Dior Garden Party Haul; Garden Clutch & Rosy Glow

I already find it difficult to resist buying new makeup, but always find it near impossible to stay clear of Spring Limited Edition products. Spring makeup generally consists of my favourite makeup shades; romantic fresh pastels as well as colours inspired by florals.

A strong case in point would be Dior's Spring 2012 Garden Party Collection, inspired by Christian Dior's garden in Granville, Normandy. The 2 products from this collection I could not resist were the Garden Clutch and Rosy Glow blush.

Dior Garden Clutch 002 Granville Garden

Makeup Palette for Glowing Eyes and Lips. Eyeshadows and Lip Gloss.

'A pale pink case with a delicate woven decoration, and two silver-plated rosebud clasps: The Dior Garden Clutch is a precious accessory inspired by Dior's jewellery-making expertise.

The case opens to reveal the must-haves for fresh, radiant eyes and lips: three eyeshadow shades to light up and emphasise the eyes and two lip glosses, one to enhance the lips, the other to give them color.'

I hope you can see why I found this difficult to resist. I adore the cute clutch packaging, with two roses acting as a clasp.

I chose Granville Garden 002. It comes with; 3 eyeshadow shades (taupe brown, champagne pink and mint green), 2 lip shades (one Lip Maximizer and the other an Ultra Gloss), and a double ended applicator brush. The 2 lip shades are in the hidden compartment protected by any stray eyeshadow powder.

The shadows are embossed with a smattering of roses.

A view of the lip gloss shades. They are very sheer and glossy. So sheer in fact, that I could not take a decent picture of the swatches. However, allow me to redirect you to fruitylashes who has an amazing swatch of the lip glosses for those of you who are interested.

Swatches of the eyeshadows. Each shade contains fine satin-like shimmer.

Dior Rosy Glow 001 Petal

Healthy Glow Awakening Blush.

'Dior creates its first blush that enhances your unique cheek color for an ultra-natural and customized healthy glow effect. Rosy Glow intuitively adjusts to the moisture of each skin to make the cheeks blush with delight, as if revitalized with a breath of fresh air. Its ultra-fine powder texture and its irresistible rose fragrance offer a moment of pure indulgence with each application.'

I love makeup that reacts with the individual's skin for a customized effect. This is usually found in lip products, so I was very happy to come across one for the cheeks - and in powder from too.

The blush itself looks beautiful. Embossed with 'Dior' all over it, it looks a very bright, very vibrant bubblegum pink. (Please note: Due to poor lighting conditions, the blush actually looks a lot brighter in real life!)

A close up of the blush.

On my skin, the blush does not actually look as bright (which to me was a bit of a relief). Instead it turned a soft pink with slight red undertone.

What I love best about this blush is that it gives the skin a lovely radiant glow. Cheeks look instantly brighter, a whole lot pinker, and looks fresh and healthy-looking too.

*Tip: I always make the mistake of putting too much of this one, and after a minute or two of reacting my my skin it becomes its customized shade and I've realized -too late- that I have applied too much on. So apply only a tiny bit, wait to see what colour it changes too, and only then apply a bit more if needed. *

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

Valentine's Inspired FOTD and OOTD using Jill Stuart Blush Blossom 03

Hi everyone! Valentine's day is coming up soon, so I've done a Valentine's Inspired FOTD for the occasion! I aimed for a soft, romantic look using lots of peaches and pinks.

Products Used:

Face

Vichy Aera Mineral BB Cream

Jill Stuart Blush Blossom 03 Lady Amaryllis

Eyes

Maybelline Eye Quad in Autumn Spirit

Collection 2000 Extreme Eye Liner

Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara

Lips

Dior Lipstick in Rose Chic

I wanted soft, fluttery lashes, so I chose to use my favourite Max Factor's False Lash Effect Mascara.

I used my new Vichy BB Cream to even out my skintone. The BB cream is super sheer and light. I wanted soft, pretty peachy-pink cheeks for the romantic look. I applied my Jill Stuart Blush Blossom in 03, using the two colours blended together. I used my new Dior lipcolour in Pink Chic for pink lips.

Below is my very first Outfit of the day (OOTD). It's what I would wear to a Valentine's dinner if only the weather was nice and warm! I must apologise for the bad quality. I had my camera at the complete wrong setting! I see a lot of girl with really nice OOTD poses. In my pics, I'm just standing there, so I'm sorry for the lack of poses:

a) my full-length mirror is between my show collection and my wardrobe, so there's not much room to move

b) I really can't pose

My dress is from a small boutique in Bangsar Baru, KL which I bought last year. It has a silver-bronze detailing around the neckline, which you can see in my FOTD pics. My nude shoes are from Dune. Before I go, I want to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day for Monday!

Bright Cheeks, Pink Lips FOTD (using Chanel Rouge Allure Gloss in Imaginaire)

Hi everyone, for today's FOTD I focused mainly on the cheeks. It's miserable and cold outside, so I chose to use a cheerful peachy-pink shade of blush to brighten things up.

My blusher of choice is Illamasqua's Temble. It's a gorgeous bright colour. Like all Illamasqua's blush, it's heavily pigmented so I have to be careful not to have too heavy handed application.

I kept the eyes simple using black eyeshadow as liner, topped with a shade of natural brown on the upper eyelids.




On my lips, I used a pale cotton candy pink gloss. I'm loving the new Chanel Rouge Allure Gloss in Imaginaire at the moment.

Products Used

Face:

Pail and Joe Moisurizing Foundation Primer, 03

Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Fresh Powder Makeup, 020

Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen, 002 as concealer

Illamasqua Blush, Tremble

Eyes:

17 Eyes, In The Nude

Mac Carbon as Eyeliner

YSL Faux Cils Mascara

Lips:

Chanel Rouge Allure Gloss, Imaginaire

I don't really suit light pink gloss, as most shades wash out my complexion. The Chanel gloss deosn't seem to though, which is why I love it so much! I would love to try some milky beige coloured lip glosses.

Chanel Lip Glosses & Mini Lip Haul from Dior Spring 2011

Hi everyone! I've got lip crazy lately, so here is a post on my last 2 months worth of lip haul (Five lip products in total! - I have to now self-impose a lipstick ban).

I bought the Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Emoi and Imaginaire. These were bought at the airport on my recent trip to Malaysia.

The glosses have a new wedge-shaped applicator which was soft and springy on the lips.

Emoi is my favourite of the two. It's a reddish-plum colour that looks quite bold swatched on the hand, but it looks more sheer and pinkish when applied on the lips. Imaginaire is a pale, milky pink (my first pale pink lip gloss!)

Here are my lip swatches. Emoi:

Imaginaire:

Also from Chanel, I bought one of their new Spring 2011 lipsticks. Rouge Allure in Coquette. This lipstick has a pinkish-peach shade.

Here's a swatch of it on my hand:

and on my lips:

(I have to apologise for the bad swatch, it doesn't do the lipstick justice! I ran out of natural sunlight..)

I also got two lipsticks from the Dior Spring 2011 Collection.

I bought Serum de Rouge in Pinky Mauve Serum:

and Lipcolour in Chic Pink:

Swatches of Pinky Mauve (left) and Pink Chic (right):

Swatch of pinky mauve on my lips. It's a very shiney pale pink colour:

I completely forgot to take a lip swatch of Pink Chic, but here is an FOTD with it on my lips: