Chantecaille Shine Eyeshadow in Bois with a FOTD

I thought this might be a useful follow up to the Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild post, not least because this eyeshadow is permanent whereas I suspect the Tiger palette is much harder to find. A few people commented that the texture of the Chantecaille singles is different to those in the palette. Bois is the only single Chantecaille eyeshadow that I own (despite swatching and lusting after many more) but I would have to agree that it is much smoother and less dusty than any of the eyeshadows in the Tiger or Turtles palettes.

Bois is one of the Shine formulas and it offers sheer rather than opaque colour. The swatch above is a couple of passes over the skin. The colour is a light sandy brown with golden sheen and I feel it's too warm to be described as a taupe. As much as I love neutrals, I'm always slightly nervous about wearing golden hues as I'm not convinced they suit my colouring. In the pictures below I am wearing Bois on the mobile lid with Rouge Bunny Rouge Abyssinian Catbird on the outer corner.

I chopped and changed my lipsticks as I was undecided about a complementary pairing. In the first picture I'm wearing my old favourite Guerlain Beige Nude and in the second picture, I'd applied Ellis Faas L303. I also started the day wearing BECCA gloss in Hummingbird but didn't get a photograph with it on. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on whether this eye look is a hit or miss and which, if any, of the lipsticks look ok.

The Chantecaille Shine eyeshadows cost £23 and are available from SpaceNK and Chantecaille counters. Bois was a gift from a very kind blogger who knows how much I love eyeshadows!

Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild Palette

Almost two years ago now, I considered the Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild palette to be something I had missed out on. So, when I spotted it half price in the SpaceNK, I decided to treat myself to the one that (nearly) got away.

Overspray on..

Overspray off..

After all that waiting and wanting, I've not used this palette as much as I expected to. The colours are pretty, the grey taupe is my favourite, followed by the slightly plummy tinged navy. The base colour is a touch too dark and shimmery for me to use it as an alternative to my much loved MAC Brule. I'm not convinced that the blusher really works for me either and I prefer the blusher from the Chantecaille Turtles palette.

Without doubt, the colours look less multi-dimensional once the overspray has gone. I find the eyeshadows are quite powdery and they're not as creamy or pigmented as my favourite brands. I know I could probably have created a similar look using eyeshadows of a superior quality, however I am pleased with how this particular look turned out.

I applied the taupe from lash to crease using a MAC 217 and then applied the base colour from the edge of the taupe to the brow. I pushed the navy along the outer 2/3rds of the lashline using the tip of a MAC 239 brush, pulling it out slightly at the outer corner.

This close up tells me it's probably time to discard my mascara! On the rest of my face I'm wearing RBR Time-Defying Foundation in Quinoa Cream down the centre of my face, Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector and Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer on my undereyes and Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage SC-3 on the beast of a spot I stupidly fiddled with. I'm also wearing the blusher from the palette and a tonne of lip balm.

My Sheer Lipstick Collection including ILIA Beauty Dizzy and W3LL People Lip Shine #3

I was struggling with inspiration for a post this morning, so we have Miss MB and Musing on Beauty to thank for this blog post. Miss MB was wondering around with one of my new lipsticks, which is always dangerous, but seeing the lipstick made me realise that I have a fairly large collection of sheer finish lipsticks which continues to grow.

Nudist Lip Shine #3

The lipstick she was clutching was the W3LL People Nudist lip shine in #3 above, a gorgeous glossy sheer red with a lovely balmy texture. It's one of the items I purchased whilst I was at Content Beauty last week to meet Sasha Plavsic, founder of ILIA Beauty. I will return to this visit in another post as Sasha was incredibly inspiring and I have lots to report back. Meeting Sasha and also browsing all the lovely natural brands in Content has had me reflecting on whether I want to make a more permanent switch to cleaner brands in future. Anyway, I digress..

Sasha inspired another new lipstick purchase whilst I was there, her Lip Conditioner in Dizzy. This orange sheer is a favourite with her Mother, who loves it for layering. Depending on the natural colour of your lips, Dizzy can produce a more coral shade. I purchased it for layering with brighter colours and so far have had success pairing it with Lancome Rose Boudoir.

Dizzy

I have always been a fan of sheer lipsticks, as they're so easy to wear but I seem to have made a major return to them recently. All of the ones I have here are really balmy and comfortable to wear and are excellent if you suffer from dry lips. The ILIA lipstick in Crimson & Clover isn't strictly speaking a sheer but I wanted to include it alongside the other ILIA lip colours. It's more pigmented than the lip conditioners but I don't find it completely opaque either. I have reviewed the majority of these lipsticks before and will add links where available.

From left to right: ILIA Blossom Lady*, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2*, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia, No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bonheur.

Swatches L-R: Chanel Bonheur, Ilia Blossom Lady, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia and No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour.

L-R: Chanel Bonheur, Ilia Blossom Lady, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2.

L-R: Ilia Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia and No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour.

Do you like to wear sheer lipsticks or do you prefer to wear a gloss to create a lip shine? I'd also love to hear your opinion of more 'clean', botanical based lines too.

* The lipsticks labelled with an asterisk were received as PR samples, albeit rather a long time ago.

Sunny (work) FOTD

This is the makeup I wore on Friday. Although the eyes are still quite neutral, I added a little summery colour with the coral pink cheeks and lips. I haven't worn the Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia for a while but I thought it compliment the blusher from the Kevyn Aucoin 'The Corals' palette that I posted about recently. I'm pleased with how RBR Bejewelled Skylark turned out when used as a liner too.

Face
Hourglass Primer
Max Factor Second Skin Foundation*
Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer* - on undereyes and around the nose
Shu Uemura Brow Pencil
Cheek colour from the Kevyn Aucoin Lip & Cheek Palette*

Lips
Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
RBR Long-lasting Cream Eyeshadow in Atlas Swallowtail* as a base
Chantecaille Shine eyeshadow in Bois on the mobile lid
RBR Bejewelled Skylark used as an eyeliner
Lancome Hypnose Drama in Gris Fatale*

* PR Samples

On the Lust List

It's been ages since I shared a wishlist type post. I try hard to be sensible about my cosmetic lusts these days, I know that many are just passing fancies so I will try to wait and see if the urge passes. My eyeshadow and nail polish ban have helped a lot in that sense. Eyeshadows are quite clearly my biggest cosmetic weakness.

It's impossible to be sensible all the time though, I still have a wishlist a mile long and these are a few of the items that keep making their way back to the top.

Source

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted
I'm not sure exactly when my interest in Just Skin started but it was cemented when I read Get Lippie's recent thoughts. I'm coming towards the end of my RBR Tinted Moisturiser and I think this might make a good replacement. The only sticking point is the price, at £55 for a tube it isn't cheap. I'll have to be in the right mood to cave on this one.

Le Metier de Beaute Creme Fresh Tint Blusher in Poppy
I promised myself I would get one of the Creme Fresh Tints when Le Metier returned to the UK. Although I initially considered Tenne, I decided that Poppy would probably be a better colour choice for me. It seems to be very popular shade and I keep missing it when Zuneta re-stock.

Source

Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colours and Perfect Rouge Lipstick
I've never tried any Shiseido cosmetics but I go through regular phases of researching colours and filling a virtual basket. I first spotted the cream eye colours on Reigning Beauties and they have been popping up on my radar ever since. Lipglossiping recent Shiseido post set me off again. As an aside, I couldn't find the Accentuating Color Stick anywhere online so I'm assuming it's counter only. I will definitely try one of the Shimmering Cream Eye Colours once my ban is over but I can't decide whether to purchase the Perfect Rouge lipstick in Titian before then or wait. My less sensible side says buy it NOW!

Hera Sun Mate Daily
This is a fairly recent fancy and my interest in this Korean sunscreen was sparked by a YouTube video by meejmuse. I can't deny that being hard to get hold of makes it somehow that much more appealing. I found it on Ebay but at just over the £15 customs threshold and I'm nervous of getting stung with the dreaded Post Office fees. I need to do more research to find out if it's worth the risk.

Source

Sunday Riley Eyeshadow in Burnt Eggplant
Sunday Riley eyeshadows keep popping up in blog posts by my favourite American bloggers. Burnt Eggplant looks nothing like a burnt aubergine but it does sound like my kind of colour, *cough* taupe *cough*. When Marcia from Beauty Info Zone compared it to Style Snob and Satin Taupe I knew that it needed to go on my list. I'm nothing if not predictable!
 
Chanel Loose Powder in Pêche
This is another old interest that keeps on cropping up. I will admit to being rubbish when it comes to powdering my face. I prefer my skin to look natural and powder often makes me feel too made up. I also worry that it will accentuate my lines. However, I would like to give my makeup more staying power, especially as I can't touch up at work and I wonder if powder in the key. In my mind this one will work magic, particular because the shade I really want (#50 Pêche) has been discontinued!


What's on your wishlist at the moment? Are you torturing yourself with thoughts of hard to get items?

NARS Orgasm Blusher

It feels like a very long time since I wrote this post about cult beauty products that I hadn't tried. Among the items on that list was NARS Orgasm blusher. This blusher still makes a very regular appearance in magazine 'must have' and 'best of year' lists and my SpaceNK N.dulge birthday gift gave me the opportunity to try it for myself. And...I still don't get it!

Orgasm is a pinky peach with rose gold shimmer. There are some fairly chunky bits of shimmer but I'm not sure if this is true of the full size blusher. This sort of colour does seem very popular, I think Le Metier de Beaute's Echo is also quite similar, but despite the hype I just don't believe this colour is universally flattering. I have often wondered if there's an element of the Emperor's New Clothes about the popularity.

On me, this sort of colour makes a very obvious blush rather than enhancing my natural colour. I tend to prefer colours that are more natural to the body as I predominately use makeup to fake a more youthful (and awake) appearance. If I do feel like adding a bit of colour, I will apply to my lips or eyes, rarely my cheeks.

Top - Chantecaille Sea Turtles blusher, Bottom - NARS Orgasm

When I do want to go for this sort of shade, I reach for the blusher in my Chantecaille Sea Turtles palette as I find the refined sheen more flattering. It also has a superior texture and pigmentation to the NARS.

I have included this last picture as I wanted to show you just how dinky the mini-blusher is. Whilst I might not love the colour, I am drawn in by the cuteness. Just because I'm a grown women it doesn't mean I have to be sensible ALL the time!!

It was really interesting looking back on my old post and seeing just how many of the cult beauty classics I still haven't tried, particularly the Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer and the YSL Faux Cils. Which cult beauty classics have you never tried? What are your thoughts on Orgasm, are you a lover or are you just puzzled like me?

My Favourite Buys of 2011

I wasn't going to post today, giving myself a day off, but I started getting twitchy! I thought it might be fun to have a little look back at my posts from 2011 and see which of the items that I purchased were real stand outs. My apologies for this being a mostly visual post but I have linked back to original posts if you want to know my thoughts on any particular item. This isn't a best of so I'm afraid I haven't picked out items from specific categories instead it's more of an overview of those items that I really thought were worth every penny.

The first four items I picked out were my favourite lipstick purchases in 2011. Hourglass Femme Rouge lipstick in Fresco, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia, Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bonheur and Rouge Bunny Rouge Sheer Lipstick in Murmurings. Fresco is my everyday opaque MLBB shade, it wears really well and the formula is comfortable to wear. In contrast to Fresco, Zinnia isn't an everyday colour but the Lip Chic formula is a real winner for me. It's nice to wear something less muted every now and again too. I've mentioned both Murmurings and Bonheur in favourites posts several times but they're deserving of the praise. If I could only have two lipsticks for the rest of my days (heaven forbid) I would choose these two.

Hourglass Fresco

Chantecaille Zinnia

RBR Murmuring and Chanel Bonheur

I bought Becca Turkish Rose and Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain in Rouge at the same time. Both have had a lot of use and, despite my fondness for buying blusher brushes, I often pick out a non-powder formula for speed or if my skin is looking dull or tired. Both Turkish Rose and Rouge are very easy to wear cheek shades and never clash with other colours that I am wearing.

Turkish Rose

Hourglass Rouge

Strictly speaking Chanel Topkapi was a swap item rather than a purchase but a fabulous swap it was too! As a Chanel eyeshadow virgin, this was a great start although I fear it may have spoiled me for the European quad releases. The eyeshadows are beautifully pigmented and creamy, I also find the inclusion of the dark brown stops it from being too bling.

Chanel Topkapi

I realised when I went hunting that I've never devoted a post to GOSH Truly Brown eyeliner but it has had a lot of mentions since I bought it. It's a great pencil liner at an equally great price. If you like dark brown liners but don't want to spend a fortune, I would highly recommend having a look at this pencil.

I can't resist some brush related mentions. The real standout purchases for me last year were my Rouge Bunny Rouge Large Shader (003) brush and Medium Pointed Yachiyo from Hakuhodo. The RBR brush is really rather versatile. It's great for all over lid colour but you can also use the tip to apply a crease colour or blend eyeshadows. I have successfully used this one brush to apply all four colours of a LMdB Kaleidoscope before. The Yachiyo has equally been a winning purchase. As yet, I have been too scared to check out the Hakuhodo website to see how much the price has gone up.

RBR Large Shader

Medium Pointed Yachiyo

I had to include my brush roll from aSoftBlackStar's Etsy Store in favourite purchases of 2011. It's really such a practical way to store brushes but I love it especially because it's handmade and not just a boring black. I'm already plotting buying a new roll just for my face brushes and love that I could talk to Lotus on Twitter about the possibility of spacing the slot sizes differently.

Making this a post about favourite buys meant I had to leave out several of my much loved items of 2011 as they were sent to me as PR samples. I have always had a policy of disclosing which items were sent to me without cost but equally I endevour to review all items as if they had been bought by me. So, I wanted to include the following items as honourable mentions. If I had bought these products, I would have considered it money well spent.

Both the Becca Enigma palette* and the Lancôme Blondette Fatale palette* are excellent groupings of colours and stand out as being versatile enough for day or evening looks. I've never considered Lancôme for neutrals but Blondette Fatale was so well done.

Becca Enigma

Blondette Fatale

The Kevyn Aucoin Aquarouge* and W3LL People Highlighter* both stood out for me as items I loved from 2011. Aquarouge is a stunning colour and the liquid lipstick formula is comfortable and long-lasting. It's not a colour I reach for everyday but it has that instant feel good factor. The W3LL People Highlighter is something that I do reach for on a daily base. It's so easy to use and provides a really subtle highlight.

Kevyn Aucoin Aquarouge

Do you have any favourite purchases from 2011?


Disclosure: Items marked with an asterisk were PR samples.

My Eyeshadow Palette Collection

I've had the pictures for this post for what seems like ages. I took them back when it was still light at 4pm and warm enough to be outside without hat and gloves. Somehow the idea of sitting down to write about this collection seemed a little daunting, hence my delay. I've included links whenever possible to previous review posts.

I seem to have come full circle with my palette buying. In my 'not quite as obsessed' makeup days, palettes were always the biggest draw. Especially around this time of year. Then as I became more interested in makeup buying I decided that buying single eyeshadows was preferable that way I wouldn't end up with shades I wouldn't use. The MAC palettes are from this era. In the last year or so I have returned to buying and loving palettes. These days I tend to avoid the palettes with mixed products. I know it's very rare for me to use the lip products from a palette plus it can get messy when powder transfers to lipgloss and lipsticks pans. It doesn't stop me fancying the beautiful Edward Bess palettes of course!

1. KANEBO KATE BR-4 PALETTE

2. BECCA ENIGMA PALETTE*

3. MAC SMOKING EYES QUAD

4. GUERLAIN RUE DE PASSY

5. ARTDECO CUSTOM PALETTE

6. BECCA LOST WEEKEND PALETTE*

7. LANCOME BLONDETTE FATAL PALETTE*

8. CHANEL TOPKAPI QUADRA

In the neutrals palettes above, I don't think I have a single dud colour. Most of them contain a mixture of finishes which I think is important for a palette to work as a complete look. Of the two BECCA palettes, I think Enigma is still my favourite. I love how you can create a sultry look form just these three colours. It took me a while to warm to the charms of Rue de Passy. I think I expected more of it because of the high price but I wouldn't be without it now. I think one of the newer quads contains some quite similar colours. Both the Chanel and Lancôme palettes are lovely, Chanel is more bling to Lancôme's more versatile but I reach for both often.

1. INGLOT FREEDOM PALETTE

2. CHANTECAILLE SEA TURTLES PALETTE

3. YSL CHROMATICS #3 PALETTE

4. GUERLAIN RUE DE RIVOLI

5. SUQQU EX-07 LILAC ALLURE PALETTE

Here are my not-so-neutral palettes. I suppose with the exception of the Inglot palette they are still mostly neutral. The Chantecaille Sea Turtles palette contains that dark green shade for a bit of interest. If I'm honest my most favourite colour in the Turtles palette is the blusher and I use this often whilst ignoring the slightly too warm for me neutrals. YSL Chromatics #3 contains two 'safe' colours, the gorgeous dark blue liner and then that icy blue that I studiously ignore. It doesn't make me as nervous as the fuchsia colour in Rue de Rivoli though! I stand by my original comment about Rivoli that I get most use from this palette using the individual shades rather than as combined look. The Suqqu is a lovely palette. The colours don't apply quite as you would expect from the pans but they are delicate and layer very well.

1. LE CIRQUE, 2. SILK ROAD*, 3. PENELOPE*

Talking of layering, here are my Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscopes. They've increased in number by one since I took this photo. Le Cirque was my first Kaleidoscope and probably still remains my favourite. Silk Road and Penelope were both PR samples and I'm not sure I would have picked them out myself if I had seen them at a counter. However, as I often find with Le Métier combination, the 'Couches de Couleur' technique creates something that is even more beautiful than the sum of it's parts. I would say these are probably the most daring items in my collection.

I'd struggle to pick a single favourite from my eyeshadow palettes. It's probably clear that I'm a fan of neutrals. There is a noticeable omission for a beauty blogger of course; I don't own the Urban Decay Naked palette nor am I likely to buy Naked 2 when it comes out next year. I can't quite put my finger on why I've taken against Naked: it may the number of warm shades, the fear of glitter fallout or possibly because I already own enough neutrals to paint the whole of my town taupe. Who knows?! What I am looking forward to next year is the release of Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow palettes. Custom palettes, eyeshadow refills and new shades are all like music to my ears. As a lover of palettes AND Rouge Bunny Rouge that's my birthday present ideas for next year sorted!

Are you a fan of eyeshadow palettes or a lover of singles?


*PR Samples