Jasper Conran Nude Woman

 Jasper Conran Nude Woman, the latest fragrance from the Jasper Conran range, is housed in a beautifully detailed bottle.  Hefty, but delicate, the carved column fills the hand nicely, and feels wonderfully tactile when you're spraying it.  It's supposed to evoke "contemporary femininity", and I think it delivers that nicely.

The juice inside the bottle is surprisingly enjoyable too.  A white floral that manages to be both crisp and soft, it's a very nice wear.  Starting with rather gentle notes of grapefruit and bergamot that add a hesperidic air without being too overpoweringly citrussy, the fragrance soon settles into white flower heaven, with notes of gardenia and magnolia mixed with orange blossom.  It's a little powdery at this stage, and without the slightly funky-mushroom edge you can get with a true magnolia note, but the addition of orris (iris) is probably the one that is responsible for rounding out any potential soapy-screechiness, and adding a little lady-like polish to the formula.  The basenotes are a very skin-like musk with some bleached white woods beneath.

It's not the most original fragrance I've ever come across, but it is very wearable, and I like it much much more than I expected to.  Currently available at both Debenhams and Boots for £20 for a 40ml bottle and £30 for 100ml, it's a prettily ladylike bargain.


 The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases

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Silke London - Isla Silk Hair Wrap

 My hair has a mind of its own.  It's fine - but there is a hell of a lot of it - and it is by turns frizzy, wavy, flat in parts and curly in others, occasionally all of them at once, but the thing it most likes to be is ENORMOUS. I am always looking for ways to keep it under control.  Since it developed the mysterious habit of trying to choke Mr Lippie in his sleep, I decided that Something Must Be Done, and investigated the role of hair wraps for night-time.

I've known for a while that sleeping on a silk pillowcase has helped my hair be smoother, less frizzy and easier to control, but I was disappointed when looking for silk wraps that most wraps you can buy are actually man-made fibre.  Excellent for keep hair in place, perhaps, but not what I was looking for on the defrizzing front.  Then a friend posted a link on Facebook that mentioned Silke London hair wraps and I was intrigued.  They looked beautiful!  Gorgeous jewel-coloured silk turbans (to be honest, the thought of actually "wrapping" my hair was making me nervous, I'm a cack-handed muppet at the best of times), easy to wear, and stunning items in their own right.

Yeah, this isn't me.  I look more like Hilda Ogden in mine

The hardest part was choosing which colour I wanted. The Dita is purple and red; The Eva is black; The Sofia is ivory; and the Poppy is hot pink and orange.  Eventually I settled on the Isla (pictured), which is green and blue, and bought myself one as a birthday present.  It is gorgeously presented in it's tiny colour-co-ordinated box, and folded beautifully, it'd make a perfect gift.

The Silke London website promises that the use of their hair wrap will help your hair in the following ways:

1. Repair, protect and prevent hair breakage and damage
2. Maintain your style for longer
3. Save time spent restyling
4. Balance oily roots and dry ends
5. Wash your hair less
6. Reduce hair loss and boost hair growth
7. Eliminate frizz and flyaways
8. Naturally condition hair
9. Dramatically enhance your hair’s appearance

 Now, whilst I am cursed with uncontrollable hair, I'm also incredibly lazy, so anything that promises to reduce styling time and leaves you able to wash your hair less, well, I'm IN, so yes. I was champing at the bit slightly when it arrived.

Having used the Silke Hair Wrap for a good few weeks now, I can say that it definitely delivers on most of those promises, actually.  It's very easy for me to see that my hair is less frizzy after a few weeks wear, and I have to use less styling product now.  Before, I'd be using three pumps of Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum just to get my hair out of the bathroom once it had been washed, and my hair would just drink the stuff, then beg for some styling cream for afters.  Now it's just one pump, if that, and no styling cream (unless I'm going to use a heated appliance after), and it's less coarse-feeling in the mornings.

But the major difference I've seen is less breakage, it's amazing.  With the house move and everything this year, it's been a while since I've been able to see my hair dresser, and normally if I'd leave it three months between visits, the bottom three inches of my hair would be feeling like straw (the ends of my hair are subtly bleached, I've been having balayage for years now), but this time around, even after so long, my hair was only slightly damaged at the ends, and far less prone to breaking off when I run my fingers through it.  I couldn't be happier with the results. 

Even if I do look like a massive plonker wearing it, and my husband has developed an irritating habit of humming "... you can leave your hat on..." when entering the bedroom as a result.  The problem is that whilst I undoubtedly have a shedload of hair, it's mounted on my tiny, tiny pinhead, and sometimes the turban spins round a bit when I move my head.  Or slips over my eyes.  But all you lovely people with normal-sized bonces won't have these issues.  The wrap is soft, and the elastic is loose, so you won't get band marks around your face when you remove it.  It's comfortable to wear (though it can get a little warm on these really hot summer evenings, bear in mind).

So yes, £45 well spent, I think, especially on a cost-per-wear basis.  I just wish I'd bought the black one instead ...

The Fine Print: Purchase.
 
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Diptyque Eau de Sens

To say I'm a bit obsessed with orange blossom at the moment would be a mild understatement, so you might want to bear that in mind as you read this - basically, if it promises to smell of orange blossom, I'm bound to at least like it a lot.  And if it delivers, as Diptyque's Eau de Sens does (in spades), then it's a full-blown affair of the heart.

Right, on with the review "proper"* (allegedly).  Diptyque Eau de Sens is not quite a soliflore orange blossom, as the orange blossom here is backed up with notes of juniper berries (and some of you will know I'm a gin drinker, right?), patchouli and angelica.  According to the press release, it promises to deliver the full smell of an orange tree in blossom, right down to the roots.

There's a gloriously diaphanous waft of spicy orange on first spray, the juniper berries giving just a little not-quite-soapy zing to the citrussy concoction, before it settles to a woody-green aspect of orange blossom. This middle section is hugely reminiscent of petitgrain smelling, as it does, of both flowers and stems, with just a hint of something woodier beneath.  The dry-down is a light and rather clean patchouli - there's no dirt in this fragrance at all - and it's all perfectly simple and incredibly linear.  Eau de Sens is both uncomplicated and unsweet, but rather beautiful all the same.

The notes actually make it sound like it'll be a rather dark and hard to wear fragrance, but Eau de Sens is actually surprisingly light and sheer (you'll want multiple sprays, and regular ones, at that), and rather playful in wear.  It's an easy-going scent, perfectly attuned to wearing with jeans and a crisp white shirt, though I've worn it to all sorts of occasions since my bottle turned up, including to parliament, as it's so perfectly at home everywhere.  I've worn it so much that my bottle is now nearly empty - I can't remember the last time I emptied a perfume bottle so quickly!  A shame really, as this bottle has been engraved!

I want my entire house to smell of orange blossom now, I love this so much.  Diptyque Eau de Sens is on sale now, and a 50ml bottle will cost £60, and 100ml is £80.


 * To be honest, I've written so little this year, I've kind of lost the ability to think about anything in any kind of "proper" critical fashion, really.  Sorry.  Not sorry.  Turns out I like not blogging almost as much as I like blogging.  WOE!

The Fine Print: PR samples


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How to fight chafing and blisters in the heat with Bodyglide

This is a public service announcement. 

Every year at this time my twitter and facebook feeds are full of my otherwise lovely lady friends showing off pictures of their blisters (seriously, STOP THAT) from their pretty summer sandals, and worrying about chafing (or chub-rub) in ... intimate ... places, and on every single post, I place this link: http://www.getlippie.com/2011/04/whoa-bodyglide.html  I first wrote it five years ago, having discovered it five years before that, and I'm still recommending it to everyone at every single opportunity.

If you have feet, get a tube of this.  If you have thighs get a tube of this.  If you have skin, GET A TUBE OF THIS, and apply it generously.  I can't even remember the last time I had a foot blister (and this stuff is a godsend for breaking new shoes in, by the way), and even though my thighs meet all the way down (screw you, "thigh gap", FFS), I haven't had chafing ever on the days I've remembered to apply this - I do occasionally forget, but never twice in a row, believe you me.  I buy a new tube every single spring, and hopefully, now you will too - forget those tiny tubes of "anti-blister sticks" you can find in Boots, this tube is a whopping 42gms  compared to the usual 5gms in those packs, and this will last you an entire year of generous applications, if not longer.

Mine came from Amazon this year, and cost around a tenner.  But you can also get it from specialised sports websites like Wiggle.  Buy some, apply it generously wherever chafing might occur, and enjoy your new-found hot weather freedom. 

You're welcome. 


The Fine Print: THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST, I'm just tired of seeing blisters everywhere.  And I'm squeamish.


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L'Oreal Steampod Brazil Fantasy Edition

I live in a little sport-free bubble, and I love it very much, but I'm sheltered to the extent that when a bunch of Brazil-themed beauty products started arriving recently, I was a little confused.  Then they launched Brazil-themed M&Ms, and my thought process went: "Hey there official food of athletes around the world! Man, is it the Olympics already? Aren't they in South America this time? Rio! Brazil! D'oh!" And lo, a mystery was solved.  Now, if only I could solve the mystery of where my reading glasses keep disappearing to, my life would be complete.
 

All of which is rather roundabout way of pointing out that I'm not always the sharpest tool in the box. But that shouldn't put you off this rather marvellous version of the Brazil-themed Steampod that I fell in love with way back in November last year.  Covered in tropical flora and fauna, and in a crazy-pretty box, I love these.

I'll be honest, the Steampod has taken over from any and all other straighteners of choice. My hair just seems to love the extra level of straightening that it gets from the hit of steam, and even though there's definitely a learning curve involved with these  that you don't have with traditional straighteners, it's really worth getting to grips with them if you have slightly  ... recalcitrant ... hair.

The L'Oreal Steampod Brazil Fantasy Edition is available from Look Fantastic and costs around £145. The creams and serums you'll need to make the system really worthwhile are available there too, and cost extra (sadly - but I have backups of all of them, you'll have to prise these from my cold, dead hands, frankly), but they last a long, long time.
 
The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks Launch

l-r Pandemonium (mega matte), Firebird (cream), Naked (cream) and Conspiracy (metallised)

Urban Decay have finally launched their full range of Vice lipsticks in the UK, and they're really lovely.  With 100 shades in six finishes (sheer, metallised, cream, comfort matte, mega matte and shimmer), there's truly something for everyone.  I think the Gwen Stefani collection was really a taster for the new Vice finishes, so I'm not going to review them in depth here, but I thought I'd show you a couple of pictures of the lipsticks, and tell you that they're magnificent.  I have Pandemonium, a grape purple in the mega matte formulation, Firebird, which is a cream fuchsia (and a repromote of the same shade from the aforementioned Gwen Stefani collection), then there is also Naked which is a pale pinky-grey mauve and Conspiracy, a metallic coffee bean shade which will never, ever, ever grace my lips.  Ever.  Beautiful on the right person (like, my mum for example), but I have no desire to wear it personally, but doesn't it look gorgeous in the bullet?

l-r Pandemonium, Firebird, Naked, Conspiracy

There is figuratively nothing that makes my heart sing more than the sight of an untouched bullet of lipstick, and these are sooooooo photogenic.  Look, I have neither pets nor children, and only one sickly houseplant to take pictures of, so leave me my little indulgences, please.

I don't have swatches, because they're too pretty to mar, frankly, but here's a pic of me wearing the original version of Firebird taken back in February,  the lasting power on the cream formulation is marvellous, by the way,  and whilst not billed as a particularly long-lasting formula, I find they last at least 6-8 hours without reapplying, even if you eat whilst wearing:

Leave me alone, it was 6am on the Eurostar.

So there you go.  Not my most in-depth review perhaps (unless "pretty things are really pretty" is your bag, admittedly), but, by gum, they're pretty.

Urban Decay Vice lipsticks cost £15 each and are available now from the usual stockists. 

The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases

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Serozinc, how much do I love thee?

A whole heap, is how much.  Not so much a review, this piece, really (I've already reviewed Serozinc here) just mentioning in passing that Escentual (by far my favourite place to buy French skincare  products in the UK) has these cute mini-cans of Serozinc in stock now, and they cost only £3 per can!  Escentual is currently hosting its annual French Pharmacy event, and they'd normally cost £4.50 each.

And they're cute!  Did I mention they're cute?  I bought a shedload of them, they're everywhere!  This isn't even all of them, Serozinc is one of my desert island products ... 


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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