FACE

*Scarlet*

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Not! Because I can’t be! I reviewed that crazy picture just a moment ago and realised that I forgot to pack blush.

I don’t usually go for full make up when visiting the family home, couch surfing, so it did indeed come as a shock. I have been out of the house, and even went to a party, and I must have been in some sort of holiday fog to have not noticed that I had failed to bring along my youthful glow.

Perhaps the joy of the holidays had supplied it, and I had no need for artificial enhancement.

…

Anyway! Here’s a link to my Evening Herald column; I’ll just be over here in the corner, pining.

Clean the Slate: FACE Atelier Melt

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Well, I was doin’ this wrong.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but I thought that the way to use FACE Atelier Melt was to squirt it into my palm and use it as I would a cleanser. This was not a completely disastrous approach, and it was especially good at wiping out the brow makeup; as regards the mascara and eyeliner, not so much.

The thing is, it is an oil-based yokie, and I am only converting to the notion of putting oily on the face. Blame adolescence — and sure, what blame can we not lay at the feet of the teenage years? — but I had a serious case of shiny face and the very idea of reverting to said shiny makes me want to cry.

And yet… I have been using balms to excellent effect, and they are not even oily, they are greasy! Cue nightmare. I am guessing, because I am on a roll and won’t pause to google, that oil-based products are the ultimate in hydration. Common sense, when you pause in your scarred-for-life narrative to have a think.

Right, so. Where was I. Okay. So, I have decided to use this for the next few weeks, and last night had the brainwave to dispense it on a cotton pad and use it like I would use any other make up removal product. Like, wow? <I blame the jet lag. Although when I was doin’ wrong before the transatlantic flight…

THE POINT IS: Totally superfantastic removal with the Melt. Gentle, effective, and thorough. There was some residual product, and I wasn’t sure if I should massage it into my skin. It felt like it would feel good to do, except that there was maybe still make up lingering. And I forgot to pack toner* [gasp!] so I ended up wiping away as much as I could, and went through way more cotton pads than usual.

That last is a bit pesky, but not a deal-breaker. I found some cotton wool, in pleats, at a €2 shop {remember when they were €1 shops? Ah, sure} While I avoided those in the past as well — because the cotton seems so loose, and therefore more likely to get into your eye — the combination of the two is quite a fierce cleaning duo.

You learn something new every day.

*Yeah, I forgot the toner, but worse, I forgot the clarifying lotion and I have to say, whilst I saved myself some space in the suitcase [but not all that much] I’m never going to make that choice again. It makes me yearn for the next winner in the Sweet Sixteen Sweepstakes, which will premiere tomorrow…

€29 on cloud10beauty.com/£24/$35

Sisterhood of the Travelling Products

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So: three weeks worth of stuff. It doesn’t seem like loads when laid out like that. {It seems like tonnes when you have to pack it up. In three make up bags of various sizes so you can distribute the weight.}

Or does it? I no longer have perspective. I’ve got thirteen shampoos and conditioners on the the go! What can you expect from me, honestly.

This photo is as much as about what is not here, as what did make the transatlantic journey… Continue reading →

Happy Holiday Face!

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To me, a happy holiday face is radiant, glowing with comfort and joy. This face may also glow with product, to enhance and illuminate those happy holiday feelings.

Or manufacture them, as necessary.

Any of the below will give you gorgeous holiday face, and perhaps inspire you to shimmer year round.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand, as I generally don’t believe that the brushes that come on the ends of things like this are useful. This one is, and the stuff that comes out of the wand is perfection itself: shimmer and coverage combine to highlight your cheekbones and temples, an to ensure that you appear your very best in all those holiday snaps.
I must admit that I haven’t always had the best skill in the world when using this kind of illuminator. I tend to default to sparkly powders that I just schmoosh all over my face. They work great, but they require a lot of reapplication. I brushed this on, and on it stayed, and actually made me look like I was born highlighting my facial structure.
€26/£22/$32
I am better at something like The Body Shop’s Radiant Highlighter because you just mix it in with your liquid foundation. There’s a bit of personal alchemy involved, finding the exact amount that works not only with your face, but also with your particular foundation, and it can be hit or miss. I find the result, which is subtly glowy, to be worth the effort. A little dab on the pointy bits of your face — if you are fortunate have to any, I have to pretend that I have visible bones — gives the look a bit more of a lift. The texture is on the heavy side, which may help with the alchemy: less is more. Don’t tell, but try mixing some into your body cream, then apply to your exposed arms and decolletage. It’s sexy.
€18.95/£11/$14

I bigged up the Orofluido Hair Oil and Gold Shimmer Gift Set mainly because of the little atomiser of fairy dust. It is terrific, it smells really good, and you can spray all over yourself which is all kinds of fun. I find that Orofluido gives me a perfect hair day every time {and we’ll get to that}, so a few puffs of sparkle in addition can only makes things even brighter, on every level imaginable.
€29.95/£26.99/not available in the US, sorry, betches.

Have lovely holiday! xx

Sweet Sixteen: Lush’s Karma Line

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When I first received Lush’s Karma perfume, several years ago, it came in a kind of… well there’s no way to say it nicely. The bottle was ugly. It was squat, the label was unappealing, and its presentation was very, very ‘meh’. I gave it a cursory spritz, somewhere around my breastbone, and promptly fell in love. Continue reading →

OMGifting: It is Almost Christmas

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… or whatever holiday you celebrate, it doesn’t matter — where did the time go?!? Sheesh! I’ve got some suggestions if you’ve got a bunch of Secret Santa/Kris Kindle/or this other thing I came across on the intertubes the other day: a Yankee Swap. As Wiki says in the link, it’s a North American thing, but not in my region, thanks very much. It may or may not involve stealing! Wha’?!

Well, that took my mind off the fact that not only is it no time at’all ’til gift-exchanging time, I am also probably way late with a feature like this. On the other hand, that is so exquisitely apt that I am impressed with its conceptual correctness.

Okay! Never mind! Last minute gifts that are amazing and don’t look last minute! Continue reading →

Best Brows in the History of Brows

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The first time I got my eyebrows waxed, I was 12 or 13. This seems crazy to me, but I mention it by way of establishing my credentials. I know that this nothing, nowadays, when girls much younger are getting waxed in places that don’t bear thinking about, or even younger girls getting spray tans for their First Holy Communion — but it still strike as kinda young. So anyway, that little bit of personal information is given so you know that I’ve been around the block, several times, and am a good judge of services that concern the removal of excess hair on the brow.

As for threading, I’ve only had five instances, but they all had defining characteristics:

1} My first time, and the lady took so much off the ends of my brows they have barely grown back — two years later.

2} This time, it felt like the lady was pulling out the hairs one by one with her teeth.

3} My sister took me to the place she goes in the strip mall in North Brunswick, NJ. It cost $3, which is roughly €2.24. When I was waved to a seat, my sister winced, because she knew the threading ladies, and this one liked to take her time, possibly in sadistic fashion. The lady ran the thread through my brows like an arpeggio — a slow, slooooow arpeggio.

4} I will be writing about this in future, because it was good one, and an option for southsiders: Shavata in Harvey Nicks, Dundrum.

5} This was the best one, though: Neelu at Arnotts. Continue reading →

Sweet Sixteen: Dermalogica Soothing Booster

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OMGGGGGGGGGGG. Why does my skin still insist upon breaking out? I am surely peri-menopausal at this stage, I really can’t continue to be brewing spots at that time of the month, can I?

Oh, yes, I can. Crikey, it’s annoying. More annoying is the fact that even after all these years of being told not to, I am still desperate to poke and pick at pimples. It’s gross, I know! But don’t even think about trying to convince me of your own virtuous, non-popping ways.

I have been extremely fortunate in the acne-department, in that I escaped the worst sorts of ravages that plagued several of my adolescent contemporaries, and that continue to torture lovely ladies of all ages. I don’t even feel like I should call my teenage eruptions acne: they were really only zits, which is an anodyne term, really, compared with some folks have to deal with.

Whatever the degree, we can all agree that no one wants even one stupid spot on their face, one which always makes its appearance at the worst possible time, and can sometimes be painful, to boot. The ones you get around your nose? Ugh. Just last month I had one that was in my nostril, and oh lordee, did I want to pop that bitch, but it never came to a head — okay, those ones, those are the worst.

The nostril-zit went away within two days, through the good offices of Dermalogica’s Gentle Soothing Booster. I know how those bad boys like to hang around, I’m sure I’ve had equally stubborn and painful little feckers like that hang about for at least a week (the ones at the hairline? Ach!) I had tried any number of things in the past, including that auld models-trick-using-toothpaste, but this little gem from our friends in The International Dermal Institute is the best thing I have ever used. Since I was sticking it up my nose, I noticed perhaps too well the slightly oily smell of the stuff, but apart from that minor quibble, I’d bronze this thing and set it on a plinth — except that I’d really prefer to use it.

€55.80/£43.50/$48.00

Sweet Sixteen: Clinique Clarifying Lotion

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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.

I 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 the skin.

Despite its slightly astringent tingle, it doesn’t dry the skin. 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!

€36/$46/£33

I see that InStyle agrees with me…