Pleasure & Purpose With Aesop & Odette Toilette

By Luke

I have been meaning for a long time to write about Aesop.  I remember Aesop from eons ago when the only place you could buy it was in Space.NK. It looked very smart and sort of clinical in its modest and understated medical grade brown glass jars and metal tubes. It was always a bit of a favourite - sceptical and unwilling as I am most of the time to use any skin care that claims to be ‘natural’ - and has few of the ingredients in them that I know work. That said, there is no getting away from the fact that Aesop products do work, and are an absolute joy to use, not least because of their scent. 

Aesop then made like £10 Poms and disappeared back its native Australia for a little while. However, without me noticing until recently it has sprung up again in the UK in various locations in the form of the most beautiful boutiques and in selected department stores. It has several locations throughout London now, and each has a very distinct, and gorgeous character of their own.

We were invited along to the boutique in Covent Garden for a bit of an olfactory treat under the tutelage of scent expert Odette Toilette. Pleasure and Purpose was the title of the event, summing up the entire Aesop line rather well, so I was intrigued as to what exactly we would be doing and shuffled along. The store itself is an absolute haven of a space. The familiar brown glass is littered along the walls, and in amongst those were gorgeous seasonal blooms. It’s airy, clean and very, very cool looking, both figuratively, and literally. 

We were guided downstairs to a makeshift classroom and were each given a ‘workbook’ for our efforts, and several exercises were undertaken with the presentation of particular oils on a blotter. Rather than guess which oil we were smelling from the scent alone, we were asked in several different ways to demonstrate how a scent made us feel, or what colours it reminded us of, or how it made us feel, or if we felt it had a masculine or feminine quality to it. This was designed specifically to make you think differently about what you were smelling, and find out more about the emotional response you can have to a smell, without any preconceived notion about the scents from the names alone. Some of the oils were beautifully scented, and others … decidedly less so. 

Of course, all the oils that were presented to us were key ingredients within some of the Aesop range. Smelling them in their raw state, they were either extremely unusual, possibly even unpleasant at times, and some were very familiar, but you weren’t able to put your finger on exactly where you had experienced it before. One exercise saw us taking coloured pencils and using only the medium of the crayon, describe in colour and texture how the scent was, which was a genius way of thinking about something very differently.

One of the hero oils that lace the Aesop range is parsley seed oil, which on its own smells rather like slightly ripe food that’s been in the sun a little too long, or, if you're Get Lippie herself: vomit. Parsley seed of course is present in an entire line of its own at Aesop, and it is extremely high in antioxidants. The Parsley Seed Cleanser is easily one of the best smelling products in the line, despite the relative stench of the pure oil, it's masked by other ingredients, and the cleanser is a joy to use as a result.

There was also violet leaf, found in the really very smooth and gorgeous smelling Hair Balm, which is particularly good for hair that has a tendency to go a bit wild for no reason and is on the fried side of normal. And there was pure geranium oil, which is in the Geranium Leaf Body Scrub, which has natural bamboo stem to exfoliate and absolutely gorgeous rose like scent.

I ended up taking a mouthwash home with me. Clove oil was the main scent here, alongside extract of spearmint. It comes in a rather grand looking, and ENORMOUS bottle complete with a tiny little glass flask (which I broke immediately on getting home) and it now takes its place rather grandly on my bathroom shelf. 

Welcome back Aesop. Welcome back.

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Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Skincare

 

 

By Luke

It is with some irony that I write this with one mother of a hangover. Despite the warnings, I am partial to a glass or five of wine, and hang the consequences. So, imagine my delight when I read the press information for the new skincare range from super affordable (and rather excellent) skincare brand Caudalie on how damaging the effects of everyday living - and that includes alcohol consumption – are to ones face. It is especially ironic as Caudalie have based pretty much their entire ethos on the benefits of the antioxidant polyphenol from the grape seed. Clearly our priorities with regards to the use of the grape are at some odds here. 

Notwithstanding that (and my imminent vow to never drink again) I am pleased to tell you about the new skincare line Caudalie have added to their ranks, Polyphenol C15. As mentioned earlier, Caudalie use Polyphenol in a stabilized form derived from grape seed. Polyphenol, as you may well be wondering about it, is one of the most powerful antioxidant ingredients from the plant world. Allegedly about 70% of ageing is the result of free radical action on the skin, a result of all sorts of things like a hectic lifestyle, alcohol, smoking and sunshine, polyphenol can a pretty useful tool in the arsenal against ageing. Up to now they have used the antioxidant ingredient on its own, but have just developed a vitamin C complex that is stable enough to mix with hyaluronic acid.

Vitamin C is typically a fragile ingredient, and is notoriously difficult to get it to remain active in a pot of cream. Often vitamin c products are presented in a slightly unusual way, with a separate powder, or capsule of the ingredient. Because, once exposed to the environment, once it is out there it breaks down very quickly, and becomes ineffective. The benefits of vitamin c on the skin are numerous, and these include a brightening quality, and an ability to fight oxidisation, which is a main culprit in the skin ageing process. So trying to keep the little sucker alive long enough to be effective in a face cream has always been a bit of a challenge. Caudalie are now claiming to have cracked that.

There are three products in the range: Anti Wrinkle Defence Serum, Day Fluid, and an Eye Cream. I have been using these for a good few weeks now, and am happy to say they are all really good, and actually seem to have made a visible difference to my skin. 

I love the serum in particular, as it’s just heavy enough to nourish my dry skin. It smells great as well, as you’d expect from most Caudalie products, but this time it is not the traditional Fleur du Vin scent, but it has more of a cucumber-y sort of minty smell. It does a good job of providing a certain amount of ‘plumping’, but mainly it seemed to add a clarity to my skin that wasn’t there before. Redness has died down, and my skin looks a little more even. Perhaps it was counteracting the effects of alcohol, I don’t know. What’s more, it is a very acceptable £35.

The Anti Wrinkle Protect Fluid is also an excellent moisturiser, for £29. I have said many times before, that I am extremely fussy when it comes to moisturiser as I have very dry skin, and I was sceptical about a fluid texture. Normally, anything on the ‘oil free’ end of the market is not nearly nourishing enough for me, but this was actually pleasantly surprising in its moisturisation qualities. Perhaps it was with the benefit of the serum underneath that made it this way, but nonetheless, it did seem to do the job, and with a broad spectrum (UVA and UVB) SPF of 20 to stave off any potential environmental damage (as well as the aforementioned Vitamin c and Polyphenol) it was a real pleasure to use.

Finally, the Anti Wrinkle Eye & Lip Cream, which is £26. I am not a fan of eye cream per se, as to be perfectly honest (and borderline boastful), I don’t have dark circles, even with a hangover – sorry about that! – and wrinkles around my eyes are not really a concern of mine. As such, I tend not to use one, unless I am suffering from dry eye in which case I will grab whatever is nearest to try and rectify this.

Despite that, this was a nice eye cream. It is not earthshakingly amazing, but then eye creams rarely are in my opinion. It was light, and disappeared easily, has no fragrance and it didn’t sting my eyes, so it was a thumbs up from me. The added bonus of being to use it around the lip area as well, an often neglected area of visible ageing, was a coup. It also contains the latest wonder ingredient Matrixyl 3000 which apparently boosts collagen synthesis. I couldn’t really see any difference in my eyes to be honest, but then as I said, what’s to notice. Definitely worth investing in if you like the rest of the range.

Overall, I am mightily impressed by this, not least from the price perspective. So if you are on the lookout for an accessible anti ageing range, you’d have look quite hard to find one as good as this in my opinion. 

Caudalie C15 is available from www.caudalie.co.uk and they also have a gorgeous brand new boutique on Monmouth Street in Covent Garden.

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Zao Organic Makeup

If you are anything like me, the mere mention of words such as ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ where makeup is concerned will send your eyes rolling so far into the back of your head they may never return to their normal position. However, sceptical as I am, I recently tried out Zao Makeup following its Highly Commended accolade in the Natural Beauty Awards this year. 

Fact is, until about 5 or so years ago because of all those nasty scare stories about such things as parabens in the Daily Mail and the like that sent the whole cosmetic buying public into an unnecessary frenzy, we really were quite happy with the selection of overly perfumed, and anything-but-the-essence-of-nature beauty products. Since then a whole slew of brands have come out that claim to have been untouched almost by human hands. That the angels themselves (who dine exclusively on pulses and the leaves of trees, of course) have fashioned together the purest and most chemically unadulterated makeup and skincare, which is free from practically everything. I am exaggerating somewhat here, but you get the drift.

However, in the so doing, alongside their zeal to appear not only to fix your dry skin, or colour your face, they occasionally removed all the ingredients that in fact made the products WORK! There were some shocking textures, and colours out there were there not?

“Why yes! It does feel like six day old porridge on my face, but at least I’m not getting any nasties into my system, and thank god it only lasts a maximum of 3 minutes otherwise the sheer joy of trying to scrape this unrefined goop onto my suffering skin 1000 times a day so you could actually see it would be totally lost!” You know the score ...

Well, mercifully there have been several improvements and some attention to details such as lasting power and texture over the last few years, and most of the brands have really upped their game as far as their efforts at claims of being ‘natural’. 

Zao, the new cosmetics brand, available from www.zaomakeup.co.uk I had not heard of at all, till they got in touch, I have to say.

It arrived in these very neat little cotton type bags, fuelling my initial pre conception that again, we were going to be looking at a bit of hippy style makeup. Upon opening them up, a loud ‘Oooooohh’ issued from my lips as the packaging is rather beautiful Bamboo. Not bamboo effect, but actual bamboo chosen for its ecologically sound growth rate and sustainability over say, wood. Almost all of the products incidentally, are refillable also, so points here for being ecologically minded.

To be clear on this, I asked only to see the products that I KNOW are notoriously difficult to get right in a ‘natural makeup’ context, and these would be foundation, lipstick, and mascara.

Firstly, I didn’t receive a foundation, but a compact powder. Fair enough, as I know these can sometimes fall prey to the slightly ropey end of the spectrum too. What can I tell you about this? It’s a powder. Designed to take away shine, is talc free and has a whole host of other ingredients in it that read like an Ottolenghi cook book. One of the most interesting here is Silver. Actual silver. This runs through the entire range incidentally (save for a couple of products such as nail colours) as a natural preservative. Silver I know also has some antiseptic properties so would be a good addition in principle. It goes on well although my only concern would be to use sparingly for fear of looking a little dusty. Overall, not a bad powder by any stretch.

Next up was the mascara. Again in this rather lovely bamboo covering, the Structuring Mascara has a very nice, small precise looking wand, and the formula is not too wet, and not too thick or dry.

Containing Acacia senegal gum to grip onto the lashes, and give it flexibility, and avocado oil to nourish, when on this took a while to dry. So if you use this, be aware of looking up too soon, and save yourself a job of getting it off the top of your eye area there. Getting it off was easy, and there were no reports of any of it falling off, or flaking either. It comes in two colours, black and brown.

Now the lipstick. I asked specifically for a matte lipstick, a) because there are not that many out there, and b) I was interested to see how a ‘natural’ brand would approach this. So, firstly, and call me picky, but the matte lipstick, is not matte. It is a creamy texture, meaning that it has some shine to it, not a lot, but some nonetheless. The colour I used was No 462, or ‘Old Pink’ as it says on the website. A SUPERB colour for a very subtle coat with a hint of pink in it. Would easily suit the most fussy of natural lip colour seekers, and felt really rather good. It lasted as well, is opaque, and was a very pleasant surprise!  The lipstick contains silver, as mentioned earlier, and also has cocoa butter, and pomegranate in it to nourish and also moisturise.

Overall, I am mightily impressed with Zao. The products I saw were of a very high standard, and were pretty much as described. For a brand that claims to be a natural brand, I would be happy to use this on anyone, without fear of having to retouch every five minutes, and also for anyone that is concerned about the contents of their makeup, I can recommend giving Zao a go. 

The website has been translated from the original French in a rather literal fashion, which can bring a smile to your face too ...

Zao makeup is available from www.zaomakeup.co.uk

The Fine Print: PR Samples
 
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The Art of Male Makeup by David Horne and Mark Bowles

By Luke

“The only way I'd be caught without makeup is if my radio fell in the bathtub while I was taking a bath and electrocuted me and I was in between makeup at home. I hope my husband would slap a little lipstick on me before he took me to the morgue.” - Dolly Parton. 

Make up is a funny thing isn’t it? The quote above is the way a lot of women feel about makeup, or more pertinently, how they feel about themselves without it.

I don’t know when it was exactly that women or society more likely hijacked makeup as being an almost exclusively female activity, but until fairly recently, certainly in my short lifetime *ahem* men with makeup on has always been viewed as a bit of a freakshow. This is with the exception of drag per se, that has little ambiguity about what is going on.

More often than I care to mention, when I explain to someone what I do for a living, it is quite often, and rather ignorantly, met with questions about whether I wear makeup, or even if I ‘do drag’ myself. The assumption being I suppose that if I am a dab hand at a bit of lipstick, and a brush, and I love a bit of glitter, that I must covet the most feminine of all things that is makeup, and want to decorate my face with it, ironically in a female parody sort of way.

But makeup and men do have a very long lineage. There have always been men, who still wishing to look like men, have worn makeup. I am not talking about those possibly too vain men that pop on a (very lightly) tinted moisturiser, or slick a little Touch Eclat under their eyes after a heavy night, and god forbid it should look like you are ACTUALLY wearing makeup for fear of ridicule.

Men who wear makeup, but to all the world don’t fit into this little box of drag, or camp, or androgyny, or feminine or all the other rather emasculating vocabulary you can throw at them because they are wearing something other than sweat on their faces.

Makeup, for me is a gender neutral product. Out of the pot onto a face, be it male or female, it’s the same.  In this respect, there is a subculture of men that do wear makeup because quite simply it pleases them to do so.  But, when looking at male makeup, there are few reference points.  Until now. This week, I was invited to the launch of a new book The Art of Male Makeup. Its creators are the two prolific and frankly fabulous David Horne and Mark Bowles.Both makeup artists, and both incredibly clever.

The book was born from this lack of reference to makeup from a male perspective, or worn by men that wasn’t as I said earlier draggy, or trans, or feminine. Far from detracting anything from these particular styles, the book seeks to demonstrate that male make up is an art form all on its own.

An important and rather insightful analysis took place as to what exactly *is* feminine about makeup? A very particular eye was cast over the various techniques that we are all so familiar with and examined to see what exactly feminised them.

An example of this would be eyeliner (guyliner *shudders* I loathe that term). A straight, unbroken line is feminine; a flick for example is also feminising the eye. Matte, for example, is deemed more masculine than a shimmer, or a shine. Glamour is not the goal here. Any ‘traditional’ cosmetic tricks are pulled right back so as not to overdo, and become about the makeup, and not the face.

And fundamentally, what is masculine makeup? It’s not about decoration, so much as it is enhancement. It’s less about correction, and more about character. The Art of Male Makeup presents 28 characters to us, that are all familiar male types, and shows us with these rules how makeup emphasises the masculine traits of the face and body. There is not one that isn’t intriguing, and doesn’t drag you into the story of that particular character, and some will even surprise you. It is beautifully photographed by the extremely charming Daniel Ellyot Moore. 

  

Flicking through, not one of these men has been feminised by the makeup, or the hair. And each time I go looking at a different page, I notice something new in the picture. They are all very beautiful indeed.  A true collaboration of creative talent, there were a number of artists who worked on this book including the amazing Julia Townend (on body makeup this time), and Spob O’Brien on hair duty. 

So what does it mean?

Well for me it’s a welcome relief on many levels. Not only is it a perfect reference for the way maleness is perceived by Mark and David, but it also signifies a new perspective in the world of makeup, and artistry as a whole. We are seeing a lot of the same type of thing all the time. Another smoky eye, another cut crease, another contoured face that we’re all supposed to mimic and get excited about, when actually, these are not new concepts but just lazy populist re hashes of the same thing over and over.  The Art of Male Makeup articulates a whole new world of possibilities for you to look at, and equally for me as an artist.

 A stunning book, and an incredible body of work. I leave you with some beautiful illustrations of the looks by Achraf Amiri.  If you are at all serious about makeup, you need to own this. 

 

The Art of Male Makeup is available by emailing hausofhorne@yahoo.com and is £25.

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Sampar 3 Day Weekend

With the imminent good weather and sunshine - it is coming, it HAS to be! - and me being an OCD freak about not letting ANY sun on my skin WHATSOEVER (I can’t afford the wrinkles), practically everything I put on my face has SPF.

Sampar, if you haven’t heard of them (and I certainly hadn’t until recently) are a French skincare company. They're available in the mid range end of the French department stores, and they cater for pretty much everything with their range, which is so typically French, it’s not even funny. Bust crème anyone?

Sampar’s 3 Day Weekend is the best selling product in their range in this country. The 3 Day Week End Creme is designed to provide the skin with the utmost protection from ‘urban’ and UV damage by acting as a sort of shield for the skin cells, to protect them at that level. It also works with your natural melanin production to boost that, and thus protect from the harmful (ageing) rays of the sun. Or UVA to you and me. 

So this product was a challenge for me, but I have heard the ‘science’ before from another French skincare range which is INCREDIBLE so this product definitely appealed. Despite using a high SPF normally, my face is the normally first part of my body to tan. Years and years of avoiding sunbathing have rendered my trunk pasty white, and no amount of lounging in the sun will alter that sadly. But hey, from time to time I receive that oh so British compliment of ‘oh, you’ve caught the sun a little on your face ‘ so the promise of ‘increased melanin production after just one week of use’ and ‘a natural hint of a tan’ was a bit of a draw for me. Especially as we hadn’t really had that much sunshine.

Well three weeks odd into using this, I have yet to notice this melanin production increase.

My face is still the same colour it ever was. A light shade of blue. The panic of having to leave the house without a conventional SPF on frankly sends me into a bit of spin, and is beginning to make me question the efficacy of this particular product.

Whilst brands like Instituit Esthederm (similar principle, albeit slightly pricier) which I have used previously, and therefore I know they work, this one has left me a little cold. I am also slightly concerned at the sheer quantity needed to cover, as they recommend, the face, and neck, and top part of chest, as t is only a 50ml pot.

On the plus side, it smells rather nice, doesn’t leave my skin feeling it needs more moisturiser (I have extremely dry skin) and is a light texture. Sadly, I don’t think I shall ever truly know if I am receiving the maximum benefits of this cream, particularly in regards to sun protection, but it has made me curious as to the rest of the range. 

Sampar 3 Day Weekend, available at Marks & Spencer Beauty. £34

 

http://www.marksandspencer.com/sampar-3-day-weekend-50ml/p/p22253483

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Spring Fling - The Finale!

By Luke

And finally for the Spring inspired compilation (which has nearly broken me by the way) the monochrome. Cool whites, and slick blacks. When choice is just too much of a burden, there is always staple black and whites to fall back on. 

Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc

As part of a series of L.12.12 from Lacoste, inspired by the iconic polo shirts, this fragrance is a summery one, and surprised me. Already a big fan of the Bleu in the series, the others left me a little cold. This one is one of the good ones though. When it first goes on, it smelled to me like anything else. Generic, male fragrance, zesty, a little like Hugo Boss (which incidentally is one of many fragrance faves, but for all the wrong reasons!).

The top note is grapefruit, and is actually quite aggressive. But don’t let this put you off.

The initial shock of that dies down to a rather pleasant floral edged with a bit of citrus. And there it stops. Wafts of something spicy whisper through it, but not enough to make it a woody scent at all. The floral and the zingy citrus remain.

Not sophisticated particularly, but equally not at all unpleasant.

I like its simplicity. And it’s easy to wear and boy does it last. Sort of smells quite young (or a lot younger than me at any rate) and dare I say it, sporty? In the heat of summer, I can imagine this would be a bit of a dressy scent for a night out. Perhaps somewhere where a Lacoste shirt, and loafers may be the dress code.

Available nationwide, £47 for 100ml.

Rituals Cherry Blossom & Rice Milk Body Cream.

Rituals are always a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some bits of it are INCREDIBLE and there are others that just miss the mark in my opinion. Well, this is one of the ones that gets it right. A gorgeous rich, and creamy whipped body cream with a very, very feminine sweet summer like scent of Cherry Blossom. Doesn’t go on sticky, absorbs easily, and leaves a very lovely scent on the skin for a long while after it has been applied. Almost smells like a bag of sweets. Fabulous. And a great price for a such a high standard!

Available at www.rituals.com and is £17 for 200ml.

Cheeky Tar Very Much Chat Me Up Nail Paint

On with the monochrome theme, and on (your nails) with the black.

As part of the Sugar & Spice Collection, Tar Very Much is a multi dimensional shimmering black, with some tiny flecks of sparkle. Dressy, and rather smart. And a steal at £7!

Available at www.urcheeky.com and The Cheeky Parlour on Redchurch Street.

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Aveda Pure-formance Aroma Spray For Men

 By Luke

 

I am a bit of a massive fragrance freak, which until recently I referred to as a fumehead until someone mistook that for meaning crack smoker. 

The blogosphere is full of them to varying degrees of expertise. You have your serious perfume heads, with their in depth and rather lofty descriptions, right down to the ‘I liked this, it’s nice’ clan. All valid, all justified, and all perfectly acceptable appreciators of perfume. Me, I think I am sandwiched in between these two camps. Not particularly ‘educated’ in scent, but know enough about the industry and fragrances to speak with some conviction.

I love fragrance, I really do, in the same way I love chocolate bars. I cannot bear to think of me without any, or to be honest with just one to choose from.

As such, I smell a lot. Like chocolate, it’s all open to interpretation, and personal taste. I would never say this is disgusting, or don’t wear this. One man’s treasure and all that. However, I did come across this scent which to say the least, challenged me. 

I have a real issue with the gender binary. And not just where fragrance is concerned. Men’s fragrances, traditionally, are quite often characterised by that ‘woody’ smell that is supposed to make us all feel a little bit manly having been out chopping wood, and wrestling bears on a forest floor or whatever it is the gender binary would have us be doing. Compared to women who, traditionally, are outside picking flowers, and rolling around in candy floss (it has A LOT to answer for). I find it all a bit limiting, certainly from a more mainstream perspective. Fragrance should be transcendent of this, but hey.

For a brand that is predominantly about hair with a dash of lifestyle thrown in, it was quite brave really to release a fragrance.  Anyway, in 2008 they did. Aveda’s chief perfumer Ko-ichi Shiozawa created the Pure Formance Aroma Spray to be reminiscent of ‘Northern air, and deep rich forests’. Back to that gender binary.So what is it like? 

Well, when I first sprayed it I really baulked at the smell that lingered in the air and was NOT keen to put this on my skin AT ALL! It reminded me of bleach weirdly enough. In the interests of my own curiosity, (and this feature), I did wear it.

Peculiar, interesting, odd, different, are all words that if there was a sum of them all would be able to describe how this is to me. But none of this is bad. I didn’t dislike it because it smelled so familiar.

Spearmint is one of the pure oils used here, and that comes through very strongly. And remains. It also has perceptible vetiver and lavender (barely perceptible) and citrus.

First spray is a little minty, then after a while it dries down to the distinct smell of nature. A warm pine forest, heavily fragranced with mint. Did I mention the mint? There’s mint here. The final dry down leaves a very ‘green’ smell. That’ll be the forest, or at least the vetiver. This is what remains. A green woody smell of nature.

 Challenged as I was by this, I haven’t been able to stop wearing it. Curiosity alone has me doing this. Not one element of this is remotely like a ‘traditional’ men’s fragrance, or even a fragrance at all.

Does it make me feel more manly? No!

But isn’t that great?

And now, for some chocolate...

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Spring Colour - Week Three

By Luke

As with all things great, good weather is rarely constant. 


Occasionally during the springtime we get the occasional irritation of inclement weather making an appearance and gently reminding us that all good things must come to an end.  But, if you’re an optimist, rain may be a welcome relief. A breath of fresh air in the city, and a bit if a life saver for us all, not to mention the plants. So revitalise, and freshen up. There’s nothing quite like a bit of a refreshing shower during a hot spell, and here are some little pieces inspired by precipitation. 

Jo Malone Rain & Angelica

Jo Malone London have re packaged 2 of their existing scents, and released two new ones with the theme of the british weather in mind. So which one do I go for? Well the rain. It’s the one we are perhaps most familiar with after all. Rain & Angelica is in a clear bottle with a graded sweet, fresh blue hue running up the side of it. 
The juice is crystal clear, and the bottles style is very classically Jo Malone. So what does it smell like? Well, in it is a heady mix of vetiver, and the very herbal angelica. A good green mix. It goes on that way, all fresh and dewy.  There is a lime in there too apparently although I found this almost undetectable. On the dry down, it settles into a sort of powdery soft cushiony smell, but retains the herbaceous element of the ‘green’.  Soft, and glowy, and as much as I despise this when describing a fragrance, fresh.  Uber feminine, and eminently wearable . 

Not sure about the rain accord that we’re told it has...there have been discussions at Lippie Towers about what London rain could smell like. But why ruin a good review with those. ;o)
Jo Malone London Rain & Angelica, £82 for 100ml out now.
 
Années Folles Larger Than Life Gloss by NARS
 
NARS’ uber gloss Larger Than Life in this colour.  Quite simply incredible, and slightly out of the ordinary colour. Shiny isn’t the word. DRENCHED comes close.
£18.50, available nationwide.

Elemis Cellular Recover Skin Bliss Capsules
 
Right, so I have a very dry skin, and it needs a ton of feeding in order for it to not look like a fried up chamois leather cloth.  These are nothing short of a skin miracle.  It’s always important to me personally, and professionally to use products that are a joy to use, as well results orientated.  These are both. 

Pure moringa oil is the base of these, but there is one for the morning (with rose absolu) and one for the night time (with lavender). Nothing hits the spot like these little babies!
This particular product is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary this year, and as well as a natty little set, they are teaming up Wellbeing of Women charity and will be donating £15000 of sales from this limited edition supersize set to them.
 
Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules Limited Edition set, £79.50 available at selected John Lewis’, or at www.timetospa.co.uk

Guerlain Meteorites Perles

Just like little bubbles of happiness in a box!  Guerlain do these almost every spring season.  Little solid balls of multi coloured pigment to create an almost shimmery, dew like like effect in different hues to counteract redness, and illuminate the skin in a very natural way.  The box itself is a wonder to behold based on a round jewellery box created in 1780 for Catherine de Médicis.  They are a beauty classic, and if you don’t own one, get thee to a Guerlain counter immediately.
 
Guerlain Meteorites Perles in three shades, £36. Available nationwide.


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Spring is Sprung!

By Luke

Spring Week 2

We are sticking with the blue green theme this week, but turning the heat up ever so slightly, so really amazing colours, and products to brighten even the very dullest of days. Boredom, is not an option with any of these.

Terry De Gunzberg, Bleu Paradis and Fruit Défendu

You know what? The woman is a bit of a genius. Terry launched the Haute Parfumerie nigh on two years ago in true elegance and style, and is continuing in that vain for the latest releases of these two rather fabulous, vibrant fragrances.

The juice in the bottles is as easy on the eye as they are on the nose, being as they are in a bright blue and a vibrant green.  The boxes are embossed with a stylised rose motif that refers to the rose notes that carry throughout these.

The greener, in every sense of the word, Fruit Défendu is a sweet, herby dream of a scent. With mango and bergamot at the top , and soft delicate rosewood, and the refresher like scent of pink peppercorn at the base.  It does smell very similar to one of her previous efforts, al beit very much lighter, but I’m unable to put my finger on which one it is.

The blue addition, Bleu Paradis has a blue rose scent we are told (I wouldn’t know that from a red one to be honest, but it’s very nice) Mauritian lychee giving a light fruity glow and then coming down to a very soft and very warm smelling cedar.Smells fresher and altogether more ‘beachlike’ than the green.

Both have their merits, and complement each other beautifully, it’s a challenge to choose a favourite.

Available exclusively from Selfridges from March 13th, then nationwide from 27th, 100ml EDP £105.  

Leighton Denny Glamazone from The International Collection.

A bit of inspiration from the Spring/Summer 2014 catwalks apparently, the whole collection is an explosion of colour, andGlamazone is a gorgeous rich turquoise with a bit of a shimmer through it.

£11 Available www.LeightonDennyExpertNails.com, M&S, John Lewis and Fenwick’s.  

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Freak.

Relaunched in time for Spring, these really are the shizz.

A longwearing pencil that isn’t so soft it smooshes in the lid, or when you try to sharpen in it Hate that. They really do stay put as well. A MAHOOSIVE selection of 40 colours, I have chosen Freak. A really gorgeous shimmery bright green.  As well as liners, draw a really thick line, and use your finger to smudge it up over your eyelid to get a really great long lasting eye colour.  They also act a great base, and give a really good grip for an eye shadow over the top of it, should you so wish. I. Want. Them. All.

£14 available in Debenhams, and House of Fraser.

NARS Eye Paint in Solomon Island.

Another extremely versatile eye product, Comes in a tiny little pot PACKED to the lid with product.  These are an indelible cream colour.  To be used as an eyeliner (with a brush), or all over the eye as a colour they don’t budge and go on smooth so no mistake worries getting too much colour in one place. I have chosen Solomon Island which a fantastic azure blue shade to put us all in mind of a sandy beach. Comes out EXACTLY as you see it in the pot too.

NARS Eye Paints, £18 available nationwide.

Spring Time Colour!

By Luke 

Now I don’t know about you, but I am a bit over the whole grey windy wet weather we seem to be experiencing at the minute.  It affects your mood, your energy levels, and not to mention your enjoyment of just about anything worth doing.

So, in anticipation of the bright sunshine, and frivolity and frolics of the spring time, let’s have a look at some really lovely bits that are so colourful, Spring may come that bit earlier.... at least to your dressing table.

Week one!

Greens shoots! With the garden looking like its making an appearance with all sorts of springtime flowers shooting up, this is the perfect combination of spring sights and smells to get you in the mood for the new season.

CK One Summer

Nothing says summer like crushed sugar and Tequila, and this has it all in there! CK One do a summer fragrance every year, and I am always a bit in love with them, Not least for the bottles alone! This years is a supernatural looking ombre of green and blue that sort of moves around, Magic, and smells fine too. Available from April 2nd, £32 for 100ml.

L’occitane Zesty Lime

With its famous Shea Butter formula, mixed brilliantly together with a very zingy Lime fragrance this body cream will definitely put you in mind of sunnier climes. This does smell amazing! And the lome scent lasts for a little while too.A great mood lifter.  L’Occitane Zesty Lime Shea Butter Body Creme, available now £18.

Van Cleef & Arpels Aqua Oriens

Another annual favourite of mine for the sunny season. If the bottle alone isn’t enough to cheer you up with its glorious imitation of an actual ring by Van Cleef & Arpels (yes, I have tried the lid on my finger and felt like a fairy princess), then the scent will definitely inspire you. Light and fruity, with essence of pear, amber and honeysuckle, it’s a super girly scent with a bit of class. I adore this fragrance on account of it being so easy to wear, light, and lasts!  5oml EDT £54, available nationwide.

Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner by Urban Decay in Spandex

I am a big fan of the more extreme end of colour as far makeup is concerned, and Urban Decay always have it nailed.Their Glitter liners are some of the longest lasting, non flake off formulas I have used.  Use them as is, or over aneyeshadow to really get some sparkle. The clear fluid dries quickly and doesn’t crease either so very much a partyingfave. The Spandex has flecks of petrol blue and green through it, so would be amazing on brown eyes! £13 available from Debenhams and House of Fraser stores.

Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

By Luke

There are a lot of palettes out there at the minute with all of those easy to use, neutral browny grey shades that no one can really live without.

By far the best I have seen is this one, with no less than 14 colours in it, in two finishes, WITH two brushes AND a guide for different shaped eyes on how to get the most out of all the colours without those all too common left in the palette coz I’m not sure how to use it colours.

The top layer has the nicest shades of bone, to taupe, brown and black in a lighter wash of shimmer, and the bottom has almost exactly the same colours, ALMOST but not quite for variety, in a fabulous shades of matte. Perfect.

This went straight into the kit, and if I can’t do a natural eye right through to a smoky eye with this baby, I need to hang up my brush belt.

Available from Samshbox.co.uk, and Boots stores, now and costs a measly £36.

Own it.

This post: Smashbox Full Exposure Palette 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