The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes and Matte Kajals

The Body Shop has launched some products that I was quite excited to try.

First off, there are the Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes (SGD$34.90).
Many of us are fans of the original Honey Bronze Bronzers, myself included, so I was quite interested when I heard about the new "domes".

These are easy-to-use cream products that you can swipe on and blend out in a minute. No brushes needed. The product itself is castor oil based, but it strangely feels like one of those new NARS multiples that I can't quite call "cream to powder" because they aren't powdery/matte, but rather, set to a non-greasy lightweight silicone-y finish on the skin.

There are 3 shades available; 01 is a soft champagne, 02 a coral pink with a gold sheen, and 03 a soft tawny bronze.

My fave is a tie between 01 and 02. I love dewy sheen on the cheekbones, so I always like fine-grained champagne shades that don't look overly sparkly and glittery. And 02 can pass for a NARS Orgasm Multiple, but in a drier formula, and with less of that yellow-gold sheen, so it's actually a bit easier to wear and more flattering if you don't want to emphasize large pores. These are translucent and buildable enough that they would look good on most skins, but I think the blush would look a bit more like a warm highlight on darker skins.

It's quite sheer and doesn't really build up to high intensity, so a soft tint is what you're going to get.

The second product launched are the Matte Kajals ($22.90), which are a reformulation of the original kajals, and designed to give creamier, more intense payoff using black rose extract and fair trade marula oil. And they do go on opaque and smooth. Like any kajal, these are meant to be smudgy and smooth for applying on the waterline and as bases for smoky looks, and aren't designed to be bullet-proof liners, so make sure you keep that in mind.

And like all kajals, they are safe for the waterline and for contact lens wearers or those with sensitive eyes.

My only gripe regarding these kajals is there is only 0.8g of product per tube. What you see exposed at the top of the package is exactly the amount of product you get. There is nothing hidden inside that you can twist up.

It's not a whole lot considering kajals are soft and tend to get used up quite easily, so if you are on a tight budget, these might not be the best option compared to other lipstick-style kajals available, although these do go on smoother than many other drugstore options I've tried.

And packaging-wise, for both the kajals AND the domes, you have to be rather careful when uncapping and recapping them, because you can easily smoosh the product (or decapitate your kajals) with the cap if you're not careful. They can't be retracted.

Aside from these points though, these new products are well worth checking out. I especially recommend the Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes if you like non-greasy cream cheek products.

My Hoard of Golden Beauty Treasures!

Selection of gold things that are perfect for the holiday season

Excuse the loads of "product porn"! But don't they make SUCH a luscious visual?

Here are some of the golden things I love. Sadly, a couple of them are limited edition and no longer available (although we can cross our fingers they'll be re-released).

Dior J'adore Essence de Parfum

Dior J'adore Essence de Parfum

At the risk of sounding cheesy, this is liquid gold in a bottle. We keep complaining about Dior reformulating its classic scents with cheaper synthetics, but this particular version went the other way. Made from expensive natural Rose and Jasmine absolutes harvested from fields reserved just for Dior, and blended with real Tuberose and a touch of Tahitian Vanilla to lend a bit of oomph (don't worry, it doesn't smell like dessert), this is a more linear/simple but drop-dead gorgeous flanker of the original J'adore.

The slimmer, smaller, hand-crafted signature bottle with the long neck is just a pleasure to look at as well.

Lierac Huile Sensorielle aux 3 Fleurs

Lierac Huile Sensorielle

If you're traveling to or living in some place dry, you probably appreciate the wonders of rubbing a silky oil into your skin and hair.

Lierac's Huile Sensorielle is less well-known as Nuxe's equivalent, but I love it for the delicate blend of fragrant white flowers (camellia, jasmine and gardenia) with argan, sweet almond, grape seed, and hazelnut oils. It's light but nourishing, and just lovely and subtle to smell on your skin and hair.

Just be careful to store it away from light and heat, as it is all-natural and can go rancid.

Guerlain Ombre Eclat

Guerlain Ombre Eclat

Well, this is the only item that is here just because of the packaging. That's not to say Guerlain eyeshadows aren't some of the most impressive on the market. But if you're looking to treat someone - or yourself - this holiday season, a richly-pigmented shadow in a beautiful gold compact, sheathed in its own suede sleeve, is one of those little luxuries that feels special to own precisely because you wouldn't buy it under normal circumstances.

Guerlain Sun In The City (Limited)

Guerlain Sun In The City highlighter/bronzer

This ridiculously beautiful powder is only there because it's so ridiculously beautiful; both to see and to use. It's one of the best golden highlighters for medium to dark skins, and it's just a shame it's not part of the permanent collection. The compact is also HUGE so you can sweep it down your neck, across shoulders, down the arms and legs for a golden-bronze sheen.

Sephora mono shadow in Girls Night Out, and Guerlain Terracotta Sun In The City

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre Vision (Limited)

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Vision

One of my favorite cream shadows in the world - bar none - Vision is just made up of gold flecks, so you look like you're wearing a wash of gold dust on the lids. There's no other color in the base. Just Tinkerbell dust that won't fall off onto your cheeks.

The bad news is it's limited edition and no longer available, but here's a cheap alternative!

Sephora's Precious Gold Luminizer costs a humble US$10 but it's SO fun. It's similar to Vision, but the proportion of darker gold flecks is higher than in the Chanel. Honestly though, on the lid, most people won't be able to tell the difference. 

Swatches of Chanel Vision and Sephora's Precious Gold Luminizere

I like to dab this onto the inner corners of my eyes, or the center of my lid on top of a neutral/matte eyeshadow look. It can be worn as a wash across the lids, but doesn't go on as evenly as the Chanel, since it's a gel, so it doesn't build up very easily. Still, for the price, who's complaining?!

Lime Crime Uniliner in Rhyme

Lime Crime Uniliner in Rhyme

Rhyme isn't a typical metallic liquid liner. It's made up of ultra fine gold flecks, so if you sheer it out, it almost looks like a sparkly gold shadow. It's fantastic as a holiday liner, and I've also used it many times dabbed on the center of the lids over other shadows.

Lime Crime Uniliner in Rhyme applied as liner, and spread as shadow

Other products:

• Revlon Nail Enamel in Gold Coin - this is a sparkly cool gold that's not glitter and not quite chrome either.
• Gold nail wraps from lightinthebox.com (these are available from so many places; I just inluded them because nothing looks quite like gold nail wraps)

Aqua and Cobalt: Marine-themed Liquid Liner Look

Liquid liner is always a quick way to make a statement/. This is a duo-tone liner look using two shades I love; a pearly aqua (Maybelline Hyper Glossy Liquid Liner in Turquoise Blue) and a rich cobalt blue (Lime Crime Uniliner in Lazuli)

I also used 2 pencils; a black (Shahnaz Husain black kajal) and a matte beige (Nars Rue Bonaparte), and 2 matte shadows (a beige called Nude and a navy called Navy Baby from Coastalscents.com).

IMPORTANT: If you're not sure about liquid liner but would like to get a similar/softer look, just use pencils or gel liner.

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Step 1: First apply 2 matte shadows in the above way, with the navy in the socket first, sweeping from outside in so the color softens inwards, then blended out so there are no hard lines. The beige is just there to "tidy up" the navy, and to neutralize any darkness or discolorations on the lid.

Olivia Palermo Eye makeup: Tips for women with thick lids and/or deep sockets

Olivia has got to be one of the most beautiful women in the world, in my opinion. She reminds me of Penelope Cruz, Heather Graham and Shania Twain all rolled into one.

I was VERY hesitant to do this post despite a lot of requests to do an Olivia Palermo look, because the truth is her eye makeup is quite straightforward and simple (which I can recreate and give tips for), but the end result is really largely due to her natural eye shape (which I can't recreate). 

• Very deep and defined sockets
• Huge, rounded eyes, slightly down-turned at the outer corners
• Very thick double-lids
• Medium lid space (probably the only thing I have in common with her, in that her brows are not very far or very low and close to her eyes)

Even with the same makeup I will never look anything like her, but if you have a similar eye structure (a lot of Indian and Mediterranean women do), then this is a fantastic look for you.

Jelly Ombre Lip and Big Doll Lashes (feat. Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited)

Huge lashes, lavender cheeks, and a berry-stained "jelly" lip!

Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited in WN 20 S (top), PK 70 C (bottom)

Apparently, two-toned lips are in this season. (Apparently, I've been doing them for 2 years while they were completely out of fashion; boohoo...) I don't usually use glosses to do ombre lips, because there usually isn't enough of a visual contrast. But when I saw a very dark shimmery wine shade in the Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited range, I immediately thought "stained jelly lips!"


The Lips

In the grand tradition of the great Uemura-san himself, I swopped things around and did my lips before my eyes. Uemura believed a lip color could be applied first and thereafter be the deciding factor for the eye and cheek makeup you choose.)

Step 1: I applied a soft beige pink, PK 70 C (translates to "Pink 70 Cream" for you and me) over the lips. (Try MAC's Please Me Lipglass if you can't find this in your country.)

Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited in PK 70 C

Step 2: Next, I applied a deep berry gloss (you need to use something quite pigmented or it won't have this level of contrast) WN 20 S (translates to "Wine 20 Shimmer"). (Try MAC's Desire or Rebel Lipglass if you can't find this.) 

Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited in WN 20 S

*The US range seems to be slightly different from Asia (is anyone seeing a recurring pattern here???) so I listed alternatives with a similar color if not the same texture.

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The Eyes

The modus operandi is "doll-like". Rounded, widened, with huge lashes. You can apply lower lashes if you want, but this isn't meant to be a super-dramatic look, so I skipped that.

 Step 1: To create a rounded eye shape, I used the 88 Warm Palette and mixed up a few of the medium browns just to create a warm matte tone that's about 2-3 shades darker than my skin color. This I applied to the entire lid in a rounded shape, blending upwards almost to the brow near the center.

Then on the inner corners, I applied a little pale beige.

Step 2: Line your lower eye rim with a pale yellow liner like NYX Yellow. Next, use a dark grey or charcoal pencil to create definition and emphasize a rounded shape. You want to line it such that it's thick at the center of the eye, and then tapered to a thin point at both ends.

On the lower lash line, run the charcoal pencil along the outer half of the eyes, making it thicker at the outside.

Step 3: Here's one trick to easier eyelash application. Apply the glue directly along your lash line. This can be done if you're using one of the brush-applicator lash glues, or with a liner brush if you're using regular tube glue.

Step 4: Apply long, dramatic clustered lashes (I used Red Cherry #16s) and push them up at the center of the eye for doll eye.

The Cheeks

I wanted a "glowy" sort of effect to go with the eyes and lips, so I used a lavender blush (MAC Full of Joy just on the upper areas of the apples and up long the cheekbones.

Why don't you pick a lip and then decide your makeup today? ;)