Friday 20 July 2012

Lush Emotional Brilliance Launch

Lush's long-awaited makeup range launches tomorrow, and I have just got home from a little preview event that the King's Road shop held tonight. I had a lovely time- the staff were friendly and helpful, and of course we got to try the new range!

The whole range is quite unique- the bottles reminded me of an old apothecary, and you can't even tell what kind of product is in the bottle until you read the label/ take the lid off to find the wand (although you could hazard a guess from the colours!).




There's a good range of colours available, as you can see- the brand haven't gone for things that are on trend, instead the whole idea is that you find makeup that suits your current emotions. Each one is labelled with a different word to match what you might be feeling, and Lush actually have called the products 'word up' rather than 'makeup'.

We were told to close our eyes, completely clear our minds, and picture no colours at all- just a blank, white canvas. Then, as the wheel (shown above) was being spun, we had to open our eyes and choose the first three colours that popped out at us.

I chose three lip colours (luckily, as I usually focus on strong lips!)- a gorgeous red, vibrant orange, and a shocking pink. The first colour represents what mood you're in at that time- this was the red, which was called 'Decisive'. The second colour represents what your subconscious is telling you to focus on- for me that was the orange, 'Ambition'. The third represents what you are all the time, and I chose the pink, which was 'Passionate'!

The dry ice definitely won me over

The three colours I chose: Decisive, Ambition, Passionate

It might sound strange, but the three colours I chose, and what they were supposed to represent actually did kind of match up! Even though I know it's only supposed to be a bit of fun, I was quite excited at that! These colours had a really nice texture too- the only thing I would say was when I tried them on, the orange (Ambition) seemed to have a bit of a weird taste- probably just me, but something to look out for.

Passionate, Decisive, Ambition

Passionate, Ambition, Decisive

Out of the three, my favourite was the pink Passionate- it looked absolutely amazing on, and was really strong in colour. I was encouraged to try them all on my eyes as well (you can use all of the colours all over the face), but I completely chickened out!

The bottles cost £14.50 each and will be available tomorrow- I think I'll be in store picking up the Passionate!

Downton Abbey Sisters

Nothing to do with products this time, but WOW have you guys seen their photoshoot for Love magazine?




I think they all look amazing!

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2176295/Downton-Abbey-sisters-transformed-magazine-cover-shoot.html#)

Thursday 19 July 2012

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser: Review

Today, I thought I'd review one of my favourite products EVER.

A lot of you have probably tried Liz Earle's hero product, the Cleanse & Polish (£14.25 for a 100ml starter pack with two muslins)- I've been using it for about five years now, and really haven't found anything better. Their tag line is that they only need to sell one cleanser, because this suits all skin types, and I have to agree- my skin's changed from oily to normal/combination while I've been using it, and I've found it still works well, and friends/relatives of mine have all loved it despite having wildly different skin.





The cleanser itself is quite creamy in texture, and smells absolutely gorgeous- the eucalyptus really comes through so it smells really fresh. One pump is enough to do the whole face, and you must apply the product to dry skin or it doesn't really work properly. This product is also gentle enough to apply to the eye area- I've never had any irritation from it whatsoever. The 'polish' part of the name comes from the muslin cloth (rinsed in hot water) that you're supposed to use with it- you'll get some people who say that it's fine to use with cotton pads or even just rinsing off with water, but the muslins add an exfoliating step to the cleansing routine.



You can see how creamy the texture is from the picture- amazing!


What I love about this is that it takes off all my eye make up- I never use a separate remover. I do have trouble if I wear waterproof mascara (it takes a bit longer to get off, and a bit more product), but as that's a rare occurrence, it doesn't really bother me! I did a little swatch to show you how it takes off eyeliner and lipstick below:



After one wipe with the muslin
After a few more wipes!


As you can see, it doesn't come off completely with just one wipe of a muslin, but it's pretty good! One thing is that is annoying is that the muslins do get soft and lose their texture after a while, but I guess there's not much that can be done about that. Another thing to note is that some of my lipsticks actually stain the muslins, so be careful!

Have any of you tried Cleanse & Polish? Do you love it as much as I do? Let me know!
x

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Nars Multiple: Review

A friend who was clearing out some of her beauty products last year gave me two of Nars' The Multiple sticksso I thought I'd do a little post about them.  The Multiple has been hailed as some sort of wonder-stick, designed for use all over the face, as an eyeshadow, lip colour, blusher, highlighter or even as a contouring tool.






The shades I got were Portofino, and Cannes (which has now been discontinued). The Portofino is a beautiful pinky coral colour, with a slight shimmery sheen to it, and the Cannes is plummy colour with bronze undertones.

Left: Portofino    Right: Cannes

Left: Portofino    Right: Cannes
The swatches of these colours aren't quite as intense in colours as in the stick, but are still quite good:

Left: Portofino    Right: Cannes
And if you blend them a bit, they can be used just to give a hint of colour to the skin:

Left: Portofino    Right: Cannes

So, what do I actually think of the products?

I love the Portofino- this stick has actually made it into my everyday makeup routine, as my blusher. I have quite pale skin (as you can see from the swatches above!) and it gives it a nice dewy glow, and a slight hint of colour, that makes me look less like an extra from The Walking Dead!  I actually apply this using my fingers- it's what Nars recommend, and it's really easy to do.The Cannes is a little too dark for my skin to be used as a blusher, and a bit too purple for my liking as well.

Both give nice lip colours- more a subtle tint than anything else, but I find them too drying to wear them every day. Also ,I have to say, I haven't used either colours on my eyes- partly because I don't wear much eyeshadow, but also because I just don't like the texture as an eye product.

These multi-sticks retail at £29.00, so as I only use it as a blusher, in all honesty, I probably won't be buying the Portofino again once I run out. I do love the colour, but it's a bit too expensive for me at the moment to justify buying it, especially when I'm not using it as a multi-purpose stick.

Luckily, however, they do last for absolutely ages, so it'll be a while before I need to worry about finding a replacement!
x

Saturday 14 July 2012

Saran Wrap/ Clingfilm Nails

I've just read an excellent post on 'Saran Wrap Nails' by Leanne at donotrefreeze.com (http://www.donotrefreeze.com/2012/07/saran-wrap-cling-film-who-knew.html#), and she made it look so easy, that I decided to try it for myself...

Step 1: Choose two colours- one as your base coat, one as your top coat. (I chose Missguided's Misstify as  my base, and Rimmel's Double Decker Red as my top)
Step 2: Get some clingfilm and scrunch it up into little balls.
Step 3: Paint your nails with the base coat, and leave to dry completely. (Apparently you should leave it overnight if possible, but I'm an impatient girl, and 30 mins was all I gave it...)
Step 4: Paint each nail with one layer of the top coat, and use the clingfilm balls to gently press on the nail while still wet. This will remove random patches of the top coat, letting the bottom colour show through.
Step 5: Paint the nails with a clear top coat. (I'm really bad and don't usually bother with base/top coats, but I felt in this case, my nails needed it).

The result was this:

(Without Flash)

(With Flash)


Not perfect, but pretty happy with it considering it was my first go!

Oh and don't worry if it looks messy to start with- before I cleaned it up a bit, this is what it looked like:




(The palm of my other hand was totally covered in red nail varnish too...)

x

Friday 13 July 2012

Liz Earle Eyebright Review

I have the worst hayfever ever at the moment. Usually I get a bit of a runny nose at least, but no, this year, I have a blocked/runny nose (how does that work exactly?), I'm constantly sneezing, and my eyes are so watery, sore and itchy that all I seem to be doing is rubbing them, which is not helping matters AT all.

So attractive right now.

Anyway, Liz Earle's Eyebright is my go-to product at the moment. Its name comes from one of its main ingredients, the herb eyebright, which has been used for centuries as, unsurprisingly, a remedy for eye problems.

Eyebright

The two other main ingredients are witch hazel (which tones the skin) and aloe vera (which soothes). The product is marketed as a 'soothing eye lotion' and is supposed to help 'refresh tired, puffy, or sore eyes'.

Let's get one thing straight: I love this product. I've used it for years, and it really does soothe the eyes and bring them down a bit. It's really worked wonders on my hayfever-battered eyes recently.

Even though it's called a 'lotion' it's really a liquid, more like a toner in consistency, and one thing to note is that it has a really strong smell. I happen to like strong smells, but it might not be to everyone's taste. The way to use it is to pour it onto cotton wool pads, close your eyes and place the pads on top. If you don't like covering up your eyes, then fold the pads into a half-moon shape, and place under the eye- it'll work just as well.

Liz Earle Eyebright 

A cotton pad with some of the product on it-
as you can see, the colour of the product is quite neutral

If you are interested at all in this product, check it out on their website: http://uk.lizearle.com/eyebright-soothing-eye-lotion.html

x

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Essie Review: Update

I've spent the morning doing housework- cleaning, washing up etc. and still only have one minute chip on one finger. MAJORLY impressed with Essie right now, and thinking about getting another colour...

My bank balance is not going to be happy with this latest development.

x

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Review: Essie Nail Varnish (Mint Candy Apple)

Mint Candy Apple seems to be one of the hottest shades around by America's nail brand Essie, and the internet's full of glowing reviews, so I thought I'd take a look at myself. I've never bought anything from Essie before, so I figured Mint Candy Apple was the way to go for my first purchase.

Now this may sound quite shallow, but packaging is very important to me- I like things to look pretty if they're going in my makeup bag or on my dressing table. The good news is, the Essie bottles are exactly that. They look chic and minimalistic-with a white lid, clear bottle, and the Essie logo imprinted on the side, it looks like a more expensive brand (and at £7.99, it is on the more pricey side of nail varnishes).



The application was great-  it has a wide brush so that only one stroke is needed on most fingers For an opaque colour, however, you'll definitely have to apply at least two coats (as I have in the pictures below). The colour itself is great, although a little bluer than I imagine something called 'mint' would be. It's still a lovely colour though, and very summery. Usually I wear much darker colours, so this is a big change for me, but I've had a lot of compliments already, and I've only been wearing it a day! It hasn't chipped yet either, whereas usually I see at least a few chips after a day's wear in my normal shades.





(I'll work on my hand poses, I promise...)

After all the hype, I was expecting to be disappointed by this Essie shade, but in fact, I was pleasantly surprised. The application is great, the colour is lovely, and it'll definitely be making its way into my list of top summer nail shades. The only downside I would say is the price- when you have Rimmel and Barry M doing very similar shades for only £2.99, it's hard to justify spending £7.99 on a nail varnish. As much as I liked the polish, I think Essie will have to be an occasional treat for me :(

Friday 6 July 2012

Beauty Crush: Caggie Dunlop

I decided to paint my nails earlier, and, bored of my usual black/such-dark-red-it-might-as-well-be-black, I thought I'd go summery and actually try colour. Then I thought 'why not MULTIPLE colours?', or as I call them, 'Caggie nails'.

I don't care how much bad press it gets, Made In Chelsea is one of my favourite TV programmes, and I was devastated when I found out Caggie was leaving this season. To me, she is the ultimate style icon from that show- she always looks amazing, and basically I pretty much want to be her.

Caggie Nails

Caggie debuted this look in the final episode of the first season:


Not the greatest picture in the world, but you can see the effect: immaculate, all-white ensemble set off by multicoloured nails. Luckily this wasn't the only time she had her nails like this:



This is a much clearer picture: yellow thumb, red, mint green, dark blue then white.

It wasn't long before other stars started wearing the trend too:

Fearne Cotton


Pixie Lott


Lauren Conrad

If such a bright mix of colours is a little daunting, then it's best to stick either to just pastels, or different shades of the same colour. I would show you mine right now (a mixture of corals and pinks) but to be honest it looks like a 5 year old has done them. Embarrassing.

Caggie's Jewellery

Another thing Caggie's known for is her abundance of jewellery, most notably, her turquoise rings:



(Ignoring her rings for a second, HOW amazing is that leopard print coat???)

Her rings are actually made by Zara Taylor and are available here:
http://www.zarataylor.co.uk/ourshop/prod_1752441-Vintage-Turquoise-Matrix-Ring-.html
http://www.zarataylor.co.uk/ourshop/prod_1719691-Vintage-Turquoise-Matrix-Silver-Ring-PREORDER-ONLY.html

Caggie also likes to rock other quirky accessories- a hand chain or ear cuff:



The ear cuff she's wearing in the above picture is actually from her own range she started with Zara Taylor (the designer of her turquoise rings) called ISWAI (It Started With An Idea) which can be found here: http://iswai.co.uk/jewellery/.


In case it wasn't clear, I absolutely <3 Caggie Dunlop. She looks amazing in everything (see last picture, where she is wearing a hoodie, with her hair scraped back, and still looks miles better than I could ever hope to look). I only hope that one day she'll make a proper return to MIC...

'Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick.'- Gwyneth Paltrow

Nothing can dress up an outfit more than red lipstick. It is the epitome of glamour, it oozes confidence and commands attention.

Famous Lovers of Red Lipstick
(From top left: Marilyn Monroe, Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani)

Can I Wear Red Lipstick?

I'm a firm believer that everyone, once they've found the right shade, can wear red lipstick. Don't worry if you're not particularly outgoing, or you feel you're too shy to pull it off- just try it and see. You'll instantly feel more glamorous and confident (and even if you don't feel it, you'll look it!).


How Do I Find the Right Shade?

If you're picking out a red lipstick for the first time, I would actually go into a make up department and ask for help. Make up Artists are trained, so they'll know what will suit you. I would definitely advise any Mac store- it's where I always go if I want to try a new colour. 
Otherwise, for a first- timer, you can use the following guidelines:

Fair:

Those with a pinkish skin tone can go for bright reds with a slightly orange tinge- think Kate Bosworth or Naomi Watts. Those with more yellow undertones can wear darker shades like Sandra Oh.
(Below: Naomi Watts, Kate Bosworth, Sandra Oh)



Medium:

Medium skin tones look best with coral or orangey shades of red.
(Below: Elizabeth Moss, Cameron Diaz)



Olive:

Olive skin tones are lucky, as they can wear pretty much any shades of red, though pink-red colours will pop more.
(Below: Eva Longoria, Jessica Alba)



Dark Skin Tones:

Unsurprisingly, darker shades are more flattering. If you have golden undertones, go for more orange shades, otherwise, opt for cool shades.
(Below: Iman, Kelly Rowland)






How should I apply the rest of my makeup?

Generally, the rule is to keep the rest of your makeup plain. Just a slick of black eyeliner and mascara should do the trick. Remember to wear blush though- you don't want to look washed out. I would also use lipliner, as it is easier to apply such a bold colour, and it will last longer too.

You don't necessarily need to follow that rule though... red lipstick can be worn with heavier eyes, it just needs to be done in the right way- generally a smokey look works well, with metallic hues like bronze, gold or pewter (see Iman and Kelly Rowland above).

Any last tips?

Yes- first of all, if you still don't really know where to start with colours, Mac's Russian Red or Ruby Woo are very flattering colours. 

Second of all, you need to keep your lips in good condition if you're going to wear such a bold colour- exfoliate them (using a toothbrush, muslin, or actual lip exfoliator) and keep them moisturised (I always add a slick of lip balm before applying lipliner/lipstick).

Lastly, you don't need to wait for a night out to wear red lipstick, why not wear it with a daytime look? Mary- Kate Olsen is my new style crush: