A Few March Wishlist Goodies

A few thing's I'm currently lusting after....

NARS Brousse Duo Eye Shadow - After recently picking up the NARS And God Created The Woman Palette, I've found myself browsing through the shadow duos available on the NARS site. Quite a few of the colours on offer have caught my eye, but there's one in particular that I'm really lemming at the moment, Brousse.

Yves Saint Laurent Glossy Stains - I didn't pay much attention to these when they were released, but I've stumbled upon quite a few reviews and pretty swatches recently and am currently lusting after a few of the shades. Rose Vinyl and Corail Aquatique look particularly pretty.

Diorskin Nude Tan Healthy Glow Enhancing Powder - I received one of these in my Christmas stocking last year, but the shade is unfortunately a little bit too dark for me. The powder itself is beautiful though, and I'm very tempted to pick up one of the lighter shades on offer.

Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Colours - I've been meaning to try these for quite a while, but for some reason, I keep forgetting all about them. This review and swatches at The Smallest Little Things in Life have meant Rose Gold has been added to the wishlist. I'm also tempted to give Alloy a go too, though, as looks like a fantastic everday shade.

Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation - I've had this on my to-try list since watching this video from Lisa Eldridge. My current tube of Make Up For Ever Full Cover is on it's last legs, so I thought this might be a nice alternative. And a cheaper one, too! I think it might be a little too heavy to use as a foundation, but according to reviews, it does work really well as concealer.

Have you tried any of these? What are you currently lusting after?

Chanel Poudre Signée de Chanel Illuminating Powder

Chanel's limited edition Poudre Signee De Chanel – Illuminating powder is one of the pretties released with the brand's Printemps Precieux 2013 Collection. It's described as a soft pink highlighting powder that's supposed to capture and reflect light with a delicate luminosity.

Chanel Poudre Signée de Chanel Illuminating Powder

Quite a few of the items from the spring collection caught my eye, but the illuminating powder is without a doubt, the product I was lusting after the most, thanks to the beautifully and intricately embossed surface.

The powder is packaged in the same square compact as the brand's Joues Contraste blushes, but is slightly larger and contains double the amount of product (8g). The compact also comes with a velvet pouch/sleeve with a flap and compartment/second pouch that holds the included paddle sponge applicator. I generally don't use the applicators that are included with products, but I have to say, the sponge does actually apply product nicely. I do still prefer to use a brush, though, as I find it creates more of a subtle finish – the sponge applicator tends to pack more product on. 

The velvet pouch & included sponge applicator

Chanel Poudre Signée de Chanel Illuminating Powder

Chanel describe the powder as soft pink highlighter, but I'd say it's more of a golden champagne shade with tiny, delicate shimmers, which leave skin with a beautiful, subtle gleam. It definitely creates more of a delicate, golden, glowy finish as opposed to a shimmery, frosty one. The powder itself is incredibly soft and finely milled. 

Chanel Poudre Signée de Chanel Illuminating Powder

The close up photo below show's the powder swatched and blended out on my NC15ish arm. The photograph was taken outside in full sun, in more natural lighting, the delicate shimmer is much less apparent.

Chanel Poudre Signée de Chanel Illuminating Powder swatched & blended

I don't have many highlighters in my collection, but I thought I'd do a little comparison to the one's I do have, Dior's Copper and Rose Diamond Shimmer Powders, and NARS Copacabana Multiple and Albatross highlighting powder. All are swatched fairly heavily in the photo below and the photo was taken in full sun.

Dior Copper & Rose Diamond, NARS Copacabana, Chanel Illuminating Powder & NARS Albatross

Dior's Amber Diamond is more of a golden bronze shade in comparison, and Rose Diamond more pink. Both of these shades work better as highlighting, subtle blush shades on my NC15ish skin tone, actually. The closest colour wise are NARS Copacabana and Albatross. Copacabana is more beige and has a more frosty finish, though, and Albatross is more of a yellowy golden highlighter with a more shimmery finish. I personally find the Chanel to be the most natural looking out of the closest colour matches, and nicest texture wise, too. Albatross feels quite powdery and chalky in comparison. 

Overall, Chanel's Illuminating powder is a beautiful highlighter. The detailed embossing is a real thing of beauty and the delicate, subtle glow the powder creates on skin is lovely. Out of the highlighters I own, Chanel's is definitely the most natural looking, as the shimmer is so finely milled. It manages to add a pretty and delicate glow without emphasizing pores and it really does apply beautifully. If you're on the hunt for a highlighting powder, which creates a natural, believable glow, I think Chanel's Illuminating powder is definitely worth checking out. 

Available from Boots (£46.00)

NOTD: Chanel 539 June

I'm jumping on the 'looking forward to spring' bandwagon with Chanel's June. Much as I love dark, vampy, wintery nail colours, I've kind of had enough of wearing them now and am really looking forward to fishing some of the brighter colours out of the stash. I'm also really looking forward to warmer weather and some sunshine! I've seen a few blog posts on spring/summery shades over the past week, so I thought dig out June and brighten up my own nails.

Chanel Nail colour: June

The creamy, pastel apricot shade was released last year as part of Chanel's Spring collection. I thought it was limited edition, but after a little search around, it seems it's still available on quite a few sites. 

Chanel June. 3 coats (No top coat)

I personally find application to be a meh with June. The formula applies quite sheer, and even after three coats I didn't manage to get an opaque or completely even coverage (there were a few minor streaks). Still, it is a pretty shade!

Chanel June, Miami Peach & Cashmere

The only similar shades I have in my collection are Chanel's Miami Peach and Cashmere. Miami peach is more of a juicy guava shade with tiny flecks of gold glitter, and Cashmere is more of soft, golden peach.

A Few February Favourites

Chanel Rose Ecrin & Illuminating Powder

Chanel's Rose Ecrin and Illuminating powder have both been firm favourites this month. Rose Ecrin adds a a pretty hint of natural colour to cheeks, and the Illuminating powder creates a beautiful, very subtle glowy finish. I keep meaning to write a post on the Illuminating powder, but the horrible, drab and grey weather here at the moment is making swatching impossible.

NARS And God Created The Woman Palette

The NARS And God Created Woman palette is a fairly recent purchase, but I've found myself reaching for it almost everyday since getting it. There are some really lovely neutral shades included that work together perfectly to create a variety of different looks. Alhambra, Kalahari and Galapagos are the shades I've found myself using the most over the past couple of weeks, and also Coconut Grove, which works really well as a liner shade.

All of the shades are nicely pigmented and apply and blend well, and used with the included Smudge Proof eye shadow primer, they last really well throughout the day. Overall, it's fantastic little palette.

Le Metier De Beaute: Fig & Armani Eyes To Kill

I'm still slightly obsessed with purple eye shadow at the moment, so on the days I haven't worn colours from the NARS palette, I've been reaching for Le Metier De Beaute's Fig.The shade is beautifully pigmented and rich, and the formula is excellent. I've only tried a couple of colours from the brand's eye shadow range, but I'm really impressed with both. They're exceptionally smooth and apply and blend like a dream.

I'm still working my way through a few sample sized mascaras, but my favourite out the three I'm currently using is Armani's Eye's to Kill, which adds a nice amount of volume and length and holds up brilliantly throughout the day. Will definitely be purchasing a full size tube when my mini size runs out!

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick: Rose & Chanel Rouge Coco: Jersey Rose

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Rose has been a favourite in the lipstick department this month. My dry lips don't normally do well with long-lasting lip colours, but the Opaque Rouge formula is excellent. It's comfortable and feels light weight, and lasting power is pretty impressive. 

Chanel's Jersey Rose has also been a favourite this month. The peachy pink shade works surprisingly well on my fairly pigmented lips and like the Opaque Rouge formula, the Rouge Coco formula feels comfortable and non-drying. 

So those are a few of February's favourites, I can't believe it's almost March already, this month's flown by! Are there any particular products or colours that you've been favouring this month?

NARS And God Created The Woman Eye Kit

For Spring 2013, NARS have released two limited edition palettes, one of which is the, And God Created The Woman Eye Kit, which contains 6 eye shadows, a travel sized Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (2.8g), and an Eye Shader Brush.

NARS Eye shader Brush

NARS Pro Prime Smudge proof Eyeshadow Base

Included in the palette are 6, shimmery and matte, neutral eye shadow shades; Alhambra, Bellisima, Kalahari, Galapagos, Coconut Grove and Night Clubbing. 

NARS Alhambra & Galapagos

Alhambra - A golden champagne, which is slightly too dark to be used as a highlighting shade on my NC15ish skin tone. It does work well as a pretty all over lid colour, though.

Galapagos - A bitter chocolate with tiny flecks of gold glitter. The gold glitter is much less prominent when the colour's applied.

NARS Bellisima & Coconut Grove

Bellisima - A matte taupe. The shade looks a bit chalky in the swatch below, but applies evenly and blend's beautifully.

Coconut Grove - A flat, matte deep chocolate brown.

NARS Kalahari & Night Clubbing

Kalahari - A metallic coppery gold shade.

Night Clubbing - A deep black with tiny flecks of olive glitter. Like Galapagos, the flecks of glitter are less obvious when the shade's applied.

Like a few other bloggers have mentioned, I was a little bit shocked at the size when I slipped the palette out of it's packaging. It's the same width as a NARS duo eye shadow palette and only around an inch longer with each of the shadows containing 0.03Oz/1g of product. On a more positive note though, the compact size does make the palette pretty travel friendly and the generous primer size and great little brush make up for the fairly small pans. 

The palette sat next to a regular eye shadow duo to give an idea of the size

I've been playing with the shades over the past couple of weeks and find them all to be great quality. They all apply really well (even the matte shades), are nicely pigmented and I've had no problems with fall out with the glittery/shimmery shades (Galapagos and Night Clubbing). I'd not tried the included shadow base before purchasing the kit, and I have to say after testing it out with both the shades in the palette and shadows from other brands, I'm completely in love with the stuff. It really does create a perfect base for colour, and keeps eye shadow in place all day. 

NARS And God created The Woman Eye Kit

Is the palette a must have? Probably not. There are a lovely selection of versatile, wearable shades included, though, and the primer and brush are both fantastic. Despite the eye shadows being fairly small, I think the kit is still pretty good value for money and would definitely recommend it. 

Available from the UK NARS site and Space NK £40.50.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick: Rose

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Lipsticks are something I've had on my wishlist since their release last year. They're described as richly pigmented and silky smooth matte lip colours that deliver 14 hours of continuous wear without flaking or dryness. They're available in nine different shades, ranging from soft, neutral pinks to vibrant reds and tangerines and contain skin-conditioning emollients, antioxidant fruit extracts, cili fruit, goji berry, and vitamins A, C and E, which according to Hourglass, help protect lips throughout the day.

Out of the lovely shades on offer, I decided on one of the more natural options, Rose, which is a pretty, fairly bright, warm rose-pink.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick: Rose

The product is housed in a sleek, glossy rounded tube and comes with a doe-foot applicator, which is slightly angled and really flexible. It picks up an adequate amount of product (enough product/colour for my whole mouth with one dip) and allows for precise application.

The formula itself is silky smooth and applies evenly. I'd never tried a matte lipstick before, so I think I was expecting the texture to be quite dry and thick, but it isn't at all. It actually feels very light-weight and silky smooth. The first time I applied Rose, my lips were quite dry and as a result, I found the matte formula emphasized dryness and lip lines. I've been experimenting with different application methods and I found I get the best results when I apply a little bit of lip balm beforehand. Applying balm right before makes for a pretty uneven and patchy application, so I normally apply a slick of balm and let it sink in while I'm doing the rest of make up, then apply the lipstick. This way, I find a get a really smooth, even application. I've also found exfoliating beforehand helps a lot, too, and applying just a thin layer of product. A thin layer is all that's really needed anyway, because only a tiny amount is required for opaque coverage.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick: Rose

 Rose swatched on my NC15ish hand....

Hourglass Opaque Rouge: Rose

The formula dries fairly quickly after it's been applied to a velvety matte finish, which feels really comfortable and light weight. I wouldn't say it feels like I don't have anything on my lips, as I can still feel a slight tackiness, but the texture is really comfortable. I don't find the formula at all hydrating, but at the same time, it's not drying either. After wearing Rose all day, I found my lips were in exactly the same condition after removing as they were before I applied the shade.
 

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick: Rose

And a close up of what Rose looks like applied. I didn't exfoliate before applying and my lips are really quite dry and dehydrated at the moment thanks to the cold weather and central heating. The matte formula does emphasize dryness and lip lines, so it's definitely worth exfoliating before applying for best results. 

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Rose Applied

According to Hourglass, the Opaque Rouge formula delivers 14 hours of continuous wear. While Rose didn't quite last that long on me, it did hold up well on my lips for most of the day even after numerous cups of tea and coffee. I have experienced the flaking problem that other reviewers and bloggers have mentioned, though, which seems to mainly be an issue after eating. I did find it a bit difficult to reapply evenly after, too, without removing the colour that was left behind first. I've found flaking to be less of a problem when I only apply a very thin layer of product. So, I didn't quite get the promised 14 hours of wear, but I still think lasting power is pretty impressive! 

Despite Opaque Rouge lipsticks not quite lasting the promised 14 hours and having a few problems with flaking, I am still really impressed with the comfortable, non-drying formula and with the pretty, pigmented shade, too, and will definitely be adding a couple of the other colours on offer to my collection.

A Few Recent Product Rediscoveries

This post was actually inspired by the lovely Larie of Eye Heart It, who recently wrote a series of Beauty Week at a Glance posts. In an attempt to kick my ass into gear and get me using some of the products which normally don't get a lot of love, I thought I'd have a go at a similar experiment myself where I choose a few products from the unloved make up drawer each week and try to incorporate some of them into my daily routine.

I tend to be quite boring with my make up during the week, particularly when I don't have a lot of time, and stick with the same bunch of products most days, so I thought choosing them in advance and setting myself little make up goals might push me to use some of the products I normally don't. So, here are this week's choices.....

Chantecaille's Ecstasy blush, Clinique Black Honey Lipstick & Gloss duo, Benefit's Benetint and Posietint, and NARS Happy Days Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil.

Chantecaille's Ecstasy and NARS Happy Days are both products I purchased a couple of years ago. I was in love with both shades for a while, but they somehow found their way into the unloved drawer. I think Ecstasy may have been stashed away because it's such a bright shade and looks a bit scary in the pan, and Happy Days was kind of forgotten about when I went through a lipstick phase and wasn't overly keen on glossy lip products. 

I actually found the two shades worked quite well together and managed to use them both on the same day this week. I paired them with the warm, taupe-y shade from the NARS Bohemian Gold duo, a bit of bronzer and a metallic, golden brown Dior liner and was quite surprised at how much I liked the look. The whole thing looked quite summery, so I'll keep it in mind and probably give it another go when the weather warms up. 

Like Happy Days, Black Honey was also stashed away when I went through my lipstick phase and preferred more pigmented shades. It's also another one of those colours that looks a bit scary in the tube, but actually becomes more of a subtle, sheer berry shade once it's applied and works quite well with a variety of different colours. I managed to wear both the lipstick and gloss this week and paired the colour with Chanel's Rose Ecrin blush, Becca's Romanticism Eye Tint and Surah from Becca's Enigma palette to create a fairly natural look.

Benetint and Posietint are again both products I've had for a while. I love the idea of multi tasking/use products, but I find neither really work for me as cheek shades. Both are pretty colours, but I find the quick drying liquids difficult to apply and blend evenly on the top of foundation, which I almost always wear. I have given Posietint another go as a blush colour this week but really couldn't get an even application, so I've used both as lip colours. Used alone I find them quite drying, so I used them underneath balm, which creates a pretty, fairly long-lasting tint/stain. Benetint was paired with R&R Diffused and Rose Ecrin to create another pretty natural and quick and easy look . 

I suppose my selection of products was fairly small really, but I'm still quite happy that I managed to wear all of them at least once over the past week. I think the whole idea of going through what you have and picking products in advance is an excellent one and is definitely something I'll continue to do. Not remembering what I actually have is a big part of the not using things problem for me, especially when I'm in a rush and don't have time to rummage through drawers, so I'm considering some new storage solutions, too, which I think might help.