Swatches/Review + Birthday FOTD: Lise Watier Autumn Millesime Collection

I am so terribly sorry for being MIA for the past couple of weeks. My cousin came to visit me from the UK so I was busy taking her out to explore Vancouver that I haven’t had any time to take photos or blog. She just left today so I will be doing some major catch-up, both blog-related and also personally.

I went to preview Lise Watier’s Millesime collection a few weeks ago, you can see coverage of the collection here. Even though it is a little early for fall, I was really excited to try all of these products because I love the texture of Lise Watier products, so I know these will not disappoint. Today, I have the Eyeshadow Quartet in Les Cognacs, the Kajal (or Kohl) eyeliner in Noir Bleu, and Rouge Gourmand Lipstick in Shiraz to share with you. I also received the Duo Eyeshadow & Glitter in Brown Amber, but I am giving it away in my giveaway, which ends on Saturday!

Swatches from left to right: Eyeshadow Quartet in Les Cognacs, the Kajal (or Kohl) eyeliner in Noir Bleu, and Rouge Gourmand Lipstick in Shiraz.

• Les Cognacs is a warm chocolate-copper palette, the four shades are: shimmery taupe, sheer shimmery white, metallic copper and chocolate with a sheen
• Noir Bleu is a dark navy kohl liner
• Shiraz is a shimmery, deep violet-ruby that looks exactly like the wine!

My birthday was last week and for a night out with my girls, I did this look with my favourite product out of the collection, which is the palette in Les Cognacs. This palette is a beautiful combination of warm chocolates and coppers that is not too warm for my neutral skintone. I created a simple warm smokey look with this palette that is great for a nice dinner.

The other products I used were:

• Face: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B20, Chanel Poudre Universelle
• Cheeks: Chanel Joues Constraste in Rose Petale
• Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, L’Oreal Gel Intenza Eyeliner in Black (a new favourite!), Guerlain Noir G de Guerlain mascara, Ardell lashes in 120.

With UDPP as the primer, the eye makeup did not budge until I got home much later that night. The four different shades in the Les Cognacs palette complement each other perfectly. They also blend very well together, without requiring too much actual blending.

The Millesime collection will be out this August at all Lise Watier counters.

The best sheer glossy lipstick EVER: L’Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Lipcolour

L’Oreal is coming out with all of these amazing products in recent years. First it was the Couleur Infallible eyeshadows, now it’s these Colour Riche Caresse Lipcolours.

I remember when sheer, glossy lipsticks were really “in” in the late 90s, but before they were really dry, had terrible colour payoff and also not that great wear time either. We’re seeing the return of these kinds of lipsticks recently but the formula has improved dramatically. The colours are vibrant, juicy, the formula is moisturizing and long-wearing.

L’Oreal’s newest Colour Riche Caresse Lipcolour comes in 12 different shades and today I have 7 to share my review and swatches with you.

From left to right: 171 Pink Cashmere, 176 Sunset Angora, 172 Blushing Sequin, 174 Rose Taffeta, 179 Cherry Tulle, 175 Violet Chiffon, 173 Velvet Fuchsia.

First, let’s start with the formula. The L’Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Lipcolour formula is super creamy with a good amount of slip for easy application, but very little “running” of the colour. The colour payoff is fantastic; basically you will get what you see in the tube. The colours that they’ve chosen are classic, elegant shades that look good on all skin tones. It also looks classy in that it doesn’t have any glitter, just a very subtle shimmer that is only noticeable in sunlight, but still brings dimension to the lips. When applied, it feels completely weightless, but you still get a wonderful wash of colour.

The shade I tested for wear is my new favourite bright lipstick (and one I highly recommend if you are a little shy with bright colours), 173 Velvet Fuchsia. The glossy sheen wore off with food, which was expected, by the colour/tint lasted until I removed it at night, which was about 6-7 hours later, and only by using oil-based remover. Hence, this is a pretty long-wearing formula.

To be honest, I am kind of a lipstick brat, in that I pretty much wear high-end lipsticks 99% of the time, but I find myself reaching for these for and more because they really do compare, formula-wise, to my high-end lipsticks, specifically my Rouge Coco Shines and the Guerlain Rouge G le Brillants of my collection. Not to mention you save something like 60-80%.

The only thing that bothers me about these lipsticks is the packaging. The quality control of the packaging is not great because some of them feel wobbly, as in it feels like the actual tube of lipstick might fall out of the packaging. But I did a shake test and nothing came out, but it’s just worth noting.

L’Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Lipcolour are available in stores in July 2012 for an affordable price of just $12.99. Grab them while you can because I can see these flying off the shelves!

Swatches/Review: L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in 021 Sahara Treasure, 027 Goldmine & 024 Bronze Goddess

I received these new L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in 021 Sahara Treasure, 027 Goldmine and 024 Bronze Goddess from the L’Or L’Or L’Or collection from a love package from Vicky. Of course I had to try them right away because of all the raving that these shades have been getting on the blogsphere, and I must say they live up to those raves.

• 021 Sahara Treasure is a shimmery taupe with a white-gold sheen.
• 027 Goldmine is a sheer cool-toned gold with some larger gold glitter. This shade of gold should look good on any skintone (unless you were very, very warm) as it leans cooler and not as yellow as traditional golds.
• 024 Bronze Goddess is a dark olive-bronze with gold sheen.

The quality of these shades are incredible. They are very, very soft and creamy, and with the exception of Goldmine, also super pigmented. My favourite is Bronze Goddess as it reminds me of an eyeshadow version of Dior Czarina Gold from last year’s Dior holiday collection, which is another one of my favourites. Goldmine is much sheerer and more powdery compared to Sahara Treasure and Bronze Goddess, which are more creamy than powdery. I haven’t worn them yet but from my experience with these eyeshadows, they should be easy to apply and blend with fingers. You will probably experience fallout with Goldmine, but Sahara Treasure and Bronze Goddess should be treats to blend on the eyelid.

Overall I think these are great eyeshadows to add to your stash. You can see high resolution swatches of the rest of the L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow here.

A little off-focus so you can see the shimmer

Review: L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara in Blackest Black

(Sorry I threw away the packaging before I taking photos… fail)

What L’Oreal says about this mascara:

For lashes that look a million times multiplied and perfectly defined, there’s only one mascara – NEW Voluminous® Million Lashes™. The built-in Clean Sweep Wiping System wipes the brush free of clumps leaving the perfect amount of mascara for an ultra-volumized clean lash look. The Millionizing Brush evenly thickens lashes from root to tip. The result? Lashes look so multiplied, so clean, it’s like seeing millions. Ophthalmologist-tested and allergy-tested. Suitable for sensitive eyes an contact len wearers.Clump-free. Fragrance-free.

This mascara is good at volumizing but it can do a little better on lengthening. Because the formula is wet, you can apply as many coats as you wish, and I usually have to do 3 or so before I get the volume that I want. However because it is so wet, it does not hold up a curl at all. I curl it and then it just droops after the first full coat.

I like the brush, it separates my lashes and prevents clumping, no matter how many coats I put on. The only problem was that the bristles were a little too long for my liking, which made the mascara go on my eye lid too, no matter how hard to tried to prevent that from happening. If the spikes were a little shorter, I would like it more.

After about 3-4 hours it will transfer onto my under eye area, but it is not that obvious because it doesn’t flake off. This should be pretty easy to solve with a coat of Clarins Double Fix mascara.

Overall I find this a good “natural” mascara when you don’t want something too dramatic but you still need something there to frame your eyes. It is easy to use and low-maintenance because you don’t need to comb out your lashes afterwards or worry about clumping. I will probably use this for work in the morning when I need something easier to use.

Bare lashes:

In these photos I am wearing about 3 coats of mascara, no mascara base, and lashes have been curled prior to application:

My 1st video tutorial: how to create a bold eye look with L’Oreal Color Infallible Eyeshadows

I’ve uploaded my first ever video tutorial!! I’m super excited. I hope you will find this useful and then I can make more. I’m kind of addicted to editing videos now even though the road to getting this one published was long and hard. You can watch this in up to 1080p HD on the Youtube page.

Please share this video with your friends! Also please try to comment as much as possible or like the video to help me win a trip to LG Fashion Week in Toronto. Part of the judging is based on the number of views and comments, so I would really appreciate it if you can help me out! THANK YOU!!

You can see high resolution swatches and photos of all the ones I received here.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments through the Youtube page, please! They judge based on the number of comments/views as well as the overall quality of the video.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing your comments =)