Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette and Brow Box

 I don't do much to my eyebrows (they're tattooed on, so I don't have to), but the Urban Decay Brow Boxes are lovely, and there's a special edition of them for the Gwen Stefani Collection, and it's this one in Bathwater Blonde.

Quite obviously defined for people with fairer hair than I, the brow box comes with two shades, and is most suitable for dark blondes/light brunettes.  Sadly, I am a dark brunette ... 

It comes complete with two brushes, two powders, one wax, one tiny pair of tweezers, and two mirrors, one of which is magnifying, there's really all you need to do your brows on the go.  Do you do your brows on the go though?  Admittedly I only brush mine through as a finishing touch last thing in the morning then ignore them for the rest of the day, but would a travel brow kit work for you?  Tell me, I'm curious!  It costs £19.50, but I think it's perfect for girls with medium shades of hair, there's no red in either of the shades, which is great too.

The blush kit though, I can totally get behind, even though it's a tad on the warm side.  Urban Decay describe the shades as:

Cherry - light pink satin,
Easy - deep rose w/gold shimmer,
Angel - champagne-nude shimmer,
Lo-Fi - soft bronze matte,
Hush - medium pink w/gold shimmer and
OC soft pink w/peach shift. 

So you basically have all your blusher, bronzer and highlight options covered in one palette, which I really like.  It's a good and hefty palette though, which will stand up to a fair bit of abuse in a makeup bag (the only other cheek palette I have is made of cardboard, which basically won't travel), and the pans are a decent size, so at £35 for the whole thing, it seems good value.  I'll do a Face of the Day featuring my picks of the collection (and I'll be doing a Gwen Stefani special over on my LipsNspritz hashtag on Instagram this week) some time towards the end of the week.  Light depending.

What would you pick up from the collection?

I reviewed the eye palette previously, here.


The Fine Print: PR samples.

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An introduction to Tweezerman

Think of Tweezerman, and you think of tweezers.  Well, I do.  Just tweezers.  Well, it's sort of in the name really, isn't it?  You can imagine my delight, however, when Tweezerman recently sent me a parcel containing all kinds of goodies, and I was surprised, not to mention delighted, at just how extensive their range goes.  Basically, anything you need for your eyebrows and nails. Tweezerman has probably got it covered ...

 Fingernail and toenail clippers - I did actually knew they did these, but thought they were too expensive, but I simply hadn't realised how much better they are than the £1.50 jobbies I routinely buy and then immediately blunt with the toenails of doom, so suffice it to say, no more own-brand clippers in the Lippie Household for a while -  cuticle pushers and colourful nail-files galore.  I have to say that I am terrified of the gorgeously designed purple springy cuticle clippers though!  Being a bit of a cack-handed muppet, I fear possibly cutting a finger off ... Oh there's a blending/glossing block in the range too, which (being a muppet), I was too stupid to photograph ...

 But eyebrows and, to a lesser extent, eyelashes are Tweezerman's raison d'etre, and it shows.  From rose-gold plated eyelash curlers, to the classic slanted and pointed tweezers (of which I already own several pairs of each in various sizes, there isn't a makeup bag in my house without a pair of tweezermans in there, frankly), there are also eyelash combs and spoolies (which is the mascara-brush thingy up there).

But the best discovery for me, without doubt, has been the eyebrow scissors.  I had no idea you could buy these, and I've long known that the best part of any professional eyebrow shape has been the trimming of my long - my eyebrows grow long and thick and luxuriant - LONG eyebrow hairs.  Have you ever tried trimming your eyebrows with nail scissors?  I have.  Please don't be like me - it does not work!   I am rubbish at plucking my own eyebrows, depending on professionals for shaping, but still needing maintenance at home, I've found that by simply trimming the longest offenders I can look groomed in seconds without plucking at all.

Any surprising discoveries for you, here? You can buy any and all of these items from BeautyBay, who have an extensive collection of Tweezerman products, including a couple not shown here ....

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Lippie's Lust List #3 - Tweezerit Curve

 No, it's not a flock of tiny glittery budgerigars, it's actually a collection of shiny eyebrow tweezers from Tweezerit.co.uk

Ergonomically designed, and extremely easy to use, even for those cack-handed muppets amongst us (that'll be me, then), these are proving to be real contenders to my Tweezermans, owing to the easy to grip wider section nearer the tips.

And they're cute, too!  They cost £25 from Tweezerit. 

This post: Lippie's Lust List #3 - Tweezerit Curve originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Best of 2012 - Permanent Makeup with Tracie Giles

My depth perception isn't so great, I'm both long-sighted and short-sighted, which makes plucking my eyebrows a challenge! Especially when you take into consideration that as well as not seeing very well, I'm also a cack-handed muppet ...

That said, when the opportunity to trial permanent makeup with Tracie Giles came along, I did have to think long and hard about it. My eyebrows - badly plucked though they might be, are thick and, most of all, black, somwhat good would permanent makeup do for them?

Plenty, as it turned out:

This is, hands down, the single best thing I did for my face in 2012. No question. I absolutely adore my new eyebrows, they look this smart and groomed at all times, and, I don't have to do anything to them. Well, bar pluck them a bit - but hey!  Now I know I only have to pluck the hairs outside the lines! Perfect for a lazy (and cack-handed) so-and-so like me! The picture above was taken right after the treatment, but they've settled down perfectly into something a little more natural-looking since:

Please to be ignoring the eyebags, thank you.

It was a big decision, because if I didn't like them, I would have been stuck with them for up to two years, but the girls at Tracie Giles spend - literally - hours drawing different shapes of brows on you, and won't proceed until you are entirely happy with the shape, which is something I completely appreciated.

It's also a big decision, because this is, essentially,  a tattoo, and therefore is somewhat uncomfortable during the treatment (though the numbing cream they use is fantastic!), and for a couple of days after. The success of your new brows depends both on the hygiene of your therapist - absolutely A+ at Tracie Giles - and your own regime of skincare afterwards.  Your brows will need to be kept moist with balms to help them heal, and you very much have to avoid getting them wet in the shower, or getting them sunburned, and, whatever you do: DON'T SCRATCH!  However, once they've healed up, they're okay with a bit of benign neglect, in my experience.  Your brows will require a touch-up treatment after a couple of weeks, as your body will absorb up to a third of the pigments (which are mineral-based) right after treatment,but the top-up is included in the service.

It's also a big decision, because this involves a significant outlay of cash, too. Currently, prices begin at £395, but the eyebrows should last you at least two years.  However, if you got your eyebrows threaded every month, (at London prices of £15 a go) you'd have spent £360 over the same period on your brows as well, it's worth bearing in mind.

This is my treatment of the year.  Thank you, Tracie Giles.  I'm considering saving up - after the wedding - and getting my wonky lipline sorted, but there's no money in the pot for that right now. 

There's also a review of this service in Issue 8 "The Beauty Issue", of SLiNK magazine, if you want to know more!
   
The Fine Print: Get Lippie was a guest of Tracie Giles - my eyebrows now worship her as a goddess. 

This post: Best of 2012 - Permanent Makeup with Tracie Giles originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper