TRIED AND TESTED | Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick

What > Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick from luxe LA mineral brand Hourglass in Nocturnal

True color > Lighter (in weight) than rendered online. A medium-deep berry mauve. Cool undertones. Gorgeous. Works day and night.

Texture > Super creamy with good pigment and just a hint of sheen on the finish.

Staying power > Last through an entire cup of coffee. Would need re-application during the day (although not at the frequency of a gloss or less-pigmented lipstick) because of the creamy texture.

Application technique > Apply once, blot well, and apply second coat by dabbing it on, fixing any errors or smudging out a bit with finger. No liner.

Wear > Super smooth. Lips feel moisturized, plumps. No dryness or caking, no tugging on the lip when applied.

**********

Plus > Texture, staying power for a cream lipstick, great pigment, luxuriously heavy metal case, they're refillable, perfume free.

Minus > Can't find full ingredient list online. Wouldn't call it 'light as air' as suggested on their site, but certainly not heavy, nor waxy.

Conclusion > A gorgeous cream lippie in brilliantly pigmented shades that feels more like Nuxe Reve de Miel than a lipstick.

Other reviews:

• Modesty Brown
• Hello Beauty
• Makeup and Beauty Blog (with pictures of Nocturnal)

Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick (£22/$30), available on Zuneta in the UK and Hourglass Online in the US.

Like sands through the Hourglass

so are the days of our lives, during which I like to play with makeup. No, seriously. It's not a bad gig. If you can't tell from the lead in, this bit is about, no, not soap operas... Hourglass, the very lovely, very stylish and very effective range of mineral makeup that I've been working my way through the last month.

It's recently made an appearance in the UK on zuneta.com, but has been at Sephora in the States for some time (I'd venture to say at least a year). Fittingly, their LA HQ contacted me with some goodies to use in almost perfect sync with the UK launch and after consistent use, I have only glowing reviews to report back on what I've seen. 

Click to read more ...

Bare Escentuals opening London boutique

American mineral makeup brand Bare Escentuals is opening its first stand-alone UK boutique in London's Covent Garden, one of my favourite beauty destinations. They're already in Holland, Demark, Turkey and Scandinavia... Guest columnist Nadine Haobsh is a spokesperson for the brand in the US and raves about the stuff. All of my sisters and mother have a stash of it at home and I'm probably one of few beauty editors to never have bought or regularly used the stuff (I'm not a fan of powdered makeup). BUT, if sales are any indicator, the stuff is good. And if you can sleep in it, well, all the better after a boozy night on the tiles.

Bare Escentuals, 40 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London WC2 (020 78367424)

Press enquries contact  Natalie Axten (naxten@bareescentuals.co.uk, 020 3059 1709, 0787 254 1956). Bare Escentuals sees 70 door launches across the UK by end of 2009.