What's on my face this week? 27.09.15

I'm coming to the end of my "testing phase" with a few products right now, and to celebrate I'm going to be having a bit of a skincare week on the blog from tomorrow, so look out for some in-depth reviews from then.  In the meantime, here's some pictures of the routines I've been using.  Above is Monday's faceful, I'd dug out some old Aesop faithfuls from the stash, and you'll be seeing quite a bit more of these now we're heading into cooler weather.

Tuesday's face was mainly blue - I brought my Serozinc back out of semi-retirement - and this was a nice routine.

Wednesday brought back Bioderma, no one does these soothing and healing sprays (especially good for skins prone to redness as mine is) like the French skincare brands.

More after the jump.

Skincare of the Week 13.09.15

Last Sunday was a very stressful day, so I ended up giving myself a mini-facial in the middle of the day.  Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel was soothing with its rosy softness, then I slathered myself in Aveda Intensive Hydrating Mask for the rest of the day.  I love this stuff, oil-free, it is instantly cooling and soothing (I keep mine in the fridge.  That reminds me, I need a bigger fridge), and leaves you plumped up and less red and angry-looking.  As I'm approximately 2/3rds sheer grumpiness, this is a minor miracle, I'm sure you'll agree.

After a stressful Sunday, I needed a treat come Monday morning, and when that happens, I reach for the Zelens:

I've been trialling the Intense Defence serum for a few weeks now, there's a full review of it upcoming, but I like this.  I like this a lot.  If you have tendencies towards sensitivity and redness (as I do), you'll probably like it too.  I paired it with the Z Recovery Intensive Repair Balm, as that is probably my second-favourite Zelens product of all time.  A non-greasy balm (actually more of a rich gel-texture) this nourishes and just makes skin look fab after using.  Any time my skin is a bit stressed, or dried out, or over-stimulated with active products, I reach for this, and my skin is usually much the better for it after one application.

A tiny catastrophe on Tuesday when I couldn't find either my Bioderma Crealine spray OR my beloved La Roche Posay Serozinc, so I had to dig out my Caudalie Grape Water.  I actually like the grape water, but the other two are much better for my rosy-redness, so it wasn't really the end of the world.  I added in the Ren Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Water, as, for some reason, I woke up with mascara smudges.  My waterproof eyemakeup remover has gone walkabout, and I paid the price on Tuesday.

More about this routine (and why it was so special) after the break ...

Skincare of the Week - 22 August 2015

Joy abounds in the Get Lippie household whenever a parcel from Zelens shows up, and this week I was delighted that the two newest serums in the range appeared on my doorstep.  I'll be giving Zelens Intense Defence a good going over in the next few weeks, so expect my skincare routines to get a little ... visually undistinguishable ... for a while.  This was a simple routine that I'm already used to, so I can see if the serum does its stuff.

Zelens Z Pure Cleansing Liquid Balm

 

I'm on such a cleansing kick at the moment, it's not even funny. Luckily there are some amazing cleansers around right now, and from some great brands too, so I'm actually quite happy about this!  I've been dying to try Z Pure Cleansing Balm, from one of my favourite brands; Zelens, since before it was released, and I eventually gave up waiting for my promised sample a while ago and just bought myself a bottle, something I am wont to do on many occasions. It was £50 well-spent though, and I'm glad I cracked.  But then, with Zelens products, I usually am.

A clear liquid, reminiscent of the Alpha H Liquid Laser Oil I featured recently, this has a slightly sticky gel texture initially that quickly melts into an oil on the skin, and then emulsifies into a milk in contact with water. This is a beautifully refreshing cleanse, perfect for first thing in the morning, thanks to its gently minty shiso-infused scent. 

It's not so minty that you can't use it at night though, and it is a fantastic oil for massaging. It stays on the surface of your skin without sinking in for the longest time, and it prepares you beautifully for any night-treatments you might be using too.  Whilst it will remove makeup (something it does it very well, actually), at this price point, you're best off using it after you've removed your makeup, which will allow the skin-loving perilla oil - which is one of the main ingredients in the formula -  to nourish your face, rather than just have it pushing makeup debris and leftovers around your skin.

I remove it with a hot cloth, rather than emulsify with water and rinse, but it is easily removable either way. It doesn't leave a greasy residue, or dry your skin out, you just have soft, perfectly clean skin, ready for anything you care to throw at it afterwards.  Z Pure Cleansing Balm, alongside the aforementioned Alpha H Liquid Laser oil, and the Oskia Renaissance Gel I also reviewed recently are the three main cleansers I have in my rotation at the moment. Let me tell you that it takes a massively good formula to take me away from my beloved solid balms for any length of time, and these ones are very, very good indeed - I've not looked at a solid balm in months! 

Invest in a good cleanser, and your skin will thank you for it, is my particular philosphy.  Zelens Z Pure Cleansing Balm is worth every penny.  Mine came from SpaceNK, where it cost £50.

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Zelens Lip Enhancer and Lip Glaze in Rouge and Nude

I make no bones about my love of Zelens products. The fact is, expensive as they are, I've rarely been disappointed with anything I've tried from the range, and I was super-excited when I discovered Dr Lens was releasing makeup to go alongside his skincare range.  I've mentioned the foundation in passing before, but today I want to concentrate on the lip products.

Here we have two lipglazes, in Rouge (red) and "Nude", and the Lip Enhancer, which is essentially a lip balm with a PH sensitive pigment that reacts to the acidity in your skin to create your "ideal" lip colour.

But the Lip Glazes are what I really want to talk about (the Lip Enhancer is a bit of a gimmick to be honest, and I don't think it's worth £32 of your money for the same fluorescent pink lips you get from every other PH-sensitive "ideal" lip colour on the market, but it's a nice balm that aside) for they are fabulous.

Yes, they are a little on the sticky side, but what you have here is incredibly nourishing, cushiony colour product.  Handy for just chucking on in a hurry, not needing a precise application, I've even used them as a treatment on sore lips, and I've found that they are nothing short of magical on dry, peeling lips.  There is no scent to speak of, which is a relief.  They last about as long as you'd expect a lipgloss to, but the hydrating and conditioning properties last much longer than the colour does, which is lovely.  They feel more like a treatment than a gloss, and as such, they're gorgeous.  They're currently challenging Chantecaille as my all-time favourite formula of all-time ... which is saying something!

On the lips, the colour is sheer, but not unpigmented, here are my bare lips for comparison:

And here they are with Nude:

And with Rouge:

And finally with Lip Perfector:

Normally, Lip Perfector goes incredibly fuchsia on me, but this was after an hour of swatching 14 lip colours so I think my lips were too knackered to make it work properly on me today.

Rouge is a lovely bright and sheer red, which I love for simple look with a sweep of graphic liquid liner, and I pair nude (an unusual choice of colour at all for me, but the mix of mauve, taupe and a hint of purple in the tube makes it an easier wear for me than the usual beige/caramel "nudes") with a smokier eye look. Lip Enhancer I wear on the days I can't be bothered with makeup at all ...  I'm a big fan of the Lip Glazes, loving their emollient and soothing properties, and the colours are pretty and flattering, I can't recommend them highly enough.  The Lip Enhancer is a lovely balm with a gimmicky colour, so buy it if you like that kind of thing, but unlike the Lip Glazes, it's not quite as much of an essential.

Lip Glazes are £29 each, and are available from SpaceNK.  Lip Perfector is £32.

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

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Ace of Base - RMK, Zelens Hourglass and Smashbox

Over on Instagram I'm always putting up pics of things that have recently arrived at Lippie Mansions, pictures of things I'm doing, and setting up pics of things that are upcoming for review.  My ugly mug isn't on there too often, so you're quite safe, and if you like pictures of random products and the occasional badly framed picture of something not quite in focus with an "arty" filter over the top, why not pop over and give me a follow?

Anyhoo, Hourglass aside, these are some new base products that I've been using recently, that I really like, and I thought I'd give you the lowdown whilst I'm mulling over some full reviews on them.

So from Left to Right:

RMK Makeup Base

I'm going to preface this by saying that I think 91.73% of foundation primers on the market are a bit useless.  In spite of the hype, I've never found one that helps pores disappear for a whole day, and I find that they do very little to extend the wear time of any foundation you wear over the top.  That said, I do like Japanese makeup bases very much indeed because they are brilliant (and I do mean brilliant) at evening your skintone, and hiding high-colouring.  If you have any tendency towards rosy-ness either in your cheek or nose area, then run, don't walk to either RMK or Paul & Joe (who also do a magnificent base) and plop a bit of this over your "glow-y" bits.  You can get the RMK for £28 from Selfridges - mine was a gift with purchase, so it's not full-size.

Looks a bit chalky when you apply, but it will cover your pinkness wonderfully. You never know, it might also fill your pores and make your foundation last longer, but don't count on it.

Zelens Age Control Foundation

There has been a lot of hype about this new makeup range recently, and, I'm sad to say, most of it is completely justified.  Sorry.  It is.  I'm a big fan of Zelens skincare, and I have to admit that Dr Marko Lens, the ebullient genius behind the brand is one of my favourite people (even though he does have an odd habit of removing bits of my face in his surgery every time I see him), what Dr Lens doesn't know about skin isn't really worth knowing.

I was super-excited that he was bringing his skin-care knowledge to cosmetics, and the first launches from the range haven't disappointed.  The foundation is wonderfully smoothing and long-lasting, and it does a great job of simply gliding over pores, wrinkles and other flaws without settling into them, and just makes your skin look like skin, it has a slight satin-matte finish which most people won't need to powder over, but I do - because of redness issues.

I do like a foundation that doesn't draw attention to itself, and Age Control is a lovely, lovely but pricey addition to my foundation wardrobe.  Will it knock Chantecaille off my top spot for invisible but (expensive and) amazing coverage?  Watch this space.

Hourglass Ambient Light Powder in Diffused

This is my second back-up.  I have literally never EVER hit pan on a face powder until the lightly-yellow-toned Diffused powder turned up in my life, and now I buy one whenever I can afford it simply because I just KNOW Hourglass are going to discontinue this at some point in time, and I shall be left with all the chalky, talc-y rubbish-y POWDERY powders in the world for a lifetime as a result.  I HATE YOU HOURGLASS. Damn you for making a product SO GOOD that I panic that you are going to take it away from me.  DAMN YOUR EYES.

[ahem] I really like this product.  You might too.

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water

Yeah, you know when I said I didn't like primers then had two in one article?  Because, I'm, like, well annoying?  Well, I still think primers are rubbish. But I like this one very much anyway, and for similar reasons for the RMK makeup base above (ie for a different reason for what you'd suspect).  You're supposed to spray this over your moisturiser and it is supposed to give you an amazing base for applying makeup over, and then it supposedly lasts and lasts and all that.  I used it that way, and didn't really notice any difference to my normal application to be honest, but then I tried using it as a setting spray.

I was blown away, because it's a brilliant setting spray (something else I've been underwhelmed with in the past, I'll admit). It sort of laminates your makeup in place, without making it look like you've had your face laminated.  Neat trick when you come to think of it.

Now, I like to think I'm actually pretty good at makeup and that, but the first time I tried layering these four products in the order shown, I got compliments on my skin, and how healthy I was looking all day. Which, considering my makeup was actually just a bit of black eyeliner smudged into my lashes and some coloured lip balm, was going some.  I'm an accountant, and usually look like a gnome after a day crunching numbers, so this is either genuinely some kind of miraculous combination of (expensive - sorry!) products, or I've been ageing backwards over the Christmas holidays ...

What are your acest base products?


The Fine Print: Mixture of random PR samples purchases and re-re-purchases.

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Empties!

By Get Lippie

I'm having one of those weeks when all my favourite skin care items run out at the same time, and it's INFURIATING!

Champneys Spa Skin Super Rich Cleansing Balm:

Slightly grainy (and a little exfoliating as a result), I took this pot of balm on my honeymoon with me because I didn't want to use a chemical exfoliator, what with their sun-sensitivity issues and all, and I couldn't be bothered packing two products when only one can do all the work, and I've not looked back since.  A lovely rich balm with excellent cleansing properties, this is a brilliant (cheap!) cleanser, particularly if you totally ignore the instructions on the jar, and remove it properly with warm water and a face cloth, like what you are supposed to do.

Zelens PHA Bio-Peel Resurfacing Facial Pads

God, I love these. Gentler than straight glycolic acid, but still packing a tingly punch of exfoliating goodness, I start to panic every time I get past the halfway point on a jar of these.  Used after cleansing, these pads gently help your skin reset itself, and make you glow.  PHA is also humectant, so it binds moisture to your skin too, as well as resurfacing. Only drawback is the price, which is £65 for 50 pads.  I have been known to cut them in half to eke them out longer ...

Hydraluron

My love for Hydraluron is fairly widely known, this is either my third or fourth tube now, and I can't imagine life without it.  Which (bearing in mind that I was totally underwhelmed with it when I first started using it) is going some!  This is one of those products that doesn't really appear to do much whilst you're using it, then, when you've run out, you can really tell the difference - my skin is just more dull when I don't have this in my routine.  I use it to layer extra moisture into my skin, and I apply after my serum/oil, and before my moisturiser.   I panicked the other day when I realised the tube was empty, I don't mind admitting.  Yes, I am a big sad. 

Aromatherapy Associates Soothing Cleansing Balm

For days when I don't really fancy a  slightly scrubby cleanse with the Champneys Balm, this gloriously silky and gently fragranced balm cleanser does the job.  It melts makeup and grime on contact, and never leaves my skin feeling dry or stripped.  There are no bells or whistles to this balm, it is just a good, gentle, and even beautiful product.  Oh, and it's in a tube. I fupping LOVE balms that come in a tube.  Love them! MORE TUBES IN BEAUTY PACKAGING, PLEASE.  Have I mentioned how much I hate sticking my fingers into a jar of runny goop?  Well, I do.  A lot. I actually keep a teaspoon in my bathroom to actively avoid having to dip my fingers in stuff.  It's a bit weird, I know, but we have a million teaspoons for some reason.

I've had a lot of compliments on my skin recently - and I've just got through an entire winter wearing only tinted moisturiser (or the occasional CC cream -more about those soon)  which is entirely unheard of! I'm normally caked in foundation from October to April, every year, so this is massive for me, and it's (almost) entirely down to the products featured here.

What are your most repurchased products?

The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and repurchases

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Best of 2012 - Skincare with Zelens

 Can't deny it, this was a tough category for me this year, I'm still mourning the loss of Kate Somerville products, which have been withdrawn from the UK completely, denying me my regular dose of Goat Cream, and, I'll be honest, I still haven't found a moisturiser that I love as much as that much-missed product yet.

However, Zelens is proving a real contender, I have to say.  I've spent the last quarter of the year fairly  ill with kidney problems (both serious and not), and as a result, my skin has suffered. It's been dehydrated, reddened, flaky and prone to spots recently, which has been infuriating.  However, Dr Marko Lens is a skincare genius, and, in particular his PHA+ Bio-Peel Resurfacing Facial Pads have been a lifesaver.

Gentle enough to use twice a day, with it's blend of Poly- Beta- and Alpha- hydroxy acids, these have helped refine my skin, and soothe the redness.  They tingle a little on application, but I can tell the difference every single time I use these, I can't imagine being without them again, even if I have had to cut the pads in half recently so I could eke them out, and make them last!  I love that the entire range is mineral oil and paraben-free too.

I've been following my use of the pads with the Zelens Z Recovery Intensive Moisture balm, which I adore - the gel-texture just suits my skin down to the ground, and I find it makes a magnificent night-cream on dehydrated days.  I think I need to try the Moisture Infusion, I have a feeling it might make a better day cream for me - could it be the one to replace Kate Somerville?  Who knows ...  It's pricey, but for me, it works, and therefore it's worth every penny.
   
The Fine Print: PR Samples.  Kidney problems all my own. 

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Current Skincare - Night & Day

I've been ill recently, necessitating a more than a couple of hospital trips, and it means I need a small procedure later on in the year. It's nothing too serious, but the feeling of being more rundown than usual has been showing in my skin, and as a result I've had to break out some of the big guns in my skincare arsenal.  Far from being a pain, I've found myself really enjoying taking care of my skin recently, mainly thanks to these somewhat ... er, luxurious* products.  I have two routines, evening and morning, and I'll take you through them both.

Evening:

  
In the evening, I like to give myself a really thorough cleanse, using a lot of massage techniques.  Le Belle Oil Cleanser (£28) is a fairly thick oil-based cleanser which doesn't really emulsify, so is perfect for a really thorough cleanse when you've got a full-face of makeup on.  And even if you don't, it's still great for a really deep cleanse. I rinse using one of my gazillion washi cloths and some hot water, then I give my face a good going over with a Zelens PHA Bio-Peel Resurfacing Face Pad (£65) These are a recent discovery for me, and I LOVE them.

Based on a combination of AHAs and BHAs, alongside PHAs, and with a combination of acids (including salicylic, lactic, citric and polyhydroxy)  these are a gentler alternative to my beloved Alpha-H Liquid Gold.  They help to resurface, and rehydrate your skin overnight.  When my skin is feeling sensitive, it's easier to use these then the Alpha H, and I can really tell the difference.  I follow with a spritz of toner (see morning), then add two drops of Sjal Saphir Concentrate Oil (£125) An anti-ageing oil suffused with sapphire, this stuff is amazing, plumping and firming, it's a pleasure to use. I use it as a serum rather than a moisturiser, as it's rather light, so I finish with a tiny dab of Zelens Z Recovery Intensive Repair Balm (£140).  Again, on the pricey side, this is the one product on this list that I'd go without shoes to re-purchase.  A thick, slightly gummy "balm", it leaves the skin plump and hydrated, plus it soothes and repairs any dry patches or irritated skin.  It's light and non-greasy, and after applying, I always look forward to seeing how great my skin looks the morning after, if I could marry a product, this would be The One.

Morning:

 I do another oil cleanse, this time with Nude Cleansing Facial Oil (£28) it is lighter than the Le Belle, and emulsifies easily in water.  This is my default cleanser - I may dabble with others, but Nude is the one I return to again and again and again, even in this, my fourth (eep!) year as a beauty blogger. 

After rinsing with a washi, I spritz again with toner, this time with Sjal Mineral Kalla Energy Tonic (£50), which is hydrating and calming, and sets your skin up for serums and moisturiser nicely. For daytime use, I like Darphin Camomile Aromatic Care (£41), as I find it it both soothing, and protective for my "prone to redness and sensitivity" skin.  Finally, I apply a layer of Kate Somerville Goat Milk Cream ($55), which contains both goat milk (good for a lactic acid dose), and aloe vera for soothing, plus avocado and jojoba oils for hydration.  Sadly, SpaceNK have dropped the Kate Somerville line, so I beg everyone I know who has a trip to the US planned to pick some up for me, and this is my fourth jar.

I realise that this is an expensive routine in anyone's book, but what price skin?


*  Expensive.  Yes, I KNOW.

The Fine Print: I sold my soul to PRs, various relatives, and several online retailers for some of these products, which are a combination of samples, gifts and (in a surprisingly large proportion) purchases.  You don't even want to know what the MiL wanted in return for the Goat Milk Cream ...

Oh, all links in this post are for informational purposes only, and are NOT affiliate links.
 
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