Get Lippie

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Prai 02 Infusion with Vacuum Technology

At the moment, I'm on a bit of a cleansing kick, and when the opportunity came up to try this one out, I leapt at it, as it sounded intriguing. It promises an "innovative formula" which contains oxygen molecules to stop your skin being lackluster and promises a more youthful and "refreshed" look.

In use, this light, apricot coloured gel transforms into a mousse, and it foams, foams, foams it's way to cleaner skin. It's actually huge fun to use, you massage it lightly into your slightly damp skin, and watch it do it's stuff for a couple of minutes then rinse it off, and Presto! Cleaner, smoother, brighter skin!

Or ...

As in my case, itchy, flaky, burning, sparkly skin. For this cleanser contains micro-glitter, which adheres to your skin even after you've removed the foam (with a wet washcloth, in my case). Too late, I remembered that my (slightly oily, not as sensitive as it used to be) skin hates anything that foams, and boy, did it let me know afterward. It took several days of intense moisturisation, and very, very, very gentle handling to get it back to anything like its former equilibrium. This, plus looking like a Twilight reject once I'd used it makes this product a complete no-go for me, I'm afraid. On the plus side, it smells lovely, and a little of this goes a very, very, very long way.

One for the greasy-skinned, less sensitive souls amongst us to use for Father Christmas impressions, I feel. Prai 02 Infusion costs £19.75 from QVC

The Fine Print: PR Sample.

Lanolips - Now in Boots

(l-r: Rose, Rhubarb, 101, Dark Honey, Apples)

I popped along to Boots on Oxford Street last week, and noticed they now have Lanolips in store. They've been available on Boots.com for a couple of months now, but it's good to see them in-store finally. Even better, they're currently on 3-4-2, so it was an ideal chance for me to pick up a couple or three new ones to add to my collection (like I ever need an excuse to stock up on lipbalms ...)!

Made from medical grade lanolin (the tube labelled 101 is 100% pure), Lanolips are an Australian import, and are the brainchild of the lovely Kirsten Carriol, who has made it her mission to make a natural lip product based on lanolin. I'd say she's succeeded, I've pretty much swapped out most of my other lipbalms and this winter I've rarely been without a tube in one pocket or another.

Initially I started off with just Rhubarb (I love rhubarb, I couldn't not have this one) and Dark Honey, but I picked up 101, Apples and Rose in-store recently too. The shades are lovely and very wearable:

(l-r: Rose, Rhubarb, 101, Dark Honey, Apples)

Dark Honey (surprisingly) is probably the one I get the most wear out of, as it's a pale, dusky mauve shade that's very similar in shade to my natural lip-colour, and I find it evens out the tones in my lips very well - but I have very pigmented lips, with a natural "lip-line" that paler shades don't cover up too well.

The balms are fragrance and flavouring-free, and yes, they are a bit sticky. Sticky to the extent that you may have to warm it in your fingers before applying it to your lips, and it's practically solid on a cold day, but on your lips it's feather-light, and hugely moisturising. I haven't had cracked lips once, in spite of the bitterly cold weather, and I like to think it's because of Lanolips! I've also found that it makes a great overnight treatment for sore lips too.

Enlarge to see ingredients

So, do you need Lanolips? I think so, they're moisturising, flavour-free, and best of all they work. I'm not entirely happy with the packaging, the labels the UK distributor uses to seal the tubes peels the gold paint off, and there is just a plain nozzle on them, which means you can't apply direct to your lips from the tube, but these are minor gripes, my lips love these.

The Fine Print: I bought these, with my ill-gotten gains garnered from my other life as an accountant.
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Nail of the Day: OPI The One That Got Away

I could give a stuff about Katy Perry, and the associated crackle polish from her recent collection for OPI, to be honest, but even so I can't deny this deep fuschia-purple shade that's just packed with glass flecks is almost too gorgeous for words:

I'm about to get MrLippie to paint my toes with this too... Don't tell him! Perfect happy-making shade for a wet Saturday afternoon.

This came from Selfridges, and cost £10.50. Thought the rest of the shades were just a bit ... meh, so passed on the rest of them.

Chantecaille Turtles Palette - Swatches

I saw this just after Christmas in some promo pics, and I have to admit, I fell in love a little bit. Chantecaille has always been a brand I've admired, but have never really seen what all the fuss is about previously, but this palette might just be the one to change my mind. It's beautiful.

A shimmering sand shade, a glimmering brown, a multi-tonal greyed out forest green, and a golden coral shade, it's almost as if the palette was made for me (and, if the brown had been a taupe, I may well have thought it was!)

Every year, Chantecaille produce a palette where a proportion of the funds raised from the sales go to help sustain wildlife. Last year it was tigers, and this year (via the Widecast Organisation) it is turtles. I've spent a few nights - in the dim and distant past - on turtle watch in Greece, so this was a bit of a no-brainer for me, but it helped that the colours are so pretty. So, how do they swatch?

Well, the answer to that is, very nicely indeed, thank you. The colours are on the sheer side, to be honest, but they build up well, and can also be used wet or dry with no damage to the shades in the pan, which is great. Swatches above are shown as several passes of dry shadow on unprimed skin. The shades are shimmery, but in a very subtle way, and they're amongst some of the softest, most velvety feeling eyeshadows I own. Sort of a Rouge Bunny Rouge texture, only slightly less pigment, making them - in my eyes - slightly easier to work with. Personally, I find shadows with too much pigment difficult to deal with at times.

I love that charcoal green! It looks so different on the skin to how it appears in the pan, but it's gorgeous either way. I used it as an eyeliner this morning:

I applied the sand as a base, the golden brown in the crease, and the green as a liner on both top and bottom. The colours are easy to blend for a seamless look. Here's the full face shot so you can see it in context:

I wanted a clean, professional look today for a board meeting, eyeshadows as above, plus the blusher from the palette, foundation is Guerlain Lingerie de Peau, and I'm wearing Lanolips in Dark Honey on my lips. I'm going to try a smokier look with it tomorrow.

So, do you need a Turtles palette? If you like polished neutrals, then possibly. It is expensive, at £73 the price is more than comparable to, say, a Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope, but the inclusion of blusher makes them a slightly different proposition. I can see it's something I'm going to use a lot, but your mileage may vary.

Finally, one last shot which is actually an outtake, but I thought it looked kind of cool:

Before I discovered Browhaus, I used to alternate between going to Blink at Selfridges and Malika in Westfield to get my eyebrows done. Both are marvellous, and I never had a bad eyebrow shape from either of them, pop along if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed.

However, just because I've sold my eyebrows to Ellie at Browhaus, doesn't mean I'm planning on abandoning Malika (mainly because it's on my doorstep, practically) any time soon. I was invited along to their Westfield store recently for a signature facial to find out more about other services the threading chain is offering to their clients.

The signature facial is based on ayurvedic principles, and, after answering a few questions about your skin, your facialist will mix up a personalised selection of fruits, aloe vera, juices, milk and honey, based on your requirements. This facial is all-natural, and there are no pre-prepared ingredients and/or creams and unguents used during the 80 minute facial.

Far from relaxing, this is an exceptionally cleansing facial with an amazing massage attached, the facialist really goes to town, and gives your skin the most thorough workout you've ever had. I liked it a great deal, afterwards my skin was smooth and blemish free, and the enzymes in the fruit juices definitely had a slight peeling effect on my skin, leaving it brighter for a good few days afterwards. The only downside is that it can be a little messy, so make sure you take something with you to tie your hair back with. Oh, and the treatment room is tiny, so if you're claustrophobic at all, you might have problems. The Signature Facial costs £80 and lasts 75 minutes.

You can find out more about Malika here.

The Fine Print: Get Lippie was a guest of Malika

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Beauty Resolutions

As beauty bloggers go, I'm a bit of a scruff. Okay, a lot of a scruff. Oh, and I'm a bit lazy too. If there's a choice between an extra ten minutes in bed, and giving myself a blow-dry in the morning, I'll take the ten minutes in bed, and go to work with wet hair.

Yes, I have no shame. But I will always make the time to at least put some mascara on, I've no wish to scare the kiddiwinks on my walk to the tube ... (too often)

But no more! Alongside my Project Perfume, I've decided that this is the year that Get Lippie Gets Groomed*. No more fluffy eyebrows. No more leaving my hair six months in-between getting coloured. No more chipped nail varnish. No more letting my toes go unpedicured for months on end (MrLippie's going to love this, I make him paint my toenails for reasons I won't go into on here again) No more letting my leg hair grow so long I could plait it . Actually, that last one is a lie, but the sentiment is still there. So, to that end, I'm enlisting some of my favourite salons and services to help keep me in shape.

To wit: I've just booked myself a course of ten eyebrow shapes at Browhaus because it cost £100 instead of £150 (and I could pay in two instalments of £50!) and Ellie at the Covent Garden branch is practically the only person I'll trust near my eyebrows these days. I'll be regularly visiting Equus in Knightsbridge to sort out my colour with Jack, and get some wonderful blow-dries from David Evans, who has just joined the team. He kindly sorted me out with a gorgeous swishy do for London Fashion Week over the weekend, which garnered a lot of compliments. He's a bargain at £65 for a cut and blow dry too - make sure you book now for your Royal Wedding 'do (don't tell me you're not considering one), as they're getting booked up already ... I've already mentioned I'm sorting out teeth whitening recently, but more about that next week ...

As for stuff I can do myself (what do you mean I can pluck my own eyebrows? Have you seen the havoc I could wreak with a pair of tweezers?) I'm going to paint my nails at least twice a week, and I'm going to start having regular facials too. Sometimes I'll have them at home with my INSANE collection of skincare, and sometimes I'll try out facials from other places as well, but I'll talk about that another day this week.

I shall still, however, stick to my policy of only wearing black sacks, flat shoes and cardigans. Well, us accountants have to live down to image somehow ...

So, what else should one consider when going on a grooming regime?

*Not like that .

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com/ All rights reserved.