Chanel Les 4 Ombres Tissé Camelia

My second quad from the newly reformulated range, Tisse Camelia (£40) contains a shimmery medium mauve taupe, shimmery white, iridescent peachy pink and satin finish deep cool brown.



The colours work extremely well together and its more of a cooler overall look. Actually I am finding that too much coolness doesn't actually suit me so in hindsight I'd probably been best to skip this one, but it really is a classic combination of shades with a good variation in intensity so you can go for a soft look or full on drama.

 
Texture wise, whilst this is much improved in terms of pigment, smoothness and blendability compared to the baked formula, I don't find this quad quite as smooth/soft to the touch as the shades in Tissé Mademoiselle (reviewed here). I am being pernickety and it doesn't affect application but I thought worth mentioning.

I bought this from Boots.

Burberry Lip Mist Lipstick in Rosewood

The Lip Mist Lipstick in Rosewood (£22.50) came out with last years Fall collection. I've used up my Rosewood in the Lip Cover formula so was keen to give this a try as I prefer the Lip Mist formula as I find it more hydrating.


The colour is a perfect rose with a glossy finish, neither cool or warm, great for those who want a red tone lip that isn't bold.
Swatched once and then twice,

Its one of the more deeper toned lip mists (like Brown Sugar), swatched below together,

Due to the higher pigment this does last that bit longer than my paler Lip Mists (though not beyond 4 hours). The formula has a balm like feel and provides moisture/hydration so that I don't have to worry about it showing any dry patches I might have.
Like the majority of Burberry products this is scented, ingredients shown below:

I am really loving this colour, one swipe for an everyday shade or layered for a more striking look, I really find it complements the majority of makeup looks.

 I bought this from http://uk.burberry.com/

Charlotte Tilbury Brow Lift eyebrow pencil

Whilst I've been really enjoying the Charlotte Tilbury range, I have come up against my first product that I am less than impressed with.

The eyebrow pencil comes in three shades and I bought the lightest, Grace (£22.50). One end has the triangular-shaped brow cream-pencil and the other a brush to groom through the brows and eliminate excess colour, then there is the additional inclusion of a sponge tipped shadow powder highlighter, this is meant to be used under the arch to give lift to the brow.

Lets start with the actual pencil, it has a reasonably smooth texture but is still a tad drying and I don't find it has a great wear time. The colour is too warm for me and can often look a bit orange/yellow (I really think a lot of brands struggle to make good brow pencils for blonde hair).

Next is the powder highlighter, it seems a bit gimmicky and to begin with I just kept forgetting it was there. The colour is too dark for me to use for its intended brow lift and used on the actual lid, its a slightly warm champagne shimmer with a formula that is nothing to write home about.

Finally the actual brush end, I find it a bit scratchy and uncomfortable to use (the one in my Hourglass pencil is far softer whilst still doing a good job of brushing the brows through).

Swatched below with some other brow products, L-R:Mac Fling, Charlotte Tilbury Grace, Hourglass Blonde, Chantecaille Ash Blonde.

My first miss from the range, and I was doing so well, I certainly think there are better brow products on the market.

I bought this from http://www.charlottetilbury.com

Trish McEvoy Power of Makeup Planner Collection Azure

For this spring/summer Trish McEvoy brings us the Power of Makeup Planner Collection in Azure (£125). I've been wanting one of the TM sets for a while so when I spied this on Selfridges I promptly put this on my birthday list earlier this month.


The collection comes contained within a soft, quilted blue Petite Makeup Planner with pink lining and pockets/compartments.

There are so many products I'll try to be concise, lets start with the Beauty Emergency Card for Eyes. Its predominately warm in tone and contains shadows in Soft Peach, and Antique Rose and Glaze finish shades in Barely Blue, Ballet Pink, Rose Quartz, Pearl and Eye Definers in Paris Nights and Arabian Nights.



The liners shades are extremely pigmented, whilst the others have a softer pay off. The colours create a soft wash of colour with strong liner definition resulting in a natural, polished look.

The rest of the eyes is catered for with the extremely pigmented and long lasting Intense Gel Eye Liner in Black (travel size) followed by the Lash Curling Mascara in black, which is a joy to apply as it catches all the lashes and gives great separation that never clumps. The Instant Eye Lift in Shade 1 works well to cover darkness and gives a brightening lift to the skin and has a very long lasting wear. Unfortunately the Eye Base Essentials in Bare was too dark for my skin tone which is a shame as the formula was really smooth and non drying, providing impressive opaque coverage.

For the lips you get the Flawless Lip Colour Chic, the twist up style pen has a smooth, slightly tacky texture (and mint taste/smell) and the colour is a really pretty, slightly shimmered juicy pink.
Swatched below L-R:Eye Base Essentials in Bare, Instant Eye Lift in Shade 1,Flawless Lip Colour Chic,long lasting Intense Gel Eye Liner

For the face/cheeks you get a Petite Makeup Wardrobing Page containing Bronzer Golden (travel size),Face Shaper Highlight 1,Blush Natural and the Translucent Finishing Powder.

The blush, bronzer and highlighter are beautiful on their own but work extremely well combined with one another, giving a truly healthy sun kissed glow to the skin. The finishing powder works well to reduce shine without looking dry or cakey.
Swatched below in the same order as the palette with the blush/highlighter/bronzer combined on the far right.

I'm really pleased with the performance of all the products and the only thing I would change would be a lighter colour in the eye base (though with sets that try to cater for all skin tones I understand why they went for a medium toned shade). I find all the products really user friendly  and the collection contains all your makeup essentials in a compact, very portable set that serves to create that natural healthy look that we associate with the Trish McEvoy brand.

My mother bought me this from http://www.selfridges.co.uk

Bobbi Brown Nectar & Nude Eye Palette

The idea of soft neutrals with a bit of a golden, peachy edge and a strong liner definition was too tempting to pass up so I placed my order for the Nectar & Nude palette (£37.50)

The slim palette has a built in mirror and the double ended brush is usable.
The palette contains: Pale Cream (matte sheer cream), Soft Buff (matte warm rose brown), Golden Bronze (metallic/sparkly gold/copper bronze), Pink Bellini (glitter peachy pink), Earth (matte warm brown) and Rich Caviar (matte deep brown/black)
 
My feelings on this palette are mixed, I do like the matte shades, though could have done with Pale Cream having more pigment to cancel out lid discolouration and I find Earth can look rather dry on my lid. Whereas I think Soft Buff works well as an easy neutral on the lid or crease and the pigment of Rich Caviar is extremely good. Having tried BB sparkle shades before I knew Pink Bellini would have that harder texture that requires application with a finger rather than brush and did encounter the expected fallout, however the shade itself is really pretty and does give some lift to the matte neutrals.
 
My main gripe with this palette is with Golden Bronze, its the stand out colour in the palette but the texture and application is a let down, pigment is very sheer and it does not apply smooth, instead having a very crumbly feel. I've had metallics from BB before and this just doesn't seem the same. 

This palette does creates a natural warm daytime friendly look and the more glitter/sparkle shades can be added to give a bit more dimension, but I would strongly advise swatching this in store (unfortunately every time I went by my counter they were using this palette in makeovers so I never got the chance to swatch before buying) as the textures may make you reconsider if this should come home with you.

I bought this from bobbibrown.co.uk

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers: Perfect Topping & Naked Bud

Perusing the fantasy of flowers collection it occurred to me that I don't think I have ever tried the much hyped about skinfinishes. Aghast at this revelation I bought the lighter of the two, Perfect Topping (£22).

Its described as a pale pearlised pink, though I find it also has a golden, slightly peach tone. It feels quite smooth though a tad powdery and dry (although it does apply well). The finish has so much sheen that it certainly doesn't fall into a natural looking highlighter for me and I find it easy to over do.

Though I do really like the look it gives to the skin when using a minimal amount. Actually I quite like using this as an eyeshadow topper, blended over a finished look it soften any edges and gives a slight golden sheen.
Swatched below on the left and then blended in,

Ingredients:

From the lipsticks I went for Naked Bud (£15), which is a lustre formula. The colour is a sheer peachy/beige nude.


Yes, you probably have similar colours but its a really nice shade that goes with anything and you can just throw in your handbag.

Ingredients:

I'm pleased with these items but I can't say there was anything else in the collection that grabbed my eye.

I bought these from a MAC store.

The New Chanel Les 4 Ombres Collection: Tissé Mademoiselle

Though Chanel remains one of my favourite brands, I was never entirely pleased with their baked formula in the quads in terms of texture, colour payoff and application.
I was extremely happy with the news of the reformation and introduction of 8 new quads this Spring (with the majority of the original line up being discontinued). The new shades are based around the famous Chanel tweed and contain a variety of finishes; satins, sheers, iridescent and metallic.
Almost skipping to the counter to test the new delights on the day of release, on swatching all of them I decided to just buy one as some of the more metallic shades felt a bit crumbly, though of course you can never fully tell with a swatch.

You know I went for the most sedate, natural looking option don't you. Tissé Mademoiselle (£40) contains a golden brown, cream, taupe and a golden beige. All shades have varying degrees of shimmer and really do impart a beautiful glimmer.

The new formulation has a softer, smoother texture, and are much more pigmented (as were all of the new quads), blending much better and neither fading (like the baked quads had a tendency to). They do not have that dusty, powdery texture of the baked formula, perhaps this has something to do with them removal of talc from the ingredients?

This is a massive improvement on the baked quads, the finish of this particular quad is just gorgeous and if you like the shades I normally do, I'd advise running to get this.
I'm not sure if this new formula is world wide but if it is I'd be interested to see what my readers who normally get the non baked quads, think of this formula.
Ingredients:

I bought this from John Lewis.

Tom Ford Lip Colour Sheer Pink Dune

Whilst I love the Tom Ford shine formula I'm not a fan of the regular version, so whilst I was very interested in news of a third limited edition formula in the form of the lip colour sheer range, at £36 a pop I played save and just ordered the one shade, Pink Dune.

The lipstick packaging is the same as the original line up, a crisp white with gold edging.

Straight away I am loving the feel and application, it feels lightweight with just the right amount of slip, it applies smoothly and feels hydrating so I don't have to worry about the area looking patchy, dry or with visible lip lines. The wear time is average at best but then for a sheer range I wouldn't expect it to have a longer than average wear.

Now onto the colour which is a very sheer peach nude with the barest hint of pink and heavy golden shimmer. Whilst its nice, its not quite as amazing as I had hoped. I do really like the actual base colour but just find the finish a tad too frosty.

Swatched below (this is with four swipes).

Even though TF are the highest priced lipsticks in my collection, I'm impressed enough with the performance that I definitely want to try another shade from the sheer range, I just think in hindsight I'd had been best to go for one of the other shades.

I bought this from http://www.selfridges.com

Rouge Bunny Rouge: Rain Dove & Rufous-Tailed Weaver Long Lasting Eye Shadow

I was so pleased when there was mention of new eye shades in one of my favourite eye-shadow formula's ever.


Rain Dove is a light golden beige.

Rufous-Tailed Weaver is a medium brown with a bronze/gold sheen.
 

I find it hard to describe the shades as they both have the wonderful complexity of differing tones that we are use to from RBR. Both have a natural warmth and really brighten the eye area with a ever so flattering satin finish with gentle glimmer that catches the light.
Both have a delightfully smooth, buttery soft texture with a high level of pigment. They glide on and blend effortlessly and have a great wear time.
 

When I first heard about these shade I wondered if they would be similar to other RBR shades, Bohemian Waxwing and Abyssinian Catbird. Now I have them I think they are not similar though work really well together, swatched below L-R: Bohemian Waxwing, Rain Dove, Rufous-Tailed Weaver, Abyssinian Catbird

 

I bought the refill pans that fit in their palette system (called Keepers) but they also come in the single compacts with mirror.

Both these shades are a must have as far as I am concerned, there is no negatives at all in the formula/application and the colours are just divine. They work so well together and I think they will complement any eye colour and skin tone.

I bought these from http://en.rougebunnyrouge.com/