Review: MeMeMe Dew Pots

Luxury on a budget brand MeMeMe have released Dew Pots, which are already being compared to MAC Paint Pots across the blogosphere.  These pretty little pots of colour are cream eyeshadows which promise great pigmentation and long wear.

Here we have four shades - Woodland Truffle and Deadly Berry on the top row, and Moonlight Mist and Hollow Haze on the bottom row.  Housed in heavy little glass pots, these definitely feel much more expensive than their £7.25 price tag, and they look rather like MAC's Fluidline liners.  

Woodland Truffle, Deadly Berry

Moonlight Mist, Hollow Haze

Swatched, you can see the depth of pigmentation - these were swatched gently with a fingertip, and I found that the creamy, silky texture applies smoothly to the skin, leaving behind a powerful punch of colour.  Deadly Berry and Moonlight Mist have a satiny finish with low level sparkle, with Hollow Haze and Woodland Truffle  having a much more obviously glittery finish.  So very pretty.

Deadly Berry applied.  As you may know, I have the world's oiliest eyelids, and cream eyeshadows really get a damn good testing when applied to my unprimed lids.  I found that the Dew Pots don't really set particularly well on the skin - and opening my eye after application basically meant that the berry tint creased immediately.  I sheered it out with a fingertip until it was the soft, subtle wash shown above - and still, creasing.  With primer, it's a little better, but still - I definitely wouldn't call this great performance or great wear.

If your eyelids are less oily, you might find this stuff adheres better.  Even if they are oily, you might love these pots of colour as gel eyeliner, and I'd certainly wear Hollow Haze as a highlighter on the browbone or on the cheekbones.  For me and my oily lids, though, these don't work as cream shadows, which is such a shame.

If you're interested in trying MeMeMe's Dew Pots for yourself, you'll find them in Superdrug stores and on the MeMeMe website, where each colour will cost you £7.25.

Disclosure: PR samples

New Love: Rodial Glam Balm Lip

When I heard about Rodial's Glam Balm Lip at a recent event, I was reasonably sure that it'd be a fairly standard petroleum based balm with a slight pink tint and a rose scent.  Turns out I was right on two out of three of those assumptions - it is indeed slightly pink, and it does smell of roses.  But it's more than a standard petroleum balm, containing a plethora of other ingredients, including oils and fruit extracts.

On the lips, it leaves a pretty glossy finish, with the pinkish tint not really showing up too much at all.  The balm packs an impressive moisturising punch, sinking slowly into the lips and leaving them looking and feeling well hydrated and plumped up.  My lips always suffer during the winter time, and slathering on a thick layer of this balm in the morning and evening has really helped to save them from the excessive dryness and chapping you get with cold weather.  


At £19 a pot, it's not cheap stuff, but if you don't mind splashing a bit of cash on lip balms, this one is perfectly lovely, and I'll enjoy using it up to the very bottom of the pot!  If you want to try Glam Balm Lip, you'll find it at Rodial's website.


Disclosure: PR sample

Review & Swatches: Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes Eyeshadow in Cyber Copper

Estee Lauder's Cyber Eyes Eyeshadows are designed to provide plush, rich colour, in a eyeshadow texture that mixes the best of gel, powder and liquid in one.  And damn, does it look pretty in the case!

The wavy, embossed shadow doesn't feel anything like a gel or a liquid to me - it's very definitely a powder, albeit a slightly firmer than usual one which gives up its pigment in a way that's more akin to a cream product than a powder one.  Very strange.  These eyeshadows are designed to be worn wet or dry - dry, they give a soft metallic sheen, and applied with a wet brush give an intense hit of colour with a metallic finish.

Left to right: dry, wet (shown in bright sunlight)

Swatched, you can definitely see the difference in the effect between wet and dry.  The dry application is subtle, easy to wear and shimmering rather than metallic, where the wet brush really helps pick up and pack on the pigment for ultimate opacity and a gorgeous metallic sheen effect.

Applied to the eye and out of the bright glare of sunlight, the effect is slightly different - less full on metallic, and more shimmering brown with a light-bouncing, dimensional sheen.  Whilst this colour is definitely crease worthy, it's also rather lovely applied across the lid, giving a strong and green-eye flattering look which is totally day-time appropriate.

At £19 each, these eyeshadows aren't cheap, and I'm not entirely convinced that Cyber Copper is a striking or unusual enough shade to warrant the high price.  Charlotte's excellent swatches seem to imply that Cyber Lilac is the stand out shade, with it's duochrome flash, but if you're more of a neutrals person, you might well decide you prefer the wearability of Cyber Copper.

Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes Eyeshadows are available now from Estee Lauder concessions and via their website, where each shade will cost you £19.

Disclosure: PR sample

Review: Clinique Age Defense BB Cream

Clinique are the latest brand to jump on the BB bandwagon with their latest release, Age Defense BB Cream.  Described as a perfecting cream, it contains anti-oxidants and SPF30 PA+++ (which is a pretty high level of protection - the more +, the more protection against UVA rays).  According to the tube, it can be worn alone or under foundation - so we're looking at a cream with a light level of coverage, more akin to a tint than a full on base.

The first thing that surprised me when I squeezed out a bit of this light cream is that the shade is actually reasonably pale.  I was sent shade 1, which is the lighter of the two available, and unlike many other BB creams and tinted moisturisers I've tried in the past, it is definitely pale enough for my skin.  This is a massive win as far as I'm concerned - it's hard to find pale foundations, let alone pale BB creams or tints which are supposed to support a wide range of skin tones in fewer shades.

Anyway, on to the texture - this cream is fairly dry, unlike most other BB creams I've used in the past.  It reminds me of Liz Earle's Skin Tint in that respect - this isn't something that applies well over skin that's not been well moisturised beforehand, as it's just not quite silky and emollient enough to blend out easily.  Over moisturiser, though, it's easy enough to smooth across the skin, and reasonably pigmented despite the blurb on the back of the tube.

Immediately after application, the skin looks a little overly matte and flat, but after fifteen minutes, the cream sinks in and interacts with the skin's natural oils enough to leave a natural semi-matte finish with a lovely glow. This definitely isn't a product for those of you with very dry skin.

And now, some before and after photos.

My skintone looks more even, my complexion looks generally brighter, and whilst the finish is definitely matte and not dewy, my skin looks healthy.  I rather like the effects of this cream - and I also like the fact that it stays put all day, and doesn't let any oil through on my forehead or nose, which usually look a little bit shiny by lunchtime.

I'd recommend you try this product if you have normal to oily skin, or an oily t-zone, and if you're pale and struggle to find tints or BB creams to suit your skintone.  I don't think this product would work particularly well for drier skins unless you chose to apply it atop a very rich moisturiser... and I really can't think of a good reason why you'd want to apply foundation on top of it, but hey.

Clinque Age Defense BB Cream costs £25 and is available from Clinique concessions, counters, and from their website, where you'll find it in two shades (neither of which look like they'd suit anyone with darker skin, which is a damn shame).  What do you think?  Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: PR sample

Models Own Bottleshop Coming To Westfield

I love this.  A giant bottle of nail polish, plonked in the middle of West London's Westfield shopping centre, filled to the brim with Models Own polishes.  It'll be the first time that all 200 shades of polish are available in the same location, and should prove to be a big draw for polish lovers.

Diet Coke + Benefit Get Glam

I once gave up Diet Coke for a good month or so in a bid to get healthy.  It didn't last long, but even if I was off the stuff now, I'd probably be jumping straight back on it - Diet Coke's latest collaboration is with Benefit, with the core offer being £5 off a £20 with every can.  Even more of a reason to buy a new lipgloss, or a tube of the UK's best selling mascara, They're Real.

Alongside the promotion, there are three specially created looks - Rock Chick, Romantic and Fashionista - with videos and step by step tutorials to help you recreate them at home, plus a Facebook app which allows you to kiss photos of your mates.  The big attraction for me, though, is that £5 off!

Valentine heart nail wraps from Myleene Klass

Myleene Klass (via JML) has brought out 2 sets of sweet heart-patterened nail wraps in time for Valentine's Day. Costing £5.99 for 24 individual wraps, they're the type you literally peel off and stick on - they don't require heating up before you apply them. There's the red set (above), which I tried out, and a complementing black set. Both include both 24 coloured wraps and 24 clear wraps that you can wear on top of them for extra shine and protection.

I hadn't ever tried nail wraps before, but I found the instructions very clear and managed to adorn all 10 nails (to varying levels of neatness) without wasting any wraps - thumbs up there. There are a range of sizes in the pack, so you can choose the ones to fit your fingers.

I found that the wraps tended to be quite curved at the cuticle end, so they're not suitable if your nailbeds are more straight across. My thumbnails were totally wrongly shaped for the wraps - so much so that I applied them with the flat end along the cuticle and just used my glass file and cuticle nippers to shave/cut off the spare bits of wrap.

Once positioned at the cuticle, the rest of the wrap is smoothed down the nail and you file off the excess using a downward motion. I used my own glass file instead of the included emery board-style file, and I would encourage you to do the same if you have a glass file. The finer grade of "sanding" makes the tips much smoother and less scratchy (although they're still scratchier than ordinary nails with polish).

I had limited success with the long nails on my right hand.

They applied much more easily to my shorter nails on my left hand. With longer nails, I found that I couldn't avoid creasing the wraps and ending up with bumpy, snaggy tips. I applied the wraps to all of my nails, but peeled them back off 7 nails, leaving 3 to undergo an endurance test. I think shorter nails are much better suited to these wraps, partly because your nails aren't sticking out and catching on things.

Here you can see the bumpy tips. Maddening. I'm sure I could practice and get better at application, as this was only a first go.

And the endurance test? The wraps are strongly adhesive, and stay well on the nails. I've been wearing wraps on 3 nails for around 4 days now, without the protective clear wraps on top, and have observed minimal wear and no peeling - here's an "after" pic. They're a little bit faded, but overall I'm very impressed. With clear wraps on top I could see them lasting a week with ease.

To remove them, you can either peel off or use nail polish remover. I'd recommend using nail polish remover, because I found that when I peeled off the failed wraps from my right hand, the surfaces of my nails felt a bit scratched up afterwards.

I will be trying these again - they're quicker and easier than using nail polish, there's zero drying time, they're easy to apply on short nails (and I'm determined to get better at using them on longer nails too), and don't break the bank. Though they're more expensive per application than regular polish, for a special occasion or random treat, they're a good bet.

Buy them from Asda, Boots, Debenhams, or direct from JMLdirect.com