Author: brightandbeautyfull

Ooooh, Pretty: V Day from Lush

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I love Valentine’s Day. People seem to get really angry about it? I think it’s all about perspective. If you feel like you have to go out and spend a bomb on a meal that would normally be kinda cheap, then yeah, you are going to be annoyed.

If you want to observe the event chez nous, then I can’t imagine a better accessory than this: PS I Love You, a box of sensual delights from Lush. From bottom left:

> Soft Coeur Massage Bar
> It’s Raining Men Shower Gel
> Silky Underwear Dusting Powder
> Sweetheart Soap

I have first-hand experience with the Raining Men, and it is gorgeous. I am also familiar with massage bars of the past, and have always found them to be fun and easy to use {TWHS}. Woo, I am losing the plot!

As far as the dusting powder is concerned… hmm. I’ve dipped into this sample, and I think it may be a goer. We’ve been warned off powders containing talc, which is a good thing because, hello, talc is related to asbestos and is completely toxic. I vaguely remember a time in which powder felt like an integral part of my post-shower routine; I’ve smoothed some this on and I don’t know, maybe. We’ll see.

What else? Oh, the soap. It smells like candy. I better put it in the soap dish before I take a bite.

Also: the box! This was the inspiration for the title of this post. I mean, seriously, so pretty. I will empty it, and reuse it, with pleasure.

So, if you’re a heart day fan, I can’t think if a better treat to ask for. Because you should always ask for what you want.

€23.50/£16.95/will let you know if this is avail in the States> it is! $34.95

This is a Totally Free Thing: Clarins Skin Time

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I am a pushover. I go for a makeover, say, at the beauty hall of a big department store, and think to myself, ‘Well, Suzu, this time we will just pay the €20 or whatever and not get hijacked into buying any product.’

But, then, the thing is, you actually don’t have to pay anything if you spend that much on product, and seriously, you walk away with something that has been used to create that amazing face, and doesn’t it make more sense to have spent the money on something you can use in future?

Yeah. So, you can imagine what transpires. Although it does make sense {it does!}, it would be nice to rock up to a counter and say, ‘A free treatment, please!’ and have it actually be free. Clarins Skin Time is totally free, and you won’t be hectored into buying any of the myriad product that is utilised, and you will learn something. Continue reading →

Sweet Sixteen: Too Faced Carribean in a Compact Snow Bunny Bronzing Powder

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People often ask me, ‘Sue, do you ever buy beauty products anymore, and if you do, what would they be? ’The first one that always springs to mind is this cutie-pie compact from Too Faced: Carribean in a Compact Snow Bunny Subtly Sun-Kissed Bronzing Powder.

That looks very ‘yum’ to me, like Neapolitan ice cream, which, as I suspected, is almost entirely an American construction. Here, you’ve go the bonus fourth flavour, which is probs the one far right, to swirl all over your face in order for it to look sun-kissed and glowy.

I was a bronzer loser when I started down the slippery slope of self-tanning, and this one was my salvation. Even I couldn’t mess this up. A perfect combination of lowlight and highlight, of gold + white + pink + fawn, this flows over the face like the sun itself, and during the Tanning Times, I never walk out of the door without it.

Imagine my distress when I began to run out of my trial version. It didn’t seem to be available anywhere in Dublin, and the brand no longer seemed to be represented by anyone in the PR world. So, on a trip to NYC, I lunged into a Sephora and grabbed up two. This number now seems optimistic: I’ve gone through the first one, and occasionally look at the other one in my drawer, with relief and trepidation.

At the time of this writing, I’ve rung all round town, to see whether a shop in town is carrying the brand, to no avail. Ah, well. There’s always online shopping… although as outlined here, it’s a rather ornate undertaking. It can be done, if you care enough, and I must admit, I do.

€ price is whatever the conversion is, plus shipping/£22/$29

Let’s Not Take it For Granted

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I just googled something for my other blog {flyingchanges.wordpress.com; horses} and when I clicked on the top link, I didn’t even register that of course the first link is going to be Wikipedia, and when the scary black page came up, I gasped.

I don’t know where I’d be without a search engine, without my email, without all those horoscope sites. I wouldn’t be here, right this very second, in your inbox, in your browser. I wouldn’t have been able to buy a ticket for my Christmas holidays, or to buy books that I can’t find in shops, or to even think that self-publishing my third novel {stay tuned!} without the freedom of t’internet. What would I do if I couldn’t self-diagnose?!? < Hmm, the less I do that the better, actually.

The irony of having to google SOPA, and the other thing, PIPA, was not lost on me. Nor was the fact that I was first alerted to the whole boycott deal via Twitter. That’s how it works now, friends, and as for me, I’ll do everything that needs doing to keep free access to the intertubes afloat — even if it’s just blogging about beauty.

Let’s Talk About Those Eyes

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Just gotta post that picture again:

The lashes!

Lyndsey Cavanagh is Ireland’s Max Factor Celebrity Make Up Artist, and you can find out more about her, and see samples of her excellent work over here.

The smoky eye is, to me, what that whale was for that guy in that book. Oh, how I try to achieve it! Oh, how I have to adjust the mistakes so that I don’t look like someone’s just planted me a facer!

When Lyndsey suggested that we go for a smoky eye when I enjoyed my makeover at Dublin’s Wella Professional Studio, I was all for it. I thought I might learn something. I did. I learned:

> That having my eyes close interfered with my ability to understand what was going on.
> That Lyndsey is really good at what she does.
> That it takes time and patience to get the eyeliner to go on correctly
> That individual lashes are THE BIZ.

INDIVIDUAL LASHES. Lyndsey just popped a few along my lid line, and wowee, the difference that made. I understand that I could have kept them on longer than just one night, but I was travelling on my hols the next day, and am pretty certain that between sleeping and air travel, I would have turned up at my parent’s house looking like a vampire. Not wishing to alarm the elders, I had to send the lovely lovely lashes down the drain.

I’ve had a couple of false eyelash sets hanging around that I have been meaning to test, but I was a-skeered of them. Of the glue, of the bigness, of poking my eye out. I think I may be able to woman-up and give them a go, now, just because the change is so impressive, and yet so simple < she says now. I mean, it was simple when Lyndsey did it… Well, I’ll give it a go, stay tuned.

Wella Professional Studio, Dublin, is located on Chancery Lane in D8; see here!

Haiku Review: Perricone MD Cold Plasma

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Eek: it does feel cold
Plasma: that’s to do with blood…
Why’s it smell like fish?

Whenever I try a product for the first time, I always assume it’s a new thing entirely. Like, never been seen before on this earth. Tiny bit arrogant, I’ll admit, but since the existence of this site pretty much declares my obsession with beauty products, I can kinda see why I’d be so surprised to know that Perricone MD has been around since 1998. I’d never heard of them before!

Uh, maybe I didn’t know about them because their products are not exactly going to be found in the bargain bin. I recently got my paws on a serving of Cold Plasma, and as you’ll see from the prices below, this stuff ain’t cheap.

It is perhaps worth reiterating that it lasts longer than most products that come in a jar that holds 1 fluid ounce/30mls. It’s a truism, and I think I said it yesterday, too, but stuff that costs more lasts longer. Having said that, I quail at the thought of having to buy this for myself.

The thing is, though… it feels good on my face. You get a wee scoop with which to apply the prescribed amount; the coverage is is perfect, and it really does feel cold, every single time! The product is purported to be something of a miracle worker and is designed to tackle ‘wrinkles, enlarged pores, dryness, redness, discoloration, uneven skin tone, impurities, loss of firmness, loss of smoothness, and loss of radiance.’ Whew! if it cooked my dinner, I’d marry it.

When I use it, I have to chase it with moisturiser immediately. As the label recommends this anyway, I don’t see that it’s problem, or a flaw in the product. Despite earnest googling, I can’t find out why the stuff feels cold, or why it smells slightly fishy. The latter may be because it’s natural, and natural products smell a bit funky, because of the lack of chemical intervention. I’ve also used the brand’s No Foundation Foundation SPF 30, which is terrific, but also has a bit of a pong. {It is terrific because it is the sort of foundation that makes it look like you are not wearing any foundation at’all. I am inspired to go into depth on this at a later date.} Anyway, the unique fragrance takes some getting used to. I’m not sure about the plasma part either, something to do with the Universe and ionic suspension? Here’s a link to Vanity Fair that may help. My takeaway from that is the everyone’s cells will use the product to its best effect, which is super cool.

The philosophy behind the brand is a sensible one: you can’t improve the quality or your skin, or indeed your ageing process, by topical alone. Perricone’s got a whole system, including healthy eating, and supplements {hmm..} Honestly, self-care doesn’t make sense unless it is holistic. I’m personally interested in these ideas, and if you are too, can read all about the good doctor here, and on his blog, thedailyperricone.com.

Plus! If you like quizzes and flawless interface, go take the quiz here!

^See what I did there?

€150/£120/$150

Irish Pricing: An Eye Opener

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You learn a lot when you become a beauty journalist. You learn that sometimes, products that claim to be based on science actually are. You learn that people at parties treat you like a doctor, but the conversation is less about passing blood than it is about crow’s feet. And sadly, you learn that Rip-Off Ireland is alive and well when it comes to gouging into our wallets.

Oh, it’s subtle: three euro here, maybe five euro there. I do a lot of price checking, both here and for my column for the Evening Herald. Sometimes I don’t get prices, so I have to search for them. Most often, the prices are in sterling, and I have to run the number through my currency conversion widget. So I do.

Then, sometimes, I find the euro price after all, and lo and behold! The item that sold in London for £19.50, which I converted to roughly €23.50, is actually selling for €27.50 in Dublin.

Really, manufacturers? Or brand managers? Or shop keepers?

Who’s to blame?

I don’t think it’s fair. It’s the same feeling of being taken advantage of that we all get when we go over to the continent and pay so much less for food and drink. Sheesh. What’s to be done?

Well, the thing that spurred this vent is news from Blue Sky products, who distribute REN in Ireland, are going to ‘significantly reduce the RRP {of REN products} so that they directly correlate with the £/sterling price of each product.’ Here’s a good example of how that’s going to work:

To give you an example, all REN Cleansers (150ml) will now be priced at €20.00, previously €25.00. Moisturisers (50ml) will now be priced at €30.00, previously €38.00. The RRP in £Stg for these items are £17 and £25 respectively. You can see that these now directly correlate with our new euro RRPs.

Fair play to both Blue Sky and REN, and let’s hope we see more following this lead.

Sweet Sixteen: L’Occitane Almond Line

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WHAT IS THIS ABOUT, AGAIN? There’s a full explanation here; in short, I wanted to do a Personal Top Ten Beauty Products of All Time, but found the list sneaking up to Top Twenty; then it fell short at Eighteen, which is like, what is Eighteen, so I decided that Sweet Sixteen was the way to go.

It’s good to be queen.

Ahem. Here is number — hang on — lucky number Thirteen, ladies and ladies. Continue reading →

My World of Shampoo, Part III: John Freida Sheer Blonde

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{Speaking of shampoo!}

Here’s me, with freshly highlighted hair, and I am all out of this stuff <.

Sheer Blonde, by John Freida, was my go-to combo when my lights were fadin’ fast. It says it right there on the tube, Highlight Activating, and yes indeed, both the shampoo and conditioner totally activated my highlights. Thing is, I would like to have been able to use this on the enlivened lights, just to see how well they would look.

I’m betting they would be lightin’ up my head, in an off-the-charts fashion, because Sheer Blonde did an amazing job on my hair when it wasn’t at it lightest and brightest.

Bummer.

The other thing is, sometimes I find that these ‘specialised’ S&Cs don’t do such a great job making your hair look great. Like, your highlights might look highlighty-er, but the general texture and healthiness of you hair might suffer. In this case, I got a freshened look and a good hair day.

At the prices below, I’ve no excuse. Great hair, great value.

€6.19 for both/£5.49 for both/$6.49 (shampoo), $6.99 (conditioner)

Having Said All That About Dry Shampoos…

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… I gave this stuff a go. It works rather differently than a powder. While this may not, technically, be a dry shampoo, it does the same business: it lets you off the shampooing hook.

As it says on the tin, the Ojon™ Full Detox Rub-Out™ Dry Cleansing Spray has Ojon oil in it. I am a fan of the Ojon range, in particular the Restorative Hair Treatment, a little tub of goodness, of which more will be spoken at a later date.

Despite the interesting advice that one should dry shampoo one’s locks the night before the day you’re going to skip shampooing, I shook this up on the skip-a-day morning and gave my head a spritz. Hmmm. I was pretty impressed with the first first impression, and so really went at my roots and scalp. I have to say, if I was the type of person to walk around with bed head {I am so not} then just spraying and massaging it through my hair would result in bed-head extraordinaire.

As it was, I was pretty happy with the result, even once I brushed everything back into order. My hair combed down rather flatly, but it actually felt clean. I was having an unwashed pony tail day, but my hair looked sleek rather than hauled-back-and-greasy. In fact, it looked like a magazine pony tail, which is pretty magical.

The thing about Ojon™ oil in general is that it gets right down there into the shaft of the hair and protects it from the wear and tear of sitting around exposed on the top of your head, day after day. Plus, it helps prevent future damage — look, I went for a walk the other day, in the sunshine, and even as weak as the winter version of the sun is, I felt like my hair had gotten a bit blasted. Not quite as bleached as a week in Ibiza would have made it, but still. So anything that helps me keep things right and tight up there is going to go into my good books.

Just so you know: whilst the Ojon oil is sourced in a section of the Central American rainforest, it is done so responsibly, and the indigenous people who harvest the natural ingredients are paid an income. I wouldn’t countenance this is this wasn’t so.

All of the above is serving to make this my new thing. And for someone who loves shampoo as much as I do, that’s saying something.

£18/€20/$24