Magic Mirror

There is nothing worse than travelling somewhere and not having enough mirrors, or even any mirrors when you get there.  I've been away a couple of times this year, and the Magic Mirror has come in so handy, I love it!

There's nothing new, really, about folding mirrors for travel, but this beats normal "travel" mirrors hands down because of its versatility, and the fact that it's both unbreakable (the mirrors are made of plastic) and it's a *real* mirror.  Fabulous! Reflections are clear and undistorted, and I genuinely couldn't tell they weren't "real" glass mirrors till I tapped them with a fingernail.

You can hang it up for a full-length mirror - mine is permanently on display in my hallway when it's not travelling with me.

Or you can fold it up for an ideal table-top mirror, or:

You can fold it into a three-sided square and use it as a dressing-table mirror.  It's not quite as light as a plastic-framed mirror would be, but it's exceptionally well made, and I've carried it in both my hold and hand luggage and it's not suffered any damage at all.  The fabric surround is flexible and tough, I've managed not to stain it with anything, so I've no idea how cleanable it is, I'm afraid!  It doesn't look like it'll be prone to fraying though, it being a light but tough canvas-style fabric.

Magic Mirror is a UK startup business, and I love to support those particularly when the product is as good as this one is, and at such a good price! The mirrors are £35, which is great value when you consider that a single glass mirror of a similar size of just one of the panes in this would cost around the same amount from the likes of John Lewis, and here you actually get four of them! It comes in three colours in the "Beauty Edition", green, pink or black, and there's a fun  "Festival" design as well, which is multicoloured and is currently on offer for only £25.  A travel mirror good enough to use as your permanent mirror?  Go snap one up!

The Fine Print: PR Sample

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Perfume Society Blogger of the Month Giveaway!

 I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to have been chosen as The Perfume Society's Blogger of the Month for August!  As many of you might know, perfume-reviewing, something I genuinely love, has been incredibly challenging for me over the last 18 months. After having first lost my sense of smell completely, only to then have it come back distorted and  having to live in a surreal poo-scented universe for the last year or so, life has been tough, and confusing.  I am, however, recovering, and perfume reviews, though slightly thinner on the ground than they used to be, are now happening again, and that's something else for me to be glad about.

Over the last while I've had astonishing support from readers of the blog, the people who read my piece in the Guardian, and I still get emails almost every day from readers of my side-blog (The Parosmia Diaries), but the support I've had from The Perfume Society (alongside that from 4160 Tuesdays, but more, a lot more, about that very soon), is genuinely what really helped me turn my life around last year. I bumped into Jo Fairley, the founder of Perfume Society quite by accident on one of the darkest days, both literally and metaphorically, of my life and her unfailing support and generosity since then in allowing me space to write about - and in the so-doing, get some perspective on - my condition has been a godsend. 

And, in another lovely gesture of generosity to celebrate my inauguration as only their second-ever Blogger of the Month, they're giving away 10 of their fab VIP Subscriptions (worth £25 each) to my lovely readers!  Each subscription entitles you to eight copies of their fab digital magazine The Scented Letter, a "Discovery Box", filled to brim with 8 fragrance samples, a scented handcream, a notebook and a set of perfume blotters, an invitation to a free "How to Improve Your Sense of Smell" workshop, and invitations to scented events galore, including exclusive evenings at perfume locations across the UK (I've attended a couple, they're roaring fun!) and much more besides.

The giveaway is open to anyone in the UK (I'm really sorry, worldwide readers - but shipping restrictions are a nightmare for perfume) and all you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post, including your email address, please, telling me what smell you would miss most if you lost your sense of smell (and why!) and I'll pick ten winners at random on 23rd August.

The Rules:
One entry per person only.  Multiple comments will be deleted.
UK-based entrants only
Winners will be picked using random.org at 8pm on August 23rd, and will be announced on GetLippie.com
There are no cash alternatives to the prize which is one VIP subscription to The Perfume Society for each of ten individual winners.
Winners details will only be shared with The Perfume Society and no other third parties.
The editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Entries not adhering the to the rules will be removed from the post and not entered into the draw.

EDITORS NOTE: there are a large number of "illegal" entries, many of which have appeared here from a forum posting.  These entries will be removed.  PLEASE READ THE RULES, thank you!

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Skincare of the Week 09.08.15 (sensitive skin special edition)

My face was not happy this week, so I had to break out my emergency skincare SOS treats.  After using Ren's Flash Rinse One Minute facial, I had a burning face for several hours, and last Sunday brought an irritated rash so it was time to drop essential oils, stop exfoliating, and avoid perfumed products as much as possible. The Darphin Intral toner is one I always keep in the cupboard for when I've been over-stimulating my skin, and the Clarins Skin Beauty Repair should be in the arsenal of anyone who ever gets occasionally iritated skin, it's magic for soothing and repairing.

 The Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Oil is also fabulous for sensitive skin, containing no essential oils or perfumes, yet it is tough enough to remove anything that you care to spackle onto your face, including waterproof mascara or sunscreen without irritating.  Get some!

Melvita's flower waters are beautiful and deeply soothing on stressed skins, but they're dilute enough not to irritate.  Darphin camomile oil is practially the only essential oil I'll let anywhere near my skin when irritation strikes, it's a marvel.  This routine, with the Zelens Z Recovery Intensive Repair balm, was a nighttime one.

Another night last week, and I added in the new Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep gel-balm.  It's meant for sensitive skin, but it is perfumed, I noticed.  One use really isn't enough for a full review, but I liked this, without loving it (I have a few other night creams that make a bigger difference the next day), but I'll give it a few more uses and see if my liking improves.

The weather got sunnier yesterday, so I did a really simple routine with my much-beloved Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel, and the Chantecaille Bio Lifting Cream that I've been trialling for a while now (which I'm going to cry about finishing because it's £325 for a full-sized pot, and I LOVE it) alongside SPF.  This year I'm mainly wearing the Omorovicza Mineral UV Shield (SPF 30) because it is nice and light and makes a nice base for makeup and I've been pairing that with Alpha H's new Absolute Eye Cream which is fabulous, and contains SPF15!  More about a couple of these in a later post or two ...

And finally, this is my current favourite night routine, which, once my skin had calmed down enough, I was happy to bring back to my routine, and it's this:

Alpha H Liquid Laser Super Anti-Aging balm, which smells amazing and leaves your skin like velvet the next day, and Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm which is, frankly, probably the best cleansing balm in the world.  And it's black, which automatically makes it better than everything else.

So there. 

The Fine Print: A mixture of PR samples and purchases.


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Ormonde Jayne Vanille D'Iris

At Linda Pilkington's tiny jewel-box of an Ormonde Jayne salon in Bond Street last week, Vanille D'Iris was launched.  Expecting an over-sweetened custard-and-carrot melange from the name of the new addition to the core range (the first in a couple of years), I was extremely impressed with what I did find.

At first sniff, Vanille D'Iris is dry and almost spicy, there is pink pepper and bergamot in the mix, and the first "whoosh" into the nose has a sparkling, almost effervescent effect.  Once the peppery citrus has died down, the iris pushes through and makes itself known.  Iris can be powdery-soft and reminiscent of lipstick and facepowder, but the iris in Vanille D'Iris is assertive and buttery-rich with just a hint of damp brown earth and juicy white roots.  I often get a whiff of carrots with iris-based fragrances and Vanille D'Iris is no exception to that, but here it's a sophisticated butter-braised carrot with the merest hint of caraway-spice to lift the whole composition from the kitchen to the drawing room.

I'm surprised at the subtlety of the vanilla in the composition, it's darkest bourbon vanilla, complete with the seeds to my nose rather than the sugary custard trifle I was expecting.  For me the vanilla doesn't turn up until we're right into the drydown, and even then it is muffled by the amber and woods that round out the formula.  It's there for depth, not for sweetness, and as such, it's a massive relief.  Too much sugar would have made this a migraine, but as it stands it's dry and sophisticated and rich. Most enjoyable!

Ormonde Jayne Vanille D'Iris is grown up and lady like, poised and polished.  One day I shall be groomed enough to do it justice, it's no jeans and t-shirt kind of a fragrance, it demands a lipstick and properly brushed hair.  A worthy, and not too sweet addition to the core Ormonde Jayne line, it demands your attention in a ladylike way.

Ormonde Jayne Vanille D'Iris will be released mid-September and will cost £90.

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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New Fornasetti Launches: RIP, Losanghe and Mille Bocche

I was at the  Fornasetti offices recently to look at their lastest candle releases and I fell in love - seriously!  I have a tiny collection of Fornasetti candles at home, but they're so lovely that I have a hard time bringing myself to burn them, however this (tiny) collection of new designs surpasses, for me, anything they've done before.  Here's a whole bunch of pictures of candles for you.

First off, RIP, the collection that literally made me gasp when I saw it (look, I have a thing for skulls, okay?):

Depending on which way you display them, you can have a full-on goth memento mori, or a prettier view:

Available in the brand's signature "Otto" (roses!) scent, the RIP collection comes in small candle, large candle and room scent.  They'll be in-store in October.

Then there is Losanghe and Mille Bocche, guess which one I think is perfect for a blog called "Get Lippie"?

Mille Bocche - a thousand kisses - is something I really, really need ... again, these are in the Otto scent.

And following on from last year's green Malachite candle, this has been updated in a new white "Agatti" design with the same black-waxed malachite fragrance, which is rich and warm with elements of smoke and cedar:

And finally there's the Selfridges exclusive Zodiac candle, which also comes with the malachite black wax:

I need the RIP collection ASAP!  Prices in the Fornasetti scents range from £80 for a room scent to £390 for the large candles.  The small candles are around £120.  My purse is going to have a little weep come October, how about yours?


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Christophe Robin Regenerating Mask and Cleansing Scrub

 Whenever I travel to Paris (which is not nearly often enough), I spend a lot of time in the pharmacies around the city, picking things up, attempting to make sense of the labels, and putting things back down again in mild befuddlement.  Admittedly, this is because I don't really speak any French outside of restaurant menus (I'm better on German, Spanish and Portuguese), and so I tend to stick to brands and products I can easily recognise, or those things I can easily interpret for myself, or ones clearly labelled in English.  I'm not quite a monoglot, but my schooling didn't include any French teaching.  French haircare - unlike skincare - is way outside my linguistic comfort-zone, so I have always avoided picking any up when I travel, afraid as I am to make a costly mistake.

I admitted my linguistic incompetence to the legendary French hairdresser Christophe Robin himself recently, and to say he wasn't impressed at my self-deprecation in the slightest would be a mild understatement - I ended up feeling like I'd been sent to the headmaster for joking around in class - but luckily, Mr Robin's products are good enough for me to get over any momentary humilation at the legendary hairdresser's hands.

For the last month or so I've been using the Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt coupled with the Regenerating  Mask with Prickly Pear almost exclusively, and I'm happy to say that my experiences with them have been much more pleasant than my experience with the man in person!  The salt scrub in particular is amazing.  Recommended in particular for oily and/or sensitive scalps, it is almost identical to a body scrub that you would use in the shower only for your scalp.  A tablespoon or so massaged into the scalp leaves your head tingling clean, and the oils in the formula make sure you don't strip the scalp at all, so your scalp is both clean and moisturised.  If you've ever suffered from an itchy scalp (and I do, regularly, being a sufferer of seborrheic dermatitis) then this product is a godsend.  You can also use it to treat your scalp post hair-colouring, if that is something that normally causes irritation.

The Regenerating Mask is great for coloured, or permed, or otherwise damaged hair.  After using the Cleansing Scrub, I simply apply the mask through the mid-lengths and ends, leave it for a couple of minutes, then rinse off, much like a normal conditioner.  You can also use it as a traditional hair mask, applying a thick layer, then leaving for 20 minutes or so whilst you get on with other things.  I find it leaves my slightly coarse and definitely wavy hair feeling soft and silky and very moisturised without feeling heavy, lank or greasy.  I'm a big fan.

Both pots are big, and will give around 20 applications per tub, which is fairly economical (I've had my tubs for a couple of months now, and you can see the amount I've used, but bear in mind I do only wash my hair around twice a week) given the initial investment price of approximately £36-38 for the scrub, and approximately £50 for the mask. But if you wash your hair more often than I do, you could get away with just using this once a week or so.  I estimate I've got around three more months use at least in each product.

You can find Christophe Robin products at retailers such as Harrods, Net a Porter, and Look Fantastic, just don't do what I did and admit you don't speak French ...


The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Skincare of the week 02.08.15

More pictures of the skincare that I've been using through the week, from instagram.  Above is what I tried out on Tuesday, The Alpha H cleanser is an old favourite, I really enjoyed digging it back out
this week!

On Wednesday I decided to try two new (to me) products, the Estee Lauder Day Wear, and the brand-new Alpha H Absolute Eye Cream with SPF.  I'll bring you full reviews of both of these soon, but they're both a (qualified) thumbs up so far!

This was Thursday morning, and I was KNACKERED, hence the addition of Liz Earle Eyebright lotion, which feels fantastically cooling and soothing on tired eyes no matter what the time of day.

Friday and I wanted to look a bit more bright so hit the Pixi Glow tonic instead of the First Aid Beauty pads, and added the Zelens triple-action eye cream, which I really like.  I think adding the Vichy Thermalia to the Estee Lauder daywear might have been a mistake on Friday, as both products are perfumed, and I had a bit of an itchy face, but that also could just have been because I was tired ...

A mini-facial on Saturday, so I broke out my favourite healing and soothing (and luxurious!) balms, the Omorovicza and the May Lindstrom, then tried out the Ren Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial, which I think I'm going to have to try several more times before I review it fully.  Feelings are a bit mixed right now.

Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that there's one product that appears in all my routines, day in day out, and that is La Roche Posay Serozinc, it's my desert-island skincare product.  I couldn't do without it!  What skincare product couldn't you live without?

The Fine Print: A mixture of PR samples and personal purchases.  


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