Nude Eyeliners

 Up until a couple of months ago, I didn't own a single "nude" eyeliner.  Having been tortured throughout the '80s by white eyeliner that was supposed to make you look more "awake" (but in reality just kind of made people look like they had been attacking their eyes with Tipp-Ex), I didn't really think there was anything you could realisitically use these pencils for.  I'd been reading a lot of love on blogs for Stila's Topaz, and when it came up on ModestyBrown's blog sale I bought it.

And now I own seven. <sigh> I'm not sure if it's a problem or not, to be honest.  I now have Une's Skin Glow, GOSH Go Bananas, Stila Topaz, Chanel Clair, Mally's double ended pencil, Laura Geller's I-Care pencil in Bone, and Guerlain's Secret Glow.

Did someone mention swatches?  Here you go:

Thoughts on each:

Une Skin Glow: This is actually meant to be a concealer, but I find it works marvellously well on the waterline, it's light and creamy, and lasts pretty well.  As it's meant to work on your skin to cover up blemishes, it works remarkably well on the waterline to disguise any redness.  A winner.

GOSH Go Bananas: This is actually a shimmering yellow.  Not actually that great as a nude liner, it's a little too yellow for that.  That said, this lasts astonishingly well, and won't actually disappear until you use a remover to take it off.  Great for highlighting around the tearduct rather than using on the waterline, if you ask me.

Stila Topaz:  Although this was the one that started off my collection, I have to say that it's very much not my favourite.  In fact, it's probably the worst liner on this list.  Why?  Well, it's very soft and creamy.  FAR too soft and creamy, in fact.  It's exceptionally easy to overapply (making it look like, well, ta bit like: Your eyes are leaking!! Leaking onto your face!!!  which isn't a great look outside of Halloween), and it can get onto your eyelashes a bit which just looks wrong, really.  Also, it's a little on the peach side, which means it's not a great match for most people's skin tone.

Chanel Clair:  Probably the hardest pencil on this list, it's very subtle, and all the better for it.  The firmness means you don't get the "ooziness" of the Stila, and the colour is very good too.

Mally: The second palest on this list, this gives a very similar effect to a while pencil.  If you're very, very pale, this might be a great choice for you.  It's a double ended pencil though, so means you don't get very much in there.  I'll be talking about the other half of this pencil next week ...

Laura Geller: Another hard pencil, this time in a shimmering ivory shade.  Possibly the prettiest pencil in the collection (and has a great built-in sharpener), alas, I can't get this one to show up on my waterline at all.  Such a shame!

Guerlain Secret Glow: A shimmering vanilla shade, this is glorious (and works well as a browbone highlighter too), being a powder, it's easy to overapply, and make yourself look a little odd, but I do love this one quite unreasonably.

Overall, the ones I'd buy again (and I did buy most of these myself) would be the Chanel and the Une.  What do you think?

Organic Weekend - Une Natural Beauty from Bourjois

I do love me a bit of Bourjois, long one of my favourite High Street brands, I was delighted to find out recently that they were launching a new range of affordable organic cosmetics!  Already available in a few Boots stores around the country (London readers, you can find your nearest stand in the Oxford Street branch), it's making it's official debut on the Boots website this week.  Every single product in this line is between 98 to 100%, there are no synthetic dyes or fragrances, and the range is sillicone, paraben, pthalate and petrochemical free, and the ingredients used are sourced as organically as possible.  Pretty impressive for a mass brand, and the prices start at a not too pocket busting £4.99 for pencils, through £8.99 for shadows, up to £11.99 for the foundations.

 I managed to get my hands on a few bits and pieces, so I could give you my impressions:

First of all the packaging, it's clean, it's functional, and it's also pretty stylish, I love the square pencils, and the mirrored tops to the blush and eye packaging, but it's bulky.  They're not really items that are suitable for carrying around with you - but that mirror (you peel the labels off) is a totally nifty idea, and I love it.

A closer look at the items and their formulations:

As you can see, the mirrored sections slide up  on the colour cosmetics to reveal the contents.  A lot of the range is based around creams, from left to right we have: Breezy Cheeks blusher, a cream formulation, which goes on smoothly with fingers or a synthetic brush, and leaves a pretty, stained looking glow.

A matte finish without shimmer, these are lovely, almost foolproof shades which are buildable to the intensity you desire.  Longevity isn't bad, but you will probably need to reapply towards late afternoon time to keep looking flushed and lovely!

There are three formulations of eyeshadow, Sfumato (powder), Glimmer (cream), and Nude Eyes (cream to powder), as seen below in the same order as above:

All of these shadows tend to swatch on the sheer side.  They're great for layering (I like to use the nude eyes cream on the bottom as a base, then use the powder sfumato for definition around the crease and as a liner, then dot a little of the glimmer over the whole thing for a little sparkle), and as I found out the other day, they last pretty well under stressful situations such as crying, and eye-rubbing.  The range of shades tends towards the neutral/sludgy spectrum (which, for me, is a plus!) and they're good for creating natural, polished looks.  I'll definitely be picking more of these up.  Oh, but throw away the dinky brushes, they're worse than useless, if you ask me.  These are ideal for applying with fingers for a quick application, they sheer, so they're pretty difficult to go wrong with.

Pencils: mixed feelings about the pencils, to be honest.  Above is shown one eyeliner (the Sfumato, top) and a "Skin Glow" pencil.  The Sfumato eyeliner I find to be slightly on the hard and crumbly side, gorgeous shades, but I'm not sure they're great for the delicate eye area, as they appear to drag slightly on my skin.  The Skin Glow pencil, I love, even while I freely admit that I'm not - entirely - sure what it's supposed to be.  It's a creamy flesh-toned pencil, which I've used both as an eyeliner (on the water line) and as a concealer for small areas, plus I've used it to highlight my cupids bow, and add a little light to the inner corners of my eyes.  It worked well on all of those tasks - surprisingly versatile! - but ... I'm not sure what it's "official" function is meant to be, so if you know, do tell!   Here's how they swatch:

The lipsticks are probably the standouts of the range though.  A selection of lip-toned (not nudes, please note the difference!) shades, they're creamy and moisturising, and they add a polished finished look to your makeup whilst flattering your skin tones:

Again, they swatch on the sheer side, but, as with the shadows, this is deliberate in order to let your natural colouring through:

I love these, and I think I'll definitely be picking up a couple more when I get a chance, they're delightful!

I was also sent a foundation, but owing to circumstances beyond my control, I've not had a chance to wear it properly yet so I can't give it a proper review!  Long story ...

In essence, this is a good solid collection from Bourjois, some hits, some misses, the colour-range won't appeal to everyone, admittedly, but the textures are generally excellent, they're wonderfully easy to apply, and it's and range ideal for someone who wants to avoid particular ingredients whilst not spending a fortune. Personally, I think it's a great range for neutral, polished looks, and, I'm a fan, what do you think?