MAX FACTOR

Beautyfull News: NARS, Max Factor, Rimmel London, Payot

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BEAUTYFULL NEWS 02It’s mainly about colour for me this week, with a bit ‘o’ skincare thrown in.

NARS Christopher Kane Violet Atom Multiple {€40}
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Lips and cheeks and general highlighting are covered by a multiple, and NARS are well known for their contributions to this cosmetic enhancement. I have to say, I don’t know where I’d be without my Orgasm — but what gal would, in fairness? This is an iridescent tube of purple-y/silvery goodness and it’s all I can do to not draw all over my face with it. I find it wears away more quickly than I’d like, so be prepared to reapply often. This is a limited edition!

MAX FACTOR Creme Puff Blush {€11.49}
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I reach for this more often than not — and I’ve got an Hourglass trio of Ambient Blush sitting right there. This is effectively a dupe for said Ambients, and has equal pigment and durability. I don’t know, I think because it is less spendy, I feel like I can use it on a daily basis? I have nothing bad to say about this at all, although it could use more impact in the highlight. Otherwise, this is produces a rich, expensive glow to the complexion.

RIMMEL LONDON Oh My Gloss! {€4.99}
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Enriched with Argan Oil and Vitamin E, this is the perfect treble-purpose lip gloss. It applies (and reapplies) like a lip balm, shines like a gloss, and fades with aplomb. I found the lighter shades to be too light, but the ones that have got decent pigment — like Rebel Red (shown) and Twinkle Twinkle (not) — truly take you from desk to disco. There’s a good balance matte and sparkly choices, too.

PAYOT Élixir Idéal Skin-Perfecting Illuminating Serum {49.50}
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I am currently motoring through a Payot moisturiser, which never happens — I never finish a moisturiser. I’ll be writing about that soon, but until such time, I got stuck in to this. I love a good serum, and this is pretty good. I’m finding it absorbs that bit too quickly — I don’t think my skin is suffering from unusual dryness, but it is ‘summer’ after all. I’m not giving up on it, just saying that it’s not been an immediate ‘love’.

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Tried & Tested @ The Herald: Foundation

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This week, I worked with several different brand’s foundations. How’d they do? Here’s the link!

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HELLO! WOW!Speaking of which, I recently revisited BeneFit’s Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Foundation. I hadn’t liked it a’atall when I first tried it, but now? I love it loads! Will get back to ye with a proper review, but I mention it as a case, which happens occasionally, in which I revisited a product and liked it better. Pro Tip™: using a foundation brush really, truly does make a dif. A true life case of ‘do what I say, not what I do,’ unfortch — I even remember the brand’s lead make up artist, LIsa Eldridge, showing us at the launch that using a brush is best. Tcha! Have I finally learned my lesson?!? Stay tuned…

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Brow Round Up Over at The Herald

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My Tried & Tested Column seems to be making a regular appearance these days over at herald.ie, which is great news for those who’d like a quick blast of info as regards a weekly category of beauty and skincare products!

This week: brow enhancing make up. See here, m’dears!

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If you’d like to mooch around the archives over there, best to search ‘Sue Conley’…

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Colourful Claws: Ten Shades, Ten Thoughts

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First off: I am mainly rubbish at applying nail varnish, so take that into consideration, plz.

Also: my splitting nail, herein dubbed ‘Auld Schplitty’ is the really stubby one on my left hand, ring finger, so do give it some slack for being so abbreviated.

I had vowed to paint all the nails because I was feeling out of sorts, and then something happened, I don’t know, I had a sambo or something, and then I felt in sorts; then, I didn’t feel bothered to do the nails, but I had said I would, so I did, hurriedly, and well, yeah. Not the best manicure ever.

Surely the most colourful, though! Bright side.

The following replicates, as near as dammit, my first thought upon completed application of each colour.

>LEFT HAND {Clockwise from thumb}
LA Splash Glitter Nail Lacquer in Fire Siren
OMGGGGGGGGGGG awesomest glitter ever ever ever.

L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche in Wild Purple
Gloopy. This is not — yeah, too thick.

Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Cherry Jubilee
Ooh, love — bit thin, maybe?

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Ruby Tuesday
Eh — this brush, so small. Too fiddly.

Lancome Vernis in Love Long Lasting Nail Polish in Madame Tulipe
Perfect! Perfect — one coat, flat brush, yesssss.

>RIGHT HAND {Clockwise from pinkie}
Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Frenzy
Best. Neutral. Ever. Deffo needs two coats, though.

Yves Saint Laurent La Lacque Couture in Taupe Retro
Bit thin. Three coats? Yikes.

Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Lucky Penny
Another Avon, don’t care: shinnnnnny!

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire
Yeah, the brush is too small. So streaky!

Lacura Beauty in 171
Now, that’s excellent pigment. kinda thick, though…?

OVER TOP OF THEM ALL: Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat. This = great.

Underneath, I did an extra coat of Dr Lewinn’s Renunail Nail Strengthener. I wonder if it is what is making most of the varnishes look crackly? Because there are fault lines showing up on almost all of them. This is not a good look.

The keepers? Chanel, Lancome, Avon, and especially: LA Splash. Wowweeeee it is fabbbbalis. I feel some fear about removing it, though, and will be following the advice found here, via CherrySue, Doin’ the Do.

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I still have my toes to do, and I’ve got a whole range of Avon Nailwear Pro+ with which to do them…

Post-Olympic Slump: I Haz a Sad. Is There a Cure?

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I’m not even supposed to be sitting here: the Dublin Horse Show kicks off today, and I really am supposed to be there. But even I am not about to go out in this hurricane.

Dammit. The show is my yearly visit to what is, for me, a mash up of Heaven/Nirvana/Valhalla < the latter minus the burning bark. Not that I can be at all spendy, but I really do need new jodhs. And a couple of pairs of those cotton gloves with the sticky bits on the palms.

The show is also meant to be a way to get over the great void left by the Olympics, which is of greater depth than I would ever have guessed. I have become less interested in the event the younger the athletes have gotten. Like, when you’re a child, even as unathletic a child as I was, you can still dream, you know? Not so much, the older you get.

Although! There was yer man Ian Millar from Canada: 65 years old and still jumping! Yeah, well, never mind, not much of argument, as I wouldn’t even feel able to hold the lead rope of any of those Olympic horses. So whilst the dream is well past its sell by date, I got all into the Games this year, and it took me a few days to realise that I really did miss them.

Sigh. I actually have work-work to do, which is grand, but I just feel so blah.

I think I will paint all my nails. In individual colours. I have many, many nail varnishes all of a sudden. I have a shedload from Avon, I’ve got to try & test a bunch for the newspaper, amongst which are samples from Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Lacura, Lancôme and L’Oréal Paris. Also, just got a couple from Max Factor, and also from new-to-Ireland brand LA Splash. And I can finish it all off with a Sally Hansen top coat.

Yes. Can’t think of a better use of my time. Apart from the work-work, of course. 

BRB.

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Small and Perfectly Formed: Max Colour Effect Mini Nail Polish

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My toes are not perfectly formed, although they are weirdly small. No: what I am talkin’ ’bout is Max Factor’s Max Colour Effect Mini Nail Polish (€4.99). See, the thing about nail varnish is — other than the fact that it has been wasted on my manky nails — I get tired of a colour almost immediately. Also, it’s all about mood, isn’t it? Like, I’m not going to feel orange or sparkly all the time, am I?

When these little gems came through the letterbox, I was abso delighted. They are so small, I can’t even read how many ounces they are. I don’t think there is even room on the label to include it! Here’s another wack photo of one of my feet:

Combination of colour swatch/relative size of the bottle, of which its body is not as big as my big toe. I really think this is perfection in nail varnish dispensing.

Shown here is Candy Blue, part of the Dalston (London) palette, which also includes Lollipop, Cactus Green, and Cool Jade. This trendy London neighbourhood is joined by Via Tortona (Milan), Marais (Paris) and Brooklyn (NY) (<— LOL: honestly, if you only knew some of the places I have lived in Brooklyn… hilarious.) (Also: not a neighbourhood, it’s a borough, which is much bigger.)

There are 18 shades in all, and they run the gamut from deep opaques like the blue I am sporting, to yummy pale-and-creamy hues, to sharp and sparkly metallics. That’s all I need — you?

Oh: just so you know, this colour is coming allllll the way off before we meet Italy on Monday. Because: duh.

Flippin’ My Lid: Colour Effect Flipsticks by Max Factor

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I’ve gotten lazy as regards lipstick: you have to look what you’re doing, unlike lipgloss, and ugh, the maintenance: it is high.

Also, my only lip-lining brush has gotten extremely unsanitary, which makes it difficult to use most of the lippys I’ve got in trying & testing rotation.

And then I got a bunch of these in the post:

These are FUN with a capital F-U-N.

So what we’ve got here are 6 lippys that are actually twelve, so when you buy one, you are getting two, with one side giving you a matte colour, and the other side a bit of iridescent shine to go over top of the matte.

This is exactly the kind of mix-and-matching we used to do in high school {high school? What am I even talking about? I did this yesterday} only now, you’ve cut your lipstick-bulk in half. Less crap in the handbag! I think we can all get behind that.

The six shades, that are actually twelve are, from top:
>Gipsy Red
>Bloomy Pink
>Folky Pink
>Salsa Red
>Swingy Brown
>Boreal Mauve

So far, I am all about the Boreal Mauve. Those pinks look pretty red to me, so I am leaning towards the Folky Pink to try next. I found the Swingy Brown to be a bit dark when applied to the full gob, but if you put the darker shade on top, and the shiny shade on the bottom, and then smoosh your lips together, the effect is really cool.

As far as application goes: the matte colour is rich, yet light as feather, and it has a lip-balmy feel to it as well.

A layer of clear gloss over top of any one of these and you’ve got red carpet lips. Which sounds weird, and a little gross, but you know what I mean.

Wear is what you expect from a lipstick not designed specifically for heavy duty: it’s a normal, get-a-reflective-surface kinda jawn. Me, I think these shades are dramatic enough to reserve for evening wear, so I don’t need the pigment to last forever. If you don’t plan on eating or drinking, then you won’t be touching this up very much, which, frankly, does not sound like much F-U-N to me.

€11.99/£8.49