Onix Blowdry - Two Months on ...

Most of my readers now that before Christmas I had a three month blowdry at Comptons, and I loved it.  I gave a follow up post a little later but after a few requests, I thought it was time I gave an update on how it looks now.  Going back to the picture I took of my hair on Saturday, this is how it looks now:

I have to say though that yes, my hair is not as straight as it was when I first had it done, and it's no longer wash and go to keep it completely straight.  The above picture was taken after a swift five minute blow dry using my fingers instead of a brush or comb. Here's how it looks if I let it air-dry now:

As you can see, there's a little curling at the ends, but it still looks natural, and it's still a whole heap better than it was before the treatment.  I still haven't used my straighteners, and I only use my hair-dryer for special occasions.  Still not using any styling products either, which is wonderful and it STILL doesn't fuzz up in the rain.

I'd recommend this treatment - and Compton Hair- to anyone who's ever been fed up with wavy/curly or just plain fuzzy hair, it's been a life-changing experience for me!  Having just that little bit of extra time every day is wonderful, I love it.

Frontcover

I know a lot of people really like Frontcover boxes, which are available at Boots. A little bird has told me that they're re-releasing their infamous Rainbow box of eyeshadow shades on 25th February.  Originally released for Christmas 2008, they were a sell-out and quickly became a cult item. Boxes contain 25 shadows, applicators and a "Shadowline" which turns any eyeshadow into a liquid liner.

The boxes will be available for £15 until 23rd March when the price will increase to the RRP of £30. Will you be getting one?

Review - Perricone MD Cold Plasma

Oh, bad reviews pain me, they really do ...

At a blogger event recently, we were given a jar each of Perricone MD Cold Plasma cream to take away and try for ourselves.  As it retails for approximately £120 a jar, I was pretty excited to get this, as I knew one of my housemates would adore to try it.

Perricone MD are very proud of this cream, and it's taken them a long time to get it to market.  Now, Perricone make some very strong claims about this product, it targets TEN signs of ageing (why is it that every time a new anti-ageing cream comes out, there are more signs of ageing that it'll work on? Coincidence?) and indeed, it has a patented neuro-peptide delivery system, all of which go toward justifying the high price tag.

So ... does it work? Well, the answer to that is ... dunno.  Here's Helen to give us the skinny:


"One of the good things about sharing a house with Ms Lippie is that lots of goodies arrive for us to try out.  When the call came out for a tester for a £120 face cream – Dr P’s Cold Plasma cream, I leapt at the chance.  I was asked to try it out for a week with a picture to be taken of before and afterwards and then continue for a longer period to see what happens.

First impressions were that it’s a nice package, nothing too garish and a nice glass tub frosted, but quite small.  On opening, the cream is a lovely smooth texture, a pleasant smell and cool to the touch.

I started using it instead of my normal moisturising cream on the Monday.  The cream absorbed well, you didn’t require too much and it left my skin soft and smooth.  It certainly appeared to feed my skin as well as my other moisturising creams do normally. 

However, about an hour later, whilst sitting on the tube on the way to work, I noticed a strange smell. A bit like how your fingers would smell after shelling cooked shrimps.  I thought it could have been one of my fellow travellers and thought nothing more of it.  On the second day I used the cream again, still pleased with the results, pleasant smell in the pot and so on.  An hour later, I noticed the strange smell again, but I was with different travelling companions, so what could it be?  I wiped my face and realised it was coming from me.

This made me have second thoughts about wanting to continue to use the cream.  I don’t want people to think that I ordinarily, or habitually, smell of fish!  I decided to continue to use it in case the results were so good that I could ignore the aroma.  After a week of use, my skin still felt well nourished, and less dry, but not spectacularly enough that the smell faded into the background.

Overall, the cream works well, with as much moisture being absorbed as other creams I have used previously, and if the smell doesn’t appear for you or doesn’t worry you, and you don’t mind paying £120 for a small pot, then this is a worthwhile investment, however for me the smell is just too much to continue with."

So, er, there you have it. Incidentally, Helen was not aware of Perricone's salmon-related ingredients at the time of testing  ...

What's the most you've ever spent on a face-cream?  Did it work? Was it worth the investment?

Valentine lip colour

Mr Lippie and I went out for dinner last night, and this was the make up look I created for the occasion (forgive the crappy iPhone pic):

It's a very clean and simple look, consisting of foundation, blusher, some black eyeliner and mascara, and, of course, a red lipstick. A couple of people asked me what the lip colour was, and it's something I mixed up myself from some Bourjois Hi-Tech lipstains, specifically, these two:

 85 - Irresistible Currant - a cool fuschia shade, and 86 - New Caramel - a neutral brown.

I use these a lot, and I love them a great deal, they're water-based stains that last and last, and feel feather-light on the skin. I find them much easier to use, and far more flattering than, say ... Benetint, for example. Swatched individually in one layer on the skin, they look like this:

Swatched together in one layer on the skin, they look like this:

This is a nice sheer cherry-red suitable for daytime wear, which I use often as a base layer for brighter, or stronger reds, but I wanted something a little more dramatic last night, so I used two layers of each, which looked like this:

Nice shade, and one that lasted very well against an expensive meal and several drinks ...

Do you mix your own colours?  What do you use?

Bourjois Event

I don’t know how well my blogging about events I’ve attended fits with Get Lippie (my idea behind the blog is that  it’s all about the products and if they work or not, rather than about me) but I figured I’d tell you about this one, and see how well – or not – it goes down.

Anyway, last Saturday, along with a couple of other bloggers, I was invited along to Bourjois HQ to see their latest summer releases, it’s always exciting to be invited “behind the scenes” and this was no exception.  The champagne and cupcakes on offer made it a delightful afternoon and were very welcome after a bit of a stressful morning!

I was a bit worried when they said this year’s summer collection was inspired by “brown and tangerine” as I still have horrendous memories of my mum’s brown and tangerine decorating scheme back in the early 80’s … anyway, Bourjois’ take on it is actually very lovely, coral lips and nails and a new limited edition brown eyeshadow Tabac Blond (much more exciting than it sounds, honest!) alongside new liner shades, 4 new blushers, a new mascara and new range of foundations and concealers.

Sadly, we weren’t able to pick up samples of the lipstick and the nail varnish, but celebrity makeup artist Cassie Lomas was on hand to show us how to create this gorgeous look:

(horrific photo – sorry Giorge!)

I’ve had a chance to play with the bits of the collection I do have now, and I have to say that Bourjois are really impressing me at the moment!  For the price point, their products really are excellent quality, and more and more these days I find myself reaching for their products over and above their more expensive counterparts.

Here’s my thoughts on the new launches:

Healthy Mix Foundation and Concealer

I’ve been using the foundation for an entire week now, and I really love it.  It comes in 8 shades, which is the widest range of colours Bourjois have introduced in a foundation range to date – but, I’m sad to report, they still “don’t really cater” for darker Asian or African  skins.  It is infused with Apricot, Melon, Apple and Ginger for radiance, hydration, anti-oxidant and “energy” (um … not entirely convinced I need an energetic foundation, but hey  ho …) so it smells delicious.

It’s a semi-matte formulation (what I usually refer to as a satin), a rich, thick liquid, it’s easy to apply and spreads well.  I find it gives a medium coverage, and leaves a slight sheen on the skin:

I’m shade 52, warm vanilla.  The bottle states it’ll last up to 16 hours, I find it lasts around 8, but that’s not really a big deal.  I’m a big fan of this product, it’s impressed me a lot more than some high-end foundations I’ve tried in the recent past.

The concealer, I’m not such a big fan of.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s actually an excellent concealer in itself, pigmented and creamy with excellent coverage, but the lip balm-style tube with a wedge applicator strikes me as a bit wasteful – it’s very easy to squeeze too much out.  Other people might not find this so much of a problem though, I am notoriously cack-handed!

Tabac Blond Eyeshadow 

This is a lovely golden-taupe shade, with a little golden shimmer to it.  I’ve worn it four or five times over the last week – both with and without primer – and I’ve been really impressed with it’s staying power.  Even without primer it lasts around six hours with only minimal creasing.  Sadly, I took the worst swatch pics of this EVER, so will retake them and bring them to you soon.

Blush

Out of the four new shades they’re introducing, I chose Tomette D’Or, which Bourjois are referring to as a browny-pink. Personally, I think there’s a hint of red in there, and it’s a beautiful, beautiful shade:

Eyeliner

This is the green duochrome shade that Cassie used to line the lower inner lash-line of her model:

Love the shade, and it’s a lot easier to wear than I expected it to be, but I find it doesn’t last all that well on me.

 

Ultra Care Mascara 

This is a great mascara, excellent for lash-building and doesn’t dry out on your lashes or make them crispy.  I’ve used it in all my makeovers lately, and it’s been great, definitely my new default makeover mascara, as because it’s formulated for sensitive eyes, I don’t really have to worry about my models having a reaction:

And that’s all she wrote!  What do you think?  Do you want to hear more about events I’ve attended?  Will you pick up any of the new Bourjois products?  What new high street products have impressed you?