Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner Pencils

If yesterday's £20 a pencil eyeliners were too rich for your blood, how does four for a tenner grab you?
 
I was idly browsing the Avon website a few weeks ago, and I noticed that they had their gel eyeliners on offer at £2.50 each, so I snapped a couple or four up, in plum, khaki, steel and bronze, and I'm very glad I did.  They're a bargain even at full price of £6 each, and, to my mind, they're just as good as the Armani ones I showed you yesterday. Nicer, possibly, as these have a lovely metallic sheen that is better than the slightly flat shades of the Armani pencils.

Again, these are one pass on clean, dry, unprimed skin.  On checking the pics against the ones I showed yesterday, I have to admit that there is slightly less pigment in the Avon pencils, but at this price, that's to be expected.  But the shades are complex, with just a hint of micro-shimmer, which can be very flattering.

They last, however, just as well as pencils costing a lot more, and they don't run or flake during the day.  They're velvety soft on application though, and simply will not drag on the skin.

A bargain at twice the price.  These shades aren't showing on the Avon website though - but they do now have the black, which they didn't when I was buying, so if you can't afford Armani, then snap these babies up!



The Fine Print: Bought and purchased with the pennies I earn from my day job. I do have a day job, I'm an accountant, but I used to be an Avon Lady.  Have I mentioned that before?  Grateful thanks go to today's mystery swatching hand ...
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Giorgio Armani Gel Eyeliner Pencils

 

I confess to not being an expert on the beauty industry, but I admit that the decisions that come beauty companies make baffle me slightly.  Take, for example, the decision by Giorgio Armani cosmetics to make their wonderful eyeliners a limited edition product.  Released once or twice a year, these pencils turn up for two, maybe three weeks at a time, then disappear not to be seen for another couple of months.

Mystifying, utterly mystifying.  

Regardless - and price aside for a moment - it's all the more astonishing, because these are, quite rightly cult items, that I don't really think that any makeup bag should be without.

We're all familiar, I guess, with gel eyeliners, the kind that come in pots, and have to be applied with a brush.  They set on the skin to give unparalleled lasting power that doesn't crease, run or flake (well, most of them don't) and are slightly easier to use than a traditional "inkwell" style liquid eyeliner.


Well, the Armani Eyeliners are gel eyeliners in a pencil, creaseproof, run proof and flake-free, they're wonderful things.  Look at the swatches from the black and green pencils above:

These are both one pass with the pencil over clean, dry, unprimed skin.  And, let me tell you, that black line was a complete pain in the bum to remove with just a cleansing wipe! It is one of the blackest, softest eyeliners I own, and I say that as someone with a collection of eyeliners that would make your average baby-goth weep inky-sweet tears of sootiest envy.


They're not great if you want a really fine line, as, being gel, they blunt very easily, but they're soft, apply with no dragging, and are (for about a minute or so) very easily smudgeable.  Once they set though, they're in place for the whole day. That is unless you're an inveterate eye-rubber, or it's an exceptionally humid day.  I've found they tend to fade rather than run though, which is preferable, in all honesty.


On the down side, they are very, very, very expensive.  At £20 a pencil, which won't actually last all that long owing to how soft they are, they are a very occasional treat.


But, tomorrow, I'll be showing you a more than acceptable alternative at around a tenth of the cost.  Sound interesting .... ?

The Fine Print: These were bought at the same time as the Armani Eyes to Kill eyeshadow I showed you on Sunday.  Once again, a stunt swatching hand was used in these posts. He's still not forgiven me.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Bare Minerals High Shine Eyeshadows Moonshine and Meteorite

L - R Moonshine, Meteorite

I discovered these quite by accident - Meteorite appeared in a goody-bag, and I was so impressed that I went out the very next day and bought another one!  Like the Armani Eyes to Kill shadow I showed you yesterday, these appear to be another cream-shadow hybrid and are exceptionally long wearing and crease proof.


Housed in a tube, the shadows have a built in applicator (excuse the stock image, I'm an idiot and forgot to take a picture of it myself), which is actually pretty useful, and picks up enough product to actually be able to apply:

However, on my jar of Meteorite, the sponge picks up far, far, far too much product and this causes massive fallout, which is exceptionally annoying, however, I loved the shadow so much after applying it, that I overlooked this design flaw when I bought Moonshine.


Onto swatches!

Top is Moonshine, and bottom is Meteorite.  Moonshine is described on the Bare Minerals website as a "deep plum", which, whilst I wouldn't describe it that way myself, it is a very nice metallic purple, which isn't too scary a shade for daytime wear.  Meteorite isn't on the website yet (making me suspect that mine may be a pre-release sample -sorry), but it's a genuinely beautiful lightly blackened coppery bronze.


On initial swatching, the shades can apply thickly, and will need sheering out a little to make them wearable, particularly if you have creased eyelids, or are prone to dry eyelids, but sheering them out is possible and doesn't affect the wear-time:

These shades are very complex, around the edges of Meteorite on the bottom there, you can see how the way the light hits the shade affects the colour, this means - to me - that you don't really need other shadows with these, it looks like you've expertly blended a number of shades together already!  I'll post a Face of the Day with this shade soon, and you'll be able to see what I mean ...


Bare Minerals High Shine Eyeshadows are available from Debenhams, Selfridges and Bare Minerals boutiques, and cost £15 each.  They're more than comparable with the Armani Eyes to Kill shadows if you ask me - actuallly having improved wear time, and less creasing, and I'll be going back to purchase Patina (olive green) and Glisten (golden sand) soon.  They're also around a tenner cheaper, which has to be a good thing, in anyone's book ...

The Fine Print: One was a PR sample from an event unrelated to Bare Minerals, and one was purchased by me.  Further Disclosure: Stunt doubles were used in the swatch photos, Get Lippie's left hand is currently unavailable for photographic engagements.


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Sephora Giveaway Winner!

By the time-honoured and increasingly less scientific method of asking Mr Lippie to name a number between one and forty two, I'm happy to announce that the winner of my Sephora Goody-Bag is ...


Debdobdoornob!  


Hoorah! Drop me an email, lovely, and I'll get your goodies in the post to you ...

Thank you to everyone for entering xx

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Armani Eyes to Kill Eyeshadow #8

Armani Eyes to Kill eyeshadows have been all over Twitter recently, and, as I've had mine for about three months now, I thought it was about time I actually reviewed it!

Not quite a cream, not quite a powder, but rather a hybrid mixture of them both, the Armani Eyes to Kill shadows are easy to use, last well, and are a pleasure to use.


I have shade 8, which I don't know the name of, but it's a grey-speckled champagne shade:

I find they work best if you apply with a finger tip - they do not get along with synthetic eye brushes at all, but if you must use a brush, make sure it's a natural hair brush.


They do give a heavy metallic finish when applied:

This amount on a finger tip applies like this:

Which is a cool, silvery-champagne shade, which works very well alone to brighten up eyes, and just give you a slightly-more-awake look when you can't be bothered with a more structured makeup look.


You can sheer them out, but you will need to work quickly, as the shadows set in about a minute or so:

The shadows last well - around 12 hours with minimal creasing, and I find that they also make quite a good base for more traditional powder shadows.  Mostly I use this alone with a hint of smudged eyeliner and LOTS of mascara for a very simple makeup look that takes seconds to pull together.


Armani Eyes to Kill shadows are available at Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges and will cost you around £25 each.  I'll be honest, I picked this shade because I found a lot of the others were far too sparkly for every day use, and at this price, I'd want to use it a lot!  The pot has been used two/three times a week for three months now, and shows barely any signs of wear, so I think, in the long run, it's worth the money.


However, I'll be showing you a cheap(er) alternative tomorrow ...

The Fine Print: I bought this from Harrods a couple of months ago - alongside a few other bits.  Further Disclosure:  Hands shown in this post do not belong to Get Lippie - a stunt swatching double has had to be enlisted.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Gah! Essie Apricot Oil

Don't you just hate it when this happens?

I knocked over my beloved bottle of Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil earlier this evening, and the neck of the bottle broke off in the cap.  INFURIATING!

And it was a present, so I've no idea where/how I can replace it!

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Elemis Freshskin



I do like a bit of Elemis, so when I found out they were launching a more "affordable" range of skin care, I was delighted.  Then, when I discovered that the aforementioned range of skincare was designed for 16-24 year olds, I was heartbroken.

But, I'm not one to brood, so,  being the kind-hearted soul that I am, I passed a selection of the products onto my workmate Bel, who agreed to try them out for me.  Take it away, Bel:

My teenage years weren't all bad, excepting the flat chest, train-track braces and highly temperamental teenage skin - all of which would eventually pass. Wouldn’t they?

I'm now twenty-something and when it comes to my skin I'm still stuck in a teen time warp. So believe me when I say I have tried all manner of things to sort my face out! Antibiotics, chemical peels, classic facials, microdermabrasion, and an excruciating treatment involving a laser, a humongous pair of suctioning tweezer things and a three inch needle - and yes I paid a hideous amount for the "pleasure".

So when Get Lippie offered (read as "had to wrestle out of my hands") me a testing opportunity for the brand new Elemis Fresh Skin range I was only too happy to oblige.
Elemis packaging has always looked a bit old ladyish for me. And although pretty inoffensive, the cerise and white packaging of this new range is probably hitting it’s target market - which admittedly may not be me (10 years too ahem, "mature").

The Peachy Perfect Skin Wash Cleanser  (£12) came in a handy dispenser, lathered well and had a lovely zingy fresh smell (chicory, elderflower and lemon apparently). My skin felt pretty tight after the first wash, but I persisted for a few days using it in the morning with my gentler Darphin cleanser in the evening. However after a week I had to stop using it as my skin got seriously dry. Having said that, with my skin like an arid desert, all my spots seemed to wither away.

Next up was the Skin Glow Exfoliating Face Wash - quite granular and abrasive. But then again that is what an exfoliator is generally required to be. It was too much when used in conjunction with the cleanser but used once/twice a week with a gentler cleanser it worked a treat, particularly for sweeping away dead skin cells around the nose. (My favourite exfoliator is in fact another Elemis product - the Papaya Enzyme Peel). The Day cream was a great consistency - the dispenser delivering the perfect amount of cream for my face. It gave a good level of moisture throughout the day but felt a bit cloying on the skin and my make-up didn’t sit too well.

Last but not least the Dreamy Sleep Night Time Moisturiser  (£22)- which was my favourite product. A lovely rich (what I thought was) lavender scented, moisturiser - that sent me into a blissful sleep! Turns out it was blackcurrant seed oil and barley extract. But how would it contend with my oily but dehydrated skin? Pretty well. By the morning my skin looked more glowing than usual. But that may be more to do with the sleep inducing properties of the "lavender" rather than magical skin glowing ingredients.

Overall not the range for me but I think "genuine" teenage skin would see a lot of benefits.

The Elemis Freshskin range is available from Timetospa

The Fine Print: PR samples - as always, the link to products is unaffilliated.  Many thanks to Bel for being this week's guinea-pig!

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com/ All rights reserved.