Catrice Liquid Gold Topper - review

Oh my giddy aunt I love Catrice, I really do.  Bargains like no other and very impressive quality.  This week I'm raving about the Liquid Gold Topper in Jungle Treasure from Catrice's LE Glamazona line (look here for more information).

Shimmery molten gloriousness.  In a nutshell. 

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle New Bath Ritual - preview

Chanel's latest Coco Mademoiselle products -  bath foam & exfoliant

Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle is (according to Chanel) "a sensual and refined fragrance that combines audacity with elegance".  Unfortunately, for me, it combines headaches and migraines.  But that's me and more fragrances than not, I'm afraid - it's a large bummer as I love the smell of this one for about three minutes before the headache kicks in.  Anyhow, most of my best friends, my mother, my in-laws and my work colleagues wear this and love it.  And so many brides whose makeup I've done for them on their big day use this perfume and love it, that I had to start asking them to use it after I'd left!

So for my friends and for my family, and for all those brides, and for all of you who love Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, you'll be delighted to know that the fresh, oriental composition that has enjoyed such unwavering success (me aside!) since Jacques Polge created the Eau de Parfum in 2001, has got two new products joining the scent family to help you feel just that bit more pampered.

February Guest Posts

Two blogs for the price of one yesterday in February's blog swap!

Sarah of Meraki Dublin blog wrote a guest post on Make Up For Dolls, a piece on Turning Thirty.  Sarah writes gorgeously, straight up, no mess no fuss.  She's a good friend and I'm delighted she agreed to swap posts this month!  Find Sarah's post here.

My guest post on Meraki Dublin is a treatise of turning, well, more than thirty ;-)  Find my post on Sarah's blog, here.

I urge you to go check her blog out if you just like reading well written, fun, tell-it-like-it-is posts!

Thanks so much to Sarah for February's blog swap, and as always, thanks to all for reading.

s :-) xX

Guest Post (Meraki Dublin) - Turning Thirty

February's Blog Swap is upon us, and I'm swapping posts with Sarah, who writes a blog called Meraki Dublin which you'll find here.  Please don't forget to visit her blog, where you'll see all her wonderful posts, including one from yours truly today.

As I turned 30 this year...

I’m sitting here in awe, reflecting on my life.  When I was a child, I couldn't wait to grow up.  But now that I’m growing up, I wish I wasn't.  My life has been full of contradictions:  I've witnessed people with nothing smile, and those with everything cry.  I've seen myself chase the ones who ignore me, but I've also ignored the ones who adored me.

I've witnessed too many ironies in my life and have gone through painful experiences.  Despite learning from these mistakes, I wish I could tell my young self what I know now. And if some genius happens to create a time machine in my lifetime, these are the things that I’d say...

MAC Viva Glam Rihanna - review

Rihanna’s latest collaboration with MAC has seen the recent release of a Viva Glam lippie in her name, and it's just gorgeous.  There are two released in the collection actually, one is a frost finish Lipstick, the other is Lipglass.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream - review

~ Mondays with MontyC ~

Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream
Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition

This product is, supposedly, legendary.  A closer look at its statistics agrees with the overwhelming majority of the (raving) online reviews I've read - this is Elemis' number one selling face cream, with a pot of this being sold every single minute around the planet.  That's a hell of a lot of moisturiser!

So, to celebrate their star's tenth birthday, Elemis have given their hero product a makeover and here is where I'll kick things off...

La Roche-Posay Rosaliac CC Creme - preview

La Roche-Posay new Rosaliac CC Creme

So unless you've been living in outer Mongolia, you'll likely know that CC creams are the latest BB cream, featuring both skincare and makeup/cosmetic functions in one product.  In this case, also an SPF30 sun protection factor to boot.  And furthermore, in the case of this one, La Roche-Posay's new Rosaliac CC Creme, (a) aimed specifically at sensitive skin and (b) containing redness correctors.  That's a lot of claims for one single product to make.

Paris Photo-blog (inc some purchases!)

Sign on the top of a building, a bit blurry but taken at speed, from a distance,
from a moving car on the way in from Charles de Gaulle to the city

A different type of post for me - a photo blog of a recent trip.  A lucky girl, me, I got to go to Paris for my birthday...

(Warning: Image-heavy post)

Les Exclusifs de Chanel: Les Extraits - preview

I know I'm on a bit of a Chanel love-in at the moment, but I wanted to just post a few quick words about some new perfumes being launched in a couple of weeks in early March (I'm also away at the moment and it's handy to have some pre-prepared & pre-scheduled posts ready to send out in case I don't get time to write a brand new freshly-reviewed-item post :-)).

Chanel Les 4 Ombres 2014 Eyes Collection - preview

Chanel Les 4 Ombres 2014 Eyes Collection - campaign visual
This look couldn't be more "me" if it tried!

First created in 1982, Chanel's Les 4 Ombres have enjoyed continuous success over the years, and most new collections have featured new quads, some new, some LE.  In fact, I think it was Chanel who first ever actually introduced the concept of the eyeshadow quad.

This collection features items entirely dedicated to the eyes and takes its inspiration from tweet, the iconic fabric of the House of Chanel.  The quads are inspired by a selection of House tweeds, in which each of the four shadows in each quad represents one of the coloured threads present in a particular fabric tweed.

I know someone who is Chanel-obsessed and who loves her eyeshadow quads.  She'll likely think that this collection is all about her.  I can tell you know, from looking at the campaign visual, that it's like Chanel are speaking to me.  Directly :-)

New Roger & Gallet Hand & Nail Creams - review

Roger & Gallet's new hand and nail creams in Rose, Creme Sublime & Fleur d'Osmanthus

Roger & Gallet want us to "Indulge in Irresistible Softness" with their new shea butter-enriched hand and nail creams.

My hands are in rag order at the moment.  My cuticles, worse.  I'm going through hand cream like it's going out of fashion.  So I was beyond delighted to receive a free PR sample of the brand spanking new Roger & Gallet handcreams.  As my other half said, when you get something for free, it's always good.  I corrected him;  when you get something good for free, it's absolutely great!

Natura Bissé Stabilizing Complex & Stabilizing Gel Cream - review

Who ordered the stripper?

Chanel's Valentine's Day Lip Campaign: Collection Variation de Chanel - preview

Collection Variation de Chanel - Campaign Visual

Just in time for Valentines' Day, Chanel's latest Lip collection is launching on the 14th of February.  If you love Chanel lipsticks, you're going to be in heaven with this huge collection.

Palette-wise, this collection features three different shade ranges - naturals, pink-reds and violet-plums, in shiny, satiny or velvet lipsticks, lipglosses and lip pencils.  Oh, and a nail polish thrown in for good measure :-)

Six Super Skinny Eyeliner Brushes

My favourite standard and skinny eyeliner brushes

It has been a while since I've done a brush post.  I had recently purchased the Louise Young LY24A & LY24B to join my crop of LY24s (when I like a brush, I generally buy a bunch of 'em, some for my kit, some for me, and I always build-in backups and redundancies ;-)).

Anyhow, my previous go-to skinnny/fine eyeliner brushes, the LY24 and the Hakuhodo Tentsuke (you can read more about 'em, and a bunch of other eyeliner brushes, on this post here) need to move over, there are two even skinnier eyeliners on the prowl...

Warning link- and image- heavy post.

Chanel Spring 2014: The Vibrant Reviews (Diapason & Charivari)

Chanel Le Vernis #603/Charivari & Illusion d'Ombre #92/Diapason

Following on from MontyC's review of Chanel's Notes de Printemps pastel shades, which features "pastel and electric pinks [...] cheerful reds and vibrant purples", I travelled the "vibrant purples" path and, similar to Ms. MontyC, also purchased two products - the Illusion d'Ombre in Diapason and the Le Vernis nail polish in Charivari.  I had intended to add the other Illusion d'Ombre to my collection thus far, but it just kind of disappeared on me when I swatched it - so it was a no-go for me.  But Diapason now, that's my kinda shade :-)

Chanel Spring 2014: The Pastel Reviews (Impulsion & Ballerina)

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Impulsion - from Notes de Primtemps spring 2014 collection

It may not look like it or feel like it but Spring has most definitely sprung!  Chanel said so.  And when Chanel speak, I listen.  They describe their new Spring Collection - Notes de Printemps (which is on all Chanel counters now - look here for the preview post) as a "colourful melody of rhythmic shades of pastel and electric pinks, as well as cheerful reds and vibrant purples".  I chose to go down the pastel pink path and picked up two products - the Illusion d'Ombre in Impulsion and the Le Vernis nail polish in Ballerina.  When I saw all the pictures of this launch appearing online, these were the two products I had my eye on and when I got the chance to see them "for real", I knew I'd made the right choice!    

Some YouTube inspiration for the weekend!

Every so often you have to take a break.  Take the head up away and out of the bag of tricks to be used, trialled, reviewed.  Stop worrying about logging your experiences and writing about the latest thing.  Ignore the piling up PR information in your inbox and go find your inspiration again, have fun with makeup, watch movies, play with a new product just for yourself, plan your fancy-pants look for your next Big Night Out (sadly which get fewer and farther between as I get older and busier - but I do have a huge night out coming up in an extremely fancy restaurant, and I am planning my hair and face already :-))

New Vichy Neovadiol Magistral Elixer for Mature Skin - preview

Now this one is very exciting news for the ladies with more mature skin out there!  Vichy, a long-time pioneer of menopause skincare, is introducing Neovadiol Magistral Elixer, an intensely nourishing skincare oil for dry and very dry skins, for mature skins, for those ladies going through or at the other side of, the menopause... this product claims to offer deep and very visible transformations to the skin, smoothing, re-plumping and reviving radiance on those skin types.

Illamasqua I'm the One Collection - preview

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the old red lip, and Illamasqua combined.  My favourite colour lippie.  And my favouite OTT makeup brand.  What could be a better mix?

Veet Hair Removal Cream Review

Dear god this stuff is beyond appallingly bad awful.  Ususally costing around the €16 mark I noticed this on sale for under a tenner, so I handed over the €9, collected my points, brought it home, and didn't use it for about a month (forgot about it, actually).  Took it out this morning and in the interest of experimentation, used it on my legs, thinking, how bad can this stuff be....