29 January 2012

Essie Russian Roulette

This is one of those 'I never need to try another red polish' reds. I don't have a picture of the bottle unfortunately as this was a spur of the moment manicure choice. It's bright and bold and definitely a warmer shade - I think its one of the best reds I've tried for my skintone. 

Can imagine this would be great as a pedicure colour too.










What's your favourite red polish?

28 January 2012

Becca Fallen Angel palette

Well it's taken me a while to review this little beauty - I photographed it when it was shiny and new about 6 months ago and its in nowhere near as pristine a condition now. One of my favourite make up purchases ever I think.

I've been spurred on to finally write this review as I've just written a post on a peachy lipgloss and cheek colour from Laura Mercier's new Lingerie Collection (view here), and thought it would be interesting to compare the shades.

The palette contains a lip and cheek creme (Nectar), a lipgloss (Sunrise) and a highlighter (Narcissus). The shades are quite subdued and I would say they veer more orange / apricot in colour than peach or coral.




The palette makes it a breeze to create a pretty and polished five minute face. All the products can be applied with finger tips - i usually just add a tinted moisturiser, tidy my brows and curl my lashes and am good to go.

As I mentioned in the aforementioned LM post, the texture of Laura Mercier's creme cheek colours and Becca's lip and cheek cremes are quite similar - both apply really easily, are soft and smooth rather than sticky and blend well - and have similar lasting power (average). The lipgloss is lovely - its so soft (not at all sticky) and feels really moisturising on the lips, though as expected doesn't last very long. The colour is actually quite nude.

The highlighter is really nice too - similar to Nars multiples in consistency. I usually add it to the browbone, cupids bow and sometimes the cheekbones and bridge of nose.

Here are the shades swatched on the inner arm (from left, Narcissus, Sunrise and Nectar) with the more pinkish Innocent Peach creme blush and  Naked Apricot lip tint from Laura Mercier (right two), for comparison.


And here's a v quick look I did this morning, without the highlighter for some daft reason.



I purchased my Fallen Angel palette from Beauty Expert - I don't think its widely sold now but you should be able to pick it up on eBay or elsewhere online if you have a hunt around.

Laura Mercier Lingerie Collection - Naked Apricot lip shine and Innocent Peach creme cheek colour

The Lingerie Collection from Laura Mercier has totally switched me back on to this brand. I tend to love peachy cheek and lip colours so when I saw these vibrant summery shades in Space NK I was immediately sold.



Here's a swatch of the two shades side by side.


Both have quite pinkish / coral undertones, much more so than say the peach cream blush and lipgloss in Becca's Fallen Angels palette which are a bit darker and more orange-leaning (you can view that palette and a swatch comparison here).

I've never tried a Laura Mercier cream blush before and I really like the formula, quite comparable with the Becca lip and cheek creams, soft, easily blendable and with reasonable staying power (for a cream blush).

And despite not being a lipgloss fan at all, I really like the formula of the lip shines - they make my lips look subtle glossy and healthy with just a hint of colour (nowhere near as bright as the colour in the pot, which is fine with me), and aren't too sticky.

Here's a quick look using both products. Base is Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and on the eyes I'm wearing Bobbi Brown Rose Gold eyeshadow.



I'm already getting loads of wear out of these despite them being quite summery - I just find peach and apricot shades much more flattering on my skin than say pinks and berry shades (don't get me started on Nars Gina blush which I've just purchased - divine divine divine!).

Has anyone tried anything from the Lingerie Collection or have any LM 'must have' products? The eye and cheek palette from the spring collection also looks beautiful. I don't actually have a lot of LM in my collection - just the eyebrow pencil in taupe which is a good match for my brows, and the eyeshadow base which I find a bit drying. Would really like to try some more products though so would love to hear your recommendations...

Innocent peach creme cheek colour £18.50
Naked Apricot lip tint £18.50
Purchased from Space NK.