Melvita Rose Extraordinary Water Review

I mentioned recently that my skin has been going through one of it's more insane periods - dry, itchy, dehydrated, blotchy and scaly, it's been fun!  The best thing for me to do when that happens is to scale back on the more active skin care and reintroduce more natural and less aggravating products.

 One product I'm really glad to have introduced to my routine is this Extraordinary Water in Rose from Melvita.  Not a water at all, and definitely not a toner, this is, in fact, a liquid-gel packed with hyaluronic acid and glycerine, alongside extracts of rose and marsh clover to soothe, hydrate, and - allegedly - firm skin.

I can't speak for its firming properties, but the soothing and hydration is second to none, at least as far as your blotchy, itchy, sandpaper-foreheaded correspondent is concerned.  It's taken me a long time - a very long time - to come around to the benefits of toning liquids in a skincare routine, and I've discovered that the trick (for me) is to think of them as the start of your moisturising routine, rather than the end of your cleansing one.  The texture, and the glorious scent, of this extraordinary water really helps with that - your skin very definitely feels softer and more moisturised, even before you apply your moisturiser over the top. 

Whilst it probably won't work miracles for anti-ageing (I'm definitely behind the idea that you need the appliance of science for that, frankly), if your skin is sore and dehydrated in the current weather, it'll thank you for investing in a bottle of this.  Mine has!  At £14 per 100ml bottle, it won't exactly break the bank either.   There are two other variants, orange blossom, and narcissus, but this is the one for me. You can buy it online from the Melvita store.

 The Fine Print: My initial bottle of this was a PR Sample, but I've bought a couple of bottles since.  I like it!

This post: http://getlippie.blogspot.com/2012/09/melvita-rose-extraordinary-water-review.html originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved. If you're not reading it on Get Lippie, this content has been stolen by a scraper.

Tom Ford: Ombre de Hyacinth Review

A new season, and a new Tom Ford Private Blend fragrance to review ... 

This autumn, Tom Ford is releasing the "Jardin Noir" collection, a series of four floral scents, including, Cafe Rose, Jonquil de Nuit, Lys Fume, and this, Ombre de Hyacinth.  I've been lucky enough to have a sniff of all four, and to me, Ombre de Hyacinth is the most distinctive.  The rose, jonquil, and lily fragrances are very nice, but quite traditionally floral - in particular Jonquil de Nuit, or Daffodil of the Night as I've heard it referred to a few times, representing as it does, a traditional English country garden, but Ombre de Hyacinth has a little more of an edge than the other three.

It starts dry, green and bitter, oozing with resinous galbanum, reminiscent - in a very distant way - of the opening of Chanel No19. When sniffed on paper, (but not onskin), there's almost a hay, or drying grass accord, but on my skin, it's a little sweeter, a little more floral, with just a hint of soil beneath, and it's a fascinating fragrance whilst this bit lasts.  Personally, I don't know what hyacinths smell like, but the first hour or so of this fragrance is really lovely, yes it is flowery, but in an unusual green and slightly dirty way, like flowers from bulbs, rather than cut flowers.  MrLippie likes it very much too, which is very unusual for a floral fragrance. 

After about an hour, the jasmine and musks kick in.  I haven't really worn a lot of jasmine over the last few years owing to having overdosed back in the dim and distant past on Serge Lutens A la Nuit (which is a little like being drowned in jasmine - it might be time for me to reinvestigate my vintage bottle, now I come to think of it), it's quite a clean jasmine, polite, you might say, and it sticks close to my skin, without really disappearing at all.  I like it, quite a lot, the scent reminds me of vintage cosmetics, of finely milled face powders and French lipsticks, it's rather lovely.

It's fairly tenacious too, sprayed on skin it will last around eight hours, though I've been able smell it on my skin some 12-18 hours later too, and if you spray it on clothing, it'll last even longer than that.

Is it a classic?  I don't know, and I'm not qualified to say, either, but this is a fragrance I like a lot, in spite of myself.  I thought, originally, that I had a few fragrances similar - almost immediately Untitled by Maison Martin Margiela sprang to mind after that bitter green opening, but I was soon disabused of that notion, it is a floral, but with an unusual crisp green edge and a hint of dirt that I like a lot.  It's one of those scents that I find myself occasionally "phantom-smelling" (where you get an idea of a scent in your mind and think you want to smell that again), and not a lot of fragrances do that.

It's a pricey one, at £135 for a 50ml bottle, but I can see I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this - it's currently on my (mental) shortlist of potential wedding fragrances ...


The Fine Print: The PR department at Tom Ford have kindly forgiven me for my Lavender Palm review, and provided a sample of this for consideration.  I threatened to send my granny round, you see ...

This post: http://getlippie.blogspot.com/2012/09/tom-ford-ombre-de-hyacinth-review.html originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.If you're not reading it on Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen.

SLiNK Magazine is out now!

Posts are thin on the ground this week, I know, but normal service will be resumed shortly, I promise.

If you've missed me at all  in the meantime (and if not, WHY NOT, eh? Eh?) then you can read the latest issue of SLiNK Magazine, which also happens to be my first full issue as beauty editor!  I'm super-excited about it (totes!) and hope you will like what I've done.  The next issue - which is the Beauty issue - will be even bigger, better and brighter, I promise. It had better be, I've been working like a Trojan on it for the last couple of months, with the help of a few other people, and some "celebrity guests"!

Click the picture or the SLiNK link to go through and buy the magazine:

It's meant to look like this - got any 3D goggles handy?  Put 'em on now!

My especial thanks go to both Caroline Hirons and Jack Howard for their help in getting this issue together, thanks, guys. You rock.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Carter & Bond Barbers

Back by "popular request", today Get Lippie is proud to be hosting a guest post from that most "august" of "occasional* contributors", yes, it's Mr Lippie!**

*****
The last time I went to a branded barber shop, I have to admit that the experience was less than overwhelming, and as a result I have been fairly wary of venturing far from my local barbers' where I've been going for about 4 years. 

So, when I was offered a haircut and a wet shave from Carter & Bond, I experienced a certain amount of apprehension. Getting the balance right at a barber shop can be incredibly difficult. Whilst most little local, independent shops charge very little and depend upon a high volume of customers who are happy with something that can be achieved with clippers and a minimal amount of scissor action, the moment you start to up the price past the £15/£20 mark, customers want something special. Some brands try to appeal to the "lad" market, with big screens playing various sports shows, beer on offer, and generally trying to bring a bar feel to the whole concept. Others go high end, bringing the feel of a Savoy tailor and treating customers as king, with a host of added extras - for a price.

So, which would Carter & Bond be? To judge from the logo - an elegant bowler hat - I thought it would be high-end, catering to a market which would be a long way above my price range. The only question, in my mind, was whether the value for money would be there. Carter & Bond are situated over in West London, a few minutes walk from Latymer Road Tube Station. When walking up to the address given, a bit of confusion did start to set in - we were heading up to what was obviously a combined industrial/commercial unit. Given it was a Sunday afternoon, this was even more odd! However, we found Carter & Bond on the buzzer, pressed it, mentioned I had an appointment, and in we went.
 

When we got to the barber shop, the barber (an amiable gent by the name of Yusuf) was just finishing up with another client. There was just one chair, but the room itself was a call to every young boys' dream. Model planes adorned the room, plastic soldiers were lurking everywhere, and - best of all, in my humble opinion - a STACK of Commando comic books were piled up at the back. It was just great. Yusuf was chatting quietly to his client, and I just wondered around, slightly awestruck, wondering precisely how much of this stuff had been nicked from my parents' garage. I gathered my wits, refocussed, and looked at what was actually being sold.

There were, in actuality, a tonne of really interesting products alongside the memorabilia. Everything you would expect at a barber - the hair gels, the aftershaves - but all sorts of extras which caught my magpie-like eyes - cufflinks, full-on cutthroat razors & shaving kits, and even toothpaste! It was all very intriguing, and I barely noticed the time pass as the previous client - who was obviously here for the first time as well - was finished with, took a peer at the extras, and walked off with toothpaste and a couple of other odds & sods, looking very satisfied.
 

I took a seat in the big chair and Yusuf looked expectantly at me. "Erm....I usually have a Grade 6 back & sides, with about an inch off the top" - yes, this was my opening gambit. A quiet chuckle ensued. "Sorry sir, we don't do that sort of thing here" - accompanied by a waggle of the scissors. Gosh! I gathered my wits, and tried to remember the last time I'd had a haircut like that - and, to my shame, I still can't! Some brief negotiation & discussion ensured, and Yusuf went to work on my barnet. I have to say that I was very impressed. Quick, efficient, and obviously highly skilled, Yusuf rapidly sorted my hair (of which there is copious amounts, not always amenable to direction) into something which genuinely suited me. The past couple of weeks have been even more impressive, as the style has held its' shape very well and is still recognisable, despite my lack of skills in sculpting hair with product!
 

Once the hair was done, it was time for the shave - my first wet shave ever! I had a couple of ideas of what to expect, but the sensations absolutely blew me away. The hot towels steamed my head to perfection, and the various oils suddenly cooled my face with serious intensity. Add the slide of the razor across the skin, and it was fantastic. I would easily recommend it to anyone (at least, anyone who needs their face shaved!). Overall, the entire process took about an hour, which was capped off with me emerging incredibly red-faced, but feeling hugely revived. The various photos show me somewhat mummified, but they have no way to depict the furnace that was hitting my face!

Afterwards, we had a brief chat about the experience - and the astonishing fact that that whole hour would only cost £50! For a once-a-month experience, that's not bad at all - admittedly, the real trouble would be from spending as much if not more on the extras - a cufflink addict like myself could easily blow a tonne of cash without blinking.

Overall, I really enjoyed the whole thing, and am looking forward to returning - I just hope Yusuf doesn't mind that the side parting he gave me has disappeared....!


You can find Carter and Bond at 15-17 Baseline Studios, Whitchurch Road, London, W11 4AT, and calle them on 020 7243 0319.  They also have a great online grooming store at http://carterandbond.com which is all kinds of aces ...
 
*  If by occasional, you mean, like, once a year or so.

** Will that do, MrL?

 This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Chanel Rouge Allure: Inimitable, Coromandel and Passion

  
Very little gets my heart racing like a red lipstick. When three red lipsticks turn up on the same day, well, that's an event my friends.  I was delighted to hear that Chanel are re-launching their Rouge Allure range, to go alongside the successful Rouge Coco lipsticks.  Whilst I like (and own about six) of the Coco's, I do prefer something more pigmented, and the Rouge Allures deliver pigment in spades.

I was sent three of the brightest shades from the newly-relaunched collection, Inimitable, Coromandel and Passion, all reds and all beautiful.  Shall we take a look?

Inimitable is a bright berry red, slightly blue-based in tone, but with a golden shimmer running through it that warms it up a little in wear.

Hard to tell from this picture, but Coromandel is an orange-red, but without the brown undertones that would normally make you describe this as a brick-red.  There is a fine (finer than that in Inimitable) gold shimmer running through this lipstick too.

Passion is a classic blue-based red without shimmer, and is a little more pigmented than Inimitable. It's a lot more dramatic in wear than that shade too, and will suit cooler-toned wearers.

Let's take a look at the bullets together:

You can only get an idea of how different the shades are when they're on skin, so I won't keep you waiting:

As you can see here, Coromandel really does pull orange in comparison to the other two shades, but on the lips, this isn't as noticeable, especially if your lips have a lot of red to them already.  I'll show you lip swatches later on in the week.

The formula on these is very good, excellent slip without feeling greasy, a high level of pigment, a glossy finish and that classic Chanel lipstick scent.  Wear time is about average, but they're not billed as long-lasting lipsticks, so I don't mind that too much, to be honest.  There's very little more glamorous than pulling out a Chanel lipstick for touch-ups, and the Rouge Allure casing is a classic - you push down on the gold Chanel logo and the lipstick pops up out of the black metal casing.  You don't get that distinctive lipstick "click" that you do with more traditional casings, but it's satisfying all the same.  I remember when the Rouge Allures were first launched, and they were making a big song and dance about how the packaging was operable with one hand.  Er ... it isn't, but hey ho, it's a nice case all the same.

What's your pick of the Allures?

The Fine Print: Samples supplied by Chanel.
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.