I do feel that my hair in stronger and I have less breakage since using the Shu range, when I went back to the hairdressers I had two of the hairdressers and the girl washing my hair make comments on the strength of my hair, but not sure if that was genuine or that they were hoping I would buy more stuff, hard to tell sometimes!
I bought this from a Sean Hanna salon but notice that Look fantastic have started selling the range. http://www.lookfantastic.com/hair/shu-uemura-art-of-hair I'm very tempted by the Paddle brush but they had run out in the Salon, although £39 is probably a bit much to pay for a hair brush......maybe.....
Peche
Swatches/Picture L-R: Ibiza (shimmery peachy pink) Peche Lip Creme (peach with a slight golden shimmer) Bondi Beach (neutral browned rose), Dubai (shimmery cool toned pink), Bali (warm shimmery cranberry red).
Although the colours are sheer they are really glossy, combined with a lightweight texture that is not sticky or tacky, these are one of my favourite glosses.
The scent is rich, warm and comforting. The scent is described as a “re-interpretation of the Oriental family, a base of amber, vanilla and musk, which is lightened and animated by fresh orange flower, heliotrope, spicy carnation and Turkish rose.” To my nose it also smells a bit patchouli-based.
Although I like a lot of the Molton brown shower gels, quite a few of them make my sensitive skin itch. This is not the case with the new for spring and limited edition Fairy Fleur (£17). This is a beautiful clean scent, mixing a crisp green freshness with a soft floral. I’ll be picking up another one before they disappear from the shelves.
The range seems to be about lightweight formulas/textures. More about enhancing the natural beauty with easy to wear neutral shades. At the moment it looks like it’s only in the UK and Europe.
I also got a Sheer Lips Balm S03(£7.99). It feels very balm like without feeling overly heavy. Its quite moisturising and the colour gives me a nice slightly pink/rose MLBB look with a slight sheen finish, its not long lasting though.
Swatches below, I've only done two swipes of the lip/eye product
Overall I think the range concept is really encouraging, having ECOcert certification can only be a good thing and its great to have a range that is silicone free.
Shade 180 is a beautiful taupe, more on the grey side. Although I have similar shades I don’t have anything quite like it, and this has fast become one of my favourite shades.
The one thing I noticed with these shadows is that unlike the quads the texture feels a bit dry, although they don’t look at all dry when applied (you get a nice smooth look). Other than that I really like these, true to colour and they last extremely well, I will definitely be checking out the other 4 singles that are released with the summer collection.
I was looking at Fun Bathing lipstick but got talked into Lazy Days instead by the SA. It’s a very sheer cool toned slightly milky pink .Its a bit too pale for me and washes me out slightly so I combine it with a gloss to make it more wearable.
Overall I’m quite pleased with my buys, I just have to work with them a bit. I do like that the collection has shades for those either warm or cool toned as summer collections are usually a bit of a no go for me.
Once home and surrounded by my goodies two thoughts occurred to me
Swatch:Bronze Goddess sand shimmer, crystal baby 301 pure colour lipstick,
If you are wondering if my glorious GWPS would save me, you can stop, as they didn’t, half of it went in the bin after the first try and the skincare I gave to my mum. Here's a picture of the GWP mascara for interest
The EL sumptuous bold volume mascara lengthen and gave thickness but was extremely clumpy and the No7 extreme length gave a bit of length and nothing else.
I finally gave in and bought the limited edition Les Dauphins Palette. Priced at a hefty £79, the way I see it, the normal eye shadow/blushers are £23 each and I know when I bought a 8 pan empty palette a few years back if cost me a upsetting £42 so I imagine that the 3 pans must be about £20 now and this is a refillable 4 pan, anyhow that’s my feeble attempt to justify the price.
On me the eyeshades are a slightly pink beige base/sheer white pink highlighter, two taupe shades (more brown than grey) and a medium grey/deeper slate grey.
Whilst you can use each eyeshade pan separately, I use the blusher swirled together as I don’t have a bizarre tiny blusher brush. On my pale skin the blusher is quite a strong warm pink.
Overall if you love your neutrals and taupes and like the Chantecaille formula I think this is worth the splurge.
Lipstick in Mink (£8) this is your typically pinky/brown, a lot more heavy on the brown and with a bit of warmth, this is a nice shade, has good pigmentation and lasts really well.The finish is semi matte. My problem is that its drying and seems to get worse the longer its on, its resolved by wearing a balm underneath it but I’d rather not have to use another product to get another one to perform.
Nail Polish in Big Smoke (£5) there are a lot of these stone/taupe colours doing the rounds. Two coats gives the colour in the bottle and its wears quite well with minimal chipping.The formula is rather thick though so can go a bit gloopy. They have a really good selection of nail shades, lots of blues,greys and brights.
Mascara in Raven (£8)this gives me some length and thickness but does clump if I put on too many coasts and doesn't seem to curl. It doesn't flake or smudge though.
Overall this is probably my most successful foray into a cheaper makeup range. I probably will pick up a few more things, the crayons looked nice even though they are packed full of glitter (felt really smooth and creamy). I think for the price its worth a look when you are next in there.
It claims to give you the following benefits:
It feels really moisturising without being overly oily. I remove it with wet cotton pads then rinse my face with water. My skin is not left feeling dry or coated in a film. It exfoliates well; my skin feels smooth without any redness or irritation.
In the end I bought lipsticks (£12.50 each) in Mme Louis Henry Lipstick (very sheer peach with slight pink tone and non gritty microglitter) and Paeonia ( sheer but bright pop of cool toned pink).
Overall it’s a pretty collection for a soft natural look. I’m pleased with all the items, although I would have probably gone for a darker shine lip colour. I think the pricing fits well with the rest of the L’Occitane range. Where it not for the SA I’m sure I would have picked up some more.
I got the lightest shade, Adansonia, to be honest it is a tad too dark for me but the sheerness of the product makes its wearable and it’s worth it for the results. Adansonia does not have any overly pink or yellow tones; it just looks like a beige skin colour. I think if you are a MAC NC/NW 15-20 this will be a good match.
At the time I bought this I had been suffering from a heavy cold and had the dreaded dry/flakiness around my nose, nothing worked (even using a muslin cloth and a heavy balm) however this tinted moisturiser when on like a dream, I was extremely surprised no flaky/dry areas showed through. No matter the condition of my skin this goes on with a beautiful seamless your skin but better finish, I think the actual moisturiser within this product must be really good to be able to work with my skin.
