I took a couple of weeks off blogging over Christmas, which was fabulous, but I still kept at the "cleaning my face" thing. It being a new year, I thought trying out some new products would be a good idea, but I think I tried too much new far too quickly, and my skin fairly quickly let me know it wasn't entirely happy with the idea.
Top left, Monday, I tired the Murad Correcting Moisturiser, which has a slight green tint to help neutralise redness. It's a nice moisturiser, and I'm looking forward to trying it again properly in a couple of weeks time. On Tuesday/Wednesday I introduced some Kiehls skincare to my routine, beginning with Kiehl's Calendula Herbal Extract Toner, and Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream. Now, I have to say, I absolutely loved using these products - the moisturiser in particular made my skin feel velvety, rather than oily, and left a semi-matte finish that was a great base for makeup. However, the effect of trialling three new products in three days (not something I'd normally do, but I got a bit excitable!) made it's mark on my skin a little bit - bumpy bits around the edges of my cheeks and temples - and so I pre-emptively swapped to my SOS skincare kit to head off any breakouts or irritation. I've written about my SOS Sensitive Skin kit before, and you can read that if you click the link.
The second half of the week was spent trying to soothe irritation, and (as I took delivery of a massive skincare order from Being Content last week too) being desperate to try MORE new products! I'm my own worst enemy sometimes, I really am. Nonetheless, Thursday found me trying a new cleanser from Tata Harper - one designed for sensitive skin, natch - the Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser. I haven't come to any firm conclusions about it yet, it's a cream cleanser, and I'm always somewhat ambivalent about cream formulas, but it hasn't cause any irritation, so hoorah for that!
So, what's been on your face this last week?
The Fine Print: PR Samples and personal purchases, as always.
This post: Skincare of the Week 10 January 2016 originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
Well, unlike last week, there were no hugely stunning nasal revelations, alas, but there was still a lot to love about LipsNspritz this time around, and one nice discovery, which is good. If you're wondering what LipsNspritz actually is, it's my way of smelling something different every day in an attempt to cure my parosmia, and a way to force myself to actually wear ALL of my something like 6/700 different lipsticks. I'm documenting them daily over on Instagram, where you can join in with the hashtag if you like! As well as lipstick and perfume, there's also generally gin, handbags, candles, the occasional sweary makeup bag, and very rarely (don't panic) a glimpse of my face.
Anyhoo, this is how this week went:
Monday: Mercure Ombre by Terry De Gunzberg and Estee Lauder Empowered. Mercure Ombre is a warm and rich blend of violet and orris with hints of a very lipstick-y rose, and powdery ambre-sandalwood base. It's really rather lovely indeed, and I liked wearing it a lot. Empowered is a sheer warm tomato red, which is really nice to wear.
Tuesday was L'Artisan Perfumer Nuit de Tuberose, alongside Givenchy Interdit Vinyl in Rouge Rebelle. I love Nuit de Tuberose, and it was a definite contender for my wedding fragrance back when I was searching for "the one". It's an unusual take on tuberose, starting off with a bright but sour (and slightly green) mango, which also has something a little damp and bosky (even ... swampy?) alongside. Then the chewy bubblegum confection of tuberose arrives, and it's fun from that point on. I love the unusual mango-opening (I love sour things generally), and this is a great fragrance. Givenchy Interdit Vinyl lipsticks aren't actually in-store yet, but they're sheer and lovely, and have some of the most pleasing packaging it has been my pleasure to photograph! Full review on this (I have a couple of other shades to wear yet) coming up soon.
Wednesday was my work Christmas party, so I dug out my bottle of Nuit de Noel by Caron and paired it with a fab red, Raspberry Blush by Pixibeauty. I love Nuit de Noel, and always save it for this time of year, it's gently spicy, and doesn't fall prey to any of the orange-pomander-cliches you expect. It's soft and lovely, and a real skin scent. Raspberry Blush is a great example of the slightly pinked-reds I love, and the texture on this soft matte shade is great too.
Thursday I wore Alaia by Alaia for a full day for the first time, and wore it with ByTerry Rouge Terrybly lipstick in Cherry Cherry. Alaia by Alaia is a difficult fragrance to pin down, it has hints of suede, of rose, of apricot, but it also has a strangely addictive creamy quality (it smells like perfumed and well-lotioned skin after wearing suede gloves, I think) that reminds me slightly of the now sadly-discontinued Amaranthine by Penhaligons. All in all, rather lovely, but it'll take me a couple more wears before I can really pin it down, I think. Cherry Cherry is a really matte red, that wears very well.
Friday saw me back in tuberose, but this time in a classic version, Fracas by Robert Piguet. I first heard about Fracas in Rivals by Jilly Cooper, and I've been a bit obsessed with it ever since. Jilly described it as a "sharp, dry scent", and it was worn constantly by Cameron Cook. Jilly is sadly wrong about the fragrance, it's neither sharp nor dry, but it's a loud, strident, neon pink confection of hefty tuberose, and ... just a hint of sex. And bubblegum (all tuberoses eventually smell like bubblegum to me, I have no idea why, luckily, I rather like the smell). I love wearing this. Almost as much as I love Jilly Cooper, now I come to think of it. Worn with my other Art Deco Dita von Teese (I have two, the other one is pinker), lipstick, which is blood red and hot.
Saturday was me in 1970 by Bella Freud (composed by Azzi Glasser), and Revlon Balm lipstain in Crush. My parosmia has caused 1970 to be troublesome to me since it arrived chez Lippie, as it opens with both vetiver and patchouli - both of which my post-parosmic nose still struggles with and registers as burned - but on Saturday something clicked and the smell finally registered properly for me. A happy occasion, as 1970 is really rather nice. Alongside the aforementioned patchouli and vetiver, there is saffron and rose, and after a rather full-on inital hippy-chick vibe, the rose and saffron take over, from that point on it's a lovely and warm and slightly spicy rose. Happy to have discovered this one at very long last! I do seem to default to tinted balms at the weekend though, it's too much effort to put on a full face of slap on a Saturday ...
There's one more LipsNspritz of the week to come, featuring all my favourite Christmas fragrances, and my brightest reddest shiniest lipsticks of the year, but that'll be my final post of the year ...
The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases.
This post: LipsNspritz of the Week 20.12.15 originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
I got a bit obsessed with a couple of products this week, namely the Pixibeauty Skintreats H20 Skindrink serum and Glowtion Day Dew moisturiser. Mixing them together, and using in place of my regular moisturiser has lead to a lovely, fresh glow that's rather addictive. I find the cream just a little too glow-y on it's own, but mixed with the H20, it's ideal. I used it four times this week, and I'll be wearing it a lot over Christmas too ... Definitely back-up worthy, these two products!
Zelens was back in my routine in a rather big way this week too - my prep for my Christmas party involved PHA+ pads, antioxidant serum, and the balm cleanser, a great mix with the Pixi combo mentioned above over the top! I've also been giving Dr Dennis Gross Retinol Eye Cream a thorough workout this week too, and results are still yet to be decided on. My cough is nearly gone, but my skin still needs some TLC, so it needs a couple of weeks more before I decide if it's a miracle product or not.
This is the last Skincare of the Week for 2015, because next week I'll be travelling. In the meantime, Merry Christmas!
The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases.
This post: Skincare of the Week 20.12.15 originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
Currently available as limited editions at Marks and Spencer you need to rush to pick these up for Christmas presents this year! I love a bit of Pixi Beauty and they do great kits. This year they're in book form, and I have three of them to show you. Minimal Makeup, Brow Know How, and Touch of Blush.
Each book comes with six large pans of colours, some of which are split, so you get 6, 8 or 12 shades in each book. Let's take a closer look.
Minimal Makeup
Comes with two highlighters (top), a blush and a bronzer (middle) and four eyeshadow shades (bottom), all in beautifully neutral shades.
A Touch of Blush
Six shades of blush, three warm, and three cooler, there are infinite mixing and matching possibilities for this one.
And finally, Brow Know How:
More of a pro-palette this one, it contains six split pans of eyebrow powders to suit every single eyebrow eventuality. I love this one, and none of them are maroon, either ...
Run, don't walk, to your nearest branch of M&S beauty to pick one of these up for the makeup obsessed friend of yours this Christmas!
The Fine Print: PR Samples
This post: Pixi Books of Beauty originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
I was so bummed when I missed out on the original, limited edition release of the Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil earlier this year, I love lip oils - don't think enough brands do them - and these ones literally sold out in seconds.
Available in two flavours, Honey (on the left up there) and Raspberry (right), the Instant Light Lip Oils don't really add much in the way of colour to the lips, but they do feel both light and nourishing in wear, and I think at this time of year, they're nicer to wear on your lips than many normal balms. They've a really glossy finish, and I like the big sponge does foot applicator. The flavours are nice too, and my favourite is the raspberry.
Now available in Clarins permanent line, the Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil cost £18 each.
The Fine Print: PR Sample
This post: Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
