Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Mid Weeklies

Last Week, simply


It's all about the Spring 2012 Makeup collection.

Lots of pretty faces or even more cute furry ones to promote a large amount of gorgeously toned and fresh makeup. Looking at the trend I see romantic moods and soft peachy hues take the main stage. The best antidote to the (return of the) less optimistic economic times.

I have lots of lemmings indeed...I kept modest and ordered only one eyeshadow from the Kose Addiction line. I fell in love with Chanel Flirt lipstick, but haven't purchased it yet, and am looking forward for the moment Burberry Spring 2012 will be launched.

Overall, it's spring...at least in the makeup-world (that's quite good already)

Monday, 16 January 2012

Burberry Lip Definer in Rosewood 07

I am quite happy with the Burberry beauty products being available in Holland. I remember scheduling my whole London trip on the mere premises of visiting Harrods, which was mainly for the Burberry counter.

The beauty addict in me now has fewer miles to travel for it, or can even let it deliver at home.

My latest acquisition is not that exiting, but still exiting to me: the Burberry lip pencil in Rosewood 07.
 Lip-pencils are the working horses of the makeup-spectrum. They should make your lips look more perfect (slightly bigger/smaller/symmetrical) without being obvious-unless you aspire to have the mid-90 look (eg looking at some Baywatch 'actors').

Moreover, it is easy to get it wrong when going for a lip-pencil. One that is too soft will have the tendency to fade/get blotchy or dissapear into the (beginning) finer lines of the mouth...ouch. One too hard cannot position the colour right, or worse, the pulling around the mouth just creates new lines.
Burberry Definer: pencil sharpener included
And then there is the issue of colour. Often we are told to match it with your lipstick but is that really necessary? It is, according to MAC latest Tour De Fabulous Collection , but basically you can work with a pencil that comes close to your own lipcolour to correct what you want to correct; The lipstick will take care of the colour you would like to have.

I had two colours that matches me closely in Burberry: 03 Sepia (with some shimmer) and 07 Rosewood. In the store I went they didn't have Sepia anymore, so I picked Rosewood instead.

My habit of sizing up:
Burberry Lip Definer vs Chanel Precision Lip Definer
 Burberry pencils are rather large. I put it next to my Chanel Precision Lip Definer in Naturel. Burberry is quite bigger, but Chanel has a handy lipbrush extended.

Because I have Chanel already included, I will show you swatches of them both. However, (you'll see), Chanel Naturel will come in handy  later.

Swatch: Chanel Precision LL in Naturel & Burberry LL in Rosewood
Because Burberry has quite some colours in their spectrum with the name Rosewood, I will show you why a rose(wood) isn't always the same, even though they share the same name.

My lipstick in Rosewood:

Swatches of the 2 pencils and the Rosewood lipstick:

Exactly, doesn't the Chanel lip definer in Naturel look like a better and closer match than the Burberry lip definer in Rosewood?

The Rosewood lip-liner is also quite matte and a lot cooler-toned (mauve spectrum of the Rose). I do not mind this for matching the natural colour of the mouth, but it doesn't seem too consistent of Burberry to make the colours among the same name quite different in colour.

For the rest I believe Burberry lippencils are a close to perfect in quality. They are not too hard but neither too soft. Moreover, they hardly fade and if they do after quite some time (6-7 hours) it does not appear to go blotchy.

Overal, an semi-expensive working horse (€ 18) but quite worth it.

Saturday, 14 January 2012

Beauty Spotter: NARS Spring collection on Euro-site

My title is quite explicatory. Yesterday the collection wasn't there yet and today it arrived:

Temptalia has swatched and reviewed it (here), Karen swatched these (here), the beautycafe has pictures of the products (here).

Personally, I'm drawn to the fun and slightly fuschia Mexican Rose lip pencil, the Bilbao lipstick looks nice but I'm not completely drawn to NARS formula. The Paramaribo duo eyeshadow looks extra tempting because the Netherlands have a (Colonial -shame shame) past with Surinam and the colours really represent the natural beauty of the capital of Surinam, Paramaribo.

The blush will leave some (cool toned) ladies have their heart beat faster, and although quite a unique colour, I think I will skip upon a bubblegum pink colour.

What are you planning to get from the NARS Bright Bold Iconic range?

Beauty Spotter: Lunasol spring 2012 collection

I spotted some of the Lunasol Sping 2012 collection on adambeauty.

 This will probably their most anticipated product, the eyeshadow quads. Quite beautiful and in a range of soft colours:


Still, I wait for other reviews to come in to see if I will get me a quad.  I found some swatches over here and here plus Yuki has swatched the whole collection. The 01 Sweet Peach looks really lovely.


Also, a couple of new colours in the cream cheek range has been launched, EX5 Rose Coral, EX6 Pink Coral and EX7 Coral Orange (here).

A new blush product has been launched as well, allthough I don't like the cheap packaging that reminds me too much of Benefit blush (but with the Lunasol pricetag). 

What I haven't seen is the eyebrow pencils, the lipgloss, the lipstick and the nailpolish. I've spotted the eyebrow pencils, the tube lipgloss & the lightning eyes on gooddealer.com (put Lunasol in the search column). The rest (lipstick, other lipglosses) will probably be launched soon.

Adambeauty has them in now so it might be something for you.

Wishlist collection Spring 2012

I am quite delighted with the new spring-colour featured with Asian and Western brands. They are released in the late winter, which, just like a snowdrop, gives you hope for spring to arrive.

One of my favourite collection must be the one from Kose Addiction: The Sand Castle edition

Perhaps I like this collection because it hints more towards summer than spring.

Moreover, the dusty, duny, sandy colours are so gorgeous. And I know Kose Addiction is stellar in making an excellent formula.

For more upcoming collections of new Spring collections I would advise to look at Rougedeluxe (here), who is always ahead of the newest releases.

For me it will be a matter of patience and frequently visiting ichibankao and mihokoshop for the SandCastle edition to launch.  Yikes, they are already there on ichibankao!!!!

I really like Bobbi Brown Rose Collection too, but for Addiction value I like the look of this one the most right now...

Ps: What is your ultimate spring 2012 lust-have item/collection?

Friday, 13 January 2012

Percy & Reed Discovery Collection: the Marvellous Moisture version

Today I'm going to do a mini-review on the Percy & Reed 6 Piece Discovery set in the Moisture version I got myself before Christmas:

Talking about hair-products isn't my favourite part of beautyblogging. My hair is kind of simple because it is really long and doesn't require 'wild' experimentations with volume or curls.

I often skip straightening or curling devices for the sheer reason the texture of my hair is too stubborn to hold anything for more than 1 hour. If I do experiment with curling tongs: I usually go all Cinderella and dissapear within an hour. ...Seriously, because they hair will become more of a pumpkin pie.

Haha, not very handy for my social life, though. But I admire the bobbed and layered, and curled and short-haired ladies a lot. Nevertheless, knowing I tried most of those too, and still had ridiculously stubborn hair and the same Cinderella-complex decided me to go for the easiest option to be simple and long. (Even when I had a hairdresser's friend & short hair the hair was still a nuisance and the friend just had to come with me clubbing for maintainance only, kidding, I enjoyed the company too)

A mini-review, but still one of 6 products so this will be a longer post.

I got interested in trying Percy & Reed after the glorious review of worshipofblues. QVCuk.com had this set listed but it was out of stock for a while. When it got there again, I was fast enough to purchase it.

The attraction of these products are aesthetic as well. I love the retro design and simple colour scheme, the front, and most of all the long-haired, carefree ladies on the packaging. It kind of makes me believe these hairdressers are not about making all women have a dramatic haircut...And the girl on the Finishing Polish is sporting a cute bob, so it's not about the long-haired ladies alone either...


Right, you see 5 products of the 6 products set. So here is no 6 and I'm starting with that one:
Percy & Reed Bodyfing Cream
1.Percy & Reed Bodifying Cream

Superstar and Supersized, and the girl on the packaging declares "let's create a bit of a do".
Volumizing products can be somewhat problematic: they might create volume but sometimes you have to give up on the shine (mattifying powders such as Schwarzkop Osis or some dodgy mousses) or they create more birdnest volume than Jerry Hall volume or Rosie Huntington-Withely volume:

Jerry Hall in the 70s with glam 70s hair

Modern Bombshell Rosie Huntington-Whitheley with some serious volume
Results: Some volume, but not as dramatic as with Kerastase Volumactiv Mousse. It works well in conjuction with other volumisers and the thin-hair serum. It also is rather smoothing so it can keep the hair both smooth and a bit thicker.

 2. The Finishing Polish (Quite Franky Flawless)
The Alexa Chung bob-lookalike declares "Caution, may turn heads".

Overall, quite some promises to declare that it will simply make your hair flawless. More expectations are raised at the description on the back of the tube:

Result:
Somewhat similar as the Bodifying potion, only without bodifying...;P. Seriously, it makes the hair a bit smoother but isn't a miracle saver for dryer ends, although it does smooth them a little.



3. Session Hold hairspray (reassuringly firm)

Before my opinion, check out the videos the duo of this haircare range have made themselves of this product (here)
Description:
Result:
I kind of like hairsprays that give a softer result. You know the kind of hairsprays that are excellent in giving helmet-hair dos or the ones that are perfect for teased hair, this ain't that kind. It's a softer hairspray that looks invisible (only shiny) in the hair. And this travel-sized can with that cute outfit girl is so cute it will become one of the things I will put in my bag more often.

4/5. Splendidly Silky Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioners

The shampoo/conditioning twins, and they also look like twins when I put them next to each other:

Percy & Reed Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner
More promises and a detailed description of the ingredients:


Results:
For a product that aims to target more moisture, I wasn't really impressed. It isn't drying or such, but I believe similar priced ranges such as L'oreal Expert are much better in delivering moisture and keeping the hair soft. The conditioner, especially, is really thin and not really moisturizing on the dryer parts. This would be better for normal to oily hair, in my opinion.

6. The No Oil Oil (Smoothed, Sealed & Sensational) for thick hair

The product that got me in (thanks worshipofblues) in the first place. And a lovely oxymoron, the no oil oil. Indeed, it is simply a silicony serum and not an oil at all (thinking of oils such as Kerastase Elixir Ultime, Morrocan Oil, Shu Uemura Essence Absolue)
Result:
A lovely serum, but I actually prefer the one they have for thin hair (I have that one as well). Perhaps that has to do with my hair being not so thick anymore.

Sheet and description/ingredients of all the products in the set (click for larger view)



Overal conclusion:

I enjoyed using the set for discovery, duh, that is what it is called and what it is for. My favourites are the Hairspray and the Serum for thinner hair. Those could be repurchases.
The Bodyfying Cream is lovely too, but I want to try some more concoctions with other hairproducts to see how that works out, volumewise.
I will probably use up the Finishing Polish too.
As far for the shampoo/conditioner? Less impressed than the other products


Moreover, I want to say the products are strongly fraganced in a sort of cheaper version of Balenciaga Paris perfume. I really like that product so that is no gripe to me when I combine it with that perfume. It lingers quite long too, I even smelled in on my third day (yes people, dry shampoo and an unsocial weekend).
So, eventually the stronger perfume is a bit of a gripe to me. It isn't so obvious in some of the products, such as the serum and the hairspray, but the bodifying cream/finishing polish are really strong scented.
I enjoyed using the set for discovery, duh, that is what it is called and what it is for. My favourites are the hairspray and the serum for thinner hair.

I bought them on QVCUK.com for £20.28 and they ship to Europe for a reasonable fee. I picked the moisture set, but they have a volume set as well (that is the one with the thinner hair serum).

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Mid Weeklies

Houston, we have our second week of 2012...


1. The trotting Rooster...
Somehow I am into Rooster-metaphors and sayings, and one of the better ones is from Nigeria: "A rooster does not sing on two roofs". Actually, it is a Ntomba proverb, and I tried to search google but I couldn't find a good description. 
Somewhat, I think it is about multitasking and considering the rooster is a male animal we all know that men shouldn't multitask...haha. Perhaps it is about infidelity, but somehow I do not think so.
After all, in our culture the rooster is the early bird, and perhaps I am a bit of an early bird myself...


2. Makeup and hair inspiration (or impossiblitity)
I really like her Veronika Lake-curls and I wonder how I would do such a glossy and groomed interpretation of that on my own hair. Perhaps with those set-in curlers my mum used to have.
I love the contradiction of her heavier madeup eyes and the pale lipstick, but somehow I cannot pull of pale lipstick myself, so I declare a full-on copy of her makeup an impossibility as well, but at least I will try with a neutral but more colourful lip...