RGB nail polish in Minty

RGB is a US  3-Free nail polish brand. It started up in 2009 with a launch of ten core colours (the RGB Ten Collection), and has since expanded with new seasonal colours. Mise Beauty have just brought it to the Irish/UK market.

I was sent a couple to try, and applied Minty about 5 minutes after opening the box yesterday. It's a perfect minty green, neither too blue nor yellow, and not whitened either (I don't like pastel shades that look as though they've been applied over a base of tippex).

The colour is spot on, I love the cream formula and it gave full coverage in two coats. The brush is well shaped (absolutely no stray hairs, gives a clean line) but ideally I'd like the wand or handle a touch longer (it felt a little short compared to Butter London or Rescue Beauty Lounge).

There are some lovely colours in the line: I've added Dove (pale blue grey) and Haze (grey/mauve) to my birthday list.

Picture of the brush:

Disclosure: sample received without charge. 

Summer in our garden

I hope you'll forgive the off-topic post, but Summer has finally arrived and I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the flowers in our garden.

My husband and his siblings had this rose hybrid made in honour of their father, who loved roses. As well as being a beautiful colour, it has a glorious scent.

Candace the guinea pig enjoying some grass in the early morning before it gets too hot!

£15 off any purchase over £40 at Oskia (limited time only)*

*This offer is available while there is still a Brit (a certain Mr Murray) playing in Wimbledon. If you're tempted by the offer, you might want to order today (just in case). The code to use is 'tennis' at checkout.

The website is at www.oskiaskincare.com. My two top recommendations would be the Renaissance Mask (a gentle exfoliating and rejuvenating cream/gel mask) or the Micro Exfoliating Balm. Both are usually £45-£50 normally, so it's a very decent discount.

I like Andy Murray. He's from the Gordon Strachan Press Management School, but he is quite good at the tennis.

Nails Inc Havana (free with two Dove deodorants) and Nubar Angel

Nails Inc are doing another free promotion; this time with the purchase of two Dove antiperspirant deodorants in Boots. I like Dove Invisible Dry, so picked up a couple and chose Nails Inc Havana, a pink/beige nude with subtle pink pearl. The other shade is Copacabana, a bright coral.

Applied: two coats of Havana on the middle finger nail, and one coat of Havana topped with a coat of Nubar Angel on the index finger. Havana is an almost perfect mannequin hand nail colour on me, applies well and gives decent, streak-free coverage with two coats. It's a very good freebie indeed. I think it'd look lovely on more tanned skin too.

Two coats of Nubar Angel gives an intense, metallic white gold shimmer shot with pink. I posted a picture with just one coat here: Nubar Angel one coat applied. This is a beautiful summer colour.

Comparison of all three nails: one coat of Havana topped with one coat of Angel (index), two coats of Havana (middle) and two coats of Angel (ring).

A repurchase: Margaret Dabbs Hydrating Foot Lotion

I've tried a couple of other products since finishing my first bottle of Margaret Dabbs Hydrating Foot Lotion. These are:

Emu Oil Heel Balm (okay, a bit watery so I need to use a lot of it though, £6 for 50g, from feelunique.com) and

Flexitol Heel Balm (£6 for 56g from Boots, works well but I need to use a bit more of it than the Margaret Dabbs, and the much thicker texture takes a bit more work to rub it in).

At £25 for 200ml, the Margaret Dabbs Foot Lotion is only marginally more expensive on a cost per ml basis than either of these products, and it outperforms both of them for me. One pump does both my feet, softens my heels and the Lemon Myrtle oil smells and feels refreshing (it's blissful after a hot day in shoes).

Margaret Dabbs products are now available at SpaceNK (which is where I bought this from) and the packaging has been changed. I prefer the plastic tube packaging, which is much lighter. The formula is unchanged.

Beauty Spotlight weekly round-up June 25

Welcome to the Beauty Spotlight. Every other week our beauty blog team will shine a spotlight on our favorite posts. We'll bring you the latest and greatest, the tried-and-true, and the most fun-to-find beauty products  worldwide.

This week our lovely team of bloggers helps you conceal, bronze, get ready in a flash, and win some great beauty loot.

• Beauty Crazed wants you to win the prettiest blush in the whole wide world from Lancôme - as a matter of fact, they think they are so nice they are giving away 5 of them so enter to snag one of your own!

• Dan Read eyeshadows and liners are among Lisa's favorite makeup products on Beauty Info Zone. 

• Modesty Brown talks about the make-up she reaches for in those crisis moments with only five minutes to get out of the door. She invites you to share your ready-in-a-flash favourites too. Should we mention the handbag toast?

• Zuzu's Petals at Everyday Beauty found her perfect blush AND bronzer with Rouge Bunny Rouge Blush in Delicata and Gracilis. 

• Over at Lipstick Musings, Shannon gets a serious shock when she lives on the edge and tries Rouge Dior lipstick in #786, Mysterious Mauve. 

• London Makeup Girl is holding a giveaway competition for a 6 week supply of Help: Clear Skin Supplements here: Help: Clear Skin giveaway . The giveaway closes on 01 July. 

• Got a lemming for some insanely gorgeous (not to mention delicious) summer lip colors? Jeanie over at Makeup Merriment may have just what you need- Le Metier de Beaute's newest limited edition creation: Ecumes D'Or Lip Kaleidoscope.

• Have you heard of Birchbox? It is a monthly sample-subscription gift box of fabulous deluxe sized samples. See what Pammy Blogs Beauty got in her June Birchbox!

• Hop on over to Perilously Pale for your chance to win some Rouge Bunny Rouge products! 

• Styrch swatches a gazillion lip colors of a product totally new to the Pretty in Dayton area. Hint: Christna Aguilera's uses it!

• At Prime Beauty Cindy has been channeling her former Hippie Chick with the BECCA Halcyon Palette. She'll give a hint ... she thinks it's groovy! Don't forget to enter her giveaway (Skindinavia Makeup Finishing Spray), too

• On her seemingly endless search for the perfect under eye concealer, Visionary Beauty puts Diorskin Nude Skin Perfecting Hydrating Concealer to the test.

W3LL People Nudist Lip Shine in #3 (red) review

I'm almost completely incapable of leaving a cosmetics/beauty shop with just one thing, so when I bought the W3LL People Narcissist Foundation Stick I also had a look at the Nudist Lip Shines (and bought this one). It's a sheer red, and it has quickly become my favourite sheer red lip (against some tough competition).

Swatched: a lovely, glossy, strawberry jam shade, with no shimmer. I find the texture extremely difficult to describe; it's not sticky, but it has density to it and feels like it plumps my lips. The closest product I can find in my stuff to compare it to is Chantecaille Lip Chics. I find this does moisturise my lips, and I can apply it during the day without needing to supplement with lip balm (although I do still apply balm before bed at night). It has the typical W3LL People light, fresh herbal smell.

On my lips.

The current colour selection is quite limited, but I do have the goth purple berry #2 and bright pink #5 on my birthday list. 

Of the other shades: #1 is a pale to medium coral, #4 is a light mauve pink (would look horrific on me), and #6 is a tawny brown shade. 

These are £18.50 each, which is quite expensive for a tinted lip product, but when I compare them to the price of a Chantecaille Lip Chic (and the quality and finish is comparable) £18.50 suddenly looks reasonable.

Ingredients: brassica campestris/aleurites fordii oil copolymer, castor oil infused with green tea, reishi mushroom & bayberry, beeswax, castor isosterate beeswax succinate, essential  oils and fruit extracts, pomegranate extract, tocopherol, lauroyl lysine, stevia extract [+/- mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides]

Available from www.beingcontent.com and from the www.w3llpeople.com website in the US.

Chance to grab some absolute bargains at a blog sale (not mine)

A lovely friend of mine is selling some gorgeous stuff. Lots of Illamasqua, Bobbi Brown and some lovely fragrances and clothes.

Have a look, and grab a bargain.

http://onlyme-victoria.blogspot.com/2011/06/beautiful-things-for-sale.html

I want to find a fragrance that smells like this...

But it was her smell that was having the strongest effect on me. For a moment, when she first sat down, it had hit me as a hot wave of rankness like the stink of a hen house after a fox has been busy in there. Then a second later I realised I was wrong, because the smell had opened up into a thousand shades of meaning; subtle harmonies of musk and cinnamon and dew-wet summer air overlaid on sweet rose, heavy, seductive lily and undisguised human sweat. There was even a hint of chocolate in there, and those hot, sticky boiled sweets called aniseed twists. The total effect was indescribable; the smell of a woman in heat lying in a pleasure garden that you had visited as a child. 

The Devil You Know, Mike Carey. (Describing the scent of the succubus Ajulutsikael).

I've got a couple of contenders in my current fragrance wardrobe:

• Aftelier Tango layered with Haus of Gloi The Brier Path Pumpkin Butter, or 
• For Strange Women Decadence & Debauchery perfume oil. I want to try this layered with the For Strange Woman Vetiver solid fragrance (which I don't have yet) for an added musky, earthy note. 

I think Liz Zorn Soivohle Underworld might also be a contender, and Aftelier Cepes & Tuberose. Etat Libre D'Orange Secretions Magnifique is too 'after the fact' for this scent rather than in anticipation, if you get my drift, and Muscs Koublai Khan is masculine sexuality rather than feminine.

Are there any other fragrances you suggest I sniff in my quest to find this smell?

Veet EasyGrip Ready-to-Use Wax Strips review

I used ready-to-wax strips years ago and found them less than effective, failing to remove leg hair reliably. My expectations of the Veet strips were quite low accordingly, and I was very pleasantly surprised.

I found these live up to the claims of grabbing and removing all the hair, even quite short ones - they have an improved bit to grab hold of before yanking them off, and they are a lot stickier than the strips I last remember using which I think has resulted in better hair-removing ability. Each strip can be re-used a few times until stickiness is lost; I find I can use each strip three or four times before it ceases to be effective (I reactivate the stickiness by folding in half inwards (wax to wax) and then pulling apart before reapplying to the skin).

The wax does leave a bit of residue on the skin which requires oil to remove. The strips come with cleansing wipes which are mineral oil based and work perfectly well to remove any residue although I personally prefer to use a plant-based cleansing oil. I didn't experience any redness or irritation after using the Veet Wax Strips (I was sent the variant for sensitive skin).

I only use this wax on my legs, and the pack of 20 strips does two half leg treatments for me. I'll continue to use Nads sugaring solution as my usual leg hair remover, but I'll be picking up a pack of these for my holiday to pop in my suitcase.

Disclosure: PR sample

New Chantecaille Ultra Sun Protection SPF 50 Anti-Glycation Primer

I had a look at this product in SpaceNK last week. Anti-glycation ingredients seem to be the Next Big Thing is skincare. Glycation, as far as I understand, is the process by which simple sugars bond with either a protein or fat molecule. Internal glycation can lead to collagen damage, which is where the idea that anti-glycation ingredients might be beneficial for the skin comes in (although honestly, I think you'd probably get better results from laying off the donuts and the maple syrup & bacon pancakes in the first place).

Whatever, I love Chantecaille's Firming Suncream SPF 30, so I was interested in having a look at the new SPF 50 Primer. It smells beautiful (lightly of roses, like much of the rest of Chantecaille's skincare) and leaves no white cast on the skin at all (the protection is from the chemical sunscreens avobenzone, octisalate and oxtinoxate). The texture is very silicone-heavy, which means it glides over the skin effortlessly and would be a good base for foundation. Personally my skin doesn't tend to do too well with this sort of formula, so I'm hoping very hard that Chantecaille do not intend to discontinue the Firming Suncream SPF 30.

The Chantecaille Ultra Sun Protection SPF 50 Anti-Glycation Primer costs the same as the Firming Suncream SPF 30, at an expensive £75. I'm willing to pay this for a summer moisturiser that protects my skin without aggravating it.

Image is from www.spacenk.co.uk.

Favourite simple Rouge Bunny Rouge eye look

I will happily wear the brightest lips, but I don't feel comfortable in a lot of eye make up. I don't know if it's something about the shape/size of my eyes, or just a personal oddity of taste.

The eye make up I wear most often is a variation on a theme by Rouge Bunny Rouge. I line my upper lid with a Rouge Bunny Rouge Eye Kohl, and then smudge Solstice Halcyon eyeshadow over the top of it and into my crease. I add a bit of mascara and I'm finished: it gives natural definition to my lashes and shadow without looking too 'done' for me.

Left to right: kohl in Delilah, Lola and Salome. Delilah is a shimmering plum shade, and more purple than it appears in this picture. Lola is a dark brown with warm shimmer, and Salome is a creamy black. Delilah is the most subtle of the three shades, and Salome (unsurprisingly) is the darkest.

Swatches with Solstice Halcyon eyeshadow smudged on top.

I've taken a photo wearing Delilah and Solstice Halcyon. It's probably not much help, because what looks defined but subtle in real life looks like no make up whatsoever in a photograph. For what it's worth, here it is:

Rouge Bunny Rouge products are available at Zuneta.com, who ship internationally.

Change to RSS Feed - short feed instead of full

Unfortunately, my content appears to be being stolen through my RSS feed and published on a spam blog (splog). I have therefore set my RSS feed to short instead of full, to prevent this happening in the future.

I regret that this is necessary, and apologise to those of you who prefer to read blog posts through Google Reader or similar. I hope you understand why I have made the decision to do this. I work hard on the content and pictures for this blog, and I'll be damned if I make it easy for someone else to make money from my work.

Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope eye kit in Penelope applied

I've been using the Le Metier de Beaute Penelope eyeshadow kit I posted about here, and finally got around to taking some pictures wearing it.

• I use Le Metier de Beaute Tamarack eye pencil as a base - I sketch on quite a thick line on my upper lashline, then smudge it out over the lid with my MAC 239 eyeshadow brush. 
• I then apply the Kaleidoscope kit using the couches de couleurs technique - starting from the top shade (golden amber) I apply the three top shades in layers from lashline to just above my crease in the order gold, lavender, taupe/topaz. 
• I then use a small smudge brush to apply a reasonably bold line of the black emerald shade on my upper lashline, and a line of the taupe/topaz underneath my lower lashes. 
• I blend the black emerald in a little where it meets the other shades to avoid a harsh line. 
• Finished with black mascara from Lancome (Hypnose Precious Cells). I wish I had the Emerald Le Metier Anamorphic Mascara to go with this kit - I love the effect of wearing the Aubergine mascara with the Hypnotique kit (the darkest shade in this kit is a rich plum). 

I really love this kit; it gives a soft, sludgy, defined eye (my favourite kind of look). It's a bit less dramatic and blends in with my skin tone more than the Hypnotique Kaleidoscope, and so is good for summer. It's easy to adjust the smokiness/drama of the finished effect by using more or less of the darker or lighter shades, and I'll be taking this on holiday with me.

Natural (but overcast, so quite cool) light.

With flash.

In context of the rest of my face. I'm using Le Metier de Beaute highlight/blush in Whisper on my cheeks (a shimmering beige) and W3LL People Nudist Lip Shine in #3 (red) on my lips.

In other news, the hair has finally been chopped! It feels much lighter and I'm glad to be rid of the dry ends.

Giveaway - Help: Clear Skin supplements by Works With Water

Help: Clear Skin is a powder supplement that can be mixed with any drink or soft food. It is intended to help improve skin suffering from spots or acne. The key ingredient is Praventin, rich in lactoferrin, a glycoprotein that is part of the immune system of the body. The idea is that it will help the body to fight acne bacteria and repair damaged skin. The formula also contains aloe vera and ogliofructose (a soluble fibre).

Works With Water have offered a full 6 week course (worth £60) for me to give away on my blog. I'm not going to make a review a requirement of entry, but if the winner did want to report back after finishing the course I'd be very happy to publish their findings (and I'm personally curious to find out if these work).

You can find out more about the supplements at www.workswithwater.co.uk.

To enter the draw, please leave a comment telling me who represents your ideal skin. For me, it's Cate Blanchett - her skin is beautifully smooth and luminous without looking botoxed or pulled.

The giveaway is open until Friday 01 July, and I will draw the winner on 02 July. After entering, you may email me your email at londonmakeupgirl [at] googlemail [dot] com or leave your email address in your comment if you wish to do so (email addresses will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner). If the winner doesn't respond or contact me by 09 July, I will draw an alternative.

Free Inika eyeshadow or eyeliner with Marie Claire July magazine

Marie Claire magazine are giving away an Inika eyeshadow in Gunmetal or eyeliner in Graphite with the July edition of the magazine. I've just been sent the eyeliner and a few other bits from the line by the PR for the company, and I bought Marie Claire to get the eyeshadow.

Inika is an Australian natural cosmetics company that uses mineral pigments in its products and avoids the use of petrochemicals, paragons, phthalates, talc or bismuth oxychloride.

Swatches of the eyeshadow (left) and eyeliner (right). Swatched dry on bare skin, natural light. Gunmetal is a silver/mercury shade, and Graphite is a darker pewter grey.

Applied. I lined my upper lid with the liner, then applied the mineral eyeshadow over it and on to my lid up to my crease, using my MAC 239 brush and a patting motion. Picture was taken with (diffused) flash.

I love the eyeliner; it's creamy and blendable, and makes a great eyeshadow base. It compares favourably to my favourite eyeliner brands (Rouge Bunny Rouge, Armani and Le Metier de Beaute). The colour range is not very wide, but I intend to buy the brown (Coco) and purple (Purple Minx).

The eyeshadow gives extremely good colour payoff for a loose pigment, and I'd compare it to MAC pigments in terms of colour and stickability. As with all loose mineral eyeshadows, it is more of a faff to apply than a pressed eyeshadow.

Both of these products are £11.75 each, so it's a good deal for the £3.60 price of the magazine. Marie Claire also has a discount code for inikacosmetics.co.uk which is inikalovesmc. This gives 20% off your order, valid until 01 July 2011.

disclosure: eyeliner is a PR sample.

e.l.f. Conditioning Lip Balm spf 15 in Blissful Berry

I really liked the look of these tinted lip balms by e.l.f. and at £3.50 each they are a very good bargain buy. I chose Blissful Berry to test, which is a my-lips-but-better warm berry shade.

Swatched: a sheer creamy warm berry with no shimmer. The shade reminds me of Eros Lip Lacquer by NARS, but without the shimmer. Although the shade is sheer, it gives a decent tint.

My bare lips for comparison (you can see the slightly blue/mauve tone).

Blissful Berry applied. It warms up the tone of my lips without being brown/orange, and it's a very flattering natural shade.

Active ingredients are 5% Benzophenone-3 and 5% Octyl Methoxycinnamate. Inactive ingredients are as follows:

e.l.f. Conditioning Lip Balm feels comfortable on the lips, although a mineral oil based balm is not my preferred formula (I try to chose plant oil based formulas when buying balms myself). It is a lovely shade though and looks and feels good on the lips; it isn't sticky or gloopy, and my lips don't feel dry when wearing it. If you are looking for an inexpensive tinted lip balm, this is a very good option (it comes in a range of six colours). 

Available at eyeslipsface.co.uk here: e.l.f conditioning lip balm. 

Disclosure: PR sample. 

20% off at Beauty Expert until midnight 16 June 2011

It's Sod's Law at its very finest; I've just bought a Skinceuticals serum and eye cream from Beauty Expert, and they release a 20% off everything code the next day.

The promo code is NO1DAD, and is for Father's Day. It seems to work for all items, not just the stuff for men, although it does exclude vouchers, sale items, Tria, Reviber, Clarisonic, Philips and ghd brands. The code can only be used once per customer.

If you do actually want to get stuff for your dad with it, I recommend Miller Harris Feuilles de Tabac, Citron Citron or Terre de Bois eaux de parfum, or the Anthony Logistics skincare range.

The website is at www.beautyexpert.co.uk.

W3LL People Narcissist Foundation and Concealer Review

I  wrote in my review of W3LL People Universalist Multi-Use Stick that I intended to have a look at the W3LL People Narcissist Foundation/Concealer Stick. Last week I made a trip to the Being Content shop and did just this, and bought the shade #1, which is the best match for my skin. I could wear #2 in the summer, when even I get a little bit of colour.

I've been using this as a concealer on my under eye circles and on the redness around my nose. It's a fantastic texture: a bit less creamy than my rms Beauty un cover, but completely comfortable on my drier under eye skin. It doesn't require powder to set and wears well without settling into creases. I use my usual synthetic concealer brush to apply and then pat it into the skin, or if I'm in a rush I just pick up colour from the stick with a fingertip and dab on and blend with my fingers.

Swatched. It's not that easy to see, as it's quite a good match.

Compared to Bobbi Brown Porcelain Foundation Stick (W3LL on left, BB on right).

Applied. It knocks darkness back effectively, without looking cakey (or feeling heavy or dry).

I made some notes on the colours in the range as follows (Content didn't have #6) :

#1 Fair but not porcelain, pink/peachy toned but not too strongly pink based (I am neutral/olive and I can wear this). About MAC NW20, Bobbi Brown Warm Ivory, Chantecaille Ivory.

#2 Neutral/beige, deeper than #1, about a MAC 25 depth, Bobbi Brown Sand, Chantecaille Vanilla.

#3 Yellow based medium shade, Bobbi Brown Warm Beige, MAC NC30, Chantecaille Cream.

#4 Tanned, quite pink based (more pink than #1). Would work for a tanned/medium olive skin that doesn't have strong yellow tones. MAC NW35ish, Chantecaille Hazel (no Bobbi Brown match).

#5 Slightly tanned, yellow-toned (to my eye, this was actually slightly lighter than #4, but clearly much more yellow). Bobbi Brown Warm Natural, MAC NC35ish, Chantecaille Shea.

I bought mine in person, it is also available online at www.beingcontent.com and from the www.w3llpeople.com website in the US.

Ingredients:
Sunflower oil* infused with green tea**, reishi mushroom***, and wild harvested bayberry, castor oil, beeswax****, silica, essential oils, safflower oil, pomegranate extract, tocopherol [+/- titanium dioxide, iron oxides, mica].
*certified organic, stellar; **certified organic, qai; ***certified organic, oregon tilth; ****certified organic, kosher keunen.

Is there such a thing as too much choice?

With the new Dior Addict lipsticks I was almost paralysed with indecision because there are just so many colours in the line (54 at launch). Finally, I just plumped for the one Kate Moss is wearing in the advert (thank god for Kate).

This got me thinking; do you like a huge amount of choice in a range, or is too much choice overwhelming? I similarly found the Boadicea The Victorious line difficult to navigate, because there are so many different fragrances in the line that all sound quite similar from the notes. Michael Boadi's new fragrance enterprise, Illuminum, is a much tighter line with only 8 fragrances in it (the new Duchess of Cambridge is said to have worn the White Gardenia Petals from this line on her wedding day).

From a cosmetics company point of view, a wide range may be a good thing because it means that a customer is likely to be able to find the colour (or scent) that they are looking for, and it also means that if a customer likes one of your products, they've got plenty of others to choose from if they decide to buy more. It can backfire though as it means that a line does need to hold more stock in order to keep all the choices available; there's not much point in having 40 colours to choose from if you only ever have 20 of them in stock. This is something that Le Metier de Beaute suffered from in the UK. It's also quite a risky strategy: Rock and Republic launched a huge cosmetics line all in one hit, admittedly unfortunately right at the height of a global recession hitting, and withdrew it from physical shops within a couple of years, and from the UK altogether.

For me, I think about twelve colours or fragrances in a line launch is the optimum number. It's enough to give choice, but not too much to be overwhelming.

Do you prefer lots of choice in a range, or do you find it to be too much?

Beauty Spotlight weekly round-up June 11

Each member of The Beauty Spotlight Team shares just one post out of many with you this week. We hope you learn about new blogs from us and that you’ll explore them to find out how much information you can learn (and how much of your money we can help you spend).

• The Lipstick Diva has a case of summer lovin' for Chanel's new Pensee and Pink Peony Glossimers.
• Zuzu's Petals did the Time Warp at Everyday Beauty over Rouge Bunny Rouge Colorburst Lipstick in "Got Rid of the Man".
• Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed just can't choose a favourite product from the Lancôme Bronze Azure Summer 2011 collection. Come check out her swatches and help her decide!
• Modesty Brown lifts the lid on her highlighters including beauty bloggers favourites, BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector and Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow in Rose Gold.
• Replica at Visionary Beauty was unable to resist the claims of a radiant eye lift so had to pick up one of Dior’s 5 Couleurs Lift palettes.
• Le Metier de Beaute and Beauty Info Zone want to prove that everyone can wear a bronzer.
• Do you like to switch up your skincare routine for the warm weather? See how Pammy Blogs Beauty likes Caudalie's Instant Foaming Cleanser and Toning Lotion.
• Cindy over at Prime Beauty has found an economical moisturizing multi-tasker in Josie Maran's Mini Argan Oil Stick!
• Paula, at Older Girl Beauty, talks to multiple Emmy Award winning makeup artist, Kevin James (KJ) Bennett about his tips for makeup on lovelies over 40 in this installment of "What the Pros say..."
• London Makeup Girl compares Armani Eyes to Kill eyeshadow with L'Oreal Color Infallible eyeshadow. Dupe or no dupe?
• When Perilously Pale's new Giorgio Armani order arrived this week she excitedly Played with Plums to test them out with some Le Metier de Beaute favourites.
• Jeanie over at Makeup Merriment believes her quest for the perfect brow product is over because she has found brow bliss in Le Sourcil de Chanel: Perfect Brows compact.
• Styrch from Pretty in Dayton plays with layering CND Shellac colors with Lisa from the Beaute Box.

Nubar Angel nail polish applied (one coat)

I'll post a picture with two (or three) coats of this applied soon, but I was very impressed with how evenly this Nubar shimmer applied with just one coat, and so this is the way I've been wearing it. 

It gives a sheer, even veil of pink/beige/gold shimmer to the nail, and is lovely for a pretty nude/understated look. I bought mine from www.beautybay.com. 

Mir Skincare review - Cleansing Gel and Skin Silk Lotion

Gisele Mir is one of those friends that is a bit annoying because you know she's right, but you don't want to admit that she's right. She will quite often throw her metaphorical hands up in horror on Twitter at skincare brands that use exotic ingredients and charge an arm and a leg for them, and we've had some pretty frank exchanges of views in the past because I'm someone who would happily buy that sort of skincare.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered the Mir Cleansing Gel and Skin Silk Lotion in desperation because I'd really riled my skin up. I'd used a trial kit of products including AHAs and some quite strong essential oils, and my skin had thanked me by developing dry patches on my chin and cheeks and red raised bumps on my forehead (a sure sign that skincare is irritating my skin).

Mir's skincare ethos is very much based around the principle of 'First, do no harm.' This means she has formulated her products to avoid potential irritants and pore-clogging ingredients from her line, and not just the usual suspects like mineral oil and artificial fragrances; she also leaves out essential oils and certain heavy vegetable oils which she believes can congest the skin.

I've used these every night since I received my order in April. I experienced relief almost immediately, with the rash going away within 48 hours and the dry patches resolved within a week. My skin has been soft and well-behaved for the month and more I've been using it, with no random spots or dry bits. There are no collagen-building-magic-pixies in the formulas, but they respect and support the natural balance of  the skin.

The Cleansing Gel is a non-foaming gel cleanser. It feels very cooling on the skin, and leaves skin feeling clean but not stripped. It takes off very light eye make up, but if I'm wearing any mascara I do need to use a separate eye make up remover. I rarely wear foundation, but I applied some to see if the Cleansing Gel could remove it and found I needed to use a muslin cloth in conjunction with the Cleansing Gel to remove foundation completely.

The Skin Silk Lotion is a rich lotion texture that absorbs quickly and leaves the skin feeling comfortable but not greasy. An extremely dry skin might need to cocktail this moisturiser with a couple of drops of the pure Argan Oil in the line, but it is sufficient on its own for my normal to dry skin in Spring and Summer.

Cleansing Gel ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Sucrose Cocoate, PEG-75 Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Glycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Potassium Sorbate.

Silk Skin Lotion ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Camellia Sinensis Seed Oil, Dimethicone, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Glyceryl Stearate SE, Glycerin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Ceteareth-20, Althaea Officinalis (Marshmallow) Root Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Allantoin, Panthenol, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Caprylyl Glycol, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.

My skin is naturally quite well-balanced: it's not oily and does not break out randomly, although it tends towards dryness. It's also quite reactive; it'll break out in full-on spots or under the skin bumps with the wrong skincare. Mir is a very good fit for my skin, leaving it comfortable and clear without irritation. The cleanser is £19.50 for 200ml and the skin silk lotion is £33 for 50ml, and I'm not quite half way through both products after using for 6-7 weeks. I estimate they will last me about 4 months.

Mir Skincare can be purchased from www.mirskincare.com. There are trial packs available to buy to test the range before buying full sizes.

Paintbox Soapworks review - Soap, Sorbetto scrub and Slip body lotion

The Curator of Worship at the House of Blues has become a bit of a partner in crime in the pursuit of interesting bath and body stuff. We'll send each other links to Etsy shops and generally egg each other on to buy things that smell of dirt and rain and interestingness.

Paintbox Soapworks was one of her finds. I quite quickly placed an order for a Sorbetto Scrub in Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground. (I do like the quirky references to indie music in the names: This Charming Man is on my list just for the name, luckily I like the sound of the notes in it too).

The Sorbetto is a thick, unwhipped, foaming scrub. It has various oils and mango butter in it, but the texture is moisturising without being oily: it's a uniform semi-solid texture in the pot that melts on the skin into a creamy soft lather. The sugar particles are slightly scrubbier than those in Haus of Gloi's Bubbling Scrubs.

Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground is smoky, earthy and woodsy, with a bit of clean patchouli. It's exactly the kind of scent I like. The Sorbetto leaves a subtle but detectable veil of the scent on my skin after scrubbing in the shower.

After receiving and loving the Sorbetto, I also went on to buy the Slip body lotion in The Queen is Dead.

The Queen is Dead is sweet and smoky, a honey/leather/smoke blend. It sounds weird, and it is, but it is also very good. It's definitely a honey based scent, so only for those who like sweet/honey scents, although the smoky/leather notes stop it being too sweet for my taste.

Slip is a lightweight hand and body lotion. It absorbs almost instantly, leaving no residue at all and feels refreshing on the skin. It's nice for the summer, but would not be rich enough for my drier skin in the winter.

I also bought the soap sample kit pictured at the top of this post, although I haven't tried any of the soaps in it yet. This is a nice way to try a few scents, and you get to chose the fragrances in it.

Big in Japan Soap - I received a sample size of this as an extra, and I definitely want it in a Sorbetto at some point. It is an almost bitter green citrus, a blend of green matcha tea and yuzu.

The only negative point I'm going to make in this review is a bit of an odd one. Paintbox Soaps undercharges for international shipping. I don't mind when it's by two or three dollars, but the charge for the shipping on the Sorbetto was only $6, when it actually cost $13 to send to the UK (it's a 10oz pot). That would mean instead of receiving $10 for the product, after paying for the shipping, Paintbox Soaps only received $3 - for that 10oz of excellent scrub. My conscience wouldn't let me live with that, so I paypal-ed over the other $7. The cost of international mail on bath and body products is a bit of a pain, but I'm either willing to pay it or I'm not, and I'd rather pay a fair price than it become unsustainable for a seller to ship to the UK. I wish Paintbox Soaps would raise the shipping charges on the Sorbettos so I can buy them (and recommend to other UK people) with a clear conscience. In the meantime, I'll continue to buy and then send the difference.

Edited to add: If you want to find out a bit more about Hayley, the lady behind Paintbox Soaps, there is an interview with her here on Scentbase.com: interview with Paintbox Soaps.