NO. 7

I Try Before You Buy: Palettes of the Eyeshadow Persuasion

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01 YSL couture
YVES SAINT LAURENT Couture Variations 10-color Eye Palette in Tuxedo €70
*****
This is an almost unbelievable world of combinations here, in a wealth of textures — although they do err on the side of sparkly, a side I have been known to err on lo these many years. It’s suits its name as it does feel very formal, but don’t be put off by strength of the pigments: the key matte shades are there for day, and the deeply rich ones (love the navy) are there to transition you into the evening. The lightest touch has you covered, and the colours stay strong.

02 ISADORA eye bar
ISADORA Eye Color Bar in Nude Essentials €17.50
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These are not rich in pigment, but they are long-lasting, the perfect sort of non-dramatic hue and intensity for a day at the office. This is not damning with faint praise: most of us can’t rock up to the office like we’re ready to go clubbing at the drop of a mouse. If you want to enhance your peepers and still look professional, you won’t do any better than this — but when you are ready to drop that mouse and go out to play on a school night, you may find yourself caught short. The Surf & Sun Eye Color bar is like a Caribbean holiday in a palette, complete with yellow and green, so if you’re more adventurous, you’ll have a blast playing with it. I personally love that purple and teal…

03 NO7 mini palette
NO 7 Mini Eye Palette €14.25
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Not just for mini eyes, ha ha. Actually, this palette isn’t at all mini, but it is slim. The ‘mini’ designation is, I think, due to the palette’s being comprised of the top shades from No7’s line of eyeshadows. These are surprisingly hefty in terms of pigment, and I’m starting to feel a little bit misled by the whole ‘mini’ designation. I like the container, it’s sleek and looks expensive, which it is so not. I’d pop this in the carry-on and go travelling with it.

04 CLARINS garden escape
CLARINS PARIS Garden Escape 6-Colour Eye Palette €41
**
Love these colours in theory, and as ever, the shades are long-lasting and rich, but that green. I don’t even know what to do with that. I played around with it, and it became apparent fairly quickly that I needed a professional to show me how to do this. If your skillz are up to it, then there’s lots to like here. If you have The Fear of mad colours, go with a classic Clarins palette.

FUSCHIA
FUSCHIA MAKE-UP The Pro Collection €45
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This is fun! You too can walk in the footsteps of many a make-up artist, thanks to Fuschia, by personally selecting each and every color you put in your palette. You can buy a Pro Palette Senoir {€18} or Junior {€18}, and fill it repsectively woth large pans {€7.50} or small ones {€5.50}. Nothing I love better than playing with colour, so once you’ve decided to go big or go small, you can start choosing your hues. Choosing colour online, however, has inherent drawbacks. If you’ve got a good eye and decisive mind, then you are laughing. If you can’t picture the colours on your face — which is totally understandable — this may be seem daunting. I received many compliments recently when I used this, and the look lasted the whole night long.
fuschia.ie

SLEEK Vintage Romance
SLEEK MAKE-UP I-Divine Eyeshadow Palette in Vintage Romance €10
****
These mineral eye shadows have more pigment in one little pan than many palettes have in their entirety. These are very very smokey, and may be hard to manage — but practice, and you’ll get a long-lasting, dramatic look rather than a panda-bearish vibe. For a tenner, this is going to last an age and a half — perhaps even an aeon. There are 13 palettes to choose from, so for the price of many of the above, you can have the eyeshadow department of your beauty regime completely sorted for months to come. See http://www.sleekmakeup.com for the full line.

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Snap! Judgement: No7 Shimmer Palette in Rose

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No7 SHIMMER PALETTER
Love! I gave the back of my hand a quick swipe with a less-than good brush (all I had within reach) and fell into immediate adoration with its shimmery beauty. I tried to take a photo, but it is so subtle, that it didn’t show up well. It’s bit dusty — like, motes all in the air after I loaded up the brush — but otherwise, cannot wait to get this on my face.

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No 7 Shimmer Palette in Rose, €17.50
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This is hypoallergenic, and I gotta say, I haven’t noticed that distinction in ages. A quick Google says that it was first used in cosmetic advertising in 1953. Hmm, maybe that’s why it sounds so old fashioned…
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FOTYesterday + The Hair

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FOTD 09 03Highlights — not just on The Hair — include:

> essence Long-lasting Lipstick {€2.89} in Come Naturally: really emollient, loving the dark nude, feels like a balm.

> Foundation via Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Perfectly Satin {€38}, which has not let me down in the month or so that I’ve been trialing it. It’s matte, but not so matte that you look like you should be displayed in Madame Tussaud’s — a lovely, natural glow is allowed to illuminate your skin without your face ever looking greasy.

> Sadly a function of the iPhone, the No7 eyeshadow is not showing up as well as it ought. This Mini Palette {€14.25} is fabbbbbbilis, the shadows are light in weight, but deep in pigment. It felt so light, even on the brush, that I loaded it up too much the first time out, and have since pulled back a little.

> Gave The Hair a little treat before shampooing: BC Oil Miracle Barbary Fig Oil {€27} from Schwarzkopf Professional. Soaked it into the lengths and ends and left it for… well over an hour I’m sure, since I was hard at work doing keyboardy stuff. Washed it out with the matching Fig Oil & Keratin Restorative Shampoo. Silky!

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No 7 Sheer Temptation Knows No Season

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I know it’s autumn, but I don’t care. I love this spring-ish lippy, which is on its way to being AUU {All Used Up.}
NO 7 THUS FAR
This is Pretty Please from No7, from the Sheer Temptation line {€12.95.} I love being able to lash on a pop of colour without looking.
NO 7 IN ACTION
So lazy. But: so pretty, this colour! It’s light, too, which makes a difference when I’m working in an office, sitting all day, and grazing. Blot, eat an apple, reapply. Or, in fairness, a bag of crisps.

I got colour-matched at Boots, and wisely went in on a day when I was wearing no make up, and it definitely made a difference in terms of getting a good match on the foundation. I came up Cool Ivory {€18.25} under these circs; when I got colour-matched at a recent Boots event, I came up Deeply Beige, I think due to the foundation I was already wearing — despite some of it having been cleared away.

The device used is similar to a photographer’s light meter, and once your ‘family’ of colour is established, you get a handy little card that has your colours on it. Here’s my colour-matched face, sporting the Stay Perfect Foundation and Moisture Drench lipstick in Soft Berry {€12.95.}
NO 7 COLOUR MATCHED
The foundation really is a terrific match; I find it to be not-as-long-lasting as I’d like. The lip colour? LOVE. It’s not nearly as low maintenance as its lighter cousin, but sometimes, a little extra effort is worth it.

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Feeling very boldfaced today!

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Lucky Thirteen of 2013: Lippy, and the View From Below My Nose

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WARNING: clicking through these links may result in PTND*.

I was into lipstick this year! I say that like it is news, like I haven’t posted this picture:
ALL THE LIPPYs
These were just the ones that were by the place where I keep my going-out-the-door stuff: my purse, the thingie with my Leap Card in it, my sunglasses.

Lots of lippys — thirteen, in fact — lots of pictures of my nose from an… interesting angle.

I reviewed eight shades of lipp-ay here, which alerted me to the proboscis problem — and then I clearly just chose to ignore it because: here I went again, and again, and… yeah. Um, and this one. And then also.

Sheesh.

The main issue I see is that I have not been wearing nearly enough purple/mauve lipstick.

There’s my new year’s resolution sorted!

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*Post Traumatic Nostril Disorder

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Okay, Okay, I Absolutely Have a Problem When It Comes to Lip Cosmetics

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ALL THE LIPPYs
Okay???! I get it. A normal human female probably wouldn’t have — oh, God, must I count them? — eighteen varieties of cosmetics-for-the-lips, on the go, right? This is not counting the ones that are lurking in pockets and rolling around in my handbags. Gah.

But, but, but — okay. Since I routinely take two of these along with me on a given day, because the whole day could change and require a different hue or texture, then it’s like there’s really nine. Nine lip combinations.

{…}

I don’t buy that either. Although I will argue that giving yourself the option to change up during the day makes total sense. Like, the Pür Minerals or the No7 — or the Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss? Theses are perfect for sitting-at-the-desk wear, but you might like to give your look a wee pop in the evening, with the Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain, or the Clinique Chubby. Or that Essence red, in between the Chubby and the Pür? It is the perfect summer red I’ve yet to come across.

So, you know, options.

Nevertheless, I felt a cull was in order:

FEWER LIPPYsOnly because I need to make room for more…

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Sorry, they just look so ronrey.

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LOTD: No 7 Stay Perfect™ Lip Stain

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Here’s a Pro Tip®: always try to match your lippy to your surroundings.
photo-1

Oh, okay, not really. This was just a happy accident!

photo-2

This is also, as it says in the headline, No 7 Stay Perfect™ Lip Stain, in Ballet. It looks like it belongs in the mauve end of the spectrum, but applies rather more strongly than that. I’d prefer it to look the way it does on the cap, as far as that is ever possible anyway, but am delighted that it’s matching the big KISS Magazine logo on the poster behind me.

Lip stains have come a long way. There was one iteration, lo these many years ago, whose brand shall remain nameless, that was horribly drying, despite the liquid gloss that came with it. It also had the worrying/disgusting/completely weird habit of crumbling off the lip. Like, it would ball itself up right there on yer gob, due coffee drinking or talking — anything that made your mouth move.

This doesn’t do any of that crazy stuff. It applies well, but it does seem to bleed a little around certain edges. And you will need the gloss that is situated at the opposite end of the wand, because as lightly as it lays, it is still a bit drying.

I do like it, regardless, and am keen to try the brand’s BB Lips Beauty Balm, too!

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Available in Boots: €12.95.

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New Fave Lippy: No7 Moisture Drench in Waterlily

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I took one look at this lipstick, new from No7, as part of their Limited Edition Ballerina Beauty Collection and thought, Nah. Too coral-ly for me.

NO 7 WATERLILY

Gotta love my open-mindedness. Chiding myself, I lashed some on, and voilá!

NO 7 WATERLILY ON

I love it! It’s so pretty, and fresh! And it as moisture-drenching as it claims in the name.

Also on the face, which isn’t shown to its best effect from that NO 7 BB CREAMastonishingly unflattering angle, is Beautiful Skin BB Cream, also from No7. This comes in three styles, for Dry/Very and Normal/Oily, in addition to the Normal/Dry that I am using.

I haz ambivalence re: BBs, and tend to only like those that are within spitting distance of being foundation. This gives great coverage, and yet I had that psychological benefit of not feeling like I had the fuss of foundation to deal with.

^^^ I don’t even know what that means, really. Foundation isn’t that much of a hassle, it’s not like, I don’t know, trying to shave your legs under pressure, or something. Foundation seems to imply Serious Day Ahead, maybe? Eh, let’s humour me, shall we?

Yes, Sue, there is a difference in attitude between foundations and BB creams…

Wait. That may be true.

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No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Waterlily is €12.25; Beautiful Skin BB Cream is €16.95.

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Face of the Yesterday: Champagne meets Lemonade

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No, I haven’t been tippling the bubbly again. More’s the pity!

Nope, I’ve just got evidence that you can mix-n-match your variously-priced products along the spectrum, to excellent effect.

Often, things come in on an individual basis, as in, I didn’t get a Name Brand Primer to go with my Name Brand Foundation. But I did get one of each from two very different lines.

So there I was, with Mineral Pro Radiance Foundation {€29.95} from Matis, on the one hand, and Rimmel London’s Fix & Perfect Pro Primer {€8.25}. Far enough away in price point, and purchase point too: the former being available in select salons, and the latter in your local chemists.

And yet, the two together work as well as if they’d been made for each other.

FOTD 31 01The tone is even, and since I’m not so mad about pressed powder these days, the usual application of Stila’s Set & Illuminate Baked Powder Trio {£24} really sparkled. I am loving this loose powder which, well, sets ISADORA BRUSHand illuminates without dulling down my complexion. I use an IsaDora Bronzer Brush {€18}, a brush so full and soft and fluffy, it’s like using a plush toy to put on my makeup.

Blush: IsaDora Glow Stick in Rose Bud {€15.50}{which seems pricey? Google is not helping me.} Lippy is a new, limited edition No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Highland Mist {€12.25}. The eyeshadow is by The Body Shop, a quad Smoky Eye Palette in Golden Brown {23.95}, the lashes are still extended a la Venus Medical, and…

Oh! The upper inner eyelid is lined with Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner {@5.49}, about which I first learned via mcmademoisellelikes and was justified in my love of this line of liners by lovelygirliebits yesterday.

I don’t know, I’ve never used all one thing on the visage, ever, so I suppose this is not so remarkable. But I was still struck by how well the two very different products worked together. I remember, in high school, using like, two layers of lipstick and a gloss, to replicate some expensive look I’d seen in Vogue. Ah, yesterday!

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Hmmm, not confident about those IsaDora prices. BRB.

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So Many Palettes, So… Few… Eyes

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Where’s a spider when I need her? {Ick.}

Someone recently asked me, do I wake up in the morning and just start plastering on the slap? Well, my interlocutor put it far more elegantly, but that was the gist.

A: Not really. I suppose I ought, but I do need to answer the buzzer fairly often, and don’t like the idea of nipping down the stairs looking like something out of A Clockwork Orange. I never know when the delivery lads will appear, and they inevitable would, mid-eyeshadow application, I’m sure of it.

Lately, the world has been treated to full eye makeup, even if I’m just going down the High Street to do me messages. It’s kind of funny, because the women in the know are all like O rilly missus? It is all of 2 of the clock! and the some of the dudes get a little flustered. Bless.

To wit: Yves Saint Laurent Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry No. 19.  {€56} Very sparkly for the daytime, one would assume! In actual fact, once you do a decent blend, there is an attractive shimmer; you won’t look as though you fell face first into a vat of glitter. Unless you want to, of course! The all you have to do is lay it on, baby!

Clinique Plum Seduction {€32}, which figures largely in their Limited Edition Black Tie Violet gift set for The Christmas. I blended too well when I applied this — sorry, no pictures of me sporting any of these, which is not helpful, I know, but they didn’t turn out well a’tall — and whilst it made the blue of my pop, it also made my eye area look a little bruised. I think it’s either all contrast with this one, or none whatsoever. Second hue from the left is the culprit, methinks, just too bland, but the third from the left will make for a terrific Purple Smokey Eye.

No. 7 Deco Darling {€12.95} is Boots’ tribute to The Great Gatsby, and it is soooo Deco, darling! I am easily delighted: that fan-shaped thingie, the embossing, is terrifically fab. The similarity in hue and intensity is not so fab, however: it goes on well enough, but in the course of the day, the colour all dull down to the same degree. The deep charcoal is super for lining the eye; stay away from the silvery gray.

Today’s palette: Clarins Ombre Minérale 4 Couleurs {€40} in Odyssey, which may be a limited edition. Look at that goldy one! This is a terrific palette for wearing during the day, then sparking up with that goldy bit!

This one is wet & dry, too, and begs the question: does wetness not muck up the wee applicator beyond all redemption? I use my own fancy brushes, thanks very much, and I suppose I ought to be cleaning them more often than I am — oops— but seriously, is it worth it? I’ve only applied shadow wet once, and it worked out grandly, but I really do hesitate. Also: I forget and am halfway through the face before I remember.

Can the MUAs among us advise?

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