Makeover: Kerry

After a bit of last minute confusion with one of my other volunteers, the lovely Kerry stepped in to have a makeover, and I'm glad she did, as this is one of my favourites!

Meet Kerry:

Kerry is really very pretty already, with enormous green eyes.  Sometimes Kerry thinks she looks a bit young (never an issue as far as I'm concerned!) so was looking to create a sophisticated "grown-up" look, that was hopefully a bit glamorous too.

As always, we started with the base.  Kerry has beautiful porcelain skin, so we used Bobbi Brown liquid foundation in "porcelain" as the main base, and Benefit's You're Bluffing as a concealer on the birthmark on her upper lip.  I decided against using Bluffdust as a powder because Kerry is so pale, and we used ELF HD Powder to set the look instead:

Then, to make the most of Kerry's gorgeous eyes, I made use of a Bobbi Brown palette I have that features mainly chocolate shades, I applied a shimmer wash of colour over Kerry's lids, then defined the crease with a darker shimmery brown shade:

Once they were in place, I lined the eyes with "coffee, and applied just a little more shimmer to Kerry's  lids:

 

 

Once that was in place, I darkened Kerry's brows just a little (with Smashbox brow powder kit), and added a single layer of Clarins Wonder Perfect Mascara, the difference was amazing!

A light touch of Cargo Plant Love's Wind (please note no schoolgirl jokes today, thank you) around the cheekbones and temples to warm the look up a bit, and then I used NARS Sex Machine on Kerry's lips, and finished with a tiny slick of Dior lipgloss (the name of which has worn off, but is a very pale pink with a hint of green iridescence.  Nicer than it sounds, honest!)  Here's how it looked when it was all put together:

And here's the before and after:

Many thanks for stepping in Kerry, hope you liked your new look!

Onix Blowdry - the aftermath ...

As you probably already know, I had an  Onix keratin treatment/Brazilian blowdry at Compton Hair earlier this week, and I was very, very pleased with it. Well, I let it airdry the other day, and it was with some trepidation I did it, I can tell you!  I was still convinced that the very second I washed my hair, all the FLOOF would be back, and I'd have to break out the straighteners again.

This is how it turned out:

This is my hair, airdried, without any styling product, and just after my having raked it out with my fingers.

Here's a close up of the crown, so you can see how shiny it still is:

Seriously, my hair has been gleaming all week, people in the office have commented on it!

I couldn't be happier with my new hair, it's a whole new lease of life for me!

Competition Entry

I'm entering MizzWorthy's "Think outside the box" competition today, so here's my entry (again, the photos aren't fantastic, but I was rushing this and trying to give myself a facial ready for my work Christmas party tomorrow!) It's not my greatest work, but I was trying to show one very precise look, an one slightly destroyed look at the same time:

Whaddya think?

 

 

Organic Wednesday - Surya Brasil

To continue with Hair Week at Get Lippie this week, we're going to have a look at Surya Brasil's Amazonia Preciosa hair masks, and we have another guest blogger, the lovely Helen, who is going to review the product for us.

About Surya and Amazonia Preciosa

Surya's Amazonia Preciosa line is an incredibly natural range of haircare, all products of which are ecco-certified.  According to the website, each of the products contains: 

• No sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, artificial colouring or fragrance
• No parabens, solvents, GMOs or other components that are harmful to health
• Ethically wild crafted raw materials from the Amazon Forest
• The Preciosa essential oil is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
• The Andiroba essential oil is certified by IBAMA, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources
• All flasks and packages are made of recyclable material.
• Innovative, mild preservative system. No formaldehyde releasers or potential xeonestrogens.
• Five formulas utilizing Brazilian fruits and nuts to address different hair types.

All the products are suitable for vegans, and are tested on humans rather than animals! Today, we're going to look at the Brazil Nut hair mask which is specifically formulated for dry and damaged hair.

Helen Says:

"Whilst the whole of the UK was watching the X-Factor final on Sunday night, I decided to wash my hair.  This was prompted by the fact that Ms Lippie had passed over a hair mask to try out for her Organic Wednesday slot.  Now I know that she often complains about her ‘difficult’ hair, but I do think that mine puts up a good fight in that category. It has a mind of its own on most days, and any dampness causes a ‘frizziness’ overload.  This Surya Mask was made especially for dry hair and mine was certainly in that state having just come back from a ski holiday where I wore a helmet all day, every day

After washing my hair with my normal shampoo, I took the top of the tube and squirted some onto my hand.  It had a pleasant nutty smell – reminding me a bit of a Christmas stocking from my childhood – the flavour/aroma was Brazil nut. The understated packaging didn’t indicate how much to use so I used a walnut sized lump to start with. As my hair is very short and doesn’t normally need much product, I thought this would be enough, however, this amount disappeared virtually straight away. I'm not sure if I didn’t use enough or my hair was so dry that it needed more help than usual.  I then added extra, using an amount about the size of half a small apple in the end. It went into my hair very easily with no greasiness or stickiness, but unfortunately the smell faded quickly – it would have been nice to smell like nuts for a while.  After 15 minutes sitting in the bath with a towel wrapped around my head, I rinsed off the remainder of the mask.  This process happened very easily with no residue left after a very short period of rinsing.

As for the results, although my hair was definitely softer and more controllable afterwards, it was not a life changing transformation. I must confess that I have had better results from other leave-in conditioners previously. However, the mask was very easy to use and to rinse out, had a pleasant smell and texture and did not feel ‘gloopy’ when on my hair. If you are looking to use a mask with no chemicals in it, it works well enough, but I think I will be sticking to my usual conditioner."  

So there you go.  Have you tried Surya?  The masks are available from Liberty, and cost £10.  I estimate you'd get about four treatments from one tube. I actually have someone else trialling this particular mask (I'm trying to limit the amount of products I use at the moment) and I'll bring you their thoughts on the product when I have them.

Thanks for your input, Helen!

The Small Print: This product was sent to us for review purposes.  All reviews are honest, no matter how the product arrives at GLHQ.

Review - Compton Hair: Onix Brazilian Blowdry

Now, I don't know about you, but I find the thought of trying out a new hair salon pretty terrifying, I've been known to hang around outside salons for ages trying to pluck up the courage to actually walk in and make an appointment!   As a result, it's entirely possible I don't visit the hairdresser as often as I might.

Now, when you consider that I have crazy hair:

(hair after applying straightening shampoo, conditioner, serum, balm, and home blowdry!)

that might seem a bit short-sighted, but ... I've learned my coping strategies over the years, I don't wash it every day, I use my straighteners once or twice a week, and when all else fails, I tie it back. Wash and go hair just isn't something that is possible for a curly-girl like me.

Or so I thought.

When the opportunity came up to visit Zoltan Vargyai at Compton's Covent Garden salon and try out the next generation of Brazilian keratin treatment I nearly bit someone's hand off in my eagerness to say yes! Keratin treatments, also known as a three month blowdry, have been around for a while now. They semi-permanently straighten and condition your hair, so making it easier and quicker to style.  Unlike a Yuko treatment however, the straightening effect fades over a number of months, so they're cheaper, but also unlike Yuko, Onix can be used on colour-treated and/or damaged hair.

Previously, keratin treatments have had the major disadvantage that you have to leave your hair unwashed, untouched and unstyled (literally, you can't even tuck it behind your ears!) for at least three days after having the product applied, but the new Onix treatment renders that obsolete, meaning that you can wash your hair the same day, if you want, and you can style your hair however you want without worrying that your hair will "set" into a new, and unwanted shape. Plus, the treatment can be done in about an hour, if you're lucky!  I have a LOT of hair though, so I was in the salon a fair bit longer than that ...

I spent yesterday afternoon having the process done.  The Compton Hair salon itself is very relaxed, all the staff went well out of their way to make me feel at home, and Tom - who actually carried out my treatment - was, I have to say, utterly adorable.  We spent a long time chatting about my hair, and what I wanted from the treatment, before we got started and the chat continued throughout, so much so, I barely had to pick up my book! There was also a bit of an iPhone application face-off at one point, but I shall gloss over that, I have the least cool selection of Apps, ever.  I also had a chance to speak to Zoltan himself, but I'll bring you more about that in a later post.

The treatment itself isn't that complicated, your hair is washed twice with a special clarifying shampoo to open the hair cuticles, then the keratin treatment is applied and left to absorb into your hair. Your hair is then dried and straighteners are used to set it into it's finished style.  Here's how my hair looked at this stage:

Apologies for the poor quality of the iPhone picture there!  Now, if you wish, you can leave the salon at this point, and leave the keratin on your hair for a couple of days before washing it out, or you can leave it on for another 45 minutes and have it neutralised and removed at the salon.  I opted for this version of the treatment - I'm an instant gratification kind of gal, always have been! Once the keratin was removed, my hair was very roughly blowdried with fingers, NO styling products, brushes or straighteners were used at this point, and here's how it looked when I got home after a slightly rainy walk through Covent Garden:

Lookit that shine!  (Don't lookit the stupid expression on my face ...) Ordinarily after a few minutes in a damp atmosphere I resemble a dandelion clock after a particularly vicious static storm, or Marc Bolan after a nasty electric shock, so just to get away with a little light fuzzing at the ends is amazing. Especially after only five minutes under the hairdryer! Normally getting my hair this straight is about an hour-long job, and it's back-breaking, to boot.

I can't wait to try styling this myself, I specifically requested that Tom leave me with a little root lift, so when it dries naturally it'll be a bit more "bouncy" than it appears here.  I was delighted with my experience in the salon today, seriously, they're lovely people! And I absolutely love the results I've been left with so far.  I'll bring you a further post a little later in the week about how I've found dealing with it at home, I think the key part of any salon treatment is how your hair behaves once you try to replicate the results yourself!

It's important that you use an SLS-free shampoo and conditioner after the treatment, as sulfates strip away the keratin treatment, so I purchased the Onix products to ensure I get the best results, and I'll let you know my thoughts on those too.

You can find out more about Compton Hair here and more about the Brazilian blowdry itself here. Prices start from £145, and the treatment can take from 1 to 4 hours depending on the length and thickness of your hair.  If you do go, ask for Tom, and tell him I said hello!

The Small Print: This treatment was provided free for review purposes.  All reviews are honest, regardless of the source of the product.

Excited!

Get Lippie is going to be all about HAIR this week - if you're reading this on Monday afternoon then I'm actually visiting Zoltan Vargyai at his Covent Garden salon (Comptons) RIGHT NOW - okay, after my doctor's appointment, I will be - and I'll be experiencing the next generation of Brazilian Keratin hair straightening treatments! I've been desperate to get my hair professionally straightened for years and this appointment is something I'm looking forward to hugely.  I'm hoping that I'll look a little less like the Wild Woman of Wongo in the mornings afterward ...

Full story and details on Tuesday ...

Makeover: Jane C

Another Sunday, and another makeover (or two) today!  Please meet Jane:

Jane's great, and I think she's one of the most naturally gorgeous people I've ever met, so having her volunteer for a makeover was a lovely surprise!  Jane was interested in finding out a simple look suitable for daytime, and trying out a more dramatic look too.  Here's what we came up with - and before we start, I must apologise for the quality of the pictures in this post, we lost the light quite dramatically towards the end of our session, and so some of the later pictures have a lot of shadows which I find really distressing!

So, for the daytime look,  as always we started with the base.  Jane is blessed with naturally creamy skin, so, instead of using a foundation, I used Benefit You Rebel in Light to even out her skintone:

I used a very tiny bit of ELF High Definition powder on Jane's T-zone, but there really wasn't a huge amount of corrective work that needed doing here.  We then moved onto Jane's eyes, I dug out my Bobbi Brown  palette, and used Flesh as a colour wash all over the lid up to to brow, then used Naked as a crease contour:

 

Jane uses a lot of grey shadows ordinarily, but we thought something a little different might work, so, as an eyeliner, we used a Korres pencil in blueblack - I love these pencils, they're buttery-soft and beautifully blendable, perfect for a novice user - to set off the browns in her eyes:

 

 

Then, we finished off with a little Lancome Hypnose, a dusting of Cargo Illuminator in Wind on the cheekbones, and a little beige lipgloss:

For Jane's more dramatic look, we removed the eyemakeup altogether and started from scratch.  I was determined to make this as simple as possible for Jane to be able to replicate at home, so I used a very similar application technique, and mainly just worked with different colours.

As a colour wash over the lid, I used Korres eyeshadow in Base 12s, which is a lovely taupe with a slight pink iridescence.  The iridescence made Jane a bit nervous, but once I explained that it's not actually a PINK eyeshadow, and it would just make her eyes seem a bit brighter, she relented and let me use it.  Then, to accentuate the crease, I use MAC Behold, which is a grey-taupe, and possibly the most useful eyeshadow I have in my kit:

 

 

I then applied an extremely thin line of black powder eyeshadow in place of liquid liner, and accentuated the lashes with a coat of Lancome Hypnose Drama (forgot to take pictures of this step - sorry!) Once the eyes were finished, I applied Ellis Red from Ellis Faas to Jane's lips, and the look was finished:

Personally, I love how this looks on Jane.  If I were to try to re-create this look, I'd probably do a little cheekbone contouring too - probably using Ilamasqua blush in Rumour - and add another coat or two of mascara.  I'd also make sure the lighting was right!

Thank you very much for being my sitter, Jane, I hope you enjoyed the session as much as I did.

Today's Interview Look

Hair freshly coloured? Check. Eyeliner freshly flicked? Check. Lips slicked with balm? Check. Nervous? Check.

Hate interviews, but think it's important to look polished.

Wish me luck, peeps!

My current skincare regime

Don't worry, I'm not going to subject you to pics of my skin with no makeup on - well, maybe just the odd one ...

What I'm using at the moment:

Daily:

Nude Facial Cleansing Oil - I wasn't too sure about this at first, I'd heard so many raves about it, people seemed to really like the smell, and I found it more than a little overpowering, to be honest.  It smells, to me, like hippies, sort of musky, and patchouli-esque.  It's not unpleasant, but compared to the light, fresh and minty smell of the Origins Liquid Crystal I've been using for the best part of the last five years, it's very heavy, and took some getting used to.  But, that aside, I love this stuff, it's a rich, thick oil that melts anything you have on your face, and then rinses away to leave you with soft clean and velvety skin.  And if you don't want to use a muslin cloth with it, you don't have to as it rinses away perfectly well with just a splash or two of warm water.


Next, I sploosh about four or five drops of Elemental Herbology Cell Food Serum onto my face and neck:

It's hard to describe what effect this has on your face - normally I don't bother with serums at all, finding them too heavy and greasy for my face, which tends to lead to breakouts, but this is very light, and seems to just soothe my skin whilst protecting it from the horrific weather we're having at the moment. I just find my skin loves this, lines seem to be smoother, and my skin is altogether more well-behaved when I'm using it. I think it's a product that's very quickly become one of my all-time favourites.

Then, as I described last week, I moisturise with this:

Which is a lovely rich, and matte moisturiser, perfect for cold, wet, wintry days.

Then, on a bi-weekly basis, I've been using this:

Which is the Elemental Herbology Facial Kit, which I wrote about here, I shan't bore you with re-hashing that post all over again, but I will leave you with a shot of it in action:

I think my skin is in better condition than it's been for a long time, and I'm really happy with it. What are your winter skin care essentials?

Organic Wednesday - Badger Balms

So, a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned lip balms and asked for some suggestions for new ones. I really shouldn't be asking for recommendations, as a bit later on that day I went to my lip balm drawer (what, you mean you don't have a drawer devoted purely to lip balm?)  and found these babies.  Actually, the pic above shows only some of the Badger Balms I have, there are a few more hanging around.  I'm a big fan of them, in case you can't tell!

About Badger:

The original Badger "Healing Balm" is based on a concoction of  extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, castor oil, aloe vera and essential oil of sweet birch (it smells very like root beer, in fact!), and was invented in 1995 by Bill Whyte of New Hampshire.  The brand has since diversified from this one balm into aromatherapy products, hand care, lip care, body butters, soaps and sunscreens.  Badger don't test on animals, only use organic (food grade) ingredients and contain no petrochemicals.

Lippie Says:

I really like these formulations, unlike balms containing petrochemical ingredients, these don't just soothe your lips whilst they're actually sitting on your lips, but keep on protecting and soothing even after there's no balm visibly left on your lips.  Some more mineral-oil based balms can actually leave your lips feeling worse after they've worn off, but not these.  I discovered them via their "Healing Hands" balm, which I've used as a hand cream, and I also swear by their cuticle cream, which is a lovely lemon-scented butter, which works wonders for your nails, I discovered. My favourite of the lip balm sticks is the Chai Rose flavour, which I think has been discontinued, much to my distress.  I also really like their relaxation balms, I don't, in all honesty know how effective they are as aromatherapy products, but they smell nice, and they're lovely to use.

But, don't just take my word for it:

Mr Lippie says:

"Not being someone who regularly uses skincare products of any kind, I was a touch dubious when Get Lippie thrust a small tin of Badger ‘Healing Balm’ upon me, with many exhortations to ‘USE this, dammit!’. Opening it didn’t really help my qualms, as I was faced with a malignant yellow substance that was sticky/slimey to touch, and a waft of overpowering Menthol odour drifted out. I really didn’t think that extract of Badger was supposed to smell like this (nor was I sure what healing powers it had for dry skin), but I gamely resolved to try it anyway. I’ve got dry skin on my elbows (the word ‘scaly’) has been used), so I applied this to them once a day for about a week. The smell disappears in small quantities, the stickiness washes away quite easily, and, luckily, my elbows have not turned yellow. And, more to the point, it actually seems to work – which is nice. My elbows are actually becoming significantly smoother. So, overall, a thumbs up."

High praise indeed, if you ask me.

Editors Note:  No Badgers are harmed in the making of Badger Balm - there are no animal ingredients in any of the products from the range, except beeswax. 

Nail of the Day - Rococo Vayder

If you follow me on Twitter at all, then you might already know I've fallen for Rococo polishes in a big way.  Yes, they're expensive, but all the ones I've tried are so pretty, and the wear on them is simply fantastic, usually at least five days without any signs of tip wear or chipping.  Here's my latest purchase:

It's called Vayder and it's an opaque black with iridescent micro-sparkles.  In the picture it looks like a silver glitter, but under artificial light these little sparkles light up like diamonds, I love it.  The above pic shows two coats for full opacity, and a seche vite top coat.   There's no gritty feel from the glitter on my nails, either.

I now own three Rococo polishes, all in colours slightly different to what's in my usual colour wardrobe, from left to right here, there is Vayder, Utility and Underground:

Also, I want to show you a before and after of my nails now I've been using  my ultra top secret nail regime for a few weeks:

It might not look like much to you, but for me to have ALL of my nails visible from the other side is amazing to me!  Another couple of weeks and I'll reveal all, but this new nail routine is something I'm astonishingly happy with, and I'm beginning to think my nails actually look okay instead of being something I'm really ashamed of and frustrated with.

What are the winter nail colours you're loving at the moment?

Review - Clarins Wonder Perfect Mascara

I love mascara.  Specifically, I love Lancome Hypnose, and Lancome Hypnose Drama (though the brush on that one drives me a bit bonkers, if I'm being really honest), I've tried other mascaras, but for me, nothing really comes close.

Clarins recently ran a giveaway on their Facebook page, and I was lucky enough to win a sample sized tube, and, I have to say, it's been the only mascara I've used since (I've toyed with Smashbox DNA which is going in the bin, and Max Factor Lash Extension, which I think is a bit rubbish as well) because, well, it delivers.

Here's what Clarins say:

"A multi-dimensional, 3-in-1 mascara, that ensures oversized volume, curl and length, with an instant and intense effect. From the first brush stroke, lashes are coated from root to tip with smooth, even, deeply pigmented colour and a beautiful lash look.
3-in-1 capabilities to ensure impressive volume, length and curl.
- Incredibly thick, volumized lashes, perfectly separated, no clumping.
- Infinitely long lashes, highlighted along their base by a superb eyeliner effect.
- Lashes with a spectacular curl that always remain supple."

And here's how it looks as compared to my natural lashes (one coat):

As you can see, the lashes on the left there are definitely longer and thicker.  After I add the mascara to the other eye (I'm not wearing any makeup in these pics whatsoever, aside from the mascara) here's how they look:

I think the product actually delivers on all three claims, which is beyond amazing, and compared to the Lancome (which has been my Holy Grail mascara since the first time I ever tried it) it doesn't flake or run after about six hours, which has long been a failing of the Lancome though I've been loathe to admit it ...

I like what this mascara does for my eyes so much that recently it's been the only makeup I've worn besides some lip balm, which, a few years ago would have been simply unthinkable, it's amazing that a mascara can in itself convince me not to wear eyeliner! I also think it's down to being happy with what my new skin care routine is doing for me, and I'll be blogging about that in a bit more detail later on in the week.

What's your Holy Grail Mascara?  What would make you change products?

Makeover: Mel

It Sunday Makeover time, and this week I was delighted to welcome along Mel:

Mel's a schoolteacher, and was looking for a simple and easy day time look that suits her colouring.  Mel actually owns a bit of very lovely makeup, but doesn't use it very often, so I was hoping to show her how to get the most of some of the things she already owns, and introduce her to a couple of techniques to get the best out of her routine.

First of all, we started with the base, to even out Mel's skintone we used YSL Perfect Touch Foundation, and for the slightly darker skin around her eyes, we used By Terry Eclat de Teint to conceal.  I like both of these products as they have the brush built in already, and they're super-quick and easy to use:

 

 

Mel has really lovely grey/blue eyes, so we decided that they would be the feature.  As we were trying to keep this simple, we use Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadow in RSVP all over the lid, up to the brow area:

Then, to define the crease - and as an eyeliner - we used Cargo Plant Love eyeshadow in Sparrow:

 

 

Then a lick of mascara

And we were ready to add the finishing touches, which in this case were a light dusting of Cargo's Plant Love Illuminator in Wind over the cheeks and temples, and a light coat of Estee Lauder's lipstick in "Beige".  I also darkened Mel's eyebrows a touch with Smashbox eyebrow powder:

 

Lovely, quick, and natural.  Here's the before and afters:

 

Thank you, Mel. Let me know when you want to go shopping!

Now, that's what I call service ...

So, after this morning's saga  of woe, I'd like to give a bit of a shout out to a brand that's getting nearly everything right, so step on down Sue Devitt and specifically to Niamh who is the Sales Advisor for the Sue Devitt counter at Harvey Nichols in London. 

A couple of weeks ago I had to take a phonecall whilst browsing on the shop floor when I was right by the counter, Niamh offered me a seat, let me take the call (and attempt to make a couple more) then stayed chatting for a while after, making sure things were okay.  I mentioned that I'd like to browse, and she happily just left me to play with the items, and stayed around answering any - and all! - questions that I had.  I pointed out that I had no intention of buying anything, as it was an accident that I was at her stand at all, and she was perfectly happy with that, gave me no pressure to buy whatsoever, and kept a personable and professional demeanour throughout.

She did give me a couple of samples of Microaquatic Primer though, which I've been using ever since, and I've been very happy with it, so next time I'm back in that part of town, I'll be picking up a bottle. It's fairly expensive, but it's silicone-free. I find it really soothes and smoothes my skin and it gives a great base for my foundation, no matter which foundation I'm using.  It also makes your skin appear to glow, even when you're using a matte base over the top, whether it be Rimmel, or something a little more high end.  It's great stuff. 

If MrLippie Santa is reading, I'd also like a couple of these and one of these.  In either Kilimanjaro or Serengeti, I'm not fussy! 

So, I'd like to say a big thank you to Niamh for restoring my faith in sales assistants recently, and let her know that I've already passed my regards on to Sue herself.

Customer "Service"?

 Why is it that sometimes, experiencing good customer service can be almost more shocking than experiencing bad?

Recently, in the space of just 24 hours,  I was exposed to two horrific examples of rude, obnoxious and - in the case of one, especially – just pain humiliating behaviour from shop assistants when I was attempting to buy beauty products to review on Get Lippie.  Now, bad service sometimes happens. Sadly, that’s more or less a given these days, but what  found deeply interesting was what happened after the events, and how things were dealt with by the Customer Service departments of both stores. Now, I know I like to test things out in twos, but I think my dedication to this has gone a little above and beyond in this situation!

Store One:

Incident: I was "shushed" by a shop assistant when attempting to buy a hair product at an extremely high end department store.

My Reaction: Anger. Because I hadn't, actually, said anything. I left the store without buying anything.

Customer Services Reaction: After chatting, slightly jokingly, with a couple of people on Twitter about the incident, the Store Tweeps got in touch and sent me a link to the store online complaints log. Within one week of my registering my dissatisfaction, I had a letter from the store apologising, and an invitation to chat face to face with the head of the department.  I went along to meet with the dept manager, and was treated to a private tour of the beauty hall in her company, had lots of chats with the staff,  and basically had all my fears and misgivings about this particular section cut off before they had a chance to fester.

Outcome: Impressed, ultimately.  The store immediately owned up, admitted that they knew there were particular problems in that specific area, and went out of their way to ensure that my next experience with them was a pleasurable one, and I wasn't left feeling like I'd been an inconvenience in any way.  I've been back to the store several times since.

Now, let's compare and contrast that with Store Two:

Incident: Checkout assistant in a expensive organic grocery/lifestyle store being rude, sarcastic, and eventually shouting - across a busy queue - at me.  Then she was seen using a phrase that rhymes with "ducking ditch", and giggling with her colleagues.  This because, I'd mentioned to her, when packing my bags, that there were some glass bottles in the bottom of the basket, and she might want to pack them separately.

My Reaction:  Anger, humiliation, and - to my shame - a few tears.

Customer Services Reaction 1 - the night of the incident:  Customer service staff member nowhere to be seen, so another checkout assistant stood in for them.  They listened to what had happened, said it would be dealt with, gave me a glass of water and ... disappeared.  My details weren't taken, nothing. And I'd been abandoned, visibly upset, in the store restaurant, to boot.

Customer Service reaction 2 - instore complaint: a few days after the incident, I popped into the shop to let them know I wasn't entirely happy with the way the situation had been handled at the time.  Full details were taken, very professionally, and I was assured the Customer service manager would be in touch within two days.

A week later, I emailed to say no one had been in touch.  I got a phone call saying someone would be in touch.

Two weeks later, I emailed to say no one had been in touch.

A day or two later, I got an email from the customer services manager saying he would deal with it when the staff member got back on rota, sorry for the inconvenience yada, yada, yada yada, but systems were systems ...

An email conversation followed where I got the impression that, whilst the customer service manager was sorry he hadn't been in touch, the store didn't seem all that bothered about what had happened, and I was merely around to aggravate them.  Then, in one of the emails, it was mentioned that, at some point, the checkout person should have to sort out this situation personally, and turn my "negative experience" into a "positive" one.  I think it's fairly safe to say I was boggling at this thought slightly, but, hey ho.

This Tuesday (bear in mind this incident happened on 15th October), I was still waiting for this "personal resolution" to come about when I mentioned the name of the store on Twitter (you may be seeing a pattern here) and wondered if I should blog about the issue.  Reaction was an overwhelming yes!  I also got a tweet from the store tweep asking me to send the sorry saga details to them, so I did, and copied in my email to the customer service person I'd been dealing with previously.

He emailed me back within an hour of this happening - rather fractiously - stating that he thought the issue was closed, that I'd "refused" goodwill gestures and that he was at his wits end on how to deal with the situation under those circumstances.

Now, I'm no genius, but I genuinely think it's actually physically and mentally impossible to refuse something that has never, actually, been offered. Am I right?  I was offered a glass of water, and I'd accepted that, so I wasn't entirely sure what the gentleman was talking about, and mentioned as much.

I was invited back to the store on Thursday, and met with the customer service person in question, which, quite unlike the store mentioned in case one was a bit awkward, I'd had a long time to lick my wounds, and, well, this guy sounded  ... bad tempered. In the end though, after a chat where we discussed this issue, and he assured me that the store rota system has been changed so that there is never a time where there isn't someone from customer services on duty it got better.

Now, the main thing that has bugged me about this affair is that up until over a month after the situation, no one took responsibility for the issue, and no one was interested in my communications with them, it was only after I got in touch with their Texan head office was it resolved. I'm assured that this isn't usually the case, and I believe them, but ... it still leaves a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. 

NOTE: Both this issues have now been resolved, this post hasn't been written in order to further any of these complaints, I just thought the comparison in customer service styles was interesting.  Because of this neither of the stores have been named in this piece.  And, for balance, later today I'll be writing about another store where the customer service has been simply amazing ...

Nail of the day: Barry M

Whilst my obsession with Rococco polishes continues apace, I was lucky enough to receive a little parcel this week from MissDollyGal which contained two Barry M Polishes, one in Navy Blue, and one in Racing Green:



Apologies for the appalling iPhone pic, but I just really love this colour! Not, ordinarily a fan of green nails, but this is such a deep and lovely shade! Chips like a muddyfunster, but I don't mind so much.

Thanks, MissDollyMix, very grateful!

Organic Wednesday - Neal's Yard

Just a very, very, very quick post today, I'm rushed for time, and I need to gather my thoughts for my Selfridges/Wholefoods saga post tomorrow!

Winter's really set in this week, and it's now officially running up to Christmas, so I thought I'd feature something at least a little bit topical this week: Neal's Yard Frankincense Cream.  I love this stuff, with the change in the weather I find you sometimes need something very soothing and cushion-y to protect your skin, and this moisturiser works a treat.  It's rich enough to protect even my dry and sensitive skin from the weather, but it applies matte, so if your skin is more on the oily side, then you won't find it turning you into a greasy mess after a couple of hours either.

And it smells divine!  Kind of deep, and incense-ish. The scent doesn't linger, but it's a nice smell whilst it's around.  I noticed earlier today that Neal's Yard are doing limited edition tubes of this for £10.50 at the moment, which is an ideal way to try the cream, it normally retails for £20 per 50g jar (pshaw!  I hate moisturisers in jars, so unhygenic!) so if you're needing something a little richer, and not too on the pricey side, this is great.  I got a tube this size free with a magazine a while ago, and it lasted for a couple of months of daily use - a little goes a long way.  That said, I bought stocked up and bought two more tubes at lunchtime! I've been using it for a while alongside Nude Facial Cleansing Oil and Elemental Herbology Cell Food serum, and I can honestly say I love the way my skin looks at the moment - not something I say very often at all. More about the other two products in my daily routine later ...

My products were obtained from Neal's Yard, Kensington Church Street.  No PR companies were harmed in the writing of this post.

GHDs - the fightback?

I may have mentioned it before, but I have curly hair, and I'm not a big fan of it. You might also remember that recently, I was sent a pair of Cloud 9 straighteners to put through their paces, and I loved them.

Well, just last week, I was invited along to a GHD event with the incomparably lovely DINKY London (and if you haven't seen her new blog yet, please do go and take a look, it's lovely), to celebrate the launch of their new "Precious" straighteners. I had a great time, we got to go backstage and see the models prepare, get their make up and hair done, have a cocktail or two, meet Paul Merrit (from Channel 4's The Salon, a few years ago) and have a great chat with Nicola, who is GHD's brand manager.  GHD certainly put a lot of effort into their events, and this is one I was glad to go to. 

I did, of course, ask Nicola the Cloud 9 question, which is - basically - are they worried about the original creators of their own brand trying to do it again with a new product launch? I got the impression from Nicola's reply that they aren't, in all honesty, that worried, as you can't mention Cloud Nine at the moment without also mentioning GHD (certainly something I was guilty of in my review - and Cloud Nine themselves even mention GHD on the box!), GHD have a brand reach, and a brand loyalty that's second to none, and it's not difficult to see why - simply put, GHDs work.  They took a lot of the back breaking work out of doing hair at home, and for that - as a former curly girl - I shall be eternally grateful to them.

But, does that mean that GHD should rest on their laurels?  The (single) thing I was disappointed about at this product launch was that these "new" GHDs aren't that new at all as far as I can see, they're the same as the last set they released, but they have a pretty baroque pattern on them.  I'm not, entirely, seeing a whole lot of innovation in that, to be honest.  Limited editions are all well and good, especially when they're as pretty as this, but ... will a pretty pattern be enough to stave off good competition?  Do we women buy replacement goods simply because the latest incarnation looks prettier than the last, or do we need things to work as well?

Incidentally, I was interviewed for Fashion TV at this event (and I NEVER, EVER want to see that footage, thank you, it's the most embarrassed I've been since I was a Club 1830 rep and once lost the ability to sit down after a night on the tequila in a very long time) and I was asked what my readers* would think of the new GHDs, so I said I'd ask you guys. What do you think?

*I was slightly amused at this, because I still think that the only people reading this blog are my mum, MrLippie, MrLippie's aunty, and the 15 or so lovely ladies who've volunteered for my makeovers - and I wouldn't dream of answering anything on behalf of any of them!

Advent Calendar Competition

Have I mentioned Wahanda yet?  If not, I should have! I love spas and treatments, and Wahanda have a great selection of pampering treats. You can find anything from a gym session to a haircut to a full-on stress-busting spa day on their website, and  I've spent many a happy hour on the website fantasising about what I'd like to spend my hard-earned cash on,  I find it so difficult to decide though, there's too much to choose from!

I'll be spending a bit more time on the website from tomorrow as they're launching their Wahanda’s Advent Calendar 2009 competition  which runs every day until Christmas day, and offers prizes worth around £10,000!


Wahanda say:

"This year’s calendar has something for everyone to make Christmas merry and bright, whether it’s for some much needed me-time or to tick someone off your Christmas list. Top prizes include spa breaks for two at luxury hotel and destination spas including Champneys, Hand Picked Hotels and Stoke Park, spa days at the exclusive Chelsea Harbour Club and The Sanctuary, and Christmas gift sets from leading beauty and grooming experts including The Refinery, Revitalash, Elemis. And of course the Wahanda Spa, Beauty & Wellness Gift Voucher, accepted at over 500 locations nationwide making it the most flexible and widely accepted voucher of its kind in the UK, will also be sprinkled into the mix."

I'll be checking it out, will you?