My Current Favourites - Part 1 : Make Up

As it's been a long time since I last blogged frequently, I thought I'd put together a couple of posts about the products I currently use the most. I'm starting off with make up and will also show you some of my nail related favourites.

First up is Chantecaille White Tiger powder which is just possibly the most luxurious face powder you can find. In the picture below it looks a little sad as the gorgeous picture's almost completely disappeared, but you can see a picture of how it used to look here (need to scroll down a little). I love this powder, it's really nice, well, I guess it had better be anyway since it cost £88! It appears to have been discontinued now, which is a shame, but luckily I have a few back ups of it.

While still on the subject of face powder, my favourite brush to apply it with has been the Guerlain Meteorites brush. This particular one is an older, limited edition one, but they're pretty much all the same except for their colour.

See what else I've been loving lately after the jump!

Guerlain Meteorites Aquarella Light Revelaing Pearls of Powder

So it turns out I do buy some make up even nowadays, and this is one of my latest purchases: Meteorites Aquarella, the newest limited edition beauty from Guerlain. As you may know by now, I'm a big fan and collector of Meteorites pearls and of course I couldn't leave this one out either. (In case you are interested, here's my collection of Meteorites as of June 2012. I also have a few other Meteorites, some I have, some I haven't blog about.)

The Aquarella Meteorites contain a mix of gold, silver, white, pastel pink and pastel blue pearls. The gold and silver are quite glittery, so the overall look of the powder is slightly shimmery. Not disco ball glitter, but definitely not shimmer free. I don't mind a bit of shimmer, but if it bothers you, this powder might not be the one for you. The 

Guerlain Meteorites Aquarella are exclusive to Feelunique in the UK and cost £37.50 for 25 g (didn't it use to be 33g once???). I believe they are limited edition, so get them while you can! 

See more pictures after the break!

Want It! Guerlain Terra Ora Collection for Summer 2013

Guerlain always has me with their new collections and of course it's no different this time around. Thanks to Tavia I have details of the upcoming summer collection called Terra Ora.

The face of the collection once again is the ever beautiful Natalia Vodianova. The theme of the collection is gold, golden bronze. The star item is the limited edition Terra Ora bronzer that comes in a wooden compact like last year's Terra Azzurra powder. I'm also interested in the golden version of Guerlain's Meteorites Perles primer and the new BB cream. There's a new foundation as well as 2 new Shine Automatique lipsticks, new nail polish shades and a new lipgloss formula, Gloss D'Enfer that British Beauty Blogger has swatched for us already. Not part of this collection, but there are also 6 new shades of Terracotta 4 Seasons Bronzing Powders that might tempt me too.

Coming to a counter near you sometime in March or early April!

See the full collection details and more pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Spring 2013: Meteorites Perles du Paradis

For me the most anticipated product in the Guerlain spring collection was the new Meteorites named Perles du Paradis. As you probably know, I collect Meteorites and if you want, you can check out my extensive collection here (although it doesn't include the holiday Meteorites which you can see by clicking here).

Now about these new Meteorites. They come in a gorgeous light pink cardboard container (the old style, pre-2010 before the tins with the lids) which looks very glam and pretty. It's a larger than normal size (comparable to the 2008 Butterfly Pearls container) and contains 53 g of product which is 23 g more than the regular Meteorites. The pearls are bigger too, probably not quite as large as the Butterfly ones, but prety big. The container also comes with a pink furry powder puff with a black bow on top of it.

When I opened the container and removed the puff I was shocked to see how little there was at the bottom of the container. I know that promo images usually show more products and more vivid colours, but I was still very surprised to see that the container is basically half full and the colours are quite a bit duller than the promo images were. There has to be quite a big gap left for the puff, it's more bulky than the usual sponge on top of the pearls, but it does look rather odd that there are only 2 layers of pearls at the bottom of the container.

Product-wise it's also a little disappointing as I was expecting it to have more of a colour payoff, I was hoping it would be useable as a subtle blush (like the Blushy Blush Red Pearls from years ago). It's not, it's pretty much colourless. It is also not at all shimmery on me, which is a bit odd since they named it "Illuminating Sparkling Powder". It's basically another finishing powder which is fine, because that's what Meteorites are supposed to be. So I'm not saying it's bad, I just probably had a bit high expectations. All in all it's a lovely product, very pretty and smells gorgeous. And the container is just so adorable.

The new Guerlain spring collection is now available from Debenhams, House of Fraser and other department stores and online retailers. You get 53 g product for £43 or it's only £38.70 from Escentual. Debenhams are giving away a free Guerlain mascara sample with every order, plus you get 500 extra points if you spend £35.

See lots more pictures after the jump!

2012 Favourites - Part 3: Face

Here's another installment of my favourite products of 2012, this time it's the face products. I will start with the more exciting ones, ie. pretty highlighters. To me one of the most used highlighters of 2012 was Guerlain Cruel Gardenia. It is just so pretty both in the compact and on my skin. Just lovely.You can read my initial review by clicking on the link above.

See what other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

Want It: Guerlain Spring 2013 Collection

I'm really excited about seeing the promo pictures and details of the Guerlain Spring 2013 collection, so I thought I'd quickly share them with you. Firstly, another gorgeous promo picture featuring the lovely Natalia Vodianova. Can't help but wonder how photoshopped those eyelashes are though...

So there is a new mascara coming out, it's a volume creating, curl sculpting mascara.

Cils d’Enfer – Maxi Lash (£22)

• 01 Noir
• 02 Violet

The secret of this brush is all in the three polymers. “The first one wraps the lashes in extremely adherent oils, coating and thickening the lashes. The second one, made with supple waxes, acts like a conditioner, softening the lashes so you can sculpt them into just the right shape and style. The last one forms a thin film, coating the lashes to trap the wax and set the amazing curve.”

This mascara also has an innovative brush which is described the following way:” full, round brush caresses each lash to thicken and lengthen at will. The volumising effect is accentuated by the new generation hollow fibres, capable of dispensing just the right amount of mascara with each stroke. Cleverly placed in a criss-cross pattern, they carefully separate the lashes and spread the rich formula without clumping.”

The other products in the collection are as follows:

Ecrin 4 Couleurs Long-Lasting Eyeshadows (£38)

• 501 Attrape-Coeur - mauve, violet, white illuminate, prima donna purple
• 502 Coup de Foudre - green, silvery patina, bronze-khaki, vibrant coral

Eyeliner (£24.50)
 
Ebony black liner with an ultra-thin tip (I think this is permanent actually).

Météorites Perles du Paradis (£43)

New Limited Edition of Meteorites come in XXL size with a pink powder puff with a black bow on top. These Meteorites come in a box adorned with an illustration of a boudoir. The pearles come in six shades.

Rouge Automatique Lipstick (£24.50)

• 601 Romance
• 600 Ballade

Shine Automatique Lipstick (£24.50)

• 762 Rendez-vous
• 761 Flirt

Kiss Kiss Gloss (£24.50)

• 870 Cherry Pink (repromote, see swatches here)
• 849 Fizzy Mango (repromote, see swatches here)

This collection will be out in January.

Pictures and information source

See lots more pictures after the jump!

My Guerlain Holiday 2012 Haul Part 4 - Meteorites Wulong Exceptional Pressed Powder

The most anticipated items of the new Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection for me were the Meteorites Perles and Meteorites Wulong Voyage Powder. I collect these two powders and am always very eager to purchase them.

This year's Wulong Voyage Powder is very similar to the permanent Mythic powder and the limited edition Imperial powder form 2009, only the colours are different. I prefer these powders to have more intricate designs, like 2010's Poudre D'Or or 2008's Radiant Butterfly Voyage Powder, but I'll take what I can get anyway.

Voyage Powders are basically Meteorites in pressed form, which means they're more travel friendly. These powders are the ultimate luxury items, the powders are gorgeous, soft, velvety, and they come in gorgeous compacts. This year's compact is black with mother of pearl rosette detailing. These compacts are very expensive, with the product costing £110, the powder refills are around £30 so the compact is basically the difference. They are, obviously, refillable, but you can't normally get the limited edition refill, only the permanent Mythic powder refill.

You get 7.5 g of powder, so gram per gram these compacts are way more expensive than the loose Meteorites Perles, but they make an excellent collector's item and these compacts are just so cool to pull out in the ladies room. Incidentally, if you watch Homeland, did you notice Carrie had one of these (the permanent compact) in one of the earlier episodes?

I apologise I haven't swatched this yet, I didn't want to mess up the powder until I get myself a back up (yes, I am that crazy). I managed to get this one on eBay for quite a bit less than £110, so hoping to be able to score another one, if not on eBay, then in the after Christmas sales.

As you know, I collect these beauties and in case you haven't see my collection, you can check it out here, although it needs updating as those pictures don't include Poudre D'Or (which you can see by clicking here) or Wulong.  

PS. My computer monitor has broken, so I'm typing this on my laptop. Hopefully I'll be able to get a replacement monitor tomorrow, because I really hate editing pictures and typing on the laptop, but in the meantime, please bear with me.

See more pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection Haul Part 2 - Meteorites Perles du Dragon

Part 2 of my Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection haul is featuring one of the most iconic Guerlain products, the Meteorites Perles. This year's limited edition is called Perles du Dragon and it contains 6 different shades: pale pink, beige, white, gold, plum and rosewood.

There are quite a lot of white pearls in the mix, but mine isn't too bad, it also has a good amount of the other pearls. At first the colours reminded me of  Perles d'Or from 2010, but that mix seems quite a bit darker actually. The pearls come in a shiny black tin with removable lid and a black sponge on top to keep the pearls secure. (I'd recommend applying them with a brush, not the sponge though.) The lid has the gold signature Guerlain flower detail. The outer box is the usual black with red inside. Very pretty.

The overall effect is a shimmery light beige powder. I didn't swatch it because it hardly shows up on my skin, but you will see me wearing it in a picture at the bottom of this post and you can see it's quite shimmery. I can see a couple of big glitters on my face, but I'm not entirely sure they're from the powder as on my eyes I was wearing Urban Decay's Kiddie Pool eyeshadow which has got big glitter particles. The overall effect however is quite shimmery, so this wouldn't be suitable for those with oily skin. Having said that, today I'm wearing it on top of the new Parure de Lumiere foundation and Voilettes loose powder and it's not too shimmery. So maybe the key is to mattify first.

Guerlain Meteorites perles cost £37.50 for 30 g (that's another 50p rise since the summer) and Perles du Dragon is a limited edition shade. I bought mine from Harrods, but it's also available from John Lewis, House of Fraser, Selfridges and hopefully Debenhams soon.

See more pictures after the jump and if you'd like to check out my large Meteorites collection, please click here!

Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection Promo Pictures and Details - Updated

I have more news and pictures on the upcoming Guerlain Holiday 2012 collection that is due to be released sometime in October. First of all this beautiful promo picture featuring the ever-gorgeous Natalia Vodianova.

Just how beautiful is this picture? I love everything about it!

Here are the details of the collection:

Liu Perfumed Shimmer Powder for Face & Body

Perfumed shimmering face and body powder with scents of rose, iris and aldehydes.

Liu Calligraphy Eyes & Lips Palette

The new palette features two red shades for lips, a classic red and a raspberry red, three eyeshadows in champagne, soft brown and peach a black eyeliner and two mini brushes.

Meteorites Perles du Dragon Illuminating Powder

The 6 pearls come in the following shades: pale pink, beige, white, gold, plum and rosewood.

Meteorites Wulong Voyage Compact Powder

Pressed powder in the same hues the Meteorites Perles

L’Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette

Les Ombres Turandot – plum, gold, taupe, brown

Shine Automatique

• 700 Altoum: gold
• 760 Lou-Ling: plum

Nail Varnish

• 03 Altoum: peachy champagne
• 04 Lou-Ling: burgundy

See lots more product pictures after the jump!

Want It: Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection (Sneak Peek)

I'm always eager to find out information about upcoming collections, especially when it comes to one of my favourite brands, Guerlain. I've found these pictures and some information about the holiday 2012 collection, so I thought I'd share it with you. All credit goes to Loulou17.

I'm not 100% sure whether this is the entire collection, but it seems quite sizeable, so it probably is. I believe the collection will have an oriental theme.

The collection contains:

• Liu Perfumed Shimmer Powder
• Meteorites Voyage Powder
• Meteorites Perles du Dragon
• 4 Colour Eyeshadow Palette
• Liu Calligraphy Palette for Eyes and Lips
• Rouge Automatique Lipsticks: Gold and Dark Red
• Nail Varnish

I don't have any more info right now, but I will let you know as soon as I do.

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD: L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows

I did this look a little while ago using some of my lovely L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows and I really liked the look, so I thought I'd share it with you.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer all over lid
L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Forever Pink all over the lid
L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Metallic Lilac in the outer corner and crease
L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Time Resist White in the inner corner and on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Radium on lower lashline
Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara in Acid Blue
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

Guerlain Parure Aqua foundation in 02 Beige Clair
Guerlain Perles D'Azur Meteorites
Lancome Blush Subtil Rose #10 Rose Rose on cheeks

Lips:

Mac Girl About Town lipglass

See more pictures after the jump!

My Guerlain Meteorites Collection - Updated Pictures June 2012

It's been a while since I last took some pictures of my Guerlain Meteorites collection, I thought it would be about time to do so. I now own 24 Meteorites which is almost every one ever released, I'm still missing 2 or 3 old ones (pre-2000), and I have a feeling I may not come by those as it's been too long. But let's not dwell on the past, let's look at what I actually own. 24 boxes of gorgeousness, that is. Enjoy!

My Meteorites collection (closed)

See lots more pictures of my Meteorites collection after the jump!

My Guerlain Summer Collection Haul Part 1 - Perles d'Azur Meteorites Pearls and Meteorites Brush

I was really looking forward to the Guerlain summer collection, so of course I ended up buying a lot of products. I thought I'd split the haul post into a few parts and actually do proper reviews as well.

First up is the limited edition Meteorites powder Perles d'Azur and the Meteorites powder brush. As you might know already, I'm a big fan of Guerlain Meteorites pearls and I have a very extensive collection of them (I should take an updated photo of my collection, the last one can be seen here if you're interested).

This summer's Meteorites come in a beautiful container designed by Emilio Pucci and the case of the Meteorites brush has the same design (as well as the inside of the boxes every product comes in). This summer's Meteorites container is a lovely blue colour and the lid has the intricate detail, and the brush has matching blue hair. The pearls come in 5 colours: white, gold, copper, pink and blue, and as always they come in different sizes. Although there are blue pearls in there, the overall colour you get is just general skin colour. I would describe Meteorites as finishing powder, it gives a kind of glow to your skin, but it isn't glittery kind of glow. I didn't swatch it for you because it doesn't really show up in swatches.

The brush is really good for applying the Meteorites, but it  also works with other powders. It's very soft and quite dense, and the blue hair is just gorgeous! (The regular Meteorites brush comes with pink hair.) I love the pouch it comes with, the pattern on it is so pretty.

The Meteorites pearls cost £37 and you get 30 g, and the Meteorites powder brush costs £28.

See lots more pictures after the jump!

FOTD: Mac In Extra Dimension

I know, Mac In Extra Dimension came out last month, but better late than never, eh? I'm also trialling a mascara (Mac Haute & Naughty) which I wanted to include in the look (will review it later).

I used the following products to create this look:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Mac Modern Pewter Extra Dimension eye shadow all over the lid
Mac Sweet Heat Extra Dimension eye shadow in the outer corner and crease
Mac Whisper Of Gilt Extra Dimension Skinfinish in the inner corner of lid and on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Mildew on lower lashline
Mac Haute & Naughty mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in 020 Cameo
Guerlain Meteorites Travel Touch loose powder in Mythic
Mac Modern Mandarin Powder Blush on cheeks
Mac Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Whisper of Gilt to highlight

Lips:

Guerlain Rouge Automatique in 143 Nahema

See more pictures after the jump!

What's In My Holiday Make Up Bag?

You might not have noticed (thank God (Blogger) for scheduled posts), but I went on a short holiday last week, and I thought I'd show you what make up I took with me. Now bearing in mind I was only away for 5 days and on day 1 I'd already done my make up, I'm thinking I might have taken a bit too much with me. Well, see for yourselves...

It doesn't look too much in the bag, but that's just the basics, I also took 5 Sleek palettes and my Mac highlighting palette with me. So yeah, too much, especially bearing in mind we spent 3 of the 5 days at the swimming pool, so those days I pretty much only wore waterproof mascara and lip balm.

Do you also take loads of make up with you when you go away or are you a minimalist? Let me know in the comments!

For details of what I took with me, keep reading after the jump!

Paul & Joe Pearl Foundation Primer Review

I showed you this beauty in my haul post and had a couple of requests to review it, so here you go. Firstly, this primer is so pretty with the colourful little pearls inside. Reminds me very much of Guerlain Meteorites Pearls primer, which is also made up of little pearls and is also silicone free. It has a lovely smooth, slightly runny texture that spreads easily and a little goes a long way. It is mattifying, but also contains some very fine shimmer.  

The colourful pearls are in a colourless liquid and once you pump the primer out, the pearls get crushed by the pump, so you get a smooth, cloudy runny gel as a result. I can't say how mattifying exactly it is, or how long it makes your make up last because I haven't tested it long enough, but it certainly has some effect and I do love how smooth it makes my skin once it's applied.

At £23 per 30 ml it is a much cheaper alternative to the Guerlain Meteorites Pearls primer, so if you always wanted to try that one out, but didn't want to pay the high price tag (I think the Guerlain one is now £42!), then give this one a go. I bought mine from BeautyBay, I don't know if it's limited edition or not, but at the moment it's not available on the site. Hope it's not limited edition, because I would definitely repurchase this when I run out.

See more pictures 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!

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!

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!

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!