Beauty Spotlight What's In My...

It's Zuzu's turn for the "What's in my ..." series, but she had such a hard time deciding what to highlight, she just decided to show the whole thing. Check out Everyday Beauty and see what's on--and in--Zuzu's dressing table.

I cannot wait to have a peek at this one. I love Zuzu's taste in cosmetics almost as much as her down to earth attitude and sense of fun.

Click on the photo to come and have a nosy with me!

Tender Loving Skincare TLC Body Candle Frangipani Love

Dripping a melted candle onto bare skin might seem a bit 50 Shades of Whatever, but the TLC Body Candles from Tender Loving Skincare (www.tenderlovingskincare.co.uk) are designed to melt at a few degrees above body temperature, so you get gentle warmth rather than a wax burn.

The melted oil is quite a thick liquid texture, so it's good for extremely dry skin and for massage, as it gives good slip. I like this for after sport - the warmth helps to soothe wrung out muscles. The ingredients list is full of skin nourishing botanicals: cocoa, shea & mango butters and soy, almond, argan, jojoba & coconut oils.

I find burning for 5 minutes gives me enough melted oil to moisturise/massage both my legs quite easily. The candle doesn't throw off much scent when it is burning (it isn't designed to - the concentration of essential oils would be too high for use on the skin) but the unlit candle and the melted oil both smell quite strongly of frangipani, a warm and heady tropical floral. There are 4 other fragrances in the range - I also like the idea of green mandarin & lavender.

Using a body candle is a little more faff than using a straightforward liquid oil, but it is a lovely indulgent treat, and the extra nourishment is very good for dry skins. TLC Body Candles are £24 for 6oz.

Disclosure: sample provided for review

Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud Limited Edition Cologne Intense

Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud is tamer on my skin than the description and some of the reviews I've read so far led me to believe; I expected something very sweet and smoky and instead got a pretty, woody rose.

Jo Malone describes this as: 'Darkest Damask Rose. Rich and textural, wrapped with smoky oud wood. Spiked with clove, decadent with praline. Magnetic.'

Velvet Rose & Oud opens on my skin with creamy caramel notes; I don't get any nuttiness, so it isn't quite praline on my skin. This then settles into the rose heart, with the caramel settling down to a whisper of sweetness with almost a salty note to it. There is a dry oud in the base notes, but it's quite subtle and not too heavy. The woodiness comes forward as the fragrance fades over a few hours, but it's still floral and pretty, in a grown up kind of way.

The clove note stops it being too heady/sweet, and I'm sure I sniff a bit of orange blossom that lifts the fragrance from veering into heavy/heady territory too.

Velvet Rose & Oud is how I'd expect Nigella Lawson to smell; slightly foody, voluptuous, vampy but in a wholesome way. This is a Rose/Oud combination that works for day/office wear and I prefer this to Rosewater & Vanilla, which is just too sweet for me. It's not as intense as Dark Amber & Gingerlily, and I find it easier to wear than the Dark Amber & G, which turns a little oily on my skin.  My skin holds fragrance well so I still have quite good scent from it after 6-7 hours, although it hasn't got a Tauer-esque nuclear half-life.

Rose & Oud is a popular combination for a good reason; they work well together. This is a very pretty and wearable interpretation, and I think it'll do well for Jo Malone. This is a limited edition in the Cologne Intense range, so it is £95 for 100ml.

For fragrance combining, this works well with Orange Blossom and I think it'd work well with Blue Agava & Cacao too. Grapefruit or Red Roses would be safe choices to combine with it too.

Disclosure: PR sample

New Live Native products at Content Beauty and GWPs until 30 June

Live Native have recently launched a couple of new products which round out the range very well: a balm cleanser and an eye balm. Content Beauty (www.beingcontent.com) has both of these products with some nice gift with purchase deals until 30 June 2012.

Pure Native Cleansing Balm is a soft balm texture - there is no beeswax in the formulation so it's never absolutely solid, even at cooler textures. This is not an emulsifying formulation so you apply to a dry face, massage to lift dirt and makeup then remove with a damp muslin, and even after removing it does leave a very thin trace of the nourishing oils in the formulation on the face. It smells lightly of orange.

I use this as my evening cleanser, and the Essential Earth Exfoliating Cleanser in the morning. I don't need to use a moisturiser after using the Cleansing Balm in the evening; I just use the Essential Mist MSM Toner and then a couple of drops of the Essential Beauty Serum.

I had a small sample pot of this in my first Live Native order, and liked it so much I emailed to plead to buy my full size (30ml) pot ahead of its general release. It's £24 for 30ml.

Texture of Cleansing Balm:

Essential Gold Rejuvenating Eye Balm is more of a solid balm texture, with tiny flakes of 23K edible gold. I was sent this as a PR sample, (I had intended to buy it myself.)

The gold flakes melt into the skin when you apply the balm - you don't end up with gold shimmer around the eyes. £45 for 15ml, this is priced quite reasonably for a product with gold in it (the rest of the ingredients aren't shabby either.)

You only need small amount; a dab the size of a grain of cooked rice is enough for both eyes. It's very hydrating and plumps up fine lines.

Rejuvenating Eye Balm texture:

If you buy a Cleansing Balm from Content, you receive a free Lip Balm with your order, until 30 June.

If you buy an Eye Balm from Content, you receive a free Lip Balm and a 2ml sample of the Beauty Serum, until 30 June.

The Essential collection (good for travel) comes with a free 15ml Cleansing Balm and a full size Lip Balm. (I don't think this last offer is time limited).

I've been using a Live Native routine for two months now, and my skin looks and feels healthy, nourished and balanced. I think this brand might actually have broken me as a beauty blogger because I'm quite reluctant to try other brands, and I intend to stick to raw skincare.

Pure Native Cleansing Balm ingredients:

( 90% organic ) Helianthus annuus (sunflower seed) oil*, Cocos nucifera (coconut) oil*, Chamomilla recutita matricaria (chamomile) flower*, Calendula officinalis (marigold) flower*, Butyrospermum parkii (raw shea butter)*, Euphorbia Cerifera (candelilla) wax, Daucus carota (carrot) root*, Rosa canina (rosehip) fruit oil*, D-tocopherol and tocotrienol (natural vitamin E) in glycine soja (GMO free soybean) oil, Citrus sinensis (orange) essential oil*, Citrus aurantium (petitgrain) essential oil*, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract*, Myrica gale (bog myrtle) essential oil, Azadiracta indica (neem) seed oil*,citral**, geraniol**, limonene** and linalool**. (* denotes organic and wild harvested; ** naturally occurring in organic essential oils

Essential Gold Rejuvenating Eye Balm ingredients:

(96% organic) Virgin cocos nucifera (coconut) oil*, Butyrospermum parkii (raw shea butter)*, Theobroma cacao seed butter*, Helianthus annuus (sunflower seed) oil*, Argania spinosa (argan kernel) oil*, Symphytum officinale (comfrey) extract*, Daucus carota (carrot root) extract*, Euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, Rosa canina (rosehip) fruit extract*, D-tocopherol and tocotrienol (natural vitamin E) in GMO free Soybean (glycine soja) oil, Rosa damascena (rose otto) essential oil*, Santalum austrocaledonicum veill (sandalwood) essential oil*, Plumeria rubra (frangipani) absolute, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary leaf) extract*, Vanilla planifolia (vanilla fruit) extract*, 23K edible Gold dust, citral**, citronellol**, eugenol**, geraniol**, farnesol**, linalool**. (*denotes organic and wild harvested ingredients, **naturally occurring in organic essential oils)

Disclosure: Eye Balm was a sample. Cleanser was a purchase.

Beauty Spotlight Team Weekly Round-Up 23 June

Have you always wanted to try a Beauty Subscription Sample Service? Here is your chance! Pammy Blogs Beauty is hosting a giveaway for a special Glamour Magazine Birchbox!

OMG it's TDF KWIM? Decoder included in The Pink Sith Blog’s review of the Dior Addict Extreme lipstick in Incognito #316.

This was a week of beauty blog battles and Beauty Info Zone has another one to share. This time it’s Bare Minerals Ready Eyeshadows that are duking it out. Don’t you want to know who wins?

After fears about reaching beauty saturation point, Modesty Brown writes about the products she's recently finished and considers whether they're worth re-purchasing.

This week Visionary Beauty details a lovely limited edition Dior travel palette.

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed celebrates the first day of summer by swatching a couple of items from the Essentiels de Chanel Fall Collection!

Prime Beauty shares her secret for perfect lips: SENSAI The Lipstick--the luxury lipstick you don't know about---yet!

Jessika the polish insomniac shows off her favorite taupe eyeshadow for less than $3!

London MakeUp Girl finally gets to grips with one of her long term items of longing. Does Kjaer Weis Eyeshadow in Divine live up to its name? Find out in her review: Kjaer Weis Divine review.

Want to get noticed this summer? Perilously Pale shows you how with the hot summer shades in the Anastasia See and Be Seen Kit.

Even better this set is a deal! 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic tried out Milani's Powder Eye Shadows and thinks they might be just as good as MAC.

Paula, from Older Girl Beauty, talks about what every beauty girl dreads - throwing out makeup - thanks to a case of pinkeye.

Help: Clear Skin 45% off code

Last year Proximity (one of my regular readers and commenters) tested Help: Clear Skin and wrote a very comprehensive review of it, which you can read here if you missed it at the time: Help: Clear Skin review. 

Help: Clear Skin have just launched an ‘Olympic Countdown to Clear Skin’ discount code (OLYMPIC45) that gives you  45% off the 28 packs of Help: Clear Skin and Help: Revitalise My Skin until 27th July. The 28 pack should be £39; with the code it is £21.50 which is a good saving.

The website to purchase these to use the discount is at www.workswithwater.co.uk. (They are also sold at Boots, Superdrug and the pharmacy department of some supermarkets.)

Nourish Balance skincare - guest review

I posted about the Nourish Balance skincare range last month, and asked for a volunteer to test it for me as I don't have combination skin. Justine volunteered to test it for me, and has written a review. 

I’ve used all the products for a few weeks now so I thought I should let you know how I got along with it. I haven’t used all of a range of skincare for quite some years not since my 3 step Clinique days in my twenties so it was nice to use everything in the range and see how my skin reacted to it. I usually pick out different steps from different ranges, Cleanse and Polish from Liz Earle, the toner from the excellent Pai range and a moisturiser from La Roche Posay or Elemis or about a million others! I like to try new brands so I use lots of different things.

My skin is classic combination, oily t zones and drier cheeks. I have open pores and blackheads but I’m not normally prone to breakouts. I’m 41 so sometimes I use anti-aging products but not always. I think that a good moisturiser is about as anti-aging as you can get anyhow. I don’t believe in a wonder cream but I think it’s important to moisturise every day and use a good sunscreen.

I’ll start with the cleanser; this is a really refreshing gel like cream cleanser that I washed off. It doesn’t foam at all so the texture is very different from other cleansers I have used. It’s quite runny but easy to rinse off. It leaves the skin very soft and clean and not tight like a foaming cleanser can. It is ideal for the summer months as it has an apple fragrance which is fresh and clean.

The toner delivers a good fine spray and leaves the skin matt after drying. You do not need much of this so it would last a long time. Again it smells of apple which is fresh and a bit of a wake up in the mornings.

The moisturiser is a good size which would last a good few months. The texture is light again a gel cream consistency. It moisturised my skin just enough without my skin feeling oily. My skin felt soft and matt after use. It left my skin feeling even all over. When I woke up in the morning I had no oily patches around my nose but my skin felt plump and even. You don’t need much to cover the face so again it would be very economical to use. I think the moisturiser was my favourite product. I really enjoyed the light texture and the matt effect after use.

The Intense Face Gel confused me a little as it states on the bottle it is step 4 but I am used to using a serum between my toner and moisturiser so I started using it as step 4 as instructed but then switched to using it as a serum between the toner and moisturiser. It worked well both ways so I don’t think it matters which way you use it. It leaves the skin very matt I think if you had very oily skin this gel would be perfect instead of the normal moisturiser.

I really enjoyed using the Nourish range. I think it’s a good solid skincare regime that really balances combination skin. I have seen a little improvement in the brightness of my skin, it seems clearer and brighter. It feels very soft and the tone is even between my nose and cheeks.

I hope to see this range in the mainstream shops like John Lewis and online. I think the set would make a great gift especially for someone yet to find a whole range that suits their skin. The packaging is practical and easy to use, modern and almost unisex. I think the reasonable price makes it ideal for younger users and those on a budget and the products last a long time so they are very economical.

Thank you London Make up Girl for sending me these products to try.

Thank you very much Justine for the excellent review! Nourish skincare is currently available from www.nourishskinrange.com. (I'd like to see it in somewhere like John Lewis too.) 


Disclosure: PR samples. 

Why it must be painful to be Lauren Luke

I very rarely do rambles like this on my blog, and I did try to find a more general interest blog guest post home for it, so I hope you'll indulge me, or skip this post if it is of no interest to you. I'd like to make it clear I'm not attacking Lauren Luke, I'm just trying to give my take on why I think she's ruffled some feathers in the makeup artist world. 

Lauren Luke is not a trained makeup artist, but she’s made a career out of the makeup tutorials she posts on Youtube. A couple of years ago she appeared at IMATS UK, a trade event for makeup artists, and ruffled the feathers of a number of professional makeup artists. There’s a bit of me that thinks ‘It’s only makeup’ but then I haven’t spent ten or twenty years honing makeup application as an art. (Also, I am personally crap at makeup. My emphasis is on reviewing and I only show makeup applied to show the colours in situ, but no-one is ever going to be impressed by my techniques. I do the same couple of basic applications all the time.)

I practice a martial art, and have done so for close to fifteen years; eight as a child/teenager, and then just over six years when I hit my thirties and decided some exercise would be a really good idea. I’m reasonably competent at it - in makeup terms I’m not Lisa Eldridge, but I’d be a pretty good makeup assistant and I wouldn’t drop the brushes or poke mascara in your eye.

Imagine now that someone had taught themselves karate by watching the karate kid and other films of that genre. They love karate, but they’ve never actually been to a club and been taught or trained with others. They start putting karate videos on youtube, the stuff they do is easy to copy, and they get lots of subscribers and some attention in the press.

Imagine the press is calling them a karate expert. My organisation invites them to attend our bi-annual four day training event with top instructors from Japan, and invites them to talk about karate or teach a session. I know I could drop this person in a fight in under a minute.

Would I be pissed off? Oh yes, and particularly at idea of the thousands of people who think *this* is karate at its best, or that it’s easy, and that you don’t have to spend your time in the dojo gathering bruises with your arse on the floor when you’ve missed a sweep and the other person has taken your leg away from under you because they are better, and faster, and you need to look at what they do differently and incorporate that into your own training. Would I think I had anything to learn from this person? Only how to make money off youtube.

Lauren Luke knows this. She’s a single parent making money, and so you can’t blame her for saying sod the complainers, but if she loves makeup it must hurt. It’d kill me to think that I didn’t have the respect of the people I respect and look up to in the dojo.

Do you know what I hope I’d do in that position? I’d find a good club, I’d humble myself, put on a white belt and learn.

Kjaer Weis eyeshadow - Divine

I have dithered over Kjaer Weis products for almost two years now (here's my original post: thoughts on Kjaer Weis.) I finally put some on this year's birthday list, and was given this eyeshadow by Mr London a little bit early.

The packaging is beautiful: the products come in sturdy red boxes, and then gorgeous, heavy, metallic containers with the KW logo on lids that swing open. The eyeshadow in the container is €34; refills are €18.

Divine is described on the Kjaer Weis website as: 'a neutral tone, a beautiful gray that doesn’t look overly made-up. Divine will shade the eye and give the illusion of not wearing make-up. When applied to the crease, Divine gives beautiful, subtle depth to the eye. You can do a light smoky-eye with it alone, or use Divine as the stepping-stone for a great smoky-eye with our Onyx Eye Shadow.'  

It's darker than I was expecting from the description and the picture on the Kjaer Weis website (which is below, apologies, I couldn't find a bigger picture on the website.) I did wonder if it was a Divine/Onyx mix up, but the box and the palette both say this is Divine. 

Swatch:

Picture to show Divine applied very simply with a Mac 217 brush from lash to just past crease. It applies and blends beautifully which the brand attributes to the bamboo in the formula. It's also a lovely finish; not quite matte, with a slight satin sheen.

Finished eye, with a little bit of black pencil along the lashes and some mascara. I do like this, even though it wasn't the colour I was expecting from the online swatch. It is more of a made-up than a natural look for me (my eyeshadow 'natural-to-made-up' scale is calibrated very much to the left though). It is still very neutral.

I vacillated between this shade and Wisdom (a taupe) and finally decided try something different and go for Divine. Although it wasn't exactly the colour I was expecting, I do like it a lot and would buy other shades. There are reviews of Wisdom on Modesty Brown, Lipglossiping, Visionary Beauty and The Non Blonde.

Edited to add: I'm wearing this differently today (pictured below), in a Laura Mercier naturalist style. I tightlined my upper lashes with a black pencil, then applied Divine to my upper and lower lashline with a flat liner brush, and to my crease with a Scott Barnes crease brush. I really like it worn like this (it's easier to see the colour of it in the pictures above though!)

In Europe Kjaer Weis is available from www.slowfashionhouse.com.

Beauty Spotlight What's in my...with Polish Insomniac

This week the Beauty Spotlight Team takes you into the beauty closet of Jessika, aka Polish Insomniac, to see what's on her polish station!

Click on the picture to see what she uses to keep her nails in tip top condition.

Less is More Flower Whip Styling Cream review

Less is More is an organic hair care range stocked at Content Beauty in the UK. I've used and liked a shampoo and conditioner from the line in the past, so when I saw some products are now available in these 30ml travel sizes I decided to give the Flower Whip Styling Cream a go.

Flower Whip gives light hold and definition to normal to thick hair. It effectively combats frizz and helps to define waves and curls. It smells lightly citrussy, and is a lighter (and slightly less moisturising) texture than the Rahua Finishing Treatment. I do find it gives better curl definition than the Rahua, although I like both products. For hair that isn't particularly dry or damaged the Flower Whip is a less expensive option.

I'm going to buy the small size of the Mascobadogel with my next Content order to try cocktailing the two; I'm curious to know what bundled, shining locks look like! I think the gel combined with the cream will give a stronger hold and even more defined curls.

The 30ml size is £6.50, and the full 150ml size is £24. The smaller size is perfect for holidays, or just to see how your hair gets on before trying the full size. Available from www.beingcontent.com.

Ingredients:

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

Deborah Lippmann's Mermaid's Dream has been on a lot of nail and beauty blogs. It's from the Resort collection for Spring 2012, and it's beautiful; a sea foam green base with gold and turquoise glitter and turquoise mini-sequins. The texture is slightly rough, but I quite like that; it has the feel of foam-washed sand. You can smooth it out with a top coat if you prefer to.

There are many great pictures of this polish on the blogsphere; Vampy Varnish, Nails and Noms and A Vain Woman all stoked my desire for this polish. My post is really just a head's up that I found it in the House of Fraser store in London Victoria, after looking for it in vain in the Oxford Street Store.

This is £16, but I paid it willingly. Picture is of three coats; it applied easily and dried quickly. The brush is great; wide enough to do the nail smoothly in three swipes, but not so wide it's unwieldy, and perfectly trimmed. 

If I had to cull my cosmetics, what would make the cut?

This post by Modesty Brown got me to pondering what I'd keep if I were to cull my cosmetic collection down to a reasonable size.

I find it relatively easy to get rid of skin care that is past its use-by date. I find it next to impossible to let colour cosmetics go. If I had to decide on a handful of things to keep, these would make the cut:

Basics:

W3LL People Narcissist stick foundation concealer.

Shu Uemura spot concealer - I have a feeling this has been discontinued. I have no idea what I'm going to replace it with - it's densely pigmented and a perfect colour match.

Shu Uemura hard brow pencil in Seal Brown.

I don't often use foundations, but I'd keep Sappho Organics Leisha (liquid) and Alima Pure Olive 0 (powder) foundations for the occasions when I do.

I still haven't found a mascara I completely love. This is one product I generally only have one of and replace regularly; at the moment I'm using Sue Devitt's Lengthening Mascara.

The cheek products:

Rouge Bunny Rouge Delicata Blush - the perfect pink/beige/peach neutral for my fair skin.

Ilia Beauty Sway - a solid gel-balm bronzer with shimmer.

RMS Beauty Living Luminizer - best highlight in the world, ever, especially for drier skin.

RMS Beauty lip2cheek: Rapture - deep red, for lips and cheeks.

W3LL People Universalist multi-use stick in #7 - a medium cherry pink.

The eye products:

Viseart Basic eyeshadow palette - 12 neutral matte eyeshadows. Nicely pigmented, blend beautifully. If you have these, you really don't need any other neutral mattes.

RMS Beauty cream eyeshadows: Karma, Magnetic, Myth. Black/brown, silver taupe and reddish copper. I love the texture of these cream eyeshadows - they are so easy to apply and wear. They do crease a little, but it's very easy to fix.

Le Metier de Beaute Penelope Kaleidoscope. I'm willing to say I can see the Emperor's todger with LMdB - once you've seen a couple of the Kaleidoscope kits, you have pretty much seen them all, and the general effects of each kit (if not the exact shades) are largely dupeable from the main line. I do really like the combination of colours in Penelope though.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Solstice Halcyon eyeshadow - semi-sheen taupe. 

Rouge Bunny Rouge Lola eye kohl - cool brown with copper shimmer. 

Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier pencils in Pointe-Noire (black) and Surat (silver taupe). 

Lip products:

Now this was hard. I've got it down to the four lip colours I wear most often, but I could easily double this number (and I couldn't let go of all of the rest of my lipsticks).

Ilia Beauty Arabian Knights - berry stain.

Ilia Beauty Neon Angel - bright pink, very comfortable to wear.

Tom Ford Cherry Lush - bright cherry red.

W3LL People Nudist #3 - sheer red balm.

I think I'd have to keep at least a couple more Tom Ford lipsticks - Violet Fatale, Black Orchid and Casablanca.

Black Milk Leggings - Galaxy Black

Yes, I'd fail at being a fashion blogger. My photo composition include half a hosepipe (disconnected!), a couple of footballs in the background and a shocking lack of Instagram, but anyway. Black Milk leggings are fabulous. Tali from The Gloss Goss retweeted a couple of Black Milk tweets, and has posted pictures wearing some on her Glossy's Wardrobe blog here: http://glosswardrobe.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Black%20Milk. I'm about four inches shorter, a dozen years older and a good stone heavier, but I still really wanted those leggings.

I bought a pair of the Galaxy Black Leggings in medium - I'm a size 10 to 12 (I fit 10s, I feel more comfy in 12s) and they fit well. Shipping from Australia was fast even with standard shipping - I got them a week after I got the shipping notice. These are not inexpensive - it works out to about £50 with the current exchange rate (before shipping), but they are very high quality and are made in Australia. I love them and want more pairs - other Galaxies, The Great Wave and Starry Night are now on my birthday list.

The top is from Uniqlo, and the necklace is from Crazy Pig. The Black Milk website is at www.blackmilkclothing.com.

Beauty Spotlight Weekly Round-Up 09 June

As always, lots of good links and reading here, if the weather is frightful where you are or if your husband has commandeered the TV to watch football.

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic reviewed the entire Somme Institute Skin Care Line. She had a favorite product, which one is your favorite?

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed takes the week off and lets Marmalade the cat review products in her place. Come see what he thought of Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel in his namesake colour!
 
Nail polish and Monthly Beauty Sample Subscription lovers: Pammy Blogs Beauty continues to love her Julep Maven subscription with this month's "Classic with a Twist" box. Check out Pammy's thoughts on the box and her NOTD!

Jessika from polish insomiac shows us How To Smooth Bumpy Glitters.

At Everyday Beauty, Zuzu*s Petals finally found her perfect MLLB shade in her beloved Chanel Rouge Coco Shine formula. Come see what's so fetishistic about Fétiche.

The Pink Sith tells you a story. Once upon a time a fair maiden & a gallant Knight created magic and Medicine Mama's Apothecary sells it!

Modesty Brown turns the clock back 12 months to see what she was loving this time last year and feels pangs of guilt for neglecting such beautiful items.

Prime Beauty has a BIG crush on Dick Page, Creative Director for Shiseido, find out why she's smitten and what's in store for summer!

Visionary Beauty shows us some everyday shadow essentials from Burberry.

Living, raw skincare? What's that? Find out in London MakeUp Girl's review of Live Native Skincare.

Perilously Pale finally gave in and ordered the Ellis Faas Spring Gift Set for her first foray into the world of Ellis Faas. Was it worth the wait?

Summer's here, and Shannon from Lipstick Musings has Lancome's new limited-edition Color Design Eye Palette in Desert Sunset . Get it while it's hot!

Paula, from Older Girl Beauty talks to Emmy Award winning makeup artist Kevin James (KJ) Bennett about his new makeup brush collaboration with Royal and Langnickel called "[R]evolution".

Beauty Info Zone has a fabulous tool that you won't believe you don't own. Check out Minerals Mate Mixing Palette to learn about it and WIN one for yourself.

Clinique Chubby Stick in Oversized Orange

Clinique have just released eight new shades of their popular Chubby Sticks; solid lip balm sticks that give a hint of colour. One of the good things about these is that they twist up and don't need sharpening so you don't waste product.

The sheerness of the Chubby Sticks seems to vary from shade to shade; Oversized Orange is one of the very sheer ones.

On my lips. This is quite a few swipes, and the colour still isn't very orange. This may be partly because the base of the Chubby Sticks is clear, rather than opaque and white, and so the colour of your lips comes through, but it's also due to the light concentration of colour pigment, giving a sheer wash of colour.

Full face picture. Because my lips are pale and quite blue toned it doesn't look very orange at all - it's more a gentle apricot tint. I'd like a stronger orange tint, personally, but it's pretty and easy to wear.

Chubby Sticks are £16 for 3g, available from all Clinique counters now.

Disclosure: PR sample

Omorovicza Gold Sugar Scrub review

Omorovicza has been featured on quite a few blogs I read recently; smartly, the company hasn't sent the same product to everyone so there are product reviews popping up across the range. Omorovicza is a family owned and managed luxury skincare range (the you-need-practice-to-pronounce-it Omorovicza is the family name of the couple behind the brand) and their unique selling point is the mineral-rich hungarian thermal water used in every product. They also use good quality plant-derived ingredients, and avoid petrochemicals, parabens, silicones, Polyethylene Glycol, SLS, artificial colours and fragrances.

I was sent the Gold Sugar Body Scrub to try. This is a cane sugar scrub with a gold polypeptide suspension in it, and is £57 for 200ml. It is currently a gift with purchase on orders over £100 on the www.omorovicza.com website (I've played with a basket, and it is a full size product free).

Gold is a favourite ingredient in the very high end lines at the moment;  the theory behind it is that gold is anti-inflammatory and helps to repair damage. Omorovicza also sells a Gold Rescue Cream for the face (also expensive at £107, but less insane than the £370 that Chantecaille charges for their Nano Gold Energising Cream).

The Gold Sugar Scrub comes packaged in a smart and sturdy box in the Omorovicza white and gold livery.

The scent is lovely; a warm, slightly spicy resinous fragrance with subtle floral undertones. It smells expensive (and so it should!) and indulgent without being overpowering.

This is applied to damp skin and is not a foaming scrub - the sugar particles give a thorough but gentle exfoliation before melting into the skin. The texture of the scrub is perfect - the oil and sugar blend is neither dry nor overly oily, and leaves the skin feeling plump and smoothed but not greasy after rinsing.

The ingredients list is impressive too; as well as sugar, the gold ferment and vegetable oils the scrub contains chilli pepper (capsicum) ferment to help stimulate the circulation, turmeric and acerola extracts (both very good antioxidant sources). It feels very gently warming when applied, and might be of particular interest to anyone with sluggish circulation.

When I occasionally review this kind of product, I usually say that as much as I enjoy a luxury scrub, I wouldn't buy one over my usual independent Etsy favourites. I would definitely put this one on my birthday or Christmas list though - the skin soothing and circulation boosting botanical ingredients go a fair way to justify the price, and I love the texture of it.

Available from www.omorovicza.com, Fenwicks, Harrods, Liberty and Harvey Nichols (Edinburgh, London and Manchester).

Disclosure: PR sample. As always, links are not affiliate links.

DIY oatmeal exfoliator video

I had a question from someone on my recent Live Native skincare post, wondering if the Exfoliating Cleanser would suit very sensitive skin that doesn't get on with more usual manual exfoliators. I suggested doing a trial with some home made oat exfoliant first to be sure that the method is suitable, before buying the cleanser.

Here's a short video (please excuse the completely naked face - without brows, lips and a bit of concealer I do look odd!) showing how I make it and the press and release technique for using this type of exfoliator/cleanser.

The ingredients are very simple - a teaspoon of oil (I used almond as I happened have some in the medicine cabinet) the same amount of ground oats and a little water to make into a smoothish paste.

Beauty Spotlight Team - What's in Shannon's drawers?

It's time for another Beauty Spotlight Team "What's In Your...?" post! This week, we're going to take a peek into Shannon from Lipstick Musings' monstrous cabinet of beauty products. Click on the picture below to go to her blog and see just how much she's got hiding in her drawers!

Shannon and I have very similar colouring and shade preferences, so I am intrigued to find out what she's got stashed in these!