Lancome Grandiose Mascara

Lancome Grandiose

Lancome Grandiose

Lancome Grandiose Mascara is easily the best looking mascara launch of the year. I love what they’ve done with the packaging and rounded shape bottom end. The top end fades to a clear perspex-like plastic that houses a single black rose – it’s just delightful.

Lancome Grandiose Mascara

Lancome Grandiose Mascara

But then… er.. this happens! Here’s the backstory. The difficulties we face with putting on mascara involve doing the ‘other’ eye and not getting decent enough coverage across the hard to reach areas. Crossing the brush over the nose, turning the wrist to reach the eye on the other side and switching to your other hand to apply mascara. Lancome Grandiose Mascara  has a ‘swan neck’ that intuitively avoids cheekbones, nose and eyebrow arch when applying because it is curved at 25 degrees to its axis. WHAT? So, to avoid all these troublesome mascara pitfalls (my eyes are so rolling, just saying), you’ll have to follow some very complex instructions, that includes, “slightly rotate the wand between your fingers a third of the way round; the brush naturally positions itself horizontally over the central third of the eye.” Don’t worry about the other two thirds because there are just as complicated instructions to help you deal with those as well.

Nice idea, horribly over complicated by a set of instructions more tricky than learning how to perform key hole surgery. In fact, that’s probably easier.

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EcoTools Brush Roll

Eco Tools Brush Roll

The EcoTools Brush Roll falls into the category of ‘This Is Helpful’ when it come to beauty tools. but also ‘This Isn’t Pretty’ in the same category. Brush rolls are marvellous things for keeping brushes clean and tidy – the best thing about the the EcoTools Brush Roll is that inside the comparments are labelled….

Brush Roll

..so you never need to hunt around for individual brushes. I have some of my brushes in the Paul & Joe brush holder, which I love, but the rest are in rather a muddle in a drawer – if you’re tidy minded about your brushes, then the roll is a godsend. It’s also a bonus that you get a brush to either start your brush set or add to. But, the roll itself isn’t beautiful and neither is it particularly well made, never mind that it’s a dull brown colour. When I think of EcoTools I think fresh and bright, but this is a bit, er, depressing! Green? Orange, maybe?

It’s £9.99, launching in June.

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July Makeup and Skincare Favourites

july monthly beauty favourites

Here we are once more; monthly favourites. I have Caroline Hirons with me again so you’ll need to prepare yourself for a fair amount of chatting. In Caroline’s skincare video, at any rate – I edited the makeup video down from thirty-two minutes to about nine, but Caroline has gone for the director’s cut and published something that’s not far off a feature-length movie. Ha! If I were you, I’d grab a glass of wine (but not if it’s still breakfast time) (and not if you’re at work) and make yourself comfy. Perhaps have a little plate of olives to hand? Some breadsticks maybe?

Whatever nibbles and beverage combo you end up going for, you may want to have a notebook ready because there are some gems in these videos. I’ll paste the makeup links below the videos, but for the skincare credits you just need to click through to Youtube at the bottom left hand corner of the video. Enjoy!

Clarins Tinted Moisturiser – I use shade 1: http://tidd.ly/8a694806

Clarins Brow Kit: http://tidd.ly/1f47ced2

PAM London Jan Sewell Makeup – sorry, can’t find this but leave a comment for Caroline and I’m sure she’ll enlighten us!

Becca Shadow and Light, launches 14th August. Pre-order:http://goo.gl/Y5O1YV

Real Techniques Dual Fibre Brush: http://tinyurl.com/oeh33qj

New CID i_glow in Coral Crush: http://tinyurl.com/p2cq5r9

Bourjois Creme Blush in Shade 1, Nude Velvet:http://tidd.ly/f50c7491

Bobbi Brown Palette in Surf & Sand: http://rstyle.me/n/mm3hct6a6

Lancome Grandiose Mascara: http://rstyle.me/n/m63rkt6a6

Urban Decay Subversion and Perversion Mascaras:http://tidd.ly/4d221bc2

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Healthy Glow Makeup: Guerlain’s Joli Teint Powder

guerlain joli teint powder duo

There are two ways of looking at Guerlain’s “Terracotta Joli Teint Healthy Glow Powder Duo” (longest product name in the world, and breathe): either it’s a finishing powder that you sweep over your skin to warm it up and add that final layer of faked “rude health”, or – if you have particularly fair skin – it’s the perfect subtle bronzer for all-year-round bronzing. On me, with my fair-medium skintone, the Joli Teint powder works in much the same way that Chanel’s Les Beiges does: the effect is almost imperceptible, at first, but then after a few goes with the powder brush there’s a noticeable change in tone and glow. It’s not shimmer, it’s not colour, it’s just…a kind of healthiness.

guerlain joli teint powder duo

Many people will see these types of powders as being rather pointless; they either want to bronze themselves or not. They want to finish with a powder that will keep shine away, or not. If they want to add a subtle hint of blush then they’ll do so, and they’ll do it with their blusher, thank you ever so much. Something that’s so subtle you can hardly tell that it’s there is many people’s idea of a total waste of time. However, I will say that I use my Chanel Les Beiges powder on an almost daily basis and it does have an effect: just one that you can’t quite put your finger on.

Chanel Les Beiges video review…

The Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Powder Duo is very similar, but with an added crescent of pinky powder to mimic that “lightly sunkissed” effect. I have the very palest shade (00) and could probably, in all honesty, do with a tad darker, but have a look and see what you think. Here I am with just foundation (actually BB Cream, it’s the Precious one from l’Occitane, shade 02):

ruth crilly face bronzer review

The skin looks fine, but see how the Joli Teint peps things up a bit in the next photo.

ruth crilly face bronzer review

It’s just like a very subtle injection of life, isn’t it? A day spent outdoors tending to the flower beds, or what have you. (Does anyone actually do that? The moment the sun comes out I’m usually flat out on a towel with my eyes closed! Sod the flowers.) Unless I’m going completely and utterly bonkers, there is a definite difference. Actually more so than you get with Chanel’s powders, I think, but mainly because with Les Beiges you match the powder to your skintone, so it has less of a hue to it, more of a glow. (You can go a shade or two down, to get that pale-bronze effect, but I’m not sure it’s as warming and summery as this Guerlain gem.)

Read about the best nude makeup products…

And so: one person’s pointless is another’s treasure, or whatever the saying is. There are those who see no point in any of the subtle no-makeup makeup products on the market, but then there are others (me included) who bloody love them for their natural finishes. And also the fact that it’s very hard to overdo it with these types of “barely there” cosmetics – you’d have to be some kind of demented brush-wielder to get this powder wrong. It’s utterly, utterly foolproof.

You can find all four shades of the Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Healthy Glow Powder Duo (*takes a nap*) on Escentual.com here – they cost £31.95 each.

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Birthing and Pregnancy Chat with Caroline Hirons…

Screen Shot 2015-03-29 at 08.54.25

This post should probably be over on my pregnancy blog, The Uphill, but I know how many of you follow Caroline and I didn’t want you to miss out! Though please do feel free to skip this one if you have no interest whatsoever in pregnancy. Or birthing. It was just a casual pregnancy chat between friends, really, with the usual eyebrow-raises and sick-making faces that happen when Caroline and I get together…

Watch more videos with Caroline…

Screen Shot 2015-03-29 at 08.54.35

On the subject of pregnancy: I have so many posts to write and only ten weeks to go until my due date! Time has just flown. Hopefully once I get my accommodation situation sorted I’ll have the mental and emotional energy to sit down and do some proper writing-up. At the moment, 80% of my time is spent trying to find holiday lets that a) have internet b) accept dogs and c) are within a twenty mile radius of my house. There is nothing. Nothing, I tell you… If anyone ever wants a sound financial investment, buy and then rent out a flat or holiday cottage in the Hertfordshire/Essex area – one that has high-speed broadband and takes dogs. You’d absolutely clean up.

Caroline’s Pregnancy Skincare Video: https://youtu.be/zYUEoqOyvDw

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