A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The moment I saw this Butter London beauty in the bottle, I was smitten.  I love copper polishes, I love smooth glitters, I love my polish with just a hint of eccentricity.  Meet Butter London Scuppered, a polish that simply ticks all the right boxes.

Whoever thought to throw a scattering of green micro-glitter into the mix of what is otherwise, a rather sensible (albeit beautiful) polish, is a diabolical mastermind.  In amongst all this coppery-green madness, there’s another component – a shift of pink and a lighter gold that gives this shade an almost duochrome feel in the right light.

The formula is also wonderful, the above shows three coats – each of which applied smoothly, dried quickly and behaved impeccably.  I think you could probably get away with two coats, but don’t quote me on that.

It’s Autumnal, it’s Christmassy, it’s fun – what’s not to like?

Butter London Scuppered is priced at £11.95 and available to buy online from powderrooms.com

* press sample

…in Burnished Copper.

So pretty… so, so very pretty.

I’ll admit that Laura Mercier is a brand that I’ve never gotten into before now.  I’m always drawn to the sleek packaging and impeccably made up SAs but the line confuses me a little.  It’s all those powders I think… I once asked about the Secret Brightening Powder and left the counter with the impression that I needed to buy about 7 other products before the Secret Brightening Powder would be able to do it’s intended task.

So now, for the sake of my tiny brain… I ignore that whole “secret” part of the counter whenever I stop by for a look.  I’m probably missing out on something great… but don’t tell me that.

So anyway, I hadn’t even noticed these cute little tubes before… but last time I was browsing my eyes alighted on them straightaway!

I already have a particular fondness for creme eyeshadow formulations and was eager to swatch them all.  I was terribly torn between this one (Burnished Copper) and Alloy (Cool Taupe).  I went with Burnished Copper in the end because I knew it would really pull the green in my eyes to the forefront and just seemed more Christmassy (only 10 weeks away – don’t hate me).

You can either squeeze a small amount of product onto your finger tip and apply like that for a sheerer finish or use a brush to build up the colour intensity.  I would recommend using a primer underneath if you have oily lids… longevity lies somewhere between NARS cream shadows (i.e. none) and Benefit’s Creaseless Creams (good).  With a primer, they last a whole lot longer on me.

Ain’t it purdy though?  Metallic but more of a metallic sheen than robot wars.  At £18 each, they ain’t much of a bargain… but I am such a sucker for beautiful shades.

Have you tried the Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Colours?

Nothing screams Summer like a warm bronzed complexion with copper accents.  Bronze scares me in so many ways!  I love metallics and I adore golds… but bronze?  It’s a touch red… that little bit bolder no?

Bronze and copper totally brings out the greens lurking in your iris though.

Did I tell you that I finally found a bronzer that I can apply with my eyes shut?  Guerlain Terracotta Light Bronzer in 01 Blondes.  If you’re as pale and cool toned as me and think bronzer isn’t for you?  Shut Up.  Just go and try it.  I wish I’d found it years ago.

I’ll do a proper review on it soon…

Anyway, the eyes…

I swished my Laura Geller Eye Rimz in Bewitching Bronze all over…. yeah, 1 colour.  Bite me.  I’m a lazy bitch most days, I’ve got approx 549589430 eyeshadows and 50% of the time (unless I’m showing off) I just grab one shade and go.

But check out the eyeliner! I don’t even know if it goes with the shadow… I don’t really care ‘cos it’s HOT!

Guerlain Divinora Liquid Eyeliner, I think they’re discontinued now.  The colour is immense, the packaging beautiful… the formula a little gloopy and slow-drying… but whatever, the colour. is. great.  I’ll have to start stalking eBay.

Are you stalking eBay for anything discontinued?  Do you do that?

I liked all the products that I was sent from Stargazer thus far… infact, more than liked.  They’ve impressed me.  Factor in the price for them, and I’m singing their praises from the blogosphere rooftops.

Sadly, the eyeshadows that I was sent fall into the category “More what I expected from a budget brand”.  They’re not terrible, but they’re nothing that I’m gonna get excited about.

I was sent two shades:

Very metallic looking in the pan, the texture instantly reminded me of Superdrug’s MUA… they have that slightly greasy feel to them.  Nothing wrong with that, but it does scream CHEAP!

Decently pigmented, the Arctic Blue shade took a little more building than Copper Fire, both are metallic.

They wear for a few hours before fading… combined with an eye primer, I just about got 7/8 hours from them before creasing. I’m being a little harsh, they’re performing like most budget eyeshadows… and they are budget eyeshadows at £3 each… but I was so impressed by the other products I tried, I think I was hoping for something more exciting from these aswell.

What I will say for them though is that the range is immense!  Over 50 shades of every colour imaginable in single pan form.  You can purchase Stargazer online from their website.

So this is the liner referenced in this post, my super bargain from Deal Extreme priced at $3.75 with free worldwide shipping.

Texture is really creamy, slightly greasy – but this makes for a very smooth application.  I don’t own any MAC or Bobbi Brown gel liners ‘cos I’m a complete pauper so I can’t compare to the high end brands – but I have a fair few gel liners I’ve picked up on the cheap including Sleek, Smashbox, Go Cosmetics and Elizabeth Arden.

As I’ve said, the application is a dream, thanks in part to the slight greasiness that the liner imparts.  Pigmentation is really rather good, especially with a 2nd or 3rd sweep of the eyelid.  Thanks to spidery lashes, I usually really struggle getting a nice line with liners that can sometimes be a little clumpy or thick (especially the cheap ones that I keep insisting on trying!).  No such problems here as I was able to make single fluid sweeps across the eyelid without my lashes bunching up or getting in the way and transferring the product to the rest of my eyelid.

This was after 3 sweeps with the liner.

It’s a lovely shimmery colour with no chunks of glitter – I’d still say it was more gold than copper though.

That’s where the praise ends I’m afraid…  Thanks again (I’m sure) to the slightly greasy texture – it didn’t set solid and after a few blinks, I had a matching line just above my eyelid crease.  Super disappointing but really rather predictable from a $3.75 liner.

Not to be beaten, I grabbed a soft pencil brush and a neutral brown eyeshadow and gently traced the eyeliner almost patting it hoping that the powder may go some way to setting it.  Amazingly, my ingenious little plan worked, and not only that – but it also improved the colour, making it more wearable for during the day.  Hurrah!

Still going strong with no smearing or transfer!

I’m definitely stashing this, and going back for the other colour available on Deal Extreme: ‘Aquamarine’ which looks like a regular Jade-y green to me.

I should also mention that I haven’t noticed any irritation from this product at all, but if you’re particularly sensitive, please be cautious!

[starreview]

Always on the hunt for a bargain, I came across this eyeliner whilst making one of my regular orders of crap from Deal Extreme, I couldn’t really turn it down at $3.75 with free shipping could I?   It may well blister my eyelids but it’s a chance I’ll take in the search of cheap but fabulous beauty products.

I’d say that it’s more of a burnished gold than copper colour as described on Deal Extreme.  Consistency is nice and soft – haven’t tried it out yet, but shall report back on colour, ease of application, longevity and whether or not it transforms me into Quasimodo’s uglier sister in less than 30 seconds.  It comes in a pretty little mirrored cardboard box, but I ripped it into a million pieces in my excitement to check out the contents – patience is a virtue and all that…

Regardless of this product, if you haven’t checked out Deal Extreme yet, I urge you to.  You can get all manner of utter crap at ridiculously good prices – the most fun you can have with your Paypal Account!  Shipping is free and generally takes around 8 working days from ordering to reach the UK.