Giorgio Armani Smooth Silk Eye Pencil 12 - blackened brown

Mr Armani, despite possibly being a space lizard*, makes some of the best eye pencils in the world. 

The smooth silk eye pencils apply smoothly (the clue is in the name) and are smudgeable, but don't travel, fade and smear after they've set (I love NARS London eye pencil, but I know that I'll end up with it halfway down my cheek by the end of the day when I wear it on my lower lashline).

No 12 is a blackened brown. I wanted a little more definition than a straight brown pencil, but black can sometimes look a bit harsh on me, so this is a very good compromise. 

Swatch applied to my hand:

Applied on upper and lower lashline, with Armani Maestro eyeshadow in 22 on my lid and blended into the pencil on my lower lashline too. 

I bought both the pencil and the eyeshadow in Selfridges (London) on Monday, and the service at the counter was excellent. I'd recommend the Armani counter if you fear makeovers turning you into a Vegas Showgirl; they've never overcooked me or anyone that I've seen get a makeover at that counter. 

*See Facegoop for the origin of this fantastic beauty blog meme http://www.facegoop.com/2010/03/08/armani-sheer-lipstick-review/ 

Space NK competition to win 'The Ultimate Collection' of products

I've just spotted this on the SpaceNK website, but you'll need to be quick because the closing date is 30 September.

This is a competition to be entered into a draw to win a collection of products from Space NK. They picture Eve Lom, Emma Hardie, Zelens, Sarah Chapman, By Terry and Rococo products, but then have a pesky asterisk that says '*winning products may vary' - knowing my luck I'll win and the prize will actually turn out to be a job lot of those blue Lime Crime lipsticks. Anyway, it only asks for email and date of birth to enter, so I've given it a whirl. 

The details are here:

http://spacenk-buzz.co.uk/ultimate.php?dest=uk 

Sisley GWP now until Saturday 09 October at John Lewis

I meant to post this earlier, as it has been running from last Thursday. Sisley does these gift with purchase bags a couple of times a year and I always try to wait and make any Sisley purchases during the GWP event as the sizes of the samples are not bad and handy for travel, and it's often a good way to try the more expensive items in the (already pricey) line. Free with two or more Sisley purchases, one to be skincare.

The contents of this GWP bag are:

Sisleya Radiance Concentrate 3ml
Confort Extreme Body Cream 15ml
Eye and Lip Contour Balm 5g
Hydra Global (leaflet says 10ml, picture shows 15ml)
Lyslait Cleanser 30ml
Floral Toning Lotion 30ml
Sisleya Global Anti-Age 5ml
Soir de Lune 2ml

Before I discovered Lanolips, I absolutely swore by the Confort Extreme lip balm and it's still an excellent lip balm although expensive. I also like the Express Flower Gel mask, Gentle Facial Buffing Cream, Restorative Facial Cream with Shea Butter and the Phyto Khol Star eye pencils.

Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether

This is the other product that Illamasqua sent me from their new Art of Darkness collection. The Powdered Metals are loose shimmer powders designed to be used on the face or body. You can use them dry for a sheen, or apply with a damp brush or a mixing gel for a more intense shimmer.

When these were originally released last summer, the name put me off a bit from exploring more closely. Powdered Metal suggests a very metallic finish to me which I'm not sure I could pull off, and the bronze-y look isn't one I generally go for so the colours released then didn't call to me much either.

Ether is a pale white gold shade, and it gives a soft glow/sheen to my skin. The texture reminds me a lot of the Becca Loose Shimmer Powders (these used to come in much bigger pots, similar in size to the Illamasqua Powdered Metal, before they were repackaged into the little pots). 

Thick swatch to show colour:

Blended in:

Applied (dry) to my eyelid and up past my crease with a small, firm eyeshadow brush, and dusted on to the top of my cheekbone with a powder puff. It's subtle, and shows up even less in this photo than it does in real life. The blended swatch on my hand is a better representation of the finish. 

This is a lovely powder highlighter that works well on my pale skin and is also nice to set cream eyeshadows and give them a subtle gold glow. It's not half as scary/extreme as the name Powdered Metal would suggest, although you can get a more metallic look by mixing with lotion/water/mixing medium. 

Disclosure: product was provided without charge for consideration for review.

Jonathan Ward candle - Nightingale's Jasmine

I love scented candles, and was pleased to be given the opportunity to try a candle by Jonathan Ward, an independent artisan candle retailer. I first read about this line on www.britishbeautyblogger.com, who is a staunch supporter of the brand.

Jonathan Ward uses a 100% organic soy and beeswax blend for the bases of his candles. I thought this was good, but not that unusual, until I did some research and discovered that even a luxury brand that I love uses a paraffin and vegetable blend.

The candles are beautifully presented in simple but stylish boxes that are colour-coded for each collection. The colour is carried through to the label on the glass container, which has an illustration that matches the individual scent.

Nightingale's Jasmine is a blend of Jasmine, Saffron, Black Pepper and Clove. I mostly get the Jasmine and Saffron notes from it, with a little underlying spiciness from the other fragrance ingredients. It's a warm and comforting sort of scent, perfect for Autumn evenings. The candle burns cleanly without throwing out soot (do remember to trim the wick before burning), and scents the whole of our open plan dining/living room without being cloying or overpowering.

Summary: Beautifully presented candle, lovely scent and I like the 100% vegetable base. I would thoroughly recommend to anyone looking for candles as gifts, or to scent your own home. These cost £30 for an 8oz candle or £20 for a 6oz candle, so are competitively priced in the luxury scented candle market. The website is at www.jonathanwardlondon.com, and they are also stocked in Fenwick, in London.

Disclosure: product was sent without charge for consideration for review.

The Bluebeards Revenge guest review by Mr London

Mrs London has asked me to review 'The Bluebeards Revenge', a new shaving cream for men. As I normally blog about videogames [can you hyperlink the previous word please ;-) ] [Ed: done, cheeky bugger ;-)] this type of review is a bit of a leap for me but hopefully you, her regular readers, will enjoy  my debut beauty review.

I've used Kiehl's Blue Eagle Shaving Cream for a number of years but have been looking for a new product to use ever since that  formulation stopped being sold in the UK in tubs. I don't really like shaving cream in tubes, as  it seems quite wasteful and it is somehow more satisfying to scoop out the necessary amount from a tub with your fingertips than squeeze it out of a tube. Or that might  just  be me. Bluebeards Revenge comes in a pot, so that was a point in its favour  even before I removed the lid.

Bluebeards Revenge's USP is that it caters for those testosterone-charged blue-chinned men who never really look wholly shaved - like Desperate Dan, or Homer Simpson, I suppose - part human, part Neanderthal, all (real) man. The product claims to contain a scientifically proven ingredient that will actually reduce beard growth after a couple of months' use, making it less dense and therefore easier to shave.    What it doesn't contain, though, is any parabens. I've absolutely no idea what a 'paraben' is - Mrs London would no doubt be shocked - but it doesn't sound like something I'd want next to my skin, so their absence is clearly a 'good thing'.

The branding seems a little confused. I can see the leap from 'blue chin' to 'bluebeard, but not the pirate imagery used on the packaging. Blackbeard was a pirate; Red Beard (Barbarossa) was a pirate. Bluebeard is a character in a fairytale who murders curious wives.  Pirates (old school ones, anyway) are responsible for the world's funniest joke*, have inspired some great (and some duff) films and countless small boys' pyjamas but Bluebeard was not amongst them.

What isn't confused, though, is the donation of 50p per tub that the manufacturers will give to the Fire Fighters Charity.

The cream itself is thick, pearlescent and rich and is easy to work into thick stubble.  The packaging suggests that, for best results,  it be applied with a shaving brush. I've never owned a shaving brush - I share a bathroom with an eminent beauty blogger, I think myself lucky to still have space for a toothbrush - so I applied it by hand. Admittedly, I've no experience of brushing to compare it with but I felt that massaging  it in by hand was perfectly satisfactory. The cream has a more 'muscular' scent than what I've become used to but I've grown rather fond of it. [Ed: I've asked him what he means by 'muscular' because I didn't have a clue - apparently it's meant to indicate an old-school, masculine type of fragrance.] The richness of the cream made for a very comfortable shave and I've had no problems with it in the three weeks or so that I've been using it. Clearly, that isn't enough time to judge the 'reduction in beard growth' claim but it has been long enough to persuade me to switch brands from Kiehl's.

Disclosure: product was provided without charge for consideration for review. The website, with stockists' details, is at www.bluebeards-revenge.co.uk (as always, not an affiliate link).

*Why are pirates called pirates?**


**Because they arrrrrrrrr!

New Autumn online magazine at MakeUp4All

The Autumn edition of the MakeUp4All online magazine is out now - you can read it here. Marina has done a brilliant job on it as she always does, and I was very happy to be asked to take part.

Image is from www.makeup4all.com 

20% off for the weekend at Zuneta

20% off any Zuneta order this weekend with the code WEEKEND. Shipping is free on orders over £50 in the UK, on orders over £65 to Europe and on orders over £100 to the rest of the world.

The website is at www.zuneta.com (as always, not an affiliate link).

Haus of Gloi body product review

I've read some positive reviews of Haus of Gloi products on a couple of blogs that I read and trust (www.legothique.com and www.phyrra.net), and I do like to buy from independent bath and body producers, so I finally decided to take the plunge and order a couple of products.

Best. Internet. Decision. In. A. Long. Time.

Samhain Body Butter
The Haus of Gloi Sahmain fragrance is described as:

Rustling leaves, chilled winds...Freshly turned earth, wet leaves and a cool herb laden wind carrying spectres and spooks! 

To me, Samhain a fresh earthy/green scent that's quite dark but not overly woody. I get a subtle incense/clove/coffee/patchouli base note from it that reminds me a lot of the excellent Possets Morgan Le Fay perfume oil from Dreams of Avalon.

I love the formula of the Halloween body butter. It is rich and very moisturising without being sticky or taking an age to sink in, and I can feel it really nourishing my dry skin. With the onset of colder weather, I can feel the itch starting up on my shins again, but this body butter has stopped that in its tracks and my skin still feels normal and not itchy/flaky even on the next day after applying. I've already ordered another body butter in Pumpkin Queen and I'm considering ordering a back up Samhain because I don't want to be without this in the winter.

Absinthe Bubbling Scrub
Haus of Gloi Absinthe smells just like Absinthe to me. It's a much safer way of experiencing the green fairy than drinking it, which can lead to excellent nights out or very bad decisions, quite often at the same time. This is how the  scent is described by Haus of Gloi:

Hauntingly herbal. Wormwood and anise swim in a creamy green sea of lemon balm and soft glowing mints. A hefty lump of sugar and the tiniest drop of suggestive deep green moss.

This description is very accurate. This is a well-balanced scent where none of the individual notes overpower (it's easy for lemongrass or anise to dominate a fragrance, but Haus of Gloi manage to make both these notes play nicely).

Bubbling scrub is a sugar scrub in a slightly foaming creamy base. It doesn't foam madly but I don't mind that as I find very foamy scrubs quite drying. There's enough foaminess to feel like it cleans properly, and it gives my skin a gentle but thorough scrub/cleanse.

A sample of Hex perfume oil (also from the Halloween collection) was included in my order, and although it's a nice scent it isn't to my taste - too much vanilla and not enough dark for me. If you do like vanilla scents I can imagine it'd nice in the body butter formulation.

Haus of Gloi products are vegan, they're very well-priced  and the shipping costs from the US are reasonable. I love the branding, and the packaging is professionally done but not in any way boring. I'd thoroughly recommend them based on my initial experience, and have already placed a second order. The website is at www.hausofgloi.com.

Illamasqua Viridian nail polish applied

This is Viridian, from the new Art of Darkness collection by Illamasqua (I was sent it by the company). It's a deep, slightly blackened, emerald shimmer that almost looks metallic. The picture is with two coats, and it applied easily and evenly and dried quickly. This is a beautiful colour, perfect for autumn and winter, although slightly dangerous and distracting when you're driving (I must look at the road, and not admire my nails on the steering wheel).

The visuals for the Art of Darkness collection remind me of the book Tithe by Holly Black (excellent book if you haven't read it).

I was also sent Ether Powdered Metal, a pretty pale gold loose shimmer powder and I'll post swatches and pictures of that soon. I've since managed to visit the new Beak Street shop and have a look at the rest of the collection, which has a very vivid and dramatic selection of colours. I'm considering buying Liquid Metal in Resolute, a burgundy red, and Pure Pigment in Ore, a tarnished bronze - these looked lovely with the pigment layered over the liquid metal on my hand, and I think with a bit of black eyeliner they could work nicely on the eyes.

Disclosure: product was sent to me by the brand without charge for consideration for review.

CTonics hair stuff - weird, but good

I use and like WEN cleansing conditioner (Fig is my variant of choice, although the Tea Tree is good for summer too) but I have to get it sent to me by a US friend. When I saw CTonics on www.MiseBeauty.com I thought it looked like an interesting alternative to traditional shampoos and to the WEN.

CTonics cleansing tonics don't foam much at all, and are more like a cleansing hair mask than a shampoo. The two that I have are both a brown cream/gel texture, which look a bit odd when you first dispense them - they look like overcooked banoffee pie filling. I do need to apply twice, and I use a bit more than I would with a traditional shampoo to cover the lengths of my long hair. I apply about a 50p piece size to very wet hair, massage, wet again and then add another, larger two 50p piece blob and massage thoroughly into my hair, distributing the foam through the lengths of my hair. I leave it on my hair for about five minutes while I do other stuff in the shower, then rinse out and follow with the Elixir on the mid and ends of my hair length only.

The CTonics tonic is somewhere between a normal shampoo and WEN. It feels lighter and more cleansing on the hair than WEN can sometimes feel (particularly in very humid weather) but it isn't as drying as a traditional shampoo. My hair feels soft, has bounce at the roots, and the natural wave/curl is enhanced. I wash my hair every other day, and it doesn't feel lank or greasy on the alternate day using CTonics.

Tranquility Tonic
For all hair types, and a good gentle cleanser/tonic for sensitive scalps. I use this on Miss London's shoulder length bob too, and she doesn't need a conditioner after it.

Pulse Tonic
For normal/dry hair, and also claims to be beneficial for fine or thinning hair. I alternate this with the Tranquility.

Blossom Elixir

The richest of the two conditioners/elixirs. This is a very rich off-white cream. It's not a thick/solid texture, although it is very moisturising, and my hair seems to practically inhale it on the ends.

All three of these have a herbal smell, and the Blossom does smell a bit hippyish. I am convinced by the results and would repurchase all three, and these are worth considering if you find that traditional shampoos make your scalp itchy and/or your hair frizzy. I don't keep mine in the fridge as recommended by the brand, but I do give them a quick shake before using (also recommended by the brand). It's worth noting that these do contain a bit of silicone (dimethicone) in the formulas, but it hasn't had an adverse (drying) effect on my hair as some silicone-heavy brands can.

Ingredients for Tranquility Tonic
Purified water, camellia sinensis (tea) seed saponin, coco (coconut oil) glucoside, hydrolyzed keratin, stearyldimoniumhydroxypropyl laurelglucosides chloride (coconut oil), yucca schidigera (and) quillaja saponaria extract, urtica dioica (nettle) leaf extract, dimethicone, cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil, olea europaea (olive) oil, montmorillonite (white clay), xanthan gum, tocotrienol (vitamin e), salix alba (willow bark), aloe barbadensis, lavender angustofolia flower oil, illite (brown clay), citric acid, maris sal (natural trace mineral deposit), anthemis nobilis (roman chamomile) flower oil, laurus nobilis (bay laurel) leaf oil, cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil, astaxanthin.

Ingredients for Pulse Tonic
Purified water, camellia sinensis (tea) seed saponin, coco (coconut oil) glucoside, hydrolyzed keratin, stearyldimoniumhydroxypropyl laurelglucosides chloride (coconut oil), yucca schidigera (and) quillaja saponaria extract, urtica dioica (nettle) leaf extract, glycerin, algae extract, cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil, olea europaea (olive) oil, montmorillonite (white clay), xanthan gum, tocotrienol (vitamin e), salix alba (willow bark), aloe barbadensis, aphanizomenon flos-aquae (klamath bluegreen algae), citric acid, asminum officinale (jasmine) flower oil, geranium macalatum leaf oil, citrus grandis (pink grapefruit) peel oil, guaiazulene (from blue chamomile oil), mentha viridis (spearmint) leaf oil, laurus nobilis (bay laurel) leaf oil, astaxanthin.

Ingredients for Blossom Elixir
Purified water, althaea officinalis (Marsh Mallow) extract, hydrolyzed keratin, hydrolyzed almond protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, coco (coconut oil) glucoside, butyrospermum paradoxum parkii (shea butter), glycerin, panthenol (vitamin B5), dimethicone, cetyl alcohol, xanthan gum, montmorillonite (white clay), cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil, sesamum indicum (sesame) seed oil, salix alba (willow bark), aloe barbadensis, tocotrienol (vitamin e), vanilla planifolia (bean) oil, citric acid, cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil, lavender angustofolia flower oil, geranium maculatum oil.

The only UK stockist I've found for these is www.misebeauty.com. The website for CTonics, with more information on the products, is at www.ctonics.com.

Space NK private shopping evening tomorrow

Just a quick post on SpaceNK's shopping event tomorrow evening - 22 September, from 7pm until 9pm.

Tickets cost £10 and entitle you to 15% off purchases made at the event, as well as an event bag. If you were considering buying the new Nude Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum (I bought this on the recommendation of a trusted friend last week, and I'm already pretty impressed with it), the ticket would be paid for.

Other products I'd recommend:

Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm
Sarah Chapman Skinesis Eye Recovery (the new Boosters look interesting too)
Chantecaille Lip Chics
Lipstick Queen anything
Rococo Nail Apparel

The telephone number to book a ticket is 020 8740 2085.

Illamasqua Gaze eyebrow powder applied

I bought this eyebrow cake and the excellent Illamasqua eyebrow brush (thin enough for my fine brows, neither too firm nor too bendy) after having it applied on me at the Alex Box masterclass I attended last summer. Gaze is described by Illamasqua as a dark slate grey, and I can see just a touch of brown to it too. It's a bit softer than Vehement (which is black) but still gives a nicely dramatic eyebrow.

Bottom swatch is applied dry, top swatch is with a drop of Illamasqua sealing gel. The sealing gel gives a bolder colour, and also makes the eyebrow waterproof.

I usually apply dry, using the Illamasqua eyebrow brush. This gives a slightly darker and more dramatic eyebrow than my usual Shu Uemura hard brow pencil in Seal Brown, but I do like it for a change sometimes.

Gaze Eyebrows in the context of the rest of my face. I think it strengthens my eyebrows without looking weird.

NARS Zulu is back out now

I actually did a little squeal in SpaceNK yesterday lunchtime when I saw NARS Zulu on display. This  polish was discontinued in 2007, and is much discussed and lusted after by many nail polish beauty boards and bloggers. It's a deep blackened green with no shimmer, and NARS has just relaunched it with a few other 'vintage' (discontinued) shades as a limited edition collection.

It's a jelly formula, and incredibly glossy; these pictures are without a top coat. I did find it needed three coats though; two coats were still very streaky.

Picture in sunlight below, which shows the jelly finish well. The colour is slightly more green than OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow, and the finish of the NARS is also glossier.

This was £13, which is expensive for nail polish but not as bad as Chanel's recent £19 for Les Khakis.

More Trollbeads

My Trollbeads bracelet has grown since this post. It's pretty much a full bracelet now; I used some birthday money and bought another couple of beads when we were on holiday to remind me of the lovely time we had (the peacock pearl, extreme right, and the blue/green feather, 4th from right, which Miss London thought looked like the sea).

The new Autumn 2010 Lakeside collection is beautiful. Mr London surprised me with an Azure Bubbles from the collection, and it reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night painting. Miss London was at Ma's when he bought it for me, and when she saw it when she got back, the first thing she said was 'That looks like Van Gogh colours!' (In her school, each class is named after an artist, and they learn about their art during the year. She's been in Renoir, Matisse and Van Gogh and Turner class). Can you spot the Van Gogh bead?

Purchases from Suqqu Autumn 2010

These were the two items I purchased from the Suqqu Autumn 2010 collection. I was quite tempted by the Navy/Peach quad (01) and the Purple/Silver quad (04), but after discussion with the make up artist decided on the Plum/Gold 06 combination. The Balancing Cheeks is 03, the peach combination.

The picture below shows the texture of the eyeshadows a bit better. The bottom two shades are matte, and the top two are shimmery. The quads are designed to be applied clockwise from bottom right, as I wrote in my earlier post on the collection (base, main shade concentrated along lash and outer corner of mobile lid, highlight on browbone, blending shade on lid).

Swatched on my hand. The gold blends in with my skin, as does the ivory, but all these eyeshadows are more pigmented than I found those from the last collection to be (Suqqu often has lighter, more shimmery shades in Spring and darker, smokier looks in Autumn collections). The pigmentation is comparable to that of the Blend Eyeshadow Quads from Autumn 2007.

Eyeshadow and blush applied, with a Suqqu lipstick from Spring 2010 (EX 05) on my lips. The eyeshadow is a little darker/smokier in real life (the camera washes it out a bit) and can easily be built up for a more dramatic look.

Lanolips Lip Ointment coming to the UK

I've been a convert to Lanolips ointment since www.dempeaux.com kindly sent me some back in April as part of a cultural exchange (following a review on www.lipglossiping.com that really made me want the stuff). The ointment is 100% pure medical grade lanolin (it's completely scentless) and it works on dry cuticles and stubborn patches of dry skin as well as on dry lips. The tinted versions have spf 15 and other natural oils mixed in with the lanolin base, and I find they are very similar in feel and effect to the Prada Shielding Lip Balms.

Lanolips is launching in the UK at the end of September at www.victoriahealth.com who have set up a waiting list here.

Swatches of the tinted ointment (left to right: Apples, a warm red, Rhubarb, a mid warm pink, and Rose, a light pink)

Swatches blended out:

Rhubarb applied. I find this a bit easier to wear than Rose, as it gives my naturally pale lips a little more colour.

Disclosure: Apples and Rose (and a 101 Ointment which is now too manky to photograph, having lived in my make up bag for 6 months) were sent to me by the lovely Aussie mentioned in this post, and I sent her some UK swag in return. The 101 Ointment pictured and Rhubarb were sent to me without charge by the PR Officer for Lanolips.

My everyday basic face

These are the three products I reach for when I have no time to think or do anything complicated to my face in the morning (which is most mornings).  I like them because they give my features a bit of definition and polish and they go with any lip colour (in most of my red/bright lipstick face of the days, I'm wearing these).

The products are (left to right, all from Rouge Bunny Rouge):
Solstice Halcyon eyeshadow
Lola kohl pencil
Delicata powder blush

I apply the kohl pencil along my lashline before I apply the eyeshadow, and then smudge the eyeshadow over it and onto my lid/up to my crease with my MAC 239 brush. This gives definition to my lashline without looking too structured (I prefer make up that doesn't look too done).

What products do you reach for when you don't have time to mess around?

Suqqu Autumn/Fall 2010 - my thoughts on the collection

The Suqqu Autumn 2010 collection launched in the UK on Thursday, and I visited the counter just for a look.

I don't find the visual for this collection as interesting as past collections. There isn't really a strong theme for this collection, the description on the flyer for it states that it is about enhancing the bone structure and concentrating light in the middle of the face, applying shade in an inverted triangle from both temples down to the chin to sharpen the facial contour. In practice, this means concentrating darker shadows on the outer corners of the eyes, blush shade just on the cheekbones and then highlighting the inner corner of the eye, top of cheekbones, between the brows and chin.

Somewhat disappointingly, the Creamy Glow lipsticks that are shown as part of the collection on the Suqqu website aren't going to be released in the UK until next March. At the counter they have the Blend lipsticks in the spaces where the Creamy Glow lipsticks will go, so be warned they are not new - I accidentally bought a lipstick I already own because I thought they were the new ones, and had to go back to return it (I did think when the make-up artist was applying it that it felt remarkably similar to the Blend lipsticks, but when I asked if it was the new collection I was told it was - it wasn't until I checked after I left Selfridges that I saw it wasn't).

Blend Colour Eyeshadows 
These are more pigmented than the quads from the last couple of collections, and are comparable to the pigmentation of the Autumn 2007 Moss Monochrome collection. Each quad is  designed to be applied clockwise from the bottom right shade in the following order: (bottom right) base (matte), main colour (matte) applied close to lashes and in outer corner of mobile lid, highlighter shade (shimmer) applied to brow bone and inner corner of eye, blend shade (shimmer) applied to rest of mobile lid and blended into main shade.

The base and blend shades in each quad are neutral shades that tone with the main and highlight shades. The colour combinations of the main and highlight shades are as follows:

01 Kakitsubata main shade dark navy, highlight peach*.
02 Kokedama main shade mossy green, highlight pale mint.
03 Matsukasa main shade dark brown, highlight beige.
04 Keshizumi main shade cool dark purple, highlight silver.
05 Sakurakaba main shade chocolate brown, highlight warm pink.
06 Ginbudou main shade rich purple, highlight gold.

Balancing Cheeks
These don't seem very different to the Blend Cheeks, but they are nice colour combinations. The blush shade in each of them appeared to be a matte shade, but the highlights have a hidden shimmer; you can't see it obviously in the pan, but under certain lights you can see small sparkles on the skin once applied.

01 Momozoe clear pink
02 Mukuge dulled rose (brown undertones)
03 Hinageshi peach/soft coral*
04 Kinmokusei yellow-toned apricot*

*apricot and peach are often used interchangeably to describe cosmetic colours. When I use them, I use them according to the actual colour of the fruit; so to me peach is a pinked orange, and apricot is a yellowed orange shade.

I ended up buying the Blend Colour Eyeshadow 06 (purple and gold) and Balancing Cheeks 03 (peach/coral) and I will post pictures and swatches of these soon.

I wish I had smaller feet - Marks & Spencer flower plimsolls

When I talked to Miss London about having to start shopping for her back to school stuff, I had a most unusual reaction:

"Oh yes Mummy! And I need plimsolls, and please can we get the flower plimsolls from Marks & Spencer, please Mummy, please?"

Plimsolls are usually not very pretty, but Marks & Spencer has seen a gap in the market for cute ones for little girls and jumped on it. These are Mary Jane style, with a flower on the side. I genuinely wish they came in larger than a size 4, because I'd wear these myself.

Chanel Khaki Rose nail polish

I bought this polish yesterday during an emergency lunch break sanity stop in Selfridges. I was sucked into the whole limited-edition-buy-it-now-if-you-want-it-before-it's-a-million-pounds-on-ebay thing, and if this was part of a regular Chanel collection I don't think I would have bought it.

Khaki Rose is part of the very limited edition Les Khakis de Chanel; a set of three nail polishes released by Chanel to celebrate Fashion Night Out (as far as I can tell, an annual shopping evening event). The idea, according to the sale assistant, is to wear all three colours on alternative nails in a kind of tonal ombre manicure. Nice idea, looked interesting on the sales assistants sporting them, but would set you back close to £60 to buy all three (I don't remember Chanel nail polishes being £19 each either). I wasn't that tempted by Khaki Vert or Khaki Brun* so just opted for the Khaki Rose.

This taupe/sludge shade doesn't look particularly rosy on its own, but it is is pinker than the Vert or Brun, and also a touch pinker than Particuliere from Spring 2010, which is a bit more mauve. The texture is a cream with no shimmer whatsoever, and it applied very easily indeed with full coverage in two coats.

There are excellent comparison pictures on www.thebeautylookbook.com here:

The Beauty Look Book: Les Khakis de Chanel

More pictures on my nails in various (natural) light:

This is really very similar to Particuliere to my eye. I didn't buy Particuliere, mostly because by the time I saw it at a counter I was already a bit bored of the shade from seeing it in every magazine and lots of blogs. Having applied Khaki Rose I think it's quite an elegant neutral and it doesn't give me corpse hands. I still prefer Nubar Sandstone though.

*I thought Khaki Brun looked like baby poo and Khaki Vert looked like poorly baby poo.

Addiction Autumn/Winter 2010 looks gorgeous

I am very tempted to buy some of the Addiction Autumn 2010 collection, because it looks gorgeous. I love the grey smokey eyes with a pop of purple, and although I think the nude lipstick is beautiful on the model, I'm much more tempted by the deep Bordeaux Vamp shade. 

Here's the line up:

The eyeliner pencils have also been released in five new colours, including a bright red, Alice.

Images are screenshots taken by me from the Addiction website: www.addiction-beauty.com.

For a review on another couple of eyeshadows and a lipgloss (not from this collection, but gorgeous) do see this post on the ever-intriguing Worship at the House of Blues. I've also featured some Addiction I bought from www.mihokoshop.com - you can find these on my blog under the label 'Addiction'.

Jo Malone Cologne Intense initial impressions review

I had a good sniff of the four Jo Malone Cologne Intense fragrances today. The 'limited distribution' isn't actually too limited as you can buy them online at www.jomalone.co.uk as well as at Selfridges London (where I sniffed them), Harrods, Harvey Nichols Manchester, the JM Brook Street and Sloane Street stores, Brown Thomas Dublin and Heathrow.

These are more intense than the usual Jo Malones; I'd say about the same strength as the Dark Amber & Ginger Lily from the Kohdo Wood collection. They're not as strong as Serge Lutens black label fragrances, so are intense by Jo Malone standards, but not exactly Serge or Robert Piguet strength.

These are £80 for 100ml, so more expensive than the main range at £64 for 100ml, but not unreasonably so. I do wish they offered the option of the 30ml bottles in this range too though.

On to my thoughts of the fragrances. Two I only sniffed in the bottle, two I sprayed onto cards and one I tried on the skin (I'll say which is which) so please bear that in mind when reading.

Amber & Patchouli (sniffed in bottle)
Too heavy for me, and very spicy. In the same way it has to be sub-zero before I can wear Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, I can't imagine I'd get much use out of this if I owned it. If you like Opium, this is a (slightly) tamer version, but if you like that sort of scent I'd still recommend Ormonde Jayne Tolu over this; Tolu is smoother and more creamy to my nose.

Rose & Vanilla (sniffed in bottle)
Too sweet and heady for me; it smells to me like turkish delight. It might be more wearable on the skin, but I wasn't tempted to try it. A lot sweeter than Red Roses, and without the citrus zing of that scent.

Oud & Bergamot (sprayed on card)
This is mostly a lovely dry wood, the citrus supports but doesn't overpower it. Mr London would like this one. If you like JM Black Vetyver Cafe, Serge Lutens Chene or L'Artisan Dzing!, JM Oud & Bergamot is well worth a sniff.

Iris & White Musk (sprayed on card and on wrist)
This is like a grown up version of the Body Shop's White Musk (in a good, and more complex way) and also reminds me a bit of the Tom Ford Private Blend Musks, but without the grr! (Tom Ford does grr! very well). It's a clean musk, not a dirty Serge Lutens Koublai Khan version. Sprayed on the card I mostly got a soapy musk note, but the iris developed almost as soon as it was sprayed on my wrist, giving it a more voluptuous and appealing rounded smell. It doesn't seem to have the troublesome, slightly chemical note on me that the Tom Ford White Suede can have on days when my chemistry is off. This is quite a feminine and sexy fragrance, but in a buttoned up sort of way; think pencil skirts and crisp white blouses, rather than a minidress.

Mr London noticed the Iris & White Musk and remarked that I smell nice when I got home this evening - I've told him what it is and where to buy it ;)

Last guest post at Zuneta

I'm guest posting over at Zuneta again for the last time today, reviewing some skincare that Zuneta sent me to try out. You can read my post and find out what I liked (and didn't so much) here.

Edward Bess has touched my face

There is even video evidence to prove it on Zuneta here:

http://www.zuneta.com/shop-by-brand/edward-bess/edward-bess-sheer-satin-cream-foundation.html/

The foundation is a nice one, similar in texture to Scott Barnes' cream foundation. I'd be the shade Bare off camera. ;)

I was guest posting at Zuneta again last week and forgot to mention it here, so I'm doing it now. My post was about the brands and products I like in colour cosmetics for older skin. You can read it here. I'm back for my last visit tomorrow, reviewing some skincare Zuneta sent me to try out.

Oh, I found a random picture the other day of myself wearing a couple of Edward Bess products (Dusk eyeshadow and Midnight Bloom lipstick) as a blonde:

Very strange to see myself as a blonde!

Rahua Finishing Treatment Review

Goodness me, these Amazonian types do like their hair products, don't they? There's Ojon, Surya Amazonia Preciosa and now Rahua.

I like Ojon, despite the slightly odd smell, and didn't care much for Surya, as the shampoo and conditioner left my hair very tangled and not clean-feeling at all, although they smelled lovely.

So, what's different about Rahua? There are no silicones in the formulations, unlike Ojon, which does contains silicones in some of its older products. The foaming ingredients in the shampoo are shea betaine and coconut betaine - no lauryl sulfates here. Rahua also avoids parabens, synthetic ingredients, and are suitable for vegans. The box states that the product is made with certified organic ingredients, but doesn't specify which these are and I am sceptical that all ingredients can be organic.

I bought the Finishing Treatment from Liberty, and was given sample sachets of the shampoo and conditioner too. The Finishing Treatment is very expensive for a hair product at £36 for 60ml (it's not the most expensive haircare product I've ever bought; Philip B White Truffle shampoo just beats it!)

Finishing Treatment is a cream texture that's rich but not thick or paste-like. After washing my hair, I take a small (between 5-10p piece sized) blob and rub it between my palms and distributing it through my damp ends and mid lengths. I wasn't hugely impressed the first time I used this as it didn't immediately give me silky soft and perfect hair (at this price, I don't think that's an unreasonable ask) but over a month of continuous use after each wash my hair is in noticeably better condition and I have defined waves and curls without frizziness. Finishing Treament doesn't feel heavy on the hair, and doesn't feel like it's coating the hair like some heavier silicone/oil based smoothing products can.

Picture of the texture, and the amount I use for my hair.

I didn't much care for the shampoo and conditioner during the single use I had of it. It gave me massive Kate Bush Wuthering Heights hair, although they did smell lovely, like a lighter version of Ormonde Jayne's beautiful Tolu fragrance (the Finishing Treatment has the same fragrance although it is less apparent in the creamy texture of the product.) It may be that over time my hair and in conjunction with the Finishing Treatment my hair would've settled down, but I'm happy with the hairwashing system that I'm using now so I'm not tempted to buy the Rahua shampoo and conditioner full sizes at the moment.

My hair is long and the ends have been abused by colouring. I wash and leave to air dry naturally so it's also prone to frizz. I find many finishing products too heavy or they leave my hair feeling a bit crispy and so the Rahua is worth the high price tag to me - if you have more normal hair then you might not see enough of a result to justify the price. If you have very thick hair, I'd recommend the Ojon Restorative Leave-In Treatment instead.

Ingredients:

I bought mine from Liberty. It's also available online at www.cultbeauty.co.uk.

Excited about Le Metier de Beaute Autumn/Fall 2010

The Le Metier de Beaute Autumn 2010 collection is Le Cirque, based around the theme of the Parisian 19th century Le Cirque de La Belle Epoque. I always quite liked the idea of the flying trapeze as a career when I was little, but more for the sparkly outfits than the death-defying acrobatics.

Le Cirque is a collection of vivid colours in unexpected combinations. Putting together colour combinations that you don't think should work is something that Le Metier is very good at doing; quite often in the eye kaleidoscope kits there will be a colour that looks odd, but that works well with the signature couches de couleurs layering technique. The eye kaleidoscope kit for the Autumn collection (pictured) is a good example - the colours are:  Flamboyantes (shimmering stone), Spectacle (mauve‐tinted gray), Enrichissant (midnight ruby - the odd one out!) and Dynamique (a deep sapphire). I'm going to have a look at this kit in person when the collection launches (sometime in September) and I suspect this will probably be the first Autumn palette I buy.

I'm also interested in the Sheer Brilliance Lipgloss in La Belle, a deep chocolate with plum undertones, which looks a lot more cool toned than the Chocolate Creme lipgloss I didn't get on so well with.