A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

You may recall my bitter moans last week about how when presented with a rare opportunity to spend an indecent amount of time playing with makeup, I came up with something that looked no different from my everyday makeup.

So this weekend, I grabbed myself by the balls (cough) and reached for my brightest, scariest palette.

NARS Mediteranee.

Innit gorgeous?  And I’m sure it shouldn’t really work against my skintone… perhaps it doesn’t, but hell… I really love it anyway.

Don’t laugh… this is WAY out of my comfort zone nowadays.

I know I look super-snooty in the ‘looking down’ pics but you can’t see the ORANGE otherwise ‘cos of my hooded lids!

I think I scared Leila a bit. (OMG the CLOWNZ are coming!)

When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone?

I shouldn’t really run with a post on a late-night whim but I was totally sucked in by the pretty visual in this newsletter mail out from British skincare brand, Oskia.  Look!

The 45 minute facial costs £45 but is fully redeemable against any Oskia products purchased on the day.

I thought it might be of interest to some of you London ladies!

Have you tried any Oskia products?

Do you know the last time I did a mascara review?  No, me neither… but it’s been a hella long time.  I used to do at least one a month but I ended up disillusioning myself seeing such little overall difference between the various tubes available.

One Mascara that I’ve always meant to pick up and try is the Max Factor False Lash Effect which I know often gets loads of praise from MUA circles.  I umm’ed and ahh’ed in Boots over whether to go for the original or this new spangly looking purple one.  I lived up to my girly stereotype and went for the spangly one.

See?  Spangly.

How about more important things though, like brush… formula… ability to falsify lashes?

They say:

False Lash Effect Fusion combines Max Factor’s biggest ever volumising brush with its latest lengthening formula to create thicker and longer lashes. For those girls who want an extreme lash look, they’ve come to the right place.

I say, the chunky brush is pretty nice… but I imagine that for those with short lashes it could be a nightmare.  I always have difficulty trying to detect whether the bristles are indeed bristles, plastic or rubber… these feel like stumpy old-style bristles to me but I could be wrong.  It’s been known to happen!

The formula is pretty good.  I hate thin formulas that practically drip off the brush (I’m looking at you Bourjois 1001 cils) but I equally dislike mascaras that last about 3 weeks before drying up.  This is middle of the road.

Are the results middle of the road too?  See for yourselves…

I see a good amount of volume and I love how the Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion has emphasised my lashline so heavily but I’m not seeing the length I was hoping for from this mascara.

I’m gonna try combining it with my favourite length-boosting mascara… who knows, I may stumble upon the ‘ultimate’ pairing!

You can currently purchase Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion for a very reasonable £8.99 (saving £3 off the original price) at Boots.

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Have you tried Max Factor’s False Lash Effect Fusion Mascara yet?  How about the original?

And so my MUFE Aqua Cream collection grows because I wasn’t able to help myself when I saw a swatch of Aqua Cream #19 and couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks afterward!

MUFE Aqua Cream in #19 is a blue-toned purple with an almost electric quality.  Like most Aqua Creams, it can be a bit tough to blend and I’d recommend applying it more as a base than an independent eyeshadow.  Unless you got the skillz of course.  And if you have?  Come show me how to do it!

Look, ain’t she purdy?

Lasting power is more than adequate on my lids, without any primers I get around 7/8hrs before creasing… the more heavy handed I am with it, the faster the product heads for my creases.

I particularly enjoy pairing this one up with NARS Ashes to Ashes eyeshadow, creating a KILLER violet-taupe from the combo.

MUFE Aqua Creams are available to buy online from Guru Makeup Emporium and PAM priced ar around £16.75

Do you own any MUFE Aqua Creams?

A gaggle of geese, a school of fish, a colony of ants… a… a… a.. nest of NARS?

Whatever you want to call it, here are some of my favourite NARS blushes in all their shamefully dirty glory (I really should give these a wipe over!).

Considering I’m such a cool-toned chick, you might be able to tell I have a fondness for peachy cheeks (no sniggering at the back).  I just find that with a light touch, it warms up my complexion and looks more natural and less doll-like than the pinks.

My latest acquisitions (you may be able to spot them from the fact that they’re less dusty!) are Gilda and Mata Hari.  I picked up Gilda from the ASOS/Groupon super deal, ahhh… I want another one of those!

Anyway, there’s no real reason to this post other than for me to have an excuse to play with my NARS blushes.  Sorry, indulge me!  Here have some swatches…

Douceur – A neutral matte shade that has enough pink in it to be a delightful option for cool-toned skin.  Swatched heavily here, I’d call it a must-own simply because (with a light hand) it will add a touch of colour to your cheeks without clashing.

Mata Hari – This always feels like a proper wintery rose shade.  Another matte, it’s heavily pigmented and a touch powdery.  I haven’t worked out how to make this work flawlessly for me but I want to persevere!

Torrid – A bit scared of this when I bought it but it’s gorgeous.  A proper peach with sparkles!  Used with a light hand I can make this work nicely against my colouring but I do need to double check in different lighting before venturing outdoors (just in case I’ve tangoed myself!)

Gilda –  It’s a gorgeous shade but I haven’t got the application of this one down yet.  Perhaps it’s just a bit too warm and matte for me, either way… it’s another one I want to learn to love.

Deep Throat – My favourite NARS blush.  It’s a pinker, more pigmented version of Orgasm with silvery sparkles compared to the dusting of gold that runs through the big O.  It’s a perfect peachy pink and one that I will repurchase forever more.

Orgasm – The cult favourite is also a hit with me!  Warmer than Deep Throat and a little sparklier, I often pair this one with other blushes (particularly mattes) to give a more 3D appearance.

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Do you own any NARS blushes?  Which are your favourites?

The second shade that I was fortunate enough to preview from the upcoming OPI Touring America collection is this olive green number called Uh Oh Roll Down the Window.

Autumn/Fall’s OPI Touring America collection is set for release in the UK this August and sees an eclectic mixture of Summer brights and Autumnal earthy shades making the cut.

Uh Oh Roll Down the Window is an olive green creme with more than enough grey to keep it muted and work-appropriate.  The above photo shows two coats in hindsight, I should have given it a third for a perfect finish.  Wear has been solid and without issue as I’d expect from the professional nail brand.

The shade bears more than a passing resemblance to Nails Inc. Battersea Park which isn’t available to buy anymore but after receiving a few enquiries about it last year, you might be pleased to hear that you can get your hands on something similar..

O.P.I – Uh Oh Roll Down the Window will be available on our shores this August from LenaWhite.

Despite the moniker, lip glosses aren’t really my bag.  I find them gloopy, sticky, uncomfortable to wear and unless careful not to overapply, can make you look like an extra from Saturday Night Beaver.

Admittedly, they’re less high maintenance than lipsticks and are undoubtedly nifty for quick touch ups when your lippie has all but been eaten away.  However, for me… they come a poor second to my faithful lipstick devotion.

So, how about a hybrid?

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils are still fairly new additions to the market.  Launched in February, they promise the convenience of a pencil with the application of a lipstick in a jumbo-size crayon design.

Well, first things first… you can kiss the gloopiness issues goodbye.  Thanks to this delivery method, you can apply a thin, even layer of gloss over your lips without any thickness or pooling.  Yes, they’re still a touch tacky on the lips but there is no risk of those disgusting stringy gloss strands when you open your mouth… and we’ve all seen too many of those on over-enthusiastic gloss wearers right?

I was sent two shades from the lineup: Hopi (Honey Beige) and New Lover (Strawberry Pink laced with Gold).

New Lover on the left and Hopi on the right.

The texture is soft, really very soft… take care when sharpening these babies.  I would have preferred to have seen them in a twist-up form but alas, they are what they are.

Again, New Lover is on the left and Hopi on the right.  They’re well pigmented with great, natural colour.  I feared that their pencil form meant that they might go down faster than a fat kid on a seesaw but they’re holding up better than I expected on that score.

Because of their convenience, I keep New Lover in my bag for when my lipstick wears off and have been substituting it for quick fixes post-lunch.  I also have my eye on Baroque which seems more to my taste with its bolder, raspberry undertones.

Finally, a lip swatch of both so you can see how they look applied…

They’re pretty, understated shades that dodge my lipgloss-hating bullet well.

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils are priced at £17.50 a-piece and are available online and on counter now.

Sometimes I get a little bit guilty looking at all the lovely things that I’ve bought and haven’t gotten around to swatching for the blog and after a conversation on Twitter last night with @PinkSith, @LondonMUGirl and @Fauxlivia – it shamed me into grabbing my ‘waiting’ box and dragging the things out of it that I knew I should have gotten around to swatching a bazillion years ago.

7 lip tars (I didn’t bother with the less wearable shades I own) and a pair of slightly sore lips later…

L-R: Hush / Memento / Grandma / Trollop / Pageant / NSFW / Stalker

They all need to be applied with a lip brush and each gives great coverage with just a small amount.  I tend to use a little more than I’ve read *should* be needed but I always end up blotting after because they transfer to my great big front teeth like a total bitch if I don’t.

~ HUSH is the palest shade I own… it’s a beige nude which works well with a smokey eye and is *just* dark enough to avoid the corpse bride look.

~ MEMENTO is a darker, more wearable nude on my skintone thanks to a pinker hue than HUSH.

~ GRANDMA was a gamble for me when I bought it… I thought it would be far too warm for my skintone but it actually turns fairly neutral on my lips despite the tube colour.  One of my favourites for Summer and can be built up to a rich coral with a couple of coats.

~ TROLLOP was purchased purely on the basis of its awesome name so I’m really pleased that I love the colour too!  I’d describe TROLLOP as a warm pink… verging toward the guava territory but not as warm as GRANDMA gets after a couple of coats.

~ PAGEANT was my first Lip Tar… I wanted a hot pink that wasn’t quite neon and found it in this shade.  If you want something a touch bolder than this, go for ANIME (which I don’t have).

Ahhh… the reds…

~ NSFW is the classic neutral red and it really is one of the most bang-on reds I own.

~ Thinking that I didn’t need another OCC red when I was already in love with NSFW, I almost didn’t pick up STALKER.  But oh boy am I glad I did?  It’s a true vampy cool-toned red that works verynicelythankyouverymuch on my skintone.

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Now, I don’t really wear these as often as I should… they need a brush to apply, don’t be trying from the tube unless you have some serious skills.  They can also feather if you over-apply or generally suffer from this anyway… clear lip liners for the win!  I’ve also mentioned the transfer issue… a slight purse of my lips and my teeth get a nice coating too.

Does this mean that I regret buying them?  God, no.  I just regret being too lazy to take the extra little bit of time to ensure that I do these justice.   I hereby solemnly swear to break out my OCC pinks a little more this month!

OCC Lip Tars can be bought in the UK from sites: MakeupArtistBoutique, Cocktail Cosmetics, GenieCosmetics and LoveMakeup.

Do you own any OCC Lip Tars?  Which ones are on your wishlist?

From the upcoming Fall 2011 collection, Touring America…

Personally, I eat Mainely everything but if you want your nails to look like the inside of a ripe, juicy watermelon this Autumn, you’re gonna need a bit of OPI’s I Eat Mainely Lobster* in your life.

I Eat Mainely Lobster is a shimmering almost-neon coral with enough pink in it to keep it looking good on cool skin tones.  It has a pretty under-stated shimmer that catches beautifully in the sunlight.

The image above is underexposed so don’t trust it for shade depth but I wanted to be able to capture the almost molten shimmer particles in this polish… aren’t they pretty?

Formula is quite thin for OPI but it packs enough pigment to have your nailbed covered in two coats.  It dries quickly but lacks glossiness which I’m putting down to the intense brightness of the shade… a quick lick of top coat rectifies that issue.

Overall, I Eat Mainely Lobster is an unusual but winning choice for Autumn/Fall 2011 and I can envisage many toes catching the last few rays of Summer sunshine whilst flashing this shade!

O.P.I – I Eat Mainely Lobster will be available on our shores this August from LenaWhite.

* press sample

We all have a few of these in our collections right?

Those products that we wanted for ages… thought about more frequently than food or sex and then when we eventually found ourselves clutching them in our hot little hands, wished we’d opted for those other thoughts instead.

Here are my current disappointments.

1. Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder – £18.50

I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for finishing powders, the right one really makes a huge difference.

The reviews for the Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder are generally pretty good but it’s just a bit too sparkly for me.  I’ve tried using different brushes to ensure that I’m not being too heavy handed but I still don’t dig the effect.  It’s a nice powder… but the (albeit minute) particles of glitter seem to catch the light in a sparkly rather than glowy way.

2. Make Up For Ever HD Blush – £21.75

Can’t. Blend. It.

It doesn’t look atrocious but it doesn’t look as well-blended as my other blushes and whilst I’m fully aware, confident even, that the problem lies more with my (lack of) skillz than the product… this knowledge doesn’t make me like it more.

Shame ‘cos the shades I own are gorgeous… *sigh*

3. Benefit Erase Paste Concealer – £18.89

I always thought that Erase Paste was for under the eye area and Boi-oing (or whatever it’s called) was for blemishes but for the life of me, I cannot make this work on my dark circles.  It cakes and gathers in any fine lines within an hour of wear.  It may be heavy duty in terms of coverage but I’m not willing to comprimise about 10 years of my youth for a bit of concealing.

I’ve tried: warming it up before using/buffing it in with a brush/patting it on with my ring finger/setting it with powder/a combination of all the above!  Disappointing.

4. Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation – £21.50

I bought this with the hope of mixing it with a moisturiser and really being able to control the amount of coverage I achieved.  It gives the ‘death mask’ look when worn alone… which is fine for a night out but unwearable (for me) during the day.  I’m fine with this though, I expected it… what I’m not fine with is the fact that everytime I try to use it, it’s separated and takes about 5 minutes to combine with vigorous shaking.

What products in your collection do you wish you loved more?  Are you like me and can’t bring yourself to ditch them incase you suddenly get an a-ha moment?

OK, enough with Spring/Summer… here’s my favourite season (in terms of colour – definitely NOT weather!).

OPI have previewed their Autumn/Fall collection, titled Touring America and it looks a little something like this:

It’s a large, 12-piece collection which can be split into the usual sophisticated yet dirgy, autumnal shades and rather awesomely, some fall-toned brights too!  From the bottle shots, the brights look like they may be metallics but I’m not 100% on this – I’ll have to wait to see some swatches before I can confirm!

Let’s have a breakdown:

Are We There Yet?: Melon
I Eat Mainely Lobster: Luminous Coral
My Address is “Hollywood”: Vivid Rose
Color to Diner For: Iconic Red
Honk if You Love OPI: Rich Raisin
Road House Blues: Deep Sapphire

Suzi Takes the Wheel: Grey
French Quarter for Your Thoughts: Sexy Grey
Uh-oh Roll Down the Window: Chic Olive
A-taupe the Space Needle: Creamy-Rich Taupe
Get in the Expresso Lane: Amped-Up Dark Brown
I Brake for Manicures: Eggplant-Plum

I’m pretty divided on this Touring America collection.

Autumn is the pinnacle of nail polish collections for me, it rarely gets better and if this represents the best of what I have to look forward to from one of the biggest players in the polish world.  I’m just not sure I’m as excited as I hoped I would be.

Coming from someone who loves their grungy, dirty shades… I would have liked to see OPI mix things up a bit.  Get adventurous with the dirge!  Some different textures maybe?  I don’t know… as I said, I haven’t seen these in person so there may well be something about them that lifts from the standard cremes.  I hope so but at the moment I’m left with an overwhelming feeling of deja-vu.

Thinking back to last year’s Swiss Collection (of which I own the majority!), I’m just not getting the same buzz from this year’s offerings although I am pleased to see OPI carry over some Summer shades whilst giving them an interesting Autumn edge!

These will be available from LenaWhite, priced at £10.50 each.

What are your first impressions of OPI’s Touring America Collection?

Did you know that April is Earth Month?  Well it is, so listen up!

Now in its 12th year, Aveda created Earth Month in April 1999 to raise awareness and funds for critically important environmental issues around the world, and has since raised more than $18 million for organizations that directly affect environmental change.

This year, Aveda are focusing on helping to provide access to clean water and sanitation for children and families around the world.

Lisa Snowdon and Margherita Taylor join Aveda’s 2011 Walk for Water as part of 12th Earth Month Initiative

Last week, the brand successfully organised and completed a five mile “Walk for Water” campaign along London’s Southbank, raising funds for Wateraid along the way.

The company have also released a rather lovely, limited edition “Light The Way” candle.

The Aveda Light The Way candle features a French-inspired aroma made with 100 percent certifed organic ingredients, including lavender, lavandin and clary sage sourced from the Diois region of northern Provence, France.

Formulated from soy wax, which means that the candle burns cleanly and completely from first light through to final extinguish.

The candle retails in the UK for £16.

Of that purchase price, £12.80 per candle sold in the UK will go to Global Greengrants Fund (GGF) and their water-related projects.

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Origins have established a partnership with Global ReLeaf to plant trees and restore wildfire-damaged areas which means that for every Plantscription sold during 17th – 30th April 2011, Origins will plant a tree on the customer’s behalf.

What a good way to get green thumbs without getting dirty!

In addition to this, you need to know about their trade-in/amnesty deal!

For one day only on 22nd April 2011…

Customers can bring in any current skincare product (any brand, full or empty) and trade it in for a complimentary full size of either Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash or A Perfect World Antioxidant Cleanser with White Tea.

That’s a deal worth £16/€23!  Yes, really!

To find your nearest Origins counter/store, check the Origins website and search for your postcode.

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Finally, French organic beauty brand Melvita are celebrating Earth Month and honouring their own bee-entwined roots by installing an apiary above their London flagship store in Covent Garden in an attempt to protect the declining bee population!

The apiary will be a permanent fixture on the roof of the Covent Garden store and also celebrates the launch of The Melvita Foundation which exists to protect the environment and bee populations around the world.

“We should not be scared of bees.  They are the guardians of the environment, they contribute to ecological biodiversity.  With the Melvita Foundation, you can act and protect them” Bernard Chevilliat, Melvita Founder.

During Earth Month, Melvita customers can help add more hives to the Melvita City Apiary through purchasing select Melvita products which contain honey.

•  Hydrastim – £22.00
•  Softening Hand Cream – £12.00
•  Apicosma Body Balm – £19.00
•  Softening Shower Gel – £9.50
•  Capiforce Hair Mask – £18.00

For each of these products purchased, Melvita will donate £1 to the Apiary fund, which will raise money to buy new hives and to further encourage the protection of the bees in and around London.

If you want to learn more about the Foundation, Melvita are holding a Bee Workshop on the 22nd April in the St Martin’s Courtyard store from 1pm – 4pm.  It’s open to all, so pop along to take a closer look at the bees and indulge in some free honey tasting!