How I... Store & transport my loose powders

This one is more about how I store and transport my powders around in my kit bag...

Yves Saint Laurent Eyeliner Moiré in Steel Reflections - review

Yves Saint Laurent Eyeliner Moiré in Steel Reflections

Having a gander at YSL's fall '13 makeup collection in-store lately (look here while there's still info available), very little struck me that I was particularly interested in, and then this eyeliner caught my eye.  Although the eyeliner in Copper Reflections is the official new eyeliner introduced with this collection, it also seems to feature an older liner, in Steel Reflections, as a re-promote.  I have something very similar to Copper Reflections (from Illamasqua) already, and I'd wanted a cream/liquid liner in a grey shade, so this one, Steel Reflections, caught my eye more than the other.

According to YSL, this eyeliner features "shimmering highlights" and creates a "sparkling, magnetic look for the eyes".  Not to be rude, but hello, my considerable arse it does.

This is, on the other hand, a gorgeous, darkened, pewter-grey shade.

No7 Beautiful Skin Pore Vacuum Mask - review

The latest in pore-reducing miracle cures :-)

Ouch.

Given my recent dabbling with salicylic acid (for more see here) and a few interesting reviews of this stuff, I decided I'd give it a go.  Into Boots I went and out I came with just this and (cough, ahem) absolutely nothing else whatsoever (blinks rapidly).

Catrice new products for Autumn 2013 - teaser

Catrice are undergoing a reboot of their entire Makeup collection with a HUGE volume of new products.  There is a massive 74 whole new items overall!

AHAs, BHAs & Trish McEvoy Beta Hydroxy Pads

Thanks to a fantastic summer with great weather, my skin has been feeling the heat, producing more sebum, generally acting out and getting more congested than it has been in many many years.  My regular exfoliator (CDLM Refining Facial), despite containing diamond dust (if you're not offended), just wasn't doing the trick.  I already use an AHA foaming cleanser in the shower every second day, a toner that contains AHA and a new skin care regime that features AHA at the weekend, and I reckoned I needed to use a BHA to get rid of the congested areas that were leading to mini spot-ettes...

NARS Fall 2013 - The Lippies (swatches)

NARS Autumn (Fall) 2013 campaign visual
The red... droooooool...

As most people who read this will know, I'm a little bit obsessed with red lippie :-)  I have been waiting for this particular collection from NARS to make an appearance since I saw visuals for Mysterious Red in various magazines in the last while.  Just look at that lip... droool!

essence guerilla gardening eyeshadow swatches

R -> L: my piece of land, garden up!

Quick review of the two eyeshadows (two of the three in the collection, the other was a green) I purchased as part of this collection.

my piece of land is described as a "light asphalt grey".  garden up! is listed as an "earthy brown".  Pretty close descriptions, both.

Chanel CC Cream - review

Chanel's new CC Cream

Chanel's CC (Complete Correction) Cream has an SPA of 30 and combines the benefits of skincare, a lightweight foundation and a colour correcting concealer all-in-one.

Whereas western BB creams are like a lighter foundation (heavier than a tinted moisturiser, lighter than a foundation), usually with some skincare ingredients added, CC creams are essentially BB creams containing colour correctors and added ingredients for smoothing- and evening-out the skin.

Clarins Extra Comfort Foundation - review

Clarins latest and greatest foundation: Extra Comfort SPF15

I've been using this one for a few weeks now - it's due out on 15th of September and I've decided to post my review prior to its release - this is great stuff that I heartily recommend.

Chanel Autumn 2013 Superstition Collection

Chanel Autumn 2013 Superstition Collection campaign visual

This one is launching on 16th August - that's today, yikes!!!!  I'm a bit late with this post... Oh well, let's soldier on :-)

This collection is another Autumn collection to feature a mix of bronze, taupe and khaki - Chanel takes these colours and mixes in some interesting greys and lifts the whole shebang with intense pinks and burgundies too... I'm still not over my burgundy thing from last year...

Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm - review

Released back in March (I believe) I've been looking for an excuse to try this stuff out.

Shu Uemura Silk Bloom Shampoo & Conditioner - review

Oh wow.   That's all I'm going say until after the jump... for two reasons...

Clarins "Graphic Expressions" Autumn collection

Clarins Graphic Expressions Autumn 2013 - Campaign Visual

This Autumn's make-up collection from Clarins is modern and graphic, focusing on length and liner.  The colours are muted and quiet, and feature khakis and taupes (these colours are in most of the makeup collections this fall) - the highlight of the collection for me is a cool-toned eyeshadow quad.

There are a number of new items, some re-promotes and some Limited Edition (LE) offerings...

Clarins 3-Dot Liner - review

Clarins 3-Dot Liner

I know I'm late to the 3-dot liner party, this product has been out since 2012, but this is a genuinely fascinating idea.  It's a pen type eyeliner and instead of one nib, it has three tiny firm pointy nibs all together in one.

The idea behind this one is simple - borrowing from the way of teaching newbies (we were all one, once!) how to do liner by creating a series of dots along the lashline and then connecting them up, this product helps you to do just that by creating three tiny dots each time you press it to your skin.

Ingenious!

Rimmel Volume Flash ScandalEyes Mascara - review

Rimmel Volume Flash ScandalEyes Mascara

Today's post is a guest post courtesy of the lovely @MontyC.  Thanks, C!!!!

So, disaster struck and I found myself naked yesterday.  Or at least my lashes were!  I somehow managed to leave the house without putting mascara on.  I know this isn't really newsworthy in itself, but I just couldn't spend the day with no mascara on my lashes - I have very very light baby blonde lashes so I decided to take myself out and buy something to lash on.  No pun intended.  I even arranged my morning's workload around this so I could justify a quick run out to the nearest pharmacy...

So off I went out and bought Rimmel's Volume Flash ScandalEyes Mascara.  You can't miss it on the shelf - it's a bright neon orange tube which you can see a mile away and as it was the first one I saw and as I was in a bit of a hurry, I grabbed it without much thought (I did recall reading about it at some point in the past however), brought it back and set to.

Clarins Extra Comfort Foundation & Instant Concealer

Due for release on 15th of September, Clarins is releasing a completely new foundation and concealer that I'm very interested to try out, as both are effectively skincare/cosmetic hybrid products.  I have a small (but very loyal) set of ladies (whose makeup I do for family and other events) who categorically swear by their Clarins foundation - to the point of refusing point blank to permit me to use any other brand or type of "tint" on their skin :-)

The new foundation, Clarins Extra Comfort SPF 15 is an exclusive new formula that plumps, hydrates and nourishes and is designed specifically as an age-control foundation.  The Instant Concealer is a new concealer (I'm not a concealer junkie, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not... well...)

This is a heads up promo post, I will be trialling it and reviewing these separately.

Nirvanesque Yeux Eye Contour Cream - a review

Nirvanesque Yeux - new eye contour cream from Nuxe

As mentioned in my recent post, NUXE have added to the Nirvanesque range with a number of new products, and the Nirvanesque Yeux is one I was kindly sent to trial.  I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and here are my thoughts.

How I... store my nail varnishes

This is one of my favourite “how I” posts, because it really speaks to my inner OCD child: how I store my nail varnishes.

MAC 159 Duo Fibre Face Brush review

MAC 159 Duo Fibre Face Brush

Another collection, another new brush from MAC.  On the other hand, it looks like this one is going to be permanent line, rather than limited edition, so that makes a nice change!

Released as part of the Tropical Taboo collection at the start of the month (July), this one, the 159, is gorgeous, and to be honest, the only thing I was bothered with from this collection.  Don't get me wrong, there were some beautiful Mineralised Skinfinishes (all LE) released but as I've got more shiny sparkly highlightery things than you can shake a very long stick at, I demurred.  New brushes, however, that's always  where my interest lies.