Beauty Blog

Things we loved this week: Champneys Charcoal Grey

March 28th, 2011
Things we loved this week: Champneys Charcoal Grey
When it comes to polishing our pinkies we usually tend to gravitate towards the brighter shades and now that Spring has well and truly sprung we thought it high time we added a touch of colour to our talons.
Given that pinks, greens, blues and even yellows are set to dominate during the coming months we thought we just might have time for one last hurrah on the darker shades which brings us nicely onto the above swatch.
Having been flown all the way from the UK, a friend of L’Onglex picked up this little gem while she enjoyed some R&R in the Champanys Spa and we instantly fell in love with the classic charcoal grey. Having spent so long playing with colour we couldn’t quite believe how flattering the shade actually is.
The only gripe we did have ( and as it was a gift it would be rude to have too many! ) was that the formula was a little light on pigment so two to three coats are a must. On the upside the coats dry quick enough and if the UK seems a little far to fly to get a polish fix, we are reliably informed you can grab a bottle in boots.

champneys1

When it comes to polishing our pinkies we usually tend to gravitate towards the brighter shades and now that Spring has well and truly sprung we thought it high time we added a touch of colour to our talons.

Given that pinks, greens, blues and even yellows are set to dominate during the coming months we thought we just might have time for one last hurrah on the darker shades which brings us nicely onto the above swatch.

Having been flown all the way from the UK, a friend of L’Onglex picked up this little gem while she enjoyed some R&R in the Champanys Spa and we instantly fell in love with the classic charcoal grey. Having spent so long playing with colour we couldn’t quite believe how flattering the shade actually is.

champneys2The only gripe we did have ( and as it was a gift it would be rude to have too many! ) was that the formula was a little light on pigment so two to three coats are a must.

On the upside the coats dry quick enough and if the UK seems a little far to fly to get a polish fix, we are reliably informed you can grab a bottle in boots.


Chanel has deceived us …..

January 30th, 2011
Chanel has deceived us …..
Beware fans of L’Onglex !
Having brought you the Japanese robot that washes your hair, clothes you can make yourself from spray foam and a product which lets you get Cheryl Coles hair straight out of a tin, we can’t help but mention our latest find …. Chanel The Movie.
As we are suckers for anything Chanel related we had to take a peek when we heard the word that Chanel had produced an animated movie featuring a hit-parade of every single thing we ever wanted to own for ourselves but couldn’t actually afford.
Why the video was commissioned we are not so sure, but having watched the sequence a couple of times we are fast coming to the conclusion that this is not the uber-stylish video animation it purports to be. Merely a sophisticated ploy at making school age infants fall in love with the brand so that they have no choice but to spend all their pocket money collecting Chanel make-up in a Pokemon stylee.
Quite why the worlds most sophisticated luxury brand has chosen to go all Disney on our asses I cannot say, but what we are convinced of is that if word gets round TOY STORY will be no more and every 6 year old girl will be pestering her mother to buy her the latest must have Chanel Robot …… you have been warned…..
<iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/19185489″ width=”400″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″></iframe><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/19185489″>Animating Chanel</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user3585222″>lionel bui</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

robot

Beware fans of L’Onglex !

Having brought you the Japanese robot that washes your hair, clothes you can make yourself from spray foam and a product which lets you get Cheryl Coles hair straight out of a tin, we can’t help but mention our latest find …. Chanel The Movie.

As we are suckers for anything Chanel related we had to take a peek when we heard the word that Chanel had produced an animated movie featuring a hit-parade of every single thing we ever wanted to own for ourselves but couldn’t actually afford.

Why the video was commissioned we are not so sure, but having watched the sequence a couple of times we are fast coming to the conclusion that this is not the uber-stylish video animation it purports to be. Merely a sophisticated ploy at making school age infants fall in love with the brand so that they have no choice but to spend all their pocket money collecting Chanel make-up in a Pokemon stylee.

Quite why the worlds most sophisticated luxury brand has chosen to go all Disney on our asses I cannot say, but what we are convinced of is that if word gets round TOY STORY will be no more and every 6 year old girl will be pestering her mother to buy her the latest must have Chanel Robot …… you have been warned…..

Click here to watch the video


Bottoms up …

January 18th, 2011
Bottoms up!
While we always take new skincare claims with a large dose of salt there are occasions when L’Onglex has been known to sit up and take notice when we hear that someone, somewhere, might just be onto something big.
Although the BIG with this particular wonder treatment is quite small we have been intrigued to hear that beauty buyers in the UK are currently going gooey over tubs of Baby Bottom Butter from the supermarket chain Waitrose. Having heard reports from beauty insiders that the €3 tubs give comparable results to luxury beauty brand Creme de la Mer, the shelves have been stripped bare and price conscious consumers are fighting in the aisles to get hold of the stuff.
How well the €3 cream actually works L’Onglex cannot say, but since the supermarket chain have sold more tubs of Baby Bottom Butter in the last year than they have in the last 13 years, we think someone, somewhere might be onto something big.
While this revelation will come as a shock to those who prefer to spend a bit more for face creams, it hasn’t surprised us too much. I mean, as long as you don’t have to share the tub with an actual baby, throwing the odd dash of Sudocream on now and again is a  great way to clear up those occasional dry patches we get around the nose and chin at this time of year !
Having had a think about it, there must be loads of these unusual and low cost beauty remedies out there. If anyone fancies sharing any tips in the comments section below we would love to do a list sometime soon …

baby_bottom_butter

While we always take bold skincare claims with a large dose of salt , there are occasions when L’Onglex has been known to sit up and take notice, especially when we hear that someone, somewhere, might just be onto something big.

Although the BIG with this particular case is quite small, we have been intrigued to discover that beauty buyers in the UK are currently going gooey over tubs of Baby Bottom Butter from the supermarket chain Waitrose. Having heard reports from beauty insiders that the €3 tubs give comparable results to luxury beauty brand Creme de la Mer, the shelves have been stripped bare and price conscious consumers are fighting in the aisles to get hold of the last few jars remaining.

How well the €3 cream actually works L’Onglex cannot say, but since the supermarket chain in question have sold more tubs of Baby Bottom Butter in the last year than they have in the last 13 years, we think there could be something in it.

While this revelation will come as a shock to those who prefer to spend a bit more on face creams, it hasn’t surprised us too much. I mean, as long as you don’t have to share the tub with an actual baby, throwing the odd dash of Sudocream on now and again is a  great way to clear up those occasional dry patches we get around the nose and chin at this time of year !

Having had a think about it, there must be loads of these unusual and low cost beauty remedies out there. If anyone fancies sharing any tips in the comments section below we would love to do a list sometime soon …


Christmas party picks

December 14th, 2010
Our Christmas Party Picks
With Christmas nearly upon us we figured we’d chuck out all that natural, subtle stuff and head out for some glitzy goodies.
Obviously it goes without saying that L’Onglex thinks that looking like an overdone Christmas tree is a bad thing at this time of year, but on the other hand being the proverbial wallflower isn’t the best way to handle the party season. With this in mind we’ve put together a few to look out for if you are of a mind to expand the Christmas beauty bag.
First on our party wish list is Barocco Shimmer Powder by Clarins. Perfect for highlighting cheeks and decolletage these are basically lightweight nuggets that come in a rather festive pot and leave just the right amount of sparkle where you need it. Although these are rather nice ( more bronzy than gold ), go easy on the powder as less is definitely more ! powder on the puff to give a subtle sheen where you need it most.
Those of you who need a touch of seductive pout rather than the full Pete Burns will no doubt be interested in the delights of Model Co’s Lip Plumper. Bag friendly and packed with plumping ingredients like marine collagen and hyaluronic acid, this comes as a gloss that also smoothes lips down as well as plumping them up.
As much as we love subtle polishes now and again what’s really needed is a touch of drama. Enter Chanel’s Rouge Fatal, a stunning chip free holly nail polish with a super glossy finish. Obviously we could spend ages describing the subtle nuances of colouring and shade, but we’ll spare you the bother of reading our superlatives and finish the Chanel subject with the following statement …. wear this because it’s not too tarty !
Finally the fragrance. If you were to read the brochure you might think that paying €80 big ones to cover yourself in the smells of pomegranate, spiced woods and frankincense would make you smell a bit like an overdone nativity display …. it doesn’t. If there is a winter scent out there that is any more perfect than Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone please inform L’Onglex forthwith. We love this scent.

With Christmas nearly upon us we figured we’d chuck out all that natural, subtle stuff and head out for some glitzy goodies.

Obviously it goes without saying that L’Onglex thinks that looking like an overdone Christmas tree is a bad thing at this time of year, but on the other hand being the proverbial wallflower isn’t the best way to handle the party season. With this in mind we’ve put together a few to look out for if you are of a mind to expand the Christmas beauty bag.

3-clarinsFirst on our party wish list is Barocco Shimmer Powder by Clarins. Perfect for highlighting cheeks and decolletage these are basically lightweight nuggets that come in a rather festive pot and leave just the right amount of sparkle where you need it. Although these are rather nice ( more bronzy than gold ), go easy on this one as less is definitely more –  a subtle sheen where you need it most.

4-lip_plumperThose of you who need a touch of seductive pout rather than the full-on-Pete-Burns will no doubt be interested in the delights of Model Co’s Lip Plumper. Bag friendly and packed with plumping ingredients like marine collagen and hyaluronic acid, this comes as a gloss that also smoothes lips down as well as plumping them up.

2-chanel-polishAs much as we love subtle polishes now and again what’s really needed is a touch of drama. Enter Chanel’s Rouge Fatal, a stunning chip free holly nail polish with a super glossy finish. Obviously we could spend ages describing the subtle nuances of colouring and shade, but we’ll spare you the bother of reading our superlatives and finish the Chanel subject with the following statement …. wear this because it’s not too tarty !

1-jomaloneFinally the fragrance. If you were to read the brochure you might think that paying €80 big ones to cover yourself in the smells of pomegranate, spiced woods and frankincense would make you smell a bit like an overdone nativity display …. it doesn’t. If there is a winter scent out there that is any more perfect than Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone please inform L’Onglex forthwith. We love this perfume.


Things we loved this week: Topshop eye palettes

November 23rd, 2010
With the Christmas party season just around the corner we at L’Onglex have been on the hunt for some beauty bargains to bring a little festive cheer to our make-up bags ! Keen to stay away from the usual glitter eyeliners and sparkly powders ( I think L’Onglex is getting a bit old for that now ) we’ve been on the look out for some eyeshadow brights that are, how can we put this, enough without being too much !
As so often happens with matters of make-up just when L’Onglex is searching for something someone very kindly sends us a little something to try out. That something in particular just so happens to be Topshop’s Petrol Eye Shadow Palette which as well as being lightly textured just so happens to blend quite nicely.
Having not looked too much into the collection at Top-Shop L’Onglex is quite impressed. At €18 for five shadows it’s not exactly cheap but at the same time it’s far from being in the really expensive bracket. As this is quite highly pigmented you don’t have to layer loads to get a reasonably bright finish. Handbag friendly, easy on the pocket and not bad on price … what more could a girl ask for ?

topshop

With the Christmas party season just around the corner we at L’Onglex have been on the hunt for some beauty bargains to bring a little festive cheer to our make-up bags.

Keen to stay away from the usual glitter eyeliners and sparkly powders ( I think L’Onglex is getting a bit old for that now ) we’ve been on the look out for some eyeshadow brights that are, how can we put this …. enough without being too much !

As so often happens with matters of make-up just when L’Onglex is searching someone very kindly sends us a little something to try out. This particular something just so happens to be Topshop’s Petrol Eye Shadow Palette which as well as being lightly textured also blends quite nicely.

Having not looked too much into the collection at Top-Shop since we announced with a big fanfare that Topshop were bringing out a make-up range ( and then forgot all about it ) L’Onglex is quite impressed. At €18 for five shadows it’s not exactly cheap but at the same time it’s far from being in the really expensive bracket and as this is quite highly pigmented you don’t have to layer loads to get a reasonably bright finish.

Handbag friendly, easy on the pocket and not bad on price … what more could a girl ask for ?


L’Onglex blog of the week

November 18th, 2010
L’Onglex blog of the week !
As L’Onglex hasn’t had an original idea in ages we’ve been stealing much of the inspiration for our posts from a range of sources. Thinking this might be a tad unfair to those more imaginative than our good selves we decided that it was high time we gave some of our favourites a mention and so if you haven’t yet come across the Lovely Girlie Bits Blog < http://lovelygirliebits.blogspot.com/> we think you might be missing out.
The creation of Irish beauty blogger Karen Bourgeois the site features product reviews, how to’s and loads of step by steps and being something of the nosy sort we got in touch to ask Karen to answer a few questions on matters slap related ……
What’s in your make-up bag …
At the moment I’m using Gosh’s Natural Touch Foundation, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium to set the foundation, MEMEME Shimmy Shimmers in Pink Shimmer for blush.  For my eyes I am very into the MUA eyeshadows from Superdrug and my Urban Decay Naked Palette and Rimmel’s Lash Accelerator Mascara.  These are my everyday go to products.
Who’s your make-up muse …
I love Kim Kardashian’s make-up.  Her skin is always flawless, eyes are always perfectly smokey and lips are the perfect nude. In second place would be Cheryl Cole. I love when she has a full face of makeup on as her skin always looks gorgeous and dewey and her eye makeup is always spot on – plenty of false lashes.
Do you have a favorite beauty trend this season …
I won’t lie, I had to do a bit of research to see what the beauty trends are for this season.  A few websites mentioned the fuller brows being a trend for Winter 2010 and our very own Model Scout is all about that but I don’t think I could pull off the bushy eyebrows look.  I’m happy to report that a smokey eye is always gorgeous in the winter season as there’s nothing like a dark eye for going out over the Christmas period.
Where’s your favorite place to shop for a beauty fix …
Hands down, Boots and Superdrug.  Their selection is second to none, the prices are very reasonable and they both have offers on all the time. Who can resist an offer
When it comes to beauty buys do you prefer the bargains or are you more high end …
I love both.  When I first started going to New York on shopping trips I  would spend a small fortune in Sephora and Macys – mostly on high end products. I still have a lot of them in my collection and use them regularly but nowadays I absolutely love finding a bargain and dupes for higher end products.
I recently started a series on my blog doing an eye make-up look using more expensive products on one eye and cheaper products on the other eye. I want to show people that you can look good if you’re on a budget. Saying that, I do like to treat myself now at then.
What’s your all time must have beauty buy …
This is a tough one.  I think it would have to be my Mineralize Skinfinish Natural from MAC.  It is the perfect setting powder for my foundation and even though I got mine in the Summer of 2009, I still have absolutely loads left. I’ve tried other powders, loose and set, expensive and cheap and this is what I would recommend everyone have in their collection. It never seems to cake and is great value for money.
What’s on your beauty wish list …
Ah The List. I keep a list on my phone so that whenever I’m pootling up and down the makeup aisles, I don’t forget what I’m looking for. Right now I’d love Barry M’s Hologram Hexogram nail paint, Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation, Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer, Sleek’s Bad Girl Palette and Sleek’s Kajal Liner.
What’s been your biggest beauty disaster to date …
Back in my college days I remember going to the USI bar in Dublin with silver eyeshadow from my lash line to my eyebrows, yep, that was me although I’ve toned it down a bit since then !

blog_of_the_week

As L’Onglex hasn’t had an original idea in ages we’ve been stealing much of the inspiration for our posts from a range of sources. Thinking this might be a tad unfair to those more imaginative than our good selves we decided that it was high time we gave some of our favourites a mention and so if you haven’t yet come across the Lovely Girlie Bits Blog we think you might be missing out.

The creation of Irish beauty blogger Karen Bourgeois the site features product reviews, how to’s and loads of step by steps and being something of the nosy sort we got in touch to ask Karen to answer a few questions on matters slap related ……

What’s in your make-up bag …

At the moment I’m using Gosh’s Natural Touch Foundation, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium to set the foundation, MEMEME Shimmy Shimmers in Pink Shimmer for blush.  For my eyes I am very into the MUA eyeshadows from Superdrug and my Urban Decay Naked Palette and Rimmel’s Lash Accelerator Mascara.  These are my everyday go to products.

Who is your make-up muse …

I love Kim Kardashian’s make-up.  Her skin is always flawless, eyes are always perfectly smokey and lips are the perfect nude. In second place would be Cheryl Cole. I love when she has a full face of makeup on as her skin always looks gorgeous and dewey and her eye makeup is always spot on – plenty of false lashes.

Do you have a favorite beauty trend this season …

I won’t lie, I had to do a bit of research to see what the beauty trends are for this season.  A few websites mentioned the fuller brows being a trend for Winter 2010 and our very own Model Scout is all about that but I don’t think I could pull off the bushy eyebrows look.  I’m happy to report that a smokey eye is always gorgeous in the winter season as there’s nothing like a dark eye for going out over the Christmas period.

Where is your favorite place to shop for a beauty fix …

Hands down, Boots and Superdrug.  Their selection is second to none, the prices are very reasonable and they both have offers on all the time. Who can resist an offer ?

When it comes to beauty buys do you prefer the bargains or are you more high end …

I love both.  When I first started going to New York on shopping trips I  would spend a small fortune in Sephora and Macys – mostly on high end products. I still have a lot of them in my collection and use them regularly but nowadays I absolutely love finding a bargain and dupes for higher end products.

I recently started a series on my blog doing an eye make-up look using more expensive products on one eye and cheaper products on the other eye. I want to show people that you can look good if you’re on a budget. Saying that, I do like to treat myself now at then.

What’s your all time must have beauty buy …

This is a tough one.  I think it would have to be my Mineralize Skinfinish Natural from MAC.  It is the perfect setting powder for my foundation and even though I got mine in the Summer of 2009, I still have absolutely loads left. I’ve tried other powders, loose and set, expensive and cheap and this is what I would recommend everyone have in their collection. It never seems to cake and is great value for money.

What’s on your beauty wish list …

Ah The List. I keep a list on my phone so that whenever I’m pootling up and down the makeup aisles, I don’t forget what I’m looking for. Right now I’d love Barry M’s Hologram Hexogram nail paint, Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation, Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer, Sleek’s Bad Girl Palette and Sleek’s Kajal Liner.

blog_karenWhat’s been your biggest beauty disaster to date …

Back in my college days I remember going to the USI bar in Dublin with silver eyeshadow from my lash line to my eyebrows, yep, that was me although I’ve toned it down a bit since then !


This weeks L’Onglex poll: Can you leave the house without slap ?

November 15th, 2010
L’Onglex poll: Can you leave the house without slap ?
The other day L’Onglex was reading one of those Q&A’s with some celebrity type and came across a question which asked whether said celebrity ever left the house without make-up …. naturally the celebrity wanting to appear all normal said something like “oh yeh … all the time” at which point L’Onglex said something like “Yeh right.”
Some time later it occurred to L’Onglex that we were being a bit unfair. Casting our minds back we struggled to find a time when we ourselves had actually been out without at least something that resembled a full face and we don’t have camera lenses pointing at us from every angle.
So. The subject of this weeks poll is simply this … we’d like to know ( hand on heart ) how many of you actually do go out in public without make-up. Dead simple, dead quick and we’d love you to be honest on the subject. Vote in the box and leave a comment by clicking here to put your name in the virtual hat for a goodie bag !

1556500

The other day L’Onglex was reading one of those Q&A’s with some celebrity type and came across a question which asked whether said celebrity ever left the house without make-up …. naturally the celebrity, wanting to appear all normal, said something like “oh yeh … all the time” at which point L’Onglex said something like “Yeh right.”

Some time later it occurred to L’Onglex that we were being a tad unfair. Casting our minds back we struggled to find a time when we ourselves had actually been out without at least something that resembled a full face and we don’t even have the added pressure of having several camera lenses pointing at us everywhere we go !

So. The subject of this weeks poll is simply this … we’d like to know ( hand on heart ) how many of us actually do go out in public without make-up ?Dead simple, dead quick and we’d love you to be honest on the subject.

Vote in the box below and leave a comment here to put your name in the virtual hat for a special goodie bag !


We heart new MAC

November 9th, 2010
Question- What happens when you add a load of MAC make-up to the fantastically curvaceous imaginings of one of the the worlds most celebrated design talents ?
Answer – The pictures above !
Yes folks, the above images are the creative fusion between MAC cosmetics and dutch design guru Marcel Wanders and now that we’ve at least managed to get our hands on the new Genisa lippy we can say without any hesitation just how gorgeous the new range is.
Looking a little like an experiment to see what would happen when you let a load of modern architects wearing black clothes and frameless specs hang out with extremely vain model types the new range is everything we thought it would be with a touch of the Devil Wears Prada thrown in for good measure.
Featuring some rather futuristic geodesic powder compacts and a nice line in curvy brushes and lipstick applicators we think the finished articles will cause something of a stampede once they hit counters on December.
So far we’ve only managed to get our hands on a preview of the Genisa lipstick but as this is the most perfectly velvety red you can imagine we figure we’ll be raiding the piggy bank to get hold of the full range.
Quite why we’ve gone so ga-ga for this we cannot quite say but as most of what the veritable Mr Wenders designs ends up as collectors items we very much like the idea that we can justify spending a fortune on these in the hope that they become collectors items. We know this is unlikely, but we have to have some reason for spending €55 on the make-up brush below !

marcel_wenders_for_MAC

Question- What happens when you add a load of MAC make-up to the fantastically curvaceous imaginings of one of the the worlds most celebrated design talents ?

Answer – The pictures above !

Yes folks, the above images are the creative fusion between MAC cosmetics and dutch design guru Marcel Wanders and now that we’ve at least managed to get our hands on the new Genisa lippy we can say without any hesitation just how gorgeous the new range is.

Looking a little like an experiment to see what would happen when you let a load of modern architects wearing black clothes and frameless specs hang out with extremely vain model types the new range is everything we thought it would be with a touch of the Devil Wears Prada thrown in for good measure.

Featuring some rather futuristic geodesic powder compacts and a nice line in curvy brushes and lipstick applicators we think the finished articles will cause something of a stampede once they hit counters on December.

So far we’ve only managed to get our hands on a preview of the Genisa lipstick but as this is the most perfectly velvety red you can imagine we figure we’ll be raiding the piggy bank to get hold of the full range.

Quite why we’ve gone so ga-ga for this we cannot say but as most of what the veritable Mr Wanders puts his hand to ends up being extremely collectable we very much like the idea that we can justify spending a fortune on make-up in the unlikely hope our grandchildren will one day end up on the Antiques Roadshow.

Naturally, we understand that this is unlikely but as we have to have some reason for spending €55 on the divinely designed make-up brush below I’m sure you’ll forgive us our daydreams !

marcel_wenders_MAC


New shades from Estee Lauder

June 25th, 2010

estee_lauder_aw10

L’onglex towers was alive with excitment this morning when we got our paws on one of  the newest shades from Estee Lauder’s A/W collection which we have been informed will be hitting the beautysphere in August.

I know that AW10 nail polish is a bit premature and we could have waited and all of that but quite frankly we couldn’t wait to see what it looked like – such is our excitement for all things that add to the swatch collection nothing stays wrapped at L’Onglex for any longer than 3 seconds.

Gorgeous, glossy and in our humble opinion quite a good quality polish, we’ll be keeping the lid on the rest of the bottle until we know we can get hold of some more.

This one we like !


We’ve got that Friday feeling!

June 11th, 2010

Welcome to the L’Onglex Beauty Blog.

Tips, trends, must haves, must buys and must wears are all in the mix on the L’Onglex Beauty Blog – from divine nail care tips to the latest product reviews.
20091105 Huguenot - L'onglex acetone hero-1 trans

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