New Lancome L'Absolu Nu Lipstick in Rose Ideal

After posting my lipstick filled March haul, I found that the new Lancome L'Absolu Nu lipsticks have just been released in selected stores around the UK. I bought mine from John Lewis for ~£19.

Provocatively radiant and irresistibly lightweight, this moisture-replenishing colour embraces your lips in soft shine lustre - sounds great doesn't it?


The packaging is really pretty. Black with light grey outlines of roses. On the top is the signature Lancome rose in silver. A great thing about this packaging is that it's super user friendly. It's easy to open, and shuts with a magnetic 'click'.

There were 12 shades to choose from, and I selected no. 302 Rose Ideal. The lipstick itself is imprinted with the Lancome rose. This shade is a super pretty rose pink.

Here are a couple of swatches of this shade. Without flash:

With flash:

The lipstick on my lips:

Like other Lancome lipsticks, this one has a strong rose scent. The scent is very apparent when applying, but i don't tend to notice it after that.

The texture of this lipstick is really light. They are less sheer and glossy than the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines, but I'm in love with the texture and colour payoff. The lipstick is super smooth and glides on easily to the lips. It contains tiny particles of shimmer to reflect the light for a more radiant look.

Dior Capture Totale High Definition Radiance Loose Powder Review

I'm a huge fan of Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Fresh Powder Makeup, and wanted to find something similar but with less coverage and more glow. I try not to use too many products on my easily irritated skin, so I was looking for a light loose powder that I could dust over my skin whenever my skin looked a bit shiny or if my skin needed a little radiance boost.

I was given the Dior Capture Totale High Definition Radiance Loose Powder as a gift, and it ticked all the boxes; a loose powder which gives radiance to the skin.

According to Dior:

The 1st Dior 'radiance powder' created from a unique blend of HD Liquid Crystal Pigments and Aminolumine, the star ingredient of the CAPTURE TOTALE skincare line, to deeply reactivate the luminosity of the complextion. Applied with the powder puff of brush over foundation or directly after your Capture Totalte skincare, it embellishes makeup, optically smoothes the skin and reveals 'high-definition' radiance.

Its slightly rose universal shade adapts to every skin tone to provide a sheer touch of freshness.

The price is high-end at around £45, but you do get quite a lot of product and it does last a very long time. The outer packaging looks very luxurious shiny silver coloured box.

The powder is housed in a very study, good quality clear tub with pearly silvery-lavender lid.

I was happy to see a mini flat brush included as well as small silky soft powder puff.

The sweet looking brush has a silver coloured semi-circular handle. The bristles of the brush a super dense, but does not feel very soft on the skin.

The powder only comes in one shade: Rose Lumiere/Bright Light 001

It's a really pretty light peachy/pink beige. The powder is very fine and soft.

List of ingredients

My thoughts:

Texture

I love the texture of this powder. It's so fine, and silky soft. It feels really weightless and fresh on the skin, and it feels like I'm not wearing any makeup.

Coverage

This powder has little to no coverage as it's a radiance boosting loose powder. It contains very tiny particles of shimmer which you have to look very closely in bright light to see. I love that the shimmer is so subtle as I don't look good with an overly shimmer face. It has good oil control and would be perfect for setting makeup.

Finish

Due to the subtle shimmer, the powder gives a nice radiant finish to the skin. Though the radiance is not hugely obvious, I did notice my skin to be brighter and my skintone to be slightly more even. On top of foundation, this powder gives a flawless, bright look to the skin.

Here is my naked skin without the powder:

It needs some oil control, and a bit of brightening. I really like the natural look, and use this powder on its own.

So here are some pics of the powder on top of moisturised skin:

The powder evens out my skintone, and makes it less grey looking. It also gives the skin a brighter look and a soft-focused glow.

Pros:

-comes with both powder puff and brush

-lightweight and silky soft on the skin

-good oil control

-gives skin a radiance and glow

-shimmer is very sutble, and not glittery

-comes in a big tub, and a little of the product goes a long way

Cons:

- expensive

-bristles of the brush is not silky soft

March Haul; New Chanel Rouge Coco Shine, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Shadow etc

My resolution to not spend too much on products has completely fallen flat again this month. The good news is that I have finally found a skincare routine that suits me perfectly, so I'm no longer shopping for skincare items (apart from the hunt for the perfect anti-ageing serum).

Which brings us onto my March Beauty Haul. First up are the new Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks. I bought two shades in; Boy and Rivage.

I've been searching for lightly pigmented, glossy, natural looking lipsticks and have found them in the Rouge Coco Shine range. These lipsticks are all of the above. They feel really moisturising on the lips, like lip balm.

Here are some swatches of the two shades. Boy (left) is a light pinkish rose, and Rivage is a fresh peach.

Boy on the lips. This is my favourite of the two:

Rivage:

I usually focus on blush, but this time month I've gone lip crazy and also bought a lipstick from YSL's Bohemian Chic Spring Collection; Rouge Pur Couture 23 Corail Poetique.

It's not a colour I would usually go for, and it's unlike and lipstick I've ever owned. I decided to try out a peached toned lipstick to see if it would suit me.

The shade is a light peachy-coral and the texture is nice and creamy. Below are swatches on my lips in 2 different lighting:

I really love this shade. It's so pretty, yet a subtle colour. I have been wearing it loads eversince I purchased it.

I'm a huge fan of the Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Fresh Powder Makeup, especially for the great dewy glow it gives my skin. I was on the hunt for something similar, but with little to no coverage - something to blot excess shine in the summer while making my skin look radiant.

I was therefore really tempted to try their Capture Totale High Definition Radiance Loose Powder, said to give an even higher amount of radiance to the skin.

This powder comes with both a powder puff and a flat brush, so you apply the powder in two different ways.

It only comes in one shade; Bright Light (a pale beige):

I also bought a couple of the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Shadow, and a smudge brush to help apply them.

These are waterproof shadow pencils, and I bought them in Wasteland and Rehab.

Wasteland is a cool dark brown shade, and Rehab is a beautiful taupe. These shadow pencils are super easy to apply (but difficult to blend as they become quite stubborn to shift 10 seconds after application).

The brush is excellent for smudging eye shadow, and especially great for these shadow pencils as well as cream shadows.

Well, that's my haul for March! Here's hoping that I show some sort of self control in April.

*Don't forget to enter my first Giveaway here!*

My First Giveaway!

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Illamasqua Cream Blush Lies - My HG Highlighter

Hi everyone, here is a quick post on my favourite highlighting product; Illamasqua Cream Blush in Lies. This blush costs £16.50. I use this product on my cheekbones to give them more definition.

The packaging is a rather boxy plastic black case with a clear window to see the product.

You get quite a lot of product for £16.50. A little of this goes a very long way, so this highlighter would last a long time. I've had this product since the end of last year, and there's still so much of it left. The product itself is very sheer and creamy. I love the texture and consistency. It feels light as air and smooth as silk on my skin.

The shade is described as a pearlescent cool pink. It's a really subtle shade with super fine shimmers, hence great for highlighting!

I use my Illamasqua Blusher Brush 2 to apply this highlight. As the product is a cream rather than a powder, I find this brush to be perfect in picking up just the right amount of highlight. The bristles are extremely soft and the highlight just glides easily onto my skin. I love this brush as it's great for use with powder blushes too.

Here is a swatch of the highlight on my skin. It's partially blended in the pic below, so you can have a feel for what the colour is like. It really is a really pretty pink shimmer.

Here is the highlight fully blended. It gives a lovely dewy shimmer to my skin.

And finally, here is an old FOTD of my using the highlight on my cheekbones, on top of blush.

Pros:

- pretty pink shade

- gives a great dewy highlight to cheekbones

- feels light and silky on the skin

- product lasts a long time

Cons:

- chunky packaging

Before I finish, I'm sure you've all heard about the devastation in Japan. Please pray for them all. My husband and I are huge fans of Japan. We find the country so beautiful, the people so wonderful and dedicated in every little thing they do. Most of all, we love their culture. It's so sad to see such a beautiful country suffer such destruction.