Clarins garden escape collection

Now it's the beginning of the year, brands are starting to showcase their Spring collections, and the new Clarins collection couldn't be more beautiful.  I'm a big fan of their instant light lip perfectors, which I've been loving since their Autumn collection in 2013, so when this arrived at the door, I was pretty excited to give them a whirl.

Instant light lip balm - £18

Try not to think of these as a lipstick or a lip crayon, they're a lip balm with a soft tint to add a touch of colour to your lips.  They're available in 6 colours (01 rose, 02 coral, 03 my pink, 04 orange, 05 red and 06 rosewood).  They're packed with wild mango, vitamin e and shea butter which makes them super hydrating and nourishing, and have the most amazing scent like white chocolate.  They have a soft buttery texture, and feel just lovely on the lips.

So far the shade '03 my pink' is my favourite - it's soft and looks very subtle in the swatch, but on the lips it's a bit pinker.  They left my lips feeling very soft and hydrated and smelling divine!  Shop the collection here.

Joli rouge brilliant sheer lipstick - £23

Clarins have also added two new shades to their Joli rouge perfect shine lipsticks, 22 coral dahlia and 23 rose petal (the one pictured is 23 rose petal) - it's a beautiful pretty pink with little silvery sparkles in it.  Unlike the instant light lip balms which smell of white chocolate, this smells more like watermelon or a fruit punch (it's probably mango though as one of the main ingredients is mango butter).  This is also pretty hydrating for a lipstick, and gives the lips a gorgeous flush of shine and gentle colour.  It's not massively pigmented, but it's branded as a sheer lipstick, so you wouldn't expect that - it's supposed to be more soft and gentle, which is perfect for day wear.  Shop the lipsticks here.

As well as these products, in their garden escape collection they've also launched a stunning blusher and a 6 colour eye shadow palette (amongst other things) which are worth checking out, you can see their whole collection here.

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*Post contains PR samples

Clarins Autumn makeup

You may recall last week I posted about some amazing Clarins releases for this Autumn?  Well, I was a very lucky girl and the lovely people at Clarins sent me some of the products from their Autumn line up, and golly, did I get lucky!  You see the eye shadow in the pic above - yeah, it's pretty much my favourite eye shadow right now!

Anyway, instead of me rambling on in glee at how pretty these are, how about I talk like a normal non-squeeing person about them eh?

First up, the eye shadow primer.  It reminds me of the Urban Decay Eden primer, in that it has a skin colour which evens out your lids, as well as prime them ready for eye shadow.  I've used it every day this last week, with different eye shadows, not just the ones above and for quality I think it's pretty much on-par with Urban Decay too.  I get about the same amount of crease-free hours (about 6 - I have VERY oily lids) and it does create a lovely even base for my shadows to sit on.  However, for me and my extreme lids, I do still find the Smashbox 24 hr eye shadow primer lasts longer - but if you don't have terribly oily lids like me, this shouldn't be a problem (I think I'm a little unique in this respect)!

Next, the creme shadows.  The formula for these isn't like anything else I've experienced.  It feels and behaves like a powder, with the pigmentation and creaminess of a creme shadow - they really are very unique from anything I've ever tried.  I received three different shades: 05 sparkle grey, 02 nude pink and 06 earth.  All are gorgeous and play their different parts in their Autumn line-up.  The nude pink creates a beautiful base for a soft day look, the earth shade is perfect for a warm smokey look or all over brown, and lastly, my favourite, sparkle grey - the only shade which isn't really a matte, but has a soft shimmer, is a beautiful grey/gunmetal/taupe colour.

These shadows blend beautifully, especially sparkle grey, I absolutely love wearing this, it'll be perfect for Autumn.  These 'creme' shadows are the first ones I've used where I haven't applied a normal eye shadow over the top (normally, creme shadows crease on me within an hour) but because of their unique formula, they behave more like a shadow than a creme.

All in all I love all of these, especially the sparkle grey and earth ombre matte creme shadows, they're fantastic quality and the colours and pigmentation are amazing, I'll certainly be wearing these a lot over the cold months.

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*This post contains PR samples

New Autumn 2014 Clarins releases

If like me you get excited about new seasonal makeup launches, you're in for a treat.  Whenever the press release for Clarins new releases drops into my mailbox, I open it excitedly as I know what's inside will be stunning, gorgeous products.  This season does not disappoint.  Beautiful colours perfect for Autumn, soft eye shadows and strong lips, you're going to like this collection :)

Eye quartet mineral palette - £32

A skin tone shade palette with soft beige an intense warm brown and two taupe shades - all presented in gorgeous Clarins packaging.  Beautiful soft shades for Autumn :)

Perfect eyes and brows palette £35

With a built in mirror, this compact comes with 3 powders, a holding wax and a luminous pink shadow to enhance the eyes and brow area.  The set comes with a double ended applicator, a brow brush and a pair of tweezers. 

Instant light eye perfecting base - £22

This is an eyeshadow primer, it smoothes and brightens to give the lids a base for eyeshadow, and hold it in place all day.  It contains oat sugar extract which helps to smooth the lid, and mattifying powder which helps the shadow to last.

Ombre matte cream-to-powder eye shadows £19

Available in very earthy shades, Clarins claim it to be an innovative cream-to-powder shadow which is silky and lightweight.  Included is bamboo powder which helps to give the shadows a matte finish.

Rouge eclat lipsticks £19.50

Available in 5 different shades, the ones below are red fuchsia and strawberry sorbet (they sound so yummy!).  They contain a Nutri-Youth Complex which helps to hydrate and and boost collagen in your lips.  They contain vitamin e, jojoba, sunflower and mimosa.

So there's their fabulous Autumn collection, I'm in love with it all!  What would you try first?

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Christmas gift guide #2 - Treats from Clarins

If there's someone in your life who likes great skincare and fabulous makeup look no further.  Clarins are a household name in beauty circles and quite rightly so.

On the blog today are not just great beauty products, but great stocking fillers for Christmas.  First up we have the Instant light natural lip perfectors, these are £17* each and come in 6 different shades. These two shades are apricot shimmer and rosewood shimmer.  The scent is amazing, like a vanilla buttercream yummy sweet scent.  This is one of the most hydrating lip balm-type products I've used, in the short time I've had it, I've applied it to my lips every single day.  It's not a sticky formula at all, but a soft creamy flattering butter.  There's a nice amount of pigmentation to them - not crazily pigmented, but a wareable amount.

Then we come on to the beauty flash balm - an absolute cult product.  For the £29* you'll get 100ml of product.  It's a bit of a multi-use face balm - there's two key ways it can be used, on your skin with your makeup applied straight after, so like a primer.  Then you could also use it as a face mask, apply it to the skin and leave for 15 mins, then rinse off for a treatment.  This is amazing for tired and stressed skin and contains oil and witch hazel extracts - witch hazel is fantastic for problem skin, so as well as making your skin look refreshed, it'll actually be helping to control outbreaks too.  It's also won a host of awards, as recently as this year.

If you're looking for gift sets, Clarins have put together some really lovely sets, these are two of my favourites :)

First up, the Hydra Quench gift set complete with makeup bag.  In the set you get a Hydra Quench cream for normal to dry skin (50ml), Hydra Quench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase (15ml), Hydra Quench Cream-Mask (15ml) and the makeup bag :)  This lovely little set costs £34 - a perfect present for a mother or grandmother, or anyone who really likes to take care of their skin :)
Then we have my favourite of the two sets, the lip set!  (how amazing does this look?).  In the set you get, Rouge Eclat - (1.4g), Colour Quench Lip Balm - (7ml), Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector - (5ml), Gloss Prodige - (2.5ml), and the Beauty Purse.  This lovely set is only £18 - which for 4 Clarins lip products is pretty awesome :) Perfect for any beauty aficionados :)

These are great picks for fans of Clarins or fans of quality makeup and skincare, perfect for Christmas :)

This months Biggest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Amy from Srslylou

 

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