Erborian CC Creme

I'm fairly hard to impress these days, particularly when it comes to skincare, but at a launch event for Erborian recently, I came away with a shopping list as long as your arm, and an URGENT desire to try EVERYTHING.

That never happens.

Amongst the things I was desperate to try was this CC Creme, and I was delighted that it was in the goody bag.  Erborian is a Korean brand (it's actually part of the L'Occitane company), and I was basically won over by the textures.  I must have layered fifteen different products on my hand that night, and my skin felt amazing, instead of greasy and overloaded.  Korean skincare consists of many, many more steps than a traditional "Western" routine, and the textures of each product are a lot lighter as a result, but without that oddly velvety "silicone" texture we tend expect from oil-free products.

Erborian CC Cream is white when you squeeze it from the tube, but I think you can just see some speckles of pigment in the above swatch.  It adjusts to your individual skin tone once you start to rub it in:

You can see the colour change starting above.  CC Creme is meant to be worn under a foundation, or BB Cream, and is designed to even out your skintone, whilst adding a layer of sun protection and extra skin coverage.

Once you rub in the cream, it essentially disappears leaving behind smooth and softly even skin.  I have been able to wear this alone just with a little powder over on "good skin" days, but it also works well as a lovely primer - yes, I'm a bit obsessed with primers at the moment, you shut up - and I found that layering a new foundation over it recently made the foundation last MAD long.  It's comfortable to wear, and won't make you feel like you're wearing a mask.  If you have combination oily skin like I do, you'll love the mattifying effect too - I've worn this every day since I got mine, and I genuinely really like it, not having quite seen the point of CC creams before ...

I'll be showing you more Eborian products soon - they're launching a new UK website in the next couple of months, and there will be a huge amount of products launching to go with that, but in the meantime, you can find Eborian products at SpaceNK and Selfridges, where prices start at around £22.  Go try them, you might like them as much as I do.

The Fine Print: PR Sample 

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Lipsticks of the Week/Month/Quarter [Delete as applicable]

By Tindara
 

It has been a while since I detailed the lipsticks I’ve been wearing regularly. As Louise herself said recently in a Lippie missive, we may as well start calling it Lipsticks of the Quarter. But if you bear with me, I’ll let you know about a few new discoveries I am excited about. I’ve been watching quite a few Beauty Vlogs recently and they’ve influenced me to look at lots of new products, sometimes from lower budget ranges than I would normally go for.

First up is one I’ve had for while, Lancome Rouge in Love Dan Ses Bra 163M. The colour is just beautiful, a perfect rose pink-red that’s good for every day but works with a more full-on eye too. It’s very moisturising, doesn’t last as long as others I have, but it’s worth reapplying for the colour, scent, and feel. It really is a lovely shade that would suit lots of people. Especially good if you’re a bit scared of bright red or pink shades as it’s slap bang between the two, but a touch softer.

Because it’s still so cold and wintery I’ve been into deep plum and purple shades and finally have the guts to wear Bobbi Brown Cream Matte Lip Color in Crushed Plum. It’s a lovely deep wine colour and fairly hydrating despite the matte formulation, I really like to wear it with gold or coppery colours on my eyes.

The other purply plum I’ve been wearing is a great new discovery for me. I have acquired quite a few Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balms. I love a matte lipstick and these are very moisturising minty balm stains that somehow remain magically matt on your lips. The shade I wore last week was Shameless. I was out of my lipstick comfort zone as this was very purple, but still, I love it. It’s playful and interesting without being too Goth or Emo. I did ask my husband whether it was a bit ‘Twilight’, I figure since he teaches teenagers, he’d know. It was deemed fine, so I went ahead and wore it, again, with coppery shades on my eyes.

Another matte lipstick I’ve had multiples of is Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick. A liquid matte lipstick that’s comfortable and leaves a very long-lasting stain; you can apply lip balm on top throughout the day, and they really last. My favourite colour is Frambourjois, and I wore this last week. As I do, most weeks to be honest. It is, like the Lancome Rouge in Love Dan Ses Bra 163M, a perfect colour between pink and red that would suit most people. Slightly brighter then the Lancome, and looks chic on it’s own with little eye make-up.

Another long lasting balm to finish, Rimmel London Colour Rush in The Redder The Better. I like these Rimmel balms a lot though they’re more dewy than matte with a slightly more sheer texture. They are buildable though, and look great with a corresponding lip liner if you’re going for a deeper lip colour. But they also look great dabbed on lightly with little other make-up when you’re just pottering around local places for local people and want to look a bit more cas’. If like me, you habitually turn to higher end lipsticks, try some of the drugstore ranges’ tinted balms and matte formulations; they may surprise you and make it into your weekly favourites.

The Fine Print: PR Sample The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.

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Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

Hot on the heels of They're Real, Benefit are shortly launching their new formula mascara, Roller Lash.  Lighter and less claggy (and easier to remove!) that They're Real, Roller Lash features an innovative new brush:
 

Much smaller, and without the spiky ball on the end, the Roller Lash brush has tiny hooks on some of the bristles to catch and curl your lashes.  Let's take a closer look:

You can just see some of the hooks on the top row of bristles there.

It's a really nice formula, I was worried that it was going to be a bit too natural for me - I prefer a thicker, less everyday look on my lashes, but here's the before and after:

It's a good look.  Natural without being too invisible, and there is definite curl and lift.  I genuinely love the brush, it grabs the lashes and makes application a breeze.

There is a downside though.  Smudges.  I first noticed smudging around lunchtime after a 7am application, and it carried on whenever I wore it.  So, overall, love the brush, not a huge fan of the formula.   I'll be sticking with They're Real.

Roller Lash costs 19.50 and will be on counter soon - there's a free sample with the March issue of Elle though, so try it for free first!

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Hourglass Modernist Palette in Exposure

 Not so much a review this, as basic eyeshadow porn.  Hourglass have recently released their Modernist palettes of five eyeshadow shades pressed into a single pan.  They're beautiful.

Packaging is the basic metallic brown, in a similar size to their multi-powder palettes, but it is inside where the magic happens:

A blend of shimmering champagne, satin dark mauve, metallic taupe, satin blackened purple, and a light shimmering mauve.

I swatched these briefly (finger swatches on bare, unprimed skin), but I haven't worn them properly yet - had to get the pictures for the blog first!

Thoughts are favourable so far, if a bit gritty, but I will post a full review when I've had a chance to see the palette properly in action.

In the meantime, you can get the Modernist palettes from SpaceNK where they cost £52.

One last look:

 The Fine Print: Purchase

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Get Lippie in The Scented Letter

If you're already a VIP subscriber to The Perfume Society, then you may already have read the February edition of the The Scented Letter, which has this article in it.  Half a love letter to my husband - it's the "Love & Scents" edition, after all! - The Smell of Love is ... Gravy is also an account of my struggle with anosmia, phantosmia and parosmia over the last 12 months.

It's one of the longest, not to mention toughest, pieces I've ever had to write, and I'm incredibly proud that it has been included in a magazine that has regularly featured some of the greatest perfume writers around.  Quite a thrill! I admit a few tears were shed when I finally saw it "in print".

Also, there's a tiny hint in there of something MEGA-exciting that I'm working on with Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesday's right now too.  More about that nearer the time ...

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Triple Dry Anti-Perspirant

You may or may not know this, but I have a bit of a smell problem at the moment. No, not like that, but my parosmic condition means that I can't smell myself (I can't smell you, either, don't worry), and not only can I not smell myself, I can't smell any of the smells I produce, either.  Any of them.  Not a one.  No, not even that one.  Seriously.

Now, whilst this makes the early evening commute more of a pleasure because I can't smell other passenger's BO, or stinky feet in the summer, it can make me a bit paranoid. Well, let's face it, just because *I* can't smell myself doesn't mean other people can't either.  It's a bit awkward, to say the least.  Oh, I'm clean, I still shower, and I still use perfume (some of which I can actually smell, a bit, but more about that in another post), but ... yes, I worry.  So would you, I assure you.

So the last few months have seen me move to a more hardcore kind of an armpit product, and I've been trialling Triple Dry for  a while now, and I have to say that for my requirements, it's really good.  Triple Dry is actually an anti-perspirant, and its unique selling point is that you only need to apply it three times a week.   Apparently, you're supposed to apply it nightly for four nights, shower as normal in the mornings (it's waterproof) and then after that, you apply it every two or three days as you would a normal deodorant product. It kills the bacteria that produce odour, so you don't need a different scented product to go with it.

I like it because it is unscented, and as such both doesn't irritate my irritable nose, and doesn't clash with any of the limited scented products that I do apply.  I have to admit that I do not use it in the way you are supposed to - being as paranoid as I am, I can't trust it that much - I use it as I would any deodorant/antiperspirant, going for a daily swipe in my clean pits.  So far, no problems, and on the odd occasion where I have forgotten to apply (happens to the best of us!), no problems then, either.  I go through an elaborate "how do I smell" ritual with my husband in the morning - parosmia does rather tend to strip one of one's dignity at times - and he's had no issues.

It's on the pricey side for an antiperspirant - I prefer the stick version to any other, which is the priciest of all - coming in at around £7.50 or so, but it lasts well, mine is several months old now, which when you consider I'm using it two or three times more than I'm supposed to, is pretty good going.  And hey, what price trust?

The Fine Print: Purchase

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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La Roche Posay Serozinc

I was talking to someone about my skincare routine the other day, and I realised that whilst cleansers come and go, whilst acids wax and wane, and whilst moisturisers pass in and out of fashion in the Lippie household, one thing has remained constant for the last three or four years, and that is Serozinc from La Roche Posay.

It's rather unprepossessing, really.  A mix of spring water, zinc and just a hint of salt, in a spray but I genuinely wouldn't be without it.  It's my go-to facial spray, as it should be for anyone with any hint of sensitivity or redness. It's the zinc, you see, which both soothes and helps to heal irritated or over-activated skin.  If you're not prone to redness or sensitivity, then I guess you'll find it hard to see what difference it can make to your skin, but this is one of those products that you notice the difference when you stop using it, I can assure you.  And it is cheap, just £7.20 a can (at present), which will last you for several months, at least three, maybe even longer.  I use it both as a moisturising toner, and as a general facial spray, and I occasionally use it to "set" makeup that looks a little powdery too.

Now I'm delighted (well, sort of) that you can now get this in the UK!  Previously, I used to beg any of my friends heading to Paris to pick me up a tin or two, or I always used to pick up a tin whenever I went too, and now I don't need to ... That's my excuse for Paris shopping trips out of the way then.

So YAY! for Serozinc finally being available in the UK!  And BOO! for Serozinc finally being available in the UK. Escentual, thank you very much.  And damn you!


The Fine Print: Purchase

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