drivel about frivol

As with my facial skincare [main and supplementary routines], the goal is to keep my naturally very dry skin moisturised without irritation, an especially tricky proposal in winter, so that I can then forget about it and use my hands for other things than scratching myself to death.

CLEANSE

A soap-free, non-drying body wash makes a huge difference to how comfortable my skin feels -- I've learned through experience that even the richest moisturisers afterwards can't compensate for a harsh cleanser. La Roche-Posay Lipikar Surgras [ingredients] is my current favourite; for summer / humid climates / active bouts of eczema or irritation, I switch over to the lighter Lipikar Syndet [ingredients]. Please note that both of these shower gels contain niacinamide, sodium laureth sulfate, and Surgras also contains fragrance. If you dislike products which leave a slight 'film' on the skin, avoid Surgras.
Scrubs can be tricky for delicate skin, but the Haus of Gloi Soft Bubbling Scrubs are a good balance of effective and gentle for me -- the sugars dissolve quickly enough into a light, clean-rinsing foam that even a bout of overenthusiastic buffing [me + sugar + bubbles = enthusiasm an ever-present danger....] won't leave skin red or chapped. The dinky 2oz. sample sizes are a perfect way to experiment with the plethora of HoG scents on offer, and each $3.50 tub, used once weekly, lasts me a full month.

Haus of Gloi Honeysuckle Lemon Curd Soft Bubbling Scrub ingredients

If a slightly stronger exfoliant is needed for elbows, knees and arse, I reach for FuturePrimitive Soap Co. Bubbling Sugar Scrubs, which are a bit more scrubby and a bit less foamy than the Haus of Gloi Bubbling ones, but which are gentler than the Haus Emulsifying Scrubs. The Future Primitive scrubs also rinse clean, and their scents tend to suit my olfactory preferences more (and layer better with my perfumes) than the foodier Haus of Gloi offerings; being a UK indie brand, there is quicker/cheaper shipping to enjoy as well.

FuturePrimitive Soap Co. Urchin Girl Bubbling Sugar Scrub ingredients

As a general rule of thumb for dry, sensitive skin, keep your showers short and not too hot, and shower in the evening so that your skin can dry properly and absorb any moisturisers before being exposed to cold winter air.

MOISTURISE

But with my holy grail moisturiser, I just have to shut up and cough up the price of international shipping every few months. Having tried every readily available option, and many an indie one besides, Haus of Gloi Pumpkin Butters remain the best at keeping my skin soft, comfortable and eczema-free. While not the thickest or most emollient, they are definitely the most efficient body butters I've tried, and the gorgeous 'whipped' texture is light enough to smooth with no effort in no time at all (no boring 'warming between hands' or 'rubbing' or other esoteric and faintly kinky speshul application skillz required), and sinks in immediately even in a humid Hong Kong summer.

Haus of Gloi Aether Pumpkin Butter ingredients

Never a fan of gourmand scents, most of the Haus flavours are far too sweet for me (the scents I can enjoy in a scrub are magnified in pumpkin butter form), so my usual seasonal order (a 6 oz. jar lasts me a month) consists of two tubs of the unscented Aether and one other for variety. Apothecary (shown here) is mostly lemongrass on a faintly woody-herbaceous base, and my other favourite from the permanent line; noses being subjective, this light citrus might smell more 'neutral' to some than Aether, with its untempered shea/pumpkin/coconut components.
For enquiring minds, the limited edition seasonal scents I do like and repurchase: Three Treasures, Snow Wolf and Plotter's Breakfast (Yule), Samhain (Fall) and Something Hopeful (Valentine's, sometimes -- I hope they bring this back next year).

HANDS AND FEET

...don't necessarily require special / additional products, so listen to your own skin. Since I have Raynaud's (which affects extremities), do a lot with my hands and walk everywhere, separate products do help. Herby Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Recovery (a coarse-grained salt scrub which leaves palms and cuticles soft and coated in oils -- I wouldn't use this on the thin skin on the backs of hands) and Hand Therapy (a matte, instantly absorbed but effective moisturiser) have been staples for years. I use the scrub once a week and keeps tubs of the cream everywhere -- I can get on with whatever I want to do immediately after application without leaving sticky, greasy handmarks.

In my bag, a rotation of travel-sized Japanese drugstore handcreams -- currently Shiseido Hand Cream -- which are usually scent-free, quickly absorbed to wear under gloves and carefully packaged never to explode/spill all over the rest of the stuff I tote around.

CCS Heel Balm contains 20% urea, higher than most UK drugstore offerings, and slathered overnight over feet (optionally topped with cotton socks) helps to keep them soft and prevent cracks.

EMERGENCIES

I was prescribed both of these basic treatment creams by doctors: Womnale DX II is a healing Japanese drugstore 20%-urea-and-hyaluronic acid mix (miraculously elegant texture for a urea cream and never stings), while Diprobase is a barrier-forming paraffin ointment, cheap as chips in the UK. All the blather above ensures that I rarely suffer from eczema / chilblains / cracked and chafed skin any more, but I still keep these around as insurance: a quick slather when early warning signs of sore skin manifest usually nips things in the bud.

I've arranged these roughly by colour groups, but disorganisation and short arms means there will probably be strays added on at a later date. Many of these are currently unavailable / have been reformulated, so I've not noted this -- Fyrinnae's stock changes so quickly any info I post will have a short lifespan anyway. If you'd like to know what vintage/edition a particular shade is, please leave me a comment and I'll try my best to answer.

Unless otherwise noted, all swatches made by patting with a fingertip onto bare, moisturised skin and are of the loose shadows which I had pressed myself with glycerin and isopropyl alcohol (having tested about 20 shades against the leftover loose pigment, I cannot detect any change in the opacity or finish).

Starred names are Arcane Magic shades.

GREEN

If I had to pick a favourite eyeshadow colour, it would probably be green. (Or purple. Or taupe. Yeah, I can't really pick... am but a flighty flibbertigibbet compared to Queen of Green Naz.) But Fyrinnae makes some of my favourite greens ever, so they're up first :) ...with a few sneaky turquoises/teals.

Closer looks at this batch:

1. Are You My Mummy?*

2. Dragon's Wing

3. Eternal Innocence

4. Anemone

5. Electric Stardust*

6. Otherworld

1. Madame and Eve's*

2. Callipygian

3. Dark Fantasy*

4. Njordr

5. Boytoy

6. Vodka

7. Hypercool

Many of Fyrinnae's blackened shades do require a sticky base (I use the brand's Pixie Epoxy, but many prefer Too Faced Glitter Glue) to truly shine, so I've reswatched some over PE. Messily, which is why I prefer to skip PE....

Madame and Eve's*, Callipygian, Dark Fantasy*

Njordr, Boytoy, Hypercool

more BLUE-GREEN

1. Raven's Prophecy*

2. Dokkalfar

3. Jaguar

4. Sorceress*

5. Pteranodon

6. Sleepy Hollow

7. Bride of Frankenstein*

Over Pixie Epoxy:

1. Raven's Prophecy*

2. Dokkalfar

3. Jaguar

4. Sorceress*

PURPLE

aka, my other favouritest Fyrinnae colours

closer look:

Shinigami

Cuddlefish

Parental Advisory

Meerkat

Herbivore

Sequinned Master*

When I Grow Up

Alchemist's Curse*

Velvet Vampire*

Freya

Shinigami

Cuddlefish

Alchemist's Curse* over Pixie Epoxy

PINK/RED

closer looks

1. Chaotic Evil

2. Superstar

3. Kurisumasu!

4. Wake Not The Dead*

5. Cupcake Frosting

6. Crimson Ghost

1. Purgatory

2. Velvet Vampire* (repeat from the purples because it shifts between plum/copper red)

3. Dark Magick

4. Candy Coated

5. Samhain Spirits

Yep, still in love with this palette.

The two looks I'm going to show you today both play into the rosy eyeshadow trend which seems to dominate this year's holiday collections (Lisa Eldridge has a great video showcasing Chanel's take here).

1. Harmonious haze i.e. a more organic version of the first look here.

Bronze silk smooth (top right) all over lid and lower lashline as a base

Pink (middle left) packed over the centres of lid and lower lashline to bring out the silver sparkle

Gold glitter (bottom left) to blended in from inner corner
[RBR Automatic Eye Pencil Salome, Armani ETK waterproof mascara]

Cheek: Sula Girl Next Door
Lip: Fresh Sugar Rosé
Base: Vapour Atmosphere Luminous Foundation 090 and Illusionist Concealer 000

Flash pic to give a better idea of the textures:

2. A cooler take, incorporating slightly more contrast both tonally and texturally.
Horizontal gradation from pink inner corner, through gold, to purple outer corner, socket blended and darkened with Rouge Bunny Rouge Sweet Dust Seriema.
Lower lashline surrounds the gold with more of the pink.
[GOSH white kohl, L'Oreal TFLWP mascara]

Cheek and Lip: Sonia Rykiel Sublime Lipstick 24
Base: Shu Uemura Tsuya UnderBase Mousse, Vapour Illusionist Concealer 000

Embarrassing as it was, my last experiment with this kind of collage post was really helpful in motivating me to pare down my collection -- I kept 20 out of the 53 items shown.

So here's a nail polish edition, featuring the three groups I've been gravitating to lately: textured greens, smooth blues and purple-tinged neutrals.

All pictures taken in natural sun/light. Swatches are 2 coats with topcoat unless otherwise noted.
DC = discontinued
LE = limited edition

Textured greens

left to right:

Butter London Trustafarian: pale lemon-sage holo (3 coats)

China Glaze He's Going In Circles: seafoam-mint holo (DC)

Butter London Swinger: multi-tonal glittery chartreuse

Essence Bashful: hunter green cream base with fine gold shimmer (LE)

Smitten Polish I Want It Now: green jelly base with teal, green and black sparkle (3 coats)

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle: deepened green base with...emerald sparkle

A-England St George: subtle rich holo, more pine green than teal

Butter London Jack the Lad: dark bottle green base with gold, turquoise and emerald glitter

Suqqu EX-08 Kujakudama: blackened sage with lighter, warmer green shimmer (DC)

Trustafarian, He's Going in Circles, Swinger, Bashful, I Want it Now, (Emerald Sparkle)

Bashful, I Want It Now, Emerald Sparkle, St George, Jack the Lad, Kujakudama

Jack the Lad

Smooth Blues

left to right:

Kiko 336 Electric Blue: bright, clear electric blue, on the light side of IKB

YSL 18 Bleu Majorelle: a little deeper/more muted than Kiko

OPI Dating a Royal: sheer cobalt jelly (4 coats)

China Glaze Man Hunt: slightly richer and deeper than OPI, cobalt crelly

Kiko 335 Ink Blue: sheer parker-ink blue, looks more blue and less teal with layering (4 coats)

Illamasqua Propaganda: inky blackened blue (3 coats)

Electric Blue, Bleu Majorelle, Dating a Royal, Man Hunt, Ink Blue, Propaganda

Purple as a neutral

left to right:

Butter London Muggins: pale grey with lavender tint

OPI Done Out In Deco: lilac cream

Butter London No More Waity, Katie: lavender taupe base with brighter, warmer glitter (3 coats)

[no bottle pic] A-England Guinevere: neutral greyed lavender

Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant: dusty lilac-taupe base with subtle cool blue reflect

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic: looks ridiculously warm here but it's not, a dirty plummed taupe

Barry M Dusky Mauve: Chanel Paradoxal in a far superior formula :P

Rescue Beauty Lounge Recherché: warm grey-smoked plum

Muggins, Done Out In Deco, NMWK, Guinevere, Insouciant, Metro Chic, Dusky Mauve, Recherché

So which would you ditch? :) Any shared favourites? Not sure why my brain would regard this kind of thing as a makeup rut MAYDAY MAYDAY but in nail terms, it's just a pleasant aesthetic wave to ride.

Apologies for not keeping up with posting/replying to comments/bloghopping lately: holidays = mad chaotic rush, always. I aim to post at least once a week for now, but will hopefully be back on a more regular schedule next year.

This post was inspired by Mary Greenwell's refreshingly relaxed approach (hosted here by Lisa Eldridge) -- passionate ease sounds vaguely seedy, but it's the best my lurgy-fighting brain can come up with right now. Anyway, scroll down (we're going back in time so BYO woo-woo sound effects) for a couple of looks which for various reasons I didn't think turned out polished enough to blog. Which is ridiculous, because this blog has never been about polish or slickness -- in fact, not to get too wanky about it, I like blogging most fundamentally for its unprofessionalism, if not even anti-professionalism. Blah blah etymology of amateur rinse repeat blah.

1. This probably shouldn't have seen the light of day for very good reasons... working from home does strange things to one. Among them Utena hairs (from Wonderland Wigs):

Eyes: Collection [née Collection 2000] Glam Crystals liner in Pow! against neutrals from Chanel Stupendous quad | Blush: RBR Delicata | Lip: Armani Lip Maestro 503

2. Bérénice Marlohe's budding signature look (see The Non Blonde's post) really appeals to me for the way it plays up her hooded eyes which fold down at the inner corner, just like mine :D It's a great example of anti-corrective makeup. For the current conventional wisdom on how to 'flatter' this eyeshape, Lisa Eldrige has a good video.

This happened during Fyrinnae Week, so I used some of their neutrals to take off this look, which was the cleanest rendition of the shape I could find:

Shinrikou (a cool, pale gold), Sake & Sashimi (a rich neutral brown with green, blue, gold and red shimmer), and Knickers in a Twist (silvery taupe satin base with warmer bronze shimmer).

In mah fabulous bathroom lighting :P

Least colour-accurate but gives best idea of the darkness under the lower lashline:

Mascara: Max Factor False Lash Effect 24Hour | Blush: RBR Delicata | Lips: balm.

From Before I Chopped My Hairs Off

3. Black and gold, inspired by the gif wot colonised the makeup internets last year:

Ginta Lapina at Jason Wu Fall 2011

I was too lazy to concoct the midnight blue that makes this look so effective so simply used plain black Shiseido Caviar Shimmering Cream Eye Colour and Barry M Dazzle Dust 101 Buff.

Chapped lips and even dodgier pics:

Waterline: GOSH white kohl | Lips: Korres Jasmine Lip Butter

4. Graphic powder, pinspired by this, which is actually quite similar to the Bérénice Marlohe, but more precise and conventional:

ad for Agate Adorned

Eyes: KATE BK-1 gel liner, GOSH white kohl,

Catrice Hip Hop on the Tree Top and The Noble Knights, no mascara

Lips: Korres Jasmine Lip Butter

Some wooly victims of this recent spate of pernicious perfectionism....

Remember the cropped cardigan I wasn't happy with? It's now an ex-garment.

And I am currently in the process of cannibalising Peabody v1.0 to make Peabody v2.0 'the version that actually fits!'

As you see, literally knitting off the corpse of the last one. Just finished the entire body again and had the whole of the ribbing section left over, because this is what happens when you skim an 'easy' pattern, accidentally cast on three sizes too big, and wing the rest because you're so clever like that.

Fellow serial-rippers may find this recent TechKnitting post on recycling yarn useful; I can definitely vouch for it.

Finally, a confession: I fell off the dress wagon at a recent Erdem sample sale:

Please redeem me with styling suggestions? So I can commence wearing this with embarrassing frequency thus making it, like, totally free and stuff?

Or make me feel better by sharing your own recent imperfections! :D I know Mary Greenwell's vids have been a hit on makeupalley; have you been inspired, too? Or do you prefer a more studied approach?

...Better late than never? Apologies for my longer-than-planned break, and the belatedness of this "best of 2012" year in review post; I'm looking forward to catching up with all of your picks (and other blog posts, and comments) soon.

My Favourite (New) Things: 2012

(I've excluded any new shades in formulas I was already familiar with -- as I'm much more texturally picky this helped focus my selection from a pretty good year for makeup discoveries.)

Shu Uemura Brightening UV Underbase Mousse SPF30 A moisturising, texture- and colour-correcting primer to knock out both sallowness and redness at once, and vanish pores, without leaving skin too ashy-cool or matte; effective enough that I can usually skip foundation afterwards.

Suki CC Cream 02 Whitening I still enjoy the ritual of applying foundation, even (maybe especially) when it isn't a necessity, and a tiny drop or two of this pigmented lavender-tinted bargain (about £2 at Sasa) lightens and neutralises most of the 'palest' shades on the market to actually match my skin, without discernibly changing their formulas.

Vapour Organic Beauty Atmosphere Luminous Foundation 90(more) Any foundation that matches me out of the box [okay, it's a hair dark now in the depths of winter, but nothing a dab of Suki can't solve] is a noteworthy discovery; factor in a creamy, clean-ingredients-filled formula, a skinlike finish and a small company with decent ethics to support and we have a favourite for this year, and no doubt many to come.

Burberry Sheer Touch Concealer 01 (more) The best texture I've ever encountered in a concealer, and the perfect pink tones in a shade darker than my skin to knock back my blue/green circles without making my face look unnaturally flat. One click suffices so this tube has been going strong since May, with daily use. (Honourable mention goes to Korres Materia Herba Anti-Dark Circles Eye Cream (reviewed here, with my other skincare discoveries of 2012), without which this click-pen wouldn't provide sufficient coverage.)

Rouge Bunny Rouge Eye Gloss Typical of RBR, to nail a product I'd been craving for years: a truly glossy (no glitter or iridescent sheen), absolutely un-sticky highlighter, versatile enough to use under, over or mixed with powders on the lid, or elsewhere on the face. Stands on its own in minimalist looks too.

L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash Waterproof Mascara (worn here and here) Every bit as good as the Fasio mascara I reviewed earlier this year, but available locally, and currently on BOGOF at Boots. Made in Italy, but with the gimmicky wand and separate-remover-needed apocalypse-proof formula more usually found in Japanese brands.

Tom Ford Eyeshadow Blend Brush (review and comparison with my other blenders soon.) Excellent balanced goat-hair crease/blending brush, made by Hakuhodo.

Most of the colour products I've already reviewed:
Dolce&Gabbana Soleblush (here) and Guerlain Rouge G L'Extrait M25 Colère (here) are both great examples of bright, clear reds with enough corally warmth to counteract my naturally cool pink cheeks and mauve lips, in faultless formulas.
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner 05 Eye Rock(here) is the best black liner I can imagine, and I've professed my love for the Shu Uemura Karl Lagerfeld Prestigious Bordeaux Palette so frequently and recently that surely no more need be said.

Still forthcoming, a review of Kiko Long-Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 04 Golden Chocolate, which in short is another By-Terry-Ombre-Blackstar-a-like, and even cheaper than the Topshop version.

Scent of the Year: L'Artisan Seville À L'Aube

I've helpfully drawn your attention to the reason for my purchase....

Totally cheating, since this is the only unplanned fragrance purchase I made this year. But I don't like playing favourites with my pretties anyway -- it feels like....playing favourites. I reach for lush white florals to chase away winter blues and this one is a particularly gorgeous rendition: bright orange-blossom and honeyed jasmine, delicately edged in incense, the sweetness cut with subtlest lavender and lifted by sparkling pink pepper -- bottled sunlight.

PS If any of you remember my resolution last January to buy only twelve new products in the year (discounting replacements and staples) and was expecting this post to wrap that up -- in conclusion, big fat fail. Of the eight products I bought before nixing the plan, I've kept two, only one of which (D&G Sole) made it onto this list of favourites (the other was RBR Calypso eye pencil), which is actually worse than my usual impulsive/unplanned hit-rate. [Overall my collection has shrunk -- of which more in a future post -- but I don't think the 12-12 project deserves any credit for that.]
For the last few months of 2012 I've had more success employing a one-in-one-out system of replacement buying, with no 'free' purchases, and will be continuing with that plan in 2013.

As today is the 150th anniversary of the London underground, what better time than to write about the undergroundings of my makeup: primers! Which, like the Tube itself, should be efficient and unobtrusive in smoothing one's way, but which at their worst are often irritating, clogging, frankly sweaty and full of strange and overpowering stenches....

Okay, okay, we will drop the metaphor. for now....

The Products

left to right:

Suqqu Makeup Base Creamy (£33 for 15ml, ingredients) is the most moisturising, with a feather-light gel-cream texture. It's hideously expensive for a tiny eye-cream-sized pot, and has recently been discontinued, so I now reserve mine for special events in winter -- a pea-sized amount miraculously smoothes over flakes as well as handling the basic pore- and line-blurring and skintone-evening which are my other bottom-line requirements for primers. (With my dry skin, I don't have problems with lasting power or oxidisation.) The pale, neutral pink tint is a great brightener for prone-to-dullness winter skin, and barely registers as a colour even when I'm at my palest.

Shu Uemura Under Base Cream Pink(£29 for 30ml) Currently being auditioned as a future replacement for the Suqqu primer. The tint is slightly warmer/peachier and the texture has a more conventional light siliconey slip, unlike Suqqu's almost water-light cream [which I can't describe adequately because it's so different to most of what's out there, but if you've tried their Creamy Glow lipsticks, you'll know what I mean], and this isn't quite as moisturising, but it's the best substitute I've found so far. If you've any recommendations, please leave me a comment!

Shu Uemura Under Base Cream Pink ingredients

Shu Uemura UV Underbase Mousse Tsuya (Peach) and Brightening (Pink/Purple) (each £29 for 50ml) are both part of Shu's range of fun aerosol-dispensed mousse bases, which come in several other priming shades as well as three 'foundation/BB' shades catering to NC15-NC25. The ingredients differ for each shade, but in general the mousses are lightweight and meant to create a lastingly flawless satin-matte base, with good sun protection (SPF30/PA++) for oily skins in summer heat/humidity.

The Tsuya (Peach) mousse is an evolution of this line, a skincare/makeup hybrid (incorporating Shu's Tsuya Skin serum), marketed at mature normal/combination skin. Its combined alcohol and silica content sadly proved too drying for me. Shame, as the light apricot shade was fantastic at knocking out redness and gave my skin a fabulously healthy 'bloom' which usually requires a lot of careful bronzer and blusher blending to achieve. And the light peach scent was a nice dose of psychological sunniness too.

Shu Uemura UV Under Base Mousse Tsuya (Peach) ingredients

The Brightening (Pink/Purple) version shares actives with Shu's Whitefficient skincare range and is aimed instead at dry skin: the most moisturising of the mousses and actively glowy (without shimmer), with an unusual pale lilac tint to correct the sallowness, uneven tone, and overall 'dullness' which Japanese skincare wisdom conventionally links to dehydration and aims to counter with these 'brightening' products. Unlike the Tsuya mousse, this has a light floral scent.

Shu Uemura Brightening UV Under Base Mousse Pink/Purple ingredients

At the Selfridges Shu masterclass last May, I was advised to use a ball closer to the size of a pea than the walnut advised on the Shu site, patting it on with a small flat brush from the centre of the face outwards (they used a #12 Synthetic). Which was fantastic advice -- the patting motions meant that pores really did vanish before my eyes and the tiny amount used prevented any ashiness (on darker skintones) or Violet Beauregarde cast (on paler ones). It takes a bit of practice to master the milisecond-press needed to dispense a pea rather than golfball, but well worth it. This does contain alcohol quite far down in the ingredients list, and on my very dry skin, is best reserved for warmer temperatures/climates; even so, it leaves me a softly luminous satin finish rather than an all-out glow. In winter, it is too matte/drying, and I mix the lavender-tinted Suki CC cream02 Brightening into my foundation to get some of the similar red- and yellow- tone correcting benefits. (More on the Suki later, in a post dedicated to base mixers.)

Swatches

left to right: Suki, Shu Pink/Purple, Shu Peach, Shu Pink, Suqqu

semi-blended

fully blended

As you can see, they all blend invisibly into my skin, even the worryingly orange Shu Tsuya peach and pigmented Suki lavender. This is why I won't be posting facial before-and-afters -- the differences -- so immediately obvious in reality, which fuels my addiction to priming not just before but above and often instead of foundation -- are beyond my photography skills at the moment.

For now I will transparently circle back to the anniversary of the Underground, and leave you with this cast pic from the upcoming BBC Radio 4 play of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere:

.... James McAvoy to head! Benedict Cumberbatch as The Angel Islington! Anthony Head as Croup! Sophie Okonedo as Hunter! And that's just a partial cast pic! More details here.

Key elements of the best chocolate cake ever: the most fragrant cinnamon you can lay your hands on [mine is from The Spice House, a gift from a beautiful friend], nutmeg, vanilla extract, good cocoa powder and espresso powder [if you substitute coffee, go for the strongest you can find and I'd up the quantities even so].

You can find the recipe on Signe Johansen's blog, though I made it from her beautiful book, Scandilicious (see also amazeballs cinnamon buns of yore). My lazy / random idiosyncratic tweaks:
No marbling. Because marbling, srsly? Aint nobody got time etc. And just think of the extra washing up.
Instead, I threw 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the whole mix and took out a little of the flour. This creates a seriously tempting (bowl-cleaning-not-a-chore) caramel-tinged batter, with darker flecks of cinnamon and espresso visible throughout:

Baked. Yes, I did tap my tin before shoving it in the oven, but a few air bubbles on the shiny shiny surface are somewhat inevitable because this cake is a miraculous balancing act: simultaneous light and moist.

SJ hid her bubbles in icing; as a home baker who actively prefers her cakes on the fug side, I converted the icing (buttercream infused with the same key flavours of chocolate, coffee and spice) into a filling instead -- far less messy and as a bonus enabling cunning disguise of the fact that you're eating twice the amount of cake per slice....

I.e. a swatch round-up of all my Suqqu grey shades, very belated considering that my introduction to the brand (now one of my makeup staples) was and remains my favourite grey eyeshadow palette: Blend Eyeshadow Quad in 09 Koju, released for the Spring 2009 Sakurakage collection and discontinued c. 2010.

picture taken with flash to capture some of the nuances

I've swatched the top right (warm light grey satin) and bottom left (warm sooty matte base with very sparse tonal microshimmer) shades from Koju today, along with *ahem* several of the other Suqqu grey shadows I seem to have acquire since then....

Which now live cosily in a large Z-palette (no-fire depotting process here). Core quads 01-05 and 06-08 run across the top half, and along the bottom are EX-05 Usumomokurumi quad (limited edition Christmas 2011), EX-02 Mizumomo blush duo (LE autumn 2012), the darker side of 01 Momozoe blush duo, and EX-22 Nibidama (a long-discontinued relic from before 2010 when Suqqu used to make single eyeshadows and blushes).
Numbered shades are swatched.

natural light, one swipe with sponge applicators

1. neutral sage grey from 02 Kokedama

2. silver from 04 Keshizumi

3. taupe from 04 Keshizumi [looks much warmer in contrast to the others here]

4. cool grey from 06 Ginbudou

5.EX-22 Nibidama, a cooler silver-mauve taupe

6. iridescent gunmetal from EX-05 Usumomokurumi

7. light grey from 09 Koju

8. charcoal from 09 Koju

with flash, to pick up more textural nuance

fuzzy flash

Kiko is an Italian drugstore brand available in several European countries; in the UK they have an eshop as well as b&m locations in Westfield, London.

Last year Claire of Aucuparia Brumalis got me hooked on their nail polish and for my first foray into their makeup range I chose eye products, as many of my favourite high end eyeshadows and liners are manufactured in Italy. This post will focus on the Long-Lasting Stick Eyeshadows -- cream eyeshadows in twist-up chubby stick form.

As one of these made it onto my Top 12 of 2012 list, it should be no surprise that I really really love this formula. Because again, just like the By Terry Ombre Blackstar cream shadow sticks, these are unctuously creamy, pigmented enough to line with yet effortlessly blendable to wear all over the lid, so lightweight they can work as a base under other formulas, and imbued with varying degrees of complex shimmer to add dimension while bouncing light away from textural issues -- which as a very dry-lidded person, I need -- and they reportedly wear like iron on my oily-lidded friends.
As Topshop Mystical fills the taupey neutral niche so well, I opted for warmer Kiko shades to gild my holiday wardrobe: 04 Golden Chocolate(top) and 06 Golden Brown (bottom):

One-swipe swatches

natural light

natural light, slightly angled

The two Kiko shades differ slightly in finish: 06 Golden Brown is a smoother shimmer with tonal sparkle, similar to Topshop Mystical, while 04 Golden Chocolate contrasts lime, red and several tones and sizes of gold sparkle against a brown satin base, in a similar style to (but with stronger contrasts than) By Terry Misty Rock.

fuzzy flash

The Kiko version retails for £4.90, as opposed to By Terry's £27.50 and Topshop's £7.50, and comes in a wider range of shades to boot (currently 16 in the core line). All three are made in Italy, in superficially differing packaging [actually, colouring aside, the Kiko and Topshop packaging is identical], and include 1.64g of product.

Kiko Long-Lasting Stick Eyeshadow Ingredients

For the highly similar Topshop and ByTerry ingredients, see here.

For two looks featuring these sticks, click through.

Kiko Water Eyeshadows are pressed, embossed powders designed to be used both wet and dry -- and for these I lay the blame firmly at the door of Ms Naz of Mascara Magic.

Okay, and also because they seemed similar to the Estée Lauder Cyber formula (also made in Italy; swatches here) of which I am a fan.

Kiko Water Eyeshadow 223 Eggplant Purple and 225 Indigo Blue

Approximately two seconds after taking that picture, this happened:

Spontaneous self-depotting? Um, way to jump straight into my good books, little Eggplant! Unfortunately, as these don't have a separate pan holding the pigment together (nor do the Estée Lauders, btw), I had to rehouse it. Here's how the surfaces look after being used wet -- as you can see, no hardening. But Eggplant Purple is prone to cracking :(

Patted-on swatches, dry (top) and wet (below):

(is it just me or is this post getting seedier by the scroll?)

(....slant rhyme!)

Pretty self-explanatory, eh? Used dry, these are DRY and drab and sheer and chalky and just extremely disappointing. Used wet, they swatch very nicely indeed (check out the multitonal shimmery complexity in Eggplant Purple and the strong iridescent metallic flash in Indigo Blue), but on my dry lids they were difficult to blend and once set, tended to look patchy and emphasise skin texture. You can see this beginning at the edge of the wet swatches, but for the full effect, here's Indigo Blue over the lid with Eggplant Purple in the outer third, both used wet.

Rest of the look here.

These are not issues I'd experienced with even the driest of the Estée Lauder shades (Cyber Green and Cyber Copper).

Kiko Water Eyeshadow Ingredients:

My choices of jewelled shades of Water Eyeshadow seemed to pair naturally with the warmer metallics I chose from the Long-Lasting Eyeshadow Sticks, so here are two looks highlighting each aspect.

1. Kiko Long-Lasting Eyeshadow Stick in 04 Golden Brown taken up to the socket and 06 Golden Chocolate to line upper lashline and outer third of lower lashline, smoked outwards. Water Eyeshadow 225 Indigo Blue, used dry, over the inner two-thirds of the eye. RBR Eye Kohl in Salome to line, Fasio Ultra Curl Lock Volume mascara.

Paired with unobtrusive blush and gloss: Rouge Bunny Rouge Gracilis and Korres Cherry Oil Natural Purple.

2. Kiko Water Eyeshadow 225 Indigo Blue foiled (used wet) over the lid, and 223 Eggplant Purple (also used wet) blended onto the outer third of the lid and to line to outer third of the lower lashline. Eyeshadow Stick 06 Golden Brown to accent lower lashline. Slight flick with KATE Super Sharp Liquid Liner S in BK-1.

Again with the understated cheeks and lips; Gracilis again, but the lips taken down a notch to counterbalance the metallic eye: Addiction Day Trip, a sheer jelly peach.

Guerlain's limited edition Coup de Foudre quad is one of my first spring collection purchases this year. And based on Sonia's latest sweet makeup temptation, it definitely won't be my last.

But in the meantime, in line with my "one in, one out" policy, it's time to say goodbye to Shiseido Jungle and Addiction Thriller. Both of which I do like (I like everything I own) but Coup de Foudre turned out to be just too aptly named to resist.

Love at first swatch, anyone?

I had read some complaints in early reviews (from American bloggers like Messy Wands) that the grey shade was hard and lacked pigment, but mine was buttery and dense; the olive-bronze was the pan which gave me a little trouble at first, but after a few uses, it softened up beautifully. Overall I thought all four shades had excellent pigmentation (these are one-swipe swatches made with a sponge applicator) and superior textures (more buttery and blendable) to the permanent Guerlain quads.

natural light

Under bright lights / certain angles, the textural nuances come through: the coral is a refined satin, the mint a shimmer with very subtle duochrome metallic flash (alternately gold and silver, depending on angle) and the gunmetal and olive-bronze both imbed microshimmer in satin and metallic bases, respectively.

flash

Comparison swatches

The coral with Illamasqua Rude cream blush, Fyrinnae Picture It: Sicily and Catrice Dalai Drama

The mint with Addiction Silent Scream, Fyrinnae Ethereal Eire, and a mixture of Rouge Bunny Rouge Resplendent Quetzal and Periwinkle Cardinal

The grey with Shu Uemura ME 471 (2nd gen, discontinued) and Addiction Thriller

The olive-bronze with RBR Abyssinian Catbird, Sue Devitt Golden Triangle Eye Intensifier Pencil and the olive from Shiseido Jungle

The olive-bronze and coral had unusually balanced undertones which turned out to be difficult to duplicate; even for a green and grey eyeshadow addict like me, the mint and gunmetal proved to be surprisingly tricky too. In combination, the most similar palette I own is Suqqu 07 Komorebi, and I've swatched the three main shades from that (skipping the primer/base), as well as Shiseido Jungle trio, to show how Coup de Foudre differs.

Overall, in mood and with its fusion of bold contrasts with soft freshness, Coup de Foudre has become my go-to palette for this transitional season, when I need colours with enough heft to withstand the January blahs but crave the lightness 'n' brightness of spring. Expect lots of face spam over the coming weeks. :)

As mentioned in my review/swatch post, this is my new favourite toy and I have already amassed a hefty backlog of looks, some more successful than others. In an attempt to structure the blog a bit better this year, I'll be posting them in slightly tenuously connected pairs -- today's theme is spring vs winter(ish), and both looks incorporate all four shades from Coup de Foudre.

Spring

Mint all over lid and lower lashline, grey to shade outer v, olive-bronze to line upper lashline and outer third of lower lashline. Coral blended through socket and pulled slightly up and out.

The coral from Coup de Foudre again, used as blush (this is sufficiently pigmented and blendable to work beautifully as blush and reads as satinny with no visible gold microshimmer on my cheeks -- woot!) And paired with my favourite lip product from spring thus far, YSL Glossy Stain 27 Coral Cerra-Cola (this is 2 coats):

Better look at how Coup de Foudre's coral shade works as blush:

Winter

If the Spring look showcases how well the coral plays with the green tones in this quad this one illustrates how un-green, un-spring, Coup de Foudre can be.
Coral in the centre of the lid, grey to darker outer corner and mixed with the mint to blend inner socket. Mint layered with olive-bronze on the lower lashline. More of a rounded shape, following the natural contours of my eye, rather than the elongation of the Spring look.

Lip and cheek choices motivated more by "I wanna play with my other new shinies" than ye higher aesthetic considerations: Dolce&Gabanna Nude blush and Bite Beauty Scarlet chubby pencil.

(After some strategic covering up of various bits of these pictures, I think the blush is to blame for this look's lack of tonal cohesion. I'll try to show it off to better advantage in its own forthcoming review post.)

Suggestions for tweaking these looks, and ideas for future looks / pairings would be very welcome too :)

In both looks: L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash WP macara, Shu Uemura Stone Grey eyebrow pencil, Shu Uemura UV Under Base Cream Pink as base, Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Tranquility to highlight, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer SX-01 to spot conceal and Burbery Sheer Luminous concealer 01 under eyes.

Not sure how I contrived wind up with double the Dora at the end of this holiday season (uh, not that I'm cramming this belated post into the last day of January or anything....) but hopefully this comparison between the two different versions of Shu Uemura x Karl Lagerfeld's Smoky Velvet palette (LE for holiday 2012) will prove helpful for sale-stalkers, and any collectors/ebayers visiting from the fuuuuuuture *woo-woo noises*

identical red-eyed evil...

...but what lurks within?

On the left is the version sold throughout Europe and Asia, which I originally swatched here.
On the right is the one sold in the US and Canada -- excellent swatches on Planet Martha and The Notice. (Please avert your eyes from the dented black silk smooth shade here -- spontaneous depotting aint all it's cracked up to be. Literally, when your creamilicious cake of sparkly black lands on the edge of your palette. Woe.)

The top two (silk smooth) shades are identical, but the other three eyeshadows are substantially different. Texturally, the Europe/Asia version of Smoky Velvet is symmetrical to Prestigious Bordeaux; the North American version replaces one satin shade (middle left) with another glitter. [In my opinion, the blush pans (bottom right) differ very slightly, with the North American version being a hair warmer and more red-toned. This was admittedly so minimal my camera couldn't capture what I thought I could see, and might be attributable to batch variation.]

All pictures taken in natural light without flash; only the angle and extent of focus/fuzz varies.

Middle Left

The European/Asian version has a light grey satin with a gunmetal base and silver sheen (respectively visible at different angles). The North American version features a holographic white creamy-feeling powder glitter -- i.e. a smaller pan of Glitter White Rainbow in the core line, swatched on the far right.

Middle Right

The textures of these were identical this time, so only the colours differ: Europe/Asia got a silvered turquoise, North America a soft spring green.

Bottom Left

Again, both are the newest kind of Shu Uemura glitter -- beautiful, if ridiculously sparkly, sheer topcoats, best pressed onto the eye with a fingertip. The European/Asian palette has a cool white gold and the North American a yellow-toned old gold with sparse flecks of warmer copper and red.

Which version do you prefer? And why do you think Shu chose to release two versions of the 'same' limited edition palette, without fanfare?

...feature duochromes! Some early swatches courtesy of keely_姬 on weibo.

For more product pics and swatches of the three Creamy Glow Moist lipsticks, hop over to Sweet Makeup Temptations.

All items in this collection are limited edition and are already out in Japan (and up on Ichibankao). They will be launching later this month in the UK.

It's been a while since I've posted about this brand, but Sonia Rykiel Beauté is still one of my underrated favourites of Japanese makeup. In particular, two of the core eyeshadow quads, 09 and 10, have survived so many stash clear-outs that they now qualify as core items in my wardrobe tooand introduce a new series of posts highlighting some of my older favourites: Enduring Loves.

....which I tend not to post about paradoxically because I wear them so frequently, my brain somehow assumes everyone is as familiar with them as I am.... yeah, good job, brain. And with all the sugar I feed you, too. Thanks to a lovely reader email (hi Kathy :D And sorry!) I present Sonia Rykiel 09 and 10 quad swatches! (And if you want me to write about / take pictures of other stuff I've mentioned in passing, please do feel free to administer a gentle kick up the arse.)

Clockwise from top left: (colour/finish; texture)

v. pigmented dark brown satin with lime, ruby and sparse cornflower microshimmer; creamy

pigmented taupe satin with sparse silver microshimmer; v. creamy

moderately pigmented metallic rust with lime duochrome; silky

sheer icy blue sparkle with silver and very sparse palest lime notes; silky

natural light, sunny

flash pic to try and pick up some duochrome at bottom right

Swatches are one-swipe with a sponge applicator onto bare arm:

natural light, sunny

different angle, attempt to capture duochrome

slightly fuzzy flash pic to show textural variation

Clockwise from top left: (colour/finish; texture)

v. pigmented blackened green satin with lighter green and sparse white gold sparkle; creamy

pigmented warm metallic bronze with subtle cool silvery taupe flash; v. creamy

sheer icy lilac satin; silky

moderately pigmented cool candy pink shimmer with iridescent and white gold sparkle; silky

natural light, sunny

Swatches: one-swipe with sponge applicator onto bare arm

natural light, cloudy

angled

sorry -- yellow bathroom light / flash pic to show texture

It should be obvious why I love these: each shade is complex and in a quad add up to nuanced and inspiring combinations of textures, tones, temperatures and colours. The pigments (especially evident with the pastels) sit on a clear, not white base -- a distinction which Grace London crystallised for me only recently -- which makes them both inherently more flattering on my skin, and perfectly suited to layering for even more intricate effects.

Three more recent Guerlain Coup de Foudre looks, which I'm grouping together ~~for reasons~~ because they shift the 'highlight' from inner corner to centre to outer edge in turn.

Apologies for variable lighting.

Shade

....which is a slightly forced name for a basic horizontal gradation shading from mint through coral and olive to grey.

Paired with equally no-brainer my-x-but-better warm pinks on cheeks (Illamasqua Katie) and lips (Chanel Rouge Allure Darling, discontinued).
Base: Vapour stick 90 (hair yellow/dark for me right now)
Lashes: Shu Uemura H9 pencil Seal Brown

Smoke

Basically an inversion of the second look here, with the olive-bronze blended over the lid and a tiny dab of the mint buffed into the very centre. Grey framing the coral below the eye.

As this look brought out the cooler, smokier facets of Coup de Foudre, I went with a correspondingly cooler, rosier lip (Sonia Rykiel Sublime 24) and my natural blotchy cool pink flush XD
Base: Mehron Celebre HD LT-1 to spot-conceal
Brows: Shu Uemura H9 pencil Stone Grey (for this cooler look)

Attempt to photograph the very elusive Lovely, which deserves a glowing review pending my camera's ability to pick up on it :/

Air

'Airy' is a commonplace in Japanese beauty mag parlance -- one which has thoroughly permeated my makeup aesthetic. It can involve a lot of textural and tonal ~~wank~~ exquisite refinement but I've always found negative space to make for a handy shortcut. Here provided by a Shu Uemura matte white (M907) with grey lightly shading the outer socket and the coral to accent it further. Olive-bronze to line, edged in mint.

sorry for the slightly worn, end-of-the-day, bathroom lighting pic -- couldn't get a focussed pic that morning

Back to the warm pinks: Givenchy Le Rouge 201 Rose Taffettas (auditioning as replacement for soon-to-be-finished Darling) and Kjaer Weis Lovely cream blush, which is being rapidly depleted too, thanks to its flattering texture and face-brightening magic.
Base: Shu Uemura Stage Performer Instant Glow, Mehron Celebre HD LT-1, RBR Sea of Clouds
Brows: Shu Uemura H9 pencil Seal Brown

Blush shot -- look how glowy!

Throughout: Burberry Sheer Touch 01 concealer under eyes, Max Factor False Lash Effect 24 Hour black mascara.

I haven't explored Givenchy much -- the powder products tend to be too dry or crumbly for me, while the lip products wafted such a strong, sickly cough-syrupy scent that it drove all bloggy duties to try ALL the things clean out of my head....
But! They have just launched a new, pigmented, modern demi-mattelipstick formula with a sweet floral scent and a sexy-as-all-get-out black nubbly leather-trimmed bullet. I went, I swatched, I totally came home with one.

Swatches -- one swipe onto bare arm

in weak London winter sun

overcast -- this gives a truer idea of the colour saturation

[I apologise for the goose pimples -- it was below 0 that day and seriously windy.]
For product pics and swatches on a different skintone, see Mostly Sunny.

These lipsticks are extremely smooth and hug the lips in a flattering way, filling in lip lines without that slightly plasticky 'hi, I'm a plumping product' look. For me, they are most similar to the By Terry Rouge Terrybly formula in their satin-matte finish, lightweight feel, high pigmentation and slip (silky rather than creamy), and boast impressive lastingpower (pristine for at least 6 hours, through drinks, fading to an even stain after a greedy meal). On my extremely dry lips, they do require balm underneath, but I would call them neutral rather than positively drying.

Ingredients

201 Rose Taffetas

I was on the hunt for a warm pink to replace my go-to My Lips But Better lipstick, the long-discontinued Chanel Rouge Allure Darling. Which currently looks like this and therefore will imminently count as "one out":

One in...

....yeah, I may not depot this right away. *strokes packaging*

With some more of my mid-toned warm pinky things:

Guerlain Rouge Automatique Chamade

Suqqu Noble Nuance lipstick EX-03 Shumomo (LE Spring 2010)

Chanel Rouge Allure Darling (discontinued)

Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss Confidence

One swipe swatches to show different opacities

Built up swatches (2 layers)

Chamade has the strongest rosy-red tones and is noticeably in a different family once on my lips. The other four shades are definitely kissing cousins, though in my defence they look more distinct from each other on my lips than on my arm. Shumomo sits at lighter end, with clear yellow tones [perfect for enlivening my naturally corpse-mauve lips]; Darling and Confidence add a deeper rose and slight brown tones to the mix. Rose Taffetas is balanced between and clearly the most opaque; its demi-matte finish proves surprisingly flattering -- dare I say, 'fresh' and/or 'modern' -- in this kind of tone.

Shamelessly reposting two recent looks:

Givenchy Rose Taffetas

Pretty decent as a replacement for Chanel Darling, I think?

Givenchy "Le Rouge" retail for £24 each and are a permanent addition to the core line.

As a spinoff of the last post, here's a closer look at the Muji pillcases (pack of 7 for £2.25) into which I like to depot lipsticks and the occasional cream blush.

L to R: Chanel Darling, Illamasqua Betray, Illamasqua Rude, YSL Rose Dahlia, Burberry Bright Plum, Hourglass Muse, Revlon Strawberry Suede, Lancôme Stylista, Lancôme Corset, Guerlain Girly, YSL Le Fuchsia, Revlon Really Red, Revlon In the Red

Mostly for space-saving and convenience when travelling, but also if I dislike the packaging (Guerlain Rouge G, Burberry, Lancôme Colour Design, etc.), if I have a melted/mashed bullet accident, if it's a rainy Thursday.....

I like depotting things, OKAY.

As you can see, I'm a smusher, not a melter -- because lazy, but also because texture fiend, and heat can change the way some textures/pigments sit. Process couldn't be simpler -- wipe down a spatula with some surgical spirit, chop or gouge into your product and smush the harvested cream into your clean, dry pill pot.

I love these Muji pillcases, though they are not quite as aesthetically pleasing as the Japonesque welled palettes favoured by Lisa Eldridge, because each individual pillcase snaps apart, which is far more practical to tote along for touchups for my regular person (not makeup artist) life. The individual closures also feel a little more 'airtight' to me than the large Japonesque covers; in any case, my depots have stayed perfectly creamy for over two years.
You can of course also make your own fun tetrissing many pots together to create pretty colour patterns, or an infinitely* extendable bionic poking stick with which to torment any sentient beings in the vicinity....

*well, I assume so. My record so far is 42 pots. Experiment cut prematurely short due to loud, angry protestations and dire threats issued by my pokees.

You may also like to consider application preferences before depotting: as I use a lip brush with all these shades, I don't miss the bullets. But I personally wouldn't bother depotting a Fresh tinted balm, or a Suqqu creamy glow moist. It can be tricky to pick up pigment evenly with a face brush from these small openings, so I'm not sure that I'd continue to depot cream blushes in future.

Skincare: Body

Fyrinnae Swatches Part 1

More Shu Uemura Prestigious Bordeaux Looks

Pattern Recognition: Winter Nails

Past Imperfect

12 of 2012

Prime Time

Sunday Sundries: Signe Johansen's Tropisk Aroma

Greysquale

Kiko Long-Lasting Stick Eyeshadows: Swatch and Review

Kiko Water Eyeshadows: Swatch and Review

Two Looks with Kiko Water Eyeshadows and Long-Lasting Stick Eyeshadows

Guerlain Coup de Foudre Quad Swatches and Comparisons

Two Looks with Guerlain Coup de Foudre

Shu Uemura Smoky Velvet....s Swatch and Comparison

Suqqu Spring 2013 Quads

Enduring Loves: Sonia Rykiel Quatre Eyeshadow 09 and 10 Swatches

Coup de Foudre II: Shade / Smoke / Air

Givenchy Le Rouge Swatches and 201 Rose Taffetas Comparison

Stash Storage: Muji Pill Pots