Project Perfume: Clinique Aromatics Elixir

The week before last, I announced the start of "Project Perfume", where I'm going to attempt to sniff about 10 new (to me) perfumes a month in an attempt to educate myself about scents, their composition, and to see if I can finally, once and for all, identify that particular ingredient in certain perfumes that makes me want to vomit.  I'm a one-woman perfume machine armed only with a fragrance A-Z, a nose and a desire not to throw up in any more department store perfume departments ....

But first I thought I'd cheat a little and write about what is, probably, my "signature scent", and that is Clinique's Aromatics Elixir.  Over the years since I first bought a bottle of this - aged around 15 - I've owned it in every format, perfume, shower gel, body lotion, solid perfume, talc, deodorant (what can I say, layering scents was big in the 80's), but I'm kicking myself at the moment as I missed buying it in scented candle form this year.  I think the only format that it's not appeared in is bath oil, and I'd adore a massive bottle of Bath Elixir, it'd be right at home in my tardis-bath!

Aromatics is a "big" scent, and it's instantly recognisable at even the merest whiff. It's classified as a "floral chypre", but I don't get even the faintest hint of flowers, at least not until the scent has been on my skin for several hours, and ironically, this is what I like about it.  On first spray, it's intensely smoky, and reminds me of a spicy incense, which is intensely evocative.  Because it's strong, I like to save it for winter (though I used to wear it year-round layered constantly over itself) , and as a result, I have a wardrobe full of scarves, coats and sweater which are impregnated delightfully with the stuff, it's a wonderful thing to be able to stick your nose into something you've not worn for a while, and be reminded of occasions where you've worn them before.

After a while on the skin, the smokiness fades, and there's a balsamic, almost medicinal, resinous scent, which lingers around for a while, reminding me of woods and the dense boskyness of walking on mulchy leaves in the autumn countryside.  Eventually, after about 8 hours on the skin I'm left with just the faintest hint of sandalwood and roses - maybe a hint of hippy-free patchouli - and I'm a happy woman.

When I first smelled Aromatics Elixir, I couldn't resist it, as it was so very "different" to everything else I'd smelled at that point, and it remains beautifully different to most of the perfumes you find in department stores today, and I revel in that very "differentness" to this day, nearly 25 years later.

What's your "signature scent"?
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Clinique Anti-Blemish Foundation

This post is a promotional feature.

Okay, I very rarely feature products before I've tested them, but I'm making an exception for this one. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Clinique's patent 3-step skin-care system, but I've always liked their cosmetics, and I believe their spot-care range (can you call it that? You know what I mean, I'm sure) is second to none.

Certainly, when I first developed adult-onset acne at around the age of 27 or so, I found that their spot-clearing gel was one of the few things that helped clear my zits up.  I found adult acne a profoundly depressing experience, not helped by some profoundly insensitive friends making jokes about it, and I hated that most cosmetic ranges were either targeted at the already beautifully smooth skinned, or were for spotty teenagers and were simply guaranteed to wreck my already - by that time - hyper-sensitive skin.

Anyway, what I'm getting around to mentioning is that Clinique have brought out an Anti-Blemish Foundation, which promises to feel fresh and natural, AND help clear "blemishes".  What I wouldn't have given for a foundation like this a few years ago! I used to cake (and I do mean cake) myself in Estee Lauder Double Wear, and the heaviest layers of powder I could manage, and hope no one would notice the crater face underneath! Here's a video featuring an independent makeup artist showing some hints on how to use the latest release from Clinique's foundation stable.  Please take a look:



Now, I've noticed that my skin is going through one of it's periodic "insane" stages, meaning a crop of breakouts is, sadly, one the way - I can already feel a couple of humdingers cropping up on my jawline, so I'm going to be giving this foundation a go for a couple of weeks. Want to join me and let me know how you get along - and I'll be grateful to hear from anyone else who's already tried the product! - then click here to buy yours.

Makeover: Kate

It's Sunday, so that means only one thing here at Get Lippie HQ, it's makeover day!  I love makeover days, the anticipation (and worry) about what kind of look I'm going to give my wonderful volunteer, and the satisfaction when my model disappears afterward looking pleased and happy with the results gives my heart a little lift.

I ask all my lovely volunteers to bring their make up bags with them and before we get started we have a chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit about what the model wants from the session, how they want to look afterward, and if they want to be able to replicate the looks for themselves after.  Every session is designed in it's entirety to meet the requirements of the person who's my sitter for the day.

With that in mind, meet Kate:

Kate normally has a very simple make up routine: powder, mascara, a touch of blusher and some lip balm.  Kate actually owns quite a lot of very lovely makeup, but isn't sure how to use it, so today's session is all about learning how to maximise the potential of make up she already owns.  Kate has asked to look very different, and wants a look that will work well for the evenings, but will be easy to apply herself later.

Let's start by having  a look at Kate's makeup collection:

 

(please ignore the Calvin Klein palette there, it's mine, not Kates's)

 

That's a LOT of Laura Mercier there.  It's a lovely collection, and one Kate could get a lot of use out of.  So, let's get cracking.

Kate has lovely skin, but it's quite prone to redness, so the first thing we're going to do is apply a good base.  After concealing to particular areas, then applying LM mineral primer and foundation, this is how Kate looks:

Her skin is a lot more even, and we've toned down the shine a little.  I didn't really think there was a need for any heavy coverage, as I think a nice dewy finish is always slightly more flattering than a fully matte one.

Then, again using Laura Mercier, we primed the eyelids - Kate has very thin skin around the eyes, and the blood vessels near the surface can show through.  Using a shadow primer will even out this colouration, and also give the loose powder shadow we're about to use something to cling to:

Okay, we have our base in place, and we're primed and ready to go, so let's start applying some colour now.  Kate brought her LM "Steel Shining" shadow with her, so we're going to start with that, and apply a light colourwash across the whole eyelid, like so:

Now that's in place, we need a little more definition along the socket line with a slightly darker grey - here we used Calvin Klein shadow in Graphite.  Kate was unsure how to find her socket line, so I showed her how to use an upright shadow brush and a mirror below the chin to help out when she's applying this look for herself.  I did the first eye, and Kate did the second:

 

And here's the result of the team effort:

 

I love how pleases she looks with the results here!

We then used the same Graphite shadow to line and define Kate's lovely grey/green eyes, and popped on a little mascara (Laura Mercier Long Lash):

 

 To finish the look, we added just a tiny dusting of blusher (LM Pink Spark) and finished off with a coat of Clinique Tender Mauve on the lips.  Here's the finished article:

It's a soft version of a smokey eye.  Kate really enjoyed being shown how to use the products she owns and is really looking forward to getting stuck into creating some more dramatic looks for herself.

Makeover: Sharon Pt 1

We're going to do the makeover in two parts today - you'll see why when part two is posted later ...

Meet Sharon:

Sharon is another friend of mine who has volunteered for a makeover. Whilst chatting about how she'd like to look, she had two requests, firstly, she wanted a nice, simple, polished look suitable for interviews and everyday wear.  The second we'll talk about in part two.  As you can see, Sharon has beautiful porcelain skin,  amazing cheekbones, and enormous eyes, realistically, Sharon doesn't need a huge amount of makeup to make the most of those features, so we worked with only three or four products.

First of all, foundation.  As I mentioned earlier, Sharon has lovely creamy skin, so we didn't need much in the way of coverage.  I used a very light layer of Max Factor Seamless foundation, and only used it in those areas where Sharon is prone to a bit of high colour - around the nose, and a little on her cheeks.

As you can see, this has evened out her skintone just a little, and left us with a good base to work from.  Sharon's eyes are bicoloured - she has one of grey, and one of blue - so, I played around with a bluish-grey colour wash to make the most of what I think is a most distinctive - and lovely - feature.

 

Here, I've used Calvin Klein shadow in Granite, just the one shade all over the lid, darker towards the lash line, and blended in more towards the socket line.

Once this was in place, we finished with a touch of the same shadow under the lower lashes as a liner, then a light coat of Lancome Hypnose on the lashes, and Clinique Almost Lipstick in Sheer Blackberry, here's how it looked:

 

So there you go, polished, pretty, and suitable for any business occasion.

However, Sharon also wanted a dramatic - and I do mean dramatic - look for a Ball she's going to in a few weeks.  I'll be posting the details of that one very shortly.

Click here for part two ...

Products I Love

There are so many cosmetic products out there these days, that products don't really need to stand the test of time, there is always the latest "wonder product" to replace things with. For me, the test of whether a product is any good or not is "Will I buy it again?" and, in the vast majority of cases, the answer quite simply is no. Luzzegain suggested I make a list of products I've bought twice, and would happily buy again so here it is:

Kerastase Dermo Calm shampoo - Simply the best anti-dandruff shampoo there has ever been, for us sensitive scalped, dry haired people, plus it's good for coloured hair. Now sadly rumoured to be discontinued, I've recently bought four bottles just in case ...

Diorific 008 Mystic Mauve - The perfect neutral lipstick, if one ignores the quite ridiculously bulky packaging. Goes with smokey eyes or no-makeup makeups, somehow just makes your lips look polished and gives the perfect finishing touch to any face. And it makes your teeth look whiter, which is marvellous.

MAC Prolash - Great mascara with bulking fibres to make your lashes look fab of a nighttime. This was my wonder-product till I discovered Lancome Hypnose, which I find doesn't smudge as much.

Clinique Naturally glossy mascara - perfect for daytime, natural looking mascara.

MAC Strobe Cream - a cream highlighter/moi

sturiser. You can use this on your cheekbones/browbones for a highlighter effect, or use it in place of moisturiser for a slightly sheeny dewy effect. I like to dab a little all over a too matte foundation to make it look more natural. Did you know all MAC face products are vitamin enriched, like this one? I didn't either. And it's literally half the price and twice the size of Benefit's similar products.

Laura Mercier eyeshadow in Twilight - a sort of purply-browny-greyish colour. You can wear this as a light natural colour wash across your lids, it's perfect for bringing out the green tones in hazel or brown eyes, but it also suits blue eyes. Or, you can use it as I do as the basis for the smokey eyes look as detailed earlier. The perfect suits all occasions and colourings eyeshadow.

MAC paint in Untitled - a flesh coloured pigment in an artists paint tube. Can be used anywhere on the face - it comes in a variety of colours and finishes - but this one makes the perfect base for eye makeup, as it evens out the skin tones there, and gives the shadow something to cling to, and makes it last all day, and all night if it has to. Wonderful stuff.

Urban Decay liquid eyeliner - I own about six of these, beautiful colours and simply the best brush yet found for ease of application. Stupid, stupid colour names though.

Rimmel pencil eyeliner - there is no eyeliner pencil on the market to rival these budget beauties. Soft, easy to apply, and relatively long lasting, simply no sense in buying more expensive ones.

Chanel Crystalle - my favourite perfume, I flirt with others, but I always come back to this. A green, floral, herby type scent, that's not at all sweet (my pet hate in perfumes, along with that horrible ingredient in certain perfumes that I haven't identified yet which makes me retch), and apparently it's very sexy. I love it.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream I never leave the house without a tube of this about my person somewhere, I use it as a lip balm, to pat on foundation to get a glow, as an eye gloss (great if you've smudged your liquid eyeliner, and want to make it look like a deliberate action), as a cuticle treatment, on spots, on flaky skin patches such as ankles and elbows, on scratches. It's wonderful, and last for years. Don't buy the lip treatment stick though, it has too much added vitamin e and another ingredient which can actually make your lips flakier. And it doesn't contain petrochemicals, which is one of my pet hates in balm-type products. The original wonder product, and still the best as far as I'm concerned.

Chanel Rouge Noir lipstick and nail varnish Beautiful colours, beautiful packaging. Chanel do reds better than any other make up company, and these are the best reds ever, no question.

Avon Arabian Glow bronzing powder Cheap, cheerful, does exactly what it says on the tin. Nice colour too.