Christopher Drummond and Sue Devitt FotD

I've spoken of my love of "no-colour" makeup before.  This morning I was going for a totally neutral but slightly sunkissed look (so tired of it being dull and grey outside, so brought some sunshine to my makeup!), and so I reached for:

Christopher Drummond Veludo foundation in Fair
Christopher Drummond Finishing powder in Branco
Christopher Drummond Radiance Booster in Saude Pele
Sue Devitt Eyeshadow in Lonely Splendor
Urban Decay liquid liner in Smog
Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara
Cargo Illuminator in Wind
Chanel Rouge Allure in Incognito

Taupe is my go-to colour at the moment, and the Sue Devitt shadow has been a lovely addition to my makeup bag, it's a very soft and subtle shade:

As you can see, I'm still using Endora as my style icon at the moment, I love me a bit of swoosh on my eyeliner!  You won't be seeing any baby-blue shadow here though, I promise.

But what I really want to talk is the foundation, I've been having a lot of trouble with powder formulations lately, owing to having somewhat ... er ... mature skin, and it being a bit dry owing t the weather at the moment.  I find a lot of powders - and even some pigment-heavier creams are just sinking into lines and crevices during the day which I swear simply did not exist in the morning!

So it was some trepidation that I approached the Christopher Drummond foundation, powder and highlight, I'll be honest.  I was scared of looking cakey, dry and, well, old! I needn't have worried, these powders are silky smooth, and a delight to wear.

The Just Beauty Direct website (where my samples came from) says this about the Christopher Drummond range:

"100% natural, vegan, made with organic ingredients. These are products not only good for your skin, but good for the environment. Christopher Drummond believes that by having eco-friendly and animal-friendly cosmetics, we are contributing to the prosperity of our planet ... 

... Christopher's skin-friendly all-natural, organic based formulations include such soothing ingredients, including açai, and green tea, which contain healing antioxidants.

These products which have a natural sunscreen and are non-comedogenic will leave your s  kin feeling velvety soft and looking naturally radiant." 

What I liked about these was that you don't have to "buff" them into your skin, you just brush them onto your face, as you would with a liquid foundation, sometimes I find that the "buffing" required with other mineral foundations can aggravate a sensitive skin.  This foundation lasted really well, and didn't need a touch up until about three in the afternoon!  The finishing powder is very, very silky indeed, and the Saude Pele added just a touch of champagne coloured highlight to my cheekbones. I was delighted that there was no settling, no cracking, no caking and ... no ageing!

All that said, I'll definitely consider buying the full size product, even though it's priced at a wallet-thumping £50 - but that contains a travel container, full size foundation, and flat-topped kabuki for application - but, I'd be interested to see if Just Beauty Direct have any plans just to stock the foundation refills at any point, as I hate being forced into buying a brush everytime I just need a powder. Maybe I'll just get one of his liquid lip pots in the meantime, I think the samples are going to last a while!

You can buy Christopher Drummond products here and Sue Devitt products are available from QVC or Harvey Nichols.

Nail of the Day - OPI Crimsun

 Yes, it's another Holographic polish, but this is one I'm a little disappointed in ...

 Application was exceedingly sheer, meaning I still have visible nail lines, and ... it's pink. Not this orange shade you see here under my halogen lights, and not the crimson you assume from the name.  It's pink.  Fuschia-pink under most lights.  Not a bad colour, as it happens, but not what I wanted!

Also, the holograph-effect is barely visible on the nail.

It's a nice polish.  But not a great one. I like it, but I don't love it. It's also started to chip after about 18 hours on the nail.  Boo!  Holographic polishes are notoriously chippy though, so maybe that's me being picky. I bought mine from eBay.

Organic Wednesday - NEOM Candles

Candles.  Oh, how I love candles!  Jonathan Ward, Kenneth Turner and now NEOM, I love them all ...  was especially delighted when I found out this week that NEOM are expanding their fragrance library to 12 this March with the addition of two new varieties of candle.

Serenity, which has hints of vanilla and sandalwood and about which NEOM say: "For the ultimate piece of me-time, comfort in warming tones of vanilla, a fantastically comforting scent, combined with woody and calming sandalwood. Also works as a gentle aphrodisiac."  Hmn, now that sounds more interesting than I thought when I first read it ....

Also, (and this is the one I'm really excited about) they're bringing out a Sumptuous variety too, which combines rose and neroli - two of my all time favourite scents - and they have this to say about it:  "The most deliciously decadent scent in the NEOM library, rose is calming, soothing oil whilst precious neroli (orange blossom) lifts your spirit and calms the mind. Quite simply - the most opulent feel-good scent in the world."  

Now my mum is an aromatherapist, a reflexologist and a reiki master (she needs to get out more) and she uses neroli like it's going out of fashion, so basically, this scent will make me think of home, and help uplift my spirits at the same time.  I can't wait to get my hands on one of these babies for a sniff.  I think I might also send my mum one for Mother's Day ...

The candles are entirely organic and have a natural base.  You can buy them from NEOM online, or Planet Organic.  I'll be chatting to Nicola Elliot about the brand very soon, so you'll be able to find out more about them then, keep an eye out!

Organic Wednesday - Dr Bronner vs Method

Doing things slightly differently this week - haven't done a side by side comparison for a while, so I thought I'd do one now.

I've mentioned how much I like Dr Bronner soaps before and they have a new one available from their Shikakai range, and in this trial, I'm using the peppermint version - I'm a sucker for peppermint:

And in the clear corner, I'll be testing Method's handwash in Sweet Water:

Now, both of these products are organic, and claim to be non-drying, and contain no ingredients known to irritate skin.

Here's how they look out of the bottles (Dr Bronner first, then Method)

 

Dr Bronners is a thin, runny liquid that's very difficult to control ... it's also an odd colour, how unnattractive is that yellow-y brown?  The Method is a more familiar gel-style affair (trust me, it is there in the photo, I assure you!) that won't run all down your arm while you're trying to take photos of it.  Of course, that might just be my problem ...

Here's how they foam.  I don't know about you, but I LOVE a proper foamy handwash, even though I know that many foaming agents are bad for your skin!  As before, Dr Bronner first, then Method:

 

Just to be clear, I used one full pump of each product, and hands were washed consecutively, in the same temperature water.  As you can see, the Dr Bronner has foamed up magnificently, very surprising as the main ingredients appear to be sugar and a seed extract! The Method doesn't foam up nearly so well, although compared to a lot of organic SLS-free cleansers, it's actually pretty good.  Even compared to Method's own moisturising handwash, this is good foam.  Dr Bronner's peppermint smells precisely like washing your hands with a stick of Blackpool rock (not as sticky though) where Method has a more generic, gentle, slightly perfumed scent, which is not at all unpleasant.

Neither soap left my hands dried out, which is great. Even though I do like a foaming hand wash I hate it when it leaves my hands feeling dry after, or worse, feeling like I need handcream.  I don't believe in handcream (or toner, or body lotion.  Yes, I'm a weird, I know), so don't use it too often, and hate feeling that another product I'm using is forcing me to use it.

I guess which one you'll prefer will come down to what you want from your handwash, Method's wash is undoubtedly the one that'll look more stylish in your bathroom, but Dr Bronner is the one that'll give you the most satisfaction when you use it!  Both of these have pride of place in the bathrooms around our house, and I guess which one we buy next depends on which one runs out first!

Dr Bronner is available from Victoria Health, independent health food shops and Liberty in London, whereas you can buy Method from Boots, Waitrose or from the Method website.

Onix Blowdry - Two Months on ...

Most of my readers now that before Christmas I had a three month blowdry at Comptons, and I loved it.  I gave a follow up post a little later but after a few requests, I thought it was time I gave an update on how it looks now.  Going back to the picture I took of my hair on Saturday, this is how it looks now:

I have to say though that yes, my hair is not as straight as it was when I first had it done, and it's no longer wash and go to keep it completely straight.  The above picture was taken after a swift five minute blow dry using my fingers instead of a brush or comb. Here's how it looks if I let it air-dry now:

As you can see, there's a little curling at the ends, but it still looks natural, and it's still a whole heap better than it was before the treatment.  I still haven't used my straighteners, and I only use my hair-dryer for special occasions.  Still not using any styling products either, which is wonderful and it STILL doesn't fuzz up in the rain.

I'd recommend this treatment - and Compton Hair- to anyone who's ever been fed up with wavy/curly or just plain fuzzy hair, it's been a life-changing experience for me!  Having just that little bit of extra time every day is wonderful, I love it.

Frontcover

I know a lot of people really like Frontcover boxes, which are available at Boots. A little bird has told me that they're re-releasing their infamous Rainbow box of eyeshadow shades on 25th February.  Originally released for Christmas 2008, they were a sell-out and quickly became a cult item. Boxes contain 25 shadows, applicators and a "Shadowline" which turns any eyeshadow into a liquid liner.

The boxes will be available for £15 until 23rd March when the price will increase to the RRP of £30. Will you be getting one?

Review - Perricone MD Cold Plasma

Oh, bad reviews pain me, they really do ...

At a blogger event recently, we were given a jar each of Perricone MD Cold Plasma cream to take away and try for ourselves.  As it retails for approximately £120 a jar, I was pretty excited to get this, as I knew one of my housemates would adore to try it.

Perricone MD are very proud of this cream, and it's taken them a long time to get it to market.  Now, Perricone make some very strong claims about this product, it targets TEN signs of ageing (why is it that every time a new anti-ageing cream comes out, there are more signs of ageing that it'll work on? Coincidence?) and indeed, it has a patented neuro-peptide delivery system, all of which go toward justifying the high price tag.

So ... does it work? Well, the answer to that is ... dunno.  Here's Helen to give us the skinny:


"One of the good things about sharing a house with Ms Lippie is that lots of goodies arrive for us to try out.  When the call came out for a tester for a £120 face cream – Dr P’s Cold Plasma cream, I leapt at the chance.  I was asked to try it out for a week with a picture to be taken of before and afterwards and then continue for a longer period to see what happens.

First impressions were that it’s a nice package, nothing too garish and a nice glass tub frosted, but quite small.  On opening, the cream is a lovely smooth texture, a pleasant smell and cool to the touch.

I started using it instead of my normal moisturising cream on the Monday.  The cream absorbed well, you didn’t require too much and it left my skin soft and smooth.  It certainly appeared to feed my skin as well as my other moisturising creams do normally. 

However, about an hour later, whilst sitting on the tube on the way to work, I noticed a strange smell. A bit like how your fingers would smell after shelling cooked shrimps.  I thought it could have been one of my fellow travellers and thought nothing more of it.  On the second day I used the cream again, still pleased with the results, pleasant smell in the pot and so on.  An hour later, I noticed the strange smell again, but I was with different travelling companions, so what could it be?  I wiped my face and realised it was coming from me.

This made me have second thoughts about wanting to continue to use the cream.  I don’t want people to think that I ordinarily, or habitually, smell of fish!  I decided to continue to use it in case the results were so good that I could ignore the aroma.  After a week of use, my skin still felt well nourished, and less dry, but not spectacularly enough that the smell faded into the background.

Overall, the cream works well, with as much moisture being absorbed as other creams I have used previously, and if the smell doesn’t appear for you or doesn’t worry you, and you don’t mind paying £120 for a small pot, then this is a worthwhile investment, however for me the smell is just too much to continue with."

So, er, there you have it. Incidentally, Helen was not aware of Perricone's salmon-related ingredients at the time of testing  ...

What's the most you've ever spent on a face-cream?  Did it work? Was it worth the investment?