Sampar 3 Day Weekend

With the imminent good weather and sunshine - it is coming, it HAS to be! - and me being an OCD freak about not letting ANY sun on my skin WHATSOEVER (I can’t afford the wrinkles), practically everything I put on my face has SPF.

Sampar, if you haven’t heard of them (and I certainly hadn’t until recently) are a French skincare company. They're available in the mid range end of the French department stores, and they cater for pretty much everything with their range, which is so typically French, it’s not even funny. Bust crème anyone?

Sampar’s 3 Day Weekend is the best selling product in their range in this country. The 3 Day Week End Creme is designed to provide the skin with the utmost protection from ‘urban’ and UV damage by acting as a sort of shield for the skin cells, to protect them at that level. It also works with your natural melanin production to boost that, and thus protect from the harmful (ageing) rays of the sun. Or UVA to you and me. 

So this product was a challenge for me, but I have heard the ‘science’ before from another French skincare range which is INCREDIBLE so this product definitely appealed. Despite using a high SPF normally, my face is the normally first part of my body to tan. Years and years of avoiding sunbathing have rendered my trunk pasty white, and no amount of lounging in the sun will alter that sadly. But hey, from time to time I receive that oh so British compliment of ‘oh, you’ve caught the sun a little on your face ‘ so the promise of ‘increased melanin production after just one week of use’ and ‘a natural hint of a tan’ was a bit of a draw for me. Especially as we hadn’t really had that much sunshine.

Well three weeks odd into using this, I have yet to notice this melanin production increase.

My face is still the same colour it ever was. A light shade of blue. The panic of having to leave the house without a conventional SPF on frankly sends me into a bit of spin, and is beginning to make me question the efficacy of this particular product.

Whilst brands like Instituit Esthederm (similar principle, albeit slightly pricier) which I have used previously, and therefore I know they work, this one has left me a little cold. I am also slightly concerned at the sheer quantity needed to cover, as they recommend, the face, and neck, and top part of chest, as t is only a 50ml pot.

On the plus side, it smells rather nice, doesn’t leave my skin feeling it needs more moisturiser (I have extremely dry skin) and is a light texture. Sadly, I don’t think I shall ever truly know if I am receiving the maximum benefits of this cream, particularly in regards to sun protection, but it has made me curious as to the rest of the range. 

Sampar 3 Day Weekend, available at Marks & Spencer Beauty. £34

 

http://www.marksandspencer.com/sampar-3-day-weekend-50ml/p/p22253483

This post: Sampar 3 Day Weekend originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

The Reluctant Lippie - Part One: Nudes

 By Laurin

Despite being born during the Carter Administration, I've never really considered myself a grown-up. Grown-ups don't buy their jewellery from H&M. They make well thought-out grocery lists on Saturday morning, and they have buildings insurance. They don't anguish over maudlin 90’s music about what they want to BE when they grow up, because that's what they already are.

I, on the other hand, have tried my hand at four different careers in the last ten years. Last week, I cried at work twice and played hopscotch on the carpet tiles too many times to count. I have no mortgage, no kids, no pets and no husband. And up until last year, I mostly made do with a slick of Benetint lip balm hastily applied as I rushed out of the house 15 minutes later than I'd planned. Did I mention that I'm 35?

One of my colleagues is a proper grown-up. She wears well-chosen pieces from Cos and Whistles and she compliments them with chunky, interesting accessories that she's often made herself. She wears lipstick. Real lipstick. I watch her reapply it before meetings and after lunch with the help of a MAC compact. I began to be taken with this small, public-yet-private ritual and the idea of a tangible and instant confidence boost. So I made a resolution that despite my serious lack of credentials in the Adult department, lipstick is something I can manage.

This series is my attempt to find my place in the world of lipstick that seems to come so easily to some of you, but has baffled me for the better part of 20 years. Please note that although the events that take place here are absolutely true, I have altered the order somewhat so that they follow some kind of logical progression. Just because I live my life on a wing and a prayer doesn’t mean you have to as well.

L-R: Laura Mercier Baby Lips, Revlon Just Bitten in Honey, Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial, Tom Ford Lip Colour in Pink Dusk

 Chapter 1: Nudes
 

L-R: Laura Mercier Baby Lips, Revlon Just Bitten in Honey, Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial, Tom Ford Lip Colour in Pink Dusk

The Lipsticks

Baby Lips

Laura Mercier Baby Lips Sheer Lip Colour, £17.50 at John Lewis

After making the decision to pull my socks up, I solicited the advice of my own hive-mind in the form of the Sali Hughes Beauty forum. Several of the women there recommended Laura Mercier’s Baby Lips and I dutifully purchased it during a lunch break. This turns out to be what is essentially a very grown-up lip gloss, albeit with more pigment and less gloopy shine. But it’s an excellent first foray into the world of real lip colour: the texture is soft, glossy and easy to apply without a lip brush, and the packaging dutifully obliges you in pretending that it’s a proper lipstick. It’s just a shade darker than my actual lips, so it’s great for giving my make-up a polished finished if I’m wearing heavy eye make-up. You’ll have to reapply it every couple of hours, but that’s a doddle.

Honey

 Revlon Just Bitten Kissable in Honey, £7.99 at Boots

 

The Boots website describes this Clinique Chubby Stick dupe as “a pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain”. Honestly, the word “pampering” is one of my least favourite in the English language (on the Galdis-Taylor Sick In My Mouth scale I just made up, it sits somewhere between “making love” and “gourmet” as a word I’d like to ban from use forever more) and I briefly consider stabbing myself in the eye with it instead of putting it on my mouth. The packaging also makes me a little sad. What’s the point of deciding to be a grown-up then raiding a toddler’s art supply box? On the other hand, if you can’t see the point of spending £20 on a level-up lipgloss, it’s a decent alternative to Baby Lips. It’s a touch sheerer and starts to fade the minute you even think about having a cup of tea, but so it goes. The pointy crayon tip makes it a cinch to apply, even without a mirror. As a bonus, Revlon have also infused the formula with a touch of mint flavour, so it quite literally feels like a breath of fresh air, especially if you’ve been snacking on chorizo at 2pm. Still, my feelings for this product have never risen above lukewarm, and it’s mostly been relegated to my over-the-door organiser with the rest of my rarely used cosmetics.

Celestial

 Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Celestial, £6.49 at Superdrug

To infinity and beyond, this time with a quick stop at Superdrug to stock up on intergalactic cosmetic essentials. Apocalips is the halfway house between the easy application of gloss and the heavily pigmented coverage of real lipstick. Everyone I know went mad for these when they launched last year, and why not? They’re cheap and cheerful and a perfect treat to cheer you up on a drab Wednesday afternoon. I’m not in love, though. Although the coverage is great and the wand makes precision application pretty easy, the fluidity of the formula means it strays more than I’d like. And I cannot deny that when I see my ultra-shiny nude lips in the mirror, I immediately think of Katie Price and feel an urge to drape myself over the nearest Ferrari. Blotting solves the glamour model issue somewhat. The nicest thing about this is that it fades quite evenly, so avoiding the mid-morning “ring around the mouth” look. I think that this formula might be better suited to bolder colours, and my tube of Celestial mostly sits with my Just Bitten in the “Eh” pile.

Pink Dusk

Tom Ford Lip Colour in Pink Dusk, £36 at Selfridges

Oh, Tom Ford. We don’t always get along. I like your fragrances, but I think they’re derivative and over-priced. Your habit of appearing in your own marketing looking stern and disapproving has more than once made me back away from your counter, lest you spit on my mid-priced shoes. And I’m pretty sure Thom Yorke was referring to your army of swooning superfans when he sang, “When I am king, you will be first against the wall.” Or if he wasn’t, he should have been. But I’ll hold up my hands and say that you do make a bloody good lipstick.  But, at last, a proper lipstick. Aside from the eye-watering price tag, I love this. It’s non-drying, goes on like a dream, gives great coverage and smells like the inside of your grandmother’s handbag. It’s satisfyingly grown-up and I’d be pleased to apply this at my desk between meetings.

The Verdict:

 Laura Mercier Baby Lips wins by a hair. It’s a brilliant product to bridge the gap between gloss and a full-coverage lipstick, and it won’t break the bank.

The Fine Print: I bought these products with my own money, aside from the Tom Ford, which was nicked from Lippie Mansions.

This post: The Reluctant Lippie - Part One originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Spring Fling - The Finale!

By Luke

And finally for the Spring inspired compilation (which has nearly broken me by the way) the monochrome. Cool whites, and slick blacks. When choice is just too much of a burden, there is always staple black and whites to fall back on. 

Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc

As part of a series of L.12.12 from Lacoste, inspired by the iconic polo shirts, this fragrance is a summery one, and surprised me. Already a big fan of the Bleu in the series, the others left me a little cold. This one is one of the good ones though. When it first goes on, it smelled to me like anything else. Generic, male fragrance, zesty, a little like Hugo Boss (which incidentally is one of many fragrance faves, but for all the wrong reasons!).

The top note is grapefruit, and is actually quite aggressive. But don’t let this put you off.

The initial shock of that dies down to a rather pleasant floral edged with a bit of citrus. And there it stops. Wafts of something spicy whisper through it, but not enough to make it a woody scent at all. The floral and the zingy citrus remain.

Not sophisticated particularly, but equally not at all unpleasant.

I like its simplicity. And it’s easy to wear and boy does it last. Sort of smells quite young (or a lot younger than me at any rate) and dare I say it, sporty? In the heat of summer, I can imagine this would be a bit of a dressy scent for a night out. Perhaps somewhere where a Lacoste shirt, and loafers may be the dress code.

Available nationwide, £47 for 100ml.

Rituals Cherry Blossom & Rice Milk Body Cream.

Rituals are always a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some bits of it are INCREDIBLE and there are others that just miss the mark in my opinion. Well, this is one of the ones that gets it right. A gorgeous rich, and creamy whipped body cream with a very, very feminine sweet summer like scent of Cherry Blossom. Doesn’t go on sticky, absorbs easily, and leaves a very lovely scent on the skin for a long while after it has been applied. Almost smells like a bag of sweets. Fabulous. And a great price for a such a high standard!

Available at www.rituals.com and is £17 for 200ml.

Cheeky Tar Very Much Chat Me Up Nail Paint

On with the monochrome theme, and on (your nails) with the black.

As part of the Sugar & Spice Collection, Tar Very Much is a multi dimensional shimmering black, with some tiny flecks of sparkle. Dressy, and rather smart. And a steal at £7!

Available at www.urcheeky.com and The Cheeky Parlour on Redchurch Street.

This post:Spring Fling - The Finale! originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Muji Aroma Diffuser

 By Get Lippie

I genuinely don't know what happens to me when I get into a branch of Muji. I'll get an inkling earlier in the day, a little voice in the back of my head saying something like "You need to tidy up, freak", and I know that at some point later on in the day I'm going to end up wandering around Muji, slackjawed and glassy-eyed, wondering just what the hell all ... this ... is actually for.  Then I'll casually hand over approximately the GDP of a small African nation for a couple of what are essentially a couple of cardboard boxes made of polythene, and some gel pens, and leave the store.  And furthermore, I'll be happy.  Not just any old kind of happy, either.  ORGANISED happy.  Verging on ecstatic, even. This happiness tends to last till I get the boxes home and filled with crap, then the cycle begins again ...

Anyway, I used to think that Muji were pumping out crack into the atmosphere in their stores to create this happy and contented state of mind, and I wasn't actually that far wrong as it happens.  Last time I was in Muji, I was a bit discontented, and, after buying my bodyweight in polythene boxes as per usual,  I finally broke down and bought one of those "smelly fog machines" they always have on the go at the front of the store.  It was £45, but I'd seen a couple of people talking about putting their favourite perfumes in them to scent their homes, and from that point on, I'd wanted one.  No, actually, needed one.  So I bought one.

And I love it.  It's actually called an Ultrasonic Aroma Diffuser, and I have literally no idea how it works.  The top is removable, you fill it with water and a couple of drops of essential oil, you pop the lid back on and off it goes.  There's also a light with two settings on it, and a timer.  The diffuser gently bubbles away, and produces a light (dry) scented mist, which smells of whatever you've put in the machine. Simple, and, in its way, rather amazing.  It scents my entire living room, which is quite a big one, with 9ft ceilings, but there's a bigger unit too which can probably scent an entire home for £65, but the smaller unit works well in our flat.

You can buy a selection of essential oils from Muji to go into the diffuser (you literally only need about 3-4 drops of oil per 100ml of water) and these are okay, we liked the relaxing fragrance, but we weren't so fond of the uplifiting blend for some reason, then I put a bit of L'Artisan Perfumer Safran Troublant in the machine, and we've been ignoring the aromatherapy blends ever since.  It's glorious to be able to scent your home with fine fragrance, without needing candles or wasting a lot of perfume just spraying it around.  You'll get a subtle, but distinctive fragrance in your home, and it will last for hours and hours - the diffuser works for up to three hours at a time.  The more fragrance you put in, the stronger the effect will be.  I generally use around five sprays of fragrance per "diffusion".  Today we're diffusing Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta, and it is absolutely gorgeous!  I've also liked Joan Collins I Am Woman in there too, but more about that another time ....

The instructions state not to use anything other than essential oils as "chemicals" in synthetic fragrances will break the machine.  Somehow though, I doubt the machine can actually tell what is a synthetic and what is a natural fragrance - it is ALL chemicals at the end of the day ... 

So, an impulse buy, but one I've enjoyed hugely.  And if you think £45 is expensive for what is, essentially, a glorified air freshener then let me tell you about the £80 one I have from Fornasseti ...

You can find the Muji Aroma Diffuser here:
 
 The Fine Print: I bought this.  I was in a bad mood with MrLippie though, and I used his money, so it's all good.

This post: Muji Aroma Diffuser originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Aveda Pure-formance Aroma Spray For Men

 By Luke

 

I am a bit of a massive fragrance freak, which until recently I referred to as a fumehead until someone mistook that for meaning crack smoker. 

The blogosphere is full of them to varying degrees of expertise. You have your serious perfume heads, with their in depth and rather lofty descriptions, right down to the ‘I liked this, it’s nice’ clan. All valid, all justified, and all perfectly acceptable appreciators of perfume. Me, I think I am sandwiched in between these two camps. Not particularly ‘educated’ in scent, but know enough about the industry and fragrances to speak with some conviction.

I love fragrance, I really do, in the same way I love chocolate bars. I cannot bear to think of me without any, or to be honest with just one to choose from.

As such, I smell a lot. Like chocolate, it’s all open to interpretation, and personal taste. I would never say this is disgusting, or don’t wear this. One man’s treasure and all that. However, I did come across this scent which to say the least, challenged me. 

I have a real issue with the gender binary. And not just where fragrance is concerned. Men’s fragrances, traditionally, are quite often characterised by that ‘woody’ smell that is supposed to make us all feel a little bit manly having been out chopping wood, and wrestling bears on a forest floor or whatever it is the gender binary would have us be doing. Compared to women who, traditionally, are outside picking flowers, and rolling around in candy floss (it has A LOT to answer for). I find it all a bit limiting, certainly from a more mainstream perspective. Fragrance should be transcendent of this, but hey.

For a brand that is predominantly about hair with a dash of lifestyle thrown in, it was quite brave really to release a fragrance.  Anyway, in 2008 they did. Aveda’s chief perfumer Ko-ichi Shiozawa created the Pure Formance Aroma Spray to be reminiscent of ‘Northern air, and deep rich forests’. Back to that gender binary.So what is it like? 

Well, when I first sprayed it I really baulked at the smell that lingered in the air and was NOT keen to put this on my skin AT ALL! It reminded me of bleach weirdly enough. In the interests of my own curiosity, (and this feature), I did wear it.

Peculiar, interesting, odd, different, are all words that if there was a sum of them all would be able to describe how this is to me. But none of this is bad. I didn’t dislike it because it smelled so familiar.

Spearmint is one of the pure oils used here, and that comes through very strongly. And remains. It also has perceptible vetiver and lavender (barely perceptible) and citrus.

First spray is a little minty, then after a while it dries down to the distinct smell of nature. A warm pine forest, heavily fragranced with mint. Did I mention the mint? There’s mint here. The final dry down leaves a very ‘green’ smell. That’ll be the forest, or at least the vetiver. This is what remains. A green woody smell of nature.

 Challenged as I was by this, I haven’t been able to stop wearing it. Curiosity alone has me doing this. Not one element of this is remotely like a ‘traditional’ men’s fragrance, or even a fragrance at all.

Does it make me feel more manly? No!

But isn’t that great?

And now, for some chocolate...

This post: Aveda Pure-formance Aroma Spray For Men originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Lipstick of the Week

By Tindara

 

Oyez! Oyez! My first Lipsticks of the Week! So here we go chaps, it’s my first selection and I mostly went with my old faithfuls. There is some similarity between all the bullets, I won’t lie. A red lipstick stain on my glass is how I roll. As I wear specs my easy everyday look tends to be eyebrow pencil and clear brow and lash gel with a bright lip and blusher. So I can be a bit of creature of habit when it comes to lip colour. Do you ever get those days when you feel like your head is filled with cotton wool and something is just not firing correctly in your brain? My solutions are equal parts espresso and red lipstick. Or a bright fuchsia, at a push. Last week was a toughie; lots of meetings and training sessions, and my first event for Get Lippie, so when I opened my dressing table drawer to choose a lipstick in the mornings, it was most likely a tried and tested colour and formulation that just makes me feel good. 

 

First up is Nars lipstick in Heatwave. It’s a beautiful orange red with a semi-matte texture that recalls the freshest tomato salsa or a juicy blood orange. I really like to wear it in spring/summer as the tomato pull plays well in sunshine with brighter colours and works with little or no eye make-up. It’s also a really good look with leopard print and huge clip on earrings though, if you’re going for a retro vintage feel. Although it’s a semi-matte formulation it’s not drying at all and lasts fairly well. No ring of doom either, it tends to wear off evenly. This is probably the lipstick I’m wearing most at the moment. So I suppose it goes without saying I wore the Nars Heatwave twice last week.

But before this came Dita. Our fragrant editor Louise has waxed lyrical about the Art Deco Dita Von Teese Art Couture Lipstick Velvets before. They’re highly pigmented lasting lipsticks that have a matte finish. You can see a pattern here can’t you? I have a few of these but the one I use the most is Muse Red, which is, again, an orange red, possibly even more tomatoey than the Heatwave. I really like the vanilla smell and the way it lasts and lasts without being drying. In fact, I love this lipstick so much I worry I may not find it again, so I’ve recently bought another JUST IN CASE. Please tell me I’m not the only one that does this.

 

When I’m not wearing reds, I like a deep pink of some description and in my opinion you can’t get better than Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Colour in Cosmic Raspberry. It’s not so bright as to be a ‘shocking’ pink, but there’s an unmistakable magenta hint to this hydrating lipstick. It carries the same weight as a red but is more playful and berry-like. I wear it with a bare eye, as per, or lots of black eyeliner, either smudged or flicked. It’s a really flattering colour and lasts pretty well leaving a pleasing berry stain on the lips.

Guerlain Rouge Blossom Rouge Automatique in Insolence is my last lipstick, one I picked up at Lippie HQ and felt like giving a go. The packaging is just the most beautiful design. I suggest you go to a Guerlain counter to see what I mean if you don’t have one. The sliding mechanism and jack in the box lipstick is hours of fun. Well, if you’re me it is. The colour looks like it will be a very bright pink, but what actually goes on is a deep rose pink with just a hint of brightness that’s really flattering. It’s also really hydrating and comfortable. This one is growing on me. I can see me wearing it a lot if we actually get a decent spring and summer.

Tune in next time for more lipstick stories. Will she wear pink? Will she wear red? Will she run out bare faced ‘cause she overslept and switched her alarm off and put on whatever is in her bag? Maybe. 

 

Nars Semi-Matte Lipstick in Heatwave is £18.50. Art Deco Dita Von Teese Art Couture Lipstick Velvet in Muse Red is £16.50. Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Colour in Cosmic Raspberry is £19.00 Guerlain Rouge Blossom Rouge Automatique in Insolence is £22.50.

The fine print: Mixture of purchases and PR Samples

This post: Lipstick of the Week originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Spring Colour - Week Three

By Luke

As with all things great, good weather is rarely constant. 


Occasionally during the springtime we get the occasional irritation of inclement weather making an appearance and gently reminding us that all good things must come to an end.  But, if you’re an optimist, rain may be a welcome relief. A breath of fresh air in the city, and a bit if a life saver for us all, not to mention the plants. So revitalise, and freshen up. There’s nothing quite like a bit of a refreshing shower during a hot spell, and here are some little pieces inspired by precipitation. 

Jo Malone Rain & Angelica

Jo Malone London have re packaged 2 of their existing scents, and released two new ones with the theme of the british weather in mind. So which one do I go for? Well the rain. It’s the one we are perhaps most familiar with after all. Rain & Angelica is in a clear bottle with a graded sweet, fresh blue hue running up the side of it. 
The juice is crystal clear, and the bottles style is very classically Jo Malone. So what does it smell like? Well, in it is a heady mix of vetiver, and the very herbal angelica. A good green mix. It goes on that way, all fresh and dewy.  There is a lime in there too apparently although I found this almost undetectable. On the dry down, it settles into a sort of powdery soft cushiony smell, but retains the herbaceous element of the ‘green’.  Soft, and glowy, and as much as I despise this when describing a fragrance, fresh.  Uber feminine, and eminently wearable . 

Not sure about the rain accord that we’re told it has...there have been discussions at Lippie Towers about what London rain could smell like. But why ruin a good review with those. ;o)
Jo Malone London Rain & Angelica, £82 for 100ml out now.
 
Années Folles Larger Than Life Gloss by NARS
 
NARS’ uber gloss Larger Than Life in this colour.  Quite simply incredible, and slightly out of the ordinary colour. Shiny isn’t the word. DRENCHED comes close.
£18.50, available nationwide.

Elemis Cellular Recover Skin Bliss Capsules
 
Right, so I have a very dry skin, and it needs a ton of feeding in order for it to not look like a fried up chamois leather cloth.  These are nothing short of a skin miracle.  It’s always important to me personally, and professionally to use products that are a joy to use, as well results orientated.  These are both. 

Pure moringa oil is the base of these, but there is one for the morning (with rose absolu) and one for the night time (with lavender). Nothing hits the spot like these little babies!
This particular product is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary this year, and as well as a natty little set, they are teaming up Wellbeing of Women charity and will be donating £15000 of sales from this limited edition supersize set to them.
 
Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules Limited Edition set, £79.50 available at selected John Lewis’, or at www.timetospa.co.uk

Guerlain Meteorites Perles

Just like little bubbles of happiness in a box!  Guerlain do these almost every spring season.  Little solid balls of multi coloured pigment to create an almost shimmery, dew like like effect in different hues to counteract redness, and illuminate the skin in a very natural way.  The box itself is a wonder to behold based on a round jewellery box created in 1780 for Catherine de Médicis.  They are a beauty classic, and if you don’t own one, get thee to a Guerlain counter immediately.
 
Guerlain Meteorites Perles in three shades, £36. Available nationwide.


This post: Spring Colour - Week Three  originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper