Lippie Loves: Stylfile

I know!  Two "Lippie Loves" in one week!  I spoil you people ... [ahem] ... anyhoo, I thought these curved nail files and buffers from former Apprentice contestant Tom Pellereau were going to be a complete gimmick, and I was all ready to write a deeply sarcastic review of them, but I used them, and, well, they're brilliant.

Regular readers will know that I regularly refer to myself as a cack handed muppet.  And the reason for that is because I am ... well ... a cack handed muppet.  I am so cack handed and useless that I don't really file my nails (or pluck my eyebrows for that matter, but that's a tale for another blog post) because I always, and I mean always mess it up.  Surer handed people reading this will be boggling, I'm sure, but it's true.

Anyhoo, I'm digressing, but these are really brilliant. The curve of the files is perfectly calibrated to make them easy to use, and I found getting a great shape on my nails (I prefer a curved shape, personally) was very, very easy. Basically, you just make one or two sweeps from the edge of the nail towards the centre and your nails are shaped and filed in one easy motion. No sawing, and they're very quick.  The buffer takes a little more getting used to, but the curved surfaces work really well on that too.

The file has two usable surfaces, one rough, and the other a little smoother, and the buffer (incidentally, has anyone else ever noticed the proximity of the F to the G standard QWERTY keyboard before?  Just asking ...) has the traditional four surfaces.  I didn't find the buffer worked particularly well on getting rid of nail ridges, but it does give an excellent shine. 

The files are reasonably priced at £4.49 each, and they seem quite durable, the packaging states that they'll last up to 12 months. Personally, I hate the spelling of the name - anyone who knows me knows I'd have an issue with it - and I could definitely live without the inventor's face being all over the packaging (I always find it a bit creepy, to be honest, and, as I don't watch The Apprentice, it's almost entirely redundant) but the product itself is, in my opinion, a complete winner.

I'll be buying myself the travel version asap. It's cute in its little pink spiral to protect your stuff from getting scratched. The files are available on Amazon, in Sainsbury's, and they'll be launching in Boots later this year.  You can take a look at the official Stylfile website here.
  
The Fine Print: Sample.  Get Lippie is not affiliated in any way with Sir Alan Sugar, but I did used to own an Amstrad emailer phone.  Oh, those were the days.  I binned it after a week.  Anyone remember Betamax?

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

Lippie Loves: Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover

Another one in my occasional series of Lippie Loves, and this time it's hardcore:

Launching later this month,  this £3.99 sponge-filled jar deals with even the toughest of nail varnish in seconds flat.  It's not quite the one second that it claims on the bottle, but it's pretty damn close.   The black nail varnish you see in the picture - that I wore purely for testing purposes - was dealt with in around 3-4 seconds per nail, with no mess, and no waste of cotton wool! 

Best of all, it smells great on your fingers too, but please don't stick your nose in the jar, you will regret it*. It's acetone-free, and contains sweet almond oil to nourish your digits whilst it removes the polish.  I freely admit I have no idea how it works (for all I know, it could, in fact, actually be magic), but it does work, and works astonishingly well at that.  Oh, and the sponge is black, so you can't tell just how stained it's getting from the polish, unlike other nail varnish remover jars available on the market ...

Buy some.  You'll never regret it.  Lippie loves it, and so will you.


The Fine Print: possibly the best PR sample I've had this year.  So far.


* I do these things so you don't have to, people!


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

Makeover: Sharon's Wedding.

It's been ages since I did a makeover, eh?  Well, this one is from a while ago too, but I thought I'd show it to you now.  Sharon's appeared on the blog a couple of times since it started, and she's a good friend, so, when she asked me to do her wedding makeup last year, I couldn't really say no.  Then, when I found out she was getting married at the Houses of Parliament, and there was going to be a beauty editor of a national daily newspaper present, I had an attack of the collywobbles, I won't deny it.  But, I bit the bullet and got on with it, despite being a little out of practice, and here are the results:

I wanted her to glow, with beautiful, flawless skin, and to look like all she'd done was added a slick of red lipstick to her lips.  Sharon doesn't normally wear much makeup at all, and I didn't want her to look too "overdone". 

Thank you, Sharon, for letting me share the photos of your special day.

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

Natural & Organic Products Show 2012

I spent yesterday at the Natural and Organic Product Show, and had a great time, this is the third year in a row that I've been, and I thought I'd share my day in pictures with you:

Source

Lovely cosmetics from Terre d'Oc

Nice to see that Lavera have expanded their cosmetics range too.

Yes To Carrots/Tomatoes/Cucumbers/Blueberries

I featured 100% Organics on my blog a couple of years ago, it's really good to see them going from strength to strength.

BM Beauty - lovely cosmetics from an ex-Pussycat Doll.  Very interesting to see that they've shunned airbrushed images in their advertising, too.

Melvita are bringing out a new range of rose-based products, they do roses exceptionally well.

Water-based nail varnishes, and a (scent-free) gel nail varnish remover from Suncoat.

Pretty, refillable palettes from Essential Care cosmetics.

Entirely natural nail varnish remover, based on a coconut solvent from Eden, can't wait to try this one!

Suti is a brand I already know a little bit about, and they have some great products coming out this year.

Balm Balm (one of my favourites) have a range of pre-blended balms for therapists out this year, they smell delicious.

Absolutely adore the packaging of Blend Collective - about as far from the "hippy kitchen" image of most organic skincare ranges as you can get.

Also love the bottles from Napiers.

Lovely new gift sets and tinted lip balms from Pacifica.

Rollerballs from Pacifica too!

I first discovered Pai at the show two years ago, and it was great to see them back this year.  They're doing amazing things lately.

Another shot of Pai.

Tropic Skincare, the brand from former Apprentice contestant Susan Ma.  It was recently announced that Alan Sugar has invested in the range.  Wonder if he uses it?

 Hmn, I wonder ...

Pukka's new range of organic skincare has also really got the packaging right too - and they're good products.

Beauty Without Cruelty have also upped their game lately - I remember them from about 20 years ago, when they had brown eyeshadow, blue eyeshadow, tangerine blush, and frosted pink lipstick, and that was IT.

Samina makeup is very pretty too.

Organic fragrances from Florascent.

 I've got a sample or two from some of the ranges featured, and I'll be bringing you reviews of them when I'm done.  See anything you like?


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

Ooh!

I've just noticed I'm on 1,299 followers on Google Friends Connect, that's amazing!  I think I'll do a little giveaway when I hit 1,300 ... let me know what you think would make a great giveaway in the comments below, and I'll see what I can do ...

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

Antipodes Saviour Skin Balm

 Some products claim to be mult-purpose, and some products truly are, Antipodes Saviour Skin Balm is beyond amazing, moisturising, nourishing, and soothing.  And how cute is that tin?

I've used it on cuticles, feet, lips, on MrLippie's disgustingly dry elbows, on zits, burns and cuts and scrapes (what can I say, we're an accident-prone pair here at Lippie Mansions).

It's a thick, golden balm, the smell of which takes a little getting used to (but it's not a patch on the scent of, say, Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream, which is vile), but it wears off quickly, and just leaves smooth healed skin behind:

I do occasionally struggle to get the lid off, to be honest (but I struggle to open a lot of things these days, I suspect it's one of the first signs of old age that no one warns you about), but it's usually worth the struggle

The pot costs £28.99 from Nutribeauty, but this pot (more than double the amount of other organic balms, for less money) will last you for months, if not years,  and you'll be finding uses for it that you never expected ...


The Fine Print: PR sample
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday

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