Loving nudes #12: Same gorgeous colour, two different brands… TOM FORD & ESTÉE LAUDER

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#lovingnudes, comparisons, dupes, Estée Lauder Pure Colour Envy Implulsive, Loving nudes #12, review, swatches, Tom Ford Lipstick 07 Pink Dusk, Tom Ford Lipstick 07 Pink Dusk vs Estée Lauder Pure Colour Envy Implulsive

#Loving nudes times 12!

This time is a different one from the usual nude discoveries! This time I want to call to your attention these two lovely shades, extremely similar not only in colour, but in both texture and finish! What makes the difference it’s only the brand they’re labelled under, which obviously dictates the packaging the product comes in…

One is an all-time favourite of mine, the Tom Ford Lip Color in 07 Pink Dusk and the other one ir a fairly recent discovery and it’s the Estée Lauder Pure Colour Envy 210 Implulsive.

So, yeah! They’re definitely luxury dupes for one another! 

As you can hopefully see in the pictures above, both come in this beautifully universal nude-pink shade, one of the creamiest formulation I have ever tried, amazing pigmentation and a finish that in our beauty world we call a creamy luminous matte, something between a matte and a cream, but with a bit of luminosity given not by quite some sparkle or a glossy finish, but a luminosity that “comes from within” – if you prefer more of a prosaic expression… They even have the same vanillary scent!

The application of both is so smooth and easy, you won’t have issues with applying either one if you’re on the go and you need to touch up a bit. They literally glide onto the lips, nourishing them with the amazing ingredients both have in their composition ( a blend of beneficial oils and natural extracts ). Both last a good couple of hours on the lips, but they need some retouching now and then!

To see how Pink Dusk and Impulsive look swatched and compared to other nudes in my collection ( which, by all mean, aren’t a few! just a fair warning! ), make sure you check these complete reviews I previously wrote here and here.

Great luxury options, right?! And how unbelievably similar they are!?

I know how hard is to find a dupe for an already excellent product!… What dupes like mine here, have you discovered this far? Please share them in the Comment section below! I’m extremely curious to discover your finds!

I hope you had an awesome weekend this far and that you’ll have a bright week ahead!

As always thanks for reading and see you soon, Beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

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BURBERRY Fresh Glow Foundation SPF 15 PA+++, shade Ochre No.20

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Burberry, BURBERRY Fresh Glow Foundation SPF 15 PA+++ shade Ochre No.20, comparisons, review, swatches

The BURBERRY Fresh Glow Foundation SPF 15 PA+++ came out on the market a while back, and it sucessfully replaced in the top of my preferences, the now discontinued Burberry Sheer Foundation, which used to be a favourite of mine for the spring and summer months! I used to have that one in the colour No.04 Trench, if I’m remembering well!

Then, two years ago, another Burberry face base was launched ( the Burberry Fresh Glow B.B. Cream – the best B.B. I had the chance to try, even better than Dior and even Estée Lauder… I know, bold statement there, which I obvioulsy assume! See for yourself what I mean in this post here! ) and made me forget about my Sheer, which eventually went out of date somewhere in the depths of my makeup drawers, and I had to dispose of it!

Long story short, I was extremely happy to see that Burberry “brings my favourite back”, be it in another form, with another name and other shade range ( which to be completely honest, was a little bit of a nightmare to match myself to, since for my Sheer in Tench, I got matched to in Milan, at the Burberry counter from La Rinascente, in Piazza Duomo… ).

The formula of the BURBERRY Fresh Glow Foundation SPF 15 PA+++ is comfortable, and gives that no-makeup-look I adore. It’s also very beneficial for the skin, as the formula features “vitamins and moisturising extracts ( Burberry’s signature blend of rosehip, tea and lavender extract ) to help keep skin hydrated for up to eight hours and enhance skin suppleness”. Plus it’s packed with anti-oxidants and sunscreens factors to “help protect against the damaging effects of the sun.”, being free of Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates.

It has medium buildable satin coverage and a natural-looking finish, it’s light, which I prefer my bases to be, and exquisitely dewey, very close to the radiance of natural daylight!…

On certain complexions, this might give the illusion of an oily look… But if you ask me, it’s just an excessive dewey-ness, which I personally prefer in my face bases! I love the aspect of an healthy-looking complexion, especially during the hot months of the year and to balance everything out, I like to keep the rest on my makeup as matte as possible! I’m thinking matte eyes and matte lips!… It’s only a personal preference though, as I think matte foundation makes my complexion look powdery, chalky and pretty much old.

I found that it applies best with my Tom Ford #02 Creamy Foundation Brush and with my damp Beauty Blender to uniformize the colour and the finish! I go with my Beauty Blender over the brush application, because I found out that like that the foundation doesn’t accentuate pores or cling onto any eventual dry patches I have!

Also, this is the kind of foundation you need to give it time to set, then apply your other powder products: setting powder, contour, highlight, blusher and finishing powder.

This colour I own, Ochre No.20, has a lot more pink undertones in it than I usually go for, but when blended out, it somehow manages to give me a beautiful, luminous look, and a bit of a tan as well!

You can see me wearing it in this post here!

Can’t wait for the warmer weather to be here, to get some colour onto my pale slin and to properly wear this foundation again!

Well, it’s also almost gone! So, I’m waiting for your recommendations!

See you soon, Beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

 

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URBAN DECAY Naked Skin Concealer, shade Light Neutral – Review

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#narsissist, comparisons, NARS Radiant Cream Concealer Ligh2 Vanilla, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, review, swatches, URBAN DECAY Naked Skin Concealer, URBAN DECAY Naked Skin Concealer shade Light Neutral, URBAN DECAY Naked Skin Concealer Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer

The URBAN DECAY Naked Skin Concealer Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer is one of those products I ended up purchasing because of the hype it got in our beauty community!

[ It actually took me quite some time to buy it, mainly because I couldn’t find an actual match online before Urban Decay launched here, in Romania and when I could finally swatch it in person at one of their counters. Then there’s also, my NARS Radiand Creamy Concealer which is pure perfection – here I am, another beauty blogger that compares the two!?!?!!!! Can’t help it since it’s: perfect shade Light2 Vanilla, perfect consistency, behaves exceptionally throughout the entire wearing time… Probably the best I have used to date! ]

So of course, I was curious to know what all the hype was about!…

For a Neutral shade, Light Neutral has definitely a lot more peachy-pink undertones, and it’s warmer than I expected! Don’t get me wrong! It does work wonders at hiding those dark circles after a “long” night out, or if you didn’t get enough sleep for whatever reason! And I sure know what I’m talking about…

As for the formulation the Naked Skin Concealer is more liquid and runny in consistency than the Creamy Concealer from NARS, and I found myself often in the situation of applying too much thinking it was the same quantity I usually applied from my NARS one. Well, it was too much indeed and nothing to say – it did blended like a dream, but it somehow gave me that unnatural appearance, which I’m not very found of!

Not to mention that after a couple of hours I could clearly see it gather and settle in all those “wonderful” lines around my eyes, ageing me, with all my efforts of remediating it with powder!

Attention! I never carried powder with me before starting using this!

One more thing! Again, because of its consistency I also find it kind of messy… Might sound weird, but every single darn time I open it, there have to be little drops of product that find it amusing to fly all-over my vanity, mirror, my silk blouse, etc. … Not that I’m not clumsy and things like this don’t happen on a daily basis! But… just saying!

Here you have the Naked Skin Concealer swatched near the Radiant Creamy Concealer! Notice the difference in shade ( which of course, its the most obvious! ), but also the difference of consistency! The NARS one is lighter, creamier and brightening, while the Naked one is more about concealing… and that would be it!

Take note that it definitely does an amazing job at concealing… But mainly for the eye area/issues! For the rest of the face you’ll definitely need a stronger one, like NARS!

One more thing I just remembered! Once the Urban Decay Nakes Skin concealer dries completely, it does change its colour a bit, and you definitely need to wait for it to set for a couple of minutes before locking it in with powder!

Works well applied with my Tom Ford #03 Eyeshadow and Concealer Brush, but I definitely need to go over with my mini Beauty Blender ( so cuuute?!?! ) after that for a smoother application and to take away the eventual excess of product, but I get the best application by using my own fingers!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

• I wanted to keep this review as far as I could from all the technical details ( shade descriptions, formulation, ingredients, etc. ), I just wanted to share with you my most genuine thoughts about it!
•  I definitely like this UD Concealer and I will continue using it, but I’m still considering wether I’ll repurchase another one or not… when I already placed an order for my Creamy Concealer – I simply cannot live without it!
• the NARS Creamy Concealer is more versatile, has a better range of colours to choose from and I love it being “creamy” more than the “liquid” consistency of the Naked Skin
• I’m happy to have purchased and tried the Naked Skin, now I can tell there’s a difference between the two and know what works best for me…

That doesn’t mean it will have to be the same for you, Beautiful! Maybe you absolutely hate the NARS Creamy Conceler and love the Urban Decay Naked! To each their own!

If you tried any of these two, please let me know what you thing about them in the Comments section below! I’m I applying the Naked Skin wrong?

See you soon!

xx, Annie

 

 

 

 

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Loving nudes #11: ESTÉE LAUDER Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick 130 Intense Nude & 210 Implusive

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#loving nudes, comparisons, ESTÉE LAUDER Pure Color Envy Lipstick 130 Intense Nude & 210 Implusive, Estee Lauder, Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy, Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting, lipstick, nude lipstick, review, swatches

It’s time for another episode of the Loving Nudes series! And we’re already at #11, which means that there are other 10 episodes you need you catch up with?!… Ten more episodes, with at least ten more nude lipstick options! Well… That’s quite a lot of nudes to choose from, if you ask me! Haha!

So check them out and let me know what’s your favourite in the comments below!

Now let’s get on to the actual review!

There’s no secret by now how much I love the Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipsticks! I love them in every formulation they come in – the original creamy one like these I’m talking about today, the matte one you can see me wearing here and I’m yet to try the Shines, which are supposed to be good dupes for another all-time favourite lipsticks of mine, the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines ( see my faves and some funny stories about them here and here! ).

In terms of formula, pigmetation and application Intense Nude and Implulsive, the two new lipstick nudes I’m focusing my attention on today, are no exception! They’re both creamy and soft, and glide onto the lips “hugging” them with pigment, in just one swipe. They last as much as any other cream lipstick on the market, and you definitely need to reapply during the day… If not for anything else, mostly for the fun of it, believe me!

130 Intense Nude is a not-too-deep-not-too-“superficial” dusty rose shade with brown, neutral undertones which gives it warmth and makes it more wearable, and suitable to many skin tones. A perfect balance of a gorgeous Pantone “café-au-laît” with soft, rosy tones in it, if you like!

210 Impulsive on the other hand, is another neutral but a muted pink this time, definitely lighter and brighter than Intense Nude… And girlier, why not?! It will be an excellent colour option to wear this upcoming spring and I’m looking forward to!

[ For swatches and comparisons check this link, here ]

OVERALL THOUGHTS: 

I really love these Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipsticks in every colour I have tried so far ( check all my colour picks, with swatches here) !… And in every formulation! I highly recommend these two nude shades, especially if you’re on a hunt for a more than decent lipstick to wear at work, or in meetings! These two literally saved the day a couple of times, giving me confidence and making me look composed and on top of the situation, even if I was way, way far from that! Estée Lauder did an awesome job with this line! 

I hope you had an awesome weekend this far! 

See you soon, Beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

 

 

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Chanel Illusion d’Ombre Mirage & Dior Diorshow Fusion Mono Météore – Apparently the same… But quite different after all!

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Chanel Illusion d'Ombre Mirage, comparisons, cream eyeshadows, Dior Diorshow Fusion Mono Météore, eyeshadows, review, swatches

My history with Chanel and Dior is a beautiful and long one! These were the first luxury makeup brands that I got my first items from, when I seriously started to be interested in makeup! Still love them, I’m still getting products from them on a regular basis… Mostly from their Limited Collections, which nowadays come out with some absolutely fabulous collector’s items! Fellow beauty bloggers, you definitely know that nobody does Limited Editions like Chanel!!!

Anyway, long story short, what I see and like from Chanel and Dior it’s most likely to take home with me! Same happened with these two items: the Dior Diorshow Fusion Mono in 661 Météore and the infamous Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in 95 Mirage.

When the Dior Fusion Mono‘s first came out on the market, the Chanel Illusion d’Ombres rulled the “eyeshadows-in-pot” game! They were such an wow!-product… Creamy, pigmented, easily blendable, long lasting and in some colours that it would have been extremely difficult not to take them all home with you!… Good news, they still are!

But, knowing me he way you do by now, of course I had to buy the safest colour in the range Mirage! Read the full story and how I ended up getting Mirage, here! Little did I knew that I already had at home this lovely Météore which makes an excellent dupe for it!

SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES:

• the most obvious is the packaging: same glass pots, with black lids and the logo of the brand on top
• both come with applicators no one uses
• both come in this beautiful to work with gel-like, bouncy, cushion-y formula
• both pigmented – the Chanel Illusion d’Ombre beats Dior on this by just a bit, since with just one swipe of Mirage you can do your entire eye makeup, when with Météore you need to dip your finger more than once in the pot ( yes, I do find easier the finger application with all my cream eyeshadows, then I use a blending brush to finish the job! )
• both easily blendable with both fingers and blending brushes
• both quite sheer but buildable
• Météore swiped once shows up more glitter than Mirage if swatched on the hand, but when layered on the lid it just shows up more of a sheen than a glitter
• both eyeshadows need to be worked with quite fast, but once the Illusion d’Ombre sets is there to last the whole day, even on the oiliest of lids, when the lasting time of the Fusion Mono is less by comparison
• Mirage is more of a taupe-ish deep bronze with warm undertones, when Météore is brighter ( due to its golden glitters ), more copper-y and with a more obvious glitter ( see swatching comparisons with other similar colours in my collection here ). The difference on the lids is barely noticeable though!
• Mirage is softer and squish-ier than Météore, which makes it a bit easier to work with
• neither of the two dried out, as I expected them to… Especially the Chanel Mirage – the Illusion d’Ombre being well known and hated for irremediably drying out!
• both make excellent eye makeup bases

Strange enough, even though it’s more glittery than Mirage, I find myself reaching out more for Météore! It’s safe to say though that for a good couple of months I used nothing but Mirage on my lids!… Then a little detour happened… Something called Tom Ford and Charlotte Tilbury!… And stopped using both! 

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I think that both are gorgeous everyday shades, have excellent quality and they’re so easy to work with, even for us non-professionals!

Do you own any of these? Have you tried the Chanel Illusion d’Ombre yet? What about the Dior Fusion Mono?

I hope you enjoyed this comparison/dupe post, Beautiful and found it useful!

See you soon!

xx, Annie

 

 

 

 

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My MAC Eyeshadow Collection feat. Brulé, Patina, Espresso, Cork, Wedge, Honey Lust, Sweet Lust, Satin Taupe, Coppering, Greensmoke, Creamy Bisque & Top Knot

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Brulé, comparisons, Coppering, Cork, Creamy Bisque, Espresso, eyeshadow, Greensmoke, Honey Lust, limited edition, mac, MAC Eyeshadow Collection 2015, MAC Eyeshadows, neutrals, nude eyeshadows, Patina, review, Satin Taupe, swatches, Sweet Lust, Top Knot, Wedge

What kind of of a beauty blogger would I be if I didn’t owned some MAC Eyeshadows, right?!

Well, I do own a few that I have to admit I don’t reach out for as much as I probably should – you’re going to see in a sec, some of them are barely touched!…

Not that I don’t like the quality of them… They’re extremely pigmented, buttery soft and blend like a dream with the most trickiest eye tool, with a minimum of a fallout. Plus, the colour selection is every makeup lover dream! Check it for yourself here, on MAC‘s website!

What truly happens here is that I’m always distracted by my other eyeshadows from Tom Ford, Charlotte Tilbury, Burberry ( to name a few?! favourites )… They have become such an important part of my makeup routine, that my poor little MAC Eyeshadows had no other alternative than to collect dust in the back of my makeup drawers! #shame

*Side note: the whole “rotating your makeup thingy” it’s definitely not for me!*

Introductory ramble done, let’s move on to the actual review!

Brulé – a “soft creamy beige”* with a Satin finish, an excellent skin tone colour to be used as a base, by its own or to highlight.

Patina – a “taupe brown with golden pearl”* and a Frost finish. I don’t visualise Patina as a taupe but more of a muted, antique-y gold… Like those golden objects in my Granny’s attic, with the “patina” of time all over them! Great for an everyday makeup! Highly dupeable! ( See swatches below! )

Espresso – a “muted golden brown”* with a Matte finish. I don’t find Espresso muted at all! It’s a deep chocolate-brown, with golden undertones… Don’t you see it the same way? Grea in the crease to smoke out the look! Again, highly dupeable – swatches below!

Cork – another “muted golden brown”* but with a Satin finish. Lighter and warmer than Espresso. See dupes below!

Wedge – a “soft muted beige taupe”* and Matte finish. One of the most known MAC products and probably, my most used MAC eyeshadow – as you can probably see. Dupes below!

Honey Lust – a “bronze-dipped peach”* with Lustre finish. Excellent description! One observation though… Honey Lust and his sister Sweet Lust have obvious specs of glitter that are prone to fall outs, but used wet they create such an amazing glow on the lids as if they were glittey pigments.

Sweet Lust – a “pinky-rose”* with Lustre finish.

Satin Taupe – a “grey-brown taupe”* with a hint of purple and silver metallic sheen. It comes in a Frost finish. A cult beauty product, an essential in every makeup artist professional kit. Unfortunately, as you’ll see in the swatches below, it’s SO easily dupeable! 

Coppering – an “orange-copper”*, a Veluxe Pearl I simply adore this eyeshadow for this time of the year. It has the burnt orange-red colour of the fallen leaves and a beautiful, luminous sheen. Just beautiful! Swatches simply don’t do any justice to this gorgeous colour!

Geensmoke – another beautiful colour for Autumn. It’s a “tarnished olive”* eyeshadow with a Lustre finish. Like the other lustre finishes above, you might have some issues with the golden glitters in this one as well.

The last two are unfortunately Limited Edition items and not available at the moment at MAC counters or online.

Creamy Bisque ( L. E. ) is a soft off-white with pink sheen. It’s a Frost which makes it excellent for highlighting the inner corner of the eye, the brow bow even the rest of your face, if you like… It was part of the MAC Me Over 2011 Collection.

Top Knot ( L. E. ) is a charcoal with indigo-purple shimmers. It comes in a Velvet finish. Available for a limited period of time, as a part of MAC’s Brunette Blonde Redhead 2009 Collection. 

 

Next…

…you will find all the swatches and a few comparisons with other eyeshadows in my collection.

Swatches. I hope you find them helpful!

Dupes in my collection:

• see full post here.

• see full post here.

• see full post here.

• see full post here.

• see full post here.

Before you leave please let me know which MAC Eyeshadows are your absolutely favourites!

See you soon, Beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

 

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*Description taken from MAC’s website.

BURBERRY Light Glow Earthy Blush No. 7 – review

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Burberry, Burberry Light Glow Blush, Burberry Light Glow Blush Earthy, comparisons, Eartthy blush, No. 7 Earthy Blush, review, swatches

You all know how much I love my Burberry makeup and that I own quite a lot of items it’s no surprise as well! 

I had my eyes on this particular blush from their regular line for quite some time, but to be honest the one thing that keept me away from it was exactly the fact that everybody in the beauty world uses it mainly as an excellent contouring shade… “How is that even possible!?”, I kept asking myself and left it aside.

It was brought back to my attention when the international makeup artist Andy Rowe used it to create the main looks for the Burberry Spring 2015 Collection, The Birds and The Bees. I already did a blog post about this look with details about the products and the techniques she used, so if you want you can read more about it here. 

I was just fascinated about how natural it looked on the models, so bronzy and chic that I had to give it a go! Well, it’s still Burberry! What could’ve gone wrong, right!?

NOTHING I’m telling you! In fact it was the only thing I wore on my cheeks lately, just to warm up my complexion and to give it a bit more definition. This combined with a bit of that gorgeous Tom Ford Pink Sand blush and sometimes a bit of the Kevyn Aucoin Celestial highlighter for an extra glow.

It definitely looks more like a contour shade but on the cheeks it comes off a little too warm for what I like my contours to be, especially in the colder months when my skin is paler. Now that I managed to put a bit of a tan on it looks effortlessly beautiful!

 – from left to right: Hourglass Ambient Lighthing Powder Luminous Light, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Radiant Light, Kevyn Aucoin Cream Contour Medium 3, BURBERRY Earthy, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow Sculpt, Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Bronzing Powder 03 Natural – Brunettes, Guerlain Teracotta Light 04 Sun Blondes

Swatched, Earthy definitely looks like a beautiful neutral blush but like a decent contour shade as well – warm, brown, delicate shade. 

As you can see, the closest one in colour is the Sculpt shade from the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow duo. The others are warmer and cooler variations! 

The formula is as expected, silky and highly pigmented in spite of the fact that it’s marketed as a Sheer Blush. I apply it in thin layers continuously buffing it, to control the intensity I want and build up the colour to a maximum that pleases me. 

My favourite face tool to do that with is the Tom Ford #06 Blush Brush, that’s soft and dense enough to pick up just the right amount of product and ro buff it evenly for a flawless look. It does come with its own brush encased in the iconic checked, gunmetal case, which is not bad at all… But I still prefer my Tom Ford brush! 

The versatility of Earthy sold me instantly!… I now can use it as a delicate everyday blush and it shows beautifully niw that I have a bit of a tan on! It only accentuates it, making everything look more natural and healthy than ever.

Which product is your favourite for contour this summer?

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

Summer Essentials: KEVYN AUCOIN the Creamy Glow Duo

Tags

BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector, Charlotte Tilbury, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow, comparisons, contour, highlighter, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette, incandescent light, Kevyn Aucoin, Moonstone, review, swatches

With the Season of the Highlighters in its full force, there’s nothing more chic than a double-duty, dainty, beauty to-go essential product! This is the Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Glow Duo, a beautiful little compact containing the cult favourite, powerful pair of the Candlelight highlighter and the Sculpting powder in shade #4 Medium, both in cream form this time!

#4 Medium is made with brown, grey and red pigments that create the look of a natural medium shade shadow, excellent to use on medium and fair skin tones like mine! Now I have a bit of a tan on and it works just fine as well!

It looks like this medium earthy brown with a subtle grey in it, but dark enough when layered ( as you can see in the swatches below! ), an ashy brown that translates more of a subtle shadow. It blends so well and its almost impossible to go wrong with because it gives such a natural look! And doesn’t lean orange no matter how much you apply, as the shade Sculpt from my Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow tends to do!

Candelight, the highlighting shade is an absolutely glorious champagne colour with a luminous golden sheen to it given by such finely milled particles of shimmer, that don’t translate as obvious on the cheeks but this gorgeous pearl shimmer without being sparkly or glittery. Just that angelic/hallo effect/glow-from-within look everybody’s talking about!

It’s pretty similar but a tiny bit more golden than my other all-time favourite highlighter the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Incandescent Light – which is a powder, less obvious and golden than the Highlight shade from the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow, and the most similar with a recent discovery of mine in terms of highlighters – the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone.

Now a few words on the formulation!

This is one of the most amazing cream formulas I have ever tried! Rubbed for a couple of seconds between your fingers, it transforms into this thin, velvety-soft, extraordinary emollient consistency that is so easy to apply on bare skin, on foundations and even over powder! It won’t cause any slipping and sliding or accentuate imperfections!

I used my fingers most of the times and I loved the final result! But with a small, synthetic, stippling brush it works just as well…

Why have I underlined the word “small”?! Well because this duo comes in the smallest pans I saw a contour or a highlight product to come in! You might have troubles using your regular size/usual contour and highlight brush, but with a bit of an effort you can make that one work as well! 

And trust my words, that’s a lot of pay off from that little extra-effort you put in as these two are absolutely worth every penny you pay for them!

And like all things Kevyn Aucoin I mostly saw online, as this is the first item I have ever tried but definitely not the last!, the decadent garnet packaging gives away the air of an incredibly glamorous makeup item, making makeup application an absolute pleasure!

Have you tried anything from Kevyn Aucoin, lovelies? What’s your favourite product?

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

NARS Deep Throat Blush – review, comparisons, swatches

Tags

#narsissist, blush, comparisons, Deep Throat, NARS, review, swatches

I’m fairly new to NARS products but they’re definitely some of my favourites I have tried so far! So I can fit into the #narsissist tag as well as any NARS long time lover out there! You know what I mean, right?

Knowing my obsession with blushers, these were one of the first products I had my eyes on. I really wanted their cult product Orgasm, but when I got the chance to swatch, I decided that the glittery show it put on wasn’t for me… So I went for a mild version of it… Deep Throat.

NARS Deep Throat Blush is a “flirty, sheer peach”* with fine, golden shimmers that gives your cheeks the most beautiful, natural look. It can easily fit in the family of the peachy-corals as well, but a warmer one due to the pink undertones that makes it the perfect balance between a true coral that can often pull out orange on certain complexions, and those red blushers. This will never happen with Deep Throat!

Made with the finest milled powder, you can bet on a soft, blendable texture and an application with a minimum of effort thanks to highest-intensity hues. This is not the most pigmented NARS blusher ( think Exibit A! ). Applied with a light hand it transfers on the cheeks more of a pigmented highlighter, which makes it excellent for an everyday wear. But don’t worry it can be built up to a higher intensity and still look naturally gorgeous!

This is a swatch-comparison I did a while back when I wrote the review on my Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Chic Swish & Pop Blusher in Love Glow, where you can see comparisons of several blushers from my collection that are pretty similar to Deep Throat.

[ Can you sense a theme here?! But believe me, they all are unique in their own way! At least I can see the difference!… ]

The packaging is the slick, ruberized one NARS has us used with! Lovely, but not practical because it collects fingerprints like crazy! But if that doesn’t bother you that’s fine! I, for once, I’m mesmerized with what’s inside it to see whatever flaws it might have!

Overall, I’m really pleased with how this one performs on me! It has everything  expected from a blush in the most balanced way possible! I definitely recommend Deep Throat for those of you who like a natural, effortless, soft look!

Have you tried NARS blushers yet? what do you think, they’re worth the hype? And what would you recommend to try next?

*Description taken from NARS website.

My BURBERRY Sheer Eyeshadows. Part III: Taupes – #09 Rosewood – review, swatches, comparisons and dupes

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Burberry, Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow, Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow #09 Rosewood, BURBERRY Sheer Eyeshadows. Part III Taupes, comparisons, dupes, review, swatches

If there’s one thing Burberry does heavenly, these are the eyeshadows, especially for a neutrals lover like myself! There are lots of neutral colours in the Sheer range where Burberry took an otherwise boring neutral, added a little something into it and made it extraordinary!

This is Part III of My Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow Collection – Taupes, featuring my absolute favourite taupe shade of all times, #09 Rosewood.

[ See Part I: Pretty Nudes, here and Part II: Earthy Browns, here ]

I know that Pale Barley seems to be the popular one amongst the Burberry shadows but for me Rosewood was the stand out. In fact it was one of the first Sheer Eyeshadows form Burberry I’ve purchased and my most used one.

Rosewood is the epitome of the taupe eyeshadows…

–  here is a swatch comparison of Rosewood with a couple of similar colors in my collection, with various finishes, textures and undertones

… A very lovely complex taupe though, neutral in tone, leaning more brown than grey and ashy, a shade of brown that works well for my skin tone due to the plum undertones in it and never makes me look tired. I dislike the ruddiness in a lot of browns eyeshadows but this is a perfectly balanced mix of browns and greys adorned with a slightly metallic, burnished sheen that I noticed in other Burberry colours as well ( see again Pale Barley! ), which definitely makes it an excellent shade for fairer, cooler toned complexions as well!

The pigmentation and the richness of the texture are as beautiful expected! Rosewood is incredibly silky, soft, buttery smooth and dense and a little goes a long way, as it also is easily blendable.

My go-to look using this eyeshadow is still a natural one ( this and some eyeliner and I’m good to go! ), but a more polished version of that!

The packaging is the classic, iconic, gunmetal, check-printed little box that comes with a mirror and a sponge applicator, everything wrapped up in a black velvet pouch! Sassy, right?!

Do you have a favourite taupe? Please share it in the comment section below!

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful June!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie