Butter London - the apology

Dear Nonie

I am an idiot.

Love,

Grace

x

The square lid can be removed - you just tug it off. It turns out I already had one of the new improved lids, and just didn't realise it. As you will see from the pics above, it reveals a tidy and easy grip cap, and can be replaced to line up perfectly, to avoid aggravating my pernickity compulsion to line stuff up.

Punctuation haiku

Writing a blog has

Made me realise that I

Use (brackets) too much

I really must stop the bracket abuse!

By Terry Rose de Rose liquid blush giveaway

This looks so pretty in the jar, but I've worn it twice and both times washed it off and started over. I do not like shimmery blushes, I prefer cooler tones generally and this is very very subtle (which I am not.) I must have been in a fugue state when I bought this. I swear I was pmsing (I always buy very ugly clothes or very atypical (for me) cosmetics at that time of the month. It's better than breaking things or yelling at Mr London, I suppose.)

There is nothing sadder than an unloved product, so I'm going to give it away if anyone is interested. If you are, please leave a comment (I'd love feedback on the type of posts/reviews you're interested in) and a name will be picked out of the hat at random next Sunday, 5 July. I'm going to ask that you're a follower of my blog for the sake of this so I can be sure I'm giving it to the right person when the winner (assuming more than one person wants it) is announced (yes, I am slightly paranoid. I'm a forensic accountant by day who has dealt (professionally) with scam artists - you know - the "You've won the Canadian Lottery" type.) Alternatively, please email me when you leave a comment so I can be sure I'm giving it to the person who entered!

Colour is 02 Corail Rose. It's been used twice. It smells (strongly) of rose.

Open to all, not just UKers.

L'Occitane Mom & Baby Balm

What's with the Americanism in the name of this product? Anyway, it was actually my mum (or mom?) who introduced me to this product. She's discovered the internet and my dad's credit card - the people at L'Occitane can't believe their luck and have ordered extra vats of the Immortelle line that she loves. She threw this into one of her orders, and used it on Miss London when she was staying with them, then gave me the rest of her current tin when she returned my child.

Miss London and Mr London both suffer from little patches of eczema. This soothes and moisturises it instantly. It's softer and less waxy than pure Shea butter, and not as oily as the Egyptian Magic (olive oil/propolis) ointment that we'd been using for a while. Miss London is also a hayfever sufferer and often gets nosebleeds if the skin inside her nostrils really dries out, and we use this to moisturise and act as a pollen barrier.

The texture is thick and creamy but not hard or waxy; the blend of oils and butters used make it soothing and spreadable. It doesn't sink in straight away, but leaves a protective film on the skin.

Ingredients are: Coconut oil, shea butter, grapeseed oil, oat flour, sunflower oil, shea butter extract, tocopherol, rosemary leave extract, calendula flower extract.

It's fragrance free, but it does have that slightly nutty shea butter smell. The packaging recommends it for use on babies as well as on dry/itchy pregnancy skin (I think it'd be excellent for this. It wasn't about when I was pregnant; I used the pure shea butter and had to melt it with a hairdrier to apply it.) I think it'd make a good nappy cream as it does leave a protective film, and I also like it for dry cuticles/heels/elbows. It's currently on sale on the L'Occitane website at £7 for 50ml and £16 for 150ml. If you have any dry/sensitive skinned souls in your household, this is worth having to hand.

Butter London Macbeth nail polish

Butter London is, oddly, not a UK line, but a US brand that is free from formaldehyde, toluene and DBP found in many other nail polish lines. It doesn't smell as much as some other nail polishes, but it does still have an acetone smell.

The packaging (and specifically the lid) drives me crazy. As you can see from the photo, it does not line up to the bottle when you replace it and it just looks so untidy! It's also an awkward shape for applying the polish.

Application is not bad - although it isn't overly thick it seems to have less slip than other polishes, particularly on the second coat. It applies evenly though, and the picture is with two coats (I don't do polishes that need more than two coats, I just don't have the patience.)

Wear is not brilliant. Without a top coat, this chipped if I so much as looked at it funny. Expect to have to remove it after two days, and it really does need a good top coat to prolong the wear.

The colours are fabulous, and I love the names. I must admit, I bought this for the name (I love Shakespeare, and Miss London's name is from one of his plays) and it's lucky that I also love coral/red shades. It reminds me a lot of OPI's Cajun Shrimp.

This is a good line to try out if you are looking to avoid the big 3 - it has great colours and I am willing to compromise a bit on longevity for a less toxic formula. If wear is more important to you, you might wish to avoid this line. I do wish they'd change the lid, and I've read online of people who've had other problems with the bottles - brushes snapping and polish evaporating.

I bought mine from Content Beauty, where it cost £9.79 for 9ml. The website www.butterlondon.com ships to the US and UK, and has a variety of packs and deals.

RMS Beauty - raw cosmetics

RMS Beauty is another new beauty line that's the brainchild of Rose-Marie Swift, a makeup artist. Her backstory is that after many years of working as a makeup artist she suffered from health problems that she eventually attributed to the build up of toxins in her body, which may have been caused by the numerous products she'd been exposed to.

Like Dr Alkaitis, the products are not heated to more than body temperature, in order to avoid destroying or compromising the natural goodness in the ingredients. The ingredients are high quality and nourishing - coconut, argan and jojoba oil, shea and cocoa butter, and natural pigments (with the only exception of the Smile Lip2cheek cream, which contains a synthetic dye. They're working to find a natural alternative.)

I'm not going to be chucking out all of my other pretty stuff just yet, but I do love the way these look, feel and perform. There are definitely more of these in my future. I avoided a lot of makeup, nail polish and perfume and stuck to natural skincare lines when I was pregnant and breast feeding seven years ago, and I'd have loved to have the option of a brand like this then. I think this is the best brand I have come across for anyone who has a compromised immune system and is trying to avoid as many chemicals as possible, but still wants a pretty and modern looking makeup.

The cream eyeshadow has a glossy texture. Honestly, this creases. If you hate creasing, don't buy this product. I don't mind the creasing, as I like that slightly destroyed, casual look. I can easily fix it in a minute with a fingertip and the small pot is convenient to carry in my bag for touch ups. It gives a glowy, glossy sheen to the eyelid, which I love (I was a massive fan of the Club Monaco eye greases in the 1990s.) The colour I purchased, Myth, is probably the most high fashion of the six shades available - it's a reddish/copper shade with gold shimmer. I like this kind of shade because it brings out the green in my sludge coloured eyes, and it's a bit edgy without being too mutton dressed as lamb.

The Lip2Cheek is a fantastic product. It's along the same lines as Bobbi Brown's pot rouges, but I prefer the RMS version. It's creamy, pigmented and it's comfortable on both lips and cheeks. It has a matte texture that still manages to leave my lips in better condition than before it was applied (I'm guessing that's the argan oil in it.) The colour I purchased is Illusive, and the angels sang when I applied this. It's a very slightly plum/browned rose (no shimmer) that amps my lips back to the colour they were when I was a teenager (lips fade as we get older.) I can't overstate how much I love this colour.

Each of these products is £28 for a small (4g) pot. Yes, that's expensive, but they are very pigmented and I think the quality justifies the price. The packaging is simple but very classy and represents the high quality of the product well; it's a small glass jar with a white metal pot with the brand name on it. The only thing I find slightly annoying is that the text on the back of the pot is a strange mid grey which is much harder to read than either black or white would be against the colour of the product; this makes it a bit difficult to read the shade name on the pot.

In the pictures above I am wearing Chantecaille total concealer in Ivory under my eyes and around my nose, Myth on my eyes with Le Metier de Beaute black Mascara and Illusive on cheeks and lips.

In the UK RMS beauty is stocked at Content Beauty - www.beingcontent.com. I thoroughly recommend this website; it has great customer service (I emailed about an out of stock moisturiser and got a quick and helpful reply) and ships quickly and safely. Postage is also free with orders of £50 or over. I am already eyeing the gold and the taupe/mauve eyeshadows and the reddish Lip2Cheek for my next purchase.

Bliss Poetic Waxing Kit - the 10 point DIY guide

I don't particularly enjoy the idea of going to a salon for a bikini wax, so I am a DIY hot waxer. The best kit I have found is the Bliss Poetic waxing kit. I love this because you don't need cloth strips - the wax is applied, hardens and then you flick the edge and peel off the wax itself (kind of like when you did your finger in molten candle wax, only a little more painful.)

I find that this takes off every last hair, and as long as I follow the guidelines, it doesn't leave my skin overly red afterwards. I use it for my bikini line mostly; my legs can be less babied with a cheaper sugar wax and I shave my armpits instead.

Waxing rules:

1. Do not wax when you are having your period, or the week before it is due. Waxing hurts much more then, and quite frankly, all I want to do when Aunt Flo arrives is curl up with some good chocolate and chilled wine, not terrorise my bikini line.
2. Take a paracetamol (if you can, and you aren't allergic etc) half an hour before you start. Paracetamol is best for pre-waxing (I find if I take ibuprofen/aspirin I have a greater tendency to bruise.)
3. Make sure you have time, space, kitchen towels and an old towel handy.
4. Read the instructions.
5. Read them again. Properly this time.
6. Prepare the area for waxing properly - with the Poetic waxing kit this means cleansing with the cleanser, then applying a little of the pre- and post- wax oil to the skin, and blotting to take the oil off the hair to be removed. I also like to trim bikini hair to about 1 cm long - it makes it easier to remove and less likely that you'll accidentally get wax on to hair you didn't mean to.
7. DO NOT heat in a microwave. Really - it's a metal cup to make sure that you don't do it. Heating in a saucepan of water is the only way to go. Check the temp properly before applying.
8. Apply in small patches - think postage stamp to start off with. It's much easier to face than a two inch strip. Also, I treat it like eyebrow plucking - a little from one side, then a little from the other to keep things even. Be brave and take it off quickly - it hurts less that way! Press down on the area with your hand after removing the wax to lessen the sting.
9. If a little wax goes somewhere it shouldn't, you can use the oil to dissolve it, but do be careful - once a whole patch is applied there is really only one way it's coming off.
10. Finish up with the soothing post-wax oil. This will also dissolve any left over bits of wax, as well as soothing the skin.

If you drink (booze) and wax at the same time, don't come crying to me when you burn your nether regions or end up taking off far more than you intended to. This is not recommended procedure! Of course, I have never ever done this. ;)

The Poetic Waxing Kit can be purchased at any Bliss Stockist (Harvey Nichols, Selfridges as well as www.blisslondon.co.uk) and costs £35 for the wax, cleanser, oil and spatulas. It lasts me a good six months plus, used once a month.

Eleven Hair Salon, Blenheim Street WC1S

I love my hairdresser, Jason. I first began visiting his salon, Eleven Hair, just before Christmas, after a coloring disaster at Aveda left me with brassy gingerish highlights. (I will go on the record now as saying I love red hair, and I've been a happy redhead in the past, but dammit, I wanted BLONDE!)

He managed to fix it with no fuss and give me soft golden lights. I very recently decided to go back to my roots (literally. I'm still a goth girl at heart, and golden isn't me. I also have quite dark eyes, hair that grows like a weed and a work schedule and inherent 'leave-it-til-the-last-minute-itis' that means I am often sporting a chip shop blonde with an inch of dark roots.)

My instructions were brilliant in their obtuseness - "Can you make it like my natural colour, only not boring. A chocolate/chestnut colour, maybe?" I got exactly the colour I wanted, miraculously - it's a bit like the colour of a chocolate labrador, or the drippy girl (Bella) in the Twilight movie (great hair, not so good at emoting.) It's not so dark that I look like Mortitia, and he's woven a few red lights through the crown to break it up, which I love.

It is not an inexpensive salon, but it is worth every penny of the cost to me. It's also a fun and friendly atmosphere, instead of a snooty and scary one.

The website is at www.eleven-hair.com which has a price list/breakdown of services. Picture below is after washing a couple of times (and not blow-drying, or brushing, it. I really should have brushed it before taking a photo. I will try to take one after actually blow-drying it properly. It does show the colour quite nicely though.)

Nubo Voile - the emperor has (almost) no clothes on

Nubo is a line that launched in December 2008 exclusively in Harrods, London. According to the blurb it is a cosmeceutical line (skincare with benefits that are more than superficial) that is paraben, SLS and petro-chemical free, with no artificial colours or fragrances.

The Voile is the product that has been raved about in magazine reviews, and as I can be stupidly impressionable I convinced myself that I needed this product, so duly rang Harrods to mail order it in shade 01 (light, for pale skins.)

It is very silicone heavy, and feels very siliconey on the skin, and has a not overpowering rose scent, similar to Dr Hauschka Rose Day cream. The texture is a more powdery version of the famous Boots Restore and Renew serum. I really do not enjoy this sort of texture at all, as it makes my skin feel smothered and somewhat greasy/glassy. My skin is naturally on the dry side of normal. The tint is very sheer, and I can hardly see it when applied.

Mr London, when pressed to give an opinion said that it does add a glow and make my skin look "angelic." Miss London, who I tend to believe is more honest in her opinion in appearance matters, said in her sing song voice "It's doesn't look like you are wearing anything. Nothing at all, Mummy." I personally think it does have subtle brightening and illuminating qualities.

Maybe I'm just not the target audience; I don't have many wrinkles to blur, and I have pretty even skintone already. However, I did not see a discernable difference on the wrinkles I do have (fine lines around my eyes and deeper frown lines on my forehead.) Perhaps this would be suited to an extremely dry skin, or someone who was looking for a primer to give better slip underneath a foundation. It might also be good for someone who had been ill and was suffering from dull/rough skin. The name of the product ("Voile') is in itself indicative of a very sheer material, so I think it does what it says, but it just isn't a must have for me.

It didn't do anything horrible to my skin, but I don't enjoy the feel of it enough to wear on a daily basis in order to see if there is a cumulative effect. If I'm looking for a very light base for subtly evening out my skintones and giving a glow to my skin, I reach for my SKII air touch base instead. I think my skincare regime is such that I just don't need Nubo Voile.

At £40 for 10ml, if I did wear it on a daily basis I'd go through the tube very quickly. It's probably a good thing I don't adore it!

Paraben free skincare

I read an interesting theory on the Pai skincare website this weekend, the gist of which is that because parabens can act as a hormone disrupter, they may contribute to breakouts.

My skin (touch wood) has been remarkably well behaved recently, with no time of the month breakouts. When reading the article on the Pai website, it suddenly clicked that I've been naturally weeding out paraben containing products from my skincare routine.

I have been interested in hippy/organic lines for years, but I've often found they are not as effective and less pleasant to use than mainstream lines. Dr Hauschka skincare just feels gloopy and unpleasant to me, and I really was not impressed with Nude or Stella McCartney; both were overpriced for the results they delivered (i.e. not much.) Over the last six months or so, I've had much better results with paraben free ranges almost by luck, rather than by judgement. Some ranges I've liked are:

Sarah Chapman - I reviewed the spf 15 moisturiser and eye cream in May. This line is available at SpaceNK, and it is a great compromise between science and nature.

www.beingcontent.com - this is my new favorite internet shopping resource.

Delivery was quick (a couple of days) and they included relevant samples. I've been using and loving the Stem Organics Exquisite Facial Fluid, which is an aloe based antioxidant cream that sinks into the skin beautifully. They also stock Dr Alkaitis, which is an extreme so-pure-you-could-eat-it line. I'm using the cleanser from this line currently, which is castille soap based. It's very refreshing, but be warned; it is really not intended to be used to remove eye makeup, and it stings if you get it directly in your eyes. (Yes, I am that person who tries it out, even when I've been warned not to.)

Nia24 sunscreen (available at SpaceNK.) I don't really like this, because it is horribly siliconey, and I don't enjoy the feeling of silicones on my skin. It is also scented, whatever the box says, but it is a paraben-free spf 30 mineral sunscreen. From memory, I do believe the other products in the Nia24 line did contain parabens.

Chantecaille spf 30 firming face cream (also available at SpaceNK, and at Fenwicks.) This is dreadfully expensive (£70, shhhh) but it is spf 30 and paraben free, with some very cutting edge ingredients. I've just bought this and have only worn it for a couple of days, so I'd need to live with it for longer before I can tell you that the results justify the price. I will say that for me, finding a high spf I can live with in the summer is a skincare priority.

Pai Skincare - this line looks interesting, but I've not dipped my toe in it yet. There is a website at paiskincare.com, and it's also available at beingcontent.

Suqqu at Selfridges, Birmingham

I've just received a flyer that Suqqu are launching a counter in Selfridges Birmingham.

From 18 June to 12 July (Birmingham) and 18 June to 30 June (London) the Suqqu counters are running a special promotion of a Gankin massage for £15 instead of the usual £30 (still redeemable against any purchase on the day.)

Birmingham ladies - it is well worth a look!

Le Metier de Beaute - the rematch!

I think I figured out why Liberty didn't have the eye kaleidoscope kit I was interested in - I think it was part of the Autumn/Winter 08 collection, and Liberty have launched with the Spring 09 collection.

The fabulous Beauty Look Book blog has just featured this line (and specifically the lipglosses, the article is well worth a read) so I decided to have another look to see if any Le Metier products are worthy of a place on my birthday wishlist.

It turns out the sales assistant with the contacts from last time is the Le Metier specialist, but she's actually quite lovely and very friendly (with killer eyeliner.) She tried some foundation on me (it feels very light and gives good coverage, not sure I'm sold on it, but that could be because she did pile it on a bit for my taste) and I'm shade 3 in the Le Metier, for reference (NC20 in MAC, 135 in Illamasqua, 10 in Suqqu and Warm Ivory in BB.)

The anamorphic mascara is a true soot black that lengthens the lashes nicely without going Tammy Faye Baker. It does leave the eyelashes soft rather than brittle and spiky, but it doesn't wilt a curl. I tried and bought the non-waterproof version, which is easy to remove with normal makeup remover. This is £24, which is not that much more expensive than what Chanel/YSL are now charging for mascara.

I also bought a blush in Echo, which is somewhere between NARS Orgasm and Torrid in colour. This makes it pretty much perfect for a warm/coral pink pop of colour, as Orgasm is just pure shimmer on me, and Torrid can make me look sunburnt - Echo is the "just right" mixture of both. It is nicely pigmented, but I did find it faded and needed to be reapplied by midday. At £21, it is on the expensive side.

Picture is of Echo blush and Terra Nostra nailpolish from my previous post.

Le Metier de Beaute Terra Nostra nailpolish

Well, we had a rematch, le Metier de Beaute and I. I picked up a couple of things from the counter, and this nail polish was one of them.

At £13 for a tiiiiiny 4g, it is expensive. It's also quite sheer - this is two coats and while it isn't streaky you can still see my nails underneath it. Application was okay - not as easy as Rescue Beauty Lounge, which practically applies itself, but not as thick as Illamasqua or Butter London.

I will report back on the wear. The colour is an unusual glowy sandy beige/taupe with a hint of pink to it, a good neutral with a kick, and very summer suitable. I think it would lovely on a tanned or darker skin, but it still looks quite nice on my fishbelly pale hands.

Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

This poem (by Robert Frost) always pops into my head when I wear Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne. It's the kind of scent that a beautiful witch living in the middle of a deep green wood would smell of. There's something a little fey about many of the OJ perfumes.

Starting and ending with black hemlock, it has top notes of cardamom, coriander and grass, a heart of black hemlock, violet and jasmine and a base of vertiver, cedarwood, amber and sandalwood. This is as much a magical potion as a perfume.

It's also work suitable; it has good but not overpowering silage (a perfume's waft spreadability, or how easy it is for others to smell it on you) and it doesn't have too heavy wood or floral notes on me.

Eau de Parfum costs £68 for 50ml.

Ormonde Jayne is an independent perfume house that produces some wonderful scents. There is only one shop in the Royal Arcade off Bond Street in London. There is also a mail order service through www.ormondejayne.com.

Rock and Republic eyeshadows

Rock and Republic is a designer fashion denim brand apparently loved by young Hollywood and Victoria Beckham, who designed a range of jeans in collaboration with the line.

At the tail end of 2008, Rock and Republic launched a cosmetics line. They didn't start small; there are 48 shades of eyeshadow, 15 shades of lipgloss, 12 powder blushes (these are massive) and 5 shades of mousse/cream blush, as well as 8 pressed powders, 4 shades of primer/tinted moisturiser and 4 corresponding shades of fluid luminiser/foundation.

The eyeshadows are beautiful. When I walked up to the counter I let out a gasp at all the pretties, and I had a really hard time rationing myself down to a couple of colours at the first visit. These are expensive at £20 for a single colour, but the texture is gorgeous and you do get a pretty generous 3g for that (a MAC single eyeshadow is 1.5g in comparison.) I also purchased a mousse blush in Rumor (a slightly pinky peach, very similar in colour to NARS Orgasm/Deep Throat powder blushes, but with more subtle shimmer) and lipgloss in Drama Queen, a peachy pink shimmer.

Eyeshadow colours I own (from top left, clockwise)

Snakeskin - sludgy green/brown, medium shimmer. This is one of those shades that can look a bit blah in the pot, but it very flattering on almost all eye colours.

Lawsuit - duochrome dark brown with emerald shimmer, medium shimmer. This is the shade that drew my magpie eye on the counter. It's a more wearable version of MAC Club (which can look a little reddish on me) with a better and more blendable texture. This is fabulous for a smoky eye, and I also like to wear it as a liner with Snakeskin.

Veil - matte cream/ivory. This colour is not going to set your world on fire, but it's a lovely texture and a nice base shade. It's more wearable on me than MAC Brule, which can look a little chalky.

Spy - matte beige, but with really tiny scattered sparkles. I vacillated between this and the slightly darker Diffused, and I do wish I'd picked Diffused, because this hardly shows up on me at all (and I'm pale.) It'd be a nice base shade for a warmer skintone.

Love Rocks - shimmery rose gold. This does not look like a great shade for an eyeshadow, but I wear it buffed lightly over my lid on top of Spy (applied from lash to crease) and it gives perfect glowy baby eyelids.

There are swatches of all the eyeshadows and powder blushes on the brilliant karlasugar.blogspot.com, but I do find her swatches are a shade or two darker than the products apply in real life (she has to apply a lot to swatch effectively.) Nevertheless, it is a very helpful blog to assist in picking colours if you can't get to a counter in person.

In the UK, this line is currently exclusive to Harrods. I wonder how smart this is as a marketing decision, because the counter has not had any other customers both of the time I visited it. Harrods and Harvey Nichols are not the beauty shopping destinations they once were for me; Knightsbridge is a bit of a pain to get to (which is why I've only been to the counter twice, despite loving the products) and Selfridges beauty hall seems a lot cleaner and more modern (and also busier.) I've not seen much buzz for this line in fashion magazines, and I do worry how it will do in these difficult times ( in comparison, Illamasqua has done a much better promotional job, and the counter in Selfridges is always busy and buzzy.) The brand itself is not as bankable in the UK as Dolce and Gabanna.

I hope this brand does succeed, because the products are excellent, and the sales assistants have been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful both times I visited.

Le Metier de Beaute at Liberty

Well, I went to Liberty today and saw the Le Metier de Beaute counter.

This is a new premium line (it only launched here a couple of weeks ago) that is positioning itself very near the top of the market at £20 for a single eyeshadow or £65 for a stacking collection of four eyeshadows.

I know it's irrational, but the sales assistant was wearing obviously fake coloured contact lens, and those unnerve me totally; I find it very hard to make eye contact with someone wearing these. That wasn't a brilliant start.

I was interested in the Persephone eyeshadow kit that has Canvas (beige), Rose Champagne (pink/gold), Alexandrite (shimmery aubergine), and Sequoia (matte cool brown.) I know this exists, because I can see it on the Neiman Marcus website. The sales assistant had never heard of it, and Liberty did not have it in stock. Neither did they have the Rose Champagne as a single in stock.

I am still kind of interested in the anamorphic mascara, but not today. The eyeshadows that I tested on my hand were silky and nicely pigmented, and do remind me a lot of the Rock and Republic (R&R) shadows I own (review coming on those soon.) There was a good range of shimmer and matte shades, but none of them made me go "oooooh" in the way that R&R Lawsuit did.

There only seemed to be about 5 or 6 blushes (and some looked awfully similar, and might have been duplicates) and most of these were too shimmery for my taste. Lots of glosses, and the lipsticks felt nicely moisturising on my hand without feeling greasy (although the true test is how they feel on my super dry lips, which I didn't ask to do due to my sales assistant eye contact difficulty.) Bondi Beach was a good non-shimmery natural pink shade.

I think this line has potential, but the counter is too small and cramped for the market niche it is positioning for; it also has the rubbish spot in Liberty's beauty hall next to the door through to the perfumerie, so you have constant traffic going past. I was also a little disappointed at the lack of knowledge of the sales assistant - she had never heard of the set I was interested in and had no idea when that or the single eyeshadow might be back in stock. It's not very often I walk away from a new line without doing some damage to my purse.

Suqqu Kokoiro-Himeaka (Fall 2008) Dual eyeshadows

The Fall 2008 Suqqu collection was based around the red colour of the heart; "Beni." According to the promotional literature, this is a shade that has long been treasured in traditional Japanese makeup history. It is an expressive shade of red that has the power to warm any collection and brings depth and density to facial features. The Himeaka ("hidden beni") collection interprets this shade in a modern and wearable way.

This collection saw the introduction of the Suqqu dual eyeshadows. These consist of a darker contour shade and a light coordinating highlight. The darker shade has a sheen, and the highlight generally has a bit more shimmer to it, although none of these are overly frosty. I like these very much; they give a quick polished eye, and are faster to apply than the blend eyeshadow quads. The colour combinations are lovely, and I have bought or been gifted (by Mr London) four out of five of these.

01 Koushi. This is the duo used in the promotional picture, and in my opinion is the focal point of the collection. A rosy/burgundy dark shade is paired with a pale muddied lavender rose highlight. I do not find this looks as red as the promotional picture; I get more of a rose/bronze effect. It is very wearable, and slightly gothic, in a sophisticated way. I wear this duo with creamy liner 03 jet bordeaux or 04 brown.

02 Chaki. Medium dark slightly golden brown with a pale neutral green highlight. This is my favorite brown eyeshadow set from Suqqu. The brown shade is very wearable and flattering, and the green highlight gives an unexpected but not garish twist to the look. I wore this duo a lot over the fall/winter months. I wear this duo with creamy eyeliner 04 brown, but 01 green might be quite interesting with it too (this is a very dark, almost black, green with subtle multicoloured shimmer.)

03 Suion. Deep emerald green with a pale lavender highlight. This is the most dramatic of the duos, and I would not wear this for daytime unless I was deliberately going for a more intense look. I wear this either with creamy eyeliner 01 green or 05 green blue (which is more blue than green, and not as dark/blackened as 01 green.)

04 Bokuyu. Warm grey (with a hint of brown in it) with a peachy pink highlight. This is the only duo from this collection that I don't own. Even though it is very pretty, I felt it was too close to Blend eyeshadow (quad) 04 Shunboku for me to really want it (this also has a pink and a peach shade in it, as well as dark and silver greys.)

05 Aijou. Dark slate blue and pale cloud silver/blue highlight. This gives a beautiful subtle blue/grey eye look; it reminds me of the colour of the fur of a blue persian cat. I wear this with creamy eyeliner 05 green blue.

I like to wear all of these with the darker shade on the outer part of my mobile lid and smoked along the lashline, with the highlight blended onto the inner part of my mobile lid and into the crease, which was the suggested application for these on the Suqqu website. Sometimes I mix it up a bit by wearing the lighter shade on my lid with the darker shade in my crease as a contour colour.

The darker shade in each duo is similar in pigmentation to the lower left hand (main) shade in each blend quad, and the lighter shade is somewhere between the two upper shades (highlight on left, contrast on right) in the blend quads. I don't find I actually need a base with these shades, but I did purchase and enjoy using the eyelid base (a matte skin-coloured powder with a creamy texture) underneath them for maximum colour clarity.

All in all, these are beautiful shadows that I enjoy wearing very much. 01 Koushi and 02 Chaki have been particularly suitable for a professional but not boring work look. None of these duos are limited edition (although Suqqu has released two further duos with the Spring 2009 collection that are limited edition.)

Suqqu Sakurakage (Spring 2009)

I am a big Suqqu fan, and try to attend the seasonal collection events where a facial (including a gankin massage) using Suqqu skincare is followed by a makeover using the new colour collection.

Spring 2009's collection is based around the Sakura (cherry blossom.) Suqqu always delights me with its fresh and modern interpretation of a theme, and this collection is no exception. There are very pretty pinks in the collection (in the lipsticks and the contour shadows) but these are juxtaposed with darker and more neutral eyeshadows to represent the Sakura tree itself. This gives a more balanced and wearable feel to the collection than if it was solely based around pink shades.

I'm afraid I did not enjoy the facial so much this time; the assistant was not my usual one and was a little too rough with the Gankin and pushy with the products. I have never been told I "should" buy a particular product at Suqqu before, and this was off-putting. Some of the original counter staff seem to have left the counter, and I do miss them.

Ohbayasi San, one of the Suqqu international artists, had flown over from Japan, and I was very happy that I was able to have her apply my makeup. She was incredibly busy and as soon as she had completed one customer the next one was wisked into the seat. She did beautiful looks on each one, and made me feel very special and pampered.

I chose the eyeshadow quad 10 Sakuragi. This is a purple/mauve toned quad, that has been reviewed and described beautifully on both autumnmasquerade and atouchofblusher blogs. Ohbayasi San paired this with the contour eyeshadow in 02 Sakurabae, applied just under my browbone, and creamy eyeliner 03 Jet Bordeaux. I asked for a more dramatic look (the picture above was taken just after my makeover) but I can also apply more softly for a pretty daytime look.

Sakuragi is the quad in the middle of the picture above. On the left is contour 02 Sakurabae. On the right is quad 02 Gokushi from the Autumn 2007 collection for comparison. Gokushi gives a more smoky look, appropriate for the cooler months (I think it is also more obviously purple, and slightly less neutral than Sakuragi.)

The blend lipstick pictured is 17 Maizakura, which is a moderately bright candy pink. This is very fresh and pretty without being too garish.

I purchased all three products after my makeover, and have been very happy with them.

For Villainesses everywhere

One of the great things about the internet, along with the fact that it's made it harder for estate agents and insurance companies to scam you, is the availability of a dizzying myriad of interesting beauty products. 

Run by supervillainess Brooke, this is not your average soap and lotion etailer. The scents are gorgeous, but they are somewhat subversive; a rose and lavender scent will have an undertone of dust and tea (this is Miss Edith, one of my favorite limited edition scents that is occasionally re-run.) The Villainess signature scent is a mix of leather, musk and florals. Villainess is based in the US but it ships internationally at a reasonable price, and if your order is more than $100 shipping is free (this is hard to do, because the prices themselves are fantastically reasonable for such good quality.)

The soaps are brilliant. I like them better than L'occitane soaps; they have a soft lather that does not dry out the skin. These are soft, so you do need to keep them dry and not let them sit in a puddle of water between uses. 

The best Villainess products in my opinion are the Smooch!es. These are oil/sugar (sometimes salt) scrubs that melt into a fluid emulsion that moisturises the skin after doing their scrubby business. They are great for lazy girls, no need to moisturise after getting out of the shower. 

If you are exceedingly dry skinned, or prefer soaps and then body cream, the body creams (Whipped) are a nice balance between being rich enough to moisturise well and not so rich that you can't get dressed for days afterwards.

My favorite scents are:

Scintillating - a wakeup blend of mint and tea, slightly softened with vanilla

Embargo - smells a bit like the 70s, but in a good way. Patchouli, some other spices and some floral notes to soften it. 

Chloroform - cucumber, some other green smelling stuff and vermouth. This smells of clean.

Bleach - another hard to describe, but just smells of clean, scent. This was limited edition, I really hope she brings it back. It's slightly ozone-y smelling, like a pavement after the rain.

Miss Edith - rose, lavender, tea and dust. I like rose scents that aren't too sweet or sickly, and this hits that brilliantly.

PS: It's Villainess.net. The dot net is very important. Apparently Villainess.com does not sell soap, although you may wish to wash your eyeballs after visiting it. 

Nails Inc Belgrave Place

This post was inspired by the lovely Helen of Helen and Sheenie's Nice Things blog, who has recently posted a couple of gorgeous pictures of other Nails Inc polishes.

This is Belgrave Place, a deep blurple creamy shade. In real life it is probably a tiny bit darker than it looks in this picture.

The picture is with two very sloppily applied coats and no top coat. Nails Inc last a good four or five days with no chipping on me, and I am not careful with my nails. I like that they dry quickly (this was applied less than 15 minutes before Miss London and I had to set off for the school run this morning.)

These retail at £10.50 each, but the Nails Inc website often has good deals on sets, and the kits on qvcuk.com are also good value.

The website is at www.nailsinc.com

Suqqu Perfect Eye Makeup Kit

Speaking of Suqqu kits; this is a great one. It's £68 for a limited edition Blend eyeshadow quad in EX02 and limited edition mascara volume long in EX01 (green.) It also comes with an eye makeup remover (50ml), eye cream (4ml), spoolie brush and bag. 

The total value of the products in this kit is at least £95. The Blend eyeshadows retail for £36 and mascaras are £28, so for an extra £4 you get deluxe samples of the makeup remover and eye cream, as well as the brush and bag. That's a great deal, even if the lure of limited edition doesn't get you! I'm not sure I'm going to buy this kit; I already have Blend eyeshadow 01 and 06 which are greens, as well as dual eyeshadow 03 (another green combination.) The limited edition creamy lipsticks which are also released now are more immediately interesting to me, especially as it looks as if one of them is a very pretty brightish coral. I reserve the right to change my mind when I see this kit though!

Image courtesy of www.suqqu.com

One of my favourite brands - Suqqu

I've been a big Suqqu fan since it was first introduced to the UK in the winter of 2006. It's currently only available in Selfridges (London) here, but there are quite a few products that have a cult following. 

This is a Japanese line aimed at the more mature end of the market. Mature does not mean boring; there are some beautiful colours in this line and they have innovative and unusual seasonal colour stories. What it does mean is that, without exception, everything is wearable. 

The brand has a triumvirate focus:

Skincare - includes the famous gankin massage with a special massage cream that relaxes and lifts the facial features. I notice that my face feels less puffy and my jaw and cheekbones are noticeably sharper after a well-done gankin.

Base makeup - primers, foundations and powders. Suqqu is famous for fantastic textures in these, and I also find the colours very wearable and natural looking. I wear 10 in the cream foundation, which is the lightest shade. In common with many other Japanese ranges, it does not cater for extremely fair or darker skintones. 

Point makeup - the colour cosmetics. Originally, this consisted only of single eyeshadows, blush and lipsticks in mostly non-shimmery colours. All the permanent eyeshadows and lipsticks were non-shimmer (there were some shimmer colours in limited editions in special colours stories, like the beautiful summer 2007 Black Pearl eyeshadow and nail polish collection.) Most of the blushes were also matte, although a few had subtle shimmer to them. Shades in the range were mostly variations on natural colours - beige/pink lipcolours, and pink/brown/orange eyeshadows, with a couple each in blue and purple as well. 

In Autumn 2007, the seasonal collection, Moss Monchrome, introduced the blend eyeshadows, blush and lipsticks. These are eyeshadow quads, blush duos and slightly sheerer lipsticks. At the same time, gel eyeliners were released (eyeliner creamy) together with some new brow products. In Autumn 2008, the eyeshadow duos were also introduced. There is some shimmer, particularly in the eyeshadows, but the textures are still exquisitely wearable. Most of the products are not limited edition, and join the permanent point makeup line up.

I like to think of the original point line up (which is still part of the main line up) as your basics. These are BBBB colours ("Bobbi Brown but better!) wearable and flattering matte shades that are easy to co-ordinate and give a polished, understated look. I very much hope that Suqqu does not discontinue this range in favour of the new Blend products. 

The Blend products are more fashion orientated to my eye. They are very beautiful and wearable, but have different textures and give a more defined seasonal "look." That is not to say that they are only wearable for a single season; but that each collection has a definite mood that it invokes. 

I plan to review the specific collections in more detail in future, as well as reviewing the basic products I love from this line (eyelash curler, cream foundation, loose powder, lip balm to name but a few!)  

Suqqu often has special events when a new collection is released or when a special kit (usually limited edition) is being sold. It is well worth booking in for these if you intend to purchase products from the collection; you have a full facial with a gankin massage before a makeover. For the Spring 2009 Sakurakage collection Suqqu flew over one of their top Japanese artists, Kazumi Ohbayasi, and I was completely priviledged to have her make up my face. 

The website is at www.suqqu.com

Twilight haiku

Girl moves South to North

Finds vampires, angst and new love

But nothing happens.

Not really beauty related, but it tickled me. Mr London composed this in his head while I made him watch Twilight (and the film was quite bad) in order to avoid spoiling the film for me by sighing loudly or swearing at the most ridiculously overblown bits.

So, Twilight. Nothing really happens, but the makeup was quite good. I read they used SKII air touch foundation on the leads, and this does give a gorgeous finish on the skin.

Kiehl's sunscreen deal

The Kiehl's store in Monmouth Street, London, is doing a fantastic deal on their sunscreens at the moment. Buy two of their tube sunscreens (spf 20, 30 or 50) and get a 125ml spf 30 spray sunscreen (for kids, but anyone could use it) free. Myself, Mr and Miss London all get through a load of the spf 30 - we've nearly run out of our first tube of the summer - it's been glorious in London lately. It is a mexoryl formulation, so it gives good UVA and UVB protection, and does not leave skin sticky or pasty.