Laura Mercier Kohl Eye Pencil Set

Laura Mercier brought out a Kohl pencil set for the holidays, the set sold out very quickly, most likely due to the fact that you are getting five full sized Kohl Eye Pencils for £31.
I was rather fortuitous to pick this up in a sale for an even more bargain price of £15.50, though its sold out now from where I bought it I did notice the set pop up on the online SpaceNK sale a few days ago.
All the colours are from the permanent collection.
It includes Black Navy (shimmered navy with a charcoal base), Black Gold (shimmered antique gold with a hint of a charcoal base), Stormy Grey (charcoal grey), Black Violet (very dark, near black purple) and Brown Copper (shimmered warm brown).

Swatches L-R: Black Gold, Brown Copper, Black Navy, Black Violet and Stormy Grey

I do tend to like the texture of these pencils as they are creamy with good pigment and wear well, however I was disappointed with Black Navy as I found it did not apply as smooth as the other shades and was lacking in pigment.
I was hoping to be able to use these as lid shades as well but that went very wrong. On the lid I find them very hard to blend, they go patchy and even with a shadow primer they creased within an hour, so they are not as versatile as liners such as Rouge Bunny Rouge which I often use as lid shades.

Shown below, I really tried to work it with these to make the colours apply smooth with neat edges and it still ending up looking a mess. I've left this picture quite big so hopefully you can see the patchy application.


Ingredients:

I bought this from houseoffraser.co.uk

Beauty Spotlight Team Mystery Makeup Bag

Our first mystery makeup bag for 2012, lets have a look at what pretties are inside Perilouslypale’s makeup bag

An Introduction to Gielly Green

Gielly Green haircare is a range of products from the boutique salon in Marylebone, London.
I decided to order a selection of products from the brand as I couldn't bring myself to pay the £7 postage so ordered enough to qualify for a free shipping offer they were running.
The products do not contain parabens/sls or synthetic fragrances however some do contain silicones. The products come in sleek, stylish darkened bottles.
Repair Shampoo (£16 for 200ml) – I have to mention the smell which is lovely, its a blend of fleur de vanille and lemongrass, to me it smells slightly spicy yet has a comforting sweetness and a hint of citrus, (the sweetness is somewhat reminiscent of Philosophy's cinnamon buns). I was expecting it to have a very thick texture so was surprised that its actually a normal liquid consistency and feels very lightweight on. It lathers really well and leaves my hair feeling silky and soft, though I do find my very sensitive scalp feels very slightly itchy after use.

Classic Conditioner (£16 for 200ml)– This is not very rich so might not be the best for those with damaged hair, however its a great detangler, its easy to wash out and doesn't leave hair looking greasy, one thing I would say though is that this does not combat static ( my hair is very static prone). The scent is not as sweet as the shampoo, but is very pleasant nonetheless (its scent its noted as pamplemousse and cassis).

Ingredients: Conditioner, Shampoo

Repair mask (£6 for the 50ml travel sized version) : This is designed for Curly, Problematic damaged & Coloured hair and its advised to leave it on 10-15 minutes. It has quite a thick, smooth texture yet rinses out surprisingly easily. It gets rid of any knots (which I am very prone to) and my hair is left looking smooth,shiny and more healthy but not weighed down.
It also has the same gorgeous scent as the Repair shampoo.
Ingredients:

Body Wash (£12 for 300ml)- I bought the lemon and muguet scent, its a very clean and refreshing scent, slightly citrus. This does not irritate my skin and lathers up very well, though its not as moisturising as I would like.
I couldn't get a clear picture of the ingredients of the body wash but the Gielly Green site does list all the ingredients (I wish more sites would do this).

For me the Repair Mask is the star of the show here as it really does deliver tangible results and I'll be buying the full size.

I bought these from giellygreen.com

Paul & Joe 2012 Spring Creation: Meow!

The Paul & Joe release for spring is definitely a bit different, in celebrating their 10th anniversary, they have gone all out and then some, of having a cat themed collection.

The spring collection is released in two parts, first you have Collection Sparkles, which consists of lipsticks and face & eye trios and at the end of the month you will get the kitten collection, of which cat head shaped blusher sticks and a pressed powder with a cat silhouette and its very own paw print sponge are likely to be the stand outs.

The lipsticks come in cardboard packaging featuring prints from Paul & Joe’s fashion collections and each lipstick is embossed with little paw prints.
There are 3 lipstick in the collection (£16 each): #75 Sex Kitten (beige nude with a bit of warmth, this swatches a lot more warm compared to how it goes on my lips so I wouldn't disregard this if you are cool toned like me)
#76 Meow! (cloudy pink) #77 Catwalk (coral pink)
All shades are reasonably sheer, colours are soft and natural, the finish is satin. The lipsticks feel very smooth, moisturising and comfortable, yet I did notice these can highlight dry bits, so its best to check lips are smooth before application. I wouldn't say these are long lasting but nor are they fleeting like Chanel Coco Shines.

Swatches L-R:Sex Kitten, Meow! and Catwalk

Ingredients:

Though I tend towards the more sleek looking brands, there is something very fun, fresh and young about the Paul & Joe seasonal releases so I couldn't resist this unashamedly cute collection and yes I am contemplating the cat head blush sticks when they launch.

I bought these from asos.com

Beauty Spotlight Roundup 07/01/12

Happy 2012 everyone. Are you making any resolutions? The Beauty Spotlight Team has made a resolution to do our very best to keep you all informed of the latest & greatest or the tried & true in this new year. And we keep our resolutions!

Tired of constantly reapplying your lipstick? Then a lip stain may be your new best friend! Check out what Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed thinks are the top picks!

It's a brand new year and time to make resolutions. One beauty resolution that some of us need to make is to keep our brows well groomed. Beauty Info Zone has the answer with Youngblood Brow Artiste. Start your brows off right for 2012.

At Everyday Beauty, Zuzu's Petals opined about the sweaty side of beauty.

Are you suffering from the dreaded "winter hands syndrome"? Shannon at Lipstick Musings was...until she discovered a cult favorite from Dior that gave her "just-manicured" hands every day!

London Makeup Girl reviews Chantecaille Violetta Lip Chic and compares it to another sheer berry lipstick in her stash. Which does she prefer? Find out here: London Makeup Girl Chantecaille Violetta.

This week Modesty Brown shares her thoughts on beauty awards perennial favourite, YSL Touche Éclat. It's a product that divides opinion, which side are you on?

Paula, from Older Girl Beauty, shows us Maybelline's latest eyeshadows, the "Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Eyeshadow" that comes out this month in the US.

Don't ya'll just love all these new 2012 product releases! Pammy Blogs Beautysure does as she tests out Laura Geller's new 2012 release: The Inkwell Waterproof Gel Liner Duo. Find out what she thought!



Perilously Pale shows us why she thinks the Horizon de Chanel Blush from the Spring 2012 collection is worth the hype and compares it to other pink blushes in her stash.

In true "year confusion" manner, Styrch at Pretty in Dayton posted about what she'll remember most about 2011, only she called it "2012" at the time. Don't worry. She's been corrected.

You HAVE to check out Prime Beauty's Top 10 Beauty Products for 2011--these aren't just favorites, they are game-changers!

As we look towards spring, Visionary Beauty shows us some wearable lip colours from the By Terry shimmer fantasy collection, just right for the coming season.

A Slight Change

Hello,
I just wanted to let you know I will be reducing my posting. I didn't want to just stop so have decided to no longer post on a Friday and see how that goes, though I'll continue to post on a Wednesday and Sunday (and do the beauty spotlight post on Saturday).
Thanks for reading x

By Terry Blush Terrybly: Torrid Peach

For the shimmer fantasy holiday collection, By Terry added two shades to their blush terrybly range, #100 Torrid Peach and #101 Sexy Plum (£51 each), this time the blushers have a shimmer finish.
Before I go on I wanted to mention a disappointment. The blush pan was completely loose in the compact and actually fell out when I opened it (luckily it did not break). As the SpaceNK policy says it can take a maximum of 30 working days for a replacement, I decided I didn't want to wait that long nor ask my mother to dig out the order forms (this was a Christmas present). On hindsight I probably should have gone with a replacement as its extremely annoying as it rattles around and does not lay flat unless I press it down.
I have one other terrybly blush and thats fine so I am not sure if its something wrong with the production of this particular shade or whether its a problem with how this was stored, but whatever the reason its not what I would expect from a luxury brand.
This comes in a heavy sleek silver compact with mirror. The texture is soft and silky and it lasts well.The colour is a peach with a pink hue and shimmer that registers as a glow. I think this is one of my favourite cheek shades I have ever come across, its just so delicately pretty and adds a healthy flush to enliven the complexion.
However, I do feel that the pigment of these blushers is quite sheer, and you can tell that the powder is packed down really firmly. Though that's not a problem for me as I only need two swipes due to my paleness, it might be something to consider for those darker skinned.
Swatched below: Torrid Peach on left and my other By Terry blush, Cheek to Cheek Rose, on the right

After I bought my first blush terrybly I had said that I wouldn't pay the high price again, but after trying Torrid Peach I would happily lay down the money for the other shimmer shade Sexy Plum, the only thing stopping me is the worry that I might get it arriving faulty like Torrid Peach.

Ingredients:

My Mother bought this from spacenk.co.uk