January – 2014 – Hellbent for Lipstick

Skincare

L’Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream

January 14, 2014

I was lucky enough to receive two of these 15ml sized L’Occitane Angelica Hydration Creams, one from a beauty box and the other as a freebie. Having recently finished one of these tubs, I kind of want to stand on top of the roof tops and crazily spread the word! I love discovering new moisturisers, especially ones that don’t irritate my skin, so I was over the moon when this turned out to be one of -the- best I have ever used, and no I am not exaggerating there!

I’ve enjoyed this so much, that I am savoring my second pot and will most likely splash out a little to buy a full sized pot. I used this day and night and it seemed perfect for both. I’ll also be keeping my little pots so I can decant into them for when I travel. I’ve longed for a versatile moisturiser that I can use any time of year, day and night so that when I venture out into the world of festivals and tours I only need to take one tub of cream! Well here it is ladies and gentlemen and when I next run out of moisturiser, this is where I will be heading.

For the full size 50ml version, head over to the L’Occitane UK website here and give them thirty of your shiniest coins (or £30) for beautifully radiant, hydrated and soft skin.

L’Occitane – you are full of winning!

Totally hellbent for my new found love of L’Occitane

-Pants

Make-up

Avon Shine Attract Lipstick in “Passionate Red”

January 7, 2014

I’ve been lusting after this colour for a while, like I do with all red lipsticks I eventually relented and purchased this from Avon whilst it was on special offer for just £5.00.

When swatched, it’s not quite as red as I hoped, however whilst on it’s a little brighter and something that I can easily get away with wearing during the day. The lipstick itself is surrounded by an outer gel layer which is supposed to give a satin shine without the stickiness, I have to admit I’d probably agree with this, the shine was nice and it wasn’t too sticky. Unfortunately, this gel layer does make it hard to apply well and it took some practice before I a) managed to get full coverage over my lips and b) avoided getting lipstick all over my face. That aside, full marks for packaging since that is one of the things I was drawn to most whilst lusting!

Not one of the best lipstick’s I’ve bought, but I will certainly get some use out of it and I quite like the subtlety of this shade despite it supposedly being red.

The Shine Attract Lipstick range from Avon is currently £8.50, a little overpriced if I’m being completely honest although that’s only based on my opinion of this one shade. You can check out the rest of their range here online.

Totally hellbent -unfortunately- for anything that even resembles red when it comes to lipstick.

-Pants

Make-up

the Balm Cosmetics, NUDE’tude palette

January 6, 2014

Remember my Oct/Nov Most Wanted post? Well the Christmas Fairies a.k.a my lovely partner Brains (with absolutely zero, zilch, none, nil help from Gemma *ahem*) granted my wish and deposited this into my very safe and excited hands.

I’ve wanted the balm’s “NUDE ‘tude” palette for so long that I was so excited to try this out. With 12 beautiful neutral shades, it’s a palette for all occasions, quite literally.

Top from left to right: Sassy, Stubborn, Selfish, Sophisticated, Sexy, Serious

Bottom from left to right: Snobby, Stand-Offish, Sultry, Seductive, Silly, Sleek

All the shades are so unique in colour, which is what I love the most. I have recently been using the MUA neutral palette as my primary eyeshadow but found some of the colours are a little samey. These however are absolutely perfect, my favourites are “Serious” a matte jet black colour and “Sexy” which is a matte brick red-brown which I can’t wait to try out for stage since I think it many compliment my hair beautifully.

This even comes with a hand actual eye shadow brush, rather than those silly little wands. Although I doubt I will be using the brush to apply, if ever left in a situation without any makeup brushes, I can certainly make do.

Honestly though, if you love neutrals – buy this. You can get them online from Feel Unique for £26 – and trust me when I say this is worth every single penny.

Totally hellbent for the most amazing spoils (and a thank you to Brains & Gemma)

-Pants

Hair

TRESemmé Platinum Strength 60 second treatment shot

January 6, 2014

I collect samples of all shapes and sizes and before Latest in Beauty stopped their little beauty boxes I would often order a few bits to try out. This was one of those that I picked up along with an “amie” facemask.

Normally I’m not one to stray from Aussie’s three minute miracle, but I dived straight in with this “60 second” treatment shot from TRESemmé.

According to Superdrug:

“TRESemmé Platinum Strength visibly repairs up to 2 years of damage in just 5 uses* giving you stronger, more manageable and beautifully healthy hair. The Platinum Strength’s Renewing Complex not only reinforces hair’s naturally protective layer but also helps restore your hair, protecting it against future damage.”

I only got two uses out of this tiny tube since I have so much hair so I can’t say I noticed any visible signs of repairing 2 years worth of damage to my hair, but it certainly felt beautiful and silky afterwards and it was so nice that I will probably consider picking up a few more of these little shots if I come across them on my beauty sprees. (In a few months once the Christmas Bank Crisis has been fixed.)

If you want to give these a go then for only £1.49 each you can pick them up from Superdrug.

Totally hellbent for samples galore

-Pants

Festivals, Make-up, Metal, Music, News

Welcome to January …

January 5, 2014

2014.

How did this even happen? Suddenly Christmas appeared and now we are in yet another year. So here is an obligatory summary of some of the better bits of 2013.

Last year was a pretty monumental year for both Gem and I:

Brains and I moved into our “actually proper just for the two of us” house – situated approximately 7 doors or so away from Gemma at the same time as going to Norway for the first time ever:

Dakesis made the decision to become a four piece:

We returned to the stage, and went back to enjoying our Dakesian adventures with the four of us and being as mischievous as ever:

Gem and I survived the journey to the holy Wacken lands, this time avoiding getting the car broken into, and Gem and Roode shared their first anniversary together. As well as being monumentally owned by the sun on our crossing to Europe:

I quit my job and started working with Brains at BIOSTALL, which meant I had more time to do stuff like this:

We witnessed the wedding of our two oldest joint friends Libby & Ian (not to mention I went blonde!):

We then got to spend yet another Dakesis Christmas with all of our lovely friends, fellow Dakesian’s and family which mainly resulted in this:

But most importantly, 2013 was when we finally got off our arses and launched Hellbent for Lipstick!

Our first ever post went live on 16th May 2013.

So here’s to another year of heavy metal, makeup, beauty, friends, family and being full of steel! Thank you for reading and Happy New Year :)

Totally hellbent for festivities and friends

-Pants

Make-up

Avon True Color Eyeshadow Duo in “Spacey Silver”

January 5, 2014

It’s not often I splurge on an eyeshadow duo from Avon, since I often steer towards MUA palettes or Elf but this one took my eye and I took a gamble.

Although the picture doesn’t quite do this justice, this duo is a beautiful shimmery silver and a darker grey colour.

A little underwhelmed by the silver-grey swatch on my arm, I gave it a go anyway and recently wore these two for a Dakesis gig. I was pretty surprised at how well they went on and actually are fast becoming my go to colours for stage wear. The darker colour blended beautifully and the silver added just enough sparkle without making me look like a drag queen or a “backing dancer” on stage.

Overall I’m pretty impressed with this duo and it hasn’t resigned itself to one of my many drawers of cosmetics, instead staying in reach on my dressing table!

This was a limited edition duo from Avon, but I’m sure they will bring this back sometime in the new year. You can check out the other colours from the True Colour range here at a slightly more expensive £6.00 although I think I only paid £4.00 for mine.

Totally hellbent for surprising shimmer!

-Pants

Skincare

The Body Shop Olive Shower & Moisture Cube

January 5, 2014

It’s no secret that I like The Body Shop probably more than I should and definitely to the dismay of my bank balance. Alas, before Christmas I picked up their Olive Shower & Moisture Cube having heard some good reviews from fellow “dry skin” sufferers.

For a meager £4.00 you are graced with the following:

Olive Shower Gel 60ml x 2
Mini Crinkle Lily – Green

No body butter or scrub unfortunately, but that’s Okay. Despite this being Olive, the fragrance is quite soft and pretty which was surprising as I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.

My verdict unsurprisingly is that I have now found yet another Body Shop treasure, this was brilliant on my skin and I definitely had a feeling of hydration afterwards. Once I’ve whittled down my “smellies” collection thanks to Christmas, I am going to try out the other products from this range and see how they fare, but for those of you that also suffer with dry and sensitive skin, I would highly recommend this.

If you want to try this out, I’d suggest the little cubes, as they are great for trying out new things from The Body Shop due to their size. It doesn’t break the bank at only £4.00 a pop (or cheaper if you wait until they have online sales) and you can grab them here online or in your local store.

Totally hellbent for having fully hydrated Skin … for once!

-Pants

Make-up

Avon Colourtrend Lipsticks – Purple Roses, Heartbeat Red & Shimmer.

January 4, 2014

I’ll admit to being somewhat of a snob when it comes to Avon. I’ve a whole assortment of their standard lipsticks, but till now I’ve avoided the Colortrend range. Seeing as it strikes me as a sort of “things-you-might-buy-for-a-teenager” deal with it’s cheap white packaging and colour selections I’ve just never been tempted…till now!

I bought these for one reason. They were -cheap-. I can’t resist a bargain and a £1.25 lipstick is just too good an offer to turn down.

I picked up (L-R) Shimmer, Purple Roses and Heartbeat Red not expecting much, but all three are gorgeous! Such pretty colours with a lovely shimmer for the price-point, they all went on well – even with my winter chapped lips, and had great lasting power.

It’s not all wonderful though, all three have an unpleasant synthetic scent but luckily it’s only detectable from the tube when applying and isn’t noticeable once on the lips.

Really at such a bargain price you can’t complain at all, however it’s worth bearing in mind that these are from the last collection, so they’re not available in the current brochures or from the website.

Your best bet would be to look on ebay, or to wait for a sale/clearance Avon brochure and snap a bunch of them up at a ridiculously low price!

Totally hellbent for a bargain that exceeds expectation.

– Gem

News

The “Wham Bam Jan Spending Ban”

January 4, 2014

I. Have. Enough. Make-up.

This is the mantra I will be repeating throughout the whole of this month. Same goes for nail varnish, perfume, skincare and all luxury cosmetics. No more “Oh but it’s on special offer”, no sneaky “Oooh free P&P”. Nothing.

Does that mean I will blog less with no new shinies? Not at all! In fact quite the opposite, as I plan on going through my stash of treasures to find some hidden gems! Plus the fact I was lucky enough to receive enough so many lovely things for Christmas means I have plenty to be getting on with.

If I last the whole month not only will I have saved an absolute fortune but I’ll also have the will to try out so many lovely things that have been purchased and thrown on a “I’ll review this later pile” or at the back of the “I’ll just save this for later” drawers.

So wish me luck on my bravest of quests, I promise to be honest if I fail!

Totally Hellbent for surviving the sales without a simple impulse buy so far!

– Gem

Facemask Friday

Soap and Glory No Clogs Allowed Super Self Heating Deep Pore Detox Mask

January 3, 2014

It’s been absolutely ages since I posted, but with Christmas and new years out of the way now seems the perfect time to be giving my skin some TLC and I couldn’t put on a face-mask without knocking out a #Facemaskfriday blog!

The Soap & Glory No Clogs Allowed Super Self Heating Deep Pore Detox Mask (I swear the names of products are getting longer again!) is an exfoliating, self-heating mask that doesn’t harden. You take a grape sized amount and rub it into your skin till it turns from white to blue, as it does you feel the warming effect start up and then after five minutes you’re good to take it off.

I usually prefer clay based masks as they work wonders on my oily t-zone, but this left my skin not only squeaky clean but also really soft! It came off in the shower without the need for a wash-cloth and left no residue behind at all.

The 100ml tube seems a really generous size for the price point, and even with weekly use this looks like it will last a really long time.

Definitely just what my skin needs to get through these cold winter months!

Available from Boots.com for £8.50

Totally hellbent for a clog free face!

– Gem