Get Lippie

Monday, 10 September 2012

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Eyeshadow Palette

I may have let out a little "squee" of excitement when I saw the promo image of this palette from Estee Lauder, from the gorgeous purple packaging to the contents, this had Get Lippie written all over it. Not literally, of course, but you know what I mean. Anyway, take a look:

So pretty, and such an unusual selection of shades. Fuchsia, Copper, Navy, Champagne and Black, and, it's surprisingly versatile, as I'll show you later - don't let that bright pink put you off:

I love how textured and gorgeous the shadow pans are. The shadows are the "tribrid" texture, which is an amalagam of cream, powder and gel, and the shades are fairly pigmented, and quite complex as a result.

This is just one pass on bare skin with the sponges from the palette, you can get a heavier application with your fingers or a densely-haired brush.

All the shades, even the pink are very wearable, the champagne shade almost blends with my skin, but I assure you that it's in the swatch pics! Only the black has a matte texture, usable for lining with a thin brush.

Best of all, you can mix the shades, if you layer the pink over the blue, you get a beautiful multichromatic smoky purple, which I adore:

Perfect for more dramatic looks.

What do you think of Violet Underground? It's limited edition, and available on counter now for £40. There's an eyeliner and four new lipshades to go with it too ...

The Fine Print: I may have begged for this one.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Lipstick of the Week

The last time I did Lipstick of the Week, it was all a bit neutral, so I guess this week was a bit of an antidote to that, albeit an unplanned one - I don't plan my lipstick wearing in advance, I simply wear whatever appeals to me on the day. Oh! A warning for the squeamish: this post contains images of not one, but two celebrity makeup collections - I don't know what's come over me. Anyhoo, let's bring on some colour!

Clockwise rom left to right (starting at the back) we have:

ByTerry Aquatint in 101 Dancefloor Flirt,
Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle
Illamasqua in Magnetism
ArtDeco Dita's Classics in Art Couture
Rimmel Lasting Finish "By Kate" in 107
and at the front from left to right:
Guerlain Rouge G in Georgia
Guerlain Rouge G L'Extrait in Paresse

Let's take an individual look:

In the tube, this gel-stain looks a frankly terrifying shade of neon orange. Luckily, on the lips, this settles down nicely into a soft pink stain that lasts for hours and hours. Surprisingly easy to wear, this makes a nice base for other colours too.

Possibly the classic shade from when Rouge Coco's launched from Chanel, this is a neutral on me (but only because I have very pigmented lips naturally), a dark woody rose, this a perfect shade for all occasions. Or work, which is what I wore it for.

Illamasqua Magnetism is from the latest "Generation Q" collection, of which I wholeheartedly approve, featuring, as it does, men and women of all ages (sadly not all sizes, though) in the campaign imagery. Magnetism is a creamy deep raspberry shade that I love, and makes a great change from red. Long lasting, and non-drying (unlike some other deeply pigmented shades from Illamasqua), this is a new classic pink for me.

Sigh. This is beautiful. I had a suspicion it would be when I read about the range (c'mon, Dita Von Teese doing red lipstick? I'm in), I thought the shades would be great, but I wasn't too sure what the formulation would be like, not knowing all that much about ArtDeco brand outside of their eyeshadow primer. I needn't have worried, this is a perfect lipstick. A great red, and it lasts. And lasts. And lasts and lasts and lasts. People who follow me on Twitter and Instragram will have a good idea of how this lasts, at least ten hours or so without needing a reapplication, and there is no red ring of doom. This lipstick has rocketed into my top five discoveries of the year, without question.

I can't remember the last time I wore a Rimmel lipstick. Genuinely. Nonetheless I've been very impressed with these new matte lipsticks from the "By Kate" collection. Only the red and the dark berry (107 - above), are worth bothering with shade-wise (the "nude" is of a shade that makes me suspect it's actually a rogue tube of Hide the Blemish, to be hones), but these are nicely pigmented, nicely lasting, nice lipsticks. I can't get too excited, but for the price, they're ... nice. Non-drying too.

I adore the Rouge G formula so much that it's exceptionally difficult for me to walk past a Guerlain counter without buying one. This is one of my all-time favourite lipsticks, so much so that it was my lipstick of the year in 2010.

And finally:


Dreadfully out of focus, I'm sorry!

I mentioned above that I can't pass a Guerlain counter without buying something. Well, meet my latest acquisition. I tried (and reviewed) the new Guerlain Rouge G L'Extrait recently, and I knew I had to have another shade. A lot of the L'Extraits are quite bright, and I wanted to give a softer shade a go. Hence, Paresse. A mid-toned rose, without too many blue undertones, it's a lovely colour. Haven't really tested it properly for wear yet, but I'll report back.

Swatches:

A bit of a brighter week all round, really!

What've you been wearing?

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Penhaligons Peoneve and Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay Review

Two scents I've been really enjoying wearing lately are the lush floral Peoneve by Penhaligons, and the slightly astringent, green and very intriguing Blackberry & Bay by Jo Malone.

If you've ever buried your face into a bunch of peonies, you'll know their blousy blossoms have a big juicy, lush and very pink scent. Almost fruity, in fact, but delightfully fun and refreshing. I adore this ladylike, but not too old-fashioned fragrance. I've smelt it on a number of people, and it smells of various ingredients on them, on one of my friends this dries down to a salty vetiver scent, grassy with a hint of the ocean, and on others, there are the creamy musks at the end, but, on me, this stays a bright, fruity, and almost juicy floral scent almost right through the entire wear time. Perfect for bright summer and spring days.

But, I've noticed that the nights are beginning to draw in now, and Jo Malone's Blackberry and Bay is perfectly timed for the beginning of autumn. It captures the scent of blackberry leaves in an almost photo-real fashion, and has just a tiny hint of fruit, for which I am thankful. As it dries down it captures just a hint of the soapy-notes that blackberry leaves can contain, but dries down to an intriguing almost savoury herbal green scent that I adore. This is a fragrance that every single time I spray it, Mr Lippie asks me what it is, he likes it so much. I wear so many different fragrances that he never usually bothers asking, but this one has captured his imagination in a very big way.

Both are definitely worth a sniff, but I suspect I'll be buying up all the supplementary products in the Blackberry and Bay range - I definitely think the candle is one I'll love. Peoneve is available now, and Blackberry & Bay is available from mid-September.

Penhaligons are great at bringing out little videos about their fragrances and the Monty Python-esque Peoneve one made me laugh, so here it is:

Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel

In my recent post about Washi cloths, I mentioned that my skin was going through one of its more beserk phases. It still is. So, I've been casting about for something to exfoliate my face (it's been horrifically rough), that wouldn't irritate or worsen my red patches.

I consulted The Cupboard, which is the repository of all my skincare samples, and this tube leapt into my hands. Designed to be a gentle, non scrubby exfoliator, which uses the enzymes of both papaya fruit and pineapple to remove dead skin cells, the Elemis Papaya Peel was just what I wanted.

You apply the slightly sweet-scented peach-coloured cream in a relatively thick layer all over the face (avoiding the eye area), and leave it for around 15 minutes or so, then rinse off with warm water (I use a washi-cloth). You're left with smooth, slightly pink skin, which is non-irritated, and has all those annoying rough patches removed.

I'm a little bit in love with it. Not, so much, in love with this limited edition packaging (I prefer the old-school silver tubes), but, as Elemis are making charitable donations to SOCCO with every tube sold, I can't possibly complain, really. Does your skin good, does the planet good.

Get some.

The Fine Print: PR Sample.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Lipstick of the (last) Week

It's been a while, eh? Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you what's been adorning my lips for the last week or so. With one or two exceptions, it's been a pretty neutral kind of a week:

From left to right, we have: Clinique Chubby Stick in Bountiful Blush, Tom Ford in Indian Rose, Illamasqua in Magnetism, Guerlain gloss in Grenadine, Chanel Rouge Coco in Bonheur, and Hourglass lipstick in Fresco.

So that's neutral pink, mauve-pink, BRIGHT RASPBERRY, neutral coral, berry pink, and mauve-pink.

Could I be in a lip-rut? Let's have a look at the swatches:

Hmn, possibly. That said, these are all old favourites though, with the exception of Illamasqua Magnetism (third from the left), which is from the brand new Generation Q collection, out very soon, and is destined to become a new favourite, for it is beautiful.