Month: August 2012

New Fixation: Finding The Perfect Lipstick for Autumn 2012

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Subcategory: the perfect red lipstick. I’ve already begun this investigation, here, and sub-sub category is a fixation on the Liquid Lipsticks from Lush’s Emotional Brilliance collection.

This is Power.

Excellent, and slightly freaky photo!

I am generally not a fan of orange-based reds, as they don’t suit me, but this one? I find it a little confusing. It is orange-y, and even has a gold shimmer, but it is not entirely orange? I didn’t fiddle with this in Pshop, so what you ‘see’ is what you ‘get’ {inverted commas = the vagaries of the calibration of everyone’s individual monitors, much less mobiles.} It has a touch of blue in there somewhere, it must.

The Pros v Cons:

Con I’m still not entirely reconciled to the dryness this leaves behind. I’ve tried it both ways — with lip balm on first, as a base, and with it as a top coat, for lack of a better term — and the latter is better. A bit of a blot on a tissue + a touch of balm sets you up nicely for several hours.

Pro Several hours could = forever, if you don’t eat or drink anything. Which is a big ask, okay. Maybe drinking would be okay, if there was a straw involved.

Con The product itself is somewhat slippy, meaning, it gets all over your teeth. Which is gross. Do that supermodel thing, where you purse your lips around your finger and pull it out < OMG, I have tried writing that to be less dirty and naughty and I just can’t figure out a way! Your finger gets all the excess lipstick off your lips.

Pro I love the wee bottles. I just do.

I have a thing tonight, involving food, so I’ll really put this to the test this evening. Will let you know what happens.

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Liquid Lipstick: €17.95

How To Make the Perfect Katie PonyTaylor

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I hated having short hair, the three times in my life that I made that mistake — a mistake for me, it simply doesn’t suit. I hated it because I had to tend it allll the time; it seemed like way much more work that long, especially when all I wanted to do was pull it back into a ponytail.

Except, I have always been a bit crap at making ponytails? Unlike our Gold Medal Boxer Katie Taylor!

I don’t know how she does it, but me, I need product. What a surprise.

I googled around a bit, but wowee, some of the ponytail-making suggestions are way too much like work. All I want is sleek, and I don’t want flyaway ends.

So:
> Brush the stuffing out of your hair. Make it as flat as possible.

> Spray a little something on the top of your head, at the crown. I used Batiste Dry Shampoo. This is mainly to flatten it and make it stay.

> Brush it some more.

> Okay, gross: hold the elastic between your teeth. Come on! This is real life! You do it too! Yeah, yeah, yeah, unsanitary, but me, that third arm I usually use for hair styling is in the shop.

> Now, this next step depends on how well you gather up the hair. This is where I always go wrong. Either  the hair on the top of your head is going to stay perfectly flat, or you’re going to have to brush it down again. When I have to re-brush it, I start all over, because there will always be that rogue lock sticking up. Elastic goes back in the mouth, I let the hair go loose, and do over.

> Then, gently, gently, put some sort of styling aid on the tail itself. Any one of the oil-y yokes on the market will work, mousse is good — I used what has clearly become my Olympic hair product, Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream.

And the brother of yer dad is Bob.

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Still buzzing from that victory!

Completely Genius Move, Benefit: They’re Real! Anniversary Special

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I wrote briefly about Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara back in March:

The result is amazeballs, but one must get as much on in the first coat, because it dries hard, and it’s difficult to get another coat on. You know what I mean? It kind of sets in stone? Which is grand — if you get the first coat correct.

I do love the look that I get from this, and think of it as ‘special occasion’ wear; I also tend to save the use of this for going on holiday. Anyone else? Save ‘looks’ for when you go away or for weddings and stuff? Cue tumbleweeds or…?

Anyway, imagine my delight when I saw the mum-and-child version of this product! That wee one is perfect for saving to bring along to the Med or to NYC, or when you’re planning any kind of, er, overnighter.

So, help celebrate the first birthday of They’re Real! with this really useful package. I still do find that you’ve got to get it right the first time, but when you do, the lashes stay fresh looking the live long day.

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€26.50/£18.50/$23

Another Psychic Moment at Bright and Beautyfull!

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Beleaguered postman #2 buzzed quite authoritatively this morning. It sounded… annoyed. {Dude, this is in fact your gig, delivering things.} As I came round the landing, I saw this brightly wrapped parcel in his hands:

Who in the world was this from?

Oh. Okay! Luckily, Barry’s Tea is my brand. {And within it, I prefer the tea that comes in the green box, not the red. I think this makes me a heathen?}

I shook the parcel, because that is what you do with parcels, and unwrapped it rather sedately. It is tea-related, after all.

Behold:

More people are drinking the green stuff, I think maybe in the mistaken assumption that it doesn’t have caffeine in it — it does, in fact. Or, maybe they want their caffeine in a form that is more holistic-y, or something?

The thing is! It is good for your metabolism, which I found out because an FB friend posted a little chart showing what foods help boost it, and I made a note in my phone to get several next time I was in the shops and look:

Totally. Psychic! Welcome to the New Age, folks.

I like the look of the Green Tea & Lemon, which is only €2 for 40 bags. Soothing, and good value!

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Barry’s new teas are available in all major shopping chains in Ireland.

The other psychic moment was the Marilyn stuff the other day.

Had to check the spelling of ‘psychic’ because it looked really weird.

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When All Else Fails, Talk About The Hair

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…which should have its own Twitter persona at this stage.

This past bank holiday was a blissful, glorious indulgence of Olympics, and olympian Game of Thrones S2 watching {entire season in one day}.

I also cleaned the bath, which doesn’t get any messier than a normal bath, but down to the excessive amount of product, well, it’s a pain in the arse to do. It was worth it, though, because I realised I hadn’t used up all my H’Suan Wen Hua from Lush, which you can go back and read about here. There is also a picture, and the results were exactly the same this time: shockin’ shine, pumped up highlights, but a terrible pong.

It still looks good, these several days later. I’ve also womanned up and have started using the Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream like I mean it, meaning I put it on hair that I’ve dried and ironed. It absolutely does not weigh it down — it makes it look shiny and smooth. Sweartagod. I knew that already? But when you use as much stuff as I do, you tend to forget. Here’s the original post to remind us all.

Along those lines, that five sense thing is a good idea, must remember to to do that again. And a haiku never goes amiss.

Sorry, have to go back to being a top Tweeter in the #equestrian thread.

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H’Suan Wen Hua from Lush: €11.50/£8.50/$19.95

Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream: €28.45/£22.85/$31

Inexplicable Marilyn Moments: Or Are They?

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I was going through some bits and pieces I had torn out of magazines, fodder for future collages and vision boards, and there was Marilyn, big as life.

I would not be a … I was going to say huge fan, and I wouldn’t be, but I think by that I also mean an obsessed fan of her persona. You know, because I don’t get ever get obsessed about anything. Ha, ha.

Or by that I think I may mean that I absolutely recognise that she was talented — and funny! — but I don’t know that she was any more tragic than many women walking around out there, living lives that are markedly less glamorous, sure, but with their own brand of pressures.

But, lordee, that woman could rock the red lipstick. Continue reading →

A Scent is Worth A Thousand Words: Nuxe Crème Fraîche de Beauté

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / 3 Comments

Sometimes, my approach to testing products is less than scientific. When my long-suffering postman handed over a package of the new Crème Fraîche de Beauté collection from Nuxe {he’s got to be dying to ask me what is up with all these parcels}, I opened it, had a quick look, and put it to the side. It had to join the queue, and to be honest, some of the packaging out of France is way overdone. Why all these words, French package designers?

Exhibit A. This is the inside of the box. The inside of the box! Plus there’s the usual foldy-uppy-multi-lingual palaver wrapped around the container. The outside of the box is pure carnage. And ultimately? There is nothing to tell me why this stuff smells so gorgeously fantastic. Because it does, it smells like the freshest, most invigorating line of beauty products I have ever smelled.

Back to my less-than-laboratory environment. I was sitting here the other day, stumped for a word or phrase, so I reached into the Nuxe package and came up with the Masque Crème Fraîche de Beauté. Ah, sure, thought I, let’s just lash some of this on, why not? Why not, indeed. Might be a good idea, oh, I don’t know, to cleanse and/or tone before applying a mask {or masque.} I tend to think, well, if it’s gonna work, it best be workin’ on skin that is in rag order, right? So, I liberated the tube from its tomb of text, peeled off the annoying but sanitary little foil protective thingie, slapped some on —

And was immediately transported into a sunlit meadow, its grasses freshly cut. The scent of flora is everywhere: not just flowers, but trees as well, and I swear I can smell the cool water of a bubbling brook. All I wanted to do was to lie down and breathe and breathe and breathe —

Cut to me lying on the floor of my sitting room. Nah, just kidding! But I felt inspired to forgive the brand its unnecessary packaging verbiage — well, almost. What is in this?!!? Not that I reckon I can reproduce this myself. I tried to do that once! With a base cream from Atlantic Aromatics! I gathered together my lime, basil, and mandarin essential oils, keen to make up my own Jo Malone scent, except it came out smelling like broccoli.

I’ve learned my lesson there. I’m only curious, is all. I looked it up, of course, and came up with Lupin, Pea, Green Tea, Acacia, Almond, Coconut, Oat, and non GM Soya. Yeah, no. What is acacia, even? {A flowering shrub/tree.} So maybe acacia and lupin are the cornerstones of this evocative fragrance. Soya? Please.

In further bad practice, I’ve just now slathered on some of the Crème Fraîche de Beauté Enrichie, which is for Dry to Very Dry Sensitive Skin {see what I did there, French copypersons?} on skin that has not been properly prepared to receive it. I don’t care. It feels good, cooling and soothing — just like it says there on the label.

As to the 24 hour thing: these products are meant to continually moisturize for a full day/night cycle. I’m not completely certain how that works, and will ask around. I don’t know that I believe it, frankly. I do believe that the brand continue to do what they say they will, in a lovely and uncharacteristically simple portmanteau-ish way: Nature and Luxe = Nuxe. I can certainly vouch for that working well — sure, it’s as plain as the nose on my face.

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Nuxe’s Crème Fraîche de Beauté collection ranges from €20 to €32, and is available in chemists nationwide.

Ha! I Said a Thing About Milk, Just Kidding, Like, And Look!

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / 2 Comments

Sure, I was only messing the other day when I wrote this, after having talked about Mythic Oil Milk from L’Oréal Professionel:

Hmmm, any other milk-ish products I can cobble together? Call me crazy and cover me in milk???

And then I was tweetling around, and came across this from @Nature7_ie:

As I said: Ha! The link goes here, and seems rather optimistic re: sunburn, but I am feeling so zeitgeist-y right now, I don’t care.

{Insert reference to Cleopatra here.}

I haven’t tried the milk yet, but I did use the Mythic Oil Colour Glow yesterday, since it was on my mind. It’s good! I used a little too much, and remembered struggling with the dispensation learning curve with the straight-up Mythic Oil sample I had last year. Nevertheless, The Hair looked very salon-quality; second day was a bit oily at the roots, but the ends still looked fab.

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Nature 7 can be found on nature7.ie, and is a clearinghouse for all things 100% natural, from beauty brands to food products.

I Can See Clearly Now: Vichy Pureté Thermale Waterproof Eye Make- Up Remover

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{But the rain’s not gone, I can feel it, lurking up there, just waiting for me to go out to do me messages.}

I called in some more of Vichy’s concoction because I am in full trying-and-testing eye make up mode, and some of it is very, very black, and some of the mascara is very, very thick. I have no problem with either of those things, but I do hate to be wastin’ cotton pads, because I have to use so many, because the removal agent, in a word, sucks.

This is completely the opposite of the former term. This is basically perfect. I’ve used it before, and used it up, and wanted to rave it about it all over again.

It’s billed for those with sensitive eyes, and mine must be more sensitive than I thought: just last night I used another oil-based remover that I had to hand, and I was squinting away for about half an hour before my vision came completely clear again. I’ve got my bookworm nerdy pants on, but: how am I supposed to catch up on my Henning Mankell if I am blinking?

^I had been in the middle of The Fifth Woman and went and watched the first season of the BBC’s Wallander, and now I’m not going to read any of those books, and will miss out on what, at least half the series? Somebody please tell me there will be more Wallander books? Also: the TV show is incredibly creative, really really good, totally captures the tone, IMO. Although I think that Ann-Britt is not at all completely realised properly. She’s a hot shot young wan, and all she does in the show is look at Kenneth Branagh with concern.

Up until discovering this product, I’d had an aversion to oil-based make up removers but this is oily to the correct degree. By that I mean it cuts right through the make up, but doesn’t leave me with the blinkiness. Since I am all about the oil this week, this couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Gestalt!

Seriously, take it from someone who uses a lot of stuff on her face: this is the business.

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€13.75/£10.50/$16.50