Want It! Chantecaille Save The Sharks Palette for Spring 2013

Chantecaille is releasing yet another stunning palette for Spring 2013. This time they are donating 5% of proceeds from the Save the Sharks Palette to the BLOOM Association to help ban unregulated shark fin trade. I know most people wouldn't think the sharks needed saving as they get a lot of bad press, but I guess they are just another species humans are killing off for their own gain.

The palette features three eye shades Great White, an all over white sandy beige, Grey Reef, a glistening sandy grey and Black Tip, a deep ocean blue, and Sea Anemone Cheek Shade, a golden coral color that is universally flattering on all skin tones, inspired by the underwater gardens of the tropical seas.

It retails for $83 in the US, so I'm guessing it will be around £75 in the UK. Chantecaille is available from Space NK, Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Harrods in the UK.

Mac Amber Glow Mineralize Blush Review and Swatches

Another item I managed to pick up from Mac's latest collection, Apres Chic is Amber Glow mineralize blush. This is in fact the only cheek product I got (other than Stereo Rose which I haven't picked up from House of Fraser yet) from the collection because I already own Gentle and didn't like the look of Alpine Bronze (it was too brown for my liking).

Amber Glow is described by Mac as "warm peach". It is a very light peachy colour with very fine subtle shimmer. On me it hardly shows up as a blush and I'm quite pale (Guerlain foundation shade 02) in the winter, so this is definitely more of a highlighter, unless you are very pale or pack it on. I did two layers and it still hardly gave me any colour. It's very pretty though and it's not a colour I own, or certainly don't recall owning. It's very finely milled and smooth, goes on and blends out really nicely. It doesn't look ashy at all, so it would probably work okay on darker, warmer skintones. I don't think this is a must have product, but it's nice and gives a really lovely natural looking sheen.

Mac mineralize blushes cost £19 and you get 3.2 g product. Amber Glow and Alpine Bronze are limited edition colours and seem to be selling fast, Amber Glow is showing as sold out on the Debenhams and House of Fraser websites but is still in stock on the Mac website.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc Free Mineral Blush in Rosy Glow Review and Swatches

I showed you the Physicians Formula eyeshadow palette yesterday, and now here's the blush I also picked up in TK Maxx. This is part of the Mineral Wear line and it's a talc free blush. The shade is Rosy Glow which is a rosy pink colour.

I have to say, up until now I'd been pretty ignorant when it came to talc free make up and I actually had to look up what was so good about talc free. Apparently it's less drying for your skin which is better for those with dry skin I guess. I don't have dry skin on my face, not even in winter (my body does get quite dry, but not my face), so I'm personally not that fussed, but if it's better, I won't argue.

To me the blush seemed very powdery, I don't know if it's because it's talc free or there's some other reason. It didn't look powdery on the face, but it did in the pan. The marbleised design features two shades that mixed together give a nice rosy pink colour, pretty well pigmented, yet natural looking. There's a very slight sheen to it, but no glitter or shimmer. It blended out nicely and wore pretty well too.

The compact itself is a bit odd, it's quite bulky because it has a compartment at the bottom with mirror and brush. The compact is stuck inside the box which I have come across before with other Physicians Formula products and the box doesn't close again once you open it, so all in all, not the best packaging.

I paid £4.99 for it in TK Maxx and you get 5.5 g product. On the Physicians Formula website this retails for $11.95 and comes in 5 shades. In the UK your best bet for finding Physicians Formula products are TK Maxx and eBay.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Lancome Blush Subtil in 02 Rose Sable Review and Swatches

Following on from yesterday's post, this is the blush I got in the Lancome Beauty Box. This is the Blush Subtil formula which isn't actually available anymore I don't think.

The shade I got is 02 Rose Sable, which is a muted rosy pink colour. It's very natural looking, but well pigmented, so you don't need to layer and layer it. However, because it's quite subtle, you don't have to worry about overdoing it especially if you have a lighter skintone. It has some fine shimmer to it, but no chunky glitter at all.

The blush comes in a black compact with a small brush and a full size mirror in the lid. You get 6 g of product. As I can't find this on any website now, I have no idea how much this is worth, but I'm guessing it's in the region of £24. EDIT: I have just found it on the House of Fraser website and it's £27.

Okay, so there's probably not that much point in this review since you can't get this anymore, but since I've taken all the pictures and cropped, edited and watermarked them, I might as well post them.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did using this blush after the jump!

ArtDeco Dita Von Teese Golden Vintage Eyelights and Blusher

This post is purely to show you these beautiful products I've got from the ArtDeco Dita Von Teese Golden Vintage collection. Since they are still available from Debenhams, I'm not actually being mean teasing you with something pretty that you can't have.

I got the Golden Vintage Blusher and Golden Vintage Eyelights. As you can see they are ridiculously pretty and me being crazy, of course I haven't actually swatched or used them. So there's no review today other than "look how pretty they are".

They both cost £25 and both are 10 g which is way bigger than you would need of blush or eyeshadows. They come in gorgeous gold boxes and gold compacts, everything about them is just gorgeous. What's not to like, eh?

ArtDeco products are available from Debenhams and BeautyBay (although the latter doesn't have the Golden Vintage collection).

See more pictures after the jump! 

Laura Geller Ombre Baked Blush in Pink Blossom Review and Swatches

I have another pretty Laura Geller blush to show you, this is an Ombre Baked Blush in Pink Blossom. I love it how you have different colour stripes, reminds me a bit of the Mac Blonde/Brunette/Redhead MSFs, only even prettier.

The stripes go from very pale pink to bright fuchsia pink. The overall effect is midtone bright pink. There's a subtle shimmer to all the shades, but no glitter. You could try using only a few of the strips together, but you certainly can't use them individually, because they are just too narrow. The powder feels very smooth and soft, but not very powdery, and it blends nicely. Another great Laura Geller product!

You will have seen the blush featured in this look already, but there's also a full face picture at the end of this post, as well as swatches of course.

I bought mine from eBay, but this is also available from QVC. It comes with a double ended brush/applicator (not pictured) and costs £23 plus £2.95 shipping cost. Also comes in a Peach colour which is like the look of, but not at that price. I paid £15 including postage for mine which is a lot more reasonable I think. You get 5 g of product for your money.

See more pictures after the jump!

Chantecaille Painting in Venice Palette Review and Swatches

If you've been reading my blog for a while you will know that I love Chantecaille and have quite an extensive collection of their pretty palettes and powders. I also have a couple of big palettes that I've managed to buy on eBay for much less than their retails price (which is somewhere around the £130 mark here in the UK) and now I have a new addition to my collection: the Paining in Venice palette.

I believe this palette was released in 2003 and it contains 7 eyeshadows and one blush. Most of the shades are actually permanent, but the beauty of this palette is that even though it's really expensive, it's still a great value. Refills for Chantecaille palettes cost $25/£23 each, that makes $200/£184 plus the empty "Ma" palette (the large 8 pan palette) costs an extra $52/£48(?). So $135/£135 is really a bargain, right?

Of course it's not just about the money, Chantecaille products are very high quality and the colours in this palette are really lovely. You get cheek shade in Joy which is a bright rosy pink colour, and 7 eyeshadows in Lasting and Shine finish: Agate, Freesia, Pyrite, Lemongrass, Peony, Patchouli and Perle. They are all really lovely and well pigmented, smooth and blendable, plus they stay on all day without creasing (over a primer).

I bought this palette on eBay and paid $80 plus $15 shipping, so it was certainly a lot cheaper than even the original retail price. Plus this isn't actually available anymore, although most of the shades are. Anyway, I'm very happy with it and will be keeping an eye out for other palettes on eBay.

You can see my rather out of date post on my Chantecaille collection that also contains my other two big Chantecaille palettes by clicking here.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Laura Geller Baked Blush in Bali Review and Swatches

As you might know, I'm a big fan of Laura Geller blushes and have a rather extensive collection of them. I often pick up the new shades from eBay as a lot of them are either not available in the UK or only available as sets, plus eBay is usually cheaper. I picked up this baked blush in Bali on eBay too, and while I expected it to be pretty nice, I was very pleasantly surprised by just how nice it is.

Bali is described as a "warm toasted apricot", I'd say it's a warm peachy-pink colour with just the tiniest hint of gold shimmer. It's very pigmented, so you need to be a bit careful, but it does give a very nice glow to your cheeks with a pop of colour. The texture is wonderfully soft, but not powdery, and it blends nicely. It also stays put very well.

You get 6.5 g which is a very generous amount for a blush. I don't know how much this costs in the UK or if it's even available, I've found some "mono blushes" on QVC for £17.75 (plus £2.95 postage), although neither of them seems to be this shade. I paid around £14 (shipped) on eBay.

I would definitely recommend this shade, this blush has really exceeded my expectations, even by Laura Geller's standards.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

ArtDeco Glam Deluxe Collection Review and Swatches

Once again apologies for the erratic posting, but I've spent the last couple of days Christmas shopping and rushing around. I'm slowly getting there, but to be honest, it'll take a few more days for me to catch up.

Anyway, let's get on with this. I have 6 eyeshadows and a blush from ArtDeco's Glam Deluxe collection to show you. The eyeshadows are another variation on the cream/powder formula, like Mac Extra Dimension eyeshadows and Estee Lauder gelee powder eyeshadows. The blush isn't the same formula, it's a powder blush, but it comes with a similarly pretty design.

Overall, the eyeshadows aren't as pigmented as I expected (except for Glam Bronzed Fabric and Glam Blissful Taupe), they are quite sheer. The formula is similar to the Mac and Estee Lauder eyeshadows, it feels quite creamy, but it's definitely powder. The blush I was a bit disappointed in as I thought it was the same formula as the Mac Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, but it's just a regular powder blush. It's actually a bit too powdery for my liking, although it is a nice, natural colour with just a hint of shimmer.

As I said above, other than the bronze and taupe eyeshadows the others are a bit sheer and rather similar as you'll see in the swatches below. The white shade has a slight shimmer to it, the others are mostly just metallic. The formula's good, they didn't crease or fade on me for 12+ hours (I wore them over primer).

The eyeshadows cost £16.50 each and you get 2.5 g. The blush is £21.50 for 10 g. I'm not completely bowled over by them, but the bronze and taupe eyeshadows are definitely worth having. Available from Debenhams and Beauty Bay. Debenhams currently have a 15% off offer going (until Sunday).

See lots more pictures, including swatches and a couple of looks I did with the products, after the jump!

Guerlain Rose Aux Joues Blush Duo 05 Golden High Swatches and Review

I have managed to get my hands on another shade of the new Guerlain blush duos, this time I have Golden High to show you. If you have missed my reviews of the other shades, you can check them out here: Peach Boy, Over Rose, Pink Punk and Chic Pink.

Golden High is a mix of reddish brown and light peachy pink. The reddish brown shade has a slight sheen to it, the light peachy pink shade doesn't. This blush is the worst texture wise of the 5 I have tried. The reddish brown shade is extremely hard and very difficult to pick up with your brush. The light peachy pink shade is softer, but even that's not very soft. I don't know if this is just a dud, or this shade is simply this hard to work with.

Then upside of the hard texture is that's it's really not easy to overdo this blush. I had to swipe it twice with the brush to get the colour you will see on my cheeks in the picture at the bottom of the post. It gives a very natural result. The peachy pink shade works well as a subtle highlighter, or if you're very light skinned, maybe even a blush.

These blushes cost £32.50 and you get 6 g of product which is not huge. I'd like to point out that I have not paid full price for any of them (thanks to eBay) and probably wouldn't, although they are nice, but I feel there are better blushes around for a lot less money.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

My Chanel Holiday 2012 Collection Haul - Review and Swatches

At last, the Chanel holiday collection has arrived to the UK as well. Must have been the last of the high end collections, it was released on 9th November. Yes, sorry, it has taken me this long to finally review it, I still have quite a backlog of things I haven't even photographed, or swatched or used.

But for now, here's what I bought from the Chanel holiday collection:

I got the eyeshadow quad, Harmonie de Soir, the blush called Star Dust and the new Illusion d'Ombre in Apparence. I knew I wanted the quad when I saw pictures of it sometime in the summer, it just looked so pretty, I had to have it. I was on the fence about the Illusion d'Ombre, especially after swatching it as it seemed to be pretty much the same colour as the gold in the quad. The blush I wasn't even going to get, but once I'd swatched it, I couldn't leave it behind.

So the eyeshadow quad. It's soft, silky, pigmented, gorgeous. Easy to use, blendable, long lasting, non-creasing shadows that look satiny. Love it. Only drawback is you only get 4 g of product which is teeny, especially considering the pricetag (£43). But then having said that, I'd rather pay that much for 4 g of loveliness than £30+ for a mediocre Mac quad. Anyway, I have used all the colours except for the gold one and they all looked great 12+ hours later, didn't crease (over Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer) and didn't lose their sheen. I apologise, I didn't take a picture of the look because that day was the gloomiest, darkest day and I knew the pictures wouldn't come out right.

The Illusion d'Ombre is a gorgeous not too yellow gold colour, it's also not very warm, so should suit people with cooler complexions. Not as yellow and sparkly as Vision Illusion d'Ombre, it's more of a muted colour. Still sparkly, but not as metallic as Vision. It's a very lovely colour. If you have the quad you probably don't need this as well, because the two golds are very similar, but Illusion d'Ombres are a different products, they are cream eyeshadows that don't crease and stay on all day (I only use them over primer). I love them on those days when I only have 10 minutes to put my make up on, they are just so easy. You get 4 g of eyeshadow for £23.

As I said, I wasn't even going to get Star Dust blush, but it's just so sparkly, I couldn't say no to it. Also, Stardust is one of my favourite films (watch it if you haven't see in yet!), so the name really appealed as well (yeah, I know, lame excuse). Star Dust is a very sparkly light pink blush, more of a highlighter really, and defitinely more for nights out than school runs (although I wear crazy colours to school runs, so whatever you want to do really). It's very finely milled and just lovely. It's not huge, you only get 4 g and it's pretty pricey at £31.

While the Chanel collection isn't my favourite of this year's holiday collections, the products I've bought are all really lovely. I didn't got for the lip products or nail polishes for obvious reasons (no-buy), but they also looked nice.

See more pictures after the jump including swatches and a look I did with Apparence Illusion d'Ombre and Star Dust!

Stila Positively Pink Powder Blush and Lip Glaze Set

Stila has released this gorgeous set of blush and lip glaze for Breast Cancer Awereness month (October) and as I'm a sucker for pretty powders, of course I couldn't say no. It also helped that this set was an absolute bargain at £12.50.

I'd like to apologise in advance for the lack of swatches, but I didn't want to mess up the powder (yes, I'm weird) and I have so many glosses right now, there's no point in opening another one. I think I will just keep the set nicely boxed up as it is.

A portion of proceeds will be donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (although Stila doesn't specify how big that protion is). The powder is 7.9 g and the gloss is 1.5 ml. The set costs £12.50, but the powder is also available on its own for £10.

And here's a £5 off code for you to use on orders of £25 or over at stila.co.uk, just enter StilaKiss at the checkout. It's valid until 30th November 2012. I've already ordered the Sparke Luxe eyeshadow palette, will review it as soon as I can.

See more pictures after the jump!

Too Faced Sweet Indulgences Set Review and Swatches

I have always liked Too Faced, especially the special edition pretty palettes, but this year they've really stepped up their game. This is the second palette I've bought from Too Faced recently and this is yet another excellent value, fantastic quality palette.

In this set you get 16 eyeshadows, a full size Shadow Insurance eyeshadow primer, 2 bronzers, 2 blushes, a highlighter and a double ended eyeshadow brush/applicator. Too Faced have also thrown in 3 looks cards. The whole lot comes in a double layer tin. The top layer includes the 16 eyeshadows, the bottom layer has everyting else. The top layer is easily removable, can just be lifted out of the tin. It's not portable on its own, but at least you can hold it while applying the eyeshadows, rather than having to hold the whole tin. The bottom layer is also removable, but less easily.

First of all, the eyeshadows are great. Most of them are shimmery or metallic, but there are a few matte/satiny ones. Some of these shades have been included in pretty much every holiday palette Too Faced have done, I recognise a few of the names, but some of them seem new. I can't find this palette on the Too Faced website (I think this might be a Sephora exclusive in the US) and the Beauty Bay website doesn't have much info. Anyway, the eyeshadows included are: In the Buff, Peach Fuzz, Marshmallow, Lovey Dovey, Copper Peony, Teddy Bear, Gum Drop, Malted Milk Ball, Satin Sheets, Nice Stems!, Nice Ash, Cherry Cola, Honeymoon, Pastille, Cop a Teal, Black Sugar. You get 1.6 g of each colour, so that's a total of a whopping 25.6 g of eyeshadow.

I haven't worn them all yet (in fact I've only worn 4), but I have swatched them all (see below) and they all swatched really nicely. The shimmery ones didn't have much fallout (if any) and the matte ones weren't at all powdery. The shades I've worn (Peach Fuzz, Gum Drop, Satin Sheets and Cherry Cola) stayed on my lids all day (with Shadow Insurance underneath, of course) and didn't crease at all. I hade some glitter fallout, I think from Peach Fuzz, but it wasn't too bad and I only noticed it several hours later.

The bronzers are both pretty nice, the exclusive shade is darker, more matte and less pigmented than the Sun Bunny Light Bronzer which is just gorgeous, smooth and pigmented. Another favourite of Too Faced's is La Vie En Rose blush, I'm sure I have it in almost every palette that's come out in the past 2-3 years, but it's a pretty pink slightly shimmery blush, so i don't mind. Papa Don't Peach blush is really nice, more pigmented than La Vie En Rose and has a lovely glow. You also get a small Candlelight Glow highlighter (another palette essential).

The brush/applicator is alright, I have only tried the brush, I'm not usually a fan of applicators. It's okay, but it doesn't add any value to the palette for me. The full size Shadow Insurance primer is great and I'm happy to own another one. The tube I'm currently using is several years old, yet it's still not empty and hasn't changed consistency one bit. I have now fully converted from Urban Decay Primer Potion.

The tin is a nice idea and could be used for storing other things when you used up all the products, but quite frankly, that's never going to happen, is it? There's no mirror in the lid, and the lid itself is a bit flimsical, mine has changed shape a bit, although still closes fine.

The palette costs £42 which might sound a bit much for some, but according to Beauty Bay it has an actual value of £133. Sephora says $381 value (approx. £236). Either way, it's a great deal. The primer costs £16.50 and a single 1.7 g eyeshadow costs £15, so that adds up to a £241.50 value alone. I think even Sephora has underestimated the value!

That's enough of the maths, let's see some swatches I hear you say! Coming up right after the jump together with lots of product pictures!

Chantecaille Cheek Shade Elephant in Fun - Review and Swatches

Here's the blush that belongs with the Chantecaille Elephant Palette. Such a pretty delicate little thing isn't it? Almost too pretty to use. Or in my case, way too pretty to use. But fear not, I still have swatches!

I bought this beauty a little while ago from Harrods on their 10% off day, but I also managed to pick up a slightly used one on eBay for a little bit less (half price), so I have used that to show you swatches and a look I've created with it. (Crazy? Me?)

The actual shade of the blush is Fun which I thought was a permanent Chantecaille blush shade, but I can't find it on their website so maybe I was wrong. It's a very subtle soft apricot colour with slight shimmer that is very hard to overdo. It takes a few layers to show up properly on my cheeks and the swatches I did on my arm show a couple of layers. The texture is very soft, but not powdery, it feels very luxurious. The blush comes in a silver compact with a mirror inside the lid.

I'm not bowled over by the actual shade, it is pretty, but it's a bit too subtle for my liking. The blush itself is so pretty though, the raised elephant pattern is adorable and looks gorgeous with the overspray on top (which completely comes off with a couple of uses).

The blush costs £30 and you get 3.8 g for your money. You are paying £7 for the elephant as the other (permanent) cheek shades cost £23. Ouch!

I wouldn't say this was a must have product, but it is very pretty and Chantecaille collectors will definitely appreciate it. In the UK Chantecaille is available from Space NK, Harrods, selected Harvey Nichols, John Lewis, Fenwick stores. I usually buy mine from eBay.  

See more pictures after the jump!

Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Bora Bora Review and Swatches

I was going to have this review up last night, but I had such a hectic day, I was pooped by 8 pm, sorry. Nowadays I try to do at least one post a day, but some days it's just not possible with 3 children and housework, shopping, other commitments.

Anyway, here we have another lovely blush form Laura Geller, a light peachy pink colour with subtle shimmer called Bora Bora. Once again, it's a baked formula which I really like, it's very similar to the Mac mineralize blushes. This one doesn't have any veining, only some suble light gold shimmer. Very soft, but not too powdery, pretty pigmented and despite it being quite a light colour, it still shows up very well on my skin. It gives a nice natural flush and the shimmer isn't too noticable, so it's a very wearable shade for lighter skin tones.

This one is a slightly smaller size from the usual Laura Geller blush size which is normally 9 g, but I guess that's probably way more blush than you would need in one colour anyway. This one is a 6.5 g size, which is about average. The blush comes in the usual black compact with half a mirror in the lid (the other half is clear plastic, so you can see the colour). I believe this was part of the Glow-n-Behold collection, but I bought it separately from eBay. I paid around £11 including postage which is not too bad, although I have actually seen it for quite a bit less too. 

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Topshop Cheek Duo in Desert Sun Review and Swatches

I have a confession to make: I don't get Topshop. Please don't hit me! I don't know if it's my age or that fact that I'm ridiculously not fashionable, but I have not once managed to find any clothes in Topshop that I liked. Make up however, is a different story. I'm a sucker for Topshop make up especially their nail polishes, but I have been known to pick up other products like their eyeshadow crayons and other bits and bobs. So when I last wondered into Topshop this little beauty caught my eye.

Topshop Cheek Duo is basically a 2 in 1 baked products with a blush and bronzer in one compact. Desert Sun is the peachy version, there is another shade (Break of Day) which has a pink blush instead of a peach one. Actually I'd say the blush in Desert Sun is more a pinky coral than peach. It's a satin finish, whereas the bronzer, a little coppery brown shade, is actually quite shimmery. I'd prefer it the other way round to be honest, the bronzer would be more suitable for contouring. The blush is quite powdery and had to be layered to show up on me and it faded away quickly. The bronzer is more pigmented and longer lasting and not as powdery either. The two products together give a nice sunkissed glow to my cheeks. I think on darker skintones the blush would look quite ashy, but the bronzer would make a lovely highlighter.

The compact is an off-white colour matte finish plastic. It seriously lacks a mirror in the lid, I think at this price they really should put one in. It's not overly expensive, it costs £12.50 for 6.5 g, so still significantly cheaper than Mac blushes and bronzers, but equally I don't think the quality is there. I like it, but don't love it.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this product after the jump!

VIVO Baked Blush in Rouge Shimmer (Shade 4) Review and Swatches

As you can see, I'd bought a few blushes lately, I have another beauty to show you. In fact you will have already seen swatches of this with the Mac Supercontinental blush swatches (I was lazy to do two sets of photos), but you will see those at the bottom of this post again anyway.

You can buy VIVO blushes in Tesco, I'm not sure if they're actually Tesco's own brand, but in any case, VIVO products are very affordable and actually really good quality. As you know I'm a sucker for baked and mineralize products, so I find it very hard to walk past a VIVO stand wihout picking up one of their baked products. At £4 a pop it's really not a bad addiction, and this shade is particularly lovely and the blush is a nice addition to my stash.

Rouge Shimmer is a soft raspberry pink shade, it is quite a bit lighter than Nars Outlaw and doesn't have any of the gold shimmer, so this is actually more cool toned. It has a nice sheen, perhaps a little bit frosty, but there's absolutely no glitter. It is very soft and nicely pigmented. You get 8 g for £4 which makes it a very good value.

Have you tried VIVO products? What did you think of them?

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Nars Outlaw Blush Review and Swatches

Nars Outlaw blush was a new addition to the line this autumn/fall and it is just perfect for this time of the year. Nars describes it as "soft rose tone with golden shimmer" which is about right, I also think golden raspberry pink when I look at it.

It's a little bit scary in the pan, but isn't actually overly pigmented, so can be used lightly and sheered out. It has very fine gold shimmer that gives it a gorgeous gold sheen, it's not glittery like Super Orgasm or Angelika for example. There are a few flecks of very very fine glitter, but it's definitely more of a sheen. It is such a gorgeous shade and actually quite unique, I can't think of another blush that's similar. It is soft, but not powdery and applies very nicely.

As with all Nars blushes you get 4.8 g of product in their standard black compact with a full size mirror in the lid. The outside of the compact is rubbery matte black with NARS written on it in white letters. My problem with the packaging is that unless you look at the bottom of the compact, you have no idea which shade is which. I like having a little window, like the Laura Geller blushes to see what colour it is.

Nars blushes cost £21 and are available from a variety of retailers, including Nars online, Space NK, House of Fraser and Selfridges.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Nars Foreplay Blush Palette Review and Swatches

One of Nars's new offerings is this gorgeous blush palette featuring their (in)famous Orgasm blush (peachy pink with golden shimmer), 2 matte blushes (pink and peach) and a yellow gold highlighter. I already owned Orgasm blush, but really liked the look of this and wanted to try it.

You get a good size Orgasm, and 3 small blushes/highlighters. I'm not too sure if the Orgasm is full size, it doesn't day on the packaging, but the regular blush is 4.8 g and you get 10 g of blush altogether in this palette (Orgasm being the biggest), so it seems about right. The other blushes and the highlighters are rather small and it's not easy to get your brush in to pick up the colours, but at least they're not too close to each other. You just have to be a bit careful.

The blushes are nicely pigmented and are soft. I like them both very much. They are both matte and it's nice too have some Nars blushes without glitter, although Orgasm isn't too bad at all, it's just a bit shimmery/frosty. I think it would be nice to see these matte shades in single form as well. The only product I don't like in this palette is the yellow gold highlighter. To me it's just too yellow. I much prefer Nars Albatross as a highlighter instead. However, I guess it could make a nice eyeshadow.

All in all, it's a nice little palette. What I especially like about it is that between the 3 blushes you are pretty much covered and if you only took this with you on holiday (for your blusher needs, obviously), that would be just fine. It's quite small and easily portable and you get a mirror in the lid.

You get 10 g for £39.50 so that makes it cheaper than buying 10 g of other Nars blushes (they cost £21 for 4.8 g). It's still not cheap, but if you're looking for a portable blush palette with a good variety of shades, this might be the answer for you. Plus it is just so pretty.

In the UK this is exclusive to Nars (online) and Space NK. I actually bought mine from Sephora France. 

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

My Recent Mac Purchases: Supercontinental Blush and Warming Heart Pressed Pigment

Despite being a big Mac fan I haven't been buying a lot from their recent collections. Although this month Mac released a good few collections, I only picked up a couple things. I'm sure it will change soon, especially as I have seen pictures of the upcoming holiday collection (details to follow). Anyway, shall we see what I've got?

Supercontinental blush is from the Styleseeker collection. It is a "cute bright coral" according to Mac which is about right, it is coral rather than pink or orange and it's a reallt flattering colour. This blush is satin finish and while plenty enough pigmented, it's not at all too full on, so don't have to worry about overdoing it. The texture is very smooth and soft, it's a really lovely addition to my blush stash.

Warming Heart pressed pigment is from the new Face & Body collection. According to Mac this is supposed to be a face highlighter, but to be honest it is way too glittery to be used on the face. It actually reminds me very much of the Laura Mercier Sequin and Bobbi Brown Sparkle eyeshadows, only this one is skin coloured (NW20 according to Mac, it's a light peachy pink colour to me). It is smooth, so no chunky glitter, but it has that high sheen, wet shimmery look about it. So I would definitely only use it as an eyeshadow, but probably not a highlighter for the browbone either.

Supercontinental blush costs £17.50 and you get 6 g for your money. Warming Heart pressed pigment costs £16.50 for 3 g. Both are limited edition, but still available from the Mac website and certain department stores.

Have you bought anything from Mac lately? Share your purchases in the comments!

See lots more pictures including swatches after the jump!