*.

Verdict: Steal it

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally intended for my red lip series, Inika Mineral Lipstick in Electric Red is formulated with natural shea butter and jojoba oil and prides itself on being a completely natural and vegan lipstick.

I say ‘originally intended’ because once I applied it to my lips, I could see that it wasn’t really a fit for my red lip series what with it not really being red n’all.

Inika Cosmetics are an Australian brand boasting over 79 permanent products in their lineup.  All natural products are guaranteed to be completely free from petrochemicals, fillers, talc, bismuth oxychloride, GM ingredients, parabens, preservatives, mineral oils, phthalates and fragrances.  That’s quite a list… but usually consumers often find themselves making compromises in terms of pigmentation or wear when it comes to natural products….

Inika’s Electric Red* is indeed lacking in pigmentation.  While this will disappoint some, others will be delighted to find a more wearable version of a strong shade.  I can’t help but feel that with a name like “Electric Red”, I want something a little bolder to translate to my lips.

It has the prettiest metallic sheen… and in truth, I’m actually quite delighted to find such a wearable warm red that neither makes me look like a clown, nor a cheap tart.  It’s quite an unusual shade and perfect for summer.  Texture-wise, it’s quite hard but softens up as the warmth of your lips encourages the mix to spread.  Once on, it feels light and comfortable.  Despite the natural ingredients, I can’t say that I found it particularly moisturising but it definitely didn’t dry my lips out either.

If you’re looking for light, wearable shades to suit all skintones, take a closer look at the Inika Cosmetics range of highly wearable lipsticks.

Inika Mineral Lipstick in Electric Red is priced at £12.77 and available to buy online from the Inika Cosmetics website.

* press sample

The final item I received in my goody bag from the recent Illamasqua Blogger Event was this nail polish…

Don’t be fooled by its demure-sounding name, Purity* is about as vivid as a peach can get!  Not entirely suited to my skintone, I can see this looking freakin’ amazing on dark-skinned sisters.  It’s creamy, opaque and glossy.

The formula was great and the above image shows two coats… longevity has been impressive as I’m on day four of wear and can only see a tiny nick on the tip of one of my fingers…. not even a proper chip and barely any tip wear at all!

A perfect peach of a polish that is guaranteed to turn heads all Summer.

Illamasqua’s polishes may be a little pricey at £13.50, but they back it up with quality formulas and exciting shades.

Illamasqua Purity Nail Polish is available now to buy on counter, instore or online.

* press sample

Illamasqua’s Atomic lipstick is a non-hooker fuchsia pink with blue flashes makes for one hawt Spring/Summer lipstick!

It’s packed with pigment for an opaque, matte finish which is pretty unforgiving on lips that are in anything but the best condition.

I own a few Illamasqua lippies and they are all hard-textured, solidly opaque affairs that are unkind to dry lips but I think this is the most drying yet and should be accompanied with a lipgloss.

I know that some will be happy to sacrifice moisturisation for lasting power and Atomic has plenty of this, with the kind of longevity you’d expect from a stain rather than a lipstick.  Thanks to the hard texture of the lipstick, you shouldn’t get too many bleeding issues from this bright.  I didn’t notice any problems despite not using a lip liner… it just doesn’t move.

Overall: Illamasqua Atomic lipstick* is an awesome shade with amazing pigment, incredible lasting power but potentially quite uncomfortable to wear without proper lip preparation.

Illamasqua Atomic is a shade from the Toxic Nature collection and is available to buy on counter, instore or online priced at £15.50

* press sample

Finding a natural looking contour for my pale (very pink) skintone has probably been one of my toughest makeup tasks and the closest I’ve come so far is another Illamasqua product, a powder blush called Rumour.  The general criteria for my skin tone consists of two factors.

a). be pale enough to look natural and blend easily

b). be pink-toned enough to avoid looking orange or yellow.

Being a total fan of all things cream-based for my dry skin, I was excited to see if the new Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow* would work well as a contour shade.

Well, the answer is… I’m undecided.  It applies beautifully and blends easily with fingers and I think it will make a lovely contour for those with neutral or warmer toned pale skin but I’m not convinced it makes a perfectly natural contour for uber pinks.  I’ll let you be the judge…

Does it look a little yellow to you or am I scrutinising too hard?  I’m definitely hyper-aware of bronzer and contour looking ‘wrong’ so I’m generally pretty tough on them, do you think it works or are there better matches out there?

Illamasqua Hollow Cream Pigment (£17.00) is available as part of Illamasqua’s Spring/Summer Toxic Nature Collection and available now from counters, instore and online.

* press sample

LMS Spotlights are described as a new skin care range that uses red light therapy, a natural skin treatment that’s clinically proven to help clear spots fast.

A new “skin care range” seems an odd way to describe a device powered by batteries… I guess I’m used to “skin care ranges” referring to lotions and potions.  Nevertheless, what we’re talking about here are three electronic devices that are designed to emit a red light that encourages spots to heal twice as quickly than they would without this ‘red light therapy’.

A red light.  That gets rid of spots.

Yeah right.

I had about as much faith in these devices as I did in my ability to doughnut-dodge.

They’re also designed to look like cosmetic products (lipsticks, face compacts etc..) but I’m not too sure about that claim.  They just look… like something I’d want to ask the owner what the hell it is to be honest.

I don’t have acne and I don’t have particularly blemish-prone skin… but that doesn’t mean that I don’t get spots like the best of ’em.  Infact, I get great big juicers that start as a lump under the surface before developing some nice bold colour and impressive prominence.

Of course, at this point I do the only sensible thing and squeeze them… but nothing happens.  They sit there, headless and mocking. For weeks on end sometimes.  Whenever I do partake in a bit of squeezing, it angers the headless horror into getting more lumpy and sometimes turning a nice shade of purple for the duration of it’s takeover.  Then, when it finally begins to flatten, the colour can often remain for a couple of months afterwards.

So, whilst I don’t get regular breakouts… I still live in fear of one of these monsters invading purely because I know they generally move all their stuff in, get comfy and change the locks while they’re at it.

The LMS Spotlights device* is designed to be used three times a day.  If you own the smallest of the devices, you’ll need to use it for 3 minutes, whilst the others’ only require 1 minute usage at a time.  You could be glamourous and tote this around in your handbag or do what I do and leave it on a shelf next to the loo.  Let’s face it, we all need to pee and if we’re drinking enough water… then we should be doing it at least 3 times a day!  Seems like a perfect place to spend a minute zapping your face in complete privacy to me!

To begin with, I thought it wasn’t having any effect.  And I don’t believe it was… I think I was holding the device too far away from my skin.  It was only when I was sat at my computer one day that I felt this MOTHER of a zit appearing under my chin.  I literally ran to the bathroom and grabbed my LMS device and in desperation, aimed it at my skin literally a cm from the surface.  Within a couple of hours… the spot had retreated!

Since then, I’ve been careful to focus the light tightly on the area that I’m wanting to treat.  I can’t do a controlled test to see if the LMS Spotlights device is making a difference to the longevity of my zits but my instincts on it having a positive effect are enough to keep me using this three times a day, every day.  In the time I’ve been using it (properly), I haven’t had a single spot last for longer than 3 days.  Of course, this could be a coincidence… it really could, but I’ve been using it for about 5 weeks now and have been more impressed with it than I ever anticipated.

However, I’m not the only one.  I gave the largest of the three devices to my sister-in-law who unlike me, does have issues with blemishes and mild adult acne.  The largest of the three devices is designed to cover a greater area of skin and she is in love with it.  Which is a shame, because I’d really quite like it back now that I’ve fallen for my little one!

When I saw her last week, she extoled its virtues and told me that she was only wearing a bit of concealer.  I could see an improvement in her blemishes and also in the general evenness of her complexion.

So back to the ‘how does it actually work’ thing (taken from the LMS Website)…

How does Red Light Therapy heal my spots?

When cells are stressed (for example by a spot) Nitric Oxide levels increase which inhibits the cell’s energy manufacturing process affecting the skin’s natural ability to heal itself.  The primary effect of the RLT in LMS Spotlights is to penetrate the skin cells to force out Nitric Oxide and stimulate anti-oxidants.  This has been shown to reduce cellular stress and increase cellular energy (ATP) leading to improved healing and repair of the skin in a wide range of medical conditions including spots and acne.

So, it’s not that it directly targets or ‘kills’ the spot… more that it dispenses with the stuff (Nitric Oxide) that inteferes with your body’s own healing process.

I’m loathe to say that I’m convinced by this gadget purely because I can’t assign my recent good skin experiences to this device with absolute confidence.  I don’t like to encourage hype around products that have the potential to affect quality of life without concrete proof… but I also can’t ignore the fact that my instincts are telling me that this is making a tangible difference to my skin.  And that’s really all I have to go on.

I’m going to keep using it and Hel, if you’re reading this… give it back give it back give it back, kthanksbai.

The LMS Spotlights devices are available online at www.lmsspotlights.com and at Harrods.  Priced from £29.99.

* press sample

L’Oreal Color Infallible* are a newly released set of 8 eyeshadows that pack one hell of a pigment punch!

Housed in squat screw-top pots… are they creams, pigments or pressed powders?  Well… they’re a bit of everything.  A hybrid eyeshadow with the texture of a cream, the density of a pigment and convenience of a pressed powder!

Sounds great right?  Well… they’re fairly awesome but as is usually the way, not without fault.

The lid unscrews to reveal a plastic ‘press’ which keeps the powder compacted inside the well of the pot.

The pigment under the press is a little tricky to reach with fingers (especially if you have nails!) because it’s located a little way inside the pot rather than level to the edge.  If you use a brush, this obviously wouldn’t be an issue but does make for a sheerer application.

The colours are strong and true with a blendable almost creamy texture.  Shimmery without being too metallic, they make for some really easy looks.  Infact, I can blend this easily with just my fingers for a super-quick morning pick me up!

Unfortunately, I found lasting power to be a little disappointing as these had a tendency to disappear from my lids after about 3 hours… congregating firmly in the crease in a strong, greasy line.  They fared better with primer but I still only achieved around 5 hours wear from them on my normal (not hugely oily) lids.

Having said that, some of the shades look amazing in the promo pictures and I’ll still be picking up All Night Blue from the range (a midnight  blue shade).

Talking of shades, here are the current available tones:

All Night Blue (a midnight blue)
Purple Obsession (smouldering purple)
Endless Chocolate (brown shade shown in my swatches)
Time Resist White (luminous, delicate white)
Burning Black (incandescent black with purple shimmer)
Flashback Silver (metallic silver)
Permanent Khaki (green shade shown in my swatches)
Eternal Black (true black)

L’Oreal Color Infallible Eye Shadows are available nationwide and priced at £6.99 / €10.79 each.

* press sample

In a childish act of defiance (a.k.a: sticking two fingers up) at what has become my horribly dry skin… I went and bought this Kjaer Weis Creme Blush in Sun Touched.

Created by New York-based makeup artist Kirsten Kjaer Weis, this edited collection pulls off the near impossible: It fuses the very best in organic ingredients with gorgeous textures and chic, always-flattering shades. And as a veteran of the magazine world, it’s no surprise that Kirsten sheathed her products in luxe, eye-catching compacts.

Eye-catching?  Definitely!  Also eye-watering at £39 for a 3.5g blush.

The heavyweight compacts are cast in a white bronze metal called zamac and monogrammed in white enamel.  They’re beautiful and unlike some other highly elaborate products (I’m looking at you Guerlain Rouge G), these are purposefully manufactured to be kept and re-filled once you hit pan.

I picked up the shade Sun Touched as I was looking for something neutral that would complement most other shades and be something that I could wear everyday.  Well, you would at that price wouldn’t you?

Sun Touched is a warm neutral, as the name might suggest.  I’m pleased with my choice although it’s definitely warm enough to work better with other similarly toned shades.

A clean and organic cream blush that adds a fresh glow, brightening the eyes and to create a youthful sun-kissed look. Applied to the apples of the cheeks, this hydrating, soft formula gently melts with the warmth of the fingers. Kjaer Weis products are made with natural ingredients, using rose, honey suckle and gardenia as preservatives. Creme Blush is gently scented with Vanilla from Madagascar.

The texture is slightly tacky, feeling more like a gloss than a cream blush.  I’ve been applying with my fingertips and blending softly without the use of a brush.  Once on, the tackiness remains for a little while before fading.  These don’t dry to a powder finish which means that I achieve a far dewier effect.  Precisely what I wanted!

The blush has a delicate sheen without being glossy and is devoid of all types of sparkle!  I’d recommend this completely if you have dry or mature skin.  On me, it lasts the course of the day without too much fading… the picture below was taken at the end of the day (hence no lipstick!).

Refills are priced at a reasonable £18 each if you can stomach the initial outlay and Kjaer Weis products are available exclusively to Space NK both in the UK and USA.

Stepping away from the dark-side for a wee while, Illamasqua have brought their own version of Spring/Summer to the table.  And as you might imagine, all is not quite as it seems…

The 17-piece collection comprises of pastels, neutrals and vivid neons… but with a few curveballs thrown in for good measure!  Let’s have some piccies…

The campaign imagery depicts a surreal, unpredictable world inspired by a natural world that is retaliating against the mankind that has distorted it.  Those feelings are demonstrated by shades that conflict, revel in their hybrid nature and tease with now-you-see-me, now-you-don’t pearl and glister.

6 New Cream Pigments (£17.00) that promise to be more crease-resistant than Illamasqua’s current cream eyeshadows and suitable for use all over the body.

Mould (Grape) / Hollow (Toffee) / Delirium – EU Only (Rose Taupe) / Bedaub (Mint) / Emerge – EU Only (Peach) / Dab (Lilac)

Thanks for lending me your swatching arm Rowena!

Did you spot those lip colours in the top row of the last picture?

Not ashamed to admit they might be my favourite thing about this collection.  Well, one of my favourite things… here’s my personal picks from the Illamasqua Toxic Nature Collection:

Torture and Divine are the new Illamasqua Sheer Lipglosses (£13.00) for this collection.  Just beautiful for Summer.

Dab and Delirium are my picks from the new Cream Pigment range… lovely, wearable shades.

Atomic is a hot non-hooker pink lipstick (£15.50) that I was excited to receive in my event bag… I’ll bring you a proper lip swatch v. soon.  The other lipstick, Flare is a vivid matte orange, canyousayontrend?

and for the nail polishes… Bacterium was going down a storm with nearly everyone.  The metallic putty shade flashes with pearlescent blue to give it an edge and Radium is just retina-searingly awesome!

Swatches of my picks of the collection…

Now, one thing that WOULD have also made my pick were it not for the fact that I DIDN’T NOTICE IT in it’s unassuming black housing is this little marvel…

Illamasqua’s NEW Precision Ink (£17.00) in Glister is a skin-toned (obv depending on whose skin!) liner packed full of purple/pink glitter pigment (v. finely milled) that’s bears more than a passing resemblance to their Static Pure Pigment that was such a hit in 2009.

The thing about this liner is that unlike most… to my eye, it gets better with age!  The more rubbed-down and worn it becomes, the more that beautiful pigment shows through… glistening… just like its namesake!

Let’s finish off with some nails…

Here’s The Claw (£35.00).  The Toxic Claw!

Terrible camera angle there which I appreciate means you can’t see the tips!  The Toxic Claw is a play on the original nail quill by Mike Pocock that involves making it look more animalistic and… well… claw-like!

And the nail polishes (£13.50)…

Big thanks to Janaka for being such an excellent hand model!

5 new polishes, 5 fingers!  Woot to Helen too for lending her fingers in the name of beauty!

.

Illamasqua Toxic Nature will be launching online from the 10th March and instore from the 17th March.

For the chance to win your favourites from the range, register at Illamasqua.com and join the waiting list for your desired Toxic Nature shades.  3 winners will be sent all of the items from this wishlist!

Is there anything there that tempts you?

Gwen Stefani, Rachel Weisz, Cheryl Cole, Eva Longoria, Scarlett Johansson, Andie MacDowell, Beyonce, Natalie Imbruglia, J-Lo, Gerald Butler, Jane Fonda, Halle Berry, Diane Kruger…

…what do these people have in common?

Let me give you a really subtle clue…

Yep… they’ve all been ‘faces’ for the L’Oreal group and it’s various brand subsidiaries (and there are dozens more!)

The guys at L’Oreal obviously place huge importance on selecting and promoting their celebrity brand ambassadors but I’m curious… what value do YOU place on their endeavours?

Is it MORE relevant nowadays in our celeb-obsessed culture or LESS impactful than it was 20 years ago because we’re so overexposed to these ‘starlets’ anyway?

Do you care and erm… is it “worth it”? *snigger*

If you’re still trying to shake off the signs of overindulgence that Winter has left on your skin, you might find this offer from Liz Earle tempting…

The Clear Skin Kit contains a 50ml Gentle Face Exfoliator, a 75ml Deep Cleansing Mask, a 6ml Spot-On treatment, 2 x sponges, and a white headband.  The kit is available from 14^th February to 23^rd May 2011 for only £20.65 which is a saving of £12.50 on normal prices.

The three products included in the kit are designed to be used as a 3-step plan to help exfoliate, rebalance and treat blemish-prone skin.

I will unashamedly admit that I have a soft spot for Liz Earle press releases because I always learn something new reading them, look…

To avoid seasonal breakouts omega-3 is essential for making the body less inflammatory, so as well as eating oily fish, consider a supplement of fish oils.

Liz Earle recommends taking a probiotic supplement to help normalise the balance of gut bacteria, as two thirds of the body’s immune receptor cells are found in the gut.  With the right diet and skincare great skin is within everyone’s reach this spring.

Chocolate.  That’s anti-inflammatory right?

Do you pay attention to feeding your skin from the inside out?