Festive Form: FIVEPOINT Gloves from Etre

Is cold! Can you want for Santy? I think not!

And what better way to assess the giftability of something than to try it yourself? {I fear this will be a defining characteristic of this gift guide…}

Behold, Etre FIVEPOINT Gloves in Oxford Blue Fairisle with Pearl Tips: Lambswool.

What is the big deal, apart from them proudly declaring you to be a Sarah Lund-ite?* The big deal is that you can keep these gloves on whilst texting, tapping, and generally interacting with your Smart Touch-screen device. Incorporating contactwoven® technology, you don’t have to peel off to log on.

This is a big deal for me! I have a pair of Etre TouchyWool Gloves, and they were grand — the forefinger and thumb are essentially topless, but even that little bit of exposure to the elements was a little unpleasant.

These work. I didn’t believe it either, but they do. Navigating is a doddle, texting/tweeting is a bit trickier, but I suppose practice makes perfect. If nothing else, I can swipe and switch my tunes without having to wrench off a glove.

Also: excellent unisex prezzie. Bonus!

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£40.

See http://www.etreshop.com to buy, and for many more beautiful products.

*Yeah, okay, so, it’s not Faroese, but still: jumpery, and also retro, is Forbrydelsen enough for me.

Festive FREAK OUT: Time to Shop for Christmas!

It took me waaay too long to figure out a signpost-y theme for the 2012 Bright & Beautytfull! Gift Guide. Too many years in editorial? Too many years in America? < meaning that I was subconsciously adhering to a ‘don’t speak of Christmas before Thanksgiving’ which is completely irrelevant nowadays?

Whatevs: we’re going with Festive: Name of Category, and I am done freaking myself out about it.

And then I started thinking, Hmm, all your categories start with the letter ‘F’, you know, and than I started overintellectualising that, and I thought, No, seriously, nobody cares but you inner monologuist, so be silent, silent like the holy night.

You can google the letter F — and the first hit is Facebook! Not even its own Wikipage! Poor wee F, had no say in its appropriation, I’m sure.

It is actually amazing how many categories can adhere to the plan, so be looking out for the following Festives:
>Face
>Feet
>Form
>Fellas
>Fragrance
>Furnishings
>Filles
>Face
>Feckin’ Amazing

… and the last being my, ha ha, Favourite because it Full of things that are very feckin’ amazing.

Fun!

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Let’s start with some Furnishings.

Lovvvvve itttt. Look at those colours! Festive, and breaking free from the tyranny of red and green {and silver and gold!} All the bits — the ornaments, the baubles, the tinsel, the garland, the Noel letters — are only €1.49 at Dealz! Fantastic! I would totally paint a wall that blue as well, to set the whole thing off.

{The tree and the chair, and the table: not €1.49}

If you are into the red and the green {and the gold and the silver}, you’ll find that, too. My local Dealz is a bit on the bijou side, but the one in Dundrum is an epic experience in adventures for €1.49.

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See dealz.ie for more information.

So Many Palettes, So… Few… Eyes

Where’s a spider when I need her? {Ick.}

Someone recently asked me, do I wake up in the morning and just start plastering on the slap? Well, my interlocutor put it far more elegantly, but that was the gist.

A: Not really. I suppose I ought, but I do need to answer the buzzer fairly often, and don’t like the idea of nipping down the stairs looking like something out of A Clockwork Orange. I never know when the delivery lads will appear, and they inevitable would, mid-eyeshadow application, I’m sure of it.

Lately, the world has been treated to full eye makeup, even if I’m just going down the High Street to do me messages. It’s kind of funny, because the women in the know are all like O rilly missus? It is all of 2 of the clock! and the some of the dudes get a little flustered. Bless.

To wit: Yves Saint Laurent Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry No. 19.  {€56} Very sparkly for the daytime, one would assume! In actual fact, once you do a decent blend, there is an attractive shimmer; you won’t look as though you fell face first into a vat of glitter. Unless you want to, of course! The all you have to do is lay it on, baby!

Clinique Plum Seduction {€32}, which figures largely in their Limited Edition Black Tie Violet gift set for The Christmas. I blended too well when I applied this — sorry, no pictures of me sporting any of these, which is not helpful, I know, but they didn’t turn out well a’tall — and whilst it made the blue of my pop, it also made my eye area look a little bruised. I think it’s either all contrast with this one, or none whatsoever. Second hue from the left is the culprit, methinks, just too bland, but the third from the left will make for a terrific Purple Smokey Eye.

No. 7 Deco Darling {€12.95} is Boots’ tribute to The Great Gatsby, and it is soooo Deco, darling! I am easily delighted: that fan-shaped thingie, the embossing, is terrifically fab. The similarity in hue and intensity is not so fab, however: it goes on well enough, but in the course of the day, the colour all dull down to the same degree. The deep charcoal is super for lining the eye; stay away from the silvery gray.

Today’s palette: Clarins Ombre Minérale 4 Couleurs {€40} in Odyssey, which may be a limited edition. Look at that goldy one! This is a terrific palette for wearing during the day, then sparking up with that goldy bit!

This one is wet & dry, too, and begs the question: does wetness not muck up the wee applicator beyond all redemption? I use my own fancy brushes, thanks very much, and I suppose I ought to be cleaning them more often than I am — oops— but seriously, is it worth it? I’ve only applied shadow wet once, and it worked out grandly, but I really do hesitate. Also: I forget and am halfway through the face before I remember.

Can the MUAs among us advise?

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Special Guest Post @lovelygirliebits!

No, hey, over here!

Okay, wait, before you go, just have to say how chuffed I was to be asked to contribute to someone else’s blog. Karen from lovelygirliebits is my first internet/blogger/Twitter friend — awwwwww! — mainly because we watch the same programmes and tweet about them all the time. Ironically, she is over in NYC for The Thanksgiving, whilst I am over here, turkeyless.

Ah well, go over there, to her site, and check me out, and then check out the rest of the blog. It is fab!

Turn. It. Up! Laser Virgin Effortlessly Turns Into Laser Hussy

How had I felt after my first time? Ah, well, as you do, you know? Maybe a little overwhelmed, but delighted, even giddy? You think no one is going to be able to tell the difference, but they do. You find yourself thinking about it alllll the time, and wondering what it would be like again — could it actually get even better?

Oh wait, what? Oh, right. Laser. Sorry!

No, really. I had already decided that since I survived my first round of a facial laser treatment thanks to We Love Laser and LivingSocial.com, that I’d really go for it the next time. Aesthetician Julia McHugh had taken it easy on me the first time round; in the intervening weeks, however, I’d decided that it hadn’t been that bad, and so upon hopping up on the treatment plinth, I asked for an increase in laser power.

Would I live to regret it? Continue reading

Blog Imitates Life: In Denial About The Christmas

Yeah, so I’ve got a bunch of plans, as usual, about a theme thing for Christmas shopping, and — well, too many plans, I guess, and I can’t settle and figure it out. You know, just post, for cryin’ out loud!

It has to be right, at least in my mind.

There will be plenty of stuff for the women in your life — your mum, your sister, your cousins, your pals — there is going to be a special category for nieces! — and there is stuff for dudes, too. Also: aunts/uncles, and your parents as a duo.

Oh, I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Until such time, I will leave you with this: the World Famous Supermodel Thumbnail™ sporting Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Cha-Ching! Suitably festive!

Seriously, though, some truly excellent stuff coming this way, including some of the most amazing hampers I have ever seen.

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Sally Hansen Gem Crush comes in eight shades and retail for €8.95

When All Else Fails: The Hair

Highly recommended for my Irish readers: Leo Bancroft Ultimately Intense Deep Moisture Mask {€4.79}, available at Tesco.

I put some on my dry hair, and then used the accompanying Blissfully Bouncy Shampoo {€3: amazing}, and then used more mask because The Hair was still all atangle.

Would write more but off to go get more laserrrrrr — !

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Seriously, though, amazing value, and The Hair looks and feels really voluised and lush.

How Now, Brown Brow?

Not bad! That is the dolled up version, via BeneFit Speed Brow and AVON Glimmerstick Brow Definer.

The base is thanks to the Colorsport 30 Day Eyelash & Brow Dye Kit — read all about the dying process here.

This is what they look like, sans enhancement:

Just for the record, that is my FFSL how many times do I have take this photo, stupid iPhone! face. That was like, round four? Whatever, Apple!

I am pleased. Would dye again.

Also, also: the grainy photo at top also features a Smokey Eye via Estee Lauder Pure Color palette in Film Noir. I like it! The colours blended really well, and even I, a Smokey Eye Hopeless Case, feel like I did a good job of it, and may be on the road to improvement.

There’s Wally/Waldo!

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If anyone knows of another brand of brow dye kit I can get in a shop, please do inform.

Baby, It’s Cold Inside! Hot Salt Scrub by Bliss Saves the Day

Or, it will save the day, later, after I’m back from horseriding volunteering. I refuse to heat my wee apartment like it is winter — it is not winter — so I’ve got the hot water bottle on full rotation, and I am going to luxuriate in a bath this evening.

A key element in the luxuriousness will be Hot Salt Scrub via the always by name/be nature Bliss.

I have gone on record as not being a fan of salty scrubby things, as half the salt always seems to roll right off the bod and onto the floor. This drawback is only slightly mitigated if one gets into the tub and applies — it still rolls off, but at least the excess goes down the drain, saving you a sweep up after the shower.

Now this: this has a gel base, so if you go slow, the product adheres nicely to the skin, and the scrub is thorough and satisfying. The hot water of the shower activates the cleansing powers of the rosemary and eucalyptus, the latter a scent that has not been among my faves, but I am happy enough with it in this incarnation.

So, the big exciting plan is: scrub with this all over, rinse off, and then run a tub, in which my open, scrubbed pores can fully receive the lovely heat. And maybe also throw some more salts in, like those Dermalogica ones I am newly in love with, the Hydro-active Mineral Salts.

The shivery in-between potential is high, now that I look at it in writing. May rethink this. It would be best to just plunge right into the bath, but I don’t know, dead skin cells floating all around me seems a little gross.

Big question: does it get hot? Well, sort of. Like, not so hot that you’re hopping around, which would be dangerous in the bath. It definitely warms you up, and naturally, the more briskly you scrub, you warmer you get. Science!

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€30.59/£28.60/$36