Summer perfumes: Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte vs Guerlain Herba Fresca

I mentioned in a recent perfume review that I go a little bit crazy for minty perfumes and colognes and the two I'm talking about this week are two of my all-time favourite summer scents.

First off, Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte, which is a unisex cologne.  I find this is quite citrussy on it's opening (that'll be the orange in the name, I expect, I'm clever that way), and it smells a little like you've gone a bit mad with your other halfs' aftershave for a few minutes - not that I mind that too much - in the mid point it smells a little like Imperial Leather, sort of soapy, clean and warm, a little musky but not too much, and then once it's dried down completely, you get a mossy sort of minty smell which I find totally intoxicating.  Sadly this one doesn't last all that long, the top notes last minutes at most and the middle disappears irritatingly fast, and you'll find that you will have to go hunting on your skin for the dry-down (it sticks very close to your skin), but it's worth it.  Also, I find that the irritating lightness is also part of it's charm, as it means you can reapply quite regularly, without worrying that the people around you are going to need a gas mask.

But, my all-time favourite summer-minty fragrance of all-time is Guerlain's Herba Fresca, which is part of their "Aqua Allegoria" range of scents inspired by nature.

It's decidedly green, and smells of fresh cut grass, hay and MINT on first spray, it's cooling and delicious, and very, very, very light.  I spray it everywhere (and I mean everywhere, arms, legs, chest, back) and then spend the day sniffing delightedly at myself.  It's clean and fresh and very different to anything else I own, which is probably why I like it so much.  Occasionally, if I want it to last longer, I will layer it over Korres Spearmint Shower Gel and Body Lotion, which are an excellent companion to this scent.  This is also the only perfume I own that MrLippie comments on spontaneously, saying how wonderful it smells.  Of course, he thinks it smells of orange, but hey, that's men for you, right?

What are your favourite summer fragrances, and what do you think of mint as a perfume ingredient?

Lipstick Queen - Jean Queen.

I'm a sucker. No, really, sometimes I am.  I'm always on the look out for great neutrals and when I spotted these in SpaceNK (gah!) I had to indulge.  Poppy King's latest addition to the Lipstick Queen line is a lipstick and a gloss designed to go perfectly with jeans.

Yes, jeans.  Now, I love my jeans, don't get me wrong, but one thought in all the years I've been wearing them that's never ever occurred to me is "Does my lipstick go with my denim?".  Maybe I'm a little odd, but I tend to match my makeup to my mood rather than my outfit (and yes, it doesn't always work, thank you) but I was intrigued so bought both anyway.

Poppy has this to say about them:

"After 20 years of designing lip colors, I have often been asked what is the perfect shade to wear with jeans.  Voila!
 Jean Queen lights up your jeans and your whole face at the same time.  This special shade offsets jeans perfectly for day or evening and suits all skin tones, ages, jean cuts and colours.
See your jeans go from drab to fab with one stroke of Jean Queen! JEANIUS!"

Seriously, who are these people begging to have their jeans "lit up" by their lipstick?

Still, here at Get Lippie, ours is not to reason why (much), and I'll just get on with showing you the goods.

There's a lipstick and a gloss, both in a shade of mauve-y pink.  I have to say that I HATE the packaging of the lipgloss, it's a squeeze-tube, and it's very, very, very easy to squeeze too much out. Because the plastic is quite stiff, you have to squeeze it quite hard, and I fear accidentally matching my eyes and hair to my jeans too.

I've swatched the lipstick on the left there and the gloss on the right.  The lipstick is actually a fair bit brighter than the gloss, and for that reason, it's a little less neutral once it's on your lips than the gloss is. The lipstick is Poppy's usual sheeny style, which I find sits "on" the lips a little rather than melds with them, but it's a very pretty shade, all the same.  I find that the gloss is better for smokey eyed looks, and the lipstick is better for a more neutral eye look.

Anyway, here's me looking goofy (complete with Croydon facelift hairdo) so you can see how it looks on my mush:

(eyes are Burberry Rosewod and Chanel Cassis Liner, Face is Guerlain Lingerie de Peau, and blush is ... er ... something).  So, do my jeans look good in this?  I am wearing them, I promise.

Overall, I like the shade of both of these, neutral without being too nude, and they'll suit a variety of makeup looks ... but light up your jeans?  I dunno.  What do you think?

Oh, and Poppy, a word about the packaging:

Is that really necessary?

Dior Autumn 2010 Eyeshadow Quint - Incognito

I haven't really decided what this week's theme is going to be, so prepare for a week of utter randomness!  Today I'm having a look at Dior's latest eyeshadow quint palette in Incognito, which was released very recently:

I'll be honest, I don't own a huge amount of Dior shadows (lip products, oh yes, tonnes of them!) but I loved the slightly cool neutrals in this palette, and the silvery taupe in the bottom right there really called out to me.

This is how they swatch:

The shades all swatch on the sheer side (swatched once with fingers, no base), and, to be honest, I find the matte shades (the two at the top) a little powdery and somewhat chalky.  But there's no doubting the pigmentation of the bottom two!

Another shot of the swatches from a slightly different angle to show the finishes:

I'll be honest, I was expecting wonderful things from this palette (I was in a bit of a rush when I bought it, and didn't have a chance to swatch in store), and I'm a little disappointed in how "meh" it appears on the skin like this.  I've read some real raves about Dior Quints in the past, and I was excited about picking this one up.  I'm hoping I'll fall more in love with it once I've used it properly on my eyes.

What do you think of Dior shadows?  Have you tried any?

Perfect Purple? Daniel Sandler Sheer Satin Eyeshadow 575

Specifically for OxfordJasmine, this one ...  I know a few people are on the lookout for the perfect "Cadbury" purple eyeshadow, and I think this one is definitely a contender!  Daniel Sandler himself picked this one out for me recently (more about that next week) after I confessed my love of purple eyeshadow to him.  I've long been after a proper "bright" purple that isn't too blue, or too "dusty", and this one has been love at first sight.

Purples are notoriously difficult to photograph, and I'm not entirely happy with how these shades appear here, but I shall do my best.

Don't be fooled by the adjective "sheer" in the name of this shadow, it's vibrant and well-pigmented, and very smooth to apply. Whilst not as buttery-smooth as, say, Rouge Bunny Rouge, it's plenty soft, and very blendable.

The top swatch there is blended over Urban Decay Primer Potion, and the bottom is over bare skin.  As you can see, putting this on over a primer brings out the hidden shimmer in this shadow, which makes it appear lighter on the skin.  The photo has washed out the shade of this shadow a little, it's very definitely purple, and not at all the lilac-y shade you're seeing here.

Daniel Sandler cosmetics are available online from LookFantastic (but a slightly limited range) and Your True Colours (which has a full range) and you can see the entire line in the flesh at Urban Retreat on the 5th floor at Harrods. The shadows cost £10.

The Fine Print: No PRs harmed in the making of this post.  Nor did any money change hands. 'twas a present.  Kinda.  Long story, look out for a longer post explaining soon.

D&G Fall Out with Selfridges

Sooooo ... I was amused (sorry, but I was) to read in the Telegraph yesterday that D&G have had a "giant falling out" with Selfridges over shoes, and from next spring will be pulling out of their stores entirely.

For us beauty lovers, this gives us a tiny predicament, as it means that the D&G makeup line (which is actually very good) will be only available from Harrods from that point.  Better hope the customer service picks up before then, eh?

What do you think, storm in a teacup, or were Selfridges right to ... er ... put their foot down?

Chanel Taupe Grise & Khaki Vert Applied

For all those complaining (ha ha!) that I've not done any FotDs for a while, here's two for the price of one:

I wanted to show you the difference between the two shades, apologies for the differences in lighting conditions!  On the left there is Taupe Grise, and on the right is Khaki Vert.  Both are applied over a Trish McEvoy eyeshadow base, and I've used Guerlain Lingerie De Peau foundation - review to follow next week!  Lipstick in both pics is Edward Bess Secret Desire, and the picture on the left is slightly more colour-accurate for that.

I hate both of these pictures, but on the plus side, I think I've figured out which is my best side.

Fine Print of the week (for those who were asking, who knew disclaimers could get fan mail?): I bought everything you've seen from Chanel this week. Unless you're MrLippie, in which case, it was a present from the makeup fairies*.
*Debenhams**
**No responsibility can be taken if Debenhams isn't actually staffed by fairies.***
***Mine isn't either, but the assistant did give me a badge.  Like the ones you used to get from the Dentist, but this one reads "I survived a visit to Westfield today". ****
****Gifts With Purchase really aren't what they used to be, are they?*****
*****I'm done now, please stop reading.

Chanel Autumn Collection - Eyeliners Cassis & Clair

You all Chanel-ed out yet?  Well, I'm not, but this is the last one for a couple of days, I promise! I had seriously promised myself that I'd only been going to get the eyeshadows I showed you yesterday, but when I swatched these, I had to have them too.  (I bought Paradoxal because, well, even I get swept along in the hype sometimes)

The waterproof liner in Cassis is a gorgeous dark purple shade, perfect for green eyes.  It's dark enough to appear black from a distance, but just gives you a tiny pop of purple along the lashes, I love it.  It's very smudgeproof, I had a swatch on my hand for about 8 hours on the day I bought this, and it did not move! It's an automatic propelling pencil (about a third shorter than the Khol, for some reason), but I love that it has a built-in sharpener at the end.

 Clair is a nude skin shade made specifically for use on the waterline, to make your eyes look brighter. It's a traditional khol pencil, that comes complete with a sharpener (as all Chanel pencils do).  It's not as soft as I would have expected, but this isn't, actually, a bad thing.  Some nude liners can be very soft, and this can lead to you applying a little too much which can make you look a little odd ...

It's not too white, which is nice.  Here's how it looks on the waterline:

Can you guess which eye is which?  Would you use a nude liner?