Hot new Lipstick Alert!

17 have just added a seriously sexy new lipstick range to their collection. Supreme Shine Lipsticks work bold, virant colours with a new, lightweight formula.

Available in 13 beautiful shades – Barely Blush, Bon Bon, Pink Posey, Kissable, Hot Stuff, If You Please, Red Devil, Rich, Bella, Hot Flash, Day-glo, All About the Sass, Deep Secret.

Hot Stuff

For me red lipstick is like chocolate, I know it’s not good for me but I just can’t resist, but in Hot Stuff I think I’ve finally found my perfect red! Blue toned reds don’t suit me, I find they drain the colour from my face. Coral reds and pinkish reds work better on my skin tone. This, I’d describe as a very flattering cherry red. It’s rich, highly pigmented and fairly opaque. The forumla is easy to apply, slides on, a little waxy and very lightweight. The finish is a classic shine, but not sticky or glossy.

Pink Posey

Purples and Plums are so hot right now! Pink Posey is a very wearable pinky purple. It’s bright and bold and my new party season go-to. Like before it’s rich, highly pigmented and fairly opaque. The forumla is easy to apply, slides on, is a little waxy and very lightweight. The only drawback is it doesn’t have the staying power of regular formulas, but it’s a good excuse to whip it out and reapply.

OFFER ALERT – Check out this free gift with any two 17 products. Femme Noir

Supreme Shine Lipstick in store and online now, £4.99

Be a Style Queen

The release of the Boots’ Christmas catalogue marks the official run up to Christmas. Each week during this run up to Christmas, Boots offers up one of its “star” gifts for half price. This weeks’ is pretty good and guaranteed to cause a stampede….

Frontcover Style Queen Reduced from £35 to £17

Frontcover Style Queen is a bumper beauty collection for eyes, lips and cheeks. It includes all the products, tools and techniques you’ll need to rock a new look and is great for party season.

The Frontcover Style Queen Colour Set includes:

• 6 lip glosses
• 7 dome baked powder eyeshadows
• 6 pressed powder eyeshadows
• 2 fine-line baked powder cheek domes
• Double ended mascara/sealer
• 2 iridescent pigments
• Shadowline
• 6 make-up brushes
• Mini lash curler
• Double pencil sharpener
• A mirror in the lid

All that for just £17! I can personally vouch for their eyeshadows – I picked up a bumper collection during last Christmas’ star gist. See the review here.

Offer ends Thursday 20 October 2011, whilst stocks last, which won’t be long!

LOOK Beauty Collection

Another new kid on the block! LOOK Magazine announced last week that they are launching their first beauty range. I think this is a brilliant idea and I’m surprised someone hasn’t beaten them to it. I picked up a few samples at the show last month and wanted to share my pics, and thoughts.

It’s a pretty comprehensive range with everything you’d expect – foundations, primers, blushers and more. For me the stand out product is the Double Hit Lip – lipstick at one end and gloss at the other. The shade I received is an orangey coral, which looks quite scary but is actually quite sheer.

The texture of the lipstick is nice, more like a balm and the lipgloss smells divine. These were used to achieve the very on trend bold pouts at the recent LOOK catwalk show (see the pics here). I’d be keen to try the red for a buildable crimson pout, with optional gloss finish.

As for the Statement Eyes shadows £4 each, again, not the best shades for me, but the textures are nice. Quite silky and satin-like.

 

I’d like to try their metallic shades – Lame and Luxe were used on the models in the show.

Other stand out products include the Ooomph Lashes mascara £7 and Holiday Glow highlighting Powder £8.

Available exclusively in Superdrug stores later this month. A donation from every product sold goes to cancer support charity Look Good… Feel Better.

You need to know about… FashionistA Cosmetics

It’s hard to keep up with all the new make up brands hitting the high street. We’ve had Sleek, MUA, Accessorize, VIVO, the upcoming LOOK magazine cosmetics and the much anticipated, not to be missed FashionistA Range.

FashionistA cosmetics, launch in Superdrug at the end of September, include everything you’d expect from a good high street brand, and more. Their stand out products are the Custom Design Palettes, which are empty palettes that you can fill with a mixture of 4 eye shadows or blushers (Frontcover do something similar, which I love but theirs are limited to eyeshadows). With a huge 49 eye shadows and 12 blushers to choose from, you can really design a palette that suits you. Set to retail for £12 for the palette and 4 shadows/blushers.

And if that wasn’t enough, they also have the Magnetism nail polish range with The Saturdays coming out at the end of October.

Each Saturday has their own shade and will retail for a reasonable £6 for the polish and £3 for the magnet. Frankie’s is a silver shade, Mollie’s is a metallic pinky purple, Rochelle’s is a metallic red, Una’s is a metallic forest green and Vanessa’s is a sort of smoky metallic grey magnetic polish.

LOOK Loot

I forgot to share with you the wonderful goodie bag I received at the LOOK fashion show…. it was crammed full of fashion, beauty and confectionary treats.

Treats included Make Believe Night Time Self Tan, Palmers Cocoa Butter, Label M Curl Spray and Next perfume.

Make up treats included an eye shadow and double ended lip product from the upcoming LOOK Magazine range and a Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm.

A very cute H&M scarf and some Monsoon bangles.

Plus the latest LOOK Magazine, of course, discount vouchers, a Miss Selfridges gift card and chocolates and evian that didn’t make the journey home!

Thank you LOOK!

Something for the Weekend – M&S Beauty Sale

We get the emails, we see the posters – everywhere we go it’s SALE, SALE, SALE! Although it’s mainly fashion, there are beauty bargains to be had so don’t forget to look beyond the clothes rails. M&S for one are having a final summer clearance, instore and online, and there’s some delicious beauty bargains, like this eye palette for just £2!

And Nail Colours and lipglosses from £1.00!

There’s also lipsticks, blushers and eye shadows – selected colours only of course.

Be quick, things don’t hang around in marksies for very long do they. Check out the online beauty bargains.

17 All About Nude Palette

If you’ve been in Boots anytime in the last week or so this summer palette might just have caught your eye. Unfortunately the limited edition palette is not for individual sale, instead it’s a free gift when you purchase any two 17 products. I ordered mine online as the shops had sold out, and now I see why. The palette is really good quality and wouldn’t be out of place alongside premium palettes from the likes of Benefit and Stila. It contains two eye shadows (top row), a multi purpose cheek blush/highlighter (bottom left) and a lipgloss (bottom right).

The golden coloured eyeshadow is divine – buttery texture, highly pigmented and metallic finish. The cheek product reminds me of a pigmented highlighter, think Nars’ Multiples or Topshop’s Cheek and the lip square is rosey glossy lipstick.

l-r pink eye shadow, golden eye shadow, blush and lips

 So which two 17 products did I choose to go with the new palette? Well, I opted for a mirror shine lipstick in Peace that I’ve had my eye on for a while and a practical, but slightly boring pencil sharpener (£1.99).

Mirror Shine Lipstick – Peace £2.59 (online, £4.59 in store)

If you fancy one of these lipsticks, order online. Boots have £2 off the Mirror Shine range, for some reason they’re still full price in store. As the title suggests, this is a shiny, glossy lipstick. It looks like a lipstick but feels like a balm. It’s shiny like a lipgloss but not at all sticky. Peace looks like a bright coral, but on the lips, it’s more of a hot pink – either way it’s a nice summer shade and super shiny.

All three products cost less than five pounds, a pretty savvy haul I’d say!

Packed To Go?

Leaving on a jet plane? Not before you’ve checked out MAC’s new limited edition travel collection – Packed To Go!

The collection contains everything you should need to fill your chic travel make up bag. Featuring gorgeous face kits, eye, cheek and lip trios and brush bags – perfect for those all important touch ups on the go.

It’s a while since I’ve been super excited by one of Mac’s collections, but this one’s ticking all the boxes. Look in a Box kits are pretty genius and as the name suggests contains everything you need to create a gorgeous themed look… in one box. The eyes, the lips, the cheeks – it’s all taken care of, everything except the foundation and at £36.50, they’re pretty good value.

• Girl Next Door – 2 Eye Shadows in Grand Entrance and Smoke & Diamonds, Iridescent Powder in Belightful, Cremesheen Glass in Deelight and Zoom Lash Mascara in Zoom Black
• A Very Stylish Girl – 2 Eye Shadow in Dreammaker and Glamour Check, Bronzing Powder in Golden, Cremesheen Glass in Looks Like Sin and Zoom Lash Mascara in Zoomblack
• Rocker Chick – 2 Eye Shadow in Electra and Black Tied, Lipstick in Hue, Lipglass in Oyster Girl, Eye Kohl in Smolder and Dazzle Lash Mascara in Black Dazzle

Packed to go Eye products

• Packed to Go: Assorted Black Eyeliners – Power Point Eye Pencil in Engraved, Kohl Power Eye Pencil in Feline and Penultimate Eye Liner in Rapidblack £27.50
• Packed to Go: 6 Warm Smoky Eyeshadows – Shroom, Naked Lunch, Greensmoke, Tempting, Showstopper and Stormy Love £29.50
• Packed to Go: 6 Cool Smoky Eyeshadows – Satin Taupe, Beauty Marked, Carbon, Seedy Pearl, Tendersmoke and A Brown Suit £29.50

Packed to go Lip products

• Packed to Go: Lipstick in Pretty Please, Plumful and Hug Me £28.5o
• MAC Packed to Go: Cremesheens in Boy Bait, Over Indulgence and Double Dare £32.50
• MAC Packed to Go: Lipglasses in C-Thru, Lust and Cultured £27.50

 

 

MAC Packed to Go: 4 Lips & Pressed Powder – contains Lipglosses in Poetic License, Rosehips, Riviera Ready and Quick Change along with Iridescent Powder in Belightful £29.50

Brushes

• Packed to Go: 5 Define & Blend Brushes – 129SE Powder/Blush Brush, 190SE Foundation Brush, 224 SE Tapered Blending Brush, 242SE Shader Brush and the 266 SE Small Angle Brush £39.50
• Packed to Go: 5 Shape & Perfect Brush Bag – 168SE Large Angled Contour Brush, 187SE Duo Fibre Brush, 212SE Flat Definer Brush and 275SE Medium Angled Shading Brush £39.50

And even if you’re not travelling, in fact, especially if you’re not travelling you deserve a little treat and some of these sets are really good value.  Available online.

Bargain Beauty Buys

With the summer sales in full swing I’ve traipsed around the shops and trawled through hundreds of online pages  to bring you some of the best beauty bargains out there .

Marks and Spencer

Not one of my regular beauty haunts, I must admit but whilst browsing in the home department I wondered along (like a moth to a flame) to the beauty sale. Stock was limited but there’s some bargains to be had – this is what I picked up

Lazy Spa – Shape up contouring gel Was £6 now £1.50

This all over intensive body contouring gel contains CellActive® – Shape and witch hazel. Combined with massage, these active ingredients help to firm, tone and reduce the appearance of cellulite. With a beach holiday coming up, it’s got to be worth a go.

Busy But Beautiful Body Shimmer BalmWas £5 now £1.50

Give your skin a subtle luminescence with this sexy scented body balm. I was more attracted to the tin, which you can re-use as a great make-up brush holder or a stylish case for all your beautiful cosmetics, but the balm itself is a lovely highlighter type balm for the body and smells divine.

ASOS

A lot of people don’t realise that ASOS stocks beauty treats, as well as fashion faves. Their ever expanding beauty department includes brands such as GHD, Nails Inc, Illamasqua and Soap and Glory.

There’s some great bargains to be had in their summer sale, here are my top pics…

Nails Inc SS11 Collection Was £25.00 NOW £16.25

Featuring four on-trend colours, ideal for creating this season’s colour-clash nails. Including Wellington Square, a pastel peach inspired by the coral tones at Fendi, Hampstead, a subtle biscuit beige, Queensgate Terrace, a soft cornflower blue and Brook Street, a vivid pinky coral. Inspired by the catwalks and this season’s on-trend colours, they are ideal for creating fashion-forward looks.

Soap & Glory ‘Clear Here’ Oil Control Daily Moisture Lotion 50ml Was £8.20 NOW £4.75

Oil control daily moisture lotion by Soap & Glory. Designed to smooth and protect then skin whilst helping to minimize pore, prevent spots and control shine.

Cheap Smells

Another of my go to online beauty shops – great for cult favourites at discount prices including YSL Touche Eclat and Elizabeth Arden Eight hour cream

I also spotted…

Elizabeth Arden – Color Intrigue Gel Eyeliner and Brush with a whopping 81%off WAS £26 NOW £4.95 Available in Ocean Teal and Brown

Lancome Colour Design Eye shadows from £5.95

Topshop

I picked up a set of 3 lip polishes for just £5 in store – fabulously glossy and available in 3 great colours.

Don’t worry if there’s nothing left in your nearest Topshop, there’s still a few online beauty bargains like Gel EyeLiners, various colours WAS £8, NOW £2

Happy Summer Sales!

New Beauty Crush: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Girl of the moment Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, my new beauty, style and general all round girl crush.

When it comes to make up, Rosie knows what suits her and sticks to it – I love the simplicity of her make up. Her signature look centres around sultry smokey eyes and bronzed skin. Despite having the biggest and best lips in the business, Rosie doesn’t play up to them. I’d be tempted to colour in that pout all kinds of fuchsias and reds, but she keeps it simple with hues of nude and browny-pinks.

Here’s how to create the look.

Base

Her base is glowing and dewy. I’d imagine she starts off with a luminous primer like Clarin’s beauty flash balm then adds a subtle base colour, something like Chanel’s Vitalumiere Aqua foundation. With that flawless skin, I doubt she needs concealer, but a couple clicks of a highlighter or under eye concealer like YSL’s touché éclat will correct any dull areas – I think there’s evidence of some in the inner eye area – which works great to open and brighten the eye.

Cheeks

Not one for bright blushers, Rosie opts for bronzer and highlighter instead. Either she’s blessed with the most amazing cheekbones EVER or there’s some clever contouring going on here – I choose to believe it’s the later. Take a multi toned bronzing powder, something like Guerlain’s Terracota Four Seasons and contour the natural lines around your cheeks, forehead and chin. A dab of liquid highlighter on the top of cheek bones would accentuate the tan and draw attention to the chizzled features. Finish with a light dusting of a peachy/pink powder blush to add a touch of colour to apples of the cheeks.

Eyes

Brows are full and combed slightly upwards, which I love. For the smokey eye Rosie opt for gold and bronzey brown eye shadows rather than the standard black and greys. An eye quad or a palette would work best to mix and match for the shade that suits. I have a great one by Frontcover that contains some gorgeous bronzey hues. The intensity of the smokey eye varies – smudge shadow along the lid and up to the crease, if you’re feeling adventurous, take it higher up to the brow bone. Smudge some shimmery brown or bronze under the lower lash line and in the inner eye. Work in a brown or black eye liner.

For some added va-va-voom, a small kitten flick created with a gel or liquid liner looks very sexy. Finish with lashings of mascara.

Lips

Let’s face it, lips like that don’t need much dressing up. A smudge of Vaseline and they’re good to go! They’re generally kept natural, I really don’t think she wears much lipstick – maybe just a hint of sheer colour, something like a nude or dirty rose. She’s more a lipbalm kinda girl.

 WORD OF WARNING: Trying to recreate the look of one of the best looking women in the World, may lead to self esteem issues!