Addiction Yellow Submarine

It was pretty difficult to single out a favourite item from the magical box of Japanese goodies the beautiful Liz recently helped me get my paws on. But Addiction Eye Lacquer WP in Yellow Submarine (¥2625) might just be it....

(Hey, how often do I let the look do most of the talking?)

Base Mehron Celebre Professional HD Foundation LT-1 [bit too light; will revisit in winter], Burberry Sheer Touch 01 under eyes, Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea Of Tranquility to highlight. Browlash EX Natural Brown pencil in brows.
Cheeks Addiction Amazing powder, taken up temples, subsequently eaten up by camera. *kicks camera*
Lips Guerlain Rouge Automatique Champs Élysées
Eyes Addiction Yellow Submarine, GOSH white kohl, Fasio Ultra Curl Lock Volume mascara


Many Anglophone bloggers have reviewed the Addiction Lacquers by now (links below) so I'll just drivel that they are indeed bombproof and very cool-feeling but they do set extremely fast so it's best to go in with a clear idea of what shape and opacity you want, work one eye at a time, and do not try to layer more lacquer over itself to avoid patchiness or 'bald spots'. If you need precision and neatness, especially a perfectly even application across the entire lid right into the lashline, these probably aren't for you:

See, kinda patchy in close-up, and especially gnarly around my eyelid folds. Not that it's at all visible when my eyes are open -- hoods have their advantages....

The finish of Yellow Submarine (and I believe Aventure) differs from the other seven shades in this range.

Taken from the Addiction site, these aren't bad for official swatches and show the textural difference between Yellow Submarine /Aventure and the other shades

While my other Addiction Eye Lacquer, Swimming Pool, is very similar to the darker/more pigmented sides of the Paul&Joe Eye Gloss Duos  [Addiction and Paule&Joe are both under the Kosé umbrella], Yellow Submarine is more properly, well, a lacquer: an oddly rubberized finish that looks satin-matte in low light and gleams smoothly indoors, it's only in close-up and at certain angles that you can catch the sparse ultra-fine microshimmer (mostly blue and green) scattered throughout.

And while we're on it (disgruntled letter-to-the-editor time), those Paul&Joe 'Glosses' aren't glossy any more than most of these Addiction 'Lacquers' are lacquered; they're both like sparkly gels that, once set, feel like mattes -- if you haven't tried them the closest analogues I know are film-forming lipsticks like the Rouge D'Armani or Lancôme Rouge In Love, or MAC Face&Body foundation. While at certain angles and under certain lighting in studio photography, glitter may translate as 'glossy', in the real world they look like sparkles, dammit, Cullenesque sparkles. And you know what looks like an eye gloss? An actual eye gloss like Rouge Bunny Rouge Angel's Play.

Therefore, while Yellow Submarine is more of a lacquer than its sisters, and has barely any visible shimmer, it still is not a gloss. Okay? Yes, I know I am crazy. Just agree with me about this so I can stop breathing irefully into this paper bag.

Above, Yellow Submarine, blended out, Bottom: RBR Angel's Play

The only shot out of twenty in which any sparkle in YS showed up. Direct sunlight. 

Textural rant out of the way, here's a colour comparison to demonstrate just how well-balanced Yellow Submarine is tonally, and also how obnoxiously bright, especially in the full swatch :D

Suqqu single eyeshadow 12 Usukiiro and Shu Uemura M Yellow 300 [second-gen], are pastel powders, both discontinued.

Sugarpill Buttercupcake is a warmer turmeric.

Catrice John Lemon is closest to the blended swatch of Yellow Submarine, but a little paler and warmer, lacking the unabashedly artificial cool green tinge YS owes to its blue and green microshimmer.

I don't know of any shade close to the opaque swatch of Yellow Submarine, and I've been hunting for years. Thanks again to darling Liz for making my very old makeup dream come true.

For more swatches and reviews:
Aucuparia Brumalis
Beauty of Interest
Makeup and Things
Rouge Deluxe
So Lonely In Gorgeous
and finally Sakura Lovely has swatches of all nine shades together, and a different take on Yellow Submarine (it looks gold on her!)

Field Notes: Autumn 2012 Part 2

This batch consists of the By Terry Luxuriant collection lipsticks and cream shadows, and the lip and blush shades from Illamasqua Generation Q.

But firstly a few UK-based PSA's:

• On Saturday 15th Shu Uemura's creative director Kakuyasu Uchiide [aka Hottie McTalented-san] will be at Selfridges in London for a preview of the Shu x Karl Lagerfeld Mon Girl collection. 'Learning Atelier' sessions will start at 11am, 2pm and 5pm, during which Mr Uchiide will talk through the collection and demonstrate looks using the new palettes on a model, and then customers can play/practise at the vanity stations themselves, each helped along by a personal Shu Uemura makeup artist. Booking is £30 redeemable and the no. to call is 0207 318 3962.
• Chanel's new range of Rouge Allure Intense lipsticks will be released on Friday 14th. The twinsets nail polish and Rouge Allure Velvet shades are currently available at Selfridges London and John Lewis Oxford Street; they're meant to be in Chanel boutiques as well but if you can't track them down, it's worth giving either of those shops a call.
• Shiseido Lacquer Rouge are due out on the 30th. FINALLY.
• Debenhams' sale (this week :P) involves 10% off beauty and an extra 500 points for every £40 spend. Which is just over a 20% discount, like our own Sephora F&F. But pricier.
• Meanwhile House of Fraser is offering £10 off 10 products [including Rouge G lipsticks, the new YSL Teint Touche Eclat foundation and Dior quints] when you spend £50 on beauty. Both instore and online, this runs until the 23rd.

Selfridges' new Beauty Workshop area (which Haru already blogged about) means there's now a convenient central London place to swatch and buy Belmacz, Bite Beauty, Butter London, Ciaté, Eyeko, Jinnylash, Louise Young brushes [the full range! unlike Fenwick/Harvey Nick's sad selection], OCC and Youngblood, as well as RMK with a more spacious counter. It's located round the back of the main beauty hall (past Clarins/Clinique) and wraps all the way to the high street brands (Miss Selfridge/Monki), taking in stations for hair, nails and brow-shaping as well as this dinky little play area

where you can indeed go and have seat and swatch stuff, using the tissues, q-tips and cotton pads supplied. The salesfolk are happy to leave you alone to browse [this is the Sephora-ish schtick of the area] but also easy to flag down if you want to buy something; I also saw a few giving customers mini-makeovers upon request.

To give an idea of scale, this is about 1/3 of the space so far [aren't those Ellis Faas bullets cool?]:

It's not all clinical efficiency; scattered throughout are weird cultish little beauty treats, like these lipbalms from NPW (shades of P&J kitties....):

Other brands present (slightly odd choices I thought): Paul&Joe, Stila and Topshop -- to be updated as there's still a boarded-up section.

Now, swatches! As usual, pictures taken in natural light (indirect sun) unless otherwise specified.

BY TERRY Luxuriant Collection introduces five new shades of Rouge Terrybly (which, epically horrid range name and shade names aside, rivals Suqqu Creamy Glow as one of my favourite lipstick formulas -- moisturising, opaque, flatteringly silicone-laden satins to plump out liplines, lasts HOURS sans fuss or muss). These shades seem to me to shade from high summer to late autumn.

400 21 VD is a bright orange coral

401 Guilty Nude (hijinks in the sacristy...?) a pretty melon pink coral, sheerer than the rest

402 Red Ceremony is a warm slightly muted red [an opaque version of Nars Autumn Leaves]

403 Bare Instinct is a browned rose with a hint of plum

404 Carnal Attraction is all-out plum with a cool fuchsia base

I don't know why my arm hates darker shades; I promise 404 Carnal Attraction does not look uneven on my lips. Same goes for the YSL Les Mats 205 Prune Virgin which I went back to try after swatching last time.

The three new shades of Ombre Blackstar cream shadows comprise two satins (9 Velvet Orchid

and 10 Midnight Forest) and one low-shimmer metallic (11 Beyond Gold). While the pigmentation and texture of these were back to the excellent quality I expect from this range [after the sheer patchy-gritty messes of 7 Fizzy Jade and 8 Paradise Island released this summer], I think Beyond Gold looks awfully if unsurprisingly similar to Topshop Sunshower Crayon.... 

full sun

ILLAMASQUA Generation Q was one of my most-anticipated releases of the season and now it's one of my biggest disappointments of the season. With the exception of Wisdom liquid liner (stunning, complex, already on my wishlist; multi-angle spam below) and Magnetism lipstick (finally Illa release a formula that doesn't make my lips crack before I've even finished applying it), the textures and finishes made this collection an easy pass for me. Handily, you can see both those very items on Grace London :)

Underworld lipstick is an unholy mess of patchy, frosty, dry iridescent violet. Call me old-fashioned but I think a shade this bold should be more opaque -- this is four layers; one just looked like space-frostbite.

Magnetism is a lovely semi-translucent cream (a crelly to borrow nail polish lingo), a slightly cool-toned raspberry rose.

Aurora is an extremely frosty pale white gold powder highlighter.

S.O.P.H.I.E is a gorgeous mid-toned rose powder with gold sparkle. Lots.

Allure is a brick rose, again with the gold sparkle. Did I mention it's chunky too? Like Nars-Multiple-sized chunks?

Angled fuzzy shot: note how the solid frost of Aurora contrasts with the glitter in the blushes? Either way, DNW.

Ahh, let's look at delicious Wisdom instead :D This was richly pigmented and applied like a dream, with the complex sparkle evenly distributed throughout the line. Fat swatch here because a. more visible and b. PRETTY but you can of course draw fine ones with the applicator (identical to MUFE aqua liners, Stila sparkle liners, Mac Fluidlines etc.)

Both glosses were on the sheer side (this is 2 thickish coats layered) and in Illamasqua's usual sticky, candy-scented formula. Opulent has multitonal sparkle; Boost has tonal shimmer and a bluish iridescent base.

Full sun pictures:

The palettes had been already reviewed / swatched by the time I lurched over to the counter, so I didn't bother. My thoughts on the dry, patchy textures and disappointingly uneven colour-payoff basically tally with Temptalia's. Ah well. As always, I loved the concept and imagery of this collection, and will be going back to it for inspiration -- for years to come, if past Illamasqua collections are anything to go by.

Armani Maestro Fusion Foundation Review / Swatches

Maestro Fusion Makeup is a brand new formula from cult bassists Giorgio Armani and my review of it is brought to you by Selfridges' early release [available nationwide from October 1st] and helpful provision of samples, and my inability to resist anything touted as a foundation game-changer. Which comes in a wee glass dropper bottle!

It's like, all SCIENCEY, but there's a delicate wisp of silk too, for the laydeez. [Surely I am not the only one to extrapolate from this that their next foundation will be called Impressario Cold Fusion and the ad will feature tassels? And an elephant.]

If my tone hasn't tipped you off, in my opinion this foundation aint no game-changer. In fact, there are only two things stopping me from calling naked emperor altogether:

1. The texture feels like the most cutting-edge of dry oils from high end skincare brands -- with more glide than even a very dry neat oil like jojoba (technically a wax blah blah shush) -- and applies like a dream. It's literally 'effortlessly blendable', blending seamlessly as you apply. I generally dislike using my fingers for makeup application, but they worked beautifully with this formula; I honestly think you could load this stuff into Homer Simpson's makeup gun, shoot yourself, and get a perfect finish.
2. It adjusts to match my skintone. Just like the copy promised. Making this my first match in Armani since they discontinued the palest shade of Designer Cream 4? 5? years back.

Bare 

I like to review foundations hot on the heels of a breakout so the current gauntlet (thanks, stress & summer flu!) consists of: spots on cheeks, both fresh and just-healed, volcanic cyst in middle of forehead, flaky nose and cheeks, usual unevenness/sallow patches.

Armani Maestro Fusion #2

A great example of a light-as-air texture failing to translate as a natural-as-skin finish. Despite offering only light-medium coverage [even the sallowness around my mouth and the faint red marks on my cheeks are still visible, not to mention the brighter spots] Maestro still looks like foundation. Texturally, it actually emphasises ....everything, highlighting the flakes on my inner cheeks and bracketing my nose (while not covering the redness at all?!) and picking out every strand of peach fuzz [look near my jawline in the second picture]. These flaws were much more obvious in reality than my camera would have you believe, and I don't give any makeup bonus points for how it looks in photos. Failin' as blogger, I know....

More seriously, it is not only cosmetically but also physically drying (alcohol denat. is fourth on the ingredients list), leaving my skin tight and itchy by lunchtime and with red and peeling patches after washing it off at 5 pm. Other sensitive-skinned folk may wish to note inclusion of fragrance and botanicals among aaaaall teh cones.

So obviously this formula is not for me. Which isn't too heartbreaking as regular readers may know that I do not enjoy sheer foundations, much preferring to use a miniscule amount of full-coverage stuff sheered out myself on a beautyblender sponge or to skip foundation altogether and prime/spot conceal as necessary.

Still think the colour shift thing is pretty nifty though.

From jaundice-face immediately after application....

....to a perfect match ten minutes later

Note: Maestro's coverage didn't miraculously improve in this ten minutes; I added Becca compact concealer Meringue over spots and Burberry Sheer pen 01 under eyes. 

[Other makeup Addiction Arabian Nights eye kohl, Concrete Jungle eyeshadow, Fasio Ultra Curl Lock Mascara Volume // Addiction Faithful // RBR Gracilis]

I cannot explain this witchery; perhaps one of you wise readers could? Or chime in if Maestro also changes up on you, or if it doesn't, or if you love it and it's your new baby and I can go suck a goat. Y'know, the usual.

The magic does not happen on my arm with a heavier swatch, so Armani Maestro 2 remains definitely yellower than Shu Uemura Nobara stick 784, Illamasqua Skin Base 2, Laura Mercier Silk Creme Soft Ivory or Bourjois Healthy Mix 51, although (only) Bourjois is a little darker than the Armani.

More comparison swatches by request: MAC Studio Sculpt NC15; Armani Lasting Silk, Luminous Silk and Maestro 2 and MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC15. Which illustrates how inconsistent these letters and numbers can be even within a brand.