Wowza.

Paloma Faith always likes to experiment and push at the boundaries of convention when it comes to both maquillage and fashion, and is often found sporting some, well, interesting looks.

Not perhaps the sort of thing you’d wear yourself down the pub of a Friday night, but in fairness she does always look like she’s enjoying playing dress up.

Her recent outing at the Cervical Cancer Charity Concert in London was a case in point. Looking like the lovechild of Cap’n Jack Sparrow, Bosco, and Pierrot, Paloma sported a fetching tricorn pirate hat and clown-like blusher and mad eye make-up which competed with her metallic harlequin coat and polka-dot frock for attention.

Is this just another example of her delightfully quirky style or a full-blown make-up malfunction?

The fabulous team at Waxperts are aiming to banish the theme tune Welcome to the Jungle from the bedroom and instead usher in a new era of glitter and glamour.

So with that in mind they have offered a truly fab prize to FIVE lucky Beaut.ies to celebrate Valentines day.  Yes indeedy – Waxperts are giving away FIVE Vegas bikini waxes complete with Swarovski crystals, worth €65 each.

Reveal your inner showgirl and get ready to shake your stuff – cos you’re going to want to show this prize off! Who to we don’t know…

Now I could write all sorts of smut about how happy you would make both of you – but you know me, I wouldn’t dream of doing that.

Instead read on and find out how to enter!

THE QUESTION: Where is Waxperts located?  Visit their site for a clue!

HOW TO ENTER: Send your answer plus your NAME and FULL POSTAL ADDRESS to competitions@beaut.ie and you MUST mark your email WAXPERTS!

THE RULES: One entry per person; you must have an Irish address (north or south); there is no cash alternative and our decision is final. The competition closes at 5pm on 15th February 2010, and we never share your details with any third party.

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.

One of you got close yesterday with a guess as to what the weirdy pink yoke was. Shelly wondered, “Is it some sort of weird fake tan or cream or maybe even wax applicator??” Oh, she was pretty much correct, while the rest of you made stabs at it being a doofer for microdermabrasion, a vibrator, razor or even a teeth whitening gadget.

One of you was 100% on the money though. ShoB said, “I cant resist givning it away – it’s the ModelCo SunSponge … it’s like a shoe polish dispenser for fake tan with the sponge tip,” she revealed. Yup, that’s precisely what it is, ladies.  €44 is the damage for this disposable, non-refillable gadget that comes in one custom shade and contains enough product for three-to-four full body applications.  Hmm, seems pricey to me, though the brand say the dispenser is hygenic and that the sponge tip makes the application seamless.

Whaddya reckon? Now you know what the mystery gadget is, would you be interested in buying?

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, unfortunately) 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.

This was taken under flash, hence the extreme sparkliness – a daylight shot did neither justice.

Lancome is on the left, and Gosh is on the right. You can see they’re not a 100% match – the Gosh shadow is more golden-green and warmer, but really, they are very very similar in wear. I’ve been using it and really liking it – for the price, a very decent €11.99, it performs really well, has good pigmentation, a creamy, easy-to-blend texture and good longevity.

So, if you don’t want to splash the €23.50 required for Lancome’s Erika F, then this makes a great subsitute. Thumbs up, Gosh!

Ladies, have I gots the newses for you: because it’s the week of Valentine’s, we’ve got giveaways today, tomorrow, Thursday, oh oh sure why the hell not, on Friday too!

Yay! We’re kicking off today with fab Waxperts prizes, and you’ll be finding all about that later – so for now, blather on!

Psst: Lindor and Mink winners are now in the forums!

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.

Right, I’ve had enough. I want my objects of lust to look – well lusty. Not like some aul tramp that’s lying in the bushes near the Homeless Centre on the Quays, swigging lighter fluid “cunningly disguised” inside a plastic bag.

Which quite frankly Brad, you are looking like here.

I can’t stop imagining how many crumbs to say nothing of soups and gravies – have made their way into the beard. Ugh.

Although some people are better with beards – e.g. Kings of Leon, as pointed out by Trendspot, most are not.

Stick-on tatts are huge beauty news and we know this because Chanel have decreed it to be so. Waiting lists for their €55 Trompe L’Oeil kit are growing ahead of the March 1st launch date, and regardless of whether you love ‘em or loathe ‘em, body art transfers are set to stick around (see what I did there?) for quite some time as a result.

If you like the look read on, if you don’t – sure read on anyway. Brastraps.ie are selling a range of stick-on ’skin jewellery’ which mimics the trend. These are less Bazooka bubble gum lick-the-back-and-whack-it-on and more an adhesive web of lace and crystals. Pricey enough too: €14.95 is the damage for a wristlet and prices go up to €39.95 for that hand adornment, top right (which I confess I quite like – I’d be giving the butterflies a miss, though. Mimi’s episode of Cribs has ruined butterflies for me for life).

I’m not sure if you can wear them more than once either (while the Chanel product is expensive you do get 55 of ‘em for your money), so possibly these are best kept for special occasions. What do you think? Would you buy?

I got this through the post the other day and was immediately bamboozled as to what it was. A personal massager? A facial cleansing gadget like the Clarisonic? A fancy new-shaped loofah? A pink and white doo-dah?

In fact, it is none of these things. NONE I TELL THEE. So I want you lot to have your best guess at what it might actually be for. Leave a comment below and give it your all – I’ll reveal the true nature of this beast tomorrow morning.