A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

In August I went on holiday for the first time with the baby, got my hair chopped short and fell in love with my new Ted Baker specs, showing off the rest while I was at it!  My first (and probably last) fashion related post… if you can call it fashion?!

Gorgeous Goggles! – Friday, August 21st, 2009

I shamelessly stole this post from the fabulous LionLovingTiger, go check out her blog if you haven’t done so already!

About a year ago I went for an eye test as I realised that I couldn’t read the Sky EPG without squinting.  The optician told me that my eyesight had deteriorated a little and that I wasn’t to drive without sorting myself out with some contacts.  “Contacts, schmontacts” said I, and off I skipped to find myself the baddest face furniture I could lay my grubby little hands on!

I’ve always loved glasses (strange girl that I am) but when my eyesight was 20:20, I could never bring myself to buy a set of frames to put blank lenses in… I’m not quite twattish enough for that kind of nonsense.  So I was actually pretty excited to be buying some specs!

My first pair (and probably still my faves) are these Missoni lovelies.  I think I paid around £50 in the sale for the frames.

My next purchase was lust at first sight, I’d tried these on a few times…loved them, but winced everytime I looked at the price tag – then they became like “SO last season” and disappeared from the shops…. fast forward a few months and I found a girl selling her old pair on eBay.  I very nearly peed myself with excitement when the auction ended and they were mine!

My most recent pair are a Ted Baker offering.  Lurve these, but I haven’t got round to ordering lenses for them yet as I’m still too busy loving my Missoni and Chanels and there’s only so many opportunities to wear them considering I only really need them for driving.

Group Photo!

Thanks for indulging me in my shameless showing off of my lovely glasses!  Anyone else sporting gorgeous eyewear?  Show me/Tell me!

I squeezed out 40 posts in August, the hot weather (what hot weather?) must have gotten to me…

I also asked who your beauty icons were…

Who’s your Beauty Icon? – Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I have a few: Debbie Harry, Anna Karina & Edie Sedgwick but here’s my fav:

Jean Seberg is incredibly beautiful with her trademark pixie cut and simple eyeliner-oriented makeup – just lovely!

Who’s your beauty icons, past or present?

Finally… I started sharing my love for cleansing oils…

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil vs. Shiseido Perfect Oil – Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Since discovering cleansing oils about a year ago, I couldn’t go back to life without them.  I didn’t believe it could ever be possible to remove makeup so effortlessly and quickly.  If you’ve never tried including a cleansing oil as part of your beauty routine – you must.

My benchmark cleansing oil is DHC’s Deep Cleansing Oil.  This was my first foray into oils and I instantly fell in love.  One thing that I have never loved however, is the price.  At £16 + £3.95 shipping from the DHC website, this is venturing very closely into a price range that I’m not happy to pay.

So come, join me in my quest to find a purse-friendly alternative…

I have already blogged about the disaster that is Smashbox’s Cleansing Oil (thankfully now discontinued, although I still have my full bottle sitting in my bathroom cabinet *just bin it already*)

Next on my list was Shiseido’s Perfect Oil thanks to a recommendation by Kathi from Lotus Palace whose opinions on all products Japanese and Korean I hold in high esteem.

Let’s have a couple of quick fire comparisons:

Packaging… Yeah, Shiseido wins this one easy… simply prettier to sit on your shelf, plus it comes with a little ‘clip’ (not pictured) to put round the neck of the bottle to avoid the pump being mistakenly depressed whilst travelling – you do NOT want this shit leaking all over your holiday clothes!

The Shiseido oil has a fairly pleasant fragrance whilst the DHC smells like chip fat.

Shiseido’s formula is thin and watery compared to DHC’s heavier, oilier formula.   A lot of people would prefer Shiseido’s easy to spread formula I would imagine, but not me!  I actually prefer the heavier, oilier texture of the DHC as it feels so lovely to massage into my skin.

They perform equally brilliantly at shifting the makeup.  Heavy foundation?  ”No problem!”  Waterproof mascara?  “Lemme at it!” – so yes, top marks for both on that score.

Shiseido easily triumphs with regards to cost… it literally piddles all over DHC.  I paid £8.50 for a 150ml bottle on eBay, compared to nearly £20 for DHC’s 200ml.  Also, because the Shiseido spreads so easily – I find that unless my makeup is particularly heavy, I can get away with using only 1 pump each time.

However, there is one thing that sets them apart and unfortunately it makes the Shiseido a big fat fail for me.

Emulsification people, I cannot stress the greatness of DHC’s emulsifying abilities!  This thick, slightly smelly but extremely effective oil gently foams on contact with water before melting entirely leaving my face clean and residue free.  It doesn’t stick to my cloths, the basin or my skin.  I always ‘double cleanse’ with a mild soap afterwards out of habit, but when using the DHC oil, it wouldn’t bother me if for some reason I couldn’t.

The Shiseido just can’t compete.  It’s not THAT far off… It’s not a complete loser like the Smashbox, but it does leave a slight residue and I can feel an oiliness on my hands which doesn’t disappear until I’ve 2nd cleansed.  It also means that I have to scrub the sink after EVERY use or my husband calls me a minger for leaving the sink scummy. (Like he can talk with all those beardy little hairs he leaves behind after shaving, and he’s SO showing his age with that particular term of ‘endearment’… ).

I digress…

In conclusion, I won’t be repurchasing the Shiseido… but I also still refuse to spend £20 on a cleansing oil, so I need to hunt down my next contender!

This is a two-parter lookback, because I liked the juxtaposition of both posts…

Part 1, I dwell on getting a little bit older…

Age appropriate cosmetics – Should we tone it down? – Friday, July 17th, 2009

So, I’ve been thinking…

My latest FOTD was quite bright (for me), it’s my 28th birthday today and I’m someone’s Mum.

Should I start being more aware of my age when it comes to cosmetics?

I currently don’t give it much thought.  It’s just not something that inhabits my radar when shopping.

Perhaps it should be?  I mean, loads of factors influence my purchasing decisions: skintone, seasonal trends, cost, if something is work appropriate/occasion appropriate etc…  But I have never questioned myself on whether I might perhaps be a little too mature to wear that sparkle infused lip gloss.

I’m not the kind of person to bathe myself in glitter, but I do find myself more drawn to shimmer than matte.  It might not have the sophistication of matte, but ooh look! pretty!…

I also spent most of my childhood rubbing my eyes.  Why my eyes always itched and why no-one took me to a doctor to get drops I’ll never know but anyway, I digress, where was I?  Oh yes, Consequently, my eyelids aren’t particularly smooth.  They’re quite creased, which probably isn’t going to look good combined with increasing wrinkles.   Throw in some shimmer eyeshadows and it’s probably not the best look past the age of 30.  That’s not to say it’ll look THAT bad, but it’s just not going to be the best way to draw attention to my features.

I have a confession.  I own a rather pretty NYX dark red glitter polish.  When it came in the post, I ooh’ed and ahh’ed over it, twirling the bottle between my fingers and making my husband agree with me at least 5 times a day that it was the sparkliest, prettiest polish he had ever seen…

I wore it once, and honestly… it made me feel massively self-conscious.  I took Leila to the surgery to get weighed and I hid my nails convinced they’d snatch my daughter off me citing the reason that I obviously wasn’t emotionally mature enough to care for a baby if at the age of 28, I was still painting my nails with red glitter.

Please tell me that I’m not the only one who occasionally thinks this when indulging in a bit of sparkle or a lovely bright colour?

The whole thought of having to consider age as a factor when shopping for cosmetics is quite frankly, depressing.

Youth, as they say – is most definitely wasted on the young.

Now please excuse me, I’m off to play with my Dazzle Dusts and Opi Brights.

…and then a few days later, I obviously think screw it when I enter the lovely Tali’s contest (gosh, I kinda miss my long hair too!)

Entry for Tali’s Brother’s Grimm contest! – Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I had a go at entering Tali’s fantastic contest over at The Gloss Goss which closes tonight, so get your entries in quick!

I was inspired by the sweetie house in Hansel and Gretel and I’m representing the wicked witch portraying herself as innocent, enticing and friendly – just before revealing her true identity (and intentions) to the 2 hapless children.

Erm, I hope that 3rd one isn’t porno lolly – it was supposed to suggest a hint of the witch’s true intentions!

Products I used:

Good luck if you’re entering!

June was kinda slow… 10 posts, mostly discount codes (I don’t do those anymore… I should start huting again!).  One Leila post, but I’ll spare you it and pick this one as my favourite from June 2009.

NOTD – China Glaze – Ruby Pumps – Friday, June 19th, 2009

A gorgeous, vibrant shade shot through with a sophisticated glitter.

This polish is fantastic and would easily make it into my top 10 list.

It’s a lush cherry red that I can’t stop looking at!  It goes on smoothly and evenly.  The texture feels a little gritty thanks to the glitter, but it’s nothing that a sweep of top coat wouldn’t fix.

The above image shows 1 coat(!) after 4 days of wear.  There is very minimal and even tip wear.  This is my first experience with China Glaze polishes and I’m so impressed by the formula of this one, I’m looking for more!  Anyone care to share their favourite CG polishes?

I’m sorry… it’s not makeup related… but I couldn’t NOT consider this my favourite post of the month now could I?

Incidentally… how hardcore am I?  I scheduled this post to go live whilst I was screaming down the labour ward. Rock. On.  Oh, and check out the comedy lip to eye photo placement… Mr. L often returns to that post just to mock me.

Anyway, here’s my favourite from May 2009.

Introducing…. – Sunday, May 24th, 2009

My beautiful little girl Leila.  I’m in love!

She arrived on Saturday 16th May at 6.22am weighing a lovely 7lb 6oz.  She entered the world through the sunroof thanks to an emergency c-section after the induction went a bit wrong.  As you can see it appears that I have given birth to a little redhead, I didn’t see that one coming – hope it doesn’t change though… I adore it!   Her Daddy and I are massively in love with her and think we might just keep her.

As for me, my stitches itch and pull but I’m one for looking on the bright side – so at least my foof is intact!  I’ve only got about a weeks worth of posts lined up, so I need to get back into the swing of things!  I’ve got loads of lovely goodies to review and play with, I would do a FOTD except I’ve broken out in lovely hormonal spots – so, not a chance!

Forgive me if it goes a bit quiet round here at the end of the week.  You’ll probably find me crazy eyed, covered in a mix of vomit and shit, gently rocking myself in the dark corner over there K?

Next week marks my one year ‘blogiversary”.  Wahoo!

Here’s a lookback through the archives, some of my favourite posts from each month… starting with April 2009.  These could be embarrassing!

Bourjois So Laque! Nail Polish Review – Monday, April 27th, 2009

I was browsing the shelves of my local Boots looking for something to spend my latest ‘£2 off’ till spit on, when I spotted Bourjois’ So Laque! Nail Polish claiming to last up to 7 days thanks to the extra vinyl – woohoo!

I plumped for the Beige Glamour colourway, thinking I should go for something a little more conservative than the teal I was sporting that day…

So Laque! is currently on offer in Boots down to £3.37 from £5.37, so now is a great time to try out some new shades and if you’re organised enough not to have dumped the ‘£2 off’ till spit from last month, you can pick one of these varnishes up for a super purse friendly £1.37!

There weren’t that many shades available in my local store, but the Boots website claims to have 11 shades on offer:

I’m really liking Bleu Mysterieux and Rouge Diva in particular for my pale pink-toned skin (although those weren’t available in my little Boots).

Consistency of Beige Glamour is very thick but smooth and not at all gloopy, there’s no sheerness about this polish and you could easily get enough coverage from a single coat to achieve a nice opaque finish.

The downside is that it’s pretty unforgiving to any mistakes that you may make with applying.  I actually preferred the colour I achieved from one coat as the 2nd turned the beige finish a deeper brown but my application skills demanded a second coat to achieve the glass-like finish I was after.  Definitely not one to apply whilst making the morning commute by train!

Drying time was perfectly acceptable and there’s not a hint of streakiness, super matt perfection!

I’m not sure I’d pay the RRP of £5.37 for Bourjois So Laque!, not when there’s so many other great brands out there vying for my attention – this polish hasn’t wowed me, but if it lives up to it’s 7 day wear promise then I’ll definitely be picking up some more shades while they’re still available at £3.37 each.

Check out those teeny tiny nails!  I kinda like ’em!  And that polish is pretty glossy looking… bit of a granny shade, but I might dig it out next week for a second outing!.