I was recently lucky enough to get myself the Nars Tuomota Multiple in a blog sale recently (from the lovely
http://www.daintydollymix.com/). I really balk at paying full price for  Multiples, I just find them hideously expensive for what they are. That said, I now own three of them, all bought in blog sales! I like them a lot but the price just makes me shudder!

So Tuomota is a bronzer and I’ve been looking to try a creme formula bronzer for a while since I have always used powder versions, but as I don’t always wear powder on my face I wanted something that I could blend into a liquid or creme foundation nicely. Step forward Tuomota.

Another Goss Make Up Artist blog sale bargain. I do love his sales, I think this is the third or fourth thing I’ve had off him now, usually I’m too late as things get snapped up so fast!

So anyway, Kilimanjaro. Iridescent gold and an iridescent peachy shade, perfect for highlighting where ever you may need highlighting, but I also quite like for a eye opening pale wash of colour that isn’t in your face on days where I can’t be bothered with blending or don’t want to look overly made up. It’s not glittery, or chunky in the slightest, there’s little to no fall out and its smooth and applies well. My photos of swatches fail really and I’d direct you to Dempeaux’s fab post for accurate swatches.

See? I couldn’t capture the peach at all well so please do go and check Dempeaux’s post.

Lovely little duo that I’m happy to own and has already seen a lot of love from me.

As with Spring, I fell in love with the look of this Summer’s Nars collection and I was fortunately sent several bits to try out but I also bought quite a few bits so I’ve ended up with nearly the entire collection, minus two items, Kismet Nail Varnish and Mayflower lipstick.

Some of the items are total winners but in my opinion there are a couple of fails too. So lets crack on and have a look at them all in a bit more detail.

First up Ecume Nail Varnish £13.50

A perfect white creme finish polish. I love white creme’s as I’m sure I’ve mentioned more than once on this blog and this one is great, not streaky, perfect.

Soft Touch Shadow in Queen £16.50

My first Soft Touch Shadow pencil and unfortunately Queen probably wasn’t a good place to start with this product. Described on the website as a citrus gold glitter. I’m not going to dwell on this really but it’s green glitter in a clear base and I have absolutely no idea how to use it to be honest, if you use it alone on the eyelid it’s not buildable and it creases like mad. Here’s a swatch.

Exotic Dance Eyeshadow Duo £23.50

Dogon Eyeshadow Duo £23.50

I don’t mind telling you I hated this at first,it’s one of those products that I have to force to work on me rather than just being able to wear it with no effort. I have grown to love this though. It’s very matte so make sure your lips are well moisturised first!

Carthage Pure Matte Lipstick £18.50

I wasn’t sure whether to get this or not because I kept hearing how bright it was. I have bright pinks and they do suit me but I never wear them but in the end I was persuaded by the fact it’s a matte lipstick and I thought this may make it more wearable…all I’m going to say about the next two pictures is that they do not convey the true brightness, this lipstick is neon nearly, and gorgeous!

It’s orange and I always knew I was going to buy this. Happy to report I love it! It’s such a gorgeous shade. It’s bright but it’s not too bright but it’s definitely orange. I don’t own many orange lip products and I can only think of one other and I should probably wear more orange! Here follows a lip swatch and a full face (which looks unattractively like it was taken with fisheye lens) just so you can see how it looks in context.

I love Matte lippies. I think regular readers will know by now that its absolutely my favourite lipstick finish.

I suppose its not that far removed from Nars Orgasm blusher, perhaps slightly less pink?

As with all matte lippies, it will show every dry patch but I didn’t find the formula as dry as Madere from the Spring collection.

And here it is in the context of a couple of full face pics. I look decidedly yellow in the first for some reason, I fear I am morphing into Marge Simpson…

For anyone who likes lippies of this ilk it’s a winner, but for me I’m not sure why I bought it, it’s just too bland for my tastes! So yes, I like it, yes I recommend it, will I wear it? Probably very rarely…

I absolutely love these Nars Velvet Gloss Pencils. I had two already, Club Mix and Frivolous and I love them both so I decided to treat myself to another, New Lover.

These pencils aren’t really glossy glosses, just a gentle, easy to wear sheen and I probably won’t stop until I have them all but I do get a bit obsessed by things..

A lovely pale, but not too pale, yellow based pink with a subtle hint of gold shimmer. The shimmer is barely there which I like.

In the context of my whole face:

I really love these, so easy to wear and a great way of adding a bit of colour without being too full on. Out of the three I have I think this one is my favourite. Frivolous is gorgeous but is very sheer so perfect for a very natural look, Club Mix is beautiful but a bit more full on and New Lover is a gorgeous pink. Here they are all swatched together for comparison.

Do you have any of the shades I don’t have? Which should be my next one?

I fell in love with Nars Downtown Lipgloss when I saw it over at Temptalia. It’s from the Holiday 2010  collection and not only could I not find it anywhere online other than the Nars site, but I couldn’t afford it anyway. And then I spotted it over at Miss Merx’s Place in a blog sale at a price I could afford so I snapped it right up. And I’m so pleased I did, its absolutely beautiful!

In it’s tube it doesn’t look anything special really, just kind of mauve.

What is so fab about this gloss showed up better when I used the flash.

I’m so thrilled to have finally got this and it doesn’t disappoint, its really beautiful! So thanks very much Miss Merx, you’ve made this blogger very happy!

I was recently sent a couple of Nars Spring items for review purposes. I was also very kindly sent a couple of Spring items by a friend and then I just had to go out and buy a few more along with a couple of extras to boot. I just really loved the look of this collection! If you’re not interested in my ramblings, scroll right to the bottom for swatches!

So in that pic you can see the Nouveau Monde Eyeshadow Duo (£23.50 Spring 2011), Bateau Ivre Eyeshadow Duo (£23.50 Spring 2011), Super Orgasm Perfect Match Lipgloss (£17.50 Spring 2011), Madere Pure Matte Lipstick (£18.50 Spring 2011), the Nars Pencil Sharpener (£5 Permanent), Sex Appeal Blusher (£20.50 Holiday Collection 2010), Club Mix Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil (£17.50 Permanent) and Frivolous Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil (£17.50 Permanent).

The Pencil Sharpener. I was in the market for a new sharpener and I needed to spend a fiver more to qualify for free delivery so I grabbed this.  Its a sharpener with a lid, to keep all your shavings away, it also has a neatly tucked away little pick for cleaning out with and an adaptor so that the larger hole can do two sized pencils. Well it does a fine job of sharpening. Nothing noteworthy there. No, my problem with this is that lid was almost impossible to get off, and once it came off it won’t clip back into place. Nothing has broken off, its all still in tact. The lid just falls straight off again. Very disappointing Still, onwards and upwards as they say.

Moving onto the eyeshadow Duo’s next. First up is the one I was sent by the PR company, Nouveau Monde.  Incidentally, my first Nars shadows ever! A beautiful metallic, slightly greyed lilac and a rich metallic olive green/khaki. Both beautifully pigmented. Apply easily and richly with no creasing, fall out or any other negative effects. Highly recommended! Here’s how they appear on my eyes (unfortunately neither are good representations of the true colour):

And then we have the Bateau Ivre Eyeshadow Duo which I bought myself after falling in love with Lipglossiping’s post about it. A lovely bright clear blue with a darker smokier purply blue.  They are beautiful colours which wear really well, both are matte, but I really need to find out from Charlotte how she built up the colour so amazingly well in her pics because I want mine to look like that! Anyway, all my pics of this sucked too but here you go:

I was hesitant as it’s so pale looking but actually it shows up really well on my skin. Its a beautiful pale peach I’m delighted to have in my collection and I’m really pleased I followed my instincts with it as although I always always wear blusher, I often only want the merest hint of colour. I also wanted a colour that was really neutral in a way, not pink or orange or red, for those days when I just am not sure what matches and again this fits the bill perfectly. Here’s how it is on me:

So that picture leads me neatly onto the next thing. Madere Pure Matte Lipstick.I wasn’t at all sure if this would be a mistake and I would never have bought it if I hadn’t have seen how great it is under other stuff on various blogs. Ultra Nude lipsticks are not normally something I can get away with. Certainly the fact that its matte really helps because I think I turn into a weird clown when I have shiny nude lips and they make me look all weird. And actually on its own it is passable. I do plan to use it more with gloss on top as it takes a lot of work for me to make it wearable. It is very drying I find and if you have any dryness at all it will highlight it spectacularly.  I like it though! And also, although I don’t have any pics, it does make a great base for a sheer gloss as it makes the colours show up really well. Here’s how it looks:
And then, next up we have Super Orgasm Perfect Match Lipgloss.

There’s not heaps to say about this. It’s a very pale, sheer pink gloss, lovely non-sticky formula, full of tiny gold sparkles. As the gloss fades over time, you do get left with just the glitter, but that’s no issue for me. Just means it’s time to slick on more gloss!
If you’re still with me, don’t worry, we’re nearly at the end now! The last items I have to show you are the two Velvet Gloss Pencils in Frivolous and Club Mix. Frivolous is a lovely sheer natural pink shade and Club Mix is a stunning berry shade. I’m totally in love with these. The formula is exception. They go on like a dream. They add a sheen more than a gloss, they are comfortable and non-sticky and they seem to stay on my lips for a long time. I’ll be looking to add more of these to my collection over time. And both of these work really well over Madere btw (but sadly I don’t have pics).
First up Frivolous:And Club Mix:
Ok so that’s everything I’ve got. I’m not quite done yet though as I wanted to share some FotD’s I’ve done using these products and, sorry some of these pictures are awful ones of me, but I’ll rise above my own personal shame for the greater cause of showing you make up!
First Bateau Ivre on eyes, Club Mix on Lips and Sex Appeal on cheeks, bit of a mishmash I know.

Nouveau Monde on Eyes and Super Orgasm on Lips.

And these make me cringe but, but Bateau Ivre on eyes, Sex Appeal on cheeks and Madere on lips:

Urgh.

Lastly, but by no means least, the obligatory swatches. Nouveau Monde and Bateau Ivre:

Super Orgasm:

Left Colum Top is Madere and Bottom is Sex Appeal Blush and right Colum is Club Mix with Frivolous underneath, the picture has come out a little green but the colours still mange to be fairly accurate. Which is odd:

I dunno if you remember This post? I basically said I didn’t know what all the fuss was about, it was alright but I wasn’t keen on the conistency of it and although I quite liked it I just didn’t understand why it was such a cult item.

Well I needed to come back to this subject. My views haven’t changed as such, I still don’t absolutely love it, I have far prettier blushers in my (extensive) collection and if asked to recommend a blush, the Orgasm wouldn’t immediately spring to mind. But having said that… I realised the other day that I reach for it frequently without even thinking about it. I use it very often indeed.  I even used it for my sisters wedding day which would seem an odd choice on such an important day to use a blusher I’m not fussed about.

So I’ve had a rethink about it. What do I think about this blush? No, its not my ideal consistency, no, it’s not a pretty pink, nor does it have a fancy duochrome, yes it’s rather bland, but you know what. Maybe I don’t have to love a product to love it!

When I don’t know what colour blush to wear I reach for Orgasm for a hint of natural colour, when I don’t want anything too pale, or too bright, or too pink, or too tan, I reach for Orgasm. And it turns out that I do this often.

So my lovely little Nars Orgasm, I’m sorry for doubting you. You might not be the showiest of products and you appear so unassuming it’s easy to underestimate you, but like a friend you take for granted, I wouldn’t know how good you were until you were gone. Thank goodness I wised up and no longer will you be that boring blush but I’m going to appreciate you for what you are from now on, an absolute staple.

PS: Orgasm, don’t let this go to your head, I still don’t know how you’ve managed to elevate yourself to cult status. You’re good, but you’re not that good!

So the weekend has been & gone along with a visit from my sister Lis or Aunty Boo as she’s known to my kids! She wasn’t here for long and I predicted some pretty intense make up application and removal as we tried different combinations but actually that wasn’t the case. I knew what I thought would look good and thankfully Lis agreed so we ended up only running through twice with a few adjustments the second time but I was really pleased with it and I think Lis was too. So without further ado I give you a whole load of photos!

I should mention that it was a concious decision to stay away from the usual neutral eye make up for two reasons, my sister’s colouring for one but the main reason being her wedding dress is pale blue so I felt that greys and silvers would be a better match.

The Before:

The Afters. This was the first run through and we decided to tweak a couple of things the second time round. The flash washed things out a little in these first pics and bought out too much of the shimmer but you get the idea!

So day two, I decided to switch out the MAC MSF (although we both loved it) and try Nars Orgasm instead, for a less disco effect. We also addeda touch of highlighter on the cheekbones and a smidge of contouring. We also added lipliner under the lipstick for longer wear and a hint more colour. The following pics are in daylight so I hope you can see that although the eyes are shiny, they aren’t as shiny as the flash pics made them appear.

So there we have it. The finished look. What do you think? I’m really pleased considering a) how nervous I was about it and b) my total lack of skill.

The products I used for this look are as follows:

So there we have it. Typing that list up reminds me, anyone got Silver Fog or Sweet Sienna Pigments for sale?

I must also do a special thank you to both Clinique and Estee Lauder who provided several of the products used and several products that weren’t used. I am eternally grateful and it was a great great help. Thank you.

Well I was very lucky to get my hands on Nars Orgasm blusher from GossMakeUpArtist the other day at a fairly bargain price.

If you haven’t heard of it, you must be living in a bubble! There is so much hype surrounding this product and I guess you’d call it a cult item. Being a beauty afficionado of sorts, albeit in the minor leagues compared to many of you, I wasn’t so fussed about having it in my collection, but I’ve never even seen it in the flesh! Nowhere down here, to my knowledge, sells Nars, so when I saw it at a cheap price I leapt. I had no expectations of it really, I didn’t expect to LOVE it, but I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about.

Well it arrived today and I’m none the wiser about the fuss! It’s a pinky peachy corally blush with a hint of shimmer….and well, I just don’t think it’s that amazing. I like it without a doubt, but worth the fuss and hype? No I don’t think so! Now to me, it doesn’t seem all that pigmented, not compared to plenty of blushes I own, and it felt a bit dry and perhaps a bit chalky. Perhaps thats what it’s supposed to be like and I just don’t appreciate a good blusher when I see one!

On the cheeks it’s very natural, which is the aim, but it’s nothing special… but I think looking natural is the point!

Anyway, when I tried it I thought I had some other shades that were pretty close and decided to do a swatch comparison, actually, I was wrong. But anyway, lets have a look.

So there it is, the famous Orgasm.

These are the products I thought might be similar:

Nars Orgasm, Benefit Coralista, Mac Sun & Moon, Mac Petticoat MSF and Mac Stereorose MSF.

And here are the swatches, in the same order.

None of them are the same, Coralista is the closest, followed by Petticoat, but neither are as pink toned as the Orgasm.

I noticed that they all have a metallic tone, mostly gold, which I suppose is why I thought they might all be similar, but no, I can confirm I have nothing like it in my collection. I will have to have a proper play with on my face and see if I can get a better result from it. Surely all those lovers can’t be wrong?

Do you have Nars Orgasm Blush? Do you love it? What am I missing?