Beauty Spotlight Roundup: 31/08/13

Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog is transfixed by the novel firm oil texture of Bare Love Beauty Luxury Skin Fuel Night-Time Recovery Treatment, and is thrilled by how this potent serum works wonders on the skin!

While Jessika from polish insomniac did not love the entire China Glaze Autumn Nights collection, she did love half of it! See which half it was!

Such a beauty in the palette, but does it perform? Visionary Beauty shares her thoughts on the Chanel Mystere quad from the Superstition Fall collection

It’s time to share an international giveaway on Beauty Info Zone. Painted Earth has some amazing natural cosmetics that we just rave about. Here’s a chance for two people to win a package of goodies. Open through September 5, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Good luck.

Perilously Pale shows us the new Benefit Rockateur Boxed Blush in all its rose gold glory.

Prime Beauty issues a GUSH ALERT for the Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con Eyeshadow Palette in Starlet. She hasn’t been this verklempt since her teen crush on Bobby Sherman in the 70′s.

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed goes dotty with a whole bunch of different polka dot nail effects – check out her swatches and see which one you like best!

Pammy Blogs Beauty shares her favorite LUSH products for beauty and pregnancy pampering and gives the scoop on her LUSH store tour!

15 Minute Beauty may have reviewed several Nars Eye Paints but now she wants more. Check out to see which you will be wanting too.

Tom Ford lip Colour Shines in Quiver, Nubile, Insidious

Though I liked my first lip colour shine in Frolic, I didn't feel like the qualities warranted the price. However, it has become one of my most used lipsticks so I decided that I did in fact need more.

The lipsticks have a subtle shine/glossy finish. The texture is smooth, balmy and also rather soft (so can smoosh a bit in hot temperatures).

They apply really easily so there is no drag but neither too much slip.
They feel hydrating on and though when I initially got Frolic I found it could highlight dry areas, I no longer find this the case (this might well be that my lip condition has since improved).

Quiver is a cool soft pink.

Nubile is a rosy brown with a hint of terracotta (this swatches a lot warmer on my than it looks on).

Insidious is a juicy peach/apricot.

The formula is not what I would describe as long wearing, but on par with the majority of sheer lipsticks on the market (though I did find Nubile to have a longer wear).

Swatches L-R: Quiver, Nubile, Frolic, Insidious

Ingredients:


My brother very kindly bought these for me from Heathrow terminal 3

Chanel Superstition Fall collection: Mystere Les 4 Ombres Eyeshadow Palette

I had no hesitation in buying the Mystere quad from the Superstition Fall collection, a predominantly cool toned palette featuring khakis to create a smoky look. What's not to like? Well it turns out quite a lot.....

The quad contains a deep black/brown with a bit of golden shimmer, very sheer shimmery golden ivory, matte deep browned khaki and a satin finish grey.

Though the baked formula is often dry and powdery, I felt like there had been an improvement with releases from the last 2 years in terms of colour payoff, smoothness and blending, unfortunately Mystere is very much the poorer version of the baked formula in my opinion. Baring the grey, all shades are very dry and powdery and do not blend well at all. Using them wet there is improved pigment, however blending is still an issue and colours still fade (even with trying various eye primers).


In terms of the finished look, the addition of the golden ivory is the saving grace as without it I just get a dull, messy sludge look.
Below is with all colours but with the ivory used wet (otherwise it is barely detectable).

I do not find it an easy palette to work with, and though I quite like the finished result I don't think its worth the hassle of application.

I bought this from Boots

The Beauty Spotlight Team: Perilously Pale Top Blushes of the Summer

Perilously Pale is giving us a look at her 9 Top Blushes of the Summer. With dozens to choose, from which shades and formulas did she find herself reaching for again and again this season?

Dior Fall Mystic Metallics: Bonne Etoile

Though the limited edition Bonne Etoile quad (£41) from the Fall Mystic Metallics collection looked very much high on drama, which doesn't fit in with the more natural make-up I am sporting these days, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist.


The palette is predominately cool toned and all shades have a varying degree of shimmer/metallic finishes. It contains a smoky deep olive, silver pewter with a hint of mauve, seafoam green, deep blue/teal and in the centre a slightly bronzed brown with a golden fleck.

This palette is high on drama and all shades combined give rather a glitzy look, I've used all shades below but its too high impact on me so I'll likely use no more than two shades at a time.


The shadows all have good pigment, blend beautifully with a good wear time.Though some shades are not the smoothest, this is still a high quality palette which has a much improved performance compared to the palettes from this years Spring and Summer collection.

So although I can't see this being an everyday palette for me, I'll be sure to  bring it out for moments when I want that bit more drama.

I bought this from Boots.

The New reformulated Diorblush: Beige Nude

Dior have just brought out a newly formulated and packaged Diorblush to replace the existing range. The line up consists of 4 colour categories ( red, pink, coral and beige) with 3 different finishes (matte, satin and iridescent).

I think there were about 15 shades at the counter I went to. On swatching the shades I would say they all seemed to have good pigment, though some did not feel quite as smooth as others  so I would recommend trying these out before buying.

I bought the lightest looking shade, #746 Beige Nude (£30). It feels very smooth and though pigment seems sheer at first its very buildable.
Swatched below twice and then four times

Swatched below (one swatch each) L-R: Tom Ford Frantic Love, Dior Beige Nude, Sisly Phyto-Blush Eclat #5 Pinky Coral.

It applies without any patchiness and has a very long lasting wear. The slightly shimmered colour mixes neutral tones of peach, pink and a hint of beige, with the peach being more dominant on my cool toned skin.

Shown below in outside light so you can see how much this particular shades varies depending on lighting.

I definitely think this is an improvement of the former blushes which I found could be dry and apply slightly uneven. Its a very nice blush, but I am not running out to buy more shades as I prefer a more creamy feel to my blushers due to my dry and uneven skin.

Ingredients below, this does contain noticeable fragrance.


I bought this from Boots.

MAC Illustrated Face Kit By Rebecca Moses

My main reason for buying the Illustrated Face Kit was for a holiday, as it can be difficult sometimes to find a robust, compact set that contains lip, eyes and cheeks.


Though I preferred the look of the eyes and lips from the cooler toned plum set, the blush just made me envisage bright ruddy cheeks on my pale skin, so I opted for the warmer brown palette (£39.50).

The majority of colours are permanent with the exception of Smoked Sepia and Showstopper. The blush, Melba, is a matte dusky orange/peach, pigment is very high so I apply with a very light hand. It applies a tad patchy but has a good wear time.

The shadows are Orb (matte cream peach), All that Glitters (shimmy golden peach), Smoked Sepia (Satin finish, warm chestnut brown) and Showstopper (matte dark brown).

All shades, apart from all that glitters, are on the dry side, most noticeably showstopper. Overall pigment is quite good, apart from Showstopper which I feel needs to be applied wet to get anything close to the colour in the pan.


The lipsticks are housed with a plastic lid which is a great addition as stops them being interfered with from fall out from the powder products.

Ravishing is a coral in the Cremesheen formula and Myth is a pale, slightly warm nude in a satin formula. I find Myth unwearable on its own as it really does give the look of a bad colour matched concealer, as such I only use a touch over Ravishing should I want to lighten the colour.
Swatched below L-R:Melba, Ravishing, Myth.

The brush included is a Dual-Ended Brush 275SE / 316SE the lip brush end has a firm texture and applies product well, the brush end it too floppy and slightly scratchy.
Its difficult for me to fully recommend this even though I have found it useful and like the look it creates, as whilst there are good elements to this (such as the overall colour coordination, generous amount of product and portable, sturdy design), I think the quality of the brush and Showstopper are disappointing and I question the inclusion of Myth (which I think a very hard to pull off colour.)

 I bought this from maccosmetics.co.uk

Guerlain Fall Voilette de Madame collection: Madame Fascine Gloss d’Enfer

At the same time as buying the disastrous Two Rock duo from the Fall Voilette de Madame collection, I also picked up the Gloss d’Enfer Maxi Shine in Madame Fascine (£22)

Again I bought this before the testers were out so went by the colour in the tube, however I was aware of the variant in pigment of the Gloss d’Enfers, having swatched the colours from the regular line up.
In the tube, its a deep vampy cool toned grape/purple with multi coloured micro glitter.

Applied, and its not quite so stunning, the colour is extremely sheer and applies as a wash of almost greyed grape with subtle micro glitter, its pretty but I do feel it a shame that it doesn't correspond to the depth of the colour in the tube.

Though I'm more of a lipstick person, I do really like the formula of these, as they are not tacky or sticky and has a smooth application and lightweight feel.

Though I am pleased with this, I would advise checking this out in store if you can, as I feel like the sheerness might be a issue.

I bought this from John Lewis.

Clarins Graphic Expression Fall Collection: Eye Quartet Mineral Palette in Forest

I couldn't resist picking up the eyeshadow palette from the Fall Graphic Expressions collection for Clarins. Named Forest (£31), the colours really do look autumnal.

It contains a shimmery khaki, sheer gold shimmer overlay, shimmery taupe with a bronze edge and dusty charcoal with subtle golden sparkles. The shimmer is gentle and just gives the shades a lift, the colours do not go on muddy and are neutral toned rather than leaning warm (which I was very pleased about).

The overall effect is a sightly smoky, earthy, natural look. It probably seems a strange thing to say but there is something very comfortable about these shades.

The shadows have a firm feel and do feel a bit dry to the touch, and the black and khaki don't blend as nicely as the taupe/bronze. Overall pigment is good, there is no fall out and all shades have a good wear time.


This is a very nice, well coordinated, fuss free palette. The taupe bronze shade is such a beauty, to be fair I would have bought the palette for that shade alone.

Ingredients:


I bought this from John Lewis

Guerlain Ecrin 2 Couleurs / Eyeshadow Duo in Two Rock

I was looking forward to the Fall Voilette de Madame collection from Guerlain as the collection debuts the new (and permanent) Ecrin 2 Couleurs shadows.

They are housed in a slender golden case which opens vertically and contains a mirror and double ended foam applicator.

The duos consist of one pure colour with a matte finish and one veil, in either a sparkly or metallic finish. Unfortunately there were no testers out so although the SA kindly got them all out of the box for me to peak at, not being able to test the colours in hindsight proved a mistake.
I bought Two Rock 01 (£30), which is a matte sage green, and sparkly deep charcoal.

The green is very pigmented, unfortunately it looks dull and muddied and very unflattering on me. In terms of formula its reminiscent of the singles in that it adheres very quickly to the skin so its best to pat on the colour. However I don't find it as wearable as the singles, because there is not much movement at all in the formula so that I cannot apply it sheer and its difficult to blend. The sparkly charcoal, is actually not as sparkly as it looks, it applies patchy and has a crumbly texture (as you can see in my picture below after its been used). Due to the crumbliness its hard to use it as a liner.

Both shades work best without a primer but either way I do not find them long lasting, the charcoal is noticeable worse as it has fall out, creases and transfers easily onto the higher part of the lid (this is having tried it over 3 different primers), used wet it does adhere better but fall out and creasing is still a problem.
It seems odd to me that the veil shadow doesn't work at all well applied over the top of the green, since I figured that was its purpose.
Swatched below dry, then the charcoal wet,

Below I have used the green applied over the charcoal, try as I might I can't blend these shades well so  application looks a mess and you can see in the close up photo the crumbliness of the charcoal.


I've had a lot of Guerlain eyeshadows in the past and feel thoroughly disappointed by this, whilst the shadows combined do give a vibrant intense look, the formula is  poor quality and too much of an effort to work with. Now perhaps its just the sparkly veiled duos that have this performance so there might be a ray of light with the metallic ones, but suffice to say that this is a complete fail for me.

I bought this from John Lewis