A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Today, I’m stepping a little outside of my comfort zone to bring you a mobile phone review.  You see, when I was offered the opportunity to test the latest budget smartphone on the market, the Acer Liquid E3… my husband told me that if I didn’t accept it, he’d divorce me.  Infact, I think he also pointed in the general direction of my beauty cupboard (currently occupying what should be his wardrobe) and said “You owe me”.

So, lets crack on shall we?  Pay attention please, you wouldn’t want to be responsible for breaking-up a happy marriage, would you?

The thing about mobile phones is that since 1998, I haven’t been able to live without one.  I can totally remember my first, it was a Motorola, for which I needed to upgrade the size of my handbag to status: suitcase just to accommodate.

Oh, how times have changed.  Gone are the days of Snake, the ability to store a maximum of 100 numbers, and even “proper” buttons… today’s (smart)phones are required to organise, alert, entertain and inform.  Actual telecommunication is more or less an afterthought.

These mini-computers have become an indispensable part of our lives…. I don’t mind admitting that I get the same uneasy feeling when I’ve left my phone behind that I used to experience when leaving the house without my cigarettes!  It’s a sad, sad fact that the last thing I do at night is put down my phone and the first thing I do upon waking is reach out and pick it back up.  Smartphone addiction, it’s totally a thing.

My first mobile phone cost around £75, my last mobile phone cost £599.  The Acer Liquid E3 promises many of the features of modern, high-end mobiles without the ridiculous price-tag.  Infact, this phone is firmly ensconced within the “budget” market, costing under £150.  But is it any good?

Let’s face it… I’m an Apple fan girl.  I hate myself for it.  I swore I’d never be one… but the truth is, the lure of the “App Store” has always been damn-near irresistible.  In the past, the Android O.S. just hasn’t been able to compete on the same level.  At least not for someone like me who just wants amazing-ness and ease of use straight out of the box.  I’m not interested in Android’s more complex features, I just want instant access to Candy Crush without feeling like I’m having to program the damn game myself.

But times have moved on and so has the Android O.S.  Nowadays, it’s far more intuitive and user-friendly.  To be frank, it’s far more… fun.

But enough about that, I’m not here to review the operating system but deliver a Liquid E3 review that doesn’t beat around the bush (too much)!

Lightweight, relatively thin, and sleek… my first impression of the Acer Liquid E3 is that it punches well above its weight.  It doesn’t look like a cheap phone, it doesn’t feel like a cheap phone.  My admiration is only compounded when the backlight turns on and I experience the 4.7-inch  screen in all its technicolour glory.  Bright, crisp, and easily viewable from tight angles… it single-handedly won me over before I’d even begun exploring any further features.  Compared to the iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen size, this one feels positively luxurious.

This generously-sized display is also perfect for streaming You Tube videos and viewing websites and you can see in the photo above just how well the screen handles my blog’s resolution.  The performance also delivers on all accounts, I haven’t experienced any major slowdown issues and response-time is good thanks to its 1.2 GHz quad-core Mediatek processor and 1GB of RAM.  To be fair though, I haven’t overloaded it with apps yet, unlike my other phone.

One of the Acer’s major selling-points are the cameras that deliver a giant (back) resolution of 13-megapixels and a (front) resolution of 2 megapixels, a selfie-taker’s dream that even offers flash capabilities on both cameras!  The quality of the images is also better than I had anticipated, even in low light.  You can see a (resized) example of the image quality from the back camera here.

Storage capabilities are somewhat limited by the phone’s 4GB of internal storage but there’s thankfully a microSD card slot that can be used to expand upon this.  The battery life of the Acer Liquid E3 is also nothing to write home about and drains after a day of only moderate use.  For me… this is a deal breaker.  It frustrates me how mobile phones have become so much more advanced over the years and yet their batteries… well, this important “feature” seems to be overlooked by most manufacturers nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not completely dire but it’s not something I’d put down as a “strength” for this model.  I should also note that there’s no 4G available on this model.

Ultimately, this is the first Acer mobile phone that I’ve used and despite some shortcomings, I won’t deny that it’s opened my eyes to a world outside of Apple.  I honestly thought that I had to pay top-dollar to get even remotely close to the kind of user experience delivered by my beloved iPhone.  I was wrong.

The Acer Liquid E3 is available on pay as you go from Three for just £134.99 or on contracts starting from only £14 per month!

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It doesn’t matter how many billions of blades your razor has, they all have one thing in common – they go blunt.  It may be after 7 shaves, it may be after 15 or even 20 but you can bet your bottom dollar that before you’re ready to chuck it in the bin, you’ll be sporting the freshly corned-beef look on your shins.

The Razorpit is an ingenious solution to prematurely blunting razors.  Its objective is to clear the razor head of the tiny hairs, dead skin and shaving soap that inevitably builds up in there over time.  Yeah, gross – hope I don’t come back as a Razorpit in another life.

It works quite simply, thanks to the power of friction.  We all know about the power of friction don’t we?  I’ve seen enough carpet burns over the years (not on me, obvs) to appreciate the impressive force that a bit of friction can create.  In order to fire up this power on the Razorpit, you need to apply some shaving foam or liquid soap to the flat plane of the gadget and push your razor over the lubricated surface in the opposite direction to the regular shaving motion.

My razor wasn’t particularly gunked up but it did remove a couple of stray hairs that I’d checked were firmly wedged between the blades just moments prior to testing it out.

Overall, my feelings on the Razorpit are mixed.  I think it’s a great gadget that seems to do exactly what it says on the tin, and I’ve no doubt that it will prolong the life of my razor.  I think my hesitation lies in the simply sexist fact that I think this one is more for the boys in the household?  I just feel that I can live without something like this in my life… Mr. L on the other hand is now sporting a very pink new accessory.  And loving it.

My recommendation?  Get one for the man who has everything.

The Razorpit is priced at £19.99 and available to buy online (in either pink or black!) from presentsformen.co.uk

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Clarisonic have released a new deep pore cleansing brush head, designed to be used on oily skin to target large pores or hard to reach areas of the face, such as around the nose.  I recently visited a dermatologist who prescribed me retin-a for dilated pores but as I’m currently trialling the Philips Reaura, there’s no way I can use something like retin-a at the same time and I’m looking for an alternative.  So, how is this new brush head going to help with large pores?  Well, if you’ve genetically inherited enlarged pores… it’s not.  But if your pores are dilated because they’re clogged with deep-seated blackheads and other such gunk, then this could help clear the debris more effectively than traditional cleansing methods, or indeed the other brushes available for the device.

Now, I’m going to preface this by saying that I’ve only tried it once (because I’m hyper-aware of over-exfoliating whilst using the Philips Reaura) and I’m not commenting on it’s efficacy, because with only one use, I’m in no position to judge.  I will say that it’s remarkably gentle on my skin, I was expecting something far more abrasive-feeling considering I was previously used to the ‘sensitive’ brush head.  I think this is going to be fine… infact, it feels softer than the ‘normal’ brush head that I originally swapped out when I first used my Clarisonic.

When I’m finished with the Reaura trial, I’ll be putting this to the test before going down the retin-a route, so you can be sure that I’ll be back with a full review in a couple of months time.  Until then, check out this fantastic Clarisonic Mia review from Product Pixie, she who inspired me to pull the Clarisonic out of the cupboard again in the first place!

Also, just a quick brush head tip for you – I mostly use my Clarisonic after removing my makeup but not always, which means that my brush head isn’t as white as it used to be despite regular cleaning.  I tried soaking one overnight in a dilute mixture of Napisan and hot water, it came out sparkling.  Obviously, if you try this… make sure that you’ve rinsed, rinsed, and rinsed again – you don’t want Napisan on your face.

The Clarisonic Deep Pore Brush Head is currently available from Space NK instore and online, priced at £21 before a nationwide release next month.

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LMS Spotlights are described as a new skin care range that uses red light therapy, a natural skin treatment that’s clinically proven to help clear spots fast.

A new “skin care range” seems an odd way to describe a device powered by batteries… I guess I’m used to “skin care ranges” referring to lotions and potions.  Nevertheless, what we’re talking about here are three electronic devices that are designed to emit a red light that encourages spots to heal twice as quickly than they would without this ‘red light therapy’.

A red light.  That gets rid of spots.

Yeah right.

I had about as much faith in these devices as I did in my ability to doughnut-dodge.

They’re also designed to look like cosmetic products (lipsticks, face compacts etc..) but I’m not too sure about that claim.  They just look… like something I’d want to ask the owner what the hell it is to be honest.

I don’t have acne and I don’t have particularly blemish-prone skin… but that doesn’t mean that I don’t get spots like the best of ’em.  Infact, I get great big juicers that start as a lump under the surface before developing some nice bold colour and impressive prominence.

Of course, at this point I do the only sensible thing and squeeze them… but nothing happens.  They sit there, headless and mocking. For weeks on end sometimes.  Whenever I do partake in a bit of squeezing, it angers the headless horror into getting more lumpy and sometimes turning a nice shade of purple for the duration of it’s takeover.  Then, when it finally begins to flatten, the colour can often remain for a couple of months afterwards.

So, whilst I don’t get regular breakouts… I still live in fear of one of these monsters invading purely because I know they generally move all their stuff in, get comfy and change the locks while they’re at it.

The LMS Spotlights device* is designed to be used three times a day.  If you own the smallest of the devices, you’ll need to use it for 3 minutes, whilst the others’ only require 1 minute usage at a time.  You could be glamourous and tote this around in your handbag or do what I do and leave it on a shelf next to the loo.  Let’s face it, we all need to pee and if we’re drinking enough water… then we should be doing it at least 3 times a day!  Seems like a perfect place to spend a minute zapping your face in complete privacy to me!

To begin with, I thought it wasn’t having any effect.  And I don’t believe it was… I think I was holding the device too far away from my skin.  It was only when I was sat at my computer one day that I felt this MOTHER of a zit appearing under my chin.  I literally ran to the bathroom and grabbed my LMS device and in desperation, aimed it at my skin literally a cm from the surface.  Within a couple of hours… the spot had retreated!

Since then, I’ve been careful to focus the light tightly on the area that I’m wanting to treat.  I can’t do a controlled test to see if the LMS Spotlights device is making a difference to the longevity of my zits but my instincts on it having a positive effect are enough to keep me using this three times a day, every day.  In the time I’ve been using it (properly), I haven’t had a single spot last for longer than 3 days.  Of course, this could be a coincidence… it really could, but I’ve been using it for about 5 weeks now and have been more impressed with it than I ever anticipated.

However, I’m not the only one.  I gave the largest of the three devices to my sister-in-law who unlike me, does have issues with blemishes and mild adult acne.  The largest of the three devices is designed to cover a greater area of skin and she is in love with it.  Which is a shame, because I’d really quite like it back now that I’ve fallen for my little one!

When I saw her last week, she extoled its virtues and told me that she was only wearing a bit of concealer.  I could see an improvement in her blemishes and also in the general evenness of her complexion.

So back to the ‘how does it actually work’ thing (taken from the LMS Website)…

How does Red Light Therapy heal my spots?

When cells are stressed (for example by a spot) Nitric Oxide levels increase which inhibits the cell’s energy manufacturing process affecting the skin’s natural ability to heal itself.  The primary effect of the RLT in LMS Spotlights is to penetrate the skin cells to force out Nitric Oxide and stimulate anti-oxidants.  This has been shown to reduce cellular stress and increase cellular energy (ATP) leading to improved healing and repair of the skin in a wide range of medical conditions including spots and acne.

So, it’s not that it directly targets or ‘kills’ the spot… more that it dispenses with the stuff (Nitric Oxide) that inteferes with your body’s own healing process.

I’m loathe to say that I’m convinced by this gadget purely because I can’t assign my recent good skin experiences to this device with absolute confidence.  I don’t like to encourage hype around products that have the potential to affect quality of life without concrete proof… but I also can’t ignore the fact that my instincts are telling me that this is making a tangible difference to my skin.  And that’s really all I have to go on.

I’m going to keep using it and Hel, if you’re reading this… give it back give it back give it back, kthanksbai.

The LMS Spotlights devices are available online at www.lmsspotlights.com and at Harrods.  Priced from £29.99.

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At the LMS Spotlights launch I attended last month, I had the opportunity for a little chat with Lucie Jones: 2009 X-Factor contestant, model, West-End star and current ‘face’ for LMS Spotlights.

Hi Lucie, Can you name 3 of your makeup bag essentials?

Cleanser is my top priority.  I think that no matter what makeup you wear, it’s so important to take it off properly.  Especially because I work in theatre I wear quite a lot of heavy makeup and when I get home, no matter how tired I am… I make sure to cleanse and tone properly.

No face wipes then?

Well if you’re ‘on the go’ then I think, fine… and for your eye makeup? Maybe… but for me and my career, it’s so important to keep my skin clean and clear.

What else… I think that a moisturiser, maybe a tinted moisturiser is always a nice thing to have (in your bag) and the third thing? Genuinely, my little LMS Spotlight ‘cos it’s so good.  It looks like a little lipstick – it’s quick and it really does work.  Three times a day, no side effects.  Swear by it!

So if you had to pick just one, which one product could you not leave the house without?

If I was to go out for a date and I could only apply one piece of makeup on my face… I think it would be mascara.  Generally, my skin is alright… I get the odd bad spot but “zap, zap” (she holds the LMS Spotlight to her face)… I don’t wear lipstick normally and I’m just back from holiday so have a bit of natural colour.  Mascara would be the one!

You released your first modelling shots last year… do you find yourself more conscious of your physical appearance since entering the public eye?

You know, I really don’t!  And specifically since I’ve started modelling I’ve become more confident.  You have to be, you can’t stand there and feel like a fool because you think you look stupid.  If you go in being confident, the ‘bad’ things about you won’t seem so bad.  Do you know what I mean?  Also, the agency that I work with are just lovely, really caring… so they would never let me feel like that.

Ok, that moves us on quite nicely to my next question… What are your top tips for feigning confidence when you feel you’re not looking your best?

Smile and wave!  Smile and wave… In the words of Madagascar!  But seriously, if you’re feeling a bit uncomfortable about something, just forget about it and focus on something good about yourself!  If you’ve had a bad ‘eating’ day and your belly’s bloated, focus on… your legs! Or do a nice face and makeup.  Concentrate on the things that you’re feeling happy about and the things that you’re feeling unhappy about will blow away!

Sound advice, so what’s next for you this year?

Lucie:  Well, I’m in Les Mis until June.  I will be auditioning for other musicals in the West End, I’ll be doing TV castings and trying to get into acting a little bit more.  I’m writing my own music and have been working with song-writers and producers so we’ll see how all that goes really and I’ll carry on doing modelling aswell…

A bit busy then?

*laughs* yeah, just a bit!

With all that in mind, what advice would you give young girls who hope to follow in your footsteps?

Career-wise, I would say to someone… just be yourself, don’t try and feign that you’re someone else.  If you think that someone will like you more if you act in a certain way, they’re obviously not the right person to be around or to be working with.  There’s always a team of people out there that you should be working with and you should be happy with the people around you.

Remember yourself, remember who you are and don’t change.  You are the only person who can get you to where you want to be, so why become someone else?

LMS Spotlights is a new skin care range that uses red light therapy, a natural skin treatment that’s clinically proven to help clear spots fast.  Available online at www.lmsspotlights.com and at Harrods.

I’ll be putting the device through it’s paces over the next month and will report back on whether it lives up to the hype!

…introducing, My Pet Fat.

My Pet Fat is an anatomically correct visual motivational tool to encourage weight loss.

…mypetfat is highly endorsed and used as a weight loss educator and motivator by instructors, coaches, trainers, nutritionists, nurses and doctors everyday. Whether you need to lose a little bit of weight, a lot of weight, or maintain your weight, mypetfat will help you be much more mindful of what you’re eating, and even help motivate you to get up off the couch and move.

As grossed out as I am, I totally “get” it…

Picture the scene…

It’s mid-morning and thus far, the day’s been a slowwww one.  Sipping at your freshly brewed cup of tea, you catch sight of the packet of custard creams sat on Julia’s desk conveniently just across the office from yours.   Instead of wheeling your (fat) arse across the empty room, pull the (travel sized) blob of fat out from your desk drawer and give it a wobble.  Perhaps even give your own a bit of a wobble at the same time.  Bet those biscuits lose at least some of their appeal.

Prices for your very own lump of lard start from $19.95.

Sadly, extortionate international shipping charges means that I won’t be giving you the skinny (totally intended that) on how well it motivates anytime soon.