A Makeup & Beauty Blog - Lipglossiping

The Lipstick League – week of 21-5-2012

Lipglossiping — Sun, 27 May 2012 08:25:02 +0000

Gouldylox Reviews – Just in case your beach plans fell through this weekend, here is a list of everything you’ll need to prepare for summer.

Nouveau Cheap – A nail art stamping kit for under $2? Seriously? It’s true!

Pink Sith – Goes all 50 Shades of Gray on you with her review of the newest Agent Provocateur L’agent fragrance. However she does not use the term “inner goddess”, thank goodness!

Prime Beauty – shows you how to look good nude with the LORAC Unzipped Palette!

Phyrra – Phyrra’s story has a happy ending with Cult Nails Cult Fairy Tale Collection.

Vampy Varnish – Even though Kelly gets sea-sick, the new limited edition MAC Hey, Sailor! Collection makes her want to get all nautical.

we heart this – You better WORK that Milani Runway palette!

Beauty Junkies Unite – What summer nail polish shades will you want from Essie’s new ‘Bikini So Teeny’ collection? Amber’s pick: Mojito Madness!

Clumps of Mascara – loves OPI’s Mickey Mouse nail polish collection. Check out these pretty pinks.

Pretty in Pink – Salvatore Ferragamo Signorina & Jo Malone Plum Blossom

Lipglossiping — Sat, 26 May 2012 08:57:23 +0000

This weekend is set to be the hottest of the year and with a bank-holiday rapidly approaching, you may forgive me for living life through a pair of rose-tinted spectacles at the moment. If you’re feeling as much “in the pink” as I am, you might appreciate these two fragrances to indulge your fervor for all things fuchsia.

Salvatore Ferragamo’s Signorina and Jo Malone’s (limited edition) Plum Blossom are lovely choices for Summer, they both wear delicately – employing some seriously fruity notes without ever becoming syrupy or cloying on the skin.

In the case of Signorina*, the Italian label’s latest scent is clearly aimed toward the younger market. The beautifully presented bottle is adorned with blush-coloured ribbons and a rose-gold lid, making it an unapologetically pink offering that should appeal to girly-girls of all ages.

Signorina opens with a juicy blackcurrant, lightly spiced with the standard pink pepper note that appears in many of the current mass-market perfumes. The voluptuousness quickly develops into something more skin-like as the florals come to the fore: jasmine, rose, and peony all combine to create a light, almost-floaty interpretation of what it must feel like to be simultaneously impossibly young and chic. On me, the scent wears close to the skin, as if grounded by the creaminess from the unexpected source of pannacotta. The creamy Italian dessert lends a softness and delivers the gourmand quality that contributes to the addictive characteristic that keeps my nose buried firmly in my wrist.

It reminds me somewhat of Dior’s Miss Cherie but I find this one more compatible with my skin chemistry and less cloying in this warm weather, it doesn’t project as loudly and feels slightly more elegant in it’s youthfulness.

Jo Malone’s latest limited-edition scent is already sold out online but still available in many stores nationwide while stocks last. Plum Blossom* is a greener interpretation of the same qualities found in Signorina. Not quite so playful in composition, it delivers a sweetness that will appeal to those who like their fruity florals to avoid the foodie notes whilst keeping sensuality at the fore. The florals up the ante, as you’d expect from the iconic British brand and with a base of sandalwood and white musk, Plum Blossom remains a clean and delicate fragrance from start to finish.

There’s something eternally romantic about blush hues and both scents make the perfect accompaniment to the wedding season.

* press samples

Highlighter Series: St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose

Lipglossiping — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Whilst my inbox is currently being inundated with bronzing solutions for the current heatwave, I’m slathering on the SPF (broad spectrum of course) and shading myself courtesy of the nearest tree. Whilst bronzed skin is undoubtedly beautiful, it always makes me feel rather conspicuous. I simply don’t tan naturally… not at all, my family enjoy a long-running joke that focuses on the fact that I went to Australia to live for a while and returned home paler.

I’d like to say that I’m one of those porcelain-skinned types, milky white with a lit-from-within glow… but I’m best described as blotchy pink/white with more than my fair share of orange freckles. Throw in a few thread veins and Kate Winslet, I ain’t. Praise the lord for foundation and highlighter.

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose* is a highlighter that is perfect for us blue-veined types. Generously packaged in a 50ml tube, it’s a great solution for holiday packing… you know, those rare times (unless you live in Essex) when it’s practically illegal to have a greater clothes to bare skin ratio. It effortlessly dispenses a pink-toned sheen to emphasise sharp collarbones, chiselled cheekbones and shapely shins!

Non-greasy and buildable, the St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose has a slight fruity scent which dissipates quickly once on the skin. The packaging is simplistic but hygenic and reflects what I consider to be a very reasonable price point. For a full 50ml of product, you’ll pay only £12.26.

You can see that the sheen it imparts is definitely cool-toned, which is what makes it far more natural-looking for us cool-skinned paleys than the more usual summer offers from cosmetic companies. The above photo shows two layers of product to ensure that the camera picked up on the swatch. It feels light-weight on the skin but I wouldn’t recommend it as a luminizing all-over type highlighter, this is definitely more for spot-highlighting. I’ve also found that the formula is happy to be applied over foundation, important to me because it’s nearly always something I forget to do until AFTER I’ve applied my blush!

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose is available to buy online from st-tropez.com and Boots.com (where it’s currently only £12 AND on a 3for2 across selected ‘summer products’).

* press sample

Weight Watchers Friendly Pizza!

Lipglossiping — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:00:21 +0000

Pizza is one of my (many) vices… hot, cold, hot then cold then warmed up again – however I eat it, I love it. The spicier and more garlicky, the better – jalapenos are a must, I helpfully remind myself that spicy foods raise the metabolism, therefore burning fat more quickly no? I excel at self-delusion. When I first joined Weight Watchers, I read the most horrifying piece of information that my eyes had ever digested: one slice of stuffed-crust pizza is 10 points. That’s a single slice… a single fucking slice, I’m only allowed 26 points a day! I can hoover up a whole pizza (what, 8 slices?) in the time it takes my husband to work through one slice.

So pizza was off the menu then. Except it so isn’t.

The pizza you see above scores an incredible 7 points. That’s 7 points for the entire pizza. I think we all need to take a moment….

…

…for those of you who don’t know follow Weight Watchers, we’re talking around 350kcal.

You don’t need to make your own pizza dough and it only requires about 10 minutes in the oven. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Warburtons Square-ish Wrap
1 tbsp Tomato Puree (I mix a tsp of garlic puree in too!)
Your choice of 0 point topping (onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomato, jalapenos)
50g “wafer” ham
Dash of Worcester Sauce/Tabasco/Balsamic Vinegar (whichever you prefer)
Sprinkling of Italian herbs
30g Cathedral City Light Mature Cheese (this is the only ‘light’ cheese I’ve found to melt properly)

I keep my wraps in the freezer and just take one out and cook it from frozen. Spoon the Tomato Puree onto the wrap and spread evenly to the edges. Top your “pizza base” with the ham, veggie toppings and Italian herbs before sprinkling the cheese over the top. Finish off with a sprinkling of sauce before cooking it in a pre-heated oven at around 200 degrees celsius for around 10 minutes.

Serve with a side salad and feel ridiculously virtuous about it.

What is your biggest foodie vice and do you have a healthier alternative for it?

Hair Jewellery: Would you? Do you?

Lipglossiping — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000

It takes a special kind of lady to rock certain styles – I’m not a special kind of lady, “speshul” maybe…

I’ve been eyeing up some pretty hair jewellery around the interwebs and wondering what it would take for me to take the plunge and invest in a pretty piece. I think the answer lies somewhere near the bottom of the bottle of Malibu lurking in the fridge. Yes, I’m uncool enough to still love a bit of Malibu!

Silver Wings ($40.00) | Wildfox Daisy Chain (£47.47) | Kyoto Moon-Kanzashi Geisha Hair Stick ($40.00) | Moustache Ear Cuff (£8.00)

Honestly? I can just imagine getting horribly tangled up in it all the time. Perhaps it’s a trend better suited to those with effortlessly sleek locks that seemingly never frizz?

Me? I’d turn my head too quickly and attach myself to a fucking kitchen cupboard.

Do you own and wear any hair jewellery? Hair bands and combs don’t count – I’m talking proper barnet bling!

This is not just any beauty hall…

Lipglossiping — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:30 +0000

… you know what’s coming don’t you?

This is an M&S beauty hall.

I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.

The press release is indepth but the highlights of the new M&S Beauty Halls (which will roll-out to 100 of their nationwide stores by Summer 2013) include:

~ a range of fragrances created for M&S exclusively by Lyn Harris (of Miller Harris fame)
~ a “virtual makeover” counter to experience different looks with a single photo
~ trained and impartial beauty advisers, with a “no-hard sell” ethos
~ External brands you can’t access easily on the high-street, including: Filorga, Skyn Iceland, and Comptoir Sud Pacifique
~ New/repackaged/reformulated M&S beauty ranges including: Hello Kitty (teen cosmetics), Pure Skincare (natural, eco line), and Formula (targeted skincare)

I just keep thinking how much fun must it be to go to work and choose which brands to stock? Gizza job!

The new M&S beauty hall is currently debuting at the High Street Kensington branch with all products and new brands available to purchase online at marksandspencer.com