Beauty Alert: Illamasqua ESP Lipstick!

Is this the colour of Summer?  Who knows and who cares!  Illamasqua have done it again, played with our minds and dragged us away from the norm with their Paranormal Collection full of never seen before textures and shades for SS 13.  Their ESP Lipstick has hit me between the eyes, well, maybe I should say smacked me on the lips with a deep and dense purple: somewhat reminiscent of the 80's too (which I love even more).
They are obviously telling us to step away from the corals, though, not everyone could rock this colour or even the softer tones of Posture but I love the unexpectedness of this shade and I think you will be surprised at its performance, so why not give this vibrant shade a try?

Beauty Alert: Rouge Dior Nude!

Some of us are luckier than others on the quest to find the perfect 'Nude' lip stick, I could possibly count on one finger how many 'spot on' shades I've found for my complexion.  Some just appear too pink on my yellow skin tone, others wash me out being so beige.

Dior have appeased to those of us who never stop the search by revealing 10 new shades of Rouge Dior Nude Lip Blush, which suggests choosing a colour that will create a 'blushing' hue.

As with much of Dior's offerings I am 'blushing' away with my perfect nude, 169 Grege, seen here, a soft, moisturising lip stick with a sheen of warm beige.

Now discover your perfect match now at Selfridges.  Nationwide from 14th September.

Rouge in Love.

Are you constantly falling in love?

  I am, with yet another adorable lip range that launched earlier this year from Lancome, Rouge In Love, super soft, instant colouration lip sticks, which are HIGHLY pigmented so you can achieve that block of colour in shades such as Violette Coquette or Rouge Valentine, without a smudge nor smear.  

Lancome are impressing me more and more these days as they are concentrating on building up a broader colour range, Teint Idole Ultra 24hr foundations for instance and now their Rouge In Love, lip wardrobe is a hefty 24 shades cleverly categorised into 3 moods; Jolis Matins, Boudoir Time and Tonight Is My Night, need I say more expect maybe j'adore!

My, my, my face!

I've admitted it before and will do again, I tend not to wear much make up, though I am passionate about cosmetics, I do consider myself an artist, therefore, I tend not to experiment much on myself.

However, when I was offered to try my face cosmetics and saw how they categorise their range into colours and shades to suit 'your face'.  It is a very simple way for consumer to decide on the correct shades specifically for them and on my quest to prove there are products out there for everyone, the challenge was set, could I find some basic products for me!?

I'm always riddled with dark circles under my eyes, especially at the moment with stress and lack of sleep!

The my face product I selected was Medium>Dark concealer, 311.  A decent yellow toned concealer in a super light formula, which concerned me, would it cover and stay put?

I dotted the concealer in the darkest areas. The colour match at this point was good, I was relieved the liquid didn't alter in colour as soon as it touched my skin, which for those of you with darker complexions would understand.  I then blended the colour with my ring finger, smoothed into all the knooks and crannies around my eyes.

Impressed?  I am. The concealer has brilliantly blurred my uneven shadows and brightened around my eyes.  Challenge one was complete so what next!

This warm 'neutral' palette of eye colours called Morocco appealed to me as I am somewhat keen on 'nudes', which can be the trickiest of looks to get right.  Why? Because some of us have pink, yellow or blue undertones and to perfect 'nude' one needs to compliment that.  The top shade is a cool beige, the second a coppery bling tone, then finally a deep dark bronze colour.

I applied the darkest shade over my eye lids with the minute applicator.  I would recommend using a larger brush, but a few sweeps and it was on very smoothly indeed!

This is quite a lot of make up for me at this point but what the hell, I wanted to try all the shades in the Morocco palette.  I dabbed the bling tone onto to the centre of my eye lid, then the cool beige was carefully applied to the inner eye as an additional highlight. 

I like to apply lip colour before cheeks sometimes, this helps one judge how much blush they really need, plus we tend to decide on a lip colour before blush anyway.  I had decided to use Medium>Dark, Rose Lip Pencil, a soft pink along with Medium>Dark Ooh Baby Baby, a fantastic nude with just enough beige and just enough pink.

I decided to keep this entire look in brown tones, so this blusher in Sul'tan' of Swing was perfect to contour and add a warmth to my cheeks.  As much as my skin tone is medium/dark asian skin with a yellow base, I abhor that 'no blush' look on asian ladies or any lady for that matter.  Why oh why leave blusher out of your routine?  The tones in our skin can make us appear flat and as much as we are darker than some, that additional pop of colour or depth is essential to reveal a complete look.

And here is the finished look, well within my comfort zone and most importantly, the my face range for Medium>Dark skin were the perfect match.

Have you tried my face and would you try any of these products I tried?

Now you can!  If you use code: "blogbling", you will receive a free Silver Screen Blingtone (£9.99 value) with the purchase of any other myface product (at least 1 myface item must be purchased to receive the free blingtone).
This code is valid till 31/12/11.