Lavender Whipping up a storm

Five years anxious wait and then at last - Lavender Whip is coming back! Hurrah Hooray! But hark - what's this!!! Blood boils, palm sweats, jaw clenches and eyes bulge as we see the first images of a pinkened Lavender Whip... How dare they taunt us so? Don't call it Lavender Whip if it isn't Lavender Whip. Well folks I think the whole thing is a storm in a teacup because in fact the shade really is the same. I would be the first to point out the differences but in truth there is a slight sheerness to the new 2013 version (very slight) but on the lips it's simply the same. It's got a dash of Budding Love (another limited edition fave) in the sense that it is a little less dense and perhaps ok a touch more pink but in reality it does indeed look like a very, very flattering lavender lipstick. I didn't get on with Pink Popcorn (too pink) so this really hasn't fallen into pink territory it is still categorically purple. Let's check out some photos...



I wore the new Lavender Whip on my top lip and the 2008 Lavender Whip on my bottom lip. No perceptible difference to the naked eye. And I swatched Budding Love, Original Lavender Whip and New Lavender Whip in that order (and pictured cased in that order).

 

By the way, NARS Mata Hari in the background - the best blusher to wear with Lavender Whip if you ask me. I do need a good lip pencil for this though, I must look into that -please let me know if you have any ideas?

 
 



I highly recommend Lavender Whip, it is so pretty yet unusual. The texture is great and it lasts fairly well, fading to a lovely innocent cooled down pink. I have ordered MAC Riri Woo so I am excited for that to arrive next! MAC have been rather good lately, except Let's Skate paint pot, which I found abysmal: glitter fallout everywhere and very over-hyped. But Lavender Whip is worth its place as one of the finest MAC lipsticks out there. It's currently available online. [edit/// oops it sold out again] Well you'd better run to a counter... Good luck! I would love this to be made permanent; this and Candy Yum Yum are both truly unique yet very wearable, almost opposite sides of the same coin. I think of this as a stripped down version of Candy Yum Yum as it has the same magenta heart to it.

Beauty gone Wulong

 
Oh mein gott (so much more emphatic than oh my god)

I tremble as I write this... well I guess I trembled as I did this (early morning blurry eyed, ironically telling myself to be careful as I handled my precious ever so valuable Guerlain Wulong powder.)

NoooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!



How can something so beautiful get so mangled and ugly?

Well tempted as I am to donate this parable to Kandee Johnson or any other number of prized makeup artists cum motivational speaker, I will do the honour here. This my friends, this ugly heap, was formerly the unspeakably beautiful Wulong powder.

To look upon its tortured face (cobbled together in a rushed panic as I fought to find each and every crumb I could - a fruitless task but one I valiantly undertook) - you might think my Wulong is an insult to its memory. Better to kill it than shame it so! But hark: it still works, yes, I'll say it: like photoshop! to make a face look amazing. Maybe it will now dip evenly rather than the pink mosaic piece rushing ahead... well, I am trying to see the benefit to my clumsy accident. In any case, the moral is, the beauty is still there. Next time you see ugliness you should ponder: Perhaps it had innate beauty once, and was smashed by an Other.

Nonetheless, I will never take this out in public now. I am too superficial. But hopefully the moral will be undiminished by this admission.

I should have mentioned these at time of purchase, so for the record: I adore this and Cruel Gardenia so much, they are magnificent. And to make this blog post worthwhile, another recommendation thanks to the great Gossmakeupartist. Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener (I use Porcelain Peach.) This works to truly lift those horrible dark circles. With this under my eyes and Wulong on my face, I look SO much better, instantly.


Let's round off with some 'lemmings'... NARS Persia (a deep orange eyeshadow- I have been loving wearing the deep pink from my Estee Lauder cyber palette, and also the possibly dupe of that, MAC's Limited Edition hot pink pigment in Brash and Bold, surprisingly wearable!) I am also excited for the MAC Strength collection, as I am trying to bodybuild - so the promotional image of Jelena Abbou is amazing to me. I guess with a gazillion collections a year, it's only a matter of time before your interests collide within MAC. I am hoping to get the bright lipsticks Party Parrot and Pink Pigeon. I have a new love for bright lips, my favourites are MAC's Candy Yum Yum (worth the hype - totally unique, bright, yet very wearable) and Moxie (a very pretty reddened pink but a lot more easily duped.) Similarly, I am hoping Maybelline's Vivid lipsticks make their way to UK soon as they look great. And, Alber Elbaz collaborating with Lancome, this cute promo video is very promising if it means fun brights:


Please share your lemmings, recommendations or makeup tragedies below...

Fashionable Beauty

The link between fashion and beauty in inextricable. Yet rarely done with as much panache as this.

This week Selfridges introduce a new collection of 32 lip colours inspired by incredible vintage Christian Dior Haute Couture gowns. Grouped into three colour families: from red to coral; pink to lilac; and beige to brown - making it easy to find your favourite. "Two different sizes of Hyaluronic sheres" promise to "plump the lips both instantly and in the long-term." Priced at £22, they are just within my threshold (any more than £20 and I'm out... but, well it is Haute Couture - I mean, Haute Couleur.)

Christian Dior Haute Couleur Voluptuous Care, definitely no.1 on my current wishlist. Check out these images! I think it represents makeup at its most perfect.