Clarins Summer Enchanted Palette & Kohl Kajal Eyeliners

So in the previous three days I've shown you the lip and face products being released in the Clarins Summer collection which leaves the eye products.

First up the Limited edition Colour Quartet and Liner Palette £30.

The most visually beautiful palette ever. Stunning pattern on the classic Clarins gold case and each gorgeous shadow embossed with an intricate design.

Swatches first.

This is the second Clarins eye shadow palette I've tried and as with the last one I tried, soft and luminous seems to be the formula for these, it's not in your face colour, it is gentle, glowing and pretty. What I especially like about this particular palette is the colour combination. I love anything that has a pop of something different about it so this neutral palette becomes something special with the addition of that beautiful purple.

I have to say that while I was looking at the photographs for this post I was reminded of something I couldn't quite remember, but then it came to me, this palette reminds me both in colours and finish of the Le Metier de Beaute Le Cirque Kaleidoscope. It's not a dupe, but it does bear a resemblance to it! Anyway, you know me by now, I don't pack colour on and I inevitably make colours look sheerer than they actually are with my special blending technique*

So anyway, take a look.

I love this! Its right up my street. I really want to have a play using less of the purple though. The only thing I'm not so keen on is the liner colour, whilst in my swatch it is a lovely pearly bronze-y brown, on my lid I struggled to get it to show up much. I don't mind too much though because the colours are so beautiful and give me the look I desire, soft and muted, I find there was no fall out whatsoever from these and they are really very smooth indeed. Gorgeous.

Next up the Limited Edition Kohl Kajal Long-Lasting Eyeliner £15

A revamped traditional kohl, a creamy texture. So creamy in fact that each one comes with the following enclosed...

So yes, if you buy yourself one of these, be careful how you put the lid on! Suitable for the lash line or waterline, I'm a devotee of kohl on the waterline so that's where I headed with these. Available in two shades, Violet and Black.

I'm a devotee of Guerlain powder kohl so I was interested to see how these stood up to my high standards. In fact that isn't such a great comparison which I'll explain in more detail after I've shown you the kohls on my waterline.

First of all the formula, it's reasonably long wearing, didn't quite last all day, but lasted most of the day anyway so not bad at all. The pigment for me was on the low side. Now for the purple thats fine. I wouldn't want a vivid waterline, I like just how it looks on in the picture above. The black however is fine but it's a little softer than I'm used to. It's not such a bold line as the Guerlain kohl, that's not a bad thing though, it's just different giving a softer look. So really it's not comparable, when I want a deep heavy black waterline then I'll reach for the Guerlain and when I want something a little softer then it'll be the Clarins.

That purple though, its a gorgeous colour and it goes beautifully with the the Enchanted palette which is what I most excited about with the whole collection. That palette with that kohl and it is gorgeous. It's different and its exciting.

So that's the end of all my Clarins Summer posts. A glorious collection with high quality products in a beautiful selection of colours. I'm smitten and it goes without saying that once again from my point of view, Clarins can do no wrong.

*apply and hope for the best whilst probably over-blending....
*Disclosure - PR Samples*

Clarins Enchanted Summer Bronzing Duo SPF 15 Mineral Powder Compact

The penultimate post in my short series dedicated to the beautiful Clarins Summer Collection. I've shown you the lip products and today its the turn of the Bronzing Duos.

As with everything Clarins, the packaging is beautiful, the compacts are a amber transparent, well plastic I suppose with a gold base. Beautiful, heavy and stylish, each comes with a brown velvet pouch (not shown).

The Bronzing Duo's come in three colourways, 1, 2 and 3.

These aim to give you a natural colour when blended and White tea extract and 100% mineral sunscreen  help to protect your skin from pollution and UV and I'm told that the combination of mineral and soft-focus pigments are combined with pearls to optically minimise fine lines and imperfections as well as giving you a luminous glow.

I love Clarins powders and foundations. I've not found a brand that does them better. Something about the brands products suits me very well indeed so given the above descriptions I was pretty keen to give these a go.

Here they are swatched (on Chloe's arm) in the order shown above. The light shade, the dark shade and the two mixed. 1, 2 and 3.

 I've tried all three on my face, and really 2 and 3 are a little too dark for me although I could probably get away with it if I'd had a bit of skin, but for now, number 1 suits me perfectly well.

In the following pictures I mostly have it on my cheeks as a blusher, to try and show you the colour, but this is not necessarily how I'd normally wear it as I'd normally wear it in addition to blusher.

A very beautiful bronzer indeed. This retails at £26 and actually, it does fall in with my expectations of a Clarins powder, butter soft, applies like a dream, doesn't look powdery, just feels gorgeous. Well worth it. I do recommend if you're looking a posh bronzer this Summer.

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

Clarins Enchanted Summer Colour Quench Lip Balm

So continuing with my series of posts about the Clarins Summer collection, Enchanted,  today I'm showing you the two new Colour Quench Lip Balms to to be added to the range.

I've heard a lot about these balms but had so far managed to resist because although I'm drawn to glosses like a moth to a flame, I rarely actually wear them! So I wasn't especially excited about these but I have to say if I'd not have been sent them or bought them I'd really have missed out. These aren't your average gloss.

The two shades for the Summer are Nude Delhi and Pink Jaipur. Please forgive the dark photographs, I've been waiting for a sun that doesn't appear to be coming any time soon so I just had to get on with it!

Nude Delhi

 Yes, Nude Delhi is a sheer pink shade on my lips. I would recommend enlarging the first of the two pictures to get a closer look at the finish of this, its full of subtle shimmer.

Pink Jaipur

 A brighter pop of pink again with plenty of shimmer that somehow stays in the back ground but is still present.

These are gorgeous! They smell absolutely beautiful (cherry (which you can also taste)), they are gorgeous to look at and given the name, they are of course not just a lip gloss these are a balm, beautifully moisturising as well as looking very pretty.

The Colour Quench Lip Balms are £15 each.

*Disclosure - PR Samples*

Clarins Enchanted Summer Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Balms

I was looking forward to this collection a huge amount.  You can see how much by looking at my previous post.

So because I've got such a huge amount to show you, unusually for me I'm going to break the collection down into smaller posts, I normally prefer to do one big post but I just have far too many photographs so I'm starting with my favourite things. The new Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Balms (£16.50)

I had these all wrong. I thought they were transparent all the way through. They are not.  Lets have a closer look.

Crystal Pink.

Crystal Violet

 Crystal Coral

 Crystal Red

 So yes, there's a core of colour inside. Which makes them a bit tricky to apply but with a little perseverance  you can do it.

The finish of these is lovely and very balm like, but like a light balm, not a heavy greasy one but certainly a moisturising one. They are lightly scented (fruity) and even slightly flavoured I think. Not that I recommend you eat one. My absolute fave is Crystal Pink but they are all lovely. I can see that and Crystal Coral being sell outs. Despite their balmy texture you still get the great finish of a lipstick.

The wear time on these isn't amazing, maybe about three hours without food and drink and regular reapplication of these is standard, for me though I'd expect that to be the case with this kind of product and I don't see that as a downside. That is far outweighed by the beautiful packaging, pigment and moisturising properties.

These are beautiful ad I highly recommend.

*Disclosure - PR Samples*

The Shavata Double-Ended Pencil

Shavata Singh boasts over 20 Brow Studios nationwide and has earned a reputation as the ultimate brow guru. Now you can buy Shavata products to keep up the good brow grooming at home. The range is fairly extensive considering it's a range just for brows, including various types of tweezers, tamers, stencils and so on.

Today I'm showing you the Double-Ended Pencil (£8.50). Now I don't know if the pro's tend to use more than one colour on brows when filling them in, but for me I only ever use one colour, and in the case of this particular pencil, one of the two shades is completely wrong for me.

The right hand, lighter more red-based shade is far too red for me so for me the double ended-ness of the pencil is wasted, I did try it out, and indoors it wasn't too bad but hello! orange brows! when I went outside. So for me, I prefer to not have a double-ended pencil.

The other shade however is perfect for my colouring and allows me to fill in my brows without obvious pencil lines. The pencil itself is soft but not too soft, it just needs a light touch and you're done, its great. It doesn't budge at all and adds a subtle and gentle bit of definition.

Since I started using this pencil I've had my HD Brows done and I'm finding the darker end of the pencil isn't giving me quite the definition I'm after any more, HD Brows are more in your face and so I'm using the HD Brows powders, but if a more natural brow is your thing this is well worth checking out as it is really perfection for that. As I say though, the two shades is a bit of a waste for me, and I only end up with half a pencil that is any good.

That said, I absolutely would shell out the £8.50 for half a pencil because the job it does is perfect.

The Shavata range can be bought from www.shavata.co.uk

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

Neon Brights from Nails Inc

You know I don't do blue polish don't you? Not unless its something very pale or very dark or I've been sent it to swatch for the blog. So you know I have fallen head over heels with a polish when it's blue and I refuse to remove it. I'll show you in a bit.

Neon brights from Nails Inc. In the past I've had some problems with Nails Inc, but it has to be said the two I've been sent here are faultless in terms of formula, wear and colour.

Starting with  Notting Hill Gate, a shocking pink neon. The picture does it no justice. It's more neon than you would believe and it's stunning.

As with most neons this dries to a semi matte finish (there is no top coat in the above picture) which I rather like, but if you like more shine then you're sorted when you put on your top coat.

But now for the best one. Kensington Park Road. Blue Neon. STUNNING. I can't stop looking at my nails.
Natural Light

 Direct Sunlight

The formula on this one is slightly thicker but it applies like a dream and is beautifully glossy. Love it!

These are £11 each and available now.

Nails Inc are promoting the Neons and Nude Manicure at the moment and I've got to say I'm keen!

Might have a go myself! But if you think you'd like this but you couldn't do it yourself you can pop along to your local Nails Inc where a mini Neon and Nude Manicure costs £22.

*Disclosure - PR Sample*