This is my first Spring Festival (otherwise known as Chinese New Year) in Hong Kong, and so royally (i.e. rottenly) have I been spoiled -- with red envelopes (containing giftcards to various girly shops as well as cold, hard cash; why I love to take my cash cold and hard, how did you know?), food (mostly of the sweet and sticky variety \o/) and drink (mostly of the 80+ proof variety *staggers*), and general high jinks -- that it most definitely won't be my last.
What better way to celebrate than with my very first blog giveaway? :D Consisting of the highly limited edition Chinese New Year special release Beauty Blossom Collector Palette; two fresh pink-tinged reds from the spring collection: La Laque Couture #49 Rouge Pablo and Rouge Volupté #34 Rose Asarine; and one of my personal favourites, Eyeliner Effet Faux Cils Cream Eyeliner in 5 Cherry Black.
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What better way to celebrate than with my very first blog giveaway? :D Consisting of the highly limited edition Chinese New Year special release Beauty Blossom Collector Palette; two fresh pink-tinged reds from the spring collection: La Laque Couture #49 Rouge Pablo and Rouge Volupté #34 Rose Asarine; and one of my personal favourites, Eyeliner Effet Faux Cils Cream Eyeliner in 5 Cherry Black.
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| I tried to make a heart out of YSL red envelopes. Tried. The sun it is bright and the alcohol it is 80 proof. |
Let's take a closer look at each item!
The Beauty Blossom Collector Palette features an abstract red-and-gold rendition of the peach blossoms used to mark the holiday on its case. Head over to Makeup Stash! for swatches of the rosy contents.
La Laque Couture #49 Rouge Pablois an optimistic red, somehow both soft and bright, slightly lightened from a true red by blossom-pink notes. In YSL's spectacular shiny, streak-free, one-coat-wonder polish formula, one of my very favourites (Bleu Majorelle is in my personal top dozen polishes). See it in action on Sara of Color Me Loud; beautiful pictures can also be found on The Beauty Look Book.
Rouge Volupté #34 Rose Asarine is another incredibly well balanced pink-tinged red. Historically I've not been a fan of the RV formula, but it seems to me that this shade packs more pigment, much improved wear (in terms of lasting power alone -- this shade wears for hours longer than older RV's --but also as in, 'doesn't transfer/migrate all over my face') and less thin slip than the older (#30 and below) shades, which means that it no longer sinks into my liplines or dry my lips out; in fact its texture sits a bit closer to the newer Rouge Volupté Shines in balminess. Excellent swatches on arm and lips over at Eat Love Makeup.
Incidentally, if you share my aversion* to YSL's mango scent (found in the Volupté ranges: Rouge Volupté, RV Shine, Gloss Volupté, etc.), leaving one of these uncapped in an airtight container with some charcoal deodoriser efficiently reduces Rose Asarine's scent to a very faint, unspecific sweetness. My thanks to a dear and most cunning friend for this tip.
Finally, Eyeliner Effet Faux Cils Cream Eyeliner in 5 Cherry Black, a blackened cool plum with ultra fine copper and ruby microshimmer, which just add a barely-there warmth and dimension to the shade. As Gaia explains and demonstrates in her review, this shade is subtle enough to be daywear/office appropriate for even the most tasteful of folk -- and yet it has enough of a complex kick for clownish me to love.
See the microshimmer when the sun hits the pan juuuust right? I really and truly adore it. :D No, seriously, stay tuned for an 'enduring loves' post showcasing all four of my YSL cream liners soon -- they're tied with the Glossy Stains as my favourite YSL products.
Also coming up next week, a look with some of these giveaway items :D
To enter, all you have to do is to be a bloglovin follower or email subscriber and leave a comment on this post about your favourite spring look. This giveaway is open to readers of any country and, unlike red envelopes, regardless of marital status ;) I will draw the winner next Thursday (6th Feb) which, as the seventh day of the lunar new year, is traditionally known as 'everyone's birthday'. See, drivel can be all kinds of edumacational!
*makeupalleyers may recall such phrases as "tropics of doooom" or "foul mangoes of death and wrongness" being thrown around....
Disclosure: the products in this giveaway were provided by YSL.