Giorgio Armani Bronze All Over Palette for Summer 2013

Giorgio Armani has released a well edited collection for Summer 2013. The Bronze All Over Palette is a gorgeous 2-tiered compact, housing a bronzer above and complimentary shadows below. As I said before my initial photo's absconded off my apple, so please note the picture shown below is without the gold overlay and my applicators are sullied. What a thing of beauty. Great for travel and well, just darn great! The bronze reads quite 'orange' on the swatch, but is more golden on the cheeks. This for me is not a contour, bit definitely a bronzer shade (which it was intended for). There is a sheen to it with no chunky glitters. Very sophisticated. The three shadows are a good mix for your usual 'outer v formation' - Darkest shade into your outer corner, blended into the crease towards the inner corner  The medium shade for  eyelid area and the lightest for highlighting the tear duct and eyebrow area. Yet, a simmering sexy look ala the promo pic and this turns you into one hot mama, with smouldering bronze lids and sun baked cheeks. Just build the Deep Bronze shade over your whole lid. Take the peachy brown medium shade and blend from the crease upwards. Use the lightest cool cream to highlight as before. I've worn it this way and love it! The shadows are silky and have a lovely velvet texture. These seem more pigmented than my first Armani eyes to kill palette Maestro 01 (reviewed here), which had a more sheer quality to them.

L-R Bronzer, Cream, Peach, Bronze

This Palette is a one stop shop for a summer look! Have you made a list from Armani's summer collection?

Tom Ford Ultra Shine Lip Gloss in Pink Sugar

Tom Ford offers two formula's in a gloss - the Ultra Shine Lipgloss and Lip Laquer (which is clear unless in a limited collection). I purchased the high shine lipgloss in Sugar Pink, which is full of pigment but still a bit sheer?? Yes, a bit of a dichotomy.
Housed in a clear, solid 'tube', with a brown lid and gold trim. Very posh and keeping with the whole Tom Ford simplistic elegant look.

It is creamy but still quite sticky, but this is to be expected for such a glossy finish. Wear time is like most tacky glosses, a little longer than most, longer if you do not consider talking, eating or drinking essential! My lips are moisturised and do not feel dry after it wears off. It comes with a very firm brush applicator, which it makes it easy to apply.

Sugar Pink is a delicate sweet girly pink. This offsets many of Tom Ford's bold eyecolour quads very well. These would pair well with his Lip Colours in the lighter range like Pink Adobe or Spanish Pink.

I would definitely buy more of these glosses and there is an extensive range from soft pastels to violent purple! Do you like, love or hate Tom Ford Glosses?

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By Terry Touch-Expert Advanced in Nude/ 2 Review and Swatches - Concealer Series II

By Terry-Touch Expert Advanced comes in 6 shades. I bought this concealer in shade 2/Nude.This concealer as many active ingredients that work to decongest and hydrate the undereye area.It come in a slim metallic purple pen style applicator. The product is pushed through brush by clicking the back of the applicator. So, you can use this straight onto the under eye area. I still prefer to apply it onto the back of my hand and then use my fingers or concealer brush to apply. I like the packaging.

The product is ultra fine and lightweight. It is amazing how this conceals my dark circles, as it has a weightless feel when on the skin. It is similar to Armani Maestro (reviewed here) but it gives more coverage and lasts longer. It has a fresh look, but dries to a matte finish due to micro powders. Can be used as spot coverage on blemishes or discolouration on your face as well. This is a twin to the Burberry concealer, of which I am also shade 2.

By Terry in Nude/2

L-R By Terry, Armani Meastro

I cannot fault this formula. A lightweight texture that hides undereye problems. It does not accentuate any fine lines either. This is in my first tier of concealers.
I can only give this concealer a resounding A+

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Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer in # 6 - Out of this world

Giorgio Armani fluid sheers snuck up on me. I only knew of their existance with the launch of their new colours for Summer 2013. Why a banner is not blinking over them at every Armani counter surprises me, as they are my number one find for summer. First off please excuse the condition of my products for all my Summer Armani items. My initial photo's of pristine and shiny packaging and swatches were the work of Gremlins on my computer and just vanished! Moving on....The packaging has also been revamped and now the colour is visible. A pump dispenses this 'liquid gold'. The portion is generous and this fluid sheer should last me into the next millenium or so.......

I bought this blind and basically of swatches from Best Things in Beauty who has swatches of all the new shades. I could not choose but eventually bought # 6. Both number # 4 (yellow) and #9 (raspberry pink) are on my 'list'. But, back to heavenly # 6, a bright juicy coral. As you can see from the swatches below, it is highly pigmented and a little is all you need. In the swatch, I have sheered it out, and you can tell it has a pretty shimmer. What I love, is that once applied to the cheek, there is no disco-ball effect at all. Just a healthy glow to my cheeks. The fluid sheer stays on all day on my oily cheeks and looks fresh and pretty. This shade does not accentuate any redness in my skin. The fluid sheers are meant to be complexion correctors, illuminators and cheek colours. This is of course a  blush. My experimenting still continues and I am trying it mixed with various foundations. The fun will come in when I can accumulate more than one of these fluid sheers to create new and unique shades.

Fluid Sheer 6 over Armani Luminous Silk 5,5

I cannot rave about this new love of mine any more. Have you made any exciting discoveries this year?

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer

Hourglass Mineral Primer is one of Hourglass's hero products. Every time I went into a Space.NK and asked what I should buy from Hourglass (when I was investigating the brand), all the SA's declared ' Mineral Primer'
This wonderful primer has a minimal SPF of 15 and works well under Hourglass's Veil Fluid Makeup ( reviewed here) as well as under all my other foundations. What is quite remarkable about this primer is that it renders foundation water resistant , so makes the longevity of the foundation increase and is perfect for warmer climates.

The product is white when you pump it out (one pump is all I need) but is absolutely clear once smoothed onto your face. It does have a silky silicone feel to it, but this also disappears a few minutes after application.
It is described as suitable for all skin types. It works well on my oily skin (it's oil free), and I cannot believe it will be harsh on dryer skin types . The products slides on and minimizes the appearance of my pores and had a slightly 'blurring' effect, as my skin had the look of porcelein. I do not have major redness, but it is meant to dampen that too. This is free from all nasties like parabens, phlalates, sulphate a, fragrance and is vegan friendly, which I'm guessing means no animal derivates??
Tip: I was advised in order to lighten my Hourglass Veil Fluid makeup for winter months when my skin tends to go lighter, I should add my Veil Mineral Primer 2:1 (1 being the primer) as their lighter shade I think leans too pink. I have tried this and it works a charm!
Hourglass does not have a large inventory of products, but I can say that when they do it they do it well!
It is my go to primer at the moment, but I am slowly changing over to their No. 28 Primer Serum, as we are going into Autumn and my skin is prickly with dehydration. Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer - Gotta have it!

Do you love a good face primer or forgo it all together?

Giorgio Armani Maestro Concealer - shade 4 swatches and review :Concealer Series # I

Giorgio Armani brought out a matching under eye concealer, with the launch of their Maestro Fusion makeup last year. Since I love my maestro so much, I had to get the concealer. This review will be the start of my concealer series, as like any good beauty lover *hoarder*, I have a few that I use.

The product comes in a small black tube, while its foundation counterpart (reviewed here) comes in a heavy glass jar with a dropper. I got shade 4 which is a match to the foundation in 5,5 - if you are looking for a match. 3,5 would be a more peach toned choice and I could have gone with either.

The product is a runny liquid and basically comes out quickly, without squeezing, once opened. I think a smaller matching jar would have been preferable, as a dropper would dispense this concealer better.

Packaging aside, this is a lightweight liquid which has less of a dry oil feel the the foundation. This is for good days when puffiness and blue circles are at their best as it gives sheer coverage (the foundation seems to cover more). The Armani sites says with continual use blue circles will fade. I should use it everyday to see if this works! However, this does give a totally natural finish. The site also mentions 'moisturises' eyelids , so it excels as a primer as it even out eyelids perfectly. It applies best with fingers.

It does not settle in my fine lines at all and my under eye area looks hydrated. Wear time could be improved. I saw no patchiness over time, which is a pet peeve with bad concealers. A corrector would be hard to put under this to counteract blue, but having said that I have never used the Armani Master corrector, which is meant to be magical.

I do like this concealer. I do suffer from puffiness and dark circles, so this is in my 2nd tier of concealers. Love the formula, but the packaging lets it down and I'd think I should wear the peachier 3.5 more as it would banish my dark circles. I do like to pair it with my Maestro fusion makeup.

This gets an overall rating of A-

This is how evaluated the concealer and how I will continue to rate the others in my Concealer series.

• Packaging - Does the product dispense easily. Do I like the aesthetics (is it pretty!). Is it of good quality and hold up over time.
• Texture - Is the product sticky and does it feel good on the skin - heavy, weightless etc
• Coverage - Does it hide what it needs to? Does it hide it while still looking like skin.
• Benefits - What good ingredients does the formula have?
• Finish - Is it natural, flawless, does it enhance
• Longevity - how long does it last throughout the day

I would love to hear what you look for a in a holy grail concealer and have you found it yet??

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Sunday Riley Juno Transformative Lipid Serum

Sunday Riley has two hero products. Good Genes (reviewed here) and Juno Serum. I have just about used up my Juno Serum, which in essence is an oil packed with a blend of good-for-your-skin ingredients.

• Natural Retinol
• 13 anti-aging lipids
• Vitamins A,C and E
• Essential Amino Acids
• Omega 3:6:9
• UV shields
• Anti-oxidants
• Anti-inflammatory

This list reads like a multi-vitimin I would take. I used this daily as my last step in my nighttime skincare regime. When I purchased it, I got some good advice from the Sunday Riley customer service:

"Juno has an ingredient in it called Meadowfoam Seed Oil. This is a cold pressed seed oil and it actually on of the only seed oils that absorb into the deeper levels of your epidermis. If you layer it on top of your Skin Adrenaline and Good Genes, it will pull them deeper into your skin as well, thus giving them higher potency. It really is amazing!"

My oily skin loved this oil. It felt nourished and hydrated upon waking in the morning. They do say it is a dry oil, but on my skin it did leave a residue, but this was not an issue for me. This was my first face oil I have tried. I would definitely repurchase this product. If you are looking at Sunday Riley, these would be my first choice together with Good Genes as a starting point as they can slot in with your current moisturiser and other serums.

Do you like face oils or are they taboo for you?

Hi Friends. I would appreciate it if you could refrain fron including self- promoting links in your comments, as I then have to mark them as spam. I love to hear from you, but can only publish comments that adhere to the above. I am really forward to hearing from you all!