Chanel Illusion D'Ombre #96 Utopia Review and Swatches

So as I've promised, I have a review of one of the new Chanel Illusion D'Ombres. This one is Utopia, a slightly frosty dusky purple shade.

I really like Chanel Illusion D'Ombres, they are one of my go-to eyeshadows when I only have time for a quick sweep of colour on the lids. They go on smoothly and blend very easily. I tend to use them over primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance is my favourite) and they stay without creasing all day.

The eyeshadows come with a small angled brush for application, but generally I think any dense brush is fine for that purpose and mine tend to sit untouched. They would be good for using the eyeshadows as liner though.

They don't come cheap at £25 for 4 g, but they do go a long way and I'm happy to report that none of my older ones are showing signs of drying out, so they are a good long-term investment.

There are 3 new shades in the Chanel summer collection and I have New Moon as well to show you at a later date.

For now, see more pictures of Utopia, including swatches, after the jump!

Mac Flamingo Lustre Lipstick Review and Swatches

Okay, I know I said I hardly ever buy lipsticks and yet, I'm here reviewing another one, BUT Mac Flamingo lipstick was always on my wishlist. I didn't buy it when it first come out in a limited edition collection and always regretted it, so when it was recently added to the permanent lipstick line, I decided to finally pick it up, especially as I had some House of Fraser vouchers burning a hole in my pocket!.

Mac describes Flamingo as "light milky bright coral", but it also has a lot of pink in it. I'd say it's one of those my lips but better shades. It's a lustre finish, so it's not very opaque, it takes a few goes to get a good colour payoff. It's very glossy, but also due to the lustre finish it wears off really quickly. I'm lucky if I get 2 hours of wear out of it, and that's without eating or drinking. It's not drying at all and feels very comfortable when on my lips.

So was it worth the wait? I can't honestly say it was for me, but if you are after a nice subtle lipstick, this is a good one to pick up. It's a great colour for the summer, but also all year round. I now prefer more pigmented, more opaque shades, so Flamingo sadly didn't live up to my expectations.

Flamingo lipstick costs £15.50 and you get 3 g for your money.

See more pictures, including swatches after the jump!

Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

When I heard about Urban Decay releasing some new, very sparkly eyeshadows, I of course had to check them out. They came out in 7 shades and I picked up 4 (for now?). I got Glitter Rock, Intergalactic, Stargazer and Zodiac.

This is the description on the Debenhams website: "Urban Decay launches Moondust Eyeshadow, a dazzling innovation in eyeshadow with a super-refined and incredibly sophisticated feel. Forget EVERYTHING you know about glitter eyeshadow. Moondust is like NO OTHER shadow. There's not a speck of chunky "teen glitter" be found in these babies. Microfine bits of iridescent sparkle collide with intense, dreamy hues and lush 3-D metallics - for an effect that's out of this world. And while some traditional sparkly shadows tend to look cheap, Moondust has a really luxe, upscale vibe and a gorgeous, diamond-like effect." These are definitely very sparkly. They are also pretty pigmented, so you actually get a lot of colour as well as a lot of sparkle. Initially they reminded me of the Stardust eyeshadows, but these are a lot more intense, both in colour and also in sparkle.

These eyeshadows are not only very sparkly, but they're also duochrome, some more than others, in particular Stargazer which has a gorgeous green duochrome to it. Zodiac is my favourite of the 4, it is amazingly intense and is full of green, blue and gold sparkles. I found Glitter Rock and Intergalactic quite similar on the eyes, although they swatched more differently, but Stargazer and Zodiac gave a great contrasting look.

Urban Decay recommends you apply these using your fingers, I swatched them with my fingers, but I prefer applying eyeshadows on my eyes with brushes for precision. These eyeshadows can be used dry or wet for more intensity. I haven't tried them wet yet. As for glitter fallout, there was surprisingly little, I mostly only had some during application and blending. Once I cleaned it up, I didn't notice much glitter fallout. I would say that if you didn't like glitter, you'd probably wouldn't want to go anywhere near these anyway since they are so sparkly. But they definitely didn't spread all over my face. I didn't notice any creasing either (I used them over Too Faced Shadows Insurance) and they looked vibrant all through the day. 

These eyeshadows come in the usual round Urban Decay eyeshadow compacts and by the looks of them can probably be depotted and put into their new palettes (which I don't like one bit, but anyway). You get 1.5 g of product for £14. Urban Decay is stocked in Debenhams and House of Fraser, and they are currently on sale at BeautyBay (£12.46 each), although Zodiac isn't in stock.


See more pictures including swatches and a look I did using Stargazer and Zodiac after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Blue Ribbon - Review and Swatches

I have another shade of Stila Smudge Stick to show you called Blue Ribbon. The name is a bit misleading because, well, it's not really blue. I'd say it's probably more of a steel blue, but definitely what I was expecting. Regardless, it's a nice colour.

Otherwise it's basically the same product as the other Smudge Sticks I have reviewed before (click here for my review). It is one of the more shimmery shades, but it's not glittery as such.

It has the same lovely, soft, easy to apply formula and it's long lasting, although I've never tested whether it's actually waterproof. It comes in the same twist up pen as the other Smudge Sticks and you still only get 0.28 g for £13.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Too Faced Candlelight Glow Highlighting Powder Duo - Review and Swatches

I'm embarassed to admit how long I've had this product for and still never got around to reviewing it. I bought this in May last year, photographed it, swatched it, maybe even wore it, but never managed to write up a review. Not sure why. Anyway, I am doing it now, so never mind.

Too Faced Candlelight Glow Highlighting Powder is a split pan powder, one side being white gold, the other very light pink. When swatched, the pink side is slightly pinker, but to be honest, the difference is barely noticable. This is the description I copied from BeautyBay:

"Too Faced Candlelight Glow is a luxurious highlighting powder duo which warms and brightens the complexion for instant radiance. Inspired by Too Faced’s original Absolutely Invisible Powder Candlelight this new formula offers a more intense luminosity and a more ethereal glow. Photolite Technology filters, fractures and diffuses harsh lighting to create an enchanting, youthful glow and preventing skin from looking washed out or chalky. With a duo of multi-use shades the pressed powder formula is easy to apply for a quick all over glow. The sheer golden powder warms the skin tone whilst the gilded rose shade brightens and illuminates the complexion. Use each shade alone to target specific areas or swirl together for instant radiance."

It is different from the original Candlelight powder in that this seems to be a more pressed, creamier version (the original one kicks up a lot of dust when you swirl your brush in it). It's not a cream product, mind, it's still definitely powder, just a lot less powdery. Colourwise it's pretty much the same, like I said, I struggle to see the difference between the white gold and the pink halves. It is also very similar to Nars Albatross highlighter, so if you own that or the original Candlelight powder, I don't think you need this as well. I got it because it's so pretty and I'm a sucker for pretty powders. It does give a nice glow and it's certainly not shimmery, so if you're looking for a subtle highlighter, this may be for you.

You get 10 g of product and it costs £25. You can find it at Boots and BeautyBay, and other online retailers. I don't think this is a limited edition product since I bought it nearly a year ago.  

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Periwinkle - Review and Swatches

I feel really bad now reviewing this eyeliner because I've just looked on the Stila website and it's sold out now, and I believe this was a limited edition. But I've taken the pictures, so I might as well write up the review, right?

This shade was part of the Stila spring collection, but it's basically the same product as the other Smudge Sticks I have reviewed before (click here for my review). The shade is called Periwinkle and that's exactly what it is, a periwinkle blue shade (it is more purple in real life, but my camera refuses to pick up purples properly). This one isn't shimmery/glittery like some of the other shades, so that may be a plus for those who don't like glittery eyeliners. I don't mind either way and it's a gorgeous colour, so I'm happy.

It has the same lovely, soft, easy to apply formula and it's long lasting, although I've never tested whether it's actually waterproof. It comes in the same twist up pen as the other Smudge Sticks and you still only get 0.28 g for £13.

As I said, this is a limited edition shade, but I have just checked an it's still in stock on the BeautyBay website and you may be able to find it from other retailers too. It's a lovely, springlike colour, so well worth picking up.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Laura Mercier Folklore Collection Illuminating Eye Colour in Sun Glow, Fire Glow and Earth Glow

I already told you about this collection and now I can show you the eyeshadows I got which is basically all 3 of them! They are called Illuminating Eye Colours and they are pretty much exactly the same thing as these eyeshadows that came out last winter. Probably best if you read my previous review by clicking on the link because they are very very similar to last year's release.

Colourwise these new shades are warmer, more bronzy, summery shades. I've compared them to last years' colours and found that Fire Glow was more coppery/orangey than Gilded Rosegold, Sun Glow is more orange than Gilded Moonlight and Earth Glow is a much warmer brown shade than Gilded Bronze. The new shades also seem less metallic than the previous ones, but they still have plenty of sheen to them. No glitter and no fallout, and the formula is just as lovely, smooth and long lasting as last year's ones.

I would love it if Laura Mercier released these eyeshadows in more colours (I'm thinking of blues, greens, purples, pinks) as so far they've only done more earthy, natural colours which are nice, but I also love bright colours! These new 3 shades are perfect for the summer though, I've paired them up with Urban Decay 24/7 eyeshadow pencil in Clash which is a crazy bright turquoise shade and really makes the look pop.

These eyeshadows cost £18.50 which is actually £1.50 less than last year's ones and you still get 2.5 g for your money. I bought mine from House of Fraser, but Space NK also stocks them and on their website last year's Gilded Moonlight is still available!

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with these eyeshadows after the jump!

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!

Guerlain Rose Aux Joues Blush Duo 06 Red Hot Swatches and Review

This is the last one of the (not so) new Guerlain Blush Duos that I've finally managed to get my hands on. After reviewing all the other shades I didn't feel like paying full price for this, so waited until I could find it much cheaper on eBay. I have to say though I'm actually pretty happy with this shade.

Red Hot is made up of 2 shades, a reddish brown shade and a lighter coral-red. Both of them have a satin finish, no shimmer to speak of, but they do give a nice sheen. I have worn them separately as blushes, but you can also use the darker shade to contour and the lighter shade as a blush. The beauty of this is that you can do whatever you like.

Both of them have okay pigmentation, I find that they apply better than they swatch (I use my fingers to swatch usually). I didn't have to be too careful not to overdo them, but they can be layered, so they will work well for darker skintones.

These blushes cost £32.50 and you get 6 g of product which is not huge. I probably wouldn't pay full price for any of them, although they are nice, but I feel there are better blushes around for a lot less money.

If you have missed my reviews of the other shades, you can check them out here: Peach Boy, Over Rose, Pink Punk, Chic Pink and Golden High.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Cherry Tart - Review and Swatches

Okay, this is the last one I promise (for now anyway). Also, I want to apologise to my British readers in advance as this shade is actually not available in the UK. You can still get it from eBay, so if you like the look of it, read on to find out more.

The shade is called Cherry Tart and it's a shimmery pinky red colour. It's really gorgeous and definitely one of my favourite shades from the entire Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter line. It's semi opaque, but can be built up to a nice coverage. It lasts for the same amount of time as the other shades, usually around 2 hours. Again, the formula isn't as moisturising as you'd hope, but I find it comfortable to wear and it's definitely not drying.

I bought this on eBay from a UK seller for £6.95 (which is actually cheaper than the retail price of these over here) and free UK postage. I received it within a few days, so I can happily recommend the seller. You can find the listing here.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter New Shades Part 2 - Review and Swatches

The other day I showed you 3 of the new Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter shades and today I have the other 3 to tell you about. As I said in my other post, I didn't buy Brown Sugar because I'm not a brown lipstick person, so I won't be showing you that one. The ones I have in this review are Pink Lemonade, Sugar Plum and Red Velvet.

I ordered these shades unseen because none of my local Boots seemed to stock them, and I was a bit worried about how Pink Lemonade would look on me as it is a very light pink shade. Turns out it's actually pretty okay, mainly because it's not very opaque, so it mostly just looks like a glossy light pink sheen on my lips. Brown Sugar is a nice, slightly sheer mauve colour and Red Velvet is a burgundy red. It isn't massively opaque, but as it's a darker colour, it is the most pigmented of them all. I don't need these lip butters to be very pigmented as I like to just throw them on when I'm exercising or just at home, instead of wearing lipstick or lipgloss.

As I've said before, I don't find these lip butters very moisturising, but they're comfortable to wear. They need reaaplying after 2 hours or so and don't last through eating at all. They are pretty much scent and taste free which I love.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters cost £7.99 each, but there's often a 3 for 2 deal on them, which is currently on in Boots. 

See more pictures including swatches after the jump! 

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter New Shades Part 1 - Review and Swatches

I'm supposed to be on a lipstick no buy, but I decided to make an exception to Revlon lip butters because I really like them and very often reach for them, especially on days when I'm not wearing full face make up but still want some colour on my lips.

Revlon have released 7 new shades this spring and I've bought 6. I passed on Brown Sugar because I'm not a brown lipstick person. In this post I've got Juicy Papaya, Wild Watermelon and Sorbet to show you. Juicy Papaya is a sheer orange-coral shade, Wild Watermelon is pinky red and Sorbet is bright pink. I find Wild Watermelon and Sorbet to be a lot more pigmented than Juicy Papaya, but I also really like it as it's such a lovely shade, so the sheerness doesn't bother me. All 3 shades last on me for 1-2 hours depending on whether I drink and what I do while wearing them.

While I don't find these lip butters terribly moisturising, they are very comfortable to wear. I often use them if I go running or to the pool as they don't look to full on, but still give my lips some colour. I also like using them at the weekend when I'm not wearing full face make up or not planning on leaving the house. I don't usually wear lipstick at home, but these are just the right products for me on these occasions.

I love it that Revlon lip butters don't have that hideous chemical smell some drugstore/high street lipsticks have (Maybelline I'm looking at you!), which is another reason why I make an exception for them.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters cost £7.99 each, but there's often a 3 for 2 deal on them, which is currently on in Boots. 

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Chantecaille Save The Sharks Palette Review and Swatches

Here it is, the newest Chantecaille palette, this time it's in aid of sharks. Probably not the species we think of when we hear about endangered animals, but according to Chantecaille, up to 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins. As with every special edition palette, Chantecaille donated a percentage of proceeds to the relevant charities. This time 5% of proceeds from the Save The Sharks Palette will be donated to the BLOOM Association to ban unregulated shark fin trade.

The palette features 3 eye colours and a cheek colour, all of them made up of two colours (there's no overspray here!). Great White, the highlighter is a sandy beige with a white fin in the middle, Grey Reef is a glistening sandy grey with a lighter brown fin in the middle and Black Tip is a deep ocean blue with a black fin in the middle. Also includes 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.

Despite reading not very positive reviews about the palette, I'm actually very happy with it. The eyeshadows aren't particularly unique, but they are nice colours, and they are smooth as butter. I did have some blending issues with the darker colours, but nothing major. The blush is my absolute favourite of the whole palette, it's a gorgeous coral shade, very pigmented and easy to use. It also has a light pink highlighter fin in the middle, but it's too small to use alone with a blush brush so I just mix the two shades together usually. The highlighter could be used with an eyeshadow brush though.

The palette costs $83 (approx. £55) in the US and £75 in the UK (I'll never understand why Chantecaille is so much more expensive in the UK), but I luckily managed to get mine for £40 on eBay. I'm very happy with it at that price, but I'm not prepared to pay the full UK retail price for Chantecaille products. Available from Space NK, Harrods, Liberty, Harvey Nichols.

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

Sleek Make Up Aqua Collection Mirrored Pink Blush Review and Swatches

Gah, I've been so busy these past few days, I've hardly been home, so that's why I haven't been posting much. I'm gonna quickly write this post up and then go to bed, I'm knackered. I know this is just a hobby, but I feel bad about not being able to blog. Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer.

The other day I showed you the eyeshadow palette from the Sleek Make Up Aqua Collection and today I've got the blush called Mirrored Pink. The blush comes in the same style cardboard box as the palette, and the compact itself is the regular black Sleek compact with the full size mirror in the lid.

Mirrored Pink is a frosty, slightly cool blue pink shade with fine gold shimmer, can't actually think of what other blush to compare it to. It's really nicely pigmented and smooth, not too powdery, and it wears very well. It is a bit frosty and it's quite easy to overdo, but it is a lovely blush. I have been using it for the past few days and it's very easy to wear. I did enclose a picture at the end of this post, but I wasn't wearing much else in the way of make up as I'd been to the pool, so excuse my disshivelled look please!

My only niggle about this product, and this might just be my compact, but I find it very hard to open it, so instead of trying to force it open with my nails, I'm now using a pair of nail scissors to pop the lid open. Shouldn't be necessary, but it could be a one off. At least it closes securily!

The blush costs £4.49 and you get a whopping 8 g, so it's still a brilliant bargain and it is really lovely. It's limited edition and is available from Superdrug and the Sleek Make Up website.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Sleek Make Up Aqua Collection Lagoon Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

Nowadays Sleek Make Up eyeshadows are pretty much the only drugstore eyeshadows I buy (yes, I've turned into a make up snob). They are still great value for money and their quality is up there with Mac, Inglot, etc. eyeshadows. So as you can imagine, I was very happy to get my hands on the new limited edition Aqua collection, and in particular Lagoon eyeshadow palette (I will review Mirrored Pink blush another time).

The palette comes in a gorgeous cardboard sleeve, but inside the sleeve it's the usual matte black palette with a full size mirror in the lid, 12 eyeshadows and a double ended applicator. The eyeshadows come in a good variety of shades, you get yellow, green, teal, blue, coral, pink, the lot. Some (most) are shimmery/frosty and there are 3 matte ones too. They swatched very nicely, with the exeption of the matte ones which swatched okay, but actually all of them applied, blended and stayed really well on my eyelids.

I have done a few nice looks with this, although I still haven't used the bright coral shade (which I guess would also make a nice blush, if only the pans were bigger) and the black one. There isn't an obvious highlighter shade in it (the white one is too frosty for highlighting, better in the inner corner/tearduct area), but if your collection is even a quarter of mine, I'm sure you will own a highlighter shade to use with it.

All in all I'm very pleased with the palette and other than my usual compaints (put the shade names on the palette somewhere rather than the see through protective sheet, get rid of the applicator, stop putting the price up by a quid every year) it's a really nice one to have. I find some of my Sleek palettes a little hard to use due to the colour selection, but this one is really great, provided of course that you like bright colours. Other than the light purple and the rosy pink shadow, everything is pretty bright and loud in here!

The palette costs £7.99 for 13.2 g of eyeshadows. I bought mine from the Superdrug website, but haven't actually seen this on the shelves, also this doesn't seem to be on the Sleek website at the moment.

I'll leave yo with a picture of Paws, out gorgeous big cat who decided to "help" when I wanted to photograph the palette and blush! 

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Barry M Bold Purple Waterproof Eyeliner Review and Swatches

A little while ago I told you about two shades of the Barry M Waterproof Eyeliners, Bold Gunmetal and Blue (click the link for my review), and now it's time to tell you about the purple one. I think this one is my favourite of the 3. It's a gorgeous purple with fine micro glitter, absolutely stunning.

In fact I've found that it's a nearly exact dupe of Mac Designer Purple Pearlglide eyeliner, which is one of my favourite purple eyeliners. The staying power of this one was slightly better than the other two as well. I didn't test whether it's waterproof, but it did stay on my lower lashline all day without smudging or fading, so that's good enough for me. Luckily the micro glitter doesn't irritate my eyes, in fact the pearlglides sometimes do, so in that respect I like this eyeliner better than Designer Purple.

These eyeliners cost £3.99 each and are similar size to the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners, although it doesn't say anywhere on the product or the Barry M website. I'd estimate it to be between 1 and 1.2 g.

A lovely, soft, creamy, long lasting eyeliner at the fraction of the cost of other brand's very similar product. What's not to like?

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Shimmer Brick Review and Swatches

I've bought surprisingly small amount of make up lately which isn't like me at all, but this is one of the lovely things I did buy, Bobbi Brown's new Lilac Rose Shimmer Brick. You know how I love and collect Shimmer Bricks, so of course I couldn't not get this one, I just have to have them all.

Lilac Rose is part of the spring collection that I've already told you about here. I didn't get anything else, although there are undoubtedly some gorgeous bits and bobs in the collection. The Shimmer Brick comes in the usual square black packaging with a full size mirror in the lid. You have 5 different colour stripes, "featuring bright pink, golden pink, and icy pink pearl pigments perfect for light to medium skin tones. Each bar also doubles up as eye shadow." (Quoted from the Bobbi Brown website)

Despite its name, there is nothing lilac about this Shimmer Brick, but at least there is rose. Swirled together the shades give a frosty light rosey pink colour. This is definitely a highlighter, not really dark enough to be worn as blush, also it is rather frosty. In the pictures below I wore it on top of Bobbi Brown Maui Illuminating Bronzing Powder (by the way, Bobbi Brown, it's not a bronzing powder, it's a BLUSH!!!) and it gave me a nice sheen. It can be easy to overdo, so you definitely need a light hand when applying it.

It costs £32 for 10.3 which is the standard weight of Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks. It is a limited edition shade, but luckily Bobbi Brown collections don't sell out very quickly, so it is still available from Bobbi's website and some department stores.

See more pictures after the jump!

Topshop Holographic Nail Polish Swatches

I have been on a MASSIVE nail polish kick (especially holographic nail polish!) lately, even though I shouldn't be buying any more, so expect to see a few more nail polish posts here on the blog.

I picked up these holo beauties on a recent trip to Topshop as I'd seen them on their website. I was a bit worried they might not turn out very holographic, but to my surprise these are actually pretty good. The holo effect isn't as smooth as the China Glaze Hologlam polishes, the holo particles are bigger in the Topshop ones. The effect is more similar to the Color Club Halo Hues polishes (maybe I should swatch all 12 of those too), but less strong.

The colours are nice, but nothing special, you get a silver one, a pale blue one and a pink one. I hope they come out with more colours as these are really nice polishes and at £6 for 8 ml each. I've yet to wear them, but they swatched really nicely and dried quickly and you can see for yourself how pretty they are. Now if only Urban outfitters sold their holo polishes in the UK...

See more pictures after the jump!

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow 85 Light in Purple / Liquid Light Review and Swatches

Maybelline has released a few new shades of their very popular Color Tattoo eyeshadows and I picked up 85 Light in Purple (or according to the display in my local Boots, Liquid Light). It's a really interesting colour, a greyish purpley blue with a pink duochrome to it.

The formula is the same fantastic long lasting, non-creasing, easy to work with gel-cream formula that we know and love. I used it over my trusty Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer and it stayed put for over 12 hours. It would also make a nice base, but I haven't done that as with a colour this lovely, I prefer to use it alone.

The colour is very similar to Mac Industrial pearlglide, in fact that's the eyeliner I have used with it for a quick, but rather striking look. The pictures don't show the pink duochrome very well, but it's there and depending on which angle you're looking it's pretty strong, making the shadow look more purple than blue.

I really like this product and absolutely adore the shade. At £4.99 for 4 g (with a 3 for 2 offer in Boots currently) it's well worth buying.

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

Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation Review

A little while ago I was stopped by a lovely lady at the YSL counter in House of Fraser and was asked if I'd like to be matched up for a free foundation sample. Of course I couldn't say no and came away with my little bottle of Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation. I was given shade B50 which looks a little yellow on my hands but blends out nicely on my face.

I have to admit I don't follow YSL as closely as other brands, but I believe this is their new foundation. This is what I found about it on the Debenhams website: "Twenty years after the launch of the iconic Touche clat, Yves Saint Laurent adopts a leading edge technology that transposes the magic of this legendary highlighter into a foundation to achieve the same illuminating result for the entire face. Yves Saint Laurent introduces LE TEINT TOUCHE CLAT. A bold, unique formula to target shadowy areas and define contours. Infused within a weightless fluid, the light of Touche clat foundation targets shadowy areas and highlights the contours of the face. Free of opaque powders, its perfecting texture evens the complexion and helps conceal imperfections, while enhancing your skin's natural beauty."

I think the key word is illuminating. While not greasy by any means, this foundation does look more "dewy" on me than some others, so I think it would suit drier skins better than oily ones. I have normal skin during the winter months, but my T-zone can get rather oily in hot weather, so I would definitely not wear this in the summer, but right now it works well for me. I don't love it as much as I do the Lancome Teint Visionnaire foundation, it is definitely more dewy on my face and tends to need a bit of blotting halfway through the day, but it does have a nice medium coverageand it feels very light on the skin. It comes in 22 shades which is great and the full size product comes in a pump bottle which is also a big plus.


I like this foundation, but won't be buying the full size version. I know it's just going to be too dewy on me in the warmer months plus it doesn't come with SPF which I think is really necessary in the summer. It's nice in the winter, but I have nicer foundations. However, if you have dry skin and you're near a YSL counter, it's well worth a look. £29 for 30 ml.

See more pictures after the jump! If you want to see me wear this foundation on my face, check out this post for full face pictures!