Rouge Bunny Rouge Sweet Dust Seriema Eyeshadow

I've had these pictures organised and in draft form for a long time but I will admit that my love for this eyeshadow has been a bit of a slow burner. Rouge Bunny Rouge Sweet Dust Seriema is a browned concrete and on my skin it swatches with a slight mauve undertone. It's one of RBR's matte formulas and the texture is extremely smooth. I find that touching a brush to the pan does create a bit of dust but I haven't experienced any issue with fallout when I apply it.

I had assumed that I would use this as a lid colour but in fact I get more use from it as a crease colour and also to soften the edges of a smoky eye. Today, I am wearing it in the crease with MAC Brule as an all over base colour with a bit of the pearlised champagne-pink from Rue de Rivoli as a brow highlight. Some would say it's a boring look, I'd say subtle. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to!

To put the colour into context, I thought it would be useful to compare it to a couple *cough, cough* of similar eyeshadows from my collection. Below, you can see how it compares to similar shades in the Guerlain Rue de Rivoli, Rue de Passy and BECCA Enigma palettes, as well as old favourites RBR Solstice Halcyon and MAC Omega. None of them are precisely identical but, based on the pan, I would say that Armure from the Enigma palette is pretty close.

Swatches from left to right: Armure from BECCA Enigma, Rivoli eyeshadows, Sweet Dust Seriema, Solstice Halcyon, MAC Omega, Rue de Passy, Gracious Arasari

BECCA Armure is still closest based on the swatches, however the texture of the RBR eyeshadow is definitely superior. As a random aside, I do like to see the colours compared side by side like this as it's interesting to see the different undertones. It also makes me even more keen to have a colour analysis to see which of these colours, if any, would fit with my recommended colour palette.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Sweet Dust Seriema eyeshadow pan costs €24/£20 and is available from the Rouge Bunny Rouge Online Boutique, BeautyBay.com and Zuneta.


Disclosure: I ordered Sweet Dust Seriema from the Rouge Bunny Rouge website using a voucher sent to me by the brand. The links are included for information only and are not affiliate links.

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!

Project Swatch: Rouge Bunny Rouge Mysterious Tinamou Eyeshadow

As it's nice and sunny outside today, I thought it would be appropriate to share a little colour. I've had Rouge Bunny Rouge Mysterious Tinamou for a while now and have previously shown it applied as an accent colour. I also really like to wear it over a dark base which really accentuates the intensity of this shade.

As with my other RBR eyeshadows, the texture is excellent but I find the application to be a bit more sheer than say Abyssinian Catbird or Bejewelled Skylark. The swatches below are a couple of swipes of colour applied to bare skin.

In bright, outdoor light

Overcast lighting

Under flash

The Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow pots cost £20.50/€24, unfortunately I don't think this colour is available in refill form. I purchased Mysterious Tinamou from Zuneta.

Project Swatch: Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Zeitgeist

I've been thinking of doing a swatch series for a while and really hope it will be useful. I have amassed a large collection of photographs that are sitting unused as I don't require them for review posts but they might be useful online purchasing research or colour comparison. For these sorts of post I will include pictures of the products and swatches without lengthy reviews and I will include links to any previous mentions, such as favourites or FOTD posts, where relevant. As ever, if you do have an specific comparison requests, do feel free to add it in the comments or you can email if you prefer.

First up is Illamasqua's Pure Pigment in Zeitgeist. This pigment was released with the Autumn 2011, Theatre of The Nameless collection. I was prompted to mention it today as I spotted it for the bargain price of £5 in the Illamasqua sale. I'm currently doing the basket dance with Beguile pigment.

Zeitgeist is a black pigment with flecks of silver shimmer. I probably used it most extensively when I was playing about with Halloween looks last year. I've pictured it alongside Illamasqua Obsidian eyeshadow for colour comparison. Both of the these were swatched over a NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and are several passes over the skin. I find you get a smoother, more pigmented application with Zeitgeist if you tap quite a bit of pigment out from the stopper hole, otherwise you tend not to pick up sufficient product at once. The application isn't quite a smooth as Obsidian.

Top - Obsidian eyeshadow, Bottom - Zeitgeist pigment

With flash, from left to right: RBR Sweet Dust Seriema, RBR Mysterious Tinamou, Zeitgeist and Obsidian

Disclosure: I received Zeitgeist in an event bag.

20% off at Escentual and a glimpse at the Guerlain Liu Palette

I've been struggling to find a moment to post in the last couple of days. Although I've finished preparing for Christmas, I currently have three small children in the house who are all VERY excited about tomorrow, the smallest of whom seems to have decided that sleeping is for wimps. I had intended to write about the Guerlain Liu Eye and Lip Calligraphy, including a FOTD, but I shall have to make do with sharing some pictures of the palette and swatches for now.

Instead, I thought I would take a moment to point out the current sale at Escentual.com. They have at least 20% off everything (no code required) including the Guerlain Liu palette, which is currently on sale for £43.20 instead of £54. I thought this might be useful information for anyone expecting to receive a bit of spending money for Christmas, it will certainly make your pounds go a little further. I'm hoping to have a quiet browse myself once the children stop bouncing off the walls. Merry Christmas!

Disclosure: The palette was my Christmas wish generously granted by Escentual (you can see my wishlist here). It literally beats the socks off the M&S underwear that I'm likely to find under the tree tomorrow...

Hourglass Neo-Classic Vol.6 Eyeshadow Palette

It's not often that I'm stumped on how to begin a post but this is one of those rare occasions. It's probably because this is neither a rave review nor a slating and often they are the hardest posts to write. The Hourglass Neo-Classic Vol. 6 palette is a mix of positives and negatives and although it isn't easy to write, I imagine it will probably be quite useful for anyone considering a purchase.

The eyeshadows come in the stylish signature Hourglass packaging complete with the reversible swivel lid. The palette includes six eyeshadows; the lightest two 'base' colours come as slightly larger pans than the darker eyeshadows (2.5g instead of 2g). All of the eyeshadows have a matte finish with the exception of the flesh toned peach which has a fine shimmer running through it.

The eyeshadows have quite a powdery texture and this does lead to the darker colours catching fallout from the lighter shades within the palette. The eyeshadows are well pigmented but they are not as smooth in texture as the Hourglass duo formula. I think you can probably see this from my swatches. However, when used on the eyes with a primer, I don't experience any patchiness.

Hopefully you can just make out the swatches of the bone and shell colours despite being so close to my skin tone

The palette contains a slightly curious mix of colours in my opinion which I don't think I fully appreciated until I tried to use it to create a look. In essence, it provides good base/highlighter shades and liner/defining colours but not much in the way of mid-toned or transition colours. The only mid-toned shade is the rosy pink, which I wouldn't consider to be universally flattering on the eyes. On the SpaceNK website this shade is listed as a taupe, which it most definitely isn't. I think a taupe or mid-brown might have been a more versatile inclusion.

Just because this isn't a 'look in a box' type palette doesn't mean it isn't incredibly useful. For me, the beauty of this palette is that it provides staple matte colours which work well to supplement my existing eyeshadow collection. The lightest colour has been a perfect replacement for MAC Brule and I've been using it everyday for the last couple of weeks. I've regularly use the black, navy and brown to define my lashline and have even used the brown as a brow powder.

The bottom line for me is that your mileage may vary when it comes to the Neo-Classic palette. If you're looking for a travel palette or a palette that will provide multiple looks on its own, I would hesitate to recommend it. However, if you're looking for some staple matte colours and don't mind switching between palettes when applying your makeup, you may well find this very useful. You could of course buy these sorts of colours from MAC as single pans and create your own custom palette but you wouldn't have the lovely Hourglass packaging to admire then, would you?

Hourglass Cosmetics are available from Zuneta, Liberty and SpaceNK in the UK and the Neo-Classic palette costs £42. This palette was passed on to me by a very lovely fellow makeup fan.

First impressions of the MUFE Black Tango Palette

I'm currently in the grip of a major smoky eye phase and I spotted the stunning Make Up For Ever Black Tango palette whilst browsing the Sephora.fr website. After checking they had the palette in stock at Cite Europe (such a useful function), I sent my Mum instructions to pick it up on her travels.

It's just as beautiful in the flesh as the promo pictures suggested. It's essentially a set of four mini Aqua Creams: three dark, one light, and I love the fact that each individual cream has its own lid within the palette. I managed to hold off long enough to take pictures before I started using the colours but I confess it was touch and go!

Post photoshoot, I allowed myself a little play this afternoon and I discovered the double brush included in the palette works very well at applying the creams. I often get frustrated with synthetic brushes that remove as much product as they apply but this deposits and distributes colour evenly. The creams work well as a base for powder eyeshadows just as I'd hoped but I've yet to try using the colours on their own. So far, I've had no creasing either.

In my head, this palette is going to allow me to create an edgy Berenice Marlohe style smoky eye (yes, I went to see Skyfall this weekend and I have a new Bond girl crush). In reality, my looks will be more subtle and probably not as low or smudgy. Whatever the outcome, these dark creams do work very well at bringing intense colours to life and I look forward to experimenting.

My Black Tango palette came from Sephora and cost 39.50€, the palette is also available from gurumakeupemporium.com in the UK.

Image of Berenice Marlohe from KissandMakeup.tv

L'Oreal Miss Candy Color Infallible Eyeshadows

Today, we're going to pretend that the wind has dropped, the threatening grey clouds have gone and the (warm?!) sun is shining. For the L'Oreal Paris Miss Candy collection require sunshine in order to be truly appreciated. As luck would have it, I did manage to take pictures in a small window of light, so this makes the pretense a little easier.

There are three new Color Infallible eyeshadows in this collection: Innocent Turquoise, Sassy Marshmallow and Naughty Strawberry. Innocent Turquoise is a beautiful sparkling sea green, Sassy Marshmallow is an icy silver grey and Naughty Strawberry is a fuchsia pink with hints of lilac. All three colours are cool with a frosty finish. They're also more sheer than the other Infallible Color eyeshadows that I have. Even when you layer the colour, they do retain a slightly transparent quality.

Innocent Turquoise

Sassy Marshmallow

Naughty Strawberry

My favourite of the three is Innocent Turquoise. I find it easy to add this to my usual neutrals palette for a little pop of colour. Sassy Marshmallow gives quite an 'Ice Queen' look when worn on it's own and is possible a little too cool for my colouring. Although extremely pretty, I have to confess that Naughty Strawberry scares me in the same way that the fuchsia pink in the Guerlain Rue de Rivoli palette does. I don't wear pinks on my eyes, even pale pinks, and I think we can thank the 80's for this aversion. I'm sure those of you that are more colour confident would find an interesting way to wear this as an accent colour.

L-R: Sassy Marshmallow, Innocent Turquoise and Naughty Strawberry

L-R: Naughty Strawberry, Innocent Turquoise and Sassy Marshmallow

As with the other Infallible Color eyeshadows, I apply these with my fingers and find it easy to get an even finish this way. I apply over an eyeshadow primer and do not experience creasing or fading.

The L'Oreal Miss Candy Infallible Colors are available now and cost £6.99 each. They're available from Boots and Superdrug, I also spotted them online on Feel Unique. The collection includes several lipglosses and nail varnishes which I will show you in another post.

How would you wear these sorts of colours? Are you managing to pull off summery looks despite the weather or are you already looking forward to the autumn collections?

Disclosure: PR Samples

Face of the Day with Burberry Rosewood Eyeshadow

I finally had opportunity to wear Burberry Rosewood eyeshadow today. I had a moment of guilt as I spoiled the pristine surface but that soon disappeared as the the joy of applying a new silky smooth taupe eyeshadow kicked in! The Burberry eyeshadows are more pigmented than you would expect from something called 'Sheer Eyeshadow' but because of the colour and finish, Rosewood does have a slightly transparent quality when applied. As I suspected, the colour is similar to Solstice Halcyon but Rosewood has more of an obvious iridescent sheen quality to its finish.

I kept everything else pretty simple but as ever, I probably look a bit more made up in real life than I do in the pictures. Here's a complete breakdown of the other items I wore today:

Face
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in Finland
Perricone No Concealer Concealer* applied to undereye area
Shu Brow Pencil H9 Seal Brown
Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Cheek Colour in Rose

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in Rosewood
Annabelle Smudge Paint in Sludge applied with Louise Young liner brush
No.7 Lash Adapt mascara*

Lips
Voltaic lip gloss from the Aurora LMdB Lip Kit*
I changed to Shiseido Perfect Rouge in Venetian Rose later as I fancied something a little darker

* PR Samples

My Blues, Greens and Reds

The weather is so miserable outside that I felt inspired to do another colour grouping post. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not great at experimenting with colours but I wondered what a hunt for blues, greens and reds would uncover. I suspect that I'm repeatedly drawn to a single shade from a colour family rather than collecting a range from across the spectrum. So, no pretty rainbow of colours here.

Greens

Eyeshadows: MAC Club, Rouge Bunny Rouge Olive Violeteare, Green eyeshadow from Le Metier de Beaute Penelope Kaleidoscope, Green from the Chantecaille Sea Turtles palette, Lancôme Erika F, NARS Dogon and Rajasthan.
Eye Pencils: Annabelle Smoothliner in Jade, No.7 Metallic Eyes in Green, Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier in Bangalore and MAC Kohl Power Pencil in Mystery
Nail Polish: Barry M Racing Green, YSL in Wintergreen, Le Metier de Beaute Dionysus and Athena, L'Oreal Innocent Green, Nails Inc freebie in an unnamed Teal colour

Blues

Eyeshadows: YSL Pure Chromatics in shade #3, Sephora eyeshadow in Preppy Look (#41) and  L'Oreal Infallible Colour in Innocent Turquoise.
Eye Pencils: MAC Pearlglide liner in Petrol Blue and Annabelle Smoothie Crayon in Blubomb
Nail Polish: Joe nail varnish in Persian Blue, YSL Moonlight Blue, Lancôme Vernis in Love in Bleu de Flore (573B), China Glaze in Tempest, Orly Star of Bombay, Butter London Victoriana, L'Oreal French Riviera.

Reds

Nail Polish: Butter London Knees Up, Orly Glam, Lancôme Vernis in Love in Miss Coquelicot (154M) and Lancôme Rouge Saint Honoré (22)
Lip Liners: MAC Cherry and Le Metier de Beaute Rose
Lip Products: Tom Ford lipstick in Smoke Red, Ilia Crimson & Clover, Max Factor Colour Elixir lipstick in Ruby Tuesday, Lancôme lipsticks in Rouge Faubourg and Rouge in Love (159B), Revlon Colourburst in Raspberry, Kevyn Aucoin Liquid Lipstick in Aquarouge, Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Fume and Ellis Faas in L303
Cheek Colour: W3LL People Universalist Stick #5

I thought I'd add this final picture, so you can see exactly why all the images are so dark. I know we really need the rain but, seriously, enough already!! Hopefully I will get opportunity to take some of these again when the sun finally reappears.

Disclosure: The items shown here are a mixture of things that I have purchased myself, been gifted to me and PR samples. If you want to check the origin of any particular item, do feel free to ask.