I got so tired of this awful domain name that I cracked and bought some hosting and a nice, respectable-sounding URL. I also decided instead of a simple domain mapping redirect type of deal, I’d install wordpress and run the whole shebang off my own steam.

WordPress aren’t lying – the 5 minute install is perfectly possible. It was the theme-tweaking, FTP fiddling and photoshopping of a new logo that have kept me up all night. And it’s been great. I’ve done it all myself, and I haven’t even chipped my Illamasqua nail polish. God bless my inner (and not so inner) geek.

From June 2009, Slap Happy now lives at www.slaphappybeauty.com. Bookmark it!

Cosmetistas (and fashionistas) everywhere shed a tear when it looked like Stila would be joining the great train-case in the sky. Earlier in the year, there were ominous rumblings that the brand was going into administration. Franchises were shut and stock was liquidated world-wide – it looked like the bell had well and truly tolled for this chic, fresh, flirty brand.

But in a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Stila and its cartoon damsels were rescued by Patriarch Partners LLC, an investment company who will hopefully help continue the Stila success story for many more chapters. Malaysian blogger plusizekitten has done her homework – she tells the full story here.

In the meantime, the first collection since the takeover has been released in the USA, and it looks absolutely delectable. Named Indian Summer, the collection’s theme is gold – real gold, Au, that one really heavy shiny element. The 24k golden noir smudgepot, 24k lipgloss, charmed eyeshadow quad and tinted moisturiser are all infused with genuine 24 carat gold. There’s also a brand new shade of old Stila favourite Convertible Colour in – continuing the floral theme of yore – Marigold. The look for the collection is jewel tones, warm shimmer and smouldering nude lips.

Bring it to Britain Stila!

Stila’s recent brush with death has led to a lot of bargains appearing online. It’s like when Pout went kaput, only with a happy ending. Aww. Whatever the story, the quality of the items is undisputed, so it’s definitely worth keeping your weather eye out for Stila treasure.

Today, BeautySpot Cosmetics have a limited number of Stila cheek colour pans on sale. They are being offered at the extraordinary price of £2.95 each. AND – if you buy 4 or more, you get a free silver 4-pan palette to house them in.

There are only a handful in stock, so get there quick to avoid disappointment!

For Selfridges’ 100th anniversary, limited edition items in the signature yellow hue have been produced by everyone from Moleskine to Coca-Cola. As the newest and brightest addition to Selfridges’ Beauty Hall, it figures that Illamasqua would be joining the party. They have created a limited edition gift box containing both the black shade “Boosh”, and a centenary special edition yellow called “Self”.

It costs £25 – the same price as two nailpolishes from the regular line. Only 200 sets have been made. With Illamasqua’s reputation rapidly climbing, and the added prestige of the Selfridges’ connection, this is probably a wise investment for collectors.

However, I doubt if many people could manage to stop themselves from using the vivid yellow before it matured to collectible status!

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Clinically proven Protect and Perfect Intense serum is the product of the moment at Boots. An aggressive marketing drive and the claim of scientific proof has piqued the interest of the media and the public, with customers queueing outside stores to get to the goods. I’m pleased to see that it’s also caught the interest of seasoned science-bullshit-eradicator Ben Goldacre, of the Guardian.

Ben points out that the exceptional nature of the trial isn’t the results – which prove only that P&PI works better than placebo, but rather the fact that a cosmetics company has trialled their product under lab conditions. Most don’t. Here’s the article at Bad Science, Ben Goldacre’s blog.

We spend millions on skincare products with exotic ingredients, often on the strength of marketing alone. With creams costing £100 and over, it does seem kind of strange that intelligent, otherwise shrewd people will buy into pure marketing without a shred of proof.

Should we be demanding more from our skincare?

The sad fact is that if every product were lab tested, we’d probably come up with a truth that nobody wants to face: They don’t really work very well. I.e. you ARE going to get old, and you ARE going to lose your looks.

The myth of miracle creams is one that we’d all like to buy into – the promise of a magical loophole that will keep us young forever. If cold hard science is there to tell us that isn’t true, we kind of lose our hope. Perhaps we’d rather spend huge amounts of money and keep the possibility that just maybe, there’s a product that can grant us a little bit of immortality.

This is by the by, of course.

It reminded me that I hadn’t written up my last visit to Illamasqua, and my ongoing fascination with this rather wonderful newborn brand.

Read my account of an Illamasqua close encounter…

The counter nestles beside the MAC fixture like a subversive younger sister. Same bright-colour/high quality genes, but a certain twist, a certain rebellious streak is evident from first glance. It’s decked with chandelier-like perspex icicles that hang from the curved displays. They catch the Beauty Hall’s clean, subdued light, suggesting a sort of dark, vintage decadence.

Compared with MAC beside it, the Illamasqua counter is pretty quiet – for now.

I approach one of the artists, who is disarmingly friendly and more than happy to answer my questions. She tells me the products getting the biggest buzz from customers are nailpolish and lipstick. We’re standing by the nailpolish display, and I pick out “Hectic”, an army green shade that I’ve never seen anything quite like before. I can see why these shades are getting attention – they’re so distinctive. I thought every shade of polish had been made a hundred times, but I’m pleased to report that I was wrong.

A tour around the rest of the counter – face powders and foundations come in every shade from sable to ivory white. I mean really white – pure white, Elizabeth I style white. The shades are numbered, with 100 this exceptional white, and the 300′s gradations of deep chocolate. Concealers follow suit.

Lipsticks come in black, purple, bluish violet, every shade of red and nude and brown and metallic you could ask for. Eyeshadows are a Pantone riot of pigment. There are also cake eyeliners, a format that I’m not totally convinced by (needs an extra step with an extra product to wet the cake into a useable form).

I settle on just my “Hectic” nail polish. Maybe it was the magic words “beauty” and “blogger”, but I also get a free eyeshadow in “Yearn” dropped into my bag (“to match!” she says), along with a copy of Illamasqua founder Julian Kynaston’s photo book “Dark Love”, which celebrates the brand’s ethos of embracing alternative cultures.

Reviews to follow!

It’s a new Urban Decay palette! It’s out in the States, and has been for about 2 months! It has ALL the Baked shades – Baked, Twice Baked, Half Baked! And… it has a baby-sized version of the new Sin Primer Potion. That’s UDPP, friends, but with shimmer. Goodness me.

OK, calm. This palette has not yet been released in the UK as far as I know, but no doubt it will be with us soon enough. It’s the same 4-pan format as the Foreshadow palette from last year, but in place of the brush it contains a mini 24/7 liner in Bourbon. Interestingly, it also has a shade in common with Foreshadow – the sublime electric teal Flipside.

For those unable to wait to have their curiosity sated, Christine at Temptalia brings us a characteristically thorough review. With swatches. Yum.

Click for more images.

Dig that retro styling.

I want this.

For three days only, you can pick up items for just 1p each from the special anniversary display. Sadly we’re not talking dresses, coats and bottles of champagne, but there are some sweet-looking items on the list including jewellery sets, knickers, luggage tags and men’s ties. Customers will be limited to 5 items each, and I believe they’re expecting some mighty queues and throngs! Stake out your store early and you’ll also receive entry into a prize draw to win £12,500.

“This is money” has the full list of goods. Marks and Sparks haven’t publicised this on their site, but an email announcement went out this evening to their mailing list.

Claws filed to pinprick points, exquisitely hand-painted and appliquéd in the most baroque detail. Forget opening a can with these nails – you could stop traffic just by lifting a finger.

There’s small but growing buzz around the web about Enfu’s brand, Nfu-Oh, in particular the multi-faceting sparkling polish she makes. It’s not directly available to us in the UK, though if you were near her Seoul-based salon it would certainly be worth a visit. The polish can be ordered from overseas at the moment, and sometimes filters through onto UK eBay.

Nfu-Oh’s work is global and spans the whole discipline of nail art, but it’s those kaleidoscopic polishes in their cute corset-shaped bottles that I’ve got my eye on. Some shades are a translucent base colour with fine leaf foil and glitter, some are holographic metallics that mesmerise in bright light.

I’m planning to track a couple of shades down through eBay. You’ll hear more if I do. In the meantime, why not visit the blog of Nfu-Oh’s main distributor in Asia for a bit of inspiration?