Sorting through my mascaras part 3 - My favourites

I have shown you a few mascaras from my stash, both goods and bads (click for part 1 and part 2), and now it's time for me to show you my favourites. First up is Guerlain Le 2 Mascara (I have already reviewed a limited edition colour here) in Noir 2 Noir (Black). It is a double ended mascara with a thicker wand with small spikes for the upper lashes and a small thin wand with small bristles for the lower lashes. I find this mascara really good for my short, thin, sparse lashes, they come out looking long (well it's all relative, but you know) and nicely curled. The mascara is pricey (£25), but I can honestly say it is the best mascara I have ever tried. Love it. I also own it in blue, violet, black waterproof, and several limited edition shades. I also think the mascara itself looks so classy and doubles up very nicely as a magic wand should your children need one. ;)

Guerlain Le 2 Mascara

The bigger brush for upper lashes: 

The smaller brush for lower lashes:

Find out which other mascaras I love after the jump!

Swatching My Stash Part 1: Lipsticks - Rouge G de Guerlain

I've had a few requests for lipstick swatches after my stash videos and pictures, so I thought I'd go through my stash and swatch every lipstick I own, especially as it would be very useful for my reference too. You know, I have so many lipsticks and usually not much time to apply my make up, I often don't have time to rummage around my lipsticks to pick out a certain shade, so I usually choose from a limited number of lipsticks that I know exactly what colour they are just from the shade names. If I swatch them all, I will hopefully remember what shades are which, and also, possibly discover that I already own so many of certain shades that I really like and keep buying. Since I'm trying to limit my make up buying, I'm sure this will help loads.

So I thought I'd start with my favourite brand Guerlain and within them my most luxurious and most expensive lipsticks: Rouge G de Guerlain. If you want to know more about these lipsticks, please check out my review of Rouge G Brillant B64 Bee and the Serie Noire Rouge G lipsticks. For now I will show you the swatches (there's a lot!).

My Guerlain lipstick box

See loads of swatches after the jump!

Sleek Make Up Paraguaya Eyeshadow Palette Review

I really like Sleek Make Up eyeshadow palettes (see my video review here) and when I saw there was a new limited edition palette out, I bought it immediately. It's called Paraguaya and it's part of Sleek's spring collection called Avoir le Peche that also includes a blush and pout polish.

As usual, the palette comes in a cardboard sleeve which is really pretty with pink/peach flowers and letters. Inside the palette is the usual black sleek palette with the words Sleek Make Up written across it. Inside you get 12 eyeshadows, a double ended applicator and a full sized mirror. The palette costs £6.49 and is available from Superdrug and Sleek's website.

Read more of my review and see lots more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Mac Quite Cute collection is now available on maccosmetics.co.uk!

They are releasing the collection early and it is now available HERE! Use code SPRING at the checkout for free shipping! Let me know if you're buying anything!

Click here for the collection details!

Chantecaille Sea Turtle Palette Review and Swatches

I am a big fan of Chantecaille's gorgeous limited edition palettes and was very excited when I heard that a new one featuring sea turtles was coming out this spring. My obsession with the brand started in 2008 when they released their Protected Paradise face and eye palettes, simply the most gorgeous pieces of make up I had ever seen! Although they are extremely expensive, I still managed to get my hands on them and every subsequent palette Chantecaille has produced since. If you haven't see my collection yet, take a look here!

Chantecaille gives 5% of the sales price of every palette to a charity, this year the money goes to Widecast to ensure the survival of sea turtles. This is a great cause, although I know some people think they should give more seeing how expensive these palettes are (£73 in the UK), but I guess not a lot of brands donate money to charities in the first place, so let's not grumble. Anyway, the new Sea Turtle palette is another beauty. It features 3 eyecolours and a blush, with a sea turtle on each. The shimmery colours on top are just oversprays, but the turtles should survive for a good few uses. I actually try to use the sides of the pans since they are actually a very generous size (you get 12 g in the palette), but of course the blush wouldn't work like that.

The colours are Sand, Turtle, Sea Grass and Coral, they are actually specified as Base Colour, Eye Colour, Eye Definer and Cheek colour (obv). Sand also makes a good highlighter and Sea Grass would be a gorgeous crease colour. I haven't used them yet, but as with other Chantecaille palettes, the shadows are soft and easy to swatch and true to colour.

See below for some more pictures!   

Shopping My Stash: Laura Geller Blush n Brighten Review and Swatches

Laura Geller baked blushes are one of my favourite blushes, so I thought I'd do a post about them especially as I have quite a few of them, so hopefully the swatches will be useful to some of you. I have mentioned these blushes in a few posts (here, here and here) and I often reach for them for looks as well. They are very pretty to look at which is always a bonus for me, and work really well, they are smooth and finely milled.

My absolute favourties are Boysenberry/Amaretti duo, Tropic Hues and Sateen Subtle Orchid/Ethereal Rose duo. Ethereal Rose is a gorgeous light pink baked powder, works as blush for lighter skintones or highlighter for darker ones. Lately it's been paired up with baked blushes and makes a lovely combo.

Few words about the formula: the regular blushes are quite shimmery (not glittery), the sugar free ones are matte (I only own one) and the "subtle" ones are just more pastely than the regular ones. I find them all equally smooth and nice to blend.

Most of the blushes are 9 g, but I also own a couple of trial size ones (1.8 g) that came out in sets, as well as the Baby Cakes baked blush palette which includes 4 small domes blushes (1.2 g each). A lot of these blushes actually came out in limited edition sets, but are available separately on eBay and some also from QVC. I tend to buy them from eBay simply because they are much cheaper that way.

Let's move onto the pictures!

Laura Mercier Baked Eyeshadow Review and Comparison Swatches

I promised this review a while ago, and finally here it is.Laura Mercier has 6 new baked eyeshadows out and I've got 3 of them to show you. The other colours I didn't get were Violet Sky, a beautiful dark purple without much shimmer, Terracotta, a shimmery copper and Ballet Pink, a gorgeous pinky highlighter, but at £18.50 each I just couldn't justify buying them all. What I did buy though are Black Karat, a blackened gold with gold shimmers, Lagoon, a rich turquoise and Petal Pink, a gorgeous baby pink with white shimmer. I'm told they are permanent additions to the line.

Black Karat, Lagoon, Petal Pink

These eyeshadows are quite generous size at 1.8 g each, although they are smaller than Mac mineralize eyeshadows (2.2 g) and as a result, gram per gram they are more expensive as well. However, I find Laura Mercier eyeshadows consistently very good quality, so I can justify the higher price. I would like to point out that I have not worn these eyeshadows on my eyes, but they all swatched beautifully, they are nice and smooth and very pigmented even dry. I also haven't tried them wet yet. I find with most Laura Mercier eyeshadows that they stay on well all day and don't crease, but as I said I have not worn these yet, so can't really tell you how they hold up. If you have these and you have tried them, please let me know what you think!

See many more product pictures, swatches and a couple of dupes after the jump!

My updated stash video

I've finally managed to edit and upload my stash video(s) from last Friday, so here they are. I ran out of memory space on my camera, so had to do it in two parts. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Sorting through my mascaras part 2

Remember this post? Today I'm back with more mascaras from my stash.

First up is Givenchy Eye Fly in Black. I like this one a lot. With brush being quite fluffy, not spikey, you get a very natural look. It's very hard to overdo it and end up with spidery lashes. The only downside is, when you have short, thin lashes like mine, a natural look isn't always what you'd opt for. You can see me wearing it in this post. Also, it doesn't curl my eyelashes as much as some of my favourite mascaras (more on them later). So I probably won't repurchase this one, but will use it up because it is pretty good.

Givenchy Eye Fly Mascara

Continue reading to see more pictures and find out which other mascaras I've been testing.

I have far too much make up!

Okay, I know this probably doesn't come as a surprise if you've been reading my blog for a while, but... I've spent the last few days sorting out my make up stash and storage (still working on it, video to come soon) and it suddenly hit me: I have way too much make up. So while I'm not going on a spending ban as such, I will try to only buy what I really want/need, rather than everything and anything because they're pretty or because they were really cheap on eBay. So as a result, the contents of this blog will change slightly: there will be less new product reviews and more shopping my stash posts. To be honest, I actually started writing this blog partly so I can show off my collection since I don't know anyone in real life who appreciates make up as much as I do, so I guess I'll just go back to that idea a bit more.

But fear not, I still have some great product reviews lined up, like the new Laura Mercier baked eyeshadows and no doubt I will continue to buy make up because I love it and I always get sucked into the limited edition craze. However, I do hope you will enjoy seeing pictures and reading about my large stash, I have a review of Laura Geller blushes lined up too as well as my stash/storage video. By the way, is it just the OCD in me, or is organising your make up almost as much fun as buying and using it? No? It's just me then.

WANT IT! Guerlain Terracotta Inca Collection 2011

I've just seen these promo pictures of Guerlain's upcoming summer collection and just had to share them with you as they are so pretty! Natalia Vodianova, as always, is gorgeous and I'm loving the eyeshadows and would love to know what lipcolour she's wearing.

I don't have any info on release dates or prices, but I know that I will be buying a few pieces from this collection for sure! Anything takes your fancy? Let me know in the comments!

See lots more pictures after the jump!

My Mac Sheen Supreme Lipstick haul and review

This month saw the release of yet another Mac collection, Sheen Supreme Lipstick, although for a change these are actually permanent, so no need to rush out to buy them all. I did pick up 5 of them though, so I thought I'd show them to you.

Out of 14 shades I picked up the following 5: Insanely It, Ultra Darling, New Temptation, Quite The Thing! and Full Speed.Sheen Supreme lipsticks have the same signature vanilla scent as other Mac lipsticks and come in black tubes, but unlike the regular bullet shape Mac lipsticks, these are cylinder shaped and made of shiny plastick, rather than the usual matte material. They are also slightly bigger at 3.6 g (regular Mac lipsticks are just 3 g), but are the same price at £13.50. 

The lipsticks have a very nice sheen to them, they feel moisturising, however, they feel quite slippery on the lips and as a reuslt, they are not terribly long lasting. Without eating and drinking, they lasted for about 3 hours, but once I ate or drank something, they quickly disappeared. If you don't mind reapplying quite frequently, this shouldn't be a problem. They do apply nice and even and feel really nice on the lips, they are very creamy, and not at all drying. There's a good range of colours to choose from, some nudes, some corals, pinks, reds, browns, and a lovely lovely purple too. You will see below that I swatched them quite lightly, but they are buildable and true to colour. They are well worth checking out next time you're near a Mac counter.

See more pictures and swatches after the jump! 

My Mac Jeanius haul

As well as its very popular and much anticipated Wonder Woman collection, Mac also released a smallish collection this month entitled Jeanius. The collection consisted of 4 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, 3 lipstick, 3 lipglasses, 2 nail polishes, an eyeliner and a brow marker.

Once again Mac came out with larger than usual eyeshadows (think Tartan Tale and Peacocky) and this time they look like they've been cut out of a pair of jeans. Quite clever really, but unfortunately the colours weren't all that interesting and the texture of one in particular (Diva in Distress) left a lot to desire. So I ended up only picking up Stovepipe Black which is a lovely dark grey with a nice sheen, not chalky black at all, very pretty. I was tempted by Motorhead too, but I read that it was a dupe for Deep Truth, so didn't get it. Stovepipe Black is a colour I don't own, and since I wanted one of them just for the pattern, I went for it. 

Find out what else I hauled from Jeanius and see lots more photos and swatches after the jump!

Sorting through my mascaras part 1

I have a lot of mascaras, sample sizes, full sizes, drugstore brands and high end brands alike. Quite a few of them been in circulation lately and have either run out or still sitting there half used because they're just not my favourites. So I thought I'd do a good clearout, go through them one by one and decide if I like them enough to use up (and maybe repurchase) or chuck them out.

Today I would like to show you 3 of the mascaras I've been using. First up is Exceptionnel de Chanel in Smoky Noir. I know of some people who absolutely love this mascara, but I just didn't get on with it at all. While the formula is okay, I have a massive problem with the brush. It has 2 different kind of bristles, one is the plastic spikey type and the other is shorter, thinner, more bristley. The spikey ones are sort of okay, but the others just don't do anything for me and in the end, the whole mascara fails. I have short, thin, sparse lashes, so I really need a good mascara and this one just doesn't deliver. I believe there is a technique you're supposed to learn, but I can't be bothered. I've been using mascaras for 20 years now, if I can't get one to work, it goes in the bin. End of.

Exceptionnel de Chanel

See more pictures and read about which other mascaras I've been testing lately after the jump!

Paul & Joe Spring 2011 Parasol Collection eyeshadow duo review

I had my eye on the new lipsticks that came out in Paul & Joe's Parasol Spring Collection, but when I went to harrods last month to finally check them out, I was distracted by all the shimmer in these lovely eyeshadow duos. So much so that I ended up coming away with 3 of them and no lipsticks (the lipsticks were quite sheer and I decided against them in the end).

Paul & Joe's spring collection includes 5 eyeshadow duos, 3 lipsticks and several other lovely things. I bought eyeshadow duos 001 (yellow and white), 002 (pink and brown) and 005 (light blue and purple). They are a bit similar to the Myface Cosmetics Bling Tone eyeshadows that I reviewed here, they seem like pressed glitter, but they are very fine and look almost creamy. I found they apply better with your fingers than brushes, the light blue shade especially applied very flaky with a brush, but there wasn't too much fallout either way. Some are more pigmented than others, my favourites are the brown and purple shades for pigmentation, but I do love the sheer sparkles of the white and yellow too.

As usual, the packaging is very pretty, I love Paul & Joe, they always have such lovely details on their products. The boxes have beautiful spring theme, what looks like a flowering rose bush, and the compacts are pearlescent white with the signature flower detail on them. Very pretty. The eyeshadows are fairly small (2.3 g, which is still quite a bit bigger than Mac single eyeshadows), but they are big enough for the halves to be used separately. 

I did a look with the blue, purple and pink ones that you can see here, and there are more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Myface Cosmetics Haul: Bling Tone eyeshadows and Gigabyte lipsticks

I'd been wanting to try out Myface Cosmetics Bling Tone eyeshadows ever since they appeared in Boots, but I was always a bit hesitant since they cost £9.99 each, however, when they were on offer (3 for 2) the other day, I couldn't resist them anymore. And as there were 4 shades I wanted to try out, I ended up buying two of their Gigabyte lipsticks too. The lipsticks cost £9.99 each too and the 3 for 2 offer is still on by the way!

The eyeshadows are very very sparkly, they look like pressed glitter. They come in 10 shades, although my Boots only carries 5 which is just as well, otherwise I might have bought them all. I got Bellbottom Blues, Purple Haze, Morocco and Gilt-y. I've worn two of them so far and I didn't experience much fall out or creasing at all (you do need a base though), but the glitter does migrate a little bit after several hours of wear. Not a big deal for me. The colour payoff isn't that great, but with some layering you can build up the colour, and I gues it might suit those better who just want a sheer wash of colour as the shadows in the pan do look quite scary. The blue one is the most pigmented, it is a beautiful colour, can't wait to try it out.

Now onto the lipsticks. I bought Strawberry Fields and Sweet Dreams. Strawberry Fields is a bright pinky red, Sweet Dreams is a rosy nude colour. Both are really pretty, have smooth textures, feel lovely on the lips, quite moisturising in fact. The don't last too long as they are quite slippery on the lips, but if you don't mind reapplying, they are pretty nice lipsticks. 

With the 3 for 2 offer the price was okay, but to be honest, the packaging, especially the lipsticks still feels a bit on the cheap side. I personally don't like white or see through packaging much, I prefer black, it just looks more classy.

See more photos, swatches and a look I created after the jump!

Purple look with 17 Vintage Love Perfect Pastels Palette

Last week I reviewed 17 Vintage Love Palettes here and today I would like to show you a look I created using the purple shades in the Perfect Pastels palette. Unfortunately the pictures don't do the colours justice (I really need to get a better camera!), but here it is anyway. I would appreciate if you let me know what you think of my eyebrows, I've done some DIY work to them, I think they do look a bit better.

To create this look I used the following:

Eyes:

Barbara Daly for Tesco eyeshadow primer

17 Vintage Love Perfect Pastels Palette (see picture below)

Shade 2 (pinky purple) all over lid

Shade 1 (dark purple) in outer lid and crease

Shade 3 (light violet) inner lid and above crease

Marks & Spencer Jewels eyeshadow quad light pink shade below browbone to highlight

Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Perversion on lower waterline

No 7 Candy Lavender eye pencil on lower lashline

DiorShow Black Out mascara in Black Khol

Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

Avon Shimmer Swirls Face Illuminator

Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch concealer

Chantecaille White Tiger face powder

Accessorize Starlet baked blush

Lips:

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Rose Sorbet

See more pictures after the jump!

New CID Cosmetics i-blush and i-gloss review

I really like New CID Cosmetics, especially their i-glow highlighters/blushes (you might remember me blogging about them here), so when I saw that there was a new blusher and highlighter compact released, I decided to order it straight away. I also picked up one of their i-glosses in the shade of Raspberry Kiss.

First up is the i-blush duo. Here's the info from the Lookfantastic website:

"Create sculpted cheekbones with New CID Cosmetics I-Blush Light Up Blusher & Highlighter Compact. Adding a subtle sweep of radiance to the complexion, this handy compact is great for gals on the go and includes a light and mirror to assist application.

Add a touch of sizzle to your style with this New CID Cosmetics I-Blush Light Up Blusher & Highlighter Compact. Featuring a soft peach tone and a complementary shimmery gold, this gorgeous compact will leave you with cheekbones that belong on a catwalk model."

They also included a handy guide to how to use the blush and highlighter which I think is rather clever, although I prefer to do it my way.

"Directions of use:

• Run the middle of a brush backwards and forwards along the dividing line.
• Now run the brush up and down your cheek bone starting at the hair line and blending down, then upwards.
• Make sure that the highlight colour is applied at the top and the blusher at the bottom."

You get 5 g and 4.5 g each of the gorgeous pinky coral / peach blush and gold highlighter in a mirrored compact that also lights up! I find this feature rather cute, but unnecessary, since I don't normally attempt to apply my make up in the dark, but I guess if you're out clubbing or whatever you young chicks do nowadays, then it can be quite handy. There is a switch, so you can turn it off if you don't want it.

Ready more of my review and see lots of pictures and swatches after the jump!

17 Vintage Love Eyeshadow Palettes for Spring

Last week I picked up these lovely eyeshadow palettes from Boots, they are part of the 17 range spring collection. Since there is currently a 3 for 2 offer on all 17 cosmetics in Boots, I also picked up one of their blushes, which I will try to review later. But for now let's take a look at the eyeshadow palettes.

They come in two shades: Perfect Pastels and Metallic Nudes. Both palettes contain 4.4g of eyeshadows and cost £5.49 each. Both include 6 colours of eyeshadows in complementing shades arranged in a pretty pattern (not sure what though, a bird? butterfly? flower?). I love 17 eyeshadows, they are one of the best budget eyeshadows I've tried (along with Sleek eyeshadows), they are smooth, apply beautifully, don't crease and last all day. I love their single eyeshadows too, so I was very keen to pick up these palettes. 

See more of my review, pictures and swatches after the jump!

Finished! The February edition

Despite trying my hardest to finish lots of products, I only managed 4 this month,but there are a few nearly empty ones sitting on my shelves, so hopefully I can include them in next month's post.

Now I know I said I wasn't going to include shower gels in these posts, but since I featured the Body Shop Cherry Blossom EDT in last month's Finished! post, I thought I might as well include the matching shower gel and body butter this month.

They are both nice, but since I've gone off the scent now, I won't be repurchasing them. I still have half a bottle of the EDT but I will save that for later now, this month I'm using Givenchy Ange au Demon. 

See more empties after the jump!