Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Review

Where I heard about it I am completely addicted to the Pixiwoo channel on Youtube. They do make up tutorials and I always love the products they recommend.

Where I bought it Got it at the Chanel counter in Arnotts. Both girls were very nice and didn't even attempt to sell me anything else. Was a bit worried about the colour as she picked one for me without even trying it on, but must say she got it spot on. More information on the foundation and stockists can be found here.

Price I cannot for the life of me remember but I think it was closing in at the €40 mark.

Number of Shades 9


Packaging Not great to be honest. I usually love the weight and glass of the Chanel packaging. When you pay so much for a foundation you want it to look expensive. This looks quite cheap due to the plastic.

          With the foundation on the left side of my face. The colour is a little dark but it matches my tan!
 
Extras SPF 15, UBV Sunfilter

What the company say A new-generation texture. An unprecedented sensory experience. A unique makeup result. Rapid and easy application. Apply your makeup without thinking about it.

Its soft and evanescent ultra-fine fluid texture is a real surprise. Although it is exceptionally delicate and light, an incomparable “second-skin” perfecting result is achieved. The complexion appears amazingly even, fresh and energized. The skin glows with seemingly nude beauty. As if glowing from within. Bathed in light…

Its formula, endowed with a UVB sun filter and mineral sunscreen, protects the skin from damaging sun rays (SPF 15). Its crystalline fragrance accentuates the sensation of freshness and pleasure on application.                                                                                                                                                                                          

  Full face of the foundation. You can see from this photo that it has a lot of shine. I prefer it with a little bit of powder to set it                                                                                                                                     
What I say First of all don't let the tiny size of it put you off. When I saw the box and the price I thought I was being seriously ripped off. However, you honestly need a tiny little amount, around the size of a pea.

The bottle tells you to shake it and this is not advice to be ignored. If you don't all you'll get out is this horrible watery textured stuff. Again the bottle suggests to put it on with your fingers but I use my foundation brush and it works just as well.

The texture of this foundation is really beautiful, it literally feels so light that I really don't feel like I'm wearing anything. Usually I don't like this as I do like a medium coverage, but this foundation provides the coverage without any caking. I like it for summer but really wouldn't use it in the winter as I like a heavier coverage for the winter months. It lasts fairly well, especially when set with a powder, although by evening you'd really need to reapply.

I honestly can't see the "bathed in light" aspect that the company describes, and while the smell is nice I wouldn't exactly describe it as "crystalline."

The full look. Both concealer and powder have been added here. You can see how to achieve this look here.


Marks Out of Ten 7/10

Don't buy if You're looking for a heavy coverage. You like make up that's a bargain. You want something that will last into the evening.

Buy if You like a light coverage. You like to feel like you aren't wearing any makeup. You're looking for a light sun protection.

L' Occitane Shea Hand Cream Hibiscus Flower Review

 Where I heard about it: I received it in a free offer by Marie Claire.

Where I bought it: I bought the Marie Claire magazine in Easons but L' Occitane also have a shop just off Henry Street and their facebook can be located here.

Price: As I said I received mine for free but I think a full tube of their hand creams are usually around the €20 mark.




Other Versions: L' Occitane carry many other versions of this hand cream. I've used their dry skin formula one before and it was also very good.




Packaging: Typical L' Occitane packaging. Pretty with a slight vintage feel.



Extras: It is a limited edition and it contains 20% Shea butter.


What They Say: This Hibiscus Flower Hand Cream, enhanced with an exotic and sensual fragrance, is highly concentrated with shea butter to help protect, nourish and soften your hands. This hand treatment, enhanced with a floral fragrance, is highly concentrated with shea butter to help protect, nourish and soften hands.

What I say: Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of hand creams. Usually I tend to buy them with the best of intentions only to forget I even own them a few weeks later. I think I have at least three of them loitering in the bottom of my makeup case! I also find the majority of them greasy on the skin. I love L' Occitane's products though and this free deal with Marie Claire was just far too tempting. Firstly the Hibiscus scent is heavenly. It smells floral but with an underlying warmth, which I would say is perfect for this time of year. The texture is also very nice. Not greasy at all and with a week of usage my hands are noticeably softer and less dry. If I hadn't got this for free I would definitely considered buying it.

Marks Out of Ten: 9/10


Don't buy if: You're looking for a budget hand cream. Your hand's aren't particulary dry. You're not a fan of floral scents.


Buy if: You love other L' Occitane products. You are suffering from dry hands. You're looking for a pretty hand cream to stick in your handbag.

50's/ Dita Von Teese Look

This is really popular look right now with the burlesque, vintage and retro scenes becoming very fashionable. This teamed with this A/W '11's ladylike trend means that red lips are set, as usual, to be quite a big trend for the colder seasons.

Here is the full face look with the eyes opened.

This is it with the eyes closed, so you can get a better idea of exactly how I have done the eyes.

So what did I do and what did I use to get this look???

STEP 1: Firstly I used Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua in Beige Tendre. This colour is usually a little dark for me and when doing this look I would usually try and go a little paler. But as I am wearing tan I really didn't want my face to be a completely different colour to my body! I applied the foundation using a Louise Young Foundation Brush LY02.

STEP 2: Next I used Rimmel's Glam Eye's Professional Eyeliner into a cat flick Again this would not have been my first choice for a look like this, I'll explain why in a later review, but it is cheap and cheerful! I then curled by lashes using the Shu Uemura 24k Gold Eyelash Curlers. I have a funny feeling these may not be on the market anymore as they don't seem to be on the UK website. I then applied Benefit's Bad Gal Lash Mascara and on top of this I applied a pair of Eyelure's Naturalites Intense. I couldn't find out a number for them but they are really thick ones. There is a number 147 on the box but I'm not sure if this is the number of the lashes.

STEP 3: I finished off the skin. I put MAC's Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20 under my eyes using my ring finger to blend. I then applied a little to the other areas of the face that I needed a little extra coverage and used my LY02 to blend again. I then powdered my face with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in.... well the name has worn off so I'm not really sure. It looks like Light/Medium but I couldn't find this on the website so maybe this colour has been discontinued or maybe I'm reading it wrong! I applied it with a discontinued Benefit buffer brush, it would be very like the MAC 182 though.

STEP 4: Eyebrows are a very important aspect of this look. My brows are very thick and very dark so there is only so much that I can do with them. Regardless, the brow should be a arched and as defined as possible, so get the tweezers out! To fill mine in I used HD Brow's Palette in Vamp. I used the darkest colour Carbon which is a very dark brown, this I applied using a cheap slanted brush, which would be similar to the Benefit Hard Angle Brush.

STEP 5: Blusher! Colour in the cheeks is not really an overly important aspect of the look but I love to add a little shape with it. For this look I used the most beautiful discontinued blusher ever, Oh So Fair from MAC. It was a beauty powder that MAC brought out for their limited edition Disney Venomous Villain's Collection in 2010. It has an amazing picture of the evil queen from Snow White on the front and inside is a subtle pink blush. I applied this using another discontinued brush from Benefit. Any understated pink blush and simple blusher brush will suffice.

STEP 6: Finally the lips! The most important aspect of the look. I used an old Lipliner by Benefit called Siren, which was a really rich red. MAC's liner in Brick will do the same job. I then filled this in with Givenchy's Rouge Can Can. I can't find any of my lip brushes so I applied it straight from the bullet.

And that is pretty much it! If you want to push it a little further and have a few moles on your face fill them in for an even more authentic look. I done this with a brown eyeliner from Boot's Natural Collection range.

I also really should have curled my hair for this!!