Givenchy Newbies

G is for Givenchy 

 I finally got my hands on the Givenchy portable compact foundation/highlighter Teint Couture:

I still like my La Prairie for on the road, but I've been hitting pan so I was eager to stock up on the latest Givenchy.

I just love the gwp I've received: a dinky sequin pouch with a Teint Matissime (love that one) and a Givenchy lipgloss.

Also, I'm still a superfan of their Le Rouge lipsticks. I couldn't resist picking up a trio-set during travelling. And for modernity sake- a superblurry & overfiltered instagram picture:

 

(Why go for a clear 2000 px photo when you can have misty #instagram)

Beige Plume 102 is everything I always wanted a nude lipstick to be: absolute Brigitte Bardot kitten-ness. About 99.9% of any beige/nude lipsticks either washes me out or I get the dreaded 'born-with-no-lips'-look that happens when you are not a part of the Angelina Jolie-poutiness crowd. My lips are more of the Diane Kruger or Gwyneth Paltrow variety, which is not that much: we have to work our eyes & hair a bit more.

Anyway, Diane Kruger is also wearing a nudish lipstick with a pink tone similar to Beige Plume: I guess some undetectable (but correcting) lippencil as well. A subtle lip makes her eyes stand out even more. I really like that hint of terracotta/orange above the moving eyelid (gotta try that one soon)

gah, any facialist that could make my closeups look like that can have my future unborn child

 Gwynneth is opting for a deeper beige/pink and a good amount of gloss: I just love putting my Rouge Bunny Rouge "Uncaged Tigress" on top of the Givenchy Beige Plume for a similar effect: the beige makes a good foil to make the 'Tigress' sparkle (or perhaps roar?).

I already had Rose Boudoir 204 and I do not mind a backup of this stunning rosy pink hue. As for Rose Tafettas: I like the peachy undertone and will have to search my stash if I have sisters or twins.

Givenchy is becoming more and more a favourite brand of mine. I am eyeing up their Mister Radiant primer/glowifyer. And ofcourse the limited Xmas edition of Le Rouge Rose Précieux that I tested last week (check it on MostlySunny here)

Lotree haul:

A couple of days ago I blogged about my new Lotree haul. I will show you the items I got in the Lovely  Faceline set:

Lotree Crazy Orange is a cheek/liptint in a transparant but vivid colour of orange. It is not Lotree's first time making a cheektint. I still have their Cherry bling Liquid Rouge (see below):

They are not of similar opacity: The Cherry Bling is of a more opaque quality whereas the Crazy orange is a rather transparent colour: UPDATED: Lotree crazy orange actually shows up quite well when layering two thin layers.

I think I prefer the deeper opacity of the former Cherry Bling, but I still consider the Crazy orange to be a cute additional colour for the cheeks, for example when pairing up with my orange-toned Burberry Coral lipgloss.

I think the colour is too transparent and too gel-like for lips, but it has a Cool-aid sort of taste so if you do it, it will taste like children's lollipops (in orange).

Secondly, the Longlash Eye Tention Serum is aimed to make lashes grow naturally

My understanding of Korean is quite limited, but like the Latisse products and the other eyelash growth serum it is probably best to use it once a day when the lashes are free of mascara and other makeup. I will keep you updated and plan to look back on it in a couple of months.

The Lotree Moisture Skin Primer Pact in 23 is actually not a primer, but a post-er. Ehm, to be used after base foundation as a powder (according to this site)

It is formulated with licorice, mineral powder, amino acid derivatives and other powder essences, making it a gentle yet skincare-enhancing powder.

Blush, my fave item! The Rosa Davurica Cheek came in 3 colours: there was no explanation or colour swatch of what colour was what, so I randomly picked no 3.

secret layer containing mirror & brush

It turned out to be the bronzer-type colour: slightly flecked with glitter and in beautiful title pattern:

The glitter is not too noticable and the bronzer turns out rather subtle when layered with my NARS Yachiyo brush  (will make better skinswatch soon)

Lotree Davurica Cheek 3

Last, but not least...a creamy eyepencil in a beautiful navy/purple hybrid: Violet DarkBlue Gel Pencil Eyeliner

 I really loved the colour and the texture of the eyepencil:

Until....

Geeeh, the pigmentation of the blue/purple/violet sparkles is more of an overlayer on a black undercolour. That is not a big problem, if only the multicolour of violet/blue/sparkles would stay on consistently: now it fades in the end, making the pencil not really suitable for blending.

Conclusion: I really like this haul although it has some hits and some misses. The blush-that-is-bronzer has already been used a couple of times to warm up my skin & to shade where there should be cheekbones/thinner nose...So that one is a hit so far. I know I shouldn't blend my eyepencil if I want it to appear in that gorgeous multiflecked navy/purple with reddish sparkles. I have been ordering the finishing powder before and I know I like it. I cannot tell anything about the eyelash serum yet. As for the Crazy Orange cheekgel, that one is probably more gimmicky for me than it would be a regular staple, but sometimes a girl likes something frivolous to alternate in the makeup-routine.

Small pre-birthday haul: Illamasqua bronzer, blush, powder

It is time to jump on the beauty blogger's bandwagon and investigate what Illamasqua is all about. The first time I encountered some information about Illamasqua was thanks to glowchaser's blog, which was about 8 months ago. I almost immediately fell in love with the 20th century era/flapper-esque imagery.

Now, after 8 months and reading what seems like a million reviews I finally caved and placed a small order. I often keep my first orders small, as I always want to see how the service, delivery and other things will work out before I am going to 'donate' my precious euros to a new brand and company. They should be worth it!

The company did not dissapoint. I received a sultry black envelope with their goodies within two weeks time. They also added a booklet with product pictures and even more gorgeous makeup pictures.

Let me return to the sultry image of Illamasqua. Illamasqua does not cater for the woman/girl who is looking for natural beauty. Anyway, Illamasqua seems to keep a certain philosophy that they consider natural beauty to be overrated...if you fake it...fake it all the way...

Illamasqua's logo

However, being a 'natural' makeup girl, I still believe that Illamasqua has some lovely items that are fantastic for making you look like yourself, but better. At least, the colours that I picked were really natural and the pigment is so fine that you will not have that caky/fakey look.

My small haul consisted of a Duo Bronzer in colours Glint/Writhe, a cream blush in Pixie and a pressed powder in PP 210.

1. Duo Bronzer in Glint/Writhe (Sirens Collection 2009)

Bronzer products are a fave of mine during the summer holidays (see these posts). I have found a couple of bronzers that come very close to HG status, but I like a variety of bronzers for different purposes.

I remember seeing a picture of Illamasqua duo bronzer on cosmeticcandy.com, and they were absent of scary orangy or overtly baked hues. When it arrived I was delighted....

I received a rather large compact with two flattering shades of colour. I compared the size with a Mac blush compact, so you can visualize the size.

The next picture is made in natural light. I especially love the left side of the compact, which gives such a flattering light, glowy colour. The right side (Writhe) is darker, but not thát obviously dark-that-you-look-p##ped-over colour.



This close up shows the shimmers, which are NOT NARS-like and big, but subtle and glowing.


I still have the memory of the J-Lo-era, when bronzy and glowy was the best thing ever. This is a subtle way to achieve the look she was sporting then.

Ugh, the natural light was so cold, so I only have the next swatch pic to share with you (of natural light). I think it only functions to show the glowy texture. The top colour is the darkest colour: I have tried it as a shader with a light hand, and I found it looking flattering in a glowy, bronzy way.

And a swatch with flash....My inner arm is always so much paler than my upper arm and face. On the one side I wish I could have maintained that same paleness as my inner arm, on the other hand, I was able to travel a bit into the world (and consequently tanned during travelling -> sunscreen was not thát heavily applied in the ol' days as nowadays) so I consider my slightly darker face as a token of life-experience/fun.

Overal, I find it a very natural product/colours, which means that Illamasqua caters for both the dramatic makeupistas as the naturalistas.

2. Pressed Powder in PP 210

I always find it difficult to review a foundation or powdered product. What works for one person can be totally off for another person. And what about the swatches? I think it is really hard to make swatches that could be helpful for a variety of skintones.

I will still give it a shot ;D, though.

I haven't looked that much to the packaging yet, so I will take a closer inspection right now. You will receive the powder in a black box, very basic.

Inside, they separated the powder puff from the compact. The powder puff, unfortunately, cannot be put in the compact either. I do not know what to think about that. I do not use powder puffs that often for application of powder, as I find the method with a soft brush to give a better result. However, I usually choose a pressed powder for the reason that I will carry it around with me on the road. So, I think I would have found it more handy to have a powder puff that you can put inside the compact as well.



That was my minor rant. I have showed you the logo of Illamasqua in the beginning of the post, and here it is again. I love the shape of the compact, like a nipped in waist, very feminine.


When opening the compact you will see the standard mirror.



I swatched the product quite heavily to get a good impression of the colour, but it is not that cakey in real life. As I explained earlier, my face is darker than my arm, so the colour is not too dark. Instead, I am really delighted with the colour and it is a PERFECT match for my skin at this moment!!! I love my Japanese and Korean cosmetics, but I find them catering for yellow toned skin often, so I do not receive a perfect match foundation-wise. The Illamasqua PP 210 is cool enough to match my face...so I can apply it without being afraid of skipping parts (and look totally mismatched colourwise).

I still believe that certain Japanese brands provide better texture. For example, I am very enthralled with my RMK powder foundation EX in 102, but although the deepness of the colour is really right, it is still a tad too yellow.

Again, I am comparing apples with pears, because I haven't been able to test the powder foundation of Illamasqua in this colour. However, I hope to receive and review that one soon, as I already placed another happy Illamasqua order...

3. Cream Blush in Dixie

Blush, blush, blush...I have so many of them. Normally, I favour powdered blush over cream blush. That has to do with the fact that I use powdered foundation more often than liquid foundation.

On the happy days that my skin behaves thát well that I can go out without foundation, or at times when I prefer to wear liquid foundation, I prefer cream blush over powder for a more dewy effect.

I have read so many raves on the cream blush of this brand that I was willing to buy another cream blush. The packaging of the cream blush, in contrast of the compact powder, has a window for showing the product and colour. I picked Dixie, as it was described as the most natural, rosy/corally and foolproof of all the blushes.

Compare compare...my dears....It is pretty large, don't you think? (same Mac blush compact as before)

The weather was not hot at all when I received the package. Nevertheless, the blush 'sweated' a bit.

Ohhh, I loveeeeeee this colour....Love, love, love it. Have I already told you that I love this colour? Yes yes yes, it is summery goodness of the perfect pinky coral!

a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVs5x1ulb0TUY4ro7C51wJzW4IyuMCdZ_YBEgKDEQYYhnDIupvHfYa5Atf923xif4MgwLRhVsD0vNgSjJJDms7eReSHN8mXwUB-n_PwFEXfIhp8VmKdkkkXAK5bkg6c5Oc0Kf9puyQ4-o/s1600-h/dixie.jpg">
It is such a fantastic blendeable blush...it blends like a dream, even on not-so-perfectly-flawless skin like mine. I have some faded acne scars, which are so much less than they used to be, but are still a tad visible. Some lesser quality blush, especially creams, tend to 'sit' in the inperfections. Not this baby.


Moreover, it gives my cheeks such a soft, dewy appearance...I think it is youth in a small compact!

I was so glad with the result that I even made a cheek picture of it...however, I chickened out and deleted the picture. (sorry dears).

Overall, what a delightful haul! I will be waiting eagerly for my next haul to come in. I have ventured on other products this time, but you will read about it soon, if everything goes well.

(oh, and yes...I will be celebrating my birthday in a week from now...teehee...)