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There are so many products on the market at the moment that promise to give you naturally long, luscious lashes, and as tempting as that thought is, the one thing they all seem to have in common is the fact that they’re all really expensive, which makes me reluctant to splash out on them in case they don’t actually work.
Tarte, however, is a brand I’ve been impressed with in the past, so I’m a little more likely to hand over my hard-earned cash to them, than to than a brand I’ve never heard of. Their MultiplEYE Lash Enhancer is $65, but they DO make the claim that 100% of test subjects reported an increase in softness and length on their lashes, with 90% reporting an increase in thickness.
These results are achieved using ingredients like soy, cellulose and vitamin C. This makes me wonder again why, exactly, it needs to be so expensive, but if the results are as good as the brand suggests, I guess that’s my answer! If you’d like to try it out for yourself, you can buy it at Sephora.
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For my money, Boots’ No. 7 skin creams are right up there beside some of the high-end brands in terms of quality. Of course, they’re not cheap: in fact, they fall into a price bracket that’s not too far off that of some of the aforementioned high-end brands, but having been pretty much raised on No. 7 (my mum has been a fan for as long as I can remember and I swear by their Protect & Perfect range), I’m always interested in a new release in the skincrae line.
This one is called “Lift and Luminate”. I bet you can’t guess what it does, can you? Yes! It lifts and… luminates the skin! Aimed at the “more mature woman”, here’s what Boots have to say about the line:
”Quench thirsty skin with this intensely hydrating cream, specially formulated to visibly improve the appearance of wrinkles and to give you an instant boost of radiance. Our unique anti-ageing and advanced energising complexes work together to lift, firm and to restore your complexion, leaving it looking and feeling healthy and glowing. Use it every day to help reduce the signs of ageing; in just four weeks, your skin will be more even toned, younger-looking and more luminous.”
So far, so like Protect & Perfect, then, but as this is aimed at a slightly older demographic, Boots say it will also make the skin feel firmer, rather than “just” reducing the appearance of wrinkles. As you’ll have noticed from the blurb above, they also say this will happen in just four weeks, which makes me wonder if it’ll sell out as quickly as P&P did when it was originally launched, too.
There’s a day cream (£19.50) , a night cream (£20.50 each) and an eye cream (£19.50) and these are available now from Boots.
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 I love products like this. I’m sure no one reading this needs me to tell them the difference well-shaped and defined brows can make to your appearance, and I always find a good brow highlighter is one of the easiest ways to give your face a “lift”, which, funnily enough, is exactly what this product promises to deliver!
It’s Clinique’s Instant Lift for Brows, it costs $15, and has a brown pencil on one side and a highlighter on the other. My only quibble with this is that there are only three colour combinations available, which makes me wonder if there’ll be one that will work with my hard-to-match colouring. Only one way to find out, I guess!
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Makeup that makes you look like you’ve had a facelift? Sold, to the Dollface whose birthday is coming up quicker than she’d like, and whose can’t afford Botox…
Bobbi Brown’s latest collection contains everything you need to make you look like you just had a solid 12-hours worth of sleep, aparently. OK, so that’s not quite the same thing as a “facelift”, but it sounds pretty darn good to me anyway, and as well as the cosmetics shown above, there’s also a new eye cream
Extra Eye Repair Cream – £35
Designed to target wrinkles, dark circles and puff iness, this can be used both morning and night.
Tinted Eye Brightener – £22
Bobbi’s Tinted Eye Brightener, now in a portable pen format, and available in 8 different shades.
New Brow Pencils – £13.50
Creamy pencils in five shades, each with their own sharpner.
Brightening Lip Gloss – £14
Introducing two new shades of Brightening Lip Gloss, the sheer, reflective formula wakes up your face and helps create the illusion of fuller lips.
These are all available now from Bobbi Brown.
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 I have to hand it to DuWop: they have some fabulous product names, don’t they? This foundation of theirs, for instance, is called Foundation of Youth, and that makes me want to run out and buy it RIGHT NOW. Must not allow my head to be turned by marketing, must not allow my head to be turned by marketing…
The product itself sounds pretty good too, it has to be said. As the name suggests, this aims to disguise some of the signs of ageing, mostly by using anti-oxidants to plump out fine lines. You’ll also notice that the tube comes with its own brush applicator, just like Yves Saint Laurent’s Radiant Touch. I loved the brush applicator on the YSL foundation at first, but after a couple of weeks of use, found myself going back to applying it with my fingers: it was just too tricky to get the right amount of product onto the brush, and I’d always end up with too much or too little, which makes me suspect a regular foundation brush is probably better for me than one that’s attached to the bottle. (Easier to clean, too.)
If you want to find out for yourself, though, this is $38 direct from DuWop.
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 I mentioned a while back that I’d made only two beauty purchases during my December holiday, and it’s a good job I DID only buy two things, because although these two items are small, they’re not exactly cheap, and by “not exactly” I mean “not at all, really.”
In fact, let’s just get the bad news out of the way first: the Corrector (right) is £16.50. The Creamy Concealer Kit is £23. Just under £40 for the two, then, but it was a price I was willing to pay because these two items promised to cover up my under-eye shadows, and by that point I’d probably have sold one of my limbs for that.
The dark shadows under my eyes are currently the absolute bane of my life. They’re caused purely by lack of sleep: if I get enough of it, they disappear, but when I don’t, it shows all over my face – or under my eyes at least. The two products you see above are designed to send the bags packing (Sorry!), and they’re designed to be used together, although you can, of course, use them separately if you wish (or if your shadows aren’t quite as stubborn as mine).
On the left of the image, then, we have the creamy concealer kit, which is actually two products in one jar. On top, the creamy concealer that gives the product its name; on the bottom, a loose powder which goes over the top to set the makeup. For those with very dark shadows, meanwhile, the product on the right of the image is used as a base, to neutralize the shadows before the concealer goes on top.
So, how well do they work?
Read the rest of this entry »
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I’ve been rushing around all day today, so this week’s Friday Face isn’t just on the late side, it’s also more or less a repeat of previous faces. (“Hi, Im Troy McLure! You may remember these products from such Friday Faces as ”January 8th, 2010′ and ‘The one with the hat’“) This is what laziness does for you, kids.
Anyway, as well as the usual Maybelline/Lancome/Diorshow/NARS mix, I think the only real difference here is the exchange of YSL’s Touche Eclat for Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer and Corrector. I’ll have a review of both of those up on Monday as they’re new additions to the Dollface arsenal. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great weekend: but before you do, remember to tell me what’s on your Friday Face!
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I didn’t get on with Too Faced’s Lip Injection when I tried it back in 2007, but that doesn’t mean you won’t: one thing I’ve learned about lip plumpers is that what irritates the lips (and hence makes them swell) can vary enormously from person to person, and while this didn’t work for me, I do know people who absolutely swear by it.
If you fall into that category, you may be pleased to know that the famous gloss is also available in a range of colours, too, so you can add colour as well as shine and plumpness! These glosses cost £12 each, and you can buy them at HQ Hair, amongst other places.
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Ahem! Looks like I have some competition in the “Dollface” stakes, in the shape of UK singer Paloma Faith, who seems to have taken the word “dollface” literally for her appearance at the Cervical Cancer Charity in London last night.
Paloma isn’t really one to play it safe, either with what she wears, or with what she chooses to put on her face as this look proves: she’s gone for a “tear” effect on the eyes, and what I think of as “Aunt Sally blusher”, worn with false eyelashes, red lipsticks and heavy brows.
She’s as pretty as always, but what do you think of this look? Delightfully different or just a little bit too much?
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My lips have a tendency towards dryness even at the very best of times. Winter, of course, is far from the best of times, and sore, chapped lips can become the norm if I’m not careful. The Body Shop’s ‘Lip Scuff’ contains fig stone granules to exfoliate the lips and get rid of dry skin, with Macadamia nut oil to moisturise them, and even a touch of peppermint oil to keep your breath smelling minty fresh. Sound good? It’s $12 from The Body Shop.
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