Review - By Terry Or De Rose Baume

Oh, this looked like a little pot of gorgeous in the store:

It smells delicious, looks pretty, and makes all kinds of wonderful claims on the packaging, so I bought it.  Oh, when will I learn?  This is the limited edition version of the fast-becoming-a-cult product By Terry Baume de Rose, which, according to Space NK (yes, them again) is a "Rejuvenating, reparative, strengthening, nourishing and anti-ageing" wonder product that works on lips, cuticles and, well, practically anywhere else you want to put it.  So, a bit like 8 Hour Cream then, only without that gross "liniment" smell that can sometimes be so off-putting.

I got some SpaceNK vouchers just before Christmas, and I splurged on a pot.  This costs £45!  Now, I'm no stranger to expensive lip balms (my Holy Grail lipbalm remains Sisley Nutritiv, and that's £33 a pop!), but this shocked even me.  I guess it's because that lovely sparkly effect you can see in the second picture there is made by lots of flakes of pure 24k rose gold.  But ... even so.

And actually, it's those rose-gold flakes that make this product a bit of a duffer, if you ask me.  Now, the thing I like about pot-balms (as opposed to sticks) is that they tend to be more versatile, meaning you can use them in places you wouldn't dream of putting more traditional balms.  I use 8hr cream (and my Badger Balms) like some people use Vaseline. I stick it on scrapes, cuts, burns, zits, cuticles, in my hair, around my eyes, and on the odd occasion, I've even been known to use it as a lip product.  But this stuff is GLITTERY.  Really, very GLITTERY. And that glitter gets EVERYWHERE.  And it's scratchy glitter too.  Urgh.

Don't get me wrong, as a lip product it's ... well, it's okay. It's not as moisturising as some other balms (Sisley, Badger Balm, and 8 Hour Cream all knock it into a cocked hat for that), but it's not a dreadful one either.  It is better than many Nivea or Blistex products, for example.  But my problem is that damn glitter!  You can't use the balm on your cuticles unless you want to shed glitter onto any porous material you come into contact throughout the day, and you can't put it anywhere on your face - except your lips - unless you want to look like you like you let a 3yr old with ADHD and a Barbie obsession put on your makeup.  Apparently, the balm (sorry, baume) is meant to give you a sheeny glow, but glitter is not glow, and I wish cosmetic firms would stop mistaking the two.  It's a shame really, as I own a couple of By Terry products, mainly eyeshadows, and they're very good.

It does, however, make an excellent base for lipstick, but at £45 a pop, I won't be re-purchasing.  Ever.

Makeover: Mel

It Sunday Makeover time, and this week I was delighted to welcome along Mel:

Mel's a schoolteacher, and was looking for a simple and easy day time look that suits her colouring.  Mel actually owns a bit of very lovely makeup, but doesn't use it very often, so I was hoping to show her how to get the most of some of the things she already owns, and introduce her to a couple of techniques to get the best out of her routine.

First of all, we started with the base, to even out Mel's skintone we used YSL Perfect Touch Foundation, and for the slightly darker skin around her eyes, we used By Terry Eclat de Teint to conceal.  I like both of these products as they have the brush built in already, and they're super-quick and easy to use:

 

 

Mel has really lovely grey/blue eyes, so we decided that they would be the feature.  As we were trying to keep this simple, we use Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadow in RSVP all over the lid, up to the brow area:

Then, to define the crease - and as an eyeliner - we used Cargo Plant Love eyeshadow in Sparrow:

 

 

Then a lick of mascara

And we were ready to add the finishing touches, which in this case were a light dusting of Cargo's Plant Love Illuminator in Wind over the cheeks and temples, and a light coat of Estee Lauder's lipstick in "Beige".  I also darkened Mel's eyebrows a touch with Smashbox eyebrow powder:

 

Lovely, quick, and natural.  Here's the before and afters:

 

Thank you, Mel. Let me know when you want to go shopping!

Eye of the Day - Updated!

So, I decided that yesterday's picture of my eyemakeup wasn't the clearest, so I've redone it:







And here it is with the Urban Decay eyeliner in Ecstasy more clearly visible:







A cheery look for a Friday me thinks.

Products used:
MAC Paint - Untitled (as base)
MAC Dovefeather in the inner corner
by Terry Black Grape in the outer corner
Urban Decay liquid liner in Ecstasy
Lancome Hypnose Drama one coat.

Space NK event and EotD

I have an odd relationship with Space.NK.  I love their product ranges, I think the shops are lovely, and they're basically places I should want to spend a lot of time in ... so, why do I so very often find the experience so very frustrating?

Example: last week at the Cheapside branch, I had been greeted five times, and asked if I wanted help six times before I'd even got past the first display counter, a couple of times by people actually standing next to each other.  I'd actually gone in for something specific, so politely declined offers of advice, and made my way to the Lipstick Queen stand.  Then of course, because that display is in the furthest, darkest corner of the store, by the time I'd swatched and made my selection the staff were all happily ensconced in applying lipgloss (straight from the testers  - squick!) to themselves, and gossiping about shoes at the front of the shop.  Was anyone interested in taking my money?  It didn't appear so.  It wasn't very busy in there, so I guess they were bored, but after saying excuse me a few times, and being totally ignored,  I walked out.

It's not been an isolated incident, either.  I'm no supermodel,  I'm not hip and trendy, and I'm quite obviously not a yummy mummy with cash to burn, but that's no reason for a shop assistant to write me off. I know my cosmetics. What's more, I spend a lot of money on them, and further, I'm a personal shopper who knows lots of other people who want to spend their money on beauty products ... Because I may not look like a particular demographic doesn't mean I should be treated like crap in a shop.  Any shop.

On the other hand, I've had wonderful service from them in some stores (I'm thinking Kensington and Covent Garden in particular) and I've even been offered jobs with them!  It's just such a lottery as to whether you're going to get the bored, sulky, snobby staff, or the knowledgeable and welcoming members of the team.

With that in mind, it was with hugely mixed feelings that I popped along to the InStyle Space.NK  shopping event last night.  But, on the whole, I enjoyed it a great deal.  Granted, it could have been better organised - could have been a LOT better organised - but the lashings of champagne kind of made up for that.  I had a wonderful mini-facial using Essential Herbology products (which I'm definitely going to be researching further in the future!), but I was a bit aggravated that the lack of organisation meant that not everyone - including myself - got to have a makeover, if they wanted one.

We got goodie bags:

Which were nice, but I'm having a hard time seeing how it's £95 worth of products!  Four cleansers, three moisturisers (would have been nice to have more, I'm in the market for a new moisturiser at the moment) four perfumes, a pack of cleansing wipes, a muslin cloth, and a lot of sachets.

I did succumb, and buy an By Terry eyeshadow, Black Grape (£21.53) as it's a gorgous colour in the pot.  Not entirely sure it works quite the same on the eye, what do you think?