Skincare of the Week 12 June 2016

I've been on a blog-hiatus. It wasn't intended, but it just sort of happened, and, I have to admit, I've rather enjoyed it.  I'm just now entering my eighth year of blogging (you read that right), so that's seven years of Sunday afternoons that I've spent at my computer,which equates to nearly a solid YEAR of taking pictures, editing pictures (always the worst part, tbh), actually doing the writing and doesn't even slightly take into account the hours I spend getting to events, reading press releases, testing products and the thinking (oh my god, the THINKING) about blog posts even before I sit down to write them!  

So, because I've been enjoying NOT blogging for a couple of months, its crossed my mind that maybe I should retire.  Year end was super-busy at work this year, and we just moved house, and I've been tired - so very, very tired - and the thought of adding blogging back into that particular mix has just been ... depressing. Another thing to worry about, and another obligation.  That said, I've been loving Instagram very much lately, pop on over!

Retiring from blogging at Get Lippie completely has been a tempting option under the circumstances, like the thought of going on a lovely, looooooooong, holiday.  Blogging, particularly beauty blogging, is both a bit of a rat-race and a popularity contest these days, and I'm never going to be Zoella or Pixiwoos.  Hell, I'm barely even Get Lippie these days! Luckily, I don't rely on my blog to make my living - there's no sponsorship or endorsement deals here - but, now I'm out of work-madness time, and we've practically got the new flat sorted,  I'm going to give a couple of Sundays* back up to the blogging muse, and see what occurs. 

So, yeah, skincare is what we're meant to be talking about, apparently, not my existential crisis, so here's some skincare chat:

I'm attempting to use up my much-beloved Zelens Intense Defence Serum, because it's nearly at the end, and that will make it the only serum I've used up in several years!  I love this stuff, on my picky, overly sensitive, prone-to-redness skin, this acts like a bandage, protecting it from all kinds of pollutants and cushioning it from the effects of overly harsh weather, or unsuitable skincare products.  I've been boosting it with Zelens Power D Drops in recent weeks, and I'll be giving a full review of those soon.

Clinique sent me a bumper pack of their Moisture Surge products the other week, and, whilst I've had trouble with gel-formula moisturisers in the past (they tend to be heavy on the silicones and irritate my skin by not letting it breathe too well), I'm really enjoying using Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief.  The stress of the last couple of months, combined with spending a lot of hours really staring at a computer - seriously, when you're getting 40 incomprehensible emails a day from a government department, you'd be screwing your face up too - have left me craving hydration, and I find this feels super-hydrating at first application and leaves my skin feeling velvety and wonderful, without the little angry bumps I can get from too many silicones.

Something else new that I'm trying right now is the Silke London silk hair wrap.  I've been toying with wrapping my hair for a while now, having found that sleeping on a silk pillow case makes a huge difference to my hair, but couldn't find a 100% silk wrap that I liked. Then Silke London launched, and I had to have one, so treated myself to an Isla, which is the green and blue version.  It's essentially a silk turban, and looks impossibly glamorous on the right person.  I am not the right person, and look like Hilda Ogden after a minor lottery win in mine, so there will be no selfies wearing it, but I'll keep you posted ...

How's your week been?  I've not retired.  Yet.


*But not next Sunday.  Ironically, I'm going on holiday ... ;)
 
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Finishing Touches: #LipsNspritz of the Week 15 May 2016

The weather is warming up - finally! - and I've been needing to concentrate this last week, so light and zesty fragrances were the order of the day, and this week I wore: Lemon by Mary Greenwell, a citrus-chypre, which is surprisingly long-lasting, which I paired with Guerlain Rouge G Rouge Parade, a limited edition red-pink from Christmas 2014.  On Tuesday, I thought I'd chance Ormonde Jayne Vanille d'Iris, a rich and buttery iris fragrance with just a hint of peppery spice, at once narcotic and very ladylike. Worn with Lancome L'Absolou Rouge Creme de Brilliance in Caprice, I felt fit for the office, at least for a short while!

On Wednesday I wandered back to citrus, and tried on the herbal-mandarin of Tangerine Vert from Miller Harris, which is crisp and fresh, and has hints of crushed green leaves below the zesty sweet orange fruit, with a layer of grapefruit to give it some depth.  I paired it with Burberry Kisses Sheer 241 Crimson Pink, because I couldn't be bothered with "proper" lipstick!  On Thursday I had an incredibly busy day with an important meeting in the middle, so I picked a lipstick called Get Lippy from Top Shop, because, why wouldn't I?  And paired it with the fizzy lemon-lime soda of Guerlain's Aqua Allegorica in Limon Verde, just to keep myself on my toes.  On Friday I dug out an old, old favourite, my bottle of Acqua di Parma cologne, which is the beyond-divine smell of a hot and soapy body fresh from the shower, and it's one of my desert-island fragrances as a result.  I paired it with one of the new Tartist Lip Colours from Tarte (this one is "Selfish"), about which I'll be writing more in-depth soon, but they're good and very opaque.

I went out and about a little bit on Saturday, and broke out my bottle of Osmanthus Blossom by Jo Malone London.  A classic white floral with just a hit of green stem, its perfect for carefree days where you don't have to try to hard.  I couldn't decide which Tarte Rainforest of the Sea balm (Berry, Rose or Nude) to wear with it, so ended up trying all three in the end.  I'm nice like that.  More about the balms on the blog soon too.

What've you been wearing? 


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Skincare of the Week 15th May 2016

Last week was a really stressful one, with deadlines and auditors galore, I'm still recovering! Hopefully now both the house move and the audit are over, I'll have a little more time free to do some blogging and cataloguing my collection of ... stuff.  I've had a few new releases recently too, and I'll get around to photographing them soon.  Anyhoo, skincare-wise, I've been a bit all over the place, and I'm just now getting back into a routine after a recent bout of sensitivity, which caused me to have to omit a few things.  I'm slowly adding some bits back, and so Zelens Skincare Power D Drops are re-appearing in my routines.

Notable newness I've added this week includes Dermalogica Pre Cleanse, a thin and light lavender-scented oil which is perfect for a morning cleanse when you don't need any makeup removal. It's rather scented though, but very lovely.  I've also invested in a bottle of Santa Maria Novelli Rose Water to help soothe my stressed skin.  I love to splash this on all over first thing in the morning and it smells delicious.

What's the latest on your face? 

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GOSH Forever Matte Eyeshadow Stick - 10 Twisted Brown

Doesn't look very exciting, does it?  One taupe eyeshadow pencil, all alone there.  But trust me, for £6.29 this GOSH Forever Matte Eyeshadow Stick  might just change your (makeup applying life).  Eyeshadow pencils are nothing new, in fact, I've acquired so many great pencils over the course of the last 12 months or so that I've barely bothered applying powder eyeshadow at all, to be honest, but matte eyeshadow pencils?  Oh, they're rarer than unicorn farts, so they are.

  
Yeah, it doesn't look any more exciting  when you take the top off either, does it?  The GOSH Forever eyeshadow stick is pigmented and silky and lovely, and lasts beautifully on even oily eyelids.  I find a couple of swipes of this shade (which is No. 10, Twisted Brown), hastily blended in with a fingertip gives a great neutral base colour, which is buildable and lasting.  I generally wear it on its own with just a slick of liquid liner, and boom!  Polished eyemakeup in less than two minutes.  Okay, three minutes if you include mascara (which you should always do, peeps).

It's a kind of perfect nothing-y shade, which looks like nothing more than shadows on skin (this is one pass with the pencil, btw) when blended with a fingertip, and is perfect for days when you just simply can't be bothered with thinking about your makeup (I have lots of days like this, sometimes it's all I can do to pick out a lipstick for the day, frankly) and it's a great shade for everyday looks.  There's a darker brown shade too, but that's just a little too warm for me, but I've used this almost every day for the last two months, and I'm definitely going to splash out on a backup or three.  For £6.29 from Superdrug, I'd be insane not to. 

The Fine Print: PR sample.


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It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stain

You don't really know what pain is until you try and get the words in this products title in the right order for SEO purposes, you know. For the record these are: It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stains (try saying that three times fast), which have just launched on QVC, and come in four glowing, jewel-like shades (l-r) : Magical in Mauve, Radiant in Rose, Pretty in Peony and Matte Sweet Apple.  Though the product name might be a mouthful, it's really very apt, they are definitely stains!

I don't write about blushers often on Get Lippie,  as they're just not as interesting to me as lipsticks, or perfumes or skincare, but when I get a good one, I tend to love it to death.  And when I say that these are getting a LOT of love chez Lippie at the moment, it would be a mild understatement.  Three of these Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stains (look, I didn't just spend an hour learning the name of the product only to not use it at every available opportunity, you know) turned up as part of a press gift, and I was so impressed I immediately went and ordered the fourth so I would have the complete set!  As I'm supposedly on a bit of a no-buy at the moment - we've just furnished our new flat - moving house has been the reason for my recent bit of radio-silence - this just goes to show how impressive they really are!

Swatches in the same order as picture one: Magical in Mauve, Radiant in Rose, Pretty in Peony, and Matte Sweet Apple

It's quite a feat to get powder blushes which are hugely pigmented - and I do mean HUGELY pigmented, the swatches above are one pass with a fingertip, something that you simply can't do with other powder blushes - but still appear sheer and skin-like when applied.  Normally a powder blush with this sort of pigmentation would appear chalky, or just plain dusty, but this isn't an issue here. These blushers glow like a dream once applied, even the matte one (Sweet Apple, here on the far right).  

They do look rather dark in the pan thanks to the insane pigment, and you really do need the very lightest of hands to apply (trust me on this, I looked like Aunt Sally the first time I tried to put one of these on!), but they're really the loveliest blushers (sorry, Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stains) I've tried in a very long time.  The colour applies sheerly, but brightly, with just the tiniest amount of powder on the brush. Tap lightly - once - onto the pan, do NOT swirl your brush! Seriously, you'll regret it, if you do! Apply to the apples of your cheeks and watch it last and last and last.  I swatched these on the back of my hand the first day I had them, and I still had the marks on my hands 24 hours later ... During the course of a normal work-day, which for me can mean applying my makeup at 6am or so, these will last the whole day, avoiding the inevitable 3pm loo break "oh god, I look dead" realisation that is only too common as I get older.

How did It Cosmetics do it?  I'm not sure, but I'm glad they did, they're marvellous.  It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stain (or ICVCFPBS for short) are available on QVC  (not an affiliate link) for £21 each, or you can buy a set with a rather handsome brush and ICVCFPBS combined for £28. 


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