Chanel Ombre D'eau: #757 Splash

I love a bit of Chanel.  Some of my more regular readers might have noticed.  I'm also a massive fan of their Ombre D'eau eyeshadows, finding the colours gorgeously complex (in the main), and also rather more long lasting than Chanel's powder shadows.

The latest release in this format is number 757,also called "Splash".  It's the second one I've purchased this year, the first was Torrent (a beautifully sludgy khaki shade with beautiful iridescence) from the Spring Kaska Beige collection, and that's been in heavy rotation ever since.  Splash is a bronze-y taupe, with a metallic sheen:

It's rather more dark-seeming in the bottle than on the skin, but it's a very wearable shade - if you like sludge colours!  On swatching, it seemed rather familar, so I swatched it next to my beloved Shu Uemura Brown 805:

As you can see, the Shu (on the left there) is rather lighter, and a little more shimmery.  Then I thought that it reminded me of Chanel's Taupe Grise, and so, I swatched that too:

In the bottle, Splash looks a lot more like Taupe Grise, but once on the skin, it definitely loses the greyish cast, and takes on more bronze.  As you can see, the Taupe Grise (far right) looks far more grey, and definitely has a touch of purple in the undertone.

Under slightly different lighting conditions, you can see the differences more clearly.

I like to wear the Ombre D'eaus sheered out on the eyelid, and this is how it looks after six or seven hours on the eyelids:

I'm wearing it here with Guerlain Oriental Metal on the waterline.  I didn't really have a burning desire to pick up any of the rest of the Chanel holiday collection - it was a bit too PINK for me - but will you b getting any?

An open letter to a hairdresser ...

When I made my first visit to a hairdresser for blogging purposes last year, I wrote this:

"I find the thought of trying out a new hair salon pretty terrifying, I've been known to hang around outside salons for ages trying to pluck up the courage to actually walk in and make an appointment!   As a result, it's entirely possible I don't visit the hairdresser as often as I might."

And, even this year, when I've been to many hair events, met many hairdressers, and even judged a national hairdressing competition, I stand by those words.  I've met, talked to, and had my hair done by many amazing hairdressers this year, and for every individual who has worked miracles with my insane thatch, sadly, I do still find the ones that reduce me to a quivering jelly of inadequacy and incoherence.  In fact, I do - still - find the thought of walking into a new salon absolutely terrifying, because, not only do I live in fear of the Bad Haircut, I also live in fear of the Bitchy Stylist.


In all honesty there is only one thing worse in a hair salon than the Bad Haircut/Style/Colour and that is the hairdresser who, if you draw their attention to the problem, makes it feel like it's entirely YOUR fault.


This, therefore, is an open letter to every hairstylist who has ever belittled a client in the name of protecting their own reputation:


Dear Hairdresser,


In today's recession-hit times, a new hairdo becomes an even bigger investment of both time and money for your clients. A new client walks over your threshold in a strange mixture  of anticipation of an hour or three of pampering, and utter terror that things will go wrong.  We save up our pennies, and hope that this time - oh, this time - will be the time we come out of the salon with the haircut of our dreams, that we will, in fact, come out looking like Nicole Kidman, Nigella Lawson or Kate Moss, and not like the frumpy knackered accountant who walked in.  Ironically, we all know it won't happen, but, under the circumstances, we'll generally settle for "looking better than we did when we walked in".  It's a compromise we'll usually all be happy with.


Occasionally, things do go wrong, and, when they happen, I'd like to suggest the following steps not to take when the disgruntled customer walks over the threshold:


1) Do not greet the customer with the words "What did you do?".  Nine times out of ten, the only thing the customer will have done is exactly what you told them to do.  The only thing this question will elicit is the feeling that you have assumed the customer is an incapable idiot.  It will also make them anxious, and, also, make them defensive.  Things will not go well during the conversation if you make the customer uncomfortable just for walking through the door.

2) Do not, whatever you do, sneer at whatever the customer says in response to the question posed in step one.  It's bad enough that you've already made the customer feel incapable of looking after their hair, do not then compound that feeling by making your dislike of the poor creature with the terrible hair you created plain to see, as well.

3) Do not then use any of the following phrases: "well, it's not ... horrendous/dreadful/terrible/disgusting/awful/as bad as you think".  What this phrase actually means is that whichever adjective you've chosen to describe your clients hair as "not" being, is the first word that sprang to your mind, and now you're denying it to yourself.  If your client has plucked up the courage to complain about what you've done to their hair, and the best thing you, the stylist who created the situation can think of to describe it is "not horrendous" then, well ... it suggest that actually, you've got a pretty dreadful hairdo, to be honest.

4) Please, please, please at this point, do not patronise the client.  If you've already committed the errors in points 1), 2) and 3) then patronising your client at this point will just put the tin lid on things.  Calling her love/darling/sweetheart or anything of that ilk is just going to make your client angry.  You know her name, please use it.  Also if you can possibly avoid it, try not to contradict your client at this point too.

Things you might want to do:

1) Apologise.  No one wants a disappointing haircut/style/colour.  But, if your client has taken time out of their day to come show you their disappointing hair, then the least you can do is apologise for them having to come back to see you.  Clients, particularly upset ones can indeed be a pain in the backside to deal with, but I guarantee that the majority of people who do complain are in genuine distress about their hair, and it would be nice to show you have some empathy with them.

2) Listen to the client.  Why are they unhappy?  Is it something that can be fixed quickly, there and then?  If it is, offer to do it.  Are they unhappy because it genuinely is something that went wrong, or is it something very simple that won't take much to sort out.  If you do not listen to what your client is telling you, and assume that everyone who comes back into your salon is purely after something for nothing, then you are just going to make the clients with genuine problems very, very unhappy.  Remember that no one knows their hair like the person attached to it, and if they say there is a problem with the condition, then it's likely that they are right.

(We all know the statistic that a happy client tells one person about a good experience, but an unhappy client will tell seven people, right?)

3) Be prepared to offer the client a second opinion.  And if you do, be prepared for that client to want the person who offers a second opinion to fix the situation - particularly if you went through the stages 1-4 above.


4) Be gracious.  Please don't treat a complaining customer like a criminal. 

5) fix the problem.  I think this one is fairly self explanatory.

Love and kisses,
Lippie xx

An open PS to clients: Don't be a pain in the bum when complaining, stylists are only doing their job, remember?

So there you have it.  Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add?

Shu Uemura - Pleasure of Japanese Bath

Shu are (in)famous for their cleansing oils, but did you know they also have a range of bathing oils?  I didn't until recently, and I spotted these little bottles hiding out in a corner of the Shu store in Covent Garden a few weeks back, and had to try one.  First released 10 years ago, the oils are back, and they're a little different to a lot of other bath oils I've been trying recently.

First of all, the scents veer away a little bit from the traditional "aromatherapy" scents, which is nice.  There are four varieties: Hinoki, which is cypress-scented, Sakura which is cherry blossom, Shobu is iris, and Yuzu is a kind of Japanese citrus.  They're not overly scented, but they disperse beautifully in the water, creating a milky opalescent bathing experience.  My bath has LEDs in the bottom, and when they're combined with the milky water, it really makes for an unusual light show!

They disperse completely, so there's no oil-scum left and it doesn't leave for a slippery bath.  My oil is the Hinoki, which is vaguely herbal-smelling, and with a hint of pine, I find it relaxing to bathe in, and the oils leave my skin soft and moisturised without feeling at all greasy.

The bath oils cost £22 and are available direct from Shu Uemura shops and concessions, sadly, I can't find anywhere that stocks this stuff online in the UK, if you find somewhere, will you let me know?

The Fine Print: PR sample.  Kinda.  I offered to pay!

Purple FotD

Just a random FotD that I haven't posted earlier, I love this purple shadow from Daniel Sandler,  I've posted about it before, I think it really makes the colour of my eyes stand out:

When I'm not wearing my beloved taupes and neutrals, purple is my default "go-to" shade (my favourite smokey eye is a purple one), it's a great shade, and this is a great shadow, this lasted all day - no primer - and, iirc, also lasted through a little bout of crying without running all over my face.

Foundation is Guerlain Lingerie de Peau, blush is Daniel Sandlers Mineral blush in Natural Beauty, and I'm just wearing a touch of balm on my lips.

What's your "go-to" shade?

WE ARE AN WINNERZ!

Sorry, got all lolcats for a minute there, but I just wanted to announce the winner of my L'Occitane giveaway!

The winner is ....




KITTY!!!

Please drop me an email with your full name and address, lovely, and I'll ensure that the powers-that-be get the parcel out to you this week.

Lots of lovely entries this time around, thank you everyone for taking the time and trouble to enter!

Nail of the Day: Andrea Fulerton Foxy Lady

I've been waiting for Andrea to get this range into the shops since last March!  I was lucky enough to get my nails done by this lovely lady at an event and we had a really good natter, so when I found out the range was finally available at Superdrug, I leapt to collect some bits and pieces.  I love that alongside some great polish shades, Andrea has really thought the nail painting process though, and brought out some great tools for both creating nail art, and making your application neater and easier!

The first thing I've really taken a good look at is the Colour Layering System in Foxy Lady. Essentially a double ended nail polish, featuring (in this case) one opaque metallic copper, and a shimmering sheer purple shot through with beautiful turquoise shimmer at the other end.  The idea is that you can either wear the shades alone, or layer them one over the other to create different effects, for example:

L-R Copper alone, Shimmer alone, Shimmer over Copper, Copper over shimmer. All show two coats.

Application was fine and smooth, and the polishes are very quick-drying.  I liked playing with them a lot, trying to figure out which combinations I liked best.  The brush is a standard round brush (no pro-wide brushes here, which is a shame, as I'm increasingly finding I like a flat brush for varnish application).  I think you can see from the picture above that the polishes work best when you layer the shimmer over the metallic polish, and you do get a very lovely "twinkly" effect on the nails under different lighting effects.

In fact, I liked the effect so much that I immediately applied a full manicure of the turquoise over the copper - a combination that I chose because I couldn't see, at all, how that could possibly work together - and my nails are a kind of turquoise-y-purple-y-gold-ish shade that is very hard to describe - Sometimes it's bronze, sometimes pink, sometimes lilac, sometimes purple, it depends on the light!  Lots of depth, lots of twinkles, lots of interest, and yet, not too in your face you could wear it to the office.  Which I am, in fact, planning to do.

What I also like about these polishes is that they're not really mini-sized bottles.  A full-size bottle of Andrea Fulerton polish will cost you £4.99, and contains 5.5mls.  Each of the bottles of polish in the Colour Layering System contains 4.4mls, and they cost £7.99.  Ml for ml, that is exactly the same price.  Ordinarily when bottling polish in smaller containers companies take the opportunity to double - or even triple - the ml for ml price!  Bravo Andrea for not doing that, and making sure that the bottles are a decent size in the first place.

I'll bring you some reviews of the rest of the bits I have soon, I especially love the pop up nail varnish remover bottle!  Andrea Fulerton products are available from Superdrug

The Fine Print: Products came to me via an arcane and mystical process I could not possibly describe publicly.  Links are not affliliates, what kind of girl do you take me for?  [rhetorical]

Review - Tom Ford Tuscan Leather

Alongside minty fragrances, I'm a sucker for something with a hint of leather.  Tom Ford Tuscan Leather, however, doesn't contain a hint of leather, it's a full-on smack in the face with a driving glove.

My first introduction to leather scents was with Serge Lutens (or, dear old Uncle Serge as I refer to him for some reason) Daim Blond, to me, everytime I sniff it - I don't own a bottle - I think it's the very essence of how a suede rose would smell, if such a thing existed.

Tuscan Leather isn't as lady-like - or as genteel - when first sprayed it is the very essence of a leather armchair that's spent many years in the corner of a gentlemens' drinking den, absorbing the aromas of brandy and cigars.  And, of course, with a hint of the leather itself underneath.  This isn't for everyone, but for me, I adore it.  It's another "dry" scent, without much in the way of sweetness on my skin (although one of the notes a lot of people talk about is raspberry), and I like it all the more for that.  It's masculine-seeming on first spray, but the dry down turns it more into a skin-scent, meaning you have to get close to smell the notes, and you will occasionally be able to smell yourself.  I have a scarf that's been impregnated with the smell of this now, and it's something I occasionally wrap around myself and sniff just for the pure pleasure of it.

Ironically, on MrLippie, it smells a little sweeter, and a little less "gentlemanly" as a result.  I didn't tell him what it was when I first sprayed him with it and he thought it was interesting and familiar, then muttered something about new cars ...

Tom Ford Private Collection Tuscan Leather retails for £115, and is available from Selfridges.

The Fine Print: Revoo written from samples.

Guerlain Rouge G - B62 Betsy

I love my Rouge G's, I already own a red, and a pink and I wanted something a little more neutral this time around. 

Enter Betsy.  In the bullet, a rather intense mauve shade, it's actually rather more sheer than it might appear on first look:

This is one of the B range of Rouge G's, which have a lighter, more sheer texture, and feel rather more like a tinted lip balm than a lipstick.  I find them highly emollient, and, even though I have to apply slightly more often than I do than I do with a regular Rouge G, I think it's worth it when you get the right shade. On me, this is a "my lips but better" shade which I find works better for a smoky eye than a traditional "nude" shade, as it still adds a little definition, and doesn't make me look anemic.

Rouge G's are expensive, there is no denying it, but for me, they're worth every penny, as an investment piece there are very few lipsticks that look as expensive as this.  I adore the packaging - and, whilst I might have had my head turned slightly by Tom Ford and his crack habit lately, Rouge G will always come top of the expensive lipstick league tables for me.

The Fine Print: Debenhams Oxford St provided me with this fine example of a lipstick for only TWENTY FIVE of your earth pounds.

John Frieda Precision Foam Colour

I'm a little paranoid about home hair colour.  One too many colouring disasters has left me totally unable, these days, to even think about using a box dye myself.

I've lost count of the towels I've ruined, the ears I've dyed to match my hair (and scalp), the grouting I've spattered with various shades of black, red and blue - long story, don't ask - and, the patchy results always but always drive me nuts.  When you have long, dark hair that has been greying since your 18th birthday (as mine has) it can be difficult to use, particularly on the roots around the back of the head, as I'm not a contortionist!

So, when I was invited to preview a range of home hair dyes from John Frieda I was somewhat sceptical, particularly when we were told that this was something "entirely new" in the field, then found out it was a foam.  I remember foam dyes when they were first introduced in the 80's.  Invariably a shade of red, the only thing they coloured in any way was your skin.  Certainly, they never made any difference whatsoever to my hair!

However, having watched a model use the product live in front of my eyes, I have to say I was impressed with the results I saw recently, so much so that I inveigled a member of my own family to try my sample box.  Essentially, the colourant is a mousse, you mix a dye and accelerant together in a bottle, then add a nozzle applicator and squeeze it to release the contents. 

The bottle:

This is actually after it had been in use - these were the dregs!

Here's the hair we started off with:

Some serious rootage there.  I know that feeling well ...

In progress:

And after:

I have to say, I'm very impressed.  Major points in the colour's favour:

Low smell - it barely smells of anything at all.
Ease of use - my model was packed off to the bathroom with just the box and a 7-yr old "helper" and left to fend for herself, she soon figured it out!
Non-drip - once this stuff is on your hair, it doesn't budge.  Maison Lippie is a palace of white, floors, walls, seats and surfaces (it's beautiful, but not the most practical place to dye your hair, really) and there wasn't a single drip anywhere at the end of the process.  No marks in the bathroom, and no trace of her progress anywhere else in the place, either.
Non-staining - any dye that got on skin (my model was determined to dye her ears black for some reason) was very easily removed with just a baby-wipe.  There were no stains left on skin anywhere.
Short developing time - the entire process was done and dusted in less than an hour.  45 minutes if you don't include drying time.
Good results - Now, whilst the results weren't perfect (we didn't leave the dye on the roots alone for quite long enough, so even though the grey was entirely covered, it was a tiny bit lighter than the ends - this was pure operator error), they were much better than expected.

So, even though the John Frieda Precision Foam Colour is a tiny bit more expensive than most box dyes - it retails at £9.99 from the likes of Boots and Superdrug - my model was impressed enough to change her regular box dye for it.  My mum has one of the blonde ones, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to seeing how she gets along with with it!  I've dyed her hair for years, and find it such a boring chore, this foam may be the one to change all that!



The Fine Print: PR Sample - but a very welcome one.

Review - L'Occitane Fleur Cherie Make Up

On Friday, I said I was giving away a set of L'Occitane goodies, so now is the time for me to tell you a little more about them.

I'm actually giving you this set:

Which contains a lipgloss locket, full size eau de toilette and soap, plus brightening face-powder pearls.  It's a cute little set, which I've enjoyed using a great deal recently - I adore the smell of neroli (Fleur Cherie is scented with orange blossom), and the scent of the products (except the lipgloss, which is unscented) is light, refreshing and just lovely.

The powder pearls are very pretty:

Lightly scented with orange blossom, the peach and apricot pearls give a light glow to the skin - they're not dark enough to be a fake-tan product, although they will give a lovely golden-sheen on darker skin.  I use these in place of blusher.

The lipglosses that you get in the fob, are essentially clear, with a hint of sparkle, as you'll see in the FOTD later.

But this is not the whole of the range, like the peony range of cosmetics L'Occitane brought out last year, there's a few more colour cosmetics available, and I've been trying those too.  I was sent an eyeshadow duo, an eyeliner and a lipstick to try, and here they are:

This is lipstick in Rose Sequin, eyeshadow in Bleu Damasse, and eyeliner in Noir Velours.  I've actually found myself impressed with them (with some caveats, as you'll discover), the shadow is smooth and velvety, with excellent pigmentation, and very good lasting power, I found that without a primer, the shadow stayed in place for around 10-12 hours, needing only a light smush with my fingers to get rid of the (minimal) creasing. The liner is very black, and very smudgy, however, it's lasting power isn't quite as good as the shadows, and I found it had run a bit after about six hours. The lipstick is a lovely, lovely shade, but it's very sheer, so won't be for everyone, also, I've found that the cardboard packaging, whilst adorable, isn't the most robust packaging in the world.  It's nice and moisturising on though, so while it doesn't last, it's actually nice to reapply quite regularly.

Here's the face of the day I created with the shadows, liner, face powder and the lipglosses from the fob:

Foundation is Estee Lauder Double Wear Light in shade 2.

The Fine Print: samples were provided for review.  You didn't think I'd do a giveaway of untried products, did you?