L’Onglex Nail Polish Remover: nail chic is tres magnifique

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

L’Onglex is a brand I bet some of yer Mammies have used. Recently relaunched, this beloved old brand has had a makeover (they’re now so modren they’re even Twittering) and comes in super pretty bottles that wouldn’t look out of place on the dressing table.

Pink is for acetone-based and purple is for the acetone-free version – you choose which kind you like. If you’ve got gel nails or need a heavy duty remover, pink is for you. But if you need something a little gentler choose the acetone-free purple bottle. Both cost a weeny €3.69.

See now me and nail polish remover have always had an uneasy relationship. Obviously I have to use it because I like to do my nails. But no matter which brand I tried it always dried the feck out of them. I always went for acetone free versions cos they’re kinder to nails, but even so there was an inordinate amount of cracking and splitting.

I was therefore both relieved and surprised when I used L’Onglex. It’s an oily formula that promises to nourish nails – and it actually does it. Takes off varnish easily with no rubbing and scrubbing – and no nasty splitting apres remover. Thumbs up (french manicured ones of course).

Yet another example of mammy knowing best. But don’t tell her I said so.

Tags: beautienomics, l'onglex, nail polish remover, nails
Posted in Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Hands, Body & Feet | 19 Comments »

Dupetastic: Gosh Trio T R13 is a Dead Ringer for Lancome’s Erika F

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Erika F by Lancome is a bloggers delight: it’s one of those shadows that got adopted across the beauty blogosphere and it rapidly achieved best-selling status as a result. It is gorgeous – I told you a little about it just after Christmas – and it’s a greeny-silvery shade with lots of intensity and a slightly golden, pearled, shimmered finish. It’s perfect for night-time eyes.

After meeting with the A Wear gals last week and making off home with a bag of swag, I noticed a little something. Namely, that one of the shades (un-named on the packaging, infortunately) in Gosh’s Trio Eye Shadow in T R13 Diamond Rock, is almost a dead-ringer for Erika F. They’re facing each other in the pic above, and there are swatches on my hand right after the cut.

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Tags: dupe, eyeshadow, GOSH, Lancome
Posted in Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 8 Comments »

Base Matters: Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Note 1. I really did think Maybelline Dream Creamy foundation would be shite.

Note 2: it is not.

On to the review:
The newest stablemate in the whole ‘dream’ franchise, I was sent this a few weeks ago and took it out of the testing pile about a week ago to give it a whirl. Didn’t expect much. It looks very similar to Max Factor’s Liquid Illusion foundation, there’s a glass base containing the product with a plastic screw top that sits above. It contains a well with a sponge. Yuck, I ditched that and whaddya know, this was the perfect chance to give that Estee Lauder foundation brush a proper go. Applied with a sponge this would be very heavy looking on the skin (plus you’d go through it at a rate of knots), so a firm, paint-brush style foundation brush is ideal to give a nice veil of cover.

The formula is, as the name suggests, very creamy. In fact it’s very nice. My dry skin liked it a lot and a week’s worth of usage didn’t throw up any problems like flakiness or congestion, so it’s safe to say it’ll suit you if you’ve a dry complexion and like a creamy, medium-coverage base.

It does give a nicely dewy appearance too and while there’s all this guff about a ‘baby-smooth finish’, girls, just ignore this ridiculous crap. Ah Maybelline, is it not enough that the product is decent? Why try and add completely foolish, nonsense claims onto a product consumers will probably like all on its own merits in any case?

I take a dim view of this sort of marketing cobblers, I can tell you. And I strongly suspect it does absolutely nothing for a brand in the eyes of the people buying its products, either.

Lastly, price is good – you’ll pay €12.39 for it and the only bad thing about this is the shade choice. Like all budget foundations, there are just a few options, in this case five. That’s grand if you fit the colour profile, but as always, you’re bang outta luck if you don’t.

Tags: beautienomics, foundation, Maybelline
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 25 Comments »

Honey & Spice & All Things Nice Face Mask: When DIY Beauty Goes Wrong

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

You might remember me mentioning earlier this week the lovely Aveda facial I had in Cork’s Imperial Hotel, and how happy I was with the way my skin looked afterwards. Well, that was a bit of beauty karma – I was due a few good skin days, because a couple of weeks ago I wound up with a nasty bout of irritant contact dermatitis after an experiment with a DIY face mask went badly awry.

Now, I don’t usually go in for DIY beauty in a big way, but I was at a bit of a loose end one day and came across a couple of easy-looking recipes that only called for ingredients that I had in the cupboard. There was one concoction in particular that had its users raving non-stop about the fantastic results they were seeing – fading acne scars and a lessening of breakouts with regular use was reported – and once I saw comments from people with sensitive skin about how they’d no adverse reactions I was totally sold.

Feeling quite George’s Marvellous Medicine, I got to work mixing honey, ground nutmeg and cinnamon to a gooey chocolate-coloured paste. I smeared it all over my face and spent the next 30 minutes catching any wayward drips, then rinsed it off using the nutmeg as an exfoliant.

Immediately, my skin looked clearer, brighter, plumper, more even-toned and glowing, and it felt super-soft to the touch. I was fecking delighted with myself. Later that evening, though, when I was taking off my make-up, I thought my face looked a bit odd – a little bit inflamed or something.

I reckoned I must be imagining things.

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Tags: calamity jane, cinnamon, dermatitis, DIY, face mask, honey
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, DIY, Skincare | 14 Comments »

Escape with Aveda at The Imperial Hotel, Cork

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Myself and Himself decided to leave the car at home last weekend and instead hopped on the train to Cork for some much needed post-Christmas, post-snow R&R at the city’s Imperial Hotel and Escape Aveda Spa. The Imperial, as you can expect absolutely fecking everyone you encounter on your travels to be at pains to inform you, is Cork’s oldest hotel, boy.

As such, it has a very grand marble lobby and an exceptionally friendly staff who really know what they’re about, but its age does mean that the layout is a wee bit wierd in spots. I decided to chalk up things like the fact that you’d to leave the restaurant and go up the stairs at the end of the lobby to get to the loos to olde worlde charm.

Now, at this point I could tell you all about our wandering around The English Market and our gorgeous lunch and macchiatos on the balcony at Farmgate, or our delicious dinner in The Imperial’s Pembroke Restaurant. I’m actually getting ravenously hungry remembering the fab wining and dining. But I think what you’d probably really like to hear about is how I got on with My First Aveda Facial.

First impressions of the Escape Spa were very, very good. There was a dedicated stairwell at the end of our floor down to the spa itself, so you could well slip into your robe and slippers and float down without having to encounter a fully-clothed soul from the main hotel. Bliss. From the spa reception area inwards, it’s dark wood and muted lighting and quietness a go go, and once I’d filled out the usual consultation card and stashed my stuff in a locker in the changing room I was led down a corridor with stone clad walls and a trickling, full-wall water feature to the Relaxation Suite to chill out for a few minutes before my facial while Himself headed for the pool and thermal suite.

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Tags: Aveda, Cork, facial, green science, spa
Posted in Beauty Emporiums, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Ethical & Organic Beauty | 9 Comments »

Trying & Liking: Tesco’s Skin Wisdom Radiance Boosting Serum

Friday, January 29th, 2010

I was so impressed with the my first bit of kit from Tesco’s Skin Wisdom range (remember this face mask?) that I resolved to sneak add some more of their goodies to the trolley on our very next shop. Scuttling off around the corner to the beauty booty while Himself stocked up on Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and decided whether to go for porridge or muesli, I lit upon this Radiance Boosting Serum, €8.85, from the Restore & Replenish line, grabbed it, and stashed it under the veg. (I may or may not have been humming the Mission Impossible theme in my head while that was going on.)

First impressions on cracking the bottle open were good: the serum is lightweight, smells delicious – kind of like sorbet – and contains tiny golden shimmer particles. It’s infused with Maca root to restore luminousity immediately on application and over time, and melts into skin on application to give a gorgeous golden sheen.

Dull or tired complexions are pepped up without greasiness and skin’s left feeling smooth and silky. The serum can be worn alone or under foundation, but remember it’s not a primer so don’t expect it to prolong the wear time for foundation – I certainly didn’t notice an improvement in that regard.

However, I am looking forward to seeing how the anti-aging and toning peptides to reduce the appearance of wrinkles with long-term use.

Tags: bharti vyas, radiance, serum, skin wisdom, tesco
Posted in Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Skincare | 4 Comments »

Pot ‘O Gold: Clarins Blue Orchid Oil

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Hello. My name is Kirstie and I’m an oil-slut.

I had a long-term thing with Trilogy’s Rosehip oil late last year, enjoyed a brief flirtation with a couple of bottles of argan oil recently too, but once this lovely bottle of yellow goodness appeared on my radar, I was suckered good and proper.

It’s Clarins Huile Orchidee Bleue, or to me, Blue Orchid Oil, righ? It’s €41.50 and you get 40ml for that outlay. So why do I like it? Superficial things first, it smells yum. That’s thanks, I think, to the fact it’s got rosewood and patchouli in there. This particular product is designed to combat dehydration and suits my dry skin well (there are also Clarins oils for dry/very dry skin and combo skin).

The orchid’s the thing that does the trick along with hazlenut oil. The former is used to “revitalize and tone the epidermis”, with the latter helping to “prevent moisture loss and signs of aging.” Two-to-three drops are best applied on slightly damp skin post-cleanse, and there’s just one thing I don’t like about this. That’s the fact it’s a bit messy: I’d much prefer a dropper-style applicator but with this you just pour the oil out, which means it runs down the sides and you have to be careful what you place it on. Not your antique chippendale chest of drawers beqeathed by a handsome benefactor, for example.

It’s a small gripe really, and the performance of the product means the application method is just a niggle and not a deal-breaker.

Tags: Clarins, facial oils, oil, winter skin savers
Posted in Anti-ageing, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Skincare | 21 Comments »

Loving it: Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF20

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

It may not be a new product, but I’ve recently become very enamoured of Laura Mercier’s Tinted Moisturizer SPF20, €48. Tinted moisturizers generally tend to be recommended for summer wear, when most people don’t want to be wearing a heavy base, but for me this was actually the perfect product for the recent spell of freezing weather.

Although I was using nourishing moisturisers and oils to keep my skin hydrated in the harsh conditions, I still had some flaking in certain areas and was finding that normal foundation was just emphasising the worst parts of my skin, while powder alone (which I am often happy with when my skin is behaving) just made my skin look even more dried out.

I still wanted to be able to wear some base to even out my skintone and provide light coverage and the lightbulb went on over my head as I walked past the Laura Mercier counter and remembered their Tinted Moisturizer, which I had previously tried at a makeover event.

Designed to give a hint of colour and sheer coverage while keeping the skin hydrated, this was the perfect product for my needs. It is easily applied with the fingertips and subtly evens out my skintone without looking at all obvious on my skin. It also keeps my skin feeling comfortable, even in really cold conditions, and doesn’t crack or emphasise any flaky patches. It’s also perfect for when I’m a hurry in the morning, as I don’t have to spend a lot of time carefully blending it. And I’ll definitely wear this in warmer weather too, when I don’t want a heavy base.

I still love my usual foundation for more coverage, but Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer is a welcome addition to my collection.

Tags: base, Laura Mercier, tinted moisturiser
Posted in Bases, Foundations & Concealers, Brands, treatment & product reviews | 28 Comments »

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat: Good Enough Stuff

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

My trusty bottle of Seche Vite has gone seriously gloopy of late. Sigh. While I do have a stable of other decent enough nail varnish top coats to fall back on in the face of such calamity, I found not having a fast drying top coat at my fingertips (har har) to be a real nuisance. Because even when I do my DIY manicures in front of the telly hours and hours before I need to use my hands again, without Seche Vite I end up with inexplicable smudges and dents and lumps gone out of my freshly applied polish.

Remember The Worst Witch series of books? Remember Mildred? Well, sometimes I think that I’m quite like Mildred. Just even less elegant and clumsier and more accident prone, which is why I rely on fast drying top coats to get my polish dry before I manage to ruin my manis.

Fortuitously, a bottle of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat, €5.93, had winged its way to my desk. It made lots of exclamation heavy promises like “Dry ANY nail colour in 30 seconds!” and “Out the door in a flash!” and, yep, it is pretty good stuff.

It’s super shiny and does leave polish touch dry in half a minute – provided just two thin coats of colour are used, they’re allowed to dry between coats, and you wait two minutes before applying the top coat. Otherwise it still takes 15 or 20 minutes for everything to really dry, and it’s for that reason I’ll likely replace my Seche Vite – it can be lobbed on atop multiple thick coats of colour that have been applied in quick succession and dry the whole lot in moments.

Tags: beautienomics, nails, sally hansen, top coat
Posted in Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Hands, Body & Feet | 24 Comments »

New and Fab: Estee Lauder Professional Brush Collection

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Estee Lauder recently released a new set of makeup brushes which I’ve been eyeing covetously, because of course, I definitely don’t have enough makeup brushes to be getting on with as it is. Luckily for me and my product-loving ways, they sent me a few to try.

With nine in the line-up, I got a powder brush, a foundation brush, an angled eyeliner/brow brush and a concealer brush to check out. I can confirm that the brushes are pretty to look at, bristles are beautiful, densely packed but very soft, and the powder and angled brow brushes are great and welcome additions into my collection.

The foundation brush is also very good – but I’m a buffing brush kinda gal these days so it won’t get the love it deserves. By the by though, these sort of brushes are good for stick/mousse foundations, so if you’re a (shudder) Max Factor Pan Stik kinda gal, or a oh-they’re-much-nicer Bobbi Brown stick foundation lady, then you’ll be quids in with this.

One brush stood head-and-shoulders above the rest for me, and it was the one I’d probably have been most likely to overlook, too. The concealer brush. Yup. Concealer. It is fantastic. Now, I do use a concealer brush on a daily basis but the one I had been using – and which was doing a grand job, so I thought, had a much smaller head. A wee version of its foundation sister, the Estee Lauder version has a lovely, well-shaped firm bristle mass that’s soft and pretty much applies your concealer with one swoop.

Into the pot of Benefit Erase Paste, and onto the shadows at the sides of the nose and outer corner of the eye and bam, I’m done. Because it’s bigger than my old one, concealing any redness on cheeks and masking any zits that have erupted on my chin takes about two seconds too. In summary, it’s great, and well worth the €27.50 price tag.

Want to check out the prices of the rest of the brushes? They’re after the cut.

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Tags: brushes, estee lauder, makeup brushes
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Gadgets, Books & Accessories | 17 Comments »