Nude Eyeliners

 Up until a couple of months ago, I didn't own a single "nude" eyeliner.  Having been tortured throughout the '80s by white eyeliner that was supposed to make you look more "awake" (but in reality just kind of made people look like they had been attacking their eyes with Tipp-Ex), I didn't really think there was anything you could realisitically use these pencils for.  I'd been reading a lot of love on blogs for Stila's Topaz, and when it came up on ModestyBrown's blog sale I bought it.

And now I own seven. <sigh> I'm not sure if it's a problem or not, to be honest.  I now have Une's Skin Glow, GOSH Go Bananas, Stila Topaz, Chanel Clair, Mally's double ended pencil, Laura Geller's I-Care pencil in Bone, and Guerlain's Secret Glow.

Did someone mention swatches?  Here you go:

Thoughts on each:

Une Skin Glow: This is actually meant to be a concealer, but I find it works marvellously well on the waterline, it's light and creamy, and lasts pretty well.  As it's meant to work on your skin to cover up blemishes, it works remarkably well on the waterline to disguise any redness.  A winner.

GOSH Go Bananas: This is actually a shimmering yellow.  Not actually that great as a nude liner, it's a little too yellow for that.  That said, this lasts astonishingly well, and won't actually disappear until you use a remover to take it off.  Great for highlighting around the tearduct rather than using on the waterline, if you ask me.

Stila Topaz:  Although this was the one that started off my collection, I have to say that it's very much not my favourite.  In fact, it's probably the worst liner on this list.  Why?  Well, it's very soft and creamy.  FAR too soft and creamy, in fact.  It's exceptionally easy to overapply (making it look like, well, ta bit like: Your eyes are leaking!! Leaking onto your face!!!  which isn't a great look outside of Halloween), and it can get onto your eyelashes a bit which just looks wrong, really.  Also, it's a little on the peach side, which means it's not a great match for most people's skin tone.

Chanel Clair:  Probably the hardest pencil on this list, it's very subtle, and all the better for it.  The firmness means you don't get the "ooziness" of the Stila, and the colour is very good too.

Mally: The second palest on this list, this gives a very similar effect to a while pencil.  If you're very, very pale, this might be a great choice for you.  It's a double ended pencil though, so means you don't get very much in there.  I'll be talking about the other half of this pencil next week ...

Laura Geller: Another hard pencil, this time in a shimmering ivory shade.  Possibly the prettiest pencil in the collection (and has a great built-in sharpener), alas, I can't get this one to show up on my waterline at all.  Such a shame!

Guerlain Secret Glow: A shimmering vanilla shade, this is glorious (and works well as a browbone highlighter too), being a powder, it's easy to overapply, and make yourself look a little odd, but I do love this one quite unreasonably.

Overall, the ones I'd buy again (and I did buy most of these myself) would be the Chanel and the Une.  What do you think?

The Story Behind All For Eve ...

I don't normally link to the Daily Mail from here, but there's an amazing, heartbreaking story on there today on the story behind the creation of the All for Eve brand that I've been a big supporter of this year.  It's an amazingly intimate interview with the inspiring Nemri Hammer, telling the story of her sister, Nadia, and her battle with cancer. It's well worth a read if you, or anyone you love has ever had their life affected by gynaecological cancer. 

Read it here.

I'll be talking about one of the All for Eve products later this week, in the meantime, you can find out more about The Eve Appeal here.

Blog Birthday Continued ...

PLEASE NOTE: The rules to this competition have changed, owing to a situation with A N Other website. A lot of entries have been disqualified as a result.  Sorry, but GENUINE followers only please.

So, this week is the anniversary of my blog, and, because I love you all SO much, I thought you might like a chance to win one of what I think is the greatest products I've discovered this year.  Which is, of course ...

A Clarisonic!

This is a full Clarisonic kit - as seen here and the prize in total is worth £150.  Oh, and it's pink ;) To be in with your chance to win, all you need to do is: 

Be a follower of this blog, then, finish the following sentence in 25 words or less (I'm an accountant, remember, and I will be counting): "My birthday wish for Get Lippie would be ..." and EMAIL your answer, alongside your name and address to birthdaycomp@getlippie.com.  

The Rules - (ignore at your peril):

Apologies for this list of rules, but owing to the value of the prize, I'm having to make the rules a little more stringent than usual, please read them carefully, and please play by the rules!

Entries made in the comments of this post will not be counted, and will be disregarded entirely. This is an EMAIL ONLY competition.

Similarly, entries received without a valid postal address will be disregarded. Also, only one entry per postal address, please.  

Please note that if you have found this giveaway as a result of posts on forums like MoneySavingExpert et al, then your entry will not be counted. There are ways I can check how you found this post!

This competition is open to UK residents only (many apologies to my international readers, I'll do a giveaway open to you guys soon, I promise!), 

You do need to be a follower to enter this competition, please ensure you tell me your follower-name in your entry. 

The judges decision is final.  I may use Random.org to find the winner, if need be.

 This competition will close at 12 noon (GMT) on Monday 20th September, and the Clarisonic will be despatched the same week.  Entries received after this date will be disregarded.

If the standard of entries is particularly high, I reserve the right to add in further prizes (not guaranteed) at my own discretion.

Good luck, I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

It's my Blog Birthday!

Time just flies, doesn't it?  I seriously cannot believe that an entire year has passed since I started blogging regularly!  I started this because a couple of friends had been nagging me too, and I'd always resisted because a) I didn't think I had anything to actually say, and b) didn't think anyone would want to read it anyway!  Well, an entire year of posting, and almost 150,000 page views later, I think it's fairly safe to say that I was wrong, on both counts ...

Blogging has brought me many things, including experiences from the sublime to the ridiculous (more about those later on this week), and I've met -  and made friends with - men and women I could never have met under other circumstances. Get Lippie has made a huge difference to my life, and as a result, I owe a massive debt of thanks to several people for all manner of reasons, and if you'll forgive my self indulgence (which I shall apologise for in advance), I'd like to mention some of them now.  Please get your sickbags ready:

To Seona, Sarah and Genna, thank you so much for encouraging me to start this in the first place, you guys have supported this from the very beginning and you have always had great ideas and feedback, even when I've found it difficult at times.  This blog probably wouldn't exist without you three, so, from the heart of my bottom I thank you very much.

For bloggers who I'm very grateful to, then I simply have to mention LondonMakeupGirl , MizzWorthy and Lipglossiping  who were my inspiration at the beginning (and remain so!) and I'm grateful to them for all the support they provided for me when I was but a struggling (and very annoying - some things never change) newbie to the blogging world.   BeautyJunkieLondon and HelenNiceThings need a mention for all the help they've given me since - you guys know what I'm talking about! Then there is, of course, BritishBeautyBlogger, who is a great cheerleader, and takes my ribbing her about sausages at every available opportunity with great aplomb. .And, lastly, but certainly not leastly (mainly because she's in a category all of her very own labelled "Mouthy Scousers"), there is Caroline over at BeautyMouth, whom I'd like to say I look up to, but I'm afraid she'll take it literally and start referring to me as a hobbit again.

I've made so many friends through Twitter, through the comments that arrive (always to my astonishment and delight) daily on this blog, and through emails and DMs and not to mention the blogging events that I never even thought I'd be invited to any of, that there are too many more of you to mention without it turning into some sort of sub-Gwyneth Paltrow-style Oscar speech.  And I think I've just embarrassed myself enough for one day.  Possibly even the week!

Suffice it to say, that if you've ever taken the time to read my tiny corner of the internet, or if you've ever spoken to me on Twitter, or if you've ever left a comment here, or written me an email asking for advice, then I'm grateful for it, and I'd like to say a massive thank you to YOU, too.  You're great you are.  And, might I add, how lovely you look today?

I'll be back a little later in the week with details of an amazing birthday competition.  Well, I think it's amazing, anyhow, I hope you guys will, too! In the meantime, if you have any suggestions of things you'd like to see on Get Lippie, then feel free to let me know in the comments!


The Fine Print:  Normal (sarcastic) service will be resumed tomorrow.  I did warn you that you'd need a sickbag.  I never joke about vomit.

A tiny note to MrLippie:  Thank you.  For everything. Now, PLEASE stop making me look socially inept when I drag you to events, thank you!

My Current Skin Care Routine

I've tried a lot of skincare this year - and I'll bring you some reviews of some of those brands soon, but I thought it would be nice to talk about what I'm using at the moment, as I'm really happy with it, and my skin is about as good as it's been in the last few years, so I thought people might like to know about it!

First of all, the Clarisonic.  I swear, this has been the single biggest difference I've made to my skin this year.  I, like many people, initially thought it was a bit of a gimmick, after all, it's essentially a giant toothbrush for your face!  But the difference it's made to my skin is amazing.  It's dealt with my troublesome forehead dry patch that I've been plagued with for years, and I've been able to use less product, and need to rely less on heavy foundations as a result.  Truly, the Clarisonic is a habit-changer, and I'm glad it's appeared in my life.  I use mine twice a day, and it's one of those products that you can really tell the difference if you've skipped a day.

A couple of months ago, I bought a collection of Alpha H products from QVC (it contains cleanser, moisturiser, eye cream, liquid gold and a mask - it's the five piece smoothing collection on this page here) and these have formed the basis of my routine ever since.  In particular, I'm a big fan of the balancing cleanser and the Liquid Gold itself.

In the morning, I use the Balancing Cleanser - alongside the Clarisonic, and I find it cooling and refreshing on my skin. I'm not, ordinarily, a fan of cream cleansers, but this doesn't leave any residue, and leaves my skin feeling clean and smooth.  There's no real scent to it, and I've had no breakouts whatsoever since I bought it. I have a massive 200ml tube which has lasted me two months so far and I estimate I'm about half way down it so far. However, I do not double cleanse, I find that on my (sensitive, and temperamental) skin, double cleansing is just a recipe for dryness and redness, personally.

I follow this with the Alpha H Age Delay Lip and Eye cream, and then I've been following it with Murad Active Radiance serum, which provides a massive vitamin C boost for the skin, and helps repair sun damage.  I like that is absorbs quickly, and it gives my skin a little tingle in the mornings when I use it.  I follow that with either Murad Sheer Lustre Day Moisture (SPF 15), if I'm planning to wear foundation that day, it's a nice, very light lotion that leaves my skin with a nice sheeny glow and provides a great base for some of the foundations I've been trialling recently. There's a golden sheen to it in the tube, which just adds a little radiance to my skin, and I like it a great deal.

If it's a day where I just want a tinted moisturiser, then I'll break out my tried and trusted Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising Balm in Light-to-medium. I love this product, and have been using it for at least five years now, it's pigmented enough to even out your skintone, but it's also, let's face it, a damn fine moisturiser. It's also one of the nicest smelling cosmetic products I own, I love the stuff, and this must be my fifth or even sixth jar now, it's a summer staple.

In the evenings, I once again cleanse with the Balancing Cleanser (or, if it's an OTT makeup day, I use Nude Cleansing Oil), again with the eyecream, and then follow with the  Alpha H Liquid Gold.  Initially, I thought this was a toner, but it's actually a glycolic acid-based treatment that gently helps to resurface your skin overnight.  I love this stuff, it's one of very few products where you can actually see the difference in your skin the morning after.  Your skin will just glow, and you'll look like you had at least ten hours sleep.  My only issue with this product is that you have to apply it to cotton wool, and it turns out that I really don't like applying things with cotton wool.  Yes, I'm a bit odd.  It's fine, I'm used to it.

It's not really recommended that you use Liquid Gold every night (you'll resurface yourself into oblivion if you do!) so on aternate nights, I use the Rejuvenating Cream as a night treatment.  Meant for daily use on mature skins, this is a little too rich for me to use all the time, but I find every other night as a boost to the Liquid Gold, it's perfect as a night cream.

This has been a very long post for what is actually a pretty simple routine!  I'm currently swapping in a couple of new products (changing the night cream, and the serum, basically), for review purposes but this is what I've been using for the last couple of months, and I've loved it.  What's your current routine, and what wonder products have you found and enjoyed recently?

The Fine Print: Some of the products mentioned in this post were provided by PR for review purposes.  Others I bought.  It doesn't matter which is which.  I like what I like, and it matters not in the slightest under those circumstances how I came by the product.  So there, how's about them apples?

Review - Guerlain Lingerie de Peau Foundation

My quest for a Holy Grail foundation goes on, this time around I'm trying Guerlain's Lingerie de Peau, which is their latest release, and it was released a couple of weeks ago. After a while swatching in-store, I settled on shade no2, Beige Clair, which is a slightly more pink-based shade than I'd ordinarily wear, but the lighting in the shop make picking colours way more difficult than it should be.

This is what Guerlain have to say about it:

"Silk and linen weave themselves into a second skin

Selected from among the most luxurious textile fibres, silk and linen combine their complementary qualities, weaving an imperceptible veil of perfection on the surface of the skin in a voluptuous sensation of comfort and drapes the complexion in a silky radiance that captures an reflects the light.  Ultra-mattifying powders and pigments are woven into the linen to help refine the texture of the skin and give it a velvety softness.  On the skin itself nothing is visible except the natural appearance of a perfect complexion."

Housed in a handsome glass bottle, with a monogrammed lid, the bottle has a proper pump to help you get it out. It's a foundation that is prone to separating in the bottle, so it really needs a good shake up before you use it.

Here you can see that I didn't shake it quite enough before I pumped it onto my hand, I generally find that one full pump is just about the right amount for my face and onto my neck (for blending purposes).  It's a very light, very liquid-y foundation, which spreads extremely easily on the skin, it has great slip.

This shows the partially blended foundation, as you can see, a little amount of this goes a very long way.  It blends very easily, and just needs a tiny hint of powder to set it.  I've been using my Guerlain Meteorites over the top, as I find it's very difficult to over-apply that one.

Once on the skin and set, you get the most delightful finish, sheeny without being too glowy, or even (heaven forfend) "greasy".  It's practically invisible in use, and evens out your skintone wonderfully.  I adore the finish, not too matte, not too shiny, it's a really lovely foundation.

That said, it's lasting power is merely average, I do find that it really needs either a good re-powdering around 3pm (I tend to apply around 6.30, 7am, though, which is actually around 8 hours wear) or a little reapplication.

This is a definite re-buy for me, I like it a great deal more than my Chanel Pro-Lumiere, as it feels a lot lighter on the skin, and doesn't appear to oxidise very much - if at all.

What's been a great foundation find for you recently?

The Fine Print: I bought this.  I was actually looking for the new Guerlain palettes, but they're not available till the first week of September, dammit!

Summer perfumes: Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte vs Guerlain Herba Fresca

I mentioned in a recent perfume review that I go a little bit crazy for minty perfumes and colognes and the two I'm talking about this week are two of my all-time favourite summer scents.

First off, Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte, which is a unisex cologne.  I find this is quite citrussy on it's opening (that'll be the orange in the name, I expect, I'm clever that way), and it smells a little like you've gone a bit mad with your other halfs' aftershave for a few minutes - not that I mind that too much - in the mid point it smells a little like Imperial Leather, sort of soapy, clean and warm, a little musky but not too much, and then once it's dried down completely, you get a mossy sort of minty smell which I find totally intoxicating.  Sadly this one doesn't last all that long, the top notes last minutes at most and the middle disappears irritatingly fast, and you'll find that you will have to go hunting on your skin for the dry-down (it sticks very close to your skin), but it's worth it.  Also, I find that the irritating lightness is also part of it's charm, as it means you can reapply quite regularly, without worrying that the people around you are going to need a gas mask.

But, my all-time favourite summer-minty fragrance of all-time is Guerlain's Herba Fresca, which is part of their "Aqua Allegoria" range of scents inspired by nature.

It's decidedly green, and smells of fresh cut grass, hay and MINT on first spray, it's cooling and delicious, and very, very, very light.  I spray it everywhere (and I mean everywhere, arms, legs, chest, back) and then spend the day sniffing delightedly at myself.  It's clean and fresh and very different to anything else I own, which is probably why I like it so much.  Occasionally, if I want it to last longer, I will layer it over Korres Spearmint Shower Gel and Body Lotion, which are an excellent companion to this scent.  This is also the only perfume I own that MrLippie comments on spontaneously, saying how wonderful it smells.  Of course, he thinks it smells of orange, but hey, that's men for you, right?

What are your favourite summer fragrances, and what do you think of mint as a perfume ingredient?