Here’s lookin at you kid- NARS Casablanca lipstick swatches and review

NARS Casablanca lipstick. Orange coral lippy

NARS Casablanca (satin finish) lipstick

NARS Casablanca is one of my favourite lipsticks, but one that has been neglected for a long time, probably due to my recent lip product buying spree. Whenever I ‘rediscover’ my NARS products I always fall in love all over again. NARS makes some pretty amazing lipsticks with a great colour selection, which manages to be unique but so flattering at the same time.

Colour:

Casablanca is described as ‘classic full bodied coral’ on the NARS website, but I feel it is more of a creamy orange with terracotta undertones. It is around medium opacity. When it wears off it leaves a lovely peachy stain on the lips which counteracts the purplish tones of my lips and gives them a healthy ‘I’ve-never-even-heard-of-red wine-or-cigarettes’ look.

Texture:

Casablanca is a satin finish lipstick, which is neither moisturizing nor drying on my lips. It has excellent staying power for a light coloured lipstick, around 4hrs on me.

swatches from left: YSL tuxedo pink, MAC See Sheer, NARS Casablanca

NARS Casablanca lipstick swatched on lips

Me wearing NARS Casablanca on lips (I applied lip balm first, which is why it looks a little glossy)

One of these days I’m going to see this film….

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in 1942 film ‘Casablanca’

Have you tried NARS lip products? What are your favourites?

Posted by myfunnyvalentine on Feb 28th, 2011 in Lipstick, NARS, Reviews, Swatches | 2comments

Lime Crime Magic Dusts Medusa and Nymph: review and swatches

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Hi all!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. On Saturday night a few of us watched the Rocky Horror Picture show on Anastasia and Jamie’s new (massive) flat screen TV. Tim Curry was magnificent as Frank N. Furter, managing to be both deeply disturbing, and surprisingly likeable at the same time.

While I was watching the film, my thoughts turned to his makeup (a beauty blogger never stops being a beauty blogger LOL). If the film was remade today, I reckon that Frank N. Furter would be sporting Lime Crime on his lids- specifically, the shade ‘Medusa’.

Now, onto the review! I was very kindly sent some Lime Crime Magic Dust loose eye shadows, as well as their Candy Eyed Eye Shadow Helper (eye primer) to try. I’ve heard so many great things about the brand, and I’m not disappointed!

lime crime magic dust nymph and medusa product photos

Lime Crime Magic Eye Dust ‘Nymph’ (left) and ‘Medusa’ (right). Candy Eyed eyeshadow helper (above)

Lime Crime Magic Eye Dust ‘Medusa’

lime crime magic dust eye shadow in nympth white with gold opalescence

Lime Crime Magic Eye Dust ‘Nymph’

Medusa: This is an intense gunmetal black infused with a midnight blue sheen (the blue sheen is much more obvious on arm swatches than it is when applied on the eye, even wet). Very pigmented.

Nymph: a very pretty white base with cool gold opalescent shimmer. Moderately pigmented.

lime crime magic dusts swatched medusa and nymph

Lime Crime Magic Dust swatched dry from left: Medusa, Nymph

Lime Crime Magic Dust in Nymph swatched dry (left) and wet (right)

Lime Crime Magic Eye Dust ‘Medusa’ swatched wet (left) and dry (right)

And this is what Medusa looks applied all over the top lid. As you can see, the blue sheen is much more subtle when the shadow is applied on the eye, and the texture of Medusa is more satin than shimmer.

This is Nymph applied to the top lid. I have used MAC Omega to blend out the colour into the crease.

Have you tried anything from Lime Crime? I really want to try their ‘Retrofuturist’ lipstick…

(edit): A couple of you have asked about the eye shadow primer- I will definitely do a review on it once I’ve given it a good run. It will be up most likely in the next fortnight, so watch this space!

note: these products were sent by PR for consideration.

Posted by myfunnyvalentine on Feb 28th, 2011 in Eye shadow, Reviews, Swatches | 2comments

Skin Care Saturday: The Jojoba Company Cucumber + Guava Firming Eye Balm

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My 3mL sample of The Jojoba Company Cucumber and Guava Firming Eye Balm

Description from the website:

Highly effectatious blend of cucumber, guava, aloe vera, jojoba and gotukola to cool and sooth delicate skin around the eyes and reduce the appearance of fine lines. It gently firms and re-hydrates dry skin decreasing inflammation and puffiness and reducing tiredness and tell-tale dark circles. Comes with the natural sun protection of pomegranate. Not tested on animals

price: RRP $46.95 25mL
availability: selected pharmacies and health food stores. For list of stockists check http://www.thejojobacompany.com.au,

The Jojoba Company kindly sent me some small samples of this eye balm to review, which was fantastic, because I’m currently on a mission to find a good eye cream.

I have been using this twice daily after cleansing for the last couple of weeks. It is a light silky serum texture which melts into the skin nicely, and leaves my eye area feeling refreshed and hydrated.

After two weeks of use my previously dehydrated skin does feel slightly more ‘plump’ and firm, and somehow more healthy looking (which is more that I could say for the Alpha H Absolute Eye Complex – review here). I can’t really say it did much for my fine lines or dark circles, but I guess that’s not really a fair statement given that I only used the product for 2 weeks (I ran out of my sample tubes)

In this eye balm, the third most concentrated ingredient is Cucumber extract, which is said to have excellent moisturizing and anti inflammatory properties. It is also a gentle astringent (like a mild version of Witch Hazel) which temporarily tightens the skin and pores.

pros:

+ hydrates and nourishes the skin around the eyes without being too heavy.

+ great under eye makeup, particularly concealer (which looks cakey on my dehydrated eye skin).

+ has a light, fresh cucumber scent.

+ formulated without parabens, propylene glycol, mineral oils, and harsh chemicals.

+ packed with great botanical actives like Jojoba oil, Cucumber Extract, Green Tea, and Macadamia oil, which are all packed with antioxidants.

+ the Jojoba is cold pressed and harvested from the company’s own farm.

+ the soothing and hydrating properties of cucumber extract in this makes it ideal to use as an adjunct to irritating treatments like topical retinols and retin-A.

Cons:

- If you are looking for something that will dramatically reduce fine lines, this is probably not going to give you the results on it’s own (judging by the ingredients). You probably need to look into stronger actives like Retin-A, 10%+ vitamin C, or DMAE to supplement an everyday eye balm like this one.

Ingredients:

Aqua (water), glycerin, Cucumis sativus (cucumber) oil, cetearyl alcohol, Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, Camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf powder, tocopherol (Vitamin E), panthenol, Macadamia integrifolia (macadamia) seed oil, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil, Equisetum arvense (horsetail) extract, cariea papaya (pumpkin) seed oil, Helanthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), caprylic/capric triglyceride,Psidium Guajava (Guava) Fruit Extract, Centella asiatica (gotu kola) extract, Ceteareth-20, Aloe arbensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, Punica granatum (pomegranate) seed oil, stearic acid, carbomer, dimethicane, ethylhexylglycerin, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, alcohol, xanthan gum, citric acid, sodium hydroxide

Posted by myfunnyvalentine on Feb 25th, 2011 in Skincare | 7comments

Blog Link Love

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Hi lovelies!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading this week… here are some of my favourite posts-

Jessica, the French speaking minx from Getting Cheeky reviews an interesting blush product, the Givenchy Blush Gelee.

Sarah from Dempeaux reviews Urban Eden Soaps ‘Shahrahzad’ and ‘Jasmine Rose’. The scent combinations she describes are heavenly, and best of all the soaps are organic and NON DRYING!!

Lilit from Makeup and Macaroons reviews the exciting new OPI Black Shatter polish

Jessica from The Belle Lumiere shares her love of double cleansing with Dermalogica Precleanse.

Jane from Modesty Brown reviews and swatches the Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia- a pretty watermelon pink.

The Beauty Bite reviews and shares photos of her wearing the NARS Copacobana Illuminator.

Rowena from Beauty and the Bullshit, a former manager of a global makeup brand writes a scathing (and hilarious) article on the Top 8 Bullshit Tactics: Statistics on steroids. Whether you are into beauty or not, this blog is a fascinating read.

Jennise from Pink Ribbons is venturing into RED LIPSTICK TERRITORY with her new Giorgio Armani Shine lipstick number 8. Yay for red!

Mariella from Musing On Beauty is very impressed with the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Concealor (SPF 10), and tells us why.

Tiffany from Will Work For Makeup shares 7 personal things about her, and invites you to do the same!

Anissa from Beautifully Glossy tells us about her great experience with the Yummy Mummy Day Spa in Brisbane. Her Heavenly Legs treatment sounded… well, heavenly

Stacey from Pop! Makeup test drives the Alchemy lemongrass Shampoo and the Alchemy Unscented Wheat Free very Gentle Conditioner. Both SLS free for healthy scalps!

Anita from Love Vulcanella shows us how the new OPI Black Shatter looks over China Glaze Beauty and the Beach.

Jade from Jade Musing, Michelle from Lipstick Rules, and Jerlene from Of Faces and Fingers are featured on Allure Korea!

The Right Brain and Dr. Michael Breus, PhD both gives us the lowdown on puffy eyes, undereye bags on The Beauty Brains. This site is a MUST for anyone who wants to learn about skin care.

Posted by myfunnyvalentine on Feb 25th, 2011 in Uncategorized | 5comments

Bronze and Purple smoky eye FOTD a la Cushnie et Ochs F/W 2010

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Hi all!

When the images from Cushnie et Ochs F/W 2010 runway came out early last year I knew I eventually wanted to do a look based on their dramatic earthy smokey eye.

So here is my work safe version of the runway look using Ameli eye shadows! I don’t have a brick red colour in my eye shadow collection, so I made do with Ameli ‘Luxury Brown’ (a warm shimmery bronze).