LipsNspritz 24 January 2016: The Lavender List

Lots of people don't like lavender, and I have no real idea why. Its distinctive scent is unusual in having both floral and herbal facets to the scent, and the smell can range from menthol, to balsam, or (just a little, if you get a screechy batch) like cat pee.  But a good lavender fragrance is a thing of beauty, and this week, I thought I'd wear my favourite lavender fragrances and show just how many different faces lavender can wear.  

On Monday, I wore the dirty lavender of Jicky by Guerlain.  Every perfume lover who considers themselves a bit of a perfumista owns a bottle of Jicky,  because it is a classic, created in the late 1880's, and one of the first fragrances to include synthetic ingredients,   When I first discovered Jicky, it was long before I knew anything about perfume, and I just thought it didn't smell like anything else, it smells of coal tar, and leather soap, and it actually took me several years to figure out that the herbal-fresh scent that plays amongst the leather scraps in the coalyard was lavender, and that's when Jicky finally made sense to me.  Less a perfume, and more a statement of intent, Jicky's the lavender scent that won't remind you of your granny.  Ironic really, as your granny probably did wear it at some point.  My bottle dates back to the early 90's and it's a full-throated roar of a fragrance, even now.

Tuesday brought the spicy, warm lavender of Diptyque's Eau de Lavande.  Unlike most of the lavenders on this page (Jicky is the main exception) which have a cool, or fresh-seeming quality, Eau de Lavande is warm and cosy, positively inviting cuddles and becoming a beguiling skin scent at the end as a result.  Opening with cardamom and ground coriander root alongside nutmeg, the menthol of the lavender is somewhat muted, and it's only after wearing it for a while does the lavender reveal itself. There are some lightly bruised woods at the end, which comes quickly because this is an eau de toilette, and it's simply a pleasure to wear.  I'd love this in an EDP concentration, and I'd probably never wear anything else, if it did come in just a little stronger formulation.

On Wednesdays I wore the woody-chocolate of Creed's Aberdeen Lavander (sic),  which to me starts off quite funky-smelling and rather animalic, but which softens slowly over time to reveal an unexpectedly creamy-chocolate aspect to the lavender flower, atop a leathery base. I've seen it described as a "modern Jicky", and, whilst I wouldn't go that far (it's cleaner and far more definitively "lavendery" than Jicky), it's certainly a very interesting lavender to wear.  Interestingly, it's the only one on this list that I could easily convince MrLippie to wear, having more elements of the "fougere"-style of fragrance than many of the perfumes on this list.

Thursday brought the gender-bending citrus lavender of Tom Ford's Lavender Palm.  A fragrance I've written about before, and enjoyed, I described it back then as smelling like "a burly granny with a mean right hook", and, whilst I wouldn't go quite that far this time around, I can see what I was getting at.  A lively dance of bergamot and lavender in the opening gives a slightly misleading fresh quality to the first few moments of wear, before the scent opens out, and becomes a darker, smokier proposition, filled with vetiver and olibanum.  Somehow meant to evoke California,  it's more of a damp English garden, and a little tweedy.  A lavender you wouldn't be surprised to find Miss Marple wearing, showcasing the steel trap mind behind the affable appearance.

On Friday I wore the classic lavender soliflore of Caldey Island Lavender. Much closer in form (though not in execution) to a classic lavender "toilet water", and most certainly a bargain, Caldey Island lavender begins with a photo-realistic peppermint whoosh, like you've just inhaled an entire packet of polos in one go, then swiftly settles into a cool menthol-herbal lavender which smells precisely as if you've crushed a few fresh lavender blooms in your palm, and that's how it stays, right until it disappears.  Simply beautiful.  A few drops of this added to the water in your iron, by the way, is divine, and can make even that most-boring of chores more of a pleasure.

This week, I also work lipstick (as pictured), but, who wants to talk about lipstick when there's lavender to discuss?

The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases


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Burberry Christmas 2015 - Military Red Lips and Nails

Nothing says Christmas like red and gold, and Burberry have gone out of their way this year to package up some of their cult products (and add a couple of new ones) in a festive manner.  This might be my favourite collection of theirs in quite some time.

Packaged in shiny golden livery, in a festive change from the traditional pewter, the mini-collection consists of Burberry Kisses glosses and lipsticks in either Festive Gold or Military Red,  Nail polishes in the same, an eye cream-shadow in Festive Gold, alongside a shimmering fragrance powder, and a fluid base in Nude 01.  I have the Military Red selections to show you with the fragranced powder today.

Military Red is a perfect bright scarlet, bringing to mind holly berries, and, of course the colour of Christmas itself!  I haven't tried the nail varnish yet, but it'll be the next thing on my nails for sure, it's such a beautiful colour (I've long been a fan of Military Red - I reviewed it first on here back in 2012!).  The golden fragranced powder has only a slight hint of the My Burberry that it is fragranced with, but it's a subtle golden glow for the decolletage and shoulder blades.  If you find a fluffy enough brush, you could possibly decorate your hair with it too.  

In-store (at Harrods) and online now, the pieces in this collection start at £15 for the nail varnish and rise to £45 for the fragranced powder.  See anything you like? 

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Burberry Christmas 2015 - My Burberry

For Christmas 2015 Burberry have re-released a bunch of their cult favourite products in a seasonally appropriate golden livery.  Today I'll take a look at the fragranced products, and tomorrow I'll show you the (beyond beautiful) Christmas makeup.

In beautifully textured golden boxes, My Burberry, a blend of sweet pea, geranium and rose over a base of patchouli, has been released in both a golden "snowflake" version of the Eau de Parfum and a lightly glittering solid version, perfect for your handbag.

Topped with a magnificent faux-bakelite knob, the EdP has been tied with a pale golden bow, and the fragrance is filled with tiny golden sparkles.  For the solid version, the brand's signature pewter lid has been switched to gold too.

But let's take a closer look at those sparkles:

Burberry.com will be engraving up to three initials onto My Burberry bottles in the run up to Christmas, and a personalised anything makes a great present!  And this is a gorgeous bottle to engrave, as well.

My Burberry EdP will cost £90 for 90mls, and £55 for 50mls.  The solid fragrance version is £30,  and you can buy it online and from Harrods now.

The Fine Print: PR Samples
 
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LipsNspritz 31.10.15

  
It was definitely a week of two halves, lipstick-wise at least! Bright reds, by Guerlain (Rouge Parade), Burberry (Military Red) and Art Deco (Dita Von Teese collection) were the order of the day, particularly on Wednesday, when I felt a real need for power dressing, which called for a hugely long-lasting red (as the Art Deco is), and when paired with Donna Karan Signature fragrance recalled boardroom meetings in the late 80s.  Minus the power-suits, of course ...  Oh, and you can do a lot worse than a bottle of Kim Kardashian to brighten up a doleful Monday morning, btw ...

I mellowed out enough to allow Autumn a look-in on Thursday and Friday, pairing berry-colours from Lipstick Queen (Bete Noire, sheer) and Makeup Forever (Artist Plexi-Gloss 406) with Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay (possibly the most autumnal fragrance I own), and Hermes Eau des Merveilles, which being neither fruity, nor flowery, nor spicy, nor fruity is as difficult to describe as it is easy to love (it's probably best described as a salty orange, without the orange.  Yes, yes, I know).  Then on Saturday I was seduced all over again by Burberry sending me their Christmas collection, which includes a new Military Red in beautiful gold packaging, and a sparkling bottle of My Burberry to boot.  So I wore those, because, why not?


The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and personal purchases.


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Burberry Kisses Sheer in 297 Midnight Plum, 249 Hydrangea, and 241 Crimson Pink

If 2014 was the year of matte lips, then 2015 has been the year of sheer glossy ones (it's also been a banner year for eye crayons, but more on that another time).  Now, I'm normally a full-on opaque kind of girl to be honest, but I'm always happy to play with sheers, as long as they're still pigmented enough to show up on my lips.  Luckily, these are, and they're gorgeous colours too.  More after the jump.

#LipsNspritz of the week 11.10.15

Life would be dull indeed without lipstick and perfume, I've made it a mission this last month or so to document my entire lipstick and perfume "wardrobe".  The idea is to wear every perfume and lipstick that I own, and post my thoughts on each on Instagram every day.  I'm trying to do it without repeats, but I've decided to allow myself the occasional one (admittedly an exception made for my "parosmia perfume" Paradox, because there are days still where it's the only thing I can face smelling), but I won't do it too often.  This week I replenished my stores of the original Acqua di Parma, which is one of my all-time favourite fragrances of all-time, and I'm delighted that it's largely untouched by my disability.  It's the smell of a hot and soapy sportsman emerging from the shower, and I've missed it terribly since I ran out last year!  I wore it with Burberry Kisses Sheer balm in Hydrangea, and you'll see more of that later on this week.

Other lipstick and perfume combos of the week after the jump:

Burberry Kisses Gloss in 77 Tangerine and 97 Plum Pink

There's no joy much more fun than a brand new lipgloss, and, as I love a bit of Burberry, and a bit of lipgloss,  so when a couple of them were included in a recent delivery from the now-iconic British brand, I was happy indeed.

The perspex tubes that make the glosses look like test tubes, and the lovely pewter packaging all add up to a lovely package, and these two new shades, Tangerine (No.77) and Plum Pink (No.97) are both lovely too.  Tangerine is a hot orange that looks almost neon in the tube.  I like the shade a lot, as many orange lip colours have a lot of white in them, which make them difficult to wear, but this is a relatively clear shade, and one that's easier to wear than you might expect from the tube.  Plum Pink is a lovely deep pink with a hint of blue.

As you can see, Tangerine on the left there is quite sheer, and subtle on swatching, whereas Plum Pink, on the right is slightly more opaque.

On my lips, Tangerine is very subtle indeed, which surprised me as it is so vibrant in the tube, but I actually like that it's so sheer as it makes it very easy to wear. It's a nice, glossy formula that slicks on easily, unscented and unsticky.

Here you can see Plum Pink has more pigment, and is again a more wearable shade on the lips than you might expect from the tube, lending a berry-ish brightness to my lips, which I really like, and is ideal for the more autumnish weather we've been having this ... year.

More from the Burberry Autumn 2015 collection later this week, but you can find the Burberry Kisses Gloss in store now, and they cost £21 each.

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Current Favourite Blushers

I didn't see the point of blusher for the longest time, and so, for many years I didn't use it.  I've had high-colouring for many years, so the thought of adding MOAR COLORZ to my skin was a scary one, to say the least!  These days, however, I'd rather leave the house without lipstick than without my blusher!

Blush brightens the face, and can add shade and contour to even the widest of faces (personally, I don't bother with all that contouring malarkey because, as has been extensively reported on this blog, I am a cack-handed muppet), but blusher does make such a difference, making my skin look alive, and helping me avoid looking like a trainee goth who forgot to attend the lesson on  not dressing like an accountant.  

After my recent colour analysis, I've found blush difficult, as the shades which are nearest matches to my fan do NOT look good on my skin - NARS Sin is consistently recommended as a good blush for someone with my colouring, but ... well, it's too dark and far, far, far too brown for me, so I challenged myself to find some more suitable blush shades. 

Initially, I didn't think I had any, aside from one, but after digging deep into the recesses of my blusher drawer, I managed to scramble up seven or so ... (may you never know the horrors of saying "But I don't have any like that" only to discover you're lying to yourself about it ... anyhoo, here's my pick of my blusher collection:

Clockwise from top left we have:

Accessorize: Merged Baked Blush in Sensation
MAC: Blushbaby
Stila: Convertible Colour in Lillium
Laura Geller: Ethereal Rose/Sateen Subtle Berry
Benefit: Hervana
Burberry: Cameo
Bare Minerals: Ready Blush in The One 

In the past couple of years, I've been pretty much inseparable from NewCID iGlow in Coral Crush, but I've been trying to use pinker shades recently, and, even though a couple of these have a touch of coral to them (in particular The One by Bare Minerals - bottom left in pic above), I think the pinker look is just a bit more "healthy" to my newly-educated eye.

Accessorize is very pink, and works well as a highlighter, also, it was very cheap!
MAC Blushbaby is an old, old favourite, but it's a little on the brown side, so needs applying with a light hand.
Stila Lillium is a great neutral shade of blush, and one I wear over tinted moisturiser.  You can wear it on your lips too, but that's really not a good look for me.
The Laura Geller has been my day to day staple blush recently.  A slightly berry pink, it has a gentle sheen, and is very pretty without making me look too flushed.
Benefit Hervana is a very pretty cool-toned matte pink.  It's a little on the sheer side, but it's a good shade for just the lightest possible flush of  colour.
Burberry Cameo is another subtle berry shade, which is on the matte side, it's a lot more pigmented than the Laura Geller, so again, needs a lighter hand (or a duo-fibre brush).
Bare Minerals is a heavily-pinked coral, and is a good easy to wear shade, even if it is a little bit warmer than the other shades in this selection.  I LOVE the Bare Minerals "pressed" powder formulations, and need to pick a few more up.

So, what are your go-to blushers at the moment?

The Fine Print: Mainly purchases, ironically.

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Burberry Lip Velvet - Military Red

I've been researching red lipsticks rather thoroughly recently (for a piece in SLiNK), and, being fond of a bit of Burberry makeup, this has been a nice addition to my collection.  It's from their new matte lipstick collection.

It's packaged in a matte tube, rather than the shiny pewter livery that we're used to:

 (personally, I prefer the shiny, but that's just because I'm a bit of a magpie)

I do adore the Burberry pattern embossed into the bullet, it just gives these lipsticks that little more ... oomph, somehow.  Admittedly, this is about the only place I do like the Burberry pattern, but that's by the by.

The shade is a classic bright, bright red, and Military Red is a good name for the shade, it definitely brings to mind the scarlet jackets of the military.

It's not a harsh matte formulation, it has plenty of slip, and is opaque in more or less one pass over the lips.  The formula doesn't dry the lips out, either, which is great.

This is, however, one of the brightest reds I own.  And I kind of love it for that.  It's very definitely a statement shade, if you're wearing this, no one will notice much, if anything else that you have on your face, so it's definitely not one for wallflowers.   I think of it (a little bit) as a Snow White kind of red, ie one that's perfect for the very pale, I can see this working very well on the very pale, or the very dark, I'm not too sure how it would work on a medium or olive skintone, to be honest.

Here it is in the context of my face:

  
 I really like this shade, the formulation hasn't blown me away as much as some other matte formulations have this year (Art Deco, for example), but it's a great lipstick all the same.  I haven't noticed any bleeding, and it lasts quite well, but can fade somewhat from the centre.

Burberry Lip Velvets cost £23 and are available from Harrods - incidentally, the shade swatches on the Harrods website bear no relation whatsoever to the actual lipstick shades, I've noticed, so make sure you do a thorough search around the internet to check out the colour of any lipsticks you want to buy.  

The Fine Print: Press sample, but there's a few other shades that I want to pick up, I think...

This post: http://getlippie.blogspot.com/2012/10/burberry-lip-velvet-military-red.html originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Burberry Lip Mist: Copper No. 202

The last thing I need is a new lipstick range to become obsessed by.  I mean, seriously it's the last thing I need.  I'm already a fan of Burberry cosmetics, even though it's taken me TWO YEARS to pick up a lipstick for some reason.

Packaged in the brand's signature print, it has to be said that these are some of the loveliest packaged lipsticks on the market - what can I say, I'm a sucker for a pewter casing!

I was sent Copper 202, and, I have to admit that my heart sank a bit when I opened it, as I find it incredibly difficult to wear brown-ish shades on my lips.  However ...

This lipstick isn't as opaque as it seems.  Much like my beloved Chantecaille Lip Chics (which are my favourite lipstick texture bar none), these are a sheer, almost-balmy  lipstick, but they are not lacking in pigment.

On my hand this is a rust-brown shade, sheer, but on the lips, it covers up my uneven lip pigmentation very well, and is a far more nude-shade than you'd expect from the bullet.  I really like it, it's nude, but not too beige so it doesn't make me look like a corpse.  It's extremely comfortable in wear, it feels thick and nourishing, and doesn't dry my lips out.  Like other sheer lipsticks, wear time is about average, around three hours or so, but it's not a real chore to keep reapplying with a lipstick like this, to be honest.

I adore the magnetised lid too, which means you can't put the top back on in the wrong position, as you see here. If you do try to put the lid on incorrectly, the top spins around till the magnets line up properly, and there are literally seconds of fun to be had sending the top spinning around and watching it settle.


All in all, this is a a lovely lipstick, and one I've been wearing a lot since it turned up.  Lovely texture, pretty packaging, and a nice colour.  :sigh: I'm going to need at least three.  Pink Heather and Field Rose next, I think.  Dammit.

The Fine Print: PR Sample. I HATE when a sample leads to unexpected purchases.  My bank manager is going to kill me.  Still, there's always the wedding account, hey?
 
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Burberry Cosmetics land at Harrods ...

So, as well as spending a little money with Dolce & Gabanna the other day, I also indulged in a little Burberry.  I hadn't been planning to, but the sales girls were so friendly, and the colours were so much nicer than I was expecting, that I felt duty-bound to pick up a few bits and pieces!  After a bit of a mass swatch, I picked (l-r) Sheer Eyeshadow No9 Rosewood, Light Glow Cameo Blush No2 and Sheer Eyeshadow No10 Antique Rose.

I've read some criticism of the range that it's all too neutral, too safe and a bit dull.  Well, yes, if you love your brights and deeps, then I can understand those thoughts.  Me though, I love me some sophisticated, polished neutrals, and this collection has them in spades. I thought the entire collection glowed with quality, and I'll be popping back this week for a lipshade (or two).

On the left there is Rosewood, which is a delicately glowing, pinkish taupe.  It's lightly shimmering, and very flattering, perfect as a crease-shade, or for a light look all over the mobile lid.  On the right is Antique Rose, a more matte, slightly plum-shade.  It's slightly more intense than Rosewood, and I used this to create a bit of an edgy smoky eye recently, a look I'll show you in a FotD coming up soon.  I really, really, really liked it.  Which kind of guarantees no one else will, but hey ho ...

Swatches shown dry over unprimed skin.  Although they're called sheer, they're actually fairly opaque, and when I wore them over primer, I had no issues with fading or creasing, even after about 14 hours of wear.

Onto the blush, the range of shades is actually quite small (three), but this was the one that called out to me.  I don't own many pinkish blushes, but this one struck me as very fresh-looking, and vibrant when I swatched it.

It's a matte shade (I prefer my blushes matte, so I can add highlight where I need it, rather than risk getting the dreaded "glitterball" effect), and on the more coral side of pink.  It's fairly long-lasting, needing a top-up only after about 8 hours of wear, but I like it a lot, it makes a change from my more bronz-y or orange shades! I like to think it's fairly flattering on my skin tone, and doesn't make me look too flushed.  It smells faintly of roses, too, which pleases me, oddly.

What's your opinion of Burberry Cosmetics?  I love the classily quirky packaging (also adore that the boxes are lined with pewter to match the compacts), and the textures are, whilst not the most buttery and pigmented I've seen - that would be Rouge Bunny Rouge - are very high quality indeed.  I'll definitely be investing in more.  Very soon....

The Fine Print: I bought these on the same day I got treated like poo by Dolce & Gabanna after my hard day in East London.  My bank manager reminded me this week that I bank with them, and NOT vice versa.  I love a funny bamk manager I do.  I should get one.