Comparison: Black Sugar by Tom Ford, Sulfurous by Guerlain and Facet by Illamasqua

I was picking out my favourite polishes for autumn, and when I had  made my list, I realised that Black Sugar by Tom Ford, Sulfurous by Guerlain, and Illamasqua's Facet are quite similar, so I thought a comparison might be in order. 

When I got the bottles together, I realised that they were quite different, but possibly not *that* different.  

First up, Bottle impressions:

Tom Ford Black Sugar.  This is a browned-taupe, with a quite beautiful red shimmer visible in the bottle which is almost impossible to photograph, in my experience.  Not the end of the world though, as it's impossible to see on the nail too, as it turns out.
Guerlain's Sulfurous is more of a shimmering charcoal in comparison to the other two, and is much, much darker than either. 
Illamasqua's Facet is a softened medium dove-grey, enlivened with lots and lots of bronze shimmer.

On the nails:

Black Sugar has the thinnest formula and is a little prone to dragging.  This isn't helped by the super-long brush handle, which is required because of the super-tall bottle.  If you're a cack-handed muppet like myself, it's the least easy polish to apply in the bunch.  That said though, the Tom Ford nail polish formula is a good one, and the shades tend to wear very well indeed.  It's a nice, slightly flat, browned taupe on the nails, a cooler version of Chanel's Particuliere, in fact, and none the worse for that. It dries a little darker than it appears in the bottle.

I've reviewed Guerlain Sulfurous before, and it's clear I really like the deeply complex shimmering charcoal of it.  I notice in macro-mode, however, that it's a little brush-strokey, but this isn't visible in real life.  It has a wide brush which makes application easier. 

Facet by Illamasqua is an unusual colour on the nail, being not quite grey, and not quite bronze, whilst appearing also not quite khaki too. Whilst it lacks some of the complexity, and (in my eyes) beauty of Sulfurous, it has its own unique loveliness, which I really like.  The brush is a standard round brush, and the formulation is a little thinner than the Guerlain, but spreads really nicely over the nail.  Illamasqua polishes also tend to be extremely hard wearing.

So, all very similar, and all rather different too.  Personally, if I could only have one, it'd be Sulfurous by Guerlain, but the other two are very beautiful too.  Which would be your choice? 

The Fine Print: PR Samples.

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Guerlain Rouge G Comparison: Madam Batifole vs Provovative

After featuring both the Guerlain Autumn and Winter collections recently, I got a few emails regarding the pink Rouge Gs from each, Madam Batifole and Provocative, so I thought comparing the two was a good idea:

 Madame Batifole (left) is from the limited edition Madame Violette autumn collection currently on counters, and has a fishnet effect etched onto the casing.  Provocative is from the Crazy Paris Christmas collection which will be on counter from November.  Both are rather cool bright pinks, but there are differences:

Madame Batifole is the darker of the two, and Provocative is lighter.  Contextually, Provocative appears the "warmer" shade, but is still quite a cool shade of pink.

Here are some more comparison shots:

Natural daylight

With Flash

 Both are creamy shades, but as you can just make out in the flash picture above, Madame Batifole has a slightly more visible blue micro-shimmer in the formula.  Provocative contains it too, but it's less visible in the bullet. On the skin, however, the shimmer is barely visible, it basically just adds a little depth to the shades and stops them appearing "flat".

Natural Daylight

With Flash

They're both highly pigmented, and creamy.  Here you can see how Madame Batifole on the left is definitely a deeper shade, and Provocative is a little warmer in comparison, almost a bubblegum pink, whereas Batifole appears more magenta in comparison.

Here they are on my (quite strongly pigmented) lips:

I'd say that Madame Batifole is definitely the more dramatic shade to wear, being a little darker and deeper, Provocative is a perfect everyday pink shade, one I'd consider a neutral, but my tolerance to bright shades is quite high, and your mileage might, as they say, vary.

I tried wearing one lip of each to show how the differences aren't, actually, that dramatic.  This is provocative on the top, and Madam Batifole on the bottom. Equally bright, equally pigmented, just one is a  little warmer, and one a little cooler in comparison.

Personally, if I could only have one, I'd have Madam Batifole, as I'm a lover of the dramatic lip colours, but Provocative is a great everyday pink too.  They're both gorgeous, frankly. 

The Fine Print: One's a PR sample, and one was a purchase. It genuinely doesn't matter which one is which.

Mental note: I shall never wear the foundation featured in this post ever again, it looks terrible.  I know.

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Guerlain Christmas 2013 - Crazy Paris Eye Palette

  
This is my final post about the Guerlain "Crazy Paris" Christmas 2013 collection, On Monday I featured the Sulfurous nail polish and UV topcoat, on Tuesday there was the Provocative Rouge G, yesterday I featured the Crazy Pearls Les Meteorites, and today I'm showing you the Crazy Paris eyeshadow palette, which is on the far right of the picture above.

Guerlain haven't done a stand-alone eye palette in the Christmas collection for about four years now, I think it was a Russian theme last time (I still have it somewhere, must dig it out now I come to think of it), but this is a little different.  In the same sleek black-lacquered case we've seen in the rest of the collection, but this time the neon pink adornment is on the inside, not the outside:

There are four eyeshadow shades, a copper, a pale gold champagne, a shimmering white, and a cool sparkling pink.  Next to that, there are two shadow liners, one a mid-grey and the other a dark charcoal (it's definitely not quite black), the liner shades are "wet & dry" powders, meaning you can wet them down for a more pigmented look.

Here's how they swatch:

As you can see, they're not the most hugely pigmented shadows out there - the coppery shade is by far the softest and easiest to work with.  The pink is the least pigmented, but it is intended purely to add a sparkly finish to the other shadows, using the pink brush supplied in the palette, rather then being a stand-alone shade in its own right.  Guerlain suffer from patchiness when it comes to shadows, and this palette shows off the vagaries of their formulations quite well, some shades are soft and buttery, and some are rather hard and are more difficult to work with as a result.   I think the liners will work well wet, however, and a primer underneath all the shades would really give all the colours a  bit of "oomph".

It's an unusual mix of shades, I think, with the warm richness of the copper contrasting hugely with the rest of the cool shades, but I think I can make it work, I'll show you a FotD with this palette soon.

So, which are my top picks from this collection?  Well, it's the products featured below ...

 What caught your eye?

The Fine Print: PR Samples.
 
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Guerlain Christmas 2013 - Les Meteorites "Crazy Pearls".

All this week, I'm featuring my picks of the Guerlain "Crazy Paris" Collection for Christmas 2013.  On Monday, I showed you the nail varnish in Sulfurous and the UV topcoat, and yesterday, it was the turn of the new Rouge G in Provocative. 

Today it's the turn of what is the cornerstone of any Guerlain Christmas collection, Les Meteorites Perles:

Thankfully back in a tin pot this year (I hate the cardboard pots of perles that occasionally get released, if you're spending £37 on a pot of face powder - and you are - then you want it to last), it's black-laquered, and it is adorned with the words "Champs Elysees" embossed in neon letters around the sides.  Whilst I love the black and pink that is the signature of this collection, I have to admit that I'm not a massive fan of this particular tin this year, I much prefer the sleeker styling of the Meteorites Perles de Nuit from Christmas 2011.  This is ... whilst I hesitate to actually say it's tacky, I'm think I'm going to have to say that it's a  ... bit tacky.  So there.

Right, having got that off my chest, let's take a look at the perles, eh?

New to the mix this year is a "tangy" pink, cool toned, it mixes with the gold, white, lavender and beige of the rest of the perles quite well:

It's quite a bright pot this year!  They're still delightfully scented with violets, and give the same "airbrush" finish that you get with the normal perles.  They're not coloured enough to act as a blusher, and don't appear pink on the skin.

I tried my best to swatch the perles, but this is a hiding to nothing, as you can see below:

I always have a pot of Les Meteorites on the go, they're easy to dip into, I adore the smell, and love the airbrushed, non-cakey effect. But, whilst it might be a collectors item, I'm not a huge fan of the tin.  Still, you don't wear the tin, eh?

What do you think of the packaging this year?

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Guerlain Christmas 2013 - Rouge G in Provocative.

All this week I'm featuring the "Crazy Paris" collection from Guerlain this Christmas.  Yesterday, I featured the Sulfurous nail polish and UV topcoat, and today it's the turn of the Rouge G from the collection, in Provocative.

I mentioned last week that I love a Rouge G (or seven),  and this one is no disappointment either.  Given a black coat of glossy lacquer, and with a neon pink button, I think this might be my favourite packaging of the entire collection.  It's reminiscent of the summer collection from a couple of years ago, but those had a silver button rather than pink.  So, what's inside?

A glorious pink.  Pink took over as my favourite lipstick shade a good while ago, and this is a great medium pink.  Highly saturated in shade, but neither too cool or warm, it's a good, extremely versatile colour that I think would suit all manner of skintones (I'd love to see this on some very dark or deeply tanned skins).  I'm still currently sporting my winter shade of pale blue, owing to trialling a number of factor 50 suncreams recently, and I like the contrast between the pale skin and bright lipstick, as you can see below.

You can see the skin on my hands makes the colour seem a little bluer than it will look on darker skins, but on my rather pigmented lips, it's not quite so cool, and pulls more neutral. It very definitely isn't a "hot" pink, however.

It has the same great Rouge G formula, being soft and moisturising, and rather featherlight in wear.  The lasting power is average, reaching 4-6 hours, depending on what you eat and drink whilst wearing it.

It'll be £36 pounds (yowch!) and launches November 1st. 

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Guerlain Christmas 2013 - Nail Polish 861 Sulfurous & UV Topcoat

 
This year's Christmas Collection from Guerlain is a little departure from the classic Guerlain designs. Taking its theme as "Crazy Paris", it's a celebration of colour inspired by the sights and sounds of the brand's home city. Packaged in shiny black accented with glints of neon pink, it consists of an eyeshadow palette, a nail polish and top coat, a new Rouge G, a Rouge Automatic, the iconic Meterorites perles, a perfumed shimmer powder (this year in La Petite Robe Noire), and two new pressed powders one a bronzer, and one pressed Meteorites.  I'm loving the black and the pink (in the most part), but how do the products stack up?

 Well, I have a selection of them here, and I'll be showcasing the collection throughout the week, starting today with the "black without black" nail polish: Sulfurous (£18).

I love this colour, it's a deep, dark grey, with hints of brown but there's a beautiful hint of violet and pink in there too. Whilst it is deep, you could consider the shade almost a neutral.  In some lights it is brown, others it's a grey, and in yet others it could be considered a purple, it's a very complex, and rather beautiful colour, I like it a great deal.

The pictures in this post show the shade after three days of wear, and I have to admit I've been impressed with how it's worn so far.  I was a little sceptical when Guerlain announced their entry into nailcare, but on the evidence of this polish, and the other one I've had to test recently, I have to admit my cynicism was a little misplaced.

The collection also comes with a UV topcoat (£18), which has three main functions.  One, as a glossy topcoat, obvs. Two, if you wear it on bare nails, the slight purple tones will have a whitening effect on any staining, or yellowness,and thirdly, it'll also glow under ultra violet light!  Now, I can't even remember the last time I went near a UV light, and I doubt I'll be near one in the near future either unless I buy an aquarium ... however, it's a good very glossy (albeit slightly on the gloopy side) topcoat, which really does seem to protect the polish it's covering.  It's not particularly quick-drying though, beware!

The "Crazy Paris" Christmas collection from Guerlain will launch on November 1st.

Back tomorrow with more of the collection ... 

The Fine Print: PR Samples.

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Lippie's Lust List #847,563,476: Guerlain Christmas 2013

Basically, this is just a sneaky peek at what's coming up on the blog next week (what do you mean I only showed you Guerlain Autumn last week?) ....

Anything catch your eye? 

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Guerlain Autumn 2013 Rouge Gs - Madame Reve, Madame Flirte, Madam Batifole

I recently posted that I was really looking forward to the new autumn collection from Guerlain, and last week, I was lucky enough to be able to pick up the Rouge G's from the Violette de Madame collection a little bit early.  There's very little that makes me happier than a brand new Rouge G ... 

There are three new shades, Madame Reve, a soft, sheer medium pink, Madame Flirte, a soft, slightly warm red, with a light dusting of gold shimmer, and Madame Batifole, a fuchsia pink.   As soon as I saw the promo shots, I knew these were for me!

They're clad in the same classic housing as the regular Rouge G lipsticks, this time with a "fishnet" effect. 

Daylight

Flash

The texture is the same soft, rich and creamy formulation  that I've come to know and love, not as firm as a Tom Ford lipstick, but not quite as balmy as a Chantecaille Lip Chic, these are moisturising, and (Reve aside), fairly pigmented.

Daylight

 

 

Flash

 

 

They're softly glossy, and easy to wear.  By far the most pigmented is Madame Batifole (which, not entirely coincidentally, is my favourite), but Reve and Flirte are both great everyday shades.  Batifole is rather dramatic, and if your tolerance for dramatic lipsticks is lower than mine it'll make a great evening shade.

Here's how they look on my rather unevenly pigmented lips:

Yes, at £31 each, they're not cheap, but a Rouge G is a thing of beauty forever.  They'll be on counter August 1st.

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Lippie's Lust List #Twelvety Guerlain Violette de Madam

Oh man.  I need me this collection something chronic.  I was sent the nail varnish in Madam Batifole (below) this week, and now I have a shopping list as long as my arm.  A collection entirely in purple, fuchsia and red?  Oh, I am IN.

 In love, that is.

GIMME!!

 It's on counters August 1st, but don't bother yourselves, as I'll have bought it all.   ALL YOUR GUERLAINS ARE BELONG TO ME.

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Guerlain Eau De Lingerie

Confession time: I recently spent some time having tea with Guerlain's utterly charming, handsome (and funny with it) Thierry Wasser, and, to my complete chagrin, after an extremely pleasant, and polite, question and answer session, I - for it was, of course, I - managed to drag the conversation down so far into the gutter that Thierry ended up miming how to get into a pair of Spanx for the delight and edification of our tea-partners.  I'm not proud of myself*. If, however, Guerlain ever do produce a fragrance named "La Petite Spanx Noir", I want commission.

Which brings me politely (or not - your mileage may, as they say, vary) to this:

Perfume for your knickers.  From Guerlain.  Guerlain say:

"Close to the skin, in the very place where fragrance settles, our lingerie lies... and this inspired Guerlain to conceive of an innovative beauty ritual. A delicate new fragrance to spray onto lingerie, creating a special moment of sensuality in which women are invited to indulge..."

To which I say: " ...er ... does it come with a free tube of Canesten?"  Now, admittedly my "special moments of sensuality" these days usually involve a jammy doughnut, a nice cup of tea, and a brief half an hour with the Hugh Jackman DVD+ of my choosing, but still ... a fragrance too far?  I think I'd rather scent my drawers than my "drawers", personally.  What say you?

It'll be available exclusively in Harrods from February.  The perfect Valentine's gift ... 
  
* This sentence may be a lie**

** IS a lie.  It may be the single proudest moment I've ever had as a blogger.  I am, however, now banned from the Connaught Hotel tea-rooms as a result.

+ Paperback Hero, seeing as you didn't ask.

Image shamelessly stolen from Basenotes.
  
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Guerlain SS13 Maxi Lash Mascara

A new mascara is always something to rejoice in, and a new mascara from Guerlain is always something to get excited about - how does this one measure up?

 Well, it's about a third of the size of their usual mascaras, which is refreshing!  And lovely to see more of the deco-style packaging that we've all come to know and love from the Rouge Automatic range.  But most important for me is the brush, is it a mega-brush that gets mascara everywhere except where you want it?  No, it's a weeny thin brush:

No, it's actually a nice thin brush.  Let's take a closer look:

 It's just a normal, thin, spiral-set bristle-brush.  Nothing particularly out of the ordinary here.

Guerlain describe this as a "Volume-Creating, Curl-Sculpting mascara", and claim that the blend of three polymers is innovative: "The first one wraps the lashes in extremely adherent oils, coating and thickening the lashes. The second one, made with supple waxes, acts like a conditioner, softening the lashes so you can sculpt them into just the right shape and style. The last one forms a thin film, coating the lashes to trap the wax and set the amazing curve.”  My mascara is in Noir, which is, in reality, actually a deep charcoal rather than a sooty black:

 
I'm a little disappointed that it's not very black, to be honest, but this does also come in a violet shade, which is something I'm going to have to investigate when it's released.

So, how does it look?  Well, take a look for yourself  (and please excuse the extremely scary photos)

  
Well, there is definitely lengthening, thickening and curling going on, it's actually a nice mascara.  But it's not a very dramatic mascara, and I like DRAMA with my lashes.  Of course, your mileage may vary.  It also has to be said that I'm suffering from thinning lashes on my left eye (on the right in the pics there), and this mascara hasn't done much to disguise that.

Will I buy it again?  Probably not, in all honesty, I think Mascara G does a much  better job for my requirements, but if you're looking for a nice everyday mascara, you could do a lot worse.  It'll cost £22 when it's released in January.

What's your favourite mascara?

The Fine Print: PR Sample

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