Live Native Essential Gold Rejuvenating Eye Balm

Live Native is a handmade, mostly organic skincare range. The brand is based on the Isle of Skye and none of the ingredients are heated/pasteurised (so as to retain all the nutritional value).

The formula of the eye balm (£45) feels very concentrated so you only need a little bit. It contains 23k gold leaf, cold-pressed comfrey oil (to help reduce puffiness and dark circles) and also ingredients such as rosehip and carrot root oils (to provide regenerative anti-oxidant properties).


I found the product quite strong in terms of smell, its meant to be rose, vanilla oils and raw cacao butter, but it reminded me of an orange chocolate lip balm I used to have (I must have a strange sense of smell).

Everything was pointing to this being a winner, the ingredients look good and the reviews across the board were impressive.
I held off reviewing this until I used it all up as I was hoping I would change my mind.....
Though its write up says its light and none greasy, for me it never completely absorbed, and left a greasy slick feel, which did not make a good base with concealer. Its meant to help "reduce puffiness and dark circles, and promote the natural production of collagen that reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles". I have tried so many eye products over the years that I do not have high expectations, however I must concede I did feel slightly disappointed that having used this day and night without fail, I notice no improvement and felt like my eye area was left feeling and looking much dryer than before.
Ingredients:

However, though this product didn't work for me, I do think the brand offers a good range of products for those wishing to move towards more "raw" skin and body care.

I bought this from beingcontent.com

Chanel Holiday: Harmonie du Soir

It was a welcomed sight to see the changed formula of eyeshadow quad from Chanel (previously release in the Topkapi palette). I had hoped that this would be a permanent change to the baked eyeshadows quads, unfortunately looking at the pictures of the Spring 2013 collection, I see the normal baked formula quad in the collection for us not in America.


Harmonie du Soir (£43) contains a gold, taupe, light pink (slightly frosty) and a cranberry/plum. All the shades are shimmery.

The formula of the shadows is easy to work with as they are very blendable, have great pigment and last well. They feel soft and smooth and the colours apply true to pan.
It terms of the overall look from the palette, I don't find the red tones of the cranberry/plum flattering so I only use a touch of this and whilst I like using the other three colours independently, used together I feel it looks overly shimmery (the shimmer is not the subtle shimmer I would expect from Chanel).

I do really like this formula and do hope they use it for other releases, but for me the colours used together are just too shimmery and I know I won't get a lot of use from the red toned shade.

Ingredients:


I bought this from Boots.

Beauty Spotlight Roundup: 24/11/12

Pammy Blogs Beauty has a new blog series: Check out MAC Matters: Building a Core MAC Collection with less than $21 per month!

Obsessed with her hair, Teri constantly tests and tries the latest hair tools. On Beautiful Makeup Search this week, she has the hottest hair tools for the hair you want this Holiday season.

Wouldn't it be great if you could indulge in your chocolate cravings without the calories? Prime Beauty shows you how with the LORAC Sweet Temptations Holiday Collection!

The Pink Sith has gone plum crazy over her MANNA Cosmetics Plum Crazy Eyeshadow Palette!

15 Minute Beauty shares which beauty products the founder of Tavarua Skin loves!

Marcia from Beauty Info Zone seems to be obsessed with subscription boxes. She’s constantly on the hunt to find the latest and greatest. Since there’s a new nail polish box, Color Me Monthly, she just had to see what it was all about.

Looking for No-Fail Beauty Shortcuts? Check out what Helen from Lola's Secret Beauty Blog had to say in her REDBOOK interview!!.

Perilously Pale has found the perfect traditional grey toned smoky eye palette with a kick. Taupe and sparkle! Check out why she's so smitten with the Yves Saint Laurent Pure Chromatics Palette in #12 released as part of YSL's Holiday 2012 collection.

Whilst it’s all about the holiday collections at the moment, the Becca Fall Smoke & Grace collection has made a quiet appearance. Beautiful soft smoky eyes paired with a nude lip, Visionary Beauty thinks this is definitely not a collection to be missed.

Jessika from polish insomniac shows us her favorite polishes from the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection.

With all of the talk (ie, jokes) about the new Chanel No.5 commercials with Brad Pitt, Paula from Older Girl Beauty wants to remind you of the history of this iconic scent.


Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed gets a chance to take the new MAC In Extreme Dimension Mascara for a test drive. Y'all can't buy it until after Christmas but until then, feel free to admire her lashes!

Sue Devitt Solomon Islands Collection

Its all very dingy and cold here in the UK, so what better than to bring out a bit of summer time colour. The Solomon Islands Collection (£35) is based on pinks,corals and bronzes.

Here's a run down of what you get and my thoughts:
Destination Eye & Cheek Palette in Solomon Islands: This features warm coral pinks, an icy pink and a copper/bronze. It has quite a sheen to it but I don't think it highlights pores. The texture is smooth,soft, lightweight and long lasting. You can get a variety of tones depending on how you mix the colours.

 
Microquatic Blue Anti-Aging SPF 30 Protection Primer - 10ml: This is not drying or heavy like a lot of primers, it lessons the look of pores and prolongs the wear of my makeup. If I do wear it too many days in a row I get some congestion (this might well be the algae) but otherwise the texture and effects are really good.

The Powder Brush is made from pony hair. It feels soft and picks up product well. It also retains its shape perfectly after every wash. The precise size it great for blush and powder application on targeted areas.

The Eye Intensifier Pencil in Gold Reef is a deep brown with a hint of bronze and subtle golden shimmer, it feels smooth and quite creamy.
 
The Lash Intensifier Lengthening Mascara Separates lashes really well and lengthens without clumping, it also doesn't smudge nor flake.
Finally the Lip Enhancing Gloss in Coral Sands, adds a sheer coral shine to the lips and I don't find it sticky or overly tacky.

Swatched below is the gloss, eye pencil, then from the palette the cool pink, copper/bronze and then all the shades mixed together.

In the look below I used gold reef as a base with a bit of the bronze from the Eye & Cheek Palette on top and the pinks from the same palette mixed together and applied softly in the crease. I don't think the pinks work for me on the eyes (but I love them on the cheeks)  but I wanted to show you as many of the colours together in one look (I have also used the mascara).

Overall the colours are cheerful and create a healthy look. Its a really great value set as it contains two full size products (the eye & cheek palette is worth £31 and the eye intensifier pencil £18).

My brother very kindly bought me this from lookfantastic.com

BECCA Ultimate Eye Colour Quad Eclipsed & Ultimate Colour Gloss Fallen Angel

As part of their fall Smoke & Grace collection (which pairs elegant smoky eyes with soft nude lips), Becca has brought out 4 eye shadow quads.

The quads contain a mix of finishes. Eclipsed (£35) contains a satin finish deep moss green, a shimmery graphite grey with a hint of khaki, a shimmery peachy gold champagne and a matte brown.



The shadows are on par with the normal singles which though not creamy, feel quite smooth have good pigment, apply true to pan and last well.

Its quite an interesting mix of shades and though I was worried they would look muddy or be too warm the colours work well together to create a soft hazy smoked look. 
Ingredients:

I bought one of the Ultimate colour glosses from the collection as well. Fallen Angel (£18) is a sheer nude, it manages to avoid the concealer lip category or have any unflattering orange/yellow tones,


I really love this formula as its truly lightweight and not sticky/tacky. The best thing about it is just how moisturising it feels and though it has a short lasting time its positives more than make up for it.

 If you don't usually like the feel/texture of standard glosses I thoroughly recommend trying this formula.
Ingredients:


I bought these from zuneta.com

The Beauty Spotlight Team sends Modesty Brown to a desert island

This week it's Modesty Brown's turn to visit the Beauty Spotlight Team's Desert Island and she gets a little carried away. The products are pretty good, so it is worth glossing over the fact that she's clearly 'lost' it! Let's see which twelve products made it into her desert island bag.

The original picture above was from ABC's Lost site (subtly adapted via Modesty Brown)

Le Metier de Beaute Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss Uma Paro

I find purple toned lip shades tricky to wear as they can look very bright, too contrasting against my pale skin and well just too purple. The wonderful review from Lola's secret beauty blog made me succumb to Uma Paro (£26).

Its a deep plum with multi coloured sparkle. Close up of the tube below,

Once I received it I was slightly concerned by just how plummy/purple the shade was, however because of the sheerness and lush glossy finish it is extremely wearable and manages to strike the perfect balance of the redder tones you'd get from a plum to the cooler slightly fuchsia blue tones of a purple.

Great on its own or as a topper to give your lipstick a lift. Though its called sheer, the colour is buildable. The texture is lightweight and smooth (there is no grittiness) and feels moisturising, there is a bit of tackiness to it.

For those looking for a wearable plummy lip, this would be a great one to try.

Ingredients:


I bought this from zuneta.com

Dior Grand Bal: Fairy Golds Palette

The Fairy golds palette (£40) is the cooler toned of the two eye palettes from the holiday collection.


It contains a  frosty sheer oyster peach, a metallic golden champagne (like the Night Golds palette, this upper right shade has chunky particles and look uneven in the pan), a medium-dark brown with semi-matte finish, frosty mauve taupe and in the centre a  glitter infused frosty bright white.


Texture wise the peach and mauve taupe feel smooth and buttery, the brown and white and golden champagne have a slightly dryer feel. I always find Dior shades to blend beautifully, to have great pigment and last well, however I was very surprised to have this crease quite badly so I have to wear this with a good eye primer to get it to last. Another issues is that unlike the Night Golds, I found the top right shade to be less pigmented and prone to fall out.

Unfortunately I bought this before the store had the display out so I bought it from the drawer without being able to swatch it, had I been able to I wouldn't have bought this.
Its not that I don't like the majority of colours, but its simply too frosty (something Dior is prone to with its palettes). There is not enough contrast and I have to rely heavily on using the brown to balance the look. Though I have used all the colour below to show you, in reality I am likely not to use more than two colours at a time.

My advise with this one is that unless you like a frosty look, swatch instore before you buy because I think it looks a lot prettier in the palette than it does on.

I bought this from Boots

Omorovicza Perfecting Lip Balm

As the winter months approach its that time again when lip balm becomes a must. I've tried many lip balms of differing prices and have only been happy with a few to re-buy, the market is so swapped with them it really needs to be something that bit special to get that loyalty.

I am a fan of Omorovicza so bought the Perfecting Lip Balm (£32 for 10ml) as soon as I could. It comes in a screw lid container, its a pale pink in colour but applies clear.

It contains shea butter, eucalyptus and hyaluronic spheres. This does feel a bit tingly, I'm not a fan of this sensation in lip products but its not uncomfortable and I don't notice it after about 10 minutes. Texture wise it feels smooth and not overly sticky or coating like some balms can. It makes my lips feel soft and smoother. One of the attributes I enjoy most (and why I think its worth the price) is that it does seem to provide long lasting moisture/softness and I do think my general lip condition is better since I've been using this.

The only drawback is the steep price, though compared to similar priced balms (such as Sisley) I do think this performs better.

I bought this from omorovicza.com

Dior Grand Bal: Night Golds Eyeshadow Palette

The holiday Grand Bal collection features heavily on golds and reds. Packaging wise the lipsticks and nail polish shapes seem rather reminiscent of the early Dior style which I was never a fan of so I went for the eye shadow palettes which are in the normal packaging.

Today I will show you the Night Golds (£40) palette which is the warmer of the two.


It contains a shimmery slightly frosty white, metallic golden copper (this one has rather large chunky particles and makes the texture look uneven in the pan, though it applies smooth) a shimmered gold beige, a shimmered yellow gold and a matte dark charcoal with gold sparkle.

Apart from the darkest shade, which has a dryer feel, the other shades feel soft and smooth. All shades apply and blend well, with a good wear time and no fall out.
Swatched below (I've not smoothed down the copper shade as wanted to show you the heavier texture)

Being very cool toned and not a fan of warm shadows I was pleasantly surprised how well these worked; the cool base of the darkest shade works to keep in check the warmth of the golden shades.

An elegant way to wear a bit of shimmer/sparkle, well done Dior.

Ingredients:




A family member bought me this from Debenhams.