A Winter haul

No need to justify myself for the following purchases-
but if someone asks, they were mere necessities!

Mac Russian Red lipstick: there would be no Christmas for me this year without a nice red lipstick in my collection! What more can I say, I'm sure you're already accustomed with this shade from Youtube and beauty blogs... This is going to be my lipstick for new Year's Eve!

Tweezers by Elegant Touch: clearly an upgrade from my previous tweezers- which I've lost somewhere!!! Can't believe my forgetfulness,
I never lose things! *insert grumpy face*


TBS Shimmer Cubes palette #21: ever since my friend Tina suggested this palette looked similar to Chanel Regard Perle eyeshadow palette, I had to have it. Now I don't have the Chanel quad to compare it with, but I'm quite happy with my purchase. The top right champagne shade has a pink duochrome in it, so pretty!

Skincare wise, my purchases were equally as planned:

Avene gentle eye makeup remover: I'm a believer in gel eye makeup removers, as they can coat the lashes and dissolve all traces of mascara; and after my trusty Yves Rocher gel eye makeup remover got sadly discontinued (sob sob!), I had to look around and find a replacement. We'll see how this one performs...

TBS Aloe calming facial cleanser: I know I'm repeating myself, but I have to point out once again that the Aloe range from the Body Shop is so underestimated. The formulas are very gentle so they won't aggravate your skin, plus they contain the least amount of preservatives so they have a shorter shelf life. Let alone that they are rich in aloe vera gel, as it always comes first or second in the products' ingredients list ;)

Vaseline petroleum jelly: isn't it so glamorous, to browse the Hondos Center isles trying to locate that tube of petroleum jelly- I even had some strange looks by some shop assistants :/ But I had to get it, my skin wasn't getting any better since my overexfoliating experience and I was in need of a good heavy-duty barrier.

Anything you bought recently? Do share!
xx

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November 2011 favourites!

My my, how time flies by!
I can't believe it's December already; it doesn't feel like it, I'll tell you that... I mean, it hasn't rained for weeks and it's not that chilly yet; so when are we gonna get snow? There's no Christmas without snow, dammit!

Ok, rant over...
On to my November favourites:

Seventeen Waterproof lipliner, shade Pure Red: until I got my hands on Russian Red, I settled on this one. By the way, I find the greek "drugstore" lip pencils to be of excellent quality, give them a try if you're in need for one!

(p.s.: oh yes, Russian Red is crossed out of my X-mas list! hehe)

Elf Studio Matte lip colour, shade Natural: a pretty matte nude

"office-appropriate" lipstick that I used a lot in my morning makeup routine. Doesn't feel dry at all, and to be honest it makes my lips look fuller than good old lipgloss ;)

TBS Baked eye colour, shade Sapphire: my go-to choice for a navy smokey eye during past month. The thing is, I came to the wrong conclusion that baked eyeshadows photograph so much nicely than the regular pressed eyeshadows- but, after seeing the latest Pixiwoo vid, I realised it wasn't the baked formula that was to blame but the light coordinating shade blended in the crease. I urge you to try this method instead of blending the dark lid colour with your usual light brown shade, you'll be amazed by how much nicer it looks in photographs!

    Swatches from left to right: Seventeen lip liner, Elf Matte lip colour,
    Elf Celebrity eyeshadow, TBS Sapphire baked eyeshadow duo

Elf Mineral eyeshadow, shade Celebrity: when I first opened this little pot, instantly a contemporary makeup icon came to mind: JLo. This is THE most perfect shade to achieve that JLo look- both in terms of colour (golden light brown) and shimmer (sparkly but not glittery, almost metallic). Like all loose pigments, it creases after a good 5hour wear-
but who cares? Seriously, everyone should own Celebrity!

Dior Amber Diamond shimmer powder: my precious... My collection of highlighters is complete with this baby. Although after using it a lot the last couple of weeks, I noticed it looks "too much" for daytime wear- but it has that depth that enables me to pair it with a nice bronzer and just skip blush altogether.

I also popped into H&M and among other things, I bought these cute lipbalm tins with Disney's Bambi on the front- love the packaging and their scent, hate to admit that they dry out my lips so bad! Thank goodness for Apivita balms, they always come to my rescue...

So, what have you been loving during November?

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Yves Saint Laurent Noël 2011 makeup collection

Last week in Attica Department Store, an interesting event took place: Fred Letailleur, European makeup artist for YSL, presented the new Yves Saint Laurent makeup collection for this Christmas, notably named

"Look Noël".

And I must say, I was charmed.

First and foremost, the makeup collection itself is indeed so inspiring; it captures the essense of the iconic YSL black tuxedo and all the fine fabrics that create different shades of black. Me, being a total-black-outfit fanatic, I fell for it right away.

The most exciting product of this makeup collection is the LE Black Tuxedo eyeshadow palette that contains 4 variations of black and a shimmering white in the middle. Wrapped around this palette is a black YSL "belt" that you can actually wear as a wrist cuff ;)

Other LE products in this collection: the White Tuxedo palette (complexion illuminator with silver, pink and violet hues) and the Black Manicure duo (one matte and one glossy).

The Noël makeup collection is completed with a few products from the YSL permanent makeup range, as shown below:

Personally, if I was to grab just one product from this collection, it would have to be the Black Tuxedo eyeshadow palette (slightly biased cause of the black wrist cuff, can you blame me?); the White Tuxedo didn't catch my fancy- I'd rather have a golden highlighter than a cool-toned powder. And I think I can dupe the black manicure shown on the promo pics with cheaper nail polishes, hehe

As for the rest non-LE products, my eyes were drawn to the new Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks- if you're a lipstick lover like me, let me tell you that you won't find such bold and yet sophisticated shades at Mac, and that's a fact; see, I could easily imagine a mature lady wearing the YSL #39 purple lipstick, but in no way could she go out of the house wearing Mac's Violetta...
I decided to wait for everyone else in the blogosphere to have their go on the Rouge Pur Coutures, so then I can do my homework with their swatches and pick out my favourite ;)



Fred Letailleur was so lovely!!! I wasn't expecting a world renowned makeup artist to be so down to earth and kind with all the inquiring people surrounding him and just... cute! Only thing I wanted was to pinch his cheeks! Aww...



He did 2 makeup looks on gorgeous models Adela and Katerina; I managed to take notes of his invaluable tips, so here they are:

* It's best to start with the most dramatic aspect on your makeup- be it a dark smokey eye or a vampy lip, so that you can adjust the rest of the makeup accordingly without overdoing it
* To make a smokey eye look more modern, it's best to bring the focus to the eyeshadow shape dragging it towards the temples, than to apply lots and lots of black eyeliner around the eye
* For an understated cheek, all you have to do is to use a darker shade of Touche Eclat to contour under the cheekbones, and apply a shimmering powder high on the cheeks in a "C" shape
* And as for lips, plum is the new red for this season (so true!)

All in all, it was an enjoyable event and I did get closer to the brand- although I have to say I feel like I've betrayed myself for enjoying a LE makeup collection... No, my feelings haven't shifted 180 degrees- I'm still not loving the fact that you can't repurchase a LE product, but I came to realise that such makeup collections are there not only to sell-sell-sell, but to inspire as well.

It's the same as with high fashion shows- you may not always be able to afford all the outfits worn at the catwalk, but they sure serve as a style inspiration. Non?

So, what are your thoughts on this YSL makeup collection?

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Mac Paintpot in Painterly

I've had this product for the past 6 months and I can wholeheartedly say that I love it to bits.

So much so that it might just make it to my HGs list!

Painterly is the most popular shade among all Paintpots by Mac, so I won't go into much detail describing its colour; we're dealing with a pink-toned creamy eyeshadow primer. And that's that.

Is it effective at keeping the eye makeup crease-free?
Definitely, 100% yes! Although to be honest, in occasions I keep my makeup on for more than 5-6 hours, I can still see a miiinor creasing- but that's so little that I really don't mind.

If you want to use Painterly Paintpot at its full potential, there are a couple of things you should take into consideration:

* Before application, you have to make sure that your eyelids are clean- traces of last night's eye makeup, leftovers from greasy eye makeup removers and skin oiliness in general, all have to be wiped away before applying Painterly. It's a simple rule but makes all the difference to prevent eyeshadow from creasing!

* The way I found best to apply it is this: rub a finger into the product, pat (not drag) on the lid and lightly blend with a clean finger. This way you won't get too much product which can then lead to creasing.

* Make sure that you screw the cap ever so tightly after usage and by no means should you leave the product with the cap off, otherwise it will dry out fast... But as I said in the beginning, I've had my Painterly for 6 months and the texture hasn't altered a bit, although you can see that the product has "shrinked" inside the pot.

Compared with my former beloved Art Deco eyeshadow base, as much as I love the affordability of the Art Deco primer, Painterly has to be the winner. The Art Deco primer offers no coverage (boo!!!) and has that sparkle that can show through a matte eyeshadow look, messing it up completely. And it also dries in the pot much quicker than Painterly.

So, have you tried Painterly or other Paintpots by Mac?
Which is your favourite eyeshadow primer- ever?

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