Skincare of the Week 6th March 2016

I didn't really have a theme for skincare this week, except "get back on track", because, after a week away and a weekend in Paris my normal routines have gone a little to pot, I have to admit.  

On Monday I trialled used May Lindstrom's Honey Mud in the shower, as a protective mask against the shower water (I do find that water irritates my skin hugely), and it worked well, I think.  This might be the best way (for me, at least) to use it, because I find it very confusing as a "proper" cleanser.  It smells of chocolate though, and, if you do happen to get any in your mouth, it's possibly the nicest tasting cleanser on the planet.

I have also added in the new Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 Supreme, which I find myself really liking, so you can expect a fuller review of this coming up - I'm a big fan of the Liftactiv range generally tbh, and, as it's one of the <ahem> more affordable ranges I like, it's high praise!  I'm also trialling the New Omorovicza Omoressence, which is another very likeable product, and again, more about that soon.

The rest of the week was me just re-acquainting myself with my favourites old and new, and re-introducing Alpha H Liquid Laser Cleansing Oil, which I had pipped into my stash basket for some reason.  It's well and truly out and with the everyday essentials now though! 

What's been on your face this week?  I'm so happy to be back into a routine - even though I'm moving house soon, and god knows what's going to happen then ...

 


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Paris Haul ...

Yeah, I don't normally do haul posts, but I did JUST go to Paris this weekend for an event at the Guerlain flagship store on the Champs Elysees with the Perfume Society. Whilst I was there, I picked up a few bits and pieces and I thought I'd show you.  I'll write about a few of these in more detail (including writing about my time smelling the Guerlain archives!) soon, but, in the meantime, here's what I bought during my whistle-stop tour:

First off, French Pharmacy Essentials:

As the likes of Escentual.com and even Boots catch on to the greatness of French pharmacy brands, it's becoming less and less necessary to trip over to Paris to pick up cheap and good skincare.  Especially now Serozinc is here! However, La Roche Posay Respectissime eye makeup remover, which is designed for waterproof makeup, but is gentle enough not to sting even my deeply sensitive eyes, STILL isn't available over here, and it's a shame, because it is, frankly, the best eye makeup remover EVER.  Sort it out, La Roche Posay!  This Demak Up cotton wool is a firm favourite too, having a proper embossed side and a smooth and fluffy side, I love it.  And at around 50p a packet, I may have bought more than a couple ...

I popped into the Diptyque store in St Germain for a sniff and a chat, and ended up coming out with the new Rosaviola candle, the limited edition created with Olympia le Tan, the French fashion designer:

Smelling of roses and violets, and decorated with lips,  I couldn't resist! And it's so pretty with the pink jar, and the embroidered fabric label.  More about my visit to Diptyque soon.

I also, of course, went to Sephora! 

The Sephora Nail Varnish Remover pots are a firm favourite, so I took the opportunity to stock up whilst I was in Paris.  I always get the Glitter pots, as they come with a scrubby sponge that I really like for getting into all the nooks and crannies. I noticed there was a cuticle care version with camelia oil too, so I thought I'd try it, as my cuticles are positively shameful right now.  I'll report back. I'm a bit obsessed with primers at the moment (there's a big post coming up), so I couldn't resist a trial-size version of this Erborian Pink Perfect Cream. And how cute are the Sephora Kiss Me lip balms? This is Candy Apple and Soda Pop.

I also popped into Yves Rocher, because I always like having a nosey at their stuff:

I bought some Serum Vegetal skincare shots, and a Perfect Primer in Rose.  Yes, another primer ... Yves Rocher  are one of the biggest brands in France, and they're really reasonable.  It's been a while since I tried any of their products though, I admit - they're not that easy to get hold of in the UK though, which is a shame.

And finally, of course, Guerlain:

I fully intended to buy some fragrance, but the one I fell in love with in-store was five hundred euros! Luckily, seeing as I'm moving house in a month, I ran out of shopping time in-store, so some rose and violet tea (actually the Paris Caprice tea), a jar of limited edition honey (who knew you could buy Guerlain honey????) plus a couple of bits from the new La Petite Robe Noire collection will just have to do.  This is the lip colour in Berry Beret and nail polish in Black Perfecto, expect more about these soon.

So there you have it.  Just a few things, and, to be honest, I'd have been happy even if I'd only brought the eye makeup remover and cotton wool back!  

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Fornasetti Profumi Incense Box - Flora

Think of incense and you think of smoke, and churches, and heavy cloying fragrances.  I happen to love a little incense, but rarely burn it at home, as it can lead to a bit of a muggy atmosphere.  Flora, the latest incense release from Fornasetti  is about as different from "traditional" incense as can be. 

Smelling delightfully of lily of the valley, tuberose, and jasmine, this really does smell like a country garden!  Surprisingly, it also smells like a country garden whilst it's burning.  Fornasetti have spent two years trying to best get a delicate, airy and light scent into the incense format. and their hard work appears to have paid off in spades.  They're pretty powerful too, one stick perfumes our entire flat for hours, without feeling heavy or oppressive.  

The Fornasetti Flora Incense box comes in three designs (the one shown is Flora di Bacio), and costs £145, but you can buy the incense alone for £45.  

The Fine Print: PR samples.


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Recover Correct and Conceal Red - Fair

Don't hate me, but I don't use concealer very often!  I'm lucky in that I don't have particularly bad dark circles around my eyes, so only need to dig into extra coverage when I've had a very bad night, or if I need to cover redness that my foundation isn't up to the job of erasing.  I have a huge tendency to redness, thanks to my sensitivity issues, and so occasionally I need a little help if I'm not to look like a gigantic pink balloon.  Recover Correct and Conceal Red is the latest product designed to help cover facial redness and it's a good (if expensive) one.  The brainchild of makeup artist Annabel Jardella, who has worked on films such as Sense & Sensibility and Evita (not to mention Gladiator), it's fairly safe to say Annabel knows how skin should look.

What is particularly innovative about this one, at first sight at least, is the delivery system.  A tube with a pump, and a metal disc to help spread the concealer over the skin, it feels cooling and lovely on your skin when you're applying, and, as red skin tends to be hot skin, this is great.  You depress the pump ever so slightly, allowing a dot of concealer to come to the surface and apply to the area you want to conceal.  No need for unhygenic fingers, or a brush! Application is simple and easy, a little bit goes a long, long way:

Seriously, you only need a very little bit.  This would be more than enough to cover any redness around my nose and my cheeks, and would be far too much for under-eye concealing.  But, as this is a redness concealer, and NOT an under-eye concealer, this isn't quite the problem you might think it is.   As it happens, I have used it as an under-eye concealer, and it's worked quite well, but the pigments in the product are designed to fight redness, not darkness (and my darkness is minimal) so please don't purchase Correct and Conceal Red for your undereye area.  Apparently, there is an undereye product on the way, and I'll be very interested to see it once it launches.

Top left|: Fair unblended.  Top Right: Fair, blended.  Bottom: swatches in  Light, Fair, Beige, Medium Tan, Deep tan.

The product blends out easily, and unusually for a product with such a high amount of coverage, it is whisper-light on the skin, and dries to a lovely matte finish on the skin.  You don't need to set it with powder, if you don't want to.  I have done, and it's fine, it won't cake, and it definitely doesn't have a greasy feel that makes you feel like it will slip off if it's not set.  Best of all, the coverage is excellent:

On Tuesday last week I woke up with what looked like the beginnings of a black eye, my cheek was all red, because I'd either walloped (or scratched) myself  a good one in my sleep. This was the real test for Recover Correct and Conceal Red, and it passed with flying colours - can you tell which cheek it was I'd punched myself in?*  Picture is unedited, SOOC, by the way.

I think the colour range is pretty small, they're expanding it with an "extra light" version soon, but the darkest "deep tan" stage really isn't very dark.  Of course, being a redness product means that possibly darker skins don't need so much in the way of redness concealment, but I think this is great for a quick smoothing and evening effect on uneven colouring too.

Recover Correct and Conceal Red retails for £29 for a 5ml bottle, but you use so little at a time that it'll last a long time.  The packaging means you have no way of knowing how much you have left, however, which is a bit of a pain, but it's a hygenic airless pump, which is a good thing.  All in all, I'm happy to have this in my makeup bag, it does precisely what it says on the tin.


The Fine Print: PR sample


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Elizabeth Arden Grand Entrance Mascara

I posted a bunch of selfies on instagram last week, not something I usually do, but in every single one someone went out of their way to compliment my "beautiful" eyelashes.  I'm lucky, my lashes are quite long naturally, as well as being black, and they curl quite well with a good mascara, but they are a little thinner than I would like, sometimes.  I use all kinds of mascaras, but have a particular fondness for anything that will give me daytime drag-queen lashes.  I want length, I want volume, and I want curl, but I mostly want my lashes to be visible, which means my mascara has be to be very, very, very black indeed, otherwise my lashes just look dusty.

Enter Elizabeth Arden Grand Entrance Mascara.  Equipped with a scooped brush that hugs the lashes tightly, and has short, plastic bristles (always my favourite kind) of differing lengths and thickness on the wand, it combs through lashes easily, and deposits just the right amount of mascara with every sweep.  It's black, too, very black, and easily covers my lashes.  It adds curl, and a nice amount of volume, and I'm incredibly pleased with it.

I've been using it for a couple of weeks now,  and it has rapidly become my "go-to" mascara. It applies nicely, without clumps, separates the lashes well, and doesn't run or flake throughout the day.  I'm a fan!  In the picture below, you can see just what a difference two coats of Grand Entrance makes to my lashes:

Before and after

So, a good brush, a great formula (I'll gloss over the ever-so-slightly tacky tube), and great lashes, no flaking, no smudging and no running.  What more could you want?  Currently it's on offer for £15 (a great price, and I'll be picking up backups for sure) but it'll normally be £22. 

The Fine Print: PR sample 


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LipsNspritz 7th February 2016 - Urban Decay Special

 

  
So, there were two themes for LipsNspritz on Instagram this week, one is pretty easy to spot, but did anyone notice the fragrant link?  I spent the week trialling the Urban Decay #UDxGwen lipstick collection, and I wore Ex-Girlfriend, Phonecall, Firebird, Wonderland and Spiderweb.  You can see colour descriptions and swatches of the full collection here, but I have to say that I am mightily impressed with the range.  Both Ex-Girlfriend and Phonecall are sheers, but last very well over a liner, around 3-4 hours or so.  Firebird, Wonderland and Spiderweb are all cream formulas (I've yet to wear the "mega-matte" shade 714 properly) and the lasting time on this formula is phenomenal.  I literally didn't have to touch any of them up for 10-12 hours, and, best of all, they didn't dry my lips out in the slightest.  Even Spiderweb, which I didn't wear with a liner underneath lasted as well as the others with a liner.  Amazing.

Clockwise from top left, Ex Girlfriend, Wonderland, Firebird, Spiderweb and Phonecall

All of the shades are glossy satin finishes, but of course the cream finishes are more opaque than both Ex-Girlfriend and Phonecall, and last longer as a result.  Overall, I'm delighted with the collection, even though I now have to remove my lipstick with oil of a nighttime!

Fragrance-wise saw me in both Maison Francis Kurkdijan's Aqua Vitae, and the brand new Baccarat Rouge 540.  Aqua Vitae was my fragrance of the year in 2013 (and you can read the review here) and I'm still getting to grips with Baccarat Rouge 540 (I was expecting something red and jammy, and got the scent of hot sand instead, which was confusing), but you can expect a full review in due course.  I also wore Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur de Male, and Classique Intense.  Fleur de Male is one of my favourite hot-soap, orange blossom and barbershop fragrances - now sadly discontinued - and Classique Intense, which I first smelled in the depths of my parosmic madness, but now reveals itself to be a huge talcum, and jasmine monster, which I've fallen rather heavily for.  And finally, I wore the gauzy and ethereal Elie Saab le Parfum, which is the smell of orange blossom glimpsed through chiffon, and is beautiful and wonderful.  And the link between all of these?  Francis Kurkdijan, of course.  I was lucky enough to spend an evening with him and Jo Fairley of the Perfume Society last week, which was lots of fun.  If you haven't been to a Perfume Society event yet, you're really missing a treat.  I'm off to Paris with them at the end of the month, and I can't wait!

What've you been wearing?

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Skincare of the Week 7th February 2016

A mixed bag skincare-wise this week, I started the week with a Zelens-heavy routine (have I mentioned how much I love Zelens?  It's true, I do), and, I still love a full routine from them - in particular the Z Recovery Intensive Repair Balm, which is a lifesaver.  A non-greasy balm that sinks in, heals and nourishes stressed skin, I've used it after operations, during illness, after allergic reactions, on burnt skin, and occasionally - just once in a while, mind - I use it as a particularly hydrating moisturiser too.  I'm near the end of this jar, and need to stock up, now I come to think of it.

The rest of the week has seen Tata Harper products settling in to become regular choices in my usual routine (instead of me being merely obsessed with them), and I've rotated some ByTerry choices from the Cellularose range into my routine too. The Cellularose range smells absolutely divine, but the oil only emulsifies partially, which is a bit odd, but I still like using it, regardless.

I'm trialling a new foundation at the moment, so I've been using a variety of moisturisers and oils  in order to give it a range of bases to work on.  I'm nice like that.  Moisturisers this week have included Kate Somerville Goat Cream (an eternal favourite), Laura Mercier Flawless Skin (a new addition after it turned up at Christmas) Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisturising Jelly (love this stuff for hydrating without greasiness) Tata Harper Rebuilding Moisturiser (which I love an unreasonable amount) and, of course, the aforementioned Z Recovery, which is aces.

This week was all about the lipstick though, and more about that later.  What's been on your face? 


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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