Loot Alert! New Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipstick Swatches!

Greetings from the head of the party, fellow rogues!

A quick report from the scouting front today, party members! No, I haven’t discovered a trap (unless you’re watching out for your wallet at the moment!), it’s something much better! Loot! The new Guerlain Kiss Kiss lipstick line has arrived on New Zealand’s shores (lagging a little as usual), and your best rogue friend Syl has all the swatches for you! Obviously, these apply best if you are a) a vampire and b) in New Zealand, as these are the particular shades we got here. One in the stand was doubled, so maybe we did get another shade and it sold out instantly, but I doubt it. I must also apologise for having derped out and forgotten to swatch #325 Rouge Kiss, the signature one for the line. It was positioned off to the back next to a fake lipstick, and I just looked straight over it. As you can probably guess, it’s, uh, red. I’ve linked Sunny’s review of it just a little further down, so you can see some swatches after all!

 

See that red tester right off to the back there? Yeah. That’s Rouge Kiss. *cough* #rogueshame

 

Compared to the Guerlain International website, we seem to be missing:

323 Spicy Girl, 324 Red Love, 328 Red Hot, 362 Cherry Pink, 363 Fabulous Rose and 368 Baby Rose

However, different to the list on the website, we got:

301 Candy Beige, 302 Romantic Kiss, 342 Fancy Kiss, 364 Pink Romance and 367 Kiss Blossom.

It’s all very confusing, but I suspect we probably got the Asia line rather than the US/EU line? A mystery for the ages, or as long as it takes me to check other websites, I suppose.

ANYWAY! That’s not why you’re here! You’re here to see the swatches, and thus I present to you the results of my swatchfest. I do apologise for the iffy mobile quality and department store lighting, but they’re pretty true to colour! They went on very smoothly and creamily, and pretty much all of them except the palest ones left a mild stain. They come in two flavours, really: creme and iridescent shimmer. Don’t let the word ‘shimmer’ put you off, however. As you might expect of Guerlain, this is very stardust-y, sophisticated shimmer. Adult shimmer, if you will. There was only one lipstick where things verged properly onto frosty, as I will mention below.

If you would like a review of the formula, you can check a few of the lipsticks out here with a couple of my favourite adventurers:

Sunny at Mostly Sunny: Rouge Kiss and Pinky Groove

Christine at Temptalia: Forever Brown and Rouge Kiss; Air Kiss and Rosy Boop; Red Strass, Red Hot and Very Pink

Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog is wearing Cherry Pink here too.

As always, click the picture to make it bigger!

 

The Nudes, Beiges, Browns and Reds! Click the picture to enlarge!

 

A couple of notes here: You see that shine/shimmer on top of Air Kiss? That’s not just the glossyish creme finish. Oh no – that’s pure iridescence there, on top of that brown lipstick. It’s really quite something, and surprised me when I swatched it!  Looking at these photos, Red on Fire and Red Strass don’t look as identical as they did in the store, but they’re pretty close. Both follow a kind of ‘red with gold iridescence’ thing, but I guess Red on Fire is a touch lighter/brighter/more coral, on me anyway.

Despite the rather odd name and unassuming appearance in the tube, Beige Booster is actually one of my favourites here, along with Red Passion – it seems like a really nice warm MLBB for my skintone. Miss Kiss has a nice juiciness to it that will probably make it a great peach/coral for many skintones, as you can choose the intensity.

 

The peaches, pinks, corals and fuchsias! Click the picture to emlarge!

 

There are some gloriously bright shades here, notably Excessive Rose and Sexy Coral. It’s worth bearing in mind that if you’re not a vampire, these may come off as less neon on you 😉

Pink Romance is the one I mentioned above – the shimmery shade that (partly by virtue of its baby pink colour) comes across as almost frosty. This one will almost certainly make your lips look fuller though (something the whole line is supposed to do).

My favourites here are Sugar Kiss, Very Pink, Pinky Groove, Kiss Blossom and Rosy Boop. As soon as I saw Pinky Groove I was all MAYBE ITS A GLOSSY, NZ-ACCESSIBLE VERSION OF TOM FORD PUSSYCAT OMG, but I should tell you that I think that about basically every NZ-accessible mauvy/rose shade I see. Nevertheless, it’s very pretty!

 

In other beauty news, for NZ adventurers:

An OPI Holiday collection (possibly in conjunction with Gwen Stefani) has emerged, and includes a rather nice ‘snow’ looking polish that I have my beady rogue’s eye on. The Body Shop have released their Holiday stuff too, which includes three limited edition scents – there is a vanilla one and a cranberry one that are just repeats from previous years, but the ginger scent has been replaced by an apple one! It’s quite nice, fresh and smooth without being too ‘fake apple candy smell’. It still smells a little bit like fake apple though – it’s like grape scent in that respect. I like it anyway 😉 The new Chanel Rouge Allure Glosses/liquid lipstickglossthings are out too, in ten shades that I couldn’t get at to swatch 😦 However! Sunny comes to the rescue again with a couple of reviews and swatches here! We don’t get the Chanel holiday collection in Middle Earth (?!?!?!), but Dior’s Golden Shock Holiday 2014 collection is out now. Benefit have all their holiday sets except the advent calendar which sold out in a nanosecond, and that awesome blush set, which they decided to bring as far as Australia and no further (thanks, Benefit). The MAC Heirloom Mix Holiday collection is out (as of just this morning), the pick of which is probably the Extra Dimension eyeshadow sets and maybe some lipsticks (from the reviews I’ve seen). The release is staggered, so the pigment/glitter sets won’t be out for a couple of weeks. If you’re in Auckland and didn’t manage to get to the MAC counter in the ten minutes it took them to sell out, I’ve noticed that the Pro Store down in the Atrium on Takutai at Britomart sells out much slower than Smith and Caugheys does. Bobbi Brown seems to have a new collection in stock (possibly the Holiday one?), and Clinique is having a GWP at the moment. YSL, in their aggravating randomness, aren’t bringing the Fusion Ink Foundation here for the forseeable future.

 

So! What do you think? Have you tried any of these Kiss Kiss lipsticks? Are you interested in picking any of them up the next time you’re on a makeup quest?

 

Happy Looting!

Until next time, fellow rogues, don’t forget to check for loot as well as traps!

Syl

 

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and original text on this blog are the property of Syl unless otherwise noted. They may not be reproduced without permission – if you do, I’ll send demons after you. You know, the ones that mush up the testers and open new lipsticks to try them out on their warty lips. Those ones. Yyyep.

What’s in The Rogue’s August Wishlist Chest? Lipsticks, Blushes and Eyeliners!

Greetings from my imaginary world of awesome, fellow rogues!

I’ve been seeing so many cool wishlists around recently that I thought I’d gather up a few of my own ‘I wish’ items, and post them here for your amusement/between dungeon coffee break reading! We’re still knee deep in the giant, cable eating spiders at the moment, so I apologise for the relatively short post! I may be stealthily operating from my work computer to post this! 😉 Since there’s not as much detail as usual, I’ve included quite a few links to other related posts, both my own and others’, in case you’re hungry for more beauty reading!

Without further ado, these are the shinies – you may notice an unsurprising general colour trend… 😉

 

WISHLIIIIIST

 

From top to bottom, left to right:

Makeup Geek eyeliners: The one I have here in the picture is the bloody red ‘Poison’, but I wouldn’t mind collectiong all their colours! I’ve never tried them, but they just look stunning, and the names are very rogue/adventure appropriate, in general. There’s even a gold one called ‘Treasure’ – I mean, come on! Also, I would love to own a bloody, burgundy eyeliner, since it’s not a shade you see very often!

Makeup Geek blushes: These have been getting quite a bit of blog attention/love recently, for good reason, it seems! Although quite a few shades have caught my eye, the one area of my (admittedly miniscule) blush collection that is severley underrepresented is the berry/purple/lavender end! As such, the shades I have here are Rendezvous and Secret Admirer, a berry and lavender respectively.

Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Fig: Although there are many shades in this line that look lovely, Melted Fig was the first one to really catch my eye and make me go ‘Ooh’. This is strange, since you’d think the purple would be top of my list, but I am having a huge ‘muted pinks‘ thing going on right now (despite the fact that Middle Earth is currently leaving Autumn/Winter).

YSL Le Teint Encre de Peau Foundation: Well, what can I say. YSL currently makes my 3 HG foundation products, and the whole ‘Encre de Peau’ think just sounds awesome, and catpures the idea of a thin substance that still has strong tinting power. Coincidentally, Lisa Eldridge’s newest video has a positive sort of mini-review of it, which never hurts a thing in my estimation!

OCC Lip Tar in Technopagan: Seriously. I just. Whatever. This was made for me. Augh! Want. Incoherence? Yes! 😀

Hourglass Mechanical Pencil Liner: OK, despite the zany cost/use ratio that these have (by the company’s own admission, surreally enough), I just really want to try one. I don’t wear black liner all that often, and I have kind of a thing for mechanical pencils, having used one more or less since I started school! There I was, as a little 5 year old rogue, with my pencil case full of lockpicks, hinge grease, and mechanical pencils… *wipes away nostalgic tear*.

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in 03 Violet Incognito: So, it’s purple, comes in shiny artefact packaging, and has ‘incognito’ in the name. I swear companies actually have a whole sub-market for rogues, going by the names they give things. The best part is that I already love the formula, and I’ve swatched this thing – it is actually purple! Not so much of that weak-sauce burgundy copout stuff… 😛

Marc Jacobs Lovemarc Lip Gel in Cabaret: OK, so this one is really a WISHlist item. It’s a shade from the MJ line that’s only available to VIB Rouge members with Sephora! Still, when I saw the swatches on Temptalia, my little rogueish heart went pitter-pat. I already like the Lip Gel formula, and Cabaret manages to be simultaneously in the purple line, the muted pinks line and the vampy line, making it kind of the triple threat of my lipstick colour world right now. GAH! Why did it have to be VIB Rouge exclusive!! T_T

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Poe: Come on, it’s a high performing NAVY SPARKLE LIPSTICK. I see it’s currently sold out on Spehora’s website – I think there’s a lesson here for all the mainstream brands out there: there is a market for non-mainstream lipstick colours! Please try more of them! I appreciate that KvD fans are probably more likely to go for a navy sparkle lipstick than, say, Dior’s target market, but still. 😉 Poe isn’t the only lipstick from this line I have my eye on, and my fellow bloggers have been tempting me inordinately…

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Liner in Minx: So, I’ve read all the mixed reviews of these. And, despite being a massive fan of UD’s liners generally, I’m not sure I’d actually invest in the whole set just off the bat. However, I am actually in the market for a smudgy, smoky navy blue liner, and Minx is very tempting. OK, so are Cult and Plushie, but the blue is really what I’m after. I even just got sent a voucher for a discount on shipping with YouShop (the means by which I get my UD to Middle Earth). Gods help me… #rogueproblems

 

So! That was my little wishlist for August (although it kind of covers July as well, really).

Does anything catch your eye on that list? Have you tried some of the things there? How do you feel about navy sparkle lipsticks? 😀

 

Until next time, fellow rogues, don’t forget to check for loot as well as traps!

Syl

 

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of Syl unless otherwise noted. They may not be reproduced without permission – if you do, I’ll send goblin hordes after you. Plague-ridden ones.

Balm for the Soul of a Tense Wizard? YSL Rouge Volupté Shine Lipstick in #17, Rose In Tension

Greetings from the vanguard of the wizard Khael’s latest crazy quest, fellow rogues!

As you may know, I was recently in travel mode, this time to the glorious deserts of Sharjah and Dubai. While there, I managed to amass quite the sack of loot, which I have displayed (not quite without shame) here! 😉 One of the items I acquired while on my desert adventure was inspired by yet another one of Khael the Wizard’s optimistically romantic misadventures. If you’ll recall, last time he led us to the glorious  UD Venom lipstick. This time, he came rushing up to us with a new quest…

Shaking the dust from his robes, he breathlessly described a ‘captive rose’ – a damsel in distress, he assumed – one who was ‘in tension’ – in chains, he extrapolated. In theory, this captive lady knew the location of a glorious magical artefact, and might be persuaded (if rescued) to disclose said location, and maybe bestow a chaste but grateful kiss upon the cheek of her rescuing wizard. He saw my expression, and hastened to assure me that that ‘they can’t all just be lipsticks!’. I privately suspected that if this captive rose existed, then she probably wasn’t the one with ‘tension’ issues, but the party reached a slightly eye-rolling consensus, and off we set into the glittering golden desert…

…several hot and dusty days later, we reached the semi forgotten catacomb (someone had to tell Khael about it, right?), and fought our way down to the bottom of it. We reached a large iron door, which Khael busted open in a single overexcited spell, rushing heroically inside to rescue…

Yep, another lipstick! This time the YSL Rouge Volupte Shine #17 in Rose in Tension. For Khael’s sake, most of us stifled the giggles.

 

We had to send Susie the Rockbard outside to compose herself, actually, she was laughing so hard. To Khael’s credit, his embarrassment shifted fairly quickly to curiosity, and he knelt down to examine the elaborate golden artefact. Although he might not have received his rescuer’s kiss, he did effectively shortcut straight to the actual loot. Every cloud has its silver lining, I suppose! 😉

This is the moment where we take time to appreciate the effort that has gone into YSL’s Rouge Volupté line (original, shine and sheer candy versions) packaging. It’s shiny, weighty, and has a lovely filigree logo band around the middle, with the colour of the lipstick underneath. If we’re nitpicking, there’s a little more flex in the filigree part than is necessary, but…yeah. Nipicking there a bit, sorry :-P. There’s a little part of me that finds the packaging ever so slightly tacky in pictures, but then when you hold it in your hand, the only thing you’re thinking about is ‘Ooh, SHINY’. It closes suitably smoothly and firmly, and the lipstick twist up mechanism is totally smooth and functional.

 

SHINY. (Khael is doing an arcana check – pipe optional, but he always seems to have one going).

 

Now onto the lipstick itself…

#17 Rose in Tension is a sheer, staining raspberry (deep reddish pink) that glides on very smoothly and can be built for really quite intense colour. The ‘Shine’ variation of these lipsticks doesn’t technically promises opaque colour, but this lipstick is actually quite pigmented. They also claim something like 8 hours of hydration, but like most similar claims on lipsticks this is absolute balderdash. Now, this isn’t to say that it doesn’t hydrate – it’s definitely not a drying lipstick, at all. It also has a rogueishly delicious mango scent, but no taste.

 

The sun came out – hooray for natural light photography! The bullet colour is quite true in this photo though, which I’m pleased about and made up for the overexposure.

 

Here’s how this lipstick’s colour, wear and hydration work for me:

1. Apply one layer – pigment is great, sheer stained glass effect is pretty, lips feel moisturised, etc 😀

2. Wait 1-2 hours: now the shine has gone, leaving a beautiful even stain, but I feel like I need a little more ‘juice’, so I apply another layer. The colour deepens (additive staining), stained glass effect is back, moisture yay!

3. Repeat step 2 until lipstick no longer desired.

4. Alternative to Step 3: forget to reapply lipstick after first couple of times, check lips ~12 hours later, be amazed that stain is still in effect! Seriously, the staining power of this lipstick is incredible, and you get a lasting stain from one layer. I’m not sure if this is true for all the colours in the line, but this one is a trooper!

 

Arm swatches! This is basically the colour of the stain, too (which I didn’t think to photograph, fail) 😛

 

So that’s basically how it works: hydrating for the relatively short wear time, leaves an incredible, even stain, lovely stained glass finish and beautiful raspberry colour. The colour of this one is really lovely, actually. To deviate from Khael’s story into real life for a second: I went in to get one of these lipsticks (I had a few ideas from blogs and my own snooping), and #17 wasn’t even one I’d registered as existing. I swatched it on my hand more out of curiosity than anything after seeing the colour on the tube, and immediately fell in love! It’s relatively deep on my skintone, so it has a ‘grown up’ feel to it, but it’s bright enough to keep a youthful, rogueish edge.

 

SHINY LIPS. 😀
My natural lips here are actually slightly pinker than normal, as I was swatching many things that day… you know the rogue’s keeping it real when you can see all the pores and pimples still in the picture 😛 As always, I believe that sheer lipsticks should be wearable without full makeup, as this one is!

 

The changing light in the picture above is courtesy of the same cloudy/sunny day, but the colour is true. When it’s cloudy, the lip colour looks a little darker – it really lights up when the light is bright, which you can also see in the arm swatch above. Even Khael had to admit that despite a dearth of rescuer’s reward kisses, the Rose in Tension really was something to behold.

All in all, I’m happy with this lipstick! I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking for long lasting, intense hydration (just go for a balm – this is definitely a lipstick/stain), but it’s comfortable to wear, stains beautifully, looks gorgeous in the tube and feels luxurious (which helps with the price). I should mention as usual that I don’t mind if lipsticks don’t have a long wear time, especially if they’re sheer, so if reapplication does bother you, this lipstick may annoy you a bit. Still, I tend to feel that since I have so many lipsticks anyway, reapplying a bit more often will just help me use one of the damn things up for once 😉

Khael might not have gotten quite what he was after, but the party declared the expedition a success anyway, as we carried out glittering golden treasure home. If you’re keen for more Rouge Volupté Shine action, and want to see some other colours, Divya recently posted and reviewed three other gorgeous shades here! I’m currently eyeballing another one, #3, the really quite intense, genuinely purple Violet Incognito – also, how perfect is that name for a rogue?

 

The practicalities: YSL Rouge Volupte Shine lipsticks cost NZ$ 56 / US$ 35 for 0.15 oz / 4.3 g, are permanent, and may be acquired from YSL makeup counters around the world, as well as from websites like www.yslbeautyus.com. I believe I got this one at the Dubai Mall Sephora!

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find a dagger in your back. Possibly with a legal troll attached to it. You don’t even want to *know* what he powders that wig with.

Operation Desert Rogue Part 4: The Loot! What Did I Buy in Dubai? (Photo Attaaaaack!)

Greetings from under a pile of desert dust and lipsticks, fellow rogues!

Welcome back to Part 4 of the chronicle of this rogue’s desert adventures! This time it’s the big reveal, the grand enlootening (totally a word. Source: because I said so)! If you’re interested in the previous instalments in this series, I have for you:

Part 1, my travel/desert makeup extravaganza

Part 2, my travel/desert skincare tips

Part 3, my Duty Free makeup exclusives photobomb

OK, ok, I know, I’m being a loot tease. I’ve made you all wait far too long for this, the grand revelation of what a rogue does when she’s exposed to reasonably priced makeup and large Sephoras. However, before I get underway with this, I want to clarify a couple of things. Firstly, I’m not calling this a haul, because I’m embarrassed enough already at the fact that I have just bought more makeup in the space of one week than I have in a good chunk of my entire history of wearing makeup. I know I planned for it, and saved up for it, and drew the line well under my theoretical budget, but rogues of Middle Earth are not usually the ones indulging in such pleasurable frivolity. We leave that to the bards, and the paladin when you’ve gotten a couple of strong meads into him. Secondly, I was almost appallingly lucky while shopping – not only was the stuff half the price normally that it is in Middle Earth, but Dubai is/was in the throes of a massive sale *everywhere*, and I met a lovely fellow antipodean amongst the Sephora SAs who gave me her (generous!) staff discount (critical hit!). Seriously, people. I could not have rolled more natural 20s while using my ‘Take My Money’ encounter power, and I am profoundly grateful.

Lastly, almost all of my Dubai makeup shopping intel was provided by the lovely, beautiful and faultlessly generous Stacey from Expat Make Up Addict. Her blog. Go. Now. Enjoy. ❤ ❤

Right, with the chitchat out of the way, let’s get onto the main battle. What did I shake down the Sephora Skeletons, Mikyajy Minotaurs and Boots Bugbears for after the melee was over? (Note: Swatches are coming, but this is such a photo heavy post I wanted to just start with all the items themselves)

 

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Behold, The Loot Cometh.

 

Right, so this is the lot. All the things. Everything I could shake out of the risen dead. I can’t tell if this is a lot by most (beauty blog reading) peoples’ standards, but by golly it looks like half a department store to me. >__< It looks like the floor of our lodgings after we let Sigryn the warrior loose with her savings in The Dwarven Extreme Weaponry Emporium, only with lipsticks and polishes instead of maces and halberds.

Where was I? Oh yes, let’s start with Laura:

 

Laura Mercier Laura’s Secret Volume 6 – Lipstick in Antique Pink, Lip Pencil in Plumberry and Lip Glace in Blush

 

Laura Mercier was one of the brands that I was most keen to get my rogueish little mitts on, and I was not disappointed. Honestly, I wanted to buy the whole counter. In duplicate. However, I limited (hah) myself to three ‘items’. The first was the box you can see in the first photo – it’s the Laura’s Secret Volume 6 – Pout Perfecting Lip Trio in Creme Pinks (huff, wheeze) set, which includes a full size lipstick in Antique Pink, a mini lip pencil in Plumberry and a mini Lip Glace in Blush. I decided to go for this option because it allows me to try out several of LM’s lip products at once, and I decided to go for this colour set because it seemed eminently wearable. In any case, the only other set they had was one of warm reds, which isn’t really my best shade. I do really like that the lipstick is full size, and I’m not much of a lip pencil wearer at the best of times, so a mini of that is good for me.

 

Go for the eyes, Boo! Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Amethyst and Eyeshadow in African Violet

 

These are purdy. As previously mentioned on Twitter, I blame Sunny for the caviar stick. Wretched adventuress was right about how awesome these are, too. I knew I had to get my hands on African Violet somehow, and although I was tempted by many palettes and sets (African Violet is to LM what Orgasm is to NARS, it seems), in the end I decided to preserve my pennies (er, Emirati fils) and just go for the shadow single. The sales assistant at Galeries Lafayette (in Dubai Mall, wrap yer geography around that one) was incredibly sweet, and tossed in s generous sample of:

 

The primer! I hear this is all the rage with the kids these days – any thoughts, anyone?

 

I am mildly primer-impaired (in that they all seem to work about the same on me), but I’m interested to try another one, and of course I am all about the samples (which were not much in evidence in Dubai, truth be told – not that I can exactly complain about the deals I did get!).

Moving swiftly onward, we have the results of an unpanned raid on Boots!

 

Barry M Dazzle Dust in #51 Mushroom.
SHROOOOOMS!

 

Can I just say, this was absolutely impossible to capture the colour of accurately. In real life, it’s a bit less grey/purple, and a bit more brown/taupe. Maddening. In any case, I can probably best describe it as a lavender taupe. The name confuses me a bit every time I see it, as I’m stuck on UD’s Mushroom. Still, this looked to good to miss amongst the (frankly) ruins of the drugstore makeup alcoves. Seriously, it looked like a horde of orc teenagers had just passed through. There was a Bourjois alcove, and I wanted to get me some of those new lipglosses so tantalizingly dangled before us by Melissa and Stacey, but the display had been trashed – the only thing left was one sad looking one in a brownish orange colour that I am certain would not have worked for me. Next time!

 

The one. The only. It’s…water? SPECIAL WATER, SYL! MAGICAL WATER!

 

Come on, I had to. No true fangirl of Lisa Eldridge (*points to self*) can go past a display of these without picking up something! I got the little travel size, partly because the large one is really quite large (given the size of the kitbag I had brought with me) and I don’t yet technically know if it works for me. But I’m super excited to try it, that’s for sure! Interestingly, although they also have the ‘blue’ range from Bioderma (the sensitive one?), the ‘pink’ range is the only one they have the cleansing water for. Random. Funnily enough, this little Boots chest was the first one I opened in Dubai – the pharmacy was at the entrance of Deira City Centre Mall, the first shopping place I visited in the UAE. Awww.

Next! Back in Dubai Mall, we’re cruising past the Inglot store…

 

PURPLE LIPSTICKS OMGWTFBBQ ARRGHSQUEE! Uh, yes. Purple Lipstick. *cough*

 

The INGLOT store in Dubai mall is large, clean and incredibly tantalising. You go in, and immediately feel a combination of ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘OMG I am such a wizard with makeup, you guys, look at all the colours I’m gonna use’. The very versatility, scope and exoticism of the selection makes you feel sophisticated and artistic just for walking in, even as you break into a kind of a fever sweat while deciding what to get. So here’s the thing. In this post, you will see many lipsticks. Many of those lipsticks are an inoffensive pink shade. This is because if I’m going to spend a bit of money trying different (and mostly comparatively high-end) brands, then the stuff needs to be something I can wear every day. The soul of a rogue, however, demands something a bit more daring sometimes. If this thing is bold and purple, bonus points are earned. If you’re gonna get purple lipstick anywhere, INGLOT can definitely hook you up. The result? I chose a two pan freedon palette and filled it with lipsticks #95 (a deep lavender) and #99 (a blurple, more purple than it’s showing here, but still with strong blue overtones). Purple glittery rogue heart = satisfied.

With the purple out of the way (and yes, I tried Illamasqua, but to my great distress, it had been completely looted already – no teal lipstick, no purple, no dark blue left :-(. The SAs were lovely, though) we move on to my forays into local makeup, with Mikyajy and Bassam Fattouh!

 

Mikyajy loot – Ana Hilwa lipsticks and gloss. So. Excited. About. These. Also, adorably twee heart embossing.

 

What you see before you, fellow adventurers, is possibly one of the most exciting parts of my entire loot collection. One thing I really wanted to do in Dubai was find some more local makeup. Sure, I was gonna raid the Sephora for all the brands that don’t exist/are unaffordable in Middle Earth, but I really wanted to see what the Emirati girl on a budget was packing! Mikyajy is a makeup store decorated in candy coloured stripes that stocks several different ‘lines’ of makeup. For example, there’s one called 24K which is the ‘luxury’ end of their stock (although still at an affordable price point in general terms), there are a couple of others that didn’t excite me, and then there was Ana Hilwa. The name means ‘I am pretty’ (essentially) in Arabic, and everything comes packaged in very solid, rather nice acrylic. Basic, but with crystal clarity and it actually has more heft than a Chanel lipstick! They were having a sale: 5 items for AED 49 (~USD 13, NZD 15, ffs…), so I snapped up four lipsticks and a gloss. They also had foundation (guaranteed not my shade, as is to be expected for a non-vampire country), eyeliners (heavily pillaged – Emirati ladies know their eyeliner, dammit), and blushes (meh, I’m a lipstick rogue!) that I could see. I grabbed the colours that I thought might suit me; the items are all named for Arabian cities, and I have: 01 Riyadh, A medium bright pink, 03 Dammam, a deep berry pink, 13 Al-Ahsa, a red pink, 14 Tarut, a warm pink, and 08 Bahah, a hot pink translucent lipgloss with a troll-load of really quite large gold/iridescent glitter *and* fine shimmer. Rockin’ the glitter like it’s 1999, baby!

Progressing up the higher end of local makeup, we make a foray into Bassam Fattouh…

 

A Bassam Fattouh lipstick – some of the nicest packaging I’ve seen in a while, this brand has (#unintentionalyodamoment).

 

I’d like to take this opportunity to give Bassam (who is a gentleman, a lebanese makeup artist to be specific) full credit for the packaging of his makeup line. It is to local cosmetics what theBalm or perhaps Benefit is to America – lovely artwork, although leaning toward dreamy ’30s arabesque rather than sassy ’40s-’60s. There is the usual assortment of lipsticks, eyeliners, blushes etc and you can find some rather nice looking eyeshadow quads. The only problem I had was that every counter I visited was *deserted*. The BF MUA (OMG? SRS.) always seemed to be ‘on break’ for some reason, even though every other counter in the store (Debenhams) was manned (or womaned), by someone. I managed to coerce a Dior MUA into helping me out (man was she ever reluctant – I don’t think they get the comission if it’s not their brand or something), and escaped with one lipstick – Rosa Antico. Now, there’s something rather nifty about these lipsticks…

 

Surprise! Usually things popping open in unexpected ways is bad news for adventurers, but here it’s only profit, people.

 

…the top of the lipstick cap pops open to reveal a mirror and some lip balm! SO CUTE. I love things like this, seriously. Although I have yet to test the lip balm, and although the mirror is *miniscule*, I still love this concept. But you want to see the actual lipstick right? Here she is:

 

Yes, another inoffensive pink. There was an awesome bright shade (called Chicago, I think?) but it was out of stock…

 

Even the lipstick tube has pretty, girly patterns on it. Sometimes, amidst the hoards of (admittedly sleek) plain black or gold packaging, you just want a candy pink lipstick tube with butterflies and flowers on it. Well, I do, anyway. Then I can go back to my INGLOT industrial chic ;-).

Speaking of Debenhams:

 

BlurrrrrrrSPARKLE! 😀

 

What you see in this rather shamefully blurry photo is one third of the first true cosmetic impulse purchase of my life. When I was getting my Bassam Fattouh lipstick, there was a large display of Nailstation polishes near the cash register. They were on epic sale (I think AED 25 each?), and although I knew (and, frankly, still know) absolutely nothing about the brand, I grabbed the first three my eyes were drawn to: First Dance, a Mentos purple with turquoise microshimmer, Coeur de Paris, a HOT pink (almost neon, but not quite), and Cocorico, an eggshell blue with very, very faint white pearl. Colours I wouldn’t actually normally buy, but that captured my guilty, impulse-buying little heart. I should mention here that I don’t regret anything except the terrible blurriness of the photos I took. You can see them in the first photo, and you will be able to see the other two colours in the polish photo below, but I will take new, better ones for the actual review post, I promise.

 

Righty ho, adventurers, we’re pressing ever onward, entering the dark realms of…Sephora… (actually the store is quite brightly lit in the Dubai mall, and open on two sides, but work with me here). First up is some more polish:

 

Formula X by Sephora polish in Magma, and the other two Nailstation polishes I mentioned above!

 

Before I get into the Formula X polish, let me just mention that you can see the other two Nailstation ones here – the pink Coeur de Paris and the blue Cocorico. Neither has photographed quite true to colour – I suspect Coeur de Paris is the kind of hot colour that will never photograph quite right, but hopefully next time I will capture the slightly more dreamy, eggshelly quality of Cocorico – it’s looking rather plain here!

Anyway, back to the Sephora stuff: first stand inside the door was the huge, new, brightly coloured Formula X one, and I was drawn to it like a magnet. After all the awesomeness I had seen on Temptalia, I knew at least one would be coming home with me. To my own surprise, the shade in question turned out to be Magma (I *defy* you to say that in your head without it coming out in Dr Evil’s intonation) – I passed over pretty turquoises and hot glittery pinks to settle on a textured, gold shot orange. What can I say? I’ve been lusting after an orange polish for a while, and Chanel Holiday is more expensive and less sparkly ;-).

 

Sephora Magnetic Travel Brush Set Thingy – the shaft pulls apart and re-stacks much like those multi-colour/multi nib pencils you had as a child did…

 

I felt I really needed to invest in at least one brush while I was in the land of affordable cosmetics, but my natural stinginess in that area led me to opt for a multi-brush (even though I have no idea how good these brushes are, relatively speaking). What they are, however, is affordable, cute and varied. You get an angled liner brush, a snudge brush and a crease brush. I don’t have *super* high hopes for the crease brush (it’s soft but quite skinny compared to things like the MAC 217), but the angled liner and smudge brushes look rather spiffy. You can stack them up in any order you like, so you can hold the whole thing instead of the little individual segment. Full disclosure: I did spend an almost indecent amount of time fondling the beautiful, soft and dense kabuki and blush brushes at Sephora, but just couldn’t pull the trigger for some reason. Next time!

 

Mmmm, taupey brown. Exciting! ^_^

 

Next up is a Sephora brand eyeshadow single in #50, Cashmere Coat. It’s a matte, cool, taupey brown shade. I can hear you aready: ‘SYL! Where are the shimmering turquoises and vibrant purples?! You got off to such a promising start with African Violet, and now look at you…’. Fear not, friends, I have not abandoned my love for bright, shimmery eyeshadows. In fact, I’m not really interested in this as an eyeshadow at all. I want to try it as a contour! I’m super pale, I’m cool toned, and I don’t have access to Nyx Taupe or Illamasqua Hollow (yep, out of stock). I thought: why not? If it doesn’t work as a contour, my eyeshadow life can only be fortified by a matte taupe basic shade, right?

…Right?

Anyway…

Mascara! That is all.

 

Staying within the Sephora brand, we have their Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara in (Black) Waterproof flavour. As I have mentioned previously, mascara and I have a ‘meh’ kind of relationship. I do genuinely appreciate its qualities, but I’ve never been precisely wowed by one so it’s not something I invest in, usually (I survive mainly on free samples). However, my mascara (sample) ran out while I was in Sharjah, so I seized on this as an affordable replacement that would be interesting to try. I shall let you know shortly how ‘extreme’ it turns out to be!

Now for the big guns…

 

Lancome Lip Lover in 321 Rose Contretemps, YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in #17 Rose in Tension, Givenchy Le Rouge in 302 Hibiscus Exclusif and Marc Jacobs Lovemarc Lip Gel in 108 Have We Met?

I listed the shades in the caption, so all I really have left to say is HNNNGHRGH!

Yes, that is the noise I make when I have luxury lipsticks to try. It is not an elegant noise, so I try to internalise it, but the lovely Sephora SA could see the manic gleam in my eye. It’s honestly unreasonable how excited I get about nice lipsticks. I don’t even want to own every shade of a line, I juat want to bask in the tactile and aesthetic pleasure of a lovely lipstick. Schmancy packaging is also appreciated, so high fives to all four of these companies for buttons, filigree, leather and all manner of embellishment. I would like to state here that I blame Christine for the Givenchy and the Marc Jacobs particularly, and Sunny again for the Lancome. But fret not, ladies, it’s a big balloon of blame filled with love and appreciation for your beautiful, comprehensive and drool-worthy reviews 😉

Going off on tangents again!! Here are the bullets (the lancome is a gloss the same colour as you can see on the front of the packaging – a peachy pink with superfine gold sparkle):

 

Marc Jacobs Have We Met? and YSL Rose in Tension

 

Have We Met? is a peachy pink with fine gold microshimmer (are you noticing a trend here?), whereas YSL Rose in Tension is a deep, plummy pink. I actually went to the YSL counter with a coral or a nude pink in mind, but fell in love with this one after randomly swatching it. I confess, I also wanted to get the purple one (#1..?_, as I was impressed by how purple it actually is, but even in Dubai, even with Sephora staff discount, YSL lipsticks are still pretty darn expensive ;-)) Next time, I will have it – I have a purple lipstick collection to maintain, after all!

 

Givenchy Hibiscus Exclusif. Feast your eyes, adventurers.

 

GORGEOUS CORALNESS. In all honesty, I’m in two minds about the whole ‘leather’ packaging thing. On the one hand, it’s nice that if you buy an expensive lipstick, you get a little more than black plastic, and the design is very chic. On the other hand, I’ve never felt that lipsticks really needed *leather* jackets, and the very thin layer here dings up something wicked if you’re not careful. But all random niggling aside, I don’t want anything to detract from the GORGEOUS CORALNESS, so… uh yeah. CORALNESS.

Now, on the subject of big players, I made one last purchase at the very end of my trip – in Dubai Al Maktoum airportlet Duty Free, as a matter of fact. I hadn’t intended to buy anything more (despite being under budget, as it were), but when I realised that with Dubai Duty Free prices, these three cost essentially the same as ONE does in Middle Earth, I knew it was finally time for my introduction to…

 

…Guerlain!

 

Yes, that is a set of three full size Guerlain Rouge Automatique lipsticks. I was idling by the tiny Guerlain shelf (it’s a small airport, not the main one), and this set caught my eye. Then the price did, and said eye widened in astonishemnt. Then the eye wandered over the word ‘Nahema’, and the deal was done. I’m forced to send yet another (heart filled, of course) blame balloon to Sunny for making the coral beauty of Nahema famous to me. But where are my manners? The actual lispticks, of course:

 

Top Left: Nahema. Top Right: Champs Elysees. Lower: Roselip

 

There’s not much more to say really. The gorgeousness in the photo pretty much says it all, and this is the end of my epic loot post! Stay tuned for swatches and reviews to come (any opinions on that, by the way? One giant full swatch ‘sneak peek’ post and then individual reviews, or just swatches in the individual review?). If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over in this corner, surrounded by lipsticks, ceaselessly opening and closing the absolutely spiffing Rouge Automatique packaging. Better that bubble wrap, these…also, I’m sure there’s a ‘Rogue Automatique’ joke to be made in the forthcoming review post. Remind me, won’t you?

❤

Did you make it to the end? Congratulations! Yours is truly the fortitude of the seasoned adventurer! So – do you have any of these? What do you think about the loot I ended up with? What would you have splurged (or saved!) on?

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you purloin anything, all your lipsticks will get sweaty and slimy. If you don’t wear lipsticks, then your undies will. Permanently.

Operation Desert Rogue Part 3: A Peek at Some Duty Free and Travel Exclusive Makeup

Greetings from the long road to adventure, fellow rogues!

Welcome back to Part 3 of the chronicle of this rogue’s desert adventures! Part 1, my travel/desert makeup extravaganza, may be found here, and Part 2, my travel and desert skincare tips may be found here. This time we’re going to be taking a peek at some of the fun Duty Free packs, palettes and other goodies that I managed to snap photos of while I was waiting at various Great Eagle ports in Auckland and Kuala Lumpur, and a random snap of a UAE-unique (I think?) product at the Dubai Mall Spehora. I should mention now that I didn’t actually get to buy any of these, so this is more of a ‘hey look at the interesting stuff you can get as travel exclusives!’. I find them fascinating…

This post is basically picspam, because (much as I might have liked to) I couldn’t stand there and swatch all the things (Duty Free sales assistants are…not as amenable to that sort of thing. One lady looked at me like I’d asked to see her underwear when I asked if I could do some blog-type swatching. Awkward moment.).

 

New Dior goodies (although I should mention that the pink mascara was sold out LITERALLY EVERYWHERE IN THREE COUNTRIES. JEEZ).

Here we have the special Maison Lancome counter in the Dubai Mall Sephora, containing special Oud themed perfume popular in the region. Armani seems to have a similar arrangement, but I couldn’t get near enough to photograph it! Usual Sephora chaos…

Clinique has some nice stuff, but their lipstick trios are very brown-themed. This is fine if you are a fan of/can suit brown and beige lipsticks, but sadly not for this rogue! The Chubby Stick set is nice though.

Lancome Tavel Exclusives! I do actuall own a couple of the Lancome Absolue Voyage palettes , so if you’d like a review, please let me know! (They’re not the current ones, however). Otherwise, Lancome seems to expect you to want mascara and Juicy Tubes…

YSL exclusives! They do some really nice palettes here, actually. I was sorely tempted, but had such a list of things to hunt for in Dubai I restrained myself ;-).

The outer covers of these palettes are pink patent leather and blue patent leather (if menory serves), with gold embellishment. Typically ‘YSL flashy’, but a bit more exciting than some of the plain black plastic palettes (Lancome, Chanel).

This is the ‘shine’ variant of the Pure Colour Envy line, which they released in Asia. Some of the colours are pretty, but I have to admit they’re a little patchier than I’d like on the swatch.

Estee Lauder tend to have a pretty phenomenal selection of tavel exclusives and multi-packs, actually.

Dior exclusives! Now we’re into the ‘bulk buy’ territory. The three Addict gloss pack is pretty nifty, and comes with Diablotine, a personal favourite.

Dior Travel Exclusive Palettes (plus the feet and hands of a rogue – so stealthy…)

So there we have it! I thought I had managed to get more decent photos, actually, but a combination of bad lighting, moblie camera and crowds of people in front of things conspired against me :-P. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek into some travel exclusive makeup though!

Do you get many chances to shop Duty Free? What are your thoughts on Travel Exclusives and big multi palettes?

 

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, a hex will be laid on you that causes you to burst into flame in direct or indirect sunlight. No skincare’s gonna save you from that…

Operation Desert Rogue Part 1: What’s in My Travel Kitbag? and Desert Makeup Tips

Greetings from amidst swirling desert sands, fellow rogues!

Hello from Sharjah! I know I’ve been saying Dubai, but that was more for convenience of recognition (and where most of my makeup shopping was going to happen ;-)). Sharjah is the neighbouring emirate, and that’s where the conference actually is. I’m so happy to be back in the Middle East – I love adventuring in this part of the world, and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend paying the countries in this region a visit 🙂

Right, so! I expect you’re all just desperate to hear all about it, right? You’ve been waiting by your computers, refreshing your blog feeds every five seconds in the hopes of a glistening gem of rogueish wisdom? Right? *tumbleweed skitters past* 😛 Well, I have several posts in the works for you, but this first one will cover the makeup I took with me on my trip. Fair warning,  I couldn’t take my big camera with me,  so all of the pictures from my trip are/were done on a mobile device, mostly in bad light. Yeah. *cringe* Sorry about that, but when you don’t have a handy wizard with an illumination spell, things get sticky…

First up: What did I take with me?

My relatively minimalist, conference appropriate travel makeup selection!

 

As you can see from the photo, I didn’t take a *huge* amount of stuff. Partly this is because I wanted to keep my kitbag pretty light (amusing: my carryon, with my massive laptop, weighed 9.6 kg. My checked luggage weighed 9.2 kg – gotta leave the rest of that 30kg checked limit for the new makeup, amirite? ;-)), and I knew I was going to be doing some makeup shopping, so there didn’t seem to be much point in going nuts. I did know, however, that most of my makeup purchases here would be lip-related, so I still brought the staples from the eye and complexion catgories!

We have:

Tarte MATTEnificent palette (toss up between this and the Naked 2, but I thought I’d give the Tarte one an outing since I took the Naked 2 around Europe and Morocco last year. Can’t have the palettes getting envious, you know). This palette is also conference-appropriately matte and neutral. I’ve reviewed it here, and the Naked 2 here.

Urban Decay 24/7 liners in Demolition/Perversion and Corrupt/Zero Can’t go wrong with black and brown, right? My everyday shade is Demolition (matte medium dark brown), but I wanted to take Zero (matte black) because the Perversion (matte super black) end of my liner is a dud. Corrupt is a shimmery brown for variety. LOVE these liners!

Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Peach Pop A gorgeous blush. Need I say more? The Tarte Palette has a pink blush, so I thought I would bring my peachy friend here along too for some variety. Reveiw here.

Chanel Curlers A must-have, (well, curlers at least. They don’t have to be Chanel, although these ones are really excellent) because you can make yourself look more awake even without mascara!

YSL BB Creme in Clear My staple ‘foundation’ for when I want to be naturally, hydratedly (totally a word) polished. It’s 40 degrees Celsius (104 Farenheit) here by, like, 8am so I didn’t want too much on my face, but it’s also a desert (or heavily air conditioned), so I wanted something moisturising. Review here.

Clinique Universal Primer I’m trying this out, and I quite like it. Makeup goes on a little more smoothly, and I feel like it lasts a little longer. Review coming soon!

Clinique Waterproof Mascara A rogue and her mascara samples can never be separated, you know. 😉 I’ve reviewed this product here – what can I say? I live on mascara samples. I like waterproof mascara though because it never smears or travels or smudges. Great for hot weather traveling!

Lancome Eyeshadow in Tres Chocolat – My Eyebrow Powder I’ve done a charisma stat-boosting eyebrow tutorial here with this nifty little eyeshadow – I absolutely love it for my brows! It’s a matte dark brown that’s great for its intended purpose (eyeshadow), but it also doesn’t budge in the brows and gives a nice soft, filling effect.

Clinique Chubby Stick in Voluptuous Violet This nearly transparent purple has the twin virtues of being balmy and hydrating (great for the desert!) and able to match every outfit (sice all it really does is kind of intensify/darken your natural lip colour. Review here.

Revlon Lacquer Balm in Demure The perfect nude conference lipstick for pale rogues! The thing I like about it though, is that although it’s quite conservative, it’s moisturising, minty without plumping, and has *sparkles* 😀 Review here.

Chanel Nail Lacquer in Frisson I wasn’t sure about nail polish for this trip. It’s kind of heavy, and all of the colours I like to wear while flying (reds like this, don’t ask me why) aren’t really conference fodder. I know that sounds silly, but see this post for a discussion of the issues academia and makeup have. Frisson is great and aptly named – it’s a peachy polish with lots of gold micro micro micro shimmer. You can use one coat for a sheer hint, or two/three for more definite colour, but it never gets too overt, and just gives you a nice sparkle in the light. Very sophisticated, but it has glitter, so yay!

Lancome UV Expert BB Complete SPF 50 PA +++ I’m bnot sure if this is available in the US, but it’s basically a tinted sunscreen. Sunscreens and my skin don’t usually get along that well (TiO2 blocks my pores a bit, chemical ones irritate my excema), so I generally don’t wear a standalone one – I just cover my head and face with things when I have to go outside, and run from shadow to shadow (once a rogue, always I rogue, I guess!). However, when you travel to the desert (even though this one has more of an ozone layer than NZ does), I feel sunscreen is appropriate. I think this comes in 3 or so shades. I have a sample of the lightest one, although the tint is not really super strong anyway. If you’d like to see a review, let me know!

 

Desert quest time! Will your makeup last till the end of the catacomb?

 

Lastly, I just wanted to share a couple of tips for desert/hot/dry weather makeup! Most of this is probably obvious, so I’ll keep it brief 😉 The main thing is to take waterproof makeup, preferably with a good SPF where appropriate. It’ll resist sweating, and around the eyes it’ll resist any watering you get from dry/dusty desert conditions (or excessive aircon). The next thing is to make your layers of makeup thin. Lisa Eldridge is a great proponent of this theory and has an excellent video about hot weather makeup that discusses it. I like my foundation sheer anyway, but a good primer (mattifying if you get oily in the heat) will help to keep things fresh and in place. Make sure your lipsticks/glosses/balms are nice and hydrating. If it’s really dusty, a lipgloss is usually not your friend, as it will collect the dust and grit in the air. Fruity or floral smelling/scented lipglosses or balms are also not necessarily great, as large flies can be attracted to your lips, and (on a less gross note) if you’re covering your face with a scarf to keep out the dust/for cultural reasons, the fabric will get stuck to a lipgloss. Lastly: you’re going to be drinking a lot of water, so make your peace with more frequent re-application of your lip products now ;-).

I think that’s probably enough for the time being! Hope you enjoyed this little travel makeup ramble, and stay tuned for Part 2, my Duty Free/Travel Exclusive Makeup showcase… if you like random travel pictures (especially of food), check out my twitter feed ^_^.

What are your tips for desert makeup? Have you been to the desert before? 🙂

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find a dagger in your back. Possibly with a legal troll attached to it. You don’t even want to *know* what he powders that wig with.

The Rogueish Wedding Guest Makeup Look! (and some suitably scenic pictures)

Greetings from the aftermath of a happy feast, fellow rogues!

The wizard and I have been carrying out a little mini-quest over the last couple of days, journeying through storm and night to the frozen South, to see a couple of fellow adventurers leap over the branch. It was truly a marvellous celebration, and today I thought I would keep you entertained with some details about the makeup look I put together for the occasion, and a few photos I took along the journey.

A quick note: both the photos taken here and the post itself were done via the medium of a mobile device, so this is a bit of an additional adventure!

 

The tools required for this rogue’s effort at an evening wedding guest makeup look!

 

 

I had decided to shed my usual black adventuring ensemble for a coral coloured tunic dress, with a navy cardigan and tights (it really was the frozen south). This prompted me to bust out a few of my tried and tested favourites, as well as a few new products that are on probation…

 

The foundation of the look! Clinique primer, YSL BB Creme, Chanel Powder Compact. Lancôme Tres chocolat eyeshadow, Urban Decay Primer Potion and Chanel Affinite Blush.

 

I started with a layer of Clinique’s Superprimer, which I’m currently testing out. So far, things are going well, so I should be bringing you a full review soon! On top of that went a thin layer of the YSL BB Creme (review here) to even things out where I needed it, some YSL Touche Éclat to brighten up my undereye area (review here), all followed by a dusting of the Chanel powder (Compact Douceur) to finish.

Chanel’s cream blush in Affinite (review here) brightened up my cheeks, and Lancôme’s matte eyeshadow in Tres Chocolat filled in my brows (tutorial here).

 

Tools for an eye look: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencils in Uzi and Sabbath (these ones are double ended, so there’s Empire and Stash there too).

 

Onto the eyes… I laid down a base of the Urban Decay Primer Potion (previous photo) first. On top of that went a wash of Chopper over the eyelid, with a little Tease in the crease (sounds…dirty?), and some Verve in the inner corner (all from the UD Naked 2 palette). I then did the upper lash line with a smoky line of UD sabbath (matte navy liner), and covered that with a dusting of the YDK shadow to take the edge off (Sabbath is quite a statement!). I did my water lines in UD Uzi (softly shimmering gunmetal) to keep the look softly smoky.

After that, I curled my lashes and applied a couple of layers of the Clinique waterproof mascara (review here).

 

Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm in Demure, Clinique High Impact waterproof mascara and YSL Touche Éclat.

 

For the lips, I went quite simple with the Colourburst Lacquer Balm in Demure from Revlon (review here). It makes a great ‘nude’ for my skintone and the moderately smoky eye I was sporting, it has some nice evening sparkle, and is easy to reapply.

So, by this point I imagine you might be wondering what the end result of all this powdering and lining and shimmering was. Well, I managed to get a couple of photos, despite the miserable lighting and the mobile camera I was using, so, I present:

 

 

This was about the best quality I could get for he eye look. The weather was so bad that even my eyebrow got a little blown off course!

 

 

The lip look and partial outfit, plus some jewels (a rogue can’t miss an opportunity to actually wear some sparkles, can she?

 

Right! So (with some apologies for the miserable eye/lip photos), that was the look! Perfect for an autumn wedding evening, where a storm has just cleared to allow a little of the sun to shine through before it got dark.

For those interested, the bride was sporting an absolutely fabulous smoky eye and bright pink red lip for the evening. She looked phenomenal! I didn’t really get to quiz her on the exact products, though 😉 .

Before I leave you to continue on my quest back to the rainy north, I thought I’d post a couple of the photos I took along our journey. Scenic ones!

 

A beautiful, feathery maple (?) in autumn colours.

 

A sheltered pool. I think I saw some kappa, but we got out of there pretty fast…

 

A beautiful bridge. Fortunately, no trolls were underneath it.

 

 

The calm after the storm 🙂

 

Until next time, fellow rogues, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

 

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. These images may not be reproduced without permission, unless you want a fleet of gelatinous cubes after you.

The Search for The Holy (Foundation) Grail Part 3: YSL Touche Éclat Iluminating Pen in #1 Luminous Radiance

Greetings from the bridge of death, fellow rogues!

Apologies for the break in this series  – the photo issue has been sorted out as best I could and the bloodthirsty giant spiders have been chased off, for now!

Welcome back for Part 3 of my Foundation Holy Grail Quest! If you missed Parts 1 and 2, you can find them here and here. Part 1 It also contains some details about the kind of foundation I prefer, and my skintone/colour match, if you need a bit of context for my foundation-related ramblings. In case anyone is unfamiliar with Monty Python and believes I am going mad after reading these posts, I highly recommend checking out Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Right. Today we’ll be attempting to cross the Bridge of Death, answering some tricky questions about the thorny issue of concealer/highlighters, with a discussion of YSL’s famous Touche Éclat illuminating pen. In an attempt to avoid being thrown into the Gorge of Eternal Peril, I’m hoping to be able to show you how this little golden staff nicely rounds off my Holy Trinity of Foundation. Grail. Thing. This is probably the least ‘essential’ element of the three, but I love the effect it gives so much that I’ll always reach for it when I’m putting my face on!

First Question! What is your favourite colour?

YSL Touche Eclat illuminating pen in #01. Also Hilarion, because you cant have the pinnacle of a noble quest featuring an illuminating staff without a paladin, apparently…

 

Right – my favourite colour in highlighting/concealing pens is ‘peachy pink pale’! I’m fond of this colour because it helps counteract my dark bluish/purplish areas (e.g. undereyes), and also helps to brighten up the slightly yellowy/brown areas/shadows around my mouth and nose. It’s also light enough for my skintone. For this reason, I use the Touche Éclat pen in shade #1, Luminous Radiance, but there are 12 shades available in total, covering a more-than-you-usually-expect range of skintones.

 

Second Question! What is the capital of Assyria?

 

The brush tip of this clicky pen illumintor. Hilarion seems ready to attack, possibly because he feels that this pen is outshining him… 😉

 

Well, depending on which time in the history of Assyria we’re talking about, it could be Assur, Nimrud, Nineveh or probably others (those three were off the top of my head). What’s more important is the ‘capital’ or brush tip of the Touche Éclat pen! The mechanism of this pen is a clicky one – you click the black button on the bottom of the pen, and magical peachy illuminating goo comes out through the brush. I find that two clicks is sufficient to give me goo for my whole face (that is, all the areas I want to highlight/conceal). The brush is nice, being large enough while still being precise, and firm enough while still being soft and flexible.

 

Third Question! What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow?

 

Swatches, straight from the pen, thickly, and then blended. As you can see, this shade has a definite peach to it!

 

OK, I have to admit ignorance on this one. But since the question didn’t specify whether it was an African sparrow or a European Sparrow, I’m choosing to focus on the weight and consistency of the Touche Éclat pen (i.e. how ‘laden’ does it make you feel?) and on how easy it is to apply (with what velocity can you apply this illuminator?).

The consistency of the goo is creamy when you apply it, and then it gains a bit of friction as it dries. This is nice, as you don’t feel like you’re just spreading it out into nothingness, and it stays put the whole day. Makeup of both the liquid and powder varieties apply nicely over the top. It’s very easy to put on, as the pen gives you nice precision, and blends easily, so you can touch up quickly and be back on your quest before the guards notice. It’s also not shiny or glittery or ‘highlight-y’ in the Edward Cullen sense, so you can really put it anywhere without worrying that you’re going to look odd. You can put on thin layers (like me), or you can build it up a bit (see notes about concealing below).

The packaging is lightweight and shiny gold, which makes photographing it a nightmare, but it looks like a precious artifact, which is nice. The cap is thick and snaps on with a solid click, so the seal is good and the brush (with leftover product on it) doesn’t dry out at all or get crusty, and is protected from the air. I’ve had my pen for the best part of a year, and it’s still going strong – it has neither run out nor dried up. The click mechanism works perfectly, and after the first click-fest to get the pen started, I only have to click exactly twice to get just as much as I need.

 

Fourth Question! So how does it look on an actual face, anyway?

 

YSL’s Touche Eclat on a rogue’s face! You know, this was absolute murder to photograph. I’ve circled the areas where it makes a difference in the darkness/redness etc, but the photo kind of doesn’t do it justice.

 

Alright, this is definitely the hardest question. Why so tricky, you ask? Because the effect is subtle when you take photos, honestly. Contrary to what I believed, cameras are actually quite kind when it comes to blurring imperfections and altering colour tones already, so my before photos never look quite as uneven and blotchy as I look to me in real life! So: I applied a thin layer of the Touche Éclat literally just around the rim of my eye, almost as though I was trying to do an ‘ancient Egyptian kohl’ look with peachy goo instead of black antimony. I think the best demonstration of the powers of this little pen is around the lower lid and in the outer corner. The brown and red tones in the first photo aren’t shadows, they’re the unevenness in pigmentation in my skin, and this pen does a marvellous job of reflecting some light off them and neutralising the unwanted rainbow of colours. The effect is even better when you’re looking at your actual skin in full daylight, so I appreciate if these photos don’t entirely convince everyone! I suggest popping over to a YSL counter and trying a couple of shades out, then going out into the sunlight and seeing what you think!

A note on concealing: This pen is not designed to be a concealer. It’s supposed to be an ‘illuminator’, which is why I use it to neutralise shadows on my face that come from uneven pigmentation, not to conceal, say, pimples. It works well on blue/purple undereye circles, but as shown in part 2 of this series, my powder foundation also does a remarkable job (see image below) of dealing with those too! I think that if I put on enough of anything to actually fully obscure my dark circles, it would work, but be too much product for me. If you’re looking for a proper, full, will-conceal-acne-scarring concealer, this probably isn’t it. If you’re looking for something to neutralise your blotches and lighten up your shadows, then this pen is your friend. If you know of a good actual concealer that is absolutely lightweight but perfectly covering, please let me know – I’m still on that quest!

 

Before and afters. for the YSL powder foundation I discussed in Part 2 – I’m not wearing any Touche Eclat or concealer in this picture, and as you can see the foundation does a pretty spiffy job on my undereye area all by itself! Normally, I would lighten up the reddish, shadowy area at the outer corner of my eye with my touche eclat.

 

The verdict: An truly illuminating (but not sparkly) pen that does a lovely job of neutralising blotchiness, lifting shadows and taking the edge off bad blue undereye circles. It may not be as good for actual concealing coverage, but it brightens you up a treat! I also use a couple of other HG foundation-related products from YSL, so check out Part 1 and 2 if you want the whole picture!

The practicalities: YSL Touche Éclat Compact costs NZD ~80.00 / USD 41.00 for 2.8 g / 0.1 oz, and may be found at YSL counters and department stores around the world, as well as at www.yslbeautyus.com (or your region’s equivalent if applicable).

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. These images may not be reproduced without permission, unless you want a fleet of gelatinous cubes after you.

The Search for The Holy (Foundation) Grail Part 2: YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Compact in BR20

Greetings from the mountains of mystery, fellow rogues!

Welcome back for Part 2 of my Foundation Holy Grail Quest! If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. It also contains some details about the kind of foundation I prefer, and my skintone/colour match, if you need a bit of context for my foundation-related ramblings.

Today we’ll be leaping from the Precipice of BB Cream into the Pit of Powder Foundation, with a discussion of YSL’s Le Teint Touche Eclat Compact, in Beige Rose 20 (BR20). I should point out here that I can’t find this powder foundation compact on the YSL Beauty US website – only the liquid foundation version. The other review I did find was on a lovely Singaporean blog, which informed me that this an (Austral)Asia exclusive product (and supposedly specially formulated for wear in humid climates!)

Anyway, Behold, the centre of this rogue’s Holy Foundation Grail Trinity:

The compact, in its little velvet surcoat. Like all velvet surcoats, it collects dust and bloodstains something terrible. Even a flesh wound is enough to show up…

Alright, fair enough, the packaging hidden in its Black Knight garb isn’t very exciting. If we strip it down a little bit…

The typical YSL shiny gold packaging. I’m kind of in two minds about it – as a rogue, I do love me some gold. As a classy rogue, I tend to prefer the sleek black of Chanel’s compacts…
This image comes complete with curtains – you should have seen the gymnastics I did for it not to include the camera…!

Hm…still not enough? I see, you want to carve right into this thing and get to the soft pink interior! Just a flesh wound, my foot!

The product itself! The space currently occupied by the recently risen dead is where the sponge goes. It was wash day for mine, so you don’t get to see it.

Right! And here we are at the foundation-y goodness. As you can see, the product looks pretty arrestingly pink in this photo, and it is indeed an unashamedly pink undertoned product. Perhaps, even, a little too pink for me to wear it as a solid foundation on its own. As we know however, I am one of those people who is allergic (both figuratively and literally) to any kind of coverage at all, even medium. I like everything weightless and totally natural, even if a couple pimples show through a tiny bit.

Having said that, you can easily build up this feather-light, silky soft foundation up to medium coverage or greater, especially if you use the totally functional sponge that comes with the compact.  I vary between using the sponge very lightly, and using a fluffy brush, depending on whether I’ve put any BB creme on first. The heaviest coverage I do (for evening talks or something where I’m going to be on the stage) is a sheer layer of the YSL BB Creme from Part 1 of this series and then a dusting of this powder on top. It’s what I wore for my wedding, too!

The packaging is pretty functional, but I like the generous mirror. It doesn’t have a lot of weight to it, but it is sturdy.

Here is a nice picture of the back of the product, because I feel like a photo is necessary at this junction:

Back of packaging…not terribly exciting, I’ll grant you, but then neither is a shrubbery, to most people.

More reasons why this foundation is part of my HG Trinity, and a product you’ll have to slice off all my limbs to separate me from:

• It has a very soft, pleasant foundation scent.
• It contains SPF 35 PA +++, which isn’t too shabby at all.
• It doesn’t irritate, block or otherwise interfere with my skin (which is dry and prone to eczema).
• It wears up to ten hours, including two hours of intense ballet, without needing a touch up. It probably wears longer, but I never have makeup on for that long! (Obviously, I can’t speak for anyone with a very oily skin, as I have the reverse, which I’m sure helps it stay put)
• It imparts the most beautiful, luminous, airbrushed velvet look to my skin, without obscuring the natural texture of my skin or making me look cakey, OR highlighting dry patches.
• The compact and the pan of foundation are sold separately, meaning you don’t have to pay extra for the packaging if you’re happy to put it in a Z palette or something, or that you can just buy the cheaper refill for subsequent purchases.
• I have quite oily eyelids (randomly). If I dust a layer of this over my eyelids as a base/primer, then my powder eyeshadows blend easier and stay creaseless through the same 10 hour/ballet workout as the foundation itself!

But what you want to see is the foundation in action, right? Well, have at you!

Before and afters. Note how heartbreakingly flawless this stuff makes me look, even though you can still see my skin underneath. A gorgeous luminous matte-but-not-dry finish. I have used no undereye concealer either, although there is half of an eyeshadow look in progress. Ni!

Honestly, I can’t recommend this stuff enough.  Just LOOK at that finish! I could even build further if I wanted. The before photo is even slightly blurry, and the after photo was even taken in harsher, more direct daylight, technically, since I opened the window between photos. And it still looks perfect. *sigh* ❤

A note on shade range: one downside of this particular line of powder foundation is that it only really comes in pink/white/yellow shades. This is probaby further evidence that it’s still an (Austral)Asia exclusive (which is odd, since we have all sorts of colours of people here too), but disappointing for the darker skinned. The liquid version of this foundation seems to do slightly better in this respect, however, so that might be something to pursue if you’re less vampiric than I am!

A note on cost/benefit: This is an expensive foundation. However, as mentioned, I have a foundation holy trinity. Sometimes I use all three products, sometimes only one. As a result, I have had this pan for almost a year and as you can see I haven’t made too much of a dent in it. Additionally, if, like me, you like sheer coverage, you’re going to get even more mileage. Also, when you live in the land of >$40 Revlon Colorstay, nothing seems bad, really ;-). At the end of the day, I am so finicky about my foundation requirements, and so sparing with it, that I am happy to save up and invest a bit to get a perfect product. Your mileage (pricewise) may vary, but if my Holy Grail sounds great to you too, I’d urge you to consider going and at least getting a YSL MUA to put some on you and see how it goes.

The verdict: A perfectly toned, flawlessly velvety, buildable, lasting, wightless, nice-smelling powder foundation. Fullstop. Holy Grail. I also use a couple of other HG foundation-related products from YSL, so check out Part 1, and check back in a couple of days for the final piece of this quest!

The practicalities: YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Compact costs NZD ~30.00 for the compact packaging and ~NZD 65.00 for the pan of foundation, which is 9g / 0.32 oz, and may be found at YSL counters in department stores in New Zealand and Singapore (that I know of). www.yslbeautyus.com (or your region’s equivalent if applicable) seems to stock the liquid foundation version, which I can’t personally speak to but seems to be quite popular too!

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. These images may not be reproduced without permission, unless you want a fleet of gelatinous cubes after you.

The Search for The Holy (Foundation) Grail Part 1: YSL Top Secrets BB Creme in Clear / Fair

Greetings from the mountains of mystery, fellow rogues!

You may have noticed that it’s taken me a day longer than usual to pop up and greet you with new adventures in makeup! Well, I’ve been off on a particularly challenging adventure, but today I’ll be bringing you the first part of the loot!

Yes, I’ve been on a quest (haven’t we all?) for the Holy Grail of Foundations, and I’m pleased to say that I have returned victorious, without even encountering a single bloodthirsty rabbit. My Holy Grail of Foundations actually turned out to be a three-part process, even more astonishingly, they all come from the same brand: YSL. This is going to be quite a long review, but if you want the Cliff Notes, skip to the ‘Verdict’ at the bottom.

Today, we’re looking at the incredible base of this Foundation Trinity, YSL Top Secrets BB Creme in the shade Clear.

YSL BB Creme in Clear, the base of my Holy Grail of Foundations.
Nnni!

 

I should probably make some initial comments about my preferences and needs when it comes to foundation, so you can see where I’m coming from in choosing these products as my favourites.

I have very fair skin with a slight pink undertone, but I’m actually annoyingly neutral (quite hard to find in foundations, actually. My wallet was relieved of the distress of me liking any of Guerlain’s by the fact that they almost literally make me look like I rubbed Twisties (Cheetos, I think, for those in the States?) all over my face. It went beyond Oompa Loompa, that orange tone).

I’m also allergic to even the medium end of heavy coverage. I cannot *stand* the feeling of having ‘stuff’ on my face, which as you might imagine makes foundation hunting a bit tricky. It must be absolutely weightless, and relatively sheer/light. I am very fortunate to have no acne, but I still have pimples, pigmentation, redness, dark circles and dodgy skin texture on my super-desert-arrgh dry cheeks – there’s plenty of work for a sheer foundation to do! I don’t get particularly oily, but at the end of a long day the little triangle just above the space between my brows, the tip of my nose and the centre of my chin do get a little sheen to them.

 

Details on the back – YSL seems to think you can use this as a primer, which I suppose I do in a way. Kind of. Unfortunately, the ingredients were on the box, which is long-since gone…

 

In terms of lastability, I don’t want to have to touch up liquids at all. If I’m going to use a liquid/cream foundation product, it needs to stay put. Preferably without a setting powder, and through up to three hours of ballet. Powders I will happily pat on a bit more of (just like I really don’t mind re-applying lipstick).

When it comes to finish, I’m fairly flexible – I tend to like ones that are closest to actual skin – not too dewy and not too matte, although if forced to choose I would probably err on the side of matte. Since I like sheer products, this isn’t usually a huge issue, but it is undeniably a factor.

Right! Time to cut the chatter, and get to the product! Let’s start with packaging, before we delve into the real loot:

As you can see from the photos above, the YSL BB Creme comes in a longish white tube with a gold cap. It is totally, utterly functional and secure. Sure, maybe it’s easy to knock over if you try and store it upright, but that’s a minor quibble and depends on how you lay out your makeup chest. The opening of the bottle is excellent – a narrow nozzle that allows you to squeeze out any amount of product you desire, from the smallest dot to the most generous squiggleblob. No wastage here, and the product isn’t exposed unnecessarily to the air.

The super precise nozzle – more accurate than Ooly with a crossbow (shh, don’t tell her I said that).

 

Next, let’s move on to the colour match – the most important part of any foundation, for me! Here is also one of the catches – because this is a ‘BB Creme’, naturally it has a limited shade range. There are a whopping three in this range (hands YSL the Rubber Battleaxe Prize for Unsurprising Failure – I love the brand, and they have 4 of my HGs, but limited shade range in BB creams is not exactly uncommon), and I am matched to ‘Clear’. From what I can see on the US website, the shades in your part of the world are called ‘Light’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Dark’ We have the same, but for some reason they decided to call ‘Light’ ‘Clear’. Anyway, as you might expect, I am the most vampiric shade, which is not always the easiest to find in any brand.

The lovely thing about this shade is that although you can convince yourself that it has some pink undertones to it, it is gloriously neutral to me.Perfect for someone whose undertone is ‘transparent skin, can see all veins’.

 

Daylight blob and blended swatches of this BB Creme on the arm of the common rogue. No shrubberies were involved.

 

I know what you might be thinking about that picture: Syl, you forgot to do a blended swatch. But that’s the beauty of this BB creme for me – it blends flawlessly into my skintone. No excess pink, no excess yellow tone. Just perfect. And before you totally despair of the coverage, you should note two things. Firstly, this BB cream is really quite buildable. Even up to medium, I think – I tried to put some on my face to show you, and ran screaming to the bathroom to wash it off. Did I mention I don’t like stuff on my face? That’s not to say it felt at all cakey or unpleasant. I’m just weird like that.

Anyway, I invite you to notice that even with one very sheer layer, the veins in the square are less blue than the parts outside the square. Additionally, that little birthmark inside the square is normally a ‘so-fake-they-shouldn’t-let-people-drink-it cherry cordial’ pink/red, which the BB creme has toned right down – this is important, as general low-grade redness/pinkness is one of my problems, especially on my cheeks right next to my nose and the centre of my chin.

Still not convinced? How about some face pictures?! (Do also bear in mind that this is one sheer layer of a western BB Creme)

One very sheer layer of YSL’s BB creme on the face of a rogue. No other makeup at all is present, neither is Photoshop. Just my inability to take two photos the same distance from my face.

 

Just one very sheer (like I said, I’m funny like that) layer of this BB Creme has toned down the pores and redness around my nose, the darkness around my eyes, and some brown pigmentation spots. What it has left, however, is my natural skin texture and freckle, meaning that the finish is very natural.

Speaking of natural and finishes, this BB creme is very blendable and buildable, and you have plenty of time to work with it. It dries down first a little tacky, then like freshly (but not tackily or stickily) moisturised skin – plump and what I like to think of as dewy – fresh,  but not in any way shiny. Other things sit on top of it well (as we’ll discuss in upcoming posts), and It lasts me a whole day without fading or creasing. I do get a little bit of sheen on the spots mentioned earlier. Some more really nice things: this contains sunscreen (SPF 25, not too shabby) that doesn’t irritate my skin ( no mean feat), a lovely fregrance that I think smells like fresh pears, and sufficient moisturising capabilities that I can put it in my dry cheeks with no other moisturiser underneath, and I never see a single flake – my cheeks (and the rest of my face) are hydrated all day.

A note on cost/benefit: This is an expensive BB cream. However, as mentioned, I have a foundation holy trinity. Sometimes I use all three products, sometimes only one. As a result, I have had this tube fore almost a year and it’s still going strong (and hasn’t gone off in any way!). Additionally, if, like me, you like sheer coverage, you’re going to get even more mileage. Also, when you live in the land of >$40 Revlon Colorstay, nothing seems bad, really ;-). At the end of the day, I am so finicky about my foundation requirements, and so sparing with it, that I am happy to save up and invest a bit to get a perfect product. Your mileage (pricewise) may vary, but if my Holy Grail sounds great to you too, I’d urge you to consider going and at least getting a YSL MUA to put some on you and see how it goes.

The verdict: A perfectly toned, blendable, buildable, lasting, wightless, flawless, nice-smelling BB Cream. Fullstop. Holy Grail. I also use a couple of other HG foundation-related products from YSL, so check back for the rest of this series!

The practicalities: YSL Top Secrets BB Creme costs NZD ~80.00/USD 50.00 40 mL/1.3 fl. oz,  and may be found at YSL counters in department stores the world over, and from www.yslbeautyus.com (or your region’s equivalent if applicable).

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. These images may not be reproduced without permission, unless you want a fleet of gelatinous cubes after you.