The By Terry French Riviera collection for summer 2014 just arrived at Sephora in France. By Terry usually introduces new formulas and product innovations with each seasonal collection, so it's always interesting to see what they have up their sleeves. The theme running through this collection is watercolor stains.
For the lips, there are two Tint To Lip water-based stains in Pink Palace and Beach Game.
Beach Game is a gorgeous coral with pink shimmer while Pink Palace looks like a dark plum in the tube but when applied, turns into a surprisingly shimmery metallic candy pink that has a more frosty finish compared to Beach Game. Don't judge these by how they appear in the tube as they look very different when applied. Beach Game looks like a clear neon orange in the tube similar to Aqualip Jelly Tint in Dancefloor Flirt from the Summer 2012 collection but it is actually quite different once applied.
The Cheek to Cheek in Cherry Cruise is another watercolor stain for the cheeks, supposedly with a 'cellophane transparency or subtle satin finish'. I found the packaging of this rather strange as there is no dispensing mechanism for the glass pipette under the cap, i.e. it can't be squeezed or pumped out. Instead, the pipette just drips the cheek stain onto your skin. The Tea To Tan watercolor bronzer has the same packaging, except in a slightly larger bottle.
Cherry Cruise and Tea To Tan are swatched in the top right corner of the pic below.
The pic below shows Cherry Cruise and Tea To Tan blended into the skin. Cherry Cruise can be built up to quite a pigmented stain as you can see.
The Aqua-Print Eyeshadows are basically jumbo crayon eyeshadows similar to those by Clinique. The shade names are Pink Frappe, Darling Muse, Peach Tornado, Green Tornado, Blue Fiesta and Violet Vibes.
The texture and finish vary depending on the shade. Green Tornado had a rich, metallic finish and applied very smoothly in one pass whereas Blue Fiesta and Violet Vibes have more of a semi-matte finish and glides less smoothly across the skin. Green Tornado and Blue Fiesta reminded me of NARS Rated R, although Blue Fiesta is closer in tone to NARS Outremer and Urban Decay Chaos. I prefer the creamier and more velvety texture of By Terry Ombre Blackstar eyeshadow sticks.
The winter sale just started officially in France on 8 January, so we took a quick drive across the border to a mall nearby. At Sephora, there was quite a good selection of sale items from By Terry, MUFE, YSL and Guerlain.
I picked up By Terry Eclat de Rose Sheer Tinted Moisturizer No. 1 Light at just half price, plus Sheer Expert #1 Fair Beige and Gloss Terrybly Shine #5 Wine List, a lovely shimmery deep plum, both at 30% off. Sheer Expert has been on my to-buy list for several months while the Eclat de Rose Sheer Tinted Moisturizer is new to me. I just tried on Eclat de Rose and it's instant love as it looks so incredibly natural and imperceptible on my skin while giving it a more polished and even texture without the made-up look and more opaque coverage of Densiliss.
There were two YSL Pure Chromatics quads on sale, #12 (black/grey/silver) and #6. Naturally, I picked the more colorful #6. While searching for a dirty greyed mauve lipstick, I somehow ended up getting tempted by Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss #72 Controversy from the holiday collection, another deep berry shade to add to my collection. Then I came home and read on Wondegondigo that it applies patchily...sigh. Still, it's sooo pretty.
At L'Occitane, I broke my no-buy on shower gels and picked up several of their offerings for 40% off. Well, go big or go home, right? My husband's response was predictably "Oh. My. Gawd." There's someone who does not appreciate the textural difference between a wobbly shower jelly and a shimmery shower gel. Anyway, I think we are stocked up well till 2015 at least!
While hunting for my baby's Pelsano bath emulsion at a Swiss pharmacy, I spotted the Dior Bird of Paradise collection (Summer 2013) on clearance at half price. I stopped hauling Dior quints last year as I felt that the finishes did not really justify the high price tag. But at 50% off, I couldn't resist getting the Blue Lagoon and Peacock quints for CHF45 each. Dior rarely does teal combinations so I was happy to add these to my collection.
By Terry's latest foundation innovation, Terrybly Densiliss, is described as being a hybrid of an ‘absolute density’ fluid foundation with a ‘wrinkle control’ serum. Boasting long-term anti-ageing benefits along with immediate correcting effects for a flawless complexion, it supposedly provides a beautifully natural, matte finish with a youthful radiance. The 'Flawless Time Control complex' is a combination of three powder-pigments: a smoothing wrinkly control translucent powder, an instant rosy glow prism and an 'autofocus affinity' powder for reducing the appearance of imperfections.
Available in 10 shades, I found #3 Vanilla Beige to be a good match for my MAC NC20 skintone, although I can probably wear #4 Natural Beige as well. Being marketed as an anti-aging foundation, it is no surprise that Densiliss is significantly more expensive at €85/US$115/£75 than By Terry's Sheer Expert and Cover Expert foundations which are €48/US$65/£45. Densiliss comes in a more luxe (and fragile) glass bottle that is more befitting the prestigious image of the brand, versus the utilitarian plastic squeeze tube of Sheer Expert and Cover Expert.
I have tried samples of Sheer and Cover Expert previously and liked them enough to consider purchasing them, but I decided to splurge on Densiliss after reading several glowing reviews. It is certainly one of the most expensive foundations I've ever purchased, but luckily I had a 20% discount voucher from Sephora France. List of ingredients below.
After experimenting with different methods of application over the past couple of weeks, I've come to like Densiliss enough that I do not regret purchasing it. Its lightweight texture wears comfortably while offering sufficient coverage to significantly reduce the redness in my cheeks and nose area. It also has a nice smoothening effect on the skin texture, but it does require skin to be sufficiently moisturised beforehand, otherwise it can show up dry patches and flakiness (especially on my nose).
If applying with my fingers, one pump is more than enough for an application. My preferred method is to use either my fingers or the Shiseido Perfect Foundation brush. The matte finish is not overly dull and flat. Even when my skin oils up, it takes on a gentle luminous dewy look instead of separating or pooling in my pores. My skin does not get excessively oily with this even after eight hours of wear, although this is probably partly due to the winter weather. I actually wore this for several hours without blotting at all, and the end result was pretty decent with just a light sheen on my T-zone. The pic above was taken in natural daylight near the window while the pic below was taken under room lighting.
You can see swatches of all 10 shades on Beauty Professor and read another review by the black panties. For this look, I used Charlotte Tilbury The Rebel Color-Coded Eyeshadow Palette and Pixi Iridescent Iris eyeliner pencil.
Thanks for reading!
Enabled by a 20% discount voucher from Sephora France, I splurged on a few items from the By Terry and Guerlain holiday collections.
Densiliss Wrinkle Control Serum Foundation is the latest foundation offering from By Terry. Priced significantly higher than Sheer Expert and Cover Expert, I was intrigued after reading rave reviews online. The Beauty Professor has helpfully posted swatches of all 10 shades. The shades have varying undertones so it can be tricky to figure out which is the most suitable shade. For example, #1 Fresh Fair was pink-toned whereas #2 Cream Ivory and #3 Vanilla Beige lean more neutral, and #4 Natural Beige is more beige-toned. When I swatched these four shades in the store, the shade difference was very subtle. I eventually settled on #3 Vanilla Beige. I'm still experimenting with it, but can't really say that it has knocked my socks off enough to warrant the €85/US$115 price tag, so I'm glad that I didn't pay full price for it.
I fell much more quickly in love with the two new Ombre Blackstar in #14 Blue Obsession and #15 Ombre Mercure (€30/US$43). These have excellent color payoff and a smooth creamy texture that allows for sufficient blending time, far superior to Charlotte Tilbury's Eye Shadow Pencils which set virtually immediately and were impossible to blend out. The Ombre Blackstars also have the most elegant and chic packaging, compared to similar stick eyeshadows by Bobbi Brown, Kiko and Laura Mercier which come in plastic packaging.
Blue Obsession is a blackened midnight navy with purple and blue micro sparkles.
Ombre Mercure is an antique olive-toned pewter with gold and green holographic micro sparkles. I found this more unique than Blue Obsession. It's the perfect crease shade and blends easily upwards for a wash of soft glimmer over the browbone area without any frostiness or crass chunky glitter.
The swatches below were two swipes each on bare skin without any primer. Compared to Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow #17 Slate Blue, Blue Obsession is richer in intensity and sparkle factor. Slate Blue lacks the blue micro sparkles of Blue Obsession.
I also picked up Crayon Kohl Terrybly in #10 Festive Gold, which is more amber-toned than gold. This glides on smoothly without any tugging, laying down a solid coat of color in a single pass.
In the pic below, I used Festive Gold on the lower lashline, Blue Obsession from the upper lashline to the crease and Ombre Mercure in the crease and blended upwards. When applied without any primer, Blue Obsession did crease after some time and there was some fading and separation, whereas Ombre Mercure did not. The lasting power was improved when I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance as the base.
The pics below show a slightly different look without the use of Festive Gold. I used Ombre Mercure along the lower lashline and Three Flash Performance Eyeliner in Eye Rock along the upper lashline.
The Ombre Blackstars are perfect for people who are perpetually short of time, as one can just swipe, blend and go without the need to fuss around with brushes. While they are certainly pricey, their superb quality and unique shades make these a worthwhile indulgence once in a while.
Earlier this week, I chanced across the By Terry Graphism collection for autumn and fell in love with a few of the new items. After swatching their Crayon Kohl Terrybly, I think I've finally found an eyeliner pencil that can beat Pixi's Endless Silky Eye Pen in terms of velvety creaminess and lasting power. Their Ombre Blackstar eye crayons are also excellent but I already have a huge collection of Kiko crayons so I skipped those.
Naturally, the By Terry liners are much pricier at €24 each (for 1.2g), but luckily I had a 10% Sephora discount voucher just waiting to be used. These are waterproof and made in Germany. They lay down intense color from the very first pass with virtually zero pressure on the skin, which means there is no tugging at all of the fragile eyelid skin. I purchased the two new shades, #8 Emerald Evasion and #9 Royal Navy (which is not navy at all but a modern bright blue reminiscent of Urban Decay Chaos from the Vice palette and NARS Outremer).
Each Crayon Khol comes thoughtfully packaged with its own sharpener, that also includes a slim tool for cleaning the blade.
I also picked up the Hyaluronic Sheer Rouge #Plum Plump Girl (€29, 3g). Enriched with hyaluronic acid, this lipstick balm is supposed to help moisturise, fill in wrinkles, boost volume and protect the lips in a 'plumping glossy' colored veil. I was pleasantly surprised by how intensely pigmented it was. There is no shimmer or gritty glitter bits at all. It glided on smoothly, depositing so much color on the first pass that I only had to apply it to my upper lip, and pressed my lips together to transfer the color to my lower lip. This is made in Italy.
The last item I purchased was the Hyaluronic Blush #3 Bubble Glow (€32, 15ml), a girlish pink livened up with micro flecks of shimmer. The shimmer is visible on the skin only when seen at very close range. This gives a translucent wash of color that can be layered for the desired level of intensity. The squeeze tube has a very thin nozzle, which makes it easy to control the amount dispensed. The texture is similar to Becca Cheek Tints and is easy to blend to a natural flush of healthy color. It is pricey but contains twice the amount of product as Becca's version.
Swatches on bare skin without primer. Once the Crayon Khols set, they are budgeproof and do not smear even when I rub my fingertip over them repeatedly.
For this look, I wore the Crayon Khol in Emerald Evasion paired with Paul & Joe Eye Color Set CS 087 Peau D'Ane, Bubble Glow on the cheeks and Plum Plump Girl on the lips.
The Sephora SA also gave me a generous sample of Guerlain's new Tenue de Perfection liquid foundation SPF20 PA++ in #12 Rose Clair, which I am wearing here. Tenue de Perfection is touted as offering up to 16 hours of wear. It works by forming a film over the skin of three volatile oils that evaporate one after the other (sounds like Armani's Maestro foundation) while soft focus micro powders smooth the epidermis and reduce fine lines and imperfections, and beads of silica reduce excess sebum.
The shade range for Tenue de Perfection seems to run darker than their other foundations, so I highly recommend getting a proper match at the counter before investing in this. #12 Rose Clair, which was the one of the two lightest shades at Sephora France, was still a tad dark for my skintone. It offers surprisingly good coverage - between medium to full, which is definitely more than Maestro. This retails for US$59 on Nordstrom.com and €49 in France.
I liked how it evened out my skintone, reducing redness and the appearance of pores. It was also easy to apply using just my fingertips. It does seem to last well over the five hours that I had it on (it's rare that I need to wear makeup for 16 hours), although I had to blot my T-zone every couple of hours. However, I can see this being unsuitable for dry skintypes though as it will probably emphasise dry patches. I would have considered purchasing this except for the lack of a good shade match.
