The Maquia editor just tweeted these pics of the Sonia Rykiel "Fauve" summer collection, to be released on 1 May in Japan. For the two palettes in the pic below, the top half is meant to be used on the cheeks while the bottom half comprises two eyeshadows.
The collection also includes a limited edition version of their L'atout Eclat Sublime makeup base (center in the pic below).
Shu Uemura has just launched a cool Mame Chiyo app that allows you to create photos decorated with various design motifs from the collection. Simply upload any photo here, select one of five frames at step 1, and decorative icons at step 2 (which can be re-sized and placed anywhere around the photo) and then click on the red bar to download the completed image. There is a similar app for Facebook.
With purchase of 8400yen, Shu Uemura Japan is giving away a "kimono à la mode" bag.
Get an exclusive preview of Jurlique's new Rose Moisture Plus range at a series of workshops at Tangs Orchard on 11 and 12 March. Designed for younger consumers in their 20s, the line delivers intense hydration while protecting against free radicals, to restore the skin’s natural balance. It includes a moisturising foaming cleanser, a rosewater balancing mist and a moisturising cream. The sign-up fee is only $30 (fully redeemable for products) and participants will also receive the Jurlique Sun Lotion SPF30 (50ml) worth S$50 as the door gift.
Lancome recently released Les Yeux Douc C50 Vert Tendresse (€47.50) as part of its Roseraie des Delices spring makeup collection. This is the European version. The USA version has five shades (see it on Makeup & Beauty Blog) while the Asian version is a different combination of four green shades (see it on Lancome Japan and My Women Stuff).
It comes with a protective pouch with a mint green lining at the opening. The velvet material is a lint magnet though. The pouch fits very snugly around the compact, so the compact does not fall out easily but it also takes a bit of manoeuvring to slip the pouch on.
The palette contains a shiny metallic white, bright mint green, pearlescent mid-toned blue and a shimmery green-tinted silver. The four shades complement one another well to produce a fresh look for spring. The palette also comes with two broad sponge applicators and a thinner one for lining. I like Lancome's sponge applicators as they lay down the eyeshadows well and can withstand washing without crumbling but for blending, I still prefer to use brushes.
The palette is made in France and has a shelf life of 24 months. Each eyeshadow is 0.7g.
After prepping with Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I applied the mint shade along the upper lashline and outer corner of the lower lid, the blue shade at the outer one-third of the upper lid, the greenish silver shade as a wash over the browbone area and the metallic white shade along the lower lashline.
I was pleasantly surprised by how well the mint and blue shades showed up when applied with the broad sponge applicator. The combination may be too vibrant for some ladies but you can always tone it down by applying with a lighter hand or pairing them with darker or more understated shades. It's not a combination that I would wear every day but it's a fun look to try for spring, especially if you are tired of the dreary winter months.
The other products used for this look are Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H 03 Beige Diaphane and L'Absolu Crème de Brillance #357 Rose Mythique, Lunasol Under Eyes Base 01 Natural Beige, Becca Raspberry Beach Tint, Cabrera Line + Define Pencil and Ultimate Mascara.
Teint Idole Ultra 24H (€42.90) is Lancome's new liquid foundation that purports to provide a perfect velvety, matte finish for up to 24 hours with an ultra-comfortable texture. I received a sample of it in 03 Beige Diaphane at Sephora in France.
While the shade is a tad dark for my MAC NC20 skintone, it does perform quite well on several fronts. It offers medium coverage, nicely evening out my skintone and minimising the appearance of pores and blemishes without caking or feeling heavy. It has just enough slip for a smooth, even application and allows for enough time to blending before it sets. After it sets, it does not feel too tight, dry or powdery. It also lasted well through more than 10 hours of wear. In terms of oil control, I had to blot about every three hours. Compared to Teint Miracle liquid foundation which has a more satiny finish, this provides more coverage and has a slightly thicker consistency.
Teint Idole Ultra has denatured alcohol listed as the third ingredient on the list, which may be problematic for some ladies. Another drawback is the lack of SPF.
The extensive shade selection is truly impressive. It is available in 15 shades in France, 18 in the UK and a whopping 28 in the USA. Overall, I think it is well worth checking out if you have oily skin and need a foundation that can cover up skin redness, pores and blemishes, without feeling too heavy on the skin. If your skin is largely problem-free or on the dry side, Teint Miracle will probably be better. If you can, get a sample to try before investing in the full size.
At Boots in London, I picked up a couple of pieces from the No7 Floral Brights collection for spring. Created by Lisa Eldridge, the collection has a breezy retro flower child vibe and offers playful bright hues for the cheeks and lips, with a more neutral palette for the eyes.
The Vital Brights Cream Blush comes in two shades: Blossoming Pink (below) and Blooming Pink (bright candy pink). Blossoming Pink is a coral pink that gives the cheeks a natural flush of colour without any shimmer. This normally retails at £10 but Boots currently has a '3 for the price of 2' offer for all No7 products.
The formula is impressively smooth and blends effortlessly into the skin without feeling greasy or pooling in the pores.
Both the blush and lipstick are made in Italy with a shelf life of 18 months.
The Vital Brights Lipstick (£10; 3.5g) is also available in two shades, Blooming Pink and Blossoming Pink. I picked Blossoming Pink, a lovely bright candy pink that is reminiscent of MAC Candy Yum-Yum but less glaringly neon with a more emollient texture and a slight sheen. This wore comfortably for about four hours, before fading during the course of a meal. The white plastic tube looks too plain and slightly cheap, which could have been avoided if they had incorporated the colourful flower print on the tube instead of merely on the box.
Here's the look that I did today, using also Becca Balearic Love Palette over Romanticism Eye Tint, Cabrera Line + Define Pencil and Ultimate Mascara, with Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation 100 Ivory.
The Floral Brights collection is still in stock on Boots.com and in Boots stores in the UK. It's well worth checking out if you are looking for easy-to-wear shades that help to perk up your complexion instantly. The wonderful Lipglossiping has swatches of the whole collection.
Shiseido is offering a gift with $160 purchase at Robinsons counters starting this Friday. Joey'space has swatches of the two new Shimmering Eye Colors and three Shimmering Rouge lipsticks from the spring collection. The lipsticks are gorgeous!
Details in the emailer below.
Last week, I ordered Becca's new Balearic Love collection from Zuneta, which was offering a Shimmering Skin Perfector (15ml) gift with any £40 purchase of Becca products. The GWP was so popular that it lasted just two days on the website. Thanks to the ELLE20 code (valid until 28 February), I also got a 20% discount off my order.
The Balearic Love Palette (£35) is for me, the highlight of Becca's 10th anniversary collection.
The slim case houses three powder eyeshadows and a brush for creating the perfect smoky eye look. Each eyeshadow is generously sized at 1.5g, the same weight as a MAC eyeshadow single. Zuneta has a short video demonstrating how to create gorgeous smoky eyes with it.
The rubberized case isn't my favourite material because like NARS packaging, it can develop stickiness over time in humid tropical weather.
The two photos below were taken under a bright spot light so the tones look slightly different compared to the photos above which were taken under normal room lighting.
Atlas is a matte dusky tan that looks muddy on my skintone while Romal is a matte smoky blackened brown. Romal is incredibly well-pigmented, so tapping off the excess on one's hand is recommended before applying to the lids as otherwise the brush easily deposits too much product. Atlas takes a bit of layering and is the most sheer.
Marcella, a shimmery dirty bronze shot through with micro gold flecks, is the most complex shade in the palette and my favourite of the three. Becca's description of this palette as containing "jewelled tones of bronzed plum and violet" does not seem accurate as the three shades are more bronze and brown-toned rather than plum and violet.
Below is the list of ingredients.
The Balearic Love Smokey Eye Set (£44) contains a Line & Define Pencil in Cabrera, Romanticism Eye Tint, the Ultimate Mascara and an Anti-Bacterial Sharpener. If purchased individually, these cost £20, £20, £18 and £8 respectively, so the set represents savings of £22.
Romanticism Eye Tint is a sheer light bronze with a slightly shimmery finish. Zuneta has a helpful video showing how it adds a nice subtle gleam and dimension to the lids. Swatched on its own, it is not the kind of shade that wows instantly as it starts off very sheer and does not become particularly rich or intense even when layered. However, it did work very well as a base under the eyeshadows from the Balearic Love Palette and lasted through more than 8 hours of wear without creasing or fading.
The Ultimate Mascara held the curl of my lashes well, and adding decent volume and length without clumping. The brush also performed well for coating the super short and sparse lashes on my lower eyelid.
The sharpener is not something I would have bothered to purchase on its own as I'm happy with my Urban Decay Grind House sharpener. The blade is treated with a special silver and zinc based anti-bacterial additive to sanitize pencils with each sharpening.
The box states that it has "one hole for creating a pointed tip and an adaptor for creating a rounded tip". However, I can't figure out which is the adaptor part! It also comes with a cleaning wand, which is definitely useful for getting the pencil shavings off the blade.
The Line + Define Pencil in Cabrera is a smoky dark brown paired with a dark bronze. These had decent payoff but tugged a little at the skin.
Ingredients lists.
Below are swatches of the Balearic Love Palette, Cabrera pencil and Romanticism Eye Tint (with Baroque Eye Tint for comparison) done on bare skin without any primer. You can see more swatches on Perilously Pale and Indigo Kir Royale here and here.
For this look, I used Romanticism as the base, Marcella along the upper and lower lashlines, Romal blended into the outer half of the crease and Atlas in the inner half of the crease with a glittery blue Shu Uemura eyeshadow on the lower lashline. I also used the Ultimate Mascara and Cabrera eyeliner.
I also picked up Tempranillo Nail Color (£12), a deep blood red. Zuneta also has a video showcasing this polish. It's a chic hue that gets darker with each successive layer but similar shades probably exist in most nailpolish brands.
Zuneta also offers three samples with each order, so I picked Becca Luminous Skin Color in Sand, and Rouge Bunny Rouge Highlighting Liquid in Sea of Showers and Sea of Nectar. I used to own Becca LSC years ago and was disappointed by the sheerness but I thought I'd just give it another try, to see if it gets along better with my skin. Unfortunately, it still does not sit well on my skin and started balling up when I applied it with my fingertips.
Shopping at Zuneta is truly a breeze as they are so fast, reliable and prompt in responding to email queries. If you are outside the EU, the prices are also automatically adjusted to exclude VAT (after you create a profile and log in). This was my third order in two months and each time, the items arrived speedily in perfect condition.
