Revlon smoky rose (090) powder blush

Out of all the products I bought this was probably one of products I was more confident about. When I played with the testers it felt very smooth and had reasonable pigmentation. 

I think the name "smoky rose" is very appropriate, the colour is a pretty muted rose. It has little visible shimmer, just enough for a glowing look. It does apply very smoothly and true to colour, but that's were the positives end. It just doesn't have any strong pigment or lasting power. I applied my makeup around 8 a.m. and yesterday it faded by 11 a.m. Today I decided to layer it over a cream blusher and it did last longer, but now at 1 p.m. the colour is all gone.

Revlon smoky rose powder blush - 4 layers

Now I don't expect it to have the same longevity as more expensive blushers, but only a few hours of usage is definitely not worth it for me. It can be reapplied during the day without looking muddy. It's a great colour and very appropriate for Winter makeup, but I won't see myself reaching for it because of the maintenance necessary to keep it throughout the day.

My drugstore makeup marathon

So one of these days one friend asked me point blank if I ever buy drugstore makeup. Getting a bit defensive I replied "Yeah, I bought the myface mymix foundation last year and I actually use it regularly". "Oh that doesn't count, it has great reviews by makeup artists and is regularly featured in blogs and magazines. I mean traditional drugstore like Revlon eyeshadows and the like" she replies. Well, I had to confess that no, I don't buy. It seems that every attempt I did in the past was a flop, and since drugstore in the UK is not as cheap as in the US, it never felt like such a good deal. But yesterday I was browsing through Boots and lured in by the amount of GWPs on offer I decided to give drugstore makeup another try. Since I'm flying home to Portugal for Christmas and New Year holidays I decided to get a varied enough sample to allow me to only use drugstore makeup during the next 12 days. And so my marathon starts.

The brands I chose were L'Oréal, Revlon and Max Factor and they were chosen because of the GWPs. The first impression is that the Max Factor box is the cutest (I'll actually keep the tin box for storage) but L'Oréal and Revlon are the most generous each including 3 full size products.

 The Revlon GWP box included full size nail polish (146 gold coin), lip gloss (170 coral reef), grow luscious mascara (black) and a £2 off Boots voucher for any Revlon cosmetics. To qualify for it I bought a powder blush (090 smoky rose) and a Just Bitten lipstain+balm (015 frenzy).

My Max Factor choices were the smoky eye effect eyeshadows in silver storm and indigo mist. The cream pencils and the shades available really caught my eye. The GWP was a very pretty tin box with various mini size products: masterpiece max mascara (black), kohl pencil (black), vibrant curve effect gloss (bubbly), nail polishes (onyx and boji) and a £3 off Boots voucher to use in Max Factor foundations over £10. And there's a cute card telling you how to achieve a look with these mini products.

The L'Oréal were the easiest to chose since I wanted to try the color infallible eyeshadows anyway (Grace London tempted me in this review). So I chose the 021 Sahara treasure, a contour kohl pencil to match (golden green) and a powder blush (125 rose nude). As a GWP I received full sizes of glam bronze trio (blondes), contour kohl pencil (chrome brown) and color riche natural lipstick (390 nude treasure). There were also a couple of samples included: a 8 ml youth code day moisturiser and satchets of the studio scret primer and a shampoo. And also a Boots voucher for £2 off L'Oréal true match liquid foundation. This was definitely the most generous gift.

My first reaction is that it is very gratifying to get all this makeup for the price of 2 high end lipsticks. Of course if there were no GWPs I wouldn't get all of this, but hey, it does feel nice to look at the haul. The second reaction is that apart from Revlon all the makeup will end up look disgusting because they wrap the packages in so much tape that it will never look clean. Seriously, there's gunk in almost all the packages. Revlon do wrap their stuff in sealed plastic so all the security tags are not attached to the products.

But in general the colours seem nice, so let the marathon begin and see how they perform under normal usage, not just swatches on the hand - I'm sure they'd look nice there. I did get a lot of bang for the buck, but will it be worth it?

Tom Ford Noir Absolute for Eyes: review, swatches, eye look

This was my latest incursion to Tom Ford's beauty line, Noir Absolute for Eyes, its only cream eyeliner. This is described as a highly enriched blackened pigment infused with a sparkle of blue. It is a fair colour description. As you can see in the product picture the part of the liner that wasn't touched still looks very black, in the half I used you can see the blue sparkle shinning through. It's a very beautiful colour, the blue sparkles give more dimension to the black liner but still keep it very wearable with different eyeshadows. The blue sparkles become more noticeable when you layer it or smudge it. 

Tom Ford Noir Absolute for Eyes - 2 layers

In terms of colour this eyeliner delivers everything it promises. Let me start with the good: (1) it's absolutely fabulous when used to define the lash line (2) when you apply a thin layer on both upper and lower lash line is lasts the whole day (3) it looks fantastic when smudged, it's actually perfect for smudging. It applies very creamy and smooth and doesn't look like it will dry out quickly. So basically if you use it as a 'more traditional' eyeliner it's definitely a great choice.

However (this is the not-so-good), if you plan on using it to replace a liquid eyeliner and go for more intricate looks, this wouldn't be my first choice. Because it applies so creamy it doesn't dry out completely when layered, and so it can start to look a bit patchy if you go heavy with it. The longevity in more intense applications isn't brilliant. OK, granted I really tested to the limit. I did a strong winged eyeliner for my office Christmas party and it looked fantastic for most of the night. After a few hours jumping on the dance floor (what I do doesn't really qualify as dancing) it started to flake off a bit. On the other hand it didn't smudge or give me panda eyes. 

 

The look below was my party's look and I just laboriously painted 3 layers of eyeliner, with a liquid liner brush, over a wash of MAC Shimmertime pigment on my lid. Then 3 coasts of black mascara. I cleaned up after taking the picture. 

 

Wong Kar Wai for Shu Uemura holidays: brush set + eye look with blue palette

[Heads-up: this post contains a lot of pictures] 

During my trip to Boston I got to have a good play with the brushes from the Shu Uemura Wong Kar Wai mini brush set. I could dwell on this for long, but bottom line is they are really incredible value for what you get. The brush includes a face brush for both blush and powder, a natural shadow brush, a synthetic shadow brush and a slim pointed liner or lip brush. They come in a pretty slim pouch with the holiday's imagery.

 

The brushes have smaller handles, the typical mini size, but the brush heads are very close to full size. I'd suspect the face brush is the only one that was made especially for this collection, since it's the only one with the "WkW" imprinted on the handle:

I have a few normal size brushes so I'll run a comparison to them. Below is the mini synthetic shadow compared to the synthetic 10. Compared to it the bristles are fuller and the tip is more rounded, but they are equally soft. The synthetic 10 has a more elongated shape which is better for concealer, but for eyeshadows I actually prefer the mini synthetic:

Shu Uemura brushes - Top: Synthetic #10, bottom: mini cream shadow from WkW set

The mini natural shadow compared to the natural kolinsky/sable 10 is a great copy for only a fraction of the price! The only difference is that the mini natural brush has shorter bristles and a rounder shape but it applies as smoothly as the natural 10.

Shu Uemura brushes - Top: Natural #10, bottom: mini natural shadow from WkW set

I've compared the mini face brush to the natural 20 since it's the only Shu face brush I own. Although the natural 20 is technically a cheek brush, it can be used it as a powder brush for a more localised application. The mini face brush feels like a mix between synthetic and natural brushes. The bristles are either much shinier compared to the natural or my natural one is too dirty by now ;-) Unlike its counterparts in the set the mini brush bristles are longer than the ones in full size and the head is less full (looks slimmer on the side). It spreads really well so it's really useful for both powder and natural blush - it will be difficult to control on very pigmented blushes.

Shu Uemura brushes - Top: Natural #20, bottom: mini face from WkW set - view from front

Shu Uemura brushes - Top: Natural #20, bottom: mini face from WkW set - view from side

I don't own any comparable liner brush but this one is really good. With the rounded tip it can be used to diffuse dark colours around the lash line but it's also firm enough to be used for a more precise lining. It's also suitable for lip colour although I haven't tried it this way.

I did a quick look with the Burning in Water palette to show how versatile these brushes are. I applied 3 layers of the aqua colour all over the lid with the mini natural, then smoked the royal blue close to the lash line and into the crease with the liner brush. After a quick clean I also used this brush to apply the lavender colour in the lower lash line. Although you can't see it in the pictures I used the mini synthetic to apply glitter on the crease, up to the brow and in the inner corner. The cream blush was blended with my fingers but I used the mini face brush to highlight the cheekbones with the glow blush. 

I'd definitely recommend them as a great introduction to Shu Uemura brushes, the quality was not impaired by the mini size and you can use just the 4 of them for a full face makeup application. So you have an idea of how good value this is: the set costs £35 and if you were to buy the 4 full size brushes you'd be set back by over £120 (depending on your choice of liner brush). I wouldn't give back my full size brushes, but I had the set before the full size I'd feel less tempted to buy them... or would I? :-) :-)

Beauty shopping in Heathrow Terminal 5 - yay :-)

When I found out I had to travel to Boston (for work) and would depart from London Heathrow's Terminal 5 of course the first thing in mine and my sister's mind was: DUTY FREE SHOPPING... as a true makeup afficionado would react. While compiling potential shopping lists I realised there was nowhere to find a list of all the brands available!!! So here's a review of the T5 shopping heaven and list of brands available....

The World Duty Free shopping is incredibly stylish. Honest, it looks like the ground floor of Selfridges. Marble floor, black columns, great lighting, space between the counters, it really is impressive. Almost all the counters are staffed and have full range of makeup as well as some limited and some travel only editions and some of them even have GWPs!

To the brands - there's good news and bad news... The good news is that there's a counter for Giorgio Armani make-up! First time I've seen one, the whole collection was available for make-up, skincare and perfumes. Other good news is that Tom Ford also has a counter and includes the private blend perfume range and the lipsticks. Couldn't find any other makeup but maybe it will come soon. Jo Malone also has a counter there. Chanel has a super glossy mini boutique with all the perfumes and make-up range - it's like the one in Harvey Nichols London. The bad news is that there's no Shu Uemura in sight. Shu is not in the World Duty Free and I couldn't find it anywhere else :-(  if there is a counter and I missed it please share.

I didn't end up doing much shopping, mainly because I was saving up to buy a better camera in the US (for prettier eye look pictures). I bought a Décleor serum because mine is running out and a Shiseido Perfect Refining foundation and the accompanying new foundation brush and that was it. The Shiseido came with a mini red Perfect Rouge lipstick as a gift with purchase which is always a nice touch. I love freebies **sigh**

So onto the full list of brands, hope this is helpful. This was valid in my visit on the 28th November 2011, not sure how often they change the counters. Listed alphabetically:

• Benefit
• Biotherm
• Bobbi Brown
• Clarins
• Clinique
• Chanel
• Créme de la Mer
• Décleor
• Dior
• Elemis
• Elizabeth Arden
• Giorgio Armani
• Givenchy
• Guerlain
• Jo Malone
• Kiehls
• La Prairie
• Lancôme
• MAC
• Molton Brown
• Shiseido
• YSL

Hope this helps - happy shopping :-)