A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

If you’re already dreading the office’s annual Secret Santa, something that’s as certain a drudgery as death and taxes, fear no more.  I have a lovely sweet treat that won’t break the bank on the blog today.

I don’t know about you, but for me… bathing takes on an added importance in the winter.  When all is said and done, I’m a morning shower girl but when the temperature plummets, I like nothing more than to end the day by sinking into a hot bath in the name of relaxation.

To aid this little indulgence, Pastisserie de Bain hand-make these beautiful bath tartlettes that fizz with fragrance and release moisturising butters into your bath water.  A blend of cocoa and shea butter swirl together, softening dry skin and leaving your body lightly fragranced with a range of delicious scents.

The packaging is darling, and in spite of my LUSH addiction, I have to admit that if you’re going down the gift-route… these completely trump those little black paper bags in the presentation stakes.  Their award-winning packaging is eyecatching, fun, and frankly… makes the gift look far more expensive than it was.

Patisserie de Bain offer a wide variety of “flavours” – these ones are called “All the Fun of the Fair” and feature scents that include toffee apple and candy floss.  Other scents in the range include: sweet cherry pie, lemon meringue, cloves and cinnamon, rose and violet.

Available online from www.graftonsbeauty.co.uk and in Rose & Co. stockists nationwide, priced at £7.00

* press sample

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When it comes to my current beauty routine, I’m sorry to admit that painting my nails is about as intense as it gets.  I’m still struggling to find “me” underneath all this baby stuff, not that I mind… it’s just that everything else seems so much more… not important per se, but… urgent, at least.  I was able to put aside some beauty and blogging time when Leila was born.  Back then, I lived with Mum and Dad, and Paul wasn’t on a constant deadline… plus, I guess I didn’t have another kid to invest my time laughing with.  It’s been an odd few months… simultaneously both easier and tougher than the first time around.

Anyway… back to the pretty polish.  I’ll save my blatherings, perhaps for another day.

Revlon have recently released a range of gel-effect nail polishes into the UK market.  The shade selection is huge, 30 colours in total alongside a diamond top coat.  There’s a lot of these gel-effect polishes around, jumping on the buzz-word bandwagon, but what do they actually offer above and beyond a normal nail polish?

Well, in this case Revlon promises: brilliant colour, gel-shine and long lasting wear.  But does it deliver?

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy – #100 Cardshark

The formula, in my opinion, isn’t the easiest to work with.  It’s fairly thin but well-pigmented and has a tendency to pool at the edges if you overload the brush.  Working with thin layers is your best bet, even at the expense of having to apply another coat to achieve an opaque finish.

Having said that, the formula isn’t without merit because it self-levels as it dries, ensuring a neater overall look.  This makes it especially kind to those of us with ridges, flakes, and any other imperfections that may show through a freshly-painted nail.  The finish is lovely, intensely shiny and smooth… in terms of how it looks, there’s no need to add any kind of top-coat.

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy – #210 Casino Lights

I’ve already mentioned the rich pigmentation delivered by the Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy range and nowhere was this more apparent than in #210 Casino Lights, a lemon yellow that dispenses with the classic yellow-polish-streakiness completely on the third coat.  Yellows are notoriously hard to work with, and this one was easier than most.

As for wear, I can’t comment on how it fares with the addition of the Revlon Diamond Top Coat… but worn naked, they did well.  I reached day 5 with minimal tip wear and no chipping.

Have you tried these yet?

The Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy range is priced at £6.99 a-piece, available insore and online at Boots.com

* press sample

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Perhaps it’s the OCD in me but I do so enjoy a themed collection.  A place for everything and everything in its place and all that.  No silly shade numbers o’ randomness that don’t mean anything to anyone.  Oh no! Revlon have got it very right with their geographically-themed latest product release.

The Revlon ColorStay Moisture Stain launch features a 12-strong collection of lip colours that embrace a gel-stain hybrid texture with a moisturising formula and a high-pigment finish.  The formula has been infused with Vitamin E and Aloe, those stalwart ingredients of the hydration team, making for comfortable day-long wear that leaves your lips feeling nourished.

Each shade claims its own playful colour personality, with shades named after some of the most iconic cities around the globe: Cannes Crush, Miami Fever, Rio Rush, and Parisian Passion to name but a few.

I’ve got my hands on the Hispanic delegate of the collection: Barcelona Nights – probably best described as a berry pink with slight purple undertones.

The packaging is great, in all its chunky squared-off glory.  There’s nothing pretentious here, it’s simply solid and tactile in a spiky kind of way.  As you draw the applicator wand out of the tube, there’s a certain degree of resistance… the sort of pause that makes you worry the applicator will release from the bottle-neck with a pop, spraying you with lip stain – like a badly-behaved yoghurt pot.  Infact, I’m still not convinced that it won’t, so take care when wriggling the wand free from its constraints.

Having said that, the tight-fit ensures that your applicator isn’t drowned in lip gloop – infact, it dispenses just about the perfect amount onto the tip of the sponge.

The shade is vibrant and semi-sheer (though buildable), allowing the natural texture of your lip to show through.  Application is smooth, definitely more like a lipgloss than a liquid lipstick.  It feels a touch “plasticky” when first applied but it’s light enough in texture, thankfully, not to bother me.

I suffer from a visible “line” where product often refuses to adhere toward the inner reaches of my bottom lip… and I experienced it with this, at least… until the product had been given a few moments to fuse/melt from the warmth of my lips.  You need to allow this for a more even finish.

Most importantly, there is no stickiness.  None, or should I say nada.

Wear was fine, not because it was magnificently lingering but because as the colour faded, the stain remained.  For my personal tastes, it’s a little more glossy than I like to wear so I tend to apply, then blot.  Once.  This removes the “slippy” feeling – which is one that I can’t stand and the main reason for my lipgloss aversion – without removing the colour.

Overall, I’ve found it an easy-to-wear, easy-to-apply product… haven’t we all got room for one of those in our makeup bags?

The Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stains are due to launch next month, priced at £7.99 each and available from Boots and Superdrug

* press sample

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Do you ever make snap judgements about products only to be proven very, very wrong?  I don’t mind admitting that I do… and in this case, I got one hell of a shock when the product put me firmly in my place.

The RMK W Crayon & Gloss Lips is a new release from the Japanese beauty brand and features a duo crayon/gloss system designed to impart big colour and shine.  When it comes to lips, I don’t tend to expect much in the way of pigment from Asian brands… my past purchases have taught me that it’s all about the sheer juiciness and moisturising formulas.

Generalising much, I know… but this is just what I have come to expect.

ignore the foundation, that’s coming in a later review!

The crayon end of the wand did two things to surprise me.

First of all, it dragged… it dragged across my lips like a dog not wanting to be taken for a walk.  It feels hard, a little waxy and not what I was expecting.  To be fair, this did mean that I could achieve a great, sharp line around the edge of my lips but I wasn’t impressed.

The firm texture meant that it took a fair amount of “colouring in” before my entire lip area had been filled and I couldn’t smoosh my lips together to spread the pigment, the formula just wasn’t creamy enough.  This does mean that it is however, extremely long-lasting.

The second surprise came from the amount of pigment the crayon imparted.  We’re talking serious colour.  Bold, opaque and a little startling.  In other words, fabulous.

So there I am… crayon on, thoughts a little jumbled at this point.

Ahh, the gloss end of the equation.  I hate gloss.  You know I hate gloss, we all know that yes… Lip”gloss”iping hates gloss.

Prior to actually trying the W Crayon & Gloss Lips out in person, I did toy with the idea that I’d probably just wear the crayon alone… but once it’s applied, it needs something more.  It just looks unfinished with the crayon worn alone on the lips.

And so I dived into the gloss section of the tube, pulling out the silicone spatula-esque applicator and layering a coat of the glitter-filled semi-transparent gloop across my lips.

“Oh!”

“It looks nice!”

“Really nice!”

The truth is that I just didn’t expect it to look like the perfect combination between pigmented AND juicy.  It didn’t expect it to plump and fill my lips to the point where I found it tricky to resist snogging myself in the mirror.

The gloss is completely non-sticky (trust me, I’m a massive fusspot) and refreshingly light on the lips.  It doesn’t try to migrate or pool unattractively, waiting for me to open my mouth and share strings of globby gloss with the world.  It just sits gently across the surface, sparkling away and making the crayon underneath feel far more comfortable than it did prior to the partnership.

Transfer is a bitch, so be aware… although my teeth were unaffected, my glass and cup both took a shocking hit.  Having said that, there’s so much pigment in the product that the transfer had no impact on how it looked on my lips.

After around 45-minutes, the shine gradually dissipates and it (to my eye) looks even better.  It loses the screamy “look at me” shine but retains the juiciness, appearing much like a well-formulated creamy lipstick.  Roll forward a couple of hours and you can just start to feel a little dryness creeping through from the crayon.  As your lips press together, there’s more texture and at this point, it would be a good idea to give your pout a quick blot with tissue or reapply another layer of gloss.

It’s not completely low-maintenance but for such a bold shade, that undercoat of crayon sticks like you-know-what to the proverbial blanket, making touch-ups with the gloss a lot less hassle than re-lining your lips or dealing with an ugly ring of colour around the lip-line.

Well, there you have it.  Massive, big and completely unexpected love from me for this unassuming tube of lip colour.

RMK W Crayon & Gloss Lips in 01 Cherry Red is priced at £22 and available in 5 limited-edition, seasonal shades.  You can find them online in the UK from BeautyBay.com, LookFantastic.com and instore at Selfridges!

* press sample

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If you could take just one period from history and transplant its looks, style, and fashion into this century… you’d be hard-pushed to pick a better era than the 1960s.  The decade thrived off a dynamism that transformed a post-war world, thrusting it into the modern age.  From space exploration to consumerism, civil rights to music… the buzz word was progress, and at a breakneck pace.

Nowhere was this better represented than in the world of beauty and fashion.  Many young women finally had access to a disposable income, and what better to do with it than spend it on pretty new things?

Rimmel London have released the new ScandalEyes Retro Mania Collection, a fun nod to the decade of change with a monochrome theme, featuring some of the must-have tools of the decade, absolutely necessary to perfect the mod style!

Focusing on the eyes as the main component in recreating the look of the era (lips were generally pale and frosty or completely blanked out with concealer), Rimmel London have released the following products:

•  Rimmel London ScandalEyes RetroGlam Mascara
•  ScandalEyes Thick & Thin Eyeliner
•  ScandalEyes Eye Shadow Paint in Mercury Silver, Rich Russet, and Golden Bronze
•  ScandalEyes Eye Shadow Stick in Witness White, Blackmail, and Bulletproof Beige

The ScandalEyes RetroGlam Mascara comes complete with an hourglass-shaped wand to capture all lashes from the innermost to the outermost corners, plumping and volumising as you comb the brush through from root to tip.  Whether you lust after Twiggy-esque lash separation or Edie Sedgwick’s luscious volume, the inky-black formula promises to deliver an “eyeconic” 60s look.

Georgia May Jagger presents as the face of the new collection with a look that takes the 60s styling to the max, you can view some of the brand’s modcasts online from their Tumblr page.  I’ve embedded one of the campaign videos below which shows some of the main pieces of the collection in action:

This month, the brand are running a weekly #modmonday contest that you can enter by sharing your retro look with @RimmelLondonUS on Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr – and this week – you even stand a chance at winning an authentic Lambretta scooter!

I had a go at creating a wearable 60s look, understating the lips and cheeks whilst putting full attention on the eyes.

Lining the lower lashline with the new RetroGlam Eye Shadow Stick in Witness White drew maximum attention to the contrasting black of the ScandalEyes RetroGlam Mascara and ScandalEyes Thick & Thin Eyeliner.  I wanted my look to be a more work-friendly Anna Karina than the dramatic and editorial style of Peggy Moffit!

For more ideas and inspiration on how to recreate your own retro glam look, check out the official Rimmel London Retro Glam Page.

* This post has been sponsored by Rimmel London

As you may have guessed from the title, I’m totally blaming the pregnancy hormones for this one.  Whether or not they are actually culpable remains to be seen but it feels slightly less shameful to rest the responsibility upon my ever-increasing levels of hormonal angst.

Some women eat coal, crave the taste of rubber and leather… me?  Well, I just want to smell like all of those things instead.  You can keep your girly florals, sweet fruits, and vomit-worthy vanillas… give me all of the MAN SCENTS.

Were my pockets big enough, I’d carry the above candles around with me 24/7, pausing regularly for a sniff before continuing on my way.  My Jonathan Ward Woodstock candle, which I picked up whilst scouring the shelves at T.K. Maxx is the least masculine of the trio and perfect for the season, reminding me of a dampened but very-much-alive forest floor… woody and aromatic.

My Mum picked up the Rigaud Cuir de Kyara candle for me after spotting it nestled on a tabletop at her local Emmaus in France.  She said that the smell of pure, unadulterated leather “nearly knocked her head off” and thus, knew instantly that I would fall in love with it.  She was right.  It’s a blinder and I’m now obsessed with finding other candles from this Parisian brand.

Finally, and thanks to a Zuneta/Amazon bargain, I’m pleased to finally be able to add this Malin + Goetz Vetiver candle to my collection!  I haven’t been able to walk past the display of M+G candles in Liberty for ages without stopping to sniff this one in all its earthy, woody and downright sexy glory.

But my obsession with man-scent doesn’t just stop at candles.  Oh no!  It gets far more serious…

I bought L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Tea for Two during their Summer sale a couple of years ago and it was love at first sniff but recently, I just can’t get enough of it and have upgraded to a massive 100ml bottle in order to get my fix.  The perfect blend of smoky embers, honeyed tobacco and warming ginger to keep all thoughts of frostiness at bay this Winter.

Ahhh, Molton Brown… I remember when I first came across your distinctively delicious Re-Charge Black Pepper scent (now called black peppercorn) a few years ago whilst staying at a hotel in Basel.  To this day, I kick myself for being good and not stealing all the hotel toiletries, it just felt too naughty to take the ones that I hadn’t actually opened to use during my stay!  Instead, I scoop up other people’s spoils on eBay and long for the candle version!

My final fragrant craving is one that Mr. L is less than impressed with.  He can cope with sharing most of his scents with me, infact… many times, we purchase a fragrance under the certain knowledge that we’re doing so in order to share the bottle (it makes a £70 splurge so much more palatable split two ways).  My desires to wear his smells-just-like-a-freshly-wet-shaved-man Floris Santal*, however, are falling on deaf ears.  I’ve been allowed a quick spritz, twice.  Only twice.  I actually think that might constitute domestic abuse.

Are there any “boy” scents that drive you wild?  And, question is… are you wild enough to wear them?

* press sample

Radox. What are you playing at?

When I think of you, I think of relaxing in a blue-hued bath of wonder.  Sinking into realms of relaxation that I thought only existed in my pre-child lifetime. You don’t give me spendy guilts when I pop into Boots for a top-up and you don’t make me weep with sorrow when I discover that Mr. L has raided my bathroom cabinet.

So, what’s all this new nonsense about?

Don’t you dare try to revive, energise or uplift me! That’s not what I come to you for.

You might think that you need to compete with all those shower and bath products that set your sensitive bits alight and leave you feeling like you’ve been dragged through a polo mint backwards, but you don’t.

You’re perfect just the way you are.

However, if you do get a moment… how about more bath salts in some new and ever more relaxing scents and shades. Bath salts are set for a BIG come back don’tchano?

Radox. They’ve gone all modern n’ stuff with this new Citrus range.  £2.15 ish a bottle… but if I see you buying one, I’ll disown you.

The lure of a manicure that delivers long-lasting wear, minimal fuss, and one that can be done in the comfort of your own home is a strong pull.  Once upon a time, the only way we could have achieved something like this would have been to visit our nearest nail technician for acrylics and gel overlays (I used to love Bio-Sculpture).

Nowadays technologies have moved on and things have become a lot let fussy since the advent of Shellac and Gellish-type polishes… and even more so, now that we can use similar UV-cured polish technology at home!

I’m not a newbie to at-home gel polish systems, having previously trialled and reviewed Red Carpet Manicure’s major competitor in the UK market: Sensationail, infact… I’m in a priviliged position where I’m able to deduce any differences between the two systems.  So, without further ado, let’s get down to it.

Red Carpet Manicure

The first point to note between the two at-home nail systems is that of the two… the Sensationail Kit is slightly cheaper at £60, compared to the Red Carpet Manicure Starter Kit at £65.

The Red Carpet Manicure kit contains pretty much the same product as the Sensational in terms of: prepping products, base coat, colour, top coat… the systems both work in a similar way when it comes to application and use.  The major difference between the two kits is the lamp.

Sensationail’s kit comes with a “pro” lamp as standard.  In this instance, you can take that to mean… a lamp with a timer.  The Sensationail lamp cuts out after 1-minute and “chirps” after 30-seconds.  Red Carpet Manicure’s smaller footprint lamp… doesn’t do this, you need a clock handy.  No real problem for those of us with our smartphones glued to our fingers anyway but curing time is also longer after each step with the Red Carpet Manicure system.

Red Carpet Manicure

In terms of value for money… the Red Carpet Manicure system provides you with larger-sized bottles in your starter kit.  Over double the amount of base/top coat, something that is fundamental to the system working… and generous quantities of nail cleanse and remover.  Sensationail’s offering, at around 3.6ml is pretty stingy… it won’t be long before you’re buying topups to be fair.

Back to the lamps for a moment… although the Red Carpet Manicure’s lamp has the convenience of being able to be powered by USB (laptop powered nails yeahh!!), I did find the design a little awkward.  My longest, middle finder had to contort in order to fit under the UV bulbs.  It’s no biggie… you don’t have to keep your hands locked in position for hours but it’s worth mentioning as a point of difference.  Red Carpet Manicure also do a less-portable lamp (with timer) in one of their more expensive kits.

What’s included in the Red Carpet Manicure kit

Lamps compared, quantity of product and price compared… things are working out to be pretty even between the two contenders for the at-home manicure crown.  But wait… because I’m about to blow this thing apart.  The Red Carpet Manicure system is easier to apply on the nail than the Sensationail kit.  And for a novice, this is an important distinction.

In my previous Sensationail review, I complained about the shoddy packaging of the Sensationail bottles… and it’s only after using superior packaging that I can appreciate how much more smoothly the product applies.  Now, don’t get me wrong… I got on “ok” with the Sensationail during application, a little pooling at the cuticles that I was quick to clean up… but…

The Red Carpet Manicure products apply like a dream.  The brushes are cut more carefully and I found it remarkably easy to apply each layer thinly.  Don’t underestimate the importance of applying this type of gel system in super-thin layers.  Thickly-cured gel on your nails is u.g.l.y.

Applying the base coat

The polish stays complete wet and workable right up until the moment you begin to cure it, leaving you ample time to push the product around the nail… capping the tips, keep the polish clear of the cuticles.  It’s almost therapeutic.

Applying the colour

You can see my funny finger contortion in the picture below… this was taken mid-cure.  You can also see how teeny-tiny the lamp is – it looks like a stapler!  Two minutes later and my colour was cured and ready for a top-coat.  All in all, it took around 25 minutes to complete a full manicure.

Looking back, I see that this is less time than it took to complete with the Sensationail kit.  Considering curing times are slower with this kit, I’m surprised at the difference.  I can only put it down to the speed at which I was able to apply the product to the nail thanks to easier application.

The curing process

Ta-da!  Here’s how the finished manicure looked.  My one complaint is that it was a little sheerer than I would have liked after two coats as my nail-line is still visible but in all honesty that’s my fault.  I was asked to choose a colour to receive with my kit and I didn’t look closely enough at the Pinterest photos linked on their colour range page (nice touch btw) that would have given me a better idea!

The finished result

The finished result

And so… manicure down… how did it last?

Well, really well actually!  I didn’t experience any of the “lifting” that I occassionally experience with the Sensationail kit and after 12-days (see picture below, please excuse the eczema), you’ll see that there’s no chipping of the nails.  The same does apply to all the other nails, I promise – I just didn’t think when I took the photo that you might want to see all of them, sorry!

By the way, check out my amazing nail growth!  I’m putting that down to Dr. Lewinn’s Renunail (review coming soon, it’s taken me a very long time to discover what it actually does!)

Removal was easy… I previously complained about the removal for the Sensationail system but I got the hang of it in the end.  Both are very similar… you simply need to buff the surface of the nail first, do the tin-foil trick (with pure acetone) and scrape off any remnants.  Give it 10-minutes with the foil on your fingertips first.  I will say however, that I didn’t need to buff my natural nail after removal with the Red Carpet Manicure kit… there were no remnants at all.

…and 12 days later!

So… all being said and done… yes, I do have a clear favourite out of the two systems.  The Red Carpet Manicure performs better for me across all levels except one, I’m not a fan of the ultra-portable lamp.  But I will happily trade a contorted finger for easier application and a better shot at being able to create some funky nail art with the system(!), greater value-for-money, and a wider range of colours.

The Red Carpet Manicure Starter Kit* is available to buy online from redcarpetmanicure.co.uk, priced at £65.00

* press sample

* please find my Sensationail reviews here and here.

Building upon her inexpensively-priced-but-well-crafted brush empire, Samantha Chapman of Pixiwoo fame has released another set of brushes to sit alongside her core collections, albeit for a limited time only.  The Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Brush Collection* was launched last month and began to hit our shores a few weeks ago.

Reviews have been almost overwhelmingly positive for this trio of brushes and I was keen to cast my eye over the set to appease my own curiosity of whether they were worth the hype.

The brushes, as the name might suggest, are dual-fibred.  Both fibres used in the construction are taklon, therefore synthetic and 100% cruelty-free.  There are three brushes in the collection and each is labelled along the handle, clearly describing its purpose.

The largest of the three brushes is the Duo-Fiber Face Brush.  Of the three, this is the most flexible and feels the least densely-packed (relative to size).  The layering of fibres in such a loose manner means that this brush is ideal for a light-coating of powder to set your makeup.  You’d be hard-pushed to pack on the product with this tool in your hand and for this purpose, it’s pretty much perfect.

Although the website states that all brushes can be used with cream and liquid products… I don’t think there would be much point in using this brush for anything other than powder products.  It would be like buying a pair of nail scissors and using them to cut your fringe.  Technically, you could do it… but why would you want to waste the engineering?

The second brush in the set, the Duo-Fiber Contour Brush is slightly more rigid than the face brush.  The fibres feel a little springier, with more resistance under pressure.  This gives the brush a little more strength to direct the product being applied and additional control when it comes to blending for a seamless finish.  Ultimately, this is the brush you’ll want to be using this Summer for applying your bronzer and contour shades.  A little more precision but applied with an equally light hand.

Despite being somewhat stiffer than the face brush, I’m still not sold on using it for cream products… I just have other brushes (even from this line) that I prefer to use with liquids and creams.

The smallest brush in the set is the Duo-Fiber Eye Brush, and for me, this one is an outright disappointment.  I simply do not find the brush comfortable to use in the delicate eye-area.  The fibres are sharp, scratchy and even with the lightest of touches, too harsh for blending out colour across my eye socket.  At a push, it works ok for under-eye concealer but ultimately, I will pass over this brush daily in favour of a softer brush.

If you use a lot of powder products, I’d say that you would benefit greatly from purchasing this collection… the Face brush is unlike any other I own for creating a ultra-light finish.  I prefer to use cream products on my cheeks when it comes to blush and bronzer so I’m a little torn on the contour brush… at the bargainous price that this set retails for, I’d lean toward saying that it wouldn’t hurt to own it.

The eye brush isn’t worth the space in my brush holder (imo).  Not that there is any space.

The set hasn’t blown me away.  Not in the same way that the Core Collection did back in 2011 (I still use the Buffing Brush daily) and please don’t assume that just because they’re dual-fibre brushes, you’ll get something comparable to MAC’s legendary 187 at a cheaper price point… these aren’t a set of stippling brushes, they’re far more specific in their use helping you to create softly layered-looks and hone your application skills with a lighter-touch.

For a more multi-purpose duo-fibre brush you’d need something like the Real Techniques highly-regarded Stippling Brush instead.

As far as craftsmanship goes, other than my issue with the scratchiness of the eye brush… overall, the quality is great.  There’s no horrible chemical stink to the fibres, the ferrules are solidly formed and the taklon appears to be well-clamped into the handles.  Although the bottoms of the brushes are flat, they don’t offer the greatest stability on their ends… something to remember if you have a white carpet.

The Real Techniques Limited Edition Duo-Fiber Brush Collection is available to buy online from Cloud10Beauty.com or instore at Boots, priced at £23.99

* press sample

So, Rimmel… and their “apocaliptic” hybrid gloss/lipstick.  Available in eight shades of lip-smacking colour from vampy plum through to pale nude, has been setting the blogging world alight from day one.  Except, I can’t for the life of me work out why.

First things first, they smell bad.  I’m not the kind of blogger that harps on about scented products being the root of all evil, I couldn’t normally give a chuff about scented/flavoured products but these are so horribly synthetic, I find them almost offensive.  Smell and taste are so closely linked, that if something smells bad… it often tastes bad too and I just don’t want this genetically-modified Jolly Rancher crap on my lips with it’s faux fruit salad gooeyness mere centimeters from my nostrils.

When it comes to application, the wand – complete with product dip/well – doesn’t work properly.  There’s no real give to the sponge, the product contained within the well is staying there.  For all eternity.  It’s not coating your lips, you’re just double dipping it back into the container each time you use it.  Give it up.

When I headed down to Boots, finally giving into the hype I was reading everywhere, I umm’ed and ahh’ed over the shades… in the end, I settled for Celestial, and the colour is indeed very, very, pretty.  That neutral kind of pink that goes with everything… looking good on practically every skin-tone.  But my love for the shade just cannot overcome.  Let me tell you what else I hate about this product.

It feels heavy on the lips.  Like tar.  Like a new kind of tar that has been created from lead.  Spread over my lips and left to bake in the sun.  It’s 2013, lip products don’t feel like this anymore.  I crave lightweight textures that deliver strong pigment without making me feel like my lips have been glued together with eye bogies.  And because the product just kinda sits there… it travels.  Within the hour, I experienced the kind of feathering you’d expect from a siren-red lipstick that had been applied with a trowel.

At least you’d think with that kind of “creamy” coverage, your lips would stay well-nourished underneath?  No.  I found the formula drying and unforgiving to my “not even very dry” lips.  The product settled in the furrows and felt less and less comfortable with every passing minute.

And so, for its parting demonstration… did it stay on for long?  No… it lasted no more than a couple of hours before wearing away without leaving even a hint of a stain to see me through the afternoon.

I have basically been violated by a lipstick.  And that my friends, is a hugely disappointing sensation.

Rimmel Apocalips are priced at £4.49 each and are available to buy instore or online from boots.com, superdrug.com, and asos.com

When it comes to enticing us into a purchase, beauty brands fully understand the power of gluttony. When was the last time you bought a shower gel from a supermarket without giving it a good sniff first?

Foody smells in beauty products have always been one of the most popular experience-enhancers available to the industry and I’ve been trawling my bathroom cabinet in the quest to find some of the most deliciously scented products around.

Things are about to get tasty!

Milkshake Conditioning Whipped Cream* even sounds completely edible!  This tasty product from Milk_Shake contains some great natural ingredients, including a milk protein that promises to leave your hair soft, shiny and thoroughly swishable.  But the best thing about it?  It smells like a bonafide strawberry milkshake.  Make no mistake, you won’t know whether to stick a straw in it and lap it up or smoothe it through the ends of your locks.  £14.79, www.specialisthairsupplies.co.uk

Radox Berry Burst Shower Cream is a fruity reinvention from a high-street classic.  Packaged rather snazzily in hot pink, you won’t miss this in the back of your bathroom cabinet.  The scent reminds me of a cross between Starburst (I nearly said Opal Fruits – I AM OLD ALRIGHT?) and a fruit salad, ensuring that the blend between completely synthetic and somewhat natural is fairly well balanced.  The scent doesn’t last long on the skin but the cream itself is pretty moisturising for an el-cheapo! £1.99, www.boots.com

Who thought that Roger & Gallet was the kind of brand you’d buy your Nan for Christmas?  Yeah, me too.  But things are getting modern with the Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier* range and this Body Lotion punches well above its weight with a tantalizing blend of: mandarin, grapefruit, fig pulp, and musk.  Still not convinced… how about when I reveal the little-know-fact that the fragrance for this new range has been created by none other than fragrance maestro Francis Kurkdjian.  Got your attention now haven’t I?  Seriously.  Lap this beauty up.  £12.50, www.marksandspencer.com

Another super-cheapy here in the form of Lidl’s very own Cien Nail Polish Remover, oh the glamour!  I’m not sure we’re supposed to be sniffing our nail polish removers (pack it in at once!) but this bargain-hunter’s dream purchase puts me in mind of a bakewell tart with its almondy-goodness.  It’s a pretty decent nail polish remover too!  Also… it’s got that pro-dispenser pump thing going on up top, and anything that makes removing your nail polish just a weeny bit more fun is ALL good in my books.  £1.49, Lidl

Finally, what else would you expect from a brand named Fudge than some foody-related shenanigans?  Fudge were one of the first hair brands I reviewed on this here blog so I’m pleased to be adding the Fudge Urban Iced Coconut Cocktail Hair Spray* to my list of tempting treats.  It makes sense for hair spray (which is notoriously noxious) to be made more pleasing to the senses and I’m delighted to report that Fudge have done the business nicely with this offering.  A mega-strong hold and lasting scent in a compact can ensures that my hair will be smelling delicious for the foreseeable!  £4.99 (currently £2.99), www.superdrug.com

What are your favourite foody-scented products at the moment?

* press samples

I may not be the internet’s biggest fan of the Rimmel Lasting Finish “Kate” lipsticks… but don’t let my thoughts stand in the way of a good bargain, hell… I might even give them another try myself at this price.

What price?  Well, they’re priced at £5.49 each in Boots and Superdrug, so…

How does £1.99-a-piece sound?

Unhelpfully, there’s not much going on in the way of swatches but that’s nothing a good Google can’t fix.  Here are links to a few of them, via one of my fav lip-swatcherers: beautyswatch1, beautyswatch2, beautyswatch.

Are any of these catching your eye?  I can’t help but admit that I’m tempted by “04”, not that I should be… what with it finally being Spring n’all.

European ladies can also join in the fun with fairly-priced international shipping.  Who said Sundays are boring?

Rimmel Lasting Finish “Kate” Lipsticks are currently priced at £1.99 each, online from Fragrance Direct.  Tempted?

* don’t forget that Fragrance Direct also have the rather brilliantly-priced Dainty Doll leftovers up for grabs too (go for the blushers, gooo for the blushers!!)