Author: brightandbeautyfull

Top Twelve of 2012: The One About The HD Brows

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The one? How about the million? Of the many excellent things that I experienced in 2012, HD Brows have turned out to be revolutionary for my overall look. My go-to salon is Carter Beauty in Blackrock, and I leave happy — nay, delighted — every single time.

They are particularly great when I don’t feel like putting on a lot of makeup. Like today. Here I am with my lovely dad, and my lovely brows:

POPSTARI have intervened only slightly with the colour and shape, and my favourite brow-shaping-cosmetic thingie has been AVON Glimmerstick Brow Definer. I try and test so many things in the course of a year, much less a week, that when I use something up entirely, it is highly significant.

I used this up entirely. Will use again. And again.

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This is the account of my first session of HD Brows; click the HD Brows category for allllll the posts.

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Top Twelve of 2012: Minding Me Pelt

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BODDDDAlso file under: Hoarding. I love both of these so much, I ration my uses of them. Which is too bad really, to not use something that I like, but on the other hand, I know how to make special occasions even more special.

I fell for Dermalogica’s Hydro-active Mineral Salts immediately. Itcombines the excellence of salt-based therapeutic bath salt, with minerals and tonnes of essential oils. It smells rather… organic, which some may find off-putting. I feel medium about the scent, personally, but the effect of the sea salt and sandalwood, lavender, orange, clary sage, lemon, and tea tree — among others! — is pretty spectac.

Oh, Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, how do I love thee? Countless ways! I have tried other oils, and liked them muchly, but not completely and utterly muchly — no where near as muchly as I adore this. The scent! The coverage! The suppleness of my skin! This year saw a special anniversary addition that came in a spray bottle! There is a version that has glittery sparkle in it! Still waiting, like many of this product’s fans, for the perfume version. Hint, hint, Nuxe!

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Here’s the original post about the Dermalogica salts; here are the words about the prodigious oil.

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Top Twelve of 2012: Four, Calling Birds

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Did anyone else think that this holiday was completely weird, time-wise? Not only that it came up so quickly, but also, I don’t know, it just seemed like everything was on the wrong day?

I blame Tuesday. Aw, poor Tuesday, I feel bad immediately saying that. However: Christmas on a Tuesday just doesn’t work. So let’s avoid that for the next while, ‘kay?

Because of time and Tuesdays, I suddenly don’t even have twelve days to do a single Top Twelve per day, so I’m doing some grouping here. Let’s start with makeup, my B&B birdies! Continue reading →

Top Twelve of 2012: Lucky Number Thirteen

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I was just this second reviewing my list, and I gasped aloud: there is nothing on it to do with The Hair.

Scandalous!

HYDRATING STYLINGAnd then I remembered that I was in fact going to laud the seemingly implausible qualities of Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream. So let’s just call this Lucky Number Thirteen, and then we’ll get on to the business of the rest of the list.

‘Seemingly implausible’ because, as the owner/operator of fine hair, the notion of putting anything as heavy as a styling cream on post-blow dried locks is like, why not just stick your head in a vat of goo?

As I reported here, I took the risk, and I have to say, the risk has paid off in spades since April. No matter that I use styling oil, and have gotten one of those Keratin hair dryers*, I still get flyaway strands that want to do what they do best, and flyaway. This tames them, and also imparts that signature Moroccanoil fragrance, which is powdery and clean, and one other thing that I can’t quite put my finger on. Possibly the thing itself from which Moroccanoil is made, like a nut or something?

Hang on.

Okay. I have plenty of stuff that has argan oil in it, and they don’t all smell like this. The Internet was sharing all kinds of links with itself when I Googled, but most of the links had to do with other products {reading is fundamental, mentallers} including the nut one, so clearly I was confused, too. We all get confused sometimes. Glass Petal Smoke — a site I will certainly be bookmarking — breaks it down to white amber and musk. I am huge fan of both, so there ya go.

So, two more things I couldn’t put my finger on. Also! Totally forgot to try it on damp hair, pre-blow, as I had vowed to do in the previous post. That will be top of my New Year’s Resolution List, right below ‘world peace.’

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*OMG Keratin blow dryer thing. Have you heard? I’ll be back with that anon.

Top Twelve of 2012: Um.

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I had big, big plans that I had set in train, oh, back in November practically, which in internet cat years is like, pre-historic. Had all the things chosen — products and services — and thought, Ah sure, just organise the photos and take care of it while you are away.

I have left allll the info and stuff on my external hard drive at home.

LOLLLLLLLLLLL. *Sigh*

Wait, maybe I am genius and I put it on a USB, but why would I, what with the cloud and all?

Wait, did I bring a USB — crap. {Yes, but did not back up.}

Okay, time to plumb my actual as opposed to virtual memory. In order of remembering:

> We Love Laser Photo-facial
> HD Brows
> Vichy Pureté Thermale Soothing Eye Make-Up Remover
> AVON Glimmerstick Brow Definer
> Dermalogica Hydro-active Mineral Salts
> Huile Prodigieuse
> L’Oréal Nude Magique
> Human+Kind All-in-One Cream
> Sisley Black Rose Masque
> Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Treatment
> BeneFit PoreFessional
> Hourglass Cosmetics

Well, I lied because clearly I no longer have actual memory at my disposal: checked my email and found most of them.

Whew! Right, so, tune in over the next several days!

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Dammit, photos all at home, too. Massive linkage will ensue.

The Lag of the Jet

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Not so bad! Although my skin feels like I would just like to scrape off the top layer. Travel makes me feel so grotty.

I started writing a whole long thing, and it sounded fairly psycho, so: maybe the jet lag is actually standard order, and I should just step away from the keyboard.

Yeah, definitely: I have already forgotten why my sister and I were talking about feet, and the conversation took place only an hour ago.

I was trying to remember the name of this, and I kept thinking ’emoji’. Which, in fairness, is not that hard to see. The Emjoi part of the MICRO Pedi is right there, waiting be confused with the little iPhone icon yokes out of Japan. It is really good, and I have to say that all that skin I scraped off, it’s pretty much stayed off? Which seems impossible? It may also be that I’m not wearing shoes that are not hard on my feet, which = not a’tall sexy, but what is less sexy than lizard feet?

‘Kay, think I may go take a nap.

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Jet Plane, Leaving on A: The Cull

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CULLED FROM THE HERDThis is spectacularly out of focus, and under normal circs, I would reshoot.

I think it’s out of focus because yesterday I was already flyin’, and then immediately after I shot it I had to be somewhere else, like, pronto, so I didn’t check.

Also: wow, is that really all I am taking? It must be so, because it is in the bag and I am not taking it out again.

See, the thing is: I basically use the same number of things all the time. The brands may change, but the essentials do not. I mean, okay, a million lipsticks/balms, sure! But one moisturiser is most definitely {probably} sufficient.

I do like my routine, and I suppose that having a variety of product at my disposal makes it more difficult to cull.

This may sound like a humblebrag, by the impetus is not to show off — it’s more to show that we absolutely don’t need gobs of stuff to keep our skin healthy, or to enjoy making up our faces.

Unless you want to have to gobs of stuff, etc, and then, well, here’s yer sister, obvs.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to panickedly go see did I pack the power lead for Sir Tony, my Mac AirBook.

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Jet Plane, Leaving On A: The Packing

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I hate this part.

Okay, look: it may seem that I am high maintenance, but I’ll say it again. It’s only high maintenance if I’m not prepared to take care of it myself. Like, there’s no one I am asking to carry bags for me, right? Nor do I expect anybody to, you know, apply any of this stuff on person.

But I really do require copious product to feel I am groomed to the standard to which I have become accustomed.

This is what I brought with me, last year, on my Christmas hols:

LAST YEARThis seemed like a lot in 2011, but clearly 2012 has created more a demand for… more stuff. Ah, sure, one year older, maybe that’s it?

More likely, I’ve only started organising the bag, and so some editing may yet occur. I have an entire separate bag of make up, is the issue. And more hair care, this year, I think. And those La Roche Posay Toleraine Eye Makeup Remover* ampoules, they take up a lot of space! {No, they don’t, and the beauty of them is that they don’t make the return trip.}{And how many times in your life do you get to use the word ampoules?}

Well, have a look. I can’t even bear to take it all out of the bag to show:

FIRST PASS

Okay, something will need to be done. I’ve got to consolidate the best I can, and stick all that shampoo and conditioner and body wash into my shoes.

See, what I do is, when I travel, I bring samples of things I haven’t tried?<<Hardest Working Woman in Show Business. No, seriously, it totally makes sense — but! What if I don’t like the thing, the serum, the styling gel, the whatever? Then I need to bring a back up!

{Insert big, windy sigh here.}

Look! This is the makeup alone!

THE MAKEUP ALONE!Gah. Okay, BRB.

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*These are the blue things that you can barely see underneath all the other stuff.

Festive Form: All the Things in LUSH

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First of all, Mr Punch soap has gin in it.

6092-Mr-Punch-Full-640-x-587It’s €4.25 for 100g, which, depending upon your relations, may be just right, or… or not. In addition to the gin, there are cucumbery, melony notes, that all activate once you hop in the bath.

Gin is made from juniper berries, which are no-brainer ingredients for the natural cosmetics company, since juniper berries are natural and grow on… bushes?*

Here are some samples from the extraordinarily comprehensive, beautifully-wrapped line. Funnily enough, two out of the three contain a gin-based product!

01 CHRISTMAS PARTY

Christmas Party {€10.25} has no gin in it. But still, it looks fun, and would be perfect for a young lad, or a Secret Santa work thing.

02 JOLLY HOLLY DAYS

Jolly Hollydays {€32.95} comes with six products, including an Each Peach massage bar, and 100gs of our ould pal, Mr Punch.

03 TWAS THE NIGHT

‘Twas The Night {€64.95} is so, so pretty. It is the essence of a sophisticated Christmas, via its packaging alone. Your loved one can re-purpose the box as well, it is so well made – which it would have to be, since it is chock full of stuff. I’ve raved about the Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner in the past, and there’s a massive Angels Delight soap moon, too. And! you guessed it: the thing that has the gin in it.

No gin was partaken in the writing of this post, which I am sure you were wondering.

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*Bushes and trees.

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I don’t even like gin.

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Festive Face: Who’s Under Pressure?!?!

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I feel the reindeer breathing down my neck.

SONY DSCGet back to basics with Matis Fundamental Gift Set {€69; worth €107} — you get — I mean, the person for whom you are buying this will get a full-sized Fundamental Beautifying Cream, and samples of the Lift Effect Gel, Radiance Revealing Serum, Avantage Initial, and Youth Hand Cream SPF10. The container re-purposes as a jewellery box!

CLINIQUE black tie violets2

What could be better than Clinique Bonus Time? A Clinique gift set the like of which you see here. Black Tie Violets {€70} comes with all that lovely stuff — that little wand-y thing is a lower lash mascara — in a typically lovely wee bag. I can personally vouch for everything except that bottom lash mascara, and give a very special shout out for the eyeshadow, which blends beautifully, and makes the eyes pop {not in a scary way.}

JETSET

I’ve got an eternal fondness for BeneFit packaging, and this is a new fave, because She’s So Jetset {€39.50} comes with PoreFessional and the legendary They’re Real! mascara. You also get a 4-shade eyeshadow palette, a lip gloss in Life on the A-list, and some face powder.

DEBENHAMS cristal

If you know anyone who is really good at putting on false eyelashes, here’s an attention-getting pair: Dior Grand Bal Limited Edition False Eyelashes {€26}. I would pay someone to apply them for me, as I am not so good at them. Sparkly! {And sold out in BT’s Dublin, so ring round if you are after a set yourself.}