Beauty Blog

New bronzer alert

April 1st, 2011
TITLE : Bronzer alert
Now that bronzing season is almost upon us we at L’Onglex have been pondering which products to invest in for our Spring/Summer make-up bags.
Naturally the old reliables like Sun Shimmer and Sally Hansen Air Brush Legs are as we speak winging their way from the back of the beauty cupboard, but when it comes to bronzing on the face we thought we might try something a bit lighter this season.
Enter Soap & Glory’s Solar Powder which as you may or may not know features four different shades or bronze. The light, sandy shades are perfect for adding subtle highlighting as well as some soft, sun-kissed contours and as the main danger with bronzer always seems to be that we overdo it this one didn’t leave us looking like we had just turned up for auditions in The Only Way As Essex !
As the the mix also includes a mirror and soft bristled brush, should you find yourself feeling a bit pasty on the hop this is perfect for topping up. Conclusion …. didn’t cake, didn’t make us look like an Umpa-Lumpa and didn’t leave smears on the collar of L’Onglex’s new white work blouse…. can we ask for any more than that ?

soap_and_glory-1

Now that bronzing season is almost upon us we at L’Onglex have been pondering which products to invest in for our Spring/Summer make-up bags.

Naturally the old reliables like Sun Shimmer and Sally Hansen Air Brush Legs are as we speak winging their way from the back of the beauty cupboard, but when it comes to bronzing on the face we thought we might try something a bit lighter this season.

Enter Soap & Glory’s Solar Powder which as you may or may not know features four different shades or bronze. The light, sandy shades are perfect for adding subtle highlighting as well as some soft, sun-kissed contours and as the main danger with bronzer always seems to be that we overdo it this one didn’t leave us looking like we had just turned up for auditions in The Only Way As Essex !

As the mix also includes a mirror and soft bristled brush, should you find yourself feeling a bit pasty on the hop this is perfect for topping up. Conclusion …. didn’t cake, didn’t make us look like an Umpa-Lumpa and didn’t leave smears on the collar of L’Onglex’s new white work blouse…. can we ask for any more than that ?


Video:Pastel peepers for spring

March 27th, 2011

PIXIWOO = Pastels for Spring
<a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/sixty_two.html’)”>
If you caught our purple eyes post the other day you will no doubt be aware that L’Onglex is going all girly this spring.
Yup, pastel shades are back again and if you need a visual reminder for the look try and picture something along the lines 50’s mom meets Sofia Cappola’s Marie Antoinette and you will  probably be somewhere near !
Obviously, visualising random things is great if you’re good at it, but having thought about it the above description is pretty much useless and it would be far better for everyone  if we could post a link to someone who can show us in a step-by-step-idiot-proof-type-stylee ….
That ’someone in question’ are the always immaculate girls at Pixiwoo.com (http://pixiwoo.blogspot.com/) who have a video explaining how to work the trend and get the look far better than the picture above or our endless ramblings ever could …..
<strong><a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/sixty_two.html’)”><span style=”color: #654f72;”>Watch the pastels video here</span></a></strong>
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/cm/harpersbazaar/images/hbz-oscar-de-la-renta-ss11-makeup-blog.jpg

If you caught our purple eyes post the other day you will no doubt be aware that L’Onglex is going all girly this spring.

Yup, pastel shades are back again and if you need a visual reminder for the look try and picture something along the lines 50’s mom meets Sofia Cappola’s Marie Antoinette and you will  probably be somewhere near !

Obviously, visualising random things is great if you’re good at it, but having thought about it the above description is pretty much useless and it would be far better for everyone  if we could post a link to someone who can show us in a step-by-step-idiot-proof-type-stylee ….

That ’someone in question’ are the always immaculate girls at Pixiwoo.com who have a video explaining how to work the trend and get the look far better than the picture above or our endless ramblings ever could …..

Watch the pastels video here

PS- The image at the top is from the Oscar de la Renta SS11 shows which has been covered quite nicely by the folks at Harpers Bazaar.


Review: Liquid liner by Catrice

March 18th, 2011
Regular readers will know that we at L’Onglex has a bit of an obsession with the kitten flick. If we’re not spending hours watching the latest beauty tutorial by some or other guru extolling the benefits of liquid eyeliner you’ll find us in the mirror perfecting our technique.
We’ve tried everything from clever liner pens to the old school pots and brushes but never have we come across a budget liquid liner that has impressed us quite as much as the latest one from Bargain beauty brand Catrice. Hot off the shelves Catrice’s gel liner is priced at the rather purse friendly €4.49 and we think that’s a bargain.
Having spotted it during a recent dash round Pennys we figured it might be worth a punt and considering it looked like a dead ringer for Bobbi Brown’s Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner ( our current fave ) we thought we’d try it and we went disappointed!
Super pigmented and easy to apply, the budget kitten flick hole in our life has now been filled with one deft sweep of inky liner across L’Onglex’s lids! On the small matter of wearability the colour does fade down slightly during the day but other than that it didn’t budge or smudge – result !

catrice_liquid_liner

Regular readers will know that we at L’Onglex have a bit of an obsession with the kitten flick. If we’re not spending hours watching the latest beauty tutorial by some or other guru extolling the benefits of liquid eyeliner you’ll find us in the mirror perfecting our technique.

We’ve tried everything from clever liner pens to the old school pots and brushes but never have we come across a budget liquid liner that has impressed us quite as much as the latest one from bargain beauty brand Catrice. Hot off the shelves Catrice’s gel liner is priced at the rather purse friendly €4.49 and we think that’s a bargain.

Having spotted it during a recent dash round Pennys we figured it might be worth a punt and considering it looked like a dead ringer for Bobbi Brown’s Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner ( our current fave ) we thought we’d try it and we weren’t disappointed!

Super pigmented and easy to apply, the budget kitten flick hole in our life has now been filled with one deft sweep of inky liner across L’Onglex’s lids! On the small matter of wearability the colour does fade down slightly during the day but other than that it didn’t budge or smudge – result !


Vote and win: Should Justin Bieber spend the rest of his life in jail ?

March 11th, 2011
Vote and win: Should Justin Beiber spend the rest of his life in jail ?
In case you were wondering why exactly we have posted a picture of a large group of screaming girls and  a rather fluffy picture of Justin Beiber above these very words the answer is simple – news reaches the L’Onglex beauty desk that Justin may be soon appearing before a court in Liverpool charged with inciting a riot.
Having wrought havoc on these shores during the last week Justin recently moved his formidable pop powers onto the citizens of Liverpool where, rather than things being quieter, the pandemonium caused by screaming teenage fans just got worse. Such was the chaos and so fearful were the powers that be of a riot, that Justin was warned that any attempts to leave his hotel would cause such a commotion that his actions would be considered a breach of public order ….. the ultimate sanction being a lengthy spell in jail.
So if Justin leaves his hotel he goes to jail, and if he stays in his hotel he ends up being locked up …. so …..  we wondered how many L’Onglex readers would find the idea of the Beiber spending the rest of his natural life in custody a triumph or a tragedy ?
Since we must appear neutral we wont tell you our thoughts but please feel free to vote in the box below and leave a comment under this post to be in with a chance of winning a L’Onglex goodie bag !!

In case you were wondering why exactly we have posted a picture of a large group of screaming girls and  a rather fluffy picture of Justin Beiber above these very words the answer is simple – news reaches the L’Onglex beauty desk that Justin may be soon appearing before a court in Liverpool charged with inciting a riot.

Having wrought havoc on these shores during the last week Justin recently moved his formidable pop powers onto the citizens of Liverpool where, rather than things being quieter, the pandemonium caused by screaming teenage fans just got worse.

Such was the chaos and so fearful were the powers that be of a riot, that Justin was warned that any attempts to leave his hotel would cause such a commotion that his actions would be considered a breach of public order ….. the ultimate sanction being a lengthy spell in jail.

So if Justin leaves his hotel he goes to jail, and if he stays in his hotel he ends up being locked up …. so …..  we wondered how many L’Onglex readers would find the idea of the Beiber spending the rest of his natural life in custody a triumph or a tragedy ?

Since we must appear neutral we wont tell you our thoughts but please feel free to vote in the box below and leave a comment under this post to be in with a chance of winning a L’Onglex goodie bag !!


Is your face worth €155,000 !

February 25th, 2011
How your face is worth  whopping €155,000 !
Hair, body, make-up …. it all adds up as you probably know, but when we came across a recent survey commissioned by QVC in the UK we nearly fell over.
Seems that by the time we add up the trips to the salon, the treats at the beauty counter and the odd spa visit the bill we’re presented with over the course of our lifetime is a staggering €155,000.
Although we did dismiss the figure out of hand, with the use of some old credit card statements and an abacus L’Onglex can safely say that in our case the figure might not be too wide of the mark.
Now that we’ve accepted the fact that what we spend on cosmetics could by us a house, a Bentley convertible or a rather large wardrobe full of Louboutin’s we are seriously looking at ways to cut down …. but how. I mean it’s all very well being frugal but where exactly would we cut our budget.
Having emptied our beauty bags and sought to cut down several times we’re just going to have to accept that looking our best is an investment in itself ….. I wonder if it would be possible to get a mortgage on our looks …. probably not !

lifetime_cost_of_cosmetics

Hair, body, make-up …. it all adds up as you probably know, but when we came across a recent survey commissioned by QVC in the UK we nearly fell over.

Seems that by the time we add up the trips to the salon, the treats at the beauty counter and the odd spa visit the bill we’re presented with over the course of our lifetime is a staggering €155,000.

Although we did dismiss the figure out of hand, with the use of some old credit card statements and an abacus L’Onglex can safely say that in our case the figure might not be too wide of the mark.

Now that we’ve accepted the fact that what we spend on cosmetics could by us a house, a Bentley convertible or a rather large wardrobe full of Louboutin’s we are seriously looking at ways to cut down …. but how. I mean it’s all very well being frugal but where exactly would we cut our budget ?

Having emptied our beauty bags and sought to cut down several times we’re just going to have to accept that looking our best is an investment in itself ….. I wonder if it would be possible to get a 2nd mortgage on our face  …. probably not !


Its nearly Oscars time …

February 24th, 2011
With the Oscars very nearly upon us L’Onglex has inevitably been gripped by who might win, what they might win it for and whether in fact they actually deserve it ….
Being the film nerds we are we always seem to end up feeling a bit let down once all the statues have been dished out and although we are currently rooting for Black Swan for best costume we have a sneaking suspicion it wont actually win.
Having had a raging case of TuTu envy ever since we saw Natalie Portman leap across our screens we’ve been looking to add a bit of ballerina chic to our beauty bags for what feels like an age and when the latest offerings from Bourjois just so happened to pirouette across the L’Onglex beauty desk we figured we might finally have found our dancing partner.
Conveniently titled Ballerina the palette is perfectly judged between pinks and greys and although it ranks about 34 out of 10 on the girly fluffy scale we have to say we don’t care and we love it anyway.
Featuring some smudgeworthy smokey pencils, some delightfully pink polish and a mascara that actually promises to do twirls ( it rotates ) we plan to unleash our inner ballerina’s on the hour every hour between now and next Monday morning !

black_swan_make_up_style

With the Oscars very nearly upon us L’Onglex has inevitably been gripped by who might win, what they might win it for and whether in fact they actually deserve it ….

Being the film nerds we are we always seem to end up feeling a bit let down once all the statues have been dished out and although we are currently rooting for Black Swan for best costume we have a sneaking suspicion it wont actually win.

Having had a raging case of TuTu envy ever since we saw Natalie Portman leap across our screens we’ve been looking to add a bit of ballerina chic to our beauty bags for what feels like an age and when the latest offerings from Bourjois just so happened to pirouette across the L’Onglex beauty desk we figured we might finally have found our dancing partner.

Conveniently titled Ballerina the palette is perfectly judged between pinks and greys and although it ranks about 34 out of 10 on the girly fluffy scale we have to say we don’t care and we love it anyway.

Featuring some smudgeworthy smokey pencils, some delightfully pink polish and a mascara that actually promises to do twirls ( it rotates ) we plan to unleash our inner ballerina’s on the hour every hour between now and next Monday morning !


Who loves Adele ?

February 23rd, 2011
ho loves fish face ?
Now that we’re officially over the hump we’ve been looking for a little Saturday night make-up inspiration and after figuring we rather liked the look of Adele at the Brit awards a little hunting online for her look led us to Lauren Luke’s latest celebrity ‘how to’
Thinking will be just perfect for our weekend out Lauren demonstrates how to nail that perfectly smokey bronzed look by some simple blending techniques for the eyes and a highlighting technique which the geordie princess of powder calls ‘fish face’. On reflection this might not sound too pretty, but the end result is nicely contoured cheeks.
Rimmel, Benefit and MAC are all in the mix and as with all things Lauren Luke ( http://www.bylaurenluke.com/default.aspx ), the video is just so easy to follow – we love this look !
<strong><a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/fifty_eight.html’)”><span style=”color: #654f72;”>Click here to watch the video</span></a></strong>
<a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/fifty_eight.html’)”>
http://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/adele-21.jpg

Now that we’re officially over the hump we’ve been looking for a little Saturday night make-up inspiration and after figuring we rather liked the look of Adele at the Brit awards a little hunting online for her look led us to Lauren Luke’s latest celebrity ‘how to’

Thinking will be just perfect for our weekend out Lauren demonstrates how to nail that perfectly smokey bronzed look by some simple blending techniques for the eyes and a highlighting technique which the geordie princess of powder calls ‘fish face’. On reflection this might not sound too pretty, but the end result is nicely contoured cheeks.

Rimmel, Benefit and MAC are all in the mix and as with all things Lauren Luke, the video is just so easy to follow – we love this look !

Click here to watch the video


New goodies from Bobbi Brown

February 19th, 2011
Regular readers will know when it comes to our under eye circles we’re borderline obsessed. As dark patches are more often than not the bane of L’Onglex’s otherwise flawless beauty routine, we are always on the lookout for anything we think might be able to make us look a bit less scary when the dreaded panda eye chooses to strike.
Enter the latest release from Bobbi Brown which is an all-in-one corrector and concealer. Designed to banish the blotches for good, Bobbi has created two new products which we’ve been fortunate enough to get our greedy mitts on.
The first product is a creamy pink skin corrector which works by evening out grey tones  and brightening the under eye area. As with all things Bobbi, matching product to skin tone isn’t too difficult as there are 12 shades to choose from.
When we first applied this we were quite impressed and being the impatient sorts we are we thought we’d leave it at that. But once the corrector is in place skin tones is quite pinkish so the concealer is what really does the work with this.
Much creamier than previous concealers, the latest edition works a treat at bringing eyes back to something like their natural best and once it hits the corrector the two work really well together. As the new range also comes with a press powder that keeps everything in place we are firmly of the opinion that this one is going to be a bit of a keeper.
So far our only gripe is on the subject of the brush and it is a bit of a shame that this hasn’t been as well thought out as the rest of the compact. Whether or not we’ll be inspired to invest in something with a bit better coverage is something we’ll have to consider once we finally see what the price on this one is. As it hits shelves at BT’s in early April we figure this is one product that is definitely worth the wait.

bobbi_brown_concealer

Regular readers will know when it comes to our under eye circles we’re borderline obsessed. As dark patches are more often than not the bane of L’Onglex’s otherwise flawless beauty routine, we are always on the lookout for anything we think might be able to make us look a bit less scary when the dreaded panda eye chooses to strike.

Enter the latest release from Bobbi Brown which is an all-in-one corrector and concealer. Designed to banish the blotches for good, Bobbi has created two new products which we’ve been fortunate enough to get our greedy mitts on.

The first product is a creamy pink skin corrector which works by evening out grey tones  and brightening the under eye area. As with all things Bobbi, matching product to skin tone isn’t too difficult as there are 12 shades to choose from.

When we first applied this we were quite impressed and being the impatient sorts we are we thought we’d leave it at that. But once the corrector is in place our skin tone was still quite pinkish so the concealer is what really does the work with this.

Much creamier than previous concealers, the latest edition works a treat at bringing eyes back to something like their natural best and once it hits the corrector the two work really well together. As the new range also comes with a press powder that keeps everything in place we are firmly of the opinion that this one is going to be a bit of a keeper. Due to hit shelves at BT’s in early April,this is definitely worth the wait.


Things we love this week – pot rouge by bobbi brown

February 14th, 2011
Things we love this week – pot rouge by bobbi brown
OK we know it’s only Monday so to call this post ‘Things we loved this week’ might be a little premature … I mean we don’t actually know what’s going to happen for the days Tuesday to Friday and we’re kind of hoping some handsome and mysterious benefactor may gift us a box full of Creme de la Mer sometime on Thursday morning but for the moment, assuming a miracle doesn’t happen, Pot Rouge by Bobbi Brown is the thing we’re loving thus far.
The reason for this is quite simple. February is a difficult time on the slap front if you happen to be fair skinned. Bronzer can be gotten  away with from April onwards but if you need something to take away a pallid constitution it has to be a bit of blush. Of course it’s all very well having a bit of blush but on the subject of blush – how much is too much and what can you get away with on a grey day February?
The answer is not much but having finally dipped our toe in the water on this we can see why it’s such a cult product. Simply, a light dab is all it takes for something subtle and although it looks pretty red in the pot the texture is super natural on the skin once it goes on. As we’ve developed something of a love hate relationship with Benefit Coralista ( especially the box !) we’re now on the verge of going over to Bobbi for good.
If the rather ungainly €26.50 that you have to pay for a pot of Pot Rouge is something of a turn-off, please note that this also works quite well as a lip stain and as such any guilt you may be left with after buying can be neatly wrapped up in a package that says ‘Multi-Buy’ and firmly ticked off in a housekeeping column that says ‘Frugal Beauty Buys’ ….. sort of !!

rby-fall-makeover-PotRougeCoral-de

OK we know it’s only Monday so to call this post ‘Things we loved this week’ might be a little premature … I mean we don’t actually know what’s going to happen for the days Tuesday to Friday and we’re kind of hoping some handsome and mysterious benefactor may gift us a box full of Creme de la Mer sometime on Thursday morning but for the moment, assuming a miracle doesn’t happen, Pot Rouge by Bobbi Brown is the thing we’re loving thus far.

The reason for this is quite simple. February is a difficult time on the slap front if you happen to be fair skinned. Bronzer can be gotten  away with from April onwards but if you need something to take away a pallid constitution it has to be a bit of blush. Of course it’s all very well having a bit of blush but on the subject of blush – how much is too much and what can you get away with on a grey day February?

The answer is not much but having finally dipped our toe in the water on this we can see why it’s such a cult product. Simply, a light dab is all it takes for something subtle and although it looks pretty red in the pot the texture is super natural on the skin once it goes on. As we’ve developed something of a love hate relationship with Benefit Coralista ( especially the box !) we’re now on the verge of going over to Bobbi for good.

If the rather ungainly €26.50 that you have to pay for a pot of Pot Rouge is something of a turn-off, please note that this also works quite well as a lip stain and as such any guilt you may be left with after buying can be neatly wrapped up in a package that says ‘Multi-Buy’ and firmly ticked off in a housekeeping column that says ‘Frugal Beauty Buys’ ….. if you get our drift !!


body shop rocks

February 10th, 2011
We do love a good collaboration here at L’Onglex HQ so when we got wind of the latest launch from The Body Shop we just thought it might be good of us to share the deets !
Quite possibly ( actually … no definitely ) the brightest collection we’ve come across this spring, the limited edition ‘Brush With Fashion’ collection has been created in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed London College of Fashion and the result is the new range wrapped up in a whimsically bright collection of packaging.
Brimming with handbag friendly products the collection includes an a Illuminating Face Base, Hi-Shine Lip Treatment , Tailored Cheek Tint , Super Volume Mascara as well as portable palettes for the eyes. Although pretty, L’Onglex is also assured that this isn’t just a case of a pretty product in pretty packaging but as the sets come with the added bonus of individual brushes for each product topping up on the go is a breeze and you’ll never get your pinks mixed with your blues.
The collection hits counters at the beginning of the month and as we’ve already got our eye on at least one of the palettes we can pretty much guarantee we’ll be sporting something bright for spring and summer.

brush_with_fashion

We do love a good collaboration here at L’Onglex HQ so when we got wind of the latest launch from The Body Shop we just thought it might be good of us to share the deets !

Quite possibly ( actually … no definitely ) the brightest collection we’ve come across this spring, the limited edition ‘Brush With Fashion’ collection has been created in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed London College of Fashion and the result is the new range wrapped up in a whimsically bright collection of packaging.

Brimming with handbag friendly products the collection includes an a Illuminating Face Base, Hi-Shine Lip Treatment , Tailored Cheek Tint , Super Volume Mascara as well as portable palettes for the eyes.

Although pretty, L’Onglex is also assured that this isn’t just a case of a pretty product in pretty packaging but as the sets come with the added bonus of individual brushes for each product topping up on the go is a breeze and you’ll never get your pinks mixed with your blues.

The collection hits counters at the beginning of the month and as we’ve already got our eye on at least one of the palettes we can pretty much guarantee we’ll be sporting something bright for spring and summer.