Dupe Alert: Avon Smoky Plumes vs Essie Smokin' Hot

I picked up Avon Speed Dry+ in Smoky Plumes on a bit of a whim. I try my best not to buy more nail varnish these days, out of guilt for the number of bottles I already own, but it seemed churlish to turn down an offer of £2.50 for a bottle.

L-R: Smoky Plumes, Metro Chic, Smokin' Hot and Paradoxal

The colour, Smoky Plumes, really appealed to me. I do like a good gruple and I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked to discover that it was a dupe for something I already owned. As you will see from the nail wheel, Avon Smoky Plumes is pretty much a spot-on dupe for Essie Smokin' Hot. It also looks very similar to Chanel Paradoxal, only without the (well) hidden sparkle, of course.

L-R: Smoky Plumes x2, Metro Chic, Smokin' Hot and Paradoxal

Although the colours are practically identical, the formulas are quite different. Smokin' Hot has a thin, runny consistency, whereas Smoky Plumes has a thick formula and does have a tendency to drag. Personally speaking, I find the Essie easier to apply both in terms of the consistency and ease of manipulating the brush. However, the Smoky Plumes did look better the next morning, on account of the faster drying time. And yes, in case you are wondering, I am walking around with Smokin' Hot on one hand and Smoky Plumes on the other in the interest of accurate research...

As ever, I can't comment on staying power: I make all manicures look worn within 12-24 hours, standard. I find the quality of the Avon polishes is generally pretty good though and Smoky Plumes is worth considering if you're looking for a nice gruple.

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Tinted Balm

The Kevyn Aucoin base products are very popular within the beauty community and although I've tried quite a few of the colour products, this is my first experience of a base product from the line. I had read Visionary Beauty's review a little while ago and what initially struck by the ingredients list. It is a rather silicone heavy formulation and talc features high on the INCI, and I guess I was a little surprised by this from what I consider to be a premium brand.

Considering my reservations about the formula, you may wonder why I accepted a sample for review. Well, I will admit to being curious as I've been impressed with all the other Kevyn Aucoin products I've tried so far and I do have a penchant for tinted moisturiser type bases. I also thought it would be good to challenge my silicone snootiness for once.

I have surprised myself by really liking this tinted moisturiser and I have worn if almost constantly for the last three weeks. It offers good coverage (it's similar to the NARS Pure Radiant tinted moisturiser) and it evens out my skin tone without looking like I'm wearing foundation. It has a cream rather than fluid texture but feels very light on my skin. It provides a more satin finish than either the BECCA or NARS, but as with all tinted moisurisers, I do get a bit of breakthrough on my T-zone by mid-afternoon.

One thing I don't love so much about it is that it seems to accentuate the sebaceous filaments on the sides of my nose as it leaves an 'empty hole' over them. I have a feeling this is something to do with the silicone base.

Blended

I have been using the Sensual Tinted Balm in the shade SB02. There are a total of four shades and although I hesitated between the SB01 and SB02, the SB02 is a good match for me. You can see swatches of all four shades side by side on the Beauty Professor. From these swatches, I would suggest the range is currently suitable for only fair to medium skintones.

As I've mentioned the BECCA Luminous Skin and NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturisers, I thought it would be useful to include some comparison swatches. The BECCA Luminous Skin I have is in the shade Sand and the NARS tinted moisturiser is in the shade Finland.

Left to right: NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in Finland, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Tinted Balm in SB02 and BECCA Luminous Skin Colour in Sand.

One final word of caution about the packaging. Don't be a heavy handed klutz like me. I broke the plastic casing on my first use, mistakenly assuming this to be a twist off cap. It's not, it's a pull off cap. Oops! 

The Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Tinted Balm costs £35 for and is available from Mise Beauty.

Disclosure: PR sample

Taupe Cream Eyeshadow and Crayon Comparison

Not content with collecting taupe powder eyeshadows, I seem to have branched out into collecting taupes in cream and crayon form. They suit my needs well as I find cream formulas tend to be speed friendly and they also make a good base for eyeshadows for when I have more time.

The ones pictured below are, from left to right, Julie Hewett Hue in Mystere, RBR Atlas Swallowtail, Topshop Mystical Crayon and Sephora Jumbo Crayon in Taupe.

I would say that the Julie Hewett Hue in Mystere (£13) is the darkest of the four and has quite a cool silvery tone to it. I've talked about Mystere before and mentioned that the fact that it does have quite a dry texture and I find it can crease. Despite this, I would say it is my favourite if want to wear a cream it on it's own as I love the colour.

My favourite to use as a base for powder eyeshadows is the Rouge Bunny Rouge Atlas Swallowtail cream (£24.50). It has quite a more golden tone compared to the others and I find it gives my favourite taupe eyeshadows an extra dimension. I apply straight from the doe-foot applicator and as it gives a subtle wash of colour, it requires minimal blending (I use my fingertips to blend rather than a brush).

Swatches L-R: Julie Hewett Mystere, RBR Atlas Swallowtail, Topshop Mystical and Sephora Taupe

The Sephora Taupe Crayon (€9.90) is a good multi-tasker. It's creamy and deposits colour easily with no dragging. It works well on its own or as a base and I find it delivers the long-wearing claims. When I use this, I don't feel the need to use a separate eyeshadow primer. It does have a metallic shimmer to it as you can see from the swatch. I would absolutely love it if Sephora made a non-shimmer finish version of this crayon too.

Unfortunately, it isn't obvious from my swatches (curse the winter lighting) but the Topshop Mystical crayon (£7.50) has the most spangly finish of the bunch, containing flecks of warm coppery glitter within the cream base. Mystical is still relatively new to my collection so I haven't used it as much as the others. I can't really offer a full run down of its pros or cons but one obvious advantage is the twist up pen format. Price wise, it's similar to the Sephora crayon but more accessible if you're in the UK.

I realised after I had edited all of the pictures that I made some omissions, namely Chanel Ombre d'Eau in Splash and Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes E105 (I've included links to previous posts). I would say that both of these are darker than the taupes I've mentioned here and, more importantly, they are both trickier to apply. The other taupe cream that I have often considered adding to my collection is the MUFE Aqua Cream in Taupe, however, I believe it is a little warmer than I usually go for.

Sephora Jumbo Crayon in Taupe with GOSH Truly Brown liner

Do you like cream eyeshadows or crayons? Have I missed any of your personal favourites here?

Concealers: ArtDeco Camouflage Cream vs Perricone No Concealer Concealer

I've mentioned before how important concealer is in my routine. Although Miss MB is two and a half now, she still wakes in the night (curses) so undereye concealer is an essential. I've tried quite a few now and you can find my previous underye concealer comparison here. I have two in particular that I want to review today: the ArtDeco Camouflage Cream in Neutralising Yellow and Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer. I have also included swatches of Ellis Faas Concealer in S202, W3LL People Narcissist Stick in 01 and RMS Beauty "Un"Cover-up in 11.

From top, clockwise: Ellis Faas S202, Perricone NCC, ArtDeco Neutralising Yellow, RMS Beauty "Un"Cover-up 11 and W3LL People Narcissist 01.

The ArtDeco Camouflage Cream was sent to me by Tender Loving Skincare. This comes in a magnetic pan (which is approximately twice the size of the eyeshadow pans, for reference) and costs £8.50 for 4.5g. The cream is quite densely pigments and provides medium to heavy coverage. If you are applying this to the undereye area, you need to ensure you've prepped with eye cream first. In this case, I applied Clinique's Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector which does a reasonable job of knocking back my discolouration and provides a smooth base.

Neutralising Yellow is very pale yellowy cream colour and is good for correcting purple and blue tones. I realised when I started testing it that my undereye shadows are often quite red and I find Neutralising Yellow doesn't counteract my discolouration particularly well. It's also too light for me to use on it's own as an undereye concealer but of course you can layer this with another concealer, Bobbi Brown style, to correct and then match your skin tone. The camouflage creams do come in several other correcting shades and I suspect that Summer Apricot might be a better corrector for me. On the plus side, the camouflage creams do offer very good coverage and a little goes a long way. I haven't noticed creasing when using this either.

I have already mentioned the Perricone No Concealer Concealer SPF35 (NCC) several times and it is my favourite undereye concealer at the moment. It's quite peachy toned and seems to work particularly well on my discolouration. This is at the other end of the price spectrum to the ArtDeco, costing £37 for 9ml. However, you really need only the tiniest amount (much less than a full pump) so 9mls is going to last a very long time. The NCC does have skin care benefits as well as providing coverage and I do feel it has improved the texture of my undereye area.

Swatches of Perricone NCC on a medium skin tone. Left - blended (yes, it's tricky to spot it), Right - unblended

My only reservations about NCC were about how universal a single 'shade' would be. Because I am a terrible Mum, I decided to use my boys as guinea pigs, as they both have a different skin colour to me. I found it was a good match for Son1 who has quite honey-tan skin. In his words 'why does it disappear Mummy?' when I blended it in. Son2 is quite porcelain skinned and when I tried to blend it on his arm, it left a visible orange patch. So, I would guess that this would be best suited to those in the range fair to medium. I will be sending a sample of this to a friend for a second opinion.

Naked apart from the Clinique Even Better Eyes

L - Artdeco Camouflage cream in Neutralising Yellow, R - Perricone No Concealer Concealer

My apologies for the bare, scary face and messy brows, but I think the series of pictures serve to demonstrate the efficacy of the concealers well. The ArtDeco certainly brightens up the undereye area but it is too light on it's own. The No Concealer Concealer provides very natural looking coverage and disguises the dark circles without really looking like I'm wearing anything. Those who are used to more opaque coverage may consider the NCC too sheer.

Comparison swatches from left to right: Perricone No Concealer Concealer, ArtDeco Camouflage Cream in Neutralising Yellow, RMS Beauty "Un"Cover-up 11, W3LL People Narcissist 01 and Ellis Faas S202.

Disclosure: The ArtDeco Camouflage Cream, Perricone No Concealer Concealer and Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector were sent to me without cost for review purposes. The other concealers shown here were purchased by me.

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.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher Brush (002)

I've had the Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher Brush (002) for quite a long time now. I mentioned it when I reviewed the RMK Cheek Brush last year and fully intended to post a review soon after. At the time, I'd added a number of blusher brushes to my collection and this one got a bit side lined. In fact, my love of this brush has been quite a slow burner but I do think of it as one of my favourites now.

Top to Bottom: RBR Contour Brush, RBR Blusher Brush and RMK Blusher Brush

The RBR Blusher Brush is a super soft, paddle shaped brush. It doesn't provide resistance like the contour brushes that I generally favour for blush application and this is probably why it took a while to grow on me. Instead, what it is excellent for is adding a sweep of vibrant or shimmery colour. I pick up this brush when I want to apply a colour like NARS Orgasm, Desire or Illamasqua Morale. It feels so beautiful to the touch that I do have to fight the urge to go overboard with the colour!

I haven't experienced any shedding with this brush, like I did with the RBR Face Contour (012) brush. As with my other squirrel hair brushes, it does give off an animalic smell when wet but this fades once dry. I find it keeps its shape well through washing and storage.

The Rouge Bunny Rouge face brushes are expensive but I would say they are quality tools and comparable to Hakuhodo and RMK brushes, so worthy of an investment. I use both 012 and 002 to apply blusher, despite the fact that the 012 is designed for applying contour. If you're trying to decide on one rather than buying both, I would say that your blusher choice and/or style of application will dictate your decision somewhat. If you use mostly neutral pink or subtle blushers and like to work the colour in, you'll get on well with 012. If you like a sheer veil of vibrant colour, go for 002.

The Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher Brush is available from Zuneta and costs £47. Rouge Bunny Rouge is also available from Beautyhabit.com for those of you in America.

Disclosure: PR Sample

Hourglass Script Liner

Hourglass Script Liner in Jett is different from the other pen liners that I own in terms of its size. The nib is considerably smaller as you will see from the comparison below. This is good news for anyone who struggles to get a fine line with this style of pen.

When I use it, I don't particularly aim to create a finer line than normal. Instead, I find it allows me to be more precise as I build up the line in layers. If I wasn't so lazy, I suspect I could master a decent flick with this pen.

Top - Script Liner, Bottom - RBR Raven Glaze Lacquer Liner

Don't be fooled by the swatch above. It does create a good black line (this pen only comes in black) but I used a single swipe in the image above to show the relative difference in thickness you can achieve compared to a standard sized nib.

I think if you have lots of similar style pens which you already get on with, you don't really need to add this to your collection. However, if you find you struggle with this sort of liner or you haven't used this style of liner before and want to give it a try, Script is probably a good place to start.

Hourglass Script Liner costs £23 and I bought mine from Liberty. I'm pleased to report that Hourglass Cosmetics have increased there presence even further in the UK and are now available from SpaceNK as well as Liberty and Zuneta.

W7 Metallic Mercury and Venus (with Orly Cosmic FX comparison)

I'm feeling poorly today (the small people have been sharing their germs again), so I thought I'd take the opportunity to show you some swatches that I've been meaning to post for ages. I hope you will forgive me for being less detailed than normal.

Left - Metallic Mercury, Right - Metallic Venus

I picked up these W7 nail polishes just before Christmas last year when I was visiting family. I've never spotted the brand locally and at only a couple of pound each, I thought it would be an inexpensive treat. The W7 bottles are very similar to OPI in styling, although the brushes aren't as good quality and are prone to sticking out at funny angles. The consistency of both of these polishes is quite thin and I applied three coats for the coverage you see here.

In the bottle, Metallic Mercury looks very similar to Orly Space Cadet, including that yellow green tinge at certain angles. On the nail, they look quite different as Metallic Mercury has a much darker base. The 'oil in water' sheen is lost a bit with the black base, especially with as you need to apply several coats. Nevertheless, I like the finished result very much.

Metallic Mercury

Metallic Venus has more of a metallic finish than Metallic Mercury (which is a duochrome finish - thanks Odyssey!). I particularly like how the tiny blue microshimmer gives the nail polish a lilac sheen. I think this Metallic Venus is my favourite of these two W7 colours.

Metallic Venus

Here are Metallic Mercury and Venus compared to the Orly Cosmic FX colours that I own. None of these colours are dupes but hopefully the comparison helps put the colours in context. At the very least it's an excuse for a bit of nail polish porn!

Right to left: Out of this World, Metallic Mercury, Metallic Venus, Galaxy Girl

Right to left: Galaxy Girl, Metallic Mercury, Metallic Venus, Out of this World, Space Cadet

I can't remember exactly how much these nail polishes cost from Savers, as the receipt has long since vanished. I suspect it was around £2.95 each. Although they're harder to apply than more expensive brands, the lasting power was fine so my overall impression is that they're not bad for a bit of cheap and cheerful fun. I found both colours available from Amazon and Fragrancemad.com.

Brown Pencil Liner Comparison

Along with my interest in taupe eyeshadows and MLBB lipsticks, I seem to have a fairly healthy collection of brown pencil liners. I've never swatched them all side by side, probably for fear of spotting dupes. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be too much overlap but I'm sure I could probably get away with two or three, rather than five.

The pencils that I have are: MAC Teddy Eye Kohl, Rouge Bunny Rouge Lola Long-lasting Eye Pencil, BECCA Goa Automatic Eye Liner*, GOSH Truly Brown Velvet Touch Eyeliner and Ben Nye Espresso Eye Liner Pencil.

I have mixed feelings about the automatic pencil liners. The formulas are very long lasting, the RBR Lola swatch in particular lasted more than 24 hours on my arm, but it can be tricky to apply a thin line with this type of pencil. The BECCA liner comes with a little sharpener but the RBR does not.

Both the Ben Nye and MAC pencils do not set particular and it's easy to smudge them if you prefer a diffuse line. Although I like the dark colour of the Ben Nye Espresso, I do find it will migrate around the outer corners of my eye as the day wears on. I tend to favour waterproof formulas for this reason. The BECCA, RBR and GOSH pencils all set quite quickly once they are applied. There is a very (very) small window of time in which you can smudge the RBR and BECCA pencils, you have a little more time with the GOSH formula.

Truly Brown and Espresso are both dark browns with no shimmer. I would say that Espresso is the darkest and most cool toned of all my brown pencils. Goa is the lightest, it does have some bronze shimmer that isn't obvious in this swatch but you can see it in my previous review here.

Teddy and Lola are the most similar of all these pencils, both are rich chocolatey browns packed with bronze shimmer. In terms of colour, I think I prefer Lola but I find the MAC pencil a bit easier to apply. It's why I have wondered if I might get on better with Lola in the Eye Kohl formula but I'm pretty sure a girl can have too many brown pencils. I might invest if and when I finish one of the pencils I already have.

Do you have a favourite brown liner? Are you a fan of pencils or do you prefer gel liners for longevity?

* PR Sample