I automatically know that when James my assistant reads this post he will take the mickey out of the above picture as he frequently states I am the most uncool person he knows and I shouldn't pretend otherwise!
But yey I have been spending and consensus on twitter was that a haul post was in order so here it is!
After declaring firmly that given the price of the Gucci Magnetic Color Shadow Mono eyeshadows, I would not be purchasing any more here somehow I ended up back at the Gucci counter picking up 3 more! This time I picked up a darker brown-Cocoa-which has kind of a matter texture than the first two I picked up and has tiny tiny gold flecks set into it. It still swatches smoothly and in store I layered Oxydus over it and it created an insanely beautiful shade.
I also picked up Sasso which is a medium steel gray colour and good for every day. It has a satin finish and no obvious sparkle to it when swatches. It has that lovely smooth, velvety texture to it which tells me it will be a dream to blend.
And finally I was able to get my hands on Iconic Gold which I have wanted for so long but it was always out of stock. Just look at that shade-look at it! It's so complex and dazzling I can't wait to use it. It has an almost foil like finish to it and is a dirty green/gold with teeny tiny microshimmer. I can't wait to wear it on the lid with a black on the outside or to wear it combined with my Armani Eye Tint in Green Iron.
I have done a little bit of research on Gucci make up since my last post and there aren't a huge amount of reviews out there. It's pricy stuff so I hope my reviews will be helpful for anyone considering a splurge. The single eyeshadows do definitely however seem to be the most highly rated of all the products in the line.
I then picked up two limited edition products (so sorry......). Both are oh so beautiful as well.
The first is an extremely limited edition, exclusive to the Middle East (and Asia I believe) highlighting powder from Guerlain called Poudre De Soie. I first came aware of this when Sara from Color Me Loud tagged me in an instagram picture of it and said would I look out for one for her. Well I fell in love with it at first sight and managed to get one for her and one for me.
This is a rose gold highlight with a beautiful embossed pattern on it which is inspired by beautiful Asian fabrics but also the ancient art of Origami. It's such a beautiful pan but I feel the outer packaging is very unimaginative and cheap. Especially compared to Guerlains usual beautifully packaged offerings. The outer compact is a plastic pale pink with a screw off lid-it's functional but not overly exciting.
I have very very gingerly swatched it-you know when you just can't bear to damage a pretty pattern?? It's a very smooth and finely milled rose gold with very very tiny bronze and silver microglitter. I wouldn't say it was overtly sparkly per se and it doesn't have large chunks of glitter but there is an undeniable radiance to it. But it is definitely a highlight rather than a setting powder. It's more shimmery than the Meteorites powders for sure. If any of you got your hands on Guerlains 'Cruel Gardenia' highlight from a couple of years ago, Poudre De Soie is definitely slightly warmer in tone but very similar.
The second limited edition compact I picked up was the Givenchy Le Prisme Color Confetti face powder. This was enabled by another Sarah, the one from And Beauty Or Something. I keep telling her she needs to get her shit together and write some posts because I love her blog and she has been slacking. Sarah posted this on instagram saying she needed it and I knew it was here in Dubai so I managed to get her one-and decided to get one for myself too.
The compact is really cute and fun and has multicoloured tiny floating balls in the lid. The powder inside has the same colourful 'ball' pattern on the top half. Swatched, the powder is very finely milled and contains no glitter. It very much looks like a radiance adding powder and it reminds me of the MAC Maleficent Beauty Powder that I absolutely loved-it has a very subtle peachy undertone but should suit everyone. I think it will add luminosity to the skin but will let you know if I feel any different once I have a good play with it.
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Three more shades were added-Shadow, which is a mid grey with a slight purple undertone to it. In artificial light it has tiny multicolour glitter in it but I can't detect it on the eye or in my swatch above. It is just a gorgeous shade.
Cold copper is the kind of colour I live for!! Strange name for the shade as it's not dark or orange enough to be a true copper and is more of a cool biege-y colour reminiscent of Stila 'Kitten'.
Rose Ashes is a warmer light bronze-y colour with a definite pink undertone. It's kind of duochrome on the lid and has a bit of sparkle in it. But because of the formula of these there is no fallout of glitter on the face. It kind of reminds of me of MAC Vex but without the green undertone. This one is the least pigmented of the five I own on the initial swipe across the eyelid but it's definitely buildable.
I am so in love with this launch-the formulas seem so consistent across the range-they are wetter than a cream but they're denser than a liquid. I find the best way to apply is to literally swipe directly on and blend with a finger or fluffy brush. They set after about a minute to an immovable powder and they last all day! They have enough pigment to stand up just fine on their own but they are also great for using as a base shadow and applying more shadow on top. However because they dry quite quickly, you need to work fast if you want to add a pigment on top of them to ensure it 'sticks'. They can be easily built up and not one of them has cracked, creased, faded or smudged on my eyelid. I've been testing them out this week in Cairo where I work really long days and they're just fabulous. Love love love, well done Armani.
My last splurge was on a non beauty item. I really love the Louis Vuitton Monogram Shawls and the Leopard Stoles and have about 6 or 7 now in different colours but I wanted something a bit warmer. Yes I know, bizarre when I live in Dubai and it's never really 'cold' but as I am not travelling frequently again to Egypt I was very cold on my last visit here (when it was a freezing 17 degrees-don't roll your eyes!) and I also often get really cold on planes too. So I went to Louis Vuitton and picked out this LogoMania scarf in the colour Pearl Gray. I do really like it but it's not as soft as I hoped it would be. I have also seen people say this is reversible but I it isn't, the pattern is just embossed right through the scarf. My main concerns with this scarf is that it will pull very very easily and I think it might start to look tatty quite quickly because it is 97% wool. But it has definitely done the job this week as I was so cold on the flight before I whipped this out! I probably wouldn't buy any more of these though, I prefer the silk pashmina style shawls.
Phew I feel like that was a long and wordy post-thanks for sticking with me if you have got this far! What have you been splurging recently?
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