Laura Mercier Signature Colour Essentials Travel Set

I was very pleased to see that we had the Nordstrom "Exclusive" travel set here in the UK.


At £50 I think its a very good deal, you get a Eye and Cheek palette that includes: Second Skin Cheek Colour in Vintage Pink (dusky pink), Eyeshadow duo in Morning Dew (matte off white) and Primrose (warm sheer pink with tiny sparkle) and Eyeshadow duo in Topaz (satin finish taupe) and Kir Royal (deep plum with tiny sparkle).

 
 

The shadows feel smooth and blend well. Though I find Primrose makes me look a bit tired, the other shades are very wearable. The blush applies smoothly and has very good pigment and wear.
You also get a travel size All Over Eye Colour brush, Full size Caviar Eye Stick Colour in Twilight (medium shimmery grey)

 
Travel size Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara in Black, mini Foundation Primer (30ml), and full size Lip Glace in Sweetheart (baby pink).



The brush is good for applying base shades and it really can pack colour on.The mascara is good for lengthening and doesn't smudge.
Though the lip glace formula is a bit too sticky for my liking, I really like the subtle glossy pink look.
The eye stick can be used lightly or built up to create quite a smoky look, it blends in well and really lasts. The primer is the only thing I'll not use as it doesn't agree with my acne prone skin.

Whilst you may well have similar colours in your collection, its really nice having them in one set; they are just very easy to wear and overall flattering. Sets can often have a lot of duds but I think this is very solid and I would recommend.

I bought this from John Lewis

Rouge Bunny Rouge Santa Ana eye look

Santa Ana is the alluring new Autumn look by Rouge Bunny Rouge. Its a classic, elegant look of luminous skin, bold red lips and softly smoked eyes.


I was inspired to try and recreate the eye look after seeing how beautiful Jane looked here

I used Long-lasting Eye Shadow Golden Rhea on the lid, Olive Violetear & Umber Firefinch lightly in the crease and outer edge, loose Glitter pigment Sleeping under a Mandarin Tree softly brushed over all shades followed with Eye Khol Selene to line.


I think its a nice combination of shades and gives definition without being overpowering.

I bought the eye liner from Secret Sales, the pigment and Umber Firefinch from Zuneta.com and was sent the other two shadows for free

Beauty Spotlight Roundup: 15/09/12

The Beauty Spotlight Team is back with more of their favorite posts. If you look carefully we have a new member of the team. Welcome to Lola of Lola's Secret Beauty Blog. She might need to change that name since she's not a secret anymore!

So we have all heard the buzz about BB Creams? Well, now there is a newer and "better" version? Enter the CC Cream! Pammy Blogs Beauty tries Wei's Ideal Skin Perfect Finish CC Cream (and falls in love) in the Wei To Go Sleep Over Beauty Kit.

polish insomniac has bottle shots from the new Sally Hansen Lustre Shine collection - is this the return of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms we have all been waiting for???

Smoky green paired with rich copper; perfect colours for fall, Visionary beauty looks at the Chantecaille Elephant palette

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog has discovered that Le Métier de Beauté's Dualistic Eye Pencil in Tamarack might just be the most gorgeous multipurpose eye pencil ever invented!

Are you burnt out on hearing about subscription boxes? Beauty Info Zone thinks that seeing the PopSugar Must Have box will change your mind.

The Pink Sith brings you a review of the new Balenciaga Florabotanica Eau de Parfum With a Film Noir Detective Narration to get you in the mood!

Modesty Brown has a go at re-creating the Rouge Bunny Rouge Santa Ana look…then realises she has to do the school run.

Prime Beauty asks: Want super long "drag queen" lashes? Does a beauty addict have Sephora on speed dial? Of course! Get bat-worthy lashes with SENSAI Eye Lash Base 38c! You're welcome.

London MakeUp Girl has been using Chantecaille Faux Cils Longest Lash mascara for a month now. Has it given her lashes to rival Elizabeth Taylor's? Read her review of Chantecaille Faux Cils Longest Lash mascara to find out.

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed wants her Canadian and US readers to look as good as Cindy Crawford so is giving away a Meaningful Beauty skincare system - enter now for supermodel potential skin!

Check out what Paula, from Older Girl Beauty, thinks is her Favorite Fall Polish.

Christa at Perilously Pale has been busy swatching her Inglot Freedom System Eye Shadows for us. Check out her more colourful 20 pan palette.

Ambre Botanicals: Herbal bath oil, Costa Del Azahar Soap, Cupuacu & Nut oils body butter

I've been continuing to use and enjoy Ambre Botanicals. They are an independently owned raw natural skin and body care brand; the products contain no chemical ingredients, preservatives, artificial colour or fragrance.

The Rosemary, Thyme and mint herbal bath oil 150ml (£18) is certainly eye-catching with its sprig of rosemary.

Just a few drops in the bath and the aroma is relaxing and calming, good for when you are feeling a bit bedraggled and worn out. My skin is left feeling pleasantly soft but not oily.

The Costa Del Azahar warming & moisturising soap 100g (£5.95) is inspired by the endless orange plantations in the Spanish Costa del Azahar.

It contains safflower petals, orange, clove and ginger. I only detect a slight scent. It lathers quite well and my hands are left feeling clean and soft. I wouldn't say its drying but I don't find it that moisturising, though to be fair I can't say I find the majority of bar soaps moisturising.

The Cupuacu & Nut oils rich moisturising body butter 120ml (£25) is lush, its a blend of 100% raw cold-pressed plant oils and butters.

It feels really rich so you only need a bit, this is a great all round cream for the family as I find it very good on sensitive and sore skin to help alleviate dryness/irritation.Its able to maintain moisture levels throughout the day without leaving a greasy layer on the skin.

Ingredients Cupuacu Butter (Theobroma Grandiflorum), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii), Avocado Oil (Persea Americana), Apricot Kernel Oil (Prunus Armeniaca), Sweet Almond Oil (Prunus Amygdalus), Sunflower Oil (Helianthus Annuus), Safflower Oil (Carthamus Tinctorius ), Sesame Oil (Sesamum Indicum), Hazelnut Oil (Corylus Avellana). Non-GMO Natural Vitamin E (D-alpha Tocopherol), Rosemary Antioxidant (Rosmarinus Officinalis). Pure essential oils of: Bergamot (Citrus Bergamia), Mandarin (Citrus Racemosa), Lemon (Citrus Limonium), Rosewood (Aniba Rosaeodora), Ylang-ylang (Cananga Odorata). Components naturally occurring in essential oils: Citral, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate. 

I bought these from Etsy.com, you can also buy them from ambrebotanicals.com

Chantecaille The Elephant Palette

The Elephant Palette (£74) is one of those items that as soon as you see it in real life you can't help but be wowed. I knew I had to buy it after reading the great review over at bestthingsinbeauty.


The elegant deep dark green palette reveals 4 elephant embossed shadows in lush earthy colours, the shades really encapsulates the autumnal season.

It contains Ivory, which is true to its name and has a satin finish. Its a great base shade which obliterates any redness/discolouration from the eyelids and gently brightens the area. Grasslands is a medium smoky green with a shimmer finish, it doesn't contain a yellow tone like a lot of greens. Red Earth is a rusty copper with a shimmer finish. Iron Ore is a deep charcoal/grey, and though the base is matte it contains tiny sparkle.

The pigment is superb and the shadows apply true to how they look in the pan and wear well. Though I find Iron Ore has a dryer texture than the others (which are smooth and blend easily) its great as a liner.
Here's what the palette looks look without the overlay

Unfortunately my camera washed out the colour so it looks subdued below but hopefully it gives you a bit of an idea.

The colour palette brings together an unexpected range of shades that complement each other well and gives an interesting eye look whilst remaining wearable.

Once again Chantecaille's diligence to raising awareness and giving support to animals has to be applauded, five percent of proceeds from the Elephant Palette will be donated to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an organisation that rescues, fosters and release baby elephants orphaned by ivory poaching.


I bought this from spacenk.com

The newly revamped No.7 cosmetics

The entire No.7 cosmetics range has had a re-vamp. Lisa Eldridge is the creative director of the range and whilst there have been improvements over the the last few years I've never thought the products on par with mid end ranges, so I was intrigued to see how the re-vamped products would fare. First off I think the packaging has improved, though it does have the typical light weight feel of similar priced brands, it now looks a bit more sleek and modern.

The crux of the range is the new foundation match made service which uses a hand-held device which measures which of the 17 shades you match, however as none of the foundation ingredients looked suitable for acne prone skin I gave this a miss and settled on some eyeshadows and a lipstick.

The Stay Perfect Eyeshadow Trio in Good Earth (£8.50) contains shimmery shades in a cream/white, brown and taupe.

The shadows feels reasonably smooth, the pigment level is average but they apply well and blend nicely.
Here is what the trio looks like on

The Stay Perfect Eyeshadow single in wheatsheaf (£8) is a shimmery peachy champagne, it feels smoother and has more pigment compared to the trio.


With a eye primer these last the day with only a slight colour fade.
The Sheer Temptation Lipstick (£9) in Caramel Kiss #12 is a plummy rose with a glossy finish.

It feels creamy and moisturising  though its wear time is very short (even less than my Chanel Coco shines).
Swatches below L-R: Trio, Single, lipstick

Whilst these items cannot draw me away from my higher end brands, from what I have tried the quality is much improved and these easily compare with similar priced brands and even excel. They are on 3 for 2 at the moment so if you do find yourself wondering around a Boots store I think its worth a peruse.

I bought these from Boots.

By Terry Fall Luxuriant collection: ROUGE TERRYBLY

The By Terry fall luxuriant collection is very much about saturated, rich colours. There are 5 new shades in the Rouge Terrybly lipstick, 3 new shades of Ombre Blackstar, 3 new Nail Laque Terrybly and a Bordeaux colour in the Mascara Terrybly. For more details check out these great posts on makeupandthings, here and here.

As I don't have the budget to buy as many By Terry products as I would like I settled on the Rouge Terrybly in No.403 Bare Instinct (£31). I have a few of these lipsticks now and I find them a very reliable formula that provides extremely smooth coverage with rich pigment and long wear (though I don't find them that moisturising).
Bare Instinct is described as a rosewood, however on me its a cranberry red.


I'm always searching for a wearable red and think I might have found it.  Though the colour is actually deeper and more intense than I had imagine, it is wearable and I am able to wear it out in the real word (I usually feel uncomfortable going out with bolder, high impact lip shades).

I always find deeper colours are prone to bleeding and I do think you need a lip liner or to apply with a lip brush to ensure a crisp line with this, I applied it from the tube below and you can see its not that neat on the edges (apologies for my blotchy skin, I'm re-introducing gluten into my diet and have a reaction every time I eat a bit of bread).

It is a statement  colour on my pale skin but unlike a lot of reds it does not look garish, warm, or too bright.

Ingredients:


I bought this from spacenk.com