Taking A Bath With itStyle 3.42.2 Glamour Lipstick

Every once in a while, a girl has got to fill up her bath with bubble fun, put her polka dotted shower cap on, remove all her make-up and wear her current favourite lipstick - it's all very romantic comedy style. If the girl happens to be a blogger, it would be advisable to take pictures of it all.

I was given this particular shade - namely itStyle Glamour Lipstick no. 3.42.2 - at last week's itStyle launch in Sliema, and since it has been sitting on my dressing table with all the other lovely products I was given to try out, I have been reaching for it almost every single day. In comparison to my other deep red lipstick colours, this particular one has a slight dark pink tone to it that sets it apart. In fact, if a deep red lipstick and a dark pink lipstick were to have a mini lipstick baby, this would be its colour.

Whereas the packaging is really not my cup of tea - I always prefer plain packaged items, alas! - I only have words of praise with regard to the colour pay-off, pigmentation as well as the longevity of the product. It usually lasts me around an entire day without even drying my lips.

The lipstick also has a hint of shine or gloss to it, but for all those fellow members of the 'we don't like shiny lipsticks at all' club - of which I am president, of course - it's not that much of a big deal. It passes my test. 

I have another colour from this range which I need to share with you all as well. Maybe next time I'll shoot myself in the shower.

Dermalogica Skin Bar Launch at The Point

Dear Readers,

After looking at the pretty Christmas lights just outside Tigne Point in Sliema for way too long, I headed to the Dermalogica Skin Bar launch. Dermalogica is an internationally well-acclaimed skin care brand who's been around for over 25 years, becoming the number one choice of many skin care professionals. I remember using the brand a few years ago and I've never been disappointed with them myself. Luckily I have some products to review for you in the coming weeks, including a brand new primer that sold out like hot cakes.

The event was very well-organised, with flowing wine and wait for it...Bloody Mary! That was a first for a beauty event and the guests, including myself, were definitely amused at the thought of sipping this popular red-coloured drink over their beauty related conversations. The attendees included style A-Listers like Marisa Grima and Noelene Miggiani, who always look younger every time I see them, as well as popular TV personalities Moira Delia and Pauline Agius.

I encourage you to visit the Dermalogica Skin Bar at the Point - just outside Mango! - to check out the wide selection of products as well as to avail yourselves of the excellent services provided by the therapists.

Check out the event photos in this album on my Facebook Page.

-B

Empties #1

Dear Readers,

If you follow the beauty community on Youtube as well as the Blogosphere, then you are well acquainted with what is known as the 'empties' video/post. I decided to have a go at it today since I accumulated the grand number (sarcasm) of four empty products recently.

Essence My Skin Tinted Moisturiser

Essence Pure Skin Natural Cover Tinted Moisturiser

Essence My Base Skin Perfection

Essence All Over Highlighter

I want to start off with the Essence My Skin Tinted Moisturiser. After months of relying on this product whenever I wanted to keep my face foundation-free, I can't squeeze out any more product in spite of many nearly Olympian efforts. I can't quite recall whether I've mentioned this before, but the product's scent is also very pleasant. You might find the product locally, available in a light and dark shade, nicely packaged in a matching box. I won't be repurchasing for the time being, mainly because I want to give BB creams a try.

Another tinted moisturiser I finished up is the Essence Pure Skin Natural Cover Tinted Moisturiser. I'm so gutted that I can't buy the product locally! Oil-free and ideal for those days when your skin feels oilier and greasier, this tinted moisturiser has got me through thick and thin during the past few months. I'd love to find the Pure Skin range abroad next time I leave the islands, such a pity it's not available here.

I think I mentioned the Essence My Base Skin Perfection primer before. Back then I said I didn't quite understand its use. In fact, I had put it aside for a long time because I just couldn't get myself to appreciate it. Then I decided to give it a second chance and it was probably one of the best 'cosmetic' ideas I've ever had. Its performance made me re-think the importance of primers - face and eye primers - and even though I won't be able to find the product in Malta, I'll have to invest in another primer just because of their added advantages.

My final empty product is the Essence All Over Highlighter. I've hit pan on this one a while ago but I tried to lengthen its presence in my make-up bag for as long as possible. Then one fine day I dropped it on the floor and the heartbreaking sound it made confirmed it was high time I put it away. You should stay away from this highlight if shimmer is not your cup of tea. I find it's quite light-reflected and pearly in its finish, but it still keeps you from looking like a disco ball. Oh, and when they say it's an 'all over' highlight product, they're right! I've used it for my cheekbones, brow bones, cupid's bow and even on the bridge of my nose. Luckily this is a permanent product in the regular Essence range, so I shouldn't find it difficult to get my hands on it again. I'm going to wait a while before doing so though. I have two other highlights I want to try out properly in the coming weeks.

Any feedback on any of these products (or tentative replacements, maybe?) is welcome.

-B

What's on my dresser?

Dear Readers,

Compared to other fashion and beauty bloggers, my make-up collection is incredibly minimal and humble. I don't have that much make-up because, firstly, I don't think I need that much. I'm a strong believer of the 'a little goes a long way' motto. More than anything, I like having a few products because it allows me to store everything on my dresser without it looking too overwhelming.

All my dresser essentials are divided into seven inexpensive containers. I asked for those two little shelves at the side of my mirror a few months ago. The top shelf, or rather the wicker box I put on it, contains my base products: foundations, tinted moisturisers, concealers and the like. Base products are probably the least numerous in my collection, so I decided to put on my top shelf because I didn't want that shelf to look bulky.

The second shelf has an identical wicker container which I use to store eyeshadows, blushes, powders and other miscellaneous make-up items like my Christian eyebrow kit and my false lashes (which I never use, mind you!). I reach for this wicker basket every single day because I can't quite live without those particular products!

On the lower-left part of my dresser is a pretty white wicker and ribbon basket I bought from Bruges last year when I visited Belgium for the very first time. I remember purchasing this box for my mum on an incredibly cold and rainy day and I really wished I had bought another one for myself. My mother loved the gift but she had nothing to put in it so she decided to give it to me since it is perfect to hold my lipstick collection. Without any doubt, I'm a lipstick person. I need my lipsticks to be super organised so that I can easily decide which one I'm wearing on the day. This box allows me to place my lipsticks with the shade number facing upwards, something which undoubtedly facilitates my choice every morning. A few lip glosses live at the back of the Belgian basket.

The rest of my dresser containers were former inhabitants of my mother's very crowded kitchen cupboard. My mother has a thing for buying kitchen things she'll never use and I always offer my help to re-purpose them as needed. That little white milk jug is the perfect holder for my brushes! Once again, my brush collection isn't very vast. I tend to prefer owning a few versatile brushes over too many I'll never utilise. I know that my brushes are exposed to dust, but as I said in a previous post, I wash them every day so it's okay!

The stout container at the centre is home to my favourite or most used nail-polishes of the moment. At present, it houses a few pastel shades, a staple red shade and a top coat. I switch the contents regularly, but I have to admit that the shades I keep there right now have been sitting there for a while. I love my pastels too much.

Strictly speaking, that sugar container doesn't hold anything make-up or cosmetic related. That's where I store a couple of bobby pins and hair ties because I like keeping them handy and easily accessible. A girl can never have too many of these lying around, especially since we tend to lose them as fast as we spend money during the sales!

I know so many of you have that mug or something similar to it. I believe it's from a local pound shop, but it's really pretty and it matches my bedroom's mood perfectly. This mug holds all my 'tall' make-up products, including eyeliners, mascaras, eyebrow pencils and an Essence highlight pen which I adore! It's pretty populated at the moment, so I might need a tiny clear out!

I like these 'organisational' posts because they always give me great storage ideas, so please leave a link to yours below so I can check it out!

-B

Hits and Misses: February 2012

Dear Readers,

Is it me, or did February just fly by? This month was an extremely busy and cold month, but it was also my birthday month, so at least I got to take a break for some celebrations.

At the beginning of February, I was invited to an event organised by Catrice and Essence and as you might know I was given a goodie bag with products to try out. I spent this month testing these items, hence why my hits and misses consist entirely of gifted products. 

I'll be doing a 'favourite Essence' and 'favourite Catrice' products videos and posts, which might feature some of the items in this entry, but in the meantime, here are my hits and misses for the second month of 2012.

A great hit is my new mascara combination! Alas, my lashes are not the best in town, so they always appreciate a little help from good mascaras. I start by applying a coat of the Essence 'Get Big Lashes' Volume Curl mascara, then I move on to the Volume Boost mascara from the same range. Both mascaras work wonders, especially when I conclude with Catrice's 'The Giant' mascara. The latter is an excellent product with an interestingly shaped wand! I highly recommend all of the above eye products, but using them together is what really makes the trick!

I was quite disappointed with the Essence 'My Base' Skin Perfecting Make-Up base! It could be that I didn't use it well, but even though I made use of it more than once, I never saw any noticeable differences! It's such a pity since the other 'My Base' product, namely the Illuminating one, is more than fantastic! In fact, I'll definitely mention that in my favourite Essence post! Catrice's 'Dulce and Havanna', pictured above, was also another miss for me! The colour, well, is...horrible! It looks like things that are unworthy of a mention! 

My most favourite product this month - and the best thing I've tried in a long while! - is the Essence 'Pure Skin' Natural Cover Moisturizer. This product has put me off foundation ever since I applied it for the first time. It's that good! I tend to try and avoid applying foundation, but I still need that little amount of coverage. That's why I like tinted moisturisers, they strike the balance between the two. This product is not only an excellent alternative to foundation, but it's also anti-bacterial and highly moisturising. My skin can breathe, it looks better and I think it suits my skin tone really well. The above tinted moisturiser is the one for light skin, but it's also available for people with medium to dark skin complexions.

Last, but definitely not least, is the Catrice 'Intensif Eye' Wet & Dry Shadow in 'Charly's Chocolate Factory'. As of late, I've been reaching for brown hues more often than I did in the past. I've become a fan of the smokey brown eye look. This eyeshadow can be applied both wet and dry, even though I confess I haven't given the former a try as yet! Oh, and that dent you see in the photo was made by yours truly's nails. My nails aren't sharp and long enough to open plastic packaging, but they're nasty enough to accidentally mess one of my favourite eyeshadows!

With the weather slowly getting warmer and the days becoming longer, I predict much more Spring-oriented favourites next month! But until then, I hope you all have a great month! I shall :)

-B

Hits and Misses: November 2011

Finding Your Skin Undertone

Dear Readers,

I'm swamped in work at the moment, but I managed to find time to write this post about skin undertones. I love you that much, yeah.

Is 'skin undertone' a fancy way of referring to 'skin tone'?

Well, not really. Your skin tone and your skin undertone are two separate things. The former can change from time to time, but the former remains more or less the same throughout your entire life. Your skin undertone is similar to a shadow beneath your skin that gives colour to your skin.

Why should you know what your skin undertone is?

To put it simply, it's like having an extra card to play in the Fashion World. Knowing your skin undertone helps you determine which colours look great on you in terms of clothing, make-up and hair colours. You might finally understand why that canary yellow sweater doesn't look flattering at all on you!

How can you find your skin undertone?

There are three simple tests that will only take a couple of seconds of your life. Pretty easy see! I personally suggest giving a go to all three tests, but you're free to try one only. Three tests are bound to give you a more exact result, but then again, it's all up to you!

Test 1: Look at your wrist, specifically at that area where your veins show through. Look at those veins and their colour. If your veins look green, then your skin undertone is warm. However, if your veins have a purple / blue tint to them, your skin undertone is a cool one.

Test 2: Wash your face, make sure you have no make-up on and tie your hair backwards. Then grab a blank sheet of white paper and put it next to your face. The whiteness of the paper will reflect your skin undertone. So, if your face looks yellow-ish in comparison to the white paper, then your skin undertone is warm. People with cold undertones will find that their face looks blue-ish instead. Oh, when I say blue I don't intend smurf-blue by the way!

Test 3: For this test, you're going to need something silver and something gold. You can opt for earrings, clothing or even vases if all else fails. Grab the items of your choice and stand in front of a mirror. Place the silver item close to your face, then do the same with gold piece. Try to determine which one of the two accentuates your characteristics better. Does the gold make your eyes look brighter? Or does silver make them  glow? Pay particular attention to your skin and whether your face looks washed out with any of the two metallics. Make a decision. Silver suits cold undertones and gold looks better on warm undertones.

Is there anything like a 'neutral undertone'?

Of course, there's always a happy medium. Well, not always, but there is this time. If you find that you are somewhere between the two undertones, you have a neutral undertone. My pale skin and my green eyes give me a cool undertone, but my red hair warms it up a bit. Therefore, I lie somewhere in between, slightly on the colder side of the scale though.

What colours suit which undertone?

Though there might be some exceptions, warmer colours like orange, yellow, mustard and brown look better on warm undertones. Colours like blue, purple, white and green suit people with cold undertones. With regard to metallics, as I specified earlier, warm undertones fair better with gold whilst cold undertones match silver almost to perfection. 

I hope this post has been useful and that you'll make use of these tips as well! Remember, metallics are so, so in this season (and in the next one too!) so your undertone should make it easier to decide between the gold and the silver scarf!

-B

Vampire Moi

Dear Readers,

YSL Black Lips

Today's post is about Vampire lips: my current obsession and one of the biggest make up trends for the coming season. This is a love-it or hate-it thing, and as far as I'm concerned I'm all for it.

I'm not into Vampires. I'm one of those people - insane people, according to some - who hasn't watched or read 'Twilight'. I have no intention of doing either of them in the foreseeable future. 'The Vampire Diaries' doesn't make my 'Favourite Series' list, even though I've heard hundreds of positive comments about a handsome vampire called Damon (or Damien? I don't feel like checking). As a sidenote, this Damon guy is nothing compared to 'Angel' in Buffy. RAWR! What was I going to say? Oh yeah, there's another series about vampires I believe. It's called 'True Blood' right? I don't watch that either. Anyway, you get my point. I'm not very crazy about vampires, unless they come in the form of David Boreanaz. 

BUT that doesn't imply that I despise mysterious, dramatic, Vampy looks. There's something incredibly attractive about dramatic, dark lips. I blame movies like 'Corpse Bride' and 'The Nightmare before Christmas' for this. Tim Burton exercises a huge influence on me, enough to make me flirt with 'the darker side'.

Deep reds are also an option

The great thing about this trend is that it gives us some leeway with regard to colours. This is not the 'red lip' trend, where you're only confined to wearing red. For this trend, all dramatic, dark colours will do. This means you're free to experiment with colours like wine red, maroon, dark plum, burgundy and, for the super brave, black. I'm still quite sceptical about black though, I'm still trying to broker an agreement with the bad-ass as I write. My point is that we have a good variety of colours to choose from, and we can also change the hue with put on from time to time. Both matte and glossy colours will do. 

Unless you want to look like you're getting ready for a Halloween party, keep the rest of your make up as simple as possible. Fair-skinned ladies have an advantage here, because the contrast created by your lips and skin will favour you greatly. Focus on contouring your face, highlight your cheekbones and make sure you don't look too pale. The least thing you need is looking like you've woken up from the dead. If you're slightly more daring, I advise filling in your eyebrows to create definition and avoiding eye-liner. Some mascara won't do any harm.

I think she wants to bite you

Here comes the million dollar question, 'What should I wear this with?' I say 'Lace, plenty of lace.' The whiter, the better. I'm all about contrast, so nothing will beat the dark + light contrast in my eyes. Be careful if you want to pair black with vampire lips, it's like dancing the Macarena on thin ice. It might be too dramatic for some to pull off. Then it really depends on how daring you are, as always. Oh, and while we're at it, you'll need plenty of confidence with Vamp lips. It's mandatory. People will look at you. A lot.

I'm still hunting for the perfect Vamp shades myself, although I've spotted a couple of potential candidates in my huge lipstick palette. I'll keep you posted about my favourite shades, promise. In the meantime, think less about Damon and put more effort into finding your perfect shade.

-B

Two-toned lips: dilemma?

Dear Readers,

Okay, I'm so excited about this post it's insane. So there I was at the beach, with my friend and make up guru Ariana Camillieri, looking through a couple of magazines, when BAM! We came across an article about Two-Toned Lips, ie. wearing one colour on your top lip and another colour on your lower lip. This was when I heard angels sing, epic songs started playing in the background, and I swear I could see a ray of bright light descending from heaven and pointing towards that article. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! Why didn't I ever think about it? After all, it was featured during some fashion week shows. Emanuele Ungaro had used it, I remember being all surprised at the pictures from the show.

An original coral and pink look!

It goes without saying, two-toned lips MUST be accompanied by nude/subtle eye-make up. Don't even think about wearing bright eyeshadow, or a dramatic smokey eye if you go for this look. Unless you want to look like a clown, that is. I'm assuming that most people will find this look rather bold. Or should I say too bold? I agree, but that's why I like it. However, I'm sure there are plenty of ways to water it down if you want to make less of a statement. So, if you would like to experiment with this trend, but you wish to do so cautiously, I recommend the following:

1. If you're not used to wearing bright lips (in one colour, I mean) first have a go with those. It takes some courage to walk down the street with bright italian pink lipstick on. Let alone, if you had to wear italian pink and red, for example. So, one step at a time. Easy does it!
2. Think about where you're going to sport this look. You know I'm all for statement pieces and bold looks, but I can't insist enough that we should all dress up for the occasion! Whilst this look might be fun to try for a night out or for a relaxed bbq with your friends, I don't recommend it if you're out to dine in a sophisticated restaurant. I would definitely try this look if you're going to attend a fun party, some fashion-related event, a summer festival or concert or maybe even a get-together with style-loving buddies. If you're going to be surrounded by conservative, classic people, you might want to try this another time!
3. Speaking about night outs, I guess wearing two-toned lips at night makes sense. I mean, lights are low at night, so people are less likely to annoy the shit out of you staring as if you were E.T. You could try and wear the look during the night when you try it for the first time, and see how people react to it.
4. Probably the safest way to try this look out is to choose more toned-down colours. For example, you could choose dark red and red, rather than pink and red. The former pair would create less contrast, so I guess it's more doable on the streets :)

This is a slightly safer look: red and wine!

So, what do you think? I personally love this look and I know I'm going to try it out, probably tomorrow! It's the perfect solution whenever I can't decide whether I should wear lipstick A or lipstick B. From now on, I'll wear them both!

-B