High Street vs High End - Guerlain Summer Collection 2012

I read about Guerlain's summer collection here, and I have to admit it's so beautiful, even if it's way out of my price range.

By far my favourite product was the Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder, above, which retails for £33.50, but is currently included in Debenhams' 10% off promotion which John Lewis are matching.

I've found two similar products for less than half the price.

This is Collection's Mosaic bronzer - you can see why I was reminded of it. It sells for £2.99 and might be well worth a try once my current bronzers, Collection's Shimmer Squares in Way to Glow and Natural Collection's Bronzer Pearls, are on the way out.

This is No7's similar offering - their 'Sunkissed Mosaic Bronzing Powder' whose RRP is £12.50. This seems slightly pinker, but also looks as if it has a nice mix of dark and light shades so that it would be adaptable to different stages of tan. Reviews seem to suggest that it works better for the slightly darker skin tones, but is overall a good product - maybe this is one to pick up with your £5 off No7 tillsplit?

NOTD: Because if you can't have sparkly nails on your birthday,when can you?

The title says it all, really...
Base coat: Miss Sporty vitamin cocktail (not in range any more, sad face)
Main colour: No7 Stay Perfect in Jammy (mentioned here)
Top coat: elf nail polish in Twinkle ( mentioned here) (the under a fiver bit)

OPI new collection: Holland!

Image from www.squarednails.com which is an amazing blog I'd urge you to check out.

The first thing to say is that, as always, the colour names are amazing. I think my favourite four are Vampsterdam, Kiss Me On My Tulips, I Don't Give a Rotterdam, and A Roll In The Hague.

The colours are also really nice - if this is summer 2012's palette, then I'm looking forward to it!

I love Gouda Gouda Two Shoes. It looks look it would look really sophisticated on the nails, as would Wooden Shoe Like To Know - both polishes look like they mean business!

I think the colour I Don't Give a Rotterdam might be my favourite in the bunch - it looks like there are slight grey tones to the blue, which is really elegant. It looks similar to Barry M's Blueberry Ice Cream in my opinion, but that might just be me.

A Roll in the Hague looks like quite a vibrant orange. Again, I have something similar in the form of Barry M's block orange, which I might have to dig out again...

Pedal Faster Suzi is a very pretty pale colour, which I think would look best on those with either very pale or very dark skins.

Dutch Ya Just Love OPI is a really nice colour, a cool purple which I think looks quite urbane and chic.

Thanks a WindMillion isn't a colour that appeals to me, but mainly because it reminds me of mint, which I don't like. However, pastels are very on trend this summer, and, similar to Pedal Faster Suzi, I can see this looking good with very pale or very dark skin tones.

Red Lights Ahead... Where is a classic red I think - there's not much to say about it, really.

Kiss Me On My Tulips is a really nice colour, a little cooler than some other hot pink nail polishes (ahem, No7 Stay Perfect Jammy, I'm looking at you), which makes it look much more wearable I think - classy, though I don't like the word.

Vampsterdam is an amazing colour, it reminds me of Rimmel Lasting Finish in Black cherries. So nice, it would look quite cool done like a French manicure, with that as the tip colour, and Kiss Me On My Tulips as the body of the nail.

I Have A Herring Problem is such a nice colour - I think this would be ultra-wearable, and suitable for pretty much anoint.

I really want to like Did You 'ear about Van Gogh because of the name, but I'm just not a fan of the colour - though I can see it looking good on very pale or dark skin tones.

There you go, a bit of a roundup.

There is a mini set, called Dutch Treats, featuring I Have a Herring Problem, Red Lights Ahead... Where, Kiss Me On My Tulips, and Pedal Faster Suzi. I think I might treat myself to it, especially as it's only £13 and I like all the shades in it - it works out at £3.25 per polish, which is really good value.

The new No7 spring collection - floral brights

It may be only just above freezing outside, but in the world of fashion and beauty it's already Spring, baby!

The new range includes an eye palette, a cream blusher, a highlighter, and a lipstick, each of which I'm going to talk about. The lipstick and blusher are £10 each and the highlighter and eye palette £13.

The highlighter definitely looks nice, especially with the sweep of shimmery pink in it. I think that if I didn't already have a highlighter, I'd almost certainly snap this up - my only reservation Is the price. It's nearly double the price of Bourjois' highlighter, and £2 more expensive than Soap and Glory's, which has had rave reviews. If there is a sale at the end of this limited edition, though, I think that would definitely be the time to snap it up.

The eye palette is lovely, with shades of brown and a base pink, with a little yellow for the inner corner of the eye. If the shadow is of as good a quality as the No7 shadow I have, then I don't hesitate to recommend this.

My only reservation would be that most of us already have the more brownish shades from the palette and a base pink that we like - so it's really only that tiny bit of yellow that we're paying £13 for. Although that yellow is lovely, for those of us on low budgets it might be worth trying Sleek's acid palette, for £6.49 which has a yellow included in the bright colours in it. There's also a more russet-y, sophisticated, yellow in their Sunset palette, which, by the way, I definitely have my eye on.

These cream blushes are lovely and come in two shades, Blooming Pink and Blossoming Pink. They seem pretty similar but I think the picture is Blossoming Pink - the other shade looks a bit redder... I can't wait to go and try this - but again, price - £10 for a blush isn't really something I can justify, especially as soap and Glory's products are only a tad more expensive and this doesn't actually look that special.

The lipstick also comes in the same two pinks - the Blooming Pink (not the one pictured, sadly) looks like it'll be a stunner - its a dark reddish pink. These retail at £10, but somehow I'd be a little more prepared to pay that for lipstick than for blusher, maybe because the packaging is a tiny bit nicer...

Overall the range is lovely, if a bit out of my price range - I guess this is what advantage card points/ £5 vouchers (if they give them out again anytime soon) / birthday gift cards (hint hint)/ sales are for...

Boots hauls!

Over the past few weeks, I've been to Boots numerous times, so I thought I'd amalgamate everything I've bought into one big post.

This is really a bit fab. I've seen a few posts complaining that it didn't live up to its promises, but personally I love it. It is very light coverage, but I like that - there's nothing worse than looking 'caked' in foundation in my opinion. If you've got very pale skin, this probably wouldn't be the product for you - I'm not that pale but I found the 'light' shade to be perfect on me. 

Lots and lots of Natural Collection stuff!

I bought their 'LashCurl' mascara in black, and it's far better than I would have thought - I will do a review at some stage, but for now it's enough to say that it's properly black and that it actually does make the lashes look more curled, so that's good.

The green corrector stick is to help neutralize my naturally very rosy cheeks, and it seems to work, which is good - this is certainly something that I wouldn't buy from a posher brand when I know it's available and very good for £2.

The lipstick, in shade 'Rose Bud' is brilliant. A really good buy, in my opinion. It's pink and springlike without being too pink and horrible. I'll probably have to stop wearing it when I pick up a tan in the summer, but for now it's great. It doesn't come off on glasses etc either, which you would expect for the price. 

Centre front are bronzing pearls - I gave these a quick go just now and they're really good - I like that the different colours blend together. On the right is some loose powder - I'm going to give this a go. 

On top of the two little pots is a lip liner. I felt I ought to have one, and it's a nice nude/pink shade. 

I got these six products in two separate 'three for £5' deals.

This is No7's Stay Perfect Nail Polish in shade 270 - Jammy. It would normally be £7 but  I used one of those '£5 off No7' vouchers they like to give at the checkout.

It's FAB. The brush is really good, for a start. It's almost a one-coat polish, but the second just helps to add depth etc to the colour. I've heard that it lasts really well too.

FOTD: inspired by Chloé A/W 2011

I was browsing the blogosphere, and found a really interesting article:

http://pretty-easy.tumblr.com/post/12323011680/get-the-look-chloe-a-w-2011
Normally when I see posts like those, they need a particular shade of eyeshadow, for example, that I don't have. But to my joy I actually have everything needed to do this look - or at least a slightly toned down version of it.

I started with my trusty Natural Collection ShineAway Foundation. You know what, it may not be the best foundation in the world (I'm really looking forward to trying Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse when I've finished this foundation) but it's still darned good for what I need.

Then I used a black Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil to line my eyes, as the original post suggested, to allow it to smudge... which it did, all over my face.

Then I used my much-neglected Collection 2000 'Color Intense Trio' in Cookie Dough. I don't tend to use this much, mainly because the shades are next to each other and shed quite a lot, and also because it just doesn't go on as well as the 17 eyeshadows. Plus they're not particularly pigmented. They were, however, just right for this look. I used the palest shade as a base and then blended the darkest shade with it, but not all the way out as the picture showed - I wanted it to be wearable, after all.

The next step was to use a little of the same shade as a blush/bronzer under cheekbones for definition. I wasn't sure which brush to use for this, and initially tried my blusher brush, but that loaded on way too much of the powder. So I decided to use the 'Way to Glo' shade of the Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades, as it's slightly less pigmented. That worked better.

The original blog post suggested black mascara, only mine's a bit dried out, so I used my Natural Collection Brown/Black one.

For a natural and neutral lip, I used tinted lipsalve, and then the No7 High Shine gloss in Whisper.

And a spritz of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Toilette to finish.

New Years Eve look.

Right, so I had the joys of spending NYE with my parents this year, so this is a special family dinner kind of a look.

I wore a navy blue Miss Selfridge dress with a cream collar and trim, so I decided to go for a navy eye.

Picture 1 - my 'before' face

The first thing I did was moisturise with my Neutrogena Multi-Defence Daily Moisturiser. I started using this in the summer and I love it. Then I put some Boots Natural Collection ShineAway Foundation (I use shade 'porcelain') on my cheeks, to de-pink them a bit.

Next was a thick line of Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in shade 021, denim blue, along the top lash line and halfway along the lower lash line. This will smudge easily as I add the rest of the eye make up.

Then I swept No7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow in shade 69, Starry Night, ( another freebie from the gift I mentioned in my lipgloss review) across the whole eyelid as a base and to blend with. Next was Boots 17 Eyeshadow in shade Regal, a lovely blue, which I put towards the outer edge of my eyelids and blended with my finger.

Last came mascara (Boots Natural Collection in Brown/Black), lipgloss (No7 High Shine in Whisper, reviewed below) and blusher (Natural Collection cream blusher in Rosy Pink).
Then I was done :)

Picture 2 - the products I used, in order from left to right

Picture 3 - the 'after' face

In hindsight, looking at the photo, I could probably have done with a tiny bit more blusher. I also made a duff choice with the lip gloss which, while it was great that it didn't leave marks on my drinks glasses, did get lots of hair stuck to it on the walk into town for dinner, when it was quite windy. I can report, though, that the lip gloss has quite good staying power - nearly four hours after I put it on, after eating and drinking, while it's not as glossy as it was, my lips still look fairly shiny and glossy with a faint bit of the shimmer. The rest of the look seems to have held up well, though, and the foundation has done as promised and kept shine at bay.

Picture 4 - the 'hours after' face.

NB: you may notice that these photos are better quality than up to this point - that's because I took them on my proper camera rather than webcam for once.

Review - No7 High Shine Lipgloss in shade Whisper

Before I start I shall disclose that I didn't have to pay for this - it was in a free gift that was given out when you spent £22 on the No7 range.
It's normally out of my price range, but my mum ended up with the free gift, so we split the contents between us.
Normally I'm an eye makeup girl rather than being into lippy, and I must admit that I initially picked this out of my makeup box to attempt a more negative review than my last two, but I think it's great.
Initially I was fazed by what is a bit of an odd colour in the tube: I couldn't think why anyone would want lips such a pale shade of pink - which was why I thought this would be a negative review. However, upon putting the gloss on (in the photo my top lip is bare and the lower lip has the gloss on) I found that really it just adds shine - and a bit of fairly subtle sparkle. I've also swatched it on my hand, to show the transparency of the gloss. I suppose I should have taken more notice of the product's name, it really does add shine.
It also has a great applicator (pictured) - something I think I will keep to use with other glosses after this tube is empty. Unlike some of the other wands, it's got a small unfluffy end which makes it easy to apply the gloss on the lips and not around them. Lily likey.
The only issue I can find with this gloss is that it is sticky. This may not be such an issue if you have less wayward hair than mine, but I have quite a lot which likes to go in my face, and this lip gloss seems almost to attract the hair, and it is sticky. Admittedly it's not the most sticky lip gloss I've ever tried, but it's certainly more sticky than, say, chapstick. (not capitalising that as I use Boots' own brand).
Then there's the price. I will enjoy using this tube, yes, but with a replacement cost of £9 I don't think I shall buy another or try any of the other colours. When I come to start spending that sort of money on makeup, or for Prom maybe, I'll come back to it, but for now it's out of my price range, and I'll go back to the lip salve and Vaseline when I run out of this.
http://www.boots.com/en/No7-High-Shine-Lip-Gloss_927422/

Picture 1: swatched on my hand

Picture 2: the fab wand

Picture 3: on my lower lip, with the top lip bare - you can see the shine

Picture 4: the tube, showing the oddness of the colour as I thought it would be