Technical Difficulties

In a break from our regular programming (sadly, my laptop is out of action for a few days, and I feel like I've lost a limb as a result!) there can be no makeover today, as I am a dingbat who forgot to schedule all of them last week!

It's been a busy few days here though, blogger events, IMATS and swaps (oh my!), so I've got lots to bring you when Gladys (my big pink Dell Of Doom) is back in action.

In the meantime, here is some soothing music and a picture of my recent delivery of goodies from Sephora (courtesy of the gorgeous @OlderGirlBeauty) which I'll be reviewing soon:




Kat Von D! And Sephora by Opi "Brunette on the Internet" nail polish (sometimes judging a polish by it's name is the only way to go!) but there is heaps more, Naked, OCC (but you're going to hear a LOT about them in the next week or so from other bloggers with more regular computer access, so I'll try and restrain myself!), Maelin + Goetz, more Chanel, Eve Pearl, Christopher Drummond, Rimmel (yes, really!), Milani, Embryolisse, and lots of other bits and pieces.

Oh! And I was featured on British Beauty Blogger this week! You can check out my mascara review on her homepage. I love BBB, so it was a great honour to be on her panel of reviewers! Can't do links on the iPhone for some reason but do click the link in my blogroll on the right.

Now, anyone know where I can get my hands on a mallet? Me and Gladys have some "talking" to do …

Chanel Kaska Beige Swatches

It's not often these days that I get excited by an entire collection, and if you'd told me a few months ago that the one collection I would be super-interested in this year would be, well, beige, I'd probably just have looked at you like you had two heads or something.

But recently, I've been going through something of a taupe phase, I dug out my beloved - and sadly discontinued - Clavin Klein makeup collections, which are full of beautiful dusty colours, and have been using those a lot for these "non-colour" makeups I've been craving.

So Chanel's latest collection has really called to me this week, I don't know why, but it has.  I showed you Particuliere the other day, but I caved in and bought these beauties too.  The lighting isn't great in these pics, so I'll redo them soon, and bring you a FotD for those of you I'm not seeing in the flesh this weekend!

From left to right there, we have: Rouge Allure 82 "Incognito", Quadra Eyeshadow 18 "Kaska Beige" and Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow 100 "Torrent"

To be honest, I'd only gone to pick up the quad, but I had to get the lipstick and the liquid eyeshadow too after swatching in-store.

Shadow swatches:

They're a little sheer here - but that's because I used the sponges in the quad - I've also swatched them with fingers over primer and they're much more intense that way.  Lovely, lovely neutrals.

I love the lipstick, it's a lovely cool neutral rose, which is a good, "my lips but better" shade.  And I fell totally in love with the liquid eyeshadow, which has a hint of holographic sparkle, which the camera hasn't picked up there.  I simply couldn't leave it behind ....

One last gratuitous lippie shot:

Will you being picking up any Chanel this season?

PS - have you entered my giveaway yet?  If not, why not?  I'll be at IMATS this weekend, and picking up some goodies for you!

Organic Wednesday - Naked Bodycare (quickie)

A little bird tells me that Naked Bodycare will be giving their Facebook fans a 50% off code for purchases made between January 29th-Feb 14th!  Go sign up now!


In the meantime, you can check out their range here.  I like Naked products, and will be reviewing some of their range in more detail for you soon, look out for an in-depth Organic Wednesday feature in the near future...

Organic Wednesday - Evolve

Evolve is a brand that's only come recently to my attention, but it's one I like, and the reason for it is fairly simple, the products are good, and they come in recyclable (and recycled) packaging.  A lot of organic brands make big claims about environmental friendliness, but I, for one, would be interested to know how many of them package their products in recycled milk bottles ...

Laura Rudoe, the founder of Evolve was previously involved with Nude Skincare (another favourite of mine) and it's good to see another affordable organic line becoming more readily available.

I tried Evolve's Gentle Cleansing Melt, which is a sugar-based cleansing product, designed not to irritate sensitive skin.


Evolve Say:

Pure pleasure...this gentle soap free cleansing balm melts away make up and impurities before transforming into a rich creamy milk on contact with warm water. It rinses away leaving skin clean, moisturised and soft to the touch. This amazingly versatile product can also be used as a rinse off massage oil, a soap free body cleanser, shaving oil and more.

Lippie Says: 

This is a gel-textured product, which you scoop from the jar, and apply to your (dry) face, then use water to emulsify, and rinse. It's a very firm texture, which I rub between my palms before applying to my face, and then I massage it all over in order to get it to dissolve my makeup. Then I  use the hot cloth method to remove the residue. I find that whilst it spreads easily over the skin, it doesn't have as much "slip" as an oil-based cleanser and, ironically, as a result it feels a wee bit greasier when it's in use than a cleansing oil.  Once you add water though, it emulsifies instantly into a milky lotion, and is very easy to remove.  I find that it doesn't leave my skin dry, but it doesn't remove eye makeup as well as an oily facial cleanser. There's no scent to this product at all, so if you're sensitive to strong-smelling products then this is ideal. I've not found that it irritates my exceedingly irritated skin.

Overall

It's a good general cleanser, and for an entirely organic product, it's reasonably priced at £10.99 for 100mls.  I don't think it would last as long as a liquid oil cleanser as you need to use a little more then you would a liquid, owing to it's lack of slip, but I suspect that a jar this size would last you a good month or two, depending if you cleansed once or twice a day.  I also think you'd need a separate eye makeup remover, but this isn't really an issue.  The only thing I'd change about this product is that I'd put it into a tube, personally I hate having to dig my fingers into a tub of anything and then apply it to my face, but that's my own odd issue ...

Unexpected Nail of the Day - Chanel Particuliere

Don't you just love synchronicity?  I was just thinking this lunchtime that my polish needed changing, and was musing about what colour to do them next, when I noticed that the Chanel counter at my local Boots had the spring range in, and they had Particuliere!  I've been lemming this colour for ages, but instead of trying to assuage my NEED with similar colours, I told myself I'd be good and wait ...

It's a taupe shade - somewhat less grey than I was expecting, and it shades almost to a milky chocolate colour in artificial light, but I love it.  I don't own anything quite like it already, and I can see I'm going to be staring at my nails all day tomorrow ...

 

 

Pictures show two coats with a Seche top-coat, application is fine, a little sheer on the first coat, but it builds up nicely on a second.

Apologies for the appalling lack of cleanup in these pics, but I wanted to show you the swatches as soon as I possibly could ... I like it an alwful lot more than the last Chanel special edition I bought you, which was Kaleidoscope, and I hated it.  Normally I avoid browns - I'm scared of them - but this is one I think works quite well with my skintone.

Will you be buying?

Spots - A How To Guide

We all get zits. Occasionally, we all get those hormonal enormozits that take ages to come to a head and then take what feels like months to disappear. Here's my patented guide to dealing with zits.

Required:
Salicylic acid-based spot treatment
Clay-based face mask
Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream or similar

Notes:
The vast majority of topical spot treatments contain salicylic acid, but I can personally recommend Clinique, and Origins as good ones.

If an emergency zit treatment is required, smush an aspirin (the active ingredient in aspirin is salicylic acid!), dilute with a little water, and dab the paste on your zit as required.

Method:
Dab the affected area with salicylic acid treatment of choice every few hours. Then put a dab of clay based mask on for overnight, to draw the spot out quicker.

Use something greasy - I'm going to recommend 8Hr cream here for traditions sake, but you can use vaseline, or bio oil, as you wish, but it must be something highly emollient - to clear up the inevitable redness and dryness caused by salicylic acid zit-zapper.

If squeezing proves irresistible:

If you end up popping your enormozit, first make sure your hands are clean! Pop, then use the clay mask to draw out all the impurities - leave it in place as long as you possibly can - then cover with grease of your choice (bio oil, 8hr cream etc) to ease resultant redness/flakiness/soreness.

This should help your zit leave quicker and not leave you wanting to tear your hair out waiting for it to go.

Any other spot tips out there?

Multipurpose Products

So, we all have them, those little products that do double duty.  Blushers that double as eyeshadows, lipsticks that act as blushers, the lipbalm that also works as a moisturiser or cuticle cream and so on.

However, I think this one takes the biscuit it's the, er ... "personal product" that also works as a hair serum, and heat-styling protector.  Would you?  Could you?

Warning:  while the link is safe for work (it's from HQ Hair) the product itself might not be something you want on your work internet history ... Many thanks to @muddlinleigh for the link!

What are some of your favourite double-duty products?