Skincare of the Week 12 June 2016

I've been on a blog-hiatus. It wasn't intended, but it just sort of happened, and, I have to admit, I've rather enjoyed it.  I'm just now entering my eighth year of blogging (you read that right), so that's seven years of Sunday afternoons that I've spent at my computer,which equates to nearly a solid YEAR of taking pictures, editing pictures (always the worst part, tbh), actually doing the writing and doesn't even slightly take into account the hours I spend getting to events, reading press releases, testing products and the thinking (oh my god, the THINKING) about blog posts even before I sit down to write them!  

So, because I've been enjoying NOT blogging for a couple of months, its crossed my mind that maybe I should retire.  Year end was super-busy at work this year, and we just moved house, and I've been tired - so very, very tired - and the thought of adding blogging back into that particular mix has just been ... depressing. Another thing to worry about, and another obligation.  That said, I've been loving Instagram very much lately, pop on over!

Retiring from blogging at Get Lippie completely has been a tempting option under the circumstances, like the thought of going on a lovely, looooooooong, holiday.  Blogging, particularly beauty blogging, is both a bit of a rat-race and a popularity contest these days, and I'm never going to be Zoella or Pixiwoos.  Hell, I'm barely even Get Lippie these days! Luckily, I don't rely on my blog to make my living - there's no sponsorship or endorsement deals here - but, now I'm out of work-madness time, and we've practically got the new flat sorted,  I'm going to give a couple of Sundays* back up to the blogging muse, and see what occurs. 

So, yeah, skincare is what we're meant to be talking about, apparently, not my existential crisis, so here's some skincare chat:

I'm attempting to use up my much-beloved Zelens Intense Defence Serum, because it's nearly at the end, and that will make it the only serum I've used up in several years!  I love this stuff, on my picky, overly sensitive, prone-to-redness skin, this acts like a bandage, protecting it from all kinds of pollutants and cushioning it from the effects of overly harsh weather, or unsuitable skincare products.  I've been boosting it with Zelens Power D Drops in recent weeks, and I'll be giving a full review of those soon.

Clinique sent me a bumper pack of their Moisture Surge products the other week, and, whilst I've had trouble with gel-formula moisturisers in the past (they tend to be heavy on the silicones and irritate my skin by not letting it breathe too well), I'm really enjoying using Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief.  The stress of the last couple of months, combined with spending a lot of hours really staring at a computer - seriously, when you're getting 40 incomprehensible emails a day from a government department, you'd be screwing your face up too - have left me craving hydration, and I find this feels super-hydrating at first application and leaves my skin feeling velvety and wonderful, without the little angry bumps I can get from too many silicones.

Something else new that I'm trying right now is the Silke London silk hair wrap.  I've been toying with wrapping my hair for a while now, having found that sleeping on a silk pillow case makes a huge difference to my hair, but couldn't find a 100% silk wrap that I liked. Then Silke London launched, and I had to have one, so treated myself to an Isla, which is the green and blue version.  It's essentially a silk turban, and looks impossibly glamorous on the right person.  I am not the right person, and look like Hilda Ogden after a minor lottery win in mine, so there will be no selfies wearing it, but I'll keep you posted ...

How's your week been?  I've not retired.  Yet.


*But not next Sunday.  Ironically, I'm going on holiday ... ;)
 
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Finishing Touches: #LipsNspritz of the Week 15 May 2016

The weather is warming up - finally! - and I've been needing to concentrate this last week, so light and zesty fragrances were the order of the day, and this week I wore: Lemon by Mary Greenwell, a citrus-chypre, which is surprisingly long-lasting, which I paired with Guerlain Rouge G Rouge Parade, a limited edition red-pink from Christmas 2014.  On Tuesday, I thought I'd chance Ormonde Jayne Vanille d'Iris, a rich and buttery iris fragrance with just a hint of peppery spice, at once narcotic and very ladylike. Worn with Lancome L'Absolou Rouge Creme de Brilliance in Caprice, I felt fit for the office, at least for a short while!

On Wednesday I wandered back to citrus, and tried on the herbal-mandarin of Tangerine Vert from Miller Harris, which is crisp and fresh, and has hints of crushed green leaves below the zesty sweet orange fruit, with a layer of grapefruit to give it some depth.  I paired it with Burberry Kisses Sheer 241 Crimson Pink, because I couldn't be bothered with "proper" lipstick!  On Thursday I had an incredibly busy day with an important meeting in the middle, so I picked a lipstick called Get Lippy from Top Shop, because, why wouldn't I?  And paired it with the fizzy lemon-lime soda of Guerlain's Aqua Allegorica in Limon Verde, just to keep myself on my toes.  On Friday I dug out an old, old favourite, my bottle of Acqua di Parma cologne, which is the beyond-divine smell of a hot and soapy body fresh from the shower, and it's one of my desert-island fragrances as a result.  I paired it with one of the new Tartist Lip Colours from Tarte (this one is "Selfish"), about which I'll be writing more in-depth soon, but they're good and very opaque.

I went out and about a little bit on Saturday, and broke out my bottle of Osmanthus Blossom by Jo Malone London.  A classic white floral with just a hit of green stem, its perfect for carefree days where you don't have to try to hard.  I couldn't decide which Tarte Rainforest of the Sea balm (Berry, Rose or Nude) to wear with it, so ended up trying all three in the end.  I'm nice like that.  More about the balms on the blog soon too.

What've you been wearing? 


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Skincare of the Week 15th May 2016

Last week was a really stressful one, with deadlines and auditors galore, I'm still recovering! Hopefully now both the house move and the audit are over, I'll have a little more time free to do some blogging and cataloguing my collection of ... stuff.  I've had a few new releases recently too, and I'll get around to photographing them soon.  Anyhoo, skincare-wise, I've been a bit all over the place, and I'm just now getting back into a routine after a recent bout of sensitivity, which caused me to have to omit a few things.  I'm slowly adding some bits back, and so Zelens Skincare Power D Drops are re-appearing in my routines.

Notable newness I've added this week includes Dermalogica Pre Cleanse, a thin and light lavender-scented oil which is perfect for a morning cleanse when you don't need any makeup removal. It's rather scented though, but very lovely.  I've also invested in a bottle of Santa Maria Novelli Rose Water to help soothe my stressed skin.  I love to splash this on all over first thing in the morning and it smells delicious.

What's the latest on your face? 

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GOSH Forever Matte Eyeshadow Stick - 10 Twisted Brown

Doesn't look very exciting, does it?  One taupe eyeshadow pencil, all alone there.  But trust me, for £6.29 this GOSH Forever Matte Eyeshadow Stick  might just change your (makeup applying life).  Eyeshadow pencils are nothing new, in fact, I've acquired so many great pencils over the course of the last 12 months or so that I've barely bothered applying powder eyeshadow at all, to be honest, but matte eyeshadow pencils?  Oh, they're rarer than unicorn farts, so they are.

  
Yeah, it doesn't look any more exciting  when you take the top off either, does it?  The GOSH Forever eyeshadow stick is pigmented and silky and lovely, and lasts beautifully on even oily eyelids.  I find a couple of swipes of this shade (which is No. 10, Twisted Brown), hastily blended in with a fingertip gives a great neutral base colour, which is buildable and lasting.  I generally wear it on its own with just a slick of liquid liner, and boom!  Polished eyemakeup in less than two minutes.  Okay, three minutes if you include mascara (which you should always do, peeps).

It's a kind of perfect nothing-y shade, which looks like nothing more than shadows on skin (this is one pass with the pencil, btw) when blended with a fingertip, and is perfect for days when you just simply can't be bothered with thinking about your makeup (I have lots of days like this, sometimes it's all I can do to pick out a lipstick for the day, frankly) and it's a great shade for everyday looks.  There's a darker brown shade too, but that's just a little too warm for me, but I've used this almost every day for the last two months, and I'm definitely going to splash out on a backup or three.  For £6.29 from Superdrug, I'd be insane not to. 

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It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stain

You don't really know what pain is until you try and get the words in this products title in the right order for SEO purposes, you know. For the record these are: It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stains (try saying that three times fast), which have just launched on QVC, and come in four glowing, jewel-like shades (l-r) : Magical in Mauve, Radiant in Rose, Pretty in Peony and Matte Sweet Apple.  Though the product name might be a mouthful, it's really very apt, they are definitely stains!

I don't write about blushers often on Get Lippie,  as they're just not as interesting to me as lipsticks, or perfumes or skincare, but when I get a good one, I tend to love it to death.  And when I say that these are getting a LOT of love chez Lippie at the moment, it would be a mild understatement.  Three of these Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stains (look, I didn't just spend an hour learning the name of the product only to not use it at every available opportunity, you know) turned up as part of a press gift, and I was so impressed I immediately went and ordered the fourth so I would have the complete set!  As I'm supposedly on a bit of a no-buy at the moment - we've just furnished our new flat - moving house has been the reason for my recent bit of radio-silence - this just goes to show how impressive they really are!

Swatches in the same order as picture one: Magical in Mauve, Radiant in Rose, Pretty in Peony, and Matte Sweet Apple

It's quite a feat to get powder blushes which are hugely pigmented - and I do mean HUGELY pigmented, the swatches above are one pass with a fingertip, something that you simply can't do with other powder blushes - but still appear sheer and skin-like when applied.  Normally a powder blush with this sort of pigmentation would appear chalky, or just plain dusty, but this isn't an issue here. These blushers glow like a dream once applied, even the matte one (Sweet Apple, here on the far right).  

They do look rather dark in the pan thanks to the insane pigment, and you really do need the very lightest of hands to apply (trust me on this, I looked like Aunt Sally the first time I tried to put one of these on!), but they're really the loveliest blushers (sorry, Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stains) I've tried in a very long time.  The colour applies sheerly, but brightly, with just the tiniest amount of powder on the brush. Tap lightly - once - onto the pan, do NOT swirl your brush! Seriously, you'll regret it, if you do! Apply to the apples of your cheeks and watch it last and last and last.  I swatched these on the back of my hand the first day I had them, and I still had the marks on my hands 24 hours later ... During the course of a normal work-day, which for me can mean applying my makeup at 6am or so, these will last the whole day, avoiding the inevitable 3pm loo break "oh god, I look dead" realisation that is only too common as I get older.

How did It Cosmetics do it?  I'm not sure, but I'm glad they did, they're marvellous.  It Cosmetics Vitality Cheek Flush Powder Blush Stain (or ICVCFPBS for short) are available on QVC  (not an affiliate link) for £21 each, or you can buy a set with a rather handsome brush and ICVCFPBS combined for £28. 


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Beuti Skincare - Beauty Sleep Elixir

I don't normally do this, so I hope you will forgive me, just this once.  It's exceedingly rare that I feature a skincare product after less than a month (minimum) of use, but this little bottle of golden elixir, Beuti Skincare's Beauty Sleep Elixir appears to be quite magical.

If you've been a Get Lippie reader for a while, you'll know I'm prone to both sensitivity and redness.  My redness is usually caused by inflammation from my various sensitivities, or vaso-dilation caused by heat, or factors such as too much sugar and/or alcohol, rather than a specific skin condition such as rosacea. I am always on the lookout for products that either promise to protect my skin from external irritation, or to help heal it when it's at its reddest and most uncomfortable - some of you might have noticed that I use a lot of anti-oxidant serums to protect my skin.  Beuti Skincare's recent press release mentioned "anti-inflammaging" (a quite frankly horrific phrase, but ...), meaning their products are both anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing, so I was intrigued to try.

Beuti Skincare's Beauty Sleep Elixir is a blend of 14 natural plant oils (and it's low on essential oils, too, which is good, as my skin finds them highly irritating), and is bright, bright orange in the bottle from a good dose of beta-carotene from the various seed oils  inside.  The full ingredient list, which is both 100% natural, and 98% organic, comprises:

Camellia oil

Chia seed oil

Bitter cherry seed oil

Strawberry seed oil

Pomegranate seed oil

Blueberry seed oil

Cranberry seed oil

Sandalwood nut seed oil

Raspberry seed oil

Seabuckthorn fruit berry oil

Lavender herb oil

Geranium flower oil

Sandalwood oil

Neroli flower oil

Capric triglyceride from coconut

Sea whip extract (extracted from coral)

Sea Whip extract is a known anti-inflammatory, and lavender and neroli are both known for their soothing properties. I had some inflammation recently (in fact, I spent a couple of days in the office last week flushed redder than a stop sign thanks to a bad cosmetic choice or two), and I chose to set aside my usual soothing products and try Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir for a night or two instead.  I'm very glad I did.  Skin looks instantly less reddened when you use an orange-yellow beta-carotene rich oil, as the deep gold instantly counteracts redness in the same optical way a yellow powder does, so you'll instantly feel and look better.  Used overnight, I woke up to find that not only had my beacon-esque redness disappeared completely, but the under-skin bumps that are a signature of irritation on my skin had also completely gone.  

This is unheard of for me in the first use of a healing product - I normally have to stick to a low-impact, low-active regime for at least a week or so in order to get rid of incipient irritation, even with tried and tested products. I was a little amazed.  I've not been able to stop applying it to my face ever since.  My skin is velvety smooth, and even and without even a hint of greasiness.  The instructions say to use three pumps, but I've been using one or two at most.  Can I call it love after less than a week of trials?  It's certainly been a whirlwind romance!  I'm going to need a backup bottle already, I can tell.

You can buy Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir from Look Fantastic, (not an affiliate link) where it will cost £42.  A bargain, in my eyes.


The Fine Print: PR sample.  Get Lippie has not been compensated for this review, and there are NO affiliate links in this article.


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Finishing Touches (#LipsNspritz) of the Week 2nd May 2016

 Bright reds and dark berries, plus one glorious pink this week, alongside some classic fragrances too. Top left were the gorgeous white flowers of Narciso  For Her, which is a fragrance I love a great deal, and could even smell it slightly through my parosmia last year, which always grants a special place in my heart for a fragrance. I wore this on Friday with Mac Hot Tahiti, a soft and gentle red.  

Middle Left: I'd also worn Narciso Rodriguez Musc For Her this week, which is a powdery musk, somewhat clean-smelling (reminiscent, slightly, of laundry musks), but the oil format keeps it close to the skin.  I wore this with the most emailed about lipstick ever featured on this blog, Rouge Baiser 306, which I picked up in Paris a few years ago.  (Incidentally, I'm not a stockist or supplier of these lipsticks - which are only available in France - so, please, stop asking me to get them for you!)

Bottom Left: I wore Mugler Cologne, which features a little creaminess in amongst the usual neroli and bitter orange that you get in a classic cologne, making this just a little more interesting than the usual plain citrus blast you might get with a sharper cologne.  I wore this with It Cosmetics Vitality Lipstick Stain in Pretty Woman, which is a sheer deep berry.  I'll have a lot more to say about It Cosmetics products later on this week.

Bottom right is Chanel Rouge Coco Lip Stylo in 208 Roman, which is a beautiful bright pink.  I've not bought anything from Chanel in AGES, and it's hard to get across in this picture just how bright, beautiful and juicy these shades are in the flesh.  I'll be picking up some more for sure. I wore it with Chanel Exclusifs Sycomore, which is a fabulous smoky vetiver that I should really pick up a proper bottle of at some point.

And finally (top right) Reiss Grey Flower.  Still one of the most unusual and haunting fragrances you could buy on the high street for less than £50, it's filled with guaic wood, which has an oddly fleshy kind of effect (smelled neat, its a bit like parma ham), and this doesn't smell flowery, either.  It's hard to say what it smells like (apart from good, interesting, unusual), but it's definitely worth a sniff if you can find a bottle.  I paired it up with YSL Rouge Volupte No4, a bright and beautiful sheer red.  Not my favourite of formulas - I find it too slippery - but a gorgeous shade.

What have your favourite finishing touches been recently?

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