Burberry Cosmetics land at Harrods ...

So, as well as spending a little money with Dolce & Gabanna the other day, I also indulged in a little Burberry.  I hadn't been planning to, but the sales girls were so friendly, and the colours were so much nicer than I was expecting, that I felt duty-bound to pick up a few bits and pieces!  After a bit of a mass swatch, I picked (l-r) Sheer Eyeshadow No9 Rosewood, Light Glow Cameo Blush No2 and Sheer Eyeshadow No10 Antique Rose.

I've read some criticism of the range that it's all too neutral, too safe and a bit dull.  Well, yes, if you love your brights and deeps, then I can understand those thoughts.  Me though, I love me some sophisticated, polished neutrals, and this collection has them in spades. I thought the entire collection glowed with quality, and I'll be popping back this week for a lipshade (or two).

On the left there is Rosewood, which is a delicately glowing, pinkish taupe.  It's lightly shimmering, and very flattering, perfect as a crease-shade, or for a light look all over the mobile lid.  On the right is Antique Rose, a more matte, slightly plum-shade.  It's slightly more intense than Rosewood, and I used this to create a bit of an edgy smoky eye recently, a look I'll show you in a FotD coming up soon.  I really, really, really liked it.  Which kind of guarantees no one else will, but hey ho ...

Swatches shown dry over unprimed skin.  Although they're called sheer, they're actually fairly opaque, and when I wore them over primer, I had no issues with fading or creasing, even after about 14 hours of wear.

Onto the blush, the range of shades is actually quite small (three), but this was the one that called out to me.  I don't own many pinkish blushes, but this one struck me as very fresh-looking, and vibrant when I swatched it.

It's a matte shade (I prefer my blushes matte, so I can add highlight where I need it, rather than risk getting the dreaded "glitterball" effect), and on the more coral side of pink.  It's fairly long-lasting, needing a top-up only after about 8 hours of wear, but I like it a lot, it makes a change from my more bronz-y or orange shades! I like to think it's fairly flattering on my skin tone, and doesn't make me look too flushed.  It smells faintly of roses, too, which pleases me, oddly.

What's your opinion of Burberry Cosmetics?  I love the classily quirky packaging (also adore that the boxes are lined with pewter to match the compacts), and the textures are, whilst not the most buttery and pigmented I've seen - that would be Rouge Bunny Rouge - are very high quality indeed.  I'll definitely be investing in more.  Very soon....

The Fine Print: I bought these on the same day I got treated like poo by Dolce & Gabanna after my hard day in East London.  My bank manager reminded me this week that I bank with them, and NOT vice versa.  I love a funny bamk manager I do.  I should get one.

Dolce & Gabanna Summer Collection

So, if you read my blog last week, you know I had a hard time actually buying these, but, I do love the bits and pieces I bought ... Up there you can see (l-r) Nail Polish in Perfection, Classic Lipstick in Soft, and the eye quad in Nude.  What I didn't realise at the time is that Perfection and Nude are actually part of the summer collection, and as a result are limited edition.

The packaging on these is excellent, heavyweight, and a shade of gold that doesn't look cheap, even the etching of the names on the packaging looks great.  They do get hellishly covered in fingerprints though, so may be a good idea to keep them in their velvet pouches.

Onto swatches! 

The nail varnish flows like butter, I have an issue with the long, spindly brush aligned with a tiny cap (the gold part pops off to reveal the proper cap beneath), but this is because I am a well-known cackhanded muppet, and these things make applying varnish difficult for me. I think this is an almost perfect "mannequin hands" polish, too.  The above pic shows two coats (with a base and top coat), and is on it's sixth day of wear.  There was a minimal amount of chipping, and barely any tipwear.  Seriously amazing quality.

Lips:

Classic lipstick in Soft  is a rather dark neutral rose shade, opaque in one stroke, it provides soft, glossy lip coverage:

It looks a little lighter on the skin than on the bullet, and it reminds me somewhat of Chanel's Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle - I'll make a potential dupe post soon! - on my lips it very nearly a "my lips but better" shade (I have quite pigmented lips naturally) but it's a good, wearable, fairly neutral shade for many skin colours, I think.

Onto the eye quad:

I fell in love with these shades, the top two a lightly shimmery brownish-purple, and pale coral, and two matte flesh shades, perfect for creating a no-makeup makeup look.  Here's how they swatch:

The brown-purple (or purple-brown, if you prefer), is simply beautiful, I've used it for lining, but it's also perfect for a flattering smokey look.  I used the whole quad recently to create a natural look (for meeting Edward Bess, who complimented me on it, but more about that anon), used the two matte shades for the base and crease shades, and then coloured the mobile lid in a little with the peach, and used the brown to line, seemed to work just fine!  The shadows lasted really well - admittedly over a primer - too.

So, was it worth dealing with the sneery sales assistant?  Yes, I think it was, but I'll be buying from the Selfridges counter next time ...

The Fine Print: I bought these after a hellishly bad day in East London.  East London apparently does strange things to your credit cards.

Review - Clarisonic (First Thoughts)

Ever since I read Gemma's Clarisonic Diaries posts about her experiences of using a handset for a month over on London Beauty Review a while ago, I've wanted one of these sonic beauties!  A couple of weeks ago though, this desire was cemented by the amazingly talented Jody Bloch at the Fern Skin Clinic, who told me that a Clarisonic would definitely help me with some dry skin issues I've been suffering from lately.

It took me a little while to get my hands on one, but I finally have one in my sticky little paws, and, after a week of use, I thought it might be interesting to get some thoughts down about how using a giant toothbrush Clarisonic to clean my face has been.

Here is what Clarisonic claim for themselves (from the Clarisonic website):

Benefits beyond just clean skin: Clarisonic improves the appearance of skin tone and reduces the appearance of pore size

Clarisonic is the sonic technology proven to gently yet effectively loosen dirt and oil to clear your pores. The Clarisonic Cleansing System uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth your skin. In just 60 seconds a day, the Clarisonic micro-massage action cleans more than twice as effectively as manual cleansing.

Clarisonic Sonic Cleansing Benefits

• Removes 6x more makeup than manual cleansing
• Leaves skin feeling and looking smoother
• Cleanses so well that products absorb better
• Gentle enough for twice daily use
• Helps reduce oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes
• Helps reduce the appearance of visible pores
• Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles 

I've been using mine twice a day for the last week, with an old favourite cleanser (Nude's Facial Cleansing Oil), and, I have to say, I've been astonished at how much I love using this thing. Essentially, you apply your cleanser to your damp skin, then, after wetting the brush head with warm water, you move it in small circles over your skin, moving to different parts of the face when the handset beeps.  Once the brush turns itself off, I usually go over my skin with a warm facecloth and remove any last traces of cleanser that are left behind, and give myself a little steam-treatment too.

So, how have I found it? Well, after my operation, I'd been quite openly complaining about my dull, grey, flaky skin, which not even my usual hot-cloth method of skin-cleansing had been able to shift.  In addition, I've been "suffering" from a constant patch of dry, flaky skin on my forehead for a matter of months that has been driving me bananas - it was diagnosed by a couple of people recently as "lipid dryness", meaning that oil wasn't able to penetrate beyond the most superficial layer of my skin.  From the first use, Clarisonic has helped with both of those problems. 

My dry patch has disappeared, and my skin has been uniformly more even in tone, and it's soft. So soft that it feels like velvet!  I do find that my skin most definitely feels a lot cleaner when I use the handset, and from the first use (for me), it's been a bit of a revelation. I've also found that I don't need to exfoliate at all.  Astonishing.  Astonishing enough for me to actually look forward to cleansing my face as a result!

Now, has my skin been visibly changed for the better?  I can't in all honesty say so.  Yet.  MrLippie hasn't noticed any difference in my skin (then again, he'd only really notice a change in my skintone if I suddenly dyed it to match his London Irish rugby shirt, to be honest).  Skin creams certainly seem to sink in better after using it, and  I think this might be raising their efficiency slightly.  Oils, in particular just seem to vanish into my face with only the bare minimum of massaging, and my skin has been brighter as a result.  The main skin oil that I'm using at the moment is Liz Earle's Superskin concentrate, by the way, I just adore the neroli-scent as a night treatment.

Things I don't like: it takes a long time to charge - when it first arrives, you have to charge it for 24 hours before you can use it, and, I've found it can be tricky trying to change the programming.  It has three speeds, which are very easy to sort out, but moving it from a 1 minute timed setting, to a 2 minute timed setting or a setting without a timer can be difficult.  So difficult, in fact, that mine appears to be stuck on the 2 minute timer, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to get it back onto a one minute timer!  This is eating up my battery life, which ties back into my point about it taking a long time to charge! It's also on the pricey side, coming in at £150 for a face-only version, or £175 for a face and body unit. You can pick one up from Selfridges, Harrods, or SpaceNK.  That said though, a course of facials would cost a similar amount, and, this is something that I feel is definitely going to make a big change to  my routine, so, on a cost per use basis, it actually works out pretty cheap.  I've always believed that getting your cleansing right is the key to any skin routine, and, well this is a big step along that route.

Overall, I'm exceptionally impressed, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the coming weeks bring any differences to my face that other people can notice ...

The Fine Print: Unit was accidentally provided for review purposes.  Long story, it involves Selfridges, a champagne cocktail or two, another encounter with me talking WAY too much to Daniel Sandler and some lightly embarrassed gatecrashing.  Probably best not to ask ...

MAC Rodarte Collection - but it is art?

You're going to be reading a lot of posts on this matter this evening, and I just thought I'd add my tuppenorth into the matter.  The new MAC collaboration with Rodarte is due out (in the US) in September.  A collection of ethereal pale greys, pinks and taupes, it's meant to be inspired by the beauty of the countryside in Mexico, and specificially, items (according to Rodarte) were inspired by the female workers "floating to work" in the factories at dawn.

So far, not so unusual, but several of the items may have been insensitively named: Juarez, and Factory, are the nail polishes in the collection, and here's where the controversy begins, for, over the last several years, women in their dozens have been abducted on their way to work in the factories of Juarez, and they have been raped and murdered. Juarez is a notoriously impoverished factory town, and has been named one of the most dangerous places to live in the world as a result of these abductions, murders and rapes.  Very little is being done by the police to investigate the situation, as the women (aged between 12 and 20, in the main) are every poor, and it's not seen as worthwhile to try and bring their rapists and murderers to justice.

After an outcry in the US, MAC have released a statement announcing that they are aware that some people consider these names controversial and/or offensive, and, as a result, they are going to donate a "portion" of the proceeds of this collection to the people of Juarez.  Rodarte themselves have merely said that the names of the collection were inspired by their "travels", and have not apologised for the controversial element.

This strikes me as a shame, and a missed opportunity.  Why not release the entire collection as an awareness raising one, and donate the entire proceeds to the people of Juarez? MAC, of course, have a track record in this area, donating as they do, the entire proceeds of their Viva Glam releases every year to Aids charities.  I'd feel a lot less uneasy about MAC if they'd done this, I'll be honest.

Can you imagine if, in the UK for example, Illamasqua had released a collection with an item named "Soham" and then claimed it was simply because the town was so beautiful, and that was the only reason they chose the name?  It shows a massive amount of naivety on the behalf of the Rodarte team that they didn't consider the implications of naming parts of a collection this way, and ignoring any offence they may have caused too.

Please be aware that I am NOT calling for a boycott of this collection, and if you want to buy the items, you are, of course, welcome to (personally, some of the items I've seen, I think to be very pretty, in all actuality - it's certainly not a collection for our darker skinned sisters, judging from the promos though), but I'd like to see MAC do more to redress this situation, (what proportion of the proceeds are they willing to donate, for example) and I'd like to see more in the way of action from the Rodarte team to acknowledge the situation too.  Makeup shouldn't, if you ask me, be glorifying the rape and murder of women ...

What say you?  Legitimate outcry, or storm in a teacup?

Beauty Blog Link Love

Have you tried Ellis Faas yet? Rae's reviewing a few of these super-luxe, super-chic products, starting with Ellis' Milky Lips line!

Armani Blushing Fabric Second Skin Blushers have caught Louise's eye.

No bruises here! Check out Maggie's soft pink and purple face of the day over at The Polka-Dotted Apple.

When do Lego's and cosmetics have something in common? When Jouer comes to town, that's when. Watch Jeweled Thumb act 5 and play with a recent haul!

Butter LONDON has some fabulous new nail shades for Autumn 2010 - come check them out on Lipglossiping!

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed gets up close and personal with the Burberry Beauty line!

Hell Candy attends the Edward Bess UK launch and is blown away by the beauty of everything (the make up AND the man!)

Jolie Laide Girl gets silky soft with Kiehls Lightweight Body Lotion.

Sarah from IHeartCosmetics shows you how to get rid of spots,simply and easily.

Dry skinned and on a budget? Eyelining thinks Boots may have a bargain solution!

Looking for a perfect red nail polish for summer? Take a look at Illamasqua's Alarm at Makeup4All.

Lipgloss86 conquers all fears and grabs for the epilator in a bid for fuzz free legs.

The Lip Print discovers the sweetest nail shades for spring and has a chat with Orly's Creative Director about what's hot for nails!

There’s a new mascara in town! Check out Tsahi’s review on Revlon’s new Luscious Grow Mascara.

Madame B Fatale talks about a product that supports a great cause!


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Be sure to enter Phyrra's Summer Giveaway! Two winners, great prizes, open worldwide!

It's Pink Diva Beauty's birthday and you receive the presents! Have you entered?

Ever wanted to try LA's Prtty Peaushun? Now you can - Beautywoome is giving it away this month!

Reviva Labs wants to protect and prettify you with their Summer Skincare Giveaway on Prime Beauty.

The Pink Sith is celebrating her second Blog Anniversary with a Purple and Silver giveaway!

Dolce & Gabanna Makeup at Harrods

Dear Dolce & Gabanna,

Your new makeup range is gorgeous.  Your counter at Harrods is gorgeous.  The staff on your makeup counter at Harrods are beautiful and gorgeous.

And, if the beautiful staff at your gorgeous counter hadn't been too busy painting their nails, ignoring customers and sneering when asked for service at 2pm last Monday afternoon, I might even have spent more than the £70 I finally managed to give A N Other member of your staff. I'm very happy with the products, but the attitude of your bit... er ... sales assistant  is still bugging me.

I'm guessing the lovely girls who were busy being helpful on the Burberry counter had put some noses out of joint?  Such a shame, anyway.

Love and unimpressed kisses,

Lippie xx

Review - Alpha H facial

Yesterday's post was about a blissful spa, so full of relaxation that I genuinely think the treatments - though enjoyable - are entirely secondary to the spa itself.  Today's post is about a spa that's more or less the exact opposite, putting great treatments front and centre, but entirely fabulous nonetheless.

Fern Skin Clinic are the only spa in the country licensed to carry out Alpha H facials, and boy, these people take their facials seriously. I first learned about Alpha H products when they launched on QVC about a decade ago, I was suffering from adult onset acne at the time, and I'd heard that the products were amazing for "troubled" skin.  Sadly, at that time I couldn't afford to buy the products, and by the time I could, I'd solved my acne issues (mainly by swapping away from foaming cleansers, but that's a blog post for another time).  After that, I guess they just kind of dropped off my radar, after all, my skin was no longer "troubled".

Fast forward a few years to a chance meeting with the people behind the brand recently and I was put right,  Alpha H is actually suitable for everyone, and has great results for both troubled and "less troubled" skin.  I was offered a facial so I could out some of their claims to the test.  I trotted off for a facial with Jody Bloch at the aforementioned Fern Clinic, and put my face on the line.  Honestly, the things I do for you people ...

The clinic is clean, modern, a little stark, but no less relaxing a space for that, beds are comfortable, and the staff are warm, friendly, and very, very professional. After filling in an exceptionally thorough medical form, Jody chatted to me about my skin, my concerns and put together a personalised facial prescription for me.

Now, I have to say that these facials are very results-oriented, if you're expecting a couple of passes with a cleanser, and a relaxing massage, you're going to be very surprised disappointed. After two cleansings (one with a Clarisonic, more about which tomorrow), a pineapple and papaya enzyme mask was applied and my face was wrapped in clingfilm.  Yes, really.  Then, after a thorough massage with an age delay oil, it was onto extractions.  This HURT.  Seriously, imagine someone digging around the pores of your nose with a safety pin, that's what it feels like.  But, oh! The results! Then, a calming and soothing mask, a wonderful hand and arm massage, and my face was ready to face a moisturiser.

And what a face I ended up with!  Well, obviously it was the same face I went in with, but you know what I mean ... I'd expected red blotchiness and greasy splots of nastiness (yes, ******  facials, I'm looking at you, £150, and left looking like I'd spent 90 minutes rubbing myself with a block of nettle-studded lard), but what looked back at me was rosy glowing plumpness and smoothness.  I went without foundation for the best part of a week after (seriously unheard of for me), and spent several days marvelling at my temporary state of porelessness.

I'm seriously considering going back every week from now until the end of time. I've just bought a selection of Alpha H products as a result of the facial - I should make it clear that no one at the clinic pushed me to buy them at the time, something I always appreciate - and I'm looking forward to them arriving so I can use them for myself!

Products used:
Balancing Cleanser
Micro Cleanse
Pineapple & Papaya Enzyme Mask
Age Delay Oil
Calming & Soothing Mask
Balancing Moisturiser

I've heard good things about their moisturiser with factor 50+ sunscreen too, from no less than Lisa Eldridge, so I'm going to be tracking down a bottle of that very soon ... Alpha H products are available from Beauty Expert, QVC and HQ Hair

The Fine Print: Get Lippie was invited to Fern Skin Clinic as a guest of Alpha H.  That all sounds so fancy, dunnit?  I have since, however, bought my not inconsiderable bodyweight in products.  They're *that* good.  Full review as and when I get around to it.