Beauty Blog

New bronzer alert

April 1st, 2011
TITLE : Bronzer alert
Now that bronzing season is almost upon us we at L’Onglex have been pondering which products to invest in for our Spring/Summer make-up bags.
Naturally the old reliables like Sun Shimmer and Sally Hansen Air Brush Legs are as we speak winging their way from the back of the beauty cupboard, but when it comes to bronzing on the face we thought we might try something a bit lighter this season.
Enter Soap & Glory’s Solar Powder which as you may or may not know features four different shades or bronze. The light, sandy shades are perfect for adding subtle highlighting as well as some soft, sun-kissed contours and as the main danger with bronzer always seems to be that we overdo it this one didn’t leave us looking like we had just turned up for auditions in The Only Way As Essex !
As the the mix also includes a mirror and soft bristled brush, should you find yourself feeling a bit pasty on the hop this is perfect for topping up. Conclusion …. didn’t cake, didn’t make us look like an Umpa-Lumpa and didn’t leave smears on the collar of L’Onglex’s new white work blouse…. can we ask for any more than that ?

soap_and_glory-1

Now that bronzing season is almost upon us we at L’Onglex have been pondering which products to invest in for our Spring/Summer make-up bags.

Naturally the old reliables like Sun Shimmer and Sally Hansen Air Brush Legs are as we speak winging their way from the back of the beauty cupboard, but when it comes to bronzing on the face we thought we might try something a bit lighter this season.

Enter Soap & Glory’s Solar Powder which as you may or may not know features four different shades or bronze. The light, sandy shades are perfect for adding subtle highlighting as well as some soft, sun-kissed contours and as the main danger with bronzer always seems to be that we overdo it this one didn’t leave us looking like we had just turned up for auditions in The Only Way As Essex !

As the mix also includes a mirror and soft bristled brush, should you find yourself feeling a bit pasty on the hop this is perfect for topping up. Conclusion …. didn’t cake, didn’t make us look like an Umpa-Lumpa and didn’t leave smears on the collar of L’Onglex’s new white work blouse…. can we ask for any more than that ?

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Posted in Beauty heroes, Beauty reviews, Blushers and bronzing, Budget beauty buys, L'Onglex loves |

Things we loved this week: Quick drying polish by NYC

March 23rd, 2011
While polishing our pinkies is undoubtedly our favorite part of our beauty routine, we can’t help but wonder just how much of our lives have been wasted away watching polish dry.  Base coat, couple of coats of polish and a topcoat and it’s easy to see how the hours add up.
We’ve tried everything over the years from using a hair dryer to try and speed things up to dunking our pinkies in ice cold water between coats and although each may have shaved a couple of minutes of our routine there was never any life changing benefit…..until Sally hanson quick dry launched! This stuff has become our HG top coat simply because as soon as all three coats are on, this stuff seals the deal and you don’t need to hang around too long.
But you do still need to wait around between coats which is why we did a double take as well as a hop, skip and a jump when we test drove the new NYC Quick dry polishes. Promising to go from wet to dry in less then sixty seconds , this was just the polish news we’ve been waiting for.
Pictured is the rather pretty purple MoMA shade and we’ve been impressed how our nails have gone from 0 to Girly in less than 40 seconds. The fact that the brush comes with control-flow also quickened proceedings a little and ensured L’Onglex’s fingers were pretty much polish free – this we like !!

nyc

While polishing our pinkies is undoubtedly our favorite part of our beauty routine, we can’t help but wonder just how much of our lives have been wasted away watching polish dry.  Base coat, couple of coats of polish and a topcoat and it’s easy to see how the hours add up.

We’ve tried everything over the years from using a hair dryer to try and speed things up to dunking our pinkies in ice cold water between coats and although each may have shaved a couple of minutes of our routine there was never any life changing benefit…..until Sally hanson quick dry launched! This stuff has become our HG top coat simply because as soon as all three coats are on, this stuff seals the deal and you don’t need to hang around too long.

Picture 2But you do still need to wait around between coats which is why we did a double take as well as a hop, skip and a jump when we test drove the new NYC Quick dry polishes. Promising to go from wet to dry in less then sixty seconds , this was just the polish news we’ve been waiting for.

Pictured is the rather pretty purple MoMA shade and we’ve been impressed how our nails have gone from 0 to Girly in less than 40 seconds. The fact that the brush comes with control-flow also quickened proceedings a little and ensured L’Onglex’s fingers were pretty much polish free – this we like !!

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Posted in Beauty reviews, Budget beauty buys, Manicures, NYC, Nail polish, Nail swatches |

Review: Liquid liner by Catrice

March 18th, 2011
Regular readers will know that we at L’Onglex has a bit of an obsession with the kitten flick. If we’re not spending hours watching the latest beauty tutorial by some or other guru extolling the benefits of liquid eyeliner you’ll find us in the mirror perfecting our technique.
We’ve tried everything from clever liner pens to the old school pots and brushes but never have we come across a budget liquid liner that has impressed us quite as much as the latest one from Bargain beauty brand Catrice. Hot off the shelves Catrice’s gel liner is priced at the rather purse friendly €4.49 and we think that’s a bargain.
Having spotted it during a recent dash round Pennys we figured it might be worth a punt and considering it looked like a dead ringer for Bobbi Brown’s Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner ( our current fave ) we thought we’d try it and we went disappointed!
Super pigmented and easy to apply, the budget kitten flick hole in our life has now been filled with one deft sweep of inky liner across L’Onglex’s lids! On the small matter of wearability the colour does fade down slightly during the day but other than that it didn’t budge or smudge – result !

catrice_liquid_liner

Regular readers will know that we at L’Onglex have a bit of an obsession with the kitten flick. If we’re not spending hours watching the latest beauty tutorial by some or other guru extolling the benefits of liquid eyeliner you’ll find us in the mirror perfecting our technique.

We’ve tried everything from clever liner pens to the old school pots and brushes but never have we come across a budget liquid liner that has impressed us quite as much as the latest one from bargain beauty brand Catrice. Hot off the shelves Catrice’s gel liner is priced at the rather purse friendly €4.49 and we think that’s a bargain.

Having spotted it during a recent dash round Pennys we figured it might be worth a punt and considering it looked like a dead ringer for Bobbi Brown’s Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner ( our current fave ) we thought we’d try it and we weren’t disappointed!

Super pigmented and easy to apply, the budget kitten flick hole in our life has now been filled with one deft sweep of inky liner across L’Onglex’s lids! On the small matter of wearability the colour does fade down slightly during the day but other than that it didn’t budge or smudge – result !

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Posted in Beauty reviews, Bobbi Brown, Brow pencils and liners, Budget beauty buys, L'Onglex loves |

Is your face worth €155,000 !

February 25th, 2011
How your face is worth  whopping €155,000 !
Hair, body, make-up …. it all adds up as you probably know, but when we came across a recent survey commissioned by QVC in the UK we nearly fell over.
Seems that by the time we add up the trips to the salon, the treats at the beauty counter and the odd spa visit the bill we’re presented with over the course of our lifetime is a staggering €155,000.
Although we did dismiss the figure out of hand, with the use of some old credit card statements and an abacus L’Onglex can safely say that in our case the figure might not be too wide of the mark.
Now that we’ve accepted the fact that what we spend on cosmetics could by us a house, a Bentley convertible or a rather large wardrobe full of Louboutin’s we are seriously looking at ways to cut down …. but how. I mean it’s all very well being frugal but where exactly would we cut our budget.
Having emptied our beauty bags and sought to cut down several times we’re just going to have to accept that looking our best is an investment in itself ….. I wonder if it would be possible to get a mortgage on our looks …. probably not !

lifetime_cost_of_cosmetics

Hair, body, make-up …. it all adds up as you probably know, but when we came across a recent survey commissioned by QVC in the UK we nearly fell over.

Seems that by the time we add up the trips to the salon, the treats at the beauty counter and the odd spa visit the bill we’re presented with over the course of our lifetime is a staggering €155,000.

Although we did dismiss the figure out of hand, with the use of some old credit card statements and an abacus L’Onglex can safely say that in our case the figure might not be too wide of the mark.

Now that we’ve accepted the fact that what we spend on cosmetics could by us a house, a Bentley convertible or a rather large wardrobe full of Louboutin’s we are seriously looking at ways to cut down …. but how. I mean it’s all very well being frugal but where exactly would we cut our budget ?

Having emptied our beauty bags and sought to cut down several times we’re just going to have to accept that looking our best is an investment in itself ….. I wonder if it would be possible to get a 2nd mortgage on our face  …. probably not !

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Posted in Anti ageing, Beauty news, Budget beauty buys, L'Onglex loves |

Mary Make and Do: The 2 Egg Hair Rinse Recipe

January 17th, 2011
Mary Make and Do: The 2 Egg Hair Rinse Recipe
Although we at L’Onglex HQ have cut down on the amount of hair styling of late it did manage to occur to us that for the most part our wholly unmanageable main may be suffering from something of a festive hangover. But with all the curling one minute and straightening the next ( not too mention the spray and spritz ) we now find our limp locks in sorely in need of some serious lift – which is where this weeks Mary Make and Do comes in !
Yup, after hours spent searching online looking at the weird and wonderful concoctions available, we finally came across a protein rich hair mask that is guaranteed to put the bounce back into your bonce whilst at the same time leaving hair silky smooth and well protected. Why exactly we finally decided to use this treatment is that it was the easiest method we could find and, more importantly,  all it was going to cost us was 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of water and dash or two of olive oil !
So …..
Step 1 – Beat the eggs and water in a small bowl and apply to clean, damp hair, making sure to massage the mix into the scalp and roots.
Step 2 – Put your feet up for 15 minutes and leave the protein in the eggs to get to work restoring your tired tresses.
Step 3 – Once your 15 minutes is up, use a mild shampoo to rinse the egg mix out
Step 4 – To finish ( and while hair is still damp ), work the Olive Oil through hair from the tips to the crown
Finally, we would like to mention that despite the simplicity of this recipe we somehow managed to get it wrong at the first time of asking. Basically, despite having egg in our hair it did not occur to us that if the water we rinsed with was too hot the egg would start to thicken and cook and we would be left with the rather unpleasant task of having to untangle bits of omelette from the ends of our hair. If you are going to try this we would suggest using warm water as opposed to hot when it’s time to rinse out the mix !

egg_hair_treatment

Although we at L’Onglex HQ have cut down the hair styling it did occur to us that our wholly unmanageable main may be suffering from something of a festive hangover. With all the curling one minute and straightening the next ( not too mention the spray and spritz ) we now find our limp locks sorely in need of some serious lift, and that’s where this weeks Mary Make and Do comes in !

Yup, after hours spent searching online looking at the weird and wonderful concoctions available, we finally came across a protein rich homemade hair mask recipe that is guaranteed to put the bounce back into your bonce whilst at the same time leaving hair silky smooth and well protected. In truth we decided to use this treatment as it was the easiest we could find and, more importantly, all it was only going to cost us was 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of water, and dash or two of olive oil !

So …..

Step 1 - Beat the eggs and water in a small bowl and apply to clean, damp hair, making sure to massage the mix into the scalp and roots.

Step 2 – Put your feet up for 15 minutes and leave the protein in the eggs to get to work restoring your tired tresses.

Step 3 - Once your 15 minutes is up, use a mild shampoo to rinse the egg mix out

Step 4 - To finish ( and while hair is still damp ), work the Olive Oil through hair from the tips to the crown

Finally, we would like to mention that despite the simplicity of this recipe we somehow managed to get it wrong at the first time of asking.

Basically, despite having egg in our hair it did not occur to us that if the water we rinsed with was too hot, the egg would start to thicken and cook whilst in our hair and we would be left with the rather unpleasant task of having to untangle bits of omelette from our scalp.

So, if you are going to try this ( and it is good ! ) might we suggest using warm water as opposed to hot when it’s time to rinse out the mix !

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Posted in Beauty treatments, Budget beauty buys, DIY beauty, Hair treatments, Mary make and do |

Essence budget beauty buys bid to beat the January blues !

January 12th, 2011
Essence budget beauty buys bid to beat the January blues !
With the New Year now in full swing L’Onglex is doing our level best to rein in our spending. Even though we re-gifted everything we possibly could the run up to Christmas still saw us leaking euros like buggery on a raft of sparkly seasonal supplements.
Short of going into Boots with an abacus, being arrested for shoplifting or entering beauty rehab we are going to have to look at ways to curb our spending over the next couple of months. But this is so much easier said than done. With the new season s collections now upon us, our New Year resolution to spend less on beauty is proving to be a very hard ask.
Only two weeks into January we were already feeling the withdrawal symptoms when we noticed the rather on-trend monochrome collection pictured above. Thinking we couldn’t do it because we’d promised ourselves we wouldn’t and then giving in to our cravings almost immediately, we were just about to reach for the credit card when we noticed it was from Essence.
Having seriously wowed us last year they’ve managed to go and do it again with the new Black and White collection. Whilst this may be shorn of expensive packaging and luxurious glossy adverts it does fit the bill in that it’s just so perfectly on-trend and seriously cost effective. With shadows coming in at €1.99, the Duo Eye Pencil at  €2.49 and the polish at a measly €—— we’ve worked out that individually they cost less than a bag of chips … which leads us quite nicely onto another resolution we’ve already broken !

essence_spring_2011

With the New Year now in full swing L’Onglex is doing our level best to rein in our spending. Even though we re-gifted everything we possibly could the run up to Christmas still saw us leaking euros like buggery on a raft of sparkly seasonal supplements.

Short of going into Boots with an abacus, being arrested for shoplifting or entering beauty rehab we are going to have to look at ways to curb our spending over the next couple of months. But this is so much easier said than done. With the Spring collections now upon us, our New Years resolution to spend less on beauty is proving to be a very hard ask.

Only two weeks into January we were already feeling the withdrawal symptoms when we noticed the rather on-trend monochrome collection pictured above. Thinking we couldn’t do it because we’d promised ourselves we wouldn’t and then giving in to our cravings almost immediately, we were just about to reach for the credit card when we noticed it was from Essence.

Having seriously wowed us last year they’ve managed to go and do it again with the new Black and White collection. Whilst this may be shorn of expensive packaging and luxurious glossy adverts it does fit the bill in that it’s just so perfectly on-trend and seriously cost effective. With shadows coming in at €1.99, the Duo Eye Pencil at  €2.49 and the polish at a measly €1.99we’re justifying the expenditure because individually these cost less than a bag of chips …. whilst we’re on the subject, that’s another resolution we are really struggling with !

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Posted in Beauty news, Budget beauty buys, Eyeshadow and mascaras, Nail polish |

Things we loved this week: Hocus Focus Illuminator

December 23rd, 2010
Things we loved this week: Hocus Pocus Illuminator
As L’Onglex is getting all Christmasy at the moment there are probably a hundred things that we are currently going gaga for. Whilst the glittery stuff usually manages to grab all the headlines at this time of year it would have been easy to do something with a bit of sparkle, wish you all a merry Christmas and cheerfully take our leave.
That was until we started looking for something to add to the routine that would give our complexion a bit of a lift without the need for bronze or glitter and do you think we could find anything ? No.
Having trawled and trawled and searched and searched we were getting quite hot under the collar until someone in these parts suggested an illuminator. In fact, the suggestion was Hocus Pocus by Soap and Glory.
So, if you haven’t come across this we think you might want to. As you can wear it under foundation for a base or over your foundation to work as a highlighter it’s a pretty good addition to the winter routine and although there are pearls in the mixture it does diffuse the light so that the highlighting seems quite natural with lighter skin tones – result !

hocus_focus_soap_and_glory

As L’Onglex is getting all Christmasy at the moment there are probably a hundred things that we are currently going gaga for.

Whilst the glittery stuff usually manages to grab all the headlines at this time of year it would have been easy to do something with a bit of sparkle, wish you all a merry Christmas and cheerfully take our leave.

That  was what we were going to do until early this week we started looking for something to add to the routine that would give our complexion a bit of a lift without the need for bronze or glitter. Do you think we could find anything ? No.

Having trawled and trawled and searched and searched we were all getting quite hot under the collar until someone in these parts suggested using an illuminator. Quite why we didn’t think of this ourselves is a moot point and in actual fact the suggestion was quite specific – Hocus Focus by Soap and Glory.

So, if you haven’t come across this we think you might want to. As you can wear it under foundation for a base or over your foundation to work as a highlighter it’s a pretty good addition to the winter routine and although there are pearls in the mixture it does diffuse the light so that the end result seems quite natural, especially if you’ve got a lighter skin tone – all we have do to now is ask Santa if it’s not too late to get a bottle thrown into our Christmas stocking !

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Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Blushers and bronzing, Budget beauty buys, Foundations and concealers, L'Onglex loves |

Blog of the week: Mwah.ie

November 29th, 2010

mwah_irish_blog
When not busy updating our very own L’Onglex Blog with a raft of make-up goodies we like nothing more than to drool over over someone else’s.

Thinking that it might be high time for us to share our favourites this week we caught up with Lee Kutner, the writer and make-up muse behind the ever fabulous MWAH.ie, to see what’s in her beauty bag, on her make-up hit list and exactly why it is that blue shadow looks so awful on her …
What’s in your make-up bag?
All my current can’t live with outs:
MAC Her Blooming Cheek Blush – I am all about the cheeks at the moment
The Body Shop – Baked to Last Bronzer
Mac Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in Defiantly Feline
Concealer – Barbara Daly for Tesco in medium
Mac Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick & gloss (I had to get both, love the coral colour & it goes with my colouring!)
Chanel Paradoxal
Who’s your make-up muse?
I have to say Cheryl Cole and Kim Kardashian, I think they while they are both natural beautiful they use make up to accentuate what they have and they don’t look absolutely caked in makeup.

Do you have a favorite beauty trend this season?
For Christmas it’s all about glitter & sparkle.  I do love a smokie eye with greys, navys & browns.

Where’s your favorite place to shop for a beauty fix?
If money is no object Brown Thomas, it has the top brands under one roof but I also love a good look in Boots or Superdrug because the chemist brands are really great too.

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

I’m a bit middle of the road. I am an eye shadow snob, I won’t use anything other than Mac or Urban Decay but as you can see I get my concealer in Tesco! I love brands like L’Oreal or Max Factor for mascara and I also find The Body Shop makeup range very good value for money.
mwah_blog What’s your all time must have beauty buy?
Liquid eyeliner… Never leave your house without it. I tend to try different ones, next in my drawer is The Body Shop liquid liner & I will definitely repurchase Mac Superslick. I have also repurchased Bourjois Liner Feutre quite a lot.

What’s on your beauty wish list?

Still searching for a perfect foundation… This is something I always struggle with. Mac eye shadows: Sketch, Antiqued, Woodwink, Parfait Amour (repurchase) Essie Nail Polish: Angora Cardi & OPI Bring On The Bling.

What’s been your biggest beauty disaster to date?
Hmmm, I’d like to pretend there haven’t been any but I think doing my brown eyes up in an awful blue eye shadow and candy pink lipstick. It did nothing for my olive complexion.

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Posted in Budget beauty buys, L'Onglex loves, Plucking and preening, Skincare |

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 ?

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Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Budget beauty buys, Eyeshadow and mascaras, L'Onglex loves, Uncategorized |

Things we loved this week – LUSH lip balms

November 13th, 2010
We at L’Onglex have been suffering of late…. if we haven’t managed to find ourselves caught up in torrential downpours we’ve been shivering in the bitter cold and those extremities of ours we can still actually feel have been telling us we need to do something about the pinch.
Having bemoaned the state of our lips for the best part of two weeks we finally took our by now very numb bums over to LUSH, jumped on the Christmas shopping bandwagon and picked up three pots of lip balm. The logic behind buying everything in the store went something like “I know we don’t need three but since they’re so yummy anything we don’t use can be given away as stocking fillers to those we love.” All was well….. or so we thought.
Being now the proud owner of Egg Snog ( natural cocoa, shea and murumuru butters ), Snow Fairy ( Coconut Oil, She Butter and Japan Wax ) and Maple Taffy ( Maple Syrup, Illipe Butter and Coconut Oil ) our dilemma is that we now find ourselves not really wanting to give any of them away to anyone, because they are ours and nobody deserves them as much as we do.
At a massive push we’d might just consider giving the Maple Taffy and the Snow Fairy away but the Egg Snog stays. What this lack of generosity says about L’Onglex I cannot really say but as our lips are now super moist and we have slowly become addicted to the moisture retaining lemony goodness we have the strange feeling that our friend count is about to fall come January.

best_winter_lip_balms

We at L’Onglex have been suffering of late…. if we haven’t managed to find ourselves caught up in torrential downpours we’ve been shivering in the bitter cold and those extremities of ours we can still actually feel have been telling us we need to do something about the pinch.

Having bemoaned the state of our lips for the best part of two weeks we finally took our by now very numb bums over to LUSH, jumped on the Christmas shopping bandwagon and picked up three pots of lip balm. The logic behind buying everything in the store went something like “I know we don’t need three but since they’re so yummy anything we don’t use can be given away as stocking fillers to those we love.” All was well….. or so we thought.

Being now the proud owner of Egg Snog ( natural cocoa, shea and murumuru butters ), Snow Fairy ( Coconut Oil, She Butter and Japan Wax ) and Maple Taffy ( Maple Syrup, Illipe Butter and Coconut Oil ) our dilemma is that we now find ourselves not wanting to give any of them away to anyone because they are ours and we are special and nobody deserves them as much as we do.

At a massive push we might just consider giving away the Maple Taffy and the Snow Fairy but the Egg Snog is definitely a keeper amongst keepers. What this absolute lack of generosity says about L’Onglex I cannot really say but as our lips are now super smooth and we have slowly become addicted to the moisture retaining lemony goodness we have the strange feeling that our friend count is about to fall come January.

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Posted in Beauty reviews, Budget beauty buys, L'Onglex loves, Skincare |


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