Olay Regenerist 3 Point Treatment Cream

The PR for Olay offered to send this to me recently to try, and thinking that it was just an Olay 'super cream', I said yes, because I was interested to see how it compares to the SKII skincare I tried in the past (also from the Proctor & Gamble stable.)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is something different, because it's a massage cream that specifically targets the eyes, jawline and neck, loaded with hyaluronic acid to plump the skin. If you're interested in the idea of the Suqqu Gankin but you don't want to pay the £60 for the massage cream, this is a pretty good alternative. I've only tried it once (it came today) but so far I'm quite impressed with how it feels during the massage. Where it's different from the Suqqu is that you don't have to wash it off afterwards; it's the last step in your skincare routine. I wouldn't personally ordinarily use it during the daytime because it has no spf in it.

I don't really have sagging issues, but my sister in law has already expressed an interest in this cream so I'm going to make her a sample up and ask her to test it out too. I'll report back on how we both like it; I would warn the scent-sensitive that the fragrance in this is quite strong to my nose, it's quite a typical fresh Japanese skincare kind of smell.

If you've left someone's present until the very last minute (shame on you!) Boots and Superdrug both have this cream on offer at the moment for £23-£24, and Boots have it in a red gift box set.

Disclaimer: this product was sent to me without charge for consideration for review.

Happy Christmas from the Londons

Please help yourself to a ginger biscuit before Mr London eats them all.

This is the recipe, for anyone interested:

350g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g butter
175g soft brown sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
1 egg

1. Put the flour, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. 
2. Add sugar and syrup, mix with a spoon, then add egg and mix that in with the spoon. 
3. Knead the mixture until it's a smooth dough. You can add a little flour if it's too loose, or a little extra butter or treacle if it's too stiff. 
4. Roll out to about 5mm thickness, then cut out shapes. 
5. Bake in oven at 170 C, gas mark 3 for 10 minutes. The biscuits will still be soft when you take them out of the oven, but they harden as they cool. 
6. Ice if liked. 

Thank you so much to all of you who read this blog. I've really enjoyed chatting to you, and here's to a good 2010.

Bah Humbug, HQHair

I don't shop at HQHair.com very often, because I've had experiences in the past where items I've ordered have been notified as out of stock after I ordered, and have taken ages to arrive. I've also heard from others of bad customer service experience, and, frankly, there are a lot of alternative e-tailers that work harder at the customer services side of the transaction that I'd rather give my money to.

Recently HQHair ran a 25% off code, and on 10 December I placed an order using that code, mainly in order to buy an eye cream as part of Mr London's Christmas present. I purchased the Skinceuticals eye balm (priced at £60, so £15 off, which seems like a great bargain.) At least, it seemed like a bargain, until I went to wrap the bloody thing today, and saw that the expiry date is 02/10. That's three months away.

So, now I'm going to have a nightmare with their customer services department actually trying to get hold of anyone in the first place, and it's anyone's guess if they'll agree to exchange it when I'm outside of the 7 day return period and it's technically within date.

Bah humbug, HQHair.

Becca Paracus eye tint and Mermaid loose shimmer powder

These two products are a great combination for a natural eye with a subtle glimmer. Paracus is a neutral sheer brown tint, and Mermaid is a pale silvery gold with subtle greenish undertones.

A picture of the Paracus as it dispenses. It's quite a fluid cream.

The Paracus sheered out on the right, as I'd apply it to my eyelid.

Top left, Mermaid applied to bare skin, and on the right over the Paracus.

I love this combination for a natural-but-not-matte eye; Mermaid is a great product to use to add subtle natural shimmer without any warm or pink tones (if you find a lot of golds are too yellow or warm for you, this one is worth a look.) It works very well with a bronze or khaki eyeliner.

Becca products can be purchased online at www.BeautyExpert.co.uk and at www.beccacosmetics.com. It's also sold in Fenwicks in London.

RMS Beauty "Un" cover-up concealer in 11

Apologies for the state of the box and the product - as you can see this is one I use regularly (if I had had more forethought I would have snapped a picture before I got started on it.)

Heavy swatch of the colour - this is on the inside of my wrist, which is a bit paler than my face. My foundation matches are MAC NC20 (although that's a bit too yellow), Bobbi Brown Warm Ivory, Chantecaille Ivory, Suqqu 10, Becca Praline and ERA Y3. RMS 11 is a pretty spot on match for me; it's what I've been wearing in most of my recent pictures.

Blended out; it's still not a perfect match for the inside of my wrist, but you can see from this picture that the un cover-up really does mimic the natural texture of the skin.

What I like about this: it does look very natural. It isn't too dry or too creamy; I don't have to set it with powder and it doesn't settle into fine lines around my eyes. I also feel comfortable wearing it to cover redness on my chin without worrying it's going to clog my pores.

Things you should know: it isn't the most heavy duty of concealers. It knocks back my very dark circles to an acceptable level for me, but it doesn't obliterate them in the way that Becca or Bobbi Brown concealers do. The colour selection is also quite limited: there are only 3 colours available currently, and very pale and moderately dark (and darker) skins are not catered for yet. I also found the online swatches to be a bit on the light side; I was dithering between 11 and 22,  from the online pictures.

RMS Beauty is available at www.beingcontent.com, and the un cover-up costs £26 for 5.67g. That's not inexpensive, but I love the ingredients, ethos and finishes of all the products in this line, and I reach for this and the other items I own from this line (see my post on those here) a lot.

*Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, *Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, *Cera Alba (Beeswax),  *Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, *Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tocopherol(non-GMO), *Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, and may contain: [+/- Titanium Dioxide CI 77891, Iron Oxides CI 77492, CI 77491, CI 77499]

*organic ingredients.

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows

I've not really ever gotten that into Urban Decay for some reason, but I do want this:

www.sassisamblog.com/2009/12/22/alice-in-wonderland-urban-decay-palette/

The link has pictures - it's an Urban Decay Book of Shadows with an Alice in Wonderland theme. The Sassi Sam blog says that it's a Sephora exclusive launching on 28 December. Fingers crossed it's only Sephora exclusive in the US, and that it is going to come to the UK too. The ladies on makeupalley.com (where I first saw the link to the Sassi Sam blog) are going slightly bonkers over the idea already.

Edit: Urban Decay have put a message on their Facebook page saying that it won't be out in Sephora on 28 December, but no further news of the launch yet. For more info on the UK release, see this post on the marvellous British Beauty Blogger blog.

Ellis Faas face of the day (green eyes, orange lips)

L204 is a bright pumpkin orange. This kind of colour is not for everyone, I know, but I was utterly drawn to it at the Ellis Faas introductory event, and I love it. The milky lips have a very light fluid-stain texture that is slightly transparent. They do need to be reapplied quite often because of this, but I like the natural stained finish they give to the lips.

Close up of the eye look - this is after a very long day, and it held up really well. I applied the E104 close to my upper and lower lashes, and then smudged it out on my lids a little. I then dabbed a little of the E204 over the top on my lid only.

And this is the whole face. I think these products show that colours based on naturally occurring shades do not necessarily have to be in the beige/brown spectrum. I'm also wearing the ERA Everyday foundation in this picture (in shade Y3.)

Inspired by Rachel Weiss - Chanel and Beaute FOTD

I loved the look that Rachel Weiss was wearing at The Lovely Bones premiere, and found a great breakdown of it here at BlogdorfGoodman.blogspot.com. I was inspired to give it a go myself tonight, as I already own and love the Murano Quad. I subbed Chanel Blush Fresque for the Tweed Rose (I won't buy products with oversprays), and Beaute Masochist weightless lip creme for the Dragon Rouge Allure Laque, but only because the Dragon was sold out at both Chanel counters we visited today (it will be mine as soon as I find it.) I was wearing Beaute Liqui-Gel Stain in Fever earlier today, and you can see it on my cheeks underneath the Chanel Fresque (I think I'd prefer this look with a more neutral cheek, just with the Fresque.)

Picture of the products used:

Incidentally, how excited am I about Chanel Spring? TheBeautyLookBook.com has glorious pictures of a lot of the collection here (it's already out in some bits of the USA), and I think I will need the Kaska beige eyeshadow quad, Rouge Allure lipstick in Impertinente (a dusty rose) and the nail polish in Particuliere (the taupe.)

HJ Manicure nail polish Twinkle over Blizzard

This is a coat of Twinkle over one coat of Blizzard (the polish I'm holding in this picture.) I love Twinkle on its own (see my picture of it here) but it's really lovely over the dark grey Blizzard. Very seasonal, but   not a typical glittery red (although those are nice too.)

Please note: Blizzard was provided free of charge, for consideration for review. I bought Twinkle myself.  HJ Manicure products are available online at www.HJManicure.com. 15ml bottles are £8.50, and 5ml bottles are £3.50.

Z palettes now available in the UK

Z palettes tweeted at me to let me know that their palettes are now available at Makeup Provisions in Shepherds Bush. The large palette (which I own, pictured) is £18.55, and the smaller palette is £12.85.

Makeup Provisions also sell Julie Hewett (although the transfer exchange rate they have on this line is horrid) and MUFE (Makeup Forever.)