Debenhams Beauty Club Awards

I'm a lifelong Debenhams shopper - in my hometown there isn't a department store at all, and the nearest department store to us was Browns of Chester, which is actually a branch of Debenhams.

I spent so much time in that Debenhams beauty hall whilst growing up that eventually all the staff knew me by name (remember Norm from Cheers?  How the whole bar would shout his name when he walked in?  That used to happen to me in Browns.  True story.)  I was offered jobs by the Aveda, the Bobbi Brown and the Chanel counters, just from my constant shopping in there, and, from my chatting with the assistants I eventually learned more about most of their brands than the sales assistants themselves, bless them.

Through Debenhams I discovered Mac, La Prairie, Lancome, Guerlain, and many, many more, and, I loved them all. Still do. It's my love of those brands, discovered in-store that keeps this blog going!   Debenhams is also where I learned about crippling credit card debt, but that's a different story ...

Little known fact: 90% of the products I buy for the blog, I buy from Debenhams.  Sadly, the staff at the Oxford Street and Westfield branches don't know me as well as they used to in Chester - there's no cheering cries of "Luce!  Look at THIS!" as I walk around anymore, but I still feel more at home* in a Debenhams than I do any amount of John Lewis, Selfridges, House of Fraser, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty stores ... there are more beautiful stores, there are better-stocked stores but there are none that occupy my heart in the same way as the Debenhams I grew up with ...

Why am I telling you all this, you're wondering, no doubt, well, I shall tell you!

Last year, Debenhams Beauty Club held their first ever Beauty Awards, and they were a huge success, garnering votes from over 12,000 people about their favourite beauty products.  This year - from today - they're doing it again.  If you log on to the Debenhams Beauty Club Facebook page, then you'll be able to vote for your favourite beauty products in six different categories.

On February 14th, the nominations will close and a specially-selected judging panel will shortlist products in each category, and then select a winner  for each ...

And the reason I'm telling you all this?  Well, dear readers, this year Get Lippie is on the judging panel!  I'm so delighted to be taking part, I can't even begin to tell you how much!  Finally, after years of delirious spending on fripperies, I get to tell Debenhams what I really think is good and worth buying.   And so do you, so get nominating good stuff for me to look at!  There's a chance of you winning every nominated product if you do, so, get voting ... !

Finally, something about blogging LippieMum will be proud of ...

* And not just because all my soft furnishings, bedding and towels etc were bought there, either

The Fine Print: NOT a sponsored post. Just a very, very happy one.  Now, if only they'd do something about that crippling credit card debt ...

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

Nail of the Day - Orly Rage

It's been a while since I showed you what I was wearing on my nails, but Orly Rage is a colour that was ... ahem ... all the rage on the beauty blogs last year, and I've finally got around to wearing it for myself.  I picked up this mini-bottle in Boots for a fiver a couple of months ago.

Orly Rage is a metallic foil, in a pale champagne/rose gold shade.  My nails show two thin coats over Orly Bonder (my Holy Grail nail basecoat), and topped off with Seche Vite.  It's wonderfully opaque, and very pretty.

But somehow, it's not very me.  I spent a day with it on wondering why it wasn't very me, and then I realised that the reason it isn't is because it's very ... my mum. These shimmery champagne shades are all she wears, and as a result I prefer shades with a bit more oomph.

So, all in all, not a winner shade for me, but the formula is magnificent. I need to pick up more from Orly this year.

The Fine Print: Purchase. Can't resist a mini-bottle of anything, me.

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

Tom Ford Titanium Smoke Eyeshadow Quad

 I said in my last Tom Ford quad review that I'd be happy to get more if they were a lower price, and, when this quad popped up on Buyapowa recently, I jumped at the chance to pick it up for the "bargain" price of £50 + P&P, quite a considerable saving of the counter price of £62!


This post, however, isn't so much a review - it only turned up on Saturday, and I've not worn it yet - but more an excuse for some eyeshadow porn, and some initial impressions.  So here goes:

Same gorgeous packaging as always (I'm going to be knackered taking pictures at my desk when that tree blossoms in spring, I can tell), but what colour does Titanium Smoke contain?

Clockwise from top left, you have a champagne glitter shade, a satin-grey, a sparkling charcoal, and a dark matte charcoal shade.  This is a dramatic palette, but, on swatching, I think it's a little more versatile than it might appear on first glance. Take a look:

Seen straight on

Tilted slightly to show the sheen in the shades

Initial impressions are that this is a great palette.  Shades are shown here swatched on bare skin with a dry brush.  Again, the glitter is difficult to get to show up, but the other shades?  Wow.  I especially love the grey, which is actually a surprisingly complex taupe on the skin, as opposed to the slightly dull grey I thought it was!  And the sparkly charcoal is actually very wearable, I think.  Possibly not office appropriate, but as someone who has just bought sequinned Uggs (and is planning on buying a second pair) specifically to wear to work, I really don't think I'm the person best placed to comment on appropriateness.  Or not.


Here's a close up of all the colours:

Overall first impression is very favourable, looking forward to updating on this one.


One last look at the palette - with flash this time:

Very happy so far! Next on my wishlist: Burnished Amber.

The Fine Print: Purchase, via Buyapows, which I was very impressed with, actually.  More on that subject anon.

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

Lipstick of the Week - Mauve

Yes, Lipstick of the Week is a bit late this week - I was having a little rant yesterday, instead - but, better late than never, I always say.  I've been setting myself weekly challenges this year, and I won't lie, I found "mauve" a bit more challenging than I expected to.  I genuinely thought I had more mauve shades than this, but hey! Shopportunity!

 Anyway, here's the line up:

Chantecaille Lip Chic in Tea Rose - I've raved about this before.  Chantecaille lipsticks are, for me, simply one of the greatest lipstick formulations ever.  As comfortable as pure silk for the lips.
Bourjois Effect 3d Max in Brun Entincalent - I love Bourjois lipglosses, cheap as chips and as good a formulation as glosses costing two or three times as much.  This one has a dinky "spatula"-style applicator, and simple things like that really amuse me.
Chanel Rouge Coco in Bonheur - Another one I've blogged about before, and a bit of cheat for this week as it is a little to berry-pink to be considered a mauve, as you'll see in the swatches.
Bourjois Effet 3d Balm Action gloss in Brun Rose Academic - Perfect!  A lipgloss that thinks it's smarter than I am.  Admittedly, it's probably right, but still ...
Trish McEvoy Lipliner in Bare -I wore this under the smarty pants lipgloss above.  It's a very good lipliner and I wear it a lot with all kinds of shades, as it matches my lips very well indeed.
Hourglass Lipstick in Fresco - A recent acquisition, and one I like a great deal.  Click on the link to read and see more about this one.
Christian Dior Diorific in Mystic Mauve - Oh God.  I used to love, love, love this one. It's the only opaque lip product on this page, and it was just so WRONG. Far too brown and it looked like the nineties had called and wanted me to look wrong. 

 I did some swatches.  You want to see swatches, right?  Well, you're getting them anyway:  As always, with flash, and then in natural light:

Yes, that is my computer desktop in the background, and yes, it is my blog logo.  Branding, that is.  Not just a pretty face, me.

 As you can see Bonheur sticks out like a sore thumb, as far too pink.  The three swatches in the middle are Brun Academic, the Trish McEvoy pencil, and the Brun Academic over the Trish McEvoy pencil, by the way.

I might do the next couple of weeks by brand instead of colour.  Any suggestions, please? 

The Fine Print: I bought all bar one of these.  I LIKE mauve.  Sue me.

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

In defence of Uggs

I'm a bit of a magpie, and when Mr Lippie and I were passing the Ugg shop at Westfield yesterday, I got sucked in by some shiny sequinned "trainers" in violet with aurora borealis sequins.  It was whilst I was cooing over them, that Mr Lippie spotted these:

And, well, they came home with us, and I'm wearing them RIGHT NOW.

I love them.  They're warm, soft and comfortable, thanks to the sheepskin lining:

They're like wandering around on little pillowy clouds of ... er ... sheep. They come up small though, thanks to the lining, so I had to go up a size and a half (I'm normally a 4.5 or a 5, depending, but I ended up buying them in size 6.5 to make room for my toes - which cannot be squashed under any circumstances)  I bought the black because they're practical - no, really, I'll be wearing these to the office tomorrow, I guarantee it  - but I have to warn you that these will soon be mine too:

 Purple shoes!

I tweeted about buying Uggs yesterday, and I've never been so astonished by a reaction on Twitter, to what was (for me) a fairly innocuous tweet!  Plus, I was kind of disgusted by the reaction of a couple of people who came across quite unintentionally (I suspect) as snobby asshats. Even those ones who thought they were being amusing annoyed the crap out of me.  I don't judge people by what they wear, and for people to judge other people ONLY by what they wear makes me sick, and it always has done.  There, that's my career as a fashion blogger over before it has begun ... 

Anyway, I have Mortons Neuroma in both feet, a condition which means flat shoes are a way of life for me, and always will be.  The nerves in the balls of my feet, and between my toes, are enlarged, and on days when they're really flaring up, it can feel like I have marbles implanted under the skin, and walking on days like that is no fun, believe you me.  My feet ache almost constantly, even on good days, so, when I find comfortable shoes that don't pinch my feet, and protect my soles from the pavement, I tend to snap them up, and bugger the label.  I'd buy shoes made by Stalin if they had thick but reasonably soft soles and didn't squash my toes together.  I've suffered with this problem on and off for about 15 years, but the problem only really got unbearable after doing a full marathon for the Moonwalk a few years ago.  I haven't worn heels from that day to this.

It's not like I'm running around in these in a mini-skirt and fake tan, for crying out loud.  It's surprisingly difficult to find flat shoes that aren't thin-soled or intended for six year old going to a birthday party (I will NOT buy shoes with bows or flowers - though, judging by my love of these, I'm obviously not averse to a bit of bling) and buying shoes is the one thing on earth that is guaranteed to have me in tears of frustration within about an hour. Shoe-buying saps my soul, and being judged for shopping decisions I have to make, rather than choose to make is bloody annoying.

So, in a nutshell, I've just paid £125 for a pair of sheepskin-lined trainers that I adore and then I've spent 600 or so words on the internet trying to justify my life decisions to a bunch of people on twitter.  :sigh:

I own a pair of Crocs too - there, I said it. Get stuffed, haters. 

The Fine Print:  I bought these - well technically, I split the cost of them with MrLippie, he's nice like that - I'm not affiliated with Uggs.  They'll probably kill me when they read this. 

PS All images shameless stolen from Ugg themselves.


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

Free Forum Friday

I get a lot of emails from my readers, and I love hearing from every single one of you.  Sometimes it's people asking my advice on things (usually how to do flicky eyeliner, which camera do I use, and how to get "free stuff" but I tend to ignore the ones about freebies), sometimes it's people pointing out things I got wrong in my reviews, or letting me know about stockists for hard to find items, and I really appreciate those!  But sometimes, people just email me to get things off their chest, and these are the emails I treasure most.  Sometimes they're just plain ranty - somehow my love of a good rant has rubbed off on my readers (yippee!) - sometimes they're hilarious, and sometimes, like the the email I'm about to share with you today, they break my heart a little bit.

One of my readers got in touch recently, and asked me to publish their story, because they thought that by making it public would help them. So, without further ado, here's Anon to share a part of their life with you:

When you are stressed it is so easy to return to old habits.
When I was a teenager, I suffered from bulimia, it wasn’t something that came naturally to me. I really had to work at it. I read about people suffering from bulimia and I honestly thought that throwing up after eating was an excellent quick way to lose weight.
But I suppose that is how it starts, and, like a drug dealer offering free samples bulimia seduced me with its empty promises and hollow offers of friendship and the lure of skinniness was like a sirens call to me.

I got to be very good at it, and very, very good at hiding it. Drinking lots of water as I ate, putting tissue down the toilet so no-one heard the vomit hitting the bowl, I knew all the tricks. I was never skinny, not in my eyes. Apparently I had a haunted look about me. Haunted and panicky when I had to sit at the table for too long after eating when all I wanted to do was get rid of the meal I had just consumed.

I never thought of myself as TRULY bulimic, I always thought that I was the one in control. I thought I was choosing to throw up my meals. Now I see it in the same way as an alcoholic thinks they are the one in control if they are choosing what alcohol they throw down their throat at 10am. Addiction is addiction, whatever pretty bow you wrap it in.

Over the years I have battled with it on and off, and when I am happy, it rarely raises its head, in fact it has probably been 2 years since I suffered last.

The problem with eating disorders is that they never go away. It feels like they just sit in the background patiently waiting for you to feel low and then strike again. Stress is my breaking point. Food is my god. I have always had issues with food in the way that I use it as a punishment, a reward, a way to make myself feel better, or in this case worse.

Dieting is always a minefield for me. I am good at dieting, maybe too good. I deprive myself of everything that makes me happy. I start to lose weight and then the hatred of my body kicks in. As I lose weight I actually feel worse about myself. When I am at my biggest and not concerned about my weight I can gloss over everything, I revel in my curves. But as I lose weight I hate my belly, my hips. I look at myself with such loathing and hatred, I instantly return to that teenager who felt that she was a whale compared to her friends. I want to punish myself, and the only way I know how is with food. Then I feel guilty and have to throw up, and so the cycle begins again.

There is no pay off with bulimia, I end up with grey skin, spots, a constant sore throat and runny eyes and I sniff like I have a crack habit. I hate myself for falling back into the hands of what is possibly my oldest friend and worst enemy.

Why do I do it? I really don’t know. I wish I did.
I have slipped up. Due to six months of total stress I have fallen back in deep and while I think it is something I will always suffer with, I can try to make this a short slip up. I have to learn how to accept myself for what I am. There is no magic wand. No happy ending.  All I can do is keep fighting it and never ever give up. I think I need to accept that I am not “playing” at having bulimia, I do actually have an eating disorder.

Which is weird to accept.

My name is ****** and I have an eating disorder.

And writing this down is the start of getting better.

I'm publishing this as a way of showing my support for Anon, and want to say thank you for being so brave and letting me publish this. 

I happen to know they're not alone in suffering, so if you have anything to say to Anon to show your support too, please do it in the comments, or send me an email at forum@getlippie.com and I'll make sure your messages get passed along.

Thank you.

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

News: She Said Beauty

I said last week that I'd had lots of good blogging news lately, and I'm doling it out to you in dribs and drabs at the moment, sorry about that - but it's all worth waiting for, I promise! Can't wait to tell you what's happening next week ...  but this week's news is that I'm delighted to announce that I've just joined the blogging team at She Said Beauty!

Don't worry, I'm not banging on about their beauty boxes, but this week I'm giving you some snippets on how to survive buying makeup.

Please click the link and show my little post some love  ...


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