Nail of the Day - China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint

Long-time readers of this blog will know of my (possibly irrational) hatred of pastels.  I don't like them, and what's more, they don't like me.

So, it was a surprise to find that I like this shade:

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, from the Up, Up, and Away collection, which I largely avoided as it was ALL pastels.  Or mainly pastels.  Or even possibly just partially pastels.  I forget.  But anyway.  This is a pastel green.

And I like it.  So there.

It was on the thick side, a little, but this shows two coats with a sticky base from Orly, and an OPI topcoat.

It lasted a day before I took it off, btw.  While I liked it, it was still a pastel too far.  I am now sporting greige.  I like greige.  Greige doesn't give me The Fear.

Lifesavers! Bath products for the shower ...

No, I haven't gone insane, I just haven't had a bath for a month.  I really, really, really want a bath. I love baths, and have been known to spend several hours in there, just floating, reading, relaxing, and chilling, really.  They're where I go when I need a little respite from the daily grind (and they're where I can hide from MrLippie - don't tell him) Occasionally, I even, you know, clean myself in there too.  Showers simply don't compare.  In fact, whilst I'm being honest, I shall admit that I find showers rather unpleasant. Purely a necessary evil, as far as I'm concerned.

So, having spent the last month confined to showers only (and quick showers at that), has been a trial for me.  I love my luxurious bath oils - Ren Rose Otto is still a world beater as far as I'm concerned - and I miss my "me-time".  I've been avoiding shower gels during my bath-prohibition, as I can find them a bit drying and, the thought of itchy skin combined with healing scars after my operation still makes me wince a little bit!

So, I've been delighted to find that Aromatherapy Associates bath oils can be used in the shower too.  At a cost of £26.50 (£2.95 each, more than comparable to a Lush Bath Ballistic, for example) these are completely luxurious to use in the shower as the scent is amazing, and you still get clean.  To use these as shower oils, you simply rub them over your (dry) skin, prior to getting into the shower, and then rinse off as normal with your shower instrument of choice.  There are nine scents in the box, and my own personal favourite is the Deep De-Stress oil, which is meant for aching muscles, but I find the gingery, herby scent most invigorating!

For a shower treat that's a little more traditional in style, I've also been using No7 Shower Oil, which claims to foam gently. Personally, I find it foams barely at all (even on a shower puff), but the scent is nice, it leaves my skin silky soft, and it cleans admirably. Plus, at a cost of £8.75, it's a little more purse-friendly than the Aromatherapy Associates, albeit this means that there are a few synthetics in there, so I suggest you check the label before buying.

Two more weeks till bath-time!  I can't wait.  For serious.

 The Fine Print: Some samples were provided for review purposes, and some were provided as a gift in apology for someone's website accidentally infecting my computer with a trojan virus.  I'm not going to tell you which is which though - none of these links are infected, I've checked.  They're not affilliate links, either.  The Romans used to bathe with oil, you know.

Review - Thierry Mugler Womanity

Caviar.  It's always the first thing that occurs to you when you think of how a woman smells, isn't it? No?  Well, in spite of it's much touted "figs'n'caviar" reputation, it won't be the first thing you think about when you sniff Womanity, either, don't worry.  Neither will figs, actually, but more about that later.

The first thing I think about when I smell Womanity is, oddly, pink grapefuits and sawdust.  Womanity definitely opens with fruit, pink fruits, berries, and hints of citrus, then dries down a little to a sweeter, creamier scent, then eventually settles into a woody skin-scent that stays a lot closer to you than you'd expect from it's rather loud opening.

The caviar note is only really around in the perfumes mid-stages, there's no real hint of fish (genuinely), but there is an odd, salty note that kind of sits above the fruity scent.  It's not unpleasant - in fact, in itself, it's rather intriguing, and impossible to place - but ... I'm not sure it works.  On a scent strip, the fragrance never really dries down to get to the woodsy finish, and the odd, salty note stays pretty strident throughout.  On the skin it does eventually settle, but for me, it's just a note that the perfume doesn't quite need. 

I think the effort to include a salty, and truly savoury note into a feminine perfume is an interesting one, but I'm not sure it works over what is, to be frank, a fairly generic fruity base. The bathing products (shower gel and body lotion) work don't include the caviar accord, and - interestingly - work all the better for it.  The body lotion in particular is a refreshing grapefruit and berry scent, and is quite refreshing as a result, an excellent, albeit inoffensive summer-time scent.

I've not mentioned the fig, as in all the various guises of this perfume, I couldn't pick up the scent at all.  I'm a huge fan of Philosykos from Diptyque (one of my two go-to summer fragrances) and I was disappointed that Womanity didn't live up to its figgy promise. I think if the scent had been greener, less pink with fruit, and more laden with mystery, rather than trying to be a mishmash of opposites (Figs! Caviar! Salt! Fruit!), for me, it might have worked better.  I'll be keeping the bathing products in my routine though, as without the caviar, they're really lovely. And I like the bottle, I think it's a thing of beauty, refillable too.

I suspect, actually, that this will be a big hit with those who love their fruity perfumes.  As fruity/woodsy scents go, this isn't a bad one, and I think if you like that sort of thing, you'll love this.  It's just not me.  I like my perfume to become part of my smell, rather than people being able to say "you smell of  ... <insert random name of food item here>".  It'll probably sell by the bucketload, as it's definitely a great perfume if you like that sort of thing.

I'm not even going to mention the name, mmmkay?  Or the migraine of a website. So there.

The Fine Print: Samples were provided for review. Sorry Thierry! If you've made it this far, and would like to try the perfume for yourself, then the first two people to email me with their shipping address will be sent sample sizes of all three products mentioned in this review.

Review - Giorgio Armani Face Fabric Foundation

This review alongside this one finally made me take the plunge into buying a Giorgio Armani foundation.  I adore my Blushing Fabric blushers, so when I was in Selfridges lately, I thought I'd complete the set.

A 40ml tube will set you back £29 which is fairly expensive, but you use so little that I estimate that the tube will last quite a while.  It's not a full-coverage foundation, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's meant to echo how real skin looks, for a "makeupLESS" look.  It's a thick mousse-y style foundation, but it's whisper-light on the face. Here's how it appears on my skin - compared to how my skin looks without help (for which I apologise, please don't look too hard at my pores in the pic at left, thank you):

As you can see, it smoothes out my skin tone, makes it look, well, less pink. I find it adds a softly "powdered" effect to my skin, but on really hot days, it does have a tendency to disappear fairly quickly, and, because of it's light coverage, I find it's better for "good skin" days.  But, I LOVE this foundation beyond all reasonableness in spite of that. Why?  Because it's chock-full of silicones, and it makes my pores disappear when I'm wearing it.  Seriously, click on the picture above to enlarge it, if you don't believe me.  Just, you know, don't say you weren't warned.  If I need a heavier coverage, I layer it over my beloved Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising Balm, which gives this just a little more "oomph".

Of course, if you're at all sensitive to silicones then this is most definitely not the foundation for you, but if you're looking for a light-coverage foundation which will negate the need for a primer, then this is one of the best you'll find. It comes in 8 shades, (I'm shade two), but the coverage is so light and "realistic" that an exact match with this foundation isn't as important as it might be with full coverage foundations.

Giorgio Armani cosmetics are available from Selfridges.

The Fine Print: I bought this.  And I'd do it again, I tell you.  AGAIN!

Mr Lippie Reviews: Armani Diamonds Summer

I've been using Armani Diamonds for a little while now, and I thought (or, rather, was reminded) that it's about time that I put my thoughts on it down on paper, as it were.

 

Looking at the bottle itself, it's a chunky rectangular bottle, with a hint of blue/aquamarine at the base that gives the liquid a slightly mysterious look. The top is dominated by the spray nozzle, which is a heavy silver top that accentuates the slight curves of the bottle very nicely. The stylised Armani eagle is on the container, but it's not overbearing, it adds to the look, making the bottle itself quite imposing. 

 

The smell on first spray is quite sharp, almost like raw alcohol - it felt seriously eye-watering when I first put it on. There's quite a lot of citrus in there, which persists quite strongly for the first half hour or so, but there's quite a lot of interesting undercurrents that slowly rise to the surface and subsume the citrus. It make the scent slightly musky, but delightfully subtle and softer. I tend to use this most weekdays, as it's not something to just throw on just before going out - but it IS something that you feel comfortable wearing throughout the day, without fear that at some point you're going to smell like something that's decomposing in the corner - never the best at a crucial afternoon meeting, I find.

 

Overall, I like it, quite a lot. No whale bottoms here, Diamonds certainly manages to grab the attention.

 

Get Lippie says: I've noticed that this appears to be MrL's favourite scent by far this year, and it's become his "go to" fragrance for  everyday wear, not that I'm complaining!  Redolent of lemons at first (there's meant to be a hint of mint there but I can't pick it up), it soon settles into a woodsy smoothness that's subtle, but masculine.