FACE

Tautology and Beauty: Oro Gold

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / 2 Comments

I was in a great mood yesterday: loved my outfit, had me nails did at a fab Garnier launch in conjunction with Volunteer Ireland, saw many of the beauty pals there, went and started a facial de-fuzz-ifying process at Akina in Temple Bar, and with the sun out and all, decided to go for a browse in Brown Thomas — why it makes sense to go for a spin through a shop when it is glorious out-of-doors, I don’t know. I still have the token I won at a recent La Roche-Posay event, and I wanted to do some research. All in all, an unmitagatedly bold-facey kind of day.

As I was cruising down Wicklow Street, I noticed a new beauty shop, one by the name of Oro Gold. Hmmm, looked very much like the way I was feeling: shiny and new and interesting. As I was debating having a look, a dude surged out of the shop, waving little sachets of this:
ORO GOLDSo I took, it obvs. Sure, why not? I love a good sample, in a manner of speaking.

Made the mistake, though, when the dude asked me if I had a moment. Well, I have many moments, but moments like these, not so much. Some crazy, evolutionary, socially hard-wired thing made me stop, just long enough to allow him  surge right up to the outside edge of my personal space, and ask what sort of skincare I used?

Between thinking What’s this dude gonna know about skincare* and the sheer impossibility of my being able to answer that question, I put up my hand, said ‘Sorry!’ and turned away. Also, the thought Oro Gold is a fairly redundant name snuck in, and I’m sure that millisecond of grammatical irritation made my feet move.

I woke up this morning quite curious about a brand that used gold in its products.

There is little to no information on the Irish website, as regards where they come from. I went agooglin’, as you would, and turned up this rather cautionary tale on Beauty Snob, dated 2011. The brand seems to be based in America, and is mad expensive, which, yeah: gold as a primary ingredient.

Reviews are mixed: folks who dislike a hard sell and make the choice to enter have found that it is an unrelenting experience. Folks that love the product love it. Which is par for the course, really, but holy moly, the price list is faint-worthy.

I’ll give this wee sachet a go, for the craic…

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*Since I am planning a Dude Week here at brightandbeautyfull, that is rather a sexist remark!

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I Used It All Up: Stila Set & Illuminate Baked Powder Trio

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

I never use anything all up. I never get to use anything all up! It’s all ABT with me {Always Be Testing}, all the time. In fact, if I use something all the way up, well, that’s as a big a seal of approval as I can give.

Behold, Stila Set & Illuminate Baked Trio.

STILA SET & ILLUMINATE prettyIn the past, I was not one for arseing around with loose powder and graters and brushes. In the last few places I’ve lived, there hasn’t been room for me to keep all my cosmetic gear in the bathroom. Despite my latest loo being small, it is perfectly formed, and I have all my stuff in there, and the lighting is actually pretty good.

Now that I can hang over the sink and dust on the looseness, I am a convert, and this little beauty is the main reason why. Comprised of three shades, in which the Pale pink warms the complexion, the Champagne highlights and the Kitten Shimmer brightens and illuminates, this is my go-to set-the-foundation, liven-up-the-look powder.

Or… it was.

Picked it up the other day, as I do, gave the grater a twist, and then — nothing.

Not a single speck of beautiful, beautiful powder was brought forth.

I grated and grated, you know the way, the way you do when you’re looking for something in your bag that you know should be there and it is not but you look and look anyway, well, I grated and grated and… nothing.

I simply did not believe that there was nothing left, so I got all McGyver up in that shizz.
STILA SET & ILLUMINATE bustedThere’s some left, maybe two faces-worth if I am parsimonious. Dammit.

I should just let this go, but after taking that photo, I carefully closed it all up again, with the intention of binning it, but there it is sitting on my desk, at my right hand.

Well, there’s always the One Step Illuminate.STILA one step illuminate It’s got that famous combo of Pink, Champagne and Kitten Shimmer, in a serum that you apply underneath foundation. Like a serum-y primer. It’s terrific too, if somewhat colonic-looking.

I just loved the sense of finish that I got from the powder. The one half turn of the grater, one swipe of the kabuki brush, and I got just the correct amount of shine-control and the perfect degree of illumination.

Obvs, there’s nothing for it but to get some more. I don’t know why I’m so wistful, it’s not like it doesn’t exist in the world. I mean, it’s not like it’s been discontinued. Right? Right?!?!

This is causing me to ponder all the other thing that I have used all up. And I wonder about the things that you have used all up?

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Set & Illuminate Baked Powder Trio: €31.60/£24/$34
One Step Illuminate: €31.60/£24/$36

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When is Maintenance Too High? Sisley Paris Mascara Étoffant Fortifiant

/ brightandbeautyfull / 3 Comments

I have silently been bemoaning the demise of my eyelash extensions, as I knew I would… They have just seemed so stubby, and it may chiefly be psychological, but I think it is actual as well. There was a whole thing in the post, linked above, about anagen phases and telegen phases, in reference to hair growth, and there’s no way that my lashes can have grown much since I removed them.

*Sigh* So when I got a sample of Sisley Paris Étoffant Fortifiant Mascara {that would be Thickening Fortifying, en Anglais}, I thought, ‘Excellent! Let us begin thickening and fortifying straightaway!’

I opened the tube, and drew out the wand.
THE WAND

Well, yuck! I know that there are folks who have to wipe down their wands {talk about yuck}, on a daily basis, but I’ve never had a problem with too much mascara on an applicator. As I like to say when it comes to this particular cosmetic: Too Much Is Never Enough.

Imagine my chagrin. I could see exactly where this was going to go: product allll over my eyelid, that annoying blot that never comes off. Those irritating little dots that land on your lids from the blinking. This was a mess just waiting to happen.

BLOTThat’s not as much blottage as I thought there would be. Doing the scrape-y thing at the mouth of the tube helped curb the excess. The comb itself doesn’t seem to hold that much mascara, at least not on the comb-y side. The flat side? Full up to the max of product just waiting to smear everywhere.

Now, here’s the thing. I consider this high maintenance. By extension, I consider that statement to be in my favour: if I think it’s too much work to wipe product off a wand, then despite my habitual and comprehensive use of the products of beauty, I am not wasting to much time in getting the stuff on my face.

Which! may be why I get blots and such on my eyelids! This mascara made me go slow, take my time, and practically coat each lash individually. The result?
THE MASCARA ITSELF

Well, hurray! I am much happier than I look in that photo, let me tell you.

A key thing, though: this dries super fast, so if you want to get a million layers on, like I do, don’t wait very long in between applications. Also, be careful when applying to the back of the lashes, that’s where the little blobs make their presence known. I say that, knowing that I can blob even when I’m doing the fronts. Or bottoms and tops. Whatever! Be careful!

Huh. Looks like a little high maintenance product, every now and then, is no bad thing.

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€44 — which is very O.o for mascara. I am assuming this will last me forever, if not an eternity?

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The Face Mask That is an Actual Mask: Olay Total Effects

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Someone thought this was a good idea.
OLAY mask

I… I don’t even know where to begin. Unless it’s with the addition of a Nightmare on Elm Street tag to go with my Silence of the Lambs look {scroll down, you’ll know it when you see it.}

I… Okay, Olay 7-in-1 Anti-Ageing Total Effects Mask. Love the idea of a thing infused with anti-ageing stuff that you lay on your face, and it’s all like you’re in a spa. Except yesterday was a Working Sunday, and I can’t actually work with this thing on my face — was soooo tempted to put on my specs, total Invisible Woman vibe — and I needed to get this work done, and lying around even for fifteen minutes was not gonna happen.

I ended up converting RGB photos in Photoshop, to CMYK, because you don’t really need sight for that. I will say that the mask didn’t slip a’tall, so, that’s something, I guess.

I — the thing is, I bet this is great in the summer, when you want a blast of chilly on your weather beaten gob. This is cold, like it just came out of the fridge. I also realise that I have a large face, and the thing probably wasn’t actually going to fit anyway, and that the bridge of my nose is the one part of my face that doesn’t need any of the 7 benefits accorded by this BEAUTY Anti Ageing 4treatment, but this did not fit! And I kept trying to make it fit, until I got stuck into the file conversions and — well, I was going to say I forgot about it, but, no. Not possible.

The 7 benefits are: fine line minimisation, moisturisation, spot minimising, tone enhancement, brightening — these last three are very much akin to one another — pore minimising and exfoliation. After you’ve let the youth juice sit on yer face for the fifteen, you then massage the remaining nectar into your skin.

It felt sticky, and smelled of too much fragrance. I did feel refreshed, however, so that was something, too. Two things that were okay. Okay.

My only regret was that it was indeed a Sunday, and the chances of my doorbell ringing were nil. I’d say I’d get some fun running down to the postman in this yoke. I may give this another chance, one in which I am lying in a relaxed state — maybe the gravity will help the mask settle better — but seriously? Needs way more stretchy.

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RRP €19/£16.99

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Start Spreading the Nudes: L’Oréal Paris BB Blush

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

Information and an ear worm. You’re. So. Welcome.

I fell in love with Nude Magique BB Cream this time last year,and it is still my go-to when I want light but comprehensive facial coverage.

NUDE MAGIQUE BB BLUSHImagine my delira when I received this today! Despite my love for the above, which has a turns-colour-to-match-your-skintone quality about it, I am not certain I am convinced by this alchemy. I have come across a Smashbox lippy ting that I liked… hang on… ah, right: O-Gloss Intuitive Lip Gloss. Yeah, I think I liked that, I am really reaching into the wayback machine on this one. Anyway! Haven’t been sure, because I don’t really know how it works, and also know that if someone tried to explain it to me, I’d zone out as soon as someone mentioned a molecule, or whatever. I could google it, I suppose. Ugh.

Well! The internet doesn’t seem to know! Unless how does intuitive makeup work is poor SEO. It’s to do with Ph, is as near as I can get. That’s when you put the paper in the liquid, right, and it changes colour? Is that chemistry? Did I even do chemistry? Oh, Walter White, are you dying right now, yo?

Whatever the Science, I immediately dabbed a dot onto my left paw.
BB BLUSH 2

First off: use a brush to apply, or do it the old-fashioned way and use your finger. Now, in fairness, you are not likely to dab the tube directly onto your face {or are you?} I dabbed straight from the tube, and the blending, it was a little difficult. < I don’t know that there was any point in all that, but there you go.

I’m just sayin’: blending may be an issue, so be prepared.

Other than that? A lovely, Victorian-valentine-esque rosy rose, the colour of which I think defines ‘in rude health’*.

Today, so far, is not a makeup day — that may change if the courier I am expecting comes sooner rather than later. Contrary to what you may believe, I rarely sit around the house sporting a full face of slap. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what it looks like on my cheekbone area.

I have high hopes!

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Nude Magique BB Blush: €11.99/£7.99

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*Which is British English for being very healthy, in which ‘rude’ = ‘robust’ .**

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**And it was no hardship to google that.

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Haiku Review: Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer

/ brightandbeautyfull / 3 Comments

Resistance: futile.
Originality: none.
Apocalips: now.

*Sigh* I’ve haven’t done one of these in age, and hell, that wee pome just wrote itself. I’ve seen some dissent On The Twitters, and different strokes/different folks, but as for me, I am lovin’ Apocalips Lip Lacquer from Rimmel London.

APOCALYPTIC 303
Above is Apocalyptic, and pretty much engenders everything I adore about these lippys. The pigment is APOCALIPS appintense, but the weight is light, light, light. The applicator is angled, doe foot style, with that little well in the centre — this allows you to get the bulk of it in the middle of your lips, where it belongs, and allows just enough lacquer to go around the edges of yer gob so you can build it slowly.

That’s Nude Eclipse to the right, which I think wins for the Most Inexplicable Lipstick Name Ever, but I love this one too; I find it is the perfect accompaniment to a deeply smokey eye.

They are glossy and again, light, like a lip gloss, but unlike dark glosses, they hold their own colour. I find that when I use many darkly pigmented glosses, they don’t mix well with the actual colour of my lips, and look like my mouth is past its sell-by date. Not terribly appealing. These have as much visual heft as a lipstick, at a third of the perceived weightiness.

In addition to the colours above, my other faves are Celestial {blue-y pink}, Galaxy {sparkly mauve}. Big Bang is another red that went a bit orange-y on me, but YMMV!

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 €7.95/£4.99

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Snap! Judgment: SkinCeuticals Mineral Radiance UV Defense

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Haven’t done one of these in an age!SKINCEUTICALS bottle

It’s a lot of name for a little bottle, but SkinCeuticals wants us all to know that this covers all the bases, much less your face {click on the photo for the full effect.} It’s got just about everything you’d want in an SPF, in that, among other things, it is like more like a makeup than an annoying sunscreen — a thick, greasy, odd-smelling sunscreen. Now, I’m getting much better about using the stuff, espesh when out on the horse, even under overcast skies, but it’s still something of a nuisance. Not as much of a nuisance as some class of adverse skin condition, of course! But still. What if you’ve got sensitive skin, the pores of which are easily clogged? I would have few if any products to recommend to you, in that case.

This looks to do all things that BB creams are meant to do, except this looks more science-y, and therefore possibly more trustworthy.

As always, when it comes to this sort of post, it does what it says in the title: I am simply reacting to this product in an instant — I haven’t had the chance to try this out in the world yet.

So the main thing with this is, it is tinted.

SKINCEUTICALS dot

Since most SPFs, if not all, are white-creamy-coloured, this is already something different.

It looked a little darker than that in real life {I will get a proper camera someday…}, and I was a tiny bit worried about that. I am not as sallow as I think I am, nor have I begun my annual tanning rituals, so I was somewhat taken aback.

There was, however, zero fragrance, and it felt light as feather.

Then, I blended.

SKINCEUTICALS blended

It is somewhat ruddier than my skin tone, but it’s got a lovely shimmer to it.

On my actual face?
SKINCEUTICALS on the gob

Well, it feels like there is nothing on it, which is exactly the point. It also looks like there is nothing on it, which makes it not like a BB after all. Howevs: the broad spectrum coverage plus the lightest of its being minus the sticky stinky quality of most SPFs equals something I will use under makeup, and also when I’m sporting about, as I do.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the sun, and will reach for this when it shows its face again…

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SkinCeuticals Mineral Radiance UV Defense SPF 50 is available in June, RRP €43. Ring 1850 812 740 for stockist info.

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Carrots and Bulldogs and Teeth Foam — Oh My!

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I almost called this post TMI, because I received so much info today, I feel like I need a lie down. This is good! and also my job to process it for you, dear readers. I’m just going to do big picture right this second, and get back to you on the details.

Premium hosted a whole lotta products and services today in Residence in Stephen’s Green, a venue that is swiftly becoming a second home. It’s as lovely as a home from home can get: have a look at this…
FLOCKED CEILING PAPERThat there is flocked ceiling paper. Ceiling paper? Is that right? It didn’t look like it was tiles — I couldn’t see any seams. How did it transpire that I had such a view? We’ll get to that. {Nothing saucy involved, more’s the pity.}

The Yes To… line have a big launch coming later in the year, adding Grapefruit, for dark spot and dark circle correction. I’ve got a sample of the Correct & Repair Dark Circle Correcting Eye Cream, I’ll get back to yees on this.

I blogged about Bulldog Natural Skincare back in September, when it was total crazy talk to be posting about stocking fillers. I bet you were rushing round like an eejit, trying to but for the d00ds in your life, hmmm? Don’t be caught short this year, and be sure to keep an eye out for the new additions to the line, in the form of Sensitive Shave Cream and Original Shower Gel. I’ll be Q&Aing with co-founder Simon Duffy in the near future.

Sharing space with the boy’s stuff was St Tropez, who have a new Gradual Tan Plus Anti-Aging for Face lotion; Lytesse, whose Shapewear is meant to firm up yer bum and take off inches {ah, sure, I’ll give it a go}; and Seche, whose one-coat wonder nail varnish was applied to my World Famous Supermodel Thumbnail™ and looks pretty amazing:
SECHE one coat

I didn’t get the rest of me fingers did because I was all like, Oh I don’t have the time — but then I got dazzled by the promise of Pearlys Teeth Brightening Treatment, and I just had to go for it.

Brightening, not whitening, which is what made it attractive to me: too scared of peroxide, and not so sure about lasering, I was happy enough to be convinced into giving the three part, roughly twenty minute procedure a go. Which was why I ended up flat on my back on a plinth, looking like The Silence of the Lambs.

PEARLY

Ahhahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa. I just don’t care. That is totally crazy, that picture. Don’t. Give. A. Toss. It’s funny.

And my teeth look brighter! And now I am encouraged to use the brand’s Daily Teeth Whiten Foam {€25}! And… yeah, no, that picture is totally insane.

Too much excitement! I deffo need that nap.

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For even more information, go to premium.ie

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Sweet Sixteen Minus Six: Clinique Clarifying Lotion

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

NUMBER 1!!!!11! Hope you enjoyed this. When I started the blog, I just about killed myself writing these things. Unlike my work in The Herald, these posts seemed sooooo looooong, but now I’m in the swing. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for new reviews and features this week!

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When I was in my 20s, my godmother recommended that I start a proper skin care regimen. The gist of her argument was that just because I looked amazing and youthful right then didn’t mean that I could I take it for granted, and if I wanted to extend my years of amazingness and youthiness, I had better get cracking right away.

Clinique Clarifying tonerI chose Clinique. I can’t remember why, except that their fresh and spare ad campaigns made them, in my mind, modern and suited to my youthful amazingness. I got the 3-step thingie — the soap, the yellow moisturiser, and the Clarifying Lotion 2. I had to google the yellow stuff just now (Dramatically Different!) because I stopped using it ages ago, and the soap is distant, misty memory, but I have not yet found anything that is as effective as the Clarifying Lotion in terms of cleaning and toning my skin.

Despite its slightly astringent tingle, it doesn’t dry out my face. I just don’t feel like I’ve cleaned off the day if I don’t feel that blast of icy freshness. And who can argue with the power of Clinique Bonus Days! I ask you! Even after all these years of beauty largesse, the sight of a wee collection of cunningly assembled samples in some class of clever case sends a thrill racing through my veins. I’ve still got the mini bottle from that one Bonus that one Time, that had held Clarifying Toner — I continue to decant into it when traveling, and wouldn’t be without it.

Yes, indeed: many, many years on, it’s still a go-to/must have,/unassailable element of my beauty regimen. If you must know how many years it has been, well, I remember when all this product came in glass bottles. I think the years have been pretty kind to me, so clearly Clinique has done its job well. Many thanks to them, and to Auntie Sue, too!

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€36/$46/£33

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Sweet Sixteen Minus Six: Too Faced Caribbean in a Compact, Snow Bunny

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

Whoops! Here’s the number ten product in my revised Top Fave All-Time Products, which I should have posted last week. D’oh! Just as well, really, because there was a dead link within, and I tweaked this accordingly, with information as to how to order Sephora from Ireland, which is v v spendy. No wonder everyone goes bonks when in NYC or abroad…

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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 {which is now known in Sephora as Too Faced Snow Bunny Luminous Bronzer -ed}.

TOO FACED snow bunnyThat 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, and as Sephora don’t have a store in the UK, much less in Ireland, you can order from France. Here’s a handy link, if you happen to read French; if not you can google-translate it.

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€26 from sephora.fr, plus shipping, which is — wait for it — €18 {merde!}/£22/$30

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