I’ve been playing around with a few new formats for things, recently, so here’s a “New This Week” post that’s sorted a little differently than usual.
Feel free to let me know what you think of it in the comments, or just quietly peruse the beauty launches that have caught my eye this month!
Okay, so: I know I haven’t been the best about posting recently, but I’m trying to be better, I swear. I think I still need a couple weeks to really get back into the swing of things, but I may as well start now!
Here’s a quick, springy look to start off the week. Created by Hannah Murray for Topshop AW13 at the last last London Fashion Week, the look is “a bit Brit pop, a bit Eighties, a bit New Wave with an urban edge,” according to Murray. Backstage artists paired fresh skin with almond-shaped pastel blue eyes, and — I don’t know. It’s a bit of a “look,” isn’t it? Super-easy, but still not something I could ever see myself really loving.
Read Vogue’s backstage report for the show here, and catch a full tutorial here.
Topshop recommends using their Eye Crayon in Kingfisher to get this look, but it’s not actually what was used backstage. Rather, Murray put down a green eyeshadow base (I’m guessing a cream eyeshadow), then topped it off with a pale blue eyeshadow.
I went with a more direct approach, layering a white primer with a matte blue eyeshadow, but I would have liked to have used something with more intensity — the soft “glow” was lovely in real life, but I think the way it photographed left a little something to be desired.
You win some, you lose some, I guess!
Start with a blank canvas
& add a little colour. (Pre-blush & mascara)
The cool thing about this look, though, is that you could honestly sub in whatever shade you wanted to. I love the look of a matte finish for an eye like this, but I’m not crazy about bright blues — I think I’d have loved to do a lilac or a cobalt instead (both of which happen to be part of Sephora’s current ColorVision forecast, handily enough!)
Here are a couple springy shades that caught my eye:
Shiseido | Sephora | MAC | Stila
The shade: I have to admit, Pêche Cerra-Colla isn’t exactly my usual shade. A slightly pinked peach, it has a blissfully shimmer-free finish, and fades to a soft, super-sheer tangerine.
A solid “medium” in both opacity and depth, this peach Glossy Stain is darker than my bare lips, but creates a very natural effect — far from bold or brash, it delivers good colour while still maintaining a wonderful visual translucence. Though the touch of pink makes this wearable on my cool, pale complexion, I can see it creating a beautiful “my lips but peachier” shade for warmer skintones, too.
The application: Like many bright, translucent stains, Pêche Cerra-Colla applies with a milky finish that soon disappears (think Benefit Posietint, but better). The applicator is a thin, slanted doe-foot, and it distributes the perfect amount of product for an even, glossy lip.
It’s not your typical applicator, but that only makes me like it more. The thin profile keeps you from picking up too much product, and the shape makes it easy to both apply product quickly & get right into the corners and edges of the lip.
Swatched L-R: YSL (1) Volupté Sheer Candy in No. 12 Tasty Raspberry, (2) Glossy Stain in No. 27 Pêche Cerra-Colla, (3) Glossy Stain, sheered out
The wear: The internet is a crazy place, but they get some things right… one of them being that YSL’s Glossy Stains are awesome.
Lightweight and relatively non-sticky, even a sheer shade like Pêche Cerra-Colla wears for ages: I can get a solid five hours with a glossy finish (if I don’t eat or drink anything), and a few more with just a light stain. While not hydrating, it’s reasonably comfortable for a solid 5-6 hours, even on my dry lips — as long as there’s still a tacky finish, the Glossy Stain formula is incredibly easy to wear.
L-R: YSL Framboise Craquante, Pêche Cerra-Colla heavily/sheerly
YSL Pêche Cerra-Colla Glossy Stain – stains
Like almost everyone else who has tried out a YSL Glossy Stain, I’m pretty smitten with them. While I could do without the added fragrance, the Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stains (what a mouthful!) pair fantastic wear time with ease-of-use, comfort, and a fantastic shade range. They’re as easy to apply and wear as a gloss, but you get the extra-long wear time of a stain, too.
Availability:$34 USD/$36 CAD. Pêche Cerra-Colla was new this January with YSL’s Arty Stone Spring 2013 collection, but is now part of the permanent line.
It’s not my birthday, but this year’s Sephora BI birthday gift almost makes it feel like it is. I’ve been playing around with the highlighter and mascara duo, and (while I don’t love it quite as much as last year’s Fresh lip balm duo) it’s pretty great.
Honestly, though: the freebie consists of two best-selling Benefit products, shrunk down into miniature form, with puns in tow. How could it not be?
Described as “a jet-black mascara that lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts, and separates lashes,” They’re Real! has a very cool applicator. Made out of a flexible plastic, it has staggered short-and-long bristles that go all the way around the tip of the wand — perfect for adding length and separation right down to the roots & the hard-to-get outer corners of the eye.
I haven’t tried the much-loved Benefit BADgal Lash, but according to this cool chart on Benefit’s site, They’re Real! is glossy and lengthening (both of which I can hands-down confirm) while BADgal is matte and volumizing.
The pitfalls: I really wish They’re Real! wore for longer on my eyes. Like with most mascaras, I start seeing some smudging after 4-5 hours, which (at $29 CAD for the full sized version) is pretty disappointing. My lashes could use a little more volume, too, but that’s easily excusable for a mascara made to focus on lengthening!
The high points: The applicator! You wouldn’t think having bristles on the tip would make much of a difference, but it makes getting picture-perfect outer corners a cinch. It does a great job at providing length, too (particularly on the lower lashes), and I really love the soft, glossy finish.
Benefit They’re Real! ingredients:
Water (Aqua), Paraffin, Polybutene, Styrene/Acrylates/Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Beeswax (Cera Alba), Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, C18-36 Acid Triglyceride, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Triethanolamine, Vp/Eicosene Copolymer, Acacia Senegal Gum, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol, Tetrasodium Edta, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Laureth-12 Sulfate, Glycerin, Potassium Sorbate, Sericin, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tilia Tomentosa Bud Extract, Citric Acid, Bht, Sorbic Acid. [+/-: Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Titanium Dioxide
L-R: Benefit They’re Real!, Benefit Watt’s Up! (straight from tube), Benefit Watt’s Up! (blended)
Watt’s Up! is a cream-to-powder “luminous champagne” highlighter for the cheeks and browbones, which (in the full-size form) comes with a little “soft glow blender” to smooth out the luminizer into an even, diffuse sheen.
Honestly, my favourite part about Watt’s Up! is its adorable pun & packaging, but the product itself definitely has its merits, too!
The finish of Watt’s Up! is a tiny bit too shimmery for my tastes (I prefer a super-finely-milled sheen), but it does still create a gorgeous, noticeable glow. Unlike highlighters that depend on a mix of base pigment & shimmer to lift the complexion, this one is mainly based on peachy-champagne shimmer, which means that it’ll work well on a really wide range of complexions, right from NW15 through to NC42.
It’s not too warm (orange-gold) or too cool (silvery-pink), either — I can wear this tone without a hitch, but my warmer, darker mother (around a NC35 in the winter) can pull it off no problem, too.
The hardest part about writing this review wasn’t that the product was phenomenally good, or horrifyingly bad, or even incredibly surprising. Nope: the hardest part of writing this review was definitely, absolutely, hands-down the fact that I took almost two hundred photos of these, and all of them were stunning.
Not because of the lighting, or the camera, or the staging, of course. It’s just that the Tie & Dye topcoats are really, really cool — a four year old with a point & shoot could make these look absolutely riveting!
YSL Tie & Dye Pearly Coloured Top Coats
YSL Tie & Dye Top Coats (partially mixed)
-01 Cool Coat reads as breathtaking blue-violet duochrome over a dark polish – perhaps because I swatched it over brown? On its own, however, Cool Coat is a dense white shimmer with pink reflects.
-02 Pop Coat creates sheer veil of warmth (red), with a small amount of pink and gold shimmer. This one made my bare nails look a bit as if they’d been dipped in beet juice, but I can see it being a good “nothing” sheen on warmer, darker skintones!
YSL La Laque Couture Tie & Dye Top Coat swatched on bare nails
L-R: 01 Cool Coat, 02 Pop Coat, 03 Hip Coat, 04 Ice Coat
-03 Hip Coat translates into a cool pink sheen on the nails; more brightening and densely shimmery than Pop Coat. (I found this to be the most brightening “natural” shade for my hands’ colouring.)
-04 Ice Coat, finally, is a super-sheer blue jelly with strong blue shimmer. It’s a through-and-through shimmer (not a duochrome, like Cool Coat), and I think it would be the only one I wouldn’t wear on bare nails.
YSL Tie & Dye Top Coats 01-04 swatched overtop YSL La Laque Couture in 37 Taupe Mauresque ($25 USD), a shimmer-free brown from the Summer 2013 collection. [ flash ]
I’ve been trying to put together a review of the YSL Tie and Dye topcoats all week, but — no dice. (I think I took way too many photos; seriously.) In the meantime, here’s a review for something that really blew me away this month!
(how cute are these?!)
To start off with: shu’s Beige Under Base (SPF 35 PA +++) is made to even out skin tone and texture, reduce redness, and minimize the appearance of pores.
It’s kind of like — you know how makeup primers tend to be a clear layer of silicones, while paint primers are there for adhesion and tint? The POREraser is more like the latter, not only filling pores but creating a more even tone, too. I’d say its pore-filling prowess is less than a heavy “filler” (think Benefit The POREfessional), but it’s worth it for the lighter feel and silicone content.
Try this if: You’re looking for something to even skin tone without “flattening” the face. Use before your foundation — or instead of, if you’re around a NW20-30!
shu uemura UV under base – POREraser/beige (L) and brightening/pink purple (R)
Here’s the one that really steals the show for me. Like the POREraser Under Base, the Brightening Mousse was created to be a weightless way to even out skin tone and texture — but with a brightening benefit, too, both in immediate effect and long-term reduction of imperfections.
With SPF 30 PA ++, this primer is phenomenal at brightening up a fair to medium skintone (perhaps a deep skintone, too, if used sparingly), and works particularly well with yellow undertones. You definitely need to spread this one out (the shu website recommends applying a walnut-sized amount with their pentagon sponge) and make sure to cover all exposed skin, but it is absolutely, definitely worth it.
Try this if: You already have a sheer-to-medium foundation that you love, but want something to help “pick up” your complexion without relying on shimmer or sheen.
shu uemura UV under base swatches – beige (L) and pink purple (R)
shu uemura’s POREraser Under Base is great, but the Brightening Mousse — wow. From the spot-on Pink Purple shade (which really does have pink-purple undertones) to the wonderfully unique mousse format, it absolutely blew me away.
I don’t feel like these are absolute must-haves (perhaps because I personally don’t wear an all-over base), but at $46 CAD, the shu bases are a very novel, wonderfully packaged product.
Availability: At Holt Renfrew & select Sephora boutiques (Canada); shuuemura.co.uk (United Kingdom). The bases are permanent, but the packaging featured here is limited edition!
See the brightening mousse: featured in this OB for shu uemura teaser post & used as a base for this blue eyeliner look.
A launches from the past few weeks…
More importantly, Clinique just launched their Cinique ‘A Different Nail Enamel’ Nail Color ($16 USD). I think I speak for all of us when I say, “excuse me, but what?!” because I honestly did not see this one coming at all.
I don’t know if I should be incredibly pleased or extremely freaked out, but these 21 shades are available now alongside an ‘A Different Nail Enamel’ Top & Base Coat (also $16 USD).
Clinique 70s and Sunny, Really Rio, & Juiced Up
Clinique Fizzy, Indie Rock, & Made of Steel
So, I wrote a fifteen page paper earlier this week on prefrontal cortical damage and its intersection with tactical communications, mostly between the hours of eleven at night on Tuesday and two in the afternoon on Wednesday.
I’m still kind of dazed.
Despite the lack of sleep I’ve been getting this term, though, I think I’ve been presenting a pretty glowy base… but maybe my perpetually-dry skin just has me biased. Either way, L’Occitane’s limited edition facial spray has been high, high up on the list of things I’ve been loving!
What it is: Part of L’Occitane’s Immortelle Brightening range, the Brightening Mist is an alcohol-free toner & make-up setting spray. It’s enriched–of course–with floral water from the Immortelle flower, an anti-ageing “golden sun” (Helichrysum arenarium) sourced by L’Occitane from the island of Corsica.
Also formulated with Bellis Perennis (a common European species of daisy), the range is made to increase collagen production, protect against free radicals, and reduce the appearance of pigmentation marks.
A quick snap from this bright blue eyeliner tutorial — glowing skin courtesy of the Immortelle mist!
What makes it great is not the marketing or fancy-schmancy ingredients, however. Nope, it’s something much more simple than that: the packaging. Solidly housed in the Immortelle range’s white, yellow, and blue uniform, this mist is easy to aim, spray, and diffuse — no awkward spluttering in sight.
Decent facial sprays are actually pretty easy to find, but functional, utilitarian packaging — that’s a little harder to come by, if you ask me.
I hate recommending limited edition skincare, but I have to say — I’m pretty darn pleased with this one. I think the fragrance (floral; a natural and synthetic blend) could be a little lighter, but my dry skin absolutely loves this water-and-glycerine formula!
All in all, I’m not too broken up about the fact that this isn’t in the permanent range. I like it, of course, and I think it does a great job of setting makeup and leaving skin glowing… but I think what I really love about it is the dense, even mist (and pretty-but-simple packaging).
Availability: $20 USD/$22 CAD for 100ml, limited edition.
Oh, corals. The taupes of the lip colour world, coral hues are almost as hard to identify as Nemo in a sea of tiny clownfish. One person’s coral is another’s apricot, or peach, or pink — they sit just in that lovely spectrum between peach and pink, making them wonderfully flattering but oh-so-hard to define.
That said, though, this month’s Lipstick Bandit collaboration features just that: corals.
I don’t actually own a proper coral lip product (that I know of) at the moment, so I layered two products to get something in the neighbourhood. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough — and it’s comfortable and long-wearing, to boot.
This lip features a thin layer of a YSL Glossy Stain in Corail Alla Prima, a new permanent Vernis à Lèvres from this Summer’s Saharienne Heat collection. Despite being described as a “dazzling coral” (and being named accordingly), I wasn’t crazy about this new permanent shade’s orange-heavy intensity — it’s gorgeous, but it still kinda feels too early in the year, you know?
Anyhow; after blotting (to get rid of the high-impact gloss but keep the medium-sheer stain of colour), I added a layer of–what else?–a Clinique Chubby Stick to tone down the shade. This pinky beauty is Mighty Mimosa, and despite how sheer the original-formula Chubby Sticks tend to be, it did a great job toning down the warmth of Corail Alla Prima.
I think the Glossy Stain would make a great coral on a darker, warmer skintone, but without the Chubby Stick to pink things up a little, it was just a bit too much on me. I’ll definitely give it another try with my “summer goggles” on (they’re like beer goggles, but better beauty), but I might just be a little too cool-toned for it!
SKIN
theBalm timeBalm Concealer in Lighter Than Light, $18 USD
Clinique Gradient Powder Blusher in Black Honey (review & swatches)
EYES
Anastasia Beverly Hills Bold & Beautiful Kit: Vol. 2 Beautiful Eyes, $36 USD
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Eyeliner Trio in Nude Eyes (glitter black only), $11.99 USD
Annabelle Expandable Mascara, $10.99 CAD
LIPS
YSL Vernis À Lèvres Glossy Stain in 31 Corail Alla Prima, $34 USD/$36 CAD
Just a quick preview of a few products that will be up on theNotice (hopefully) soon! I haven’t photographed & tested the three cleansing oils that I have yet, but I’m loving the two UV mousses — they’re not ‘cone-free, but the results are fantastic. Good enough to tempt me into wearing them around despite my silicone intolerance, eep!
Availability: online at shuuemura.ca ($10 off any purchase over $50 with ARTOFSHU), shuuemura-usa.com (free shipping on all orders over $50), and in-stores at Holt Renfrew & select Sephora boutiques.
Here’s what’s in the collection…
the cleansing oils
the UV under base mousses
coming up
rouge unlimited lipstick
pressed eyeshadow refill – all matte (M), $19 CAD/ea
cases & lashes
