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Thursday 12 February 2015

Lipsticks of the Week/Month/Quarter [Delete as applicable]


By Tindara
 

It has been a while since I detailed the lipsticks I’ve been wearing regularly. As Louise herself said recently in a Lippie missive, we may as well start calling it Lipsticks of the Quarter. But if you bear with me, I’ll let you know about a few new discoveries I am excited about. I’ve been watching quite a few Beauty Vlogs recently and they’ve influenced me to look at lots of new products, sometimes from lower budget ranges than I would normally go for.



First up is one I’ve had for while, Lancome Rouge in Love Dan Ses Bra 163M. The colour is just beautiful, a perfect rose pink-red that’s good for every day but works with a more full-on eye too. It’s very moisturising, doesn’t last as long as others I have, but it’s worth reapplying for the colour, scent, and feel. It really is a lovely shade that would suit lots of people. Especially good if you’re a bit scared of bright red or pink shades as it’s slap bang between the two, but a touch softer.



Because it’s still so cold and wintery I’ve been into deep plum and purple shades and finally have the guts to wear Bobbi Brown Cream Matte Lip Color in Crushed Plum. It’s a lovely deep wine colour and fairly hydrating despite the matte formulation, I really like to wear it with gold or coppery colours on my eyes.

The other purply plum I’ve been wearing is a great new discovery for me. I have acquired quite a few Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balms. I love a matte lipstick and these are very moisturising minty balm stains that somehow remain magically matt on your lips. The shade I wore last week was Shameless. I was out of my lipstick comfort zone as this was very purple, but still, I love it. It’s playful and interesting without being too Goth or Emo. I did ask my husband whether it was a bit ‘Twilight’, I figure since he teaches teenagers, he’d know. It was deemed fine, so I went ahead and wore it, again, with coppery shades on my eyes.

Another matte lipstick I’ve had multiples of is Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick. A liquid matte lipstick that’s comfortable and leaves a very long-lasting stain; you can apply lip balm on top throughout the day, and they really last. My favourite colour is Frambourjois, and I wore this last week. As I do, most weeks to be honest. It is, like the Lancome Rouge in Love Dan Ses Bra 163M, a perfect colour between pink and red that would suit most people. Slightly brighter then the Lancome, and looks chic on it’s own with little eye make-up.


Another long lasting balm to finish, Rimmel London Colour Rush in The Redder The Better. I like these Rimmel balms a lot though they’re more dewy than matte with a slightly more sheer texture. They are buildable though, and look great with a corresponding lip liner if you’re going for a deeper lip colour. But they also look great dabbed on lightly with little other make-up when you’re just pottering around local places for local people and want to look a bit more cas’. If like me, you habitually turn to higher end lipsticks, try some of the drugstore ranges’ tinted balms and matte formulations; they may surprise you and make it into your weekly favourites.

The Fine Print: PR Sample The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.

This post: Lipsticks of the Week/Month/Quarter [Delete as applicable] originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper


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Monday 19 January 2015

New Year, Old Me

By Tindara:

Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me you will be utterly bored with all the "New Year New Me" nonsense and be wanting to shove anything "detoxing" up the jacksie with a rolling pin. At least, I think that’s what they’re recommending; I tend to switch off after someone mentions a detox. Instead, I’ve decided to do the exact opposite and track down some of my old, and hopefully classic, beauty and fragrance favourites; Thierry Mugler’s Angel Mac Spice lip pencil, and Chanel’s Rouge Noir.



I have been longing to try Angel again, ever since I realised it’s in the Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez top ten Classic Fragrances. I felt simultaneously very pleased with myself that it was my signature scent for years, and irritated that I had pretentiously let it go when it became ubiquitous and much copied. Well I started my first Angel day off in a haze of gourmand nostalgia, but after a couple of hours the spicier notes came through and I fell in love with it all over again, more than twenty years later. I had remembered it as a sweet but fresh fragrance with a certain something unusual about it. Maybe that was where I was at with my perfume appreciation at that stage; I certainly feel I have learnt a lot since, not least due to hanging around with other fumeheads and lippie-aficionados

This is an amazing scent – the fresh zesty peel notes that appear after the initial sweetness give way and turn into a deep spiciness with a hint of church incense and patchouli. It’s like wandering into a shop that sells crystals and tarot cards whilst wearing a diamond tiara. I suppose it’s no coincidence that I wore this in my grungiest years, but I was a rubbish grebo; my standard issue German army boots were contrasted with little black dresses and deep red lipstick. I always wanted that touch of glamour. Angel now feels elegant and sparkly but with an earthy depth that’s just perfect. I think it might be my new [old] favourite.



I'm sure you’re all familiar with Mac Spice and all its dupes. Like Angel, it was launched in the nineties and quickly gained cult status as the perfect nude shade. It’s a long time since I wore it, or even lip liner at all; I tend to just go straight for the bullet these days. In red, OBVS, as the children say. But the odd cool neutral has made it into my everyday routine so I thought I’d give it another go. Pixiwoo in particular are lip liner devotees and they inspired me to get back on point, so to speak. 

Unable to get hold of a Mac Spice when I needed it, though, I hunted out a Bourjois dupe recommended by them, Crayon Contour Des Lèvres in 12 Facétieuse. It is a perfect nude, and I’d forgotten how great a toffee coloured lip liner can be at giving you a brilliant bee-stung pout. I used to push the edge to the very limit, (not over though, never over…) filling from the outside in, then topping with some lip balm. More recently, I've been using Laura Mercier Lip Glacé in Blush on top, which looks great with a smudgy smoky eye. I've now resurrected the few lip liners I have and am using them more and more as a result. They’re really long lasting and I love the fact that you can use them as a stain of colour not having to reapply as much throughout the day.



I was so excited when I finally got hold of some Chanel Rouge Noir back in the day – I had to go on a waiting list for it. Crazy, but we all wanted the shade that Uma Thurman wore in Pulp Fiction. I had to have it. It also reminded me of Shirley MacLaine in the 1988 film Madame Sousatzka. I was a strange teenager; there was something about the strands of beads, short dark nails and beautiful decorative fabrics in her costume that I adored. So as soon as the short dark nail thing happened I was there, and I don’t think it’s ever really gone away for me. 

I haven’t worn actual Rouge Noir for years though, until my friend got me some as a present a few months back. I still really love the rich bloody-black sheen of it, I couldn't stop looking at my hands. I feel like it goes with anything too, hold it against denim or black lace and it will look fantastic. It is straight up elegance with a touch of bohemian gothic and suits everyone in my opinion. My old [young] self wasn't so bad really; quite a stylish girl. 

What are your old favourites?


The Fine Print: Angel starts at £48, Mac Lip Pencils are £12.50, Bourjois Crayon Contour Des Lèvres are £5.49, Chanel Rouge Nail Polish is £18. All were bought by me, except the Chanel Rouge Noir which was gift from a friend.

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Wednesday 19 November 2014

Adventures in Ageing

© Andy Gotts MBE 2014 - reproduced by kind permission  


 By Tindara


I’ve posted previously about being a big woman and how much my creativity with make-up and fashion helps me feel confident and ready for the world. Recently, though I’ve been battling some other demon. I’m really starting to feel my age in my face. Those of you who know me or have seen pictures are probably thinking I need a slap about now, but hear me out. I’ve been blessed with high cheekbones, thanks to my mum. But as a result, as I’ve got older, my under eye shadows have become more pronounced and I’m often frustrated when applying eye-make-up. I want a crisp clean look, or a smudgy rock chick eye and all I can see is shadows.

Over the last year or so, I’ve tried every concealer and technique known to man, but nothing seems to work. Even high coverage products have made it look worse. So recently, I’ve started thinking about whether I would ever get fillers in this area as I’ve heard they can help. I’m worried about starting something I can’t finish, psychologically and financially, even though I know the vast majority of people who have these kinds of procedures have just one issue dealt with. Plus, I’m a feminist and part of me feels uncomfortable about the ubiquity of surgery, botox and fillers. I do understand however, why people get these things done. We live in a world terrified of ageing. And especially terrified of old women.

Without really thinking about it too deeply, I’d started scouring the media for women my age who haven’t had work either surgical or non-surgical, but all I see are smooth foreheads and bag free faces. I’m not sure whether it’s brilliant make-up or good lighting or just my current perception, but more and more women seem ‘done’. I’m not talking about the scary waxy immovable faces, or the recent Renee Zellweger brouhaha, but those subtle changes you don’t notice until you think about it specifically. I feel like we’ve forgotten how to age, how to appreciate looking good as a forty, fifty or sixty year old without trying to look thirty or younger. Where are the imperfect and irrepressible femme fatales wearing a kimono and burgundy lipstick, clutching a martini glass and fidgeting with a long cigarette holder? Where is the fun of getting older and having the gravitas to own a thoroughly eccentric or grown-up look?

More importantly, how can we fight the insecurities we all have as we get older if it starts to become accepted that you will have work done? I’m a problem solver, I get it, I love finding the right product or technique. I dip into online discussions and forums with a shopping list at the ready, looking for the latest serum or base that will make me look amazing. It seems, though, that at the very least, non-surgical fixes like botox and fillers will soon become the norm for both men and women as they get older. Perhaps we’re going to have to be brave not to join the club when confronted with an army of smooth foreheads in our workplaces. Perhaps I perceive it this way because I’m interested in film and beauty, which are off the charts pressurised in this respect. I try not to judge, I think if I was under that constant scrutiny I may have buckled early and often. But where do we draw the line?

I’m asking a lot of questions, probably because I’m as confused as most people are about this issue right now. I guess I respect people’s freedom to have these treatments and personally understand the insecurities and frustrations that lead to those choices. But I feel like I’ve forgotten what an untrammelled face looks like. I cling to the beautiful pictures of the Lauren Bacall or Katharine Hepburn in their forties, fifties and sixties as though they’re holy cards, praying they’ll give me the strength to resist. 

Maybe in the end, what we need is a little honesty. Let’s all get our cards on the table. Only one person I know has admitted to having anything done and I suspect she’s not the only one. How do you feel about this? Would it be a better all-round if people in the public eye were more honest about it, or friends and colleagues spoke about it in the same way they do about having a facial? It could help us know what the realities of ageing are and be more comfortable in our own skins. Lately though, when looking in the mirror, I have to keep reminding myself that no-one cares or notices as much as I do.


This post: Adventures in Ageing originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
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Tuesday 4 November 2014

Sleek Eye and Cheek and Precious Metal Highlighting Palettes



 By Tindara


This week I’ve been wearing more eyeshadow than usual. I admit that generally my habit is to wack a bit of smudgy liner or chubby eyeshadow stick around my eyes, finish with mascara and some kind of eyebrow pencil and move on to blush and lipstick. I am to lipstick as a problem hoarder is to month old newspapers and dusty odd souvenirs. I have a problem. But like a lot of you, I imagine, I also have lots of lovely palettes I rarely use. So when I was recently given another three by Sleek makeup I had to steal myself to use them, and I’m really glad I did.





The palette I used most was Dancing Til Dusk; with four wearable shadows in light taupes and dark browns (Au Naturel iDivine) and two blushes, in Mirrored Pink, and Sahara, it’s really versatile. The two lighter shadows which match my skintone in matt and shimmery finishes, and the two darker cocoa-coloured shades in shimmery and matt finishes look like they’d be lovely shadow bases on darker skintones.


The shadows are all well pigmented, soft and blendable. I used the dark browns as a liner and the shimmery light taupes up to my browbone. With a bit of pink blush, it was really easy, I only needed lipstick and mascara and I was done. I’ll definitely be taking this on trips and weekends away. The palette has been careering about in my satchel all week without too much damage too.








The See you at Midnight and Precious Metal Highlighting Palettes are gorgeous, and I’ve enjoyed having a play with them. 









I can’t wait to go out and put together a high-octane look with them, the blue-purple colour eyeshadow in the Vintage Romance i-Divine collection, and iridescent Antique Bronze highlighting cream being particular favourites. The palettes are like glittery Mondrians and have Christmas all over them. I’m now totally excited about the festive season already. Too early? Apologies, but gold sparkle will do that to you. Have a go, you’ll see.


Sleek Eye and Cheek and Precious Metal Highlighting Palettes are £9.99

This post: Sleek Eye and Cheek and Precious Metal Highlighting Palettes originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
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Thursday 16 October 2014

In the Pink – with Bleach London DIY Dip Dye and Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL

By Tindara

Readers, I’m having a mid life crisis. As I write this there is a glinting sheaf of pink visible at the base of my Sunday morning top knot. Yes, in an effort to stave off middle-aged boredom I have dip-dyed my hair pink, and it took some doing. I have very dark hair, with little white or grey. Very lucky at 43, you might say, but since my somewhat failed teen experiments with bleaching, dyeing and straightening, I had resigned myself to my natural black-brown frizzy curls. Until earlier this year, when I started getting Keratin treatments on my hair.

Now I don’t love poker straight hair at all, like most people these days I favour a natural looking wave and after a week or two this is exactly how my keratin treated hair behaves. There is less body, definitely, but it has a nice shiny easy wave to it. And even better, I don’t really have to do anything to it except comb it and put a tiny blob of serum on it every few days. So far, so easy. But then I kept seeing people with great colours on their hair, marshmallow and pomegranate and mermaid blues and minty greens. A close friend dip-dyed her blond bob deep pink and purples and I was introduced to Bleach London by a friend on a forum. So pretty soon, I was dreaming of rainbow tresses, mermaid stripes, blue tips, pink and apricot waves, I wanted pastel colour, dammit.



I was due to have a keratin treatment in a few weeks and had done some research and knew I had to bleach and dye before the treatment. When I bleached my hair, I realised that pastel was going to be a bit of a task. I used Bleach London’s DIY dip dye kit. It was really easy to use, I recommend it, the blending lotion that you apply before the bleach really helped get a gradual effect from lighter to dark. Since my hair is so dark though, my first attempt made the ends a lovely auburn. This look great on it’s own, but it didn’t satisfy my need for bright colour. And when I put Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Purple Punk over the auburn, it turned the ends a bright but deep cherry red, which was lovely but not exactly what I wanted.


After a couple of weeks letting my hair rest, I used another Bleach London kit to bleach the ends again. They turned out slightly brassy and wouldn’t really take a pastel dye; I tried Bleach London’s Rose and it just went from candyfloss pink to light orange within a few hours. So I chose Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Shocking Pink to go over the top. Hey presto, proper bright pink ends. Probably, too soon, I had my usual keratin treatment with Alterity Studio in Covent Garden, and now I have straight hair with pink ends. My dip-dyed ends are now soft and shiny, and considering how worried I was that my hair might break after all the bleaching and dyeing, I think it looks pretty good. Not the neatest dip dye in the world but good.

I will continue to use a deeper colour while this keratin treatment wears off as bleaching can remove the effect of the keratin, I understand. I was also told by the lovely Carmen at Alterity Studio that it’s not recommended to dye your hair within two weeks of a keratin treatment either, so be warned, if you’re going to get some colour in your life. I may head to Bleach London and get something more pastel done before my next keratin treatment. If you want to see the results follow @Tindara on Twitter or @tindaras on Instagram.


Bleach London DIY Dip Dye is £7 and Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL is £4.


This post: In the Pink – with Bleach LondonDIY Dip Dye and Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
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Friday 26 September 2014

London Fashion Week: Emerging Trends


By Tindara



It’s been a little while since I wrote anything for Get Lippie, and to get me back in the writing saddle, and so I could atone for this appalling neglect, our resident pro make-up artist Luke Stephens arranged a ticket for me to attend the London Fashion Week Synergy event: Emerging Trends. Luke was second in command to make-up supremo, Nicci Jackson and the London Muse pro make-up team for Emerging Trends. This is an annual European showcase of new designers and can be a really important springboard into the industry for them. There was certainly some interesting work in show, and I really enjoyed the whole experience, especially getting a glimpse of what happens backstage.






Obviously, it all started with me panicking about what to wear on Facebook, as I’d never been to anything at London Fashion Week before! I dutifully went with black, as everyone had told me to, with some killer Pavie Gioelli chain earrings and my faithful furry leopard ankle boots. When I got there I was welcomed backstage by Luke and Nicci, and it was all remarkably calm. Models were milling about in jewel encrusted and geometric patterned silk, and the mother of all make-up collections was spread out on one side of the room. I could pretend that I was like, totally cool, but the reality was my mind was screaming “OHMIGOD, the girl from Tottenham is backstage at London Fashion Week”. I know it sounds supremely hackneyed, but everyone really was lovely, especially Nicci and her London Muse Academy team who gave up their time to be there, who didn’t seem to mind me nosing about while they worked away.




Luke and Nicci had an impressive schedule with the corresponding series of looks photographed, rehearsed and ready. As I was whisked away I got to see the first few models ready to go for Naveda Couture (USA), the diaphanous fabrics, shimmery beading, and olive, coral and cream colour palette were set off by a gleaming metallic sheen on the skin with fishtails plaits and natural curls.




Anya Liesnick’s (Germany) slick cuts and Rorschach style patterned fabrics were complemented by strong straight dark brows and exaggerated winged black liner, and matt peach or red lips. Shefali Couture’s (Dubai) satins, lace and shimmer, were accompanied by more metallic sheen, white liner round the eyes and matt orange lips. Fleur Kelinza (UK) and Stefan Meuwissen’s (Belgium) beautiful brown, orange, cream, black and gold geometric honeycomb silks were teamed with more peach matt lips and a china blue shadow with a lovely sixties vibe.



The real stars were Prieston (Noémi Nagy Hungary) and La Mo Designs (Leonora Asomanin UK). Prieston in particular, featured beautifully cut dresses in innovative richly coloured and textured fabrics, modern floral brocades with see through elements, Russian influences and crystal-encrusted bling. One dress in particular made me and my neighbour sigh. It was a grown up princess dress with puffs at the shoulder, gathers at the waist and discreet V-back coupled with a saucy red floral fabric with see through areas. I loved the baby-pink gloss used on models, the sunkissed look with long tousled braids was really playful with the full on drama of the Prieston stuff.



Asomanin’s work was also structurally impressive, influenced by Japanese traditional kimonos, though brighter with beautifully colourful fabrics, long trains attached to belts and shoulders. Make-up was strong and dark and goth-inspired, with both black shadow and lips, or heightened colour, like blue, pink and yellow on both eyes and lips.



I hadn’t appreciated how much hard work make-up for one of these shows is before; Nicci, Luke and the rest of the team did a great job. No wonder Luke said it was like a conveyor belt back there! The amount of different looks and how they corresponded to each designer’s work was a creative and organisational feat. Tune in next LFW for more back-stage make-up stories, meanwhile, I’m practicing sashaying in very high heels and triple top knots with blue lipstick.


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Monday 8 September 2014

Storage Week! Tindara

The increasingly mis-named Storage "Week" continues (sorry about that), and today we have Tindara showing you her drawers, Wednesday has Laurin showing us her ... er ... rather unorthodox perfume collection, and Friday will bring you Pro-Makeup Artist Luke showing us how we should really do it (or not ... you decide!).  Our editor, Louise, will be showing you hers next week, as she needs some time to tidy up.  Allegedly.

Anyhoo, over to Tindara:

Recently, I’ve been binge watching Orange is the New Black. It’s fantastically entertaining, really well written and also pretty funny with some proper great female characters. And another thing that I really love about it is that those women love their beauty and want to keep doing it despite their circumstances. All the way through, though, I couldn’t help wondering how the hell they stored their contraband stuff.



I love my storage paraphanalia, and tend to go as nuts in Muji as I do in a beauty hall. Their PP storage baskets are ideal for compartmentalising your haul. I also use their acrylic storage for lipsticks and glosses etc. I even recycle old Eucerin Hyaluron Filler Concentrate lids as liner/mascara pots, they’re clear plastic circular containers that would be good for brushes too, and since I use this product all the time, I assume I will always have lots. Recycling containers is useful, don’t spend money on new when that little rectangular thing that used to house cotton buds is exactly right for all your chunky lip pens.


As you can see my dressing table is pretty crowded. All my perfume, jewellery, daily skincare, current nail polishes and this week’s make-up are piled up on here. But believe it or not, it’s in some order. My fave things are my Muji clear jewellery box and the knock off Eames hang-it-all for my necklaces. Clearly, I need a larger dressing table; I’m working on it, but I’m also really fussy and am waiting for the perfect vintage piece to turn up. In the mean time, the drawers are pretty organised.


The first is blushers, lipsticks, eyeliners and mascaras.



The second is skincare and perfume samples, beauty tools, essential oils, glitters, eyeshadows, nail polishes and wraps.



The third drawer contains, glasses paraphanalia, hair accessories and brushes, and scarves.

I also have an excellent IKEA Lillangen tall slim bathroom cupboard in my hall with more Muji acrylic storage dividers inside for hair and body products, hair dryers and straightening/curling irons, brushes and rollers etc.  My husband gets a shelf here and a little more room in the small bathroom cabinet that has a few travel size toiletries, tweezers, wax strips, stuff I might need in the bathroom basically. Dunelm Mill do a great extendable bathroom caddy for shampoos and shower gels and we also have this in our bathroom. By my bed I have night creams oils and balms and a bag containing all my mani/pedi tools.



And that’s about it. My dream is a bathroom with amazing floor to ceiling storage built in. One day, grasshopper, one day. In the meantime I have a ‘mid century chest of drawers with mirror’ alert on ebay and a serious Muji habit.

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Friday 15 August 2014

GOSH Autumn Winter 2014


By Tindara

Well it might me blisteringly sunny out there but it’s Autumn Winter launch time and I was excited to be invited to see the new GOSH products this week. As usual GOSH haven’t let us down, they seem to capture the zeitgeist better than most other brands at their price point.




Those of you into mineral make-up will be pleased to hear GOSH are launching a mineral powder. Pareben and perfume free, it’s a loose powder in a decently sized container with a handy dispenser at the top in which you can swirl your brush. I tried the powder at the event and it had really good coverage but felt light and smooth. It’s also pretty good value at £9.99 if you want to see what all the mineral make-up fuss is about.


Along with the powder they’re also launching a mineral powder brush with densely packed short bristles which do the job nicely. If you don’t have a kabuki or similar brush that works well with a mineral powder, this is a good value option at £7.99. I use mineral make-up regularly as it’s a good option for sensitive skin and for a quick base. I’d definitely consider using this in place of the Laura Mercier and Bare Minerals which I use regularly. I hope GOSH join the other mineral make-up brands and make a compact version soon too.


Another product I absolutely love is the Defining Brow Gel, I’ve read a lot about brow gels recently, but having quite sparse eyebrows I didn’t think they’d do the trick for me. Well, I have worn this every day since I got it and I love the effect. It definitely thickens and darkens my brows enough and stops me having to bother with a pencil. I am using 002 which GOSH call a brown/grey. My brows are a dark black/brown and this thickens, darkens and holds my brows in place in a subtle way. I really love it. It’s gone into my everyday make-up bag where I think it will remain.



The Giant Blush stick is another GOSH product which might remain a staple, I love the soft texture which blends really well. I tried 06 Pink Parfait which is a lovely colour. It pulls a bit more blue pink than I’d normally like, but blends very well with deep pink, and blue red lipstick shades. I tried using it as lip colour too but I found the texture wasn’t quite right for this so I’d stick to using as a quick pop of blush on the cheeks. I also wondered whether some of the lighter toned pink-brown shades could be used for a subtle contour effect.


And now to the new shadows, GOSH have themed the new pallettes in this Autumn Winter range with American cities, so there’s 001 New York sophisticated neutrals, 002 LA aqua and green-browns and my fave 003 Las Vegas (Rainbow brights). I got a Las Vegas palette which caught my eye immediately, the colours are beautiful clear brights, and I’ll be honest with you, irrespective of how these shadows work I love this palette. It’s gorgeous. The jewel-like rhomboids of colour are like a Mondrian. I know others feel the same as me about pallettes, they’re just beautiful things. So what about the shadows, you ask. They’re not massively pigmented so though the colours look bright in the pan, they’re quite subtle on, buildable washes of strong colour that would look beautiful with minimal make up look or with a liquid liner on top. Those of you that find brights scary may want to try these, they’re a good way to get a bright green or pink shadow on without making a big statement. The palettes are also good value at £9.99.



GOSH have also launched more colours of their great Velvet Touch lipsticks and a couple of new mascaras and glamorous nail colours. I have yet to try the rest, but I’m going to enjoy going to Superdrug and having a play. I hope you do too.

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Thursday 17 July 2014

Lipsticks of the Week

By Tindara

Well I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time for another Lipsticks of the Week. This week, it’s a summer mixed bag, pinks and corals and you guessed it, a tomato red. I’ve also been on a spending spree and bought a few new lovely lippies that I feel like raving about.



Last time, I mentioned my favourite go-to deep pink, Bobbi Brown’s Cosmic Raspberry. Since we’re talking about the pink hit parade, a close number two is definitely Lipstick Queen’s Hot Rose Sinner. It’s got a real hot edge to it alright. There’s something of the deep but fizzy bright to this, it’s more flirty somehow than pinks of similar tone. It’s also got a lovely moisturising but semi-matte texture. I really like Lipstick Queen products as a concept and this is not the only one from the range I’ll be featuring this week. Hot Rose Sinner is a versatile colour, and works with little eye make-up or a big flick, or tones really well with taupe or goldey browns and greys.


(Hot Rose Lips either full selfie or one of crops, whichever you prefer)

Like me, you’ve probably heard a lot about Estee Lauder’s new Pure Colour Envy lipsticks. I had to see what all the fuss was about and bought a couple. I went for Intense Nude and Impassioned. I really loved the feel of these lipsticks, long-lasting, highly pigmented and satin in finish with a light vanilla scent. Both colours are eminently wearable.


Intense Nude is the perfect brown-pink darker than natural lips colour on me, but I think it could suit lots of skin tones from pale to dark. It works well whether you’re going for an efficient day look or a more of a statement look with lashings of mascara and smoky eyes. Somehow it makes my lips look bigger and fuller. I really love this.

And Impassioned, well, you know how I feel about tomato reds, and this one is glorious. It reeks of glamour, and the satin feel needs a touch more make-up than I sometimes wear with other more matte finish reds. This is not a problem however, these lipsticks feel luxurious and make me want to spend more time on my routine, adding flicks and smudges and highlights. I’m revelling in them to be honest.



And now two coral lipsticks; I love a sheer coral at this time of year, it feels totally right for sipping a fruit-filled Pimms and matching with your pedicure showed off in your gold sandals. Well, Birkenstocks, anyway, I’m not that blooming glamorous. Anyway, the two I’ve been wearing are Tarte’s paper-packaged Soft Coral and Lipstick Queen’s Endless Summer Stoked.

Tarte Soft Coral lipstick is great, a hint of peachy coral in a really moisturising sheer finish with quirky cool packaging. It works well on it’s own for a natural look or with bright blue, turquoise, or navy liner/shadow. This has been in my bag all week and the packaging stands up to being lolloped around a bag on London Transport, even if I don’t in this weather. Lipstick Queen’s Endless Summer Stoked is almost like a deeper coral take on Jean Queen for me. Slightly more pigment, perhaps, but supremely soft, natural and moisturising. I like wearing this with a smudgy navy liner, and my hastily applied dolly blusher in a peachy coral shade with a bit of shimmer.

Well there you go lipstick fiends, there’s mine for this week. Maybe I’ll go heavy on the eyes next time and clear gloss. Adam Ant stripe over the nose? Nah, there will be red, there will always be red.

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