Oooh, Penhaligon’s are teasing us again, this time with a new women’s fragrance ‘Amaranthine’…

Penhaligon's Amaranthine

Penhaligon's Amaranthine

Penhaligon’s describe it as “a corrupted floral oriental for those private moments when everything is anticipation. It opens with a dramatic flourish of spices and tropical green. This unsettling lick of drama is beautifully ambushed by an unctuous accord of jasmine and ylang-ylang, a heady bloom known for its aphrodisiac properties and clove swathed in spices, tea, musk and the rounded beauty of tonka bean absolute”.

Amaranthine will be launched on 12 October, available from Penhaligon’s shops and www.penhaligons.com

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Nivea Visage Extra Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover

Nivea Visage Extra Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover

It seems to be so hard to find a good eye make-up remover – we kept seeing Nivea’s Extra Gentle remover in the supermarkets, so decided to give it a try.

As a budget remover we feel this is not too bad, but we did have a couple of niggles – despite being ‘extra gentle’ and suitable for contact lens wearers, it did sting the eyes a little which made it uncomfortable to use.  It also wasn’t particularly refreshing, which (rightly or wrongly) we feel an eye make-up remover should do.

As far as removing make-up goes, it is very good, though some waterproof mascaras needed more than two or three applications to remove it.  However Nivea do have a separate waterproof eye make-up remover in the Visage range.

Overall, a good budget remover, just a little disappointing.

Available from:
Asda
Boots
Ocado
Sainsburys
Superdrug
Tesco
Waitrose

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We’ve got bit of a thing for shimmer at beautyreviews, so got really excited about this product…

Benefit Cosmetics Hollywood Glo

Benefit Cosmetics Hollywood Glo

There’s lots of shimmer to it and it has a bronze tint, but it suits most skin tones – as long as you don’t over-do it!  A little will make a lot of shimmer, so dab on sparingly for the best look.  It’s best used as a highlighter on the cheekbones, rather than all over.

We also like it when mixed with a liquid foundation, such as Clinique’s Superbalanced Make-up or Avon’s Ideal Shade – it seems to give a more radiant look.

One problem we had was getting it out of the bottle – as with most of the Benefit products this has fabulous packaging and the bottle looks great on the dressing table, but it’s really not liquid enough to be in a bottle, we’d have preferred a jar.

Sadly no longer part of the Benefit range, check out online discount make-up site, such as CheapSmells

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Barbara Daly make-up was delighted to collaborate with renowned women’s wear designer, Amanda Wakeley, at London Fashion Week 2009 at her show on Tuesday 22nd September 2009.

Leading make-up artist Sharon Dowsett used Barbara Daly make-up to create a beautifully dramatic look that took inspiration from an Indian Summer (a nod to the numerous spicy tones and luxurious silky drapery used in Amanda’s palette); a neutral dewy base set off striking smoky eyes and defined eyebrows which was paired with a warm nude lip and cool nude nails.

Barbara Daly's make-up at Amanda Wakeley Show

Barbara Daly's make-up at Amanda Wakeley Show

Sharon commented:  “I am delighted to be collaborating with Barbara Daly make-up – the products are fantastic, particularly Face Lift, the Eye Pencils and High Impact Mascara, they have helped me to create a beautiful look for today’s show.”

The Look – How it was Created:

The Base
Sharon started the look with a slick of Face Lift to give the model’s skin a beautifully luminous, dewy appearance (the use of this product was a personal tip off from Amanda Wakeley herself), she then progressed to prep the skin with Moisture Foundation and Concealer (depending on the coverage needed for the individual model). Cheek-to-cheek Bronzer was then used to highlight the cheek bone and shade underneath (using the two shades in the bronzer). Once the base was finished with a sweep of the Super Sheer Loose Powder, Sharon and her eight strong team started on the smoky eye.

The Eyes
Eye Pencil in Dark Brown was used to contour the eye around the upper and lower lashes and out into the inner and outer corner of the eye, Eye Shadow in Smoke and the Designer Eyes Trio in Graphite was then used to shade the eye socket with a clear space left between the socket and the brow. The eye was finished off with two coats of High Impact Mascara in black (which the models loved and begged the make-up team to let them keep). Strong brows were created using the Eye Brow Pencil in Fair or Dark (depending on the model’s colouring) and finished with a slick of Smudge-Proof Mascara in Brown (the moussy texture was perfect for this purpose).

The Lips

Nude lips were created with the Lip Pencil in Fig contouring the lip followed by Lipstick in Naturelle filling in the rest of the lip.

The Nails
Nail technician Liza Smith and team used a cocktail of Barbara Daly make-up nail colours (a mix of Whimsy – a stone colour, Sweetie – a pinky neutral, Tattoo – a deep navy blue and Clear Top Coat) to create a bespoke  cool neutral to paint the model’s finger and toe nails that perfectly complemented the make-up and Amanda’s collection.

The Barbara Daly make-up products used to create the look were:

  • Face Life Moisturiser (used as foundation on most models to create dewy skin)
  • Moisture Foundation
  • Cheek-to-Cheek Bronzer
  • Eye Shadow – Smoke
  • Designer Eyes Trio – Graphite
  • Eye Pencil – Dark Brown and Black
  • Eye Define – Brown
  • Light Effect Concealer Pen
  • High Impact Mascara – Black
  • Smudge-proof Mascara – Brown (for eyebrows – Sharon recommends that the moussey texture makes it great for eyebrows)
  • Eye Brow Pencil – Light and dark
  • Lip Pencil – Fig
  • Lipstick – Naturelle
  • Nail Colour (a cocktail of Whimsy, Sweetie, Tattoo and Clear Top Coat)

The Barbara Daly make-up range is available from larger Tesco stores.

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19-27 September 2009 is National Eczema Week

Eczema is a common, non-contagious skin condition which can be aggravated by many beauty and bodycare products – Liz Earle’s range of skincare and bodycare can really help ease the discomfort of eczema and they have published an excellent factsheet on their website to help identify the symptoms, how to care for your skin and who to contact for advice.

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