I Got *That* Haircut

I went for a long overdue trip to the hairdressers on Friday. It wasn't a salon I had been to before and in the run up to the appointment I felt a mixture of excitement and nerves. I have to admit, as all I wanted was a tidy up, I really thought there was little chance it could go wrong. I was obviously mistaken...

This is how I thought the consultation went...

Hairdresser: "So, what are we doing today?"
Me: "Just a little tidy up please. I haven't had it cut for about 6 month so it needs a bit of re-shaping but I'd like to keep the length."
Hairdresser: "So you'd like to keep the layers long then?"
Me: "Yes, I'm not keen on short layers as my hair tends to puff out with short layers".
Hairdresser: "What about a side-fringe?"
Me: Slightly panic-stricken look "No fringe thank you."
Hairdresser: "Ok, we'll just do a bit of shaping around the face then."

Unfortunately this is what the hairdresser heard...

Hairdresser: "So, you want the mushroom effect, layered 'Rachel' cut that you've been given for the past 15 years despite what you asked for?"
Me: "No thanks, it makes me look stupid."
Hairdresser: "Ok, I'll give you the 'Rachel' cut."

I sat in the chair. The trim before the blow dry looked ok. My hair was dried and the layering commenced! My heart sank as I realised what was happening. I was just about to say something when someone came over to tell the stylist that her next client had arrived early and before I knew it, I was being ushered out of the chair.

Although I specifically said no short layers, I have had a layer cut all the way around about level with bottom of my ears. It's like some kind of bob-mullet. I have been given this haircut so many times, I already know that I hate it. I know I'm not alone in receiving this particular style either so I rather assume it must be a taught style or it's particularly easy to do. However, for me as a person it's neither flattering not does it suit the way my hair falls naturally. I washed and dried it this morning and as I had anticipated, my hair mushrooms out around my ears, goes back in and then flicks out Andy Pandy style at my shoulders.

THE EVIDENCE

The mullet shot

14 years earlier, it still didn't do me any favours. At least the makeup has improved!

I'm not sure what the remedy is for this particular hair disaster. I could go back and complain (I still might) but for now I can't see an easy way to correct it. I think I'll have to suck it up and wait for the shortest layers to reach below my jaw and then have it cut into a bob again. Sadly it has done nothing to help my hairdresser nerves.

I will just leave you with what Jennifer Aniston recently said of the 'Rachel' to American Allure.

'I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen,'. 'What I really want to know is, how did that thing have legs?'

Right, I'm off to look for some hair manure. Or maybe just a big hat!

My Giveaway Winner is.....

..............PRODUCT PIXIE!!

Congratulations PP and thank you so much to everybody that entered. I will running my blog birthday giveaway quite soon so stay tuned for more prizes!

Have a lovely weekend x

Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain in Rouge

I couldn't wait to try the new Hourglass Cheek Stains and put an order in at the beginning of this week. I wasted no time in trying it out when it arrived. In actual fact, the day the order arrived I couldn't wait to try both of my new blushers so I went around wearing Becca Turkish Rose on one side and Hourglass Rouge on the other. Shameful really but you know, it was all in the name of research.

I'm worn Rouge a couple of times this week and think I've tested it enough to share my initial impressions. I really like the design of these sticks. Once primed, you can use the material applicator to apply colour directly to the cheeks. I've tended to dot it on with the applicator on to the apple of my cheeks and then used my fingers to blend it out and up towards my temples. The stain has a nice texture, it's a slightly viscous liquid so has a light gel/cream feel rather than being a runny liquid. There's room for manouver too as it doesn't sink straight in. I used to have a Body Shop cheek and lip stain and that dried so quickly it was difficult to achieve anything approaching a natural flush.

The colour is a sheer pinky red. Calling it Rouge could be slightly off-putting as it suggests something darker but I find this does give a natural rosy flush and it isn't as purple hued as other cheek stains I've tried. The colour lasts very well. It's still been there when I've taken my makeup at the end of the day. I also find it works equally well whether applied to bare skin or over foundation.

The Aura cheek stain comes in two other colours: Flush, a sheer red and Petal, a sheer corally pink. I think that Petal looks very pretty and I think it would look great on more tanned skin. Hourglass also released three lip stains, Petal, Flush and Scarlet. It's possible these could double as cheek stains also but I wasn't really tempted by the prospect of a lip stain. My lips are frequently dry and I think a stain can really highlight flaws if your lips aren't in perfect condition.

This is definitely another winner for me from Hourglass. I hear there are palettes coming soon and I'm really looking forward to trying these. You can see more details here from the Adrienne Vittadini Fall 2011 show. The Aura cheek stains cost £32 each, the lip stains are less expensive at £19 and both are available from Zuneta who ship worldwide.

Edit:
List of Ingredients
WATER, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERIN, DIPHENYLSILOXY PHENYL TRIMETHICONE, PEG-10 DIMITHICONE, DIMETHICONE, NEOPENTYL GLYCOL DICAPRATE, NEOPENTYL GLYCOL DIETHYLHEXANOATE, POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE, SORBITAN SESQUIISO-STEARATE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, TOCOPHEROL, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, DIISOSTEARYL MALATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM CITRATE, BARIUM SULFATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN. May contain: IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), MICA (CI 77019), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), ULTRAMARINES (CI 77007), RED 30 (CI 73360).

It's Rebecca's Friday Confessional

This Friday's confession post comes from Rebecca of itsrebecca blog. She seems like such a lovely girl, I can't see how she could possibly have anything to confess. You may want to look away though if you suffer anxiety at the mention of face wipes....

Confession is good for the soul, go ahead and unburden yourself! I promise I won’t judge.

Okay! Well, I guess my first confession should be about my hair... I’m quite proud of it nowadays but it never used to be this good! My hairs very fine and I grew up with a boring bob so as soon as I had any input in the style, I wanted to grow it. And then dye it! A fine, flyaway, frizzy, PURPLE mop is never a good look at 14! It took me years to realise that my hair is best shorter and a natural colour.

Secondly, my skin. It has taken a battering. I never had a skin care routine but used to think caking powder foundation (pinched off my step mum so probably the wrong shade as well!!!) all over my spotty face was a good idea. No base, not even concealer, and there was never talk of cleanser, toner or moisturiser until about 2 years ago. And even now I’d rather have a quick wipe round with a face wipe than follow a proper routine!

You use face wipes?!

Then there are my nails. They were bitten to within an inch of their life, until I got my hands on some bright yellow Barry M nail varnish. I looked like I smoked 40 a day but at least I stopped biting my nails. I don’t seem to be able to stop pecking at the skin around them though.

My final confession is the one that make me cringe the most. Bright green or pink eyeshadow, ALL over my quite large eyelids, and thick, black, uneven eyeliner. I was 15 when this ‘look’ was apparently in, and I remember buying the eyeshadow’s from H’n’M and wearing them every single day without fail. I vaguely remember trying one colour on each eyelid... Oh dear :S

I knew I'd seen that look before...

There, don’t you feel better now?

A bit... Feel a bit sick thinking about the pink and green eyeshadow though...

Aunty Brown has a few more questions though; it’s true that I’m the nosy type.

When was the last time you visited the hairdresser?

Before Christmas, which for someone with short hair is quite bad and it is a proper mop at the mo, but hopefully by the time this is posted I will have had it cut as I have an appointment in a few days.

You have a choice: bad hair or bad nails?

Ooh...I’d have to say nails. Hair is seen before nails and, from experience of having both, bad nails are less traumatic for the general public!

What is the oldest item of make up in your collection?

It would be the black eyeshadow I purchased alongside the green and pink ones when I was 15-ish...

Which trend still makes you cringe?

The more I think about it, definitely the eyeshadow. But I still have a memory of me with really fine, frizzy purple hair and my nana’s funeral. I wonder what my family must have thought when I showed up like that! I’d be horrified now!

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Thank you Rebecca, I hope you'll forgive me for the Barb C picture! If you would like to take a turn and unburden yourself in the Friday Confessional you can email me at modestybrown@googlemail.com. It's open to everyone: if you have something to confess, I'm happy to hear it!

ColourB4 Results

It's been about five weeks since I dyed my hair and since it has shown almost no signs of fading and the grey roots have already started to reappear, I thought it was time to bring out the ColourB4. This is the second time that I have used ColourB4, I previously used it to sort out the colour build-up on the ends of my hair.

The idea of ColourB4 is that is removes colour from the hair (permanent and semi-permanent) by shrinking the colour molecules so that they are small enough to pass out of the hair follicle and be rinsed away. There are no bleaching agents involved, though I wouldn't necessarily know whether any of the solutions have the potential to damage hair. Although the idea is that it removes colour and takes you back to your original colour, it won't necessarily be your natural colour. Lots of permanent and semi-permanent dyes contain peroxide which can lighten the natural hair colour. So if you were a natural brown, you can find you end up a bit brassy or few shades lighter than you are naturally.

I have come across complaints about the smell. It doesn't bother me too much and I find it very reminiscent of perming solution. However, the smell is quite strong and as you need to be in a warm room for best results, it's probably a good idea to move somewhere more airy for the hour processing time. I wrapped my hair up in clingfilm once I had applied the solution to keep the heat in and avoid the issues of splatters.

What I find to be the biggest nuisance when using this is the rinsing stage. You have to rinse twice over, with a buffer stage inbetween, for a minimum of five minutes. This really feels like an eternity as you need to have your head directly under the stream of water massaging continuously for best results. In the instructions it suggests you use your mobile phone to time the five minutes, this recommendation sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me (mobile plus water equals broken phone in my book!). I asked my other half to tell me when my time was up instead.

Anyway, we'll get on to the bit you'll be most interested in. How does my hair look now?

BEFORE

AFTER

Well, it's definitely not black anymore! It's lighter than my natural colour and probably a touch more 'auburn' and lighter than it looks in the pictures. I haven't bought another box of dye yet and in fact I think I may wait a while and try and decide whether to get it coloured at a salon. In the meantime, I'm tempted to try a colour enhancing shampoo to tone down the brassiness. I wondered about the Aveda Black Mavala shampoo. I'm actually going to an Aveda salon to get my haircut tomorrow so might ask for some advice whilst I am there.

It doesn't seem to have damaged my hair particularly. My hair felt a bit dry after the colour stripping but I washed it this morning with L'Oreal Serie Expert Vitamino Colour shampoo and mask and my hair felt nice and soft again. I realise there's a terrible irony in my using colour protecting treatment in the circumstances but I really like this particular pair as they make my hair feel so nice. Considering the lack of fading, I would say these plus the Pureology Hydrate shampoo really do work to preserve the colour. It's just a shame it wasn't a colour I wanted to keep!


Disclosure: The L'Oreal and Pureology were sent to me by the PR officer for www.activebeauty.co.uk. I bought the ColourB4 myself from Boots

Guest Post: Eyeshadow - There and Back Again

Today I'm handing over the reins to the lovely and fabulously funny Debbie from This week I have mostly been loving. I was thrilled when Debbie accepted my offer to do a guest post, I knew she would write something entertaining and she hasn't disappointed me at all! Get ready for a journey to the 80's!

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When Jane suggested I might like to write a guest post for her blog on my eye shadow journey I was very excited, I hope I have done her terrific blog justice with this!

I was first interested in make up when I was 14, which was in 1980 (I am 44 to save you the math!) Even if you aren’t old enough to have been around in the 80’s you will know them as the decade of bad taste, big hair and stupid excess. My make up collection was no exception. My face was my canvas and there was no limit; a rainbow of eye shadow, bright pink blush and lashings of lippy – the whole dark eye, light lip or vice versa message had never even been thought of, more was more and less was pointless.

It is also worth mentioning that in the 1980’s I wore glasses. And had a perm. Does the name “Deirdre Rachid” mean anything to you?

Hot damn this is like looking in a mirror back in the 80’s!

Only I wasn’t happy with just having massive frames that covered my entire face, I had the whole beyond trendy “dropped” arm thing going on a la Dennis Taylor, snooker player!

Brace yourselves folks.

Yikes! This is my sister and I. Check out the nylon, plastic and hair spray, ladies I give you The Flammable Sisters! The very very good thing about this pic is that my sister looks just a teeny hint chubbier than me which is awesome as 10 minutes after this was taken she became a size 8 which she has retained through 3 pregnancies and into her 40’s. I think the least said about those glasses the better tbh.

My mum dug another pic out too that she thought I’d like to share:

Contact lenses now, phew. That eye shadow is from a Lancome duo that I bought when I was at sea and was earning a fortune, god I loved it. The lipstick would have been Lancome as I was always very matchy matchy. The eyebrows and ‘tache were all mine. Quite clearly before the idea of threading had taken off, working that perm too.

You will be glad to hear that in spite of all of this I still managed to get myself married and have a couple of kids. This is where I entered the wilderness years. I wore very little make up and pretty much gave up on how I looked which frankly I could ill afford to do!

In my 30’s I got back into make up and was a big fan of foundation and lipstick but as I was wearing glasses I just had a dash about with the mascara and left it at that most mornings. When I did get drawn to an eye shadow in Boots I generally wore it once before deciding that it just didn’t work and giving up. Oh the wasted years.

When I started reading beauty blogs there were lots of lovely photos of incredibly beautiful eye make up done on people that looked like Nicole Scherzinger and whilst they were stunning to look at they bore no resemblance to anything that I could ever have done on my eyes. Now on the odd occasion that I wore eye shadow I felt that I looked like a transvestite version of myself and had resigned myself to not bothering with eye shadow.

Then I found Modesty Brown and was immediately impressed by the fact that Jane’s choice of eye shadows were generally soft muted shades in a very wearable matt finish that was subtle, flattering and most importantly something I felt I could copy! It took me a while to realize that most of those soft muted shades were variations on a theme – browney taupe, plumey taupe, greyey taupe, taupey taupe. Jane is the Queen of Taupe!! I also liked that Jane tended to only apply her shadow to the mobile lid and this was the look that I first copied. Then I decided to be really out there and add a hint of dark liner to my upper lash line woah, getting totally carried away now! Immediately could see the improvement as my lashes are sparse and this helped give that area more impact. Then there was the whole UD NAKED palette thing – I drove everyone around me mad with my need for this palette and when I finally got it my eye shadow experimentation soared to new heights and I have recently had as many as four colours on one eye, check me out!

Two fantastic bits of eye advice that I have been given, firstly with regard to brows remember they are sisters, not twins – I was so glad to give up the battle for identical, symmetrical brows! And that adding a dark shadow into the crease and blending instantly makes your eyes look 10 years younger, I swear by this and after starting off copying Jane’s colour only on mobile lid tend now to keep my mobile lid pale and put the colour into the socket line. UDPP is fantastic and once my little bit from the NAKED palette is gone will be purchasing full size. Have a great eye liner brush, long with a very straight flat edge, which is terrific for applying shadow as liner which equals endless possibilities, also have a small liner brush which I really like for softening a pencil line drawn tight to top lashes, UD 24/7 pencil in Whisky is current fave for this as its much more wearable than black for my colouring, and age!

So that’s where I am up to now, back loving eye shadow and having fun again. I am a big fan of neutral shadow for a polished, grown up day look but having just bought my daughter the UD Preen palette have half an eye on Mildew, a lovely sludgy, gilded green, so who knows what my next EOTD might look like!

Thanks for giving me this opportunity Jane, it is much appreciated

Undereye Concealers

My undereye concealer stash!

I can't take credit for the idea behind this post. It actually came about from a conversation I had with Dempeaux on Twitter this morning. I mentioned that I'd had another broken night of sleep (to be honest it's the norm for me) and I joked that concealer would be required! I have alluded to the fact that I feel undereye concealer is an essential part of my routine before and I am forever on the hunt for 'the one'.

Touche Veloutee #01

My most recent acquisitions are the By Terry Touche Veloutee which I bought in the shade Porcelain 01 and Lancome Teint Miracle concealer in shade 02 which was sent to me for review. The other concealers shown here are RMK Super Basic Liquid Concealer in shade 01, Benefit Erase Paste in 01 Fair and MAC Moisturecover in NW20.

After a little breakout (never, ever use face wipes, not even in desperation) I decided to skip foundation and just apply concealer. Having worried previously that I had picked up Touche Veloute in shade that was too light for me, wearing it without base highlighted just how wrong the match was. It's very light and as it's quite pigmented it shows up clearly as you will see below.

Natural light

Flash

I was surprised when I swatched all of the concealers together just how much variation there is in the shades. The RMK is very yellow, the Lancome quite pink and MAC NW20 is very dark and peachy but with the exception of the Touche Veloutee, I think they all look OK once blended.

Touche Veloutee on the left

Touche Veloutee

Teint Miracle

L- Touche Veloutee, R - Teint Miracle

L- Touche Veloutee, R - Teint Miracle (with flash)

I find that the Touche Veloutee is only wearable when I apply it over foundation. It has a brightening effect that way but I only need tiny amount and as one click dispenses enough to cover a quarter of my face, there is a lot wastage. I find the Teint Miracle has a similar brightening effect without looking too light or obvious. The Teint Miracle is quite similar to YSL Touche Eclat so it's more sheer than the By Terry.

L - MAC Moisturecover R - RMK Super Basic Liquid

L - MAC Moisturecover R - RMK Super Basic Liquid (with flash)

MAC moisturcover and the RMK are the concealers I tend to choose most frequently. I think their undertones work better with my skin as they're not so pink. The RMK remains my favourite for both match and coverage, I still find it surprising that it works for me considering how yellow it is.

L - Erase Paste, R - Nothing

The Erase Paste is my least used. It's quite a 'sticky', thick formula and I find it's another that can look a little obvious on my skin. I think it does a good job of covering up the purple under my eyes though which I think you can see in the picture above.

As always I have a little list of other concealers I would like to try. Most notably RMS 'Un'cover Up, Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer and Becca Compact Concealer. What is your favourite concealer for the undereye area? Is it a product you rely on too?

Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia

I picked up this Chantecaille Lip Chic as part of a bundle on Ebay. I was very excited to try it as I had heard good things about the Lip Chic formula. I wasn't disappointed. This feels just like a balm on the lips, it's very comfortable and the moisturising feel lasted a long time on the lips.

The look and pigmentation is somewhere between a tinted lipbalm and a coloured lipgloss. That is to say, it's sheer but definitely adds colour to the lips. This particular colour, Zinnia, is a watermelon pink with very fine shimmer. I think it's quite a summery colour and would work well with quite minimal makeup in my opinion.

Although the feel last well on the lips, I'm not sure how long the colour lasts. On one occasion when I looked in the mirror I got the distinct impression that the colour had moved over my lip line. As much as I'd like to suggest it looked like I'd been eating berries in a seductive manner, it was a bit more Barabara Cartland-esque than I care to admit. I only spotted this the once so I'm hopeful that it was a one off, I will make sure I face check more regularly next time!

I'm interested to try more of these, particularly because of the lovely texture but at £27 I would have to be in a splurge mood. It certainly hasn't dampened my interest in those Sea Turtles....

My Favourite Reads This Week

The Modesty Brown household has turned in to the house of unfortunate illness at the moment. I suspect this weekend is going to involve a lot of blog reading and looking at pretty things to take my mind off the horrors. I may even indulge in a spot of online shopping. In the absence of FOTD or swatch photos to write about, I thought I would share with you some of my favourite reading from this week.

Image from weheartit.com

This week Makeup Magpie shares a first look at her Chantecaille Sea Turtles palette including a comparison to Chanel's Regard Perle. These look so beautiful and I believe they will be available in the UK in a couple of weeks.

I loved reading Grace London's guide to looking and feeling good as a new Mum. A subject very close to my heart and coincidentally how I discovered beauty blogs in the first place. Good makeup and beauty products really can get you through those early years!

Visionary Beauty reviews the new undereye concealer from the By Terry stable and compares it to Touche Veloutee. Interesting reading if you're currently considering purchasing one of these pen concealers.

Over at Cafe Makeup I was interested to get a first look at the new Hourglass Aura Cheek Stains. The cheek and lip stains have just arrived at Zuneta and the cheek stain in Rouge is definitely top of my shopping list this week!

Gaia at The Non-Blonde brings us the latest Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope, Smouldering Embarkment. It certainly looks like another beautiful combination of colours from LMdB. I shall be interested to hear if this will make it to British shores unlike the previous Holiday Kaleidoscope. As an aside, I really hope that Le Metier does return to the Selfridges website.

Always keen to learn about new brushes to try, I enjoyed reading about The Beauty Look Books favourite eye brushes. I've definitely added a few to my list to investigate.

I'm in the market for new foundation so I was very interested in Lipstick Rules post about DiorSkin Nude. With an extensive makeup collection finishing a product can be a bit of a rarity, so an empty bottle means praise indeed!

Get Lippie tells us about the new Guerlain Rouge Automatique lipsticks. I love the old yet new style and quite like the fact that they've named shades after other Guerlain classics. It sounds like the texture is superb too.

What has caught your eye this week? Are you planning any new purchases this weekend?

Sherrie Tells All!

This week Sherrie from Mirror Mirror On The Wall dishes the dirt on some of her past beauty indiscretions. Get ready to visualise the love child of Worzel and Aunt Sally.......

Confession is good for the soul, go ahead and unburden yourself! I promise I won’t judge.

I have always from a young age been excited about makeup! I remember having one of the Model Heads which came with a make-up kit and hair brush. Hands up who else had one? Blue eyeshadow and pink lips and matted hair was the usual look, on the doll not me of course.

When I was a teenager I had the worse skin ever, my face was full of spots thanks to my wild hormones. Luckily after walking through my local House of Fraser store I remember the Clinique consultant stopping me and doing the trusty tape test on my hand and gave me the 3 step sample pack to use. After using this, my skin totally changed, for the better. Who’d have thought that in years to come I too would be a consultant on the same counter!

I have had so many different hair colours and styles, from bleach blonde, red and orange! My most drastic style was the very famous Victoria Beckhams short cropped hair cut, the only problem was I have thick hair and so it resembled more like Katrina from Katrina and the Waves hair style! Who at the time won the Eurovision Song contest. A bit different from the very glamorous VB!

I am a total Makeup Magpie! I find it hard to throw anything away but once I finally overcome this I feel relief. I am so naughty and have become lazy when it comes to removing my mascara, I am using Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara and it’s a bugger to remove.

I hate my eyebrows they are so long and horrid and I have to keep them trimmed and tidy, I worry one day I may actually resemble Worzel Gummidge whilst on the other hand I have a weakness for blusher and quite often find myself looking like Aunt Sally! So there you go there’s no hope for me with eyebrows like Worzel Gummidge and cheeks like Aunt Sally.

Up this close, Worzel realised that Sally's 'lash extensions' were fooling no one.

There, don’t you feel better now?

Aunty Brown has a few more questions though; it’s true that I’m the nosy type.

When was the last time you visited the hairdresser?

September, for a trim and colour. I am really naughty and tend to go months without having a cut! I have now succumbed to home hair dye kits! Quicker and cheaper.

You have a choice: bad hair or bad nails?

Bad Nails, I actually don’t have any nails thanks to my 2 little cherubs!!! My poor hands take a beating but currently hoping my Nail Envy will help grow them!

What is the oldest item of make up in your collection?

A very old L’Oreal pink blusher which is totally cracked and housed within a broken case being hold together by a very old headband.

Which trend still makes you cringe? 

Ohh this is hard but I’m going to go with over plucked eye brows! That is a major no no and YES I am guilty of this but not anymore.

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Thank you for sharing Sherrie! You naughty thing not taking your mascara off, I'm shocked! I share your children = poorly hands and nails problem. I hope you have some success with the Nail Envy.

If you would like to take a turn and unburden yourself in the Friday Confessional you can email me at modestybrown@googlemail.com. It's open to everyone: if you have something to confess, I'm happy to hear it!

YSL Rouge Volupte #3 (Ultimate Beige)

I had a few questions about the lipstick I was wearing in yesterday's face of the day picture so I thought it might be useful to do some swatches and compare to some other colours that I already have.

I actually find it a little difficult to describe this colour. The Sephora website describe Ultimate Beige as a mauve taupe. As hilarious as that is for a known mauve taupe obsessive like me, I'm inclined to disagree a little. I would say this is a dark, peach toned nude. In fact I might go so far as to use the word orange but I think peach sounds less scary! However you choose to describe it, I think it looks much nicer on the lips than it might sound. I'm not sure it would suit all skin tones though and in fact this was a gift from a like-minded make fiend friend who found it didn't work for her.

It's a relatively unique colour in my collection but I thought it would be useful to compare to some other darker nude and flesh pink shades. I'm sorry I haven't labelled the pictures themselves but I was on a tight deadline! You can click on the pictures to enlarge.

From L-R: Hourglass Fresco, YSL Spicy Pink, Revlon Blush, MAC Blankety, MAC Cosmo, MAC Hug Me, YSL Ultimate Beige, Illamasqua Test

From L-R: Hourglass Fresco, YSL Spicy Pink, Revlon Blush, MAC Blankety, MAC Cosmo, MAC Hug Me, YSL Ultimate Beige, Illamasqua Test

From L-R: Hourglass Fresco, YSL Spicy Pink, Revlon Blush, MAC Blankety, MAC Cosmo, MAC Hug Me, YSL Ultimate Beige, Illamasqua Test

From L-R: Hourglass Fresco, YSL Spicy Pink, Revlon Blush, MAC Blankety, MAC Cosmo, MAC Hug Me, YSL Ultimate Beige, Illamasqua Test

Ultimate Beige has the usual Rouge Volupte texture and scent. If you haven't tried one before, they are pigmented and quite slippy/slick feeling. Despite how creamy they feel, they can dry my lips a little after a day of wear. The Rouge Volupte lipsticks cost £22 and you can get them from anywhere that stocks YSL. For those of you after a bargain, you can get this particular shade for a more purse friendly £15.90 from CheapSmells which I believe includes UK delivery (yes it is an awful name for a website but I've bought from them before with no problem).