Review - L'Occitane Fleur Cherie Make Up

On Friday, I said I was giving away a set of L'Occitane goodies, so now is the time for me to tell you a little more about them.

I'm actually giving you this set:

Which contains a lipgloss locket, full size eau de toilette and soap, plus brightening face-powder pearls.  It's a cute little set, which I've enjoyed using a great deal recently - I adore the smell of neroli (Fleur Cherie is scented with orange blossom), and the scent of the products (except the lipgloss, which is unscented) is light, refreshing and just lovely.

The powder pearls are very pretty:

Lightly scented with orange blossom, the peach and apricot pearls give a light glow to the skin - they're not dark enough to be a fake-tan product, although they will give a lovely golden-sheen on darker skin.  I use these in place of blusher.

The lipglosses that you get in the fob, are essentially clear, with a hint of sparkle, as you'll see in the FOTD later.

But this is not the whole of the range, like the peony range of cosmetics L'Occitane brought out last year, there's a few more colour cosmetics available, and I've been trying those too.  I was sent an eyeshadow duo, an eyeliner and a lipstick to try, and here they are:

This is lipstick in Rose Sequin, eyeshadow in Bleu Damasse, and eyeliner in Noir Velours.  I've actually found myself impressed with them (with some caveats, as you'll discover), the shadow is smooth and velvety, with excellent pigmentation, and very good lasting power, I found that without a primer, the shadow stayed in place for around 10-12 hours, needing only a light smush with my fingers to get rid of the (minimal) creasing. The liner is very black, and very smudgy, however, it's lasting power isn't quite as good as the shadows, and I found it had run a bit after about six hours. The lipstick is a lovely, lovely shade, but it's very sheer, so won't be for everyone, also, I've found that the cardboard packaging, whilst adorable, isn't the most robust packaging in the world.  It's nice and moisturising on though, so while it doesn't last, it's actually nice to reapply quite regularly.

Here's the face of the day I created with the shadows, liner, face powder and the lipglosses from the fob:

Foundation is Estee Lauder Double Wear Light in shade 2.

The Fine Print: samples were provided for review.  You didn't think I'd do a giveaway of untried products, did you?

Giveaway Time!

Oh, this latest Fleur Cherie collection from L'Occitane is so pretty! The full range is released on Monday, but I have a gift set to give away to one of my lucky readers. Containing a full size Fleur Cherie eau de toilette, a bath soap, a set of brightening face powder pearls and the almost too pretty to use lipgloss you can see above.

The Fleur Cherie range is based around orange blossom and all the items in the gift set are beautifully packaged and scented. This is a lovely present either for yourself or for hoarding for a Christmas gift for someone else. There's a whole range of makeup too, which I'll show you more of next week, I think you'll like it, I certainly do!

The rules:

1) be a follower of this blog via google friends connect (on the right there)
2) leave a comment on this blog post telling me your favourite scent, and why
3) be UK resident, and please leave an email address I can contact you on in your comment
4) that's it!

The prize will be despatched direct from L'Occitane's representatives upon receipt of a valid postal address.

Prize will be drawn on Friday 5th November - invalid entries will be disqualified. Good luck!

NOTD: NARS Mash

I was obsessed with this shade from the first moment I saw it, a glorious golden-khaki, it's slightly different (metallic greens are my current nail varnish obsession) and I had to have it:





I love it. The above pic shows two coats over a sticky basecoat and topped with Seche Vite. First coat goes on quite sheer, but the second finishes it off nicely.

It's oddly work-appropriate, and very pretty, it flashes bronze and copper sparkle when you move your fingers around.

However this is a *chiptacular* polish! I've worn it several times now, and each time I've had to remove it within 48 hours (once within 12!) thanks to chipping. Still wear it though because I love the colour so much, but I'm not entirely sure I'll be buying any more polishes from NARS in the future, to be honest.

MASH is part of the NARS vintage collection which is available from Selfridges and SpaceNK, cost £13.50.

A question

If you went for a keratin treament and got these results, what would you think?

After blowdry (1st wash, 3 days after treatment):

Close up:

And, after airdrying (2nd wash, four days after treatment):

Close up:

Excuse the dodgy lighting - and my best "Prisoner Cell Block H" expression, but I wondered what you guys thought of my hair (not my face, please)?  More details about the process in a later post.

I've had a similar treatment before, see those results here.

Tom Ford Lipstick - Pure Pink

£35. For a lipstick. Even I, who will quite happily shell out a whopping £25 a throw for a new Guerlain Rouge G (review of a new one of those coming up soon, btw) every now and again, am thinking that £35 is just a little OTT. For a lipstick.

But, this isn't just any lipstick. This is a Tom Ford lipstick, and for all I know is made from precious dyes hand-extracted by virgins at the fullest of full moons, rare waxes to be found only in the magical village of Brigadoon, and then pressed into the moulds by the great man himself. They're not of course (they're made by Lauder Group), but they are pretty damn fine all the same. Soft to apply, richly pigmented and moisturising on the lips, they are a treat.






An expensive treat, admittedly. I'm amusing myself by figuring out, every time I wear it, the cost per wear, which is currently £2.92 at the time of writing (or £2.916 recurring if you want to be precise). Look, we accountants have to amuse ourselves somehow!

The main draw for me is the colour of this one, a cool, BRIGHT pink, this is a happy shade. A confident shade, and one I love wearing.






It's not glossy, but lips are saturated with colour that lasts (and lasts), but it will coat cups glasses and pens in pigment too, every time you eat or drink.

Overall: Do I think these are overpriced? Hell yes. Am I thinking of buying another? Dammit, I am. More than one, in fact, despite having been underwhelmed when I saw the line initially. I think the secret ingredient in these is crack.

Tom Ford: evil genius. Pass it on.

Bogies!

Yes, I am a child, but I can't deny that a large part of the charm of this shade (for me) is it's name. Which is actually Bogie, not bogies, but I never let truth get in in the way of a stupid joke. Did I tell you that I once bought a blusher purely because the shade was called "Wind"? Anyway, I digress ...

Hailing from the recent China Glaze Vintage Vixens collection (and actually named after Humphrey Bogart) Bogie is a glorious metallic aubergine, with a hint of silver in the mix. It's garnered a lot of compliments this week, and I love it.



Application was fabulous, this applied perfectly in two coats, and, even now, four days after it was first applied, is still going strong, with no chips and only minor tipwear.




I just wish China Glaze were easier to pick up in this country, I got my bottle (alongside most of the rest of the utterly beautiful Vintage Vixens collection) at the Professional Beauty Show at Olympia recently.

Candle Wall ...

I love candles, now I've moved to Maison Lippie, I have an entire display unit devoted to my favourites, they make the room smell wonderful, even when they're not burning:

Top Row: (L-R) Orla Kiely White Tea (£12.50 from Heals) - this one doesn't really smell of anything when it's burning, which is a shame, as it smells wonderful in the holder. Jonathan Ward Lost in El Salvador -  (£20 from Wholefoods) this is one of my very favourites - you might be able to tell it had just finished burning in the pic - gloriously scented, once burning, this will scent the whole flat very quickly, I'll be heartbroken once it's finished! Malin & Goetz Vetivert (£34 from Liberty) - love the straw and hay scents to this one, I'm hoarding it a little for deeper into winter when I want to be reminded of summer days!

Middle Row: Kenneth Turner Blue Tangerine (£22 from KennethTurner.com) this is a scent I have in almost every format it exists in, shower gel, hand cream, body lotion, candle, room spray, everything.  About the only format I don't own this in is a reed diffuser, but I'm hoping to remedy that soon, I think it's one of the sexiest scents on the planet, and I love this candle a great deal, it's about the third one of this scent I've owned, and I have a couple of back ups.  I just wish it was a perfume.  Orangey and minty, it's delicious. This doesn't smell as strong when it's burning, but I love it anyway. Man's Candle Lemongrass and Thyme (£12 from Wholefoods) smells wonderful in the box, smells of literally nothing whilst burning, and the scent has disappeared since I opened it too.  Definitely one I wish I hadn't wasted my money on.  The White Company Cassis - (£18 - The White Company) smells gloriously green and leafy, love it in the jar, but again, one that doesn't smell so much when it's burning.  A shame, blackcurrant leaves are a great scent! Jonathan Ward Lulu in Provence - (£30 from Wholefoods) Summer in a jar, sweet fruits with a hint of almond and some gorgeous sandalwood, again, it scents the room wonderfully whether lit or not.

Bottom Row: Jonathan Ward Nightingales Jasmine (£30 - Wholefoods) - wonderfully sexy scent for the bedroom, a spicy jasmine.  It's the first JW candle I got my hands on, and it's a glorious introduction to the range.  Neom Complete Bliss (£35 from neomorganics.com) - roses, roses, roses.  I love to burn this one alongside a bath with my beloved Ren Rose Otto bath oil.  It's sweet, and as the name suggests, rather blissful.  If you like roses, you'll love this one.  Kenneth Turner Citrus Bergamia - (£22 - Kennethturner.com) A nice candle this one, but rather forgettable next to some of the others. Harrods Pink Pepper & Passionflower (£20 - Harrods) lovely, gentle, slightly spicy flowery scent.  It's really nice and relaxing to have burning when I'm blogging.

Now, you might be thinking that I have more than enough candles, but I have one space left that I'm saving for Idina's Locket (again from the genius that is Jonathan Ward), I was lucky enough to have sniffed Jonathan's latest range back when it was still in the planning stages, and I can't wait to see how they've turned out in candle form!

But, if anyone is reading, and wants to buy me another, this one has my name ALL over it ... Luce's Candle.