little white truths: Now Playing #3: Update

Now Playing #3: Update

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It's high time I updated this post and let you know whether I've discovered anything new about these products, having dusted them off and moved them into circulation for a couple of weeks now.

One thing I've definitely found out is that I love the Stila base! It may well end up being my next purchase, unless I can find a better base between now and the time I run out of the products I currently have open.

theBalm Cindy-Lou Manizer

As mentioned in my initial post, I own both this product and the Mary-Lou Manizer, and I've always reached for Mary-Lou over this one because the colour is more versatile. What I've discovered over the past two weeks, however, is that I find Cindy-Lou easier to work with. I think this is because it's slightly sheerer and softer, so it's easier for me to achieve a more natural look with it.

There's the colour:

There it is again:

And there I've applied it to the inner corner and lashline:

In any event, both Mary-Lou and Cindy-Lou are beautiful products and easily compete with more expensive highlighters. Now that I know I can achieve a natural look with Cindy-Lou more quickly than I can with Mary-Lou, I'll be reaching for the former more often.

I'm so glad I decided to do this series of posts - I'm definitely discovering new and good things about products I own!

Stila Sheer Colour Tinted Moisturiser in Medium

I've tried quite a few Stila products now and so far I'm very impressed with the range - much more than I am with many brands lining the shelves at Mecca. This tinted moisturiser is no exception: it's one of those rare 'my skin but better' products that I'm always on the look-out for, and I'm looking forward to giving it another test in future because it might be the next product I buy.

It's a good, sheer, medium colour with a light yellow undertone:

Below I've dabbed it on the left, blended it a little in the middle, and blended it out on the right. It definitely offers a lovely, sheer colour.

There's my bare face:

There's me with one layer of product:

I LOVE this! As you can see it evens out my skin and combats redness, and I only applied the smallest bit so I could build it up if I wanted to and get more coverage. So far it's leading the race for the next 'foundation' product I buy. As you may know I prefer tints and CC/BB creams to foundations, and this is one of the better products I've tried for a while. Huzzah!

Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelée in Honeymoon Honey

I recently reviewed this (see here) and reminded myself that I love it so much, I've given it an HG tag. This has to be one of the best, most natural-looking tints on the market - and one that's so easy to work with and blend. Plus it's super long-lasting! I may well move it to my Project Pan list because I'd be happy to use it every day, and since it's a gel product it won't last as long as my powder blushes.

Above I've put in on my cheeks and lips. It's so amazeballs, I urge you to try it! What I've discovered over the past couple of weeks is that I can also use it underneath my powder blushes to give them a bit more oomph, which is something I'll do now that the weather is getting colder and I want to give my cheeks more warmth.

Coastal Scents Revealed Palette Sampler

I meant to review this prior to updating this post, but I've decided to hold off a little because I want to play around with some of my other shadows and compare this to those. What I can say is that this little sampler is softer and easier to work with than the Nars duo below. Having said this, I think the Nars duo lasts better without a primer: the pale shimmer colour in this little palette especially is prone to shifting.

What I've discovered over the past couple of weeks is that I would be happy to travel with this alone for a short period: even though it only contains four shades, the black colour doubles as a liner and the matte brown colour doubles as a brow filler. I would still want a separate highlighter shade however: this one is too dark, cool and sparkly and I don't think it works as an inner corner or browbone highlight (at least on me).

Swatched in natural light:

With flash:

Below I've used the pale matte brown all over my lid (travelling upwards), the deeper brown on the outer third, the paler shade on the inner third and the black as a liner to kick up the outer corners of my eyes. As usual I've gone for a more subtle look, but you could certainly build the colours if you wanted more impact.

I do like this little sampler although I would have preferred a better highlight shade: this one is a bit cool and deep for me. Otherwise it's a nice little tester.

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in Portobello

One thing I'm discovering about Nars eyeshadows (at least the matte ones) is that they're quite hard and sheer. I'm used to softer, more pigmented shadows so the texture of these was surprising and I haven't written full reviews of the few duos I own yet because I want to compare them to other shadows and also to each other.

I've done that over the last two weeks and can say that this duo is less pigmented, sheerer and harder in texture than the Coastal Scents shadows above. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (indeed, I'm still working out whether or not it's a good or bad thing), it's just something to be aware of.

Also, some Nars duos don't give you shades that have a lot of contrast, and this is one of them. As you can see from the swatches below, there isn't a hell of a lot of difference between the two shades when applied, so if you want more contrast, this mightn't be for you.

Swatched outside in natural light (the paler shade is on the left):

Photo taken indoors, with flash (the colours show up more here but you can still see how sheer they are):

There we are on my eyes (I've applied the lighter colour over the lid and travelling up, and the darker colour in the crease - as you can see, it's hard to distinguish between the two):

This product grows on me each time I use it. At first I thought not much of it (and preferred my Stila mattes by a long shot), but I've come to realise how versatile this little duo is - particularly as a base colour if you want to add eg some teal greens or oranges to add a bit more soft colour, or even pinks - since many colours go with brown.

What I'll do over time is compare it to the two Stila palettes I own (one of which contains only matte colours) as well as other shadows I have and write full reviews of my Nars shadows.

In sum

Phew, what a long post! But this 'now playing' series is definitely proving useful in terms of learning to use the products I own in new and different ways, and remembering why I bought them in the first place!

I'll check back in soon with my next round of 'now playing' products. I've already got my eye on a few that need to see the light of day again!

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Little White Truths

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little white truths

Now Playing #3: Update

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