Dior Addict Lipstick in Palace #354 (Croisette Summer)

The Dior Croisette Summer collection features three limited edition shades of Addict Lipstick (#354 Palace, #414 Casual Gold and #544 Jet Set). All shades are on the sheer side.


Palace (£24) is a peach nude with hint of pink, it has a high gloss/shine finish. I think if you have pigmented lips then the shade Jet Set, with is a stronger peach tone, might be a better option.

The formula is soft, smooth and glides on whilst feeling hydrating. Its not as light weight as the Chanel Coco shines but unfortunately has the same fleeting wear time.
Overall it gives a very soft peachy nude shine to the lips and is great to pair with a bolder eye, though I think the colour payoff may be a disadvantage to a lot of people.
Ingredients:


A family member bough this as a gift for me from Debenhams.

Chanel Sable-Émouvant Eyeshadow Duo

The Chanel Sable-Émouvant Eyeshadow Duo (£30) was released as part of the Chanel Summer 2012 collection.

It features a sandy beige and a chocolate brown, both shades are intertwined with a fine shimmer.

Unfortunately on my cool toned skin, whilst the brown does not go on really warm/red toned, the beige goes on with a predominate warm peach tone. The only way I can wear it is by using a very cool toned all over base shadow to dilute the warmth.
Swatched below:On the far left are the shades mixed together

The shadows feel quite smooth, have very good pigment, blend easily and last well. I think the duos are easily Chanel's best shadow formula and really hope they replace the baked shadow quads we get with the duo formula.
Ingredients:

Its a classic combination of warmed shades for a natural look. Chanel seem to excel in bringing out tried and tested colours and just making them that little bit more special.
Though for me these are not the best colours for my cool toned complexion, I think if you like your warm toned everyday shades this will be a good addition to your collection.

I bought this from John Lewis

L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Lipstick Corail Charmant

 L’Occitane have brought out a new limited edition collection called Pivoine Délicate. The range is based around the Peony flower and includes an Eau de Toilette, Lip glosses, lip balms, Lipsticks, Hand Cream, perfume roll on/gloss duo and a Shimmering Powder.

The packaging is really pretty and feminine with gentle pink cardboard boxes adorned with drawings of peonies. Unable to resist I had to buy at least one item from the range.

I've had a few L’Occitane lipsticks in the past and they have all been sheer, because of this I ordered the brightest looking lipstick out of the 3, Corail Charmant (£12.50).

Though it appears as a rather feisty coral in the tube it applies as a sheer coral pink with a slight sheen.

Thought is doesn't last long, it glides on and feels quite moisturising, the texture has a balm quality about it but without the heavy feel.

Ingredients below, this lipstick is scented.


I bought this from uk.loccitane.com

A bit of Hair care and Organic Glam with the Organic Pharmacy

I suffer from the inability to buy just one item at a time, case in point when ordering from the Organic Pharmacy somehow a shampoo and eyeshadow quad managed to sneak into the basket...
The Organic Pharmacy offers an extensive range of health care,body/skin/hair care, perfumes/candles as well as makeup. I associate the brand more with supplements and skincare so was interested to see how other items performed.

The Rose Conditioning Shampoo (£22.96) is aimed at those with dry hair. The shampoo is infused with Rose Hips, Aloe and the herbal complex of Arnica, Horsetail, Coltsfoot, Sage & Chamomile. The formula is extremely watery, when I first used it I lost a lot, as it just floods out, because of this I think you end up using more product as its hard to keep it in your hand without it just seeping off. It has a low foam and is quite difficult to work through the hair and it made my hair feel slightly tangled during application.
Ingredients:

My hair was left feeling hydrated and soft, unfortunately it also looked somewhat coated and the overly shiny look was veering towards looking greasy, there's nothing like washing your hair and having it look the same as it did before you started. My hair is dry through the lengths but prone to getting greasy at the roots so perhaps when they say for dry hair they means from root to tip!



The Organic Glam Eye Shadow palettes come in 3 different shades, I went for Plum (£32.95). The palette is really compact and contains a mirror.

 
Here it is against a MAC 4 pan for size compare.

All the shades are cool toned. There is one matte shadow in a pale pink/lilac, and the other three shades have a slight shimmer and a tiny bit of sparkle; a white, a dusty mauve and a plum.


Whilst there is nothing intrinsically wrong with these shadows I feel the pigment was average, the darker shades were too flyaway and they just weren't as smooth or easy to blend as my favourite brands. I think for this price range it brings with it a higher expectation.

Ingredients:

I'll go with saying I was left underwhelmed with both these items.

I bought these from theorganicpharmacy.com/

Beauty Spotlight: Whats in Marcia's........

It's time for Marcia from Beauty Info Zone to share what's in her ??? She's chosen her can or maybe we should say CANS! How could she possibly need one dozen cans? Lets take a look here

Omorovicza Complexion Perfector BB SPF 20

Omorovicza is a natural based, anti-aging skincare/bodycare range. The range is based around the healing properties of mineral rich Hungarian thermal water.
I was looking for a light coverage foundation that would not irritate my skin and Danny from Holistic Green Beauty suggested I try the Complexion Perfector BB SPF 20 (£80 for 50ml).

I ordered directly from the brands website and was very impressed with the speedy delivery, however what got my attention even more was how the products came packaged, had I known nothing of the brand I would have been able to tell it was a luxurious high end range just by the attention to detail. All the products come individual wrapped in branded paper, there is a separate sample sachet containing two samples and best of all it comes in a robust presentation box which you can re-use for storage.

The product has a creamy, but non heavy consistency. It blends so well on the skin, leaving no patchiness. There is a slightly luminous quality about it but I do not find it shiny.  It makes my pores less noticeable and lasts quite well. It provides sheer natural looking coverage that manages to unify the skin tone cancelling out any redness extremely well. I really was waiting for this to upset my sensitive skin but all has been calm. My skin is left feeling hydrated and comfortable.
It contains hyaluronic acid and Vitamin C and it also excludes silicone which should please a lot of people.

Ingredients:

I let my mother try mine and after one use she was sold by the beautiful healthy finish it gave to her skin and bought one for herself. Shade wise this is a touch dark for me (I'm a shade lighter than a MAC NW15) but its most definitely still wearable.It suits my mother well so I think if you are darker than a MAC 25 this might be too light for you, Omorovicza seem to have good customer service so if you are darker it might be worth seeing if you can get a sample first.


This product is truly a multi tasker; combining a moisturiser, foundation and sunscreen ( Zinc Oxide 7.4% and Titanium Dioxide 4.4 %). Needless to say as I was so impressed by this I have since ordered some more products from Omorovicza which I'll review soon.

I bought this from omorovicza.com

Le Metier De Beaute Kaleidoscope Eye Kit Northern Lights (The Auroras) Spring 2012

Such was the stampede when Zuneta.com added Le Metier to their impressive online portfolio, the limited edition Spring items sold out quickly. I was able to buy the Kaleidoscope Eye Kit (£75), next time they have limited editions I'll be a bit quicker.

Whilst I always find the colour combination's of the Kaleidoscope's  interesting, this kit is definitely the most challenging. It contains Ionic (peach nude), Sky (baby blue), Magnetic (copper) and Equinox (intense indigo).




The first three shades are more of a satin finish, with the lighter two having a tiny amount of very fine sparkle, the darkest shade is a semi matte.  So you have two warms and two cools.
I've really tried with this but I cannot get a look from it that I am happy with, but I wanted to show you these so you can see how the colours apply.



 I think my problem is with the differing intensities of the colours, as the peach and pale blue are sheer whereas the copper and violet are intense, in fact the violet is so pigment heavy that I mainly use it as a liner as I don't find it blends well. I feel like this kit is lacking a transitional medium colour intensity shadow and because of this I feel like the colours just stand apart too much.

Below I have layered the first three shades together,

Apart from the darkest shade, the shadows have the usual smooth texture and blendable quality that we get from Le Metier.
So ultimately I am not using the colours together as intended and much prefer using them separately with other shades.

Ingredients:



I bought this from zuneta.com

Perricone MD Hypoallergenic Nourishing Moisturiser & Firming Eye Cream

Perricone MD is a skin care line created by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, MD. The focus of the brand is to attain optimum skin health through the advocacy of good anti-inflammatory diet, vitamin/mineral supplements and a skincare regime that uses clinically effective products.
Dr. Perricone has also written a number of  skin care books which gives extra credibility to the line.

I was pleased to see that the brand now offer a Hypoallergenic Collection, for those of us with sensitive skin.

The Nourishing Moisturiser (£59.50) looks thick in texture and feels really creamy, however it absorbs well and I do not feel like I have a film left on the skin, nor look shiny. I think this is best for those with a dryer skin type. I was very pleased that it didn't cause my sensitive/acne prone skin any problems. Make up applies well over it and I do feel like its made my skin more supple and my skin feels comfortable and hydrated. The only thing I would have preferred is if it came in a pump container.



Ingredients (the moisturiser is free of fragrance, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, mineral oil, petroleum, and synthetic dyes):
Water/Aqua, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, PEG-8 Dimethicone, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Acacia Decurrens/Jojoba/Sunflower Seed Wax/Polyglyceryl-3 Esters, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Ethoxydiglycol, Squalane, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, PEG-75 Stearate, Benzyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Ectoin, Tribehenin, Ceteth-20, Steareth-20, Butylene Glycol, Phospholipids, Hydrolyzed Sericin, Allantoin, Xanthan Gum, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Dehydroacetic Acid, Ceramide 2, PEG-10 Rapeseed Sterol, Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Tocotrienols, Arginine, Tocopherol, Phosphatidylcholine, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide
Hidrox® 12% (Olea europaea, Organic Olive Juice Extract)


The Hypoallergenic Firming Eye Cream (£50) is a gem, it has a lovely creamy but not too thick consistency, it really softens fine lines and combats any dryness, leaving the skin soft and looking more smooth.



Ingredients:
Water/Aqua, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Glycerides, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butylene Glycol, Squalane, Dimethicone, Ethoxydiglycol, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-75 Stearate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Panthenol, Steareth-20, Ectoin, Ceteth-20, Xanthan Gum, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides, Allantoin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Tocotrienols, Tocopherol, Phosphatidylcholine, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-5, Acetyl Octapeptide-3, Hydrolyzed Sericin, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7


I like the idea behind the brand of working on both the inside and out, It makes sense that lifestyle/diet should play such an important part to the skin rather than just the products. It comes across as a well thought out, intelligent range and I was really impressed that the products delivered results I could see and feel.

The brand is readily available online/instore (such as Sephora and Selfridges) and they also have their own website and also international ones (the UK one is http://www.perriconemd.co.uk/)


Disclosure: I was sent these items for free.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Lilac Reef Curassow & Trumpeter Koel eye shadow

I have two more of the new shadows from Rouge Bunny Rouge to share with you. Trumpeter Koel (£16) is a iridescent dark grey/charcoal base with a strong blue tone. Lilac Reef Curassow (£16) is a blue toned pale lilac, the finish is similar to the semi matte of Gracious Arasari.



Though Trumpeter Koel looks positively charcoal in some lights the blue tones are most apparent in the shots below.


The shades really compliment one another and are a really easy way to create a cool toned soft smoky look.


I bought the duo eye shadow keeper to house them (£12), its study and compact in size and comes with magnetised slots like the trio keeper. Here they are for size compare (as well as a single shadow and the envelopes the pans come in).






Ingredients:


I bought these from zuneta.com

Beauty Spotlight: What's in my Older Girl Beauty's......

This week its Older Girl Beauty's turn, so lets have a look at whats in her Mum's vanity