Where Did My Eyelashes Go, RapidLash?

So a couple of months ago I wrote a post on how great my eyelashes were looking after 3 months of using Rapidlash. Sadly, that was in the past. I noticed a few weeks ago while taking off my make up at night that my nice long eyelashes started to fall out. Some nights as many as 4-5 ended up in the sink to my horror. And this is how my eyelashes are looking now (well on the 18th February to be precise):

While they are still longer and thicker than they were when I initially started using RapidLash, they are nowehere near how they were after 3 months of usage. Here it is for comparison:

I know eyelashes fall out and re-grow all the time, but I was expecting to see so many fall out at once. I also found that more fell out from my right eye than left one, so my eyelashes are looking a bit silly at the moment. Not a massive difference, but I can definitely see it. So why did it happen? I have no idea. I'm also not sure if I should continue using RapidLash or not. At one point I was scared all my eyelashes will fall out, although luckily they didn't and I noticed I had lots of new stumpy ones instead of the long ones. But the thing is, I don't really want to end up with wonky eyelashes in another 3-4 months' time. Also having to fork out £41 on a tube that gave me longer eyelashes for a few months, just to be back to square 1 (okay, 2), is not really great. I thought once I've achieved a nice length and thickness, I can maintain it with 2-3 applications a week, but now I have to do it daily again to re-grow my new stumpy lashes. While I'm not keen on going back to my original lashes (they do look tiny in the comparison photos), I'm also not happy to have to go through losing and re-growing my lashes every 4-5 months. Sigh.

Has this happened to anyone else? Let me know in the comments!

See more photos after the jump!

NOTD: Color Club Nail Polish in Secret Agent

Around October last year my local TK Maxx had loads of Color Club nail polish sets and among others I managed to snap up the Alter Ego Keep It Under Cover set (with 6 shades and a top coat) for just £7.99. Secret Agent is from this collection and is an amazing bluey purple shade. Sadly as with all purples, it was very hard to photograph as my camera refuses to pick up purples and just truns them into blue. So I used my phone to try and capture the true colour. I think it's still on the bluer side, it's a really amazing purple in real life.

Without flash

I apologise, but I cannot remember how many coats this took (although think it was 2) and how long it lasted without chipping (guessing my average of 2 days), but I loved it so much, I had to show you the pictures. I'm sure this is still available, if nowhere else, then from eBay, and it only costs a few pounds/dollars, so well worth picking up if you can.

See more pictures after the jump!

New Permanent Mac Mineralize "Style Black" Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

Following on from my earlier post on the new Mac permanent* mineralize eyeshadow duos, here's a look at the new permanent* mineralize eyeshadow singles. (They're only permanent for 6 months, so really still limited edition, but less than other collections if that makes sense.) These but one are repromotes, first came out with the Style Black collection in 2009 (?) and that's when I purchased mine. Only Smutty Green is new, therefore please keep in mind that my older shadows might be a different texture, maybe even slighter different colours than the new ones.

And here they are (top to bottom, left to right): Smutty Green, Blue Flame, Cinderfella, Young Punk and Gilt By Association. They are all black based with different colour shimmer/pearl. When applied dry, there isn't a huge difference between then because you manily see the sheer black colour, but when applied wet, the colours really come through and these eyeshadows really come to life. I have swatched them both dry and wet for you, so be sure to have a look as they are gorgeous when used wet.

When used dry, there's definitely some fall out from these eyeshadows, but if you use them wet or on a very sticky base, the fall out is minimal. I know mineralize eyeshadows aren't for everyone, but I have to say that these are something different. I think at the very least worth checking out in person if you can. 

These mineralize eyeshadow duos cost £16.50 each and they are slightly larger than regular Mac eyeshadows at 2.2g each.

See more pictures including lots of swatches after the jump!

New Permanent Mac Mineralize Eyeshadow Duos Review and Swatches

Mac has changed the permanent* line of mineralize eyeshadows and being a mineralize eyeshadow nut as I am, of course I had to go and buy them all. (They're only permanent for 6 months, so really still limited edition, but less than other collections if that makes sense.) To be precise, I only bought 4 of the 5 eyeshadow duos because one (Love Connection) of them is a repromote and I'd already owned it. So please keep that in mind, since the formula of the new eyeshadow could be different to the one I already had. I also have the 5 mineralize eyeshadow singles (Style Black repromotes) that I will be showing you soon.

And here they are (top to bottom, left to right): Water & Ice, Love Connection, Fresh & Mint, Joy & Laughter and Sweet & Sour. They all have a side with one solid colour and the other one with a marble effect mix of 3-4 colours. Water & Ice is sterling silver on one side with a melange of creamy peach with blue and silver veining on the other. Love Connection is warm gold on one side with a melange of pale beige with gold and blue veining on the other. Fresh & Mint is icy green on one side with a melange of white with silver and green/blue veining on the other. Joy & Laughter is icy pink on one side with a melange of dirty pink with hot pink and charcoal grey veining on the other. (I did think this was a lot like Pink Split in the pictures, but in person it's more purple.) Sweet & Sour is yellow gold on one side with a melange of dirty gold with green and deep blue veining on the other.

I haven't worn this on my eyes (except for Love Connection a long time ago), but out of the 5 Sweet & Sour seemed to have the worst fallout. The marbled side especially was quite chunky. They are all pretty sheer if applied dry, but as the colour can be amplified by using them wet. I have swatched them both ways, so you can see what they all look like.

These mineralize eyeshadow duos cost £16.50 each and they are slightly larger than regular Mac eyeshadows at 2.2g each.

See more pictures including lots of swatches after the jump!

Want It: Chantecaille Coral Reefs Palette For Spring 2012

You know how much I love my pretty Chantecaille palettes and powders. So it won't be a big surprise to learn that I really want to get my hands on Chantecaille's new palette for the spring. Isn't it just gorgeous?

It contains 3 eyeshadows in Pink Pearl, Reef, Driftwood and a cheek shade in Coral, and they all have the same coral design with gold overspray. The design is in fact the same as the Coral face highlighter that was released a few years ago. You can see pictures of it here (together with the rest of my collection of pretty powders and palettes).

Chantecaille is donating 5 percent of the proceeds to the Marine Conservation Institute in an effort to protect 10% of the world’s oceans by 2020. This is now available from the Chantecaille website and will hopefully come to the UK soon. It costs $79, so I expect it to be around £75. Unfortunately Chantecaille products seem to have an awfully big mark up in the UK compared to the US, which is really not fair on us. I'm hoping to pick this up from eBay as I usually do.

FOTD: Guerlain 66 Boulevard du Montparnasse

This is the look I created with the Guerlain 6 colour palette 66 Boulevard du Montparnasse. I think it's a really lovely palette and you can create soft and more dramatic looks depending on what you want to do.I didn't like the gloss with this look, but since I'd already applied it, I left it, but I think something more pink would have looked nicer.

I have included a picture of the palette below so you can see which shades I used as it's a bit difficult to explain which shade is which.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Barbara Daly Even Smoother Eye Base
Guerlain Ecrin 6 Couleurs 66 Boulevard du Montparnasse eyeshadow palette shade 4 on middle of lid
Guerlain Ecrin 6 Couleurs 66 Boulevard du Montparnasse eyeshadow palette shade 5 in crease
Guerlain Ecrin 6 Couleurs 66 Boulevard du Montparnasse eyeshadow palette shade 6 in outer corner and lower lashline as liner
Guerlain Ecrin 6 Couleurs 66 Boulevard du Montparnasse eyeshadow palette shade 2 in inner corner and on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero on waterline
Guerlain Noir G de Guerlain mascara in Noir
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream
Guerlain Radiant Butterfly Meteorites Voyage Powder
Guerlain Meteorites Cruel Gardenia Highlighter

Lips:
Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipgloss in 869 Rose In Bloom

See more pictures after the jump!

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara in 06 ExtremeTeal

I bought this mascara when I first picked up some of the Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes eyeshadows, but it's taken me this long to review it. I believe this shade is limited edition, but I've just checked and it's still available, so I thought I'd do this review anyway. Especially because this is actually a very good mascara.

I like my coloured mascara, but sometimes they don't show up on my brown lashes, however this teal coloured mascara actually shows up really nicely. It also gives good lenght and volume, plus I loved how it curled my lashes. I don't use lash curlers because my lashes are naturally curly, but they looked especially amazing when wearing this mascara. It also didn't smudge or flake and stayed on all though the day, yet it wasn't hard to remove.

It is massive though, both the tube and also the wand, but it's a good shape and I didn't find it hard to use. You get 8 ml for £22, which is about the same as other high end brands. If you don't want colourful mascara, this also comes in black and brown. I would definitely recommend this one!

See more pictures after the jump!

My Chanel Spring Collection Haul Part 4 - Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow 34 Eclosion - Review and Swatches

Here's the last product I got from the Chanel Spring Collection, possibly the one I was most excited about actually (although Blush Horizon is another beauty for sure!).

I really like and have a big collection of Chanel eyeshadows, mostly quads, and any new additions are always welcome. Eclosion is a nice neutral palette with a kick of colour and a bit of added shimmer. I like quads because you can usually create a look using all 4 eyeshadows, or even just one or two depending on what look you're after. The European style (round pan) eyeshadows are baked, so they can be used dry or wet, and using them wet will give them more intensity. The shadows in this quad are well pigmented, except for the lightest, glittery shade which mostly just delivers a fair amount of shimmer, but it is oh so pretty! I used it as a highlight colour as I don't mind a bit of glitter, and the glitter did have some fallout, so maybe it's not for everyone. But the other 3 shades are nice and smooth and well pigmented. I especially love the peach and dark mauvy brown colours. I wore these eyeshadows over a primer and they stayed on and didn't crease for 10+ hours.

Chanel quads cost £37 and for that you get 1.2g which does seem an awfully little amount, but I'm guessing it's because they're baked, so they're a lighter formula than the US version. All in all, a very nice quad, probably not a must have, but if you don't own colours similar to these then worth checking out.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

FOTD: Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs 11 Les Roses

This is the look I did with the new Guerlain Les Roses eyeshadow quad from the spring collection. I just love the dark mauve colour, it makes the look a lot darker and smokier and it's so smooth and gorgeous! I like my pink eyeshadows anyway, but I think these colours work particularly well with my dark brown eyes. (Sorry the pictures are so dark, it was a very gloomy day.)

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Barbara Daly Even Smoother Eye Base
Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs 11 Les Roses eyeshadow quad matte medium pink shade on middle of lid
Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs 11 Les Roses eyeshadow quad pearly medium pink shade in outer corner of lid
Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs 11 Les Roses eyeshadow quad deep mauve shade in crease
Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs 11 Les Roses eyeshadow quad light pink shade in inner corner and on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Crash on waterline
Guerlain Noir G de Guerlain mascara in Noir
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream
Guerlain Radiant Butterfly Meteorites Voyage Powder
Guerlain Blush 4 Eclats Sculpting Blush in 04 Rosee Du Printemps
Guerlain Meteorites Cruel Gardenia Highlighter

Lips:
Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipgloss in 870 Cherry Pink

See more pictures after the jump!

Ginvera Green Tea Whitening Marvel Gel Review

Zero blackheads in 1 step! At least that's what Ginvera claims this gel does. I have lots of blackheads and I have tried a lot of scrubs and other ways of reducing their number, sadly to no avail. So when I had the opportunity to try out Ginvera's Marvel Gel I jumped right in.

Did it work? Sadly, no. And to be honest I don't even see how it would. What you have here is basically a smooth green gel that you have to massage onto your face that then gathers into little clumps (which is apparently the dead skin it removes), then you wash it off and you're supposed to be left with clearer skin. I don't know how it works, what it is that clumps up, whether it is the gel or it really is dead skin, although to be honest I'd be quite alarmed to find all that skin coming off my face every day. I used this religiously for about 10 days and I'm pretty sure I still have the same amount of blackheads I did before.

The gel also claims to rub away deep layers of dead skin cells (again, how deep can that layer be???), contract pores for refined skin (not for me it didn't), lighten black spots, freckles and scars (nope), remove oil seeds (I don't even know what that means), regulate sebum secretion to prevent pimples (my skin is not oily right now at all, so it's hard to judge, but I did get spots while using this anyway), brighten dull complexion (not really), change dark rough skin to smooth skin (not for me), whitens skin (I don't actually want white skin, I'm pale enough already) and enhance quick absorption of skincare products (I can't really comment on this). So as you can see a lot of claims, but not really any result for me. In fact I'll go as far as saying this did nothing to me AT ALL. So I would definitely not recommend this to anyone.

60 ml of this gel normally costs £24, although at the moment it's reduced to £18 (plus p&p) and is available from Janiro, the new UK distributor of Ginvera products.You can also request a free sample if you don't want to commit to buying the full size product by clicking here.

See more pictures after the jump!

Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream Review

BB Creams are the new big thing in the UK and every brand seems to be bringing out their version of it at the moment. Some seem to be better than others, some labelled as BB Creams are no more than tinted moisturisers, but some are really worth paying attention to. Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream is certainly one of the good ones, in fact I will go as far as saying that it's the best one I've tried so far. (I have already reviewed a couple: Garnier BB Cream and Boots 17 BB Cream, click on the links for the reviews.)

The most unique thing about this BB Cream is that unlike the others I have tried, this has a nude shade, so not so pink as some others. When you apply it in fact, it looks quite grey on the skin, but it blends in really nicely and gives you a great skintone by enhancing your natural tone rather than covering it. Coverage is light to medium I'd say, not as heavy as the 17 BB Cream, but certainly a lot better than the Garnier BB Cream. It doesn't come in more than one shades and says it's suitable for all skin tones, but I would struggle to see this work for very light or very dark skintones. I haven't tested this though, so don't take my word for it!

Once again there are a lot of claims this product has to live up to and it actually does what it says "on the tin". It does blend easily, gives a natural matte finish that lasts, evens out skintone, and it has an SPF30 sun protection which is really good. I can't say it gives a completely flawless coverage, although if you have relatively good skin, then I guess it would, and I can't really comment on whether it's hydrating (although it's not drying on my skin) or whether it helps reduce the formation of lines, which I guess you'd only notice after long term use. All in all this is a good BB Cream, and I would happily recommend this.

My only complaint is the price tag, this is the most expensive one I've tried so far at £20 and you only get 25 ml, so it's also the smallest. Although you can currently get it for just £15 (plus p&p) from Janiro, the new UK distributor of Ginvera products. You can also request a free sample before committing to buying the full size product by clicking here.

See more pictures after the jump!

My Chanel Spring Collection Haul Part 3 - Glossimer 161 Bagatelle

As well as my Paradis Rouge Coco, I also picked up one of the Glossimers from the Chanel spring collection. I opted for Bagatelle which is a medium pink with lots of gold sparkles. I have a big collection of Glossimers, probably over 30, so I wasn't sure if I needed any of the 3 new ones, but I don't have anything very close to Bagatelle and it gives a nice colour unlike the other two that are mostly just shimmer.

Glossimers are one of my favourite lipglosses (together with Guerlain Kiss Kiss lipglosses and Yves Saint Laurent Golden Glosses) as they are non-sticky, but still last quite a long time and feel very comfortable on my lips. I have loads of different colours, but the pink ones always suck me in. There are some nicely pigmented ones in my collection and Bagatelle is one of them. It's only light to medium pink, so nothing bright, but it does give a nice colour and sheen to my lips. At £20 it's not cheap, but you get a good amount (5.5g) for your money.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Guerlain Summer 2012 Collection Terra Azzurra By Emilio Pucci - More Pictures!

I'm really excited about the upcoming Guerlain Summer 2012 collection and finally I have some more detailed pictures to show you! Firstly the promo image with the ever so gorgeous Natalia Vodianova with a Mediterranean seaside town for background. Aah, wouldn't you just love to be there right now?

I also have images of the new Terra Azzurra blush/bronzer, the new Meteorites, the lipglosses and nail polishes after the jump, so be sure to keep reading!

My Chanel Spring Collection Haul Part 2 - Rouge Coco 39 Paradis

I've already shown you how this looks on the lips (see this post) and now here are the full details. Rouge Coco in Paradis is one of the lipsticks that have come out in the Chanel spring collection. I thought it was limited edition, but apparently it isn't. I know that Chalys (which is the other one I wanted but haven't bought yet) is definitely permanent.

Paradis is a lovely pinky coral shade, more pink than coral actually. It is quite well pigmented, but isn't bright, so works very well as a subtle daytime shade. I do need a few swipes and it doesn't last very long on my lips (2 hours tops), but it is very pretty, so I will forgive it. The formula is neither drying, nor moisturising, it feels nice but as it disappears so quickly, it doesn't really have any effect on the condition of my lips. The Rouge Coco lipsticks cost £23 and you get 3.5 g for your money.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Mac Naturally Mineralize Eyeshadow and Blush Swatches

As promised, here are the swatches of the Mac Naturally mineralize goodies I picked up last week. I swatched In The Sun twice, once swirled all the shades together and once I sawtched the yellow and the rusty brown separately as there are quite big chunks of the different colours in mine, so it would be possible to use the shades separately. I swatched the blushes twice too, once lightly with a brush and once heavily.

Carry on reading to see all the swatches after the jump!

Guerlain Spring 2012 Collection - Kiss Kiss Lipglosses Swatches and Review

Having seen the Rouge G lipsticks that came out with the Guerlain spring collection in person I decided to give them a miss as they seemed very sheer and at nearly £30 just not worth it for me. I did however pick up all 4 Kiss Kiss lipglosses which deliver quite a bit more colour and are a lot cheaper at £21 each.

I really like Guerlain Kiss Kiss lipglosses, they have a lovely texture, they're not sticky and last quite well on me. They're not drying and feel very comfortable. Just simply one of the best lipglosses I've tried. The lipglosses that came out with the spring collection are very varied in colour and finish, some have quite a lot of shimmer whereas some only have a nice sheen. The medium shades seem to be the most pigmented, with the darker fuchsia shade being quite sheer and the light pearly pink shade just mostly giving a pink sheen. I like them all, but my favourite is definitely 872 Flush Pink. It is a lovely rosy pink shade with good pigmentation and very fine shimmer. The glosses come with brush applicators which are on the small side, but not overly so. They do pull out a good amount of gloss and distribute it easily.

I believe these shades are joining the permanent line which is really nice. In fact the only limited edition products are the Rouge G lipsticks and Cruel Gardenia highlighter, the rest of the spring collection are permanent. These lipglosses cost £21 and you get 6 ml for your money.Will you be buying any of these?

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Guerlain Spring 2012 Collection - Ecrin 6 Couleurs 66 Boulevard Du Montparnasse Swatches and Review

The third palette that was released with Guerlain's spring collection is this 6 colour palette called 66 Boulevard Du Montparnasse. Quite different from the other permanent 6 colour palettes in that it includes a lot more colour. Still quite neutral and certainly very wearable, it's nice to see that there's more than just the middle shade that  has some colour (and by colour I mean not neutral/brown/grey). The eyeliner is a gorgeous plum colour and you also get a lovely taupe eyeshadow as well as the beautiful pink shade in the middle. 

This palette is possibly my favourite of the existing line of 6 colour palettes, even if we include Rue de Rivoli from last year's spring collection that had that lovely fuchsia colour in the middle. The shadows come in the usual silver heavyweight compact with the gorgeous cut-out lace design and flip-out mirror. You get 7.3g for £52.50, so actually this is a lot more expensive gram per gram than the 4 colour palette, but I guess you're paying extra for the compact itself. Interestingly the price remained the same as last year's, even though the other permanent 6 colour palettes now cost £53.50. I believe this is also going to form part of the permanent line which is really nice as there are just far too many gorgeous products coming out with this collection and it can get very expensive having to buy them all (I should know!).

The shadows are soft and very easy to blend, stay put all day, don't crease and look vibrant for hours and hours. One shade (the one across the bottom) has the least colour payoff, but generally they are all nicely pigmented. I did a lovely look with them which I'll be posting soon. The swatches below were done anti-clockwise from the lightest shade, then the middle shade and last the liner shade on the right. Isn't that pink just beautiful?

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Guerlain Spring 2012 Collection - Ecrin 4 Couleurs 11 Les Roses Swatches and Review

I was very excited about the Guerlain Spring 2012 Collection as you know, and finally it hit our shores (and counters), so I could purchase the products I was missing. I picked up Les Roses eyeshadow quad and couldn't wait to use it, it is pure prettiness. I know some people are afraid of pink eyeshadows, but I personally love them, they work fine with my dark brown eyes and lashings of mascara. Also the pink shades in this eyeshadow quad are actually very wearable.

With this quad you get a dark mauve colour that you can use in the crease or as a liner, it's gorgeous, pigmented and very smooth. This is possibly my favourite shade form the quad. You also get a pearly light pink highlighter shade, and two almost identical pink shades, although one is more satin finish, bit darker and a little bit more purple. I'm not certain you need two shades so close to each other, perhaps they could've made them a bit more different, but the quad is still very nice, pigmented and smooth. I did a really nice look with it that I'll share with you soon. The quad costs £37 and you get 7.2g of eyeshadows, which is not too bad at all. I believe both this and the Les Aqua eyeshadow quad are joining the permanent line, so you don't have to rush out to get it.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

My Mac Naturally Collection Haul

I have so many things I want to share with you, but not a lot of time, so over the next few days I'll be doing some rather quick posts about some of the lovely make up I've bought from the newly released spring collections.

Today I would like to share with you the lovely Mac mineralize goodies I picked up this week. Mac Naturally launched online last Tuesday/Thursday (depending on the retailer) and I believe this Monday at counters. I ordered most of my stuff from Debenhams because I wanted to make use of their 10% beauty offer, but they couldn't send me one of the eyeshadows, so I picked that up on Thursday from House of Fraser. And here they all are:

I bought Early Morning and Summer Breeze mineralize blushes, and all 5 mineralize eyeshadows: Cloudy Afternoon, Summer Haze, Daylight, In the Sun and Twilight Falls. I also got the 286 eyeshadow brush (not pictured). I didn't pick up any mineralize skinfinishes, because I own them already from when they first came out, and I thought Fresh Honey mineralize blush was too orange for me. I also didn't get any lipsticks or lipglasses because I'm not a big fan of nude lips, besides I already have plenty enough nude lipsticks and lipglosses anyway.

I apologise for the lack of swatches, but I just haven't had time to do them. I will try my best to swatch them in the next few days, but sadly as these are all limited edition products, that might not be too helpful for you. I do have a photo of me wearing Subtle Breeze mineralize blush at the bottom of this post though, so be sure to scroll all the way down.

See more pictures after the jump!

My Chanel Spring Collection Haul Part 1 - Blush Horizon De Chanel and Poudre Universelle Compacte in Jasmin

I have so many things I want to share with you, but not a lot of time, so over the next few days I'll be doing some rather quick posts about some of the lovely make up I've bought from the newly released spring collections.

First up my Chanel haul, well, part of it. I ordered these two lovelies form Boots pretty much on the day of release. I really wanted the Horizon blush and Jasmin pressed powder, for me these two were the must haves form the Chanel spring collection. I also got the eyeshadow quad in Eclosion, Paradis Rouge Coco and Bagatelle Glossimer, but I'll show them to you later.

Horizon blush is a lovely sptripy blush mostly pink with cream, mauve and coral stripes, that give a gorgeous pink shade when mixed, very suitable for spring. It's not overly pigmented, gives a really natural look, but of course can be layered for stronger colour. It comes in the regular black Chanel compact with a mirror in the lid, and it also comes with a nice little angled brush in a separate pouch. It costs £46, but it is actually rather large at 15g, so not as bad as it sounds (most blushes are much smaller).

The pressed powder in Jasmin is supposed to be "natural finish", but it has got a lot of gorgeous shimmer in it. I have used it all over my face and the sparkles are actually very subtle and don't make my face look like a disco ball at all. It's rather lovely actually. Might not suit those who don't like shimmer, but I think it would really look lovely on a night out especially. Comes in the usual black Chanel compact with a mirror in the lid, and it also comes with a powder puff. It costs £29.50 and is also 15g in weight.

There are lots more pictures including swatches and also a picture of me wearing both products, so make sure you go all the way down to the bottom of the post.

Estee Lauder Pure Color Cyber Eyes Gelee Powder Eyeshadows in Cyber Lilac and Cyber Teal

You have no idea how long it's taken me to get my hands on the remaining two shades of Estee Lauder's new Cyber Eyes eyeshadows. I bought the other 4 shades at the end of December, but it took me about 4 weeks to finally get my hands on the lilac and teal ones as they were unavailable everywhere. Apparently they were delayed in production and weren't sent from the US for ages. I literally asked everywhere and had my name down on 4 waiting lists, plus stalked every website that carries the Estee Lauder line. I got them in the end, and I believe they are now widely available at counters and on the Estee Lauder website, but of course they are limited edition, so it's only a matter of time before they're all gone.

I will not do a full review on these, if you are interested, please look at this post in which I reviewed the other 4 shades. Were these two shades worth the wait though? Yes, they were, they are both really lovely and if Estee Lauder came out with more shades (I'm thinking blue, bronze, (grass) green, gold) I would definitely buy them too. Good news is, in April Mac is coming out with a collection of 10 Extra Dimension eyeshadows which are supposed to be very similar to these Cyber Eyes shadows and there's bound to be some fun shades in that collection! Hopefully those will be a bit cheaper too as that's one of the drawbacks of these eyeshadows, at £19 each they are not cheap!

Anyway, there are some more pictures including swatches after the jump!

L'Occitane Shea Butter Defense - Supreme Winter Protection

So what happened to spring? Just the other day I was wondering what springtime fragrance I should wear as the weather was getting milder (well, the whole winter had been pretty mild in the UK to be fair, up until now that is) and my Harajuku Lovers holiday fragrance was beginning to feel a bit out of place. And then bang! The temperature suddenly plummeted and last weekend it even snowed. So what better time to be sent some lovely shea butter face care products from L'Occitane to try out.

Firstly I'd like to point out that I don't normally suffer from dry skin (on my face anyway), my skin is normal with oily bits (T-zone). But even so, when the temperature is near zero and the wind is blowing in your face, a bit of extra moisture doesn't hurt anyone. I was sent two kinds of face creams to try out, the Ultra Rich Face Cream that contains 25% shea butter and the Ultra Gentle Moisturiser that contains 8%. First one is recommended for dry to very dry skin, so I thought I'd try it as my night cream, in case it makes my face more oily, and the second one as a day cream as that is recommended for normal to dry skin (and also sensitive skin). I was also sent a 100% pure shea butter beauty balm that is handy on the go and ideal for chapped lips.

Carry on reading to find out what I thought about these products!

Accessorize Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my Accessorize giveaway. There were 27 qualifying entries and I am pleased to announce the winner:

layla

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Online Ordering From KIKO - And Why You Shouldn't Do It

This was initially going to be a product review, but instead I wanted to share my experience about ordering online from KIKO, with a warning about their shameful, practically non-existent customer service. I placed an order for 4 Water Eyeshadows and an Eyeshadow Stick on Tuesday, 17th January. I received my order the following Tuesday, so a full week later, having been completely unaware that it was coming from Italy, as it doesn't say anywhere on the KIKO UK website. When I opened the package I noticed that they managed to send shade 102 of the Water Eyeshadows twice and didn't send me a 101. So I e-mailed them as there is no UK phone number on the website. They e-mailed me back the following day with what seems like an automated e-mail and requested that I send a photo of the products received. Now if the shadows had been damaged, I'd understand, but why do I need to provide photographic evidence that they sent me two of the same eyeshadow? Anyway I replied with a photo and that was 12 days ago. Since then I have not heard from them.

I am absolutely gobsmacked by this non-existent customer service. I'd just like to exchange one of the 102's for a 101 or get a refund if they can't send me a 101. And as this wasn't even my mistake, I would expect them not to even require me to return the extra one like many other brand would (I once received a damaged eyeshadow from Bobbi Brown, phoned up and was sent a new one immediately that arrived the following day), but I don't even mind, I'll send it back - at their cost of course! However, it's been 12 days now since I first e-mailed them and since then I have e-mailed them repeatedly, and they haven't bothered to respond. I then raised this issue with Paypal, started a dispute to which they also didn't respond and now I have escalated it to a claim, and still no answer. As there is no customer service number anywhere on their website, all I can do is wait for them to e-mail me or for Paypal to hopefully give me a refund. All I can say after all of this is that I will NEVER EVER order from them again, or even buy their products from their store in London. Their products are nice, but not worth this awful hassle and I am now officially boycotting KIKO. 

Have you been let down by bad customer service? Feel free to share your experience in the comments!

NOTD: Inglot 207 Nail Polish

I bought this gorgeous gold holographic glitter nail polish back in October when I first visited the Inglot store in London. It's taken me this long to wear it and show you how pretty it is. I love glitter and holographic nail polishes and so I was very happy to find a nice gold one that I didn't have before. It's not fully holographic, but you can definitely see every colour of the rainbow in there and at certain angles you can actually see the rainbow. I took many pictures to try and capture its true beauty, but the pictures don't really do it justice, it is even prettier in real life.

The pictures show 3 coats and even that doesn't give full coverage, but I got bored with painting my nails. The formula is nice, not too thick, not too runny and dries quite quickly. The glitter is very fine, so the end result is nice and smooth (I did use a topcoat though, I always do). Wear time was average (2 days without major chipping) and I would be happy to recommend this if you're after a nice gold holographic glitter polish. Available from Inglot, it costs £8 per 8 ml.

See more pictures after the jump!

Topshop Crayons in Sun Shower and Ramble - Review and Swatches

I popped into Topshop the other day and picked up a couple of their eyeshadow crayons in shades Sun Shower (gold) and Ramble (chocolate brown with gold flecks). I'd already owned two of these (reviewed here) and really liked them, so I thought I'd check out some new shades.

These eyeshadow crayons are really nice and soft, glide on very easily and can be blended out nicely. They stay on all day without creasing (I used UDPP under them) and both shades are just gorgeous. I adore the gold sparkles in the chocolate brown shade. They are 1.64 g, cost £7.50 each and are available from Topshop. There's one more shade (Whisper) I'm contemplating getting, but they never have testers of it (don't you hate that?) and ideally I would like to test it before I buy.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Finished! The January Edition

Finally, January is over. Is it just me or did it feel like the longest month ever? I was really willing it to be over for a few reasons. Firstly, I want spring to come. I've had enough of the dark afternoons and mornings, I want it to be daylight when I get up and daylight when I'm cooking dinner by my south-west facing kitchen window. I want flowers in the garden, cherry blossoms on the trees down the street. Secondly, I couldn't wait for Guerlain's spring collection to be finally released. And thirdly, I'd already exceeded my monthly beauty budget by the middle of the month and I desperately needed it to be February to start again. Sadly it has turned really cold in the UK, so there's no sign of spring yet unfortunately.

At least, with January being such a long month (or at least it felt like it), I've managed to finish a few products, so there are some positives there too. A lot of the products I finished this month I have reviewed on here at some point, so I will just link them to the reviews instead of repeating myself.

First though here's something I've not reviewed before, this is Avon Skin So Soft Signature Silk Nourishing Body Cream. I used to buy lots of Avon products a while ago, and I'm still finishing some of them off. This particular body cream sadly isn't a good example of Avon's good quality products. Very pretty packaging, nice scent, but a pretty rubbish moisturiser. It sort of feels like body butter, at least it's texture, but it's not at all that creamy and doesn't really spread well, so you actually use up quite a lot of cream, and it's not even that moisturising. So it's a no from me I'm afraid.

See what other products I used up after the jump!

My Dior Spring 2012 Collection Haul

A relatively modest haul for me, I only got 3 products from the Dior Spring 2012 collection. I even surprised myself with this, because when I first saw details of the collection, I was sure I also wanted the two clutches, however after swatching them I concluded that the eyeshadows were too sheer and I didn't want to fork out all that money for them. They are very pretty and if you like sheer colours, they might suit you, but they're just not for me.

I ended up buying the two eyeshadow quints, Garden Roses and Garden Pastels and one of the eyeshadow trios, Smoky Violet. Well, what can I say? The quints are just gorgeous. I just love the design and the colours, although admittedly I haven't actually been brave enough to swatch them as I love the design more, but I will eventually and in fact I have at the counter and they are gorgeous. I did swatch the trio as there's no gorgeous floral design the destroy (make sure you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post for the swatches!).

A few words about the trio. It is quite unusual in the way that the compact doesn't open like normal compacts do, you have to slide the lid to open it and a little mirror then pops up from inside the compact. Not too sure why as I'd personally prefer a nice full size mirror int he lid, but I guess it's a bit quirkier this way. Inside you get 3 eyeshadows, they are labelled as Base, Soft Smoky and Couture Smoky. Dior recommends that you use the base colour all over the lid and then one of the darker shades for the outer corner, lid and along the lashline for a smoky eye look. One of the darker shades is matte, the other is shimmery (which is the main reason why I got this palette, it's so pretty). I personally could see myself using all 2 shades, but I guess if you're not very experienced at applying eyeshadows, this is a good tip. Dior also included a joke size double ended brush and a sponge applicator which are frankly no use if your hands are bigger than a 2-year-old's.

Funnily you actually get more product in the trio (5.5g instead of 4.8g in the quints), not sure why. The quints cost £41 each and the trio costs £32, so definitely the better deal of the two, BUT can you put a price on prettiness? Because the quints are just so pretty, they win hands down.

See more pictures after the jump!