AW10: Illamasqua Art of Darkness + Lip Look and Swatches with Disciple Lipstick

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Illamasqua art of darkness

Above you can see the range shot for Illamasqua’s forthcoming Art of Darkness collection (look for it from the 16th) and it’s quite challenging, I think you’ll agree. There are lots of wearable bits in the collection though, like some new liquid liners with sponge tips, great loose pigments, a gold body dust and those polishes. They mix up with new primary metallic Liquid Metal shades, and yes, yes indeed, that IS a navy lipstick you’re looking at there.

A navy lipstick, well now, that’s nothing but throwing down the gauntlet. And so ladies, post-cut, you can see said lipstick, named Disciple and costing €17, on my very own smackers.

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Tags: AW10, illamasqua, swatch
Posted in Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 40 Comments »

Battle of the Eyelash Curlers: Shu Uemura V Jemma Kidd V Mavala V Ruby & Millie!

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

shu uemura eyelash curlers

Like anyone else who has ever perused a best beauty buys list, I’ve come across rave reviews of Shu Uemura eyelash curlers a time or twenty. Industry insiders regularly list them as a must have, but when I recently asked a couple of make-up artists about what makes them so damn special I was whelmed by their response, to say the least.

They told me breathlessly that the shape of rubber pad – rounded rather than flat at the top – was what made all the difference. I nodded, polite but sceptical – mmmhmmmm, right, because no-one else has ever thought of that. Fairly sure that I had chosen my trusty Jemma Kidd curlers for that very reason, I had a good look at them on my return home. Sure enough the rubber pad on them is nicely rounded rather than flat at the top.

Feeling smug as you like, I continued to use my Jemma Kidd eyelash curlers … until I espied a lonesome pair of Shu Uemuras on a shelf in the Las Vegas Sephora and got a major itch to try them for myself.

Well. It would have been mean (not to mention rude) to just leave them there on their tod, yes?

Happily, they have been rewarding my incredibly selfless act of kindness and charidee with fabulously curly lashes, and I have to reluctantly admit that they are giving better results than my Jemma Kidds. What gives the Shus the edge, I think, is that they’re a better fit for the shape of my eyes – wider and with a shallower curve across the business, clamp-y end, I can get them right in at my lashline without missing out on any at the corners. They also feel more tightly sprung than other metal eyelash curlers I’ve tried.

The Mavala and Ruby & Millie offerings I have in my stash, meanwhile, are plastic yokes that commit the cardinal sin of eyelash curlers with their flat rubber pads (boo! hiss! etc) and I find they’re both divils for creating kinked rather than curly lashes.

And, of course, you can’t pimp them out to be heated eyelash curlers like their metal equivalents!

Tags: eyelash curlers, jemma kidd, Ruby & Millie, Shu Uemura
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 21 Comments »

Tried and Tested: Max Factor Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadow + Swatches

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

max factor smoky eye

I’ve had my eye on these Smoky Eye Effect bad boys for a while, and during a fact-finding mission to Liffey Valley Boots a week ago, I made a beeline for the Max Factor stand and picked up a trio of them. The blogosphere bubbles with the word that these are a direct copy of sister-company Covergirl’s Smoky Shadow Blast, and from top, you’re looking at Indigo Mist, Onyx Smoke and Citrus Thunder. There was a three-for-two offer in place, meaning I got one of my €9.99 double-ended shadows for free. A good start, eh?

First impressions on these is great. They look fab: all chunky and perspexy and brightly coloured, you really want ‘em to do what they say they will. But almost immediately, I came unstuck. While I’d be of the opinion that this line of six shadows is designed for those who are unsure how to create a smokey look with powder shadows and brushes, it’s actually not easy to know what to do with them, which is completely counter-productive.

There are absolutely no instructions on the bullets, barring the wording ‘step 1′ on one end, and ‘step 2′ on the other. I was a bit flummoxed, especially in the case of Onyx Smoke, (middle, the black and white), because the first step is to apply the white.

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Tags: eyeshadow, Max Factor, swatch
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 16 Comments »

Lash Back: Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

Monday, August 30th, 2010

rimmel lash accelerator

Coming atcha in September is a newbie from Rimmel. We’ve loved, loathed and been whelmed by the brand’s offerings in the past but it’s a company I usually find really reliable for well-priced mascaras, and Lash Accelerator, at €10.95, fits the bill.

Rimmel boards the RapidLash/Lancome Hypnose Precious Cells/ L’Oreal Paris Renewal Lash hair-conditioning gravy train with this one. It’s good to see one at this end of the market, and Revlon have such a thing in-coming too. Now, a point of note: Lash Accelerator will not cause lashes to grow – and I’m blue in the face saying this – as no one has yet invented such a thing, which is why we still see bald men.

But it will condition and nourish lashes thanks to its Grow-Lash Complex. A trial of 41 women found that that 88% saw significantly longer and fuller lashes after just one week, with lashes looking up to 117% longer after a month. Me? I am all for colour cosmetic products that add in care benefits – it just makes sense that your blusher should be imbued with antioxidants if you’re gonna be wearing it all day. So I’m liking these mascara innovations we’ve been seeing over the past year or so, but in the case of L’Oreal Paris and Lancome’s offerings, I just wasn’t wowed by them as actual mascaras. That ‘oohh, I love how it looks’ wow-factor was missing.

This one is good though and I enjoy using it. Setting aside all the claims, for a day-time lash-coater it just does the trick. I’ve been using it for a week or so and the brush is nice, simple and uncomplicated, the gunk itself is good and non-clumpy, and it gives a nice bit of definition for daytime eyes. It’s just a nice extra that it’s got some more gizmos built in, but I haven’t yet noticed any dramatic improvement personally, though it’d be too early to judge in any case!

In three shades, extreme black, black and brown, here’s the clincher: Zooey Deschanel is the face of the product, which will ensure it’ll sell out in droves.

Tags: budget, mascara, Rimmel
Posted in Beaut.ienomics - brilliant budget buys, Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 2 Comments »

The Budget Brush Challenge: How Did Boots Brushes Fare?

Monday, August 30th, 2010

budget brushes

I quaveringly told you all last week I was abandoning my decent brushes to give a set I’d bought at Boots a go. Five brushes for face and eyes cost me €44.95, and I vowed to give them a decent whirl to see if they’d make the grade.

My pre-conceived ideas and prejudices about brushes mean I’m probably always going to recommend that you spend on good tools – it’s a basic principle, I think, as decent ones really give that pro finish to makeup. But I am also a woman who loves a bargain and it would be great to find some performers down at the low end of the market.

Regarding the challenge I set myself, did I stick to it? Actually I did, with one exception, the night of the Prudence beauty awards, I just couldn’t use ‘em. I needed my trusty reliables. The rest of the week though I dutifully cheap-brushed away, and you can read my findings below.

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Tags: boots, brushes, budget
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks, Gadgets, Books & Accessories | 21 Comments »

La Roche Posay Respectissime Densifying mascara: the verdict

Friday, August 27th, 2010

La Roche Posay mascara

Well, I’ve been faithfully using La Roche Posay’s new super duper multitasking Respectissime Densifying mascara for the last fortnight now, so it’s high time for an update on how it’s made my lashes look.

They certainly seem thicker – in that there looks to be more of them along the lashline than previously, rather than that the individual lashes have fattened up – and they seem less prone to falling out. That’s not entirely surprising, since some of the key ingredients in the Lash Activating Serum are things which prevent hair-loss and strengthen lashes, therefore allowing each individual lash to achieve its maximum possible length.

So it’s not that Respectissime Densifying is encouraging new lashes to spring up, it’s just making the most of the lashes that you already have – the longer they stay put, the longer they can grow and the longer and more full your lashes will appear.

I wore it while wearing contacts and also when my eyes were really, really tired, and it caused zero irritation.

Thumbs up!

Tags: La Roche Posay, mascara
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 6 Comments »

AW10: Becca Prairie Moon

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

BECCA Prairie Moon Collection

Becca’s a brand that’s a solid proposition for anyone whose tastes fall into the Laura Mercier/Bobbi Brown camp, except Becca’s just that bit cooler, really.

Rubberised palettes, an Aussie beach babe vibe and lovely, understated shades are generally what’s on offer and Prairie Moon is no different. You can see the model shot above and a couple of their tubes of tinty goodness: Beach Tint in Fig, €25, is a new shade and can be used on cheeks and lips for a (sorry!) pop of colour. Below it is a new colour of Eye Tint in Pewter, also €25. Described as a rich charcoal black, this is a cream-to-powder formulation.

But you want a look at the palette, don’t you? Eh eh?

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Tags: AW10, Becca
Posted in Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 9 Comments »

AW10: Trends that’ll Never Catch On

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

aw10 trends

We’ve been eagerly previewing the Autumn/Winter launches for the last while, and indeed there’s been lots of soon-to-hit counters loveliness to salivate over. However, every season throws up a couple of unlikely looks – here are two that I suspect none of us will be will be rushing out to try this season…

Seriously morning-after eyes

You can keep your smoky eyeshadow and your sexy smudged eyeliner. Artfully applied, intentionally messy-looking eyes with a graphic edge are where it’s at this season if the catwalks are to be believed. It was stippled black eye make-up a go go on the Chanel A/W Ready To Wear runway, where Peter Philip’s intention was apparently to mimic the smudged print effect featured on shoes and bags in the collection.

Bet he didn’t count on giving me flashbacks to leopard print versions of those press-on eyeshadow strip yokes.

At Jean Paul Gaultier and Zac Posen, it appeared that the make-up artists on duty had taken a fit of sneezing half-way through doing the model’s eyes, with smudged horizontal striped lines of eyeliner radiating out across the crease of the upper lid (and putting in an appearance beneath the eye, too.)

Runway to reality: Don’t cleanse your eye make-up after a heavy night out and you’ll be pretty much all set for the following evening, simply add some random stripes or spots. Could hardly be easier!

Ombre hair

For Spring/Summer, the magazines were full of talk about letting your roots grow out a centimetre or thereabouts for a two-tone effect. Everyone was at it, sure: Alexa and SJP and… well, everyone.

While it was a look that I didn’t really see happening much in real life – and did anybody else wonder if the celebs who were sporting it were just en route to the salon for a touch-up? – it’s going a step further for Autumn/Winter. Ombre hair, where mid-lengths to ends are much lighter than the top couple of inches, is supposedly The Next Big Thing where colour is concerned. Good news if a lack of cash has had you stretching the gap between your highlighting visits, but I can’t imagine that hairdressers are best pleased about this one.

Still, Ashlee Simpson is a fan, so the ombre hair trend is sure to catch on in a big way … right?

Runway to reality: Cancel the highlights for the next couple of months and book yourself a mini-break with the savings. Just send your colourist a postcard to let them know you’re thinking of them.

Pix via EmmaHill.net and MTV

Tags: AW10, horrible beauty, trends
Posted in Beauty News & Links, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks, Hair & Hair Removal | 26 Comments »

Estee Lauder Double Wear Zero Smudge Lengthening Mascara: black as the hounds of hell

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

doublewear mascara

I’m putting this review up today because we started our Rate It: favourite mascara yesterday and I knew there would be loads of different opinions and loves ‘n’ hates.

So I just want to use this example as a case in point. Lynnie reviewed Double Wear Zero Smudge Lengthening Mascara, €23, over a year ago and it didn’t float her boat at all. Whereas I love it.

It’s not perfect by any means – it is very thick and that means of course it can clump quite easily if you’re not careful. And boy is it wet. You need to wipe most of the mascara off the wand before applying it or you’ll get overload.

But the effect you get is fantastic once you get the hang of it. If you like blacker than black lashes with plenty of body and drama then this is your only man. (It’s definitely not your only man if you like a natural look.) And because it’s Double Wear it does of course last and last. And last. In fact you may well find you need to invest in some super oily eye makeup remover to do the job of taking it off.

Anyone else rate this – or hate it?

Tags: estee lauder, mascara
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 9 Comments »