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!