Excitement on all fronts

There's plenty to be excited about in the Queendom of Esme at the moment. The arrival of Clinque's Chubby Sticks for eyes has me counting the days to their February arrival. The chubby stick wasn't an instant hit with me but they've become a daytime staple over the last month & I do love an eye crayon so expect a review on Massive Midnight & Whooping Willow towards the end of February.

Whilst on the topic of new releases I'm having a complete girly moment over the Dior Cherie Bow Collection for spring. Its just so pretty, ultra feminine with a nod to quirky in its bow shape. tipping its hat to the iconic bow that was the final flourish on Christian Dior's designs. Love that the packing was designed by the in house jewellery design too. I can feel an indulgence coming on when this super cute palette is released. By the way, the rest of the range is just as lovable.

Nip+Fab have recently entered my bathroom. I've been looking at this range for ages & managed to get a heavily discounted gift set so I could try a few of their products. I'm already in love with the Hydrating Mask & Face Scrub after just 2 uses so will be scouring sales for some more from this range. There a review in the pipe line so won't ramble on too much here.

I happened to find myself on the illamasqua website the other day & the sale was pretty good so dropped a Cream Foundation,  Fundamental eye shadow palette & a Medium Pencil, in a deep candy pink (Manic) into my basket. Can't wait to have a play with these, I love their powder eye shadows and have had good results from the Skin Base foundation in the past. Here's hoping they help me get over the Liquid Metal saga!

I'm lucky enough to have an amazing friend who gifted me a Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Ultra Violet. Now my world is complete. My favourite liner in purple, what more can a girl ask for! Just like the others, this limited edition is uber smooth when applying and last all day and night without moving a millimetre. Love it with my Badgal Plum mascara as it lifts my eyes in a way black could never.

Well I think that's enough about what I'm currently enjoying. Its time to look towards spring and explore the pretty pastel-ness of the new collections whilst dreaming of bright (& hopefully drier!) days. Would love to know what you're enjoying on these cold dark nights and grey damp days.

Illamasqua Liquid Metals

At first sight it's easy to fall in love with this quad of highly metallic creams. The pigmentation & shiny is beautiful & the super soft texture is not at all irritating. The shades are wonderfully wintery & scream NYE party. With names like Enrapture, Surge, Electrum and Phenomena (from top left) its hard not to harbour some lust. This is sadly where my love affair ends.

Oh my word! This palette is awful. A friend gave it to me & said "make it work, I really want to love it but everything I try fails". Never one to shy away from a make up related challenge I snatched it from her with gusto, resolute that I'd report back with some stunning results.

Now, I usually like Illamasqua, the colour & shade ranges are exceptional & the goth in me loves the styling but in my opinion the palette (£34) is an epic fail.

I should confess I'm quite picky about cream shadows due to the creasing issues I've experienced but from a fairly high end product with such a good reputation I had higher hopes.

Firstly I tried Surge as a shadow smudged with fingers over eyes prepped with foundation. Creases appeared within 10 minutes but were easily corrected with fingertips. After about a hour it looked horrific with the only colour remaining being crease lines. Then I tried Phenomena over Mac's Soft Ochre paint pot. This faired no better.

Determined to find a use for this seemingly gorgeous palette, I tried applying a thin layer over Urban Decay Primer Potion then patting a Mac Pigment in Old Gold over the top to set it. I fixed this with Urban Decay De-Slick spray. Loved the super dense shine & thought I may have cracked it. However, after a hour of sitting & doing very little, the creases were not only very evident but impossible to correct.

Following some research (& a little sale purchase, whoops!) on the Illamasqua website I tried using the Liquid Metals in different ways. They failed as eyeliner, as disappeared quickly & applying them over a powder shadow was tricky as they either caked or rubbed the shadow off. As a highlight on the cheekbones they looked amazing but faded fast (2hours of sitting in a cool room!). On the collarbone they faired a little better but I was scared of transfer onto not only my clothes but the clothes of anybody I dared to hug.

 Finally I tried them as lip glosses. For photographs this would be fab but after about 3 mouthfuls of wine you're left with a sticky glass and naked lips.

I really do want to like this palette. The colours are stunning & very metallic but sadly I cannot find a use for it that lasts & doesn't require mega efforts to achieve.

I'd love to know how others use it, if only so I can admit defeat & go back to playing with products that work!

Roll on 2013!

So it's been a while since I posted on my poor abandoned blog. Not through choice but December turned out to be pretty shocking as months go. Now we're (mostly) moved into a wonderful new home & have enjoyed a lovely family Christmas with my daddy, it's time to look forward to the New Year.

I'm itching to get back on the blogging pony & have some reviews & looks planned. I've got some exciting purchases in mind & the perfect excuse to organise my collection & set up a new dressing table. I'm off mirror shopping in a bit & hope to find some unusual storage solutions at the same time. You never know 2013 may be the year I finally whip the jumbled box of tricks into shape!

I've got a list of resolutions as long as my arm, my poor neglected face/skin & hair needs some proper TLC, my exercise routine needs a kick up the backside & the month of takeaways needs to end now the kitchen is sorted! So it's time to dust myself off & leap into the glamorising that has been so sorely missing from my life over the last few weeks.

Here's to a beautiful 2013!

Party Eyes

I love weddings. I particularly love getting dolled up for weddings. I absolutely adore the opulent colour palette of this time of year, so I'm took full advantage of the opportunity to get my glam on & break out a completely decadent smokey eye at a recent wedding. I couldn't resist writing a post about my dress rehearsals.You'll have to excuse the lack of gel liner (usually a staple) as I couldn't find it (it may still be in the hotel!) the evening I had Mr Esme poised with the camera. There will be a part 2 of this post as I've more looks to recreate but waiting for a sunny day to get some decent quality photos for once!

Black & Gold

This super easy look would have complemented my outfit perfectly. I really like black and gold together and with some super sharp liner to finish this off would have been ideal wintery chic. 
Primed with Maybelline 24hr Eye Tattoo in Immortal Charcoal
Took MAC Carbon over outer corner and out into a wing, smudge some under lower lashes.
Blended Benefit Show Off in Jacki into inner corner and over the edge of Carbon. Lined upper lashes with carbon and filled in lower water line. I forgotten how much I love Jacki, its really pinky but turns a beautiful antique gold colour when applied over a darker base.

Navy and Bronze with Teal Liner

This is the look I wore on the day. Its my new favourite eye look. I love the teal under the eye, brightening the look. I love the bronze edges to the navy, not a combination I've tried before but I think the warmth from the bronze really sets the Navy off. 
I primed lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion (Greed) and contoured the crease with a reddish bronze from Sleek The Original Palette. Just underneath the reddish bronze I blended a more gold base tone from the same palette. I covered the lid with MAC Nehru and lined with Carbon  in place of a gel liner. I smudged some Shiseido Hydro Powder in H5 under the lower lashes as a primer then the teal from the Sleek palette over it.

Bright Blue Liner

I've been trying to find an excuse to wear MAC Liquidlast Liner for a while now. It was given to me by a friend who 'could get on with it'. I see her point. Its an amazing colour and REALLY lasts (I have to use baby oil to remove it) but I find it difficult to work with. I always end up with lashes caked in it, whether I use the brush that it comes with or decant onto my favourite liner brushes. Grrr. It stays wet for a really long time too. 
Anyway, I primed my lid with Maybelline 24hr Eye tattoo, Immortal charcoal and covered the lid with Blue Smoke from an Estee Lauder gift palette. I added a thick sweep of Liquidlast, a little flick and some Benefit Bad Gal Blue. I lined the lower water line with MAC Fascinating Pencil. I think its far too casual for a wedding but fun party make up. I love the silver and bright blue combo but still not sold on the Liquidlast formula.

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation, Concealer & Powder

Taking full advantage of Superdrug's 3 for 2 offer I thought I'd road test the latest foundation offering from Maybelline.

What they say..

Fully customisable range of 12 shades with matching concealers & powers.
No nasties like fillers or waxes
Gel formula
100% natural looking skin

Excuse the dirty finger prints!

Packaging...

The pump on my foundation leaks a bit & seems to dispense too much product but it looks classic.

There's only so many ways to package a concealer, this is a pretty standard square-ish tube with rabbit foot applicator, not ground breaking but looks quite slick.

I do really like the way the powder is packaged. Its a sturdy, square compact with a good mirror under the powder so it stays clean & a very soft velour puff.

Thoughts...

Foundation

This takes a bit of blending but gives a very natural finish with just the right amount of luminosity for combo skin like mine. Feels light on skin but seems to stay wet for a bit longer than I'd like, not great if you're in a hurry. It gives a sheer to medium coverage which is a bit light for my normal tastes but adequate for a good skin day.

 I found you need a good primer with it to ensure it lasts past the 4 mark. I haven't set the whole face using the powder yet so perhaps that extends wear time. I didn't want to ruin the natural, fresh finish by adding powder where I don't need it. 

Concealer

The Concealer is very easy to blend and builds to a full finish without any hint of caking. Applied after foundation, an impressively small amount covers blemishes well. Although I was initially put off by the very liquid consistency of this product, it's light weight texture makes it great for under my eyes, where I need quite a lot of coverage.

 I fear it's longevity is probably not great if its not set but when used with the powder I got around 4 hours from it in normal daytime conditions.  I would normally opt for something more creamy but on top of a light base this really does the trick as it looks so natural but covers what I ask it to, its surprisingly opaque.

Powder

It's been a while since I bought a powder in compact form. I use MAC Mineralise Skin Finish (which lasts ages!) & loose powders, so I've gone out on a limb with this one. To be honest, I didn't expect to like it much as I'm very picky with powders. However I think this is probably the star of the trio.

 It's really light & the shade is great for my skin tone. I hated it when applied with the applicator it comes with but once I'd blended it out it gave a nice matt but not mask like finish. Used under my eyes to set concealer, it blended  to almost an invisible finish & didn't settle into my fine lines. It feels a lot more like an expensive powder, fine smooth texture & soft finish.

Overall

These are by no means Holy Grail products for me but they are reasonably priced and do seem to work in harmony with each other. The create a really natural base but don't have the staying power I long for in face products. I felt like I should be recommending this range to my 18 year old sister, I'm not sure why but it feels like it'd be suited to younger, clearer skin than mine!

 The shade range seemed quite impressive, with the lightest being really fair and the darkest looked deep and rich. I didn't swatch it but it did not look at all ashy in the bottle. I like the concept of having matching products and I think Maybelline have pulled it off. If you're after a super natural, affordable range of base products this is certainly worth a look but I do think there are better high street products out there. 

My worst skin day ever!

I'm no stranger to bad skin days (or even weeks) but I've never experienced anything like what I was faced with this morning.

A Bit of History

 Following a painful breakout that resulted from using Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant I was left with angry bumps all over my cheeks that were very sore. They appeared almost immediately after the 2nd use. I cleansed with Bioderma that night & left off any other creams as my face was too sore to touch. The following morning I skipped any foundation (don't worry I was staying at home!) and applied some Avene Recovery Cream in a hope to sooth the itching. Last night I cleansed with Shu Uemura oil as normal, then moisturised with Avene Recovery Cream. This picture shows what I was faced with when I came to do my make up this morning. It's not pretty & it's really painful! 
 
I couldn't risk bumping into anybody at the shops, so had to attempt a major cover up. I applied a thin layer of MAC Pro Longwear all over my face with my fingers. I then mixed Estée Lauder double wear concealer with Jemma Kidd Front Cover Touch Up & applied over the (great many) areas that were most angry. Still unhappy with the levels of redness I used some more Pro longwear on a concealer brush over the top. I looked less cakey than I felt, honest! It wasn't quite the fresh & flawless effect I was hoping, wishing & praying for but it was fit for human consumption! 

Now I'm about to research the ingredients to find out exactly what it was that caused my skin to rebel in such dramatic fashion and spent the next week nursing my wounds and perfecting the art of hardcore concealing!!

Collection 2000 Volume Sensation & Lasting Colour lipsticks

On a recent trip around Superdrug I gave Mr Esme the task of choosing me a new lippy. He rose to the challenge admirably and was soon rooting around the testers with a vigour I've only ever seen in a woman on a mission! I told him I was open to anything but something bright and a break from my normal reds and berries. 

He presented me with two he was struggling to decide between and when discovering they were £2.99 each I thought it may be rude not to throw both into the basket. 

I've not really investigated Collection 2000 very closely as a brand. I use the Cream Puff Lip Cream and love the Glam Crystal eye liner but discovered these through recommendations rather than exploring the counter in store. To be quite frank, I didn't expect too much from £3 lipsticks but as it was an exercising in experimenting with different colours it didn't matter if they turned out to be a bit rubbish. They didn't. In fact, I'm considering the shades I want to pick up next. 

Volume Sensation in Plum Perfection claims to contain ingredients to make lips look up to 40% fuller. I'm not sure if 40% might be pushing it a bit but I did notice a more full pout. The pigmentation was good and the colour lasted a good 3 hours with liner. The formula is rich and smooth, it has that sherberty scent that Rimmel lipsticks have, which I find quite appealing, it doesn't linger but is noticeable when applying. I've read some reviews that claim this makes your lips tingle when applied (like DuWop Lip Venom) but I didn't notice this. I'd wear this lipstick anywhere, I love how it makes my lips look, I love the way it feels moisturising but not sticky or greasy and I really like the shade, punchy but not overtly bright. I would say its quite a pinky shade for something labelled as plum but its wearable as it looks surprisingly natural when on the lips.This is perfect for a colour hit in the cold, dark days of winter. It gets a big thumbs up as an every day lipstick that is really affordable and of decent quality.

Lasting Colour in Sweet Tart is a true bright pink, its on the neon side of Barbie but it is definitely in the bubblegum league. It is wearable with a bit of caution, with very natural face and a sweep of black liner takes a plain and simple look and gives it the appearance of much more effort. I've fallen head over heels in love with this shade! As it claimed to be 'lasting colour' I gave it a proper road test by applying a quick slick before sitting down for lunch. No liner, no primer, no second coat. Not only did it withstand lucnh but four hours, two cigarettes, two coffee, some cake and a bottle of water. Impressive.

The formula is beautiful, it is so smooth and soft and unlike a lot of my long lasting lip colours, it doesn't feel at all dry on the lips.  It doesn't crack or sit in the fines on my lips either. I'd call the finish satin, its not flat matt but doesn't have much shine to it. I love the fact it contains an SPF of 15 and feels so moisturising and is available in 11 shades so there's one for every occasion. I really struggle to believe this is a £3 lipstick it rivals and of my higher end brands.