So Annoying

I hate dodgy packaging:




Just went to apply my (lovely) Alpha H Age Delay treatment eye cream, and the nozzle has decided to stay in the lid!

Bye bye, eye cream, bye bye.

YSL Belle D'Opium

Launched in what must be one of the prettiest bottles I've seen all year, Belle D'Opium is the latest fragrance from Yves St Laurent.

A "sister" scent to the original Opium, this is lighter, and designed - I guess - to be more of a complement to the current trend for the fruity-musky-woody stews that are all you can smell in modern fragrance these days.

Which is a shame.  I loved the original Opium, my father used to buy it for my mum by the bucket load (in massive duty-free flacons), and the heavy, heady, spicy oriental scent of carnations and smoke perfumes many of my memories.  Belle D'Opium has, sadly, about as much in common with the original Opium as I do with Cindy Crawford.

It starts off well, not too sweet, slightly dry and a bit flowery, but not overly so, and for the first 15 minutes or so it's perfectly  ... pleasant.  Inoffensive. No spices, no headiness, no intense desire to keep sniffing, and work out what the notes are, as you get with some perfumes, just ... niceness. A little warmth, maybe, but it's hard to tell how this is supposed to remind you of Opium at all, outside of the name.

Then, on my skin, it simply  ... disappears.  Completely.  Totally.  Utterly. It disappears with such a total and abrupt thoroughness that upon occasion I've completely forgotten that I'd applied it in the first place and then an hour later I've applied something completely different. And, get this, when I have, the scents have never clashed, that's how thorough a nothingness is left behind once the top notes wear off.

It's a shame that such a beautiful bottle with such a historic name behind it smells so  ... gone.

The Fine Print: This was a PR sample I wanted to love.  Sorry peeps!

Review - Webster Whiteman

One of the most surreal - and proudest! - moments of my blogging "career" to date was being invited to judge one of the awards for this year's Creative Head Most Wanted awards.  I don't, in all honesty consider myself a hair blogger, but I can't deny that I am interested in hair, hairdressing and styling, so it was a great honour to be asked.

I was judging the Online Salon category, (click here for a full list of winners), and one of the finalists in my category was the team at Webster Whiteman,  I think I may have been more disappointed  than them when they didn't win the award, as I thought their website was a great one, it introduced the team beautifully, and gave a real sense of what the salon is all about.  Go check out their "meet the team" page, which is a great example of a salon with a great sense of humour!

So, when my roots needed sorting out recently (seriously, it's such a bind being an elderly brunette, you know),  I popped along to the comfy, and wonderfully unpretentious, Webster Whitman salon in the heart of Mayfair, just to see if their real life presence was as good as their online one.

I have to say that I wasn't disappointed in the slightest, the entire team is friendly, welcoming, and delightfully down to earth.  Even though the salon is situated slap bang in one of the ritziest areas of London, it's not at all intimidating, and throughout my three hours in the salon (which flew!), I was amazed at the assortment of diverse characters the salon manages to attract, from ladies who lunch to busy businessmen, to the occasionally slightly stressed and vaguely pre-occupied beauty blogger.

I think a large part of this is down to the staff, I chatted to the owners Darren Webster and Lisa Whiteman, who were both busy on the floor themselves, and I had a wonderful time in the hands of award-winning colourist Claire and also with Becky who did my blow-dry.  Both girls are amazing talents, and I won't be surprised if Becky is going to be a rising star in her own right one day, certainly someone who can teach me how to blow dry my fringe properly in a way I can actually remember a couple of weeks later certainly deserves a medal!

So, how did they do?  Well, I was happy with the last cut I received at the Chapel, and I'm still kind of in love with the highlights I had then too, but I was in desperate need of having my horrific roots covered up, so Claire and I  had a chat about covering them up, then blending them in via a semi-permanent shade throughout the lengths, so I wouldn't lose the highlighted effect.  I have to say that I think this has worked magnificently, my hair is shinier, my roots aren't grey, and I still have a gorgeous lightly sun-dappled effect:

As for the blow dry - and my love for a good "bouncy" blow-dry is becoming legendary in certain circles - with Becky, this is the result, full-bodied, but still wonderfully natural-looking, and full of shine:

Love it.  To the team at WebsterWhiteman, thank you very much.

The Fine Print: This knackered beauty-blogger was a guest of Webster Whitman, and is very grateful.

Wish List

If wishes were horses, beggars might ride, I guess ... but anyway.  Get Lippie is moving house this week, and I've been streamlining my makeup collection as a result of having to share my storage space with a fellow beauty blogger (okay, it's Mr Lippie) from now on.

Now, me being me, all this clearing out, and donating of products to the deserving has just lead me to start fantasising about what replacements I can make!  At the moment, I'd like any - and all - of the following, please:

Tom Ford Black Orchid Collection.  I was lucky enough to have had a preview of this last week - having previously written off the Tom Ford collection of lipsticks as being too rich for even my blood - and fell instantly in lust.  Consisting of a balm version of the Tom's Black Orchid perfume, a special edition black packaged Black Orchid lipstick, and a gorgeous Black Orchid (very, very remiscent of Chanel's Rouge Noir) nail varnish, this is a sophisticated shade perfect for autumn/winter.  Priced at a reasonable (in context) £90 for all three products, in Tom Ford terms, this is practically giving it away.  Want.

Speaking of Tom Ford - and sharp-eyed readers may be about to pick up a theme here - I'd also like a bottle of Black Violet by Tom Ford.  Or a bottle of Tuscan Leather.  Also by Tom Ford.  Seriously sexy scents these, I managed a little sniff recently, and fell in love with both.  I suspect Tuscan Leather would make a great layering scent for adding other perfumes to, and Black Violet surprised me a great deal by not, actually, smelling of violets.  I'm trying to get my hands on some samples of these, so I can have some more considered thoughts on the scents, but for now - BIG want.

Okay, so these two aren't strictly replacement products, but they are things I need to do again, well, I think so anyway:

I need a keratin treatment.  I had one in December last year, and I absolutely adored it, so it's time I got it done again.  I'm blaming Modesty Brown for this one, she had one recently, and I've been thinking about it for ages, so I'm waiting for the next time they pop up on Wahanda, and I'm booking me one!  They save me so much time and effort, it's not even funny.  Besides which, my hair is going through one of its periodic "insane" stages again, and even though I got the colour changed slightly - more about that tomorrow - recently, it's time to show it who's boss again, I think.

I need a spa day.  Packing all my stuff up - and downsizing my beauty collection by at least a third! - has taken a toll, and I'm exhausted.  I need a massage, and a day of someone else looking after me. Mr Lippie, send me to a flipping spa!

Oh, and I want one of these:

A puppy.  Highly impractical, but still.  Want.

D&G Orchid Lipstick Applied

I'm a doofus, I showed you the D&G autumn collection earlier this week and forgot to show what is, I think, the standout item of the collection!

That is the lipstick in Orchid, a glorious deep, rich fuschia shade, with a rather blue base:




I adore this shade, it's dramatic without being too "in your face" about it.

A creamy formulation (without feeling greasy) that lasts well, much better than, say a YSL Rouge Volupte, another creamy formulation, but one I don't like, to be honest. It fades evenly, leaving you with no ring of doom! But, being both very creamy and such a strong shade, it does have a tendency to feather, so ideally it needs a lipliner as part of your application routine.

I'll be wearing this tomorrow for a wedding, paired with a neutral, slightly smokey, eye. Similar to this, but with (hopefully) better lighting!




The swatch in the top pic is rather more true to life, don't know why I'm blue in this pic!

D&G lipsticks are available from both Harrods and Selfridges. At least until Selfridges ban them, that is!

Drawers!

Yes, I'm showing you my drawers today, for today is the day I downsize my makeup, toiletries and haircare collection prior to the "Big Move" next week.

I've just realised that seven of the drawers in this chest (plus the top of it, plus the ikea, um ... thingy downstairs, plus a couple of shelves in the wardrobe and a plastic crate in the bathroom) are full of my beauty products.

I've always been a beauty hoarder, my rooms are filled with products I treasure, and cannot bear to be parted with, stuff I like that I'm going to use again on a semi-regular basis and stuff I'm not sure about but I'm convinced will "come in handy" one day ...

Now, as I'm moving to a flat with less storage space than I currently enjoy, my challenge to myself is to GET RID OF SOME OF IT!  But my question to you is how?  Where do I start? Naturally, I'll be giving most of the rejects to friends, but only after throwing out some of the more venerable (elderly/disgusting) items.  No blog sales, here, sorry! 

If you had to cut down your stash by half (say) what would you get rid of?  And, what, out of your collection, would you absolutely not be parted with under any circumstances whatsoever?

I need some inspiration, peeps!

Review - Daniel Sandler products

Okay, so yesterday I told you what it was like having a makeover from a celebrity makeup artist, and today - as is my wont - I'm going to go through a few of the products from the Daniel Sandler range of cosmetics.  I'll mainly be looking at the basics and the standout products today

I'll start with Daniel Sandler Waterbase Foundation with Concealer. Actually, I find this would be more accurately described as a tinted moisturiser, with a concealer, rather than a foundation, but this is not to denigrate the product in the slightest.  It's a fairly lightweight, sheeny finish, that gives you a light to medium (buildable) coverage.  But I will say this, in the jar, this looks ... well ... orange.  It's actually pretty scary looking!

The jar you can see here is the "fair" shade.  Now, I'm fairly pale (but not that pale) but I think my cooler, more porcelain-skinned friends might struggle with trying to use this to build coverage, to be honest.

As it is, on my skin, it gives me a great glow, and evens out my skin-tone beautifully (see the gold opalescence in the bottle there?  Flipping lovely), but I suspect that on paler skins, you'd need to use it with a light hand to avoid a certain element of tangerine creeping in.  On my dry-ish skin, it leaves me with a dewy finish, but oilier-skinned sisters will definitely need to set it with powder.

You can see how the shade "pops" a little against my skin there, but I have to say that this does blend well, and won't leave you with a tidemark, even if you are paler than the shade in the jar.  I find applying it with a brush is a great way to buff it into your skin.

The bottle is a little awkward though, having a wide mouth, and a "paddle" attached to the lid to enable you to get the product out, which leaves me with worries that once you get towards the end of the bottle, it'll be exceptionally difficult to get out the last drops of your product.  It's a problem I have with La Prairie's foundation bottles too, to be honest.

There is a concealer hidden in the lid, and this is a brilliant, brilliant concealer.  Light, but opaque enough to conceal, and does not dry cakey, or look dry on the skin.  This is important for me, as I find that very many concealers are far too heavy for the under-eye area, and have a tendency to settle into under-eye lines that simply aren't ordinarily visible without the concealer in the first place!

It's a little paler in shade than the foundation in the bottle:

I just love this, if it was sold separately, I'd buy backups of it in a heartbeat!  I don't actually use much in the way of concealer (heathen that I am), as I find a lot of them merely draw attention to your flaws rather than hide them, but this one is great for under-eye shadows.

I mentioned that you might need to set the foundation, naturally, there is a powder in the range, and that is the Daniel Sandler Invisible Blotting Pressed Powder (catchy!).  Housed in a handsome pewter case, this is a pressed white powder that is totally colourless when applied:

Ignore the instructions to use the (rather rubbish) puff,  you need a brush for this. I find that a very slight dusting of this is more than enough to see off any shine, and, as it's colourless, it doesn't change the shade of your base, and this also makes it suitable for any skintone.  I've used this with a variety of foundations - I'm fickle - and it works well over all of them.  I've also used it over bare (moisturised) skin, and it smoothes wonderfully.  I like it as much as my ELF HD powder, possibly more, as it's a lot more portable.  Not to mention far more classily packaged! It can be slightly prone to "glazing" in the pan if you use the puff, so be aware that you might need to give it a bit of a scratch with something rough once in a while.

So, onto Daniel's infamous blushers: Daniel Sandler Watercolour

Shown above are two shades (there are seven in total), on the left is Truth, and on the right is Cherub.  Truth is a lightly peachy-nude shade with a hint of silver shimmer, and Cherub is a lovely baby-pink.  Both give, on my pale yellow skin, a light flush of colour, and their lasting power is amazing, far better than most powder blushers in my collection, and certainly better than very many cream blushers. Separately they're lovely shades, and I find that by mixing a drop of each, I can get a really nice shade for a little more drama.

However, there is a very definite learning curve to using these products.  As you've probably guessed from my description of their lasting powers, this means that they're actually quite highly pigmented, and this means you have to handle them with caution.  A single drop of either is actually more than enough for both cheeks, and if you pick one of the darker shades in the range (Dare for instance), then it's probably enough for your lips too.  After spending a few days sporting fetching blush-splotches on the back of my hand, I discovered that the best way to apply these is to actually drip one single drop of the blush onto a synthetic (very important) blush brush, and then apply the colour to my cheeks.  Once blended, these babies stay put, and are very flattering shades, they've very quickly become absolute staples in my routine, particularly Truth, which is perfect for a barely there glow that suits almost all makeup looks.

And now onto the infamous waterproof eyeliners (which were actually what I was meant to be looking at before Daniel decided I needed a makeover!) which you can see here: Daniel Sandler Waterproof Eyeliner. There are six shades in the range, brown, grey, black, purple, green and blue, the latter three of which are brand new to the range.

The brown, grey and black are matte shades, but the purple, green and blue have a hint of gentle shimmer.  Daniel describes these three as his "jewelled" shades, and I can see what he's getting at, the green in particular is a stunningly pretty shade, which is surprisingly appropriate for the waterline.

These pencils are soft, creamy (the above swatches are one pass with the pencil over bare skin), and very blendable.  Once set - which is fairly quickly - these do not budge. They will fade over the course of 12-14 hours or so, but rain won't budge them, and even if you cry whilst wearing them, you won't end up with rivulets of black or green over your face.  You can trust me on this, I've cried a lot recently for one reason or another, and these babies have never let me down. They are great - I much prefer them to Gosh's waterproof liners, for example, my only real criticism of them is that the purple needs to be MORE purple!

So, there you go, a quick (ha!) look at some of the basics from Daniel's range, anything you think you'll be trying?  I'll have a look at the colour cosmetics at a later date.

The Fine Print: These were an unexpected gift from Daniel, however, I've never been one to turn down an opportunity to look a gift horse in the  ... er ... eyeliner. Links provided in this post are not affliate links, and are just provided for informational purposes.  They're from a variety of sources because I'm a flibbertigibbet.