She's back - and raving about Embryolisse skin care

Firstly, an apology is in order. I have been missing in action for some time now, but hopefully you don’t mind too much – house move went well, our first Christmas in our new gaff was perfect and, more importantly, I have found my make-up mojo again.

I must admit, I have a confession to make – over the past few months, I have not really been bothered about buying make-up. SHOCK! HORROR!!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I have dug my hand into my pocket in Boots just as many time as I would do normally, but it has mostly been for re-purchases of tried and tested favourites, rather than buying the latest new and radical thing. I have not really had the time (nor the inclination, frankly) to get excited about stuff like that when there have been curtains and cushions to buy and flat-pack furniture to put together. Inorite, ROCK AND ROLL!

Anyway, that is all behind me now – a momentary blip in history which I am not ashamed of, but am now feeling ready to move on to shiny pretty things!

Before we do so though, please let me draw your attention briefly to a serious subject – something that has plagued me daily for many, many years. I’m talking about dry skin.

Not just dehydrated skin – although that’s something I do also suffer with, I know full well that it’s because I don’t eat properly or drink enough water (although over the past couple of years I have been infinitely better at remembering to drink!) so frankly that’s my own damn fault. I mean the itchy, sensitive, flaky, scaly horror that comes from all manner of things – a gift from my mother I suppose (stupid genes!), but aggravated by the environment, air-conditioning, hormones, you name it.

Believe me, I’ve tried every lotion and potion going. But now, finally, I think I’ve nailed it, and I am as happy as Larry. So let me share with you firstly the Holy Trinity of skin care, in the form of a trio of products by Embryolisse.

Left: Baume Riche; Middle: Lait-Creme Fluide; Right: Lait-Creme Concentre

The big bottle in the middle is Lait Crème Fluide, and it’s a lighter, daily use version of their Lait Crème Concentre (to the right of this picture in the battered tube, sorry!). The Fluide is my go-to moisturiser after washing my face in the evening, taking make-up off with wipes, just splashing my face with cold water, anything. If my skin feels as though it needs it (particularly after facewash, which can be moisture-stripping) I then top up with a thin layer of the Lait Crème Concentre.

The silver tube on the right is Baume Riche, which is the daddy of all moisturising balms. I don’t use this every day – although you definitely could – but rather use it sparingly on certain areas of my face than need a little bit of TLC for whatever reason. I typically use it at night on the sides of my nose, around my mouth, and above my eyebrows which is where the flakiness generally tends to occur most often. This is now my favourite alternative for my beloved Origins High Elevation Dry Skin Relief (which I still love, but only really buy when there’s a special offer on in Boots – it’s HELLA PRICEY).

The Lait Crème Concentre is also a fabulous make-up primer, just let it settle in a bit before beginning to apply your base products. Admittedly it hasn’t managed to tear me away completely from my Clarins Beauty Flash Balm in that respect, but for travelling it’s a great multi-tasker, which doesn’t take up much space in the suitcase (leaving more space for extra lippies!).

So that’s what shove on my face whenever it needs moisture. In terms of cleansing products, I only have one that I use, really. It has never let me down, and although I get lured away occasionally by promises made by other products, is the only one that I go back to again and again and again.

Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser for Dry/Sensitive Skin

If you’ve got dry skin, be sure to get the one with the shea butter in. There are other versions for oilier skins which I have bought by mistake in the past – and a mistake I will never make again (it was like putting foamy meths on my face).

The pathetic little sponge you see to the right of the pic is actually the main reason my skin looks half decent. It looks innocuous enough, but trust me – once you start using an exfoliating sponge in your skincare routine you will never go back to any other way! This is what I tend to use in the evenings, once I have taken off my make-up with a baby wipe (nothing fancy), I then lather up the Clarins face wash onto my face, and use the exfoliating sponge (this one is a Botanics one I believe) to work it in nicely, before rinsing off with warm water. Then moisturise as normal. That’s it!

I tend to find that I only need to wash my face once, sounds a bit minging but in the mornings I just give my face a once-over with a hot flannel, leaving it on there a few moments to open up the pores, rub over the face gently, then splash with cold water to close the pores back up again and encourage blood to the face for that natural rosy glow, then a little bit of moisturiser and I feel awake and ready to face the world! (Once my make-up is on, of course!).

Are you a dry skin sufferer? Want to share any horror stories that might make me feel a bit better about the times I actually FELT BITS OF SKIN FALLING OFF MY FACE?

Jen

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NB I bought my Embryolisse products through Love Makeup, but you can also get them through the Guru Makeup Emporium website.

A little bit of luxury with Burberry lipsticks

Finally finally finally finally, they have arrived. They turned up at work this lunchtime so I have been champing at the bit to get these beauties home and give them a try.

Please note: I have yet to try them on my actual lips, so these are just my initial thoughts before giving them a more thorough and rigorous testing.

I really wasn't sure which ones to get - on the Burberry website they all look so goddamn gorgeous, it was hard to choose....... but I had to limit myself to a measly four - so I took the plunge with two Lip Velvets and two Lip Mists, to test the water.

The Lip Velvets are a relatively new addition to the Burberry lipstick collection, and are billed as being "velvety matte radiance, inspired by the most opulent of English fabrics". My initial impressions are one of amazement - Burberry seem to have genuinely got their description right, as the finish is a lovely satiny-matte finish which felt gorgeously soft to apply on my arm, but it also felt thick. This one could go one of two ways - my immensely dry lips tend to suffer with matte finish lipsticks, but this one feels like it could be the one my lips fall in love with, as it seems pretty non-drying (maybe not actively moisturising but then again what mattes are?).

The Lip Mists on the other hand are slippy, unctuous, balmy wonderment.  But don't be fooled - although the Burberry website describes them as having a "sheer illuminating finish with a subtle hint of colour", these bad boys still pack a punch when it comes to pigmentation. Again, I have yet to test them for wear, but I couldn't resist seeing how the darker shade (Blueberry) looked on my lips - I felt as though this would be a step outside of my comfort zone but I'm glad I went for it, it looks amazeballs.

Pics:

Lip Mist - 206 Blueberry

Lip Velvet - 310 Military Red

Lip Mist - 212 Nude Peach

Lip Velvet - 302 Peony Rose

L-R: Lip Velvets in Peony Rose, Military Red; Lip Mists in Nude Peach, Blueberry

Burberry cosmetics are available directly through their UK website at £22.50 each, or over the counter at Selfridges/Harvey Nichols, if you're lucky enough to have one near you.

Has anyone tried the Burberry cosmetics ranges? Anything you recommend that I try? I essentially just want you to validate my incessant need to spend money on shiny, pretty things.

Jen
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Missing in action

Don't worry - I haven't been abducted by aliens and been forced to involuntarily participate in biological experiments, conducted in order to try to learn more about the human race in order to better ANNIHILATE US FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH. 

In fact, it's worse than that - we're in the process of moving house. Thankfully, hubby has been dealing with most of the grottier legal stuff, but even so I am reduced to thinking that actually, given the choice, I would probably say "bring on the aliens". 

Anyway, nothing to report just yet, other than the new house is hopefully going to inspire me to buy, use, review, photograph, and experiment with more make-up than ever before. The lighting is fantastic, and there will be plenty of space to arrange my stash in a much more logical way so that everything gets used, rather than languishing in drawers until it goes off......!

More posts to come, I promise - including a recent mini-haul of Burberry Lip Mists and Lip Velvets (once they arrive, that is!), some No7 eyeshadow trios (which I lurrrrrrrve) and some additions to the Clinique Chubby Stick collection. 

Watch this space, gentle reader.

Jen
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Make-Up Academy haul - finally!

Well, it's been a while! Such is the hectic and giddy life of someone that teaches other people how to be accountants. Anyway, I have finally managed to have a little play with the Make-Up Academy haul that arrived a couple of weeks ago....... thank you MUA, for allowing me to haul so many shiny, pretty things while only requesting the paltry sum of £18 from my bank account.

Anyway, let's have a look at what we've got.....

Firstly, the Glamour Days eyeshadow palette. Had my eye on this one for a while - after having had a brilliant experience with the buttery, shimmery goodness that was the Heaven and Earth palette, I was looking forward to trying some slightly more "outre" shades but not so much that I was stepping too far out of my comfort zone.....! The pretty purples and blues in this palette seemed ideal, and to top it off there are a couple of nice neutrals in there too. A good one for travelling, methinks.

Top row

Bottom row - there is a sixth shade on there, I promise...... it's just coincidentally the same colour as my arm!

Amongst the haul I also got some liners, a mixture both for lips and eyes. Again, wasn't expecting much from these, but the Intense Colour liners were creamy, pigmented and quite a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the Intense Glitter ones were a bit hit and miss, but for 75p each (as it worked out after the discount) one cannot really complain, can one? I also got a liquid liner, which so far seems easy to apply and has a fabulous thin brush, but the pigmentation just feels a bit lacking and can apply a little patchy unless you do a couple of coats. Workable though, definitely.

L-R: Intense Colour - Red Drama, Royal Blue; Intense Glitter - Gold Nugget, Silver Glitter, Pink Glitter

Liquid Liner - shade 5

In a slightly different order in this pic, not sure why!!! L-R: Red Drama, Royal Blue, Silver Glitter, Pink Glitter, Gold Nugget, Liquid Liner in Shade 5 (Black)

Next, some single eyeshadows. Unfortunately, buying sight-unseen has been a bit of a gamble in this case, but I seem to have ended up with some decent colours that will make for some fabulous smoke eye looks. The only one that seems to let them down slightly is the black one, as it is more matte than the others is has a slightly chalkier texture and a less potent finish than the others. It'll do nicely for setting the liquid liner, though!

L-R: Shades 3, 11, 12, 15, 30

Same order as above, this time!  :)

Lastly, a bit of a hodge-podge of other random bits and bobs that fell into the online basket - I have this fantastic ability to justify additional purchases if I know I will be getting a discount on the items; and in this case it really made little to no difference seeing as everything is so inexpensive anyway!!!

Top: Lovehearts lip tints; Bottom: Lipsticks in shades 5 and 6, blush in shade 4

L-R: Lipsticks - Shade 5, shade 6; Blush - Shade 4; Lip Tints - Great Lips, Sweet Kiss, Hot Lips

The surprise in this bunch was the blush. Shade 4 looked almost overwhelmingly dark in the pan (in fact, almost the same as Shade 3 which I have already dismissed as making me look too "David Dickinson"), however when swatched, as you can see, it is a lovely gentle shade of subtle coral. It reminds me enormously of NARS Gilda (if anything, the MUA shade lacks the orange intensity of the NARS which, for cack-hands such as myself, is a Very Good Thing), but for a fraction of the price.

I am ever more wowed with the MUA offerings. Although initially I may have been a bit dismissive of the whole "cheapo makeup" thing, thinking it would only appeal to (and benefit) the lowest common denominators of society (snob? Moi?), consider me suitably chastised - I am genuinely impressed with pretty much everything I have come across so far. For the prices, I don't think you can go far wrong and to be honest, even if you do, what's a pound between friends?

MUA is available in various Superdrug stores, and also on their wesbite.

Did anyone else avail themselves of the superb discount.....?

Jen
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Special offer - Make Up Academy

Just a quick whistle-stop post today - for those of you who don't follow MUA on Facebook or Twitter, I just thought I would let you know that they currently have a promotion on - as they have reached 25,000 likes on Facebook (yay!), they are offering 25% off all web orders, as well as free shipping!

Essentially, bargain makeup became that little bit more bargainous. Of course, yours truly could not resist the lure of the even cheaper goodies, and have stocked up on some single eyeshadows (which I have yet to try) as well as the Glamour Days palette that I've had my eye on for a while, a fistful of eyeliners both plain and glitter, a couple of additional lipsticks for the collection as well as some of their oh-so-sweet Loveheart Lipbalms!

Watch this space for more swatches/reviews as and when the parcel of fantabulousness arrives. 

You can take advantage of this brilliant offer by visiting their website, and using promo code MUA25 at checkout.

Time to get stocked up on loads of things - if you were ever tempted to try certain colours but have always held back for some reason, now's the time to try them and experiment! Eyeshadows and lipsticks for 75p? Don't mind if I do!

Jen

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