Sunday 30 September 2012

Scent Of The Month: Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Toilette

I don't normally review fragrances on here mostly because I'm really rubbish at describing scents. I can say things like "it's really nice" and "it's a sweet and/or floral scent", but other than that, I'm no use. But because I really like perfumes, own around 40 different ones and use perfumes every day, I thought I'd start a little series and see how it goes.


So this month's fragrance is one of my favourite fragrances Shalimar by Guerlain. It's a strong, sweet scent and I think it's a great choice for this time of year. It's not in your face, but is quite strong and long lasting. Because I'm rubbish at describing scents, I've decided to copy Guerlain's official description of the scent:

"Soft oriental Voluptuous, sensual, spellbinding Tonic top notes of fresh flowers and bergamot are calmly intrepid. Like the savvy disorder of rumpled silk sheets, powdery notes of iris, jasmine and rose suggest or promise sensual embraces. The creamy softness of addictive vanilla, the penetrating charm of iris, the balmy roundness of opoponax and the gourmand warmth of Tonka bean orchestrate an intimate symphony of scent for languorous interludes."

I couldn't find the Eau de Toilette on the Debenhams website, but the Eau de Parfum costs £42 for 30 ml and £79 for 90 ml.

Let me know how you like the idea of this post (possible series) in the comments!

See another picture after the jump! 

Saturday 29 September 2012

Topshop Liquid Eyeliner in Intensify by Louise Gray Review and Swatches

I have another Topshop product to show you today. This is from the latest collection, a collaboration with Louise Gray and the product is a lovely blue sparkly liquid eyeliner.


Unlike Desert Sun Cheek Duo I was much more impressed by this. Very similar in style to my MUFE, Mac and Stila liquid eyeliners, it has a spongy very pointy tip, excellent for precision. The colour is a lovely sparkly medium blue and the formula is really nice. It dries pretty quickly and once on, it doesn't budge. You will see at the bottom of the post a picture I did after I smeared the liner after about 2 minutes. The only bit that smudged was the bit where I had applied it rather heavily so you can see the colour properly. The thin line did not smudge at all. It stayed on my eyes all day, but came off easily with make up remover.

The liquid eyeliner costs £8 and it contains 1.7 ml which is the same as the MUFE and Stila liners. Available from Topshop online and in selected stores.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Friday 28 September 2012

Introducing Our New Kitten: Midnight

It's been such a hectic day, but finally I have time to sit down and show you our new kitten, Midnight. He's 10 weeks old, very black and very cheeky. Our other two cats, Paws and Fluff aren't quite sure about him yet, Paws was actually pretty friendly towards him, but Fluff is very unsure. I'm sure he'll warm to him though.


So there you go, our third kitty. We're looking forward to lots of fun and lots of cuddles. He is a very mischievous little thing, so no doubt he will keep me entertained when the children are in school.

Thursday 27 September 2012

Topshop Cheek Duo in Desert Sun Review and Swatches

I have a confession to make: I don't get Topshop. Please don't hit me! I don't know if it's my age or that fact that I'm ridiculously not fashionable, but I have not once managed to find any clothes in Topshop that I liked. Make up however, is a different story. I'm a sucker for Topshop make up especially their nail polishes, but I have been known to pick up other products like their eyeshadow crayons and other bits and bobs. So when I last wondered into Topshop this little beauty caught my eye.


Topshop Cheek Duo is basically a 2 in 1 baked products with a blush and bronzer in one compact. Desert Sun is the peachy version, there is another shade (Break of Day) which has a pink blush instead of a peach one. Actually I'd say the blush in Desert Sun is more a pinky coral than peach. It's a satin finish, whereas the bronzer, a little coppery brown shade, is actually quite shimmery. I'd prefer it the other way round to be honest, the bronzer would be more suitable for contouring. The blush is quite powdery and had to be layered to show up on me and it faded away quickly. The bronzer is more pigmented and longer lasting and not as powdery either. The two products together give a nice sunkissed glow to my cheeks. I think on darker skintones the blush would look quite ashy, but the bronzer would make a lovely highlighter.

The compact is an off-white colour matte finish plastic. It seriously lacks a mirror in the lid, I think at this price they really should put one in. It's not overly expensive, it costs £12.50 for 6.5 g, so still significantly cheaper than Mac blushes and bronzers, but equally I don't think the quality is there. I like it, but don't love it.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this product after the jump!

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Accessorize Baked Duo Eyeshadows #12 Maia Review and Swatches

A while ago I was walking around Superdrug and found a few reduced eyeshadow duos on the Accessorize stand. I don't know if those particular shades are being discontinued or not, but I decided to pick up Maia anyway as it looked very pretty. I love the packaging with the pretty butterflies and the product inside is realy lovely too. (I have reviewed 4 other shades in the past, to read my review please click here.)


It is a baked formula and the eyeshadow is domed in the pan. Maia contains a frosty white gold shade (similar to Nars Albatross, but frostier) and a satiny olive green shade with bronze flecks. Both are nicely pigmented and smooth, apply really nicely and stay on all day without creasing (over primer). The swatches below were done dry, but these can also be used wet to intensify the colours.

I can't find this particular shade on either website, in fact the Superdrug website isn't showing any of the baked duo eyeshadows, but on the Accessorize website the other shades retail for £4. I can't remember how much I paid, it was between £2-3, so not much. You get a generous 4.5 g of product for your money.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this after the jump!

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadow #07 Review and Swatches

After falling in love with Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadows #27 and #28 I decided to order #07 as well, a beautiful rosy pink shade. I know a lot of people don't like wearing pink eyeshadows, but I find they go very well with my dark brown eyes and my colouring and I had been really wanting to get this shade as it's so pretty.


The formula is once again really lovely, buttery smooth, yet very long lasting and creaseproof. I wore this on top of my Too Faced Eyeshadow Insurance primer and it lasted all day without fading or creasing. I find this shade so easy to wear, on days when I don't have much time, just sweep it onto my eyelids, pair it with black eyeliner and mascara and hey presto!

I won't go on about how fantastic these eyeshadows are, for more details please read this post, but I do think that these are well worth their price (£26 for 4 g) and if you can afford them, check them out. For a cheaper alternative I would wholeheartedly recommend the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows as they are comparable and probably easier to get hold of anyway.

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadows are available from House of Fraser, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Bentalls and maybe Harrods too, but I'm not sure about that one.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this after the jump!

Monday 24 September 2012

NOTD: Milani 3D Holographic Nail Polish in 3D

As you might know, I really like holographic nail polishes, so when Cherry Culture was having a 20% off sale a little while ago, I took the opportunity to order some of the Milani 3D Holographic nail polishes (okay, all 6 to be precise). The first colour I tried was this pretty yellow gold shade also named 3D, which is a bit confusing, but never mind.


This nail polish wasn't as holographic as I had hoped, it looked more like it just had silver glitter in it, although at some angles you can see some faint rainbow colours, but only in sunlight. Indoors it's really just yellow gold with silver sparkle. It's pretty, but not really holographic. The formula was very nice. It took 2 coats for full opacity and it wore okay on me, it started chipping on day 2 which is normal for me.

As I mentioned before, I bought this nail polish from Cherry Culture and it cost $3.99. You get 13.2 ml which is great. I'm looking forward to trying out the other shades as well and I will report on how I got on.

See more pictures after the jump!

Sunday 23 September 2012

VIVO Baked Blush in Rouge Shimmer (Shade 4) Review and Swatches

As you can see, I'd bought a few blushes lately, I have another beauty to show you. In fact you will have already seen swatches of this with the Mac Supercontinental blush swatches (I was lazy to do two sets of photos), but you will see those at the bottom of this post again anyway.


You can buy VIVO blushes in Tesco, I'm not sure if they're actually Tesco's own brand, but in any case, VIVO products are very affordable and actually really good quality. As you know I'm a sucker for baked and mineralize products, so I find it very hard to walk past a VIVO stand wihout picking up one of their baked products. At £4 a pop it's really not a bad addiction, and this shade is particularly lovely and the blush is a nice addition to my stash.

Rouge Shimmer is a soft raspberry pink shade, it is quite a bit lighter than Nars Outlaw and doesn't have any of the gold shimmer, so this is actually more cool toned. It has a nice sheen, perhaps a little bit frosty, but there's absolutely no glitter. It is very soft and nicely pigmented. You get 8 g for £4 which makes it a very good value.

Have you tried VIVO products? What did you think of them?

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Saturday 22 September 2012

Nars Outlaw Blush Review and Swatches

Nars Outlaw blush was a new addition to the line this autumn/fall and it is just perfect for this time of the year. Nars describes it as "soft rose tone with golden shimmer" which is about right, I also think golden raspberry pink when I look at it.


It's a little bit scary in the pan, but isn't actually overly pigmented, so can be used lightly and sheered out. It has very fine gold shimmer that gives it a gorgeous gold sheen, it's not glittery like Super Orgasm or Angelika for example. There are a few flecks of very very fine glitter, but it's definitely more of a sheen. It is such a gorgeous shade and actually quite unique, I can't think of another blush that's similar. It is soft, but not powdery and applies very nicely.

As with all Nars blushes you get 4.8 g of product in their standard black compact with a full size mirror in the lid. The outside of the compact is rubbery matte black with NARS written on it in white letters. My problem with the packaging is that unless you look at the bottom of the compact, you have no idea which shade is which. I like having a little window, like the Laura Geller blushes to see what colour it is.

Nars blushes cost £21 and are available from a variety of retailers, including Nars online, Space NK, House of Fraser and Selfridges.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Friday 21 September 2012

Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs 01 Les Violets Swatches and Review

Last year Guerlain reformulated their eyeshadow quads and released 9 variations (since then they have added a few more colours to their permanent line up), one of them being 01 Les Violets. I initially only picked up 08 Les Perles because that one seemed the most unique and I'd already had all the older eyeshadow quads so didn't feel necessary to buy the others, but I saw this one on eBay and decided to pick it up.


As you can see this is just a tester, so it doesn't come in the fancy compact, but it does come with a plastic protective lid, so still properly portable. If you want to see what the compact looks like, please check out this post. You still get the full size eyeshadows, 7.2 g in total. In Les Violets you get 4 different shades of purple (who would have thought?), from very light pinky violet to dark mauve (the colours in the pictures look more blue than in real life). The textures are different, you get a matte shade, a frosty/metallic shade  and 2 satin shades. None of them are shimmery/glittery. Some feel softer than others, the matte shade in particular is a bit chalky, with the frosty cool purple being the softest and most pigmented.

This quad felt a little bit below par considering the usual quality of Guerlain eyeshadows, a couple of shades just didn't feel as nice as they should. I do appreciate that mattes can be a bit harder to work with, and I think Guerlain does frosty/metallic and satin shades better than mattes. The eyeshadows still stayed on my lids for 12+ hours without fading and creasing, so that's up to Guerlain quality, it was more the application issues I had with a couple of shades that I wasn't too pleased with.

All in all, the colours are lovely, but I can't recommend this palette wholeheartedly. Unless you are a massive purple fan, I'd skip this, especially as the recent additions to the Ecrin 4 Couleurs line have been a nicer quality.

I bought my tester for £14 on eBay, but Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs eyeshadows retail for £37.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Thursday 20 September 2012

Bargain Beauty Find: Cargo Lash Activator Review

A little while ago I noticed that having stopped using Rapidlash some months ago my eyelashes have gone back to their original lenght (ie they are very short), so when I noticed a shelf with reduced products in Boots, I decided to try out Cargo Last Activator mascara.


Unlike Rapidlash this is not a serum, but an actual black mascara that you can use on its own or under your regular mascara. It is supposed to "promote lash vitality", which I understand as help make your lashes longer and stronger.

I have been using it in conjunction with Rapidlash, on its own without another mascara on top. It has a long wand with a very flexible brush head and plastic spikes. They separate my lashes well. The formula is a little show drying and it smudges on me if there is much humidity in the air, I often have to wipe it from under my eyes. It's not too bad, but certainly not as good as my favourite mascaras from Guerlain (Le 2 and Noir G) and Givenchy (Phenom'eyes). It's an okay formula, but doesn't curl my lashes at all, and it doesn't really make them look very full or long. Okay, I know, it's not a miracle worker, but still.

I can't really comment on whether it has helped with the growth of my lashes as I've only been using it for about 3 weeks and I'm using it with Rapidlash, but my lashes haven't been falling out and they do look a little longer than when I started using it.

I was very lucky to have picked this up for £2.50 because it actually retails for £20 (it was up on the Boots website when I last looked but it isn't right now), but maybe that particular branch was not carrying the Cargo line anymore. To be honest, I'd say it's a good mascara for £2.50, but not for £20. I certainly wouldn't pay full price for it. If I wanted to spend £20 on a mascara I'd buy a Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara or a refill for my Guerlain Noir G mascara.

I haven't included any pictures of me wearing this on my lashes, but basically every eye look I've done in the past 2 weeks will have featured it, so take a look at my previous posts.

See more pictures after the jump!

I'm going on a no-buy!

Okay, first of all can I just say how much I hate the new Blogger layout? The older one was so much easier to use and I can see this is going to take me a lot of time to get used to. Meh.

Anyway I have decided that due to the number of products in my stash I have to go on a no-buy*. I have been addicted to buying make up all the time for the past 4 years or so and have accumulated a crazy amount. The worst areas are lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish. I now have nearly 1000 lip products (over half of them are lipglosses) and over 500 nail polishes. There is just no way I can even make a dent in them let alone use most of them up in the next year or two. So I have decided it has to stop. (*I've just re-read my post and want to clarify that the no-buy only relates to lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polish, just in case you all think I'm going to give up buying make up altogether!)

I am going to allow myself 4 more lipsticks and 8 more lipglosses until I reach the magic 1000, and then I will stop buying them. I have given myself a very few exceptions, like limited edition Guerlain Rouge G lipsticks (I love those too much) and Mac Dazzleglasses, possibly Lip Gelees. Do you know what? It's actually been quite liberating to not be able to go out and buy lots of lipsticks, I've been carefully planning what to do with my last few remaining choices, and have only bought 3 lipsticks in the last 3 months. I still have one choice left after buying lipsticks from the Mac By Request collection and I don't know what it's going to be yet. It's almost exciting!

Nail polishes as well, I have bought so many over the past couple of years, it would take me 1.5 years to use them all if I painted my nails every day. Which I don't do. So let's make it 3 years, and that's only using them once each. Yes, it is that crazy.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that you won't be seeing many reviews on lipsticks and lipglosses in the future,  but on the other hand you will be seeing lots more nail polish posts and I will maybe continue with the "Swatching my stash" posts because that way I can also be reminded what lipsticks I already own and not be sad about not being able to buy a new one.

How long will the no-buy last, I don't know. Initially I'm thinking a year. Then we'll see. Right now even that sounds thoroughly scary, but I just have to be strong. I will no doubt continue to buy other type of make up, so that should help too. It's not like I actually need any more make up for a year (or ten!), but I can't go cold turkey. Make up is my hobby, my passion, so it would be like giving up a small part of me and that would certainly not be nice.

Right, enough waffling. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you've ever done a no-buy and how it went.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Nars Foreplay Blush Palette Review and Swatches

One of Nars's new offerings is this gorgeous blush palette featuring their (in)famous Orgasm blush (peachy pink with golden shimmer), 2 matte blushes (pink and peach) and a yellow gold highlighter. I already owned Orgasm blush, but really liked the look of this and wanted to try it.


You get a good size Orgasm, and 3 small blushes/highlighters. I'm not too sure if the Orgasm is full size, it doesn't day on the packaging, but the regular blush is 4.8 g and you get 10 g of blush altogether in this palette (Orgasm being the biggest), so it seems about right. The other blushes and the highlighters are rather small and it's not easy to get your brush in to pick up the colours, but at least they're not too close to each other. You just have to be a bit careful.

The blushes are nicely pigmented and are soft. I like them both very much. They are both matte and it's nice too have some Nars blushes without glitter, although Orgasm isn't too bad at all, it's just a bit shimmery/frosty. I think it would be nice to see these matte shades in single form as well. The only product I don't like in this palette is the yellow gold highlighter. To me it's just too yellow. I much prefer Nars Albatross as a highlighter instead. However, I guess it could make a nice eyeshadow.

All in all, it's a nice little palette. What I especially like about it is that between the 3 blushes you are pretty much covered and if you only took this with you on holiday (for your blusher needs, obviously), that would be just fine. It's quite small and easily portable and you get a mirror in the lid.

You get 10 g for £39.50 so that makes it cheaper than buying 10 g of other Nars blushes (they cost £21 for 4.8 g). It's still not cheap, but if you're looking for a portable blush palette with a good variety of shades, this might be the answer for you. Plus it is just so pretty.

In the UK this is exclusive to Nars (online) and Space NK. I actually bought mine from Sephora France. 

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Want It: Mac Glamour Daze Holiday Collection *Updated With Details!*

Another holiday collection I'm getting very excited about is Mac Glamour Daze collection. It will come out in two parts, one is the colour collection (in the picture below) and one is the sets: eyeshadow palettes, pigment sets, lipgloss sets, lip and eye bags, etc. Although I like the look of the sets, the products that get my heart beating a little faster are actually the Extra Dimension skinfinishes and eyeshadows from the colour collection.


In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Mac released a collection of Extra Dimension skinfinishes and eyeshadows earlier this year, you can check them out by clicking on the link. Glamour Daze will see the return of two skinfinishes and 8 eyeshadows (which seem to be smaller than the original ones).

Here are the collection details:

Lipstick
Beauty - pale cool pink (G)
Innocence - soft coral (F)
Glamourdaze - midtone creamy plum (CS)
Outrageously Fun - midtone magenta violet (CS)
Dramatic Encounter - deep purple (A)

Lipglass
Impossibly Sweet - sheer soft pink with multi-dimensional pearl
Deliciously Demure - soft cool brown with pearl
Talk Softly To Me - light creamy coral pink
Pink Fade - light creamy pink
Flight of Fancy - rich purple

Extra Dimension Skinfinish
Whisper of Gilt (repromote)
Superb (repromote)

Powder Blush
I'm the One - midtone blue pink
Easy Manner - light dirty peach
Small Vanity - dusty rose tan

Extra Dimension Eyeshadow
A Natural Flirt - soft peachy nude
Divine Blue - midtone aqua
Ready to Party - pale lilac
Stylish Merry - midtone dusty violet
Tall Dark and Handsome - black with pearl
Evening Grey - steel silver
Round Midnight - dark burgundy
Stolen Moment - dark taupe

Fluidlines
Catch My Eye - cool taupe grey with dazzle pearl
Little Black Bow - charcoal with dazzle pearl
Feminine Edge - pink mauve with dazzle pearl

Kohl Power Eye Pencil
Raven - intense black with red pearl
Orpheus - intense black with gold pearl
Mystery - intense black with green pearl
Feline - intense black with black pearl

Nail Lacquer
Endless Night
Girl Trouble
In the Limelight
Everything that Glitters

Have a look at the pictures of the sets after the jump! Enjoy!

Tuesday 18 September 2012

NOTD: China Glaze Liquid Crystal

I actually mentioned this nail polish in my nail polish stash and storage video, so I thought I'd show you properly. A gorgeous duochrome glitter polish with lots of different coloured larger (not large though) glitter. Beautiful.

Taken without flash in natural daylight

It is actually very similar to Enchanted Polish Once Upon A Time (the polish I wore in the video), but more gritty and it's only a duochrome rather than holo as well (I will do a proper NOTD post on that polish too because it is absolutely gorgeous). It is a light turqouise colour in one light turning more pinky-purple in other. Liquid Crystal was a little bit on the thick side, but applied fine and gave a good coverage (I think I did 2 coats), however due to it being a chunkier glitter it did actually chip pretty fast. I had a few chips within 24 hours and actually ended up taking it off after 2 days as I really didn't look great.

I bought mine on eBay, but you can buy it from BeautyBay for £6.95 and Sally Express sell China Glaze polishes for £6.59, although I can't see this one on their website. You get 14 ml which is a very good amount.

See more pictures after the jump!

Sunday 16 September 2012

Simple Spotless Skin Deep Clean Cleansing Pads

I like simple. Simple is good. No need to complicate things, right. I also like the brand Simple, I like it that they keep their products free of colour, perfume and other unnecessary ingredients. You might recall my review of their cleansing wipes. I also use their shampoo and conditioner on my children, I like the idea of them using products without parabens and the like.


I was sent these Simple Spotless Skin Deep Clean Cleansing Pads to try out after PR saw my review of the wipes. I was looking forward to trying them out as I'm always on the hunt for cleansers and scrubs to combat my blackheads and blemishes. These pads have a textured surface to gently exfoliate the skin while the active ingredients help deep clean the T zone. All this while not containing colour, perfume or other unnecessary ingredients. Sounds good, right?

I have to confess, these wipes didn't really do anything for me. I still have just as many blackheads as before and actually had a really bad breakout and two massive spots while using these pads. While I'm not saying they caused it, they certainly didn't eliminate the blemishes. I also found the textured pads a bit harsh and I'm not sure how suitable these would be for sensitive skin.

All in all these didn't work for me. I still like Simple and will continue to purchase the wipes and the haircare products, but not these pads.

A box of 60 pads costs £4.99 and available from Boots, Superdrug and other drugstores and supermarkets.

See more pictures after the jump!

Saturday 15 September 2012

Want It: Urban Decay Vice Eyeshadow Palette

Being a massive Urban Decay fan of course I was very happy to see news of this wonderful eyeshadow palette. Due to be released in the States in September, the palette contains 20 brand new shades (although some do look a bit familiar if you don't mind me) in a variety of matte, shimmer and satin finishes.


The shades included in this palette are:

  • Desperation Taupe brown with satin finish
  • Muse Deep sepia brown with multi-dimensoinal sparkle finish
  • Jagged Metallic black gold with shimmer finish
  • Blitz Metallic yellow gold with shimmer finish
  • Penny Lane Metallic peachy bronze pearl with golden shimmer finish
  • Junkie Dark green/blue pearl with golden shimmer
  • Chaos Bright blue matte
  • Occupy Metallic steel grey with multidimensional sparkle and shimmer finish
  • Unhinged Metallic electric turquoise with shimmer finish
  • Black Market Jet black satin
  • Provocateur Light metallic mauve with multi-dimensional sparkle and shimmer finish
  • Rapture Dark greyish purple with multi-dimensional shimmer finish
  • Vice Deep Eggplant purple with shimmer finish
  • Noise Electric punch pink with gold sparkle and shimmer finish
  • Armor Metallic dove grey with silver micro-glitter shimmer finish
  • Nevermind Metallic cork with shimmer finish
  • Echo Beach Pale wheat with shimmer finish
  • Anonymous Opaque almond with matte finish
  • Free Bird Pink champagne with silver micro-sparkle shimmer finish
  • Laced Opaque pinky taupe with matte finish


It also has a double-ended brush included, but no other extras, making it a much more slimline palette than the Books Of Shadows.

It'll cost $59 in the States, so I'm guessing around £45 for us, making it a great deal for 20 eyeshadows. The eyeshadows are 0.8 g each making them just over half size regular single eyeshadows (1.5 g) that retail for £14 each, plus there's a double ended eyeshadow brush, so it's certainly a great deal. I believe the palette is limited edition, but hopefully there'll be plenty to go around. I'd expect this to be available in the UK sometime in October.

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Friday 14 September 2012

My Recent Mac Purchases: Supercontinental Blush and Warming Heart Pressed Pigment

Despite being a big Mac fan I haven't been buying a lot from their recent collections. Although this month Mac released a good few collections, I only picked up a couple things. I'm sure it will change soon, especially as I have seen pictures of the upcoming holiday collection (details to follow). Anyway, shall we see what I've got?


Supercontinental blush is from the Styleseeker collection. It is a "cute bright coral" according to Mac which is about right, it is coral rather than pink or orange and it's a reallt flattering colour. This blush is satin finish and while plenty enough pigmented, it's not at all too full on, so don't have to worry about overdoing it. The texture is very smooth and soft, it's a really lovely addition to my blush stash.

Warming Heart pressed pigment is from the new Face & Body collection. According to Mac this is supposed to be a face highlighter, but to be honest it is way too glittery to be used on the face. It actually reminds me very much of the Laura Mercier Sequin and Bobbi Brown Sparkle eyeshadows, only this one is skin coloured (NW20 according to Mac, it's a light peachy pink colour to me). It is smooth, so no chunky glitter, but it has that high sheen, wet shimmery look about it. So I would definitely only use it as an eyeshadow, but probably not a highlighter for the browbone either.

Supercontinental blush costs £17.50 and you get 6 g for your money. Warming Heart pressed pigment costs £16.50 for 3 g. Both are limited edition, but still available from the Mac website and certain department stores.

Have you bought anything from Mac lately? Share your purchases in the comments!

See lots more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Thursday 13 September 2012

Primark Nail Polish Remover Wipes

While on the subject of nail polish, I thought I'd share my experience I had with these Primark nail polish remover wipes. I bought these on a recent trip to Primark, once again got sucked into trying something because of the very low price. These wipes cost just £1 for 50 pads (2 x 25). 


Unfortunately I'd say they're not even worth £1. The wipes are very small (smaller than a cotton wool pad), extremely thin (we're talking tissue paper thin) and not very effective at all. They are very hard to hold due to their thinness and even when I managed to get a grip on them they didn't do a good job at removing nail polish. They were very well soaked in nail polish remover, but obviously not a very good one. They felt a bit sticky and oily and I wasn't overly keen on the scent either. Quite frankly a cotton wool pad soaked with my beloved Sally Hansen nail polish remover is much more effective and 100 times easier to use. I will not buy this again, in fact it's already made its way to my rubbish bin. Fail!

See more pictures after the jump!

Wednesday 12 September 2012

My Nail Polish Stash and Storage Video (and Lots of Pictures!)

I've spent a couple of days re-organising my nail polish storage and creating a spreadsheet, so I know exactly where every single one of them are, so I though I would show you the fruit of my hard work. Also I enjoy looking at other people's stashes, so hope you enjoy it too.



I have also taken pictures of the contents of each box and separate packs, so if you're interested, have a look! No individual pictures, but I did do a rather extensive series on my nail polish stash last November, so click here if you'd like to check it out.

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Is It Possible To Have Too Much Of A Good Thing (Or The Same Colour Nail Polish)?

Question: How many different nail polishes am I wearing in the picture below? Yeah, I know, it looks like the same colour on every finger nail. The truth is, I'm wearing 4 different polishes form 4 different brands ranging from £6 to £14. Confused? Let me explain.


I now have a ridiculous amount of nail polishes (over 500) and I managed to fall into the trap of buying the same colour several times. Partly because I didn't know what I had, although partly because I do have a tendency of buying colours I like over and over again. But even so, I never would've thought that it is possible to buy 4 nail polishes from 4 brands that will look EXACTLY the same. Similar, maybe, but exactly the same? All these polishes are fairly recent releases, so it seems that some brands are copying other brands here. Anyway, let me tell you what I have here.

On the index finger I have Deborah Lippmann Private Dancer. This one costs £14 for 15 ml. On the middle finger I wore Nails Inc. Cheyne Walk polish. It costs £11 for 10 ml making it the most expensive per ml. On the ring finger it's China Glaze No Plain Jane, around £7 in the UK (although BeautyBay are selling this for £12.75?) for 14 ml. I got mine on eBay for $4.50 plus pretty reasonable shipping, making it the cheapest per ml. On the pinky it's Topshop Amethyst nail polish, £6 for 8ml. 

So are they any different? I'd say there are very slight differences, but not enough to justify paying over double the price for the higher end brands. In fact for me the Topshop one had the nicest formula which is the second cheapest per ml (or cheapest per bottle, however you look at it, it's still one of the cheapest). The Deborah Lippmann polish is a tiny bit pinker, but really, noone would say you're wearing 4 different polishes on your fingers, they are that similar. The duochrome effect was about the same with all of them (not overly strong and a bit muddy).

I can't comment on how longlasting they are because I only wore the Deborah Lippmann polish on all my other fingers, the other 3 I only wore on one finger each, and I wouldn't compare the ring finger to my index finger, because the pinky and ring fingers are always the last ones to chip and the index finger is the first, whichever polish I wear. The Deborah Lippmann one lasted on me for 2 days without major chipping, but buy the end of day 2 it wasn't looking its best.

I would like to apologise about the application, but I was in a big rush to take pictures because my middle finger nail was actually slightly broken (you might be able to see it in some pictures), so I didn't have time to clean up properly. Also apologies about the picture quality, I took all pictures with my phone because my normal camera cannot handle purples and turns them into blues, but this is such a pretty shade of purple, I really wanted to show you the true colour. The pictures of the bottles turned out the worst, sorry about it.

Right then, onto the pictures!

Monday 10 September 2012

Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Bronze Shimmer Review and Swatches

I love myself some shimmer, and I was happy to try out Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer when it was sent to me for consideration. Although I don't get on very well with liquid highlighters, this is more of a base product that you can mix with your foundation or lotion for a radiant glow.


I got Bronze Shimmer which is a golden bronzy colour. It's good for adding a bit of a sun-lissed glow to your skin. I'm fairly pale even after the summer (yeah I know, what summer?), but this wasn't at all dark for me. The shimmery liquid that comes in a small bottle with a brush in the lid that you can use to apply the product with. It's fairly runny which makes it very blendable.

I like it, but I don't love it. Used under foundation the glow pretty much disappears. If used mixed into a lotion, it will give a more all-over glow which I'm not sure I want on my face. You can dab it onto your cheeks and blend it, it does blend out very easily and isn't too shimmery, certainly not glittery or metallic. I just don't feel like it's a must have product myself, and to be honest I'm not sure I would pay £16 for it. You get 14 ml which is plenty, probably way more than you would ever use up.

Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer is available in 4 shades: Bronze Shimmer, Kitten Shimmer, Pink Shimmer and Rose Gold Shimmer. They can be purchased from BeautyBay and Stila directly for £16.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Sunday 9 September 2012

Guerlain Fall 2012 - Rouge G de Guerlain Lipstick in 28 Genna Review and Swatches

I'd been planning on doing this review for a while, but never had time to do lip swatches and when I finally got around to taking pictures, the disappeared off my computer when I transferred them from the camera. So I had to redo them, and finally, here's the review.


Out of the 4 Rouge G lipsticks Guerlain released for the fall/autumn, I really loved Gracy which I actually ordered unseen, but I wanted to check Genna out in person because it looked like it may be too orange for me. Good news is, it isn't. It is an orangey-red, very warm, but it's definitely more red than orange. It lasted on me for about 4 hours without eating, it became more and more pink as it faded and left a nice pinky stain behind despite its orange hues which is intriguing.

Guerlain Rouge G lipsticks are my favourites, the formula is lovely, lightweight yet long lasting and the colours are usually so beautiful and flattering. They come in a heavyweight lipstick case with a flip out mirror. Rouge G lipsticks aren't refillable sadly. I haven't run out of any yet (due to having so many lipsticks), but if I do, I would love it if I could just buy a refill, otherwise the case just goes to waste.

Rouge G lipsticks cost £29.50 each and contain 3.5 g of product which is a regular amount. All 4 Rouge G lipsticks released in the fall collection are permanent additions to the Rouge G line, so you don't have to rush out to buy them all straight away.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Saturday 8 September 2012

FOTD: Estee Lauder Violet Underground

I promised you this look ages ago, sorry I've only just got around to posting it. Life has been hectic, even more so than usual. Anyway, here it is finally.


To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Too Faced Insurance Policy
Estee Lauder Violet Underground Eyeshadow Palette pinky beige colour in the inner corner of the lid and on the browbone to highlight
Estee Lauder Violet Underground Eyeshadow Palette magenta colour in the middle of the lid
Estee Lauder Violet Underground Eyeshadow Palette navy blue colour in the outer corner of the lid and the crease
Estee Lauder Violet Underground Eyeshadow Palette black colour used wet as eyeliner above the upper lashline
L'Oreal HIP Violet Volt eyeliner on lower lashline
Guerlain Noir G Mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Boots No 7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream
Guerlain Voilettes Invisible Skin Fusion Loose Powder in 03 Beige Naturel
Nars Foreplay palette matte pink blush (review coming up)

Lips:
Estee Lauder Wild Violet lipstick

Let me know what you think in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

Friday 7 September 2012

Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection Promo Pictures and Details - Updated

I have more news and pictures on the upcoming Guerlain Holiday 2012 collection that is due to be released sometime in October. First of all this beautiful promo picture featuring the ever-gorgeous Natalia Vodianova.


Just how beautiful is this picture? I love everything about it!

Here are the details of the collection:

Liu Perfumed Shimmer Powder for Face & Body

Perfumed shimmering face and body powder with scents of rose, iris and aldehydes.

Liu Calligraphy Eyes & Lips Palette

The new palette features two red shades for lips, a classic red and a raspberry red, three eyeshadows in champagne, soft brown and peach a black eyeliner and two mini brushes.

Meteorites Perles du Dragon Illuminating Powder

The 6 pearls come in the following shades: pale pink, beige, white, gold, plum and rosewood.

Meteorites Wulong Voyage Compact Powder

Pressed powder in the same hues the Meteorites Perles

L’Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette

Les Ombres Turandot – plum, gold, taupe, brown

Shine Automatique
  • 700 Altoum: gold
  • 760 Lou-Ling: plum

Nail Varnish

  • 03 Altoum: peachy champagne
  • 04 Lou-Ling: burgundy

See lots more product pictures after the jump!

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Summer Favourites Video

It was the first day back at school after 6 (long) weeks of summer holiday, so I decided to do a little video showing you what products I enjoyed using this summer.

Tuesday 4 September 2012

NOTD: Darling Diva Polish in Dangerous Driver

I have recently discovered some indie nail polish brands, one of them is Darling Diva Polish. In this post I want to show you Dangerous Driver, a beautiful purle polish with green duochrome, red sparkles and subtle holo. I'd say it's not as blue purple in real life as it is in the pictures as my camera always turns purples into blues. This reminds me of Max Factor Fantasy Fire but with holo.

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

I layered this over 2 coats of China Glaze Gothic Lolita, and I think I used 2 coats of Dangerous Driver as well. You can use it on its own too, it's not too sheer. The consistency of this was really nice, not too runny, not thick, just right. The combination lasted on me for about 24 hours without chipping, by the end of day 2 i had some bigger chips. Not the longest lasting, but China Glaze polishes don't seem to last on me very well, so maybe it was China Glaze's fault. I'm not sure, I've never used Gothic Lolita on its own.

I bought my Dangerous Driver from the Darling Diva Polish shop on Etsy, it cost $12 for 15 ml. They ship internationally for quite a reasonable price, $7 per bottle, but for 4 bottles only $10. I have bought another 3 polishes from Darling Diva that yet I need to try and there are a few bottles in the shop I quite fancy, but can't justify right now due to my excessive nail polish stash.

See more pictures after the jump!

Monday 3 September 2012

Laura Mercier Rubellite Baked Eye Colour Review and Swatches

As well as the Pink Tourmaline Shimmer Bloc I also picked up Rubellite baked eyeshadow from Laura Mercier. I believe this was/is part of the Summer Jewels collection. This was more easily available than the Shimmer bloc, but I actually ordered it unseen from Harrods, as I'd already owned a few of these baked eyeshadows (check them out here), so I knew I was getting something good.


Rubellite is a gorgeous bright pink shade without shimmer, although it has a nice sheen to it. It's a baked formula, so it can be used wet and dry as well. I used it dry and it gave a good colour payoff. It was very smooth and buttery, and there wasn't much fall out from it either, the little that there was only happened during application. It remained bright and didn't crease on me all day (applied over primer).

Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colours are £18.50 each and you get 1.8 g for your money. The come in a mirrorless compact with a clear lid, so you see which shade you have straight away. I love the formula and the colour and I will definitely buy this in another shade if Ms Mercier releases more of them.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Sunday 2 September 2012

Laura Mercier Pink Tourmaline Mosaic Shimmer Bloc Review and Swatches

I really like highlighters, the prettier the better (heck, I even named my blog after one!) and Laura Mercier's Shimmer Blocs are one of my favourites. I think the Orchid Mosaid Shimmer Bloc was one of my first high end make up purchases. So of course I was very happy to see that a new shade was released earlier this summer (in fact there were two, but I only got this one as the other one - Starlet - seemed a bit blah to me).


The shade I did get is Pink Tourmaline Mosaic and it consists of 4 shades: icy white, bright warm pink, light pinky beige and soft rosy pink. Mixed together the shades create a soft pink glow. It is quite frosty, but applied lightly it does give a very nice sheen to the skin. Of course the shades can also be used separately as eyeshadows, or you can swirl them together as highlighter while omitting one or two colours. The segments are not really big enough to be able to picked up individually with a blush brush, but a small one might work.

I believe this was part of the Cinema Noir collection just like Starlet Shimmer Bloc, but for some reason this seemed not to be available everywhere. I bought mine from Harrods actually, maybe they had it as an exclusive. It cost £31 and you get 6 g which is rather small actually, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks are 10.3 g. That said there's only so much highlighter you can get through in a lifetime.

I'm sorry I never got around to taking pictures of me wearing the shimmer bloc, but I have swatches. Check them out after the jump!

Saturday 1 September 2012

Laura Geller Eye Elements Baked Eye Shadow and Highlighter in Sand and Sea

I have another one of Laura Geller's Eye Elements, a compact containing 3 baked eyeshadows and a baked highlighter (that can also be used as an eyeshadow of course). I own a few of these already, for reviews and swatches, click here.


Sand and Sea is the newest shade containing a sand colour eyeshadow, a pinky bronze colour eyeshadow, a teal eyeshadow and a light pinky beige highlighter, suitable for cheeks and eyes. The eyeshadows used dry are a bit on the sheer side, especially the teal colour, it is also the most shimmery, but they are pretty colours, nice for creating a neutral look with a pop of colour. The highlighter is a little frosty, but it is still very wearable and it is certainly not glittery. The shadows and the highlighter are very soft and silky, with the exception of the teal one which is a bit crumbly.

I'm sure we've seen these colours before a million times, but it's still a nice compact, great colours for summer and it's a good all in one option. I really like the highlighter, it's very pretty. The compact contains 9 g of product altogether, so each block of colour is big enough to use separately and the highlighter portion is big enough for a blush brush.

I bought mine on eBay for just over £15 plus postage, but it is also available on QVC for £30.25 plus £2.95 p&p. I personally don't think these are worth £30, and that's why I buy them on eBay. If they were £20, I would consider buying them from QVC.

Anyway, see more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this after the jump.

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