Votary Cleansing Oil

I love discovering new brands, and browsing around Liberty a good few weeks ago, I was intrigued by Votary Cleansing Oil.  From the colour of the bottle - a pleasing bright green, that stands out so beautifully from the white and pastels of many other skincare brands - the gorgeous rose-gold label, Votary looks different to many other skincare brands, and it has a slightly different ethos too.

Designed by makeup artist Arabella Preston, the Votary website has this to say about cleansing (and I quote it here in full because I couldn't agree with it any more if I'd actually written it myself):

‘You’ve been told that clean skin should feel stretched and tight. That’s simply not true. Massage this natural oil into your skin, and follow it with a hot flannel for a fantastic way to cleanse your face and remove make-up. It leaves your skin feeling clean, soft and plumped."

Skin should not feel taut, or squeaky after cleansing.  Ever.  It's a hard habit to break though, and initial trials of oil-based cleansing are often abandoned by people who claim that their skin feels "coated" or "unclean" afterwards, when in fact they're actually so used to having their skin stripped and dehydrated by (usually) foaming cleansers, that they no longer know what healthy and hydrated skin really feels like!  I spent years thinking my skin was both dry and acne-prone when in fact what was happening was that I was stripping my skin so much that it was flaking off because the foaming cleansers I favoured were just removing the oils my skin needed, and spots were just being caused by the inflammation caused by the harsh chemicals.

Discovering oil cleansers - my first was Origins Liquid Crystal, long discontinued now, but held in high esteem here, even now - was the saviour of my skin.  So I am delighted to have Votary in my rotation now.  It's a slightly viscous oil that spreads easily over the skin, and is particularly suited to massage. It smells delightful (lovely when you have a hot flannel over your face, and are inhaling the steam before you start to remove it), and has an exceptionally short ingredient list; Sunflower, Apricot, Jojoba, Grape Seed, Rose Geranium, and Chamomile oil, essentially.

It does remove makeup, but I like it as a second cleanse for it's nourishing and massage-worthy qualities.  One thing you do need to know about the formula is that it absolutely, postively, totally does not emulsify, and so can only really be properly removed with a cloth.  Luckily, Votary Cleansing Oil provides a generously sized and luxurious cloth in the box. It costs £45, which I'm aware is a high price, but with such a clean ingredient list, it's not really a surprise that it's on the expensive side.  The bottle is a generous one, and you don't need much to cleanse your whole face and neck - I've been using mine 5-6 times a week (mostly as a night cleanse, which is why you don't see it so much on my weekly skincare posts - I'm too lazy to document my skincare twice a day) and I've probably used about an eighth of the bottle so far, if that, so it lasts and lasts.  I think I've probably got at least another 5 months or so usage in there, anyway.

An investment purchase then.  But if you don't invest in your skin, no one else will.  You can find Votary in Liberty Beauty Hall, or at their online shop.  If you care about your skin, Votary will care for your skin.

The Fine Print: Personal purchase.

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Clinique Deep Comfort Body Oil

 

First things first; I don't have dry skin. Secondly, I don't use body lotion, as a rule.  These two facts may be related.  I do, however, occasionally get dry shins in winter.  I wear trousers a lot, don't wear a full-length coat for fear of looking like a hobbit, and so my shins, protected only by my trousers and the tights I usually wear beneath are the bits of my body most exposed to the weather, really.  There's always a week, every winter where my shins get so dry and flaky that they ITCH like nothing on earth and it drives me bananas.

And still body lotion seems like too much of a faff, frankly.  They're always too scented, or too thick, or just take too damn long to rub in, and I just can't be bothered.  Enter Clinique Deep Comfort Body Oil, a light spray that has just enough heft to be able to hydrate even the most crocodilesque of shins, yet is light enough to barely need any rubbing in whasoever.  It literally sinks into skin almost as soon as it is sprayed on, and soothes the itchiest of limbs.  I love it.

At £21 or so for quite a small 125ml bottle, however, I suspect my drier-skinned friends (of whom I have many) will be cursing at the price.  Admittedly you don't need very much at all, I found one spray per shin plenty to go around. For me, based on two weeks a year usage, and two sprays per shin per day, whilst I doubt I'll ever finish the bottle in this lifetime, as an emergency itch-relief product, it can't be beaten.

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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LipsNspritz of the Week 06.12.15

After spending last weekend doused in Tom Ford's finest Black Orchid (albeit in the new Eau de Toilette version rather than the EdP), I was obviously stuck in a rather Tom Ford kind of groove for the early part of this week.  

Monday brought Tom Ford Black Violet, a scent which I have always preferred to Black Orchid, for some reason (but it's now discontinued), a gloriously rich and decadent fragrance, one which reminds me of the glory days of women's cinema in the forties.  It's a fragrance with shoulder pads and red lipstick, which I subverted by not wearing shoulder pads, and wearing with MAC Hot Tahiti, which is a slightly browned wine-shade, which reads like a neutral on my lips.  I did wear black leather though ...

Tuesday was Tom Ford Tuscan Leather, long one of my favourite fragrances.  I was surprised on wearing it this time, however (the first since I lost my sense of smell last year) that I can now pick up the raspberry notes that, in other writers descriptions, have always mystified me somewhat.  A nice discovery!  It still smells leathery to me - which I love - but now it has an extra dimension that I never noticed previously, a great thing. I wore it with Bare Minerals Call The Shots which is a great red lipstick.

Wednesday brought a neglected gem from my perfume collection, which was Maison Francis Kurkdjian Amyris Femme.  This had been shuffled to the back of one of my drawers, and I confess that I'd completely forgotten about it as a result.  I'm completely kicking myself about that now, as it is incredibly beautiful.  I described it on Instagram as luminous and sheer, bright with citrus in the opening, and warm with woods and resins in the base.  Classy and expensive-smelling, it's radiant and gorgeous, and I can't wait, actually, to wear it again.  So I'm wearing it again today as I write this ... I paired it with Laura Mercier Cherries Jubilee Lip Parfait, which is a sheer natural red, which I like a great deal too.

I spent some of Thursday talking to various government bods (like you do) so I thought I'd wear something classic.  Naturally, when I opened the box, I was a bit hacked off that my bottle of Chanel No 5 was actually a bottle of Chanel No5 Eau Premiere. Not the end of the world, admittedly, but annoying, especially when it turns out that Eau Premiere is just a little too restrained for my damaged nose to pick up in any detail.  It's very nice, I'm sure, but it's no No5.  Now I'm wondering where my bottle of No5 has got to, I know I have one!  I wore it with Revlon ColorStay Moisture Stain in India Intrigue, which is one of my favourite pinks, as it lasts and lasts.  It does dry a bit though.

On Friday, I was planning to meet some friends for dinner, so an old favourite fragrance was in order, and I picked Guerlain Pamplune Aqua Allegorica.  Grapefruit scents have been tricky for me for a while, thanks to their sulphurous qualities (I struggle with vetiver as well for the same reason), but I think it's coming back now.  Either way, Pamplune smelled good, well as good as a sweaty grapefruit (and I mean that in a good way) can, let's put it like that.  I wore it with Smashbox Lip Lacquer in Legendary Red, which is a smashing red - I'm ashamed it's taken me so long to wear it.

Saturday I was ill, again, I'm totally fed up with it now, but  it's becoming a way of life at the moment, it appears. Anyhoo, I still wanted to smell good, so I picked up my bottle of Balmain Ivoire, which is soapy-fabulous (even though rather thin in comparison to its 80's-tastic fabulousness before reformulations and re-releases happened to it) and classy and very, very clean.  Still lovely.  I had been planning to wear it with a revlon lipstain, but as I spent the day in my pyjamas, that didn't actually happen ... 

What've you been wearing?

The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases, all combined.


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Skincare of the Week 06.12.15

Having sensitive skin whilst the seasons are changing can be awkward, certainly I find that I have to be extra careful with the active ingredients in skincare when the weather is at its least predictable.  Still being ill with a cough really isn't helping, either. My skin has been on the verge of being really reactive this week (I can usually tell as tiny bumps start appearing on my temples), so I've swapped my routines around a bit, to be a bit kinder to my skin.

I have dropped the acids from my daytime routines and I'm now only using them a couple of times a week - at night.  This gives my skin time to recover from using them whilst I sleep, and stops my skin getting irritated by the weather so much during the day.  I'm going to avoid using glycolic all over for a while until my skin settles down again.

In other news, I've re-introduced one of my all-time favourite skincare brands back into my routine - namely Kate Somerville.  I'm so happy to have Goat Cream (you can see it in my Thursday PM pic above) back in my routine.  It's gentle and soothing, and thanks to the lactic acid, it's also ever so slightly exfoliating.  I've been using the Pixi Skintreats Glow Peel Pads to exfoliate my chin separately, however, as I have a semi-permanent build up of sebum there, and I'm hoping the 20% glycolic on those pads will help deal with that.

Now, if only these things helped with cold sores ...

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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LipsNspritz of the Fortnight, Pt II

 This week, I basically took a "lucky dip" approach to my perfume and lipstick choices.  After three months and nearly 80 lipstick and perfume pictures, I realise I'm probably something like a quarter of the way through my fragrance collection, and possibly, maybe, a tenth (perhaps?) of the way through my lipsticks.  There's a few months of this to go, yet, I think!

Monday was Miller Harris Cassis en Feuille, which bears a passing resemblance to Jo Malone London's Blackberry & Bay (a perennial autumn favourite), but just has a little more grassy vetiver in the mix, so has a little more ... oomph. I wore it with MAC All Out Gorgeous, which is rather aply named.

Tuesday was Etat Libre d'Orange's Antiheros, which is the lavenderiest lavender there ever was.  Luca Turin described it as "cheap lavender soap, but strong", and so it proves to be.  I've missed lavender a lot whilst I've been parosmic (up until recently, it has smelled burned and awful), and to have it back is wonderful.  Lavender contains such a variety of scents, it's herbal and floral, and has a hint of balsam, and mints in there too.  That it is maligned as a "granny scent" is an eternal mystery to me.  I wore it with Charlotte Tilbury's Red Carpet Red which is one of the best red lipsticks ever.  

Wednesday had me in something just a little more ladylike, the musky prettiness of Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely.  I only like a couple of celebrity fragrances, and this is a good one. It reminds me of Narciso Rodriguez, only at a much more acceptable price-point.  I wore it with Illamasqua Stark, which I also like very much, though it's a little patchier than I recall it being on application.

Thursday brought a board meeting and Lancome's Climat - a little-known fragrance from Lancome's back-catalogue.  It's a sweet and powdery ladylike little whisper of a thing, a proper "Grown-Up" fragrance so I rarely wear it, for that reason.  Paired with Stila Long-last Lipgloss in Firey (I think, the label has worn off), it saw me through a board meeting where I managed not to kill anyone, so a winner, I think.

Friday I wore Boucheron by Boucheron, which is a big heavy-hitter of a floral fragrance, in a beautiful bottle, designed like a piece of jewellery, which always delights when I spray it.  Paired with Estee Lauder lipstick in Dominant, which is a very fine pink indeed.

On Saturday I was heading to a party in Soho, so I wore the ultimate party-girl fragrance: Tom Ford Black Orchid, in the new eau de toilette formulation, still loud, and one of the happiest fragrances around, it's a joy.  I paired it with the Matte Balm from Revlon in Striking, which is the loudest red I own, and wore them both with sequins.  A jolly good time was had by all.

The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases.



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LipsNspritz of the ... er ... Fortnight.

I hate being ill, and I really hate being ill to the extent that it interferes with my posting schedule.  Nonetheless, here's a double-dose (whether you wanted it or not, frankly) of my weekly diary of lipstick and perfume-wearing.  The above pic is from the week ending 22/11/15.

Monday was Etat Libre d'Orange Like This, alongside Chantecaille Lip Chic in Wild Rose.  Like This is probably my favourite "gourmand" fragrance, being a blend of pumpkin, mandarin, ginger and immortelle.  It should smell like a pumpkin pie - which it does, to an extent - but it also smells warm, sophisticated and slightly tweedy from the prickle of ginger.  Perfect for autumn, and just plain delicious at any time.  

Tuesday was continuing the gourmand theme with Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille, alongside Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Rose.  Both are easy and simple to wear, without being too challenging.  Ambre Vanille is sweet and warm, and Rose is a beautiful neutral, which will work on many colourings.

Wednesday brought Hermes Eau d'Orange Vert which is one of my favourite citrus fragrances of all time - I go a little insane for mint in fragrances, and this combination of bitter orange, sweet orange, and just a hint of peppermint oil makes me a little weak at the knees.  I only wish it lasted longer.  I wore it with the rosy mauve of Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in RD529, which is quite an opaque liquid lipstick.

Thursday I wanted to wear a classic, so I did.  Guerlain L'Heure Bleue, a beautiful dance of orange blossom and iris, coupled with vanilla and a little spicy carnation, I adore this fragrance.  It feels blue all the way through, so I wore a blue-toned lipstick too, which was Illamasqua Magnetism.  I got several compliments on the fragrance, as I always do when I wear it, and resolved to wear it more often.  Which I will when this project is over.

I fully intended to wear Tuberose Criminelle by Serge Lutens on Friday, but I was too ill to cope with the rubbery camphoraceousness (TOTALLY a word - if possibly not the spelling).  I spent the day feeling sorry for myself in pyjamas instead.

Saturday I was attempting to  make myself feel better, so a hot shower and a thorough dowsing in DKNY Drop of Rose, which I love for its soft and rosy approximation of baby powder, and a slight resemblance to Ombre Rose by Jean Jacques Brosseau.  It is pure comfort in a bottle, and I love it.  I paired it with Becca lipgloss in Palm Breeze, a bubblegum pink that wasn't too challenging.

 Part two tomorrow ...

 //
The Fine Print: PR Samples, purchases, random stuff from the back of the perfume cabinet ...



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Skincare of the week 29.11.15

I've been ill for a fortnight now - why there weren't any posts on the blog last week, sorry! And this is the skincare I've been using to help myself look approximately normal again.  It's not working, I still look like death warmed up, but at least my skin isn't blotchy and flaking.  For now ...

Monday brought Biologique Recherche Lait, with PixiBeauty Glow Tonic, Murad Eye Cream, Medik8 Red Skin serum (something I'm starting to truly love and rely on), and SkinCeuticals moisturiser - of which there is a full review coming up, because it's a great product on my sensitive oily-combination skin. Oh, and Serozinc, which is an all-time favourite!

Tuesday was the same,  only I swapped in Bioderma Crealine spray for the Serozinc (and in all honesty, I use them both interchangably - if you have one, you probably don't need the other), plus I added in Pestle & Mortar Pure Hyaluronic, for more hydration.  Tuesday was a long day at the office, and I knew I'd need a boost of hydration to get through the day, but I needed a bit of exfoliation first to make it sink in well, so the morning also brought in my much-loved Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Toner.

Wednesday was one of those days where I woke up super exhausted, and it was showing on my face, so I wanted some lovely, buffering, comforting skincare, so I dug out my beloved (truly beloved) May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon Balm, which is an amazing skincare product for sensitised slightly reactive skin like mine.  A rich balm that melts into an oil, and contains natural anti-histamines in the form of blue tansy oil, I use it as a night treatment mostly, but it's superb at protecting from the weather, on occasion.

Thursday - I'm experimenting with the Kiehls' Ultra Facial moisturiser at the moment, which I really liked in conjunction with the Blue Cocoon Balm, and, just because I could, I did a double-cleanse with PixiBeauty Nourishing Cleansing Balm, and Bioessense Miracle Cleansing Water Cleansing Jelly (about which more soon).  I don't normally double-cleanse in the morning , but sometimes you just want to kick things up a bit.

Friday.  KATE SOMERVILLE is back in my routine! I received a little package of the products a while ago, and I've been holding onto them (along with the KS products I've been keeping in my fridge for a good few months now too - thanks to kind friends and family who have been to the US this year, and dragged some back for me) till now.  You're going to be seeing a lot of KS in the coming weeks, but it's always a joy to use them.  I'm currently using the Kate Somerville Nourish Moisturiser, and the Age Arrest Eye Cream, but I'll be rotating a couple of other products in and out of my routine for a couple of weeks.  I also have a couple of pots of Goat Cream, but I'm keeping those mainly as night creams right now.

Saturday - I wanted to do a routine composed entirely of favourite products, both old and new ones, and this was the result.  Zelens Balm Cleanser, which I left on my face for a good five or ten minutes as a mask before removing (not deliberate, but it felt really nice, actually!) Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Toner, Serozinc, Zelens Antioxidant Serum, and three (count them!) Kate Somerville products, the aforementioned Nourish and Age Arrest eyecream, alongside Quench Hydrating Serum, which is one of my favourite products ever.  I probably need the oil-free version for every day use, to be honest, but I do like to use this on days where I'm in no rush to apply my makeup afterwards.

How has your week in skincare been? 


The Fine Print: PR Samples, purchases, and gifts which were  until recently kept in the back of the fridge ...


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Library of Fragrance - Cardamom

Spicy fragrances have been one of my saviours this year.  For some reason that's not quite clear (but which is possibly related to trigeminal rather than olfactory nerve stimulation) my parosmic nose can register spicy scents (and tastes) really quite well.  So, when I discovered Library of Fragrance were bringing out a Cardamom perfume, I was super-excited.  

Cardamom is one of my favourite smells (and tastes) anyway, so I was always destined to love this, but even so, I was a bit surprised by it.  Expecting a sharp and pungent hit of hot perfumed spice, I was greeted with a soft fluffy cloud of warm cardamom-scented powder.  Creamy and gently perfumed with cardamom, this is really lovely.  It smells a lot more expensive than any £15 perfume has any right to, frankly.

Library of Fragrance perfumes aren't particularly known for their lasting power, but this seems to last quite well on my skin, having a 3-4 hour wear time (which, compared to the 30-minutes to an hour I get from Clean Laundry, is nothing short of miraculous).  I was hoping for a sharp punch of spice to use for layering over other fragrances that I have trouble interpreting, but what I got was actually a lovely fragrance in its own right, perfect for wearing alone.  Can't argue with that.

It'll be in-store soon.

The Fine Print: PR Sample



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United Beauty Gel Touch Top Coat

  
I'd love to be able to do a complete gel manicure at home, but sadly, I remain the cack-handed muppet I always was, and the thought of having to do all that cuticle-work and tidy-up and preparation makes me a little light-headed.  Luckily, one of my good friends is Nails by Miss Merx, so whenever I fancy a full-on gel manicure, it is to her I go.  Times being what they are, however, I can't afford permanent gel manicures, and my nose being as problematic as it is (I can no longer bear the smell of nail polish) I can't be doing with painting my own nails too often either, so what is a girl to do?

Enter United Beauty Gel Touch Top Coat, which claims to turn any nail polish into a gel manicure.  All you do is apply your nail varnish as usual, wait until dry (incredibly important, this step), cure with the included UV lamp and boom!  You're ready to go!

Costing £49.99, the kit includes a UV lamp, a bottle of topcoat and five cleansing wipes (which you use before and after applying the top coat, initially to remove grease, and then afterwards to remove any residual gel left over after curing).  I really like this, with some caveats - the cleansing wipes are on the dry side, so once you've used them pre-manicure, they're too dry to use to wipe off excess gel, and there are only five of them, and if you need two per manicure, that's only two full manis you have wipes for.  And, of course, there is the fact that your manicure won't last quite as long as a full gel manicure, either.  After a few months of using this, I can get a manicure to last ten days if I apply very (VERY) carefully, but a week is more usual. 

That said, a week is usually more than enough for me, I get bored of wearing the same colour for longer, anyway, and I can cope with only painting once a week, instead of two or three times as with normal nail varnish. 

I've used it a lot over the last couple of months (after buying myself some alcohol to use as a cleanser) and like it very much.  If you're expecting full-gel manicure wear, you're going to be a little disappointed, but if you're a lazy article, like myself, it'll save you a manicure a week.

Available from the United Beauty website. 


The Fine Print: PR Sample

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