Fantasy er, Wednesday. Luxury Beauty Hamper: what’s in yours?

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Okay okay I know this post should strictly speaking be appearing as part of our Fantasy Friday series (which has sadly been on its holidays for a while*). But what the hell, we have no rules here at Beaut.ie do we? It’s like Fight Club round here due to the lack of rules. Well without the fighting. Unless Kirstie gets her paws on the new lust have mascara before me – then there’s plenty of sulking.

So it’s not really like Fight Club at all then is it? But you get the analogy. So it’s Fantasy Wednesday today and no arguments.

On to the business of fantasy. Any time I see offers or competitions that proclaim “Win a luxury beauty hamper!” I’m always interested to know what exactly is in the luxury hamper.

Sometimes it’s wow! Othertimes it’s meh.

But just imagine if you could construct your own Fantasy Hamper? Full of things that you actually lust after but cannot afford without making yourself destitute or living on baked beans for the rest of the year. You can splurge on skincare, buy the fanciest makeup and throw in a facial voucher if you want. Or maybe you’d blow the lot on a spa trip – or a short visit to the Creme De La Mer counter. Perfume your thing? – sure chuck in a bottle or two.

You have Five Hundred Fantasy Euro to spend. What’s in your hamper?

*Any Fantasy Friday ideas up your sleeve? Get emailing them to us! info@beaut.ie

Tags: fantasy friday, Money No Object
Posted in Money No Object, Pick-Me-Ups | 39 Comments »

Mam there’s sand in my Chilly Willy: it’s ice pop time!

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Lollies

The joy of cheap ice pops is like the joy of cheap crisps. Nothing can bring you slamming back to your childhood faster than the smell of a pungent bag of Meanies or the bright blue goo of a Mr Freeze.

And the sound of the ice cream van used to send us screaming like banshees into the house begging on our knees for money to buy one.

HB Metropolitan was the zenith of sophistication – there was nothing like those fancy shmancy Ben and Jerry’s then. A Slider made from wafers and a slab of vanilla ice cream – oh we were in heaven.

What were your favourite ice pops of yore? Rate em here!

Tags: chocolate, crisps, ice pops, times of yore
Posted in Pick-Me-Ups, Rate it | 51 Comments »

Pretty Pale: Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder in Candlelight

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Since we’ve apparently decided (or er, the press has decided) that pale is HOT! IN! COOL! I, and lots of pale gals like me, are pretty pleased that our milk bottle pastiness is now recognised as a thing of beauty. But, the thing about a tan is this: it makes you look nice and healthy and glowy. It just does – think about post-holiday compliments when you go back to work after a couple of weeks in the sun.

And the thing about fake tan is it often looks as if a superimposed layer of orange is weirdly hovering over your ‘yes I was brought up in Mullingar and am as white as a ghost, what of it?” skintone. We’re too pale and pink-undertoned to carry off tans meant for sallower skins, and we look FRIGGING BONKERS as a result.

The real thing ain’t much better for the majority of Irish ladies either: if you do take a tan then you should of course do it as safely as you possibly can, and if you don’t, then exposure to the sun’s rays on that bender you took to Faliraki makes you look like Dr Zoidberg for a couple of days before you turn into a peely-skinned leper. Lovely.

So, given all that, I prefer to stay au naturel. And we have another problem. Pale skin can often look lack-lustre and flat when made up, so while you can succumb to bronzer – which I do occasionally – my absolute favourite way to add a bit of life to an alabaster complexion is with highlighter. Used well and sparingly, it illuminates and delivers back a glow to a pale skin that’s so pretty.

A warning: used not-so-well, you end up looking more robot than ride.

(more…)

Tags: illuminator, kevyn aucoin, luminizer, swatch
Posted in Eyes, Lips and Cheeks, Pick-Me-Ups | 33 Comments »

End of the Cold (sore) War? Compeed Launch Night Patch

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Picture this: you’re sashaying about your massive penthouse apartment with divil a bit of a dress on or makeup in place, when your buzzer goes and all of a sudden your handsome date is rapidly hurtling upwards, ready to whisk you away for a night of romance. You’ve also got a whopping great cold sore on your lip so in between slipping into something a bit more uncomfortable, you whack a Compeed patch onto the offending area and finish things off with a slick of lipstick, just as the doorbell rings.

Phew!

That sounds a bit too much like hard work for me, so here’s the lazy gal solution to cold sore maintenance: DO IT AT NIGHT. God I love things you can do at night, such as drinking wine and sleeping. Anything that can take effect and make me look better in the morning is to be celebrated, in my book. Compeed (who now need a new ad campaign, methinks – maybe they’ll let me script it?) have just launched Total Care Cold Sore Night patches (which you use in conjunction with the daytime version) which have a seven-action effect and are for use while you get your zeds. You get 15 of ‘em for €9.99 and they’re designed to heal, soothe and protect cold sores through all stages of ickiness.

Despite the fact that I am hugely lucky not to get horrid cold sores, I know lots of you do and are made miserable by them. Plus, the end of winter and the onset of spring sunlight (eh, we hope) can be a real trigger-point for the buggers as well.

Do you get ‘em? Would you use a patch at night to cure your ills? Lets have a poll, and leave us your cold sore laments in the comments.

Tags: cold sores, Compeed
Posted in Diet & Wellbeing, Pick-Me-Ups, Polls | 18 Comments »

Mmmmm yummy: Jo Malone does Merrion afternoon tea

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Nothing is sure to get Beaut.ie’s heart a-racin with delight then the thought of a posh afternoon tea. And afternoon tea in The Merrion is a gorgeous treat of yumminess. One thing I love about afternoon tea – it sounds so delicate and ladylike but in reality you get fed enough food to sink a whale. There’s layers of scones, sandwiches, cakes and tarts – it would be simply rude not to chomp yer way through as much as possible.

So how on earth did it come to pass when Jo Malone sent out a press release announcing their collaboration with the Merrion Hotel for the month of March did it slip my mind? Why not until I saw it mentioned on the blather yesterday did I remember there was something I just HAD to tell you all. The tiered stand will be positively groaning with delicacies themed with ingredients of the Vanilla and Anise fragrance (such as “anise chocolate mousse cake on a vanilla and orange financier, vanilla pannacotta with caramelised plums and orange and star anise tartlets”). Look I don’t know what half of those are either but I’ll put my money on them being scrummy.

And you will also receive free samples of fragrance in their signature cream and black box. We liked this fragrance so much we gave it TWO reviews! Read Kirstie’s office appropriate take and then read Aphrodite’s verdict.

Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise Afternoon Tea €36 per person at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin, 01 603 0600, March 2010.

Tags: afternoon tea, Jo Malone, merrion, Mothers Day
Posted in Beauty News & Links, Pick-Me-Ups | 24 Comments »

Here it is Merry Christmas: what’s your favourite Christmas song?

Monday, December 21st, 2009

istock_000004854635xsmall

Tra la la – the radios are alive with Christmas songs and Mammies around the country have dusted off their Christmas compilation CDs and are playing them 24/7. Oh it’s pure cheese, but we may as well abandon ourselves and enter into the spirit of the season.

So what’s your poison? Are you a Mariah Carey gal, prefer Slade, or is it Fairytale of New York all the way for you? Or maybe you love The Darkness or perhaps Band Aid does it for you.

But you might love love carols and all that traditional jazz.

What sums up Christmas for you – rate your favourite song!

Tags: christmas09, Rate it
Posted in Pick-Me-Ups, Rate it | 34 Comments »

How is recession beauty really working for you? Is beauty spend a luxury or a necessity?

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

istock_000005964549xsmall

We all know about the Lauder Lipstick Indicator – in a recession women still treat themselves to little purchases. But that’s so last recession darlings because apparently this recession is all about more expensive, but quality, purchases – like foundation.

(Take our poll and tell us what your Lipstick Indicator is)

But is this foundation claim really true or is it all just marketing? For sure it’s marketing – the research was commissioned by L’Oreal. The cosmetic companies never stop telling us how well they’re doing despite the recession (read: Yawn, yet more Beauty Research for de Recession). It’s all getting a bit tired now.

The hairdressers are half empty, salons are deluging us with offers – they’re suffering. But is that because they raised their prices too high during the good times and now they must reassess what they’re offering? (They can start with their customer service – it costs nothing and for the most part it’s dreadful). Every feckin hotel in the country seemed to tack a shit spa on to its offerings during Tiger Times. Cosmetic companies are going to the wall ( e.g. Prescriptives; B Never To Busy To Be Beautiful) and offers and reduced prices are everywhere.

(more…)

Tags: beautienomics, lauder, lipstick indicator, recession
Posted in Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Can't Live Without!, Pick-Me-Ups, Popular, Rate it | 48 Comments »

Thal’Ion Algo’Lift Beauty Flash Mask

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

thalion

The obvious comparison with Thal’ion’s new Algo’Lift Beauty Flash Mask is of course Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, and in some ways they’re very similar: both are peachy-coloured, nicely scented and French, of course.

Except I think the Thal’ion product has a couple of things to trump Flash Balm. 1) the price. This baby is a mere €22.95. 2) it’s got magical ingredients like seaweed (a feature of the brand) for hydration as well as caffeine and ginseng, which make it a bit of a hangover helper. Oh, there’s also something fancy in there called Skin Repulp Cx for firmness and density. Stimulating collagen production, it also claims to improve tone and elasticity over time.

While you can use this in a thin layer under makeup, I’ve been using it as a masque to treat skin that’s been pretty knackered by a really bad cold and a busy few weeks. It’s lovely! Slap it on for ten or twenty minutes and skin is left feeling smooth and less wrinkly-crinkly, specially round the eyes.

Salon only, so you’ll have to look for this – for a stockist near you, call 046 948 1091.

Tags: Masque, Skincare, thal'ion
Posted in Anti-ageing, Pick-Me-Ups, Skincare | 7 Comments »

Research finds that rich men give women more orgasms: but what do you think?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

gold-digger

Listen I’m not making this up. Although it may seem as though this research was commissioned by misogynist gangsta rappers, it wasn’t – read more here. Explaining these findings as “evolutionary adaptations” (we’ve heard that one before) scientists explain that ” the pleasure women get from making love is directly linked to the size of their partner’s bank balance”.

Feminists may despair that they ever bothered burning their bras because it seems that the biggest turn on for women is still how much money a man has. Forget Independent Women – if you believe these findings women are using Gold Digger as their theme tune.

But what do you think?

Tags: boffins, feminism, money
Posted in Here comes the science, Pick-Me-Ups, Polls | 7 Comments »