Clarins 'Colour Breeze' Spring 2012

Ah Clarins, how do I love thee... let me count the ways. Right now there are two - this gorgeous pinky blusher and beautiful highlighter.

The blusher is my latest love, it's gorgeous - a creamy liquid, looks bright and a bit scary but blends out to a healthy glow with just enough shimmer to look good. The unblended swatch looks like it would make a lovely shade of lipgloss too... The 'Instant Light' blush in Vitamin Pink is absolutely gorgeous.

Clarins Instant Light Blush in 'Vitamin Pink'

Unblended

Blended (but fairly heavy to show the colour)

As with the stunning Christmas highlighter from Clarins the Spring one is just as pretty and potentially even more wearable as I don't feel *quite* as guilty for ruining the gorgeous pattern with this one... if you know what I mean?!

Clarins Face and Blush Powder 'Colour Breeze'

I'll be doing a proper face of the day post with both of these and the new Clarins Ever Matte Foundation too later this week, so this is just a little preview of the prettiness that is the Clarins Spring collection!

FYI - if you like the look of either of these then get buying as they are both Limited Edition products and unlikely to be around for long. The blusher is also available in a coral and a bronzy/brown shade on the website - although I've not seen the brown in person so can't vouch for what it looks like, but the coral is very pretty.


Find out more on Clarins.co.uk 


PR samples.

YSL Rouge pur Couture Glossy Stain

As much as I try, I'm really not a lipstick girl. I love it and don't really have a problem with how it feels on the lips but I am rubbish at reapplying. The only time I really manage is on a night out out when I can load on the red lippie and seal it so it doesn't budge all night.

But in the day time? I pretty much fail with wearing lipstick. But these new Glossy Lip Stains from YSL have changed that - the texture of these is really unusual, as the name implies they sit in between a stain and a gloss - they have the moisturising (yes, moisturising not sticky) feeling of a gloss but the colour really lasts like a stain. They are amazing.

The two shades I've been playing with (and falling for) are 12 and 17. 12 Is a bright coral and 17 is a blue-toned, bright pink.

YSL Glossy Lipstain 12 & 17

YSL Glossy Lip Stain '17'

YSL Glossy Lipstain '12'

L-R: 12 & 17

YSL Glossy Lipstain '17'

YSL Glossy Lipstain '12'

I love how these colours look and feel on the lips, they really are the best of both worlds between a lipstick and a gloss. No, at £22.50 they aren't cheap - but I'm justifying them with two reasons...one, they are *almost* like two products... a gloss AND a stain and they are the ideal every day lip product (perhaps in a toned down colour) thanks to the light feel....and everyday colour = lots of wear.

Yeah, definite girly-nomics going on here. But I love them!

Available now from Debenhams

Benefit Hervana Launch (and win one)

I recently went along to a very glamorous launch of Benefit's latest blush box 'Hervana' at a swanky hotel near Piccadilly. The hotel has it's own indoor pool - a rarity in crowded central London.  The pool area being complete with close to naked waiters and it made for a happy event!

Also, the very best feature of the event had to be the pancake table. Yep - they were making fresh pancakes with a selection of toppings....Since pancakes are the BEST. FOOD. EVER. this made me pretty happy overall.

I love the really subtle pink glow it gives, the design of it reminded me of Sugarbomb with it's multi-coloured pastel design but Hervana is definitely more of a blusher than a highlighter as it doesn't contain shimmer. As you can see from my swatch the colour is subtle - very natural looking flush on pale skin.


WIN: BENEFIT HERVANA

Nope, you're not seeing double - that's two Hervana blushers sitting right there. Of course, as pretty as this little blusher is - I really don't need two, so I'm going to give one away!

Want to win? 

If you want to win all you have to do is the following:

1. Tweet "I want to win Benefit's Hervana blush with @beautyjunkieldn http://ow.ly/9iWC3"

2. Comment below to let me know you have entered (you don't *have* to do this, but it would be helpful!)

The Rules!

1. You must be a follower of this blog via Blog Lovin or GFC or be a follower on twitter

2. You must be a UK resident and over the age of 16 (and have parent's permission if under 18)

3. If the winner doesn't respond to tweet/email within 3 days of being sent then a new winner will be chosen

4. One prize of Benefit Hervana blush box

6. Closes on Monday March 5th Feb at 5pm 

Blueillume: Whitening toothbrush

Us Brits don't exactly have a reputation for having great teeth, in fact I remember once meeting the Dad of of one my American friends and the first thing he said to me was 'your teeth are pretty good for a Brit'...which was nice. But overall, my teeth are ok, but I do always wish they were a bit whiter and I'm always using the latest whitening toothpaste or whitening strips to see if I can get them a shade or two whiter. So I'm curious about this new Blue Illume toothbrush that's due to hit the UK soon.

Blue Illume is a toothbrush that basically glows with a blue light  that whiten teeth and counteract bacteria that can cause plaque and gum disease. It looks like a pretty crazy gadget, but apparently helps to whiten teeth without any more fuss than regular brushing.

I'm curious... you can buy online at the moment but Blue Illume is meant to be hitting UK stores soon too. You can get free shipping if you like the Facebook page.

Sponsored post.

Maybelline Color Tattoo 'Audacious Asphalt'

Another day, another Maybelline purchase from America for me to talk about! I do feel like I have an obsession at the moment! Another one from my American shopping list... it was a tough call which colour to get. There was a more day to day one that I was tempted by but it was too similar to my Chanel in Emmerville so I went with the more smokey option. Still fairly on the natural scale, just where I like it.









It actually took a couple of swipes to get the colour this pigmented, so I was a little surprised - in terms of pigment I was expecting it to be stronger on one swipe. But on the plus side this means it's buildable so could be more subtle for daylight.

Colour wise, I love the cool shimmer and whilst it feels very liquid on application it does set so it feels much more like it's got the proper staying power - although I need to test it in proper day-job or night-out conditions.

Of the products I picked up, I'm happy to have tried this - but unlike the cream blush, I'm not kicking myself for not buying more whilst I was in America. This one has my curiosity satisfied for now!

A beauty junkie in London goes to Hollywood

..Hollywood Road SW10 that is.

This week I headed down to the latest branch of The Chelsea Day Spa - their new Boutique Salon for an hour long deep tissue massage. I've had a few massages in my time, but I've never opted for a true deep tissue massage - preferring relaxation, with some more intense pressure to get pesky shoulder knots out. I didn't really know what I was in for.




I had a bit of a stressful time getting there, tube delays and then unable to get a cab. But I guess that meant I was good and stressed before the massage, so I could make the most of it and get maximum stress release?!

The salon is in a nice location, about 10 min walk from Earls Court tube, in a fairly residential area with a few shops dotted along side the salon. The salon reception area and the corridors leading to treatment rooms are lovely, very relaxing - decorated in shades of cream with very 'spa style' pebbles lining the walls. My only niggle was that the treatment room felt quite cramped, although once you're horizontal with your eyes shut you don't notice.

The treatment was very relaxing, with my therapist spending a good amount of time focussing on my shoulders, where I hold most of my tension (thanks to too-heavy bags...). The pressure was really firm, almost painful at times - but I know that's what I needed.

Afterwards I felt relaxed and a bit wiped out - slept like a baby and woke up the next day with slightly sore shoulders, but feeling looser than I did before.

The main thing I learnt from this massage is that to get the best benefit - you need to have them regularly. Once in a blue moon just doesn't really cut it!

The Chelsea Day Spa Boutique can be found at 53 Hollywood Road. For more info see the website.


I was a guest of The Chelsea Day Spa Boutique.

'Feels like Spring' OOTD

Yep, that's right - an outfit of the day from me. I braved awkward posing (more on that in a moment) to bring you something a little different - an outfit post. Where I actually wear the clothes, rather than just show them on the hangar. Revolutionary, I know.

So starting with the awkward photos... I was trying to get one where I didn't look *too* awkward and got fed up, so went with a 'ta da' style one to break the ice as such...  so I'll start with that and then on to the proper photos.

Ta Da!

Peach top: Forever 21

Grey vest top (underneath): H&M (H&M do the best basic vest tops I've found)

Jeans: H&M (a bargain at £9.99)

Scarf: H&M (starting to notice a theme here...)

Shoes: ASOS Aggie Boots (asos link)

Watch: Michael Kors

The nail colour I have on (just seen, trying to hide as it really clashes with the peach top...) is a bright red from Red Carpet Manicure. It's an amazing at home gel kit - full review to come, but as a heads up - WOW!

The day I wore this was the randomly warm day on Thursday, where it felt like Spring. A temperature thing on Tottenham Court Road was saying 18 degrees... it's usually a few degrees out, but still - that's the sort of temperatures we had last Summer, in Feb!? Bizarre. Anyway, I'm never going to complain about warm weather.

All clothes bought by me

MAC LFW masterclass

I mentioned in my London Fashion Week post that I went along to the MAC masterclass and here are the pics of the amazing demonstration by MAC Lead Senior MUA Pablo Rodriguez who talked us through how to recreate an amazing look from the Paris catwalk shows.

First up, let's cover the important things... food pictures and a bit of mac product p*rn... a few snaps of the products that were on display at the MAC bloggers bar. Before I get into showing you the pics from the masterclass...

Yum. Breakfast.

A snap shot of Pablo's kit. I love that combination of eyeshadow shades in the palette.

To start the masterclass we were shown this amazing video of the upcoming trends, with commentary from top make-up artists who created the looks on the catwalk. The look being created by Pablo on the day is a dramatic smokey eye with contouring, slightly warmed brows and nude glossy lips.





Pablo showed us how he used the mascara wand to create a speckled effect around the eye. So it looked messy, but controlled messy. On the eyes it was a combination of paint pot and acrylic pain to give it a contrasting texture effect of glossy and slightly more matte.

The addition of warmed up brows, and a flush of blusher really keeps the look on the rock chick side of things rather than on the slightly paler/washed out dramatic look. The slightly muddy cream colour that was used for contouring was really impressive, never a colour I would have looked at personally but it looked amazing as a contour.



The finished look. Not necessarily one for the supermarket, but amazing to watch it be created and can definitely be toned down to a smokey eye with a nude lip!



After the event I got to check out the latest launch range 'Shop Mac, Cook Mac'. It wasn't one that had grabbed my attention until I saw it in person. But two products jumped out at me - the tender tone lip balms. I've heard amazing things but never tried - these smell amazing. I need either the red or the peachy shimmer in my life.

The other product that caught my eye was the eyeshadow quad with the shimmering taupe/purple. I was lucky to receive this in a goody bag so will use/photo/swatch and get up on the blog asap.

I was a guest of mac at the event.