FACE

Mystery Lippy: What Could This Be???

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DA LIPS?Those are some sleepy eyes: snapped this on my way into my part-time desgin gig, at the crack of dawn {8.30am} and cannot for the life of me remember what that lipstick is. Which is a shame because it’s lovely.

I am guessing it is Rimmel’s Apocalips in Apocaliptic, because that is my go-to, lightly textured, but richly pigmented hero lip colour of 2013 {thus far.} Or it may be Galaxy? I just checked here, and I think this may be the latter…

Or! It could be Passionate, from Lush’s Emotional Brilliance line, because I like that one too, when I’m feeling gobby, in the best possible sense. Actually, just checked this, and now I think I’m wrong about this, too.

Damn. Off to rummage through the archives and see can I dig this up…

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Let’s Review! Eau Thermale Avène Tinted Compact 50 SPF

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I reviewed this a year ago, and happily received a tweet from a pal last week, who was loving it as much as I did.

I felt it bore repeating, particularly as I was hosted by the actual spa itself only a week or so ago. I feel, even more strongly, the courage of my convictions, and will be posting about Avène-les-Bains in due course. Until then, read on.

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When reviewing things
It helps to read directions.
Call me crazy, right?

I love French stuff: the food, the wine, the lifestyle, the whole santé thing that they do. I’d never heard of the Avène line before, but have had the chance to try several of their products. I particularly got a kick out of the Thermal Spring Water, but haven’t really made it a big part of my regime. I was spritzing myself with the pressurised spray because I was bored during the snowpocalypse. It helped break up the day, and I suspect my skin, housebound as I was, enjoyed the refreshing sensation.

AVENE TINTED COMPACTWe don’t suffer from a lack of moist air in Ireland, so it doesn’t seem necessary to carry around a container of hydrotherapy in my handbag. Neither is the sun much of an issue, but SPF enthusiasts will insist that any sun is sun that is going to age us and give us skin cancer, so when the Eau Thermale Avéne Tinted Compact 50 SPF came through the letterbox, I thought, ‘Better safe than sorry.’

Of course, I didn’t bother reading exactly what it was so when I tried to use it as pressed powder, uh yeah, it didn’t work. Because it is foundation. Unaware, I swiped it over a face that was already sporting foundation. Crazy! I put it aside and forgot about it, scarred momentarily by my misuse of it.

Then one day I was running late, and I wanted to cut out the middle woman, meaning the time-consuming dispensing of foundation and then application of it onto my face > yeah, wha’? This makes sense to me, okay? Remind me to tell you about the time I used to take a cab four blocks to work — And so! So I picked this up, and using the pad that cunningly rests in the hinge between the top of the compact and the flip-up mirror, had a flawless face in three-ish swipes of product. I’ve never actually counted. I’m trying to reconstruct in my mind’s eye… okay… more like four-ish.

I brought this with my on my hols because it’s compact and effective and easy. It looks amazing, and it lasts and lasts. It’s also got a laundry list of excellent qualities — protection against UV radiation, free radicals, and sweat, as well as offering irritation reduction — but frankly the most important thing to me, at the end of the day, is that I don’t want to have to be touching up excessively throughout said day. This is a matte finish that combines the best effects of foundation and powder, and I am quite sad that I am near to using it up.

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€24.41/£15/$35

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Nimue Skin Technology Sun-C: Not a Freckle in Sight

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nimue pactsWhen I review SPFs, I am generally focusing on texture, absorption, and what does it smell like. I always assume that SPF works, but thanks to the recent meteorological vibe, now I know that some work better than others.

Case in point: Nimue Skin Technology Sun-C SPF 40. It’s UVA/UVB {is there a UVC, yet?}, has antioxidants, but mainly:

1} Applied as near to a proper moisturiser as I have tested. It’s thick, sure, but the kind of thick that feels like texture, not gunk.
2} No scent, hallelujah.
3} Dries a tiny bit tacky, which I suppose we’ve come to expect from a sunscreen, but again: far less tacky than that majority on the market.
4} Totally worked.

I’ve been feeling rather list-y lately. 4 is obvs the most important thing, and my no-fail environmental laboratory is, of course, horseriding. What a day was Saturday! The sun was only breaking the stones! It was roasting! We rode for an hour, sweating and all, and then I hosed down my trusty steed, and took him for an amble so he could cool down and dry off. I was about 2 hours exposed to direct sunlight.

After I got home, and cooled down and dried off myself, I noticed that
A} I had sprouted nary a freckle — not a single one, which is unbelievable, given that if I even think ‘sunshine’, my face erupts.
B} I had no colour at all, which is… well, good for the health of my skin. Ah sure, that’s what fake tan is for…

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RRP is €22 for 60mls

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La Roche-Posay Hydraphase Intense Masque: Refreshing!

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HYDRAPHASE INTENSE MASKI don’t know that I can post about this quickly enough! With one eye on my iPhone, threatening rain at the end of the week, I feel like I have to talk fast!

This is great! My skin has been feeling hard done by — this is not a total complaint! Don’t go away, sun!

Okay, hang on, clearly need to take a breath here.

Combined with the general stone-splitting conditions please add two doses of horseriding per week, and my face has been feeling like an old boot. I lashed on La Roche-Posay’s newest addition to the Hydraphase family, and basked in its cooling, soothing properties. And when I say ‘lashed’, I mean loads and loads of product. I am usually quite scabby when it comes to masques, in part because I am trying to make them last, and also because I feel like a thick layer doesn’t really appreciably make a difference. A thin layer ought to work as well, if not better, as it will absorbs more efficiently. Right?

Whether the depth of the lashings made a diff or not, I don’t know, but I do know that my sun-kissed, arena-dirt-encrusted, tired, hot face was transformed upon removal of the masque. Or what was left of it*: I let it sink in as directed, and there was just about none left — meaning that my skin was as dehydrated as I suspected it was. Glad to know we were all on the same page.

There’s hylauronic acid fragments in it, so: anti-aging qualities as well. That’s just icing on the cake — or face. LOL. < I am giddy from all the Vitamin D. I’m beginning to think it’s a hallucinogenic. Like, I am still living in Ireland, right? O.o

Quitting whilst I’m ahead,
Love,
Sue.

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€16.50/£12.95/$24.41

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*The masque, not my face. Giddy!

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Okay, Okay, I Absolutely Have a Problem When It Comes to Lip Cosmetics

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ALL THE LIPPYs
Okay???! I get it. A normal human female probably wouldn’t have — oh, God, must I count them? — eighteen varieties of cosmetics-for-the-lips, on the go, right? This is not counting the ones that are lurking in pockets and rolling around in my handbags. Gah.

But, but, but — okay. Since I routinely take two of these along with me on a given day, because the whole day could change and require a different hue or texture, then it’s like there’s really nine. Nine lip combinations.

{…}

I don’t buy that either. Although I will argue that giving yourself the option to change up during the day makes total sense. Like, the Pür Minerals or the No7 — or the Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss? Theses are perfect for sitting-at-the-desk wear, but you might like to give your look a wee pop in the evening, with the Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain, or the Clinique Chubby. Or that Essence red, in between the Chubby and the Pür? It is the perfect summer red I’ve yet to come across.

So, you know, options.

Nevertheless, I felt a cull was in order:

FEWER LIPPYsOnly because I need to make room for more…

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Sorry, they just look so ronrey.

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Gonna Make You Sweat {Not!} Weleda Wild Rose Deodorant

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WELEDA deodorantIt is so desperately exciting to need to talk about deodorant! The last time we had a heat wave, I reviewed the Sage version of  Weleda’s natural deodorant. Wild Rose recently landed in my post box, and its timing was perfect.

I am all-or-nothing when it comes to me pits: I either totally forget to give them a spray or a roll-on, or I have about five that I use under different circumstances. There’s the one I’m using when I’m sporty {Sure Maximum Protection TRISolid Cream, €6.87}; the one where I’m going to be out all day, and into the night {Garnier Mineral Clean Sensation 48H Non Stop Anti-Perspirant, €3.14}; and the one that I use — holy wow, this is so weird! > when I’ve showered the night before because I won’t have any time in the morning, and need to be fresh and clean upon waking {Dermalogica Environmental Control, €20}.

The thing that draw me to Weleda is that it is sans those aluminium salts that are so bad for us. They use natural oils instead, to neutralise odor, and yet, in and of itself, this smells really pretty. I’m also happy to spread less aerosol into the atmosphere.

Mainly, I am into the wee 30ml size. I find I do need to top it up throughout the day, so its handbag friendliness is an added plus, even if it feels like having to top it up feels like a minus. Also: the perfect travel size.

Caution: I sprayed some on, post-shave, and it stung. So, maybe shave your pits at night. The more you know!

Also, also: if you purchase the 100ml size, you get a 30ml free, during July and August, which is terrific value.

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€7.95/30 ml, €10.95/100ml
Available from selected independent health stores and pharmacies nationwide.

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Pucker Up, Peeps! International Kissing Day and LUSH

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I am only back from a weekend{ish} away — has everyone posted about this already?

Well, shoot, I’m going ahead anyway. Mainly because I have posted about the Emotional Brilliance range from LUSH since its inception, and indeed, have worn the very colour that I received in the post.

LUSH KISSING DAYInternational Kissing Day! Lock up your bros! I love kissing, and oddly, I loved the Guinness Book of World Records when I was a chiseler, so the confluence of these two things makes me happy.

Sure, you can read all the info on the postcard. There’s a hashtag — #crueltyfreekisses — and in order for Lush to beat the standing record of 22,174 lipstick kisses, you’ll have to head to your nearest emporium to participate.

You’ll not only get to front for the banishment of the use of animals in cosmetics testing, you’ll get to play with some of the brand’s fun lip stuff. The Mint Julips Lip Scrub smells like ice cream, and I’ve been meaning to post about the newly-aerated Lip Balms — they are the business. Pictured here is Lip Service, of which I am an ardent fan. All this prep will do wonders for yer kisser, and frankly, while I’ve delighted in the long-lasting quality, and rich hues, of the Liquid Lipstick, I do find them to be somewhat drying.

Here’s a photograph of the lippy, in the wild, from last year {and a follow-up post about its staying power is here.}
LUSH PASSIONATE

Do thisssss.

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See http://www.lush.co.uk for a shop nearest you — although I’m not sure that helps us much, on this island? Where’s the lush.ie, yo?

The shop over by Trinity can be rung on 01 677 0392.

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Liberté, Égalité, Beauté: Virginie Claire Beauty Centre

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This is a little bit cheeky — ha, ha, it’s about a facial! — but I was only thinking about this very treatment this very day, and I decided to re-blog it, cunningly presented as a new post. So, since I’m telling you, it’s not so bad, right?

Two things:
1} To remember a facial one year on is pretty significant.
2} I was thinking about this facial because I was getting a treatment — a full body exfoliation and massage — and it developed into a train of thought I’ll write about anon, as regards self-care, and the ‘treat’ part of ‘treatment’.

Anyway, just about a year ago this week, I toddled out to Rathmines to the Virginie Clarke Beauty Centre, and received their gorgeous Radiance Facial, which I have never forgotten. Happily, the same deal commemorating Bastille Day is on offer again, and starts on the 8th of July through to Saturday the 13th. Virginie says, ‘All participating salons, country-wide, will offer the facial promotion, with the extra benefit of having a great promotional discount on the PHYTS products. If you buy one skin care product, you can get the second at half price.’ Bon!

So, without further ado, here’s that Haiku Review.

Haiku Review: Phyt’s Radiance Facial

Oh my God! Oh, my!
God! Nothing like a facial
To soothe your whole self.

Phyt’s is a French brand, and first came to Ireland in 2007. It’s chemical-free, paraben-free, not tested on animals, and the VIRGINIE CLAIREpackaging is 100% recyclable. I’ve had a few of the products cross my desk over the last few years, and wasn’t terribly interested in them. More recently, I got a sample of the Ativ’ Peel, a facial exfoliant, which I liked loads: it foams up nicely, which allows the granules to distribute gently but thoroughly, and it has a lovely lemon-y scent. So when news of the Virginie Claire Beauty Centre’s Bastille Day special  came in the email, and a voucher for the 60 minute Radiance Facial came in the post, I duly followed through.

Oh, sure, I said to myself, ‘Radiance’ Facial, uh huh. I think I cultivate my cynicism because I am perversely delighted to be proven wrong. After all these years, I tell myself that I am inured to the all the bells and whistles that accompany beauty marketing — I suppose I am, superficially, but deep down, I am ready and willing to be shocked and awed.

I was entirely all of the latter following my treatment. Is this an outcome specific to the quality of Phyt’s products? Is it the wholly down to the prowess of Virginie Claire, the proprietress herself? Or, is it my willingness to give myself over to the process?

It’s probably all three, and that last one interests me, because it is in direct contradiction to the whole cynicism thing. So maybe I am not really cynical.

Long story short: at the end of the facial, I sat up and looked at my face in the mirror and laughed because it was like I was standing centre stage in Carnegie Hall under a spotlight, my face looked that clear and bright and lit up. In a word… radiant.

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There really is nothing like wrapping up in a terry-cloth tube-top and lying down on a massage table. Every synapse in my brain takes this as a cue to to just relaaaaax, and my whole body follows suit. It’s amazing how much of the tension we feel ends up in our faces. As Virginie began the treatment with a comprehensive cleanse, tone, and exfoliation, I could feel the boulders that had been collecting in my jaw begin to disintegrate. As a result, the clenching in my forehead released — and I felt that release all the way down to my neck. Wild.

Next came a real highpoint: application of Serum Capyl-Rose, massage-style. This was perfection, and Virginie paid particular attention to the area around the eyes. I’m not entirely sure what happened next, because then I got a shoulder/arm/upper back massage, and I went away to my happy place.

Highest highpoint? The Aqua Peel-Off Mask, which is it bit pongy with rosemary, but otherwise feels like it is coolly and soothingly getting right down to the bottom of your pores and cleaning them out. And: oh! The sensation when it is peeled off your face, in one piece! So satisfying! Unfortunately, kids, you can’t try this at home; I asked as soon as I was able to form thoughts again, and Virginie said it’s too messy — she tried it herself and even she, a professional, found it too fiddly to do on one’s own.

In other details: the salon is super quiet for a day-spa-type place, certainly the quietest I have encountered yet; Virginie is supremely well-informed and up-front about things, as well as being knowledgeable and personable and adept; I took the 16 bus from Camden Street and was at the centre in ten minutes.

Did you realise that both American and French Independence days are in the summer? We had a laugh about that: if either revolution had failed, at least they could have fecked off to the beach.

Is that cynical? Nah, just practical, right? Anyway: yet another failure to be disenchanted! Success!

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Virginie Claire is located at 255 Harold’s Cross Road, Dublin 6; 01 4978833

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I Heart Lip Gloss. Specifically: Armani Flash Lacquer

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Hearting is down to shine: I do like a good shine on the lips. This used to manifest itself in a very Jersey frost; I am not ashamed, and indeed, tend to seek out a nice, silvery-pink on occasion. This pink, though — as ever in Giorgio Armani-land, rather soullessly designated as 520 — is pure, pretty shiny shine.

ARMANI gloss 2

And in less moody lighting:
ARMANI gloss 1

The photos are getting weirder and weirder over here — but I think this shows the gloss to great effect. {I was sick of seeing my schnozz take up, like, the whole feckin’ frame.}

I have a love/hate relaysh with the clicky-closure on this yoke. Sometimes, it just doesn’t seem to *snap* into place the way it ought. I then get paranoid about it and fall into an OCD rabbit hole, making sure it’s shut. Hmmm, that may be TMI. But be aware — it would be a darned shame to spend €25.50/£23.50/$29 on a gloss that ended up smeared all over your hairbrush. Ick.

Coverage is comprehensive, it doesn’t feel sticky, it stayed well put, and it doesn’t have a fragrance, which makes a nice change.

From left: 520, 102, and 526.

From left: 520, 102, and 526.actually makes nice change. I am looking longingly at 102, a champagney-hue, and at the sophisticated mauve-y sparkle of 526.

Seriously, though, Giorgio, do better with these names — hey! Maybe I’ll just give it a go!

…

Hmmm, this is harder than I thought. Well, I dub the centre gloss Effervescence because: Champagne. Oh, okay, and the last can be Sophisticate. Ha! I had already done this work, above!

…

Stuck on the auld 520, which is starting to sound plausible in all its numerical splendour. Blush, maybe? Eh, that doesn’t embody the prettiness, and the pinkness, though. Psychedelic Furry? {I know who’ll get that…} I’m going to go with Lustre, and feel dissatisfied.

Soz, Giorgio, all is forgiven.

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Gorillas? Avalon? Play…For Me? Laboratoires Filorga Paris Eau Anti-Age {Mist}

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FILORGA EAU ANTI-AGEI am generally not mad about toners that require one to, er, hydrate oneself in the face by way of a spritz. I… I’ve got a filthy dirty mind, because I am choosing my words carefully here. Pump, squirt, spray — they are making giggle, smuttily. No wonder I write sexy books.*

This is the least sexy packaging I have come in across in quite a while, and yet, I am strangely attracted to it. It is so white, trying so hard to be pure, and yet its operative capacity makes me snort like a 12 year-old boy. Mixed signals!

Laboratoires Filorga Paris take their anti-aging seriously, and I can just see all the scientists in their pristine lab coats frowning crossly as I make my silly jokes. France as entire country is massively into its santé, and Filorga are big grown ups who have been at this for ages. Like, the 70s. Their site switched to French halfway through my research; it seems they do professional lines in glycolic peels and in injectable fillers, and in anti-aging mesotherapy, which also has to do with needles, I think, and includes ‘the famous polyrevitalizing complex NCTF®.’

Holy God, I’ve done so much googling for that one paragraph, I feel the need of a fainting couch. Perhaps, instead, I shall mist my visage with some Eau Anti-Age?

It is extremely refreshing. I mentioned the famous polyrevitalizing complex NCTF® because it is referenced on the bottle, and it transpires that it is a class of hyaluronic acid, and so therefore is meant to plumpen dry lines and generally youthify. {The number of tabs that are open this second!}

So, the point is, then, to … something something, the mists of time? The mist from the fountain of youth? Remember Myst? That’s the only time I got into a computer game. I got nowhere, but I enjoyed the weirdness of the environment. Uncanny valley.

Right. As opposed to the pumpy squirts that make me chortle, this is in actual fact a gentle mist, which = refreshing, and also not such a shock to the system. It smells very herbal as well, but there’s no list of ingredients on the site. Ah sure, go and have a look; the video shows a really clean spa, and now I want a good going over.

I’ll just get my cloak.

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*Drama Queen, The Fidelity Project, and That Magic Mischief are all my sexy books. So far…

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