Estee Lauder Spring 2012 - Topaz

Check out the upcoming spring collection from beauty giant Estee Lauder.

The inspiration behind their latest collection, again pioneered by creative Makeup Director, Tom Pecheux, is none other than the south western state of Arizona, which Tom sought to express through his latest offering.

Named Topaz, it includes wearable hues whilst exploring the depths of colour made visible in the Arizona desert - soft browns, caramel hues, turquoise complimented with a pinch of coral.

 "A vacation in Arizona has inspired me to create this collection, where I enjoyed the warm sun, the incredible colors of the desert and the shadows playing on the sand and rocks. I thought of an impressively healthy-looking woman whose personality has a strong fantasy element. I wanted to convey a range of strong, yet gentle colors all this. " - Tom Pecheux , Creative Makeup Director , Estée Lauder

The Arizona desert

The collection includes:

Pure Color Sensuous Rouge Lip Color:


Sultry Caramel
Sensuous Nude
Sublime Nectar

Pure Color Five Color EyeShadow Palette Topaz Mosaic


Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée Topaz Chameleon


Pure Color Gloss Citron Kiss


Pure Color Intense Kajal Eye Crayon:

Dramatic Black
Dramatic Teal

Sumptuous Extreme Mascara (not pictured)

Pure Color Nail Lacquer - Teal Topaz

I like the look of the nail polish, I like pretty teal shades. Also at first glance, the eyeshadow palette, reminded me of the Extravagant Gold palette in the 2010 Christmas collection. In reality I'm sure they'll be very different but the colour arrangement made me think I'd seen it somewhere before.

I predict the Illunminating Powder Gelee will sell out, it's bound too. I think it may be too cool for my skintone but we'll see. I still haven't got round to swatching and reviewing the original one which featured in the Modern Mercury collection (bad beauty blogger)!

What do you think of Topaz? Hit or miss?

Topaz will be available in February 2012.

Sales Swag: Sam Edelman Rowin Boots

Another purchase made, this time from ASOS during the sales before Christmas. I think these will get their maiden voyage tomorrow. I'm loving the nod towardsVictorian fashion, whilst still looking modern. Supported by a hidden platform heel, these feel pretty comfy ..however we all know how misleading the 'Carpet Test' can be!

I'll report back soon on these babies...

Models Own to Open The Bottleshop

Models Own have gone from strength to strength since laucnhing three years ago and now they're opening their first Bottleshop (obviously, shaped like a bottle - duh!) in Westfield London, Shepherds Bush in April 2012.

The Bottleshop will be located in prime position opposite Apple, Topshop and Zara and will be home to over 200 polishes, their full nail accessories line as well as store exclusives.

If parting with £10.50 for a nail polish is out of budget over at OPI's superstore Colourcopia in Westfield, this may well be a pocket friendly alternative.

Let the nail wars begin!



Coming Up: MAC Naturally and MAC Perfectly Finished

I know quite a few people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next MAC collection - MAC Naturally. The annual 'nude' collection from MAC won't disappoint those who favour an understated look for their daily face. MAC Naturally sees the return of MSF's Redhead and Blonde, which first featured in the Brunette, Blonde and Redhead collection, which debuted in January 2008 (my goodness, that seems so long ago!).

Lipsticks:

A Perfect Day - light neutral pink (a)

Beach Sand - light tan (c)

Sweet Sunrise - light neautral peach pink (l)

Pillow talk

Lipglasses:

The wee coquette

Fresh air - light pink

Naked space

Hot spell - bronze w/multi coloured pearl pigments

Mineralized Eyeshadows:

Daylight - peach w/ midtone blue lavender veining

In The Sun - gold w/ violet veining

Summer Haze - palest gold w/ deeper gold veining

Cloudy Afternoon - cream w/ gold, grey and pink veining

Twilight Falls - cool brown with bronze veining

Eye Pencil:

Ebony

Coffee

Zoomfast black lash

MSF:

Redhead

Blonde

Mineralized Blush:

Subtle Breeze -blue pink

Fresh Honey - warm apricot

Early Morning - peachy pink

187 brush

286-duo fibre tapered brush (perm)

Personally I'm gonna skip the MSFs as I have quite enough already, but I guarantee they'll be the first to sell out, so don't get caught slipping if you do want to treat yourself to one (or both) of them.

I'll definitely take a closer look at mineralize blushes Fresh Honey and Early Morning, I know that much! Maybe one of the eye shadows too and lipsticks too, we'll see...

Also, the popular MAC Mineralize loose foundation is getting  new packaging, and a new Mineralize Concealer is being introduced in a second collection - Perfectly Finished.. Apply this base with the MAC 188 Duo Fibre Brush and you're good to go.

Check out these swatches I found on the interweb for you to look of MAC Naturally which is already available to buy across the pond.

http://killerlipgloss.com/mac-naturally-collection-swatches/

http://www.allurabeauty.com/2011/review-swatches-mac-naturally-mineralize-eye-shadows/

http://www.vampyvarnish.com/2012/01/mac-naturally-collection-winter-2011-swatches-photos-review/

http://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/daily-photo/mac-naturally-a-few-pics-and-swatches/


I hear MAC Naturally and MAC Perfectly Finsihed will be available in the UK on 2 Feb 2012 ..don't quote me on that though, I'm not as hot on MAC release dates as I used to be!

Will you be parting with your pennies for anything in either collection?

The Nail Files: Cold as Ice - China Glaze Sea Spray + Sephora by OPI Flurry Up!

I like glittery nail polish, I think it makes nails look girly and pretty, but I  hate the tedious task of taking it off. Sitting with my nails covered in polish soaked cotton wool and tinfoil in an attempt to remove it, makes me itch. I feel as if my fingers have been cut off!!

Anyway, I thought I'd rock China Glaze and layer Sephora by OPI's Flurry Up!, over the top as my latest talon experiment. You know how much I love my flaky top coats, so naturally I also picked one up in silver (which I forgot to include in my recent nail polish haulage post) as well as bronze.

Sea Spray is a very cool pale blue with fine silver/blue shimmer immersed in it. It took three coats for me to reach opacity (to my liking). It's not a colour I'd typically wear, but  it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

Flurry Up! (love the name), is quite simply the silver equivalent of Only Gold For Me.

I was unsure about this when I first created this look, but last night when I was out it looked quite cool each time it caught the light. I haven't decided if I'll wear this to work tomorrow ..probably not, as I'm into changing my polish every couple of days at the moment. Helen from Just Nice Things, will be so proud of my enthusiasm right now...

Hmmm what should I wear next?

Sales Swag: Sam Edelman Kellan Wedges

My name's Yinka and I love shoes.

I told you I got a bit happy during the sales, I don't think you believed me. Summer is nowhere to be seen - yet, but when that yellow circle in the sky does make a reappearance, these babies will be getting their premiere outing.

I adore the leather weave detail on these wedges, the lace up fronts and the 70s vibe they give off. I'm also semi-confident I won't be running into a million girls wearing these, this spring and summer either!

I love wedges, easy to walk in, and easy to dress up or down. I stumbled upon these by accident, and what a happy accident they were. I almost bought them for much more on Revolve.com but bagged the best bargain ever and snapped these up for just £40! YES £40! They were originally on sale for £60 down from £200 or something silly like that, over on Coggles.com, but I received a call informing me they'd been damaged  but that I could have them for an additional £20 off and still return them if I didn't like them once they arrived.

That sounded like a fair deal, but luckily 'damage' was so minute that I spent a good five minutes searching for the problem and let out a dismissive "Oh! is that it?!" once I came across the teeny weave detail which had snapped at the back of one of them. You can't even notice it!

I've decided to have them dyed a little darker though so that that they reflect the shade they are in the promo image. They currently blend into my legs a bit when I tried them on. I recall my Mum used to dye her shoes on a regular basis when I was little, so I'll pick her brains when I get round to buying the dye, etc The sizing is generous on these. I don't think I've ever bought a pair of shoes which feel roomy in my life!

I'm so pleased with these, I rub my hands in glee every time I open their box!