Dior Golden Shock Holiday 2014: Diorific Golden Shock Colour Lip Duo in Enchanting Shock

I bought just one product for this year's holiday offerings from Dior. From all the reviews I've seen, the collection seems to have been a let down for many in terms of performance.

The Golden Shock collection brings us the same gold vintage packaging we have seen before, somewhat stagnant and I would have liked to see something new.

The Diorific lipstick's this year are made up of two sides, one side is velvet matte and the other is shimmery/metallic.

The matte side is true to the normal Diorific formula, the colours are rich, offering good coverage and a long wear time. The shimmery sides are a lot lighter in pigment, with most seeming to contain a golden shimmer. They feel slightly lighter than the matte side.

I went for the second lightest shade, Enchanting Shock (£29), it contains a peach/coral and then a much sheerer golden peach.

I like the idea of having the choice of a pure colour or sheer shimmery shade or a combination of the two. However, this particular shade doesn't quite work as when the two colours are paired together the change is not that distinguishable, as you can see in my swatch below.
Swatched: Both shades separate and then combined on the right.

Perhaps its because the lighter shade is a watered down version of the saturated shade and there needs to be more contrast, but ultimately whilst its quite a nice shade its not as versatile as I had hoped.

I bought this from Boots.

By Terry the New Terrybly Densiliss Blush: Sexy Pink

By Terry recently added to their Densiliss line up, there is now a primer, concealer, compact pressed powder and blushers. As soon as I spotted the new blush formula on SpaceNK I just had to buy one even though I'd read no reviews or seen any swatches/real life photos.


I selected what seemed to be the lightest shade #5 Sexy Pink (£52). Its a beautiful cool toned true pink that does not turn ruddy. I'm a fan of the normal Blush Terrybly which I assume that the Densiliss is replacing. This has a similar texture, its smooth, silky and lightweight. Its densely packed so you don't get powder kick up when applying.


Where this exceeds the performance of many blush formula's is the long wear time (I don't notice any colour fade even after a full days work) and the finish.
The is something about the finish that makes my complexion look better, I presume its to do with the "light-reflecting Densiliss technology that harnesses a potent cocktail of pure High Colour micro-pigments and FTC - Flawless Time-Control - soft focus prisms to deliver smoothing correction and a morning-fresh glow".

Swatched below once then blended

Swatched below twice then blended (I had the window open so please excuse the rain drops on my arm)

My skin is naturally very dull, with very noticeably redness and acne scarring so blusher is tricky for me and this is the first time I've found a blush that makes my skin look improved. Whilst if you have a good complexion you might not notice the merits I experience from this, for me this delivers on giving a flush of youthful radiance, which makes the skin look smooth. My husband actually commented on it saying I had youthful rosy cheeks, not the normal thing he would say, so its doing something.
Though the cost of this is on par with my Tom Ford and Sisley blushers I find this out performs them and I think its worth the price.

Ingredients:

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

Dior 5 Couleurs palette: Montaigne

I wasn't entirely enthralled with the reinvented/reformulated 5 Couleurs palette from Dior in Versailles, finding it too shimmery/frosty, so this time I picked up Montaigne (£42) which looked like a good mix of everyday neutrals.

It contains a satin light pinky peach with a golden sheen, matte yellow toned cream, satin medium/deep brown, satin beige/brown and in the centre a matte warm tan. The only shade I find too warm is the centre shade.


Performance wise I'm not won over by this, I have dry lids and find these shades are prone to highlighting the dryness and they don't blend as easily as I would like. There is a slight stiffness in application which results in noticeable edges rather than a soft gradient.

Shown below you can see the hard edges (I used a Mac 217 to blend). The shadows feel quite smooth and silky, with pigmentation on the subtle side. Whilst these don't crease I do find that even with a base they do fade a bit.

In terms of the finished look I think the colours are great to enhance eyes rather than providing a lot of noticeable colour. However, the blending is an issue for me, and whilst I can get cleaner edges with very careful colour build up and using a more fluffy blending brush (like the Edward Bess Luxury eye brush)  I think that for this price range I shouldn't have to go to great lengths to get the best out of the product, it should just perform well.

I bought this from John Lewis.

My buys from the Chanel Holiday 2014 Collection Plumes Precieuses de Chanel

We finally got the Chanel holiday collection in the UK, seeing a wealth of reviews before the collection launched here, I'd pretty much decided what I was going to get before seeing it in person, though the only thing I changed my mind about was the Caresse Joues Contraste as on swatching it was extremely powdery and flyaway.

Envol Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow (£25) is a warm peach with a frosty/metallic sheen. The initial colour payoff is on the sheer side but its easily built up.

It has the normal smooth texture, ease of blending and long wear as my other Illusion d’Ombres. Its too warm for me to wear on its own so I use it as a topper on other shades and combined with the Camelia de Plumes Highlighting Powder.

 

Swatched below L-R:Emerveille Illusion d’Ombre, Envol Illusion d’Ombre then Envol mixed with Camelia de Plumes Highlighting Powder.

 

Volage Rouge Allure Lipstick (£26) is a light peachy beige with a hint of pink and has a very pretty cool toned sheen finish.

 

This is probably one of the most unpigmented Rouge Allures I've had, nevertheless I do really like the colour. It feels smooth and none drying however as it has quite a bit of slip its wear time is shorter than my other Rouge Allures and it has a tendency to show up lip lines which is annoying.
I find it rather similar to the Rouge Coco Shine in Secret,  swatched below Volage then Secret.

 

I was very close to not buying the Camelia de Plumes Highlighting Powder (£47) once I'd swatched it in store as it seemed extremely shimmery and metallic, but for fear of missing out on something magical (with so many reviews declaring it a must buy not to be missed) I decided to jump on the bandwagon.

 

The colour is quite interesting, its a very pigmented cool toned gold that also mixes in platinum. Texture wise it feels smooth and blends easily onto the skin and lasts the whole day on me with minimal colour fade.

 

However this is certainly not my favourite highlighter. Even with a light touch I still find it a bit too metallic in finish, I prefer something more natural looking, I am enjoying this more used on the lid and in the inner eye corner.

Ingredients:

 

Overall, whilst I'll get use out of these, I don't feel that any are must haves.

I bought these from Boots.

Guerlain A Night at the Opera Collection Holiday 2014: Meteorites Perles d’Etoiles Illuminating Pearls

Limited edition for this years Holiday collection, the Meteorites Perles d’Etoiles (£37.50) come packaged in a gold case with the Coque d’Or red bow on the lid and a matching red powder puff.


Though its meant to contain 6 shades, I can only identify five; beige, gold, pink, red and bronze in a mix of shimmer and matte finishes (there is some sparkle but its not over the top). The overall colour effect is very different to what I was expecting. Even though I only have 2 red balls in mine, they are so pigmented that their inclusion makes this work as a blush.


Swatched below, I've swiped each ball twice.

For me this is too dark to use as a highlighter/finishing powder unless I first remove the red and also bronze balls first. All the colours used together results in a very warm rusty bronze effect. With the red and bronze balls omitted the result is a warm soft golden beige with a extremely subtle glow. The powder feels quite smooth and soft, though as its quite light in texture its a bit flyaway instead of instantly adhering to the skin, I'd say it lasts about 5 hours before I notice fading.
Swatched below all colours combined and then with the red/bronze balls removed.


Overall as pretty as the Night at the Opera Collection is the majority of products, like the Meteorites Perles d’Etoiles, are best suited to those who suit warm tones. There has been a lot of hoopla over the must have status of these Meteorites Perles d’Etoiles but for me they just don't deliver on the expected luminous glow. Whilst it undeniably warms up the complexion I find the finish is just a bit too flat.

Ingredients below, this is scented.


I bought this from John Lewis.