A Curly Girl Survival Guide. Sorta ... with Label M Protein Spray

Suddenly finding myself back in curly hair has involved a massive learning curve.  After 12 years or so of daily dependence on hair straighteners and other - more chemical - aids, learning to live with curls has been ... interesting, to say the least.

Surprisingly, I've found that the best thing for my hair is to do as little as possible to it.  After years of daily styling, the concept of "leaving it alone" is a scary one!  But, I think it's necessary.  Whether your hair is naturally curly, or ... ahem ... chemically enhanced, here's some tips I've picked up along the way, and I'd love to hear yours too!

1) Leave it alone: excess touching, combing and brushing will make your curls fuzzy, frizzy and bushy.  The less you play with your hair, the better it will look.  I'm a hair-twirler, so this is surprisingly tough!  Still, hopefully it'll stop me getting my fingers stuck in it now ...

1a) Allied to that, I don't brush or comb my hair at all inbetween washings, now I only comb (wide-toothed, naturally) when my hair is wet and coated in conditioner - it's all my hair needs.

2) Curly hair is less shiny than straight hair because the curved surface of the hair doesn't reflect light in the same way.  It's also less shiny because the oils from your scalp find it more difficult to travel down the hair shaft, which means that the ends can be drier than the scalp.  To combat this, I find I want to use a hair mask more often,  but only on the lengths, I'm avoiding putting them on the scalp at all costs!

3) Don't rub: when shampooing and drying, try not to rub your hair in too many different directions,  it roughs up the cuticles on the surface of the hair, and makes it frizzy.

4) Apply serums, hair oils etc when your hair is sopping wet.  I squeeze excess moisture out of my hair then apply a squeeze (or two) of hair oil - currently using Paul Mitchell Awapuhi -  then squeeze out more moisture, and only then dab gently at my hair with a towel.  I usually add a bit more oil once I've dabbed. I no longer wander around the house for an hour with a towel wrapped around it before adding styling product, this leads to fuzzy, undefined curls.

5) Hair does get tangled up a bit between washes, so if there is a big knot that I need to  deal with, I break out the wide toothed comb, spray on a bit of detangling spray (Mark Hill and Lee Stafford both do good ones) and gently work away at the knot, from the bottom.  Spray on a bit more detangler after, and your curl should pop back.

6) Don't wash your hair every day - it can be stripping to the drier ends, and it can overstimulate your scalp leading to the dreaded flat (greasy) roots and straw-like ends.  Not a good look.  I was mine every two days, and every three if I can get away with it.

7) To "reactivate" your  curls between washes, styling sprays are your friends.  Personally, I'm currently addicted to this:

 Label M Protein Spray, which is a conditioning treatment, and also one of the nicest smelling hair products I've ever come across.  Full of wheat proteins, and scented with jasmine and sweetpea, it helps refresh curls that have gone a bit limp, and also has excellent conditioning properties.  Lovely stuff!

What are your top tips for dealing with curly hair?
 

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Lipstick Queen Look of Love Lipstick Library

Long-time readers will know that I'm a big fan of Poppy King, and her company Lipstick Queen, and short-term readers might have noticed that there's a bit of a theme this week, after yesterday's post.  Both of you would be right.  After discovering an old classic yesterday, it's time to look at something new from the range.

If you haven't got an ABC earworm right now, then frankly, you're not old enough to be reading this blog.

Last May, Poppy released the first Lipstick Library (Liptropolis) which was inspired by New York, and this is volume two of the occasional series. Inspired, unsurprisingly, by love. It's a belter, and you'll never know how hard I fought to take the pictures of this before I swatched it!

Containing two lipsticks and an Oxymoron "matte lipgloss", the library retails at £40, and whilst initially pricey, it's actually a bit of a bargain - bought individually, these products would cost £58.  What you are getting for your money is a Lipstick Queen Saint lipstick in Pinky Nude, a brand new Butterfly Ball lipstick in Smitten, and an Oxymoron in Honest Politician.  Let's take a closer look:

All are on the rosey-pinky-mauve spectrum, and have been specially selected by Poppy to mimic that flush you get when you first ... you guessed it ... fall in love.  A closer look at the individual products:

 
Saint Pinky Nude is a pale (but not paler than your skin) pink, which has just enough depth to the shade to not make you look dead, and avoids the dreaded "concealer lips" look, which is horrific.

Butterfly Ball in Smitten is a brand new shade released only with this collection.  It's a gorgeous rosy-mauve with a hint of turquoise shimmer that supposedly helps your teeth look whiter.  The shimmer is, however, largely invisible in wear, as you'll see when we get to the swatches.

Oxymoron in Honest Politician is a brand new product to me, I've seen it in stores, and wondered what the point of a "matte gloss" was, so have mainly passed them by.  However, now I've tried this one, it's a product that's very quickly made it into my everyday makeup bag (albeit in a slightly different shade, which I'll show you later in the week), a fairly matte lipstick, which you can also use as a blusher, it's a really handy multi-use shade too.

Swatches:

  
You can see that Pinky Nude is on the sheer-pink side, Smitten is a little more mauve (and you can't see the shimmer), and Honest Politician has a more satin finish than either.  Poppy, however, recommends that you can layer all three products, using the Oxymoron as a base, then the pinky nude, and finishing off with a layer of the shimmery Smitten.  I've swatched that too:

  
You can see that this gives a more opaque, yet still glossy finish, which I rather like.  It reminds me, however, of Jean Queen - a shade I adore, even as I boggle (every time I use it) at the concept behind it - if you have Jean Queen, this kit might not be a must-have for you, but it is a rather lovely kit all the same, and I'm very glad to have it.

The Fine Print: PR Sample.
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Lipstick Queen Saint Wine

Lipstick Queen Saint in Wine may very well be my new most favourite lipstick shade.  I swatched it on Thursday, and HAD to have it.  It's not left my lips since.

In the bullet, it's a deep, deep berry shade, that has a hints of brown and mauve, and, frankly it looks pretty scary.  But the beauty of the Lipstick Queen Saint formulation is that it only has 10%  pigment, and leaves a rather sheer effect on the lips as a result.  Whilst possibly not as cushioning and "balmy" on the lips as my beloved Chantecaille Lip Chics, the Saint lipstick formulation is very, very comfortable in wear, and leaves a nice wash of colour on the lips too.

Yeah, I swatched before I photographed, sorry!

 The beauty of this shade is that, because it is quite sheer, it allows the natural colour of your lips to shine through, in the swatch, it's a little brown-looking, but as my lips are naturally quite pink (and pigmented) this turns it to quite a red shade:

It's an easy-to-wear shade, not too red to feel self-conscious in, and extremely flattering. It's  in Poppy King's signature unscented formulation (such a relief to have unscented products once in a while, I find), and it feels like it's doing your lips good when you're wearing it.

I'm going to have to pick up the Sinner version (90% pigment) too.  As soon as I do, I'll show you a comparison, with lip swatches ....

What's your current favourite lipstick shade?  
 
The Fine Print: PR Sample.

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What a year!

Well, it's very definitely been a year of highs and lows, but when it was good, 2012 was very good indeed.

Some of the highs: 

Get Lippie was nominated for awards by both Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan magazines, and on the other side of the coin,  I was both a judge for the annual Debenham's Beauty Awards, and continued to judge the Creative Head Most Wanted awards, which I've been involved with since 2010.  In June, in the most amazing spot of luck, I was appointed beauty editor of SLiNK Magazine!  An amazing honour, and one I'm enjoying hugely.  There have been some amazing events this year, and, after years of nagging, I finally managed to get a piece published on Basenotes!  2012 has shown me that Get Lippie (and writing generally) continues to be one of the most fabulous hobbies around. Topping it all off was speaking at Mumsnet Blogfest alongside such luminaries as Caitlin Moran, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, Sali Hughes, oh, and that personality-vortex Liz Jones ...

And I got engaged this year too! Hopefully the #LippieWedding prep is mostly done now! I hope so, anyway, I just want to get on with the fun stuff ... 

It's not all been fun and games though, there's been some fairly serious illness and a few tears along the way, all of which has given me a new perspective on things. I'm also guessing the next couple of months will be ... interesting, both from a personal and professional point of view (I'm an accountant, and in a fluke caused by changing jobs six months ago, I've planned my wedding slap-bang in the middle of the busiest time of year. Oopsie!), but Get Lippie will still be here, come rain or come shine, as it has been for the last three and a half years ... maybe not as often, but it'll still be here.

I'm not always the greatest at replying to emails or tweets, or even comments on here sometimes (you try working one full-time, alongside two part-time jobs, then plan a wedding on top of that, and see how appealing logging onto a computer in your "spare" time feels), but every single reader of this blog is appreciated - even you, anonymous commenter who thinks every word I write is poo, hey, you keep my stats up, bless you! - and every communication is cherished, I only wish I had a little more time ...

A happy, healthy and prosperous 2013 to each and every one of you.

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Best of 2012 - Skincare with Zelens

 Can't deny it, this was a tough category for me this year, I'm still mourning the loss of Kate Somerville products, which have been withdrawn from the UK completely, denying me my regular dose of Goat Cream, and, I'll be honest, I still haven't found a moisturiser that I love as much as that much-missed product yet.

However, Zelens is proving a real contender, I have to say.  I've spent the last quarter of the year fairly  ill with kidney problems (both serious and not), and as a result, my skin has suffered. It's been dehydrated, reddened, flaky and prone to spots recently, which has been infuriating.  However, Dr Marko Lens is a skincare genius, and, in particular his PHA+ Bio-Peel Resurfacing Facial Pads have been a lifesaver.

Gentle enough to use twice a day, with it's blend of Poly- Beta- and Alpha- hydroxy acids, these have helped refine my skin, and soothe the redness.  They tingle a little on application, but I can tell the difference every single time I use these, I can't imagine being without them again, even if I have had to cut the pads in half recently so I could eke them out, and make them last!  I love that the entire range is mineral oil and paraben-free too.

I've been following my use of the pads with the Zelens Z Recovery Intensive Moisture balm, which I adore - the gel-texture just suits my skin down to the ground, and I find it makes a magnificent night-cream on dehydrated days.  I think I need to try the Moisture Infusion, I have a feeling it might make a better day cream for me - could it be the one to replace Kate Somerville?  Who knows ...  It's pricey, but for me, it works, and therefore it's worth every penny.
   
The Fine Print: PR Samples.  Kidney problems all my own. 

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Best of 2012 - Permanent Makeup with Tracie Giles

My depth perception isn't so great, I'm both long-sighted and short-sighted, which makes plucking my eyebrows a challenge! Especially when you take into consideration that as well as not seeing very well, I'm also a cack-handed muppet ...

That said, when the opportunity to trial permanent makeup with Tracie Giles came along, I did have to think long and hard about it. My eyebrows - badly plucked though they might be, are thick and, most of all, black, somwhat good would permanent makeup do for them?

Plenty, as it turned out:

This is, hands down, the single best thing I did for my face in 2012. No question. I absolutely adore my new eyebrows, they look this smart and groomed at all times, and, I don't have to do anything to them. Well, bar pluck them a bit - but hey!  Now I know I only have to pluck the hairs outside the lines! Perfect for a lazy (and cack-handed) so-and-so like me! The picture above was taken right after the treatment, but they've settled down perfectly into something a little more natural-looking since:

Please to be ignoring the eyebags, thank you.

It was a big decision, because if I didn't like them, I would have been stuck with them for up to two years, but the girls at Tracie Giles spend - literally - hours drawing different shapes of brows on you, and won't proceed until you are entirely happy with the shape, which is something I completely appreciated.

It's also a big decision, because this is, essentially,  a tattoo, and therefore is somewhat uncomfortable during the treatment (though the numbing cream they use is fantastic!), and for a couple of days after. The success of your new brows depends both on the hygiene of your therapist - absolutely A+ at Tracie Giles - and your own regime of skincare afterwards.  Your brows will need to be kept moist with balms to help them heal, and you very much have to avoid getting them wet in the shower, or getting them sunburned, and, whatever you do: DON'T SCRATCH!  However, once they've healed up, they're okay with a bit of benign neglect, in my experience.  Your brows will require a touch-up treatment after a couple of weeks, as your body will absorb up to a third of the pigments (which are mineral-based) right after treatment,but the top-up is included in the service.

It's also a big decision, because this involves a significant outlay of cash, too. Currently, prices begin at £395, but the eyebrows should last you at least two years.  However, if you got your eyebrows threaded every month, (at London prices of £15 a go) you'd have spent £360 over the same period on your brows as well, it's worth bearing in mind.

This is my treatment of the year.  Thank you, Tracie Giles.  I'm considering saving up - after the wedding - and getting my wonky lipline sorted, but there's no money in the pot for that right now. 

There's also a review of this service in Issue 8 "The Beauty Issue", of SLiNK magazine, if you want to know more!
   
The Fine Print: Get Lippie was a guest of Tracie Giles - my eyebrows now worship her as a goddess. 

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Guerlain SS13 Maxi Lash Mascara

A new mascara is always something to rejoice in, and a new mascara from Guerlain is always something to get excited about - how does this one measure up?

 Well, it's about a third of the size of their usual mascaras, which is refreshing!  And lovely to see more of the deco-style packaging that we've all come to know and love from the Rouge Automatic range.  But most important for me is the brush, is it a mega-brush that gets mascara everywhere except where you want it?  No, it's a weeny thin brush:

No, it's actually a nice thin brush.  Let's take a closer look:

 It's just a normal, thin, spiral-set bristle-brush.  Nothing particularly out of the ordinary here.

Guerlain describe this as a "Volume-Creating, Curl-Sculpting mascara", and claim that the blend of three polymers is innovative: "The first one wraps the lashes in extremely adherent oils, coating and thickening the lashes. The second one, made with supple waxes, acts like a conditioner, softening the lashes so you can sculpt them into just the right shape and style. The last one forms a thin film, coating the lashes to trap the wax and set the amazing curve.”  My mascara is in Noir, which is, in reality, actually a deep charcoal rather than a sooty black:

 
I'm a little disappointed that it's not very black, to be honest, but this does also come in a violet shade, which is something I'm going to have to investigate when it's released.

So, how does it look?  Well, take a look for yourself  (and please excuse the extremely scary photos)

  
Well, there is definitely lengthening, thickening and curling going on, it's actually a nice mascara.  But it's not a very dramatic mascara, and I like DRAMA with my lashes.  Of course, your mileage may vary.  It also has to be said that I'm suffering from thinning lashes on my left eye (on the right in the pics there), and this mascara hasn't done much to disguise that.

Will I buy it again?  Probably not, in all honesty, I think Mascara G does a much  better job for my requirements, but if you're looking for a nice everyday mascara, you could do a lot worse.  It'll cost £22 when it's released in January.

What's your favourite mascara?

The Fine Print: PR Sample

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