LipsNspritz of the Fortnight, Pt II

 This week, I basically took a "lucky dip" approach to my perfume and lipstick choices.  After three months and nearly 80 lipstick and perfume pictures, I realise I'm probably something like a quarter of the way through my fragrance collection, and possibly, maybe, a tenth (perhaps?) of the way through my lipsticks.  There's a few months of this to go, yet, I think!

Monday was Miller Harris Cassis en Feuille, which bears a passing resemblance to Jo Malone London's Blackberry & Bay (a perennial autumn favourite), but just has a little more grassy vetiver in the mix, so has a little more ... oomph. I wore it with MAC All Out Gorgeous, which is rather aply named.

Tuesday was Etat Libre d'Orange's Antiheros, which is the lavenderiest lavender there ever was.  Luca Turin described it as "cheap lavender soap, but strong", and so it proves to be.  I've missed lavender a lot whilst I've been parosmic (up until recently, it has smelled burned and awful), and to have it back is wonderful.  Lavender contains such a variety of scents, it's herbal and floral, and has a hint of balsam, and mints in there too.  That it is maligned as a "granny scent" is an eternal mystery to me.  I wore it with Charlotte Tilbury's Red Carpet Red which is one of the best red lipsticks ever.  

Wednesday had me in something just a little more ladylike, the musky prettiness of Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely.  I only like a couple of celebrity fragrances, and this is a good one. It reminds me of Narciso Rodriguez, only at a much more acceptable price-point.  I wore it with Illamasqua Stark, which I also like very much, though it's a little patchier than I recall it being on application.

Thursday brought a board meeting and Lancome's Climat - a little-known fragrance from Lancome's back-catalogue.  It's a sweet and powdery ladylike little whisper of a thing, a proper "Grown-Up" fragrance so I rarely wear it, for that reason.  Paired with Stila Long-last Lipgloss in Firey (I think, the label has worn off), it saw me through a board meeting where I managed not to kill anyone, so a winner, I think.

Friday I wore Boucheron by Boucheron, which is a big heavy-hitter of a floral fragrance, in a beautiful bottle, designed like a piece of jewellery, which always delights when I spray it.  Paired with Estee Lauder lipstick in Dominant, which is a very fine pink indeed.

On Saturday I was heading to a party in Soho, so I wore the ultimate party-girl fragrance: Tom Ford Black Orchid, in the new eau de toilette formulation, still loud, and one of the happiest fragrances around, it's a joy.  I paired it with the Matte Balm from Revlon in Striking, which is the loudest red I own, and wore them both with sequins.  A jolly good time was had by all.

The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases.



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LipsNspritz of the ... er ... Fortnight.

I hate being ill, and I really hate being ill to the extent that it interferes with my posting schedule.  Nonetheless, here's a double-dose (whether you wanted it or not, frankly) of my weekly diary of lipstick and perfume-wearing.  The above pic is from the week ending 22/11/15.

Monday was Etat Libre d'Orange Like This, alongside Chantecaille Lip Chic in Wild Rose.  Like This is probably my favourite "gourmand" fragrance, being a blend of pumpkin, mandarin, ginger and immortelle.  It should smell like a pumpkin pie - which it does, to an extent - but it also smells warm, sophisticated and slightly tweedy from the prickle of ginger.  Perfect for autumn, and just plain delicious at any time.  

Tuesday was continuing the gourmand theme with Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille, alongside Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Rose.  Both are easy and simple to wear, without being too challenging.  Ambre Vanille is sweet and warm, and Rose is a beautiful neutral, which will work on many colourings.

Wednesday brought Hermes Eau d'Orange Vert which is one of my favourite citrus fragrances of all time - I go a little insane for mint in fragrances, and this combination of bitter orange, sweet orange, and just a hint of peppermint oil makes me a little weak at the knees.  I only wish it lasted longer.  I wore it with the rosy mauve of Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in RD529, which is quite an opaque liquid lipstick.

Thursday I wanted to wear a classic, so I did.  Guerlain L'Heure Bleue, a beautiful dance of orange blossom and iris, coupled with vanilla and a little spicy carnation, I adore this fragrance.  It feels blue all the way through, so I wore a blue-toned lipstick too, which was Illamasqua Magnetism.  I got several compliments on the fragrance, as I always do when I wear it, and resolved to wear it more often.  Which I will when this project is over.

I fully intended to wear Tuberose Criminelle by Serge Lutens on Friday, but I was too ill to cope with the rubbery camphoraceousness (TOTALLY a word - if possibly not the spelling).  I spent the day feeling sorry for myself in pyjamas instead.

Saturday I was attempting to  make myself feel better, so a hot shower and a thorough dowsing in DKNY Drop of Rose, which I love for its soft and rosy approximation of baby powder, and a slight resemblance to Ombre Rose by Jean Jacques Brosseau.  It is pure comfort in a bottle, and I love it.  I paired it with Becca lipgloss in Palm Breeze, a bubblegum pink that wasn't too challenging.

 Part two tomorrow ...

 //
The Fine Print: PR Samples, purchases, random stuff from the back of the perfume cabinet ...



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Spob O’Brian on Make-up Through the Ages

By Tindara
 Those of you who went to any of the Selfridges Beauty Project events will be sorry to hear that it’s now all over. The Get Lippie team had a great time and we decided to finish off our Beauty Project experience with a fascinating talk by Spob O’ Brian, Head Of Professional Development at Illamasqua, on Make-up Through the Ages. Spob is thoroughly engaging and very knowledgeable about the history of make-up. She went from the Egyptians covering themselves in ochre and clay, to World War II propaganda featuring red-lipped rosy-cheeked land girls. Like a lot of self-respecting beauty geeks I’m fascinated with this subject, and wanted to share some of the most interesting info that Spob imparted.

A lot of historical lotions and potions are remarkably similar in purpose to those we currently use. The earliest evidence of cosmetics were in ancient Egypt where handmaidens were only allowed to eat certain herbs and fruits as their saliva would be used in the mixing processes. Tomb paintings show Egyptian men and women sporting different coloured skin coverings made of clay, ochre, spit and oil, which protected them from the sun as well as making them look good; a mixture of the foundation and sunscreen that we use today. I hope Cleopatra washed it all off before the asses milk bathing. I’m now imagining her sitting in a bath of something resembling my cup of Twinings Everyday. Her skin must’ve been lovely and soft from all the clay and oils; it’s not so different from the kind of treatment you’d have at a spa, and it sounds like something that men would have taken part in too.

Egyptians also lined their eyes and brows heavily in black, with what we now know as kohl. And I bet you didn’t realise that in Ancient Egypt and Greece the mono-brow was highly prized. Why do we spend all this time plucking, and threading, eh? Or that there was a language of beauty spots in the 18th century when people used small pieces or fur or fabric to cover their smallpox scars. The placement would denote whether you were feeling coquettish or flirty. This could be fun. I dare you to use La passionnée pictured above for work tomorrow.

Of course, not all of it was so fun, the use of lead make-up from Ancient Rome to Elizabethan England led to lead poisoning and disease, but it was years later in 1873 when the production of theatrical greasepaint would lead to the first lead free make-up being made for the general public. Greasepaint was much harder work than current formulations and needed to be melted over candles in spoons before it could be used.

Spob pointed to women getting the vote in 1918 and the beginnings of cinema as the start of a period of greater self-expression and experimentation for women, as well as the beginning of the industry as we recognise it today. Further development came about as a result of WWII due to the market for camouflage after injury, and nail polish came about as a result of the car industry. Yes that’s right, the Opi and Essie stuff you paint your nails with was conceived as a result of spray paint for cars.
It’s a fascinating history and there’s a distinct correlation between Egyptian handmaidens and the red carpet make-up artists for A-listers today. I really want Spob to write a book about all this, when looking for information on this kind of historical detail, there really isn’t much out there. If she does a talk or event in the future I would urge you to go. You’ll love it. I’m off to paint beauty spots all over my face and mix my own mud packs.

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Giving Good Face: Illamasqua Blush-Up Brush

By Laurin

Let me get something out of the way: I had a not-insignificant identity crisis while preparing this piece. Throughout the months I’ve been contributing to this blog, I’ve mostly been able to use single-feature pictures (lips, lashes, arms, etc.) or better yet, pictures of David Bowie in one of his many incarnations. I’ve not yet written many pieces that require a full shot of my face. But this week, I wanted to write about the Illamasqua Blush Up Brush, and it seemed like cheating to just show the brush, or my cheek with blush applied. After all, the point of blusher is to either add colour to the face, or enhance its structure. I decided to show my full face.

From a young age, I was always told I was pretty, and it stuck. I’m generally okay with what I see in the mirror when I’ve made a bit of effort, but believe me when I tell you that what I’m seeing on the screen of my iPad is NOT what I’m seeing in the mirror. I can’t explain it. My greatest hope is that technology is indeed evolving at light speeds faster than the human eye, and my camera is simply picking up lumps and bumps that my naked eye cannot. In which case, I shall simply hire a sympathetic portrait painter for all my future selfies, tip well and think no more of it. But my worst fear is that the ageing process has accelerated since reaching my mid-thirties, leaving me with sagging cheeks and major dehydration lines under my eyes. Deciding how best to deal with this is a decidedly trickier process, so while I crack on with googling “jowl sorcery”, get a load of this:

The Blush Up Brush is from Illamasqua, my new favourite make-up brand. I spotted this in Nicci Jackson’s personal brush roll when I was at Muse last week. My faith in the transformative power of good make-up tools is childlike, and judging by the way my entire class dutifully scribbled the names of the brushes used during morning demonstrations, I am not the only one. 

The brush came out last year as part of the I’mperfection Collection, but as far as I can tell, it was somewhat overshadowed by the buzz around the duck egg speckled nail varnishes released at the same time. It’s understandable, but also a damned shame because properly applied blusher will do far more for your overall look than spangly nails ever will (although you should obviously have both).

The idea behind the Blush Up Brush is that the short, densely-packed elliptical bristles place the blusher directly under the cheekbone, which you then brush upwards in short, sharp strokes to diffuse the colour onto the cheeks. This has the effect of contouring at the same time, as the colour you’ve placed directly beneath the bone will naturally be darker than the wash of colour above.

Above is a picture of me, minus blusher. To use the brush, load up the brush with your chosen colour and gently tap away the excess. Next, suck in your cheeks and place the brush directly in the hollow beneath the bone. Flick upwards and repeat, working from the centre of your face, all the way to the ear. Soften the strokes wherever you want a gentler diffusion of colour. There is an excellent video on the Illamasqua website that demonstrates the technique.

http://www.illamasqua.com/explore/tutorials/blush-up-brush/

Above, I’ve used the brush with NARS Orgasm blusher and a touch of NARS Copacabana Highlighter at the top of my cheekbones. The brush produces a very defined look, and as such, I think it works better with a stronger colour. I’ve tried it out with NARS Deep Throat (a soft peach) as well, and found it much harder to see the colour wash on my cheek, making it look like I’d tried to apply bronzer with a bad case of the DTs. The other thing I noticed is that because I am right-handed, I found it more difficult to get the left-hand side of my face to look right. I eventually realised that for some reason, I wasn’t placing the brush high enough on my face. I found it helped to do my dominant side first, then try to match it on the other side.

 The Blush Up Brush is an excellent investment if you’re just getting into contouring, as it not only allows you to try it with a single product, but it also helps you to learn the bone structure of your own face and proper placement of shade and colour for when you do want to go advanced.

Get your hands on one and have a play. The possibilities are endless. In the meantime, I’ll be starting a formal campaign to bring hats with veils back into fashion, as per my new role model, Anna Karenina. What could go wrong?

The Illamasqua Blush-Up Brush is £28.50 at www.debenhams.com

The Fine Print: Bought it myself, innit.

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Illamasqua Glamore Collection - Lips and Tips

By Laurin

I don't remember it myself, but my birth certificate tells me I entered this world in 1978. That makes me, Laurin Emily Taylor, 35 ½.  My mental age on the other hand clocks in somewhere around 80. I like early nights and stern disapproval and I'm counting the days until my physical age (and bank balance) allows me to genuinely rock a Chanel suit. I plan to wear it on hot summer days with red lips and a sneer as I sit on my front porch shaking my well-manicured fist at the neighbourhood urchins and screaming, "GET OFF MY LAWN!" until my manservant Raoul rushes out of the house to place a cool cloth on my fevered brow and lead me gently indoors for my afternoon repose (I've thought this through - it's essential to have a retirement plan, ladies).

Back here on planet Earth in the year 2014, my 9-5 often demands my presence in a kitchen, where the rigours of the job take mercy on no woman's nails. I love the polished look of nail varnish and lipstick, but it all seems like such a faff when you know your manicure will only look great for 24 hours, tops. My one attempt at gel ended with most of my nail bed sitting in a pile on my carpet after I gave in to the urge to pick at a chip. What I long for is a forgiving nail varnish that goes on easily, dries quickly and doesn't take require a professional to remove.

Enter the Illamasqua Glamore Collection, three brand new shades of ultra-dense, highly textured glitter nail varnishes and complimentary shades of satin-finish lipstick. I spent the week road testing two of the varnish shades: Fire Rose, a disco-flamingo shade of pink, and Trilliant, a champagne gold with the slightest tint of rose. There is also a juicy tangerine, Marquise, which I suspect would be brilliant for poolside lounging this summer.

If you're a bit cack-handed AND impatient, these are brilliant. The glitter particles are rough and chunky enough that they easily disguise a less-than-perfect application technique, and they are so dense that one coat does the trick. Even better, they are completely dry after 15 minutes, so you can get on with zesting lemons for your martini or sticking pins into voodoo dolls or whatever it is you like to do on Tuesday nights (don’t try picking a piece of Parma ham out of your back tooth with your index finger, though - this is may cause damage to your new manicure. Or so I hear).

Last week was a bit hectic, so I ended up putting my Fire Rose manicure through the paces at work: dish washing, gaffer tape picking, typing, parcel wrestling, vegetable chopping and every other not-so-glamorous job that gets thrown my way in the office. There are no miracles to report, I'm afraid. By the end of day three, the tips of my nails were starting to show some wear and tear, though there was no serious chipping. Time to start again: unlike other glitter polishes I've tried, Glamore comes off relatively easily. I was advised to wrap my nails in acetone soaked cotton wool and a layer of tin foil for 15 minutes before removing, but I found it wasn't necessary. It came off with Cutex and a bit of elbow grease, leaving my nails ready for Trilliant:

Of course my future self would never leave the house without a slick of bold lipstick, and the Glamore collection has that covered as well. The three shades of satin finish lipstick are designed to complement (but not match exactly) the nail varnishes. Satin finish is new territory for Illamasqua, who are known for their dramatic matte lipsticks. I've spent the week trialling Soaked, a bold orange and Luster, a shocking candy pink (there is also Glissade, a deep fuchsia). As you would expect, these are high-pigment, statement making colours, but they both feel soft and moisturising on my lips. My only quibble is with the packaging. It's perfectly serviceable, but for £16.50 a pop, I'd like something a bit more weighty and less plastic.

If you're already an Illamasqua fan, the Glamore collection will no doubt be right up your street. But if like me, you've always hung back around the Bobbi Brown counter with all the flattering neutrals, the nail varnishes are a great way to join the brights party without frightening the horses, and the finish of the glitter is rough and edgy enough that you needn't worry you'll look like a five year old who's just been let loose in Claire's Accessories. As for the lipsticks, the shock of bold colour in the middle of my face is going to take some getting used to. But I think I'm well on my way to being a lipstick lover. I have to be. My future self will accept no less.

The Illamasqua Glamore Collection launches in store on February 27th. Nail varnishes Fire Rose, Trilliant and Marquise are £15 each. Lipsticks Soaked, Luster and Glissade are £16.50 each.

The fine print: PR samples.

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Top Five Favourite Blushers

Since I had my colour-draping back in June, I've been looking to replace my not-quite-right golden coral blushes with something a little cooler and pinker. For a long time, I never wore blusher at all, fearing I'd look like a clown, or Aunt Sally or something, but I realise these days that my makeup simply isn't complete without blusher, and finding the right shade is deeply important.  I've been building up this tiny blusher wardrobe for the last few months, and here are my current favourites:

Clockwise from bottom left, we have:

Cargo - Bali
Art Deco - Blush Couture
Illamasqua Velvet Blusher - Peaked
Smashbox Halo Longwear Blush - In Bloom
Laura Geller Blush'n'Brighten - Ethereal Rose/Sateen Subtle Berry

All are pinks or plums of varying intensities, except Smashbox In Bloom, which is a rather pinked coral, which is probably the brightest shade here.  Swatches:

 
 Swatched in the same order, you can see Cargo Bali has a slight hint of blue microshimmer, giving the pinkish coral a cooler overtone.  Art Deco Blush Couture is a lovely soft plum with a smooth satin finish.  Illamasqua Peaked (in the centre) is a very cool raspberry purple, which is a glorious shade, but I find it rather hard to apply naturalistically, it definitely needs a duo-fibre brush and an extremely light hand.  Smashbox In Bloom is a pretty pink-coral that is great with an extremely natural look for lightening and brightening my face.  I love it.  And then there is the Laura Geller Ethereal Rose, which is the one I've had the most use out of recently. It's probably the most subtle of the five here, but it still gives a great subtle glow, and a fabulous highlight effect.

Here's how they photograph with a flash:
 

As you can see, only Peaked and In Bloom have a matte finish.

What's your favourite blusher at the moment? 

The Fine Print: Mixture of PR Samples and purchases.

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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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Illamasqua Shard vs Lancome Rose Sulfureuse

 
The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that I've featured two very similar lipstick shades this week, Illamasqua Shard and Lancome's Rose Sulfureuse, both shades of plum, they're both deep and pigmented and cool, I like them both very much.  Typical though, you go and buy a lovely plum lipstick, then attend the launch of yet another beautiful plum lipstick literally minutes later - lipsticks are like buses, sometimes ...

Anyhoo, I thought it might be good to compare the two:

Illamasqua Shard is 4.2g for £16.50, and Lancome Rose Sulfureuse is 4.0g for £21.50.  

In the bullet, Shard appears bluer, and deeper, whereas Rose Sulfureuse appears pinker, both look matte in the bullet, which is surprising.

On swatching, the differences are more pronounced.  Shard is definitely far deeper and cooler, whilst Rose Sulfureuse is pinker, sheerer and far, far, far more glossy.

I applied a sheerer layer of Shard to my lips, than I did Rose, and the differences aren't quite as marked as a result, Shard is redder (but still cool) and rose is cooler, and still pinker.  Shard will last a LOT longer than Rose, however, but Rose will be far kinder to your lips ...

Fancy one?

The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and purchases.

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Illamasqua Reflection Palette and Shard Lipstick

I don't often post about Illamasqua, whilst I love them and a couple of their products are in my daily staples (liquid liner in Abyss, I'm talking about you), sometimes I find them just a little too edgy, not to mention precise for me.  That said, I love the fact that they take risks, and that they feature shades difficult to find elsewhere.  The Sacred Hour collection, however, is designed for the risk-averse, which is far more down my alley.

My picks from the collection (which also encompasses a set of eyelashes, two blushes, two nail polishes, and a new variant of the Skin Base foundation designed purely for the undereye, plus a set of gems) are the Reflection palette and the lipstick in Shard.
 

Reflection is a selection of almost neutral shades, and Shard is a beautiful plum matte lipstain.  Let's take a closer look:

Natural Light

 

With Flash

The eyeshadows have an innovative powder to cream formulation, almost a gel, which makes them bouncy in the pan, and almost entirely gets rid of fallout, which, particularly with the darker shades is a blessing!

Clockwise from top left, the shades are: Precipice (icy pale yellow), Acute (silvered plum-mauve), Graphica (sparkling charcoal), and Dart (medium bronze).  The shadows are perfect for being applied with your fingers - I found that applying them with a natural-hair brush washed the shades out a bit.  Here they are, applied with a brush without primer:

The yellow doesn't show up so well on my skin as my skin is slightly yellow, but I love the mix of colours, and think it'd be easy to get a range of looks from this quad.  My favourites in particular are Acute (surprise!) and Graphica.  I find the shadows to be long-lasting even without a primer.

Here you can see them with the lipstick, which I adore. A long-lasting stain, this is a perfect cool purple (or, as illamasqua describe it, a red-violet).   It can be applied fully as a completely opaque lipcolour, or sheered out as a stain, as below:

Applied fully, you can get a proper "goth" look going on, which I rather like, but your mileage may vary.  I don't find it quite as drying as Illamasqua's other matte lipsticks (ironically), and the stain has excellent lasting properties.

What do you think of my picks of the Sacred Hour collection?

The Fine Print: PR Samples.

This post: Illamasqua Reflection Palette and Shard Lipstick originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Top Three: Illamasqua Lipsticks Box, Magnetism & Salacious

I love a bit of lipstick.  Some of you might have noticed.  I also love a bit of Illamasqua, so I thought I'd show you my top three Illamasqua shades.

Step forward Box, Magnetism and Salacious:

Box is a classic blue red, Magnetism is a cool raspberry, and Salacious is a beautiful pink-red. Here's a closer look:

Whilst I adore these colours, I'm not always a fan of the Illamasqua lipstick textures, to be honest.  These three all have different textures, Box is a very dry texture that can drag on your lips somewhat, Salacious is extremely pigmented, much more so than the other two, but is a bit creamier than Box.  I think Magnetism has by far the best formula of the three, it has a good slip, and a slight sheen, and is a bit less drying on the lips as a result.  

Artificial Light

Natural daylight.

Texture, and formula, issues aside, I do genuinely love these shades.  Salacious was the first Illamasqua lipstick I ever bought and I love the colour, is it pink? Is it red?  Well, depending on what you wear with it, it can appear either colour, that's why I like it.  Box is a classic red that no makeup bag should be without (just make sure you use plenty of lip balm first), and Magnetism is a flattering raspberry shade, that suits almost every skintone.

What's your favourite Illamasqua lipstick?

This post:  http://getlippie.blogspot.com/2012/09/illamasqua-lipsticks-box-magnetism-salacious.html originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved. If you're not reading this on Get Lippie, then this feed has been stolen by scrapers.

My All Time Favourite Eyeliner of All Time (and a dud) - Illamasqua

I love me some eyeliner - and, as this is my third eyeliner post in a row this week, you might have noticed that by now - and I love, love, love liquid eyeliner.  My default, go-to makeup on days when I simply can't be bothered is a neutral eyeshadow, a slick of liquid liner and a bit of bright lipstick, simple, easy, classic, and takes about two minutes flat to do ...

Anyhoo, my liquid eyeliner of choice is the Illamasqua liquid liner in Abyss, a black, black, black liner, which dries to a patent-leather shiny finish, and depending how you use the brush can give you everything from the finest of lines right at the roots of the lashes to make them look thicker, up to a full-on Amy Winehouse winged look.  I've used mine almost non-stop for the last six months, and it's still not showing any signs of drying up or running out.  

 

You can see Abyss at the top left there, shining away.

However, below that is Glister.  It's a flesh coloured eyeliner, replete with purple sparkle which I picked up from the "Toxic Nature" collection recently, because it was so different, and so pretty.  It's got all the good points of Abyss, shiny, great brush, doesn't flake or fade, etc, but ... I haven't got a clue what to do with it, mainly because on my skin (this picture isn't my skin, btw, long story, but doesn't Mr Lippie make a great hand model?) it is completely invisible.  Okay, not entirely invisible, because my skin isn't replete with pretty purple sparkles, but you know what I mean.

So, I've used it about three times, and every time it's just been a bit meh.  Do you own Glister?  How do you use yours?

The Fine Print: I purchased both of these in the Dean St store.  I think I'd been hypnotised by the floor in there.

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