Desert Island FoTD and Colour Ramblings

I discovered this FoTD post sat in drafts today and thought now would be a good moment to share. The products I am wearing are items I picked out for my Beauty Spotlight Desert Island visit. Based on my hair, these pictures were taken a while ago but the items I used remain firm favourites, irrespective of hairstyle.

Face
NARS Pure Radiant tinted moisturiser in Finland
rms 'Un' Cover-up in 11
Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain in Rouge

Eyes
Rouge Bunny Rouge Solstice Halcyon eyeshadow
Kjaer Weis Wisdom
MAC Teddy eye kohl
Maybelline The Falsies Flared mascara

Lips
Ilia Arabian Knights lip conditioner

I was having a moan today on Twitter about my habit of wasting time filling up virtual shopping baskets, only to talk myself out of the spend. I know I'm not alone in doing this but it is an incredibly frustrating habit. I was eyeing up the Clarins lipsticks that are currently reduced on Escentual, but had to concede that the colours I was looking at (Rouge Eclat in Pink Berry and Woodrose) bear a striking resemblance to about 50% of the lip colours I already own. I curse my own inner sensible side for refusing to allow more dupes for 'research purposes'.

Another reason for vetoing more lipstick purchases is my current obsession with what 'season' I might be. I suspect London MakeUp Girl's recent Sci/Art analysis has sparked a veritable tidal wave of similar curiosity. I am clueless about which colours genuinely suit my colouring. I have been told that my uniform of black and white aren't particularly flattering but knowing which colours don't suit me, hasn't particularly helped me deduce which do. I remain hopeful that pastels or yellow aren't the answer! Both Grace and Stiperstones have suggested I might be a Light Summer, so I have been looking at the appropriate colour recommendations on Pinterest. I rather like the suggested colours and have been messing about with coloured scarves that are similar to the colours in the swatches. This blue/green scarf is probably one of my favourites, not least because it matches the colours my streak has faded to.

I think the time has probably come for me to save some pennies and investigate who offers colour analysis locally, so that I can get a professional opinion. I will also be interested to hear whether my rapidly greying hair changes things in terms of what colours I should choose. Watch this space!

The one where I pretend I'm 'Lost'!

It's my turn to do the Beauty Spotlight Team's Desert Island post and you're about to be subjected to my Lost fantasy. Of course, I have cast myself as Kate Austen (I have a very active imagination) and in order to maintain the interest of the two men in my life, I figured some of my favourite beautifiers might come in handy. Yes, I know they'd fallen from the sky, had no access to a bathroom and were running from a smoke monster but please don't try and tell me that Kate was going completely au naturel. I've seen those lashes!

So, if I was Kate, these are the makeup and beauty items I would have packed in my backpack (prior to the handcuffs) then carefully retrieve from the plane wreckage. When I wasn't suturing Jack's wounds or hiking through the rainforest of course.

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser
This was my summer base and I think it would make an excellent desert island foundation. I deliberated over whether to take my BECCA Luminous Skin instead as it gives a sheerer coverage than the NARS but I find my skin gets upset if I wear the BECCA everyday (I suspect it's the sunscreen ingredients). The NARS tinted moisturiser also has an SPF of 30.

rms beauty 'Un' Cover Up Concealer
I spent rather a long time dithering over which concealer to take but I decided on the rms beauty concealer because it's creamy enough to use on the undereye area as well as blemishes. My old favourite RMK Super Basic Liquid Concealer would have been a good alternative too.

BECCA Turkish Rose or Hourglass Rouge Cheek Stain
I wanted to take a fairly natural looking blusher that would be easy to apply with my fingers. Turkish Rose immediately sprang to mind but after I had taken the pictures, I realised my Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain in Rouge might have been a better choice. The cheek stain has more of a translucent quality than Turkish Rose and is a little brighter, plus it's more likely to stay put in the heat and humidity.

Ilia Arabian Knights
Like the concealer, it was very hard to pick only one of my lipsticks. I have so many lovely sheer, moisturising lipsticks but I chose Arabian Knights because I felt it would keep my lips in the best condition and it's a nice bright berry shade. RBR Murmurings came a very close second.

Mascara
The Maybelline Falsies Flared isn't particularly a favourite, it's just what I'm currently using, but there's no way I'm going to be stranded without a tube of mascara. Max Factor Masterpiece or Hourglass Film Noir are my personal favourites.

MAC Teddy Eye Kohl
Although I do have a great number of brown pencils, Teddy is the one I'd choose to be stranded with. It looks great worn as a smudgy line, pairs well with Solstice Halcyon and it also makes a good base for a smoky eye.

Customised eyeshadow palette
Aren't you feeling better about me de-facing all those pretty Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow pots now? This palette includes some of my most favourite eyeshadows ever, namely RBR Solstice Halycon, Delicate Hummingbird and Kjaer Weis Wisdom. I've also recently discovered that Gracious Arasari is an excellent colour for blending out dark colours at the crease. Unfortunately, sticking to only 12 items meant that I have been restricted to the small travel brush that sits in my palette. It's a good job I'm going for a no makeup look really...

Pencil Sharpener
It was a shame to lose one of my items on such a practical necessity but as I'm no good at whittling, I figured it had to come along.

Tweezers
I had to do some cheating^✝ to get this into my bag. The tweezers fought off stiff competition from brow pencils and brushes. Without tweezers, I fear the rogue hairs would gradually start to take over my face and I don't recall Kate ever looking like a Yeti.

Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm*
I felt it would be pointless taking along all this makeup without remembering to pack something to take it all off again. I find this balm takes absolutely everything off, including eye makeup with minimal effort which is pretty convenient if you're washing your face in a rainforest.

Flannel
We have another necessity taking up space that might have been filled with something else more exciting. However, if I pack the Emma Hardie, I need the flannel too.

Avene Antirougeurs Light Moisturiser SPF20
Like the mascara, the Avene Antirougeurs isn't necessarily a favourite product but it does contain an SPF. Plus, it would help to tame the telltale red cheeks once I started hitting the duty free bottles. Oh wait, maybe Kate didn't actually do that...

It was extremely difficult to stick to just 12 items, particularly when you realise that so many items require accessories to accompany them. Kate was a very resourceful girl though, so remaining in character, I can't promise I won't go back and rifle through other people's bags later to look for shampoo, razors and a couple of makeup brushes. Don't judge me!

^✝ Cheating
I mentioned cheating and I thought I better explain myself as this was an integral part of my desert island preparation! Rather than use up one of my 12 items with my Shu Uemura brow pencil, I decided to dye my eyebrows. I can credit Pixiwoo's Evangaline Lilly tutorial for planting the idea in my head. I've never dyed my brows before and I was nervous that it could be a disaster but I'm actually very pleased with the results. If I could have added a 13th item into my bag, I would have taken the kit with me to top up. I used the Eylure Dylash kit in Dark Brown for reference.

* I received the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm as a press sample.

FOTD with my new Hourglass and RBR purchases

I bought a few new things from Zuneta recently and today was my first opportunity to have a play. I don't seem to have been experimenting very much with makeup recently. I think it's partly because I'm still restricting myself to using up the items I talked about in this post but also because I don't have as much time to myself. I decided that buying something colourful might help me out of this rut and Rouge Bunny Rouge Mysterious Tinamou eyeshadow is certainly outside my usual taupe comfort zone.

Today, I used Mysterious Tinamou as an accent colour alongside some favourite neutrals. I also gave my Hourglass Illume compact (Sunset) its first outing. Both items are pictured below alongside the other colour products that I used.

Hourglass Illume Creme to Powder Compact in Sunset // Kjaer Weis Eyeshadow in Wisdom // RBR Eyeshadow in Gracious Arasari (depotted) // RBR Eyeshadow in Mysterious Tinamou // Hourglass Femme Rouge in Fresco

Face
Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Complex*
Max Factor Second Skin foundation*
RMS "Un"Cover Up in 11 on undereyes, around nose and on blemishes
Hourglass Illume compact in Sunset, I used both the bronzer and the cheek colour here

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
RBR Gracious Arasari from lash to crease
Kjaer Weis Wisdow in the crease
RBR Mysterious Tinamou along top and bottom lash line
Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume mascara*

Lips
Hourglass Femme Rouge in Fresco

Scent of the Day 
Aftelier Perfume Patchouli Spice Body Oil & Hair Elixir - I applied this to my hair today and it smells beautiful, I get little wafts of scent as my hair moves. As you can probably see, I've decided to let my roots come through in a bid to see if I can embrace the grey. They do need taming though as hence the need for bit of hair oil.

Disclosure: I have labelled press samples with an asterisk, all the other items were purchased or won by me. 

My Current (Random) Wishlist

I honestly thought I would have loads of extra time for posting now that Miss MB is at nursery two mornings a week. I was clearly delusional! The six hours I gained were swiftly eaten up with cleaning the house and other unsavoury chores. My spending money has taken a battering too with the nursery fees to pay, leaving me with very little to spend on the 'pretties'.

So, to cheer myself up, I thought I would compile a little wishlist. I can see that there has been a definite shift in my spending habits lately as my list is a mix of beauty and other things. Wonders never cease!

Navy Converse
This is actually a bit of a lie. What I really want are a pair of the Catwomen Converse but sense (and the school run) tell me the navy would be a better investment. After years of avoiding navy, my wardrobe seems to be full of it, so I really do require some footwear that isn't black.

Illamasqua Magnetism lipstick
I have been crushing on this lipstick for ages. I knew I had to have it when I first heard the description and then London MakeUp Girl's tweet sealed the deal. I may wait till it's available through ASOS.

Lotus Wei Inner Peace Energy Mist
I came across the Lotus Wei mists and elixirs when I visited the Content Beauty store over the summer. The names sound so appealing and I've lost count of how many times I've wished I had the Inner Peace mist in the last week. The return to school has been bumpy to say the least!

Trollbeads
I finally purchased a bracelet to put my beads on. I bought the leather bracelet in beige and my two beads look rather lonely on it. I'd really like to get some more artisan made beads and I have been stalking Summerday's store on Dawanda and Suzielaws's store on Etsy for the last month or so.

Mood board from ILIA Beauty blog

Ilia Lipstick in Ink Pot
I know I probably don't need any more lipsticks but when I spied this via the ILIA beauty e-newsletter, it grabbed me (look to the bottom right of the mood board). I'm positive this is the shade that Sasha's Mum recommended I keep my eyes peeled for too. What's not to love about purple?!

More Kjaer Weis
I've wanted to buy some more Kjaer Weis pieces for ages. On my shopping list are the Blossoming cream blusher and eyeshadow in Charming. I imagine I will purchase both in the pan form. If you're in the UK, you can buy Kjaer Weis from Slowfashionhouse.com

Pirates: An Adventure with Scientist on DVD
I am a child and I am not ashamed!!

Care to share what's on your wishlist at the moment?

The Ban Is Over: Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in Rosewood

I'm sorry that blog posts have been rather thin on the ground recently. I'm still trying to get everybody back to full health and I've also got hooked on watching the first series of The Killing (the Danish original). I haven't forgotten about makeup completely though. Whilst placing an order for some curtains and bedding from John Lewis, the beauty section started calling to me and I found this Burberry eyeshadow in my basket. My eyeshadow no-buy is now officially over!!

I haven't had opportunity to play with it yet (thank you very much, conjunctivitis) but I think I'm going to like it. I've made this judgment based on the fact that I buy this colour so frequently. I've pictured it alongside MAC Style Snob, Rouge Bunny Rouge Solstice Halycon, Kjaer Weis Wisdom and Elizabeth Arden Smoke, so you can see exactly what I mean. From the pan, I suspect the finish will be similar to Solstice Halcyon. I'll do comparison swatches too when the lighting is more sympathetic.

I hope to do a face of the day post soon with Rosewood applied in the next couple of days. I also have the promised review of Zelens skincare and swatches of the L'Oreal Miss Candy collection coming very soon.

Taupes Revisited: Kjaer Weis Wisdom

I moaned at the size and I was far too tight to buy the pot, but Kjaer Weis Wisdom eyeshadow is a much loved taupe in my collection. If you've never been drawn to taupe this probably won't get you all that excited but I find Wisdom wins in the Taupe Trifecta: perfect finish, texture and colour.

It is the exact shade of deep mushroom that I have been trying to replicate since I acquired my first taupe eyeshadow from my Mum aged 14. She's probably still wondering where it went! It's a fraction darker than the majority of my other satin finish taupes (I don't include Satin Taupe here as I would actually say that has a frost finish rather than satin) and so it makes a darker, more moody shadow on my lids. I use this all over the lid but I think it would also work well for adding subtle definition to the crease if you paired with a light eyeshadow.

There's a tiny hint of iridescent shimmer which is only visible in out of focus images. It's this shimmer which prevents it looking flat on the skin. Pigmentation is good and application is very smooth: it almost seems to melt into my skin. I find it lasts well with no creasing but I always use a primer as my lids are prone to oiliness.

The Kjaer Weis line is an organic range and I think this is one of those occasion where that fact is purely incidental. This is an excellent high end eyeshadow that just so happens to be organic. Being organic does however go some way to explaining the high price tag. The refillable packaging system is part of the explanation too.

Image from the Kjaer Weis website

Kjaer Weis is no longer available from SpaceNK but thanks to Lipglossiping's post, I discovered that you can order from www.slowfashionhouse.com if you're in Europe. The eyeshadows cost 38€ and the refills cost 18€ (roughly £31 and £15 respectively) but I'm not sure on shipping charges as they are calculated per weight. For those of you in the States, you can find details of where to buy here.

Face of the Day with Laura Mercier Cassis

This face of the day includes quite a few of the items I from my last neglected makeup challenge post. I started off my just applying the Sue Devitt Intensifier on it's own but found it looked a little stark. I wasn't sure how the Kjaer Weiss eyeshadow would look with it but was pleasantly surprised by the results.  The Laura Mercier Lip Velvet in Cassis is a lovely colour but it does show up every imperfections because of it's unusual texture. What's not visible to the naked eye becomes very obvious in the gigantic lip picture!

Face
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Vanille
RMK Super Basic Liquid concealer
MAC Studio Finish concealer in NC20
Shu Uemura H9 brow pencil in Seal Brown
Bobbi Brown Apricot blusher

Eyes
Sue Devitt Intensifier Eye pencil in Zaire
Kjaer Weiss Wisdom eyeshadow
W3LL People Universalist #2 highlighter as brow highlight
Hourglass Film Noir mascara

Lips
Laura Mercier Lip Velvet in Cassis

This week I will mostly be wearing....

It's been a little while since my last neglected makeup post. So as not to neglect my mission as well as neglect my makeup, here's this week selection (I have included links to previous posts or reviews where applicable) -

Avon Nailwear Pro in Wicked
Sue Devitt Intensifier Eye Pencil in Zaire
MAC Up The Amp lipstick
Laura Mercier Lip Velvet in Cassis
MAC Patina eyeshadow
Kjaer Weiss eyeshadow in Wisdom
Bobbi Brown Blusher in Apricot (old style packaging)

Left - Kjaer Weiss Wisdom, Right - MAC Patina

From left to right: Up The Amp, Cassis, Patina, Wisdom, Apricot

Sue Devitt Intensifier Pencil in Zaire

These are neglected items (actually in the case of Wicked, I'm not it's ever been used) but that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't great products or colours. There are certainly a couple of old favourites in this selection like the Kjaer Weiss eyeshadow, Up The Amp lipstick and Bobbi Brown Apricot blusher. It's easy for them to get forgotten in favour of newer items though. I was actually inspired to pull out Up The Amp after it was used on the model in the first look at Saturday's MAC Workshop.

Avon Nailwear Pro in Wicked

I'm really looking forward to incorporating all of these colours into my makeup looks this week. I think the challenge in this weeks selection will be the Laura Mercier Lip Velvet. The colour is beautiful and very autumnal but the texture is tricky to wear. It's a doe-foot applicator and although it's similar in opacity to a liquid lipstick, it feels quite dry on the lips. I might have to experiment pairing this with a lip balm or gloss.

I haven't forgotten my promise to post swatches of the Suqqu quad from my last neglected makeup post. I have the pictures and will post in the next couple of days. That eyeshadow quad is definitely not going to be neglected again and was probably my favourite item of the previous seven items.

Which old favourites do you plan to wear this week? Or are you more of a go with the flow kind of gal?

The Big Taupe Comparison

I mentioned a little while ago the idea of buying a few high street eyeshadows to compare to my growing collection of high end taupes. After a positive response, I took a trip to Boots and Superdrug to find some suitable candidates and came home with Max Factor Burnt Bark (£4.99), Bourjois Brun Nylon (£6.49) and No.7 eyeshadow in Mink (£8).

I wore each of the eyeshadows for at least a day to get an idea of the wear, texture and finish. Unfortunately, as soon as I swatched the No.7 eyeshadow in Mink , I realised I had picked up the wrong shade. I'm not sure whether the testers had been mixed up or whether it just looked darker in store but Mink is more oyster coloured than I was expecting. It's a pretty enough colour but I struggled to get it show on the lid and it is very shimmery. I much prefer the No.7 shade Wheatsheaf for a lighter neutral.

I have been considering purchasing Bourjois Ombre Stretch in Brun Nylon for such a long time. I think I have discounted it previously as it is similar to other colours that I own but as that was the whole point of this exercise, it went in the basket! This is a nice colour and lasts well. It's pigmented and applies well but if I have one gripe it's that the pan shape makes it more fiddly to load colour on a brush.

The Max Factor eyeshadow in Burnt Bark has been the real surprise find of this experiment. It's a lovely colour, it has a really buttery almost creamy texture, lasts well and isn't over the top shimmery. It's also a complete bargain at under a fiver! I have worn this eyeshadow a few times now and think it stands up well to the other more expensive eyeshadows I compared it to. It's certainly on a par with both Shu Uemura ME850 and MAC Style Snob.

1. MAC Satin Taupe
2. Le Metier de Beaute Pencil in Champagne
3. MAC Style Snob
4. Shu Uemura ME850 eyeshadow
5. Max Factor Burnt Bark
6. Kjaer Weis Wisdom
7. RBR Solstice Halcyon
8. Bourjois Brun Nylon
9. No.7 Mink
10. Bobbi Brown Taupe
11. Chanel Ombre d'Eau Splash

As well as the pan photographs, I've also included swatches of all of my taupe colours. I added the Le Metier pencil in Champagne (#2) and Chanel Ombre d'Eau in Splash (#11) for completeness. I also included Bobbi Brown Taupe eyeshadow which, despite the name, I consider as more of a cement colour. All of the swatch pictures can be clicked to enlarge for a better view.

Direct Sunlight

Direct Sunlight

I haven't included shade descriptions as I thought this might be too much as well as all of the swatch pictures but please feel free to ask for more detail. I'm also happy to take requests for any extra side by side swatches.

Kjaer Weis Wisdom and Earthy Calm

I have already touched on these eyeshadows with regard to their price and size in this post. I bought these eyeshadows in their refill pan form rather than in the pot in order to keep the costs down. I'm storing them in a Unii palette. I won this from R8Beauty and I will talk about it on another occasion but I will just say briefly that I like it very much.

So, on to the eyeshadows. Having ranted about these without trying them, I inevitably knew I would be won over by the quality! They are buttery soft to apply and very pigmented. They're easy to apply with minimal effort. Although the colours might look a little flat in the pan they are more complex when swatched. Particularly Wisdom, the taupe shade. I struggled to pick up the true shimmer of Wisdom, it has a sheen to it that is very similar to MAC Vex. It has a peachy-pink pearl sheen, which for some reason comes out green in the pictures. Earthy Calm is a chocolate brown which is more matte. Although it is a chocolate brown it isn't too warm or red which I really like.

L-R: Earthy Calm and Wisdom

L-R: Earthy Calm and Wisdom

 
I thought it would be useful to compare Wisdom to a few other taupes that I have. I imagined it would be most similar to RBR Solstice Halcyon but it's actually quite a bit darker. It's more similar in depth to MAC Satin Taupe but the sheen is more refined and less bronze.

L-R: Solstice Halcyon, Wisdom, Satin Taupe

L-R: Solstice Halcyon, Wisdom, Satin Taupe

I added a swatch of Chanel Splash Ombre d'eau. L-R: Splash blended, Splash, Solstice Halcyon, Wisdom, Satin Taupe

Here are both Wisdom and Earthy Calm applied. I have Wisdom all over the mobile lid up to the crease. I used Earth Calm in the crease. I blended above the crease to the brow with a skin toned beige. One word of warning. The first time I wore this combination, I did suffer with creasing by the end of the day. I am wearing Too Faced Shadow Insurance today and there's been no sign of movement.

Overall, I think these are lovely eyeshadows with some interesting complexity for neutrals. I'm not sure if I would recommend them at the full price in the pot. I believe the packaging is lovely but at £32 they are a very expensive purchase. I would be more happy to recommend them if they were in the £20-25 bracket of other high end eyeshadows. If you're interested in trying them but not fussed out packaging, it's worth considering buying the refill and using a magnetic palette. I am very pleased with them (despite the size) and I will admit to some interest in the creme blushers.

Kjaer Weis cosmetics are available from SpaceNK.

Expensive Make-up Musings: Is There A Limit?

I started taking some pictures for a post this morning. I was opening some Kjaer Weis refills to put in my new Unii palette. Once I had opened them I was actually rather stunned at their size. The pan contains 1.2g of eyeshadow as opposed to 1.5g for MAC or 2.4g for Rouge Bunny Rouge. I tweeted at my surprise at the cost of the eyeshadows for the weight. Now to be fair I paid £10.40 each for the refill as I bought them with a 20% off code from SpaceNK. If you read my blog regularly you'll already know I'm not averse to spendy items. So what exactly is the problem here?

These eyeshadows in their proper packaging cost £32. The pan inside is the same size as the refill so it is small (although pictures of it in the casing led me to believe it was considerably bigger). In the casing the cost is £26.67 per gram of product. If you consider that a Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow is £9.17 per gram and a MAC eyeshadow is £7.33 per gram you will begin to get my point. Even the Le Metier de Beaute Le Cirque Kaleidescope at £65 for four eyeshadows represents much better value for money.

Le Cirque Kaleidoscope, Kjaer Weis Wisdom, RBR Solstice Halcyon

I should point out that I haven't even swatched these eyeshadows yet. They might well blow me away. This is an organic range and I appreciate that will have an impact on the price but I do question why it is more expensive and much smaller than other lines? All of this pondering has left me wondering, where do I draw the line? I suppose I already know that I wouldn't have paid £32 for eyeshadow in the pretty pot. I don't think any of this will prevent me from enjoying the eyeshadows but it might make me think twice about recommending them.

So, what is your take on it? Do you have a cut off point? At what price does something go from luxury to overpriced? I'd really love to know your thoughts?

Friday's Fancies

It's been a while since I've posted about all the things I've got on 'the list'. It's grown immensely in the last few weeks as I've seen so many beautiful things on blogs that I want to try. I'm sure I'll be able to have a look at some of them in the flesh soon as the trip to London is no longer a pipe dream!

I've never had any Ellis Faas products before but there have been several posts recently (London MakeUp girl and Get Lippie, I'm looking at you) that left me needing the Eye Light in E304 Lilac. To be fair, that's just the tip of the iceberg, after seeing Grace's video I'd really like to investigate this line a lot more. I appreciate there are problems with the applicators but the colours just look so gorgeous.



The Kjaer Weis line at Space.NK is another on my to buy list. Visionary Beauty has bought a couple of items from the line (see here and here). I am very interested in the Wisdom, the Taupe eyeshadow but I think the Earthy Calm looks very interesting too. I also would like to try the blushers. Although I'm keen on making a purchase I have a confession to make. I intend to buy refill pans and get a Z palette to put them in. You may call it cheap, I call it ingenious!



I have a few things that I hope to look at from Le Métier de Beauté. I saw the cream blush in Tenne mentioned some while ago. I love Bones so when New York City Pretty was promising me the cheeks of Temperance Brennan, I was hooked! I'm very interested in their Kaleidoscope Eye kits too.

I'm really looking forward to the Guerlain Autumn Winter collection coming out. The eye palettes look fabulous. If you haven't seen them already, check out British Beauty Bloggers pictures. Looking at the pictures now I still struggle to pick which I like most!

I would have included the Guerlain eye kohl in Oriental Metal, as mentioned by Get Lippie and Lady of the Lane, but I caved on this completely. I heard the word discontinued and it was like a red rag to a bull! This will be with me soon I hope.

That's it for me. Tell me what is tickling your fancy this Friday!
Jane x