Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Heat Wave Review and Swatches

Finally, a product review! I bought this highlighter on my pre-birthday shopping trip during the school holiday, but only just got around to swatching it and wearing it. This highlighter is part of the Estee Lauder summer collection and is already out in House of Fraser, and will be coming to other retailers at the end of April.

Once again it's the new powder gelee formula and once again Estee Lauder got it so right. The formula is very similar to Mac's Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, very smooth and creamy with high frosty shine. Heat Wave is a gorgeous light gold colour, it gives a really nice sheen, but it's not glittery at all. Colourwise it is pretty much identical to Mac Whisper of Gilt Extra Dimension Skinfinish. Swatched heavily there is a very slight difference, but once blended out, you really can't tell which is which. The powder comes with a sponge applicator, but I prefer to use a brush to apply and blend it with.

The powder costs £30 and you get 6 g which is 1.5 g more than previous colours of the same formula, but the compact is again the same as the regular Estee Lauder blush compact. It is smaller than Mac skinfinishes and more expensive, so if you bought Whisper of Gilt, you don't need this as well (unless you really want a back up). This is a limited edition product and these gelee powders sell out very quickly, so get yours while you can. Exclusively available at  House of Fraser until the end of April when it will be realeased nationwide at Debenhams, Boots and other retailers with Estee Lauder counters and online from all of the above plus the Estee Lauder website.

See more pictures after the jump!

Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee Blush in Tease

The new Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee Blush in Tease is so pretty. I love the design and the colour, so of course I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. It has taken me a while to use and review it, but I've finally managed.

Firstly, this is another one of the new gelee powder formula, so it's a powder, but feels and looks like a cream product. It is very metallic and gives a high sheen finish, so it's probably not for those who prefer their face products to be matte. It isn't glittery, but it's definitely rather shimmery.

I had a bit of trouble working out how to apply it best and it seems that the sponge applicator they provide with it is the best way to go about it. It doesn't pick up too much product and you can blend it out easily. When I tried using a regular blush brush, the result looked quite patchy. But with the applicator it looks nice and even yet not too heavy. I also found duo fibre brushes work well, but they give a much more subtle effect. With the sponge you need to be a bit careful not to overdo it, but if you do thin layers rather than try to pile it on, you'll be fine. The blush didn't last very long on me, it's practically disappeared after 5-6 hours of wear.

It's a lovely product, but even on my pale skin it's more of a highlighter than a blush. I haven't tried it on top of a powder blush, but I think it would work really nicely.

The blush costs £30 and you get 6 g which is actually more than previous illuminating powder gelees. It's still not a massive amount, but probably way more than you need. This is a limited edition product, so grab it while you can if you like what you see!

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Estee Lauder Vivid Shine and Cyber Metallic Pure Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

Estee Lauder launched a new collection called Pure Color Vivid Shine that contains (among others) 16 shades of Gelee Powder eyeshadows. These eyeshadows (well, 6 shades) initially came out in January and I have reviewed them here and here. I really liked the initial shades and the subsequent five colour palette that came out at the beginning of this summer, so of course I jumped on the Gelee Powder eyeshadow wagon once again. I purchased 9 new shades (leaving just one out) and here they are:

I bought Pop Pistachio, Magenta, Fire Sapphire, Ultra Marine, Electric Orchid, Cyber Ice, Arctic Sky, Cyber Ruby, Cyber Gold. The eyeshadows are devided into two categories: Vivid Shine and Cyber Metallic. The first 5 on my list are Vivid Shine and the last 4 are Cyber Metallic. I have no idea what the difference is, I think the Vivid Shine ones are less metallic and more pearly/satiny. The only one I didn't get (other than the original 6 shades) is Lights Out which is the black one. There is a black shadow in the Violet Underground fall eyeshadow palette, that will be plenty enough black for me.

I urge you to read my initial review, because these are basically the same products just with more colour variety and some less metallic than others. Overall I'm very pleased with these eyeshadows, although so far I have only used 3 of them, they swatched beautifully and the ones I wore lasted all day without creasing (over primer). You can use these dry or wet, they tend to be more intense when used wet, but I actually like using them dry. Over primer (I'm currently using Too Faced Shadow Insurance) they last all day long without creasing or fading and there's no fallout from them at all. They are powder, but feel like cream eyeshadows, very similar to the Mac Extra Dimension eyeshadows (limited edition from May).

The Vivid Shine eyeshadows are all limited edition, and I believe also Arctic Sky and Cyber Ice are limited, but the rest of the Cyber Metallic eyeshadows are now permanent. The most interesting shade of the collection for me has to be Arctic Sky, it's a beautiful duochrome light blue/pink/purple. My pictures don't so it justice, it's really stunning. I'm also very happy about Pop Pistachio as I also wanted a green shade and Pop Pistachio is a very pretty one. I guess it depends on what colours you prefer, but the blues are also very nice and so is Magenta. Well worth checking out.

These eyeshadows cost £19 each. You get 0.9 g which is pretty small, although I think the formula is probably more ligtweight than powder.   

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

And The Winner Is...Me! My Very Own Personalised Estee Lauder Lipstick!

I'm sorry, I'm being all me, me, me right now, but I'm really chuffed about this, so wanted to share with you. A while ago I entered Estee Lauder's Facebook competition to win a personalised Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick and it came just the other day. Wrapped up in white Estee Lauder tissue paper it arrived inside this cute blue pouch together with a sample of Advanced Night Repair.

I had a choice of three shades and went for Wildly Pink which is a bright pink shade with subtle shimmer.  The formula is lovely, it's very smooth and pigmented and feels comfortable on the lips. It lasts pretty well, for about 4 hours even with eating and drinking and it leaves a nice stain behind as it fades. It's not very moisturising, I did feel like reaching for a lip balm after about 3 hours, but it's not drying either. I like it a lot, all in all it's a really lovely lipstick. I also got my name engraved on the lid which makes it all very special. Thank you Estee Lauder!

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD: Estee Lauder Summer

Here is the look I did with the new Estee Lauder summer products. I don't know about you, but I still feel like the teal shade doesn't work very well with the other shades, certainly not the copper. Or maybe it's just me. Let me know what you think.

Here's a list of all the products I used to create this look:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette gold shade in the inner corner of the lid
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette copper shade in the middle of the lid
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette teal gold shade in the outer corner and crease
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette white shade in the inner corner of lid and on browbone to highlight
Stila Smudge Stick in Peacock on lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero on waterline
Mac Zoom Lash mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

MUA Beauty Balm BB Cream
Mac Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder
Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Shimmering Sands on cheeks
Mac Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Whisper of Gilt to highlight

Lips:

Mac Riviera Life lipglass

See more photos after the jump!

Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

The other product I was really excited about from the Estee Lauder summer collection is the five colour gelee powder eyeshadow palette (if you missed it, you can read my review of the Illuminating Powder Gelee in Shimmering Sands here). This is basically the same as the Cyber Eyes Gelee Powder eyeshadows in a palette, but with the same pattern as the Shimmering Sands powder.

The colours in this palette are so beautifully summery, I love them. Although I also have to add that I'm a little bit unsure about the turquoise/teal colour in the middle. I thought it would be brighter, whereas it's actually quite a dull, bit greyish colour. To me it doesn't work very well with the rest of the palette. The other shades are all lovely, they work well together and swatch beautifully, soft and buttery. The teal shade swatches and applies well too, it just looks a bit faded, not as vibrant as the other colours.

I did a look with them (photos to come soon) and they applied and blended beautifully and lasted really well, there was no creasing even after 10 hours. I would love to see another few palettes with this formula in other colours, pinks, purples, blues, greens perhaps. The eyeshadows have a high metallic sheen but are not glittery and there is absolutely no fall out from them. They really are lovely.

The palette contains 4.4 g of eyeshadows (roughly the same size as 5 single Cyber Eyes eyeshadows) and costs £35 which is actually not too bad considering that the singles cost £19 each! This is a limited edition product and judging by how popular these eyeshadows have been, it will probably sell out fast. At the moment it's available from Boots, Debenhams, House of Fraser and other department stores.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!