Lush Kissable Lips Can be Yours too

I suffer from a lipstick allergy.

You might too and not know it! The red pigment (and a string of other things) in lipsticks and lip balms can dry lips and make them crack and peel, which is as far from kissable as anyone can imagine. And it hurts. 

I have developed the problem slowly, so even the posh lippys set me off now. Even though I love some of the shades I own, I can't bear to wear them for the discomfort I experience that can last for days. Ouch!

Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of Hypoallergenic lipsticks, and one brand I had to check out is Besame from the States, conveniently stocked in the What Katie Did London Boutique in Portabello Road.

Lovely Maz and Vicky were in store. Vicky was glad I interrupted her cleaning  

(BTW: she is wearing Miss L Fire shoes).

Gorgeous display stand! I want one for home

We started with Rapture Rose, which was too close to my natural colour, so it looked a bit bland on me.

 Ha ha, yes that means I look bland without make-up!

 And moved on to "Dusty Rose" which was just a shade deeper, and quite pretty for everyday use

Then we found Red Hot Red which was just lovely on me. Quite a soft red hot as far as hot reds go.

I also liked Carmine and Coral so they are on the shopping list for next time. Coral looked just o.k in store, but once I got out into the light I realised it really suited me. You sneaky tease, Coral!

I am wearing their 1930s mascara as well, it smelt like you could eat it.

Besame's "Classic Beauty - The History of Makeup" book is stunning and very thorough, chock-a-block full of gorgeous photos too.

Besame also do lip balms, and I was thrilled with the colours of "Cherry" and "Tangerine". Vicky herself finds that "Sweet Rose" and "Peach" suit her better.

It is wonderfully relaxing trying make up on in Katie's shop, surrounded by lots of gorgeousness

Like Lovely Lady legs, for instance.

Shona x

ZOMG by Rockalily

Last night I got to go to the ZOMG Blogger Bash hosted by Rockalily and London Lipgloss. What a great night - thanks ladies! I really enjoyed it and wish I could have got there a bit earlier.
Naturally lots of bloggers were there so this post is quite filled with links. I can assure you that each and every one of them are part of an inspirational force on the UK vintage scene, so it is worth making an acquaintance with their blogs and checking them out. In person, they are the type of women who are genuine and there is a surprising lack of snobberishery involved. Surprising in that we are all associated with clothes and make up, so one might assume the opposite. There were more lovelies ladies of that ilk there and, if I could I would include many more. But you are on your coffee break so let's get rolling...

Just as I arrived, Lena and Margaret were leaving, but there was enough time for hugs, outfit assessments, and a quick pic. Both these ladies have such a different style to me and I love seeing what they wear. 

Ree Ree from Rockalily was looking particularly stunning with her new red hair (welcome to the club!). She is a fab business lady with masses of energy and does a lot to support and encourage other women. She also has some exciting stuff happening for her at the moment so she deserves a little "high five" for that. High Five!!

Me with Ree Ree. I'm wearing (at this stage of the night), "Roulette" lippy

I had never met Zozo from London Lipgloss before and I still haven't actually formally meet her..but..., now that I see pictures of her, I embarrassingly realise that it was her that I bounded up to and said 

"When I die, I'm gonna ask for YOUR legs before I come back next time." 

Hmmm. I can't even blame THAT on the alcohol!  But I don't think she minded too much. I guess sometimes my brain just has no "skip" button. Boy-oh-boy though, I just have to say, she has one heck of a pair of pins. (No pics of them sorry, you'll have to scroll her blog and check them out yourself.)

Ree Ree had all of her lippys on display for everyone to test drive. That is Charly's hand making a cameo appearance. We didn't get a photo together, but there might be one coming up on Gemma's blog. 

Lucy and Gemma sporting their little graduation hats as they man their Historial Sauces table which included lovely vintage lipsticks and some "how to do vintage" style books to look at. 

So, you ask, what colours did I choose? Well, it was very dark in there so I focused on building my paper chart that I could refer to in daylight. The ones on the right are old favourites that I am replacing. They are from other brands and are either discontinuted or they are crack my sensitive lips into crocodile smackers. As I don't have the same reaction to Rockalily lippys I am keen to get more flavours. The one here is my first one - Red Hot Red, which I love.

You can see that ZOMG is not far from my "Marilyn" colour, Mermaid is a bit more orange than my "Frosted Apricot" and Roulette (as recommended by Ree Ree for me) is a deeper, darker tone of my old "Cinnamon" colour, so those are next on my shopping list. Some of these are limited, so I'm going to go and do that NOW.

Shona x

PS: I'm still not sure how to say ZOMG - Zoom-Geh? Zoum-Gee? I dunno!!