My Favourite Perfumes & Current Makeup Crush

Firstly, I wanted to quickly bring to your attention my new widget on the top right hand side of the blog.  This will automatically update with the top 10 commenters on Liparazzi calculated from the last 50 comments left to date.  I added this to showcase my loyal readers who always leave comments.  I know there are alot of people who read each post but don't leave comments and that's fine too, I appreciate all of you guys as individuals.  But with this widget, it will give everyone a chance to link straight to my top 10 commenter's blogs.  It's a great way of possibly checking out some bloggers that may be new to you...you can never have too many blogs in your reading list! 

I don't often talk about perfume on my blog because it's a very personal choice and depends on individual preference.  What is amazing to one person, may be off putting to another.  However, I have had a few emails lately asking what my favourite perfumes are so I thought I would oblige.  I am very fussy when it comes to perfume but I have found 4 fragrances that I haven't deviated from at all in the past few months.  If you haven't tried any of these before then I recommend you go try some testers.  I always wear lighter perfumes during the day and more intense fragrances at night time. 

Gucci Guilty and YSL Parisienne are great daytime perfumes and Gucci II and YSL Elle are ideal for evenings.  They are all expensive perfumes but boy, are they worth it!  Since my camera stubbornly refused to take good quality photos of the reflective bottles, I have had to depend on internet images...

YSL Parisienne is described as "a sensuous bouquet to the woman whose heart belongs to Paris… even if home is elsewhere. A voluptuous floral accord of violet, damask rose and tart blackberry seems to tell the whole story. But then comes the fullness of sandalwood, deepened by musk and brightened by peonies, tying the endnotes to the ones beginning".  This is a lovely daytime perfume because it's light enough not to be overpowering but has the depth to last all day.  I love the smell of blackberries in it and also the gorgeous bottle!

Gucci Guilty has "top notes of pink pepper, heart note of lilac and base notes of patchouli and amber".  This perfume smells gorgeous when you spray it on but even better when it settles and warms on your skin throughout the day.  It smells very sophisticated but in the most subtle way.  The packaging looks and feels very luxe...it's always great to feel like you're treating yourself.

Gucci II has a "top note of blackcurrant , heart note of jasmine, base note of sandalwood".  There's something about the mix of blackcurrants and the masculine scent of sandlewood that makes this perfume SO addictive.  I often pick up the bottle and smell it as I'm passing my dressing table, just for the sake of it.  I love the heavy glass bottle, it all adds to the opulent feel of the fragrance.  It's a really beautiful scent to wear at night and really lasts!

YSL Elle..."a fresh, colourful and infinitely feminine opening of cedar wood gives this fragrance its luminosity. A hint of lychee offers its boldness and peony delicately softens it. Last but not least, pink berries combined in the middle notes with freesia create a fusion of olfactory opposites.  A fragrance bursting with femininity and audaciousness where floral and woody notes blend and mingle together.  Peony – Pink Berries – Patchouli".

I've saved the best for last.  This is my favourite night-time perfume EVER and it's become my signature scent.  It's absolutely gorgeous and I always get asked what I am wearing when I put this on.  It's a very deep, musky, sexy fragrance and I will keep repurchasing it over and over again.

What are your favourite fragrances for day and night?

Rachel McAdams wore this look in February of this year for a television appearance.  This look was created by one of my favourite makeup artists, Troy Jenson, using Chanel products.  His signature style always involves either playing up the eyes or the lips, but never both.  I like that rule of thumb because it means you won't end up looking like a clown!

I love bronze against blue eyes and this blended out look is perfect teamed with the soft, pretty pink lip.  I love the way the goldy tones catch the light in the inner corners of her eyes (see second pic).  I really like the tone of Rachel's skin here, it just has a lovely golden glow without being too tanned.  I sometimes think that the skin's texture and the dimensions in your face can be lost when it's too tanned.  Her skin also looks beautifully glowy! 

The products used, as said before, were all Chanel:

Chanel Mat Lumiere Foundation in Clair 1.0

Chanel Soft Pressed Powder in Rosee

Note - I'm sure he used a bronzer but not sure which one.

Chanel Tweed Pink Blush

Chanel Shimmering Tweed Highlighter

Chanel Fluid Irisdescent Eyeshadows in Delta & Cascade

Chanel Quadra Eyeshadow Palette in Dunes

Chanel Precision Eye Definer in Brun Cuivre

Chanel Precision Brow Definer in Taupe

Chanel Perfect Brows in Brun

Chanel Inimitable Mascara in Noir

Chanel Aqualumiere Sheer Colour Lipshine in Maldives

Chanel Aqualumiere High Shine Sheer Concentrate Gloss in Colibri

Now, for something make you go "awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

I recently started following the lovely Laura's blog The Fashion & Beauty Obsession, her blog is relatively new and she is a lovely girl so go check it out.  She just did a great post on some rather gorgeous dresses.  When you look at her blog, you will INSTANTLY be drawn to a pic of her dog, Yogi...

Oh my god, is this not the most adorable dog you have ever seen?! He's like a big teddy bear...I just wanna cuddle him!

Kim Kardashian Bikini Pictures

Kim Kardashian Bikini Pictures

Kim Kardashian W Magazine Pics Check Here

Click Image To Enlarge

Kim Kardashian W Magazine Pics Check Here

Click Image To Enlarge

FOTD and Review of RMK Extra Deep W Mascara

I dunno what's going on with my hair today, it's all static, flyaway and there's stubborn kinks in it...very annoying!  It hasn't stopped snowing here yet unfortunately.  I was supposed to be going out to see my mum and dad today and stay with them for a couple of days but the roads are too dangerous to travel.  So I'm stuck in the flat again!  I headed to the gym this morning to burn off some calories purely so I could indulge myself in my weekly treat from Cafe Crema...a slice of their Sticky Toffee Cake...

Let's take a moment to appreciate this thing of beauty....ahhhhhhhh.

I would prefer to go to Cafe Crema over Starbucks ANY DAY.  It's run by a lovely couple, Richard and Sarah who really take the time to get to know you and have a chat when you drop in.  I keep going back because they make everyone feel like a valued customer, they always remember your name and what you spoke about last time you were in.  You don't get many businesses like that anymore and it's a real shame.  They make an effort to source local quality produce and suppliers for their cakes, coffees and unique range of teas.  There was even a Christmas Spice tea there today that smells like the tea equivalent of mulled wine! It smelt gorgeous!  They have a local lady who bakes cakes and cheesecakes for them and they are the most divine I've ever tasted!

One of the brighter eyeshadows that really like from Mac is Parfait Amour.  It's a vivid bluish violet duochrome with violet opalescent shimmer (frost) and it makes adding a bit of colour into your routine really easy.  Because it's slightly more complex then your average eyeshadow you can lay a paler base colour down and just use this as your crease colour.  Because of the duochrome effect, it looks like you have used 4 or 5 eyeshadows yo blend the whole look when really you have just used two.  Genius!

Face: Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Fresco, Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque, Clinique Redness Solutions Instant Relief Mineral Pressed Powder, Dior Matte Sunshine Bronzer in Honey Matte, Sleek Contour Kit, Mac Beauty Powder in Shell Pearl as blush/highlight.

Eyes: Mac Paint Pot in Painterly as a base, Ivory shade from Dior Earth Reflection eyeshadow palette all over lid and inner corner, Mac Crystal e/s all over lid, Beautiful Iris e/s in crease and outer lid, Mac Parfait Amour in crease and outer lid, Mac Vanilla e/s on browbone, Estee Lauder Double Wear Eyeliner in Onyx along top lashline, Mac Carbon e/s to tidy up liner, RMK Extra Deep W Mascara in Black, Benefit Eyebright on waterline, Benefit Powderflage under eyes to set concealer and tidy up any fallout.

Lips: Estee Lauder Pure Colour Lipstick in Candy, Estee Lauder Pure Colour Gloss in Frivolous Pink

So onto the review of the RMK Extra Deep W Mascara...

It's described as "using a new technique of enveloping the fibrous base in between your mascara coats, the RMK Extra Deep W Mascara creates a voluminous effect like none seen before.  Thanks to its water resistant formula, RMK’s lengthening and volumising Extra Deep W Mascara keeps your lashes smudge-free all day. You start by applying a coat of mascara then use a rich coat of fibres from the fibrous base and then a last coat of mascara to set the fibres. Voila, a seductive gaze no-one can resist!"

You can see from the pics that it definitely gives a thickening and lengthening effect on the lashes and impressively so, rivalling some of my favourite mascaras. 

This is the first time I have ever tried a mascara with black fibres used as a base.  They do make it easier to build real volume and the really small brush for the base coat makes it perfect for grabbing every tiny lash.  The mascara dried quickly and didn't budge all day, no flaking, no smudging.

But that is the problem with this mascara.  It doesn't budge.  I love the effect it has but it took me a good two days to get the remnants of the base fibres off my lashes! I know it's a water resistant formula but even after trying every makeup remover I own (including oil formulas), it still didn't remove all of the mascara.  I really like to completely cleanse my face of every trace of makeup each night.  I like to feel refreshed and bright eyed in the mornings but the days following my use of this mascara left me trying to pick bits out of the roots of my eyelashes and resulted in a lot of lashes falling out.  It has fantatsic results but I'm just not willing to lose loads of lashes every time I use it.  For me, it's just not practical.

I will be sticking to my favourite mascara combination of the moment...Lancome Hypnose Precious Cells as a base, then Maxfactor False Lash Effect over the top.  These are very easy to wash off with soap and water so I'll be sticking to them for the foreseeable.

Have you tried this mascara? What were your thoughts?

Christmas Present Ideas

I would like to say that I'm super organised at this time of year but that would be a brazen lie! I always promise myself I will take inspiration from my mum and buy a present each month leading up to Christmas but sadly...that NEVER happens.  I always wait until a week before and then go on a mad rush to get everything in one day.  I think I secretly like the adrenaline rush of not knowing whether I will complete my mission!ha ha. 

Sometimes it's hard to find the perfect present for your friends at Christmas time but I always find these kinds of posts are handy for brainstorming.  I just wanted to add a quick disclaimer that I have not been asked to post this OR sponsored by any of the featured brands.  These are all just items that I like and would be happy to receive myself.  All the gifts listed are priced £30 or below.

 We all have a friend who loves their coffee and can't live without it.  This thermal commuter KeepCup is perfect for your friends who walk to work every day or drive long distances and need a caffeine pick me up along the way! Using disposable cups isn't good for the environment so this is a great product in that respect.  They could make their own coffee or just ask for their coffee to be decanted into their KeepCup at Starbucks whilst feeling all smug that they're helping to save the world!  The KeepCup replicates standard takeaway sizes and fits under the group heads of espresso machines.  KeepCups are BPA free and non toxic. They have good thermal properties keeping drinks hot 20-30 minutes longer than disposable cups.  One of the coolest things is that you can design your own and choose which colours you want on the website.  They are really good value for money:

Small/227ml/8oz/£7.40

Medium/340ml/12oz/£7.90

Large/454ml/16oz/£8.40

The company ships worldwide too!

http://www.keepcup.com/

I'm always untangling my jewellery in the drawer beside my bed and I get sick of spending ages messing around to find which pieces I want.  I know lots of other people have this problem too so these cute jewellery holders are a really lovely way to display your prettiest items...

Jewellery holder from Asos, you can buy it for £14.00 by clicking here.

£12.00, to buy it click here

ASOS will be shipping worldwide free of charge until 14th dec!

I always feel that you can never go wrong with a good quality makeup palette and there's some really cute ones from Too Faced at the moment.  I own two palettes from Too Faced and they are both gorgeous.

This is the Too Faced Glamour To Go Fairy Edition Palette.  Apart from the cover been soooo cute and dainty, it houses 8 eyeshadows, 1 pink lip gloss, 1 bronzer and 1 pink blush.  With a mix of neutrals and subtle brights, all the shades look like they would be really flattering.  These palettes are always really compact and practical so they're great for anyone who travels or even just to pop in their bag to touch up their makeup at a party.  It's priced at £16 and is available on Asos here.

I am spectacularly rubbish at putting false lashes on but I know there's alot of girls out there who have mastered the art.  A great way to try out a few different styles is to get the Girls Aloud Eyelure Lash Set with Washbag and Brush Set.  Great for anyone who loved Girls Aloud or just loves big, fluttery eyelashes!  You get 5 sets of false lashes in this set and it comes in a really cute washbag.  It's priced at £25.00 and is available on Asos.com here

If you have any friends who are obsessed with statement rings, then this baby would be right up their street.  How cool is this ring?! It would look amazing with a killer dress for the festive season.  It's the Scott Wilson 14ct Gold Plated Circle Ring for £30 available at ASOS.

Click here to buy

Loads of people were lusting after the Origins Ginger products I had posted about recently so this Origins Ginger Treat Set would be the perfect gift for anyone who loves to pamper themselves.  You get the

Ginger Float Bubble Bath, Ginger Souffle Body Cream and Incredible Spreadable Scrub.  All this for £29!  I can testify that this stuff smells absolutely divine and it makes your skin feel incredible.

Click here to buy.

I always find myself lusting over the Bobbi Brown Limited Edition palettes at this time of year because they really appeal to me when I'm thinking about party makeup.  This Sparkle Glamour Quad for £30 looks gorgeous and I think any girl would be happy to get this as a gift!

Buy on the BB website here.

Every girl would agree that you can never have too many bags and this Accessorize Gina Slouchy Fuschia Shoulder Bag is a great way to add a pop of colour to your winter wardbrobe.  It's £28.00 and you can click here to buy it

If you have already got your friend a big present and are looking for something small to go with it, then this Cherry Cupcake Handcream available at River Island is just the cutest hand cream ever!  Great for anyone who likes fun and quirky things.  It's only £5.99 and you can click here to buy

Winter means cold weather and cold weather means it's definitely time to wrap yourself in gorgeous scarves.  Oh no, they're not just a practical piece of clothing, they're a way to add texture and colour to your overall look and link your outfit together.  This Dune Ava Scarf with metallic thread looks luxe and is priced at £30.

Click here to buy.

You know I like to post a bit of music every so often...it's a huge part of my life and I always have my iPod with me wherever I go.  Wouldn't the world be a sad place without music?  I have a real ecclectic taste in music and I never rule anything out which means my iTunes contains everything from Marvin Gaye to Lady GaGa to Jay-Z to Foo Fighters.  I have been listening to this tune alot at the gym...it really gets me through that point when I feel like I can't do anymore...it spurs me on somehow.  I can imagine I would head straight for the dancefloor if I heard this come on in a club. I loooooves me a bit of house music!

This next tune is by a new artist from Essex, Jessie J...I heard this song the other day on Fearne Cotton's show on Radio 1 and I quite like it.  She has a similar style to Lady Gaga I guess...pop with an r'n'b vibe to it.  Actually in the video for the song she looks like Lily Allen from the neck up and Lady Gaga from the neck down! ha ha.  She has written songs for a few other big artists in the past like Alicia Keys, toured with Chris Brown and Justin Timberlake is apparently one of her biggest fans.  The song is released on 2nd December in the UK and on 7th December in the US.  This video DOES have some swearing (cussing) in it so if you are easily offended then it's probably best not to watch it!



What do you reckon to Jessie J? What songs get you in the mood for working out?