FACE

Brows and Lashes: I Can Haz Cut ‘n’ Paste?

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Yeesh, sorry if my followers are getting update notices — saw some typos I needed to fix, or else I wouldn’t be able to sleep this night!

It may just be that I am addicted to Photo Booth, but I wanted to update with the latest installment of HD Brows: simply put, the treatment/technique is fab, and I got mine refurbed last Thursday. That one is the bottom image, and I wish I was adept enough at P-shop to put those brows over those eyes {top} because the top brows are definitely furry, and blurry around the edges.

At one stage last week, I finally tried L’Oréal’s Superliner Gel Intenza(€14.99), of which I went on record as being to afraid to try — but I did it, and it is pretty fab. I found that if you didn’t get it right the first time round, it meant serious do-over, down to having to use eye make up removal product to clean the slate. as ever, my right eye was a doddle, and my my left eye, a debacle. It is kind of tacky on the finish, and it dries quickly, so I don’t know, maybe practice on the back of your hand?

The main problem I have with liner on the top edge of the lid is that I have almost no eyelid to speak of, so it just looks like I fecked a dark bit of whatever on my entire eyelid; so rather than getting something all eye-opening and dramatic, my lid merely looks dark. And then you skip right to the part between my lid line and the brow, which is called… What is that called? The upper lid? I can’t even think — does it have a name?

I think I am having a senior moment.

Also in use was a sample from MAC’s newest eye shadow, Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Warm Thunder (€20.50). It received compliments, and lasted like nobody’s business. I found it as sticky to put on as the liner, but both lasted as long as I needed it to — that is, until I got home — so my advice would be to go lightly with this stuff, but go with authority and confidence.

Three Days Down the Country: High Maintenance, Wha’?

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Template for a chill weekend up from Dublin: sitting around, drinking cups of tea in various people’s houses. Watching movies, drinking wine. Not expecting to wash much, to be honest. That’s not very high maintenance, is it now?

Er, so, then, why did I need all the stuff at left?

And all the makeup I brought and forgot to put in the photo — or it didn’t even occur to me to shoot it as it always goes with me anyway, like my keys, and my wallet.

So, what did I end up not using at all? The toothbrush>> JUST KIDDING. The Avéne cleanser, the Clinique Turnaround Concentrate sample, the Kiehl’s thing in the small blue tub.

Hmm. That’s not a terrible average, to be honest, and I had suspected that the cleanser wouldn’t get a look in.

I must highly recommend the Lush Silky Underwear Dusting Powder. I haven’t used dusting powder since I was a sprog, and this was great for, er, taking a bit of the pong off before the Big Easter Hill Walk through a bunch of woods, up and down boggy hills, to a lovely wee church on the side of the mountain. Not that there was anyone to offend, the gang of us were all in the same state, but I felt better in myself to have done even cursory grooming. I also lashed on some of the L’Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream, which is my absolutely new favourite thing, and swiped on some of my also-new-favourite-thing, Clinique’s Quickliner for Eyes Intense, because you never know who you might run into in the middle of a bog.*

Post-hike, with the last leg of it in bucketing down rain, I had a lovely bath and was sorry that I hadn’t brought along this egg from Lush, but my hostess had a gorgeously frothy bar of lavender soap that an Australian friend gifted her from Oz, and boy, would I like to know what that brand is.

Always on the job. But! The biggest asset to my three days with very little application of cleaning products will be revealed in the next post…

*No one.

The Day Cream v Night Cream Debate Continues

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Or is it, in fact, concluded? The lads at Human+Kind have developed an All-in-one Day+Night Cream, a super-hydrating, double-dipping, wear-it-all-day-and-night-long concoction that makes having a million and one products in your bathroom superfluous.

{I like having a million and one products in my bathroom.}

Back in February, I had gone on record, wondering if it was actually necessary to use both a day cream and a night cream. Two days later, I posted a response to my own query, thanks to a talk given by Sally Penford of the International Dermal Institute. Okay, thought I, I will carry on observing the day v night divide…

And then this landed on my desk. Now, I have been using, to excellent effect, this brand’s Anti-Ageing Cream, at night, and I’ve been pretty darn pleased. I’m willing to give this a go, though, and will let you know how my skin reacts to it. At €23.95, this is great value, but we’ll see how quickly I use it up, given that it’s going to be in service twice a day.

And on a graphic design-y note: the packaging! Gorgeous!

Also! Sneak preview of how at least one varnished nail survived horseriding!

Haiku Review: L’Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Gray, yet shiny cream
With an odd gritty texture?
Strange but true magique.

NO, SERIOUSLY. This BB cream stuff, how is this not merely tinted moisturiser*? I could google that, and I will, but for now, I would just like to say that this latest product from L’Oréal is actually magique.

Nude Magique BB Cream (€14/£9.99) doesn’t much look like it, though.

Yeesh. I don’t know, I thought it might look at least a little bit like a skin colour — a skin colour that was alive. The pearlescence gave me hope, though: it looked pretty, and I figured, well, some highlight-y primers have that kind of sheen. If worse came to worse, I could just put some foundation over top of it.

And it felt weird too, a little bit sandy, or something? The slightest bit of grit, not like a facial exfoliant, but there was definitely some sort of textural thing going on that I didn’t expect. These would be the Smart Pigment Capsules, which are the things that make the magic that occurs upon…

Application! I watched with wonder as the shiny, pearly cream turned into my skin tone, only better. I took some pictures, which I don’t know, are these at all helpful? I didn’t mess around in pshop {maybe I should have; brush your hair, Conley!}, so you can see how strangely unlike my skin the cream is, and then how well it blends to become a light and bright version of the colour of my face.

Eh, I don’t think this is as convincing as it should be, because this is a pretty incredible product. Please visit Lovely Girlie Bits for clearly superior photographic evidence of the efficacy of this jawn. This is perfect for those days when you absolutely cannot be bothered to do your full routine, but don’t want to go out there, well, nude.

I have gotten into the habit – a habit of a whole entire week — of lashing this on before horseriding, because of the SPF. It is great, because I get protection and perfection without looking like I some eejit putting on make up to go horseriding. I put some on yesterday, in fact, when I went showjumping and won my first rosette!

Was the Nude Magique my lucky charm?!?! Hmm, won’t go that far {and believe me, I could} but I will say that this will take up a permanent place in my notoriously fickle make up bag.

* Because, depending upon the brand, you get anti-aging, high SPF, even skin tone, moisturizing, sebum control from the BB, which you don’t get from the tinted moisturiser. So it’s like a treatment thing and a make up thing in one. Right, got it.

Origins Global ReLeaf: A Correction

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

So that wee 50ml tube is actually not for sale, it was a promotional thing. But don’t let that stop you availing of this great thing, which again: a tree is planted in your name by Origins whenever you buy something from their A Perfect World franchise.

And remember, either a full-sized tub of A Perfect World Age-defense moisturiser with White Tea (worth €45.00/£32.00) or Starting Over Age-erasing Moisturiser with Mimosa (€50.00/£36.00) can be yours when you bring in an empty thingie of any other skin cream, from your local Origins counter, from 15-28 April! That is a genius treat!

I Fully Support This Initiative: Origins Global ReLeaf

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I think Earth Day is in April. Think? I can know that in a quick second — yes, that would be 22 April. Life without Google is simply not worth contemplating.

Origin are going one better, or 29 better, and have declared April 2012 to be Earth Month. I am digging this, and so will they: when you buy anything from their Perfect World™ line, the company will plant a tree on your behalf as part of their Global ReLeaf initiative.

That is excellent! I would very much like to have a dogwood planted on my behalf. One of the gardens in my new road has one, and it is gorgeous. Or maybe something majestic like an oak. Maybe I will just have to buy two products.

{I am quite sure that you can’t control the brand of tree they choose, so enough of that fanciful flight!}

I’ve been using the Antioxidant Moisturiser with White Tea* and have been liking it bunches. The thing with these lil’ tubes of Origin is that you think, Hmm, that tube is lil’, but you don’t need much to get excellently moisturising coverage. They sent me the new Origins A Perfect World™ BB SPF15 Age-defense Tinted Moisturizer with White Tea (€35.50/£27.00) which I am still in the process of forming an opinion about, and which is launching next week.

Opinion is fully formed re: planting trees. More of that, please.

Oh, also! Origin are holding a Trade-In Day in 21st April. If you bring in any empty skincare product (from any brand) you can trade it in for a complimentary full size of either Starting Over™ Age-erasing Moisturizer or A Perfect World™ SPF25 Age-Defense Moisturizer. Good deal!

*Will edit for prices when I get them. This may not have been launched yet, either.

In Which I Get Botox and Restalyne in My Face {VI}

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

I realise that people are reading about my face, so it follows that it {my face} would be scrutinised like a map. Maps are things that make you frown, right? Frown in concentration, that is: you’re looking for where you are going, and your eyes get squinty, and your brow furrows, and your mouth turns down.

The people who are staring at my face are going to need Botox! And I am going to undo all the work if I don’t stop making faces at my face as well!

It’s getting on… two weeks since I got treated. There are bumpy bits that came up yesterday, near to my mouth, where the Restalyne was injected. Cue another meltdown, which didn’t last long because, really? I’ve had worse pimples in the centre of my forehead. After having exhausted myself emotionally in the first week or so, I realise that energy squandered in this direction is a waste of time.

Speaking of the centre of my forehead. Continue reading →

Haiku Review: Chanel’s Perfection Lumiére Longwear Flawless Fluid Makeup

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

Once upon a time,
Shine was banished from the face.
Now, we call it glow.

‘You look about 11,’ remarked my friend and colleague last week, or even the week before — who knows, time is over. I won’t mention her name or even her initials, because she would maybe kill me, and that would be a pity because I now have the capacity to look youthful and dewy whenever I wish.

I remember fighting shine to the death, in my teenage years. The pressed powder compact was never far from my grasp, but it was really all about the foundation. The thicker the better, and wow, it is amazing that my pores didn’t just clog up and die.

Now, however, with age and wisdom, a nice light-reflecting face is the goal. Because then, paradoxically, you look youthful and dewy.

I got the vibe that Chanel’s Perfection Lumiére was pretty special from the first moment of application: light and yes, flawlessy fluid just as it says on the tin, but also excellent coverage, which I find to be essential when a product is a little more expensive than one might be used to. A pump and a bit expertly covered my roundy face, so those among us with less acreage and more angles will probs get even better mileage than I do.

The glow, it was blinding! Okay, not really, but obviously remark-able, as evidenced by the feedback from my friend, who is also a noted beauty expert. I remember that day {whenever it was} was a long one, but by the time I got home, well into the night, I looked as fresh-faced as I had when I’d first made up that morning. In fairness, I also use an illuminating face powder, but girls, if the base layer is questionable, forget about piling anything on it.

I have just realised that I wrote about using this here, so there’s the proof on my pudding-gob. Hey, even for a not-so-great iPhone self-portrait, I think that the quality of this foundation shines through. Or glows on. Whatever! It is fabulous.

From the Archives: Neutrogena Wave Duo

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I am still sort of tip-toeing around my face, if you know what I mean. I have to google it up, but I haven’t given myself a mask in three weeks, and am only lightly exfoliating. This is of course due to The Botox.

I was daydreaming about giving myself a good scrub, and I came across this review of Neutrogena’s Wave Duo, which I had liked very much at the time. I remember I wasn’t so chuffed with the way in which the cleansing pads — which affix to the end of the Wave — were packaged: in a plastic-y wrap that didn’t close up tight. The images don’t appear to evidence a change in that approach.

I don’t think I feel secure enough in my skin {literally and figuratively} to use, but I highly recommend it as a handy and effective gadget for your continued self-care. Although, now that i think about it, I have a feeling that this didn’t make it across in the move… nope, I’m sure it didn’t, so I won’t trouble St Anthony. Ah, well. This is cheap as chips at €9.99, so I may just have to go out and get myself another one — when I finally feel like the, er, foundations have totally settled…