Archive by Author

Tautology and Beauty: Oro Gold

1 May

I was in a great mood yesterday: loved my outfit, had me nails did at a fab Garnier launch in conjunction with Volunteer Ireland, saw many of the beauty pals there, went and started a facial de-fuzz-ifying process at Akina in Temple Bar, and with the sun out and all, decided to go for a browse in Brown Thomas — why it makes sense to go for a spin through a shop when it is glorious out-of-doors, I don’t know. I still have the token I won at a recent La Roche-Posay event, and I wanted to do some research. All in all, an unmitagatedly bold-facey kind of day.

As I was cruising down Wicklow Street, I noticed a new beauty shop, one by the name of Oro Gold. Hmmm, looked very much like the way I was feeling: shiny and new and interesting. As I was debating having a look, a dude surged out of the shop, waving little sachets of this:
ORO GOLDSo I took, it obvs. Sure, why not? I love a good sample, in a manner of speaking.

Made the mistake, though, when the dude asked me if I had a moment. Well, I have many moments, but moments like these, not so much. Some crazy, evolutionary, socially hard-wired thing made me stop, just long enough to allow him  surge right up to the outside edge of my personal space, and ask what sort of skincare I used?

Between thinking What’s this dude gonna know about skincare* and the sheer impossibility of my being able to answer that question, I put up my hand, said ‘Sorry!’ and turned away. Also, the thought Oro Gold is a fairly redundant name snuck in, and I’m sure that millisecond of grammatical irritation made my feet move.

I woke up this morning quite curious about a brand that used gold in its products.

There is little to no information on the Irish website, as regards where they come from. I went agooglin’, as you would, and turned up this rather cautionary tale on Beauty Snob, dated 2011. The brand seems to be based in America, and is mad expensive, which, yeah: gold as a primary ingredient.

Reviews are mixed: folks who dislike a hard sell and make the choice to enter have found that it is an unrelenting experience. Folks that love the product love it. Which is par for the course, really, but holy moly, the price list is faint-worthy.

I’ll give this wee sachet a go, for the craic…

***

*Since I am planning a Dude Week here at brightandbeautyfull, that is rather a sexist remark!

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Sweet Sixteen Minus Six: Yes to Carrots Exfoliating and Soothing Mud Mask

20 Mar

Number 8 is a classic for all the right reasons: it is a mud that gets your face just the correct degree of squinchy, and yet it doesn’t get all cake-y and gross. Sadly Princess Marcella Borghese did not take the hint re: her Fango, so whateverrrrr, Your Highness!

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I can be a real snob when it comes to product. Growing up, I read too many magazines, and started to get a bit sniffy about cheapy cosmetics at an early age.

I couldn’t afford to be as posh as I wanted, but it didn’t stop me from dropping some serious dough whilst in art college: I had found a special something at a fancy Manhattan shop, on the Upper East Side {which is saying something, since I went to Pratt in Brooklyn} and — holy cow! early onset is pre-empted as I just remembered the name of it. I was struggling to remember what it was called and I couldn’t bring it up for the life of me until I started writing. The special something was a mud mask by Princess Marchella Borghese, who is still around. I would welcome any samples of her Fango: Active Mud for Face & Body for a future review, just to see if it is still as good as I remember it to be. The container was similar to what it is now, a luxuriously heavy glass jar; the mud was scented to just the correct degree, and it was my first experience of true self-care indulgence.

Whoops, down the rabbit hole! The point of the above was that having been exposed to a serious mud mask, anything else wouldn’t do. I like to keep an open mind, and have found several non-muddy masks to be effective, but to me, there is nothing like having my face squinched. I am sure there are anti-ageing arguments against this experience, but feck ‘em. I love a good squinch {TWSS} and in these modern times, I have found something that satisfies this need entirely.

yes-to-carrots-c-the-difference-exfoliating-and-soothing-mud-maskThe Yes To line has branched out to include Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Blueberries, but to me, Carrots will always be the cornerstone of the brand. These all-natural, crap-free products care for every part of you, and in general, they work as well as crap-laden products — and come on, let’s be honest, in general, most natural products simply don’t work. The cleansers don’t cleanse, the moisturisers don’t moisturise, or else they require so much more product to effect change that it’s not cost effective.

Or maybe our standards have become too laden with crap, and they work just fine, and we have only to adjust our expectations.

Expectations need not be adjusted when it comes to YTC’s C the Difference: Exfoliating and Soothing Mud Mask. It’s made from Dead Sea mud, and it’s rich and thick, yet applies smoothly — it’s not like you’ll be trowelling this on. Fragrance-wise, it is pleasant without being too perfume-y, and in this regard is one up on the Borghese, as far as memory serves < and it serves pretty darn well, considering. I tend to leave it on for way longer than the 5 minutes prescribed, but that’s me, the squinch-lovin’ beauty blogger, so take that with a pinch of Dead Sea salt.

Ooh, I’d love a dose of this right about now: I’ve just woken up and my face feels like it’s flaking off. The post-mask Carrots skin feels shiny and clean and new, and I’d love that right now. I’d also love to run around the house scaring my nephews with my crazy mud face. Ah, well, there’s always next time.

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€12.99/£12.35/$17

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That Magic Mischief ‘n’ Me in Exclusive Magazine!

12 Mar

Screen shot 2013-03-12 at 12.51.21

I’m not entirely sure this link is going to work — hang on — hey, mostly! The page on the left can be found in the digital version of Exclusive, the very fancy magazine available in posh shops all across Dublin and also via the ether. We’re on page 38. Thanks to editor Brenda McCormick for asking me to contribute.

The picture in the article is via Johannes Kroemer {johanneskroemer.com}, and I am still so, so happy with. I love that it makes me look like I have bone structure! The magic of lighting! I’ve got some new ones via Mike Blackett {mikeblackett.com} and @SmashboxUK that will find their way onto the site — those are good ones too, and now: with more blonde!

I’m home due to a family emergency, and am not sure of the netiquette, to be honest. I am so not into the TMI — well, I mean, obvs as far as like, The Hair is concerns, I’ve got no boundaries… but I know that my dad, who is in hospice, would be entirely cross with me if I didn’t see to my responsibilities, and such like.

So I’ll figure it out as I go along.

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Bonjour, Les Sourcils! {Cue Something Triumphant; 1812 Overture, Maybe}

8 Mar

I rather dramatically bid buh-bye to the eyelash extensions* I got in mid-January — in French, who knows why.

So in the same vein, let’s say bonjour to the freshly HD’d brows:

EYEBROWS

Carter Beauty take such good care of them! I was about to spin off into how sourcils is so similar to souris, which means mouse, and both so similar to sourire, which means smile — is it just the sou- part? Do I really know what I’m talking about? Am I going to start calling my eyebrows ‘my smiling mice’?

Is it entymology or eytmology? Words or bugs, or vice versa?

I ran out of coffee yesterday without realising it, can you tell?

***

Carter Beauty HD Brows is €50 for the initial treatment.
Carter Beauty is based at 40 Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.
For more information, see wwwcarterbeauty.ie or ring them on  01-210 3624.

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*Here are the eyelash extensions, in all their glory.

***

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FOTD: Channelling Stockard Channing

28 Feb

FOTD 28 02In the best possible sense of course. But seriously: right?

Must be the smirk. No one smirks like Ms Channing. Except me, apparently.

What we have here is:

>Dermalogica Skin Primer, which will be featured in a B&B! Q&A soon.
>Lancôme Le Touche Éclat
>Smashbox Brow Tech To Go, which I love and want to marry.
>Hourglass Ambient in Luminous Light, which is why I am glowing like I’m just back from the Caribbean. I completely overdid this, as I overdid the mascara — the new Rimmel Lash Extender Endless Mascara which I am loving.
>Smashbox Love Me Lip Enhancing Gloss in Charm Me, with which I will have a clandestine affair if that damned Brow Tech will ever stop leading me on!
>Clarins Ombre Minérale 4 Couleurs in Iris Blossom. They look dark in the palette, but go on trés lightly and sparkly.
>The Hair, not even ironed yet, is thanks to Aveda Invati Exfoliating Shampoo, Thickening Conditioner and Scalp Revitalizer, about which more will be written soon.
>Roots by my laziness. Don’t look, Andrew Dunne from Mane Salon! Avert your eyes!

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Face of the Yesterday: Champagne meets Lemonade

1 Feb

No, I haven’t been tippling the bubbly again. More’s the pity!

Nope, I’ve just got evidence that you can mix-n-match your variously-priced products along the spectrum, to excellent effect.

Often, things come in on an individual basis, as in, I didn’t get a Name Brand Primer to go with my Name Brand Foundation. But I did get one of each from two very different lines.

So there I was, with Mineral Pro Radiance Foundation {€29.95} from Matis, on the one hand, and Rimmel London’s Fix & Perfect Pro Primer {€8.25}. Far enough away in price point, and purchase point too: the former being available in select salons, and the latter in your local chemists.

And yet, the two together work as well as if they’d been made for each other.

FOTD 31 01The tone is even, and since I’m not so mad about pressed powder these days, the usual application of Stila’s Set & Illuminate Baked Powder Trio {£24} really sparkled. I am loving this loose powder which, well, sets ISADORA BRUSHand illuminates without dulling down my complexion. I use an IsaDora Bronzer Brush {€18}, a brush so full and soft and fluffy, it’s like using a plush toy to put on my makeup.

Blush: IsaDora Glow Stick in Rose Bud {€15.50}{which seems pricey? Google is not helping me.} Lippy is a new, limited edition No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Highland Mist {€12.25}. The eyeshadow is by The Body Shop, a quad Smoky Eye Palette in Golden Brown {23.95}, the lashes are still extended a la Venus Medical, and…

Oh! The upper inner eyelid is lined with Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner {@5.49}, about which I first learned via mcmademoisellelikes and was justified in my love of this line of liners by lovelygirliebits yesterday.

I don’t know, I’ve never used all one thing on the visage, ever, so I suppose this is not so remarkable. But I was still struck by how well the two very different products worked together. I remember, in high school, using like, two layers of lipstick and a gloss, to replicate some expensive look I’d seen in Vogue. Ah, yesterday!

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Hmmm, not confident about those IsaDora prices. BRB.

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Face of the Day: *Not* Photographed on the 46A

23 Jan

FOTD 23 01 2013Hmmm: I always seem to do this on days that I am wearing Hourglass Cosmetics Veil Fluid Makeup SPF 15 in  Sand, along with the Mineral Veil Primer. Well, that tells you all you need to know, I reckon. I always feel like I need to show off my face when I am wearing that primer/foundation combo.

Like the blush? It’s IsaDora Glow Stick in Rose Bud, a tiny wee cream-blush-in-a-twist-up-tube that I am {is}adoring at the moment. It is very soft, and applied on the apple of the cheek, it makes you look like a Victorian Valentine. as

As if my cheeks weren’t entirely apples!

Brows are my usual HD Brows, for which Carter Beauty can take credit. I have defined them with my favvvvourite new brow thing, Smashbox Brow Tech To Go. Google it now, ladiez, it is so good: it comes with a brush-in-gel to set them up, and then an angled pencil to fill ‘em in. Proper review to come — hey, haven’t done a Haiku Review in yonks. There’s a plan!

Eyelashes are via VenusLash by Venus Medical. Oh, there will be updates there.

A bit of Clinique eyeshadow, the fabbalis Black Honey, which never, ever goes wrong.

Lips = a combo of Lush Liquid Lipstick in Confidence, with some Clinique Chubby in Chunkiest Chilli on top. This solves two problems I have, one with each: the Lush is too dry, and the Clinique doesn’t have the staying power I’ll ned today. Together, they are perfect.

Okay! Ready to face the day with the #FOTD!

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There is Nothing like a Scrub: My Four Faves

8 Jan

Well… hmmm. Nope: nothing like a scrub from head to toe, upon return to to my Haven of Beauty after two weeks away.

I have been giving myself a good going over since I’ve been back, from my literal head to my literal toes.

Here is what we’ve got on the go at the mo:

THE LINEUP 2013That’s enough to keep me in posts for another week and half!

I have cut four products out of the herd, and have been happily exfoliating every day since Thursday. This may not be advisable! But I don’t care, I am intent upon sloughing off The Lag, straight down the drain.

FOUR FAVE SCRUBS

From left-ish:

>Lycon Pomegranate Sugar Scrub, from I don’t know where. It is spa-quality, and for a sugar scrub — which normally rolls right off your body, no matter how you try to prevent it — this is tops. The jelly-like base holds the scrub in perfect suspension, and it smooths over the skin with nary a grain lost.

>Oh, Vichy Normaderm 3-in-1, how happy I was to see you! Next time, I swear, I am bringing you along. There is nothing that you cannot do. To celebrate my return, I went hard-core and employed your masque-y qualities, and indulged in a thorough scrub once under the spray of the shower.

> This was a hard sell, initially, but now I am completely on the Redken Nature’s Rescue Refining Sea Polish. I use it before I shampoo, which may or may not be as directed — it still works a treat, and my hair is all the shinier for it.

>The classic for a reason: Dermalogica Microfoliant gently exfoliates, foams up into a cleanser-like consistency, and lasts forever and ever, amen.

Did reading this make you feel itchy? I feel all itchy now.

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Prices vary depending upon what your googling reaps. If anyone knows where that Lycon stuff came from, do let me know.

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Hope You Had A Merry Little…

26 Dec

… and here’s to a non-invasive New Year!*

HNY2013

* Well, you know what I mean.

Hourglass Cosmetics: Can I Be Me, Only Better, If I Do It Myself?

20 Nov

Hourglass Cosmetics founder Carisa Janes’ best known quote regards her reason for creating the brand:  “I just want to look like me—only better.”

Can it be done? Yeah, pretty much!

At left, post-make up session at Harvey Nichols with Hourglass’ European training manager Mel Leonard; at right, face by meself.

Not bad! I always feel a little dubious after a makeover — how in the world am I ever going to replicate the pro touch? — but in fairness:

1} I have had a lot of practice, in my life, as regards the application of make up;
2} The brand is really quite ‘true’, by which I mean, it looks good even if you aren’t a trained professional.

Now, the eyes are lacking a wee bit. I didn’t have any eyeshadow on that day… did I? But the foundation is flawless mainly because the actual product, Veil Fluid Makeup SPF 15 in  Sand is pretty feckin’ flawless.

Or should I say products: beneath the veil of foundation is the Mineral Veil Primer: so smooth, so silky, so gentle, it is like spreading the cream of angel feathers all over your face.

Also in play: Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Rose; would very much like to have the Empress as used in the session. I am finding the lippy to be somewhat drying: balm before ends in tears, but a touch of something, like Carmex, on top, helps it feel less itchy. Drying = itch-making, in this case.

I am very, very pleased with these products. Very pleased.

Hair at right courtesy of a breeze blowing through the window of the bus, which made the photo look exactly like a Mario Testino for Vogue photo shoot.

Exactly.

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Available in Ireland at Harvey Nichols; in the USA at Sephora and Bergdorf Goodman; and from Liberty in London.

http://www.hourglasscosmetics.com

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