GIORGIO ARMANI

Yippy! More Lippy for 2014: Glosses, Mainly

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MAC mineralise Vibrant Vibe
MAC Mineralize Glass Lip Gloss in Vibrant Vibe, €22 This absolutely luxurious, lightweight, highly pigmented stuff. I want many, many more of these, and have my eye on Lovingly Yours and Wake Up! as well… and there’s a baby pink one that looks cute as a button.

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Rimmel Rumour Has It
RIMMEL LONDON Colour Rush Long Lasting Intense Colour Balm in Rumour Has It, €7.99 Honestly, Rimmel are playing a blinder with these balms. They feel light, look intensely pigmented, and stain the lips juuuuust a tiny bit so that you don’t need to keep reapplying. I consider this to be a good thing.

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Catrice made to stay Megan Fuchsia
CATRICE COSMETICS Made To Stay Smoothing Lip Polish in Megan Fuchsia, €5.49 I googled that a couple of times just to make sure that was the name, which it is, and which I find a bit awk, TBH. Not awk: the bluey-red that I love so much, and pretty good staying power. Awk: the applicator has no give, and will have to break it in. Until such time, I have to go really easy on the curves or else I look like I’ve had wonky collagen!

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KARDASHIAN in the nude
KARDASHIAN BEAUTY Au Naturel Lip Kit in In The Nude, €18.99 Okay, this is my third go-to nude. Whatever! Can’t have too many go-to nude lip things! I used the thin liner part of the kit, so I must have really wanted matte. There’s a nude gloss that accompanies it, just in case I change my mind and want a bit of shine. It’s win/win!

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Pür lip gloss stick in Fling|Adventure
PÜR MINERALS Lip Gloss Stick in Fling|Adventure, €22 I do like this tone quite a lot; I find the texture of this to be a bit plastic, and the price a bit much, considering the rest of the category. I do like it, though — just not head-over-heels.

Below: because this is such a crazy way to take a picture, and because it shows the taupe-ness of it to greater effect:
PUR 2
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And then I was going to on about how excellent I have found GIORGIO ARMANI’s 505 to be, and couldn’t remember the full name, and also got annoyed as usual about Il Maestro’s numbering system, and googled it, and found myself.
OOPS ARMANI
I FOUND MYSELF. Google knows everything, including enough to remind me that I did in fact talk about Lip Maestro Intense Velvet Colour {€28.50} before.

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Lucky Thirteen of 2013: Lippy, and the View From Below My Nose

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WARNING: clicking through these links may result in PTND*.

I was into lipstick this year! I say that like it is news, like I haven’t posted this picture:
ALL THE LIPPYs
These were just the ones that were by the place where I keep my going-out-the-door stuff: my purse, the thingie with my Leap Card in it, my sunglasses.

Lots of lippys — thirteen, in fact — lots of pictures of my nose from an… interesting angle.

I reviewed eight shades of lipp-ay here, which alerted me to the proboscis problem — and then I clearly just chose to ignore it because: here I went again, and again, and… yeah. Um, and this one. And then also.

Sheesh.

The main issue I see is that I have not been wearing nearly enough purple/mauve lipstick.

There’s my new year’s resolution sorted!

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*Post Traumatic Nostril Disorder

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Red Alert! Things That Are; Not Just Lippy

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Because I like red. Loads.

SALLY HANSEN Right Red Fred
It’s been ages since the World Famous Super Model Thumbnail™ has made an appearance on this page. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Right Red Fred {RRP€8.95} is warm red, and that is the brand’s vaunted one coat > meaning, one coat will get you salon coverage. Perfect for us lazy arses who are bad at polishing their nails.

RIMMEL As You Want Victoria
Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in As You Want Victoria {€6.49} is purely luscious. It feels as soft as a balm, but the pigment! Not what you’d expect from something stuffed full of moisturising vitamins. It isn’t the absolute best for long-wearingness, but blot a couple of times and reapply and you’ll get some mileage out of it.

ARMANI red
And here she is again! Giorgio Armani Nail Lacquer in Four Hundred {€24} is a one coat application as well, and a bluer red, which I tend towards. It is so shiny, you’ll be tempted to eschew a top coat; do use one, if only to make it last even longer.

LOREAL
I have been going-to my L’Oreal Paris GlamShine Stain Splash in Juliet {€12.29} since I got it, and it may be the first lippy installment in I Used It All Up. As shiny as gloss, as light and yet not nearly as drying as stain, this is a spectacular red, and the look will last through hours of talking and drinking. I did quite selflessly put that to the test — anything for you lot.

LOUIS VUITTON Capucine £3250
There is a smaller version of the latest It bag, Louis Vuitton Capucine {£3,250*} that does not look as if Michelle Williams could fit her entire self in it, with room to spare for her keys and cell phone. This snap of the page of Vogue is likely as close as I’m going to get to this, but oh! The silhouette! The brazen redness of it! I die.

FITFLOP FLAME
‘Why is everyone staring at me?’ I wondered grouchily — then I looked down. I had forgotten I was walkin’ around in my FitFlop Super T Sneaker in Flame {£34.99 via clogg.co.uk}. Red shoes make peeps very starey! {These are, in fairness, very much an orangey red…} I had a pair of red patent leather Doc Martins that inspired New York drivers to shout ‘Nice shoes!’ out their windows as they passed.

I got these in a larger size than my usual, as my previous pair of Super Ts still has not broken in properly. I am not super mad, as it’s not really that FitFloppy in terms of support, not old school FitFlop, in any case. Still, it gives good sole, and had I bought the Gogh Moc Snake clogs in Snake Jam (red) instead of Choclate (self explanatory), they’d be featured here to much greater acclaim. Nice wedgy sole, great to walk in, and they make my ankles look skinny!

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*AHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

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Yippy! Lippy! A/W 2013: An Assortment

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Let’s just get right to it, shall we?
CLARINS joli rouge
CLARINS PARIS Joli Rouge in Pink Camellia, €21
This is light and yet brimming with pigment. I likey much, except for the part where I’ve eaten and it has bled all over the place. God, I hate lipliner, but there may be nothing for it…

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YSL Rouge Neon
YVES SAINT LAURENT Rouge Pur Couture Pur Colour Satiny Radiance in Rouge Neon, €31
The orangey-red doesn’t suit me particularly, but the texture of this is pure luxe.

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ARMANI Lip Maestro
GIORGIO ARMANI Lip Maestro Intense Velvet Colour in 505, €28.50
This is amazzzzze. It is much poppier and neon pink in real life, and the compliments! They flooded in! Not so great to be wearing unless you are nil by mouth: I got some on my *nose* because I was drinking champagne and kept moving the glass around. Do people drink from the same spot on a champagne glass? Have I got some class of disorder? Don’t answer that.

This is indeed velvety, and super intense, and I adore it.

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BUFF sex on heels
BUFF MAKE UP Lipstick in sex on heels, €18
Like this one, too. The pigment is autumnal café au lait, and it is the sort of lippy I can apply like a gloss: swiftly, without looking, because it’s neutral. Which I like… I feel like this needs more make up surrounding it, to really work well.

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LANCOME l'absolu velours peche?
LANCÔME L’Absolu Velours Matte Effect in Velours de Pêche, €25
Loving matte texture as a general vibe, and liking it here espêche. Ahhhhh, see what I did there.

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BENEFIT wing woman
BENEFIT Hydra-Smooth Lip Color, Full Finish in wing woman, €22
Hmmm. There’s a new lippy in town, via our pals from San Fran, and this is meant to be the full finish version, as opposed to the mediums and sheers on offer. More to come re: this line, but I was not wowed by this coverage.

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DR HAUSCHKA novum
DR HAUSCHKA Lipstick Novum in 09, Miraculous Rose €16.50
Waa! Also feeling ‘meh’ about this, too, and I had such love for the oldum Novums, as demonstrated here. This is light, if you want light, and reflective, if you want reflective.

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REVLON Lip Butter
REVLON Colorburst Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake, €9.60
Not terribly autumnal, but the texture! of! this! lippy! It is the perfect mid-point between gloss and stick, and the shine is terrific. I am sure that they must have suitably deep colours for the time of year that is almost in it; until I find out more about them, this will do me just fine, thanks.

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Soz, probably should have posted a ‘nostril alert’. Hope no one is scarred for life…

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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!

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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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Could I Be Happier? Horses and Haircare

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So, here’s me as of 11ish this morning:

Typos ahoy! I wish I could touch type. Ah, well. This post is only going to take forever.

I knew I had a back up laptop for a reason.

Yay! — Oh, no. Saw the green jacket and though it was Ireland. It’s Brazil.

I generally grab the Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream when I can’t be bothered blowing The Hair dry. This time round, I forget to add the Treatment oil, so when my hair dried, it was crrrrrispy. I then doused it with —

Okay! Ireland! Mark Kyle! Ah, bollix. Knocked one. What’s that extra 2 pens?

I then doused The Hair with the Hydrating Styling Cream. Oh, how I love the scent of this stuff! It helped soften it a bit, but the overall feeling was very crunchy and tangly.

Yay, Tiana Coudray USA! I am cheering for everyone! No idea who she’s on, because the eejits — ah, knocked one, dammit. Another! Crap. So they don’t put the name of the horse up on the screen. Stupid. Lovely dapple grey — g’wan! Ah, well.

When I combed it out, it was masssssive, but it felt really dry. I ought to have put the oil on, but there was already so much stuff on — and anyway, I forgot all about the oil, to be honest.

I tried to resist posting this pic, because the Narcissism Police Department* are going to be knocking on my door, but here’s an impression of the hair, plus the lip gloss I want to talk about.

I am quite happy using any auld gloss as long as it looks nice. By this I mean, I am not a dope about brands. I don’t care if it’s fancy, as long as it does the job.

But when it is fancy and it does the job? Wowee.

Has Zara Phillips gone? Holy wow, the crowd is going to go batty.

OMG I AM TOTALLY PSYCHIC HERE SHE IS. I SWEAR IT’S TRUE, IT IS 11.38 RIGHT NOW. OKAY

AH NO. I think this horse is very young, she had to retire Toytown, I think, who was a star — ah, well done her. The extra pens are for time.

What? Oh. Giorgio Armani Gloss D’Armani Lip Gloss in 512, above. I was dubious because of the darkness of the pigment, but it is —

Oh, no! Where’s everybody going? Okay, third team rider, fourth coming up. This is like the seventh inning stretch, yeah?

The pigment is dark, but it goes on like a gloss, easily and cleanly, and it feels light, too. I did reapply often, but I think it was because I wanted to, more than that I needed to.

Also: The Hair is wavy but also a bit straggly. Which may just mean I need a cut.

Also also: those sunnies are the best thing that’s happened to me all year.

Oh, crap, they are going away? No, just hanging around with no commentary. This feed is totally weird. Okay, maybe I’ll go do a real post now.

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Gloss D’Armani €25/£23.50/$28

*NPD, ha ha ha ha — that’s for you, cookie.

♥Day: Smelling Good is Its Own Reward

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Yeah, well, you know what? Every day really is Valentine’s Day, for me at least, because I love fragrance and I love smelling good.

I keep meaning to investigate the psychology of scent, to see what the opinions are. Does one spritz habitually out of low self esteem {ooh, I am so stinky I must mask it} or out high self esteem {I am a beautiful flower, come and admire me}? I don’t ‘do’ signature scents, I mean, Jo Malone’s Pomegranate Noir is something that people recognise as ‘me’, but I think I use scent more as an indicator of how I feel on the day. There are days when I’m feeling zesty and youthful, and days when I’m feeling deep and mysterious. Sweet and sexy day? Karma by Lush. Sentimental? Coco by Chanel.

Right, so: I’ve gotten my hands on a couple things that are in the deep, mysterious, and sexy category. Those who favour the zesty and clean and sexy stuff I’ll refer to this post.

Perhaps it’s simply because I am easily led — perhaps I am a package designer/marketeer’s dream girl — but could there be anything sexier than Emporio Armani Black Carat for Her (€61.50) and for Him (€53.50)? I ask you. And this may go back to the ‘easily led’ part, but they smell sexy too. Especially the one for Him. I just had this flash, this mental image, of me running around town spritzing dudes, just so I can smell how yum this must be on a guy. I wonder if that behaviour is actionable…

Just for the ladies, Thierry Mugler’s Alien (€30) is terribly appealing, and manages to combine some dark and sexy bits with a floral finish. I always associate flowers with light scents, but I don’t think that’s always the rule. Must also chase up that perfumery lesson… Anyway, love the bottle! It does look like a wee alien! Adorbs!

Actually, perhaps once I take that lesson, I can maybe get a gig writing the copy for fragrances? It looks like fun! It seems to me to be the same as writing about wine — about which I also know nothing, except that some is white and some is red and some is somewhere in the middle. I was googling, based on personal experience, a lovely — I mean, manly — fragrance for a dude, and remembered how much I liked Eau des Baux by L’Occitane (€44). I love the copy on the site generally, but this description really rang my bell:

In Provence, the knights from the village of Les Baux chose the cypress tree as a symbol of their strength and honor, and a bright star in the sky as their guiding force. In honor of their courage, L’OCCITANE has created a sensual and mysterious blend of cypress and incense named Eau de Baux.

Fantastic! And the fragrance is, too: earthy and musky and masculine. It is a bit risky, purchasing fragrance for another, and especialy if yer man doesn’t normally wear eau de toilette… but maybe you can get wee samples or something? Or employ my strategy as outlined above… or maybe not.