A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The world is awash with lip crayons! Perhaps we’re all reverting back to our childhoods as an alternative to a rather gloomy reality but what is it with wanting to make our cosmetics look like crayola?

Well, whatever it is, I’m loving it.

Seventeen, the brand from Boots… one of the most accessible in the UK market, have firmly jumped aboard the lip crayon bandwagon and released their own version.  I had no idea what to expect.  Would they be sheer and balmy a la the original Clinique formula?  Would they be drying like the Revlon Just Bitten Stains?  Or perhaps they’ll be uber-glossy like the new No7 Lip Crayons?

Well, they actually strike a rather good balance… but with the added bonus of some proper pigment.  Hear that?  It’s a choir of colour-loving lips singing in celebration.

The two shades that I’m swatching today are Bold (orange) and Knockout (plum pink).  The packaging is functional and practical with a winder mechanism to wind the crayon up and down.  It’s bright… chunky and you’d be hard-pushed to lose it in your handbag.

The texture of these lip crayons are both very similar, so although I’ve only tried two from the five shades available, I’m expecting a consistent formula from a brand as well-established as Seventeen are.

Talking of the texture, I found it to be quite light considering the amount of pigment it provided.  You can see in the lip swatches below that there is no thick layer of product over my lips.  The furrows and creases are still fairly well-defined and not filled in with goop!  Despite this light layer of product, it punches well above its weight when it comes to coverage.  That is some pretty strong colour from a quick slick of crayon.

bare lips

Seventeen Lip Crayon in shade: Bold

Seventeen Lip Crayon in shade: Knockout

I didn’t notice any horrible smell during application (I’m looking at you Revlon), and the colour glided on with little effort.  I’d say that these aren’t quite as moisturising as the original Clinique formula but slightly more moisturising than their newer, intense formula.  Considering that we’re looking at nearly the same level of pigmentation, render me suitable impressed.

I wouldn’t describe the finish as a high-gloss one, it’s fairly low-key (which I personally prefer) and the colour lasts nicely for about 4-5 hours (less if you’re eating/drinking).  It doesn’t leave a stain behind but it does fade pretty evenly.

All in all, at only £4.99 a-piece (also currently on buy-one-get-2nd-half-price), the new Seventeen Lip Crayons* are a bleedin’ steal.  Have you tried any of the shades yet?

* press sample

Boots contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I’d like to take part in a challenge which involved styling a look using a pair of glasses from the latest Boots Opticians range.  Being a bit of a reluctant specs-wearer, I thought that it might be a cool idea to have a play and have a go at getting my eye makeup looking polished behind a pair of frames.  It helps that I stand a chance at winning a pair of glasses worth £450 for one of my readers too!

I also got to choose a new pair of frames from the latest Boots Opticians Autumn range for the occasion, there were six frames to choose from:

As tempted as I was to go with the fifties retro frames (red lip, black liner anyone?), I know from experience that the 50s cat-eye style really doesn’t suit the shape of my face – so instead, I opted for a pair of Caytlins, the “stylish secretary” look!

It was only a couple of days later, late at night when I suddenly realised… “how do you style a “secretary” look without looking overtly err… sexy?”.  I submitted this question to the folks on Twitter, who agreed that the sexy secretary thing was so damn entwined with the look that it might be tricky to pull it off without looking a little bit porny.  I was mildly horrified and immediately googled “non-sexy secretary”.  Google returned two hits.  OUT OF THE ENTIRE INTERNET.  Apparently such a thing doesn’t exist.

Well, do you know what?  I’m fairly pleased with myself for managing to keep the smut on the down-low whilst still retaining a bit of style (if I do say so myself).  Hopefully it looks secretary-ish, seeing as that was the brief but I think I might have a bit of librarian creeping in there too…

I kept the look as warm-toned as possible, not only as a nod to the season but also to help accentuate the warmth in the classic tortoiseshell frames.  I tried to bring as much light to the eye area as possible with copious amounts of highlighter and luminizer. Glasses can cast unflattering shadows under the eyes, so I avoided lining the lower lashes with anything other than a flesh-toned pencil but endeavoured to continue the colour theme with a pop of bronze shadow toward the outer corners.  I also kept the lid area as light as possible, blending the crease colour higher than usual to compensate.

Well-groomed eyebrows are important when sporting a pair of specs (don’t think you can hide them behind the frames!) and finally, cheeks and lips were kept fairly neutral but warm-toned to complement the whole look.

You can’t be a “stylish secretary” without a pussybow jumper can  you?!

I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other looks that get posted on the Boots facebook page.  I must admit that when I’m going to be wearing my glasses for longer than a short trip in the car, I’ll usually revert to a bold lip/simple eye look instead so it was really refreshing to push myself to try something different.

Do you wear glasses and bother with eye makeup?  Do you have a favourite from the new Boots Autumn glasses range?

* the Caytlin frames were provided free of charge, perma-sticker included 😉

If you’re doing some last minute shopping for your Summer holidays, you might be interested to know that all Soltan-branded suncare (Boot’s own brand) is currently half price, instore and online.  There’s a full range to suit the entire family – I really like (and currently use on the whole family) the Soltan Kids Rapid Cover SPF50++ one but am incredibly tempted by one of the aerosol “lighter than light” options whilst it’s at a bargain price.

Are you a fan of the Soltan branded suncare products?  Which ones do you rate and which ones should we avoid!

I know!  Right?!

But before you get all excited (as I did when I read about this), the offer is only available to new Boots Treat Street customers.  So, if like me, you’re already justifying your eBay addiction by reminding yourself that you earn Boots points with every purchase courtesy of Treat Street, this deal doesn’t have your name written on it.  The bastards.

However…

If you’re new to the world of Boots Treat Street, there isn’t a better time to sign up.  Except for that time when I signed up and got £15 in Boots points (kerr-ching) via a Living Social deal.  Sorry, you’ve missed that boat and no-one likes a gloater.

So, what’s this Treat Street malarkey all about then?  Well, to put it simply… it’s the Boots Advantage Card system extended to other stores (but only online).  For example, you can’t walk in to Dixons brandishing your Boots card but you can click through to the Dixons website VIA the Boots Treat Street website and subsequently earn Boots points on any purchases.  Clear as mud?  Good.

As much as I hate installing crap on my computer, I must admit that the Boots Treat Street browser toolbar comes in quite handy.  It pops up whenever I’m on a website that participates in the scheme and reminds me to “log myself in” to the system before making my purchase, thus securing my Boots Advantage Card Points from the deal.

If you haven’t shopped via the Boots Treat Street website before, you’ll be wanting this code: WELCOME500 and these instructions on what to do next.

Happy points collecting!  Do you use Treat Street?  Tempted to sign up?

So, staunchly ploughing my way through the UK available BB Creams (but slowly, very slowly)… the next on my radar was the Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream* which was launched recently.  It comes in a few varieties, depending on your skintype: normal/oily, normal/dry, dry/very dry.  I’ve got a stock image here because I took my photos last month and can’t find them on my computer anymore… I bet I got a bit zealous in my cleaning up process a few weeks ago.

I’m really enjoying what feels like a bonus inclusion for the dry/very dry camp and this delivers well on not exacerbating any symptoms of dry skin.  It doesn’t cling to flakes and it doesn’t highlight any dry patches or look powdery as it settles.  It doesn’t however, provide enough moisturisation for me to wear it without moisutirser underneath.  Nor, at SPF15, does it provide enough sun protection on its own.  This to me, isn’t a BB Cream – it’s simply not an all-in-one solution with the kind of skincare benefits that I’m looking for.

But how does it work as a foundation or base?

Really nicely actually.  It gives more coverage than a regular tinted moisturiser but not quite as much as a light foundation.  It leaves a dewy finish that is a little tacky to the touch before settling and tones down my redness well enough to give me the confidence I need to face the world.  I usually apply this with my fingers, making it a fast 5-minute face option for mornings when I don’t need or particularly want to look made-up.  Quick trips to the shops, school-runs, the general day-to-day stuff that you feel a little happier doing without a completely bare face.

It lasts adequately and doesn’t pack any oxidisation issues throughout the day.

Although the texture is quite thick, it feels blendable once it comes into contact with skin (especially under warm fingers) and has enough slip to allow you to really work it into the face quite well.  There are two shades available in each variety (fair & medium) and fair is a good-enough match for my pale skintone, a little too warm/dark but it’s sheer enough not to cause any problems.

The Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream in Dry/Very Dry is priced at £12.95 for 40ml, and is available instore and online at boots.com

* press sample

Perhaps the ultimate offering from the Boots Star Gifts this year is the Soap & Glory Big Splendour set which, from tomorrow, will be slashed to better than half price.

The set includes the following Soap & Glory bestsellers:

Clean On Me™ Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel – 500ml
The Righteous Butter™ Body Butter – 300ml
Pulp Friction™ Body Scrub – 300ml
Face, Soap & Clarity™ Fresh Facial Wash – 150ml
25 Off Your Face™ Cleansing Wipes
Heel Genius Foot™ Cream – 125ml
Hand Food Hand™ Cream – 125ml
Mist You Madly™ Fragrant Body Spray – 250ml
Sexy Mother Pucker™ Lip Plumper In Candy Gloss – 7ml
Calm One, Calm All™ Bubble Bath – 500ml

From tomorrow, the price will be £25 (was £60) and the offer will run until Friday, 24th December.

Stocks are going to fly off the shelves, so if you know a S&G fan who would love one of these under their Christmas Tree – please avoid potential disappointment by jumping on this offer quickly.

I was mooching on the Boots website late at night (as you do) and came across an interesting basket configuration that would give back 2000 Boots Advantage Card points on a £32.97 spend.  That’s equivalent to £20 back on your card for future frivolous purchases.

It goes something like this (click to enlarge)…

Also take note that you get not one, but TWO free Origins GWP (gift with purchases).

Of course, if you’ve got no use for this stuff, don’t get all excited about it.  It’s like those people who bought a billion Terrys Chocolate Oranges from Tesco when there was a price glitch for like 30p each… only to realise once the dust had settled that they still ended up spending £50 on chocolate they didn’t really want.

I just thought I’d give a heads up incase you know someone who might fancy a little set of cosmetic brushes as a stocking filler (there’s also an eyeliner brush) or maybe just someone who has particularly hairy legs.  Whilst of course, you pocket the £20 for a later splurge.

Happy Christmas Shopping!!

Whoo?  Whooga!

Whooga are widely considered to be one of the fastest-growing Ugg boot brands – thanks in no small part to their competitive pricing and quality materials.  I took delivery of a pair of their (now discontinued) weave style Ugg boots a couple of months ago.  I have to say that I’m not a massive fan of Ugg styling in general and I was curious to see if my sensibilities would fare better with a weave style boot and whether or not these boots would actually live up to some of the hype surrounding them from independent reviewers.

Delivery

Firstly, the brand need to work on some packaging issues.  My box arrived so badly tattered that I couldn’t store the boots in them.  If I had been giving them as a gift, they would have been an instant return for this reason.  I have read other reports of Whooga boots arriving in bashed packaging and of course, Royal Mail need to take some blame for this but I believe that a double layer of bubble-wrap would go a long way to protecting the corners of the box against this problem.

On the flip-side, I can’t fault the speed of delivery and we all know that when we buy something online, we want it like, yesterday!

First Impressions

When you first take them out of the box, they have a distinctive smell of glue.  It’s really a little off-putting and ultimately, it makes them smell quite cheap.  Chinese factory cheap.  You know what I’m saying.

Leave them in a place to air for a couple of days and this smell thankfully disperses.

A thorough inspection of all the seams, joins and nooks and crannies reveals no obvious manufacturing flaws, everything is in sound condition and neatly stitched/glued/constructed.

I have an EU size 40 and I’m a UK 6.5 – these are sadly slightly too big.  Definitely go for a size down.  No arguments.

Breaking Them In

As a virgin Ugg boot wearer, I really wasn’t sure how I would fare with these on my feet.  They are indecently snug and haven’t left my feet since the weather changed for the colder on Saturday but I will be buying a pair of quality sheepskin insoles to put in them because I feel the foot-bed is a little hard.  This may also help solve the sizing issue.

The knitted weave styling is more to my taste and I feel works far better with dresses than the usual Ugg style but I won’t elaborate too much on this, seeing as they’re sadly no longer available to purchase.  I will say however that these really hug my calves beautifully (when pulled up) with no sagging or over-stretching and I feel that this is testament to the quality of the manufacturing.

Ultimately, get your sizing right and I believe that for the price, these Ugg boots from Whooga would be difficult to beat.  Other than a slightly hard foot-bed and a bashed box, I can’t actually pick fault with them – they feel well-supported and solidly-constructed with quality, authentic materials.

Ugg Boots by Whooga are available to buy online from www.whooga-boots.co.uk – prices start from £75.00

* press sample

It strikes me that there’s a certain amount of appreciation for baked goods amongst beauty fans.  Cookies, cupcakes, muffins, cake-mix licked straight from the bowl… we’re just not fussy.  Perhaps it’s because we’re so finely attuned to appreciating the finer luxuries in life, or maybe we’re just a little big piggy – whatever the reason – I’m pretty sure you’re gonna get as excited as I have about today’s Christmas Gifting pick.

Let’s have a look at what we’ve got here…

~ A reusable and very practical cookie tin in which we can hide our multiple stashes of Fox’s Crinkle Crunch.  Don’t look at me like that.

~ A full-size tube of Hand Food™ hand cream which I blogged about back in June (and like very much)

~ A full-size maple-scented The Breakfast Scrub sugar body smoother.  Maple scented… excuse me while I make noises that a doughnut-spying Homer would be proud of hearing.

~ Finally, a squee-cute APRON!!!  OMG!!!  A Soap & Glory apron!

There is nothing about this gift set that I dislike and if Mr. L is reading this… (a.) please can you logon and change our Tesco delivery time to an evening slot and (b.) buy me this, kthanksbai.

The Soap & Glory Yum at Heart Christmas Gift Set is priced at a very reasonable (imo) £16 and available instore and online at Boots.  You should also know that this is included in the current 3for2 offer.

Do you suffer from an incurably sweet tooth too?

Thirty One years.  That’s how long the BBC’s Children in Need appeal has been raising money for disadvantaged children in the UK.  We’re all familiar with the annual BBC televised appeal which never fails to divide the nation into a love/hate camp when it comes to Friday night TV viewing, but the truth is that the vast majority of the money raised actually comes from the donations outside of this, given both before and after the live telethon.

I was contemplating this as I sat on the train to Nottingham on Thursday evening.  Well, if I’m thoroughly honest, I was also obsessing over how old I felt knowing that I’d been on this planet for all but one of the years that the appeal has been running.  Aside from this though, I was feeling rather excited to be heading up north to take part in the Boots HQ fundraising day, held annually for their employees at HQ.

The first thing that struck me as I walked through the doors to reception (other than, woah BIG) was the noise.  “Hang on!”, I thought, “This doesn’t sound like a place of work!”  Turns out, I was right.  Apart from a couple of grumps glued to their computers (I would tell you which department had the biggest bah-humbug ratio but that would be mean) there was very little work going on at Boots HQ yesterday.  Wanna see?

Does this look like work?

Or this?  No.  Bunch of slackers, It wouldn’t surprise me if I can’t get my hands on my Meal Deal next week ‘cos the Meal Deal team were too busy at the roulette table.

In fairness, all this nonsense and frivolity came at a cost to those taking part who valiantly dug deep and surrendered their pennies for tombolas, raffles, home-made cakes, wii dance-offs, and bingo!

I will neither confirm nor deny the reports that the above table was raided.  Not by me of course.

The lesser-spotted Blush Bear – I was tempted to ask her if it was NARS Amour but I thought I might look a bit silly.

It wasn’t long before my partner-in-crime Modesty Brown and I had spotted the “Beauty Salon”, a little setup that included the option to indulge in Nail Rock manicures and Eylure false lash applications.  We paid our pennies and jumped in the queue, eager for a little pampering in the home of, well, pampering!

Modesty Brown put together a little video of the nail wraps being applied which I’ve promptly stolen and included below because it shows how quick they were to affix!

All in all, it was a grand old day and I spent the train journey home feeling like a 6 year old who’d overindulged on fun, sweets, and a bit of wonderment.  Wiped out!

As we were leaving, I heard the bingo caller announce that in the few short hours he’d been shouting about the two fat ladies, the bingo bits alone had raised well over £1000.  Boots have been working alongside BBC Children In Need for the past eight years, and have raised more than £4 million to date.  But, I’ll leave you with the super-hero of the day, aside from all that charitable stuff, I dunno how this fella copes when he needs a wee.

For details on how to donate to Children in Need, find more information on the BBC website.  Thanks for having me Boots!

Morning Campers!  This post is up bright and early, are you?

You have my sympathy.  It’s dark outside and it’s flippin’ cold.  The kids have probably started whining already, your other half would have most certainly guffed before leaving the bedroom, and I bet you forgot to put your phone on charge last night.  Whatever morning mishaps await you, life can truly suck at this time of day.

Well – they say the early bird gets to scoff all the worms (or something like that) and today is going to be a prime example of society’s bias towards those who rise with the lark.

Recognise these nail wraps?  Of course you do, I posted about them last month.  They’re from Nail Rock and are currently being sold in Boots having been especially created for BBC Children in Need, which is tomorrow – should you need reminding.

I have 25 of these nail wraps to give away right now!

Courtesy of Boots, I’ll be giving these lovely nail wraps to the first 25 people who leave a comment telling me what I should have for breakfast today.

Now come on, don’t leave it too late – a girl’s gotta eat, I wanna see these snapped up quicker than a bowl of Rice Krispies.  Only open to UK residents I’m afraid.  If it’s 10pm in your ‘hood, that’s just cheating see?!

On your marks, get set, GO! (You may need to refresh (CTRL+F5) the page to see your comment)

T&C
1. Entry open to UK residents only.
2. The first 25 eligible commenters will each receive a set of BBC Children in Need Nail Rock Nail Wraps.
3. One entry per person, duplicate entries will be deleted.
4. Winners will be chosen according to how they appear on my screen, my decision is final.
5. Lipglossiping.com is the sole promoter of this competition.
6. Competition closes when 25 eligible entries have been received.
7. Winners list will be published on-site on Saturday 19th November and I will email all winners shortly after.
8. I have no control over which colour Nail Rock Nail Wraps you receive, please don’t make requests!

The U.S. have always been big on their Christmas ad extravaganzas but historically, in the UK… the only way we could tell that it was Christmas in ad-land was when we heard the opening words…  “It’s a magical place, we’re on our way there…” Extra points if you can guess the ad.

Today, things have changed and some of my favourite ads of recent years have been the Christmas specials from companies including John Lewis, M&S, Sainsburys (maybe not Iceland though eh?)

Some of the cutest in recent years have come from Boots and this year’s is no exception.  I was treated to a sneak preview on Tuesday night and it gave me that teeny little thrill down the back of the neck that reminds you CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!

You can experience the same thrill TONIGHT when The Girls go undercover in an attempt to put Christmas on the map in a big way.  The brand new Boots Christmas 2011 ad will be debuting at 8.15pm with a sixty second slot on ITV and Channel 4 during Emmerdale and Beeny’s Restoration Nightmares.  My Dad fancies Beeny.  Sorry, not relevant.

Anyway, my lips have been sealed shut and I’m not allowed to reveal more about the ad but it is a Christmas cutie… don’t tell anyone I’ve shown you the still, I may have to kill you.  Or The Girls may have to kill me, either way, it wouldn’t be very Christmas-sy.

In the spirit of all things horribly commercial (geddit?), what are your favourite Christmas Ads?