Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring Palette

First things first, let's get some pedantry out of the way:

Discrete means: Separate.  Apart.  Individual. Distinct.

Discreet means: Subtle.  Unobtrusive. Private.

Both the packaging and press release for this Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring palette promises you, (over and over): "DISCRETE" contouring.  This word they keep using, it does not mean what they think it means.  It has caused a couple of head-desk interfaces at Lippie Mansions recently. Luxury brands really need to check these things.

Right, now I've got that off my chest, on with the review!  Contouring is the one beauty trend that WILL NOT DIE.  I've lost count, literally, of the beautiful young girls I've seen recently with what can only be described as tidemarks all around their overpowdered dusty faces.  Coupled with the current (mystifying) craze for multiple sets of false eyelashes for day time use, they look like Miss Havershams who have been attacked by tarantulas.

Yes, my name is Get Lippie, and today I'm mainly channelling your mum.  Because, your mum.

All that said, there are times and places for DISCREET contouring, I'm just not sure the number 319 bus at 7am is it.  Photo-shoots for example.  Wedding makeup.  Big nights out.  Events, in other words.  I have no desire to look like Kim Kardashian, not really (although it appears that she stole my "having a really, really, really,  gigantic arse" idea wholesale, apparently), but sometimes, you just do want to look a little more chiselled than you normally do.

 The Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring palette is a set of three creams in neutral browns, coupled with both a dark and pale highlighter, intended to make contourng both simple and discreet.  It's simple to use - you can mix and match the three main shades to complement your skin tone best - and just apply directly to either your bare skin, or over your foundation before you powder.

 Best places for contouring are the hollows of your cheeks, the sides of your nose - if you have a wide one - around the temples, and you can even contour out a double chin.  You can apply with either brushes or fingers, which is good, I think it's easy to overapply powders when you're using brushes.  Fingers will give a more subtle effect.

The highlighters are rather lovely - but I suggest you don't mix these with the browns to create shadows, it'll just look odd.

The palette comes complete with some handy cards to best illustrate how they intend for you to use the palette, and I can confirm that they are very handy.  I like how they slide out from behind the mirror to be seen alongside, which will make it easier to follow the instructions as you use the palette.

For me, I had a hilarious makeup lesson from Sasha at Harrods recently, where we confirmed that - possibly - contouring isn't going to be a daily essential for me.  I can see the difference when it has been done professionally, and discreetly, but as no one else could, I'll save it for special events only.

This is a very nicely done palette, and hopefully the fact that it is creams means my bus ride will be a bit less dusty from now on ...

The palette is currently available exclusively at Harrods and Selfridges until mid-February when it will go on sale nation-wide.  It costs £35.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.

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Lipstick Queen - Bete Noire Collection

I always love starting off the new year with a new collection from Lipstick Queen, and luckily the collections from Poppy King rarely disappoint.  When I found out there was a new "dark" collection coming, my little heart went pitty-pat, for Saint Wine is one of my all-time favourite lipsticks of all time, as regular readers might remember ...

Housed in a pretty purple square, case - hinting at the shades of blackberry within - the Bete Noire collection comes in a dark-leopard skin box, both things setting them slightly apart from the other collections. The shades are:

(L-R) Possessed Intense, Possessed Metal, and Possessed Sheer.  Essentially, you have one shade in three different formats, a deeper, more opaque shade, a shimmering metallic, and a sheer, but still pigmented colour too.

Seriously, is there anything nicer than a collection of untouched lipstick bullets?

Let's take a look at how they swatch:

Intense is a rich dark purple.  Metallic has a slightly browner cast, and Sheer is a less dark purple version of Intense, much as you would expect.

I'd say that they were a slightly bluer version of Wine, blackberries, and black cherries rather than black grape juice.  Wine is slightly browner on the skin to me, but I'll do a comparison post on these soon.

Here's how they look on the lips:

Intense:

It covers well, and is glossy on the lips, not as matte as the Sinner formulation for Lipstick Queen.  It lasts well, but you will get the ring of doom.  There's no staining though!

Metallic:

Slightly more matte than the Intense version, this has slightly better lasting powers too.  But the drier formulation means that you can get a bit of staining.  I didn't find this too sparkly in wear, but it is a bit darker than Intense.

Sheer:

Probably my favourite of the three, Sheer is great for adding a bit of colour, and a slight hint of drama without looking like fancy dress.  Cooler than Saint Wine, it's perfect for winter.

Lipstick Queen Bete Noire launches at SpaceNK very soon, and the lipsticks will cost £28 each.


The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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New Post on The Parosmia Diaries!

Oddly enough, I've been really busy with writing over the last couple of weeks, but a lot of it won't see the light for a little while yet.  Priorities and the unexpandable nature of time being what they are, this means Get Lippie has had to take a bit of a back seat for a month or so, but I'm still here blogging away, don't worry!  A couple of nice posts coming up this week, starting with a new collection from Lipstick Queen!

In the meantime, here's the latest post on The Parosmia Diaries, which is chock-full of the tips and tricks I've picked up over the last few months on how I manage my condition on a day-to-day basis, which also explains why my handbag is just so DAMN HEAVY these days ... (contains many food reviews too.  Reviewing food with a smell disorder is ... random)

I'll be back tomorrow with some lipstick ...

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Hair Disaster recovery with Headmasters

We've all done it.  Had a fit of "fed-up-ness" with our hair and gone and got the lot chopped off on a whim.  Now, I HATE getting my hair cut, forever fearing the "bad cut", but nonetheless the week before Christmas, I did precisely what you shouldn't, and booked myself into my nearest hairdresser (a branch of Headmasters that I've been to before, but not for a cut, admittedly), and cajoled my  brand new stylist to cut the lot off.  I took along my pinterest board for reference:

 And begged for a slightly-shorter-in-back wavy dishevelled bob.

Well, it did not go to plan.  My stylist - who was adorable throughout, by the way, one of the nicest people to ever cut my hair - just didn't share my ideas for my new 'do, and - worse - couldn't cope with my wavy locks.  You know that scene in Steel Magnolias where Julia Roberts tells Dolly Parton just to make Sally Field's hair look like a big brown football helmet?  Well, it was just like that. Only bigger.

Not good.  I gave it a week, and couldn't cope with my hair being even bigger short than it ever was long.  I know there is a saying "The bigger the hair, the closer to God", but frankly, my hair already has ideas above its station, and doesn't need the encouragement, so I conceded defeat and contacted Headmasters direct to ask what they normally do in this situation.

The answer surprised - and delighted - me. Did you know that Headmasters offer an unconditional guarantee?  Don't worry, I didn't either.  I'd picked Headmasters because I've been a judge several times for the Creative Head magazine Most Wanted awards over the years, and Headmasters always do well in whichever category they're nominated in, but still I didn't know this.

Every customer who isn't delighted with their hair after a visit to Headmasters should get in touch with the salon and ask to speak to the manager, and explain their situation.  The manager will listen to your concerns and do everything in their power to fix the situation, whether that's arranging more training for your stylist or inviting you back to sort out your problem, and all without having to argy bargy over the details.  

makeup free - sorry.

I ended up going to the Putney branch of Headmasters to meet with Siobhan Jones, one of Headmasters' colour directors, to fix my disastrous cut on Christmas Eve and I am delighted.  Siobhan is a fellow curly-girl, so totally "got" my hair, and my concerns, and did her best to both fix the immediate problem, and cut my hair into a style designed to get better for my waves as it grows out.  I love a stylist who gives individual tips about specific hair concerns, and Siobhan's advice has been great, from showing me how to style my fringe in a way that makes my STUPID cowlicks behave themselves, to mentioning that I shouldn't get it cut again for three months, to getting rid of my "football helmet" just in time for the holidays, I couldn't be happier.

Thank you so much Headmasters for turning a disaster into a triumph.  I'm even happier that all your customers get the same service too.  

The Fine Print: I paid for the original haircut, but the follow-up appointment was arranged by the Headmasters PR team after I contacted them for help with this post.  Customer services will do the exact same for you though.

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Neom Perfect Peace Candle

Christmas, quite frankly, really isn't a proper Christmas without a Neom Christmas candle on the go.  Every year I buy and light a 3-wick  Christmas Wish, and that's how I know that the festive season is really underway.  I didn't finish last years Christmas Wish, so I still have that to look forward to this year.

This year's addition to the Christmas collection is Perfect Peace, which is a lime and pine-centric piece of Christmas wonderfulness.  It smells gloriously sharp and fresh, which is unexpected in a Christmas candle, but the pine underneath the line is sappy and sharp, and rather lovely, without ever heading into disinfectant territory.  This might be my favourite Neom Christmas scent ever, as even to my damaged olfactory nerve, it still smells like Christmas, just in rather an unexpected direction.

The single wick Perfect Peace candle can still be had for £32 from Neom.  Sadly, the 3-wick edition has now sold out.  I really hope it'll be back next year!

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Ormonde Jayne Etoile Candle

Housed in a handsome, but unexpectedly brown glass jar, the Ormonde Jayne Christmas candle this year is a creamy-smooth blend of cardamom, amber and tonka.  Slightly spicy, with a hint of smoke, Etoile is a gorgeously grown-up scent for Christmas.

It is smooth-burning, and comes with an incredibly high percentage of perfume oils in the formula, so this is one candle this will make your whole house smell good even after a relatively short burn.   It costs £68, and smells almost good enough to eat.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


This post: Ormonde Jayne Etoile Candle 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

Jardins d'Ecrivains "Dickens" Christmas Candle

 Possibly the most "traditional" Christmas scent we're featuring this week, the Jardins D'Ecrivains Christmas Candle inspired by Charles Dickens is a gloriously spicy mandarin, pine, clove and ... oud(!) scent.  

Set up in 2012, and inspired by founder Anaïs Biguine's love of literature and fictional characters, Jardins d'Ecrivains is an unusual and lovely little niche fragrance house to keep an eye on over the next year or so.  Back in the "before", in the time when I could still smell properly, I was fascinated by the house, and was looking forward to smelling stuff from them. 

Alas, now I can't smell properly, but I can tell you that even with my nose woes, this smells wonderful, rich and citrussy, with hints of wood, spice and warmth, but mainly glorious oranges.  Oranges were one of the first scents to "come back" for me, and this is a lovely reminder that my nose does, on occasion, let me smell nice things too!

This candle is a WHOPPER, by the way, it weighs in at a hefty 500gms, and I estimate that you'd get at least a 40 hour burn time, even with the double wick.  You can find the candle here, and it costs just £60.  That's a long of burn for your buck!


The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


This post: Jardins d'Ecrivains "Dickens" Christmas Candle 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