A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Must-Have Monday.  Not a new feature on the blog, I’m just pretending like it’s always been there ok?  You probably won’t see it again… I’m not that organised.

But you need to know something.  This isn’t like all the other “must-haves” we all read about, the beauty essentials that are completely and utterly essential until the next. best. thing. comes along and takes its place.

The simple fact of the matter is that if you don’t swim the Channel immediately, drag yourself into the first E. Leclerc that you come across and buy this item, you might aswell not bother buying anything else ever again.

Are you hyperventilating yet?  Because you should be.

Le Petit Marseillais Huile Seche Sublimante is a dry body oil that has obviously been sent down from above.  Infact, it’s not just a dry oil… it’s the driest of dry oils.  I just tested that claim to the max by spritzing my arm, rubbing the oil in with my hand and then proceeding to wipe my hand all over my t-zone.  Not a single fuck did I give about wiping my oily hand all over my face, that’s how dry this oil is.

Yet despite this scientific anomaly of how oil is supposed to work, it still leaves the kind of healthy sheen on the skin that suggests you’ve just disembarked the yacht after your Summer tour of the Med.

And don’t even get me started on how it smells.  As I’ve previously hinted… this stuff has clearly been borne from the wings of angels.  Spritz it onto your skin and it smells as if you’ve walked through a tropical rainforest with that classic tiare monoi-esque smell.  Now, don’t get me wrong…. gushing as I am, you should know that this isn’t packed with the most beautiful natural oils on earth.  Here’s the ingredients list…

Isopropyl myristate, sesamum indicum oil, isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl laurate, PEG-40, sorbitanperoleate, argania oil, prunus amygdalus dulcis oil, butyrospermum parkii butter, BHT, propylparaben, parfum, hexyl cinamal, linalool.

Mineral oil, Sesame seed oil, palm oil… only a slight nod toward the argan, shea butter, and sweet almond oil emblazoned as if they were key ingredients on the front.  Basically, the ingredients list reads like a whos-who of “stuff that kills the environment and gives you pore cancer while it’s at it”.

But what can I tell you?  It softens even the most parched areas of my skin with the least amount of fuss and hassle on a cold, Autumnal morning whilst making me want to lick myself all the way to school.  I’ve also started spritzing it on the ends (only the very ends) of my hair post-wash.  I heart it.

Did I also mention that it only costs a fiver?  Oh, I didn’t?  My bad.

Le Petit Marseillais Huile Seche Sublimante is priced at around €6 and is available from most supermarkets… in err, France.  That stretch of water never seemed so wide as it does now.

Having spent the afternoon skirting around the possibility of knuckling down and doing some actual work, I was indulging in one of my favourite evening procrastination activities (online shopping), when looksee what I spotted!

Lanolips Herbal Treatment Body Oil.  Holy mother of all things oily and lanoliny.

If like me, you’re a fan of body oils  – you’ll be delighted to hear that this one is completely free from mineral oil.  It’s a super-concentrate of Ultra Pure Grade Lanolin Oil with extracts of Pine and Eucalyptus thus needing no petro-chemical fillers, note the 60ml sizing which I’m guessing means that a little is destined to go a very long way.  There’s just one thing… where’s Lady Lamb gone?!

Ok, now I’ve got that off my chest, back to the oil…

I personally apply my body oils whilst still in the shower over skin that has been wiped with a flannel (not dried) to lock in the maximum amount of moisture.  It’s the quickest, least messy way I know of giving my skin a suppleness boost in this icy weather.

Lanolips Herbal Treatment Body Oil is priced at £9.99 and available online now from Victoria Health (who may or may not be harbouring one lady lamb)

Do you use body oils or creams?  Miss Lady Lamb too?

I don’t get much time to spend on my ‘beauty’ routine, not half as much as I’d like… so any product that promises to multi-task captures my attention quickly!

Davines Authentic Nourishing Oil (£29.20/140ml) is designed to be used on face, hair and body.  A truly multi-tasking masterpiece?  Formulated with 100% natural ingredients, these include organic Carthame Oil, Jojoba, Sunflower and Sesame oils.

They say:

After a shower, while your skin is still wet, massage on your body, face and décolleté. (For additional moisturising power, add a few drops to your face and body cream at night, when your skin is repairing itself).  Smooth a few drops through the ends of the hair to get rid of split ends and don’t forget your hands – they must be protected against the external aggressors.  Massage your hands and cuticles daily.

I already use a body oil which I apply to damp skin – but I’m a total sucker for oils and I can’t stop adding to my collection.  At £29.20, the Davines Authentic Nourishing Oil is a little more than I’d like to pay… although 140ml would last a very long time.

What are your favourite multi-tasking products?

An edgy release from an edgy brand that fits perfectly with the Body Electrics ethos of makeup to enhance movement, dynamics and light.

Illamasqua released two Illumine Oil’s with the Body Electrics collection and it was the oils that first drew my attention.  Pulse is a golden bronze shimmer, whilst Volt is an iridescent silvery violet shimmer.  I was very kindly sent a bottle of Volt to slather myself in so I thought I’d do the good blogging thing and not keep my opinions to myself.

Firstly, I’m put off by the price…  £32 is a lot of money to pay to decorate your decolletage with shimmer.

Don’t get me wrong… the shimmer is beautiful, it’s radiating and it catches the light perfectly.

You could DIY it, I think it would probably look chunkier and less effortlessly elegant if you did… But still… £32? *whistles*

Anyway, I swerve from being wildly extravagant with my money to tighter than a ducks arse, so let me review this on it’s own merits first before you all get out the fans to revive me from the price tag.

They Say:

Create a sultry shimmer with an after-dark edge.  Smooth Illumine Oil over skin for a light-reflecting finish that makes every movement a drama.  Infused with pearlised particles, passionflower seed oil and vitamin E, this luxurious dry body oil is quickly absorbed and leaves skin illuminated.  Bask in a radiance of your own making and demand to be worshipped.

You get 100ml of product for your money and to be fair, you only need a very very small amount (2 fingertip fulls) to fully cover your entire decolletage.  I could imagine this lasting easily over a year of regular use.

I’ve tried very hard to capture the iridescence in the bottle, it’s quite breathtaking… kinda like the Prism nail polish but on a much larger scale!

If there was one time this blog needed smell-o-vision, it would be now.  Volt smells ah-mazing.  It’s tropical and heady, perfect for warm summer nights.

The packaging, whilst elegant and simple is a source of irritation for me.

Picture the scene… glass all over the floor, £32 Illumine Oil soaking into your floorboards giving them an ethereal, sparkling glow… only to be matched by the sparkles in your eyes from the big fat tears.

Maybe it comes with being a Mummy… I mean… I’m not asking them to sell it in this:

…. but accidents happen.  And that bottle with it’s standard bottle opening is asking for trouble.

Anyway, how does it sparkle?

Ohhh… I tried and I tried to capture it’s delicate shimmer… here’s the best I could do.

You can see the sparkles that are suspended in the oil… and yes, they are indeed mostly violet which gives a true ethereal (though not Edward Cullen) type glow to your skin.  The sparkles are very, very fine and small… not at all chunky.

The sparkles stick firmly and whilst transfer is still very much apparent (hello strange glitter speck in the corner of my vision) the sheer density of sparkle ensures that you will remain suitably spangly all evening long.

I think I’ve covered everything…

Is it expensive? Yes.  Is it beautiful? Yes.  Did I rock it whilst doing a trolley dash in Tesco last night? You betcha.

Illamasqua Illumine Oil in Volt is £32 for 100ml and available at Illamasqua counters nationwide or online at Illamasqua.com

Back when February was still so new I was calling it January, I blogged about this:

Hei Poa Pur Monoi Beauty Oil, my skin was bone dry at the time and as a fan of most body oils anyway, I was keen to try another.

I ordered from Zuneta and it arrived within two days with a couple of posh samples enclosed as a bonus!

It’s not particularly attractive in it’s solid state, infact… it’s not at all appetising until you unscrew the lid and give it a sniff.  The unmistakable scent of Frangipani fills your nostrils, a beautiful tropical aroma.

So how do you turn it from that solid, waxy-looking state into a warm oily texture ready for use on your skin or your hair?

I fill a jug with hot tap water and simply sit the bottle in the water whilst I’m in the shower.  It takes about 4-5 minutes to melt completely, but you don’t need to melt the whole bottle.  If you only wanted a little, you could be done in 30-40 seconds.

Not a huge thing… but a point of note is that the labelling on the bottle  is waterproof and has so far remained intact despite being submerged countless times!  I hate paper labels on bath products that disintegrate as soon as they get a splash of water on them!

After about a minute in the hot water, I pulled the bottle out and although you can see it’s not completely melted, there’s enough there for one application.

I find the Hei Poa to be a particularly dry body oil, it’s not massively ‘glidey’ and once I’ve started to spread, it drags a touch on my skin.  The flip-side to that is that I’m not left feeling at all greasy.  It’s a trade off that I’m happy with.  The oil leaves my skin feeling noticeably smoother with a beautiful sheen and delicate scent.

I’m a very happy Hei Poa convert!

What to try next?  The ‘golden glow’ version or the shower/bath oil? – decisions, decisions!

Thinking it would be a great space-saving idea to pack a couple of dresses and woollen tights for London means that I’m more than over winter now.  Move along, make some room for Spring please.

With this in mind, I’m thinking warmth.  I’m channeling sunshine, balmy evenings and cloudless days.  And nothing evokes warm sub-tropical feelings better than the sweet scent of Frangipani.  Discovering the Hei Poa Monoi Beauty Oil whilst browsing Zuneta, has left me in a “I must have this immediately” frame of mind.  Oh, you know the one!  Yeah you do….

It’s a multi-use product.  I like those, I have so much crap variety of products in my bathroom, that I’m in dire need of a bit of space-saving.  You can use the Hei Poa Monoi Beauty Oil on your hair or your skin.  I’ve never really had a great relationship with hair oils (hello greasies!) but my skin drinks body oils up like my Nan in a Guiness factory.

Produced in Tahiti and priced at £9, Hei Poa beauty oils are completely natural, containing no preservatives or colourants.  They promise to leave skin and hair delicately scented and nourished. Yes Please!

Hei Poa products can be purchsed from Zuneta, I’m off to check out what else I feel like being tempted by on this miserable Tuesday afternoon!

Love it or hate it, Rose-scented products tend to polarise opinion… I’m in the love-it camp, I find it a comforting smell in a Granny kinda way.

I’m talking Granny in a cool Lily of the Valley sense.  NOT Granny in a mint imperials wrapped in tissue discovered in the bottom of a musty-smelling handbag sense.  I hope we’re clear on that?

Weleda Wild Rose Body Oil promises to protect skin from free-radicals whilst moisturising and promoting inner balance and harmony.

Inner balance? Harmony? Please excuse my whilst I attempt to mainline about 5 litres of the stuff directly into my veins… I’m on the final day of my inlaws visit.  I love them really… but… well, yano…

Oils are my thang, I’m a lazy git when it comes to body moisturising… and oils just seem easier to me than creams.  I apply them after turning off the shower taps whilst my skin is still damp.

Doing it this way, means I can be quick and messy and get the chore over with.  I also like to screw with Mr. L and leave an oily residue in the bath.  It’s like banana skins x700 billion.  *claps hands with glee*

I also find them to be great value for money.  Body Oils are generally more expensive than creams and lotions, but a little goes a very long way and a single bottle will easily last me 6 months of daily use.

I especially like the sound of this one ‘cos you can slather it on your face too… god I’m such a sloth.  I’m sussing myself out as I type this…  I want an all-over oil that I can apply in about 5 secs flat from top to toe without moving from the warmth of the bathroom don’t I?  Well.. step forward Weleda!

And this… ladies and um ladies, is why I’m announcing Weleda Wild Rose Body Oil a bonafide January Essential (for lazy flakey-skinned bitches).

Weleda Wild Rose Body Oil is available from LoveLula.com and priced at £18.95 for 100ml

Are you a body oil fan?