With the 2012 Pantone Color of the Year being the bold, punchy Tangerine Tango, Spring and Summer are the easiest times of the year to wear it. Compared to 2011′s Honeysuckle (a dark, vibrant pink), I’ve been finding the orange hues of Tangerine Tango harder to get away with – it’s a very obvious, stark colour on my complexion, and the saturation makes it difficult to integrate it into the rest of a makeup look.

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The product: L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lip Shine in 02 Rose Frémissant

Okay, so I’m maybe having a bit of a Pivoine Délicate “moment” right now. As with the lipstick, I just can’t get over the packaging of these glosses – it’s just so delicate and cute! The entire aesthetic of the line makes me think Paul & Joe Beauté, minus the cat heads and parabens. All in all, it’s pretty damn endearing.

The formula of L’Occitane’s Lip Shines is heavy and thick, but not terribly sticky. The scent is stronger than that of the lipsticks in the line; it’s more strongly floral, though this does fade quickly. There is no added flavour to the gloss (at least, no intentional added flavour, I think), but I can taste the peony if I lick my lips. Which, for the record, is gross and you shouldn’t try it at home.

(It’s the gloss that’s gross, though – not the peony. You’d be surprised just how many fragrance molecules are actually quite tasty without the presence of denatured alcohol.)

L’Occitane Rose Frémissant Lip Shine lip swatch

L’Occitane Rose Frémissant Lip Shine swatch (at right)

Rose Frémissant, the shade of this Pivoine Délicate (the collection) Lip Shine, pairs well with Pivoine Délicate (the lipstick; I know, it’s confusing). On its own, it’s a light pink with plenty of silver shimmer, plus a small amount of gold and fuchsia shimmer. The particle size of the silver shimmer is larger, making it quite obvious both when applied and in the tube.

Like with Pivoine Délicate, I’m not generally a huge fan of colours like this one, but I do think it was executed well. I’d have liked to see less shimmer in the formula, or at the very least less gritty shimmer, but I didn’t find the colour settled into my lip lines or built up in places it shouldn’t be — when worn in moderation, of course. (Put on enough of any light gloss and it’ll go where it shouldn’t, but you should know that by now!)

The verdict?

While I didn’t think this to be a bad product, by any means, I didn’t love it. The Lip Shine doesn’t exude the same kind of elegance as the Pivoine Délicate Lipstick, but I think it can stand alright on its own merits.

If you’re just buying for the gorgeous packaging, I’d recommend the lipsticks in a heartbeat; however, if you’re on the market for a sheer, sparkly, high-shine gloss, this one’s a keeper. The finish & shimmer of Rose Frémissant, as I said, isn’t my cup of tea – but if that’s what you look for in a gloss, then it should probably be noted that L’Occitane does it very well.

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick + Rose Frémissant Lip Shine

L’Occitane Pivoine Delicate Lip Shine in Rose Frémissant + box

L’Occitane Lip Shine  ingredients – paraben free!

Other L’Occitane makeup posts

• COMING UP | L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate
• A Love Story in Pink | L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick Review, Photos, Swatches

I was talking to Elaine (@TOBeautyReviews) on Twitter last week, and I promised to send her an email about going gluten-free. While writing that email, though, it occurred to me that I might as well post it on theNotice, because why not, right?

From there, the post sort of got out of hand (because that’s how I roll, apparently), so here’s a not-so-quick starter guide on going gluten-free. I hope you find it helpful!

Why I’m gluten-free

I went gluten-free a few years ago, after my sister had some blood testing done & found out she was gluten-intolerant. (She’s supposedly intolerant to most other things, too, but… well, we didn’t really buy into it. After three weeks of an extremely restricted diet, she decided it wasn’t for her, but kept the gluten out.) My family cut gluten out of her diet, and it sort of fell out of ours, too.

I ended up going G-Free by accident. It was gradual, but with less gluten just “kicking around” in the house, I just started consuming less and less. And the longer I was off it, the more I noticed when I did eat it - I’d grab a sandwich while out and about, for instance, and find myself lethargic and mildly bloated afterwards.

So, I cut it out entirely. As you may or may not already know, I have fibromyalgia and (currently in remission) rheumatoid arthritis, so every little bit of energy really counts in my day to day life. Not everyone with fibro and RA will also be intolerant to gluten, but for me, it was a no-brainer: as much as I love “real” bread, when the flipside was being tired, bloated, and feeling kind of foggy, going g-free just made sense for my lifestyle.

Anyhow; that’s my story. I hope it can help inspire you to have your own gluten-free adventure, even if you’re just going to try it on for fit! ;)

Breakfast breads (are the best kind of breads)

I have a soft spot for breakfast food, but it’s a good starting point for going gluten-free, too. Quick breads do all their rising in the pan (or the oven), so there’s no waiting or extra timing involved – just a bit of xanthan gum added to the recipe (sometimes), but aside from that, it’s just like making “normal” breakfast foods. 

I’d start with Gluten Free Cooking School’s Light and Fluffy Gluten-Free Biscuits, which are hands-down the tastiest biscuits you’ll find, gluten-free or not. (Seriously; they’re really, really tasty.) They bake on cookie sheets and don’t need kneading or time to rise, so the recipe is easy to put together – the hardest part is that you have to grate a chunk of frozen margarine, which, well, weird. But also kind of fun.

Next, I’d recommend giving their Saturday Morning Pancakes a try. I tend to mix up a batch during the weekend, make half and freeze them (for when I’m in a hurry in the mornings), then make the other half as I need them during the week. Honestly, if you hadn’t told me the pancakes were G-Free, I probably wouldn’t have guessed it – they’re extremely convincing.

Finally, Gluten Free Mom’s recipe for Gluten Free Crepes is pretty good. The recipe is pretty basic, so it’s easy to tweak, and the resulting crêpes hold up well while still being quite thin. I like mine with plain yogourt and maple syrup, for a dessert crêpe, or with ham and melted mozzarella, for a meal one.

Other carbs: let’s talk bread and pasta

My can’t-live-without-them bread recipes are this Gluten-Free Bread Machine Bread and Alison’s Gluten-Free Bread. Both of them are really easy to make, and I like them for different reasons – the first (Bread Machine Bread) makes a great “everything” bread; spongy and moist without too strong of a flavour. It’s perfect for sandwiches and the like, while the second (Alison’s) is a tasty, savoury bread – it’s more dense, and is delicious on its own with a bit of butter.

What I’ve found from all of the gluten-free  breads I’ve tried is that toasting is key. Even a recipe that’s practically inedible at room temperature or cold (gluten-free products tend to go bad faster, so I like to store them in the fridge) can be tasty when baked – it’s all in the texture. You can’t really get around the lack of “springiness” in the bread, though, so a toaster oven might be needed depending on the recipe.

Finally, I want to give a HUGE shoutout to Tinkyáda Rice Pasta. Honestly, the line is a godsend! Their pastas taste pretty much the same as the whole wheat pasta I used to rely so heavily on, and it’s nice not to have to worry about baking things, making things, etc. We buy ours at either Safeway or Well.ca, and it cooks pretty much the same way as regular pasta. (The timing’s different–read the package before you make it–but it’s still pretty much just water and pasta in a pot.)

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And that’s it for today! (Because… hello, enormous post.) I really hope you’re enjoying The Starter Guide to Going Gluten-Free so far, and I will see you next weekend for Part II.

Have a great week! :)

The product: L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick in 02 Pivoine Délicate

Pivoine Délicate, one of three lipstick shades in the eponymous collection, is a soft pink with silver reflects. It’s fairly sheer, for a lipstick, and I think I’d group it alongside something like the Rouge Coco Shines – perfect for a really natural, refined lip, but the colour can’t really be built up.

I’m on the fence about the shimmer, though; I almost always prefer creme finishes or (if I must,) micro-shimmer in the same shade as the base colour. Which means that I should hate this one, seeing as the shimmer almost jumps out at you in the bullet – but I don’t. The silver shimmer adds just enough interest to keep the shade interesting, making it something more than just another indiscriminate pink shade.

It’s kind of nice, which is something I didn’t expect to be saying about silver shimmer anytime soon. L’Occitane got the particle size and dispersion amount just right, and it adds a bit of a playful edge to the shade.

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick – lip swatch

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick swatch (left) and Rose Frémissant Lip Shine swatch (right)

This isn’t the kind of lipstick to reach for if you’re looking for something bright and punchy, but I find myself quite fond of it. The formula, despite the sheer colour and rather agressive scent in the tube, feels comfortable on my dry lips and (surprisingly enough), the scent doesn’t give me a headache when I wear it.

Unlike most lipsticks, Pivoine Délicate actually leaves my lips feeling more hydrated when I take it off – quite a feat for a lip balm, much less a lipstick!

The verdict?

At $16 USD/$22 CAD, I would absolutely recommend this. I have to admit, L’Occitane had me at the packaging – the entire Pivoine Délicate collection is just gorgeous; perhaps even moreso than last year’s lovely Pivoine Flora collection. (I don’t know, though. It’s a pretty close call.)

Skip this if you’re looking for a bold, scent-free summer lippie, but give it a try if you want a sheer-but-polished shade. The packaging may have grabbed my attention to begin with, but it’s the comfortable, hydrating formula that really sells the Pivoine Délicate lipsticks.

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick packaging and box

Seriously. That packaging! Love.

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick, Rose Frémissant Lip Shine swatches

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick ingredients (paraben-free!)

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*For those of you wondering: yes, the title is a nod to A Study in Pink. Because the more Sherlock references I can fit onto theNotice, the better.

I don’t know about your mothers, but mine is ridiculously difficult to buy for. She doesn’t wear makeup or perfume, she doesn’t have a particular affinity for flowers, she has no definable hobbies aside from, possibly, home repair (it’s just a suspicion; she’s never confirmed or denied it outright), and she has no inclination toward any type of electronic.

If your mum’s a little easier to buy for, though, here are ten last-minute beauty gift ideas under $40. Because makeup is a great way to spoil oneself, but (I know this, at least, is true for my mother) sometimes our mums and dads need someone else to do the spoiling, you know?