Estee Lauder - Bronze Goddess Applied (FotD)

There were a lot of comments about the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess collection that I showed you the other day, so I thought I'd show you how that little lot looks applied too.  Yeah, no idea why I thought a quiff was a good idea either, anyhoo, onto the pics:

Again, the pic is enlargeable, with the usual caveats (cold, terrible hair, and so on...).  For reference, I used the Shimmering Sand and Ultra Violet shadows - which blend out pretty well, actually - alongside the Exotic bronzing blush and the Wild Orchid lipgloss, which is beautifully wearable, and surprisingly versatile, bearing in mind it's rather ... er ... scary shade in the tube.  Tastes nice too, light vanilla scent.

Don't worry, I've got other things to talk about as well as showing you my ugly mug (again) today ... back later!

Wherefore Art Thou Organic Wednesday?

A few people have been wondering where Organic Wednesday is ... well, it's gone walkabout!  I was too ill to post much last week, which is why it didn't happen then, but don't worry! It is coming back, just not today, sorry!

That is because I'm moving my organic slot to Saturdays from now on (for reasons far too boring to go into here), and it's going to be called "Organic Weekends". This is mainly because I like having a feature I can still refer to as "ow"! -yes, I am a child, thank you -  OW has been a really interesting feature for me over the last seven months, and it's one I love, so it'll be back, large as life (larger, even!), and with a nice big fat report of how I got along at the Natural Organic Product Show at Olympia recently.  This Saturday 24th April, I'll see you then!

Guerlain Summer Collection Applied (FotD)

First off, let me say that these are some of the worst FotD pics I've ever taken, so let me apologise in advance for the stupid looks on my face!  But I had quite a few requests for a FotD with this collection, and I thought I'd oblige ASAP!

As you can see, I used all four of the main shades to create a subtle smokey eye effect (more visible when you enlarge the pic,which I request you all NOT to do, please! I have a heavy cold and I look terrible at the moment), I also used a liquid liner to give a more defined effect near the lash line.  The colour on my lips is the KissKiss Baby balm in 262 Cherry Summer.

Oh, if you're wondering where Organic Wednesday is, I'll be making a little announcement later ...

Estee Lauder - Bronze Goddess

After my utter disaster with the Estee Lauder Michael Kors collection, I made darn sure I got my hands on this one! I think Estee Lauder are doing really interesting and exciting things at the moment, and this collection confirms it.

Let's have a look at some swatches, I'll start with the eyeshadows:

There are four eyeshadows in this collection, Sand Shimmer, Ultra Violet, Aqua Flash and Molten Bronze.  Sadly, I didn't receive Molten Bronze, so that's why it's not swatched here.  These are intensely pigmented, and will cover your entire eyelid in one swipe of the does-foot applicator.  They can, however, look a little crepe-y if applied too heavily, so I recommend a light hand on the application, and you can sheer them out with your fingertips if you prefer.  However, these last and last, once they're in place!  You will not need a primer, as these shadows are not going anywhere!  I washed this hand three times with soap and water and it still bears traces of the swatches! They will come off very easily with an oily cleanser though, don't worry, you're not going to be stuck with aqua eyelids till the end of time ...

LOVE these lipglosses!  Gloriously fluorescent in the tube, they give lovely sheer brightness to the lips.  The pink (Wild Orchid) has a beautiful blue micro-shimmer to it, and the orange (Wild Coral) has golden micro-shimmers, both of which you'll be able to see more easily if you click on the picture to enlarge it.  Neither feel gritty on the lips, and they last about as well as your average lipgloss.  One thing I will say, is that you don't get as much in the tube as it looks like you do, as you'll see from the top right of the pic - the label fell off mine!

I think, however, that this is the piece I'll be going back for backups of - at least two, I think.  This is the "Exotic Bronzing Blush" and as well as being really cute - have to love those zebra stripes of colour! - it's actually great for giving you a touch of sunkissed colour, without being as "flat" as a traditional bronzer.  Slightly (but not overly) sparkling, it's a real gem.

This is very pretty, a deep, dark purple shade of polish, with pink glitter, it's really very lovely ("Oh, that is super!" MrLippie), it's a trifle on the thick side, almost gloopy, but it's very glossy and beautifully sparkly on the nails.  The wear isn't the greatest I've ever seen (two days maximum without chipping) but it's one of those shades that keeps catching your eye, and just demands that you look at it.  I forgive it all the problems for that.  And I, for one, love the Lauder polish bottles!

I'll be honest, I've not actually plucked up the courage to use this on my face yet (and anyone who read my last post on Zuneta last week will know why!) but it's a wash-off bronzing gel, which, as you can see from my hands there does leave you with a natural-looking glow.


I'll see if I can actually get over myself a little bit soon, and use it in a FotD!




So, as you can see, a wide range of products, some good, some great, but all useable, I think.  W|hat's caught your eye?


Small Print: These products were provided by PR.  Opinions free and unsullied, yadda yadda, yadda. No cake was harmed in the making of this post.

Lifesaving Lipstick?

Might seem a silly question, but some products can help save lives.  This lipstick is brought to us by All For Eve a brand new beauty brand who are donating all their profits to help fund research into gynaecological cancers.  So, not only will this lipstick help you look good, it will do good too. 

I'm posting this tonight, as I've been really pleased and delighted to see that All For Eve won FOUR (a record) CEW Beauty Awards earlier today, Best Beauty Brand,  Best New Bath and Body Product (for their body butter), Best Hand and Nail Product (for their hand cream) and Best Beauty Product for the lipstick I'm showing you right now, which was designed by Daniel Sandler.

And, what a beauty it really is, a blue-based red with wonderful staying power, it's moisturising and beautifully pigmented, and absolutely everyone I know who has one has raved about it.



Here are swatches on my hand, and my lips (as always, pictures are clickable to enlarge):

Other products in the range have been designed by Urban Retreat, Sophy Robson, and Swarovski, here's a little peek:

These products mean business, the people behind this project have worked hard to make these releases as good as they can possibly be (not, sadly, always the case when it comes to charity beauty products) and I think their four awards today show that beauty experts in this country think they've done a bang up job!

Support a charity, save a life.


All for Eve products will be released officially on Monday 26th April.  Will you be checking them out?

Highlighters that double as blushers

When I was featuring (some of) my highlighter stash recently, I mentioned that I owned a few that doubled up as blushers, and I thought I'd show you those too. If you've followed my makeovers in any great detail, then at least one of these will be very familiar to you!

This is my Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Natural Glow which I won in a giveaway over at London Beauty Review quite recently. on the peachy side of natural, this gives great glowy definition where you want it, and is great for pure highlighting when you just want sheen.  The swatch on the right shows all the shades swirled together, but the darker two strips at the bottom are ones that I've used very successfully as a blush shade too.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Apricot.  This isn't one I use much, as I think it needs a bit of tan to make it work properly, so it's one I'm going to make massive amounts of use of this summer, being coral is massive this year!  It's the same quality as my BB Beige shimmer brick, which I never miss an opportunity to use, and I'm sure this one won't let me down either! It's a little more on the gold-y side than the Physicians Formula above, not too sure if that's visible in the pics.

Finally, what is probably my favourite highlighter of all time, Cargo Plant Love Illuminator in Wind.  A swirled (baked) mix of bronze and two shade s of pink, this is something that I find never fails to lighten and brighten even the dullest of complexions. Plus, mad packaging aside, it's also very pretty to look at.  Applied with a light hand, it gives a very pretty flush of colour to the cheeks, but you can also use it to give a sunkissed look, as in this makeover here.

Do you have any multi-purpose blushers and highlighters?  What are your favourites?

Makeover: Helen S

 Gosh, it's been a few weeks since I posted a makeover, I'm really sorry! I hope you'll all make Helen very welcome, she's a great friend of mine, and we've been makeup shopping A Lot over the years. Mainly because it took me a very long time to cure Helen of her frosted mauve lipstick fetish .... Here she is, all fresh-faced, and only slightly apprehensive about what the day is going to bring.

Helen popped along on Valentines Day for some chocolate, a girly gossip and a brand new look, we've worked on her "polished neutrals" for work before now, but this time Helen wanted something completely different and dramatic, suitable for a night out.  Having a look through both our makeup collections, we thought grey would be a great option to bring out the beautiful brown of Helen's eyes.  But, as always, before that, we started with the base, which in Helen's case was a mix of Bobbi Brown tinted moisturiser, and Mac Studio Fix powder:

Initially we had decided on Bourjois Liquid eyeshadow in Platinum Gris, but once it was on the skin, I realised that although it was certainly dramatic, it really wasn't dramatic in the right kind of way. So, immediately after applying it, we took it back off.

We replaced it with Benefit Creaseless Cream in Skinny Jeans, which has long been a favourite eyeshadow of mine, it's slightly more pewter, and as such tends to be a little more flattering on pale-olive skintones.

A dramatic evening look seems to demand lots of eyeliner, so we took the skinny jeans around the eye, and used a little black liner to define the top row of lashes.  Next stop, mascara:

We used Bourjois Ultra Care mascara - which is one of my all-time faves for makeovers -  and here we also added a pop of Bourjois Rose Coup de Foudre blush to Helen's cheekbones. Helen had never worn mascara before, but I'm reliably informed she's been out and bought one now!

 Breaking all my own rules (I wouldn't normally put pink with this look, but we were going for different) a slick of Lipstick Queen's 15 Minutes of Fame gloss in Minute 3 finishes off the look,and Helen's all ready to party!


















Here's the before and after: