Bobbi Brown Creamy Color for Lips and Cheeks – Pink Truffle

July 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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My recent trip to the Bobbi Brown counter also saw me pick this little beauty up for my holidays. It’s a really versatile product, for both lips and cheeks. The colour, however,when it comes out of the tube is frankly terrifying.

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Luckily you don’t end up looking like a reject from clown school as it fades down to a pretty blush on application. This is my first foray into what I would call liquid blush (I reckon cream should come in a pot) and I am enjoying using it. Great for perking up lips and cheeks on your Summer holiday.

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July empties

July 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Many moons ago, a friend worked for someone who had obviously told his wife to take some cash and pop out to buy “the girls in the office” something for Christmas. The wife, obviously with an eye to the main chance, had popped to the local department store. And what the girls in the office got were cute little make up bags filled with Estée Lauder miniatures. Yes, the girls in the office got the Gifts with Purchase while the wife was presumably luxuriating in a bath full of expensive suds while she examined her full size foundation.

I have a drawer full of such tiny samples and bags and usually just pull them out if I am away for a night or two. However, back in February I picked up a GWP from Estée Lauder that was genuinely useful. As well as containing a few sample size moisturisers, there was a really nice full size pink lippie and a 5ml pot of Advanced Night Repair for eyes. This tiny pot lasted a full 4 months which I think is pretty generous. It’s finally come to an end and while I am giving Elemis a whirl round the eye area now, I really liked this product and may well buy the full size.

My other finishee for July is my Jurlique night cream. I reviewed this earlier in the year but in brief I properly loved this. It is spendy but you can really feel the quality of the product on your skin. I’ve swapped to Clinique to match up with my night serum for a while but I will be back for more Jurlique in the future.

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Bobbi Brown Desert Twilight palette

July 9, 2012 By 4 Comments

Bobbi Brown Desert Twilight

The first rule of Palette Club is that you shouldn’t buy it unless you like every single one of the colours in it. Oh, go on then, I’ll give you a free dislike on one colour, but basically you need to be in love with the rest. I learned this lesson the hard way when I was flying a lot in the 90s and kept getting suckered in to those cute all in one palettes that they flog in Duty Free.

With the Palette Club rules in mind I have passed on quite a few palettes that have tempted me, but the launch of this one coincided with a point where I had John Lewis vouchers in my hot little hand. Who needs more sheets? Well, apparently not me, baby.

Colours in the palette

So, although it’s July, I think this might be a Fall collection? If, so they have got the UK weather spot on as it was overcast and tipping down as I scurried into John Lewis with my spending hat on. I will confess I did have one of the colours already (cement) but in the cream formulation, so obviously that doesn’t count (new, additional Palette club rule).

The colours are all very wearable, with a mix of browns, pinks and hints of aubergine. Three are matt (Navajo, Cement and Chocolate Mauve), as you can see from the information label and five are metallic (Twilight, Pink Dusk and Twilight Pink) and sparkle (Watercolor Pink and Dusk). I’ve swatched them on my arm in the same order they appear in the palette.

This is a gorgeous palette, and worth a look if you are passing the counter. It’s Limited Edition and £48.

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Cuticura anti bacterial collection

July 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Cuticura hand soaps and sanitisers

I recently attended the BritMums Live event, and one of the many exhibitors there was Cuticura. They’ve just released a new range of liquid soaps and hand sanitisers, and I was lucky enough to receive a sample set to try.

Trust me, I am a long way from being a hygiene obsessive, but as a family that often travels on public transport in London, anything that might add a little extra protection against picking up nasties is very welcome. The anti bacterial hand washes come in three scents (lime and bamboo, ginger and manuka honey and black pepper and pomegranate) and as well obviously cleaning your hands, boast an additional three hours protection against re-infection.

Even more impressively, the hand wipes and serums prevent re-infection for 8 hours, and are obviously great to carry around in your bag. There is a kids’ version of the serum too.

The products all smell nice, which is obviously important, are priced at a High Street level and feel nice on the skin. They are alcohol-free. I’ve not spotted them appearing in the High Street yet, but will be keeping an eye out for them.

(Samples provided by Cuticura, opinions are my own).

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NARS Fall 2012

July 3, 2012 By 2 Comments

I’ve just seen some images of the new releases over at Cafe Makeup. It all looks gorgeous, as ever with NARS, so hopefully we will be getting some of these goodies in the UK too.

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Mai Couture Social Glosses

June 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Mai Couture Social Glosses

The very lovely Jane at Modesty Brown sent me these babies to try, and was kind enough to pop my review on her blog last week. Hop on over and have a look if you want to find out more about this brand.

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Holiday: essential beauty

June 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Essential holiday kit

I love poking round other people’s beauty kits, so thought I would share the makeup that I took on my recent holiday. I went to Spain and flew hand luggage only, so needed to keep things minimal and also under the 100 ml liquid limit. Here’s what made the cut.

1. Laura Mercier oil free tinted moisturiser. This is my go to base on days when I am running errands or just around and about, and has an SPF20 (although as I was in Spain I had picked skin care with an SPF of 30 in any case). I use this in Sand. Every time I wear this people tell me I look well – it brings just a tiny hint of colour to my cheeks, blends beautifully and is great on my combination skin. Prise it from my cold, dead hands.

2. NARS concealer in Custard. Great coverage, I use it for under eye circles and when wearing the Laura Mercier TM I top up with this over some thread veins round my nose and on my chin (nice).

3. Chanel eyeshadow quad in Prelude. I never tire of these colours and wear something from this palette most days. Makes a brilliant liner with a wet brush too, negating the need to pack an extra liner. I’ve read some people saying they have a problem with the baked formula, but that’s never been an issue for me.

4. Estee Lauder Double Wear Mascara in black. The only mascara I have ever found that I can wear all day that does not irritate my eyes. I stock up wherever I see them on special offer.

5. Burberry bronzer. A fantastic product that is really subtle and has a tiny shimmer. No orange faces with this one, but just a really healthy glow.

6. Bobbi Brown blush in Desert Rose (ancient). A dusky pink that layers nicely over the bronzer.

7. Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie. Love this rich formulation in the Summer. The bargain buy of the year, especially when Boots or Superdrug have them on special offer.

8. Bobbi Brown lip gloss, in a mystery colour because there is no label on it. Petal, maybe? *helpful face* I usually layered this over the lip butter.

9. Burberry Lip Cover in English Rose. My everyday wear at the mo, and the thing you can prise out of my other cold, dead hand.

So there you have it. On reflection, it’s not exactly minimal when you spell it out, but it was enough for six days in the sun without makeup fatigue.

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Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Fix Kit

June 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I had a run in recently with some Neutrogena hand cream which had less than the desired effect, leaving my hands dry and peeling. Despite swapping back to my regular Neutrogena cream my hands were still looking very dry. A friend recommended the Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Fix kit so I thought I would see if that did the trick.

The kit is available in a range of fragrances but as a citrus junkie I went for Citron, Honey and Coriander. You get two 100g tubes and start with the Hand Recovery which is a moisturising scrub. It’s quite a heavy scrub – you’ll definitely know you’ve done it – but you can instantly feel the difference as soon as you wash it off. My hands felt way softer immediately. You then top off with the Hand Therapy which is an intensive hand cream.

I did the routine last thing at night and my hands were amazing in the morning. I haven’t seen them look this good for at least 10 years. All hint of dryness and peeling was gone and they were baby soft. I’ve carried on with the hand cream and plan to use the scrub maybe a couple of times a week. This is my new beauty best friend.

{It’s £24 on the C&E website but I got it from Amazon for £21.55}

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Jo Malone Plum Blossom

May 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Jo Malone Plum Blossom

My final stop on my recent trip to London was the Jo Malone counter in John Lewis Oxford Street. This is a spanking brand new counter in the spanking brand new Beauty Hall, and very nicely done. The staff were lovely, as I’ve always found Jo Malone’s staff to be, and I had a nice mooch round. The main purpose in going was to restock on my summer staple fragrance, Lime, Basil and Mandarin. Whenever the sun is at full strength this is what I reach for. There’s something about it which makes me feel cooler, even if just for a minute.

Whilst at the counter, I got sucked into trying the newest Limited Edition, Plum Blossom. I have to be really careful with Jo Malone – some that I have bought in the past I have found to be quite brutal smelling on me – but this one is proving to be a winner. JM are offering Plum Blossom in two sizes, so I erred on the side of caution and went for the smaller.

Jo Malone describe Plum Blossom as “Inspired by cerise, Plum Blossom opens with the fruitful freshness of yellow plum, its floral heart blooms on a background of creamy sandalwood and clean, white musk.” The plum goes quickly on me, and it soon dries down into a really pretty floral. I knew I’d like the base notes, which I do, and I have really enjoyed wearing this. I haven’t started combining it with the rest of my Jo Malone’s but that’s next on the agenda. A definite Spring fragrance and a really nice addition to my collection.

Plum Blossom and Lime, Basil and Mandarin

Plum Blossom window display

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Burberry Beauty – Lip Cover and Sheer Summer Glow

May 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My main purchases

I headed to John Lewis Oxford Street with one main aim – my first visit to a Burberry Beauty counter. I can honestly say I have never met a Sales Assistant / MUA as enthusiastic as the one manning the counter when I was there. He told me that he truly loved working there because every single product was fantastic.



Lip Cover in English Rose

Well, I can’t say that I tried every single product, but what I did try was lovely, and I came away with 2 purchases. I asked the SA to find me a really lovely everyday lip colour, something very natural. He came up with the Lip Cover in English Rose. I love it. It is me, but better. The attention to detail on these products is incredible. The casing has the Burberry check as does the lipstick itself. The lid clicks back on with a magnet, which is stupidly satisfying. On application it is weightless. Possibly the best formulation I have ever tried and I have a horrible feeling it may have ruined me for all other lipsticks. Sigh.



Sheer Summer Glow powder

The second product I bought was the Sheer Summer Glow powder. A palette of four colours, the SA walked me through the multiple uses. You can sweep a brush over the lot for a subtle bronze, use the darker colours as a contouring bronzer, use the pink and cream as highlighters and finally use the colours as eyeshadows too. Again, the same attention to detail with the check on the pouch, case and powder. I’ve not tried this too extensively yet but look forward to playing with this one.

The SA was pushing the Sheer Concealer hard – it comes in a tube like YSL Touche Eclat, and he used it as a highlighter and also as a base for my lips. I didn’t buy as I have the ByTerry Touche Veloutée already, but it looked like a nice product.

He was very generous with samples. A mini lip cover in Rosewood, two palettes of lip colours – with teeny tiny brushes! teeny tiny brushes! – and Burberry Body perfume. I am very very impressed. This will not be my last visit to Burberry, I confidently predict.

Sample Lip Mists. Teeny tiny brush!


Burberry Lip Cover in English Rose

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