Swarovski Crystal Earrings from JewellerySmith

One of the things Nikki Bogardus told me at my colour analysis was that as a Bright Winter, I need sparkle and bling. As the budget isn't going to stretch to real gemstones any time soon, I've been scouring Etsy for good Swarovski pieces. 

I found these earrings at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JewellerySmith. Sapphire blue Swarovski crystal drops are individually wrapped with silver wire and attached to delicate silver chains. They cost £22.95, and £2 for postage in the UK. JewellerySmith is based in the UK, so there is no risk of being stung by Customs charges either. 

Here they are worn. The drop length and colour/sparkle are absolutely perfect. I've worn the heck out of these, so I've just bought myself a red pair from the same jeweller, and I've enquired about the possibility of other colours. 

Beauty Spotlight Desert Island with Beauty Info Zone Lisa

Beauty Info Zone's Lisa has way more fun than a blogger should picking her 12 items for a fantasy desert island experience.

I should have picked HIM for one of my 12 items

Go and find out what she picked here: Beauty Info Zone Lisa's desert island picks.

Bobbi Brown Lavender Metallic Eyeshadow and Black Ink Gel Liner

Zuzu over at www.theeverydaybeauty.com suggested I might have a look at Bobbi Brown Lavender Metallic eyeshadow as a possible Bright Winter icy violet. I've been looking for a lilac version of Dior Monoshow Bikini (a sparkly but not frosty clear, cool pink) and BB Lavender is really quite good for this.

Picture below is buffed onto my lid and up to my crease, and underneath my lower lashes. This isn't as sheer an application as it looks, although I did buff it in well. The lavender blends with my natural skin colouring, giving a bit of a glow without shouting PURPLE EYES. I do think it needs the definition of the Black Ink with it though. Dior Bikini is a softer and possibly more flattering look (the Lavender is more stark), but I like the Lavender for a change.

I find the Black Ink gel eyeliner much easier to control than MAC's Blacktrack, which is just a bit too intense for me. BB's is a softer black, although it still gives a good definite line.

In context of the rest of my face - I think it's easier to see the effect of the lavender than in the closer picture. I'm also wearing MAC Dollymix blush and Dior Addict Extreme lipstick in 789 Bellissima.

W3LL People brand revamp - Universalist multi-use stick and Nudist Colorbalm

W3LL People have revamped the packaging and the colours of their line; I always liked them a lot, so I was interested to see what the improvements are when I was sent a couple of PR samples from the new line up.

The packaging is sleeker; here's my review of an old multi-use stick if you're interested in having a look. The colour range has also expanded across many of the products - there are new shades in the multi-use sticks and a new, lighter shade available in Narcissist foundation.

Universalist 5 Creamy Crimson (£26.50) is a pretty good match for wb 6.5 on the Bright Winter fan. It's unusual to find really clear, bright shades in more natural lines, but this is a pink/blue based deep crimson red - with no brown tones to it. I like it a lot, and it's my third go-to blush. (My other two are MAC Dollymix for pink lipsticks and Shiseido RD 401 for coral/red lipsticks.)

The texture is creamy but not greasy. It blends easily to give a natural flush to the cheeks. I don't notice a massive difference in the texture/finish from the old formula, although the formula does now contain Camellia Oil instead of Coconut Oil, and Camellia Oil does feel a little more cosmetically elegant on the skin in my experience.

Universalist 8 Creamy Dusty Rose is not a Bright Winter colour (you can rule out anything with 'dusty' in the name for a Bright Winter). It's closest to wb 5.1, but it's less clear coral, more warm toned and muted. I suspect it'd be a good Soft Autumn/Summer or Dark Winter/Autumn colour.

There is nothing that matches Nudist Colorbalm 6 Mocha (£15.50) on the Bright Winter fan, so I didn't even try. This is not one of my colours :) It'd be good for any of the Autumns or Dark Winters to use as a base to brown down other lipsticks. 

The new W3LL People products are available from www.beingcontent.com now in the UK, and also through the www.w3llpeople.com website (based in the US). 

Disclosure: PR samples 

Beauty Spotlight weekly round up 27 April

If an unbelievably effective hair mask that gives you gorgeous glossy locks is on your wish list, then Lola's Secret Beauty Blog would love to introduce you to Gotukola Youth Spring Hair Mask! It is a truly amazing product that tames even the most unruly hair!

Want to take 10 years off your looks? Brighten that smile with the new Oral B Deep Sweep Electric Toothbrush and Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste. Prime Beauty is giving away 5 of them, hurry and enter now!

The Pink Sith has learned her lesson about taking Ambien and going on-line. See the Dior Diorshow Mono Eyeshadow in Choc Clair that she purchased in her dream like trance.

Do you change your Beauty Routine for the change of Season? Check out how Pammy Blogs Beauty tweaks her Beauty Routine for Spring and Summer. Plus, enter to win $500 from Jergens!!!

Have you ever written a letter expressing your love for a cosmetic? Read to find out what mascara has Beauty Info Zone excited enough to do this. 15 Minute Beauty shares how she curls her hair, and has it last for days!

Jessika from polish insomniac has the scoop on the Barielle Summer Brights collection!

Bathing suit time is coming fast and Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed has found something that might actually help her get into one this year - check out her newest find - Biotherm Celluli Eraser!

Gratuitous (almost) taupe swatch alert! Modesty Brown compares Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow in Sweet Dust Seriema to some other similar matte taupe greys.

London MakeUp Girl contemplates a life without sludge in her post on Bright Winter eye makeup.

We all need a bit of Suqqu in our lives, Visionary Beauty reviews the blend colour eyeshadow quad in Akanezora.

Perilously Pale shares how Hourglass Cosmetics takes lip balm/treatments into a whole new territory with their incredibly indulgent, and EFFECTIVE, N0. 28 Lip Treatment Oil.

Paula, from Older Girl Beauty, is making good on one of her New Years' resolutions - she is on the hunt for her perfect foundation.

Boots No 7 Stay Perfect Classic Matte trio and Lilac Shine single eyeshadows, and matching makeup to the fan

Boots No 7 are having a buy one get one half price offer at the moment, and I went to have a look at the Classic Matte eyeshadow trio for a fellow Bright Winter. The top colour in the palette looks a little yellow in the pan, but swatched it is a pretty good match for BW 1.1. The middle colour is a little warm for Bright Winter, but it's a yellowed warmth, not orange or muddy. I think it'd match one of the Bright Spring greys, and it works for me; it's close enough to BW1.2 to swing it. The bottom colour is a good match for BW 2.3/2.4.

The shades are all matte, silky and easy to apply and blend. I think No 7 Stay Perfect eyeshadow trio in Classic Matte would be a good purchase for a Bright Winter or a Bright Spring.

I discovered another good Bright Winter buy in Boots No 7 (and it was half price in the deal). On the left is Merle Norman Freesia, a matte icy violet shadow that Christine Scaman at 12 Blueprints recommends for Bright Winter. It's discontinued, and I only managed to get my hands on it as a friend sent it over from the US. No 7 Lilac Shine single eyeshadow is very close in colour, although it has a little shine where the Freesia is totally matte.

Swatched in same order - Merle Norman Freesia on left, No 7 Lilac Shine on the right. Lilac Shine does have a little shine to it, but the colour is very similar. I quite like the shine - it adds to the 'iciness' that works so well on Bright Winter. Christine at 12 Blueprints prefers matte eyeshadow on just about everyone and I can certainly see where she is coming from (I also prefer a matte browbone highlight myself) but Lilac Shine isn't too frosty-sparkly.

With the Bright Winter colour fan; Lilac Shine is a good match for BW 3.4.

I was asked if I'd explain how I match makeup colours to the fan. With eyeshadows, I match the pan to the fan, and then just swatch on my hand or white paper to see if the colour swatches true to pan (some eyeshadows are pressed very firmly, and so don't show up as strongly when you try to pick colour up). You might not want to carry white paper with you when you're shopping for make up though. I don't myself - I go by pan and then swatch on my hand just to check how easy it is to pick up the colour.

As far as matching the colour to the fan goes, I think it's helpful to have the 'Is it too...?' questions for your season in your head. For me, those are 'Is it too brown?' and 'Is it too muted/soft?' This works for me for lip, cheek and eye colours. For a Dark Autumn, it might be 'Is it too blue/grey/cold?' and 'Is it too light/sheer?'

Beauty Spotlight Desert island with Visionary Beauty

Its now Visionary Beauty's turn to be stranded on the desert island; having not been on holiday for years this was actually a welcomed turn of events. However being allowed a mere 12 beauty items was very tricky, lets see what made her list of essentials.

Click on the picture to go and have a look:

Bright Winter eye make up

(Or...So how the hell do I do my eyes if Sludge is out?)

Eyeshadow is one of the places I did have to start practically from scratch after my colour analysis as a Bright Winter. In SciArt terms, Bright Winter has no browns other than a couple of very deep, bitter chocolate shades, but also no taupes, mauves, plums or beiges to speak of. Goodbye sludge.

That's not to say that you are completely banned from wearing browns/taupes, but they aren't the best choices and I was interested to see how the colours that are in line with the Bright Winter fan would work instead. At this point, I'm reasonably sure that you're not going to see me skipping into the bright emerald green or purple eyeshadows, so I concentrated on the icy pastel strip and the two grey strips (one slightly colder and more blue, the other slightly warmed by yellow).

These are the eyeshadows I bought and have been wearing. MAC Scene (mid grey satin), Shroom (champagne satin shimmer) and Yogurt (matte pink, with a slightly peachy undertone). Diorshow Mono eyeshadow in Bikini (I bought this before my PCA, when I was starting to think I might be a Winter after all).

Close up of the two eye pencils. Both have a little shimmer in them, and are the sort of soft kohl texture that smudges nicely (or badly, depending on your preference. If I can't have sludge, I'm definitely not giving up smudge). MAC Phone Number is a cool but not sooty charcoal grey, Laura Mercier Black Violet is a blackened cool violet with no brown tones, which brings out the yellowness of the brown in my eyes.

With the Bright Winter fan. Yogurt doesn't match this, but it is a match for the icy peach/pink from the old SciArt fan (I received a True Colour Australia fan with my PCA, as SciArt fans are no longer made).

I'm not missing the sludge. I tend to like to keep eyes quite simple, so I'm either doing a wash of the Bikini all over with Black Violet smudged into my lashline, or using Yogurt all over as a base, Scene in the crease and then Shroom on my lid for a little shimmer if I feel like it, with Phone Number as my liner.

I have ordered a couple of Yaby shimmer/sparkly eyeshadows I'm hoping will match the icy violet and lavender shades, and I'd quite like a grey or two from the cooler 2.1-5 strip. I am enjoying having less options to choose from/debate over in the morning, and knowing that all the colours I'm picking from work well on me.  Such a small pool to chose from certainly isn't for everyone but it's a useful starting point to know what colours work well and why, as well as understanding why some really don't. Knowing what my better colours are explains why Rouge Bunny Rouge Abyssinian Catbird eyeshadow is so horrible on me.

This is Yogurt, Scene and Phone Number worn, with MAC Dollymix on my cheeks and MAC Girl About Town lipstick.

Revlon Lip Butters in Wild Watermelon and Sorbet

Revlon have recently launched four limited edition shades in their popular Lip Butter formula; a semi-sheer, balm texture with decent colour deposit. I bought the two shades that looked like they might work for me; Wild Watermelon and Sorbet. (Swatched on paper with two of my best Bright Winter lipsticks - Dior Addict 865 Collection and Dior Addict Extreme 756 Fireworks).

Wild Watermelon doesn't match the Bright Winter fan to my eye - it's noticeably lighter than 6.3, and perhaps a bit warmer - I think it's more of a Bright Spring match, and the Bright Spring ladies on Facebook who've tried it seem to like it a lot. Sorbet is somewhere between 6.2 and 6.3 (it's hard to see in photos, but 6.3 is a slightly warmer bright pink, 6.2 cooler).

Sorbet is an odd one. It looks brighter/darker swatched on paper than Dior Addict Collection, but appears lighter on my lips. Collection looks brighter and clearer when applied. I think the Lip Butters must have a semi-opaque white base, which bothers me when I try to wear one.

Sorbet is nearly good on me, but I do prefer Dior Collection. If you don't want to shell out the £20odd for the Dior, the Lip Butters are well priced, and Sorbet is a good bright, slightly-veering cool pink. Wild Watermelon is a, well, watermelon pink, better for slightly warmer skin tones than mine. The Revlon Lip Butters are priced at £7.99, but you can often get them for three for two or £2 off at Boots or Superdrug.

Beauty Spotlight Desert Island with Beauty Crazed

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed is our latest victim blogger to be sent to the desert island. We actually wouldn't go back for her but we still have 4 more bloggers we are delivering to that island. We told her she was last though because we wanted to see her reaction! Click on the picture to go see what products she has to last her from now until she dies at the hands of an angry pygmy or lack of network television!