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Clinique Autumn Trend for 2010

Clinique Autumn Trend for 2010

With soft taupes and creams and a splash of plum, Clinique’s Autumn trend for 2010 is a collection of shades and colours that are sure to suit everyone, and make you feel and look beautiful.

What makes this collection so lovely aren’t just the colours.  That would be too simple; after all, anyone could produce these colours.  It’s the actual products themselves combined with the colours that make this set simply essential purchasing.

It’s no secret that many of the MAF artists are Clinique fans, and in fact, I’ve been a Clinique Fan for pushing 20 years.  There’s something simple and elegant, yet totally on trend, all at the same time!

The quick eyes cream shadows are creamy and blendable.  These sorts of products are often overlooked or dismissed as a poor way to apply the shadow, but as a tip from a makeup artist, who can’t double dip and therefore can’t use the applicator, it’s worth taking a small blob onto your fingertip and gently smoothing that onto your eyelid for a simple one-colour look, or take a tiny bit onto a brush, then blend that as you would with any other cream shadow, or in fact, as you would a dry shadow!  They are buildable though, and certainly you can layer, and in fact, I’ve been using these in conjunction with a black dry shadow and the intensity of colour has been fantastic, but without the look of black.  All it did was deepen the colour, meaning that I could really contour in and create shapes and shadows, but without having to use more than just a steady hand of black!

But there are other products that are part of this collection – The quickliners are simply that.  Quick Liners!  You can have a thin line that fills in the blanks between eyelashes (a Hollywood Trick for a natural look is to dot eyeliner between the lashes to make them appear thicker and longer), or you can build up the line to make it a real feature of your face and look.

And most will have heard of this at some point in time, the new shade of the High Impact Mascara, in Brightening Black, it’s the most surreal black I’ve ever seen in a mascara – it’s that wonderful blue black that you sometimes see in hair colours, and the blue counteracts the red in the eyes somehow, and makes them look instantly more awake and alert!

Not new to the Clinique group, but essential as part of this Autumn look are the eyeshadow duos in Beach Plum (such a cult favourite!), Like Mink and Blackberry Frost, easily wearable, easily blendable.  I had all these colours in my kit even before they came out with this collection!  Very useful for a pro makeup artist, as well as the general makeup wearer!

Rounding off the collection are the new colours from the Vitamin C lip smoothie set – Guava Good, Pear-Fection, Running Latte, Strawberry Bliss, Pome-Greatness and Blackberry Nirvana.  Soft and caring like a balm, but with a big juicy kissable hint of colour.

In all, an initially soft and gentle collection, with a little bit of layering, you can go from day to night, desk to dinner in a couple of flicks of a brush!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

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Jelly Pong Pong – fun makeup for everyone!

Jelly Pong Pong – fun makeup for everyone!

Is it possible that a brand could be any more fun that Jelly Pong Pong?

I’ve been using their products for quite a few years now, from back in the days of the infamous Hump Balm!

Most recently though, I took away a handful of their products on my sunny funny holiday to Turkey, and they all came in handy!

As the ultimate sparkly girly, I had to take the crystalliser away with me.  4 sparkly powdered glitters, with a handy little puff to dust them on with.  The mix of colours is great, the packaging is somewhat space age, yet stylish and they definitely add a sexy shimmer to a tan.  My only criticism is that you can’t ‘dispense’ individual colours, they all come out together.

I took some other not-quite-so-glittery products too; the Jelly Flush is a push up cheek and lip flush, that smells like peaches and jam, and looks like strawberry jam with little pips throughout!

This was wonderfully cooling on my cheeks, yet added a soft glow, literally, as the name suggests, a flush of colour.

And as a fan of the lipgloss category, my makeup bag wasn’t complete with some gourmet lip therapy!  I happen to have both Honey and Sugar, and couldn’t decide which to take, so of course, they both came too.

Neither has a colour that comes out on your lips, but the honey is a golden colour to look at and the Sugar, a shimmery white.  I wasn’t overly bothered about the lack of colour, I was using them for their therapy properties, which I’m pleased to say added a very gentle and soft sheen and a heck of a punch of moisture to dry lips.  The sugar one feels like its exfoliating, but you can put it on and leave it on, no horrid bobbles!

And while I’m here, though they didn’t come away with me, I’ve had the Muffin and Meringue duo sat on my desk for a few weeks, giving myself regular daily doses.  Enormous tubes, they don’t have a traditional applicator built in, you just unscrew the lid and blob some onto your finger, then smear that on, and depending on whether you want red or pink tinted lips would depend on whether you chose the shimmery pink Muffin or the berry red of the Cherry Meringue.

All gorgeously packaged, all lots of fun, and all designed to release the inner sparkle in all of us.

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

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Miners Sweet Lips lipgloss.

Miners Sweet Lips lipgloss.

xjenniex2008 aka http://all-that-glitters-and-sparkles.blogspot.com/ and @jennifer1986!  a long standing MAF forum regular, and product tester, Jen’s been doing quite a bit of testing for MAF over the last few weeks, and this is just one of them!

I tested this in the shade Blancmange. On first impressions the packaging is quite cute, it doesn’t look cheap. It smells very sweet, you know how in America you get a lot of Grape flavoured things? It smells like that which is actually quite nice. I would say this is more of a balm it doesn’t make my lips glossy at all and my lips seem to soak it up quickly, but it does have vitamin E in. 

The only place I know where you can buy Miners is their own website and these sell for £2.99.

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The Balm Balm Shelter Tinted Gloss

The Balm Balm Shelter Tinted Gloss

Kylie Toft tries out The Balm’s tinted gloss.

This is a really lovely product and I’ve loved testing it. The flavour is awesome, reminded me of banana shrimps! Yum yum. 

My lips are very dry but this product has really helped them and they feel in much better condition. It stays on for quite a while and I loved the slight tint to it- I used ‘Girly Girl’. 

On the downside it costs about £14 so is out of my price range.  However if money was no object I would definitely buy it again.

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Ice Lolly Loveliness!

Ice Lolly Loveliness!

If there’s anyone who’s going to take a seasonal trend of colours, and make it literal, it’s going to be www.findmeagift.com who do it.

They’ve taken Ice Cream back to child-like fun! 

6 Ice Cream flavoured/scented lipbalms in Strawberry, Tutti Frutti, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Cookies ‘n Cream, Bubble Gum and Mint Choc Chip!  These mini pots of balm look like miniature tubs of Ben ‘n Jerry’s ice cream.

They even have the words ‘everyone loves ice cream’ on the side, and they’re right!

But taking it a step further, they have a sweet pops trio of lipglosses in Ice Lolly packaging on keyrings!  How much fun?

Flavoured Lemon, Orange and Strawberry, they suggest mixing them together to create your own flavours, a la Jelly Belly jelly beans – Orange and Lemon for citrus tart or Strawberry and Orange for sweet sorbet, or go for the other option of Lime, Fudge and Berry!

Sam Donald.

www.SamDonald.com

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Lola Lipgloss Keychains – too cute!

Lola Lipgloss Keychains – too cute!

For many women, buying ‘things in miniature’ can be just as pleasing as buying full size products.  Who can’t be persuaded to buy an extra product to get the mini bits in a Gift With Purchase goodie pack? 

I’m becoming a bit of a fan of Lola, already in love with their Treat ‘n Glow highlighter, I’ve got a plumping gloss from them that I’m falling for, and now, they’ve got a set of mini glosses on keychains!

These have been released before, and www.SimpleBeauty.co.uk tell me that they regularly sell out.

Don’t miss out, get yours now.  They come in 4 colours, with a gentle butterscotch scent, and for those who don’t carry much makeup, having one of these attached to your car keys will be invaluable.  Trust me, I know.  I have glosses everywhere…

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

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Charles Fox and Kryolan – in the Pink!

Charles Fox and Kryolan – in the Pink!

Lips.  To pink or not to pink?  That is the question…  okay, we all know that there is the perfect hue of every colour that will suit everyone.  Some of us suit canary yellow, others suit a mustard yellow, some suit emerald green, others suit khaki.

Its the same for pink and pink lips.  I suit a very pale better than I suit a bright, but then everyone is different, so where do you go?  Do you choose hot pink or a bluey pink, a baby pink or a pastel pink?

Charles Fox of Covent Garden London is famous in the theatre district, and a mecca for makeup artists of every discipline, from film and TV to private tutors, with everything in between.

When I was researching my ‘pink’ lipstick phase a few months back, I decided to see what they had to offer for the pinkly challenged amongst us…

Kryolan doesn’t just have 1 lipstick and 1 lipgloss, they have a huge selection, and in a dozen different shades of pink, and if you haven’t considered Kryolan as a makeup range to go in your kit, its well worth a look.  Colours are true and richly pigmented.  The colours are very strong and intense, a very little goes a long way, the quality is lovely and is everything that you’d expect from a true professional range.

Here are a selection of lip products that I think you might want to take a look at (with my favourite pink shades too!)

High Gloss brilliant lipshine.  I have gone with Candy as a perfect baby pink

Lip Gloss.  For the bright pink fans, it’s simply called Pink!

Lip Glisser.  This one has a coding of LG2 and is a midtoned rosey pink

Glamour Lip.  A pot of colour in Rose Pink

Lipstick.  Is there a pink to suit everyone?  I think this could possibly be it.  It’s coded LC123

And just incase you like the whole ‘pink thing’ its worth having a look at some of their brushes too – fulfills the inner pink girly rather nicely!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

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Compeed TOTALCARE coldsore patches

Compeed TOTALCARE coldsore patches

I’ve had www.compeed.co.uk/totalcare in my kit for a while, but recently used them myself, for the first time, when I felt a cold sore coming on.

As anyone who suffers from cold sores will know, they are hideous and you just want them to go away as quickly and painlessly as possible. But often they take up to 2 weeks to go, and the last few days can be the worst as they crust over and then split and bleed each time you open your mouth or try to eat something.

The patches take a little practise to put on, but if you read the instructions properly, it’s fairly simple.

At first it felt a bit weird having a plaster on my lip, but after a while, I got used to it, and other people could hardly notice it.

It felt reassuring knowing that my cold sore was completely covered, so reducing the risk of my children catching it. It also stopped it from hurting so much.

The cold sore started on a Monday evening, I could feel the unpleasant tingle, and there was a little redness, so I put a patch on. The next day there was a cluster of little blisters under the patch and they seemed to get bigger over the next few days. after about 3 days, I could feel that the cold sore was starting to heal.

It took until the following Wednesday until it had totally healed up, so not really any quicker than leaving it to heal on it’s own.
 
The difference was, the cold sore never actually crusted over, it just went away. So I managed to completely avoid the last few horrible days of splitting and bleeding and discomfort. (It is important that you use the patches until the cold sore has completely healed, otherwise you risk getting the crusting over period.)

I didn’t feel so self conscious, as the cold sore was well hidden and I was even able to apply make-up over it (although I chose not to do this as I did find it gave my lip a kind of waxy look and made me feel more concious of it)

I highly recommend these patches and will definitely use them again  the next time I get another attack.(not too soon, I hope)

Amanda Roberts

www.hairandmakeup4u.com

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Benefit Silky finish lipstick in Swoonderful

Benefit Silky finish lipstick in Swoonderful

Its a soft pearly pink with teeny bits of silver glitter. 

I have tested this a few times now and I’m a little bit disappointed with it! 

I love benefit products and although I’m not a regular lipstick wearer I know what I like and what I don’t like. 
I first tested it by just applying a coat on bare lips… a pink sheen but way too glittery-and it feels really slippery, a bit like vaseline! I think it looks like something a girly teen would wear to a party. 
I had to take it off because I really didn’t like the way it felt. 

I tried it again, this time by lining and filling in my lips with a red lipliner(first one I got out of mybag) and then applying a little bit of the swoonderful on top. 
The effect was nicer, a red lip with a little shine, not looking too glittery. 
Using less helped it feel like it wasn’t going to slide off and just gave the lips a fuller look. 

The best way to use it on its own is to just use a small amount and blend it out for a little shine but for £13 I want a LOT more from a lipstick.

Nina G

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Eyeko Fat Balm

Eyeko Fat Balm

I have mixed feelings about this product. I love the packaging but I do find the fact that it’s so chunky a bit of a problem – especially because I have thin lips and when I apply this it tends to go all over the lips and everywhere else and I’m constantly having to wipe around my mouth! 

However, I do love the texture and look of the balm. It has a subtle pink shimmer (Minty Fat Balm)that actually looks a bit like lip gloss and a nice minty flavour that feels quite refreshing. It does leave the lips feeling hydrated. 

I did have a bit of a problem trying to wind it up and the lip balm ended up cracking – I’m not sure if this is what usually happens or if I just happened to get a faulty one. 

Reading up online it says that you can actually apply this to your cheeks as a blush – I may give this a try as I love the shimmer pink colour!

Janine Swan

www.superdrug.com

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