Chanel No 5 L'Eau

So I only have a sample of this. I don't get on with the original Chanel No 5, be it EDT or EDP, sadly it dislikes my skin and becomes a hot stuffy mess of that spicey pepperyness of old books in direct sunlight.

And it really does make me sad because I love the idea of this fragrance and its instant recognisability. I have tried it in all forms and can just about cope with the body lotion and suprisingly the deodorant, which is incredibly effective for a deodorant rather than an anti-perspirant, but even the hair perfume is a bit too much.

But this, well it has a lightness and a freshness which seems to sit more happily on my skin. I love a good perfume and this maybe the next one for me.

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick "The Queen"

This is a rich, deeply pigmented bright pinky red. Is it magenta? Not really to my mind, it has enough warmth I suppose to save it from slipping into a berry which is what I think of as magenta.

I was delighted to purchase this, as all of the Matte Revolution lipsticks from Charlotte Tilbury, it applies very creamily, straight from the bullet, no drying throughout the day.

As I wore it more, I was reminded of another shade of lipstick that I wear. Tom Ford Cherry Lush and I have swatched the two side by side below.

And they both have that bright pinky redness.

Here it is on my lips below after a couple of hours of wear and a cup of tea or five. A sadly out of focus enlarged photo but at least the colour can be seen.

Currently £23 from Charlotte Tilbury - I think it is only available from the website, I took a punt on the shade and it paid off. There are pictures of it on various skin tones which is a help.

Harvey Nichols Biggest Ever GWP

I read about this on Caroline Hirons blog  on Tuesday of this week. Hummed and hawwed about it for a couple of days, ordered it yesterday before 3.00pm for free express delivery and it came this morning.

Ruth from amodelrecommends has listed the items here  and I have llisted them below with my attempts at finding the prices around from my internet trawl. Some things I have left off because I cannot find them, some things are not full size, others like the EOS lip balm are a limited edition so at a higher price. It comes to around £568 with my reckoning. There is a Cloud Nine £20 off voucher which I haven't included and an Environ £20 voucher which I haven't included and that would make it up to £600. HN state it is £600 worth.

Foreo, Luna Play = £29

Ouai Deluxe Dry Shampoo, 40ml = 130G is £20 so ~£7

Delarom Aqualixir, 40ml= £57

Erno Laszlo Hydrogel Mask = £65.40

Starskin Kelp Foam Cleanser, 50ml = £21.95

IDC Regen Express (serum)  = £40.95

111 Skin, Nocturnal Recovery Cream, 15ml= 50mls is £160 so 30mls = 80 so 15mls = £40

Mario Badescu, Drying Lotion = £13

Dr Hauschka Bath Essence = 10mls = ~ £3

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum, 7ml= 15mls = 23.50 so 7mls = 11.75

Environ – £20 off treatment voucher

Revitalash sample 1mls = ~ £18

Show Premier Dry Shampoo/Finishing Spray = £16

Rodial, Dragons Blood Eye Mask = £39

Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash, 60ml = £7

Cowshed Hand cream, 50ml = £8

Strivectin Next Generation Eye Concentrate, 7ml = 30ml = 58, 15mls =£29 so 7mls ~ £14.50

Cellex C Hydrasmooth Moisturiser, 30ml = £47.50

Moroccan Oil Treatment Oil, 15ml ?

N V Perricone Face Finishing Moisturiser, 30ml = 59mls = £59 ~ £30

Regenerate Toothpaste, 14ml = £10

Nexxus Nutritive Shampoo 89mls= ??
Nexxus Nutritive Conditioner 89ml =??

Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer =  £12

Kiki Health Magnesium Oil, 125ml = £12

True North Lip Balm SPF50 = ??

Konjac Sponge Pore Refining Sponge = ?£8

James Read Sleep Mask Tan 25ml =  ~£12.50

Macadamia Healing Oil, 10ml = ~ £4

Agua de Colonia Bath & Shower Gel,40ml = £5

R.O.C.S. Sensation Whitening Toothpaste = £5

EOS Lip Balm =  £19.50 (limited edition)

Trilogy Vital Moisturiser, 20ml =  ~ £10

Anatomicals Face Mud Mask =  £1.50

The bag is fabulous - I have shown it below filled with the items so one can see it in context.

To purchase one needs to spend £195 on at least 3 items from the Beyond Beauty section.
Here is what I bought.

Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream

So I finished every last drop of this pale turquoise gel/cream moisturiser. Well I left a little smidge to swatch in a vain attempt to show texture - fail.

I bought this with no thought other than it is by Sunday Riley, I like her stuff, I have money to burn - actually I didn't have money to burn but I bought it anyway, such is life.

I have listed the ingredients below - after Caroline Hirons's extremely helpful post on ingredients, I only ever look for phenoxyethanol which is reassuringly second to last.

This is a very "wet" feeling moisturiser and I was fearful that it would sit on my skin am and make application of foundation/concealer problematic, so I restricted use to pm only. But this was an unnecessary precaution, it has sat happily on my skin, am and pm, and indeed adds an extra burst of hydration if applied later pm before bed rather than applying a heavier, richer cream which tends to make me feel too oily.

It is £65 for 50mls and I bought mine from SpaceNK. I would buy it again, but maybe it is more a spring/summer weight of moisturiser rather than an autumn/winter one.

Lip Fusion XXL - my lips but better

So this came in the recent SpaceNK gift with purchase bag. 

I was rather taken with this gwp - there were two options, luxury and deluxe (if I remember correctly), I ummmed and ahhhed for an age, so much so that the deluxe option ran out so I received the luxury option below.

I have never really been a fan of lip plumpers - I think partly because I find them a bit too tingly, and they favour either a cinnamon or peppermint flavour, neither of which appeal. And without blowing my own trumpet, I am pretty happy with my lips, a bit pointy but not too thin and anyway with awnings for eyelids, one has to make the most of what one is left with so for me the lips have it, the lips have it.

However what I do suffer from is a depletion of pigmentation, and a permanent fadedness which leads to continual "are you okay/ill?" if I do not wear colour on my lips.

This product gives me a smidge of colour and a tad of tingle. Enough to enable a bloom of colour, enough to make a bit of a difference.

I would consider buying this again - full size is £39.

An example of an inability to follow through

Firstly I have to say that this post is more about me than the following product. It is about my delight in beauty products but about my delight in owning them as opposed to using them - I am a piss-poor consumer of beauty products. I delight in the chase, the ability to secure something rare, and then I relax and admire my purchase and occasionally stroke it - idiot woman.

May Lindstrom The Blue Cocoon is a prime example. I own this. I purchased it last December as part of the Caroline Hirons/Cult Beauty beauty box collaboration. I posted about it briefly here 

I was looking forward to using it, more than that, I was excited.

As you can see this product was "made fresh" in October 2015. I received this in December 2015, it is now September 2016 and I have used all of this much....

See? Total epic fail at consuming. I have looked at it, I have admired the heavy glass jar, I have opening it, I have dipped a finger or two in, but I have not used to any great extent.

Now in my defense, I do not like the scent and that is a purely personal observation, I can smell the slightly chocolatey cocoa butter scent and the myrrh and lavender and it is all a bit strong for me.

I struggled to fit it into a routine; I used it post cleansing, seruming, oiling and moisturising as a sort of pre-bed facial massage, I tried it as the sole moisturiser/treatment post cleanse but it did not sit happily on my skin but I think that was more to do with the scent than any texture, because it is a balm which quickly melts into an oil and gives a slip which more than allows for a good massage. And it is an exceptionally good texture for massage, there is no sudden slippyness resulting in skidding fingers up the nose and into the eyes, just a singular reliable texture. It does sink in but after a time, and that is no bad thing in my mind.

The ingredients are lovely, the packaging is lovely, the texture is sublime, but it is not for me sadly. I think the moral is "be careful what you wish for." 

NIOD Sanskrit Saponins

I have come to the end of this, this strange, yeasty like cleanser, all 90mls of it squeezed out and spread over my face for most evenings of the last two and a half months or so. 

I am a re-convert to the NIOD range. I tried products before in a starter kit and found them alien and strange, the watery textures and neutral scents gave nothing sensorial back to me. And the packages give little information other than ingredients, which is fine but I want a bit more, so it is word of mouth and the excellent Victoria Health website for the extra bits and pieces.

This is a cleansing balm I suppose, not a makeup remover though and instructions are very clear on that, designed to be applied post makeup removal to cleanse the face. And that I can cope with, I like to remove makeup and then go in with a second cleanse to clean my face.
The texture is somewhat sticky, and I like that too.  It can be massaged into the skin and with the addition of water does emulsify to a certain extent.

And how does it feel on the skin? Well to me it feels quite gentle, but thorough, I hesitate to say it but it does almost feel as if a vacuum is being created, and it is sucking up the remainding (cue new word or should that be tense? - ie remainder + remaining = remainding). Maybe what I mean is that the yeasty effervescentness feels as if it is pacmanning its way through my pores and emptying them of debris.

It does have a tendency to force itself through the opening, which adds to the feeling that it is alive!

I have enjoyed this so much that I have bought the mothership - all 180mls

I bought mine from Deciem, but Victoria Health also carries the larger size. Currently £34