The French Pharmacy Discount Returns to Escentual.com

This is quick heads up that the popular French Pharmacy discount returns to escentual.com today. There's a 1/3 off Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Nuxe. Avene, Klorane, A-Derma, Rene Furterer and Pierre Faber are all reduced by 25% and there's 10% off Caudalie. Great news for those of you that are keen to get your hands on the famed Caudalie Beauty Elixir.

I will be taking advantage of the offer to re-stock on a few basics, particularly because my parents won't be returning to France until May. My Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk is almost empty and I need another tube of the LRP Effaclar AI Targetted Breakout Corrector. Also, Mr. MB wants some more of the Vichy Shaving Foam I bought for him last time the offer was on. As Escentual have recently started carrying the Bioderma range, I might have a look and see if they have the wipes pictured above but for goodness sakes don't grass me up to Mrs Hirons.

Talking of Mrs Hirons, if you haven't already spotted it via Twitter or Caroline's blog, the good lady herself will be holding skin care workshops and one to one consultations at Liberty's on the 12th and 13th March. Caroline is a lovely, extremely entertaining lady and I have immense respect for her knowledge of skin care and problem skin. You can find out more information about the workshops and personal consultations here.

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...

Bargain Alert! BECCA 50% off End of Summer Sale

If you're in the mood for a bargain, you might enjoy a browse of the BECCA 50% off sale. It includes various eyeshadows, eye creams, brushes and some of the previous limited edition palettes. I've filled and emptied my basket several times, I don't really have the money to spend at the moment but that doesn't stop me eyeing up those eyeshadows!

As ever the links are for information only and I am not affiliated with BECCA.

Rouge Bunny Rouge GWP & Santa Ana Look Video

Zuneta presents Rouge Bunny Rouge ¬ Get The Look ¬ Santa Ana from Zuneta Beauty on Vimeo.

Here's the Zuneta video for the new Rouge Bunny Rouge Santa Ana look that I had a go at re-creating yesterday. I will be interested to see if I can improve my copy of the eye look after watching how it's done in the video.

I've also just spotted the GWP offer in the weekly e-newsletter. The offer is for a free Sleeping Under A Mandarin Tree loose glitter pigment with every order of Rouge Bunny Rouge products worth £40. I really like the RBR loose pigments as they're not as messy to apply as most, especially if you use the applicator in the tube.

20% off French Brands at Cult Beauty

I spotted this offer in my inbox this morning and thought it might be of interest to a few of you. You can get 20% off French Brands at Cult Beauty today using the code BEAUTE. This includes cult favourites Caudalie Beauty Elixir and Embroylisse Lait Creme Concentre.

As ever, the link I've included is for information only and I do not profit in any way.

Help: Clear Skin 'Olympic Countdown' Discount

Last year my sister reviewed the Help: Clear Skin supplement. Although she was really pleased with the results, one of the negatives for her was the cost. In view of this, I thought I would mention their current ‘Olympic Countdown to Clear Skin’ discount.

Using the discount code OLYMPIC45 you will receive a 45% discount on 28 packs of both Help: Clear Skin and Help: Revitalise My Skin. The offer is valid until 27th July and the idea is that you will have radiant skin in time for the Olympics. Don't worry, participation in sporting activities is purely optional! There is also a choice of a gift with purchase (a pocket mirror or Ion Sport watch) and all orders over £45 will be entered into a prize draw to win a Kindle Fire.

I really hope this is useful to anyone how has been considering the supplements but hesitated at the price. The discount code is valid for purchases from www.workswithwater.co.uk website.

BECCA Bridal Event

I thought this might be of interest to any of you involved in planning a wedding in the near future. BECCA are holding a special Bridal Event in their South Kensington Boutique this coming Saturday from 10am - 6pm. You can book yourself in for a free wedding makeup trial, they normally cost £70, but you will need to call and book in advance. It sounds like there will be other exhibitors there on the day too, offering discounts and offers on wedding related services. There are more details including the telephone number of the Boutique on the invite below.

Introducing StageLine Cosmetics

I mentioned the StageLine Precise Liner in a face of the day post last month. I like felt tip pen style liners generally and I particularly like how dark this version is. It also has a more matte finish than many of my other pen liners. I find it lasts all day and doesn't move around at the corners of my eyes. I think it would be a great choice for a dramatic winged eyeliner.

Another of the items from StageLine that I particularly liked is their 'Light' loose powder for face and body. Although these powders are designed for face and body, you will find them listed with the eyeshadows on their website. I admit my initial interest in this came from the rollerball packaging! The shade I have here is 04 and it is a pretty, sheer rose gold shimmer that I find this works best as a highlighter. There are 21 shades altogether and some are more obviously eyeshadow appropriate.

L-R: Precise Liner, Light #04, Glow Up in Natural

The other item pictured below is their 'Glow Up' lipgloss in Natural. The formulation is ok and they do have a variety of colours as well as clear but I think this was definitely my least favourite of the three items.

Whilst doing research for this post, I was drawn into looking at the the various categories on the new website. There are lots of pro-style pre-prepared palettes as well as regular individual items. For products such as the individual eyeshadows and blushers, they also offer pan refills and I was especially taken with this idea when I spotted that they also do an empty magnetic palette. I think I'm a bit of an oddity as I can rarely bring myself to depot items (I keep pretty boxes, so smashing compacts is out of the question) but I do love creating customs palettes.

The StageLine products vary quite a bit in price from mid-range to high end, depending on the item (I'm not including the pre-prepared palettes here as they are very obviously pitched at professionals). For example the Precise Liner costs £13.79, the lipglosses are £14.29 and the solo eyeshadows are £9.71. The 'Light' rollerballs cost a bit more at £20.42 each, as do the Velvet blushers at £21.29. What I have tried I have been impressed with: the packaging isn't as appealing as some of my favourite brands but I think the products are good quality and that magnetic palette is talking to me! If you fancy giving their products a try, you can find a code for a 10% discount on their Facebook page.


Disclosure: This item was sent to me without cost for review purposes. The links are for information only and not affiliate links.

Steal: BECCA Pressed Shimmer Powders at 50% Off

The BECCA Online store are having a 50% off sale of several soon to be discontinued items. I was delighted to the Pressed Shimmer Powders amongst the items on sale and promptly placed an order for Nefertiti and Princess.

I placed the order on Monday morning and my parcel arrived today. I thought I would share a few quick photos for anyone who was considering a purchase. I haven't had chance to play with them yet so this is just a look at the pans and some quick swatches. The lighting isn't good enough today for anything more.

Natural light. L - Nefertiti, R - Princess

With flash

My initial thoughts are that both colours are very pretty. The powder felt lovely and soft as I swatched. The swatches are quite a few passes over the skin to show the colour so they seem to offer a sheer but buildable colour. I think Nefertiti will make a nice highlighter shade and I imagine I will also be able to use it apply a sheen over blushers. I suspect I will use Princess as a blusher. My apologies that this isn't a more thorough review but I wanted to show you them before they sell out and are gone for good!

The Pressed Shimmer Powders are priced £15 each and there are four shades available. The other two shades are Gypsy - a bright golden pink and Odette - a golden peach pink. The other items that are on sale are the Fine Loose Finishing Powder (£13), Line + Illuminate Liners (£8.50) and Antibacterial Jumbo Pencil Sharpener (£5). Although I was momentarily tempted by the Line + Illuminate Liners, I remembered the problems I had with Belize. Admittedly, I do use the liner end quite a lot.

Postage cost £3.50 but shipping is free if you spend over £35 (sorry for my earlier gaff!). There are limited supplies so I think the sale will last as long as stock is available.

L'Oreal Super Liner Luminizer in Black Amethyst

I picked this up when I bought my last couple of Couleur Infalliable eyeshadows. I have already own the  Super Liner in sparkly black and I find that once you remember that you must shake it before you apply, these work very well. The first time I used Black Amethyst, I thought it might be a dupe for Illamasqua's precision liner in Havoc but side by side, the difference are clear. Havoc is more of an ox blood shade, whereas Black Amethyst is more obviously purple. Black Amethyst also has a gorgeous metallic shimmer, it's subtle and only visible at certain angles but it prevents the colour from looking flat.

The liner goes on easily, I find it has a nice consistency and I get on well with the felt stick style applicator. The tip is soft and doesn't splinter the colour during application. I'm quite used to applying liner so I'm not sure how easy this applicator is to use as a novice. I noticed when washing off the swatches that although L'Oreal didn't move with water alone, it washes away quite easily with soap and water whereas the Illamasqua liner requires eye makeup remover to be removed. Something else I noticed is that, once dry, the L'Oreal seemed more flexible than the Illamasqua which split easily as you can see in the swatch below.

Although handy for avoiding theft, the security tags really make a sticky mess of products!

I like Black Amethyst very much. This particular shade is marketed for those with hazel eyes. My eyes aren't hazel but I much preferred this shade to the navy blue shade being offered for blue eyes. I had a look on the Boots website and there are three shades of the Luminizer Super Liners. The colour that I haven't seen in person is the one designed for green eyes which appears to be green from the online swatch. I find the choice of blue for blue eyes and green for green eyes rather unusual as I makeup artists often recommend that you use a colour from the opposite side of the colour wheel to your eye colour. Personally, I would recommend choosing based on the colour that you like rather than the one you're 'supposed' to get.

Top: Black Amethyst, Bottom: Illamasqua Havoc - still wet at the point

Top: Black Amethyst, Bottom: Illamasqua Havoc

As an aside, whilst I was browsing the Boots website in search of the Super Liners, I spotted that the Couleur Infallible eyeshadows are currently reduced in price from £6.99 to £3.99. I'd highly recommend giving them a try if you haven't already, especially at such a great price. Of course, I'm not looking myself, no sir. I have my eyeshadow no buy to think about! *weeps silently*

Freebie Alert - Stila Makeup Amnesty

I thought this might be of interest to any of you that are based in London. On the 19th January you will be able to go along to the new Stila makeup counter in Harvey Nichols and trade in an old lipgloss for a brand new Lip Glaze in Kitten worth £15. If you're a makeup fanatic, I doubt you will struggle to find an old lipgloss knocking about at the bottom of your makeup bag and it's a nice way to try the iconic Lip Glaze formula. I don't have the shade Kitten but I recently reviewed one of the Lip Glaze sets here.

Stila launched in Harvey Nichols in Birmingham last month and is due to arrive in the Manchester store the first week of February. There will also be a Makeup Amnesty in Manchester, details of the date will be published on the 'What's On' page of the Harvey Nichols website.

Great Offer from Cult Beauty

I just got an email about this great offer at Cult Beauty and couldn't resist sharing. With every order over £40 you will receive this bag of fantastic samples.

* RMS Living Luminiser
* Rahua Voluminous Shampoo and Conditioner
* Peter Thomas Roth Botanical Buffing Beads
* Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream
* Omorovicza Reviving Eye Cream
* Eve Lom Cleanser and Cloth
* Compagnie de Provence Mediterranee Hand Cream
* MOROCCANOIL The Original Oil Treatment
* Creative Nail Design Solar Oil
* Institut Esthederm Light Sun Sheen Face
* Kai Perfume Vial

There are so many items from brands I have wanted to try from a long time such as the RMS Living Luminiser and the Rahua Shampoo and Conditioner, as well as items I have already tried and would highly recommend. I don't think there is a single item of filler in there. I suspect this gwp will sell out fast so if you're interested I'd recommend acting quickly as the offer will only last until stocks sell out. I feel an urgent desire to place an order myself. See you in a while.......

25% Off BECCA Cosmetics

Just a quick heads up to let you know that you can get 25% off BECCA cosmetics when you order online from www.beccacosmetics.com/uk using the code PARTY. The offer ends on 21st December.

Some of my personal favourites from BECCA are Turkish Rose Crème blusher and their brilliant Compact Concealer (my shade is Praline). The Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl and Professional Brush soap are excellent too (I've included link to my previous reviews). The Mineral Blusher in Sweet Pea is currently tempting me.

RBR Beyond the Looking Glass and 20% off RBR at Zuneta

Rouge Bunny Rouge have launched their latest Potraits of Grace look 'Beyond the Looking Glass'. As well as showcasing items from the current line, Beyond the Looking Glass introduces two new Fire Drop loose glitter pigments: 'Caress of Mink' and 'Embrace of Cashmere'. I like the feel of the Rouge Bunny Rouge pigments and because of the applicator, it's one of the few loose pigments I feel confident using. I'm quite taken with the colour Caress of Mink (hello, new taupe lust!).

Left - Embrace of Cashmere, Right - Caress of Mink

The Zuneta video demonstrates how the look was created using the products pictured below. As always the video is a joy to watch. I especially liked watching the technique of mixing the liquid highlighters with the loose pigments.

FACE
METAMORPHSES Mattifying Primer
NAKED DISGUISE Glide Concealer
FINE-SPUN LIGHT Luminous Skin Wand
AS IF IT WERE SUMMER STILL… Bronzing Glow Powder

EYES
SILK AETHER Long-Lasting Cream Eye Shadow 'Brocade Skipper'
FIRE DROPS Loose Glitter Pigments 'Ebrace of Cashmere' & 'Caress of Mink'
SEAS OF ILLUMINATION Highlighting Liquid 'Sea of Showers'
FELINE GAZE Long-lasting Eye Pencil and Eye Kohl 'Lola'
WITCHERY Modelling Mascara

LIPS
SUCCULENCE OF DEW Sheer Lipstick 'Dark Juices'

I really like this look as, it's very feminine and flattering. I like the use of different textures too. I'm not sure I would be able to pull off the warmer tones of Embrace of Cashmere but I think combining the taupe Caress of Mink with Lola would make a nice eye look too.

If you fancy a bit of Rouge Bunny Rouge shopping this weekend there's good news. Zuneta are offering 20% of all RBR products until midnight on 5th December using the code ROUGEXMAS. Happy shopping!

Edit: I realised in my excitement to post I didn't add the price of the Fire Drop loose pigments. They normally cost £24 but with 20% off they cost £19.20 each. I know this as I might have already placed an order....what can I say, I'm a sucker for the taupes!

Hourglass Flash Sale at Zuneta!

I spotted that Zuneta are having a flash sale of Hourglass Cosmetics. From now until 28th October you can get 20% off Hourglass using the code GRATITUDE11. If you are looking for ideas on what to get you can find my previous posts about Hourglass Cosmetics here. My personal recommendations would be the Film Noir mascara, the Femme Rouge lipsticks and their brilliant primer.  The primer comes in a new travel size which in itself would probably last ages as you only need a tiny bit to prime the face.

I was actually lucky enough to have a makeover with Gina Brooke, creative director for Hourglass on Saturday in Liberty. In my excitement I forgot to take any pictures so I will endeavor to do a re-creation later in week. I brought home the eyeshadow duo in Suede but I'm also keen to get several other items, including a hidden corrective concealer and the large concealer brush. Gina used these instead of a foundation and I was very pleased with how flawless my skin looked. I still kicking myself for not taking pictures, both the makeover and meeting Gina was an enormous thrill!


All the links in this post are for information only. I am not affiliated to Zuneta, Liberty or Hourglass, I'm just a big fan! Happy Shopping.

Global Free Shipping at Zuneta

The Bank Holiday weekend is almost upon us and to celebrate Zuneta are offering free shipping for everyone. I'm sure this is especially good news for those of you outside the UK. Just use the code FREESHIPAUG.

I was having a little look on there myself this morning and a couple of things caught my eye:

The Hourglass Vol.6 Neo-Classic Eye Palette is out already. I have been exited about this since the Zuneta blog post about it a few months ago. It looks like a really interesting selection of colours.

The Film Noir Lash Lacquer that Cafe Makeup reviewed recently is also available as well as an expansion of the Hourglass brush range. I think the concealer brush looks very enticing.

The nail varnishes from the BECCA Lost Weekend collection are already available ahead of the collections release in September. My personal favourite is Billy Tea after my manicure earlier this year.

I also spied the BECCA Butter Balm which is part of the new collection and a personal favourite for Rebecca Morrice Williams. I love the packaging and the balm is beautifully scented.

I am just about to write a review of the BECCA Professional Brush Soap but thought it was worth mentioning here too. This has revolutionized my brush washing and I would highly recommend giving it a try.

If you need any more shopping inspiration feel free to browse my previous post about Rouge Bunny Rouge, Hourglass, BECCA and Edward Bess. Happy shopping!

Harper's Bazaar freebie - Leighton Denny Viva la Diva

Harper's Bazaar are giving away one of three Leighton Denny polishes with the July edition of the magazine (out now). The three polishes are Supermodel, a griege, Viva la Diva, a vibrant coral red and Do me a flavour, a juicy orange. Both Supermodel and Viva la Diva are from the regular line whereas the on-trend orange, Do me a flavour is part of Leighton Denny's Gelato Collection.

I was very tempted by the griege but as I already have several nail polishes in similar colours, as well as a growing collection of oranges, I thought Viva la Diva would be a good choice.

It's an interesting colour. It's red but with a coral hint gives it a lovely summer feel. I have it on my fingers now but I have a feeling it's going to make a great pedicure colour too. The formula was nice to apply and with no sign of streakiness. My only complaint was that the brush seemed to splay a little as I ended up blobbing nail varnish on my skin, something I rarely do. It was easy enough to clean up though. It also seemed to take quite a while to dry but I didn't apply a fast drying top coat which probably would have helped.

It's well worth taking advantage of the offer, even if you don't intend to read the magazine. The Leighton Denny polishes retail for £11 and Harper's Bazaar costs £4.20. I'm actually rather enjoying the magazine, even if I am a little puzzled by the strange choice of uber heavy eye makeup on Claudia Schiffer on the front cover....

e.l.f. Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15

This is my attempt at speeding blogging. I shall start off by saying that e.l.f. Studio range is 25% off at the moment for UK and Europe using the code STUDIO25 (or STUDIO25IT if you're in Italy). I won't be offended if you go off and do a spot of shopping first as the code is only valid until Midday today!

I have e.l.f Conditioning Lip Balm in the colour Nice and Natural. These are lip balms that are tinted, with enough pigment to actually show a colour on the lips rather than being sheer. I suppose they are similar in concept to the MAC Tinted Lip Conditioners. They come in a fairly large pot which, although it looks like glass, is made from a perspex type material. There's also a little protective cap under the lid.

The balm smells lovely, it has a vanilla and cinnamon type scent to it that I really like. It's quite thick and slippy in texture. Although they're described as non-sticky, I detect a hint of stickness and it's enough to catch your hair against your mouth on a windy day. On the lips, the balm feels quite nourishing and I believe they contain vitamins A & E. They also have an SPF of 15 which is good news for this time of year. This is not the kind of balm that I find I can use under a lipstick. I wear it as a lip colour in it's own right. I think that's definitely worth bearing when you're selecting a colour.

Nice and Natural is a buff colour with a hint of pink. On me this is definitely a nude rather than 'my lips but better'. It's lighter than my lip colour and there's enough pigment to blot out my natural colour. I feel quite comfortable in this, I'm not normally a nude lipstick kind of girl as you probably know but I find it looks strange in photographs (hence the lack of lip swatch). It's available in six other shades and I'm especially drawn to Romantic Rouge and Blissful Berry.

The Studio Conditioning Lip Balms cost a bargainous £3.50, obviously less with the current discount code. They're well worth a try if you're after a tinted balm for the Summer and I have to say that they feel much more luxurious than the price tag would have you expect.



Disclosure: This was sent to me without cost for review purposes. The links in the post are for information only and are not affiliate links.