Sisley Fall 2013 City Muse Collection: Phyto-Ombre Glow

The Fall City Muse collection brings us a new shadow formula called Phyto-Ombre Glow, they are billed as a "next-generation eye shadow that captures and diffuses light in a captivating pearlescent halo, mother of pearl is in the formula to catch the light from every angle and deliver breathtaking radiance to the eyes".

Wow, sounds good doesn't it and I have to say after swatching these I did think they were a bit special, but as we know swatching in store is not necessarily the same as when you get home and apply it to your eyes...


I bought the shade Pearl (£30). The shadow feels smooth, lightweight and glides on. It layers extremely well so you can go for a subtle shimmer look to a more full on metallic edge. The colour applies very yellow toned and ends up being more of a golden shade than the champagne I had at first thought.
Swatched below L-R: One swipe then three swipes.

I find that built up its just too glitzy on me so much prefer this as a gentle wash on the lid as below,

or layered with another shade (shown below paired with Rouge Bunny Rouge Abyssinian Catbird).

It is a lovely colour, but whilst I do feel like the shade catches the light nicely, I won't go as far as to say it gives me the claimed radiance. Whilst I like this I do feel there are likely similar finishes/colours already out there and for a lower price point.
Ingredients:

I bought this from John Lewis

BareMinerals The Power Neutrals Eyeshadow Palette & Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Make Your Move

There are those that get bewitched with bright, colourful shades for the eyes and then there are us, like myself, that get filled with glee over your everyday naturals, boring to some but there is always room in my collection for a slightly different shade of beige/taupe/grey.


The Power Neutrals (£35) contains the following: Boss Lady is a satin finish light beige with a touch of sparkle, Moneymaker is a matte dusty olive. Schmooze is a shimmery golden bronze, Boardroom is a matte deep brown (this has a dryer finish compared to the other shades).

Exec is a satin grey/taupe with a touch of sparkle, Payday is a matte pale grey. Magnate is a matte warm yellow beige, Get Ahead is a matte mid toned brown.

The colour payoff of all the shades is really good, and I like that there is not much shimmer, yet still a good mix of finishes. Apart from the deep brown,the others shades are smooth though I would say the mattes do adhere quickly so aren't as easy to blend as the other finishes. Wear time is not the best as even with a primer I do find these fade quite a bit by mid day.
Ingredients:


The collection also includes one Marvelous Moxie lipstick in Make Your Move (£16). The lipstick has a creamy feel and a slightly heavy texture, I don't find it long lasting particularly.

The colour is a really pretty natural pinky brown with a slight sheen/shimmer finish.

Ingredients:

My overall thoughts are nice but nothing outstanding, of the two I recommend the palette as its a good price for what you get and would be a good choice for those who usually find  natural toned shadows pull very warm, as the majority of shades are neutral, leaning cool.


I bought these from Boots.

YSL Forever Youth Liberator Foundation

I'll very rarely try new foundations but the supposedly revolutionary new serum/foundation by YSL caught my attention.

Infused with the Forever Youth Liberator Serum, its meant to revive "skins youthful brightness and creates a more uniform complexion. Skin looks firmer and wrinkles appear clearly diminished, while the creamy coverage makes your complexion look beautifully even and rejuvenated", further to this its meant to offer medium to full coverage and provide 24 hours of hydration.
A bit about my skin first before I get onto my thoughts on this, I have sensitive, dry skin but I do get a shiny breakthrough but the skin underneath is still dry/dehydrated. I have a lot of uneven pigmentation, scarring from acne and currant acne. I do have wrinkles but they are not massively deep set as yet.

I bought the lightest shade B10 (£34) its a very good colour match for my pale skin and whilst it has a obvious yellow tone it does not look out of place on my skin.
Swatched below L-R: MAC face & body N1, YSL, Omorovicza Complexion Perfector BB light

The foundation contains the  patented Colour Tune-Up Complex to correct dullness, and give a brighter complexion. I find this gives medium coverage and works well to unify and even out my complexion, though it does not cover more pigmented scarring nor spots. It does brighten up my complexion and as long as you are not too close up the coverage and finish it initially gives looks almost flawless, however this foundation does not last at all, the coverage fades and my shine breaks through within an hour.


It spreads on nicely and blends down well, however I really think it accentuates any dryness and can make the skin look flaky (where previously it did not). Due to the more luminous finish it can highlight any acne you may have especially if you have bumps.

I should also mention the size is 30ML which seems a bit smaller than the average, though I do really like that this has a pump dispenser.

Ingredients below, this does contain fragrance.


I'm sure those with well behaved even skin would like this, but for my troublesome skin this just doesn't work for me.


I bought this from John Lewis

The Beauty Spotlight Team: Lola's Favorite Beauty Oils

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog has, in part, become a forum for Helen's unmitigated obsession with luxury face oils. Therefore, when The Beauty Spotlight Team allowed her to choose up to 12 items to feature she naturally chose 12! Any guesses as to which of these magical golden elixirs made her list?

Charlotte Tilbury: K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick, Lip Cheat & Lip Lustre

With corresponding shades of lipstick, liner and gloss, there really is no guess work involved with the Charlotte Tilbury lip range.
All the products I bought are variants of pinky naturals with a touch of warmth.

 

I opted for the lipstick named Bitch Perfect (£23), I'd say it has a semi matte finish. Its pigment heavy, and applies smoothly with a creamy texture, it does not bleed at all and has a really good wear time. The downsides for me is the heavy feel and though I don't find it drying its not hydrating either.
 

The Lip Cheat liner in Pink Venus (£16) is slightly deeper in tone than the lipstick but they still work well together. It has a smooth texture that glides on without any feathering. It looks natural and seems to just meld in rather than looking like obvious liner. Again, its not all perfect as I find it has a tacky feel and can look a bit drying if used all over.
 

The glosses are called Lip Lustres, Sweet Stiletto (£16.50) pairs perfectly with the other lip shades I got, it has medium pigment and a very high gloss finish and really does create a plumped up look. It has a good wear time for a gloss, but again is quite heavy and has some tackiness.
Swatches below (they look warmer swatched than how they apply),

 

I am very particular with my lip products and will always opt for the lighter, hydrating lip formula's, so initially I wasn't keen on these, but the performance has really won me round. Though I don't feel like any of these fall into the moisturising category, nor am I keen on the heavier, tacky texture,  I have to give praise to the flattering colours, coverage and impressive lasting abilities


I bought these from charlottetilbury.com

LE BLUSH CRÈME DE CHANEL: Inspiration

I went for the palest shade of the Le Blush Creme de Chanel range, Inspiration #64 (£27).

I've held off reviewing this for a while as I was fully expecting it to break me out. I'm please to say that I have had no issues on my sensitive, acne prone skin.

The colour is very true to pan, and is a semi matte blue based pink, whilst still maintaining a slightly dewy look. Pigment is very buildable  so you can go sheer or more intense.
I think this is very foolproof unlike a lot of cream blush on the market as it blends well with no patchiness or noticeable visible edges.
Its very long lasting, I'd say I get a good 6 hours before I notice fading.
Swatched below lightly then heavier,

I really like that this has no greasiness or tackiness which seem to be a common attribute with cream blushers.
A hands down great formula, and one I'd recommend if you don't usually get on with cream blushers. This is certainly the stand out from the Fall Superstition Collection for me.


Ingredients:


I bought this from Boots.

Beauty Spotlight Roundup: 14/09/13

Helen from Lola's Secret Beauty Blog is transfixed by the beauty of Tom Ford Absolute Noir For Eyes: It's the perfect black eyeliner embellished by what appears to be stunning little glimmering sapphires!  

Prime Beauty brings you her Top 10 Eyeliners along with 10 other bloggers on Top 10 Tuesday!

 Marcia from Beauty Info Zone fell in love with John Frieda's Hot Air Brush and she's blaming other bloggers! Find out exactly who!  

The Pink Sith found an all natural face serum with no silicones that firms skin and clears it too! thanks to the Adventuress Vividly Restorative Skin Purifer you can benefit too!

There has been a lot of press surrounding the new Charlotte Tilbury make-up collection, but did the renowned make-up artists range meet expectations? Visionary Beauty finds out.  

15 Minute Beauty has compiled a list of 80 Must Know Beauty Tips from Beauty Bloggers. Do you know all of the tips?  

Perilously Pale shows us Dior's lineup of manicure products and shows us why, with high end brands, sometimes it's worth looking beyond just the nail colours. Giveaway time!!! Looking to refresh your hair style?

Pammy Blogs Beauty checks out some of Scunci's Hair Trend Accessories for 2013. Be sure to enter to win!!!

How can a lint roller help you do your nails? polish insomniac shows you the latest trick she learned to clean up after stamping!

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed is loving herself some metallic nails for fall - check out her 4 top picks and see if you can find a silver for yourself!

Charlotte Tilbury: Cheek To Chic

There are 6 colour options in the Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Chic blush range. The most noticeable aspect is the smaller circle of colour contained within another circle, this is meant to allow for a swish and pop application, in that you swish the outer colour on the cheekbones and then apply just the centre shade to the apples of the cheek to give the pop of colour.

I bought the shade Love Glow (£30). I was expecting the inner shade to be the most pigmented but instead its the other way around, indeed I find the outer shade extremely pigmented so I only need just the barest touch.

I had thought this would be a peachy pink but on me its most definitely pink. The outer pink is slightly warm and the inner is neutral leaning cool.The finish is a flattering natural shimmered/glow.
Swatched below L-R: outer circle, inner circle then both combined.

The powder feels very smooth and creamy and applies evenly without looking powdery. Wear time is very good, I get a good 7 hours before I notice any fading. The mirrored compact gives a generous amount of product and I love that there is no useless, space wasting applicator.
I think this is a lovely blush, the feel, performance and finish are really top notch. Though this particular shade isn't the best for me (as pink blushers don't mix well with my ruddy complexion) I will certainly pick up some more of these.


Ingredients:


I bought this from charlottetilbury.com

Charlotte Tilbury: The Uptown Girl Luxury Palette, Full Fat Lashes & The Classic Liner

The wait is finally over as the highly anticipated makeup range from renowned make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury launched last week. I made my selections after watching the helpful tutorials of the 10 looks, such a great idea to show the makeup in action. I think the entire collection looks very assessable and it comes across as a mistake proof line.
Here is how the packaging looks,


It has a very old time glamour, vintage look about it, I was expecting the compacts to feel heavy but they are actually quite lightweight.
I'll begin with the eyes today and review the rest of the items I bought within the next few weeks.


The Uptown Girl Luxury palette (£38) contains a very shimmery peachy gold champagne, shimmery mauve taupe, satin finish smoky mix of grey/mauve and a pink opalescence glitter shade. The glitter shade has a slightly dryer feel (typical of glitter overlay finishes) but the other shades are very smooth, soft and silky. The glitter shade adheres extremely well and you can really get a high impact look, rather than just a few sparkles here and there. They all blend beautifully, the colours work so well together and they have a good wear time (though I think a primer gets the best from them).

Its just a beautiful palette, I really like that you can wear it for a more daytime friendly look or dial it up for some drama.

There is one mascara in the range, Full Fat lashes (£22). It comes in a glossy black colour. It has a slightly dryer feel/look but not quite along the lines of a typical Lancome or YSL.

It gives a bit of lift and good length and thickness, without any flaking or smudges. Another bonus is that you can apply multiply coats without it clumping. I think this is a great overall dramatic mascara and it is one of the few mascara that I would re-buy.
Below is with one coat of mascara

Lastly I got the classic eye liner in the shade Audrey (£16). Its a deep neutral brown. I'm not typically a fan of pencil eye liners as I find them difficult to apply, however this has a really easy to work with consistency, it doesn't tug yet is not so soft that it smudges all over the place, I can get a even line with it and it has a good level of pigment. A good staple to have in your collection.
Swatches below of Audrey liner and uptown girl palette

I'm extremely pleased with these, given Charlotte's knowledge/experience there was always going to be a high expectation on this range so I am glad that it doesn't disappoint.

The range is currently available from Selfridges (international shipping available), net-a-porter.com and charlottetilbury.com

I bought all these items from charlottetilbury.com

The Beauty Spotlight Team: Top 10 Products for Pregnancy Skincare & Beauty Pampering!

Pammy from Pammy Blogs Beauty is expecting her second baby in January. As a beauty product lover, she has searched high and low for the best products for beauty and pregnancy pampering! Be sure to check out her top 10 picks! Even if you are not expecting, some of these products might be an excuse to get an extra back rub!

Dior Mystic Metallics, Fall 2013: Millenium Diorshow Fusion Mono & Addict Extreme Lipstick in Fortune

The arrival of the permanent Fusion Mono shadows with the Fall collection, naturally made me wonder how similar they were to the many other mousse/gel cream shadows on the market.

I find them most similar to the Chanel Illusion d'Ombres in terms of texture, though the Chanel has more slip and apply more evenly.


I bought Millennium (£23.50) which is a gorgeous mix of both golden and silver tones with a pewter and khaki base, it applies less shimmery than it looks in the pot.
Swatched below lightly then heavier

The pigment is very good, but the colour can apply a bit patchy so I have to take time over application. For me this requires a primer (without one I get creasing and fading very quickly).
It has a tendency to transfer on the area above, as you can see in my close up picture below where it looks really messy.

This is rectified by putting on a good amount of base colour eyeshadow in the area immediately above the cream product, but worth noting as an extra step.
For me, whilst I do like the shade, I have a no hassle approach where make-up application is concerned and unfortunately this shadow does require extra work to get the best from it.

Of the four Addict Extreme Lipsticks from the Mystic Metallics collection, I picked up Fortune (£24). It’s a sheer caramel rose nude.

I was surprised that it had a lot more slip compared to other Addict Extremes I have. It still has the lightweight texture and creamy, hydrating feel but this extra slip makes the wear time extremely short (even without eating or drinking it still disappears within an hour).

A lovely colour and great feel, but this is just too fleeting for me.

I bought these from Boots