Beauty Blog

Now hands that do dishes really can be soft as soft as your face

March 4th, 2011
Now hands that do dishes really can be soft as soft as your face!
If you’ve ever had the sinking feeling that doing the washing up is something of a drag for your hands news reaches the L’Onglex beauty desk that the folks at Fairy have had something of a Eureka moment.
Yup, after years of telling us that our hands can be as soft as our face they’ve had something of a Eureka moment and henceforth will be producing a version with the skin softening benefits of Olay.
Having surveyed the kitchen sink habits of no less than 3000 of us they discovered that a dish or two here or there can age our hands by as much as 7 whole years and in a response to questioning 51% of those surveyed expressed the opinion that they were conscious of the appearance of our hands.
In the age of equality we’re not sure whether any men took part in the survey ( we are sure they did !! ) but if the figures are true then we predict the new formulas of Aloe & Cucumber, Silk & Orchid, Almond and Peach & Mandarin will be a raging success. Erin O’Connor to be the face of a 50’s themed campaign.
Although washing the dishes doesn’t quite sit well with our absolute devotion to not chipping our nails we do at least like the idea of teaming beauty and household chores. Should the concept prove to be a success we eagerly await the invention of an oven cleaner that doubles as an exfoliator and the Hoover that blow dries our hair !

olay_fairy

If you’ve ever had the sinking feeling that doing the washing up is something of a drag for your hands news reaches the L’Onglex beauty desk that the folks at Fairy have had something of a Eureka moment.

Yup, after years of telling us that our hands can be as soft as our face they’ve had something of a Eureka moment and henceforth will be producing a version with the skin softening benefits of Olay.

Having surveyed the kitchen sink habits of no less than 3000 of us they discovered that a dish or two here or there can age our hands by as much as 7 whole years and in a response to questioning 51% of those surveyed expressed the opinion that they were conscious of the appearance of our hands.

In the age of equality we’re not sure whether any men took part in the survey ( we are sure they did !! ) but if the figures are true then we predict the new formulas of Aloe & Cucumber, Silk & Orchid, Almond and Peach & Mandarin will be a raging success especially since Erin O’Connor has been picked to be the face of a 50’s themed campaign.

Although washing the dishes doesn’t quite sit well with our absolute devotion to not chipping our nails at all costs we do at least like the idea of teaming beauty products with household chores. Should the concept prove to be a success we eagerly await the invention of an oven cleaner that doubles as an exfoliator and the Hoover that will blow-dry hair !

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Posted in Anti ageing, Beauty gadgets, Beauty news |

What would Mrs Doyle make of this ?

March 3rd, 2011
If there is one thing we are guilty of at L’Onglex it’s taking a little too long over our tea breaks ….. what with all the different tea options to choose from ( green, ginger or just good old Barrys ) combined with our fondness for chocolate biscuits it’s become something of a daily ritual. Not being the sort to be content with having something and just enjoying it you can imagine our delight at the discovery of the latest Jo Malone fragrance which celebrates all things tea !
The collection features five miniature fragrances all designed around the ritual of tea making. Assam and Grapefruit, Earl Grey and Cucumber and Fresh Mint Leaf are the three main fragrances but there are also accent scents of Sweet Milk and Sweet Lemon that can be added depending to your particular tea tastes.
Our current favorite combination is Assam & Grapefruit with Sweet Milk but we’re the fickle sort so we’ll probably keep chopping and changing for a little while yet. Our only gripe with the collection is that at €42 for 30ml the price tag could well turn our weakness for all things Malone into quite an expensive cuppa !
In other news Jo herself is launching her own line of perfumes that will be separate from the Jo Malone brand that she sold to Estee Lauder in 1999. We haven’t tried any yet but if your a bit of an addict you can get a sneak peek on the link below ….
http://www.joloves.com/#

jo_malone_tea_fragrance

If there is one thing we are guilty of at L’Onglex it’s taking a little too long over our tea breaks ….. what with all the different tea options to choose from ( green, ginger or just good old Barrys ) combined with our fondness for chocolate biscuits it’s become something of a daily ritual. Not being the sort to be content with having something and just enjoying it you can imagine our delight at the discovery of the latest Jo Malone fragrance which celebrates all things tea !

The collection features five miniature fragrances all designed around the ritual of tea making. Assam and Grapefruit, Earl Grey and Cucumber and Fresh Mint Leaf are the three main fragrances but there are also accent scents of Sweet Milk and Sweet Lemon that can be added depending to your particular tea tastes.

Our current favorite combination is Assam & Grapefruit with Sweet Milk but we’re the fickle sort so we’ll probably keep chopping and changing for a little while yet. Our only gripe with the collection is that at €42 for 30ml the price tag could well turn our weakness for all things Malone into quite an expensive cuppa !

In other news Jo herself is launching her own line of perfumes that will be separate from the Jo Malone brand that she sold to Estee Lauder in 1999. We haven’t tried any yet but if you’re a bit of an addict you can get a sneak peek on the link below ….

http://www.joloves.com/#

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Posted in Beauty news, Perfume |

Things we loved last week: Chanel Black Pearl

March 1st, 2011
Its not often that we get to fawn over designer nail polish here at L’Onglex HQ but when an opportunity arises you can be sure that we’ll milk it!
Enter the latest must have from colour from Chanel and how we managed to beg, borrow and steal ourselves this rather coveted spring colour is anyones guess. What’s probably more surprising is that we’ve had it for two weeks and not shouted about it to anyone who would listen.
Not sure if the rather hurried pictures and our rather hurried application do the shade the justice we think it deserves. The shimmery blue and grey undertones make the polish look different shades of grey depending on the light. If you’re polish obsessed like we are the end result is that you’ll spend ages staring at your nails to see exactly which delectable shade of grey / green they happen to be in any given light ….. which makes us look a bit like barbie …. but who cares ?
A wallet wincing €21 is the damage if you can beg, borrow and steal ( which is how we got ours ) to get some. Take solace in the fact that it works out at only 10c per coat !

chanel-2

Its not often that we get to fawn over designer nail polish here at L’Onglex HQ but when an opportunity arises you can be sure that we’ll milk it!

Enter the latest must have colour from the folks at Chanel and how we managed to beg, borrow and steal ourselves this rather coveted spring colour is anyones guess. What’s probably more surprising is that we’ve had it for two weeks and not shouted about it to anyone which for us is most unusual.

Not sure if the rather hurried pictures and our rather hurried application do the shade the justice we think it so richly deserves but the shimmery blue and grey colours make this polish look completely different depending on the light.

If, like ourselves, you happen to be polish obsessed the end result of the colour differential is that you’ll spend ages staring at your nails to see exactly which delectable shade of grey / green they happen to be at any given time which has the rather nasty side effect of making you look a bit too into yerself !

A wallet wincing €21 is the damage if you can beg, borrow or steal some and if this sounds a bit costly take solace in the fact that it’s …..

i)  If you apply it as much as us it works out at 10c per coat … and …

ii) … gorgeously Chanel !

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Posted in Beauty news, Beauty reviews, Chanel, Manicures, Nail polish, Nail swatches |

Mary make and do: Lavender body wrap

February 28th, 2011
Having watched the oscars ceremony last night L’Onglex is currently feeling more than a little bleary eyed and more than a little green with envy. Pick of the bunch for us has to be Anne Hathaway who looked stunning in that red gown and lipstick combo and having missed our Z’s and woken bleary eyed after a few hours sleep our dreams of radiant Hollywood skin have turned to dust and what we are left with is a decidedly turgid constitution !
As we won’t be making our own acceptance speech in the near future this doesn’t matter too much but we are at the very least a little concerned about getting in shape for spring. In preference to a salon splurge we’ve been casting around for a Monday Mary Make and Do recipe that might help pick us up and not scare passing motorists when we do at last ‘dare to bare’. For our Hollywood style herbal body wrap you will need the following  …
A hot room !
A plastic sheet
3 old but very soft bath towels
1 large basin
1 cup of dried lavender
1 garden recliner ( plastic )
Here’s how it’s done ….
Lay the plastic sheet down on the floor and place the recliner over the sheet. Next, take 2 towels and place them in basin of hot water and add the dried lavender to the mix and allow this to soak for ten minutes. While the lavender is soaking, take a hot shower which will soften up your skin and allow the pores to open for the wrap. Once the towels have soaked wring the excess water from the towels and wrap one towel on your top half and the other on your bottom half. Recline for fifteen minutes and allow the mixture to seep into your skin. Once the time is up pat dry with a clean dry towel and moisturise all over.
So far so good. Yes, this does smell a bit ‘lavendery’ but the results are staggering ! More Mary Make and Do’s coming soon.

1659051

Having watched the oscars ceremony last night L’Onglex is currently feeling more than a little bleary eyed and more than a little green with envy.

Pick of the bunch for us has to be Anne Hathaway who looked stunning in that red gown and lipstick combo and having missed our Z’s and woken bleary eyed after a few hours sleep our dreams of radiant Hollywood skin have turned to dust and what we are left with is a decidedly turgid constitution !

As we won’t be making our own acceptance speech in the near future the state of our skin doesn’t matter too much but we are at the very least a little concerned about getting in shape for spring.

In preference to a salon splurge we’ve been casting around for a Monday Mary Make and Do recipe that might help pick us up and not scare passing motorists when we do at last ‘dare to bare’.

So … for our Hollywood style herbal body wrap you will need the following  …

A hot room !

A plastic sheet

3 old but very soft bath towels

1 large basin

1 cup of dried lavender

1 garden recliner ( plastic )

Here’s how it’s done ….

Lay the plastic sheet down on the floor and place the recliner over the sheet.

Next, take 2 towels and place them in basin of hot water and add the dried lavender to the mix and allow this to soak for ten minutes.

While the lavender is soaking, take a hot shower which will soften up your skin and allow the pores to open for the wrap. Once the towels have soaked wring the excess water from the towels and wrap one towel on your top half and the other on your bottom half.

Recline for fifteen minutes and allow the mixture to seep into your skin. Once the time is up pat dry with a clean dry towel and moisturise skin all over.

The results …

So far so good. OK, it does leave skin smelling quite ‘lavendery’ but the results are staggering ! More Mary Make and Do’s coming soon.

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Posted in Anti ageing, Beauty treatments, DIY beauty, Mary make and do, Natural Beauty |

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 |

Its nearly Oscars time …

February 24th, 2011
With the Oscars very nearly upon us L’Onglex has inevitably been gripped by who might win, what they might win it for and whether in fact they actually deserve it ….
Being the film nerds we are we always seem to end up feeling a bit let down once all the statues have been dished out and although we are currently rooting for Black Swan for best costume we have a sneaking suspicion it wont actually win.
Having had a raging case of TuTu envy ever since we saw Natalie Portman leap across our screens we’ve been looking to add a bit of ballerina chic to our beauty bags for what feels like an age and when the latest offerings from Bourjois just so happened to pirouette across the L’Onglex beauty desk we figured we might finally have found our dancing partner.
Conveniently titled Ballerina the palette is perfectly judged between pinks and greys and although it ranks about 34 out of 10 on the girly fluffy scale we have to say we don’t care and we love it anyway.
Featuring some smudgeworthy smokey pencils, some delightfully pink polish and a mascara that actually promises to do twirls ( it rotates ) we plan to unleash our inner ballerina’s on the hour every hour between now and next Monday morning !

black_swan_make_up_style

With the Oscars very nearly upon us L’Onglex has inevitably been gripped by who might win, what they might win it for and whether in fact they actually deserve it ….

Being the film nerds we are we always seem to end up feeling a bit let down once all the statues have been dished out and although we are currently rooting for Black Swan for best costume we have a sneaking suspicion it wont actually win.

Having had a raging case of TuTu envy ever since we saw Natalie Portman leap across our screens we’ve been looking to add a bit of ballerina chic to our beauty bags for what feels like an age and when the latest offerings from Bourjois just so happened to pirouette across the L’Onglex beauty desk we figured we might finally have found our dancing partner.

Conveniently titled Ballerina the palette is perfectly judged between pinks and greys and although it ranks about 34 out of 10 on the girly fluffy scale we have to say we don’t care and we love it anyway.

Featuring some smudgeworthy smokey pencils, some delightfully pink polish and a mascara that actually promises to do twirls ( it rotates ) we plan to unleash our inner ballerina’s on the hour every hour between now and next Monday morning !

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Posted in Beauty news, Beauty trends, L'Onglex loves |

Who loves Adele ?

February 23rd, 2011
ho loves fish face ?
Now that we’re officially over the hump we’ve been looking for a little Saturday night make-up inspiration and after figuring we rather liked the look of Adele at the Brit awards a little hunting online for her look led us to Lauren Luke’s latest celebrity ‘how to’
Thinking will be just perfect for our weekend out Lauren demonstrates how to nail that perfectly smokey bronzed look by some simple blending techniques for the eyes and a highlighting technique which the geordie princess of powder calls ‘fish face’. On reflection this might not sound too pretty, but the end result is nicely contoured cheeks.
Rimmel, Benefit and MAC are all in the mix and as with all things Lauren Luke ( http://www.bylaurenluke.com/default.aspx ), the video is just so easy to follow – we love this look !
<strong><a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/fifty_eight.html’)”><span style=”color: #654f72;”>Click here to watch the video</span></a></strong>
<a href=”javascript:popUp(’http://vkm2.com/vid_master/fifty_eight.html’)”>
http://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/adele-21.jpg

Now that we’re officially over the hump we’ve been looking for a little Saturday night make-up inspiration and after figuring we rather liked the look of Adele at the Brit awards a little hunting online for her look led us to Lauren Luke’s latest celebrity ‘how to’

Thinking will be just perfect for our weekend out Lauren demonstrates how to nail that perfectly smokey bronzed look by some simple blending techniques for the eyes and a highlighting technique which the geordie princess of powder calls ‘fish face’. On reflection this might not sound too pretty, but the end result is nicely contoured cheeks.

Rimmel, Benefit and MAC are all in the mix and as with all things Lauren Luke, the video is just so easy to follow – we love this look !

Click here to watch the video

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Posted in Celebrity beauty, DIY beauty, L'Onglex loves, MAC, Make up tips/how to, Rimmel, Videos |

Hair tips from the farmyard ….

February 22nd, 2011
Hair tips from the farmyard ….
Although we at L’Onglex like hearing of the strange and unusual when it comes to tips and treatments the latest ‘cult-product’ supposedly doing the rounds has left us feeling a little out of sorts.
I mean, we love to experiment and all that but news that the blogosphere is buzzing with salutations concerning the uber amounts of general hair happiness to be had by applying a product called Mane and Tail shampoo is making us a bit …. giddy.
Supposedly the shampoo of choice for thoroughbreds everywhere, Mane and Tail has now bolted the stable door and has been spotted in the hands of stylists at some very swanky salons in the States.
Quite who it was that decided to give it a go in the first place we are as yet unsure but although we Irish are known for our love of horses, I can’t really see it catching on to quickly with the girls of Co Meath.
Having plastered my hair in Guinness, stuck mashed strawberries on my face and plastered my buttocks with a cream made from placentas I know I’m not exactly best qualified to be critical, but the way we see it, using a horse shampoo is probably taking your love of equine accessories a bit too far – if you have a mane and tail, this ones for you, if you merely have a mane …. we say refrain !!

horse_shampoo

Although we at L’Onglex like hearing of the strange and unusual when it comes to tips and treatments the latest ‘cult-product’ supposedly doing the rounds has left us feeling a little out of sorts.

I mean, we love to experiment and all that but news that the blogosphere is buzzing with salutations concerning the uber amounts of general hair happiness to be had by applying a product called Mane and Tail shampoo is making us a bit …. giddy.

Supposedly the shampoo of choice for thoroughbreds everywhere, Mane and Tail has now bolted the stable door and has been spotted in the hands of stylists at some very swanky salons in the States.

Quite who it was that decided to give it a go in the first place we are as yet unsure but although we Irish are known for our love of horses, I can’t really see it catching on too quickly.

Having plastered my hair in Guinness, stuck mashed strawberries on my face and plastered my buttocks with a cream made from placentas I know I’m not exactly best qualified to be critical, but the way we see it, using a horse shampoo is probably taking your love of equine accessories a bit too far – if you have a mane and tail, this ones for you, if you merely have a mane …. we say refrain !!

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Posted in DIY beauty, Hair care & styling, Hair treatments |

Win a Ray of Sunshine gift set from Lush!

February 21st, 2011
Who wants some free LUSH goodies …
As if things couldn’t get any brighter this morning it just so happens that the wonderful folks at LUSH got in touch with us to offer readers of this very blog some rather nice goodies.
Up for grabs are three Ray of Sunshine shower boxes which are packed with warmth, comfort, citrus jubilation and the general delights of a range of handmade LUSH treats. Each box contains Each Peach and Two’s a Pair massage bars, Olive Branch shower gel, a fantastic Sugar Scrub and a rather healthy looking wedge of Sexy Peel – all of which will be vying with a gusto to be the very product to enter your morning routine.
All you have to do to throw your name into our virtual hat and leave a comment below, and all we have to do is thank the kind folks at LUSH who will send the winners their goodies sometime next week – what could be brighter than that ?

ray_of_sunshine

As if things couldn’t get any brighter this morning it just so happens that the wonderful folks at LUSH got in touch with us to offer readers of this very blog some rather nice goodies.

Up for grabs are three Ray of Sunshine shower boxes which are packed with warmth, comfort, citrus jubilation and the general delights of a range of handmade LUSH treats.

For the really nosy amongst you each box contains Each Peach and Two’s a Pair massage bars, Olive Branch shower gel, a fantastic Sugar Scrub and a rather healthy looking wedge of Sexy Peel – all of which will be vying with a gusto to be the very product to enter your morning routine.

All you have to do is throw your name into our virtual hat and leave a comment below before March 3rd, and all we have to do is thank the kind folks at LUSH who will send the winners their goodies. For a Monday afternoon what could possibly be brighter than that ?

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Posted in Lush, Win!! |

New goodies from Bobbi Brown

February 19th, 2011
Regular readers will know when it comes to our under eye circles we’re borderline obsessed. As dark patches are more often than not the bane of L’Onglex’s otherwise flawless beauty routine, we are always on the lookout for anything we think might be able to make us look a bit less scary when the dreaded panda eye chooses to strike.
Enter the latest release from Bobbi Brown which is an all-in-one corrector and concealer. Designed to banish the blotches for good, Bobbi has created two new products which we’ve been fortunate enough to get our greedy mitts on.
The first product is a creamy pink skin corrector which works by evening out grey tones  and brightening the under eye area. As with all things Bobbi, matching product to skin tone isn’t too difficult as there are 12 shades to choose from.
When we first applied this we were quite impressed and being the impatient sorts we are we thought we’d leave it at that. But once the corrector is in place skin tones is quite pinkish so the concealer is what really does the work with this.
Much creamier than previous concealers, the latest edition works a treat at bringing eyes back to something like their natural best and once it hits the corrector the two work really well together. As the new range also comes with a press powder that keeps everything in place we are firmly of the opinion that this one is going to be a bit of a keeper.
So far our only gripe is on the subject of the brush and it is a bit of a shame that this hasn’t been as well thought out as the rest of the compact. Whether or not we’ll be inspired to invest in something with a bit better coverage is something we’ll have to consider once we finally see what the price on this one is. As it hits shelves at BT’s in early April we figure this is one product that is definitely worth the wait.

bobbi_brown_concealer

Regular readers will know when it comes to our under eye circles we’re borderline obsessed. As dark patches are more often than not the bane of L’Onglex’s otherwise flawless beauty routine, we are always on the lookout for anything we think might be able to make us look a bit less scary when the dreaded panda eye chooses to strike.

Enter the latest release from Bobbi Brown which is an all-in-one corrector and concealer. Designed to banish the blotches for good, Bobbi has created two new products which we’ve been fortunate enough to get our greedy mitts on.

The first product is a creamy pink skin corrector which works by evening out grey tones  and brightening the under eye area. As with all things Bobbi, matching product to skin tone isn’t too difficult as there are 12 shades to choose from.

When we first applied this we were quite impressed and being the impatient sorts we are we thought we’d leave it at that. But once the corrector is in place our skin tone was still quite pinkish so the concealer is what really does the work with this.

Much creamier than previous concealers, the latest edition works a treat at bringing eyes back to something like their natural best and once it hits the corrector the two work really well together. As the new range also comes with a press powder that keeps everything in place we are firmly of the opinion that this one is going to be a bit of a keeper. Due to hit shelves at BT’s in early April,this is definitely worth the wait.

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Posted in Beauty heroes, Beauty reviews, Bobbi Brown, Foundations and concealers, L'Onglex loves |


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