Thursday, 31 January 2013

Swatched: NYX Stick Blush in Tea Rose and Orchid


I find that between general wear and my habit of leaning my cheek on my hand, my blush has typically disappeared by lunchtime.  I don't really fancy carrying around my powder blush and a brush, so I decided to try out a couple of NYX's Stick Blushes as a portable, long lasting solution to my too-pale cheeks.


Left to right: Tea Rose, Orchid
Tea Rose is a creamy neutral pink, which runs slightly cool, making it perfect for my skintone.  Orchid is a pink coral with golden shimmer - it reminds me of NARS Orgasm, albeit a little bit more pink.  The texture is a little greasy, I have to admit - once the product has warmed up a little on the skin, it applies with a little dragging, and gives the skin a bit of sheen as well as a pop of colour.  Perhaps not the best product for those with oily skin, then.

Colour wise, it's got amazing pigmentation for such a reasonably priced product - the colour goes on strong and blends out to a soft, natural flush.  Tea Rose can be sheered out to go with most looks, but Orchid needs a little more care as the shimmer is quite pronounced.

Left to right: Tea Rose, Orchid
For a mere £5.50, these are pretty damn decent - good pigmentation, reasonable wear time, and highly portable.  I'll probably be buying a few more shades.  Find them at NYX's UK website now.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

NOTD: Rococo Unisexy


Rococo Unisexy is a matte black polish. I usually avoid matte polishes like the plague, preferring my talons to be glossy and shiny. But... leather look polishes are due to be big news this year, and I really liked the looks of the ones I saw at a recent Nails Inc launch. And the thing is, matte black polish is pretty much the same as leather look polish.  So, you know, I had to try this one out.

And indeed, in the light it does look pretty leathery - there's a slight sheen to the matte texture which reflects the light much like leather.  It's got to be said that the pigmentation on this shade is amazing - if I'd not applied it a little patchily on one or two fingers, I could have easily worn a single coat.  The texture is a relatively thick affair which spreads easily, and provided you work quickly, it dries quickly without pooling.

Find it at Space NK, where it'll cost you £12.

Disclosure: PR sample

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Quick Pick: Clarins Joli Rouge Perfect Shine Sheer Lipstick in Watermelon and Sweet Plum


These pretty lipsticks are part of Clarins' spring makeup collection.  Their full name is Joli Rouge Brilliant Perfect Shine Sheer Lipstick, which is a mouthful indeed, and unsurprisingly they promise sheer colour, great shine, and moisturising properties to keep lips looking and feeling great.  Packaged in heavy silver packaging, with a clear plastic outer skin, they look and feel absolutely luxe.

Sweet Plum
Watermelon
When I applied Sweet Plum for the first time, I was surprised to find that it's actually not all that sheer.  There's definitely more than a slight hint of a colour there - although I do note that Sweet Plum is the deepest of the shades available.  Watermelon is more in line with what I think of when I think sheer - it gives a soft, gentle lick of colour.

Shine wise, they're fabulous.  They toe the line between a mere sheen and plastic-coated gloopy shine, making the lips look glossy and healthy but not excessively shiny.  That subtle shine is more akin to a balm than a lipstick - and indeed, the texture on the lip is plush, comfortable and moisturising.

Left to right: Sweet Plum, Watermelon
These lipsticks are lovely - the comfortable feeling lasts for a good couple of hours, the colour is sheer but still worthy of a lipstick, and my lips feel soft after wearing them for the whole day.  At £17, they're definitely an indulgence, but if you like your colour sheer and wearable, and your texture comfortable, you'll probably like these.  Find them at Clarins counters and online now.

Disclosure: PR sample

Monday, 28 January 2013

Review: Miss Patisserie Lemon Twist Mini Bath Bake


Miss Patisserie is a boutique bath company offering treats for the tub which look suspiciously like cake.  I recently received a mini Bath Bake to try out in the Lemon Twist scent, and my first impressions were great.  The bake comes packaged in a sturdy cardboard box to keep it safe in transit, and said cardboard box is prettily decorated - both style and substance here.  There's a definite retro style to the brand, with their bathing pinups and stylised line drawings.


The box opens up to showcase the bake inside, and also provides you with some detail about the scent.  The Lemon Twist flavour is based on lemonade and mango, and is topped with a candied bit of lemon (which I wanted to eat, but didn't).  I couldn't really detect any mango in the scent, but the promised zesty sharpness was definitely there.

Anyway, the premise is that you drop the entire thing into the bath (once you've removed the paper wrapper, of course).  The bottom part is the fizzy bath bomb format we know and love, and the top part is a sugar based exfoliant - after a few moments in the bath the two separate, and you can put the top to one side for later.


I was surprised to find that the bake didn't immediately ping off around the bath, fizzing like a little rocket.  It was a more subtle effect - and one that I think is due to the fact that the bake contains more moisturising ingredients than your average bath bomb.  I could definitely feel a distinct silkiness to the water, and my skin felt lightly oiled and hydrated when I got out of the tub.

The icing part of the bake is intended to be used as an exfoliant - it fits nicely in the palm of the hand and works well in the bath on damp skin.  It's a pretty harsh, grainy exfoliant, so beware if your skin is sensitive.

Overall, I really enjoyed my bath with Miss Patisserie's Lemon Twist mini bath bake.  The pretty packaging and cake shape made it feel like a real treat, and I enjoyed both the scent whilst I was in the bath, and the condition of my skin afterwards.  At £4.50, it's certainly not an every day indulgence, but as a gift or a special treat, it's a reasonable price to pay for a bath lover.

You'll find Miss Patisserie products at Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Fenwick stores, and online at the Miss Patisserie website.

Disclosure: PR sample

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Poetic Licence Backlash Heels



A bit off topic today, but hey - these shoes are (in my eyes) beautiful, and the heels give me enough of a swagger to go very well with my red lipstick.  These yellow beauties are from Poetic Licence, who make shoes that are quirky, but not quite as all-out mad as their sister brand, Irregular Choice.  I bought them just after Christmas from an outlet store that specialises in Irregular Choice and Poetic Licence footwear.


I absolutely love the contrast between the yellow leather and the brightly floral fabric print.  The scallop effect between the two just highlights that contrast, and the bright yellow satin laces make for a really eye catching shoe.  I absolutely love them.

The heel is a reasonable height and whilst they're a little too tall for commuting for my feet, they're fine for a day of walking around the office.  More seasoned heel-wearers might find them totally fine, though - they're only 2.5 inches.  I always get compliments when I wear these... and they make me incredibly happy when I wear them.

Friday, 25 January 2013

Clarins Spring 2013: Gloss Prodige in Water Lily and Vibrant Rose


These pretty pinks are part of Clarins' spring 2013 collection.  Gloss Prodige is described as a new generation gloss, providing intense shine, pigmented colour, and lasting hold.  I was particularly interested to try them because of their flavour - they're flavoured with blackberry and liquorice, which sounds a little disgusting to me because I absolutely hate liquorice.  I was pleasantly surprised by the real thing - they don't taste or smell of liquorice at all, rather sweet, juicy and fruity with a little bit of a kick.  Nice, but definitely strongly flavoured - if you don't like a scent to your gloss, you might struggle with these.

Anyway, before I spend an entire post waffling on about the taste of a lipgloss rather than how it looks, here are some swatches.

Intense Rose

Water Lily
As you can see, these glosses are pretty damn shiny - the light just bounces off them.  Intense Rose has a bucketload of fine hot pink glitter with a blue flash, and the combination of that sparkle and that lacquered shine results in an attention grabbing statement lip.  Water Lily is softer, being a creamy pink with no sparkle, but it's certainly not subtle.

The application of these glosses is incredibly smooth - they have that slippy, cushion-y texture that glides onto the lips and feels wonderful on.  You know, that texture that leaves your lips sliding off each other should you rub them together or worse, try to kiss someone.  Despite the texture, the gloss actually holds on reasonably well - the initial SUPERSHINE dies down after half an hour or so, and you're left with a slightly more natural result for another hour.  So, better than many glosses, still not as good as a lipstick (nothing beats lipstick for me).

At £15.50 each, these glosses aren't cheap - but if you like your gloss intensely flavoured, ultra shiny, and with more hold than your average gloss, they might be worth investing in.  Find them at Clarins in-store and online now.

Disclosure: PR sample

Thursday, 24 January 2013

Review: NYX The Curve Eyeliner


This extremely interesting looking thing is NYX's answer to the eternal difficulty of doing perfect liquid liner.  It found its way into my basket when I was browsing NYX's UK site for unnecessary that given my lipstick drawer is overflowing essential new lip products and I'll admit I added it mostly because it's quite unusual.


The contents of the pen is an intense black liner which doesn't smudge and lasts up to 14 hours.  That's not a particularly new thing in the beauty world: you can find liners of this caliber from a great many brands.  The shape of the pen, though, is very innovative - it's curved, ergonomically designed, to help you maintain the steadiest of hands, aiding in the drawing of perfectly smooth liquid liner.




It's held like a gun, with the forefinger along the top of the curved pen, and the thumb gripping the side.  This position is comfortable, and enables me to run the liner smoothly and easily across my lashline, easily creating a thin or thick line with ease.

I'm incredibly impressed with this tool - it makes liquid liner so easy.  I don't personally struggle with felt tip or liquid liner so long as I take it slowly, but this tool makes it so easy I can apply it within a few seconds.  It's so much easier to use than the traditional cylindrical pen format.  I'd definitely repurchase, and would highly recommend the Curve to anyone who finds liquid liner a little bit of a faff.

Find it at the NYX website, where it'll cost you £12.50 - not cheap, but certainly not expensive for such a useful and unusual product.


Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Quick Pick: Apivita Body Euphoria


Apivita is a lovely Greek company which creates natural skincare products using bee products and Greek herbs.  They've recently launched into the UK in a major way via the new Marks and Spencer in-store beauty department, which brings together niche beauty brands under one roof.

I recently tried out the Body Euphoria scent of their Shower Gel, Body Scrub and Body Milk.  Body Euphoria makes use of white tea and jasmine, with the white tea providing anti-oxidant protection, and the scent of jasmine promoting a feeling of optimism and euphoria.

The shower gel is fantastic - it contains aloe and mild cleansing agents to leave the skin feeling clean and soft, without stripping away moisture or over cleansing.  It lathers up beautifully with the aid of a bath puff, and a little goes a long way - a small squeeze is enough to cover the whole body with soft, fragrant bubbles.  The body milk is light yet hydrating, absorbing quickly into the skin and leaving it feeling soft and smooth.  This is a very good thing, as I generally can't be bothered with any body lotion which hangs about on the skin.

The body scrub is the stand out product for me.  It contains Dead Sea salts, and provides scrubby goodness via bamboo and olive grains.  I expected it to contain a lot of scrubby bits, as most of the body scrubs I've used recently are heavy on the grains, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's a cream based scrub with a reasonable but not excessive proportion of grains.  Rubbed over damp skin in the shower, it provides an effective but not too harsh exfoliation and leaves skin feeling amazingly soft and smooth.  The only problem with it was that there was a strange overtone of antiseptic smell alongside the jasmine - I can live with it for the effectiveness of the product, but I'd far rather it wasn't there.

Overall, this is a lovely line of body products, albeit an expensive one, with the shower gel costing £12, the body milk costing £13 and the scrub costing a staggering £22.  Beware, though - these products are strongly scented, and the scent does linger on the skin after using the body milk, so be sure that they'll compliment your fragrance if you're worried about clashing.  I'm quite tempted to try the Body Relax scent next - it's based on honey and vanilla.

Disclosure: PR sample

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Clarins Spring 2013: Iris Blossom Eye Quartet and Palette Eclat Face & Blush Powder


Clarins have brought out a corker of a spring collection, including juicy sheer lipsticks, lipglosses, mineral powder, and the essential mineral eyeshadow quartet and pretty face powder.  Today, we'll ignore the lip products (til a later date) and the powder, and concentrate on the two products which always make me sigh in a Clarins collection - the eye quartet and the embossed face powder.


Spring's eye quartet is surprisingly smoky, and is miles away from the usual ice-cream pastels usually released for spring.  The Iris Blossom palette contains a shimmering taupe, sparkly white, matte grey, and sparkling deep purple.  It's beautifully embossed with a stylised iris across the four pans, which is really pretty but thankfully not so ornate I won't use it.


Swatched on my hand as it's laid out in the palette.  The colours are reasonably pigmented - the most pigmented is (unsurprisingly) the metallic taupe, the worst is the white shimmer- it's almost just shimmer particles pressed into a pan.  Nice for a super-frosty highlight or a bit of inner eye action, probably too sheer to use on the lid.  The matte grey shade is medium pigment, as is the rich purple.  These colours are the kind I love to wear, and I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of this little palette.


Clarins embossed face powders have become a highlight of their collections.  The Palette Eclat is surprisingly simple - the pale, peachy powder is embossed with a stylised iris motif with vertical lines of pink powder.  According to the press release, it contains a light optimising complex to give the skin a beautiful, even tone bursting with radiance.


Apparently, it also reduces the appearance of wrinkles and imperfections - I'm not really sure how a powder can really manage this, but I'm imagining that the glow-giving properties are the key.


Swatched - the left most colour is the peachy base colour, the middle swatch is one of the pink bars, and the right is the result of running a fingertip across the whole palette.  Admittedly, these are rather heavy swatches, but given the pigmentation and the shade of the powder, I think this is one for light to medium skintones only - and should always be applied with a light hand.

Both the Iris Blossom quartet and the Palette Eclat Face & Blush Powder cost £30, with the latter being limited edition.  Find them on the Clarins website and in-store now.

Disclosure: PR sample

Monday, 21 January 2013

Swatches: More Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick Shades


Last week I wrote about Bourjois' newest lipstick, Rouge Edition.  Boasting great pigmentation, comfortable long wear and a great shade range, I've been wearing them to death and absolutely loving them - they really perform like a lipstick far more expensive than their £7.99 price tag.  I was lucky enough to be sent a few more shades (which are a little more pale-faced redhead friendly), so here are some more swatches.

Left to right: Rouge Podium, Violine Strass, Rose Millesime, Rose Tweed

Rouge Podium

Violine Strass

Rose Millesime

Rose Tweed

Rouge Podium is a gorgeous red - it's not a true blue based red (although there is one in the range), but a brick red which is both flattering and easy to wear.  Violine Strass is a plum violet with a fuschia tone to it - the fuschia doesn't really come through in the photos, but it's much brighter than it appears.  Worth swatching before purchase, for sure.  Rose Millesime is a medium coral pink which is a bit of a dead ringer for my Burberry Primrose Hill Pink Lip Cover - similar finish, too, and much cheaper.  Rose Tweed is a lovely neutral shade - it doesn't have too much beige in it, which is great in my mind, as I look a bit dead with a beigey neutral lip.

As with the others I reviewed last week, these lipsticks are gorgeously pigmented, wear beautifully, and feel fantastic on the lip.  I'd highly recommend checking them out when they launch later this month.

Disclosure: PR sample


Sunday, 20 January 2013

Quick Pick: Naked Colour Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner


We've long been fans of Naked here at LBR - their SLS, silicone, paraben and other nasty things free products are reasonably priced, easy to find in Boots stores, and work just as well as their chemical laden cousins.

I received their Colour Protecting shampoo and conditioner ages ago, and they've worked their way into my regular routine.  The shampoo is SLS free and manages to clean the hair brilliantly without leaving it feeling squeaky clean or stripped, and the silicone free conditioner is moisturising without being heavy.  After use, my hair is left light and fresh, soft and shiny.

Whilst I'm not convinced that this combo particularly reduces colour fading, I do notice less colour bleeding off my hair when I use it compared to a shampoo containing SLS.  I also really love the scent of the shampoo - where the conditioner is reasonably mild smelling, the shampoo has a rich cinnamon edge to it which is both unusual and very warming.

Find them online and in store at Boots (shampoo £4.19 and conditioner £4.19) or slightly cheaper at Naked's website (shampoo £3.98 and conditioner £3.98).

Disclosure: PR samples

Friday, 18 January 2013

NOTD: Seche Nail Lacquer in Aristocrat


Last week I showed you one of the new Seche nail lacquers - a neutral, work friendly pink called Memoire. This is another colour from the new collection - Aristocrat is described as a deep plum shimmer.  Whilst the description is accurate, it doesn't quite go far enough - there's more than just plum in there.  In some lights it looks deep pewter, in others it looks aubergine - this isn't a duochrome shade, but it does look different in different lights.  It's really unusual - I don't have any other polish in my collection that is anywhere near a dupe for this.

Unlike Memoire, Aristocrat is a definite one coater - I did consider adding a second coat, but it's perfectly opaque in one.  Also unlike Memoire, it's reasonably easy to apply - medium thickness with good spreadability.  After a bit of topcoat, it looks gloriously shiny, with a mirror like perfect smoothness.  

Can you tell that I really rather like this one?

Find it at Nails By Mail, where it'll cost you £9.95.

Disclosure: PR sample

Thursday, 17 January 2013

Review & Swatches: Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipsticks


Bourjois are a great high street brand.  Their products are reasonably priced, and often pack a punch far in excess of their accessible, affordable price point.  Rouge Edition is their latest launch - with Selfridges selling a selection of shades before their nationwide launch in February.  Rouge Edition lipstick promises a smooth, silky texture, which hydrates the lips and keeps them looking and feeling great for up to 10 hours.

Left to right:
14 Pretty Prune, 09 Orange Pop Up, 07 Fuschia Graffiti, 12 Rose Neon, 06 Rose Coquette, 11 Fraise Remix

The packaging is simple and sleek: shiny black plastic, embossed Bourjois brand name, colourful Rouge Edition. The cap has a satisfying click when you close it, and having the shades visible at the bottom of the bullet is always good if you own lots of lipstick (ahem).


The full range is composed of a staggering eighteen shades - everything from soft neutrals through to bright pops of colour, with a few really lovely looking reds.

14 Pretty Prune

09 Orange Pop Up

07 Fuschia Graffiti

12 Rose Neon

06 Rose Coquette

11 Fraise Remix
The lipsticks are very well pigmented, although the level of pigmentation does vary between shades - Pretty Prune, for example, is extremely pigmented, where Rose Neon requires a couple of passes over the lips to build up full opacity.

The texture is gorgeous - these lipsticks really do glide onto the lips and have a soft sheen to the finish which looks great.  They're supremely comfortable to wear - I doubt any lipstick can actually give 10 hours truly comfortable wear, but having road tested these, I find the first six hours is comfortable to the extent that I can barely feel the lipstick on my lips.  They do start to dry out a little after that.  Longevity is excellent - I've found that they last a good eight hours before they start fading a little, and when they do, they fade evenly.
 
I'm really, really impressed with Rouge Edition lipsticks.  They feel great on the lip, look fantastic thanks to that buttery sheen, and last for ages and ages.  At just £7.99 each, they're an absolute bargain - and I'll be heading out and buying a few more shades as soon as they're launched.

Disclosure: PR sample

Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Quick Pick: Avon Ideal Flawless Matte Mousse Foundation


I brought Avon's Ideal Flawless Matte Mousse Foundation home from an event a fair old while ago, and it's quietly worked its way into my heart since.  I'd never tried one of the mousse format foundations which have become popular recently, and I'm finding myself really liking the texture - it's soft and light, and blends over the skin with a velvety smoothness which leaves the skin looking flawless and softly matte.

An unexpected benefit is that the texture makes the product very travel friendly - as it's an almost-solid product which warms and softens on the fingers, rather than a liquid, it's much less likely to spill all over you makeup bag during transportation.


This recent FOTD shows the finish - it's matte, but not chalky or unnatural, but rather soft and light-diffusing. Lovely.

Find it at Avon's website, where it costs a very reasonable £10.

Disclosure: PR sample

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Review: Lush Fun


This squishy bar of red goodness is one of Lush's biggest launches of last year: Fun.  Calling a product 'Fun' is a surefire way to generate high expectations - and with this malleable, brightly coloured and scented soap product, Lush have created something which really is fun.  Particularly for kids.

I picked up the red version during a recent visit to the company's Kings Road store, which is located dangerously near to my office.  It smells of mandarin and orange, very summery; I was told that it's actually one of the least popular shades, perhaps because I bought it in the autumn - I can see it becoming more popular as the days get longer and the sun gets brighter.

My stepkids particularly like playing with it in the bath: the prospect of washing is apparently more appealing when you can make shapes out of the soap.  As well as being a useful child-occupying body wash, you can also use Fun as a bath foam (by crumbling it under running water), although the bubbles are a little short lived for my liking.  It really comes into its own as a washing product, in my mind.

At £5 a bar, though, it's a pretty expensive wash - paticularly if you give large chunks to a child to play with.  I also kinda regret having to pay that kind of money for something which is made of talc, cornflour, glycerine and a surfectant - I reckon it wouldn't be too difficult to knock up yourself, if you're interested in cosmetic making. So, whilst it's definitely a Fun, novel product, I'm not sure it's something that'll end up being a regular fixture in my bathroom.

Find it at Lush, where it costs £5, and will be nestling next to its green, blue, pink and yellow friends.  Try to ignore the fact that the photos make it look a bit like colourful poo!

Monday, 14 January 2013

BUY THIS NOW: Orly Bonder


I bought this "rubberised basecoat" just before Christmas, and it's become a staple since the first time I used it.  Orly Bonder is a so-called "sticky" basecoat - it doesn't fully dry on the nail, but rather remains a little tacky, helping nail colour to stick and keeping it in place for longer than the colour would ordinarily last alone.

I admit, I was a little skeptical about Orly's claim that Bonder will help keep nail polish on the nail without chipping for up to two weeks.  I haven't actually tested the two week claim because it turns out that I can only go a week before I get bored enough with the colour I'm wearing to need to change it.  I've gone from painting my nails three times a week due to chipping and wear, to painting them once a week due to boredom.  Bonder definitely helps colour stick - I've worn it even under multiple coats of glitter polish, and it's kept my nails chip free and almost perfect for an entire week.  I do notice some tip wear, but no chipping at all.  Not even that weird whole-nail's-worth-of-polish pinging off thing with glitter.

This stuff is amazing and I will never be without it again.  I highly recommend you give it a go too - you'll find it at BeautyBay for around £8 a bottle.  

Sunday, 13 January 2013

Review & Swatches: Pixie Early Bird Palette


Meet the Pixi Early Bird palette, a pretty little thing containing a whopping sixteen eyeshadows, three blushers, two bronzers, a highlighter, and four eyeshadow base powders in one palette.  The sheer amount of product included reminds me of those massive "makeup kits" I use to stare at in the one or two pages of products marked "beauty" in the Argos catalog as a child.  They were usually black plastic, and had a variety of sections which pulled, swung or rotated out from the main bit, and the quality was always crap.  Didn't stop me from wanting them, though. 


Anyway - the Early Bird palette may pack a lot of punch in the variety department, but it certainly doesn't look or feel cheap.  The palette is made of lightweight but sturdy cardboard, printed with a very pretty blossom-and-bird motif, and folds out with the help of some little mint green ribbons.


I really love how the larger pans of colour are embossed with the Pixi logo and the silhouette of a pixie.  Embossing in general is one of those little details which I always feel makes a product a little more special.


The three blush shades are pretty universal, I think - they're quite neutral in tone and should work on most skintones.  There's an orangey peach, a mid pink, and a dusky pink-plum.


Swatched, you can see that they're sheer-to-medium pigmentation - this is a relatively heavy fingertip swatch.  Applying the blush from the pan with a blusher brush gives you enough colour to build up blush slowly, minimising the chances of overdoing it, provided you have the time to spend on layering.  There's a slight shimmer in the finish but it's by no means frosty - more like a subtle pearlescent glow.


The eyeshadow pans are pretty tiny, just about bit enough to stroke a fluffy eyeshadow brush over the surface to load up with colour.  Pigmentation wise, these vary wildly - those with a high shimmer finish are generally well pigmented, and the matte shades are a little too sheer and chalky.  The top left hand corner bears four very pale, very frosty and very sheer shadows - I can only imagine they're there for layering rather than layering on their own.


This swatch shows the four on the top right - the high shimmer shades have great pigmentation, depth and sparkle, and you've got everything you need for a quick, eye brightening neutral eye.


These four are from the bottom right of the palette - again, the pigmentation is mixed, but the shades do give you several options for an evening eye look - my favourites are the copper on the left and the slightly blue toned silver that's second from the right.

I've not swatched the four eye base powders as they barely show up on my skin - they're all matte, soft and sheer, and don't really add anything to the eye.  I guess you could use them before the colour shades across the eyelid to even up the skintone, but if you wear liquid primer like I do, it's a bit of a redundant step.


Finally, two bronzers and a highlighter.  The bronzers are pretty light - veering almost into being neutral blushers instead of bronzers - and they both have a shimmer to them, making them less suited to contouring.  The highlighter has a lovely bright pearl to it, and looks great dusted on top of cheekbones and blended into the brow bone.


At £16, this is a bit of a mixed palette.  When I first received it, I was very excited to see how well it worked - if it provided more consistent pigmentation, it'd become my regular travel companion - all I'd need to add would be mascara, foundation and brow stuff.  As it is, it's still great for travel - but it's not absolutely everything you could need for the average weekend / work trip away.  Compared to, say, NARS eyeshadow duo at £24, though, you can't dispute that you get a decent amount of product for your money.

Find it at Boots, where it costs £16.

Disclosure: PR sample

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