OCC Lip Tar's ***UPDATE***

I've been wanting to try these OCC Lip Tar's for aeons, so when Nic introduced me to the Love Make Up website a few weeks ago, I snapped up a couple.

I didn't find the pictures very useful in helping me decide on what colours to go for. They are stock website images that don't show colour very well.  So, I turned to my fellow bloggers to help me out..  I checked out the colours and decided that I wanted a "classic" red and a winter berry shade.  So with that in mind I chose Stalker and Strumpet for £8.99 each.  You can check out the OCC Lip Tar's here.  There are so many shades to choose from ranging from nude's and berries, to blue, green and even black! If you are a MUA, I imagine these would be a really useful addition to your kit.  Being able to mix custom lip shades on demand would be awesome.

Don't be disappointed at the small size of the tubes, you get 8ml of product and that is tonnes, trust me.  I'll be honest, this product is going to last you for the rest of your entire life! Even if you used it every single day, you only need to use the tiniest drop of the product to get a very dramatic effect.  At first glance the Lip Tar looks just like a regular lip gloss, but a word of warning - they are nothing like lip gloss and you will need a lip brush to apply the Lip Tar. 

The consistency of the Lip Tar's are much runnier than lip gloss and certainly not sticky. In fact, I think they are a cross between a liquid lipstick and a lip stain.  They certainly are not for slapping on whilst on the train to work, otherwise you'll end up looking like coco the clown.   I think this requires a bit of precision application to get the finish just right, hence the use of a lip brush.  

 Stalker (left) and Stumpet (right) are incredibly pigmented and opaque, as you can see from the swatches above.  They also have a slight minty scent to them, which I really quite like, but might not be to everyone's liking.  These are certainly the kind of colours I would reach for to create a dramatic lip. They dry down to a kind of satin finish but could easily be made glossy with an application of lip gloss over the top.

  I have worn both of these shades to work over the past few weeks. However, I think that I personally would keep these products for use on evenings out.  That is more of a reflection on me, than on the Lip Tar itself.   I don't really like high maintenance looks, especially at work.  I barely have time to pee some days, let alone check that my lippie hasn't migrated all over my face.  Which is why I am obsessed with lip stains, but I digress and will save that for another post.  The Lip Tar's were surprisingly long wearing, but they would probably require a bit of a touch up throughout the day to maintain the original colour intensity.

If you fancy watching a You Tube video on the subject, I can totally recommend QueenofBlendingMUA who has several videos on the OCC Lip Tar's, including colour swatches and application technique.  You can watch those here, here and here.  You can also check out this video in which she reviews the colours I chose which are from the A/W10 collection.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the OCC Lip Tar's and certainly think I will add some other colours to my collection. Perhaps not black though!

Have you tried the OCC Lip Tar's before? What do you think?

***** UPDATE*****

So I was asked for lip pics by Debbie and Jan, so here they are. I'm a good girl and do as I am told!!  I was a little haphazard with the application but you get the general idea, don't you?

So on the left we have the OCC Lip Tar in Stalker and on the right is Strumpet - both pictures are taken with flash.

Ladies, does that help?? x

L'Occitane Luxury

How lucky am I? The Boy got me the recent L'Occitane TSV,  because he says he scrubs his arse with my other nice products, so it was only fair that he replaced a few.  Who am I to argue with that logic!?!? Would you say no... hmmm thought not!

 The "warm" version of the TSV arrived this week, in the most humongous box,. which opened to reveal this...  Honestly, this box alone had me excited.   It's a hardened lacquered cardboard gift box in the most beautiful jade colour, that was so pretty and shiny, I almost forgot what was in there.  Almost!  Have a little peek inside.

.Warm option:

• 1 x Shea Vanilla Shower Cream (500ml) - creamy, detergent-free formula to leave skin soft and delicately scented.
• 1 x Liquid Soap Sweet Almond (500ml) - enriched with shea butter and soothing aloe vera extract; gentle enough for dry or sensitive skin.
• 1 x Bergamot Tea Shower Gel (250ml) - delicate shower gel, infused with sparkling citrus and subtle tea.
• 1 x Ruban D'orange Sunny Shower Gel (250ml) - cleanses softly and leaves a fresh and sparkling scent of citrus fruit on the skin.
• 1 x Almond Shower Oil (75ml) - when in contact with water, the oil transforms into a lavish, softening foam.
• 1 x Shea Vanilla Hand Cream (30ml) - softens the skin and leaves a soft and delicious scent of shea with a hint of vanilla.
• 1 x Shea Milk Soap (50g) - formulated with a 100% vegetable base and enriched with nourishing shea butter.

I chose the warm selection for the 500ml Vanilla shower gel alone.  I make so secret of the fact that I am a "Vanilla Girl" so this was the first product I had a sniff of.  It actually wasn't what I expected.  It's Vanilla Flower and it has the most lovely creamy, yet understated smell.  It's a bit like mixing vanilla with a very light floral scent.  It's not the cloying cakey smell (that I love!) that my Mum would wrinkle her nose at .  There is something more grown up about it. It's such an attractive looking product. too  It's appears almost metallic in the bottle, which I am assuming has something to do with the shea butter content in the shower gel.  But I could be wrong.  They also included a Vanilla hand cream.  I use L'Occitane Shea hand cream on a daily basis, so this was always going to be a winner for me.  Again, the scent matches the shower gel.  This will have pride of place in my handbag.

I already use the Sweet Almond liquid soap and the Almond Shower Oil, so they are already firm favourites.  What I haven't tried, or smelled before, were he Ruban D'Orange Sunny Shower Gel or the Bergamot Tea Shower Gel. I'll be honest, I wasn't holding out much hope for these as they are not the usual  types of scents that I would gravitate towards. I don't like citrus fruit, unless it's in the form of a Terry's Chocolate Orange and I don't drink tea, I'm a coffee gal.  However, I am very pleasantly surprised that I like them both.  The Boy says that the Ruban D'Orange smells like "Sunny Delight" and he's not far off!!   It has a sweet, almost fizzy scent to it.  I'm not sure how they can make something smell fizzy, but they do.  It's as though you've been drinking Fanta (which coincidently, I don't like!) and all the bubbles have rushed up your nose. That's what this shower gel reminds me of.  This will be a perfect pick me up on dreary winter mornings.  

As for the Bergamot Tea shower gel, I would say this is a unisex scent, however it does lean towards the masculine side of the spectrum.. It's mildly herby, but not strong enough to interfere with any perfume you choose to wear afterwards.  There is actually something quite appealing to me about this smell.  Maybe it's the slightly masculine edge to it.  I think The Boy will like this one too.

I'm probably going to refrain from using this for another few weeks.  That will give me time to finish off a few opened bottles of shower gel and truly appreciate a dash of L'Occitane luxury at bath time, when the weather gets a little colder.

Do you use L'Occitane products? Any recommendations? 

My Change4Life & the Beauty Bloggers Christmas Weightloss Challenge: Week 2

So we are at week 2 already!  Where is the time going? After reading the updates and hearing how well everyone is doing on the BBCWC from The Bristol Beauty Blog, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I stepped on the scales this morning.  Only to find that....

I lost 3 lb!!

My running total is now 6.5lb in 2 weeks, which I am absolutely delighted with.  I  certainly don't expect it to be like this every week.  But as I keep saying, anything with a minus preceding it, is fine with me!

How has everyone's week been? Any amazing tips you want to share??

Nic @ Obsessive Cosmetics Disorder

The Bristol Beauty Blog

Fudge Smoothies

Who is She???

Margaret

Behind the Shoes

Real Girls Beauty

Stacey @ The HQ of Beauty

Gidders1 (via Twitter) 

Lucy @ Beauty and the Blogger

Alice @ Super Gorgeous

To give, or not to give?

So if anyone saw, or managed to get hold of the Nails Inc one day deal last week. This is it. A total bargain for £25 (saving £85), or less if like me, you used the 20% off code.

 I intentionality purchased this a a Christmas present. But as opened the box and oooohhhhed and ahhhhhhed The Boy announced "you are never giving that to someone.  You are going to end up keeping it".  Initially, I was a little prickled, but now I think he could be right.  I don't think I will be sending this off to Father Christmas just yet. I might just keep them here... with me....in my collection. Well, for now anyway! I guess we will just have to see.

The colours are just divine.  And certainly would be a welcome addition to brighten up a winter wardrobe or to add a little party pizazz to an LBD.  

Colours shown above are Buckingham street (sparkly hot pink/silver glitter), Eden Grove (bright teal creme, although it looks more blue in this pic) and Shelton Street (festive gold glitter). I really hope the glitter polishes are densely packed. They appear so in the bottle, but you never can tell until it's on the nail.  Given that I am not sure if I will part with this yet, I'm not prepared to road test them just yet. 

Next colours are Maple Street (a gorgeous metallic chocolate) this is a really beautiful colour, probably my favourite from the set. And then there is The Vale (deep plum creme) which is not dissimilar to Paris (Nails Inc/Diet Coke polish) and Piccadilly Circus from Nails Inc regular line.   

Then comes Dean Street (classic red shimmer) which reminds me a little of Aspen. Berkeley Square (grey creme) and Duchess Street (royal purple creme).

And finally there is Montrose Place (iridescent hot pink) and Eagle Street (nude creme).  I think there is something for everyone and every occasion in this collection. 

I just thought I'd include a few close up shots of the colours that were really eye catching.  I'm still undecided if I will give this as a gift or not, but if you get this from me at Christmas, know that it was very touch and go!! 

Have you started thinking about Christmas presents yet, or are you super organised and are all sorted?

Sneaky Peek at L'Occitane TSV tomorrow

Just having a mooch on the QVC website and I noticed that they had a sneaky peek at the L'Occitane TSV tomorrow.  If you want to see the video from Alexis click here

(image from qvcuk.com)

I think I'll be going for the warm option pictured above.... I'll be in vanilla heaven!!

The Scent of a Woman: Benefit So Hooked on Carmella

Benefit So Hooked on Carmella is a fairly new addition to my ever expanding perfume collection.  I got it from vouchers that the MIL and FIL gave me for my birthday. It was one of those scents that I couldn't quite decided if I liked it or not.  I sprayed it every time I went into Boots and in the end I succumbed and got it.

So hooked on Carmella features:

Top notes of lemon, grapefruit and rhubarb. 

Middle notes of cyclamen, peony and tiare flower.

Bottom notes of vanilla, sandalwood and amber. (taken from Debenhams.com). 

 Now I wouldn't have ever said that I could smell lemon or grapefruit -  I don't particularly like either of these scents.  

What it does smell like, or at least to me anyway, is a grown up and fruitier version of the infamous TBS Vanilla Musk.  Oh yes, I was one of those girls.  After a Saturday shopping with Nic, I'd come home to my Mother (aka Parental Unit #1) telling me that I "smelt like a cake", well you know what, that was just fine by me!  I think there is such a warming, comforting quality to vanilla.  I like the scent of vanilla in baking, Yankee Candles and perfume/body products. I'm just a vanilla kind of girl. So shoot me! I also happen to love the scent of sandalwood and amber, so this is a total winner for me. It is a little sweeter than the scents I usually go for. But sometimes, I fancy a sweet treat.

Have you tried So hooked on Carmella? Are you hooked?

OPI Burlesque TSV!

(Picture taken from QVCUK.COM)

Morning all! Just a quick heads up that today's OPI TSV is from the Burlesque collection. The set includes Nail Envy and Avoplex hand cream as well as 3 lacquers in Bring on the Bling Nail Lacquer (gold glitter), Tease-y does it lacquer (chocolate burgundy shimmer) and Let Me Entertain You (fuchsia glimmer)

All for the bargain price of £30.36. 

Happy Shopping!