A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Do you remember Streetmate?  That thing with Davina Mccall terrorising innocent people and trying to get them to cop off with other equally innocent strangers out doing their Saturday shopping?

Well, Soap & Glory’s Cheekmate has absolutely nothing to do with that, sorry.

Cheekmate* is a new gel blusher from the British brand best-known for their cheeky one-liners and ever-popular bodycare products.  I received a sample from their cosmetics launch which I was unable to attend and it arrived in the shape of this unassuming tube of red liqui-blush.

I say unassuming because this thing packs one hell of a pigmented punch.  I’ll let some pictures do the talking…

Easy to dispense and a little goes a very long way!

It imparts a nice rosy glow which blends well into moisturised skin.  Definitely apply this before any powder products and my top tip would be to apply before foundation too as inevitably, you’ll want to tone down the clown cheeks just a touch before venturing outside the front door.  Or perhaps that’s just me.

I love the translucency of the product that allows it to appear more of a flush across the cheeks as opposed to something that’s been painted on.  I would love to see this available in a peachier shade too.  As for use on the lips, I don’t recommend it because it tastes, frankly revolting until it sets dry.  I would never reach for this to use on my lips over a simple swipe of coloured balm as a less-drying alternative.

A final point to note about Soap & Glory’s Cheekmate is that this stuff STAINS.  The above photo shows my fingers after washing my hands.  This obviously means that the product sets and stays in place on my cheeks for most of the day but it also renders my fingertips unsightly.  A little thing, but worth noting.

Soap & Glory Cheekmate is available online and instore at Boots, priced at a very reasonable £8.00

* press sample

Inexpensive and YSL.  Not two words that you’d usually find in the same sentence but as I was browsing some of my usual late-night shopping haunts, I came across a lovely beauty bargain.

For less than the price of most high-street eyeshadows, you can scoop a YSL Water-Resistant Cream Eyeshadow in a non-disgusting shade.  £4.99.  Bargain of the week yes?

Let me show you how pretty it is…

It applies wet and blends to a sheer, crease-resistant base of smokey purple/grey.  It’s a great start for building up a smokey eye or worn on it’s own as a subtle wash of colour.  It blends nicely with either a brush or fingertip and is one of those great work-to-night out essentials.

The swatch on the left shows a couple of layers built up, whilst the swatch on the right shows how I wear it most of the time with a slightly darker crease colour.

YSL Water Resistant Eye Shadow in Amethyst Grey is priced at £4.99, available online from DirectCosmetics.com

I’ve just bought the Chanel Rouge Coco lippie deal from BuyaPowa which offers a potential saving of 26% – it comes in shade #5 (Mademoiselle) which was the shade I tried when the range was first released.

I didn’t love the formula BUT it will make a brilliant Christmas pressie for someone as it comes complete with Chanel gift bag.  Alright, so it’s not Chanel for 50p (boo) but you don’t normally get more than 10% off high end brands like that, so it’s a start.

I had a few queries about authorising payment when I mentioned the Nails Inc deal… so to clarify, you authorise at the payment level at which you buy.  I authorised my Paypal account to release the full price (I was the 2nd to buy) but you will only ever pay the lowest price so if 100 people purchase, you will also benefit from that lowest price point.  Clear as mud?  Good.  Now go get a nice Xmas pressie for your Mum for cheap.

P.S.  I haven’t been incentivised to post about this – other than the thing where if you partake, I’d be mega-chuffed if you’d click my icon to say you heard it from me.  I got a leaderboard beat down on the Nails Inc deal, it was like being picked last for gymnastics ALL OVER AGAIN.

Always a sucker for a bargain, I dived in head first when ELF recently cut the prices of their new(ish) Studio Matte Lip Colors to £1 a piece.  I jumped on them more because I love lipsticks in pen form than because I love matte formulas.  Let’s face it, matte formulas can be tricky to wear unless you’re 14 and addicted to Carmex.

Currently available on the UK website in four neutral shades, I grabbed the lot (and some nail polishes that I’ll probably never get round to blogging).

Tea Rose, Coral, Praline and Natural are the four shades available to purchase.

Here’s what they look like in the tubes…

For what it’s worth, I really like the packaging on these.  The simple and minimalistic black casing defies their £3.50 price tag.  The lids click to a tight, flush close and the twist mechanism feels like it will go the distance.  No complaints from me.

The formula on these didn’t vary too much between shades.  I found Praline perhaps gave the most drag during application, a little less creamy than the others but probably my favourite to wear because it looked the least chalky once applied.

Tea Rose was the creamiest but I felt that the colour was a little off, it’s quite mauve based which made my lips look a little… dead.

Coral looks far more apricot than a true coral shade in my humble opinion and Natural is easily the most nude for my complexion.  They’re a good, solid bunch of lip-neutral shades and I think most should be able to find one shade from the selection that will suit their skintones well.

And the lip swatches…

I know I usually do a full-face shot with lip swatches for context but none of them flattered me and I have a huge zit on my chin that has been there (without a head) for the past week – some days, you just can’t face those pesky FOTDs and today was one of them.  I also thought the close up might be useful so that you can see just how ‘drying’ each shade appears on the lips.

The paler shades definitely come out a little chalky looking, something that would easily be remedied by a touch of lipgloss to conceal those furrows.  In terms of comfort, I didn’t actually find them particularly drying on the lips which is testament to a quality purchase from the budget brand, however, I wouldn’t describe them as moisturising either.  Just your standard, good quality matte lipstick.

The ELF Studio Matte Lip Colors taste very fruity but are not particularly scented, something which surprised me (on both counts).  The taste, although synthetic, is pleasant enough…. similar to what you’d expect from something like a chapstick.

Overall, and for the money, I can’t really fault them too much.  Sure, I’m not really a fan of how the colours turned out against my skintone but that’s personal preference… throw me a red or hot pink and this could well have been a gushing post of epic proportions.  I’d say, give ’em a go – you might just find your holy grail nude matte lip!

ELF Studio Matte Lip Colors are available to purchase online at the ELF website, priced at £3.50 each.

…for a potential best price of £7.00 inc. shipping.

It’s currently sitting at £10 with free shipping and needs a few more buyers to achieve its full potential.

I went to Boots yesterday to try and get hold of the 17 magnetic polishes but they had nothing out except all the posters promoting it, irritated much?

My links aren’t affiliated or sponsored but I am feeling a little pepped and hopeful that BuyaPowa have gotten something so ‘on trend’ and ‘current’ on site so soon after our feedback.  Keep it up guys!

I think I need me one of these (at £7 hopefully).  How about you?

When these polishes were first released, I saw so many positive reviews online and the thing that spoke to me more strongly than the words accompanying them, were the pictures.  I was reading all this good stuff about how amazing they were and all I kept thinking was “but your nails look really bad”.

Case in point…

MyFace Cosmetics Lil’ Bling* nail polish in Pink Champagne is an uber-metallic, high shine polish which benefits from a quick drying time and an opaque finish.  Despite such a pale colour, I was done in two swift coats.  On my hardy nails, wear was average with tip wear setting in on the 3rd day and no chips.

All good things from a high street nail polish that costs less than £6.00.

But the problem is, there just ain’t no denying that it makes my reasonably un-ridged nails look like McCoy’s Man Crisps.

On ridged nails (or my toenails) this could get a whole lot uglier.

MyFace Cosmetics Lil’ Bling polishes (£5.99) come in 16 different shades and are available online at MyFace Cosmetics or instore at Boots.

Do you have any polishes that are awesome in nearly every way bar the most important?

.

P.S. see my perpetually peeling index fingernail?  Anyone got any awesome ideas to solve that problem?

* press sample

There’s no getting around the fact that our mutual addiction to all things ‘beautiful’ is an expensive one.  In an industry driven by fashion, technology and innovation, there will always be new products vying for space on our wishlists but never enough money to tick them all off.

The concept of group-buying has been growing in popularity over the last couple of years and there are many websites out there that offer deals on the basis that they will be supplying a single offer to a group collective at a lower than RRP price. Many of the beauty-related deals focus on experiences rather than material goods: haircuts, spa treatments and manicures (fishy or otherwise) and I’ve enjoyed many of the above at a lower price thanks to these websites.

BuyaPowa.com is a brand new site that enables shoppers like you and me to engage in ‘collective-buying’ and demand the same bulk-buy discounts that retailers enjoy. On initial inspection, these ‘co-buys’ appear to operate from the same starting-point as the other group-buying websites.  But there are some important differences…

1. The final price of any product drops as more people join the ‘co-buys’ and the person who brings the most people into any given co-buy receives their product for free.  A genuine opportunity to drive prices down with the help of those social-networking tools we all spend too much time on.

2. Alternative group-buying deals are generally focused on regional areas served by a particular salon or establishment but because BuyaPowa.com is product-centric, they offer deals to a national audience.

3. BuyaPowa.com have integrated a system into the site that encourages users to submit their requests for products they would like to purchase through a BuyaPowa.com ‘co-buy’.  This request is visible to other members who can join in and offer support for your submission. If enough people give your request a virtual thumbs up, BuyaPowa will set the wheels in motion towards getting a co-buy together.

It’s this 3rd difference that really has me interested in the BuyaPowa.com concept and is what sets them apart from other group-buying websites.  Something that utilises a community’s shared opinion and buying power in a unique and more importantly, useful way strikes a chord with me and is what I want to focus on in the remainder of this post.

Watch this short video for more information on how the BuyaPowa.com concept works

For a current example of a beauty ‘co-buy’, they’ve got a Burts Bees one live right now which is on its way to finishing at a discount of up to 53%.

.

Of course, it would be quite easy for them to go ahead and buy up a bunch of discontinued stock at a low price and flog it on like other online beauty discounters. Infact, I’ve quizzed them on how realistic it would be for them to approach high-end beauty brands and their response showed me that this is precisely the kind of feat they’re trying to achieve.  Of course, they can’t guarantee that every brand will be interested in our requests but to achieve this kind of shopping revolution, they’re going to need our help to convince the brands that WE would buy from them in this way.

Infact, can you imagine how cool this could be for the beauty community online?  Example…

Brand X releases uber new ‘multiple’ at £30 and within hours, some brilliant reader/blogger/you-tuber/twitterer has set up a request on BuyaPowa nagging them to provide a ‘co-buy’.  We all pile in (thanks to the power of social media) and within 24 hours the request receives enough support to elevate it to the attention of BuyaPowa who then approach Brand X to request 100 ‘uber multiples’ before passing on their retailer discount to us.  Get in!

BuyaPowa.com would like to hear our opinions and would love if you could answer one, two or all three of the below questions.

1). What type of proucts would YOU like to buy this way for less?

2). Are there any specific beauty products you love that are over-priced and particularly ripe for bulk-buy discounting?

3). Do you own any products which you now realise you could have bought for less if only something like this had previously been available?

.

* this is a sponsored post

Not the classiest way of putting it, but it’s a simple fact of life that people love a bargain.  The killer spring in your step that can only be achieved from walking away with a bagful of goodies you KNOW you couldn’t have afforded at pre-sale prices.  Cheers to that.

My favourite brand for killer sales is Paul & Joe.  Specifically in the Fenwicks store on Bond Street – which in itself, is one of my favourite places to shop in London.  Come sale time, I will physically not leave the city until I’ve walked around it seven times and once more for luck.  I’m still haunted by the fact that some HORRIBLE woman beat me to the last sale bottle of Calamity Jane (JHAG) when I was last in-store.  It all happened in slow-mo — in fact, I think I may have let out a slow-mo “Noooooooooooooo!” as I watched her walk away with my dream.  Bitch.

Anyway… where was I?

Oh yeah, sale goodies.  Some brands are tight as…  while others announce their sales with great flourish.  My favourites are the ones that just silently slip last seasons goodies into a little box on the counter and let you get on with it.  Guerlain are awesome at this.  Lancome, getting better.  The rest?  Well, you can pretty much forget it.

Is it just the case that the brands who don’t put aside last season’s items simply don’t have any stock left?  Or do you think it’s a status ‘thing’.  Do you think it cheapens a brand’s image as ‘high end’ if it discounts their products?

I think it is undoubtedly a question of status but in these cash-strapped times, a real shame that some brands don’t have the foresight to be clever enough to attract new customers in this manner.  There’s no need for all ‘bargain bins’ to look like the ones in Superdrug — you know, you need a hazmat suit to go near those right? — I strongly believe that all brands can do discounts without cheapening the brand image.

And would it pay dividends for the brands in question?  I think so.  From a personal point of view… I started small.  I lived in my local chemist, hoovering up the bargain pencils from Collection 2000, a few months later… as my interest in beauty grew, I moved onto the Revlon.  It’s like drugs.  You know you’re gonna eventually end up on the hard stuff (Chanel) with a bit of puff (BarryM) inbetween to keep you high*.  You just need your dealer to give you that first taste.

And just because drugs and porn** go so delightfully well together (so I’ve heard), I’ll leave you with a little makeup version.  Three exquisite Paul & Joe beauty items, under £25…

Which brands get you running for their sale items and which brands would you give your eyeliner-applying arm to see throw some old stock in a discreet discount box?

* in my experience, brands absolutely love being compared to class A drugs.

** pornography works well too.

If you’ve been umm-ing and ahh-ing over the influx of ‘beauty boxes’ to the market, I’m just about to make your life a little more complicated.

Latest in Beauty were the beauty box scene pioneers.  Back in 2008, I agonised over choosing my first three samples, paid my £1 (taken off my mobile phone bill) and waited with bated breath for my beauty box to pop through the letter box.  A few days later, it did and has over the years introduced me to some great brands like Ginvera, Blinc and Lavera, not to mention cultivating my addiction to Elemis.

The company went through what I’d describe as a ‘wilderness’ period a couple of years ago (a 1ml sachet of sun protection – what’s that gonna protect, my little finger?) but relaunched with a new website, adding more strings to their bow ever since.  Most recently, they’ve introduced the Beauty Insiders Choice Winners Box, where for £4.95 – you will receive 6 products worth in the region of £20 that share the common theme of picking up a trophy at this year’s prestigious Cosmetic Executive Woman awards.

Contained within the Beauty Insiders Choice Winners Box are the following products:

Dr. Organic Rose Otto Skin Lotion (5ml sachet), Clarins Multi-Active Day Early-Wrinkle Correction Cream (15ml tube), Batiste Dry Shampoo (50ml can), Balance Me Rose Otto Body Wash (55ml Bottle), Nivea for Men Q10 Revitalising Gel (15ml tube) and Lanolips 101 Lip Ointment (1g Sachet).

The Clarins is clearly the shining star of the set when it comes to value, 50ml of product usually retails at £38, making a 15ml tube more than cover the outlay for the £4.95 box.  The transparency is refreshing for people who like to know exactly what their money will be buying them, I’m a bit torn – I lurve nothing more than a wonderful surprise but I am also a horrific control freak.  Just ask Mr. L.

This is the first of the new themed boxes produced by Latest in Beauty, so if this one doesn’t grab at your wallet, be sure to check back soon for more.

.

As a little sweetener to tempt you into trying, Latest in Beauty have put together a rather delicious prize in the shape of a NARS-A-PALOOZA!

The prize includes:

~ NARS Illuminator in ‘Orgasm’ – £21.50
~ NARS Lipstick in ‘Jungle Red’ – £17.50
~ NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in ‘Carthage’ – £18.50
~ NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in ‘Bolero’ – £17.50
~ NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in ‘Queen’ – £16.50

…worth £91.50 in total!

This lovely lot will go to ONE person who orders a CEW box from latestinbeauty.com using the exclusive code LIPGLOSSIPING before 30th September.  Only one entry per person and DON’T FORGET THE CODE!  Good Luck!

.

What are your thoughts on the Latest in Beauty CEW Beauty Insiders Choice Winners Box?

* press sample

There’s nothing like an el-cheapo nail polish to quench that insatiable itch to buy something.  I was walking round town last week and felt the need to scratch.  Still recovering from the new lens purchase (it may be some time), I dived into Superdrug for something that wouldn’t break the bank and emerged triumphant with this little beauty…

…BeautyUK to be precise.  Voodoo – No. 55 (£1.99) is an absolute cracking shade for Autumn, a deep russet with a playful shimmer that glows in the right light.  Two coats to achieve opacity, I did get a tiny bit of bubbling on one nail which made me a little more careful with the application than I might normally be.

After admiring my manicure for half a day, I decided, beautiful though it is, I wanted moar Autumn.  I dug out my Inglot Flakie #205 and slapped on a coat…

Now we’re talking!  I see toffee apples, fallen leaves, crisp afternoons and misty mornings.  Brrr… c’mon Autumn, I’m ready for you!

Are you ready for Autumn?  Digging out your vampier shades yet?

Well, crack one open (between my thighs) and send me to the tropics because I think I might need today’s inexpensive beauty find in my life.

Wembe is an organic soap company hailing from Brooklyn and the brand have just launched into the UK market!

I love the sound of their Coconut Exfoliating Bar which promises to combine gentle exfoliation from two types of coconut pulp, whilst leaving your skin soft and supple thanks to a blend of rich essential oils and moisturising butters.

Ingredients: Cupassu butter (Theobroma grandiflorum), Sodium Salts from Vegetable Oils, Coconut oil (Cocus nucifera), Coconut Pulp ( Cocus nucifera)

Priced reasonably at £5.85 ensures that this Vegan body treat stays on my radar for a little while longer.

I liked this delicate combo of Beauty UK’s Smokey Lilac with OPI Golden Rainbow on top.  A dusting of holographic sparkle always goes a long way to brightening my day!

Of course, the Beauty UK polish is a bargainous snip at only £2.49 a bottle, though I believe that OPI’s Golden Rainbow might be a little harder to come by I’m sure that the effect can be reproduced with something like Northern Lights Holographic Top Coat.

The above mani shows three coats of the Beauty UK and a single coat of OPI Golden Rainbow.  Pretty!

What are you wearing on your nails today?