LipsNspritz 7th February 2016 - Urban Decay Special

 

  
So, there were two themes for LipsNspritz on Instagram this week, one is pretty easy to spot, but did anyone notice the fragrant link?  I spent the week trialling the Urban Decay #UDxGwen lipstick collection, and I wore Ex-Girlfriend, Phonecall, Firebird, Wonderland and Spiderweb.  You can see colour descriptions and swatches of the full collection here, but I have to say that I am mightily impressed with the range.  Both Ex-Girlfriend and Phonecall are sheers, but last very well over a liner, around 3-4 hours or so.  Firebird, Wonderland and Spiderweb are all cream formulas (I've yet to wear the "mega-matte" shade 714 properly) and the lasting time on this formula is phenomenal.  I literally didn't have to touch any of them up for 10-12 hours, and, best of all, they didn't dry my lips out in the slightest.  Even Spiderweb, which I didn't wear with a liner underneath lasted as well as the others with a liner.  Amazing.

Clockwise from top left, Ex Girlfriend, Wonderland, Firebird, Spiderweb and Phonecall

All of the shades are glossy satin finishes, but of course the cream finishes are more opaque than both Ex-Girlfriend and Phonecall, and last longer as a result.  Overall, I'm delighted with the collection, even though I now have to remove my lipstick with oil of a nighttime!

Fragrance-wise saw me in both Maison Francis Kurkdijan's Aqua Vitae, and the brand new Baccarat Rouge 540.  Aqua Vitae was my fragrance of the year in 2013 (and you can read the review here) and I'm still getting to grips with Baccarat Rouge 540 (I was expecting something red and jammy, and got the scent of hot sand instead, which was confusing), but you can expect a full review in due course.  I also wore Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur de Male, and Classique Intense.  Fleur de Male is one of my favourite hot-soap, orange blossom and barbershop fragrances - now sadly discontinued - and Classique Intense, which I first smelled in the depths of my parosmic madness, but now reveals itself to be a huge talcum, and jasmine monster, which I've fallen rather heavily for.  And finally, I wore the gauzy and ethereal Elie Saab le Parfum, which is the smell of orange blossom glimpsed through chiffon, and is beautiful and wonderful.  And the link between all of these?  Francis Kurkdijan, of course.  I was lucky enough to spend an evening with him and Jo Fairley of the Perfume Society last week, which was lots of fun.  If you haven't been to a Perfume Society event yet, you're really missing a treat.  I'm off to Paris with them at the end of the month, and I can't wait!

What've you been wearing?

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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.


This post: LipsNspritz of the Week 06.12.15 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

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Globe Trotter

I never leave the house without a perfume (occasionally without things like my wedding ring, my oyster card, and house keys though), and nine times out of ten, the perfume I carry with me throughout the day is in one of these glorious atomisers from Francis Kurkdjian.  I apply whatever fragrance I'm wearing for the day in the morning before I leave the house, and if I think I need a top up before I head somewhere else in the evening, I spritz myself with whatever I have in one of these.

Heavyweight and beautifully crafted, these feel wonderful in the hand.  The tops are magnetised so they won't fall off in your bag - the magnets are incredibly strong, and you can have literally minutes of fun putting them on the wrong way round only to watch them spin and settle themselves correctly with a satisfying "clunk" when they land.

The atomisers take 11ml bottles of a wide range of Maison Frances Kurkdjian fragrances (which come in sets of 3 bottles and are available from £60 - bottles are usable without the atomiser too, which is really handy) mine are both currently filled with Aqua Universalis Forte, which is possibly the cleanest - and I really do mean that in a good way - fragrance ever.  The refills are sold separately from the atomisers, but there are a wide range of fragrances to pick from.

My personal favourite is the zinc finish, as I love the textured effect, but the gold is really pretty too. The Zinc finish costs £85, and the gold finish is £95, and both are available from Selfridges.

They come complete with leather covers - matched to the colour of the EU passports! - to protect the atomisers in your bag.  The zinc atomiser in the pictures here is a couple of years old now - and has been carried around with me almost every day in that time - and is still as good as new.  A pricey investment, perhaps, but a thing of beauty is a joy forever. 

The Fine Print: PR Samples


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LipsNspritz of the week 08.11.15

 I ended up having a week of musk, it wasn't planned, but after wearing The Body Shop White Musk layered up with Serge Lutens Clair de Musc (a combination I'd planned to wear for my wedding, till I realised I needed something with a little more oomph!), I realised that I wanted to wear more of it. I wore these with ByTerry lipstick in Cherry Cherry, which is a great matte fuchsia.

My hyposmia/parosmia means that I still can't smell much when it comes to musk, but I do love musky fragrances a great deal, particularly "clean ones" like the ones here.  Tuesday saw me in Maison Francis Kurkdijan's Aqua Universalis Forte (possibly the cleanest perfume on the planet ever) alongside Guerlain's Christmas Rouge G offering, which is a nice, easy to wear rose shade.  Wednesday brought along an old-school musk in Musk by Alyssa Ashley, alongside Me Me Me Lip Sheen in Wild Plum.

 Thursday saw me in Kiehl's Original Musk Oil (layered over the matching body lotion, which is a little more flowery-smelling than the spray), and Chanel Dragon Lip Lacquer. Both classics, so a combination made in heaven.  Friday brought Jovan Musk which is probably the ur-musk of many people's childhoods.  I wish I had the oil version of this one!  I wore it with Zelens Lip Enhancer, which is a product that always makes me laugh.  A healing and nutritious balm with colour-changing properties, it always ends up a bright bubblegum pink on me, and reminds me of the lipsticks that were just the same in the early 80's.  Nothing changes.

Saturday saw the arrival, finally, of a full-size bottle of Seville a l'Aube by L'Artisan Perfumer, a fragrance I've loved since its initial release, but had finished my sample of.  It was another perfume I nearly wore for my wedding, but the groom-to-be found the mixture of wax, orange blossom, incense and amber had a little too much "oomph" for his taste (he's a buffoon, but I married him regardless) and so it remains my own perfume pleasure.  I wore it with EOS lip balm in Soft Lemon because it was the weekend, and I can't be bothered wearing makeup at the weekends ...

What've you been wearing?

The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


This post: LipsNspritz of the week 08.11.15 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