Revision Ate My Life

To the extent that I've only acquired three new things recently. I bought two, and one was a lovely present from my mother, hurray!

Here we have Chanel No. 19 Eau de Parfum, Illamasqua Skin Base foundation in 02, and Illamasqua lipstick in Eurydice (from the new Human Fundamentalism collection).

The perfume was the gift, earlier this month, after I went through a phase of loving No. 5 again. It is a bit of a shock when you first smell it if you're used to standard popular fruity/sweet scents, and I wasn't sure I liked it when I first wore it. I'm happy to say it's grown on me, and I now love it. It's a very green floral, heavy on the iris, and almost woody - perfect for this wet spring we're having! Victoria has a lovely review, as does Angela on Now Smell This. It's completely different from any other scent I own, and I can see myself getting through this bottle pretty quickly! I must say it doesn't last as long on the skin as you might expect from an EDP, but then again I do like my perfume obnoxiously strong, so maybe it's just me.

I reached the halfway point in my exams on Friday (I now have a week "off" to revise for the next set), and wandered over to Selfridges in the afternoon to peruse the Illamasqua counter. I did nip into the Beak St store first, but got fairly terrible service (for the first time ever, I may add) so left, shame! Anyway, I was keen to test the Skin Base foundation in 02, the next shade down from white, since I'd seen swatches of its pinky-pale brilliance - and I was not disappointed. I've only worn it twice, but the match is perfect and if I moisturise well in the potentially flaky (delightful) areas around my nose the finish is also lovely. Very pleased with this so far!

And of course I bought this lipstick. It's bright blue-pink AND matte, two of my favourite qualities in a lipstick. Need I say more? Well, it's incredibly long-wearing, without being too heavy-feeling or cakey on the lips. This is my first lipstick from Illamasqua, and I'm impressed.

My tea break is now over, and I shall slink back to my land law revision. Woe is me. Hope everyone is well and looking forward to summer! (Eternal optimist alert.)

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. I am so impressed with myself for only having bought TWO things on Oxford St. I nearly bought four more (two blushers from Dainty Doll, and a blusher and lipstick from Topshop) but just wasn't enthused enough to get to the till. A sea change in my spending habits, perhaps...I can only hope!

Latest Face & Boots Bits

So, I'm entering the black hole of revision & exams until June. Worryingly, I seem to have forgotten how to revise, finals being all the way back in the dim & distant past (well, 2010).

This is what I've been wearing on my face if I feel like making more-than-no effort.

L-R: Murad Oil-Control Mattifier, Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115, Revlon ColorStay Foundation in Ivory, L'Oreal Mattifying Powder, and NARS Douceur blush (bottom)

Primer: the Murad Oil Control Mattifier. I'm definitely a fan of this stuff - helps make-up go on smoothly, controls shine brilliantly throughout the day, and has SPF 15.

Foundation: I've been mixing Revlon ColorStay (Combo/Oily version) in Ivory with Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115 (the palest skin-coloured shade). I used to wear the ColorStay on its own, but it is a) much fuller coverage than I need/want, and b) too dark/yellow, irritatingly. Mixing in the Illamasqua sorts both of these problems pretty nicely, giving a far better colour match and less cakey coverage. I mix them up on the back of my hand (really don't appreciate the fact the ColorStay has no pump, dammit) and apply with my fingers. I used to use a Sigma F80 flat-top kabuki brush but I find it soaks up half the product and is a right pain to clean, so fingers it is!

Top: Revlon ColorStay in Ivory; bottom: Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in LF115

LF115 is a good match for me on its own when blended out, if a tad neutral, but it does emphasise the pallor in a dramatic way which I don't always want, especially in the daytime. I also have this foundation in LF120, which is pinker, darker and a more easy-going shade. I can't say I'm in love with the formula on its own, as it has a tendency to look streaky/greasy, as if it's just sitting on top of the skin in an awkward way. Such a shame given the ah-mazing shade range! Must try Skin Base sometime. But am very happy to have discovered a way to use this one, really enjoying it at the moment!

Powder: the L'Oreal Transparent Mattifying Powder, sadly discontinued ages ago. I bought several of these from eBay when I realised it was no longer available in shops, so I'm now working my way through my stash. The packaging is a bit silly, as surely nobody ever uses the rubbish little brush in the lid - I just unscrew that and use a standard powder brush, obv.

Blush: NARS Douceur. Perfect everyday natural blush. I usually use a MAC 188 with this.

This, plus some mascara and lipbalm, is my standard leaving-the-house routine. I'm impressed by the Murad primer - I don't need to touch up with powder AT ALL during the day. Impressive. Although to be honest more often than not I will just use SPF and powder on top. Because it's only the library. If anything I prefer sticking on a bright lipstick - yesterday I went for MAC Girl About Town and remembered how much I looove it! - to cheer up my face, rather than spending ages on eyeliner etc.

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. Today's cheeky Boots haul:

Top to bottom: Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara; Revlon Lip Butters in Macaroon & Sweet Tart, Soap & Glory Lid Stuff eyeshadow quad in Off the Wall Flowers

I fancied picking up these two Lip Butters having seen endless swatches on blogs. I now have six in total, five of which I like - Peach Parfait is the exception, since I find it gritty with obvious unflattering shimmer. I also had a poke around the Soap & Glory makeup, since I'd heard good things about their mascara, and ended up getting both the mascara and this random eyeshadow quad. In the end, the whole lot only cost £21 - the mascara and quad were £10 each, so I ended up with the Lip Butters for 50p each. Win. Chatting to the cashier is always worthwhile! This was something to do with a £2 off voucher which wouldn't scan properly, so he put them through as a pound! Nice one.

I definitely think my Lip Butter collection has grown big enough now. None of the other colours appeal to me as they're all too pale/shimmery, so I'll concentrate on actually wearing what I've got - revolutionary, I know. Will report back on the S&G bits at a later date when I've given them a whirl!

U-taupe-ia?

Yeah, I went there. (I'm pretty sure I'm not the first and I won't be the last - just felt compelled to do it!)

Taupe is a pretty magical colour. As far as I'm concerned, a taupe is somewhere along the spectrum between grey and brown. (A great blogger who is particularly passionate about taupe is Elvira of The Pink Sith, who has an awe-inspiring collection!) I gravitate towards the greyer taupes, since I'm so cool-toned (as I may have mentioned an obnoxious number of times in my previous post, apologies!), but since lots of "true" greys turn blue/silver on the skin when blended, or are too dark and harsh for daytime, taupes are some of my staple daily shadows. This may be deviating from the "taupe" brief somewhat, but I also class purple-toned greys in the same general category of "wearable every neutral-ish colours", so I've included them here.

This post was prompted by my acquisition of the Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Tough As Taupe, from Stacey's blogsale. Having heard lots about these on various blogs, I was v. excited to be able to try them in the flesh, so to speak. (I also picked up Audacious Asphalt and Bold Gold, of which more another time.) I don't know if these are going to launch in the UK at all, but they're basically a version of cream potted shadows, in the same vein as MAC Paint Pots/Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows. Here's hoping they do make an appearance on these shores, as my impressions are pretty good so far!

Here are all the taupes I pulled from my collection:

Top row, L-R: NARS Lhasa, Ruby & Millie Beige 840P, Chanel Illusoire.

Middle row, L-R: Maybelline Tough as Taupe, Benefit Skinny Jeans, Illamasqua Hollow.

Bottom row, L-R: MAC Morning Frost, MAC Copperplate, MAC Satin Taupe.

Here are swatches of what I think of as the purple-toned taupes:

Top to bottom: NARS Lhasa, Ruby & Millie Beige 840P, Chanel Illusoire, MAC Satin Taupe

I've raved about NARS Lhasa before, so I won't add much here, except to say this is the perfect colour for a daytime slightly smoky eye. It doesn't photograph brilliantly (not helped by the fact I'm not a brilliant photographer), but in person it's more purple, with a subtle shimmer/sheen. Gorgeous.

I think Ruby & Millie Beige 840P (I absolutely hate brands with numbered shades!) might be discontinued - I don't think Boots stocks the range any more, at least. But if you can get hold of this, I highly recommend it! Amazing buttery formula, incredibly pigmented (much more so than Lhasa). Basically a cooler version of Satin Taupe, as you can see from the swatches.

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Illusoire. These did the blog rounds last year sometime, and I just had to get this colour (especially with money off on the Debenhams website). A shimmery (almost glittery, really) purple-grey? Yes please. I don't plan on picking up any other shades, but this bizarre sponge/gel hybrid formula is brilliant - buildable, blendable, long-lasting.

MAC Satin Taupe must be one of their most famous eyeshadows. It's a good frost, pretty pigmented and shimmery rather than glittery. This is a plummy cool brown - looks great in the crease with Phloof! or Vex on the lid. I'm definitely glad I bought into the hype on this one!

And the rest:

Top to bottom: Maybelline Tough as Taupe, Benefit Skinny Jeans, Illamasqua Hollow, MAC Morning Frost, MAC Copperplate.

Tough as Taupe is a grey-brown elephant-coloured taupe, quite dark - basically a cream version of Copperplate, one of my favourite MAC shadows. It's very pigmented, and applies well, but I did find it creased after about four hours' wear, so next time I'd wear this with a primer underneath. Very pleased with this!

Benefit Skinny Jeans Creaseless Cream Shadow is a bit different, more like a grey-green. I rarely wear this, but now I've swatched it, it's going in my everyday makeup bag! The formula is a bit drier and harder than the Maybelline shadow or the MAC Paint Pots, but it's very pigmented, applies smoothly and blends out well.

A multi-purpose product always appeals to me, so Illamasqua Hollow Cream Pigment, a cool-toned brown, is a bit of a winner - I use it on the eyes for a neutral matte wash, or on the cheeks for a subtle contour. Quite a dry stiff formula, but long-lasting and easy to apply with fingers.

I'm being a bit cheeky here by including two colours that aren't in the stores - MAC Morning Frost came out in a winter collection last year (hence the white lid). This is the perfect easy everyday neutral to slap on with your fingers for those early morning starts: a shimmery cool brown, light enough to use all over the lid, and you can get away without a primer.

MAC Copperplate is a staple for me. A cross between grey and brown, it's a matte squared (why are there not more of these?), so applies smoothly and is incredibly pigmented and blendable. It's a touch too dark for my brows in daytime, so I use MAC Coquette, but this is a really versatile shade for a light wash over the lid, or deepening the crease. To be honest, this is about as brown a shadow as I can comfortably wear!

So there you have it, my range of taupes! These are definitely some of my favourite shadows - where some people love warm browns, I love these!

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. I finished my coursework, hurrah! It was a close-run thing, but I did it. Phew. Sadly the next deadline is 8th April, but I'm not thinking about that just yet...Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine today!

Today's Makeup Bag

So, I decided it was time to clear out my makeup bag and throw in a few products I haven't used in a while/put away colours I'm not wearing at the moment. And I took some photos.

I'm always shocked by how MUCH this looks all laid out like that! I split it up into eyes/face/lips, so it's a bit less intimidating!

EYE PRODUCTS

Nothing that revolutionary here, with lots of the same old favourites making an appearance.

In the MAC eyeshadow quad I have (clockwise from top left) Vex, Dazzlelight, Patina, and Satin Taupe. I want to finish up these pans of Vex and Dazzlelight as they're now a bit of a pain to apply, and Satin Taupe and Patina deserve a bit more love than they currently get in my 15-pan palette. The lone eyeshadow pan is Coquette, my eyebrow colour, and the NARS shadow top right is (surprise!) Lhasa.

I've owned this MAC Paint in Bare Canvas (in the metal tube packaging, below the quad) for a while now, having randomly ordered it after I sent back a dried-out jar of Painterly Paint Pot. It's not a product that's talked about a lot on blogs/Youtube, and I was curious to try it out - however the ointment-style packaging, while cute, is a bit of a nuisance. My current tube of Too Faced Shadow Insurance is on its last legs, so I'm trying out Bare Canvas as an alternative eye primer.

The Bourjois pot eyeshadow bottom left is in shade 90 Blanc Diaphane - I've had this for an unhygienic length of time, but it's just so useful for popping a white highlight in the inner corners (and yes, I do use the crappy sponge applicator!).

Mascaras: I'm still enjoying Benefit's They're Real!, but after my Revlon Grow Luscious dried out, I felt I needed another, more "casual" mascara which isn't so hard to remove at night. I picked up Rimmel Lash Accelerator in Extreme Black, having previously loved the regular black version, and so far I'm pretty happy with this - a much smaller brush than the Revlon version, which makes it easier to get at the corner lashes. I may be saving They're Real for evening use in future!

Liner-wise, I'm using my trusty L'Oreal Super Liner in Carbon Gloss for when I fancy winged liner, and have thrown in Topshop Kohl in Saddle (shimmery dark brown) for a change, since I never usually wear pencil liner. I also have a rather battered Mac Eye Pencil in Ebony, which is a more or less permanent fixture in my makeup bag - these days I mostly use it on the waterline of an evening. Finally, I'm experimenting with Topshop Kohl in Frost (matte white) as an inner corner highlight and on the lower waterline - white looks pretty stark, of course, but until I get round to acquiring MAC's pale flesh-toned Chromagraphic Pencil, this will do for those especially exhausted mornings!

FACE PRODUCTS

L-R, top to bottom: No. 7 Perfect Light Loose Powder in 05 Translucent; Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 51 Light Vanilla; Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow; Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Creme in Iced Gold; NARS blush in Desire; Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in 1 Fair.

The only new product here is the Jemma Kidd creme highlighter, which I bought after hearing rave reviews from other bloggers, particularly Anna! So far I only own powder and liquid highlighters (such as MAC Lightscapade and Benefit High Beam), and I love the simplicity of creme products which you can apply with your fingers. This was pretty expensive - £17 I think - but no more so than MAC! It's a gorgeous product, which can be blended out to a subtle glowy sheen, or applied more heavily for a more intense white-gold highlight.


I chose NARS Desire as my blush of the moment - we got off on the wrong foot, since I was more taken with Sin, but I feel it's time to acquaint ourselves. After spending that much on a blush I'm damned if it's going to languish in my makeup drawers unused! Report to follow.


The other products are fairly standard, and I think I've mentioned most of them before, and/or lots of other bloggers have! I do like the Illamasqua Cream Pigment as an eye base, but at the moment I'm using it as a contour shade, with varying degrees of success.

 LIP PRODUCTS

L-R: Neutrogena lip balm SPF 20, MAC Hue, Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum, and (front) Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in 063 Eastend Snob

 This basic Neutrogena lip balm lives in my makeup bag all the time - I prefer the Lanolips 101 Ointment, which resides in my handbag, but that doesn't have SPF. 

[Warning: rant ahead!] Ah, MAC Hue. This is a glaze finish lipstick which I'm sure many of you have heard of/own. It's one of the most talked about lipsticks MAC make, so when I first started buying MAC products, I ordered this online after watching girls on Youtube rave about it as the most wearable nude. Thankfully I passed on Creme d'Nude and Myth, realising even in my naive state that these would be a disaster on me. However, so many beauty bloggers rated Hue in their top handful of MAC lipstick colours, or as their favourite lipstick ever, that I didn't question my need for it. I probably would have bought it even if I'd swatched it in a shop, to be honest, since it's a non-offensive-looking sheer peachy pink when swatched. On my lips, however, it's just - horrible. Why?

1. (Oh yeah, I'm listing.) It's lighter than my lips. Quite a bit lighter, in fact. Since I am very fair, the combo of pale pink skin and pale pinky lipstick is - not good. It's also a touch too orange for my taste/skintone.
2. If I were ever to want the nude lip/smokey eye look (which is so gorgeous in my head/on other people!), I'd need a lipstick which was opaque/pigmented enough to cover my natural lip colour. This is not it. I find it applies not only sheer but also uneven and streaky. Nice.
3. It doesn't last. This isn't surprising given the glaze finish, but it wears badly, gathering in lines and generally making a nuisance of itself.
4. OK I'll stop now. Sorry. As ever, this is just my personal opinion - I've certainly seen many a blogger/Youtuber look gorgeous wearing this shade! But I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone with my colouring (pale, pink-toned skin) and taste in lipstick colours (namely, my natural lip shade or darker).

So that's my beef with Hue. Like an ex-boyfriend of a similar name, it's good on paper, not so great in real life. (I couldn't resist it.) Having spent £13 odd on this lipstick, though, I'm gonna wear the damn thing. At least you have to reapply often, which gives me a chance of finishing it up!

And finally, my latest lip product acquisition, courtesy of Stacey, is the Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum. This is AMAZING. I love the two other shades I picked up (Raspberry Pie in particular, a stunning deep pink, and Peach Parfait), but this is the most wearable everyday "my lips but a LOT better" colour.

I've got to say, for my purposes/tastes at least, the Revlon Lip Butters are beating Hue hands down. (They remind me of MAC's lustre finish, which I do like; in particular, Sugar Plum is comparable to MAC Plumful.) Pigmented, glossy, not at all drying - all that, and they wear surprisingly well! I get a few hours' wear out of these, and they seem to fade pretty evenly. There are loads of blog posts and Youtube videos on these Lip Butters (such as Allison's post, which features a swatch of Sugar Plum), which apparently launch in the UK in mid-March, so I'll stop rambling here - but I will definitely be picking up more shades!

Till next time,

Josephine x

PS. This is the bag all this fits into! It's a purple leather James Lakeland bag which I got for about £10 in TK Maxx. I love that shop!

(Mascara tube for scale in otherwise featureless table landscape.)

Everyday Face of the Moment

Here we have all the products I use in my standard daily makeup routine. Scary.

 That's a whole lotta makeup. It's probably more sensible if I divide it up into vague categories, since listing it all here would be loooong (I tried it. It was).

Face products

L-R, top to bottom: NARS blush in Sin, MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade, Alpha-H Daily Essential Moisturiser SPF 50+, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in the lightest shade, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer in fair, and No. 7 translucent pressed powder.

I rarely wear foundation, but if I do feel like it, I blend in a small amount of this Bourjois one down the centre of my face, where I need a bit more coverage. Usually I just stick to concealer and powder - I definitely need powder after applying sunscreen, as it does look shiny, particularly till it dries. I'm trying to wear sunscreen every day, even though it feels (and probably is) bonkers putting it on when it's grey and cloudy outside.

Then I swipe on my latest favourite blush, NARS Sin, which is a gorgeous wearable plum with a bit of gold shimmer, and a quick dusting of Lightscapade on top of my cheekbones (such as they are). I was going to photograph the brushes I use, but a) this post would be even longer and b) they're dirty, as usual. For the record: I do own the Sigma F80 flat-top kabuki, but if I'm in a rush and want to slap on a bit of this foundation I just use my fingers, as I do with the sunscreen. I use a MAC 188 for this blush, the amazing Illamasqua highlighting brush for the MSF.



Eye products

Top to bottom: L'Oreal Super Liner in carbon gloss, Benefit They're Real! Mascara, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study, MAC eyeshadows in (L-R) Crystal Avalanche, Vex, Dazzlelight, Coquette, and Copperplate.

This tube of the Too Faced eyeshadow primer has lasted me for absolutely ages, and it works brilliantly to keep eyeshadow on all day without creasing/disappearing (my mother is also a convert to this stuff!). However, when I went to the Oxford St Boots to repurchase (it's hard to find the brand in all but the biggest stores), I found it had gone up by FIVE POUNDS, to £16.50. At least, I'm pretty sure I only paid £11.50 or thereabouts last time I bought it. Now uncertain whether I'd purchase again at that price, but I shouldn't be running out any time soon. I'd also like to try the classic Urban Decay Primer Potion and MAC Painterly Paint Pot - should probably steer clear of the NARS one if I'm complaining about price!

I love the effect of this Benefit mascara, which everyone has been raving about - long, voluminous lashes with curl. So what's not to like? Well, firstly the price; I used a £5 off voucher in Boots, without which I do think it's overpriced. And it's a complete pain to get off at night! Maybe I should invest in a more heavy-duty makeup remover, but I always end up with panda eyes and flakes of black everywhere!

The L'Oreal Super Liner is an old favourite for flicked black eyeliner, which I go through phases of wearing every day. I have tried the Maybelline gel liner with a MAC 210, but I find it too fiddly, and difficult to get a smooth line without expending more effort than I'm willing to make in the mornings!

My eyeshadow standbys are either Bare Study all over the lid for a brightening effect - I just whack this on with my fingers if I need to get out of the door fast - or, for more leisurely mornings, a wash of Vex/Dazzlelight with a bit of Copperplate in the crease, using a MAC 239 and 217. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll pop some Crystal Avalanche in the inner corner for a highlight.

I always run some Coquette through my brows with the Illamasqua angled brush. I only started doing this in August, but now I wouldn't be without it - adds a bit of definition and polish to the face, which has to be a good thing!

Lip products

L-R: MAC lipsticks in Cosmo, See Sheer, Syrup, and Plumful, and Neutrogena lip balm with SPF 20.

These are what I think of as my everyday lipsticks. If I'm feeling super lazy, I just stick on some lip balm and have done with it. The next step up in the grooming stakes is Syrup, which is basically a toned-down version of my lip colour, with some shine to it. Plumful and See Sheer are equally easy to wear (these are all lustre finishes, meaning you do have to reapply quite frequently, but I think the formula works well for the everyday, not too done look), but make a bit more of an impact colour-wise: Plumful, as the name suggests, is a beautiful berry/plummy colour, See Sheer a coral red.

Finally, Cosmo, which may take the title of Favourite MAC Lipstick Ever (quite an achievement given the size of my collection, which is a topic for another day). It's an amplified finish, so packs a bit more punch and lasts longer on the lips - a gorgeous deep rosy pink, similar to my lip colour but a tad darker. Since I'm so pale, this definitely draws more attention to the lips than the other shades mentioned here, but if I'm wearing understated eye makeup I like this effect. This is the one MAC lipstick I anticipate repurchasing. Love.

And there you have it. I'm now wondering if that's a ridiculous amount of makeup to wear for a normal day. Maybe I'll go in to college entirely makeup-free one day next week and see how I feel - I think I'd find blush the hardest thing to give up!

Till next time,

LL x

My Blush Collection - Illamasqua

[EDIT: Swatches coming shortly!]

Yesterday was another thrilling day at law school. Today, I'm taking a break from revising EU law to bring you another instalment of my blush collection: Illamasqua.

L-R, top to bottom: Katie, Lover, Sin, Hollow Cream Pigment, Morale, Hussy

As you can deduce from its dusty state, Katie is definitely a favourite. I ordered this shade and Hussy from the Debenhams website one day last summer while bored to tears in the library, hunched over an essay on early modern theatre and legal culture. Katie was the success story of that order: she's a pale baby-pink, fairly neutral in tone, with a matte finish (as always, Temptalia has clearer pics of the product in the pan, but on this occasion I think KarlaSugar's swatch is more helpful on colour). I think it's pretty pigmented, but obviously since it's such a light pink it's unlikely to work well on darker skintones. On me (cool-toned, lighter than MAC foundations - srsly MAC?) it can be built up to a fairly noticeable pink flush, or kept very subtle. Perfect for spring, but I wear this all the time anyway. It has the distinctive Illamasqua blush scent, which is a bit like cake batter. The packaging is OK, a bit bulky and can be fiddly to open but it's nice to be able to see the colour through the lid.

And then we have Lover. This was purchased in Selfridges after I walked in in search of a peachy blush. I never go for peach, so I was interested to try one. This is a delightful fairly pale true peach colour, again matte (see KarlaSugar again - I should really learn to master this swatching business, but there's never any natural light - excuses excuses). I'm still not 100% convinced it works on my colouring, but it makes for a fun change in spring/summer with a peachy lipgloss like Revlon Super Lustrous Coral Reef.

Next up, the colour formerly known as Sin. At least, I think that's what it's called - there's no name on the back. [A quick trawl through my email inbox reveals it is indeed called Sin.] I picked this up in Illamasqua's summer sale for £10, since I was looking for a purple/plum blush. When it arrived I was a bit disappointed it wasn't more blue-toned - it's definitely more plummy than purple - but I've since grown to love it, and wore it for about a month straight in November. It looks terrifying in the pan, in the way of most Illamasqua blushes, and it is very pigmented, but with my trusty MAC 188 you get a surprisingly natural-looking cheek, which of course can be built up for more drama. I don't know if this shade is still available, but it's worth a look if you fancy wintry, plummy cheeks - don't be put off by its vampy appearance in the pan, as it does blend out to a pretty raspberry colour!

Moving on to the next row, we have Hollow cream pigment. Not a blush, but it crept in there any way because I originally bought it for contouring purposes. It's a pretty good colour: a cool brown/taupe, with no hint of red, with a completely matte finish. Certainly closer to the shade I want than MAC Harmony blush. Quite a stiff cream formula, which makes using a brush a bit tricky - fingers are probably best with this, for application if not blending. Charlotte from LipGlossiping has also tried it out as a contour, and wasn't completely convinced. Contouring is definitely something I haven't got the knack/face for personally, and I rarely bother with it on an everyday basis. I also use Hollow alone on the eyes for a very neutral, polished look, if I'm wearing bright lips/cheeks, and it's a pretty good base for other shadows if you so choose.

Morale is one of the brand's two non-matte blushes, released with the Theatre of the Nameless collection last year. The other one is Ambition, a neutral pink, which I don't own (yet). Morale is a very blue-toned pink, almost violet when swatched heavily, which may make it less than ideal for warmer skintones which suit gold/peach shades. This kind of colour has my name written aaaall over it, however, and it's very pretty on the cheeks. The finish is shimmery, not glittery - much as I love Illamasqua's main line of matte blushes, I think this finish is a great variation. I find it very pigmented; however, when my mother used it, she complained it didn't show up on her cream foundation. Since she's also pretty pale, I find this bizarre - in my experience, blush usually sticks more to foundation, especially of the dewy/cream variety, and refuses to blend. Maybe best to get an MUA to apply this over your usual foundation before purchasing. I also find that you get A LOT of powder kicking up when you swirl a brush in this (also true of Katie, but not to the same dramatic extent), which is a shame. Though in my opinion the gorgeous colour alone makes this blush worthwhile!

Lastly, Hussy. Weirdly, I think I've barely worn this since I acquired it. It's a bright, very warm pink, which KarlaSugar aptly describes as "watermelon". Looking at it now, I'm mentally resolving to WEAR THIS when summer comes around - it looks rather lovely! I think it was overshadowed by the more demure Katie when both arrived last summer. It does blend out more red than pink, which is a bit of a shame since the colour in the pan is stunning, but since I wear MAC Frankly Scarlet this shouldn't put me off. Must use more, and see if I can fall in love with it.

While I definitely have no plans to acquire any more matte blushes from the brand (though you know what they say about the best-laid plans), I do have my eye on Ambition, the other shimmery blush. I'd also like to try a colour from the cream blush line - I'll have to pop by Selfridges/the lovely Beak St store at some point to try out the cool pinks (naturally), and maybe the famous Rude. Lies, the pearlescent pink, also looks like it'd be worth a swatch.

And now I will stop fantasising about blush and get back to work! Next up: my two (oh yes, I now have two) NARS blushes.

Till next time,

LL x

Current Wish List

AKA Things I Want to Buy, If Only I Had the Money.

Currently featuring, for the first time ever, a shedload of NARS:

• Lhasa eyeshadow and Valparaiso Pure Matte lipstick from the new Spring collection. Just because. I recently bought Vesuvio Pure Matte lipstick and I love the formula, so probably won't be able to resist buying one or two more.
• Carthage Pure Matte lipstick, although this is a very summery shade so I may be able to hold off for a while! That and the fact I already have lipsticks in this colour, but who's counting?
• And lots of blush: having recently acquired Sin, a gorgeous cool-toned berry with gold shimmer, I now need to try Douceur (raved about by lots of bloggers, including the lovely Estee), Mata Hari, Sex Appeal (I quite like the idea of a blush about as pale as I am, for those bleary mornings when blending is beyond me!), Desire (or Gaiety, the latest release - I love me a bright candy pink!), and the notorious Deep Throat. I realise that is one hell of a lot of blush, oh dear. I'm hoping to sidestep Orgasm, on the grounds of its apparently fairly obnoxious gold glitter, but you never know.

For once, I hardly want anything from MAC - shamefully, I think I own all the permanent eyeshadows and lipsticks that interest me, and I'm not that big on the collections. (Come to think of it, that's a complete lie coming from someone who bought two lipsticks from Iris Apfel and a highlighter from the-collection-with-Lightscapade, the name of which now escapes me.)

• Am debating the merits of acquiring the MSFs in Blonde and/or Redhead from the Naturally collection. Naturally, I need neither.
• Since my beloved No. 7 pressed powder is coming to an end once again, and I have yet to come by a £5 off voucher (how is that possible?), I'm interested in trying the much-feted MSF Natural. However, given my vague knowledge of just how dark the lightest MAC foundation shades are, I'm not optimistic it will be pale enough for me.

And finally, the only thing I'm vaguely coveting from Illamasqua is Belladonna Intense Lipgloss, thanks to the gorgeous Cami. I own two of these, in Follow and Fume (LOUD colours, of course), which I picked up in a sale last summer, and they are stunning - amazingly pigmented, and not sticky at all! Which is a special bonus, since sticky lipgloss reminds me of my fourteen-year-old self's obsession with Lancome Juicy Tubes (do those still exist?).

I'm far too terrified to add up how much that little lot would cost, if I did indeed buy all of it. Ignorance is bliss. I'm not even looking at the other Spring collections (Chanel, Guerlain, just say no). So much for a post-Christmas month of self-denial and frugality.

I will keep you updated on how my errant will-power and I get on this month!

Till next time,

LL x