DIOR Spring 2012 Garden Party 5 Colours in Garden Pastels and Dior Vernis in Forget Me Not (Limited Edition)

Another spring 2012 collection that looks and smells fabulous! 

 Dior Garden Party 5 Colours in Garden Pastels (Limited Edition) and Dior Vernis in Forget Me Not (Limited Edition)

The packaging looks and feels very solid like it would definitely survive a fall from the table. The eyeshadows are placed inside THAT famous Dior blue holographic packaging. Inside, there are 5 beautiful pastel shades with two double-sided applicators on both sides. And the roses embossed on the eyeshadows look so pretty and so arty! Honestly, I couldn't take my eyes off it when I bought it.

I wouldn’t wear the shades all together but I like the combination of green + gold/yellow or turquoise + silver. I would normally use the pink shade in the middle as a base colour.
The effect is very soft and luminous - perfect look for spring. The eye shadows are very intense and shimmery and last about 9 – 10 hours on my (oily) skin with primer. I think the colours are so hot for spring/summer season and definitely worth purchasing!

  Dior Vernis in Forget Me Not (Limited Edition)

 without flash

with flash

Dior Vernis in Forget Me Not is a lovely, deep shade of purple. I so love the fact that it smells of roses once it's dry. The scent lasts about 3-4 hours. The end result is very shiny and I only needed to apply one coat to my nails for completely opaque finish! Like all Dior nail varnishes, Forget Me Not have a very thick, rounded brush and only one good stroke is enough to cover your nail completely!

Overall, I love it - I would give it 9/10! Definitely worth having :) A.

PAUL & JOE 2012 Spring Creation Eye Shadow, Lipstick C and Blusher Stick

I am so excited about this collection that I can’t even describe in words HOW MUCH I love it!.! I’ve been waiting for this limited edition to be available on asos website for a while and now I’ve got it! I love it, loove it, LOOOVE it! My own little collection consists of: Face & Eye Color in Purr-fect (078), Lipstick C in Catwalk (077) and Blusher Stick in Catfight (003).

Their cute, stylish retro packaging never fails to impress me. As always, it’s beautiful. The Face & Eye Color in Purr-fect looks very pretty with cat design pressed into the powder. Purr-fect features 2 shades of grey-ish green and one ivory shade on the cat’s tummy. The shades are slightly sparkly. I wouldn’t say they are very pigmented but that’s what makes them ideal for everyday use. Staying power is about 6-7 hours with primer, which I consider quite reasonable. Overall, I think it's a great shade for the spring/summer season. Not to mention the super adorable packaging.

 Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color in Purr-fect

The lipstick looks very cute with paw prints on them and it smells gorgeous (as all Paul & Joe makeup products do). It is a slightly peachy shade of red. It’s very sheer and when applied, looks like peachy nude. I would say it’s more like a lip balm with a hint of colour. The texture is very soft and creamy and it glides on just seamlessly. Although I am not a fan of sheer lipsticks, I love this one and I’m definitely making some space for it in my makeup bag!

And the blusher… It’s so unbelievably cute I didn’t want to swatch it! Would you destroy such a beautiful thing?...:-P I guess I should have bought two. Lol. Anyway, I did swatch it in the end (from the side tho!) and it looks very pretty. It’s a bright orange-y red and I think it’s a perfect match to that lipstick!

Overall, I am over the moon with this makeup range. I would definitely re-purchase and I am looking forward to expanding my little collection. :) A.

CHANEL 2012 Spring Collection Horizon Blusher & Chalys Lipstick

BLUSH HORIZON DE CHANEL Soft Glow Blush

I had my eyes on the Chanel Spring Collection Horizon Blusher for a while so when it finally arrived in shops my first step was towards the Chanel counter. I was planning on getting a warm orange-y colour lipstick from their collection as well so when I picked Rouge Coco Lipstick in Chalys I knew that's the one I wanted. Although I liked all the other colours I knew I had to decide otherwise I'd be just standing there and trying all of them on for ever. If I had too much money I’d probably buy all of them. (I know, I’m self-confessed addict to beauty products).

The Horizon Limited Edition Blusher is priced at £46 – it is very pricey product just to get a bit of colour on your cheeks – I agree. But me, being me, I just HAD to buy it anyway. And it is indeed veeery nice. It has all the colours you need to achieve a nice, soft pinky finish on your cheeks. Perfect for spring. I love it. It’s like all in one product – it gently highlights your cheekbones as well giving you a healthy, natural glow.

You can also use it in two ways: first you can sweep your brush across the upper part of the blusher where all the pink shades are placed. That way you achieve a soft, fresh pink look. However, if you sweep your brush across the bottom part of the blusher – where all the peachy tones are placed - you achieve warmer, more summery finish. Love.It.

When it comes to lipstick – hmm… my feelings are mixed. Yes, I love the shade; the texture is beautiful, very creamy and very soft. It’s a sheer lipstick so it doesn’t come out as bright orange-y but it does give your lips a satiny, more natural finish. The downside is that it doesn’t last very long. 3 - 4 hours is the max. Plus, if you have dry or chapped lips it will make them look even dryer.  Overall - I love the creamy texture but I don’t think I would buy that particular lipstick again.

CHANEL Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour in Chalys

Overall – I looove the blusher, not so in love with the lipstick. A.

Barry M Nail Paint Croc Effects

Nail varnish, again, I know… I treat myself to a new nail varnish way too often lol. Anyway, I really liked Barry M Cracking Nail Effects so I thought I might want to try Croc Effects to see if it is any different to the one mentioned above. I don’t think it made such exciting coming as the cracking and magnetized nail varnishes but it is definitely still worth giving it a go. And I thought: how can it be different from the cracking one?

Well, after quite a few attempts – most of them failures (the nail varnish that I used as a base colour was probably dry and it supposed to be slightly wet) I managed to get a considerably nice effect of croc skin on my nails.

First, I applied a thin layer of a clear base coat, waited for my nails to be dry and applied two thin coats of Bourjois So Laque! in Lime Catwalk to my nails. I wanted something bright so the effect would be more visible. Then, I waited for about 2 minutes for my nails to be dry but not 100% dry. That's when the croc effect will look the best. Then I applied a THICK coat of Barry M Croc Effect, not thin like it says on the bottle. And I waited and waited… (yes, you have to be patient) and after a while (about 3-5 minutes) the effect started to appear. Yeey! And finally, I finished off with a top coat.

I can easily tell that it looks different from the cracking one but is it worth it? You decide ;) A.

Barry M Nail Paint in Mint Green and Ice cream Berry plus free Limited Edition in Silver Glitter

Yesterday I bought two pastel shades of Barry M nail paints from Boots and got one free (when you buy any 2 products from Barry M you get a free limited edition nail varnish). And I decided to experiment with all three of them. I wanted to create a new spring ‘do’ on my nails. I’ve been using glittery and very sparkly nail varnishes for the last couple of weeks and I need a change.

At the moment I love new Dior make up collection, especially their nail polishes and that inspired me to so something that does have a spring feel.

I applied two coats of Berry Ice Cream first and let it dry. In the meantime I (carefully!) cut out the nail guide strips out of a self-adhesive sheet and placed them across my nails to divide the tips from the rest of the nails. Make sure the guide strips are pressed firmly to the nails. Then I applied two coats of Mint Green on my tips above the guide strips and let it dry (allow at least 15 minutes). After it dried thoroughly I gently lifted the tape from the nails. Finally I applied one coat of Limited Edition in Silver Glitter (I know, glitter again – but it isn’t as glittery as the previous ones I had). 

Final effect – very pretty nails ready for spring. I love it! :-) A.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere – sample review

I’ve been using my favourite Dior Forever foundation for a couple of months now so I wanted to try something new and treat myself to a new foundation to beat any winter blues. I read about the new Chanel foundation last year and finally the samples are in shops so it seems like an ideal time to give it a go! As I absolutely love my Dior Forever I won’t give it up easily for something that isn’t absolutely perfect. And Chanel being Chanel I have quite high expectations. Not to mention the price.

So I picked (with an advise of Chanel consultant) shade 10 Beige and 12 Beige Rose. I have very fair skin so I know I am always the lightest shade or second from the lightest when it comes to any foundation. 

Here is a swatch of both shades and comparison to other two foundations I’ve been using lately (Dior Forever in 020 – Light Beige and Chanel Pro Lumiere in 010 - Nude) I can easily tell that shade 12 Beige Rose is too light and too pinky for my skin and shade 10 is slightly lighter than my favourite Dior but has the same base colour – yellow.

First impressions – it has a gorgeous smell and a slightly thicker formula than Dior Forever but thinner than Chanel Pro Lumiere. It has a light to medium coverage and a matte finish. It evens out my skintone beautifully and covers any blemishes very well and it is great for covering the pores as well. It can be layered easily to medium coverage. A small tab is more than enough to cover your whole face if you want to achieve a light coverage.

It lasted a good couple of hours (not the whole day tho) after about 6 hours it did wear off a little bit.

The downside is that it does make dry patches more visible – that's a bit of let down for me. I like a healthy dewy finish on my skin as well so the matte result doesn’t really work for me. I like it when my foundation looks more natural. So overall, it’s an okay product for me – but I am not sure I will be buying it in when it comes out. I might just stick to Dior for now and wait for the new BB Creams to try them out! A.

Paul & Joe Ornamental Nail Enamel Collection in O Holy Night and Merrily On High

O Holy Night (left) and Merrily On High (right)

Paul & Joe is my guilty pleasure when it comes to make up. Very sophisticated colours and lovely vintage looking packaging make it impossible to resist. And the gorgeous smell is so addictive… I absolutely adore every make up range they create. As I am self-confessed addict to nail varnishes I decided to buy two shades from their latest ‘The Ornamental Collection’.

The formula of the nail polishes is fine; it spreads on nails quickly and evenly. The massive downer is that it takes ages to dry and even putting a clear coat on the top doesn’t help to speed it up. I think it’s got to do with the fact that the formula is quite jelly and gluey, which I guess is used to hold the glitter together (although I have Paul & Joe nail polish that is not glittery and the formula is jelly like and it takes ages to dry, too). It is hard to remove it from the nails as well but on the plus side it stays on forever once dry.

O Holy Night is a deep turquoise shimmery shade with three different colours of glitter in it: silver, blue and turquoise. It is a bright and vivid colour that is easily noticeable. 

Paul & Joe Nail Polish in O Holy Night

Merrily On High is a pale shimmery purple shade that is less opaque than the turquoise one and you need to put at least two coats on to cover your nails completely. It is a nice pastel and pearly shade of purple. As I prefer vibrant and dominant colours the first shade is definitely my favourite out of these two.

Paul & Joe Nail Polish in Merrily On High

Overall, I think they are very pretty Christmas-y shades and they would make a great prezzie. The price is very acceptable (£10.50 for 10ml) especially if you compare it to other high-end brands. Plus, no one makes such a pretty packaging as Paul & Joe. ;) A.