Models Own Sticky Fingers in Sweet Candy

Models Own have done it again - their new nail art kits are super easy to use thanks to the inclusion of some cute themed stickers.  The mini range is called Sticky Fingers, and it's made up of seven shades paired with five varieties of stickers.

I've been playing with Sweet Candy - a neutral taupe polish with the cutest sweets/cake/ice cream stickers - and whilst they're definitely easy to use, they're not for the impatient.

I used one large cupcake sticker on my index finger, which gathered a fair few compliments from the nail obsessed in my office.  Being terribly impatient, I only waited for my nails to be touch dry before I applied the sticker - and as a result, it's not sitting evenly on the nail, resulting in the two coats of topcoat I applied pooling a little around the edges of the sticker.  You can only see this pooling close up, but still - if I'd waited for the polish to be fully dry, I'd have a much neater looking manicure.

At £6, the Sticky Fingers polishes are a little more expensive than Models Own's usual polishes, because you're getting a little more than a bottle of nail varnish.  That said, you don't get a huge number of stickers, and if you decorate your nails liberally you'll only likely get three or four manicures out of a sheet before you run out.  If you use the odd sticker for an accent nail, you'll get far more.

As a cute alternative to difficult freehand nail art, or even to slightly fiddly water decals, these sticker polishes are brilliant.  It's just a shame you can't buy the stickers separately.  Find Sweet Candy and the rest of the Sticky Fingers gang at Models Own bottleshops and their website now.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Yes To launches at Boots

Gloriously well priced American natural inspired range Yes To is launching in Boots soon, making the cheerful, plant based range much more accessible to us Brits, who've previously only been able to buy it from select online retailers.  Sadly, Boots aren't taking the stonkingly good sulphate free haircare yet, merely the skin and bodycare, but hey, it's a start.

The newest part of the range is Yes To Grapefruit - that giant 500ml body wash is made of 95% natural ingredients and costs a mere £9.99.  It's fruity, zesty and foams well for something free of sulphates.  Find the range at Boots from 7th April - and fingers crossed Boots will take the haircare soon.

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Olay Regenerist Super 10 Minute Miracle Primer

Olay recently added a new product to their anti-aging Regenerist range - Super 10 Minute Miracle is a primer, which acts to prep the skin for makeup whilst filling in fine lines, softening wrinkles, and giving the skin a silky smooth texture.  It's not just cosmetic, either - it contains skincare ingredients to fight wrinkles over time too.

The question is - does it work?  I applied a dab to my bare skin and waited ten minutes to see the effects.

Left: before; right: after

On my early-30s skin, I can't see a huge difference, although if you look really, really closely, my emerging forehead lines and frown lines do look slightly softened.  The biggest draw for me was the texture of my skin after use - it had that super-silky feeling you get from a silicone based primer.  That's normally a warning sign that certain foundations are going to apply badly and rub off my skin in little strands, but I was pleased to find that none of my foundations reacted badly to this - all of them applied smoothly, and stayed in place longer too.

Overall, whilst I'm not entirely convinced by the wrinkle claims, I do like this as a primer - the fact that it has long term benefits puts it ahead of other primers.  At £19.99, it's on a par with high end primers from premium brands, but the 50ml pump contains a lot of product, protects it from light and the air, and dispenses tiny dabs at a time, meaning it'll last ages.  If you're looking for something with wrinkle-blurring, smoothing, skin-loving effects, it's definitely worth a try.

Find Olay's Super 10 Minute Miracle Primer now at Boots.

Disclosure: PR sample

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Una Brennan Super Facialist Cleansing Oil, Rose Facial Oil, and Neroli Facial Oil

I've been a fan of Super Facialist by Una Brennan's Vitamin C Skin Renew Cleansing Oil for a while, having picked up a bottle on a whim at Boots when I'd run out of my usual Origins cleansing oil.  I'd meant to write about it, but kind of forgot until another bottle turned up in the post, alongside two facial oils from the range.  The cleansing oil hasn't changed, still lifting makeup easily off the skin and leaving it feeling hydrated and super soft, but the packaging has - the bottle now sports a squirty flip-top cap rather than a twist off top, which makes dispensing just the right amount of oil easy.  Excellent.

The facial oils left me a little puzzled.  The bright and cheerful packaging suggested using them generously as a pre-cleanse, massaging them into the skin then removing with a flannel or muslin cloth.  For a blended facial oil, this seems a little wasteful.  You don't really get anything more out of using these before an oil cleanse, and even if you don't use an oil cleanser, using oil as a pre-cleanse doesn't seem as effective as just switching to an oil cleanse in the first place.

Anyway, as facial oils, they're lovely - rich, silky, and very hydrating.  I've been alternating between them nightly and my skin is soft, smooth, and plumped up in the morning.  They're an affordable, accessible way to work a high quality facial oil into your regime, costing a mere £14.99 each.  The cleansing oil is also well priced, at just £10.99 for 200ml.  Better yet, all three are currently on offer, with the Rose and Neroli oils reduced to £9.99 and the cleansing oil reduced to £7.33.

Disclosure: PR samples (although I have purchased and liked the cleansing oil in the past)

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KIKO Rock Attraction Bronzer in Steady Honey

I didn't much like Kiko's take on the often copied Chubby Stick lipstick from their new Rock Attraction collection for spring/summer 2014.  This Rock Attraction bronzer, though, is much better, even if this shade isn't quite right for my skintone.

The packaging is adorned with denim, which fades into a sandy sort of colour.  Not quite what I'd choose for a rock themed collection - maybe a desert cowboy collection.

The bronzer inside the compact has an intricate embossed pattern of a zip.  I think this is supposed to carry on the denim theme, and whilst the detailing is very pretty, and very well executed, I think it'd be more impactive if it was used for an eyeshadow palette in shades of blue.  The flat brown looks, well, a bit dirty.

Please ignore the healing burn on my wrist!

The bronzer itself, though, is rather lovely - it has the slightest sheen to the finish, and has a medium pigmentation which makes it easy to layer up and difficult to overapply on the first go.  The lack of glitter and shimmer makes it super wearable, and perfect for contouring.  Steady Honey is a little warm for my skin, but if your skin is olive toned or yellow toned, you'll probably find this shade very, very flattering.

At £15.90, Rock Attraction Bronzer is a bit more pricey than many KIKO products, but you do get a lot in the pan, and compared to other bronzers it's still well priced.  Find it now at the KIKO website.

Disclosure: PR sample

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Quick Pick: Benefit Gimme Brow

Benefit Gimme Brow is a bit of a classic, and it's recently been reformulated and repackaged, with a new, smaller tapered brush and even more brow building, hold giving goodness.  There are still two shades available - a lighter ashy brown, and a deeper brown with a neutral base.  Given that neither are the right colour for me, I borrowed my sister-in-law's brows to show you a before and after.  Emma has great test brows for this sort of product - her brows are a little patchy, a bit curly, and very unruly.  Let the before and after begin!

Left: no Gimme Brow; right: Gimme Brow

I used the darker shade as Emma's dark brown hair and brows were a better match for it than the lighter ashy shade (which my Mum immediately stole, pronouncing it excellent for aging ladies with sparse brows).  I applied it using sweeping strokes going upwards from the thickest part of the brow, drawing it lightly along the length of the brow, paying particular attention to the middle part of Emma's brows, which had a new patches.

Her brows look much tidier in the after photo, and the area just before her brow tapers off looks more even.  I love that the brow area looks clean and well defined but also totally natural - neither Emma nor I are fans of the super-defined and blocky HD brows look, and Gimme Brow gives you enough definition whilst still looking like a natural brow.

Gimme Brow is available now from Benefit counters and stores, and online at the Benefit website, where it costs £17.50 - not cheap by any means, but definitely worth the cash if your brows need natural looking hold and colour.  Also, during the month of March, you can get a complimentary brow shape at Benefit counters in Debenhams stores in celebration of Brow Arch March, which aims to raise money for Look Good Feel Better.  Simply donate and then head in store for your free brow shape, safe in the knowledge you're helping women suffering from cancer to Look Good Feel Better.

Disclosure: PR sample


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Deborah Lippmann Two of Hearts Mini Duet Set

This cute little set contains two dinky 8ml Deborah Lippmann shades encased in a super-glittery pouch, designed to match the rainbow-on-pink glitter of Candy Shop.  The milkshade pink cream is Shape of My Heart, and it complements the brash glitter of Candy Shop very well.

Candy Shop is one of those glitters Deborah Lippmann does very, very well - a tinted jelly base with plenty of glitter particles in a multitude of shapes and sizes, which layers up to make a wonderfully dimensional glitter nail that's sparkly but also a bit sophisticated.

Well, I think it's sophisticated, those of you who don't squee over sparkly things might disagree.

And here's a classic accent nail mani, with Shape of My Heart and Candy Shop, both worn alone.  Three coats of Candy Shop gets this level of glittery opacity, and a whopping four coats of Shape of My Heart was required for a streak free, fully opaque milkshake pink nail.

Granted, this colour combination isn't going to look great on all skin tones, but it looks good enough on my pale, cool skin, and would look stunning against dark skintones too.  Surprisingly, this little set is a mere £18 - the same price as a full size Lippmann polish - so if you want two great little shades and a sparkly bag (coin purse?  evening bag for people who go out with a lipstick and a debit card?), you'll be getting a good deal with this set.  Moreover, you'll be indirectly benefitting a charity - 10% of sales of this set will be donated to a breast care centre in California.  Find it now at Selfridges.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

BUY THIS NOW: Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Liquid Lipsticks in Personne ne Rouge, Frambourjoise, Nude-ist and Grand Cru

Bourjois have followed up the success of their Rouge Edition lipsticks with a new liquid variety - Rouge Edition Velvet.  Velvety textured, matte lips have been a bit of a thing recently, with brands such as Lime Crime and Topshop having a go - Bourjois are a little late to the party.

That said, these velvet liquid lipsticks are miles apart from the dry, difficult to apply Topshop ones I reviewed earlier this year.  The does foot applicator is the same (sadly one of mine turned out wonky, not that it got in the way of application), but the texture is completely different.  Rouge Edition Velvet has a light, almost gel-like texture which glides onto the lip and leaves a wash of colour which is strong enough, but not so strong that application has to be perfect.  For a matte lip colour, mostly in shades of red and deep pink, they're surprisingly forgiving.

Personne ne Rouge

Personne ne Rouge is a bright, sunny red.  It takes a little while to set down to full matte-ness, but when it does it still looks fresh and summery - perfect with a bit of bronzer and lots of mascara.

Frambourjoise

Frambourjoise is a more ruby, pink toned red, and it's my favourite of the bunch.  Like Personne ne Rouge, it takes a while to set down to its matte finish, and like Personne ne Rouge, it's an easy going, easy wearing red which will look great throughout spring and summer.

Nude-ist

I wasn't expecting to like Nude-ist as much as I do - it's a beige toned mid pink, and makes a flattering nude pink on my skin.  It's also the most pigmented of the four colours I have, and sets down quickly to a matte finish with full coverage.

Grand Cru

 Grand Cru is a deep, moody red - it's a little more obviously red than the Personne ne Rouge and Frambourjoise, and works well as a sultry night-time colour.  If you like a retro makeup look, Grand Cru is a great colour to wear with flicky black liner.

Frambourjoise, my favourite!

And finally, Frambourjoise, my favourite, in the context of my full face.  It has similar tones to my hair, which is one of the reasons I like it so much!  

Wear time on these is excellent - I've been testing them out for the past week and I've averaged about five hours before the colour fades down.  If you're not inclined to top up, you'll get a more muted wash of colour that lasts the whole day, but if you want to maintain a vibrant lip, you'll need a reapplication during the day.  Despite the matte-ness, they're not drying on the lip - there's something about that texture which sets feather light.  I do find that once they set, they're a tiny bit sticky if you regularly smush your lips together (which I do), but nothing that seriously interferes with how wearable they are.

Overall, Bourjois' new velvet textured liquid lipsticks are the best compromise between pigmentation, matte finish and easy application I've yet tried - I'd highly recommend picking up one or two if you fancy trying the some matte colour without feeling it on your lips all day.  All four of these will be carried around with me in my lipstick bag for quite some time yet.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet will be released in April for a very reasonable £8.99 each, and you can join the waiting list at Boots for them now.  

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Sleek Blush By 3 in Pink Lemonade

Sleek's Blush By 3 compacts came out quite a while ago, and they'd been on my mental wish list until I popped into my local Tesco and found that they have a Sleek stand.  Which means my weekly shop will, from now on, include a bit of highly pigmented, well priced goodness hidden under the Special K.

Blush By 3, unsurprisingly, contains three shades of blush in two formulas - powder and cream.  All three are highly pigmented (as we've come to expect from Sleek), and the two powder blushes come with a hefty smack of sparkly goodness for good measure.

Pink Lemonade contains Icing Sugar, a shimmering neutral pink powder blush; Macaroon, a mid-pink cream blush; and the bafflingly named Pink Mint, a shimmery sunset pink with strong tawny tones.

Swatched, all three are indeed super-pigmented, with Macaroon bringing the most opaque colour.

And here I am wearing Pink Mint, which is a lovely shade for brightening and warming the face without going for bronzer.  I've applied a fairly light smattering of product here, but the powder blushers are easily layered to a point - too heavy and you get that overly metallic robot-shimmer that looks good on no-one.

This little mirrored compact costs just £9.99 - not bad for three reasonably sized pans of blusher with enough pigmentation to ensure you won't use the lot too quickly.  My only gripe is that the cream product is slap bang in between two powder products - meaning any fallout (and you will get fallout, these blushers are seriously soft) will settle straight onto the cream product.  Still, at £3.33 a blush, you're getting a lot for your money, packaging concerns aside.  Find it now at Sleek stands and online via the Sleek website.


This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Disappointing: KIKO Rock Idol Lipstick Pencil in Rossetto

I have high expectations from KIKO nowadays, as a result of discovering some excellent and affordable products from their extensive range.  When this new Rock Idol Lipstick Pencil landed on my doormat, I was curious to see what KIKO would bring to the now-ubiquitous Chubby Stick format.  

Puzzlingly, my sample is labelled Rossetto, rather than Realistic Rosewood, which is what KIKO's website says shade 2 is called.  The format is pretty standard - twist up formula, shiny colour coded packaging, tapered crayon for easy application.

Unfortunately, I found myself somewhat underwhelmed by the results.  The crayon went on a bit dry, without the slip I've come to expect of lipsticks in this format.  Colour payoff was okay but not excellent, and the promised satin finish looks a little too matte and dry.  I kinda feel like this crayon is trying to be two things at once - semi-sheer colour, traditionally found with a juicy, glossy finish, and matte texture, traditionally found with high pigmentation.  Either way, it doesn't quite work, which is a damn shame, even at a mere £7.90.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Illamasqua Shattered Star Nail Varnish in Marquise and Trilliant

Last week I wrote about the new lipsticks Illamasqua has released as part of their new Glamore collection.  This week I have two of the three new nail shades to show you - all three have a new finish Illamasqua have termed Shattered Star, a super-sparkly, textured glitter finish.

Trilliant is a sparkling silver/taupe/rose, which really sits at the border between silver, pink and champagne.  Like Marquise, a super hot orange, it contains glitter particles in many sizes, giving a multi-faceted effect which is very, very sparkly in the sun.

As you can see, the glitter in this polish is textured - and even if you decide to try to smooth it out with a bit of topcoat, it will remain textured.  I tried to put topcoat atop Marquise and Trilliant, but they drank it up, and my nails looked the same as they had beforehand.  This is a polish that's meant to be worn textured.

Removal was comparatively easy for this polish - it did need a bit of soaking and scrubbing, but not half as much as I'd feared.  Wear was reasonable at three days before the tipwear became obvious - I'm putting this down to a lack of protective topcoat - and I certainly got a lot of comments whilst I was wearing it, particularly for the very hot, very sparkly, very eye-catching Marquise.

Illamasqua polishes seem to have been heading upwards in price over recent years - and the Shattered Star polishes are no exception at a whopping £15 each - nearly as much as my beloved YSL La Lacque Couture, which are £18.50 each.  Still, if you like a textured sparkling nail, you'll love these - and you'll find Marquise and Trilliant at the Illamasqua website now.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

REN V-Cense Youth Vitality Day Cream

REN's new V-Cense mini-range is designed to address "urban grey", and to help the skin fight fatigue and the first signs of aging.  It also has a completely incomprehensible name - I've no idea what V-Cense is, but REN have trademarked it, so clearly it's going to be a Thing.  In REN's eyes at least.

Anyway, I've been using this Youth Vitality Day Cream for a few weeks now and I'm pretty impressed with it.  As with all REN products, it makes heavy use of natural bio-actives, including Vitamin C, Boswellic Acid and Frankincense.  The cream is light yet rich, and you need less than you think you'll need - the amount above is ample for my face and neck, as it spreads easily across the skin and provides a lot of moisture with every drop.

I've not seen a massive increase in radiance, and my fine lines seem unchanged, but I have noticed a difference in the firmness and elasticity of my skin.  It feels hydrated and plumped up, too, without any excess oiliness - a difficult balance to achieve, particularly on my combination/dry skin.  For something so rich, it leaves the skin feeling surprisingly velvety.

At £28, it's reasonably priced for a high end day cream - it hydrates well, balances the skin, and comes packaged in such a way that the cream will never come into contact with the air unless you're applying it to your skin.  Find it at the REN website now.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

NOTD: Models Own Speckled Polish in Swan

Just over a year ago, Illamasqua released some speckled polishes, which made use of matte glitter particles in a milky base to give a lovely speckled egg look - just in time for Easter.  Models Own have developed their own version this year, and they're a snip compared to the original Illamasqua polishes - the Models Own versions are a mere £5, compared to £14.50 for the Illamasqua.

Models Own speckled polishes come in five different shades - from this one, Swan, a pale lilac, to Dove (pink), Duck (pale blue), Goose (buttercup yellow), and Magpie (turquoise).  The shades are a little less pastel than the Illamasqua versions, but have the same matte glitter speckled effect.  Gorgeous, and you can have (almost) three Models Own ones for the price of one Illamasqua!

Find them from 12th March on the Models Own website.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

BUY THIS NOW: L'Oreal Elvive Fibrology Thickening Haircare Collection

The release of L'Oreal's new Fibrology thickening range has been a bit of a throwback to the olden days, pre blogging - any hype I saw just after the launch wasn't as a result of press releases or samples, but genuine excitement from people who bought it, decided it really works, and expressed their opinions online.

Naturally I had to rush out and buy it too.  I picked up the thickening shampoo, thickening conditioner, and thickness creation serum, which are very reasonably priced - a super-large 400ml bottle of shampoo or conditioner costs a mere £4, and whilst the serum may be the most expensive product in the range, but it's still well priced for a serum at £6.99.

The question is, though, whether it actually works.  And I'm genuinely excited by the fact that it definitely, definitely does - my hair felt thicker and more substantial after the first use, and definitely more so after the next couple of uses.  A word of warning, though - the shampoo is pretty heavy on SLS, and I found it caused my colour to fade very fast, so if you have very curly or coloured hair, I'd recommend skipping the shampoo and using the conditioner and serum alone.

At such reasonable prices, these products are brilliant - even if you have doubts that they'll work for you, the cost of trying them out is so reasonable you really can't say no!  Find them at Boots now.

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Illamasqua Glamore Lipstick in Soaked and Glissade

Illamasqua's latest collection, Glamore, is small but sweet when it comes to new products - three shades of super-sparkly textured Shattered Star nail polish (more on those later) and three shades of a new formula of lipstick.  Those of you who've tried Illamasqua's original lipsticks will know that they're highly pigmented, matte in finish, and often a little dry as a result.  These new Glamore lipsticks, though, boast a satin texture, with the same high pigmentation in a more comfortable, emollient formula.

Soaked, Glissade

I have two of the new lipstick shades to show you today - Soaked, a super bright orange, and Glissade, which is described as a bold pink.

Soaked

 Soaked is a rich, vibrant orange - it has a bit of a glow which I've found very difficult to capture on camera.

It also clashes quite a bit with my hair.  Still wearable, though, if a little jarring!

Glissade

Glissade reads a little more mauve-pink on me, and I like it for its cool undertones - very flattering.

Still a little bit of a clash, but not much.

The new formula is lovely - the lipsticks glide smoothly onto the lips with none of the dragging I've experienced with Illamasqua lipsticks in the past.  The pigmentation is still good, but it's not as intense as the matte formulas - the swatches above show a couple of passes over the lips, which gives plenty of colour payoff.  The satin formula has a slight sheen to it, and it's much, much more comfortable on the lip than the matte formula, although predictably it doesn't wear quite as well.  It's still pretty damn good for a satin finish lipstick, though - the colour lasted all day, albeit with quite a bit of even fading, becoming a bit dry on the lips after six hours or so.

The new Glamore lipsticks cost £16.50 each - expensive, yes, but still worthwhile for the pigmentation, the comfortable formula, and the uniqueness of the shades, particularly if you're in the market for a bright, bright orange.  Find out more about the Glamore range at the Illamasqua website now.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Clinique Cheek Pops in Ginger Pop, Peach Pop and Berry Pop

How cute are these new Clinique Cheek Pops?  Served up in minimalistic clear plastic packaging, the gerbera daisy embossing is really striking, and very, very appropriate for spring.

The selling point of these blushes is the finish - Clinique promise a "virtually powderless" finish with buildable colour.  All wrapped up, of course, in something that looks really pretty on your dressing table.

Ginger Pop, Peach Pop, Berry Pop

I was expecting to be drawn to Berry Pop, as I always gravitate towards richer, deeper shades for blush at this time of the year, but I've actually been using Ginger Pop pretty much non stop - it's warming yet still neutral, and it's almost sculpting thanks to its brownish base.

Ginger Pop

And indeed, the finish is very natural - no powderiness and a slight sheen that looks like natural skin.  The colour is easily buildable - I'm wearing two light applications above - and you can easily build from a soft flush to a brighter pop of colour.

At £16.50, Cheek Pops aren't cheap, but in my mind they're totally worth it - pretty to look at, and pretty on the skin.  Find them now at the Clinique website.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

NOTD: Girly Bits Sofa King Messy

I bought this polish in a mini-haul of Girly Bits polishes - all of which were glittery/holographic/duochome/anything but boring.  I love the name - it's a little bit rude and a little bit descriptive, because this polish is a seeming mess of mismatching glitters of different sizes in a clear base.  The glitter is dense - there's tons of it in there - and it's a real mix of predominantly blue shades, with copper, red, green, purple, silver and gold thrown in for good measure.

I've got many, many glitter polishes (I take an obscure pleasure in being in Very Serious Meetings at work with offensively sparkly nails) and very few of them apply as smoothly as this one.  With mixed glitters like this, you can end up poking the glitter into place on the nail, but this polish needs no such special treatment - two coats later, it's a dense, evenly distributed affair with plenty of eyecatching sparkle.  I've applied it over a black cream here to highlight the sparkle, but if you really wanted to you could layer this up to full opacity alone.  Removal, unsurprisingly, is a pain in the arse, but totally worth it.

You'll find Sofa King Messy at Rainbow Connection, where it costs a reasonably spendy £9.60 - worth every penny, in my mind, because I've not seen anything similar before.

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Pretty but Pointless: Clarins Opalescence Face and Blush Powder

I've been a bit inconsistent in posting about Clarins' spring collection, Opalescence.  Fear not, though, we've been through most of them pieces now, and the glorious cream blushers and smoky plum eyeshadow are definitely my favourites so far.  The Opalescence Face and Blush powder is a classic Clarins offering - beautifully packaged, intricately embossed... it's definitely a collector's piece.

The outer packaging is heavy plastic and metal with a lovely light-bending opalescent lid which is a bugger to photograph.  Those are my patio doors reflected there.  Nice, eh?

The product itself is a light toned powder with smaller dots of beige and pink, and a smattering of golden overspray.  I did try to swatch it, but it doesn't really show up much - it's a slightly glowy finishing powder.  I'm not entirely sure why Clarins are selling it as a blush, as the smaller, more colourful parts of the compact are small enough that it's quite difficult to get colour from just them onto a brush.

At £30, it's an expensive prospect for something which is aesthetically pleasing, but doesn't really add a lot of value as a piece of makeup.  If you like a slightly glowy face powder, and your skin is of the light-to-medium toned variety, you might like it.  Or, you might struggle to touch a brush to that beautiful embossing.  Find it at the Clarins website, if you have money to burn on pointless but pretty things.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.