NOTD: Color Club Worth The Risque

This was one of the nail polishes I showed you in my recent haul post and I had a request to review some of the Color Club polishes, so I chose this. Truth is, I've been on the hunt for a good holographic nail polish for a while now and as the GOSH holographic polish is selling for crazy money on eBay, I thought I'd try some alternatives instead.

This polish is definitely not as holographic as I had hoped, compared to the GOSH one it really is disappointing. I took the pictures in hazy sunlight and you can just about see the rainbow. It is more visible under strong indoor light, but even that isn't too noticable. My nails just look silver rather than holo-rainbow, sadly. On the upside, the formula is really nice, not too thick, not too runny, fast drying and I'm into day 2 now with very minimal chipping. The coverage is absolutely fantastic, what you see in the pitures is 2 coats, but really, you can get away with one. The reason I did two coats is because I apply an extra coat on top of the Seche Vite top coat to make it longer lasting and also because top coats can dull the holo effect.

All in all, a nice subtle holo polish with a great formula. I got mine from eBay and it cost $3.25 with reasonable shipping cost.

Have you tried any holographic nail polishes? Have you got a favourite? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows Review and Swatches Part 2

This isn't so much a detailed review because I have already reviewed these eyeshadows before (click here to read my review), but I wanted to post the swatches of these two shades I picked up after the initial four, because I liked those so much. In this post I'd like to show you Permanent Kaki (Khaki, no?) and Sahara Treasure.

Permanent Kaki is an olive green/khaki colour and Sahara Treasure is a golden sand colour (darker and not as yellow as Goldmine). Both are gorgeous colours and the texture of these is the same as the other 4 I've reviewed already. I apply them over primer (UDPP or Too Faced) and they stay on all day without creasing. They are a really good option for me when I only have 5 minutes to do my make up.

I'd love to get these in more colours, but I'm not that keen on the other ones available (I think there are 12 in the UK), so I'll just stick with the 6 I have. Have you got any favourite shades? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

My Recent Haul Pictures

I'm still playing catch up when it comes to writing blog posts, so I thought I'd do a quick one about my recent make up (and mostly nail polish!) purchases. I don't think I will get around to reviewing many of these anytime soon (I have one review coming), but if you are really interested in something, let me know in the comments. So without further ado, here are the pictures:

My Cherry Culture order

First up lots of lovely Milani stuff. I bought these from Cherry Culture when they recently had a 20% sale. Shipping was quite expensive, but I was very pleased that I didn't have to also pay customs duty and the horrendous £8 Royal Mail fee on top of it all, so the above came to a total of £60 which isn't too bad actually.

See what other products I bought after the jump!

Want It! Dior Croisette Collection Summer 2012

Another summer collection that's caught my eye is Dior Croisette Collection and I thought I'd show the details and some pretty pictures with you. I'm mostly excited about the eyeshadow quints and Aurora Enhancing Healthy Glow Powder, but there are some gorgeous lip and nail products included in the collection as well.

Due to be launched towards the end of April, the collection includes the following products:

5 Couleurs Croisette Eyeshadow Palette

• 224 Swimming Pool
• 654 Aurora

Dior Couleur Eye Gloss

• 020 Seashell
• 750 Sunset
• 240 Azur
• 560 Tan

Diorshow Waterproof Liner

• 258 Turquoise

Dior Addict Lipstick

• 354 Palace
• 414 Casual Gold
• 544 Jet Set

Dior Addict Ultra Gloss

• 224 Sunrise Gold
• 423 Brown Panama
• 464 Pink Croisette
• 542 Orange Pareo

Dior Addict Lip Balm

• 001 Crystal
• 002 Crystal Pink
• 003 Crystal Coral

Le Vernis

• 231 Bikini
• 401 Saint Tropez

Nude Glow Sun Powder

• 001 Honey
• 002 Amber
• 003 Cinnamon
• 004 Spicy
• 005 Toffee
• 006 Sienna

Enhancing Healthy Glow Powder

• 001 Aurora
• 002 Sunlight
• 003 Zenith
• 004 Sunset

Anything takes your fancy? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD: Laura Geller Eye Elements Baked Eye Shadow and Highlighter in Meadow Skies

Here's the look I did with my new Laura Geller Meadow Skies eyeshadow and highlighter compact. I like this look, I think the colours work well together and on me too. What do you think?

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Barbara Daly eyeshadow primer
Laura Geller Eye Elements in Meadow Skies khaki shade on middle of lid and above crease
Laura Geller Eye Elements in Meadow Skies forest green shade in crease
Laura Geller Eye Elements in Meadow Skies rose gold shade in inner corner
Laura Geller Eye Elements in Meadow Skies white gold highlighter on browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Mildew on waterline
Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Guerlain Parure Aqua foundation in 02 Beige Clair
Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Medium
Mac Brunette Mineralize Skinfinish to contour
Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Tropic Hues
Laura Geller Eye Elements in Meadow Skies white gold highlighter

Lips:
Mac Rue d'Rouge Dazzleglass

See more pictures after the jump!

Laura Geller Eye Elements Baked Eye Shadow And Highlighter in Meadow Skies

If you're wondering why this product looks so familiar, then don't worry, the answer is you've seen it before a few times on this blog - well, with different colours anyway. This is now the 4th version of Laura Geller Eye Elements Baked Eye Shadow and Highlighter that I've picked up and reviewed on here. If you are interested in the other three, they can be found at the following links: Amethyst Skies, Sahara Skies and Smoke & Ice.

Once again, the compact contains 3 baked eyeshadows and a highlighter which can be used on the face or the eyes. The size of the compact (8 g, same size as the Blush n Brighten compacts) means that it's easy to use the shades individually and the highlighter portion is big enough for a blush brush, so you don't end up picking up the shadows at the same time. The shades work very well together, you get a golden khaki green/old gold shade, a frosty rose gold and a forest green, and the highlighter is a very pale white gold (think Nars Albatross in baked form). The rose gold shade is the frostiest of the bunch, the forest green shade is more satiny and the khaki/old gold shade is in between. The highlighter is quite frosty and has some very fine glitter, but it's still quite subtle for daytime looks. They are all really smooth and the eyeshadows stayed in place without creasing all day. There was minimal fallout during application which is expected with baked products and doesn't bother me at all.

I don't know what collection this came out with because I tend to buy my Laura Geller stuff on eBay, but I'm pretty sure it was part of one of those QVC value sets. I picked mine up for $20 which I feel is a good price for this. Once again, I'm happy with this product and would recommend you check it out if you can.

I will soon be posting a look I did with this compact, so be sure to check back soon. For now see lots more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Guerlain Terracotta Blush Sun Shimmer Highlighter Review and Swatches

Firstly I'd like to apologise for not posting for 2 days, but I've had some very busy days behind me and then last night I was so tired I actually fell asleep in front of the telly. But finally here's the post I'd been planning on writing for a few days.

Guerlain's annual Terracotta collection was launched here a few weeks ago and I've already reviewed the Sun In The City shimmer powder a little while ago, however, the other two products I wanted took a bit longer to launch for some reason. I got the two liquid blushes, Sunny Pink and Spicy Coral. These blushes are also described as Sun Shimmer Highlighters, I guess because they are quite shimmery, however, they are certainly not highlighters on my skintone (may be on darker skintones I guess). They are actually very pigmented and a little goes a very long way as you will see from the swatch pictures.

Sunny Pink is a gorgeous pink colour with lots of gold shimmer in it. It's very wearable on lighter skintones and can be blended out well. Spicy Coral is quite orange with again lots of gold shimmer and may be harder to pull off, I will probably only attempt it once I have a tan, but right now I'm so pale I'm not sure it wouldn't look too orange and clowny on me. (Admittedly I haven't tried it on other than the arm swatch.) You can see me wearing Sunny Pink at the bottom of this post, so be sure to scroll down all the way.

They come in a pump bottle and one pump is plenty enough to cover both cheeks, so as I said, a little goes a very long way. They can be blended quite easily, but I would definitely try adding little bits at a time and building up the colour rather than slathering it on all at once and then attempting to blend it out. You get 15 ml for £28, so they're certainly not cheap, but I would imagine they'll last forever.

Have you been tempted by any of these? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures including swatches and a quick FOTD with Sunny Pink after the jump!

FOTD: Gold And Purple Look With Stila's In The Moment Palette

I'm still playing catching up, so here's another quick post, this time a look I did with my new Stila In The Moment palette. I really liked this look, purple is one of my favourite colours and I think it works well with gold. I also tried out the new Mac Viva Glam Nicki lipstick for the first time and man, it is so bright! Fun colour though, just need sunglasses with it. Anyway, here's the look I did, let me know how you like it.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Make UP For Ever Aqua Cream #11 (gold)
Stila In The Moment palette Spontaneous eyeshadow all over the lid
Stila In The Moment palette Glance eyeshadow in the crease
Stila In The Moment palette Instinct eyeshadow on browbone to highlight
Mac Superslick Liquid Eyeliner in Pure Show on upper lashline
L'Oreal HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Violet Volt on lower lashline
Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in 020 Cameo
Guerlain Meteorites Travel Touch loose powder in 01 Mythic
Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Sateen Subtle Orchid
Mac Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish to highlight

Lips:
Mac Viva Glam Nicki lipstick

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: OPI Save Me

Just a quick NOTD post today I'm afraid as I've been very busy lately and as a result, used up all my interesting scheduled posts. I should be back to normal in a few days, I have some lovely things to share with you, so keep checking in!

This beauty is OPI's Save Me from the Nicki Minaj collection. Hope it's still available because it's absolutely stunning if you like glitter. More of a topcoat really, but here I used it as a normal polish, and it took 3 coats to cover my nails properly. It is extremely rough though even after 2 coats of Seche Vite topcoat and the bar glitter tends to stick out all over the place, so it's really quite annoying. But it would look lovely as a top coat and probably more comfortable to wear, but it will still need a top coat to smooth it out.

As usual, you get 15 ml and in the UK OPI polishes cost £10.50. Quite a rip off, so I try to buy mine from eBay, usually for a good few pounds more. Otherwise, you can buy yours from John Lewis, Beauty Bay, Sally's, etc.

See another picture after the jump!

Make Up Bags Don't Get Much Cuter Than This!

I was sent this gorgeous little make up bag for review and I have to say, I haven't seen many make up bags this cute. What do you think? Made by Anna Nova and in the UK stocked by Runway Culture, this little beauty can be yours for £16.95.

It is quite little, but it does hold the essentials, especially if you're someone who doesn't take a lot of make up with you when you go away. Or perhaps it would work very well as a daily make up bag to carry around with you in your bag. I personally take a lot of stuff with me when I go away, but it would house enough make up for a couple of days I reckon. It did fit my belowed Guerlain Le 2 mascara which is really long, so it definitely gets the thumbs up from me!

All in all, a nice little bag and it is so cute! It has a lovely leather-feel outer (not sure if it is leather or not, can't find any info on it), and the thick lining makes it look and feel more expensive than it actually is. Comes in 3 colours: blue, black and red, and two designs, it would also make a lovely present if you don't want to treat yourself to one. Runway Culture also stock wallets and coin purses with the same design (plus check out the cute giraffe design!) and delivery is very reasonably priced at £1.95 (within the UK, but they also deliver internationally). Have a look and let me know if you've found anything. (And psst! here's a 10% off code for you lovely readers: new2rc10)

See more pictures after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliners Review and Swatches

While on the subject of eyeliners, I thought I'd do a post on Stila's Smudge Stick Eyeliners as well (having already reviewed three of them with the palettes I've shown you recently). I'd been meaning to pick up a few more shades but there isn't a Stila counter near me and I really wanted to swatch them first, so when I eventually went to Westfield (Shepherds Bush) Shopping Center I managed to pick up these 4. For the shades I've already reviewed, check them out here: Tetra, Starfish and Damsel.

I got Peacock, Lionfish, Moray and Bluefin. Peacock is teal, Lionfish is warm brown, Moray is khaki green with gold flecks and Bluefin is blue with shimmer.They are all nice and creamy, but set pretty quickly and once they do, they're not going anywhere. They're fairly easy to remove with make up remover, but they really don't come off just by rubbing. I'm not 100% sure how waterproof they are as I haven't tested that, but they stay vibrant and in place on my waterline all day, so that's good enought for me.

I like all the colours I got, out of the 4 Peacock is my favourite as it's a reallly gorgeous teal shade. There's one thing I don't like about these eyeliners, and that is just how little you actually get. Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners and Mac Pearlglide liners are both 1.2 g, whereas Stila Smudge Sticks are a measly 0.28 g! That's not even a quarter of the size of the other two! So at £13 each they are actually very expensive per gram! On the other hand you don't need to sharpen these, so there's no wastage as you just twist the end to get more product out.

Stila products in the UK are available from Stila's own website, Boots, BeautyBay and Lookfantastic (or at least those are the ones I know about). 

Do you own these? Have you got a favourite shade? Let me know in the comments!  

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Mac Pearlglide Intense Eye Liners Review and Swatches

The Mac Vera collection also contains 7 shades of their popular Pearlglide Intense Eye Liners, so I thought I'd do a little review on them. I actually only purchased 2 shades this time around, becaue I already owned 5. The shades I bought are Lord It Up (bronze with pearl) and Black Line (black with gold pearl), the ones I owned already are Designer Purple (iridescent violet), Industrial (periwinkle grey), Undercurrent (teal with pearl), Black Swan (black with pearl) and Petrol Blue (deep navy with pearl).

These eyeliners are really lovely, they're creamy, long lasting, don't smudge, but still pretty easy to remove. I really like them, they're one of my favourite eyeliners. They all contain glitter, so they're best not used on the waterline, but I did check the Mac website and the outer packaging and there's no warning about that anywhere. However I do find that if I use them on my waterline, my eyes water, so I tend to keep them on the lashline.

These eyeliners are the same size (1.2 g) as the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners which are also one of my favourites, and they cost £14 (£1 more expensive than the UD ones), but really I wouldn't compare them too much to the UD ones because of the glitter. Also I think the colours they come in are more unique than the UD ones, I especially love Industrial, an amazing light blue-grey, it's almost duo-chrome (it hasn't got as much glitter as some of the other ones either). If you like coloured eyeliners, then definitely check out Industrial, Designer Purple, Petrol Blue and Undercurrent, if you prefer blacks and neutrals, then go for the other 3 shades. Out of those my favourite is Black Swan, it's a gorgeous black with silver sparkles.

According to the UK Mac site these are limited edition, but in the US they are now permanent, however, they're all in stock so let's hope Mac has lots of them available. Have you tried any of these? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila In The Moment Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

Another day, another Stila palette. This is practically the same as the In The Garden palette, only it's purple. Okay, it's not the same, but very similar, it has the same issues (no mirror, useless quote from someone I don't know or care about for that matter) and it also contains 10 eyeshadows, a smudge stick eyeliner and a booklet.

Let's just talk about the colours rather than repeating everything I said about the In The Garden palette, shall we? This time we only have one matte (Desire) which is the same disappear-on-my-skintone shade as Nectar in the other palette, perhaps a bit pinker. It's pretty, but not very interesting. I do love the other shades very much, love it that there's several purples in the palette as well as a few neutrals. Glance (middle one on the top row) is a beautiful midtone purple with a subtle sheen, probably my most favourite shade in the palette. I also love Catalyst (top row, far right) which is a blackened purple with purple shimmer (think Mac Young Punk mineralize eyeshadow) and looks beautiful as a liner. I'm sporting it on my top lashline as I type. Instinct is a nice, although rather frosty highlighter shade. My least favourite is probably Improvise, a satiny plum colour that hasn't got a very good colour payoff and looks rather dull blended out. Perhaps this one will work better wet. Otherwise I'm happy with this palette, for me it's the nicer of the two Stila spring palettes.

Once again you get a full size smudge stick as well, this time it's Tetra, a dark purple one with purple shimmer. It compliments the purple shades well, although not sure how it would work with the shades in the bottom row. A more plumy eyeliner would work better with those I think.

Just like the In The Garden palette this costs £25 and you get 14 g of eyeshadows and 0.28 g of eyeliner. Available from BeautyBay, although I bought mine on eBay because I wasn't sure whether we were getting this.

See lots of pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila In The Garden Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

One of the Stila spring palettes I've purchased is the In The Garden palette. It is a very similar style to the Naturaleyes palette that I reviewed a few months ago. You get 10 eyeshadows (out of which 2 are matte) and a full size smudge stick eyeliner for £25. You also get a booklet with some suggestions for looks you can create. 

The eyeshadows are nicely pigmented, some better than others, but it tends to be that the frostier shades are the most pigmented. The two matte shades are alright, not chalky at all. The darker of the two (Nectar) is pretty much the same as my skin colour and doesn't really who up on me. The darker shades are more satiny than frosty except for Moss which is a really lovely dirty brown colour with gold flecks. There aren't really any true highlighters in this palette (I don't like highlighting with matte eyeshadows), but other than that it's a nice palette. The smudge stick eyeliner you get is in the shade Starfish which is a mossy green colour with gold shimmer. It is supposed to be waterproof and it does stay on through the whole day, once it's set, it's very hard to remove (make up remover does remove it easily though).

I did a look with Breeze, Sage and Moss, plus Starfish smudge stick and it was very pretty, the shadows applied and blended easily and everything stayed in place all day (used them over my trusty Barbara Daly eyeshadow primer). 

The palette is still lacking a mirror in the lid and it has yet another quote from Sarah Lucero whoever she might be (I need to look her up!). Otherwise it's a nice palette, although not as bright and spring like as I would have expected. For £25 you get 14 g of eyeshadows and 0.28 g of smudge stick eyeliner.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

FOTD: Mac Vera Crushed Metallic Pigments

Finally I've managed to do a look with my new Vera Crushed Metallic Pigments. I've mixed them up a bit, used two from Butterfly Party stack and two from Strawberry Patch. As expected (based on the swatches I did) Butterfly Party and Desert Cloud were pretty hard work to blend out, especially Desert Cloud. I did use them dry, so maybe trying them wet might work better. Desert Cloud creased on my left eye as well, so yeah, not that great. Also my eyes were watering quite a bit (because of Designer Purple Pearlglide I think), so in the end my eyes didn't look that great.

As you can see the colours didn't turn out great in the picture, Desert Cloud (in the crease) is much more purple in real life. Also, you can see how patchy it is. Oh well, if you don't look too close, it's still a very pretty look.

I also wore Quick Sizzle lipstick from Shop Mac and I was so impressed by it. I had to wipe it off after 2 hours because I had a dentist appointment, but it left a strong pink stain that lingered on until after lunch (another hour and a half later). Not at all drying and so comfortable to wear. I put Like Venus dazzleglass on it, but I also love the matte finish.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Butterfly Party on middle of lid
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Desert Cloud in crease
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Rose Light in inner corner and above crease to blend out
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Star Crystal on browbone to highlight
Mac Pearlglide in Designer Purple on lashline
Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Guerlain Parure Aqua foundation in 02 Beige Clair
Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Medium
Mac Powder Blush in Overdyed
Mac Perfect Topping Mineralize Skinfinish to highlight

Lips:
Mac Quick Sizzle lipstick
Mac Like Venus Dazzleglass

See more pictures after the jump!

Stila Spring 2012 Collection Haul

This spring Stila has come out with a lot of pretty stuff. As well as some new Jewel eyeshadows, Sparkle Luxe glosses and Smudge Crayons, they also released two lovely eyeshadow palettes and a gorgeous blush. I haven't got any of the above mentioned goodies because I really want to go to a Stila counter and have a good swatching session, and unfortunately there aren't any near me. But I did pick up the two eyeshadow palettes and the gorgeous Love At First Blush.

The two eyeshadow palettes are In The Garden (green) and In The Moment (purple). I actually thought we may not get the purple one as I think it was a Sephora exclusive in the US, so I bought it on eBay, whereas I ordered the other two from BeautyBay. The palettes cost £25 each and the blush costs £12 (for 6.2 g which is actually a brilliant price I think).

I will post swatches or rather I will do proper reviews of both palettes soon. For the blush, I'm not sure if I'll be able to ruin it by using it (weird, I know), but I was brave and swatched it, and you can see the swatches at the bottom of this post.

See more pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Terracotta Sun In The City Golden Glimmer Powder Review and Swatches

So here it is, the gorgeousness that is the Guerlain Terracotta Sun In The City Golden Glimmer Powder. Accordring to Guerlain it's a "sweep of sunlight". Well it kinda is, being a shimmery golden yellow powder. My first impressions were how beautifully made it is, with the two inter-linking G's and the woven texture, but most of all with the powder in a wavy pattern. I didn't realise it was like that, the promo pictures don't show how wavy it is, but I took a picture of it from the side so you can see properly.

The compact is absolutely humongous, it barely fits in my hand. Quite funny actually because it's supposed to be the same weight (15 g) as the Chanel Lucky Stars powder, but the compact is so much bigger. The powder itself is shimmery but not at all glittery, very fine and a gorgeous golden colour. The colour you see is what you get, there's no overspray here. It's not orange, so it works well with cooler skin tones as well, I'm wearing it now and I'm not tanned in the slightest, but it looks lovely. I imagine it will look 10 times better once I have a bit of a tan (whenever that may be, this is the UK after all). This isn't a bronzer, it's definitely a highlighter and it's too shimmery to be an all-over powder.

Do you need it? No, it's not a necessary purchase, especially if you already have a gold highlighter. But it is ever so pretty. I bought mine with 10% off from Debenhams, but normally it costs £43. It is a limited edition product and will probably sell out quickly, since it's so pretty.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

My Purchases From Chanel Las Vegas Collection

When I first saw pictures of the Chanel Las Vegas collection I fell in love with the Lucky Stars powder and was very disheartened to find that it retailed for $95 in the US and seemed to be a Las Vegas boutique exclusive. Luckily it came to Selfridges and the best part is, it cost quite a bit less than $95. (I think I paid £48 which is still A LOT, but not $95 - that would've been more like £57, eek!) So I picked it up on a recent trip to London and also the gold Rouge Coco Shine (called Brillant) which I initially wasn't even planning on buying. And here they are:

Being me, I haven't actually swatched either of them, so I'm afraid all I have is some more droolworthy product pictures. But really, just how pretty is that powder?! So happy drooling and let me know if you have picked up anything from this collection at all?

See more pictures after the jump!

17 Spring Collection Spring Fling Eyeshadow Palettes and Lasting Fix Nail Polishes

I love spring collections, especially when they have pretty colours and patterns, don't you? So for me the 17 spring collection was everything I could've asked for. As well as two gorgeous flowery eyeshadow palettes (remind you a bit of Dior, do they?) there are 4 nail polishes in lovely bright sunny spring shades.



First up are the two eyeshadow palettes, Spring Brights and Hazy Days. Just look at that lovely packaging! It's a shame though that the compacts themselves don't have the same flowery patterns (they're just light pink colour with the words written on them, a missed opportunity if I may say so. The inside of the compacts of course are what matters and they are beautiful. Both consist of 4 colours each arranged in a flowery pattern. Spring Brights includes a matte baby pink, a shimmery light lilac, a shimmery sunny yellow and a shimmery warm yellow-brown (yeah I know, I suck at describing colours). In Hazy Days all four shades are shimmery, a pretty grass green, a light beige, a light brown and a darker chocolate brown.

Some of the sections are very small and practically impossible to get your brush into, but all colours have a bigger patch where you can pick them up easily from. In my opinion there's just a bit too much brown, and I don't think the colours in Spring Brights work particularly well together, the brown and yellow shades do and the pink and purple do, but not so much all 4. I would've liked to see a lighter yellow and perhaps a darker pink or maybe a blue shade in there instead of the brown. The quality of the eyeshadows is good though and at the price (£5.99 each) they are a good buy. You get 7.5 g in each palette which is great.

Spring Petals, Juicy, Mellow Yellow, Glisten

There are also 4 Lasting Fix nail polishes in the spring collection and they all come in lovely spring shades. Spring Petal is a lovely pink with subtle shimmer, Juicy is a gorgeous lime green with subtle shimmer, Mellow Yellow is a sunny yellow with subtle shimmer and Glisten is a shimmery metallic pinky bronze (I think Glisten isn't a new shade actually, but I might be wrong). They are all quite runny and all took 3 coats to look opaque, although Juicy still wasn't quite there even then. I found them hard to apply because of the runny formula, hence the messy application. I created a colourful springtime manicure with them that you'll see at the bottom of the post (reminded me of mini chocolate eggs in colourful wrappers). Spring Petal chipped on me first (after about a day) and Glisten actually lasted for 3 days without chipping, but I need to add that Spring Petal was on my index fingers which always chip first and Glisten was on my little fingers which always chip last. I won't say they're long lasting, but 3 days is actually pretty good for me. They cost £2.99 and you get 8 ml.

There is also a 3 for 2 offer at Boots right now, so you can buy 3 of these for just under 6 quid! Or get the eyeshadow palettes and pick up a nail polish for free!

There's lots more pictures, including swatches and a colourful springtime NOTD after the jump!

FOTD: Mac Crushed Metallic Pigments

Firstly, sorry to disappoint, but this look isn't featuring any of the Vera collection Crushed Metallic Pigments. I actually did this look a few days before the collection came out because I was really excited about the pigments and wanted to use the ones I already owned. The pigments used in this look are from the 2011 Dazzlespheres holiday collection. I will try to do a look with the Vera pigments soon too.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Rose Light on middle of lid
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Seasonal Cool in crease
Mac Crushed Metallic Pigment in Pearl in inner corner, above crease to blend out and on browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Underground on waterline
Guerlain Noir G mascara
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in 020 Cameo
Guerlain Meteorites in Mythic
Too Faced Candy Leopard blush

Lips:
Mac If It's Pink Dazzleglass Creme

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Oh My Gosh Bright Yellow + Essie Shine Of The Times

First of all, I don't often share a lot of personal stuff about me on here, but with a name Shine Of The Times I couldn't not share this with you:

My favourite band EVER - Europe with Sign Of The Times. I've loved them since I was just 10 and now two and a half decades later they're still my favourite. Their music means so so much to me, even more than make up!

But back to the purpose of this post and that is to show you this manicure I did a little while ago. I really liked the look of the Essie flakie, but with hindsight I think I should've paired it up with something darker. It did make the Oh My Gosh Bright Yellow polish a lot more interesting though as the flakes can look orange or green depending on how the light hits my nails. Actually the Oh My Gosh polish is very nice in itself, I was pleasantly surprised by it, it has a really nice sheen to it. Apologies about the state of my fingers, it was very cold at that time (you can see some snow in the grass if you look closely) and my hands dry out very quickly.

I believe the Essie nail polish was limited edition, but I'm sure it's still available on eBay, and the Oh My Gosh polish is available from Superdrug.

See more pictures after the jump!

Barbara Daly Satin Swirl Eyes Eyeshadows Review and Swatches Part 2

As I promised in the Mac In Extra Dimension post, here's the review of the second three shades of these lovely eyeshadows. They look very much like the Mac ones, don't they? I don't know if the texture similar, although these are definitely powder eyeshadows, whereas the Mac ones are supposed to be a gel/powder hybrid I think, like the Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes eyeshadows.

I got the following shades here: Crystal, Gold Dust and Sequins. To see the other three shades and a more detailed review, check out this post. For some reason I thought there was a green and purple one of these as well, but I've only ever seen the 6 shades I own, so maybe not then. Do let me know if you've found any other shades. These are £8 each, but there's been an ongoing 3 for 2 offer on all Barbara Daly make up, so it works out cheaper that way.

I wore all 3 shades over one of the Topshop crayons and they stayed all day without creasing, exactly like the other 3 shades did. Really pleased with these and wouldn't mind if they were available in more shades (I'm thinking pink, purple, teal, green...).

Anyway, there are swatches after the jump, so keep reading!

Are You Missing Some Of Your Favourite Blogs?

On 1st March Google have disabled their Google Friend Connect service for those blogs that aren't on the Blogger platform. So since then you've not been able to follow those blogs with GFC and in your Dashboard. Charlotte at Lipglossiping has come up with a way of reuniting those blogs and their readers by creating a Twitter list. Please read the details below:

Here's the clickable link: http://twitter/lipglossiping.goodbye-gfc/members

PS. You can still follow Pleasureflush with GFC, for now anyway. 

My Mac Haul Part 3 - Marcel Wanders and another cheeky purchase from Too Supreme

The package with the third installment of my Mac haul arrived yesterday (I ordered these directly from Mac as the Marcel Wanders collection is Mac exclusive) and I've already managed to take photos, crop and watermark them, so here you go!

As you can see, more lip products. I love lipsticks, what can I do? I got Inez lipstick and Kim lipglass from the Marcel Wanders collection and picked up another Sheen Supreme lipglass in Mango Sheen because I really wanted it having swatched it at the counter last week. The verdict? I love them all. My favourite one is possibly Inez lipstick, but I love the formula of the Sheen Supreme lipglass so much too. Having said that, Kim lipglass has a lovely texture too, it's not sticky like your usual Mac lipglasses. Very happy with them all. Less happy with the prices, the Marcel Wanders lipsticks are £17.50 and both lipglasses are £16.50. I'd love to say you get more products than the regular Mac lipglasses, but you actually get a lot less. The lipstick is marginally bigger though.

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

My Mac Haul Part 2 - Vera Collection

So as promised here's my Mac haul post part 2. (Missed part 1? Check it out here!) The Vera collection was the one I was most excited about with its pretty powders and colourful pigment stacks. There's also a bunch of lovely Pearlglides and Plushglasses, plus some nail polishes in the collection, but I didn't get those because I already have most of the Pearlgides, I am okay for sheer lipglosses for the next decade or so and I don't like cream finish nail polishes.

I did get all 3 Crushed Metallic Pigment stacks and both Pearlmatte Face Powders though and they are all so pretty. I haven't actually used any of them, but I have swatched the pigments and I'm pretty impressed. Quality wise Aloha is the best, all 4 pigments are really smooth and the colours are gorgeous too. I also love the colour in Strawberry Patch and the pigments are quite smooth, not as smooth as the ones in Aloha, but still pretty nice. The worst quality of the 3 stacks is Butterfly Party, much chunkier and harder to blend, but the colours in it are so pretty, I can forgive it.

I have to admit, I have not even swatched the powders. I'm sorry, they are just too pretty. I will - eventually - but not just yet. Yeah I know...

Another thing I wasn't too impressed with was the price increase. The pigment stacks are now £25.50 and the powders are £21.50. Ouch! Did you get anything from this collection? Let me know in the comments!

Anyway, keep on reading to see lots more pictures including swatches of the pigment stacks!

My Mac Haul Part 1 - Chenman, Shop Mac, Viva Glam, Too Supreme

This month Mac has released an unbelievable number of collection - to be precise: 9! Except for one (Zoom Waterfast Lash Mascara), all other collections contain lots of products: lipsticks, lipglasses, eyeshadows, eyeliners, lipliners, the lot. So many things to choose from! So it won't come as a surprise that I actually had to divide my haul post into 3 parts! Mostly 3 parts because I still have a few things on the way (couple of them you could only order directly from Mac), but also because there's just so much stuff. 

In this first part I'm going to show you my purchases from the Chenman, Shop Mac, Viva Glam and Too Supreme collection. I mostly got lip products, but I also picked up a mineralize eyeshadow duo. I'm really into bright lipsticks at the moment, and 3 of the lipsticks I bought are actually very similar and very bright. I wasn't too sure if I wanted to get Pink Union mineralize eyeshadow duo because it reminded me of the Odd Couple duo, but the melange side of it is actuall quite different in that it's more lilac than copper, and it's ever so pretty!

I haven't actually worn all of these products, the only one I've worn is the Sheen Supreme lipglass. I have to say, I am very impressed with it, I really like the texture (smooth and comfortable to wear) and the colour (I got Imperial Red and have ordered Mango Sheen since then). It's in a new style clickable pen packaging which is also pretty nice and convenient. The only problem is you get quite a bit less product (about half of the regular lipglass). I did swatch everything though, so be sure to read all the way to the end.

Also let me know if you got anything from these collections?

See lots of pictures including swatches after the jump!

Want It: Guerlain Sun In The City Terracotta Collection Summer 2012

Here's another collection to get excited about! As well as their upcoming summer collection Terra Azzurra, Guerlain is also releasing their usual Terracotta collection. Once again an absolutely stunning promo picture with the ever so gorgeous Natalia Vodianova.

The star product of the collection is the Golden Glimmer Powder (£43). A face and body powder with creamy texture and metallic gold shimmer with a mother-of-pearl concentrate (75%). Guerlain says, "Adds shimmer to any tan with its precious metal glints like a skin-enhancing top coat." Probably not the best if you're not a fan of shimmer, but since I am, I will definitely be getting this one!

Carry on readiing to find out what other products have tickled my fancy from this collection!

FOTD: Chanel Eclosion Eyeshadow Quad

I've been meaning to post this look that I did using my new Chanel Eclosion eyeshadow quad. I really liked this look, it's nice and neutral but with a bit of a kick. I personally love the glittery highlighter shade and also the mauvy plum shade.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Barbara Daly Even Smoother Eye Base
Chanel Eclosion eyeshadow quad peachy pink shade on middle of lid
Chanel Eclosion eyeshadow quad mauvy plum shade in crease
Chanel Eclosion eyeshadow quad beige shade above crease to blend out
Chanel Eclosion eyeshadow quad shimmery highlighter shade in inner corner and on browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Crash on waterline
Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara in black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream
Guerlain Radiant Butterfly Meteorites Voyage Powder
Mac Subtle Breeze mineralize blush

Lips:
Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipgloss in 871 Frosted Rose

See more pictures after the jump!

Want It: Mac In Extra Dimension Collection May 2012

I always get excited when new collections with pretty powders and palettes are released (see my recent post on the new Chantecaille palette) and it's no different when it comes to Mac's upcoming In Extra Dimension collection. Due out in May the collection includes 3 new Extra Dimension Skinfinishes and 10 new Extra Dimension Eyeshadows. The formula of these is supposed to be similar to Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes eyeshadows and gelee powders (Modern Mercury and lately Topaz Chameleon) which are all lovely, so no wonder I'm excited about these!

And if you're thinking you might have seen the design somewhere, you're not wrong! Do you remember these Barbara Daly Satin Swirl Eyeshadows? Similar pattern without the "Mac" bit obviously. (I actually have the Barbara Daly shadows in 3 more shades - must review them soon!)

Anyway, the skinfishes and eyeshadows come in the following shades:

Extra Dimension Skinfinish 

Whisper Of Gilt - light soft white gold with shimmery sheen 

Superb - soft peach nude with multi dimensional shimmer 

Glorify - copper golden shimmer

Extra Dimension Eyeshadows 

Warm Thunder - midtone silver grey

Blue Orbit - light iridescent purple 

Grand Galaxy - midtone violet 

Lunar - royal blue 

Havanna - midtone copper brown 

Sweet Heat - bright peach champagne

Modern Pewter - midtone olive gold 

Rich Core - midtone aubergine

Dark Dare - charcoal black 

Young Venus - pale white pink

To be honest I would've liked to see some more fun shades, greens and yellows perhaps, since a few of these colours are really similar to the Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes eyeshadows.  But I'm still looking forward to trying these out and I'll probably end up with a good few of them.

See lots of photos after the jump!

Last Month I...

I've decided that instead of doing yet another boring post about the products I finished last month, I would do a bit of a different post this time. So I called it "Last Month I..." and I will share a few beauty related things that I did/bought/used/loved/hated, etc. over the past month.

So last month I...

• finished 8 products (not bad) out of which the most expensive one was my beloved Guerlain Meteorites Radiant Butterfly Voyage Powder. I bought this in 2008 and in fact this was one of my first ever Guerlain purchases. It was the gorgeous Midnight Butterfly collection of holiday 2008 that sucked me in completely, I bought almost everything from it, including this beauty. It cost around £100 in shops (although I paid quite a bit less on eBay), so it's one of the most expensive make up items I own. So it was actually a bit sad to finish it, but you won't be surprised to hear that I have a back up. Plus the gorgeous compact is refillable, so I can just pop a regular Voyage Powder refill in it. Just how pretty is this?

Keep reading to find out what else I did last month!