A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

If you spend £35 or more on skincare from This Works, (not The Works – that would be rubbish skincare), you’ll receive a free full-size Perfect Skin Defense SPF30 worth £30 just by itself!  The promotion lasts until the 15th May (unless stocks run out sooner) and is available online and in selected Boots and department stores.

The Perfect Skin Defense SPF30 is one of those all-in-one Summer solutions which combines broad-spectrum sun protection, a good smattering of anti-oxidants and a subtle tint for those who favour the natural look when the weather warms up.  It sounds like the perfect product to pack for holidays!

Do you have a favourite all-in-one skin solution?

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

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

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

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

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

It’s like Kajagoogoo (oh children of the 70s/80s) but pusier.  Why does the word pusier never translate to text very well?  Pus. i. er.  as in yellow stuff, not… oh, nevermind.  Look, I’m talking zits.  Spots, pustules, pimples, blind boils, are you eating?  Sorry.

I’m talking about the ones that grow their own head (arms, torso and a pair of legs) overnight.  You can often feel them brewing in advance… and of course, knowing that the last thing you should do in. the. world. is touch it, you spend all day picking at it, poking around it and generally coaxing it to come out and sing too shy, shy, hush, hush, eye to eye.

So what are your options?  Don’t say toothpaste or I will mock you.

Well, you could cover it with a big granny-tights coloured plaster and just pretend it’s not there.  This is fine if it’s somewhere discreet, like on the soles of your feet but not so good if you can a). see it or b). reach it.  Basically, it’s a rubbish option because you know that within five minutes, you’ll have that plaster off and will be digging around with it again until you get the skin-picking guilts.

How about some topical treatments?  Some people swear by Sudocrem but the only tub I have in the house has actually been used for it’s intended purpose and I just don’t fancy it.

Then you’ve got your topical treatments.  In all manner of guises…

The ones that I’m dabbling in at the minute are The Sanctuary’s Blemish Serum* which helps to calm the redness and general rage that accompanies the facial intrusion.  BareMinerals Blemish Remedy* which comes in a powder form and contains sulphur to draw the bugger out more quickly and finally, La Roche Posay’s Effaclar A.I which keeps making me think of that film with Jude Law in it which works both as an anti-bacterial and exfoliator to promote faster healing.  It feels hugely comforting to have a dedicated blemish-buster to tote around in your handbag.

And finally, you’ve got the ever-faithful aspirin mask.  I actually put quite a lot of stock in the value of this remedy, especially as a way to get the blighter to look a little less inflamed before an evening out.

But I wanna know, what do you do when you feel a particularly unholy zit brewing?

* press samples

Listen up, ‘cos you’re about to learn something really important.  If you ever find yourself stranded in the wilds of Africa, you’ll thank your lucky stars that you read this post.

If you see a cheetah lurking in the bushes and he’s giving you the eye, run for the nearest tree.  If it’s a leopard, don’t.  Cheetah’s can’t climb… leopards actually like to drag their prey up the nearest tree, so you’d be doing half the hard work for him.

But how can you tell the difference between a leopard and a cheetah?  They’re both cat-like and spotty right?

Study.  Those are cheetah spots.  Or at least, they’re supposed to be.

BUT THEY’RE NOT!!!

As cute as those new Tweezerman tweezers undoubtedly are (you know how I love my wild prints!)… those are, in fact leopard spots.  For shame Tweezerman, you could’ve got a beauty blogger eaten in the wild!

Behold.

The cheetah (on the left) has oval, regular shaped spots whilst a leopard (on the right) has rosette shaped, irregular spots.  Now, you tell me… are those new tweezers leopard-print or cheetah-print?

Yeah, no need to thank me.  It’s all part of the service.  You wouldn’t get this in Cosmo.

.

Tweezerman Safari Print Cheetah *cough* Slant Tweezers are available from next month, priced at £22.00

p.s. I really love my Tweezerman wide grips, I’d even take them on safari with me to catch mosquitos a la Mr. Miyagi – sort of.

Thanks to my pale, cool-toned colouring, I’m usually restricted to white-toned jewellery, gold can look quite brassy against my skin tone.  My wedding ring is a plain, silver band… not the most luxurious of metals but I’m not a fan of white gold and platinum stretched way, way beyond our student budget at the time.

A few evenings ago, I was introduced to Tiffany & Co’s new metal.  Yes, a whole new metal – created specifically to mark the iconic brand’s 175th year.  RUBEDO™ (pronounced roh-bay-doh not roo-bee-doo!) is a beautiful, glowing rose with a warm pink hue which promises to be universally flattering on any skin tone.  And indeed it complemented my colouring very nicely, sitting perfectly between the yellow and white spectrum of the usual jewellery options.

Looking at the collection in person, the new RUBEDO™ metal looks to be a little pinker than standard rose gold, perhaps a touch cooler, with more brilliance than I expected and a little less creaminess – if that makes any sense at all.  Each piece from the RUBEDO™ metal collection made in this, the brand’s anniversary year, carries the signature of its founder Charles Lewis Tiffany.

I tried on a couple of pieces, the Tiffany 1837™ wide ring in RUBEDO™ metal (£505) and the Tiffany 1837™ cuff in RUBEDO™ metal (£3,050) – funny story, I couldn’t get the cuff off after I’d tried it on.  And by funny, I mean so embarrassing I wanted to die.  My wrist did the best impression of a sharpei puppy as I tried to wrangle it off.  “Oh sorry!  It won’t come off so I’ll just have to take it home with me”.  Can you imagine?

Anyway, you’ll be pleased to hear that prices for the collection start at a slightly less bank-breaking £160 for the Tiffany 1837 Bar pendant in RUBEDO™ metal but if we’re going to play my favourite ‘price is no object’ game, the most lustworthy piece, in my opinion, is the exquisite Tiffany 1837™ interlocking circles bracelet.

Which is your favourite piece from the new RUBEDO™ metal collection?

Look lively ‘cos the bloggahz are coming.  For the last couple of weeks we’ve been busy contemplating some of the loveliest products on the counters (aren’t we always?) before tasking BuyaPowa with the mission to offer them up for less.  Rising admirably to the challenge, the co-buying initiative have declared this week; Blogger’s Week!

Each day will bring new products as put forward by various bloggers on the interwebz.  I’ve included a full list of bloggers and products below, so if you’re liking the look of any of them, don’t forget to sign up to make sure you’re notified as soon as the co-buy goes live.

Charlotte from Lipglossiping: Tom Ford Lipstick (Scarlet Rouge)

Charlotte from Charlotte’s Obsessions: Benefit Porefessional

Nic from Strawberry Blonde Beauty: Chanel Blush Horizon de Chanel

Yinka from Vex in the City: NARS Gina Blush

Kim from Dottie K: Illamasqua Pigments Trio (Ore, Furore, Android)

Sarah from I Heart Cosmetics: YSL Faux Cils mascara

Jen from A Little Bird Told Me: Chanel le Vernis (Paradoxal)

Amrita from The 6 Inch Stilettos: Benefit They’re Real mascara

Lily from LLYMLRS: Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner (Black)

Bettina from Beauty Swot: Benefit Watt’s Up Highlighter

Jennie from Sailboat: Illamasqua Cream Blush (Promise)

Claire form The Beauty Scoop: YSL Rouge Volupte (#13 Peach Passion)

Khila from Miss Budget Beauty: Benefit Hervana Blush

Zoe from The London Lipgloss: NARS Multiple (Orgasm)

Charli from Charli…: NARS Laguna Bronzer

Lucy from Lucy’s Stash: OPI Holland mini collection

Liloo from Le Petit Jardin de Liloo: Shu Uemura Smoky Layers false lashes

Milly from Pearls and Poodles: Benefit Coralista Blush

Emma from Milkteef: Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh EDT

Stephanie from May Loves Makeup: Pureology Pure Volume Shampoo

Kate from gh0stparties: Smashbox Softbox eyeshadow palette

Charlie from Lady of the Lane: Too Faced Natural Radiance face palette

Karris from Karrisx: Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette

Jen from Beauty Junkie London: St Tropez Bronzing Mousse

Choosing my ultimate BuyaPowa co-buy was pretty easy once I’d decided to go down the lipstick route!  The Tom Ford Lipstick in Scarlet Rouge combines my passion for a great red lip with the benefit of having a few pennies shaved off the retail price.  Hooray for posh red lipstick!

What do you think of the blogger choices, are there any you’ll be going for?  What would you have chosen?!

Want the latest nail trends without the price tags?  Tesco have released their Spring/Summer shades, and all for a recession-busting 99p a-piece!

Which one is your favourite and will any be landing in your shopping trolley this weekend?

Just a quick note for those of you who love a good competition!

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, The Organic Pharmacy are offering their fans the chance to win a prize, every day throughout February.

To enter, simply submit your name in-store OR Like/Share The Organic Pharmacy on Facebook – remember, the competition doesn’t get underway until the 1st of February, so this is one for Google Calendar to remind you about!

If you’re still searching for a perfect gift for that more discerning member of the family *cough* (Mum) *cough*, you should point your browser in the direction of Timothy Han, purveyor of luxury candles.

Free from petrochemicals, genetically modified ingredients, herbicides or pesticides – these all-natural fragrant fancies are made from a carefully-chosen blend of pure essential oils, with no chemical additives or boosters.

I love the sound of Tobacco & Jasmine which ticks all the right boxes for a classy winter-warmer without going down the traditional gourmand route for Christmas home-scenting.

Each candle is hand-blended with a soy base and offers around 50 hours of burn time.  Luxury rarely comes cheap, and these are reassuringly expensive – at least, enough to keep you in the good books for a little while longer!

Timothy Han Candles are available to purchase online at www.timothyhan.com, priced at £38 each.

If you have any young women in your life, I’m fairly confident of this gift’s ability to make them squeal with delight.  A special Christmas Limited Edition Thierry Mugler Angel perfume with the iconic star-shaped bottle transformed into a bracelet.

Look at me modelling it like I should be on QVC!  You should probably know that my wrists just fit the bracelet… so this is definitely aimed toward either a younger, or less food-loving market… and pretty as it undoubtedly is, I’m not ready to give up my tin of Quality Streets for it just yet.  Maybe I could use it as a benchmark — I should try it on daily, and when it doesn’t fit anymore, I know it’s time to hand back the tin.

As for the scent… Angel is renowned for its notorious love/hate divide and I’m split right down the middle because I completely pinch-my-nose hate the chocolate-y, gourmand opening but adore the drydown and resulting warm sexiness that lingers for a very long time indeed.

The Christmas Limited Edition Thierry Mugler Angel with Bracelet is available to buy nationwide, priced at £51.50 for 25ml (EdP) or £66.50 for 50ml (EdP).

Are you an Angel fan?

* press sample

Of course you do, ‘cos after all – between the turkey, stuffing, crackers, mince pies, pringles, pigs in blankets, Quality Street, KP Nuts, trifle… sorry, where was I?  Oh yeah, between all that festive food fare, Mr. T is gonna be raking it in from us – time to get a little something back!

Log on to the Tesco Your Beauty Facebook page and take their new beauty seasonal survey which focuses on our ever-changing skincare needs now that Winter is upon us.

There’s 2500 free beauty products up for grabs, so plenty for all – at least until it gets posted on MoneySavingExpert that is!

Talking of turkeys, don’t forget to sweep your moisturisers down your necks and decolletage… Wha’? I’m just sayin!