Delilah Pure Light Illuminating Powder in Aura

I've been waiting to get my hands on Delilah's Pure Light Illuminating Powder in Aura ever since India Knight raved about it in the Sunday Times late last year! It sounded like it was the perfect powder, illuminating, not glittery, and she used the phrase "you absolutely do not look shiny, just lit from within".  Well, who doesn't want to look lit from within at all times for just £36?  I couldn't resist.  After India's review, it was sold out for months, and I ended up waiting till April to be able to pick one up.  Was it worth the wait?

Er ... I'm not sure, really.

 
 First things first, it's beautifully packaged in a hefty rose gold and pewter compact, and the powder within looks divine, delicately marbled with golds, peaches and lilacs, and yes, it does look lit from within. It is seriously, inside and out, a stunning piece of makeup.

However.

It is warm-toned.  Seriously warm-toned, and I am not. Delilah claim that it adapts to all skintones, but I find that I simply cannot use this powder alone because it just looks like I've painted myself pale peach. Warm-toned gals, and darker-skinned ladies will love this, but it's just too much for me. Oh, and it's shiny.  Really, really, really, shiny.  I have oily skin, and applying this over the top is just Too Much Shine.  Like I'm wearing a face made of pleather.

For me, as a face powder, it's a total failure, I'm afraid. But, in its favour, it makes a beautiful highlighter, and if I apply it in conjunction with a more matte powder it's wearable.  I've also noticed that parts of powder in the pan have "glazed" over - become hard - and this makes it more difficult to get it on the brush.  I hate it when powder products glaze over, as it's normally a sign of a cheap formula. In this case, I think it's just that the powder contains a high level of waxes to bind the pigments together, rather than it being a "cheap" powder, as such,  but glazing so much after only a month of use is very disappointing indeed.

It's not a universal powder, not by a long chalk, and that's a shame for me as a pale blue person. It'll be much less of a shame for you if you're warm-toned and light a highly reflective finish. As a result, I don't think I'll hit pan on this one for a long, long, long, long time, it'll never replace my much-loved Hourglass Ambient Light in Diffused, I'm afraid.

 The Delilah Pure Light Illuminating Powder in Aura costs £36 and mine came from Fortnums.
 

 The Fine Print: Purchase.


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Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Banana Powder

 

I do love a yellow-toned face powder.  For years, my default face powder has been Hourglass Diffused, and, after hitting pan on my third one, I thought it was time to possibly try out a few different ones rather than just blindly buying the same powder again. Enter Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Banana Powder.

A finely milled, soft yellow powder, Rodial are promoting this off the back of the current contouring trend as a "matte highlighter" for the high points of your face, and therefore allegedly perfect for that massive "Instagram Face/part time pornstar" makeup craze we're seeing everywhere at the moment.  Me being over forty, I can't be arsed, frankly, with attempting to create cheekbones on my gigantic wheel-of-cheese face, nor can I be bothered attempting to look like a Kardashian when my only plans for the day are popping over to Budgens in my pyjamas for a croissant or seven (which might explain my giant melon-head, now I come to think of it).  Oh, and you can "bake" your foundation with it, for all your "waking up wanting to be a Drag Queen" days. We all have them, apparently.

Actually, all I want a powder to do is set my foundation, even out my oiliness, and stop me looking like a boiled lobster on those days where my redness is too much to handle.  This powder fulfills all those functions really well.  It's highly milled, soft on the brush, and spreads over the face beautifully without caking.  I like it very much. It definitely hides redness, and does it very well.  I love the hefty compact too, it's a statement piece in any makeup bag.  However, it is very, very matte, and, being of a certain age, a very matte powder can exacerbate fine lines and wrinkles, and I worry that it's not the most flattering of finishes if I apply with slightly too heavy a hand.  I use it in conjunction with a powder that has a more gleaming finish which I will tell you about tomorrow to counteract that.

Is it a replacement for my beloved Hourglass Diffused?  Well, no.  But its a good powder nonetheless and I'll use it on days when I want a matte finish that lasts.

Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Banana Powder costs £52 and is available instore now. 


The Fine Print: PR sample.


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Erborian 0.09 Touch au Ginseng Creamy Powder Compact

  
Sometimes I really shouldn't be allowed out, you know. I was at a launch with the founder of Erborian a couple of months ago, and I got so excited by this product that all I could say for about 20 minutes was "It's a jelly! But it's a powder! But it's a jelly!".  This is, I suspect, why I'm not going to be challenging any of the major beauty editors in the UK any time soon, I'm, like, sooooo eloquent and all that.

So, Erborian 0.09 Touch au Ginseng Cream Powder Compact, what is it?  Well, it's a powder.  but it's also a jelly (look, I don't get out much these days, and it may be affecting my vocabulary) and I find it makes a really nice base in its own right.  The 0.09 name comes about from the amount of water in the formulation, with only 0.09% aqua, this is basically a water-free product.  It's a hybrid powder that has an amazing bouncy texture, not in the slightest bit powdery, and I find that it smoothes out uneveness in tone beautifully.

What it's not, I have found, is a finishing powder. It's more of a base in its own right, though a sheer one.  It's rather a firm product and needs to be applied with a sponge, so over a foundation it's not the greatest finishing product as the sponge has a tendency to remove foundations, but over something like a lightly tinted CC cream (and it has to be said that Erborian make one of the best CC creams ever, especially now it comes in a new "light" version), or BB cream, it's rather wonderful. I use it on its own on good-skin days too.

Because it's a bouncy jelly texture it's perfect for carrying round in your handbag, because unlike powdery ... erm ... powders, it won't crack owing to being thrown around a bit. And it never looks powdery on the skin, and won't cake. It leaves a lovely velvety, glowing finish, and a little of it goes a very long way.  There's a good-size mirror in the lid too, for touch-ups on the go, though even on my oily skin, touch up requirements have been minimal, this has great lasting power.

It costs £27 from Erborian.com.


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Burberry Christmas 2015 - Military Red Lips and Nails

Nothing says Christmas like red and gold, and Burberry have gone out of their way this year to package up some of their cult products (and add a couple of new ones) in a festive manner.  This might be my favourite collection of theirs in quite some time.

Packaged in shiny golden livery, in a festive change from the traditional pewter, the mini-collection consists of Burberry Kisses glosses and lipsticks in either Festive Gold or Military Red,  Nail polishes in the same, an eye cream-shadow in Festive Gold, alongside a shimmering fragrance powder, and a fluid base in Nude 01.  I have the Military Red selections to show you with the fragranced powder today.

Military Red is a perfect bright scarlet, bringing to mind holly berries, and, of course the colour of Christmas itself!  I haven't tried the nail varnish yet, but it'll be the next thing on my nails for sure, it's such a beautiful colour (I've long been a fan of Military Red - I reviewed it first on here back in 2012!).  The golden fragranced powder has only a slight hint of the My Burberry that it is fragranced with, but it's a subtle golden glow for the decolletage and shoulder blades.  If you find a fluffy enough brush, you could possibly decorate your hair with it too.  

In-store (at Harrods) and online now, the pieces in this collection start at £15 for the nail varnish and rise to £45 for the fragranced powder.  See anything you like? 

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Guerlain Meteorites Flocons Enchantes Christmas 2015

The first sight of Guerlain's Christmas collection every year is the real sign that the festive season is on the way, and frankly, this year's Meteorites have excelled themselves.  They're beautiful, and so is the packaging.

Moving away from the traditional fluted tin, Guerlain are presenting this year's Meteorites in a beautiful snowglobe complete with golden accents. The last time they moved away from the tin was a cardboard box, so I'm glad they went all-out to create a beautiful package this time. Inside the globe they're also doing a couple of things they've never ever done before, and they've done them beautifully, but to see more, you'll need to click through below:

Guerlain Meteorites Compact - Medium

I'm a bit of a Meteorites completist, I admit.  So, when I was brutally mugged by this compact at the Guerlain counter at Vienna airport recently, I didn't mind too much.  I love Meteorites, and have almost every edition they've done in the last ten years.  It's very sad, as I rarely use them, because they're not very portable.  I do love the glow you get from the little pearly balls though, there's nothing quite like them.

The Meteorites compact is very prettily embossed, and, because it's plastic (boo!), it's actually quite light, which improves its portability.  I chose the shade medium as it contains a little more yellow, which is good for covering up my redness:

It still has the same incredibly finely milled texture, and slight pearlescent glow that you get with the beads, but they have been pressed flat in the compact, which contains apricot, lavender, white, pink and beige which are meant to correct redness, sallowness, and dullness on the skin.

Once swirled together, however, these shades blend together to form a translucent powder which is excellent for setting a slightly too-dewy foundation, without leaving your skin "flat" or chalky-looking.

So yeah ... couldn't resist. It's actually in stores now and will cost you £40.  It'll last you practically forever though.

The Fine Print: MOAR Duty Free!


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Ace of Base - RMK, Zelens Hourglass and Smashbox

Over on Instagram I'm always putting up pics of things that have recently arrived at Lippie Mansions, pictures of things I'm doing, and setting up pics of things that are upcoming for review.  My ugly mug isn't on there too often, so you're quite safe, and if you like pictures of random products and the occasional badly framed picture of something not quite in focus with an "arty" filter over the top, why not pop over and give me a follow?

Anyhoo, Hourglass aside, these are some new base products that I've been using recently, that I really like, and I thought I'd give you the lowdown whilst I'm mulling over some full reviews on them.

So from Left to Right:

RMK Makeup Base

I'm going to preface this by saying that I think 91.73% of foundation primers on the market are a bit useless.  In spite of the hype, I've never found one that helps pores disappear for a whole day, and I find that they do very little to extend the wear time of any foundation you wear over the top.  That said, I do like Japanese makeup bases very much indeed because they are brilliant (and I do mean brilliant) at evening your skintone, and hiding high-colouring.  If you have any tendency towards rosy-ness either in your cheek or nose area, then run, don't walk to either RMK or Paul & Joe (who also do a magnificent base) and plop a bit of this over your "glow-y" bits.  You can get the RMK for £28 from Selfridges - mine was a gift with purchase, so it's not full-size.

Looks a bit chalky when you apply, but it will cover your pinkness wonderfully. You never know, it might also fill your pores and make your foundation last longer, but don't count on it.

Zelens Age Control Foundation

There has been a lot of hype about this new makeup range recently, and, I'm sad to say, most of it is completely justified.  Sorry.  It is.  I'm a big fan of Zelens skincare, and I have to admit that Dr Marko Lens, the ebullient genius behind the brand is one of my favourite people (even though he does have an odd habit of removing bits of my face in his surgery every time I see him), what Dr Lens doesn't know about skin isn't really worth knowing.

I was super-excited that he was bringing his skin-care knowledge to cosmetics, and the first launches from the range haven't disappointed.  The foundation is wonderfully smoothing and long-lasting, and it does a great job of simply gliding over pores, wrinkles and other flaws without settling into them, and just makes your skin look like skin, it has a slight satin-matte finish which most people won't need to powder over, but I do - because of redness issues.

I do like a foundation that doesn't draw attention to itself, and Age Control is a lovely, lovely but pricey addition to my foundation wardrobe.  Will it knock Chantecaille off my top spot for invisible but (expensive and) amazing coverage?  Watch this space.

Hourglass Ambient Light Powder in Diffused

This is my second back-up.  I have literally never EVER hit pan on a face powder until the lightly-yellow-toned Diffused powder turned up in my life, and now I buy one whenever I can afford it simply because I just KNOW Hourglass are going to discontinue this at some point in time, and I shall be left with all the chalky, talc-y rubbish-y POWDERY powders in the world for a lifetime as a result.  I HATE YOU HOURGLASS. Damn you for making a product SO GOOD that I panic that you are going to take it away from me.  DAMN YOUR EYES.

[ahem] I really like this product.  You might too.

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water

Yeah, you know when I said I didn't like primers then had two in one article?  Because, I'm, like, well annoying?  Well, I still think primers are rubbish. But I like this one very much anyway, and for similar reasons for the RMK makeup base above (ie for a different reason for what you'd suspect).  You're supposed to spray this over your moisturiser and it is supposed to give you an amazing base for applying makeup over, and then it supposedly lasts and lasts and all that.  I used it that way, and didn't really notice any difference to my normal application to be honest, but then I tried using it as a setting spray.

I was blown away, because it's a brilliant setting spray (something else I've been underwhelmed with in the past, I'll admit). It sort of laminates your makeup in place, without making it look like you've had your face laminated.  Neat trick when you come to think of it.

Now, I like to think I'm actually pretty good at makeup and that, but the first time I tried layering these four products in the order shown, I got compliments on my skin, and how healthy I was looking all day. Which, considering my makeup was actually just a bit of black eyeliner smudged into my lashes and some coloured lip balm, was going some.  I'm an accountant, and usually look like a gnome after a day crunching numbers, so this is either genuinely some kind of miraculous combination of (expensive - sorry!) products, or I've been ageing backwards over the Christmas holidays ...

What are your acest base products?


The Fine Print: Mixture of random PR samples purchases and re-re-purchases.

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Guerlain Christmas 2014 - Mereorites Perles D'Etoile

Christmas isn't Christmas (yes, I do know it's October, bear with me) without Guerlain's limited edition Meteorites.  After what was - for me - the relative disappointment with the design of 2013's Crazy Paris collection, this year's Coque d'Or collection is a return back to the beautiful design that I associate with Guerlain's Christmas collection.

The entire collection is themed around gold and red, and the Meteorites follow that right through from the gorgeous scalloped design around the tin, to the pretty red bow on the lid, this is a cute and pretty edition.

The bow is reflected again on the inside, on the red puff, which is an adorable touch.  The pearls are a bit different this year, however:

I can only see two colours instead of the usual five, and they're quite a bit warmer than the pearls in the last couple of editions, being heavily skewed towards the gold side:

There is, however, a surprising cranberry pink pearl in the tin this year:

I can see lilac, cranberry pink, bronze and white gold.  The perles are the regular size this year, but they are incredibly pigmented in comparison to previous years:

If you're worrying that this will make them unwearable, don't worry, the cranberry pink beads are few and far between, and the lilac and white gold/champagne shades are more in evidence in the tin than any other colour.  The coppery-bronze pearls add just a little shimmer to stop the powder from looking too flat or matte on the skin.

All in all this years perles are a winner for me, how about you?

Guerlain Meterorites Perles d'Etoile are available in-store right now at £37.50.

The Fine Print: Products shown this week are a mixture of purchases and PR samples.

This post: Guerlain Christmas 2014 - Mereorites Perles D'Etoile 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