Month: January 2013

How’s Yer Face? Garnier Moisture Match

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Mine feels chapped, and tingly, and dry. Since it never feels this way, I am convinced it’s an accumulation of all the cold, cold weather we’ve been experiencing over the past three years.

I realise that this probably makes no sense at all, but I’ve never been so conscious of wanting to slather moisturiser/zer all over my face, all the time.

Is this more aging shizz? Dammit.

Anyway, how delighted was I when these two wee gems from Garnier fell through the letterbox?

GARNIER moisture matchVery muchly delighted. On your left, in the pink, is Goodbye Dry…, a lotion for dry to very dry skin; on your left, in the yellow, is Protect & Glow, an illuminating cream for exposed and delicate skin.

I feel exposed and delicate! I went for the Protect & Glow straightaway, and lashed on loads. The fragrance is somewhat strong for a face lotion; the texture is mediumweight, and absorbs rapidly. The illumination comes from light reflecting pearls, and I can honestly report a degree of reflection: not so much that you feel like everyone is a deer and you are the headlights, but rather a very light {ha, ha} level of glow.

Well, look, seriously: it’s shine. How do you feel about shiny face? I am not so bad with it, now that I’m aging. Light-reflecting materials = youthiness, so it’s all good with me.

And then I thought: I feel so very, very dry, and applied some of the Goodbye Dry… This is heavyweight, and it takes that much longer to absorb. Which is grand, I would definitely turn to this one when I’m going barefaced into the world, or even just to my desk. Again, strong fragrance, not crazy about that.

I’m pleased with both. The 50ml tubes will travel well, I reckon, and after having stranded myself in the US without a decent moisturiser/zer {About which I have yet to write!} I’ll deffo make sure their passports are in good order.

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€9.29; available wherever Garnier is sold.

w00t! Pre-Order That Magic Mischief!

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THAT MAGIC MISCHIEFYay! Please feel free to go ahead and sign up for delivery of my new novel! The page is up on amazon.com, and here’s a link to amazon.co.uk<< which, admittedly, looks a little funky? Or is it just me?

You may also find ways to upload via Crimson Romance ebooks, B&N, iTunes. Sony Reader Store maybe? I made such a mess of my Sony account, I don’t even think I can go on and check to see if am I there.

Sure, why not go ahead and pick up my other titles as well? The .com link helpfully directs you to them. You know what? Buy the other Susan Conley’s book, too! Why not? That Susan Conley was on Oprah, and wasn’t my phone ringing off the hook that day? The phone that I could answer because I am the Susan Conley that is me, not her, and so I wasn’t actually on the fabled sofa?

The digital list price is $4.99; the Kindle version is $4.91 which includes VAT and free international wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet<< their bold and italic, because sure, who wouldn’t bold and italicise Whispernet?

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WATCH THIS SPACE for amazing reader giveaways of super fantastic, and dare I say, magical beauty products!

A Blast of Warm, Delicious Colour on a Cold, Cold Day

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ISAAC MIZRAHIBright, and beautiful. I don’t know* how I got on the amazon.com relentless email list — <3 U amazon.com! for obvious reasons — but I got a comprehensive link to many, many gorgeous handbags, and this one popped.

The Ava by Isaac Mizrahi is a medium-sized satchel in pumpkin and fuchsia. Or orange and pink, to you and me. There are no measurements listed, and I suppose I could go a googlin’, but I am utterly captivated by the lusciousness of this object.

I have gotten over my object-orientated yearnings, or so I thought! Walking down to the West Village from Hell’s Kitchen with a pal, during my flying visit to Manhattan, I interrupted myself in full-flow as we passed a shop, the window of which was just stuffed with bags in a glorious array of colour and styles. I said, over and over, ‘Don’t need anything, don’t need anything in there’ and we laughed and kept going.

I don’t need an orange and fuchsia satchel. Well, I do need to be able to carry my stuff around, and in carrying my stuff around, I could be doing a public service: if you saw someone walking around with this bag, wouldn’t colours just go straight to your heart and warm you up all over?

Having this bag is pure altruism.

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Many beautiful bags live here. The Ava is in stock, and retails for $188. Sigh.

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I do know. I was looking at FitFlop boots, which were astonishingly priced far more cheaply via the American amazon than they are here, in shops.

2013: I Don’t Even Know Where to Start. Oh Look, Oscar Noms!

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See? Oscar noms! Let’s look! Even though I haven’t notion what half of them are?220px-Amour-poster-french

I did see Lincoln, which = amazeballs, or however Tony Kushner would write that in 19th century American. The balls that do amaze indeed, sir. >?

DDL FTW; also Tommy Lee Jones, whom I adore, in the Best Supporting Actor category, and all other categories.

Also: TLJ as Best Supporting Actor Supporting a Wig.

I started crying just looking at the Amour poster. Anyone seen this movie? Can you be nommed as Best Pic and Best Foreign Film? Apparently you can! BMcC just informed me via Facebook that this is about Alzheimers? Uh, no, thanks but I need my eyes, I can’t risk crying them out.

Also: do not want to ruin the great look I get from Maybelline’s new launch {LOL > wait for it} Volum’ Express: The Rocket, featuring the new, exclusive Elastomer brush, aka the Jet-Glide.rocket Final

The applicator is one of the spikey sort, but the bristles are flexible. Many that fall into this class of wand are not in the least bit flexible, and I must say it makes a difference. It felt like I was combing on the mascara, rather than pasting it on.

JET GLIDE ACTIONIt didn’t prevent the dreaded splotch-on-the-eyelid, which I cop to as operator error, but honestly, I had my head tipped allll the way back.

I had given a lukewarm review to the Colorsport 30 Day Eyelash & Brow Dye Kit. I didn’t get to Sephora when I was in NYC —  I know, I know, it’s a like a priest skipping an audience with the Pope. I had planned to get some super-amazing American brand of eyebrow dye, but having given the Colorsport another chance,  I’ll revise that initial impression a little.

With a caveat: because I completely disregarded the instructions, i.e., I forgot I had it on, and took a phone call and got distracted and started working on something and then WHOOPS — many, many more minutes than directed went by.

They look good! There has been no intervention by a cosmetic enhancement.

But I’m not telling you exactly how longI had it on — what if you do it and don’t like and get all up in my grill? DIY!

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Maybelline New York Volum’ Express The Rocket and Colorsport 30 Day Eyelash & Brow Dye Kit are both available at Boots. The Rocket comes in a waterproof version if you decide to watch that film. Bonne chance!

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That Magic Mischief: Dropping Down from the Ether on 11 February!

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THAT MAGIC MISCHIEFI am too excited about my new book cover to wait any longer: That Magic Mischief, a paranormal/contemporary romance set in Brooklyn, will be available for purchase in a month’s time.

I’ve been gasping to share, but as the internet is all ‘blink and you miss it’, I wanted visual accompaniment before I starting spreading the news.

Here’s what it’s all about:

What was the point of being a witch if Annabelle Walsh couldn’t manage a spell to fix her broken heart?  Okay, maybe calling herself a witch was pushing it — but as a dedicated dabbler in all things metaphysical, she figured she could, at the very least, speed up the healing process. Dumped out of the blue by high-powered banker Wilson Monroe, her boyfriend of three years and nine months, Annabelle’s hopes of walking down the aisle seem remoter than ever, and springtime in New York had never looked so dismal.

With the help of her dearest friends in the world—cool, calm and collected Lorna, and fiery, feisty, foul-mouthed Maria Grazia — Annabelle tries to pull herself out of the dumps by crying her eyes out, getting smashed on girly drinks, and working the odd spell. An idle wander into an unfamiliar new age shop adds the bit of magic in her life that she’d been looking for: a Pooka called Callie, an interfering, mischievous spirit determined to turn Annabelle’s life around— mostly by turning it upside down.

Suddenly, Annabelle hasn’t got time to brood, and her career as a journalist begins to take off; in fact, it’s during a brainstorming session for an off-off-off-off Broadway theatre production that she meets tall, dark, and handsome Jamie Flynn, an Irishman in New York who seems to be keen at first sight, if not in love quite yet. As Annabelle gets her life back on track, she starts to see the difference that a real life, a real career, and a real man can make … and all it took was that magic mischief.

Watch this space for more information, and for (tenuously) related beauty giveaways!

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Follow @Crimson_Romance for more titles in a wide variety of romantical genres.

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Have you linked from Twitter? Plz RT! Kthx!

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There is Nothing like a Scrub: My Four Faves

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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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HNY on the 46A with Burberry Lip Velvet

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HNY on the 46AYesssssss it is good to be back, if only to be ensconced once more in my personal photo studio.

The shades are via French Connection — stylish, and with great UV protection. I’ve experienced couture designer shades in the past, and I gotta tell ya, I am much happier and more impressed with the sunnies you can pick up on the High Street. Although I suspect that the name brands are solely for wear in airports.

For wear anywhere: Burberry Lip Velvet in Military Red. It is the perfect matte blue-toned red lippy, that lasts and lasts as long as you don’t eat — also designed, I suppose with your A-listed Size Zero in mind, I suppose.

Nevertheless, us real woman can get a lot of joy out of this. I am still off kilter from The Lag, and find I’m not hungry for dinner until 11.30 pm. Not helpful from a metabolic point-of-view, but great for making the makeup last.

It retails for €27, and if anyone has stockist info, plz advise; the phone lady at BT was all like, I’ve never heard of it, and you know that the phone lady at BT knows everything. < Not bein’ snarky. She totally does.

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Happy New Year!

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Top Twelve of 2012: The Future is Now, Via My Face and We Love Laser

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This is the final installment of posts about my twelve new fave products and services of last year. They do all add up, even though they weren’t in twelve posts, and even though, uh, there were actually thirteen? You come for the reviews, you stay for the LOLz…

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Do We Love Laser? Yes, we do. Not only because it is in my locality, but also because the vibe of the place is as youthful as the services it provides.

Do I want to recapture my youth? Hmmm, not so much — but I am happy to look as well as I can for as long as I can. I feel like the Photo Facial has tidied up some fines lines, zapped some excess hair, and in general refurbed the canvas of my face. I also feel like the potions and lotions I use for all that anti-aging biz will actually have a chance to work.

The first time I lasered? That was something of a learning curve, for sure. The second time? I thought I was blasé, but there was still a touch of The Fear. The third time? I was all over it, an old hand, and really delighted by the progress my pigmentation was making — meaning, it was progressing away, away, away, and off of my face.

Pictures are worth a thousand: the top two are from the first session, and the bottom from the most recent.

FIRST LASER

THIRD LASER 2I didn’t intervene with the Photoshop, so the colour temperature of the images is different, which makes it look like I intervened to make the third one look better, but I didn’t. I am entirely satisfied with the work, and I’m deffo going to go for more.

Two things that I’ve found that work wonderfully well on the new, improved surface:

FACE IT

I still stand by my post about Human+Kind’s Anti-Ageing Cream. This is another product I’ve used down to its last pump. And whilst I didn’t blog specially about Sisley’s Black Rose Masque — OMG, Sisley’s Black Rose Masque! I had gone to get a facial at the Brown Thomas Beauty Room, and the aesthetician had recommended this, as had the Sisley PR. I am designating this as my US to IE jet lag cure. Even if it doesn’t zap the lag, at least I’ll look stunningly dewy and fresh-faced.

It does cost a bomb — €106/£81/$158 — but it is a little miracle in a tube. I expect to get ten masques out of this, as the usual dictum of ‘a little of an expensive product goes a long way’ applies, so that’s really only €10.60 per masque!

I got your world class rationalisation right here!

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We Love Laser Medical Aesthetic Clinic is located at 82 Upper Georges Street, Dun Laoghaire. Visit www.welovelaserireland.com for the full menu of treatments.

Top Twelve of 2012: Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Miracle

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dr-lewinns-strengthenerNow, I never did get around to my superfantastic celebratory manicure, due to Auld Schplitty — although, having said that, I did give myself a nice fake French Manicure. And the only reason the fake French manicure worked is because of Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Regime.

Incorporating a Nail Strengthener and a Nourishing Oil {for the cuticles}, this is a miracle worker of the highest order. Having had manky, weak, ridgey nails for the entirety of my life, I suddenly have longer, stronger, smoother nails.

Suddenly? Yeah, not really: it did take discipline, and I didn’t maintain, and I learned my lesson. But if you do the work, you will reap the bennies, and in fairness, it’s not that big a deal.

The result? You can refer to the Dr Lewinn for the whole saga, but if you just want to see The Wowness, then click here.

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