Thursday, March 27, 2014

Testing Out #2: Guerlain Tenue De Perfection Foundation

YES! at last, Tenue De Perfection has finally arrived to Guerlain counters in Nazareth, and the Guerlain fanatic within me got beyond excited! But hey, I am not the kind to buy a foundation I haven't tried on myself, so I took a small little pot and asked the lady at the counter to fill in a little bit of it for me to try and see whether I like it or not. Obviously, the moment I got back home, I had to play with it a little and check the texture and stuff, but I didn't apply it on my face then.

Upon touching it and blending it on my hand, my initial reaction was that this is not exactly thick, well, it kinda is to me, and that's just because I'm used to, and I love Guerlain's Lingerie De Peau, which is definitely runny. I've never really liked "thicker" consistencies for my foundations, but hey, its Guerlain, I want to try it out and see how I like it before I toss it out or run to the counter and purchase it.

So as I was saying, I blended it on my hand to see the coverage level, and it turned out to have a medium-FULL coverage, and it is build-able. On my hand, it seemed like a perfect match, and just to clarify, the lady didn't have to match me, I knew pretty much which shade will (02 Beige Claire). the finish is also pretty matte, with a very slight and almost unnoticeable baby sheen, but mostly matte.

I let it sit on my hand for a couple hours, just to see how it feels and all, but keep in mind that my hands are drier than my face, and it felt pretty drying on.

Now lets move to the part where we discuss the face, shall we!

So for me, I need to test a foundation out for 4 days, in 4 different situations:
1. Straight on the face
2. Over Guerlain's L'or Primer (the one with gold)
3. Over Estee Lauder Illuminating Primer
4. Over the two primers mixed together

So far, I have tried it for 2 days, and lets find out what happened.

Day one was straight on the face, and I must tell you this, the coverage is pretty full, the application is easy as long as you don't take a year and a half to blend, and I tried a little bit with a brush, and a little bit with my hands, and it worked pretty good in both scenarios. It was, like I said, pretty matte too, which isn't my favorite finish to be honest. It wore all day long and it did not emphasize my despised almost there laughter lines which my beloved Lingerie De Peau can tend to do. It did settle in some pores after 6-8 hours of wear, but it wasn't terrible at all. However, for my normal-dry skin, this was a little too drying, and by the end of the day (after 10-11 hours of wear), and even though it looked pretty well, my cheeks and the area around my mouth felt pretty tight and a little uncomfortable. So I thought this must be great for combo-oily skin.

Day two was under my Guerlain Primer, and that primer is pretty moisturizing and dewy. So I applied it over that, the coverage was the same, pretty full coverage but natural and not cakey at all, even if built up. The finish was more satiny than it was on day one, but that is all due to the primer. It wore pretty great I must say, I got the same 10-11 hours (until I took it off), but I still had the pores issue around my nose, but it was definitely less than day 1. In terms of drying, I didn't notice my skin feeling tight, but definitely not moisturized or whatever. So, over the Guerlain primer, I did enjoy it a lot more.

I still have two more days of trial, and I will definitely make a "The Verdict is" blog and video on it. So my tip for you curious readers is to follow my blog and stay fully informed, and to subscribe to my YouTube channel. But I have more things schedules before this video will come up, so expect it to come sometime after April the 10th.

One last thing, my skin isn't very sensitive, so far, no break outs, but we'll see!

I have purposely reserved the footage for the final verdict, so expect to see them sometime in April.

Oh, and by the way, have you tried this foundation? what do you think about it? and what is your preferred method of applying it? AAAND lastly, do you love Lingerie De Peau as much as I do????

Thanks for reading, don't forget to check my channel again and follow the blog!
lots of love,
Carol

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Mind Blowing Product #3: Guerlain Maxi Shine

Its Guerlain girl time... YAY! Do you love Guerlain as much as I do? Well, then you must have already tried these beauties! Today I want to talk to you about a product that I haven't had for long, but one that I think is absolutely mind blowing. It is a gloss, and though I'm not much of a gloss fan, I couldn't resist a Guerlain lip product in a pretty package! The gloss line is called Maxi Shine, and that shine word at the end delivers pretty intensely, its almost like a mirror effect.

I would have liked to talk to you about the packaging, but a picture is worth a thousand words, and again, we are talking about Guerlain, the queen or king of luxury. So without any further ado, here's the big reveal!


Beautiful, RIGHT! 


It has a doe foot applicator, and it kind of looks like a rectangle, which I am still on the fence about. I find the applicator to be a little too stiff and inflexible, and it does not come to a point, like the YSL glossy stains for example. But it is not impossible whatsoever, it is actually kind of still easy, just not as good as a pointy applicator might have been. This gloss is also quite secure, you can put it in your handbag and forget about it, and it won't open.



The finish is ULTRA glossy, as I said before, it looks almost like a mirror of some sort. And I find it to be one of the longer lasting glosses out there. It doesn't last as well as a lipstick, but then it doesn't claim to be one too. It is also not entirely sheer, which gets a massive thumbs up from me. The color I have is in 470, as noted earlier, and it is called Magenta Waoh (wow??)! The only downside to luxury makeup is those french names, makes you feel like whatever degree you spent your time on wasn't enough for glamour world! Anyway, leaving lovely french aside, unless it was a french man of course (JK), this is a magenta purple pink, stunnnnning! it reminds me of a sheered out Lancome Violette Coquette, that would make a great lip combo! And because I'm rubbish at describing colors, here's a good ol' swatch for y'all!




And lastly, IS THIS THING COMFORTABLE ON OUR LUSCIOUS LIPS??? HELL YEAH! But I think it is a tiny little bit heavy, and you might not want your hair to get blown away and land on this gloss, its just a little sticky for my taste, which is why I don't wear glosses that much, but I want to branch out of my boring lipstick life and I love this gloss and I love Guerlain and it was on a pretty good sale, soooo, sure, why not! 





Do you have any this line of glosses? Which shades do you think I should get next? AAND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS SHADE?? 


YouTube review:

Friday, March 21, 2014

The Princess Tag

The Princess Tag is a tag in which you must choose your favorite luxury item for each category. I BELIEVE it was created by Tati on YouTube, and I will link her video below for you to watch, of course, as well as my own video of course. So I decided to jump on the wagon myself and do it too! I skipped a couple categories, added some, kind of customized it to my "beauty preferences". Before we get going, if you have read any of my posts or watched some of my videos, then you shouldn't be surprised by the selection of products I have picked out. Also, all of the products mentioned here are luxurious, but they're not necessarily my favorite, I talk all about that more in the video, since I do give like the briefest review of each of these products over there.

SO HERE WE GO:

Most Luxurious Primer: Guerlain L'or


Most Luxurious Foundation: Guerlain Lingerie De Peau (mine is in the shade 02 Beige Claire) - Fave


Most Luxurious Concealer: Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Flawless Wear concealer


Most Luxurious Under Eye Brightener: Guerlain Precious Light - Fave


Most Luxurious Powder: Guerlain Meteorites Perles D'azur - Fave


Most Luxurious Bronzer: Guerlain Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder in 03 Brunettes - Fave


Most Luxurious Blush: Tom Ford Cheek Color in Wicked - Fave


Most Luxurious Highlighter: Lancome Limited Edition Highlighter Blush


Most Luxurious Eyeshadows: Dior Colour Couture in 454 Royal Kaki, Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs in 04 Les Bois De Rose - Faves



Most Luxurious Lipstick: Guerlain Rouge G in 60 Gabrielle


Most Luxurious Gloss: Dior Gloss Addict in Merveille (limited edition)


Most Luxurious Perfume: Tom Ford in Violet Blonde


Most Luxurious Skincare Product: Dior Hydra Life Silk Cream (sorry, but this one is empty... #WELL_LOVED) - Fave


Most Luxurious Nail Polish: Estee Lauder Nail Lacquer in So Vain 


Most Luxurious Tool: Dior Cheek Brush



Tati's video: (ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL!!!)


My video:


Testing Out #1: Dior Abricot Huile Daily Nutritive Serum

Nails serum? REALLY? Is the beauty industry going slightly mad, or am I too basic to consider needing such product. Either ways, I admit it, I am intrigued, and my nails do need a whole lotta help. By the way, can you find the two hidden song references in those two line?


Putting music aside, this nail serum thing is supposed to moisturize your cuticles and strengthen your nails, so it doesn't claim to do anything other than what you would expect of such product. It comes is a squeeze tube that has a brush on its' end, and when you squeeze the tube, the product will come onto the brush and you just apply a tiny little dab on each fingernail and rub it with your finger, pretty simple. It comes out as a transparent oily gel, and it spreads pretty easily too. Now I have only had this product for a night, I used it twice, and I must say that I find it hard not to get an excessive amount on the brush, somehow I just always seem to squeeze a bit too much... I guess I hope to one day know when enough's enough! The brush is very soft and precise, it doesn't splay too much, and it never feels scratchy. The product feels oily when you try to rub it on your cuticles, but honestly, it seems to sink in pretty quickly, and it doesn't disrupt your nail polish, which is just fab!


So, as the title indicates, I am putting this to the test and trying this out to see whether it works or not, and I will certainly report back!



Have you tries any of the abricot nail care line? What other products should I try next?

REAL PRETTY MANI #2: Dior & OPI

You know when you really like a YouTuber, and you feel like that YouTuber can really convince you to go out and try a certain product? For me, this YouTuber is Hannah Georgina. I have heard her talk about Dior nail lacquer in 537 Riviera over and over again, and recently, she even put it in a giveaway, and that is when I knew I had to have it. And that's what happened, I spent about 33 USD on a nail polish, and you know what, I love it and I do not regret it at all. (Everything is more expensive in Israel)


Riviera is a beautiful orange, it might look like an orange red to my mother, but its a straight up orange to me. It is one of those shades I would wear all year round, especially in the summer. I think this would also look stunning on the toes with white flip flops! I prefer it with short nails, but then I prefer almost everything with shorter nails... It is also a color that does not need an accent nail for it to look more wearable or more posh, I guess, it just looks classy but with an edge to it. But for the sake of making a more interesting post, I paired it with my favorite glitter nail polish, OPI In True Stefani Fashion, which unfortunately was a LE shade that is no longer available, and I only topped the glitter on my ring finger.





Now since I did talk about OPI's glitter before, I think I should do a quick review on Riviera. The first thing that I must tell you is that is is a really PIGMENTED, I only do one coat and that's it. It also dries pretty quickly, its really impressive. I haven't worn this for more than a couple hours, so I cannot tell you whether this is a long lasting formula, but I have a feeling that I won't be disappointed. Packaging-wise, well, it is really simple and chic looking, but I am not super keen on the really short handle, I'm used to longer ones and it's going to take me a little bit of getting used to it, but it is no big deal. The applicator is pretty wide and relatively thin, so it covers a decent space of your nails, but if you had very small nails like I do, especially minute almost invisible pinkie nail, it can be a little too much, but the trick is not to apply any pressure on it, its not a big deal either.





Overall, and even though I do not know whether this is a long lasting formula, I am nonetheless smitten by this shade, it is absolutely and totally stunning, and I don't care if it will chip after a day, though I don't think it will, but I still  love it and highly highly recommend it!










Update: I've had this nail polish for 4 days, no chips, and even the opi glitter adheres to it better than ever! Dior, WELL DONE

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Current Foundation Routine

When the base is well prepped, everything you put in top should look enhanced, better, smoother, and more perfected. What I want to say is that a better complexion is more important than a smokey eye. I usually try my best to make my skin look as good as possible. I kind of have good skin to begin with, but I do get the odd breakouts, mainly one or two spots on my chin every now and then, but I still think I'm lucky, skin-wise! I have normal skin that can lean more towards a dry-ish one during the colder months, and my skin doesn't react to products that poorly. LUCKILY!

So, for me, I want my skin to look luminous, but not "wet looking" or "sweaty". I am not into intense coverage, I want my skin to still be visible, but perfected, as if I have the best skin, naturally. Since I like lighter coverage foundations, I use heavier concealer on the spots that need an extra push or the areas that need help, so to say.

But the first step that I think is essential for me is primer. I use primer for 3 reasons, first being the fact that is makes your foundation look better for longer, which means that it makes your foundation more long lasting. I also love wearing foundation to give my skin a smoother surface, and a more luminous one, so that the foundation will glide on it and benefit from the luminosity of it. But my main concern and the real reason why I think a primer is an essential step for me is those very fine but visible enough for me. (I am 23, I don't really have lines, but here's a little confession for you: I just feel a little insecure about that area)

Powder is one of the steps I would have skipped had there not been those translucent illuminating powders. As I said, I don't have oily skin, and I do not get shiny, so a powder with extra coverage and oil controlling properties doesn't do much for me, and I don't like too much coverage. So, I love those illuminating transparent powders.

And now that I've laid down my foundation Routine "standards", its time to share my products of choice.


For primer, I am currently using a mixture of two primers at once. The first one is the Estee Lauder Illuminating Perfecting Primer, which I find is great for making my foundation longer lasting, and it is also fabulous for making those "fine and almost invisible" lines invisible. It says that it is illuminating, but my other primer is far more superior, in terms of how illuminating it is. So, the second primer is the Guerlain L'or Radiance Concentrate Primer, the one with gold particles in it. This one is more dewy looking than the EL (Estee Lauder), it doesn't do that much for those lines, nor does it make my foundation longer lasting, but if you want a settle dewy finish, you cant go wrong with this, plus, gold is supposed to be good for blood circulation. I either mix the primers together, or I apply the EL along my t-zone, and the Guerlain one on the rest of my face, it depends on how much time I have. You do not really need to wait for the primer to set, but I find that if you give it 20-30 seconds to set, your foundation will apply better!





Now for foundation, my holy grail one and the only one I am currently using is the Guerlain Lingerie De Peau Invisible Skin Fusion Foundation, and the shade I am in is 02 Beige Claire. This is a very undetectable and light foundation. It feels like you have nothing on your face, it looks like it too, but it enhances your complexion and makes it look 10 times better! The coverage is light to medium, one thin layer would give you a light coverage, and a second one gives more of a medium one. So, this is definitely a build-able foundation that is absolutely not cake-y. It has a very natural, dewy but definitely more satiny finish. I believe it is water based, and that is probably why its so thin and runny. It is fantastic to apply it with a brush, a sponge, and even your hands. Fun Fact, I have now repurchased this for four times in a row, it might actually be a new foundation record! However, I kinda want to try the Guerlain Tenue De Perfection! Have any of you lovely readers tried it??? and also that Dior foundation spray!!!!! LET ME KNOW!



Ok, so foundation's done, but you might still have some spots that are not concealed. So concealer is the third step for me. I use two types of concealers, one for high coverage spots type of concealer, and one for highlighting under eyes kind of concealer. For my spots, I trust EL Double Wear line, as I am currently using the EL Double Wear Stay in Place Flawless Wear one. It is a heavy coverage on that is still light enough for my to tolerate. It covers nicely, and can be built up for those extra red spots. It is also great to wear as a base for those under eye concealers, just to neutralize the surface and make sure that we're not highlighting the darkness under there. For my under eyes and around my nose, I am currently using the Dior SkinFlash Radiance Pen. It does the job nicely, but honestly, the Guerlain gal within me wants the Guerlain Precious Light back, which is what I'm going to do once I run out of this Dior one. Don't get me wrong, its nice and all, but I am a Guerlain gal at heart, I just cannot help myself!





Powder is this one step that I think is unnecessary for me, but one that I still love and enjoy. And that is all thanks to my very first makeup purchase (fun fact), my Guerlain Meteorites pearls! I have a limited edition one, the Perles D'azur, which is the version they released, collaborating with Emilio Pucci. This is a powder that is super finely milled, that has super fine light reflecting particles that make your face look illuminated. It also has a special power, it makes your face look pore-less, its like a diffusing powder, one that's enhanced with settle light reflection properties, and one that smells so darn good too. I love the meteorites, I do admit that the effect is very settle that some people might not justify the price, but if you're after those tiny little details, and you do not mind a little bit of extra illumination, the you're a meteorites person!




I have actually filmed a video of my foundation routine! So if you want to see how each one of the products applies, as well as the what the textures are like, then don't forget to head over to my channel and watch it!



Seems like a lot of products to use on daily basis, but it takes me about 5 minutes to get it all on, and I can do it with less time if I was in a rush.
So... YEAH, this is my foundation routine, and I think its working perfectly well for me. I'd love to know if any of you use any of the products I mentioned, and if so, what do you think about them! I am also interested in concealer recommendations, maybe one of those pots rather than one that looks like a lip gloss!