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Tuesday 26 November 2013

Quickie Review and LOTDs: Illamasqua Fatale Palette


Initially I wasn’t drawn to this palette at all, until I saw Karla Powell use it in a look on a models lips and had to have it! I’ve never tried a pressed eyeshadow from Illamasqua that wasn’t matte so didn’t really know what to expect. My experiences with the matte shades they make have varied from ‘meh’ to ‘pretty damn good,’ so I was interested to check out the shimmery shades and see what the payoff was like in real life – the moving swatch on the website made them look like the pigmentation was great!


Illamasqua Fatale Palette Review

Illamasqua Fatale Palette Swatches

L-R, swatched on bare skin:

Bronx : bronzed gold
Ensnare: sultry berry shimmer
Mystify: chestnut brown
Charm: seductive violet shimmer

The shade names are from the Illamasqua website. Apart from Ensnare, which in my opinion is much too cool to be called chestnut, these are pretty accurate descriptions. I’m happy to report that these indeed are pretty damn good. I’d venture to say excellent, actually. They feel very smooth and lightweight, and with the possible exception of Charm, which is a *little* sheerer than the others, they all give you really rich colour in one stroke. They’re not unique colours by any means, but the quality is certainly there. While I do prefer a mix of matte and shimmery shades in my palette, these aren’t so shimmery they make you look like a glitter ball and Mystify is dark enough to help give some definition even with the sheen it has.

Let’s see it on the old mug, shall we?

Illamasqua Fatale

Illamasqua Fatale Palette 2

Bitchface ahoy

Illamasqua Fatale Palette Eye Makeup

Eyes: Illamasqua Ensnare, Mystify and Charm, with Illamasqua loose pigment in Beguile in corner of lids.
Cheeks: Etude House Minnie Touch Highlight, MUA Blush in shade 2 (I think, label worn off), Too Faced chocolate bronzer
Lips: MAC Magenta, Illamasqua Boost

Ensnare and Charm actually work really well together – I’d never really have though to pair a cranberry and a light violet colour together but I think it’s a pretty combination. You can see on the lower lashline that the grey-taupe of Mystify is nice with Charm as well. I’ll have to play with those two together again soon.

When I ordered this palette, I also got Boost lipgloss to go with it. It’s pretty sheer and the applicator is sadly terrible, but my gosh, it looks beautiful over hot pinks and magentas!

Illamasqua Fatale Palette 3

Illamasqua Fatale Palette 4

Illamasqua Fatale Palette Eye Makeup 2

Eyes: Illamasqua Bronx and Mystify
Cheeks: MAC Margin
Lips: e.l.f Studio matte lipstick in Coral, Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Provoke

A simpler combination, but one that I really like with my colouring. I don’t normally care about wearing colours that make my eyes ‘pop’ or not, but I do really like this pairing with my blue eyes

Pretty colours, no?  I think this palette would suit a decent range of skintones and that they all actually work very nicely together as well as. The warm tones are something I’ve seen on lots of celebrities at the moment and work well as part of a Christmas collection.

I thought this palette was pretty pricey – you get 6 grams for £34. It seems a lot, but compared to something like one of the little baked Chanel quads which is around £37 for 1.2g, it’s actually not that bad for something on the higher end of the scale. Even so, I probably wouldn’t have purchased this palette without my Illamasqua pro discount due to the price. I’m really glad I went for it though - the formula is lovely, the colours are on-trend and I just think it’s a beautiful little palette. A perfect treat for a beauty lover this Christmas!

If you’re up for putting this lovely bit of stuff on your face, you can get it at www.Illamasqua.com.

Sunday 24 November 2013

First Impressions: LoveMeBeauty Box

I finally succumbed to a beauty box. I know most people tend to moan about them and to be honest, that's part of the reason why I subscribed - I love a good moan! I went with the LoveMeBeauty box which is £10 a month plus P&P.
The idea with LoveMeBeauty is that you get a choice of  'menus'  or 'mystery' box per month. With the menus, you can see the exact items you'll be getting, and with the mystery box, it's obviously a mystery!

You get 4-5 items in each box, with ' 1 to 2 star products and 3 travel sized samples.'  This month's menu had items from Lord and Berry, Models Own and Jelly Pong Pong but as it was my first go, I wanted to see what the mystery box had in store!

The box is simply presented – plain cardboard box with pink tissue paper and squigglies (real word) inside. I like that as there’s no guff and it’s easy to recycle. There was no descriptive card as I chose the mystery option. I’m not sure how much of a ‘mystery’ this option is though, as a couple of the items I got were on the menus that you could choose this month. Here’s what I got.

lovmebeauty

Clockwise from top left:

Organic Surge Gentle Cleansing Lotion £5.99

This is rosemary and lemon scented, and I won’t lie, it’s a weird smell. Not gross, but odd. However, that aside, I really like this! I love a nice creamy cleanser and this works really well – like all cream cleansers it’s a bit of a pain in the butt to take mascara off with the rest of my skin likes this a lot so far. The main ingredients are water and glycerin, and then a bunch of stuff that looks to be of a lemony origin, so seemingly no nasties to my untrained eye. I think this is my favourite item in the box!

Melvita Fresh Moisturising Body Milk

Meh. This is a pleasantly rose-scented body lotion, I suppose, but thin creams don’t do anything for me. It’s better than nothing but I prefer something a bit more robust, especially on my legs. This is my least favourite item in the box but I’ll keep it in my desk drawer for topping up my arms during the day.

Le Soin Purifiant Absolution Mask

I found this on Amazon as a 50ml instead of a 40ml for £24.00, so decent little item here for your box money. This is where having a card telling you about the products would be handy because this is all in French, and my French basically consists of talking about pamplemousse and ordering beer, so not helpful here! I worked out that it was a purifying mask. I tried it last night and it seems a little thin compared to a lot of facemasks I’ve tried. I didn’t really feel it did anything to be honest but hard to judge just from one go.

 

Anatomicals Don't Clean It Woman, Scrub It Body Scrub £3.60


What the hell kind of name is this? MEN USE SCRUBS TOO, YEAH? The back has some jokey blurb about ‘just like your kitchen floor’, your body needs scrubbing too. Um. Okay?  It’s not quite as gritty as I would like, but it does the job well enough and has a nice grapefruit scent so I’ll be using this up, despite (hopefully ironic) vaguely sexist branding. This retails for around £4, and I found it on various retailers including ASOS.

 

Jelly Pong Pong 2-in-1 Eyeliner & Shadow in Bronze £10.50

No name, but it's a deep, warm shimmery bronze. It's one of those colours that's nothing overly special, but I really quite like it. It has nice pigmentation on one stroke, smudges out quite nicely so would make a nice base, and yet isn't too soft to apply just as a liner. This has gone in my daily makeup bag for work and looks nice with blue eyes. Jelly Pong Pong are selling these for £10.50, which I think is a little pricey.


 

Well… I think I liked this box enough to try next month and see if I’ll carry on with it. I think I got my money’s worth with this one for sure – I really like the cleanser and the eye pencil is nice too. I’ll pick one the of menu items next month to see how that goes.

Do you have a box subscription? Which is your favourite?

Thursday 21 November 2013

Quickie Review and LOTD: e.l.f Studio blush in Gotta Glow

e.l.f recently had one of their nifty 50% office sale (I picked up some of my favourite brushes which you can see here) and I decided to throw ‘Gotta Glow’ into my basket to see what all the fuss was about. Famed for being an inexpensive dupe for NARS Albatross which I was drooling over instore with Rachael recently, I was really excited to try it out. I love golden highlighters, and the ones I had before this were either a really warm, yellow gold or more of a champagne-gold, and this one is more of a white-gold.

 

elf gotta glow 3

 

You can really see where the NARS comparisons come in! The compact had a decent heft to it and doesn’t feel cheap. The small mirror is a little pointless in my opinion – I wish it took up the whole lid, but then I do like that you can see the product without opening the compact.

 

elf gotta glow 2

 

elf gotta glow


elf gotta glow 4

 

I’d click to enlarge those photos and see the product close up, but as you can see, it’s actually a really lovely and subtle highlighter! I was initially worried at first that it would be too ashy or chalky on the skin it kicks up a lot of powder when you swirl your brush in the pan, but luckily that didn’t translate on my cheek. I’ll hazard a guess you don’t get that with the NARS version but I don’t have a problem with it really, especially for the price point. It also builds quite nicely into a stronger highlight if you want to double it up on the inner corner of the eye.

All in all – a lovely highlighter and a lovely bargain! I’m tempted to try some more of e.l.f’s blush range if they’re all this pretty– any recommendations?

The studio blushes cost £3.50 from eyeslipsface.co.uk

Sunday 17 November 2013

Quickie Review and LOTD: MAC Nocturnals Green & Teal Pigment and Glitter Set

MAC Nocturnals Pigments

MAC Nocturnals

I normally don’t even bother to look at MAC’s holiday sets, but this one really caught my eye as I’ve wanted several of the colours for a long time. This is a pigments and glitter set including Reflects Gold glitter, Old Gold pigment, 3D Gold glitter, Deep Blue Green pigment and Just Before Dawn Pigment. Reflects Gold is part of the permanent Pro range, Old Gold and Deep Blue Green are part of the permanent core range, 3D Gold isn’t permanent as far as I can tell but gets released with various collections and is easy to find elsewhere online. Just Before Dawn is limited Edition.

I’ve tried MAC glitter before but never the pigments so I was excited to have a play around. These are in smaller pots than than usual with a gold and white colour scheme on the lid which is also printed on the box they came in as well. I think the presentation of these vials is really chic for a winter collection and certainly much more pleasing on the eye than plain old black. The set comes in a glossy black box with the same white-and-gold motif around the edge, but it was so shiny I gave up trying to capture it, to be honest!

 

MAC Nocturnals Green Teal Pigment Swatches

Mac Nocturnals Green Teal Swatches

Pigments over bare skin, glitters with Lit Cosmetics glitter base.

L-R: Relfects Gold (white glitter with gold sheen that looks champagne in some lights, as you can see here) , Old Gold (bright gold with an olive sheen), Deep Blue Green (blackened teal), Just Before Dawn (deep grey-taupe), 3D Gold (almost chartreuse holographic gold).

 

Old GOld on the Lips
3D Gold on the Lid

Old Gold on the lips with Inglot Duraline), 3D Gold on the lips with Lit Cosmetics glitter base. Here you can really see the greenish tone that Old Gold has and how vibrant 3D gold looks! Apparently 3D Gold isn’t lip safe, but personally I don’t care.

MAC Nocturnals Just Before Dawn Old Gold Blue Brown Teal LOTD Reflects Gold

MAC Nocturnals LOTD Look Eyeshadows

Just Before Dawn all over the lid and lower lashline with Deep Blue Green in the outer V. Reflects Gold in the inner corner and Old Gold and Deep Blue Green to line.

Reflects Gold

Reflects Gold on the lid.

Just before Dawn

Just Before Dawn in the crease and on lower lashline, Deep Blue Green on the upper lashline.

Overall, I really love this set! I think pigments work well together and that the glitters are a really fun addition that work with the pigments nicely too. 3D Gold might be a bit much for some, (especially as I’m sure it’s not technically eye or lip safe) but Reflects Gold is a really nice, “subtle” glitter than I think most people could get use out of. Personally the stand out for me is actually Just Before Dawn - I love the deep grey look it has and just think it’s a really sexy colour. I’m excited to work out what fun things I can do with 3D Gold as well as I’m a huge fan of the 3D silver glitter! I do find the name of the set odd – there’s not a true green shade in here at all and there are two gold shades? 

I was concerned the vials would be too small to get a brush into as they’re  slim openings on the jars, but I managed to get my application and blending brushes into the top, and can just about use the lids to swirl the excess products away. It’s not the easiest packaging to use but it’s not the worst, and there’s also a small plug on top of the opening to keep things a bit neater which is nice.

The set costs £25.50 from maccosmetics.co.uk. With one pigment from MAC costing £17 for 0.15 ounces (these pigments are 0.09 ounces or 0.14 ounces for the glitter)  you’re getting a pretty decent amount of quality product for your money. For a makeup lover, I think this is a really nicely presented gift!

 

 

Do you like MAC pigments? What do you have your eye on from this years holiday collection?

Friday 15 November 2013

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3!

LOTD with Melt Spacecake and MAC Glitter and Ice Cool Palette

All in all, this look is not as nice as I wanted it to be as I was trying some new products and totally buggered it up, but I really wanted to show off this rather gorgeous lipstick!
 
 
mac glitter and ice cool lotd

mac glitter and ice cool lotd 2

mac glitter and ice cool lotd 3

mac glitter and ice cool
Melt Space Cake
 
Eyes: Shadows are all MAC Glitter and Ice cool palette, Morgana Cryptoria Silver Holo Glitter on the lid
Cheeks: Too Faced Chocolate…something, I don’t fucking know
Lips: Melt Cosmetics Spacecake
 
 
I participated in a Halloween makeup swap, and my swap partner Channy sent me some wonderful items, including the glitter and eyeshadows seen here. I mean seriously, a MAC palette from the Glitter and Ice collection? This is a bloody gorgeous palette, and you can still pick it up on eBay and so on for not-too-silly prices - the purple and blue shades are just gorgeous. Thank you Channy! She also sent me some really nice Australian items that I'll be talking about soon.

 The reason I buggered this look up is that I was doing an intricate swoopy cut-crease sort of thing, and then I tried to adhere the glitter she sent me using Lit Clearly Liquid base…. I’d not use it before and it messed up all my liner and all my crease work. It’s an amazing adhesive (I'll be reviewing it soon) but I really needed to learn how to use it before attempting something so fancy with it! So please excuse the dissapointing eye makeup, heehee!
 
 
But let’s talk about that lipstick. GREY LIPSTICK, SCHWEEDHEART. I’d seen a lot of love for Melt on Instagram and on a total whim picked up a couple of shades, including this lovely, Spacecake. If you want I’ll do a review on the two shades I picked, but for now, bask in it’s matte grey creme glory.
 
 
What do you think of grey lipstick? Yea? Nay? Really nay?

Thursday 14 November 2013

My Favourite e.l.f Makeup Brushes!

 As a makeup nerd, a reasonably sized brush collection is so helpful to have, but can easily start costing you a hefty amount! Enter budget brands...
 
 E.l.f, like a lot of cheaper brands, can be pretty hit or miss sometimes, but luckily I've found they really do have a few winners in their brush range and some of these are in amongst my most used
brushes!
 
The black brushes are from the 'Studio' line, which is e.l.f's more expensive range and all cost £3.50 each. The white brushes are from their regular line and all cost £1.50 each. The Studio line are synthetic Taklon bristles. No information is listed for the regular line, but I believe they are synthetic also.
 
L-R: Powder Brush, Eyeshadow Brush, Blush Brush, Eyeshadow "C" Brush

Powder Brush, £3.50
 
This is a really interesting little gem. It's basically a flat-top kabuki brush on a long handle - it's very dense and lovely and soft. I love this brush for setting my makeup with powder, especially on a shoot or for a design with greasepaints or facepaints. It's perhaps a little large for working liquid foundations into the face and it's flat shape means it's a little harder to get all into all the nooks and crannies, but if you're not sure if buffing is for you, this isn't a badly priced brush to experiment with! I imagine it would work really well with mineral makeup too. I've never used another kabuki brush as I love this one so much - the handle makes it much more appealing to me - but be warned that as it's so dense it sometimes takes a bit of effort to wash!
 

Eyeshadow Brush, £1.50

This brush is only £1.50. ONE MEASLY POUND FIDDY. And I absolutely love, love, love this brush. It's a great shape and density for placing eyeshadow on the lid and it's just fluffy enough on the edges to softly blend the colour out. It's not a blending brush and you won't be able to create a super-soft, complex look with it, but if you're in a rush or just want to apply one shadow, this will soften
out that harsh edge for you in no time. I really like this brush for beginners and have given it to friends and clients to practise with, and always take one with me when I'm travelling - I think I have 6 or 7 of these! They're not the most handsome of brushes (the white handles can get a little grubby) and they're not super soft -they're not harsh or scratchy at all but you're not going to swoon over the softness. The price is a bonus, I have to say - when e.l.f have their 50% off sales I always stock up - you can't beat a good, basic brush for 75p!
 
Sadly I have to add that I don't rate the rest of the £1.50 line I've tried, although I've not tried all of them.
 
 
Blush Brush, £3.50

This is my favourite blush brush! It's a slightly flattened, pointed shape which makes it really versatile as the tip is quite small and slim, meaning it's great for contouring or highlighting with powders as well as traditional blush application. Because it's so multi-purpose, I really like taking a couple of these with me in my kit. While the smaller size makes it good for small faces and prominent cheekbones, it's still great for blending colour out on the cheeks and is lovely and soft. If you're a fan of indie makeup, this brush is a nice size for dipping in to small blush containers without making a mess, too!
 

 Eyeshadow "C" Brush, £.3.50

A similar shape to the eyeshadow brush before, but a bit more curved, larger, and with much stiffer, less fluffy bristles. The idea of this brush is that the 'C' shape fits in nicely on the outer corner of your eye, giving you a nice neat application. Now, this greatly depends on your eye size and shape (it's a fairly large brush) as well as the look you want, but that aside, this is a really great brush for packing on eyeshadow. Again, I have several of these and love using them.
 
The reason I've added two pretty similar eyeshadow brushes in here is that I find it *so* difficult to find good, reasonably priced, simple eyeshadow brushes for just laying down eyeshadow, especially in UK drugstores. If you're stuck between the two, I'd probably say go for the £1.50 - it picks up loose eyeshadow a little better and as it's smaller it's more likely to fit your eye.
 
 

I have at *least* two of all these brushes, and have some of them for several years and they're all doing really well! While my brushes don't get as much use as a full-time makeup artist (I work on shoots and clients on the side of my full-time job) they get a LOT of use and I wash pretty much all of my brushes at least every ten days or so, so these are well tested! With the exception of
a *slightly* wobbly ferrule on my oldest of the flat-top brushes, I have never had a single issue with them - no shedding, they don't seem to get dented or scratched up and they stay lovely and soft while keeping thier shape. There are some brushes that e.l.f make that I don't rate at all, and others that I like a lot too, but these ones here? Full on love, regardless of the price point.

If you're in the U.K, you can pick these up at www.eyeslipsface.co.uk

Monday 11 November 2013

LOTD and Swatches: Etude House Minnie Touch Highlighter and Minnie in The Nails Polishes!

It’s taken me a long time to really dip my toe into the beautiful waters of Asian cosmetics – I’ve bought a few bits and bobs here and there but between the total cuteness of some Korean brands and the exciting luxury of some Japanese brands I’ve mostly tried to stay away. However, as a Disney fan, this adorable collection really caught my eye and I had to get a couple of items! From the packaging, this looks to be an official collaboration with Disney. As well as the polishes and highlighter I’ll show here, there’s also a blush, loose glitters, two lipsticks and some false lashes.
 
 
 
Minnie Mouse Highlighter Etude House 2
 
Minnie Mouse Highlighter Etude House 3
 
Minnie Mouse Highlighter Etude House 1
 
 
First up is the Minnie Touch Highlighter. Isn’t this beyond adorable?
 
 
Minnie Etude House Highlighter Closeup
Minnie Mouse Highlighter Touch Etude House
 
Face: Missha Signature Wrinkle Filler BB Cream, Illamasqua Loose Powder.
Cheeks: Etude House Minnie Touch Highlighter, Etude House Cherry Tint (pink)
Lips: Etude House Cherry Tint (pink)
Eyes: Darling Girl Spectral Shift in Ramblin’ Rose, MAC Just Before Dawn , Etude Houe Minnie Touch Highlighter
 
 
It’s SO hard to capture this in photos (and swatches where I could only capture it as white), but with all the shades swirled together, it’s a very iridescent, smooth cool pink highlighter. If you’ve tried the MUA Undress Your Skin highlighter or like the sort of shade of MAC Strobe Cream then you’ll really like this. It’s very smooth to apply with no chunky glitter or shimmer particles, and a little goes a long way although it's pretty buildable.
 
 
It’s quite a soft powder, so I don’t think that the lovely Minnie embossing on the powder is going to last very long, but the compact itself is so adorable I really don’t mind. I’m debating whether to get the blush or not as it has a different drawing on it, and the cute drawing style is what really drew me to this this product.
 
 
This powder was approximately £10 from this eBay shop, which has free shipping and they threw in some lovely samples as well.
 
 
 
I also checked out the polishes from the range – they have two gel colour polishes, and four glitters. Two of the glitters have the shape of Minnie’s bow in the polish, but the ones I chose have the shape of her (or rather Mickey’s) head as I didn’t think the bow shaped glitters were that obvious. I love the Mickey Mouse symbol so couldn’t resist! I got shades #3 Minnie White Face and the rather awfully named #6 Minnie Black Face.
 
 
Minnie Etude House Polishes Minnie White Face Minnie Black Face
 
Minnie Etude House Polishes
 
Minnie Mouse Etude House Nail Polishes
 
Once again, the packaging is absolutely adorable. The sticker sealing the lids down is Mickey shapes, and they have have the Etude House logo moulded into the tops of the caps, which again have the Mickey motif on.
 
 
The polishes themselves were a bit of a pain the butt to apply – I had to fish for the face shaped pieces of glitter in both shades and the shade with the black Mickey glitter I had to place the glitter on. The one with the white faces was much better and seems to have a lot more glitter – large and small pink and white matt hex glitters with square copper glitters, small pink tinsels and some shimmer as well as the matte white Mickey face. The one with the black Mickey faces in has small and large pink and white matte hex glitters and small black matte hex glitters in. The base polish is really glossy with both of these, and while they were a pain the butt to apply, they’re just beyond cute and I don’t find the large pieces are too large to sit flush on the nail which is great!  If you want an alternative to polishes, there are also some loose glitters in the range that are shaped like Minnies and bows for around £3 each.
 
 
I got these from the same Korean eBay seller for about £3.37.
 
 
korean samples
 
 
I also got a few free samples – I’m wearing the BB cream in the photo above (thankfully it was an ok match!) as well as the pink cherry tint. I love getting samples from eBay seller, especially when they’re brands I’ve never heard of, let alone tried! I've got three uses out of the BB cream and have fallen in love with it... D'Oh! I also quite like the Cherry Tints - they smell like strawberry laces! I'll have to update you all on what on earth 'the smim' is though!
 
 
Will you try any of this range? Are you a Disney freak like me?

Thursday 7 November 2013

Quickie Review: VIVO Matte Lipsticks

page


Last but not least in my VIVO-rama are their matte lipsticks! I love a matte lipstick so when VIVO sent me three shades to try I ripped the tops off and got swatching! I really like the packaging for these – the tubes taper off to one side instead of being a normal round tube. I like little quirks like this, as it makes it easier to find colours I want in my carefully organised storage system massive bucket of lipsticks.

Pink Sweetie

‘Pink Sweetie’

tangtastic

‘Tangtastic’


pucker red

‘Pucker Red’


vivo lipsticks1
L-R: Pink Sweetie, Tangtastic, Pucker Red. Eyes are VIVO Dreamy Palette.

 

Surprisingly, I really, really like Pink Sweetie! It’s not a colour family I ever really reach for, but I do like it and think it would suit a 60’s look wonderfully and I can see myself using Tangtastic for ombre lips using other orange or red colours or with a really sparkly gloss over the top, or for work. If you get one out of the bunch though, it’s gotta be Pucker Red! It’s a gorgeous classic shade and I think it’d suit a whole bunch of skintones. Something about it reminds me of how your lips look when you’ve eaten ice lollies.

The formula of these is kind of strange for matte lipsticks – they are indeed matte but unlike a lot of other matte formulas, they’re quite thin. I think this is a good thing – a lot of matte lipsticks can feel clumpy and drag on the lips but these don’t. They’re not super matte like some other lipsticks can be either, which depending on your preferences could be good or bad. I’m just happy there are such things as comfortable, pigmented matte lipsticks available for a couple of squids.

 

Personally I hope the shade range expands (there’s also a bright pink in the range) but if you’re after a gorgeous red for party season (and fancy a fair whack of change from a tenner to boot!) these are available from VIVO for £1.99.

 

As always where products are sent to me, opinions are my own.

Quickie Review and Swatches: Darling Girl Spectral Shifts

DG

Darling Girl is a wonderful indie company with a huge range of amazing shadows and blushes – genuinely something for everyone! In my last order from them I got several of their ‘Spectral Shifts’:

“Spectral Shifts are silky, sheer, iridescent, multipurpose shades that can be used as eye shadow, face highlighters, or depending on your complexion, blush.  Don't let the colors fool you -- the shift makes them very wearable.”

I have to say that the description is spot on – these are super soft, finely milled shades with a beautiful lit-from-within look to them. Where they’re so fine, you can pack them on or use them as a soft wash, and they work really well layered other other products like eyeliners and eyeshadow.

 

Spectral Shifts Darling Girl


Spectral Shifts DG 2

L-R: Razzles, Mystique, April Showers, Ramblin’ Rose, Double Bubble.

My swatches are pretty poor compared to the ones on the site which show up the shifts beautifully, but I hope you can tell how pretty they are! Originally I wanted to get more pinky-peach colours so I could use them as highlighters but ended up falling in love with a couple of blue colours. Razzles is a really interesting periwinkle  colour with a reddish shift – I’m keen to use this in a smokey eye soon. Mystique is made up of soft cotton candy blue with a pink shift and is the most adorable colour – it layers over blues really well. April Showers looks lovely on the lid – very subtle indeed on it’s own but adds a little somethin’ somethin’ I really quite enjoy! Ramblin’ Rose is the one I would tell everyone to go buy – a dove grey colour with a reddish-pink shift, it’s an absolutely stunning eyeshadow – but Double Bubble is my absolute favourite – it’s so cheerful!

DSCF4456

Here I’m wearing Mystique as an all-over cheek highlight for a ghostly sort of look. It’s not an everyday look by any means of course, but shows off the subtle glow you’ll get from the Spectral shifts.

April Showers

This wonderful display of makeup artistry sis what happens when you do your makeup on the tube. Mascara splodges aside, I’m a bit in love with way April Showers looks on the lid. So subtle and yet so pretty! It reminds me of a softer, girlier version of one of my favourite Fyrinnae shades, Damn Paladins.

Available at darlinggirlcosmetics.com, a petit jar of these – which goes a long way! - will set you back a staggeringly measly $2.50!

Have you tried Darling Girl? What are your favourite highlighters?

Quickie Review: L’Oreal Nude Magique Eau De Teint Foundation in 110 Warm Ivory

 
Nude Magique Eau De Teint
 
I picked this up on a total whim during Superdrug’s 3-for-2 extravaganza. I was picking up my favourite and much repurchased Revlon Colorstay when I spotted this on the shelves and, remembering rave reviews from US bloggers (why is the US version of something never in French, by the way?) I spent about 15 minutes trying to work out which matched me best in the crappy shop lighting. I eventually settled on 110 Warm Ivory, which is a touch too warm on my face but Porcelain was much too pale for me, and skipped off home to try it. I don’t usually wear L’Oreal foundations but understand they’ve changed their colour naming/numbering system for this line.

  This foundation probably isn’t something I should have picked up at all – it’s a silicone based foundation and alcohol is way up there on the ingredients list. I have combination/dry skin, so that’s not the best combo, but bollocks to it, I wanted to try it! The promise of lightweight, lovely matte-ness swayed me and it sounded perfect for work.
 
Nude Magique Eau De Teint Consistency
 
 
L’oreal claim this is their ‘lightest foundation ever,’ a ‘fresh feel foundation with weightless bare perfection.’ Sounds good, huh? The bottle says to shake it up well and tip on to your finger, presumably suggesting this applies best with your hands. I went right ahead and tried it on. As you can see, it’s very watery and spreads very smoothly in a thin layer over the skin – it’s a very odd formula!
 
 
Nude Magique Eau De Teint Coverage
 
 
As it felt so thin, I wasn’t expecting anything at all when I looked in the mirror properly and I was bloody impressed with the finish! It looked matte but not flat on the skin, and while still fairly sheer, I was able to build it up a little over some blemishes. As you can see, I could do with some concealer still but trust me, the redness on the side of my nose and chin were pretty honking in real life. I applied a couple of layers of the foundation over the top, and considering how thin it is I was very impressed with the coverage I got without it looking cakey.
 
 
Due to the silicone texture and the long wearing claims I’d read about, the first day I tried it I went a little overboard with my moisturizing routine. I applied it at 6.00am and by 11.00am that morning, the foundation had completely separated on my nose and chin so by lunchtime, I more than needed to top those areas. Luckily reapplication is pretty quick! The next day I toned down my morning moisturizing routine and  I found it lasted much more nicely, needing a little love mid-afternoon and then sticking around for a meal in a pretty hot restaurant. I don’t like to powder over this, preferring to blot instead as I find powder makes it look a bit too matte. I do find, like most matte foundations, that it clings to my dry areas, but I've not found many foundations that don't do this and I don't find it feels drying on my skin at all.
 

I found this foundation to be a little expensive. Not as a foundation itself, but compared to other high street options of similar quality it is. At £9.99 for 20ml, it’s more expensive per ml than their True Match or Infallible ranges. I suppose if it’s really right for you a couple of quid isn’t that much, but still, for a lot of people that’s going to be something worth considering and if this hadn’t had been on offer I probably wouldn’t have bothered.

While I found this formula really interesting, for me this isn’t a perfect foundation. If you’ve got very dry skin, this will cling to your dry patches and you may not find the silicone-y feel comfortable. If you have very oily skin, I don’t think it’s going to stick around. If you’re somewhere in-between and like a light feeling coverage, it may be worth checking it out. I have to say I’ve gone back to Colorstay day to day, but what I absolutely LOVE this foundation for is under my eyes. For some reason, possibly the silicone formula, it just doesn’t budge. It’s not the best coverage in the world, but look at the difference in the above photos. I'll take that over cakey, creasy under-eye concealer any day!

Have you tried this foundation? What do you wear day-to-day?