Birthday Giveaway Winner!

Yes, I know the announcement is a day late, I do hope you'll all forgive me!  I did contact the winner yesterday though, so at least I managed to make someone else's day a little happier! Our lucky winner has elected to remain anonymous, but this was her winning entry:

Ten things that make me happy:


1. My husband - sickening but true. He also makes me crazy/angry/laugh/despair/throw things/bemused/proud
2. My friends - they are great. All of them. I'm not one of those people with masses of friends, but the ones I have are the best kind. When life goes wrong they bring wine and sarcasm and make it all better.
3. My cats - who can fail to be made happy by a cat that randomly bites you and uses people as trampolines, and and a cat that is so dumb that to list the ways in which she brings delight would take too long?
4. Baths - deep, hot, and the bubblier the better. I like a Lush bubble bath bar, or my REN rose otto oil - if only that made bubbles
5. My NEOM organic candles - one of the best things Get Lippie ever promoted to me
6. My nephews - especially when singing songs about poo. #Hey poo, where are you, I want to see you in the loo#.
7. Brownies from Borough Market. Nom nom nom
8. Good hair days.
9. Cakewrecks. I cannot read it without collapsing into laughter. The carrot riding babies! The cupcake cakes!
10. Lazy days on the sofa with old films and endless cups of tea. Aimlessly flipping through the channels when bored and miserable and suddenly finding a film you love is on. I did this the other week and found Calamity Jane in the middle of singing about the Windy City. Love it.
Bonus 11: Champagne! Cocktails!

These are what make me happy, and I am glad they exist.
 
The winner was picked in as scientific manner as I could manage, I shortlisted MY favourite entries and asked several other people which one they preferred.  This one was the favourite.  Our lucky winner has selected Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle as her preferred shade, and a gift voucher for this, alongside Chanel Particuliere, and Guerlain Khol in Oriental Metal has already been despatched, alongside a couple of other lovely goodies that I couldn't resist sneaking into the bag!
 
I had over 100 entries to this givewaway, and it's been an utter delight to have run it.  Thank you so much to every single person who took the time to enter, if I had something to give each one of you, I would. You're an amazing bunch of people, and you shared some amazing stories with me, I'll do a post soon highlighting just how wonderful my readers are.
 
Thank you so much.

Quick Birthday FOtD

Excuse the stupid look on my face, currently I'm *bemused* by Argos' customer service, but thought you might like a sneaky peek at the makeup I'm wearing, and my new hairdo!

Once again I'm wearing the Estee Lauder/Tom Pecheux Blue Dahlia palette on my eyes (taupe as a colour wash, tiny amount of black smudged in the crease, tightlined with teal, and lined with the smoky blue), Le Metier de Beaute Anamorphic mascara in Aubergine, no blush, and Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess lipgloss in Wild Orchid.

I had my hair done with some (very) subtle highlights yesterday, and got a LOT more layers cut in courtesy of Declan and Tracey at the Andrew Barton salon yesterday, they are seriously amazingly talented, and, I have to say that it has been the best, friendliest, most professional salon experience I have had this year! A full review of the salon will follow next week...

Right, I'm off to hunt down the peeps at Argos and throw tiny pens at them...

Last Call!

Time is running out on my giveaway - it ends at midnight (GMT) tonight!  The rules are very simple, and I'd love to hear from you.  Just click this link to find out how to win Chanel Particuliere nail varnish, Guerlain Oriental Metal eyeliner, and your choice of Chanel Rouge Coco lipstick ...

Review - Skin.NY Skincare

Remember this post? I had a little rant about the Utter Drivel that was written on the boxes, then said I'd be trying the creams out for six weeks, so I could see if they would turn me into Ava Gardner overnight.  Well, 28 nights, but you catch my drift ...

Well, I signed up to try them for six weeks, but I am here to announce that I failed. I'm sorry.  I tried, I really did, but I only lasted two weeks. 

The box warns that you might feel a mild tingling sensation when you use it, I never had that, but what I did get as a result of using the cream was worse.  Much worse.  After about ten days, (in which I really did think my skin was softer as a result of using it, even though there were no visible differences), I found my skin was actually getting worse. Greasy, patchy, red, coarse - seriously, my chin and forehead were resembling sandpaper - and my pores (which according to the bumpf should have been refining themselves) were gaping.  And gopping, but never mind. I've also noticed milia under the skin around my eyes, which I've never had before, and it's been quite distressing.

It's possible that I was having some sort of reaction to the cream, so I stopped using it, as there was a risk that I could permanently damage my skin if I kept it in my routine, and no skin care trial is worth that. So, I'm sorry, lovely readers, I stopped using a cream before my self-imposed time-scale was up. I'm very disappointed with myself!  I've gone back to some tried and tested products (including Mir, Pai and Nude) and I've been treating myself with some Clarins as prescribed by the amazing Caroline over at Beautymouth (do you read her yet?  If not, you really, really should, there's nothing she doesn't know about skin, and she's sharing her knowledge with you, so go read her!) and that seems to be helping with the greasiness and the pores, and Avene water spray (as recommended by BritishBeautyBlogger) is helping with the redness. It's the first time in a long time that my skin has reacted in such a way to a cream, but I've been reminded that my skin is pretty sensitive, I guess. It's calmer now, but it's going to be a while before I introduce any new products.

So, er ... yeah. It didn't work for me, but that doesn't mean it won't work for you.  I think, in all honesty, that it was just a bit too rich for my skin - which in a way is good news!  I don't need radical cosmetic intervention! - Will you try? And what symptoms would make you stop using a product?

All for Eve Launch Sophy Robson Nail Varnish on June 15th

Yeah, I talk about All for Eve a lot.  It's a cause that's close to my heart, and because of that I'm not going to make any apology for mentioning them yet again!

This is just a quick post to let you know that the nail varnish created by Sophy Robson for the charity goes on sale via the All For Eve website on June 15th.  A gorgeous, classic red - perfectly complementing the Daniel Sandler lipstick that was released recently - it's a fine addition to any nail wardrobe.

Sophy Robson has painted the nails of (amongst others) Yasmin le Bon, Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer and Natalie Portman.  She's also taken the mickey out of yours truly once or twice (never offered to do my nails though, I notice!), and she created this shade as it symbolises a "strong, stylish woman".

This is is how it looks on my alien-blue-fleshed fingers, but I think it will work on many skin-tones.  It's a lovely shade, averagely long-lasting (I found it a bit chippy after two days, but that's a common problem with a lot of reds, but I suspect a rushed application was also slightly to blame), and with a jelly-finish.  The picture shows two coats with no base, and a Chanel topcoat.

Buy it, wear it, love it. But just make sure you buy it.  And, if you haven't had a gynaecological checkup recently, book one, your ladygarden will love you for it.

The Art of Shaving Lavender Carry On Kit

No, I haven't gone entirely mad, but this is just a little heads up to let you know that MrLippie has made his "official" blogging debut over on Ape to Gentleman today!  Please go show him some love.  Er ... you know what I mean, comment on his post. Yes, that's what I meant. He's got a girlfriend, y'know, don't make her jealous, she's a right pain in the bum.

Pedicures - Heaven or Hell?

Feet freak me out.  It's a sad fact, but true, and they've always given me the willies (so to speak).  I can deal with the fact that I have feet, but, well, just don't talk to me about them, don't show me pictures of them, and don't, whatever you do, touch my feet unexpectedly.  More than once, when my mum was training to be a reflexologist and using me as a guinea pig, she got a swift (accidental!) kick in the head after a ticklish manoeuvre.  She's never really forgiven me.

All of this probably makes me the worst person in the world to attempt to review a pedicure, but hey, I'll give it a go! I was invited along to experience a Himalayan Signature Pedicure by Pinks Boutique recently, so I went along to their outpost at the Aurora spa in the Park Plaza Hotel in Waterloo last Friday to see how they coped with a terrified blogger ...

First impressions were that the spa is tiny, but very clean, and the staff were all very welcoming.  Nicole, my therapist for the day, had been made thoroughly aware of my little ... er ... problem before I arrived, and she took it magnificently in her stride (see what I did there?  I crack myself up sometimes, I really do.  Ok, I'll stop it now), and made sure that I was feeling comfortable at all times throughout the procedure.  At Aurora, they have a bespoke pedicure room which is liberally strewn with cushions and magazines, which is ideal for it's purpose (pictured left).  As I was having the signature pedicure, which involves a leg massage, I was in the more traditional spa room which was clean, smelled delicious, and had beautifully ironed sheets on the bed.

Starting with tea and cupcakes  - always a good way to set my mind at ease, at least - we started with removing the old polish, then went onto a trim and file (always the worst part of any pedicure for me), your cuticles are oiled, then your feet are soaked in warm water which is liberally filled with Himalayan salts and essential oils.  Once soaked, your cuticles are pushed back and then your feet are massaged with a salt scrub to remove the hard skin. This is where we discovered that my feet are exceptionally ticklish, and there was, I'm afraid, a bit of flinching - sorry Nicole!  A file was also necessary on my scaly heels, alas!   Feet are soaked again to remove the oils, and then it's onto the massage part of the pedicure.

Two words for this - utter bliss.  My feet and calves were given a thorough massage with glorious-smelling oils, and no flinching!  I absolutely loved it.  Even the bit where she was wiggling my toes ... we finished off by painting my toenails with OPI's India Mood For Love to match my pink patent Birkenstocks (yes, I did buy them, and I LOVE them, so there), and we were done.  My toes were looking beautiful, all the hard skin I'd carefully spent the winter storing up on my heels was finally dealt with, and I felt rested and refreshed rather than faintly sweaty, slightly stressed and somewhat resentfully twitchy as I tend to after other, rather more medical (and functional) pedicures.

If you're nervous about feet - and I suspect many people are, after I tweeted about the subject recently - then I can't recommend the Pinks Boutique Himalayan Signature Pedicure highly enough, the products are organic (the varnishes aren't, but then, there aren't any organic varnishes on the market, so it's not a black mark in my book), the therapists are highly trained, and the staff at the Aurora, Park Plaza will go all-out to accommodate mad phobias. And mad clients, but we'll gloss over that, shall we?

The signature pedicure costs £65 for a 75 minute pedicure, but there is a shorter version which costs £45 for 45 minutes.

The Fine Print: Pedicure was provided for free,  in order to help a me deal with a phobia that I'd admitted to on Twitter.  I'm not cured, but I thought I'd blog about it anyway. ;)