Armani Sheer Lipstick #10 (natural rose)

Sheer Lipstick #10 is an Armani product that gets consistently high praise on the internet. It is one of the classic 'my lips but better' shades; a lipstick that subtly enhances the natural colour of the lips. 

Swatched on my hand. #10 (is it only me who really doesn't like brands that give colours a number without a name? I find them impossible to remember) is a sheer rosy pink with very subtle shimmer; you can only see the shimmer in the swatch as the sun had come out and was hitting my hand as I took the photograph. 

On my lips. 

So basically this looks almost exactly like the natural colour of my lips. I prefer the Chantecaille Bourbon Rose Lip Chic I reviewed here as I feel like it provides more moisturising and lip-plumping benefits to my lips, as well as a bit more colour.

rms Beauty cocktail of colours

One of the many good things about the rms Beauty products is that they blend together easily to create different shades. This was particularly welcome on my recent holiday when Mr London only allowed me to pack the bare minimum* cosmetics.

I discovered on holiday that these two Lip2Cheek products (designed to be used on lips and cheeks, not surprisingly) work really well mixed together.

Smile (left) is a sheerer light-to-mid coral, and Rapture (left) is a semi-matte reddish brown. Neither have shimmer. 

Left: top Rapture, bottom Smile. Right: Rapture and Smile mixed together. Mixed together, I get a sheer rosy apple red that is an easy way to wear a reddish lip in the summer.

Applied on my lips. I find the easiest way to mix on my lips is to apply Smile first, then a dab of  Rapture in the centre of my lips and blend it out. For my cheeks I mix a little on the back of my hand, as in the photo above, and then apply.

Full face picture with the blend on cheeks and lips.

Although it's not a colour I'm likely to wear on its own, I'm now very tempted by sheer beige/nude Muse Lip2Cheek to blend with other colours.

*3 Lip2Cheeks, 3 rms Beauty cream eyeshadows, 2 Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadows, 1 Rouge Bunny Rouge Blush, Rouge Bunny Rouge pencil eyeliner, concealer, brow pencil, mascara, 3 Tom Ford lipsticks. I barely made it through the two weeks.

rms Beauty Raw Coconut Cream review

This is the bottom of the pot

You can buy coconut oil at a very low price in pharmacies, but to me it's like olive oil; you can get very inexpensive olive oil or you can pay more for extra-virgin cold-pressed oil. rms Beauty Coconut Cream is certified organic, raw and unrefined. It has not been chemically or heat-treated, and so personally I think it's worth paying more for.

I've mostly been using this as a make-up remover. A small (5p piece) is enough to take off all my make-up, including eye make-up (even heavier make-up) and mascara. I apply to dry skin, massage in to emulsify the make-up and grime, then remove with a muslin cloth dampened with warm water before splashing with cool water. I generally prefer to follow with a facial wash and then moisturiser/night treatment, but when I've had a few really late nights I've just used the Coconut Cream to cleanse all over, splashed with water and left my evening routine there. I wouldn't do this every night (I like my treatments too much) but on the nights that I've done this my skin didn't feel tight and I didn't have any adverse effects in the morning.

Should have taken the photo before I'd used half the pot! 

As well as complementing rms Beauty cosmetics, this would be an excellent complementary product to the Dr Alkaitis skincare routine which does not include a make-up remover (the Dr Alkaitis cleanser should not be used around the eye area, and it stings if you get it in your eyes).

The only caution I'd give is with the packaging. At high temperatures, coconut oil is liquid, and I've found that the lid is not completely leak-proof if you chuck it in a wash bag while the product is liquid. I wouldn't travel in hot temperatures with this product without decanting it into something like a Muji pot or bottle. I also find it easier to control the amount I take out of the pot and use when it is in its solid form, so in very warm weather I've been keeping it in the fridge when I'm not using it.

rms Beauty Raw Coconut Cream is available in the UK from www.beingcontent.com and costs £12.50 for 70g.

Disclosure: product was provided without charge for consideration for review. As always, the link in this post is not an affiliate link.

Burt's Bees Carrot Nutritive Body Lotion Review

I bought this while on holiday because I over-estimated the amount of Villainess Whipped! I had left in my pot and ran out of body cream. I have very dry body skin, so I needed to find an alternative without the option of buying online.

This is pretty good. It's quite a runny texture, but does moisturise well, and leaves skin feeling smooth and plump, but it does take a while to sink in fully and leaves skin feeling slightly tacky to the touch for a while if I apply too much. I do think it had a soothing effect on skin that had been in the sun; I didn't burn (or even tan much) as I always use sun protection on any exposed bits on sunny days, but even with protection I find that skin can feel a bit parched by the end of a hot, sunny day (and we got one or two of those, even in Suffolk).

It has quite a nice neutral scent; not really floral or citrus, sort of milky-earthy, but in a very clean way, and it didn't interfere with my fragrance.

There is a warning on the bottle that the lotion can stain clothes (it's naturally a yellow/orange shade from the ingredients) so you might want to exercise caution if you wear a lot of white or beige, or if you have  pale furnishings your skin might touch. If I was buying at this price point and had access to online resource/was shopping in London, I would purchase the Evolve Radiance Boost Smoothing Cream I reviewed previously (that post is here), but if that wasn't an option, I could live with the Burt's Bees.

Ingredients:

Guest Post at Zuneta

I'm back guest blogging at Zuneta today here. I'm asking those of you who manage to home hair-dye successfully how on earth you manage it, and sharing a couple of useful tips my hair colourist gave me when he fixed my rubbish attempt at DIY!

Bourjois Rose Exclusif Lipgloss

Rose Exclusif applies as a clear gloss...

...and then after a few minutes turns pink. The shade of pink you end up with depends on the pH of your lips. It turns pinker on my lips than it does on my hand, although the swatch on my hand did continue to get pinker for about 10 minutes after this swatch picture was taken. 

My lips when I'd just applied

After about 5 minutes.

In the context of the rest of my face. Although it turns quite a deep pink on me, I think it still looks quite natural somehow. The pink colour is more of a stain and the colour lasts well, even after the glossiness has faded.  It's excellent for people like me who feel that they lack pigment in their lips, but want something more casual than a lipstick for a particular look.

The gloss feels comfortable and quite moisturising, and isn't annoyingly sticky. Rose Exclusif has a very subtle fruity scent, but it's hardly noticeable and therefore doesn't bother me. At £6.99, this is an excellent alternative to Christian Dior Lip Glow (which I found quite drying and irritating to my lips when a sales assistant applied it for me at a counter), and it's available now.

Disclosure: this was a sample sent without charge by the PR Officer for the brand.

Thoughts on Kjaer Weis products

I was in Knightsbridge recently and finally had a chance to have a look at the Kjaer Weis line. The only place I've found it so far is the SpaceNK concession in Harvey Nichols - it's not even stocked in the Hans Crescent branch.

The display unit is tiny and easy to miss - it's next to the Lime Crime lipsticks on a side counter. For an expensive brand it isn't very well presented in the shop in my opinion (the products sold in the admittedly lovely pots are £30+ each).

The pots themselves are beautiful - they feel weighty but not overly heavy and the combination of the silver and the white enamel is understated and lovely. As I wrote above, these are expensive at £32 to £38 for an individual item, but refills are available at £13 to £18.

Eyeshadows
These are small pressed powder eyeshadows - smaller than MAC, about the same size as Becca eyeshadows. Nicely pigmented, but then at this price they'd better be. The colours are:

• Cloud Nine - creamy pale vanilla
• Wisdom - pale to mid taupe, very very subtle scattered sparkles in it
• Earthy Calm - chocolate brown
• Onyx - charcoal

Cream blush
The texture of the cream blushes is very good; these do seem to melt into the skin. I'd say these are the standout product in the line, although I'd like a little more variety of colours; a warm red would be a good addition for a start. The wide, flat surface makes it easy to pick up product.

• Suntouched - warm peach
• Desired glow - neutral caramel tan (I could just about wear this, but a paler cooler skintone would probably struggle with it.)
• Blossoming - rosy pink

Lip Tint
These are quite sheer, but not overly glossy.

• Blissful - pale baby pink (too pale for me)
• Dream State - beige peach (also too light for me)
• Sensuous Plum - muted plum, sheer so quite wearable, not too grey/purple
• Passionate - sheer warm red

I'm torn. If I let myself buy one product, I know I'll buy at least three; I won't be able to buy an eyeshadow without also getting a lip tint and a blush. I could self-justify by reasoning that refills will be less expensive in the future but a) I very rarely finish colour cosmetics and b) SpaceNK has a history of discontinuing lines ruthlessly if they don't sell well. If this line doesn't sell, I may not be able to get the refills in the future.

image is from www.spacenk.co.uk.

Butter London Prince's Plums

This is the third Butter London polish I bought in the recent Zuneta 2 for 3 offer (edit: 3 for 2! Thanks to Andrea for pointing out my silly typo!). I originally ordered Billy No Mates, a blue-grey cream, but that sold out and has been discontinued, so I had to choose another colour. I couldn't bring myself to type "Can I have Frilly Knickers please?" in an email to Zu's brother, so went for Prince's Plums instead (because that's not embarrassing to type at all).

Prince's Plums is a deep purple with a magenta undertone, packed with fine blue shimmer. It's a fun shade although I think I personally prefer Butter London Branwen's Feather which a cooler, more blackened purple with scattered silver shimmer.

Home...and 20 questions on Just Nice Things

We're finally back home, and normal posting will resume shortly. I took three rms Beauty Lip2cheek colours and three Tom Ford lipsticks for the two weeks and I have no idea how the average woman survives with 4.7 lipsticks or whatever.

If you've missed me ;), in the meantime, my 20 questions is up at www.just-nice-things.co.uk here. I swear on my honour that the answer to question 20 is absolutely true, even though it is the oddest thing; I found it when I was pregnant with Miss London. 

See you all in two weeks!

We're off on holiday today for two weeks, so I'll catch up with you all when we get back. If you're off on holiday yourself, have a lovely time. x


Grace
x

Eleven Hair Salon fixed my hair

Jason: So, what are we doing?

Me: Can you fix it and make it not look horrible, please?

I think he did very well with those less than brilliant instructions. Jason Welch is a hair colouring expert; I wrote last year about finding him at Eleven first to fix a bad blonde from another salon, and then later to take me painlessly back to my natural colour. This appointment was arranged by the PR officer for Eleven, who happened to see my tweeting wails of distress after my home hair dye failure, but I have been to Jason as a paying customer in the past and will go as one again in the future (if you ever see me tweeting I'm going to home dye again, please send me a virtual slap).

He took my hair back to a non-brassy chestnut brown, and added a few caramel slices through the mid lengths and ends to catch the light. Fixing bad hair colour without taking it to an extreme (red, dark or blonde) is an art, and Jason has a real talent. Trimming a few inches off the end and adding a couple of subtle layers at the front has made my hair look much healthier. My hair was blow dried and then finished on large rollers; the rollers were used to give smooth bounce to my hair, rather than huge volume or curls.

Eleven is an excellent salon; as well as giving good hair it's a fun and buzzy place to be. I like that it is an independent salon and isn't part of a big chain; it feels like the technicians there are a collection of very talented individuals who want to work together and it has its own distinct personality. The website is at www.eleven-hair.com and the salon is at 11 Blenheim Street, just off Oxford Street, London.

Here are a couple of shots front on.

Oh God, this is a bit of a Davina pose.  Sorry!

This is why I don't do big smiles - you can see where the wrinkles will form.

Disclosure: services in this instance were provided without charge.

Christopher Drummond Marrom eyeshadow

I posted a picture wearing this a while ago as part of a face of the day with Christopher Drummond Plush Pink blush and Pink Kiss lipstick. I still don't much care for the blush and lipstick on me, but this loose mineral eyeshadow has become a favourite of mine.

Marrom is a warm bronzy brown shade with sheen, rather than shimmer. I find this much more wearable for everyday than very shimmery/metallic shades. I don't need to wear any kind of primer to get good colour from this eyeshadow and it lasts well through the day for me too.

Picture applied, as a wash from lash to crease. I'm also wearing Lola pencil eyeliner by Rouge Bunny Rouge, and Lancome Hypnose Precious Cells mascara.

Rock and Republic lipglosses applied, and other product pictures

Rock & Republic cosmetics are on half-price sale at www.beautystory.com so I thought it might be useful to post pictures of the products I own and the two lipglosses applied. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Beauty Story ships outside of the US, but if you are in the US it's a chance to grab a bargain.

Sexy Beast lipgloss - a deepish rose with subtle gold shimmer.

Drama Queen - a less pigmented peachy shade, also with subtle shimmer.

Veil, Spy and Diffused eyeshadows.

Love Rocks and Tempting eyeshadows.

Snakeskin, Emerge and Lawsuit eyeshadows.

Bedroom blush (and swatched below.) This is well-pigmented, and I need to apply with a light hand. Matte (but not chalky) warm papaya pink.

The glosses are one of the few brands I can wear comfortably; they aren't sticky and feel very moisturising. The blush and eyeshadows are also excellent quality; it's a real shame this brand pulled out of the UK.

This is why I need a professional to dye my hair

The grey hairs I have developed at my temples over the last year or so have begun to really annoy me, and I decided to do something about it myself. I didn't want to change the colour of my hair, I just wanted to blend in the grey a bit. I decided to go for Naturtint permanent hair dye, and chose shade 6N Dark Blonde, as I have read that hair dyes can tend to turn hair darker than you'd expect. As this is an ammonia-free formula, I didn't particularly worry about it lifting my hair much. Big mistake. 

This is a picture after washing and leaving to air dry. My ends are a mess; I need to have a good few inches cut off, and I'd just tried a sample of a new shampoo and conditioner that I don't think I'll be buying any time soon (to be fair, I could also have brushed it before taking a picture). The colour is a good shade or two lighter than my natural mid-chestnut, and also quite brassy/orange toned.

In more subdued lighting it doesn't look as bad, but it's still brassier than I like it.

Close up of the root area, where the orange-ness is most apparent. Really not loving this colour.

So, the moral of this story is I'm not to be trusted with permanent hair dye, ever. Also, Naturtint does not pull dark, and 6N Dark Blonde is too light to match my natural colour. 

I'm going back to my hairdresser on Thursday to apologise for a) being an idiot and b) not having had my hair cut in a year. I'm hoping he can fix it! Last time I went and got it done properly he gave me a lovely chocolate/chestnut shade, so I'm hoping for something similar.  

If you have any hair colouring disaster stories to share in the comments, please do feel free to make me feel a bit better about my own ineptitude. 

When my husband is meant to be being a responsible parent...

...this is the sort of thing he is doing.

http://30-something-gamer.blogspot.com/2010/08/chris-redfields-toughest-challenge-yet.html

Reading his blog is actually quite a good way to find out what he and Miss London have been up to when I'm napping on the weekend (I do the early morning shift while he has a lie-in, then I get an afternoon nap).

Paul & Joe Nail polish in 006 Oasis

This is the other product I bought from the Summer 2010 collection. The picture is with three coats applied; it looked very streaky with only two coats. Luckily, it dried quite quickly. 

I like the aqua colour of this and the tiny silver sparkles in the formula, although Butter London Artful Dodger remains my favourite turquoise nail polish. I find the perfume in the formulation a little strange; even a few hours later I was still getting whiffs of it. 

Posh Brats Sugar Scrub in Pool of Tears

When I bought a couple of Villainess products from Posh Brats recently they also put this in my order for me to try. 

Pool of Tears (edit: I've corrected the name!) is part of the Alice in Wonderland collection at Posh Brats. It has a fresh seaside-y scent, which is equal parts salt and ozone, with a little fresh musk note underneath. I don't get much spice or wood from it although those are listed in the notes.  To me it smells a bit like Creme de la Mer body cream (which is fantastic, but jaw-droppingly expensive for a body cream). 

The Posh Brats Sugar Scrub (PBSS) is a little more soapy and creamy than the Villainess Smack!  I reviewed recently, but performs similarly on my skin. It's a gentle but thorough scrub that foams a little; just enough to avoid having to use a separate shower gel but not so much that it dries my skin out. It leaves my skin feeling comfortable but not greasy/oily afterwards; I do use a body cream out of habit, but I could probably get away without one after every shower in the summer. 

I'm not terribly keen on the bright colorants in these; I'd rather have them more subtly coloured or not at all, because although it does wash off I do find it disconcerting to turn my skin Shrek-Green even temporarily in the shower. I haven't stained anything with this, although if you got it on a carpet (and we don't have carpets in our bathrooms, but some UK homes still come with them) or on soft furnishings/textiles, it might stain them. This is quite a minor niggle though. 

I do prefer the Villainess Smack! - I love the Villainess notes and combinations, and prefer the more lightly coloured Smack! My husband would say this is absolutely typical of me, given that Smack! costs £13 and PBSS is £5. If I couldn't get hold of Villainess Smack! though, PBSS would be a very acceptable alternative to me.

Disclosure: product was sent without charge. The website is www.poshbrats.com (as always, this is not an affiliate link).