Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Natural Healthy Glow Powder Duo

I've been a bit mystified (not hard, I realise) by the "glow powder" craze recently, lots of brands are bringing them out, and I couldn't see what the point of a powder that is darker than a normal face powder, but not dark enough to use as a bronzer was.  Then I came home from my holiday with a (slight) tan and had a little "aha!" moment.  They're for adding just a touch of subtle colour to your skin (and I do mean subtle), enough to emulate that you've spent a lovely sunny day (or two) somewhere.  I picked up two from Guerlain recently to find out what all the fuss is about.

From the brand's iconic Terracotta range, there are four shades of Healthy Glow powder, two for blondes, and two for brunettes.  Now, I am a brunette but I don't think I'm a Guerlain brunette, as I have extremely pale skin, and the Guerlain brunettes range seems to be for people with much more olive skin than myself, so the two powders I picked up are 00 Light and 02 Natural, both considered for "blondes".

 
 Both of them are, essentially very pale bronze powders, with a sliver of "blush" alongside, ostensibly for you to add a "pop" of colour to your cheeks to stop the powders looking "flat".  I think the slivers are just a bit too thin to use for this purpose properly, so I just swirl the two shades together, and use them that way.  I've been using 002 (on the right above) almost exclusively since I came back from Croatia and I use it as a normal face powder. I imagine that when I'm back to my usual year-round pasty-face, I'll be able to use it as a bronzing powder.

The powders are finely milled, and have a very slight - discreet - shimmer about them, hence the "glow" part of the name, and both have the usual terracota fragrance which is quite apparent in the compact, but is unnoticeable on the skin.

Perfect for swirling all over your face to simulate having spent a day (or two in the sun) without worrying about bronzer "tidemarks", or useable as a contour powder if you're very pale, they're a bit more versatile than I imagined when I first came across them.  They are well named, as they're great for a bit of a glow!  Me, I can't be bothered with normal bronzers, they're too brown, and too dark for my very pale skin, but these will be great for me when I need a bronzer as they're pale, and have a hint of pink, so it won't just look like I've painted myself with gravy browning ...

Guerlain Joli Teint Natural Healthy Glow Powder duos are in store now, and cost £35.50 each. 


The Fine Print: Purchases.


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Omorovicza Refining Facial Polish

  
A few years ago, I fell deeply in love with a cleanser, so deeply in fact, that I hoarded the final few millimetres in the jar for three years, saving it's use for only very, very special occasions.  Recently, I was lucky enough to be reintroduced to the entire Omorovicza range (and that heavenly cleanser) and this product has become a little obsession recently as a result.

A bright emerald green from the algae and the copper in the formula, Refining Facial Polish is both a chemical and physical exfoliant, lava powder provides the physical (grainy) exfoliant, and there is a selection of fruit acids in here too, which provides the chemical exfoliating effect.

To use, you massage (lightly!) over clean, dry skin, taking time to admire how it fades from deep, deep kermit-with-a-suntan green to a pale pistachio as you massage:

You're welcome

Then, once the dark green has completely disappeared and your face is fully covered, you can either leave it as a mask for two minutes (taking selfies at this point is completely optional, I assure you) or simply skip the mask step altogether and rinse off completely and follow with serum and moisturiser as normal.

Once rinsed, your skin will be smooth and soft, and free from any rough patches.  There's a slight tingling sensation on the skin whilst in use, as you will get from most acid-based exfoliants, but it is very slight, and passes as soon as you rinse the product from your skin.  Omorovicza recommend this for all skin-types except the very sensitive, and I'd go along with that.  It hasn't irritated my sensitive skin, but I have spent years accustoming myself to acid peels, so I may not be typical.  I love how velvety soft this polish leaves my skin, and I'm having a hard time rationing myself to using it just once a week.

Omorovicza Refining Facial Polish costs £65, and is available from http://www.omorovicza.co.uk

The Fine Print: PR Sample

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Ultimate Nars Lip Pencil Set

This summer's (Selfridges only) limited edition collection from Nars is a godsend for nude-lip lovers!  Billed as the "Ultimate Lip Pencil Set", the bright and lovely box contains three nude lip pencils in Stourhead, (satin formula) a lavender nude which is limited edition to this collection only, Biscayne Pink (satin formula), a browner pink, and Sex Machine (velvet matte formula) which is a more mauve nude:

And you also get a Nars-branded sharpener for the pencils.

Some long-time readers may remember that I'm not much of a nude-lip lover, but this is a cute set for anyone who is, having a range of pale lipshades, two of which aren't too scary.  The lavender pink of Stourhead however, on me, is one of the scariest lip colours ever.

Top to bottom: Stourhead, Biscayne Pink and Sex Machine.

 I do love the NARS Velvet Matte formula, owning quite a few pencils already, and the satin formula  has been a very nice discovery too, being shiny, but not too sheer, and feels quite moisturising in wear:

Top to bottom: bare lips, Stourhead, Biscayne Pink, and Sex Machine

 For my colouring however, both Stourhead and Biscayne Pink contain a bit too much white for me to be entirely comfortable wearing them, but Sex Machine is a pretty good (if pale) "my lips but better" shade.

It's a pretty collection, housed in a great and sturdy box, and if you like nudes, for £29 then this is a difficult collection to beat.  You can see more at: Selfridges Nars Ultimate Lip Pencil Set


The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Lipstick Queen Seven Deadly Sins Collection

Such plans I had for the blog in June/early July, but life got in the way, and a holiday plus starting a new job, plus a bunch of weekend plans that had been in place made blogging a logistical impossibility ... anyway, I'm back now, and I'm armed with a new camera! 

Anyhoo, back before all hell broke loose I attended the marvellous launch of the latest Lipstick queen collection. Based on the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins, the range comprises seven full-pigment lipglosses with colours to match each "sin":

picture from press release

The colours as described in the press release are:
Vanity (wine),
Avarice (nude-peach),
Decadence (fuchsia),
Envy (purple),
Anger (red coral),
Indolence (nude-pink) and
Lust (deep red).

I've managed to get my hands on Avarice, Envy and Decadence to show you.

From left to right Avarice is a peachy-caramel tone, Envy is an unusual almost greyed-purple, and Decadence is a cool white-based fuchsia.

 Coverage on swatching for both Avarice and Decadence was definitely full-pigment, leading to an unexpectedly opaque coverage.  Envy, however, despite being darker is slightly more sheer on the skin.  Coverage on lips is similar:

Top to bottom: bare lips, Avarice, Envy and Decadence

 Avarice and Decadence cover lips fully, but because Envy is both sheer and so dark, it leads to patchiness on application, unless you want to apply several coats.  Of these three shades, Decadence would be my pick - Envy is just too patchy (and makes me look cyanotic, to boot!), and Avarice is just that little bit too brown for my skintone, which would make wearing it a challenge for me.

Wear, however, is lovely.  The glosses are non-sticky and unfragranced, and leave the lips feeling soft and hydrated, I have had no issues with dry lips, or even getting my hair stuck on these glosses!  Wear time is actually better than you'd expect from a normal gloss, owing to the high amount of pigment in the formula, and I actually (unexpectedly) found that they faded very evenly even through eating and drinking - Decadence in particular wears down to a lovely soft stain on the lips, which I liked very much.  I didn't wear Envy long enough to discover how that wears, however, sorry!

I wish I'd had some of the redder shades to look at, hopefully the formula of those is nearer to Decadence than Envy ... I'll keep you posted.

The Seven Deadly Sins collection will be available in SpaceNK from September, and will cost approximately £22 each.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

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Skincare of the week ...

Or, my week on Instagram, basically.  I've been doing a project and messing about with a new camera, so my instagram has been full of pictures of skincare.  I thought you might like to see them too - although, if you don't already follow me there, whyever not?

Skin has been a bit parched lately, so I've been doubling up on the hyaluronic acid serums recently.  Loving the First Aid Beauty pads (very mild, so good for stressed skin), and the moisturising RMK toner.

Another parched day, so more doubling up of serums, this time hylamide with Vichy, and bringing back my beloved Zelens cleansing balm.

Nighttime treats, the rosy goodness of the Oskia Cleansing Gel, coupled with Good Genes for brightening, and I finally remembered my eye cream ... I'm horrific for forgetting my eyecream.

Another morning routine on a less parched (rainy) day.  Old favourites abound.  The chantecaille will be released in October, and a full review will be coming soon.

A simple nighttime routine, the Omorovicza facial polish will be on the blog on Wednesday.

Yeah, sorry.  I just like this picture, and Artemis is a BIG favourite.

A simple but effective routine for a lazy Saturday around the flat ...

I like this routine so much, featuring a couple of really old favourites - the May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon and Omorovicza  thermal cleansing balm, and something I'm developing a real crush on, the Sunday Riley blogger favourite (which I bought, btw, it's not a sample) Luna oil.

Any questions?  You know where the comments are ... how was your week in skincare?

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