Top Twelve of 2012: Four, Calling Birds

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

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

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.}

Festive Face: All is Bright Lip Glaze Set from Stila

What is anyone going to do with eight lip glazes?

What’s anyone not going to do with eight lip glazes?

Seriously, this is like the gift of gorgeous lips for every occasion.

Stila Lip Glazes were new to me, mainly because the brand has had a spotty presence on this island. That’s all changed, and I was delighted to get stuck in to this yoke.

From left: Jack Frost, Jingle, Holly, Jolly, Joy, Splendor, Black Cherry and Sugar Plum. The last two are available all the time; the first six are limited edition.

The brush applicator allows you to apply the glaze with precision. Glaze is not gloss, although these are way glossy. You can’t just feck this on — well, you can, but then it’s not going to look its best.

So: brush applicator on the top of the pen, and you dial up product as needed. Each one smells lovely, and I tried the Jolly and the Black Cherry. Both have really good pigment; the glaze is, by nature, pretty sticky, so don’t eat a bun and expect everything to be a-okay; I am gong through both at a rate of knots.

Biggest appeal is the delicious scent. I wouldn’t be wild about overly fragranced things that go on the face, but these are subtle and delish.

Price-wise? Amaze-Christmas-balls, because I have seen these bad gals for €18 all on their own. This kit is €24/€24.99/$25. From sparkly to matte, from dark to light, this is a variety pack at at its prettiest and most versatile.

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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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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

Hourglass Cosmetics: Can I Be Me, Only Better, If I Do It Myself?

Hourglass Cosmetics founder Carisa Janes’ best known quote regards her reason for creating the brand:  “I just want to look like me—only better.”

Can it be done? Yeah, pretty much!

At left, post-make up session at Harvey Nichols with Hourglass’ European training manager Mel Leonard; at right, face by meself.

Not bad! I always feel a little dubious after a makeover — how in the world am I ever going to replicate the pro touch? — but in fairness:

1} I have had a lot of practice, in my life, as regards the application of make up;
2} The brand is really quite ‘true’, by which I mean, it looks good even if you aren’t a trained professional.

Now, the eyes are lacking a wee bit. I didn’t have any eyeshadow on that day… did I? But the foundation is flawless mainly because the actual product, Veil Fluid Makeup SPF 15 in  Sand is pretty feckin’ flawless.

Or should I say products: beneath the veil of foundation is the Mineral Veil Primer: so smooth, so silky, so gentle, it is like spreading the cream of angel feathers all over your face.

Also in play: Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Rose; would very much like to have the Empress as used in the session. I am finding the lippy to be somewhat drying: balm before ends in tears, but a touch of something, like Carmex, on top, helps it feel less itchy. Drying = itch-making, in this case.

I am very, very pleased with these products. Very pleased.

Hair at right courtesy of a breeze blowing through the window of the bus, which made the photo look exactly like a Mario Testino for Vogue photo shoot.

Exactly.

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Available in Ireland at Harvey Nichols; in the USA at Sephora and Bergdorf Goodman; and from Liberty in London.

http://www.hourglasscosmetics.com

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.

From the Archives: Origins Drink Up™ Intensive Overnight Mask

I am really feeling the winter on my face! I think it is to do with it being unnaturally cold here for this time of year. Seriously, I remember my first Thanksgiving in Ireland — not an oxymoron — and walking to my host’s place with only a bulky jumper for outerwear. I have to wear The Fat Coat® to the horses already! This is wrong, wrong, wrong.

So one must do the right, right, right thing and make sure that one’s face is not going to get all chapped and worn out, and when it feels tired and dry, I can’t recommend Origins Drink Up™ Intensive Overnight Mask more highly.

When I first used this, I was like, Great, this is going to get all over the pillowcases. Well, it does not! It absorbs quickly and yet — and yet! — is utterly and completely moisturising.

Even when, If you are me, and you haven’t used it in a while, and you forget that you don’t need tonnes of the stuff, and you dispense so much that when you put it on, you look like Charlie Chaplin. Even that much product absorbed well in time to snooze out.

Now, mind you, I was catching up on allll the programmes last night, and charged through two Downton Abbeys {yes, let’s all just play cricket, shall we? The patriarch can still get away with lying to the peelers, jolly good, eh?} two Revenges {Oh, gosh, I was getting bored. Whither the bandage dresses, Victoria?} and one Homeland {That scene between Brody and Carrie! Will watch again!} I applied before Homeland, and so it did take at least half an episode to sink in, but sink it did, and I felt refreshed upon waking.

By ‘archive’ I mean ‘the hanging shelf thingie, behind my bathroom door’. As exhaustively catalogued as the National Library, that.

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€30.60/£20/$23 << I am giving that euro price point the side eye…

Eyebrow Dye: I Did

So: Colorsport 30 Day Eyelash & Brow Dye Kit in Dark Brown. Because of the ‘mix it up’ aspect of the biz, I read the directions thoroughly several times, and consulted them throughout the process.

Good thing, as you leave this stuff on for 10 minutes if you are dying your lashes, but only 2 minutes if dying your brows. Serious potential for disaster there, right?

Hmmm, well, maybe not. Here’s what I learned from doing it myself. Continue reading

Eyebrow Dye: Should I?

I’m little afraid.

The thing I love best about all the things there is to love about HD Brows is the part with the dye.

It is almost gone — I got a pretty impressive run, almost a month! — and they look okay with enhancements, but not 100% fantabulous.

So I got this… Such detailed directions! So complicated! Or it seems so for someone {me} who is never bothered to follow directions a’tall.

I am so going to follow these, because doin’ this wrong would have terrible consequences.

Should I?