Whee!

It's a very small thing, but it makes me happy, I have nearly 50 followers now! I didn't think anyone would read this when I started it, much less subscribe to it!  I promise to put together an amazing giveaway present to say thank you to you lovely people when I do hit the magic number ...

Makeover: Louise

This is Louise:

Louise came to me wanting a classic "English Rose" look, as she wanted to look glowing, natural, and make the most of her beautiful blue eyes.  She has a make up bag full of steely greys, but after a chat, we thought something more apricot, and shimmery would be an excellent contrast.

Louise has lovely skin - no pores! - and we didn't need a huge a huge amount of coverage, so as a base, we used Benefit You Rebel in Light.  Louise does have a small patch of broken veins on her right cheek, so to cover them, we used a small amount of MAC concealer patted on, and finished off with a very, very light dusting of Benefit Bluffdust to further counteract the redness, and tone down shininess.

On Louise's eyes, I wanted to use lovely shimmering golden apricot shades, to complement her skintone, and to really make the blue in her eyes stand out. I applied MAC Naked Lunch as a colourwash all over her lid up to the brow bone:

Then we added just a touch of MAC Patina to the outside corner, and as an eyeliner, I used Cargo's Plant Love shadow in Sparrow:

Louise's lashes needed a little definition - actually, everyone's lashes need a little definition, mascara should totally be everyone's desert island beauty product, if you ask me! - so we added a coat of Louise's own Boots mascara:

Then we moved onto blush, and we used MAC's Prism, which is a lovely coral-y peach shade:

Once that was in place, we added a touch of Bobbi Brown's lipgloss in Rose Sugar, and the look was finished:

Here's the before and after, just look at the difference in those eyes!

Pictures by Genna.

And now for something entirely different ...

I have some male readers, it appears.  Hello boys!

And Neville ;)

Here, for your gentlemanly delight and delectation, is a makeover featuring a gent man.  Boys can wear make up too, I'm currently trying to convince MrLippie to try guyliner, with no success, alas.

Anyway, meet "M":

He's not bad, but look at that wistful look on his face.  He knows what he's missing: makeup. Yes, makeup. You can see it in his eyes, this guy needs  ....

A couple of passes with the blusher brush, some eyeshadow, and a touch of eyeliner.  Oh yes.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Organic Wednesday - John Masters Organics

Today I'm going to review two John Masters products: Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender and John Masters Organics Hibiscus & Honey Hair Reconstructor

The Background:

John Masters is a NY hair stylist, famous for his colouring abilities and commitment to natural products. He's been experimenting with organic products for nearly 20 years, and is pioneering "clean air" salons, meaning that his salons only offer herbal and ammonia-free treatments, thereby avoiding those terrible chemical smells.

The Blurb

All John Masters Organics products must meet the following guidelines:

No SLS, parabens, No GMO's, no petrochemicals, no animal testing, no artificial colour, fragrances or fillers, all plant extracts and oils must be organic, fairtrade, proven to be beneficial, and  packaging is to be biodegradeable.

All of which is pretty impressive, no?  Very admirable but by gosh, it makes the JMO experience a pretty expensive one ...


Review 1 - Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender


The product says:
"Spray on and get that extra body and wave that you love at the ocean.  Essential oil of lavender helps protect the hair from natural drying effects of sea salt. Spray desired amount on wet or dry hair.  Style as desired".

Lippie says:
I found that a bit vague (and there's at least one too many "desired"s there, let's face it). What is the "desired" amount? I realise everyone's hair is different, but the first time you use a product, it's at least slightly helpful for a product to make some suggestions as to how to use the product properly.

Anyhoo, I spritzed my hair liberally (I can do vague too) and left my hair to air dry.  I do like how my hair looks at the beach, that kind of wavy and slightly matte texture, so I was really looking forward to using this.  However, I'd overlooked the word BODY in the blurb.  Those of you who read my Cloud Nine review may already have figured out how this review is going to end ...

Oh man.  My hair already expands to fill any available space at any opportunity unless it's regularly beaten into submission styled with straighteners, so using this product was a massive - and I mean that literally - mistake.  The bouffant candyfloss confection I ended up with would have made Barbara Cartlands heart skip a beat.  I got complaints from the neighbours about blocking out the sunshine.  On the plus side, I didn't need a crash helmet for a few days, so it wasn't all bad.


Would I buy it again?  Heck no!  Smells lovely, but it's hellishly expensive for what is basically a bottle of salty water with some essential oil in it (mine cost £16 from Debenhams).  Might work wonderfully on someone with finer hair than mine though, and it would be great for someone with oily hair to help keep that under control, but for me, it's a big fat zero.

Review 2 - Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor.

The product says:
"A super-intense conditioning treatment that helps revitalise and restore hair.  Using the same essential fatty acids found naturally in younger hair, it's the perfect conditioner for the very dry or damaged hair.  May be used after each shampoo, or as a weekly treatment as needed.  Apply to wet hair.  Leave in 2-4 minutes (or longer). Rinse"


Lippie says:
This is a gloriously-smelling product that's just a delight to use.  I was convinced this was going to be rubbish, but I've used this three or four times since I bought it and it leaves my hair shiny, sleek and lovely.  I hesitate to say it's worth every penny of the £28 I paid for it, but it is a very good product indeed.  I'd recommend it for anyone with coloured, dry or damaged hair.

RIP GHD? or How I Found Cloud Nine Straighteners...

*Warning, this post contains images that some people may find hilarious disturbing.

You do have to be careful what you say in public these days.  A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned on Twitter that you'd have to prise my GHD's from my cold, dead hands before I could be parted from them, and the next thing you know, Cloud Nine are offering to help me change my mind!  From the people who invented the original GHD Straightener, Cloud Nine claim that their irons can get a beautiful natural finish on your style at lower temperatures than other straighteners, so avoiding heat damage on your hair. 

Now, I don't just have hair.  I have BIG hair.  I have a LOT of hair.  I have hair that is not only wavy, but wavy, fuzzy and wonky, in that one side is curlier than the other.  My hair hasn't been seen in it's natural state in many years, and all due to the invention of GHDs.  A lot of my friends don't even know I have curly hair! I've tried many brands of straightener over the years, and the GHDs are the only ones that have been able to cope with the beast my hair so far.  It was with this knowledge in mind that I accepted Cloud Nine's offer, knowing full well what the result was going to be.

Boy, was I wrong.

A couple of days ago, a (beautifully packaged) pair of straighteners arrived at Lippie HQ, and, not being into delayed gratification, the first thing I did when I got home from work was to start beating my hair into submission styling my hair with them.  They don't, in all honesty, look that different to GHD's, but they are lighter, and I love the nifty (heatproof) cover that slips over the plates when you're done with them to keep them closed, and stop them burning your surfaces.

Here was the challenge:

This is my hair in it's natural state, after a backbreaking attempt to blowdry it straight - and after using straightening shampoo, conditioner, serum and balm. Bouff!

First impressions were good, the plates really do glide over the hair in a silky fashion, so much smoother than the GHDs I was amazed. Plus, the tips don't get as hot as my GHD's do, both these things making them a lot easier to use.  The lighteness of them is also a bonus in this regard, as I have a lot of hair, so straightening with my GHD's usually takes around 20 minutes minimum, and tend to get sore arms from it all.

After following the enclosed instructions for smoothing out a blowdry, I set to work, and this was the final result:

Still a fair bit of volume there, which is exactly what I wanted! I used the straighteners on 150 degrees - a lower temperature than I've ever used before - and  was delighted with the results.  I was even more delighted with the results when I checked my watch.  From start to finish, the whole thing had taken twelve minutes!  Nearly half the time of my GHDs! I was, I have to say, flabbergasted.  Very little gasts my flabber these days, but these babies managed it.

Cloud Nine say that their straighteners contain a "secret ingredient" to make your hair supershiny when you use them, I have no idea what it is - they've refused to tell me! - but lookit this shine:

Just glorious. I found them a delight to use, they turned a hair chore I hate into something approching pleasurable, and I loved the results. I'm going to try making waves with them later on in the week, and I'll show you the results then.  Go track down a pair, you'll love them too.  In the meantime, do you know anyone who wants a pair of GHDs?  Cheap?

Makeover: Sarah C

Something a little different this week.  Meet Sarah:

Today we're replicating a makeup we designed for Sarah a couple of months ago for a fancy dress party, and my inspiration for the look was Theda Bara. As always, we start with the base:

We've used a mixture of foundations to match Sarah's skin tone, then powdered it down with a smattering of Benefit Bluffdust.  Then it was onto the eyes, and we decided to use MAC Paint in Artifact, which is a lovely burgundy shade:

I applied this in an almond shape on the eyelid, then drew out the outer edges into a pointed shape.  After that, I added lashings of MAC Feline eyeliner to make it even darker:

 

After that, of course, time for mascara:

And then lips, we needed something dark, but still flattering, so we chose Gash by Urban Decay, as it's a really good dark red.  Sarah has lovely shaped lips for the bee-stung look, so I just exaggerated her cupid's bow a little, and drew the colour slightly inside her natural lipshape. There was no need for blush with this look:

And here's how the whole thing looked when we put it together:

I love how this looks, dramatic, different, yet still wearable for a night-time special event.

Here's the before'n'after:

 

Be Stila My Beating Heart ...

I believe Stila is exiting as a beauty brand from the UK, I'm not sure I'm surprised at this news, I've always liked the looks of their products, but have never really been grabbed enough by them to make them a regular purchase.  This wasn't helped by the discovery that I'm allergic to their lipglosses, which really are their star product. But Brandalley had a sale of Stila products recently, and the prices were waaaaay too good to resist, so caved in and bought their Marrakesh eye palette.

Look how pretty these colours are:

Pictures with flash and without

Two lovely pinks, a gold and a rich brown. Brandalley's shipping times can be a bit slow, so by the time they arrived, I'd been waiting for several weeks, and I was desperate to try them.  But ... look at the swatch:

All shades were swatched once with a humongous amount of shadow on the applicator. Hmn, I thought,  not very pigmented, and exceptionally sparkly.  So I set to work creating an FOTD from them:

I'm wearing four different shades of eyeshadow in this picture, which is not something I do often, but I was trying to build up something besides sparkle on my eye. The gold is in the inner corner, the pinks are over the lid, and the brown in the crease and as an eyeliner.  This is also applied over a primer, and with a not particularly light hand.

Very disappointed, both with the pigmentation, and the sparkliness that verges on glittery, I couldn't build up any depth of colour no matter how much I applied, and when some of the powder got into my eye (not something that bothers me too much ordinarily) my eyes were stinging for hours.

Sorry, Stila. I wanted to love you, I really did.