Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Stick

I was mooching around Debenhams beauty hall the other day and found Dior's new offering, the Cherie Bow Eye Shadow  Pen Twin Set. I really loved it, both in 'Grey sigh', but also 'Beige Ribbon'. These are really quick to apply with a chubby stick like nib, but also have a sponge like applicator at the other end with a more translucent shimmer. They can be used together but both ends can also be used seperately. The girl on counter used the goldy, shimmer of 'Beige Ribbon' on the inside of her lower waterline as well as the inner corners as a sort of highlighter. The effect was beautiful but on top of my other purchases I couldn't justify this little beauty.
 And how glad I am! When helping a friend pick up some make up in Boots, Rimmel's new offering caught my eye. This scandal eyes offers a very similar effect for obviously a much lower price tag. A humble £4.99 in fact. Sadly there is not the same double end application allowing for you to decide how much shimmer you want but instead it's one easy to use crayon-like nib. It's actually quite a similar idea to Clinique's new Chubby sticks for eyes but again obviously much cheaper.




I went for the colour 'Bulletproof Beige' so as to be a dupe for the Dior. It's a beautiful gold with quite a metallic sheen to it. A much darker bronze, imaginatively named 'Bad Bronze', also caught my eye and I may well find myself investing in this little bad boy as well! The colour is gorgeous and pay off is pretty good. It applies easily, can be blended, sticks all day, and is generally a really useful thing to have around! I must say, the texture is lovely and creamy and doesn't snag at all.




This swatch is quite built up and it is possible to sheer the colour out for a more subtle glow. The shimmer is also more apparent in life. It's not crazy shimmer though, more of a metallic, and is just what I want for the inner corner of the eye. Like the girl at the Dior counter, it also looks lovely on the waterline- a little tip that wouldn't really have occurred to me!
All in all I think this is a great little product and I'm particularly keen on this colour which you can get herehere. It's a new release and Boots were already running out when I got there so I'd get my money at the ready ASAP if I were you! At £4.99 I'm not really surprised they're proving to be so popular.

Review- Clinique colour surge eye shadow quad

Hello everyone!

 Today I thought I'd get back to talking about some of my favourite make-up products. I have to admit now that I totally love eyeshadow. For some people it's lipstick, but for me it's all about the shadow. I just love that through blending and shading you can completely change the effect and shape of the eye. Shadow can look quite dressy though, so for every day wear I stick to my absolute must have nude palette.




My ever so old, and slightly battered, Clinique palatte



I know everyone raves about Urban Decay's 'Naked' palettes, and this is certainly something I'm going to invest in soon and give a whirl, but I haven't got it yet because I simply haven't felt the need to. My lovely Mum bought me Clinique's Colour Surge Eye Shadow Quad in 111 choco-latte years and years go, and I've been so happy with it I've never really bothered to look round for anything different (hence my tardiness with the naked palette).

The Clinique website advertises this palette as 'pale beige with a deep muted brown, a golden taupe, and a midtone shimmering red brown' and claims that it is suitable for any skin tone. Generally I find in palettes that there's one slightly odd colour that you never touch, but not with this one. If there is one that I use less, it's probably the more red toned shadow. Having said this, I still use it plenty but usually for a more evening look rather than day time- probably because of my skin tone. They all complement each other perfectly and can be blended on used alone.

 As I said, I've had my palette for years now, and you can see that I'm nowhere near the bottom. They just last really well! They're well pigmented, build well, and blend easily. I never get any sort of fall out when using this either and it lasts well all day.

As you can see, you get two little brushes with this. If I'm getting ready in the morning I would always use my own brushes so I can use multiple colours and blend well. If I'm out on the move though, the brush provided is fine for providing washes of colour. I don't really think any in palette brushes are particularly marvellous, but this one does a fair job.

The casing is also pretty, yet substantial and this has handled being bashed about in handbags and make up bags for years. I like that the whole of the lid is mirrored rather than an unnecessary boarder which shrinks mirror size. I also really like that on the Clinique website itself they offer video tutorials on how to use the product, and recommendations of what colours will suit your skin tone. I find I trust Clinique to provide products that won't upset my skin or cause any negative reactions- the website seems to me to provide an additional nice touch.

All in all, I really love this palette. My precise colour seems to be fairly unavailable, but Debenhams offer the same palette in different nude colours for £25 here. I know there are eye shadow quads out there for less money, but how well this has lasted considering I wear it pretty much every day is testimony to me that it is worth it. I don't think Clinique always gets the press it deserves for what are trusty and attractive make up products and I urge you to give them a go.

Review- Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation

In the past I've always been just a normal foundation kind of girl. Nothing fancy with no real special effects. When I ran out of my trusty Clinique foundation, however, I decided that I just wanted a bit more. I wanted that gorgeously illuminated and dewy looking skin that quite frankly is a million miles away from the reality that lies underneath my make up.

 When I saw YSL's promise that their Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation is  'The magic light of Touche Éclat in a foundation' I pulled out my happy dance and trotted off to my nearest Debenhams to get my colour match done.

The conclusion? I really do think YSL deliver on all their promises. It does illuminate and highlight contours and consequently photographs like a dream. They also claim that 'with no opaque powders, its perfecting texture evens the complexion', which it certainly does. Whether or not it is this lack of 'opaque powders', this foundation really does feel ever so light when it goes on the skin and simply refuses to be cakey.



Example of the finish in photographs



 When putting it on, it's quite runny and so I have found it best to apply from my nose and eye area outwards with fingers. Then I buff it in with my foundation brush once it's settled a little more. I have found that because it's so very liquid you can get brush marks left behind if you go in all guns blazing with a brush.

On a side note, it also has a delicious scent as you apply it that makes me feel like I'm on my holidays. It doesn't hang around and turn your face into a glorified perfume bottle thank goodness, but it does just make the application a bit more enjoyable and the product feel all the more luxe. Call me a packaging pervert, but the weight of the gorgeous glass bottle and gold pump finish complete the whole affair. If you're not careful though the pump gets a bit carried away with its own marvellous-ness (yes, this is now a word), and you end up with rather more product than you bargained for!

This costs £28 which is a little pricey but I think well worth it for a foundation that you can forget you're wearing because it's so light, and looks great. You can find it here!

If there's one piece of advice...

You may think I'm a little bit barmy, but a good friend of mine who took me under her wing when I was about ten gave me a few rules to live my life by. As I've got older these are rules that I've generally tried to take on board. They are: