Clé de Peau Beauté Collection Bal Masqué 2015 Makeup Look

Clé de Peau Beauté always does beautiful holiday collections. This year's Collection Bal Masqué is a take on mysterious glamour with lush velvet colors accented to burnished metals. Think burgundy, red, olive, gunmetal silver, and gold.

I can just swatch it - but it's always better if I can do an entire look to show you how everything goes together.

It's quite a full-on look - you need to be comfortable with wearing smoky eye shades with Extra Rich Lipstick in that beautiful blue-based red, No 314. Then again, you can always wear them separately or go easy on the shadows and wear them with a light hand. But this is the time of year when I think you can stop worrying so much about being "too glammed up" and just go for it.

The gorgeous Venetian inspired Eye Color Quad 314

(If this isn't in your budget, you CAN dupe most of the eye colors and the lip color. Just for reference MAC's Sumptuous Olive, Gold Mine, Silver Ring and Black Tied would give you a somewhat similar eye look - but remember that MAC shadows are heavier in formula and quite a different texture, so you should use a very light hand if you want to get a similar effect. M.A.C. Red lipstick is also very similar to 314.)

The other star product from the collection is the Body Powder. I was surprised to see the name because I'd instantly thought - cheek highlighter! But once you swatch it you realize why. There are obvious specks of micro-glitter running through the powder, so it won't work as a daily highlighter for a dewy/glowy look. This is a party powder.

From a distance it looks like strobed skin, but up close you will see all the glitter particles. That's why I consider it a special occasion powder if you want to use it on your face. And avoid the inner cheeks because it can emphasize pores. On the collarbones, shoulders and arms this would also be gorgeous of course.

 

And I have to say - that compact is just unbelievably gorgeous. I know fans who buy it simply to collect.

Too coordinate with the makeup, there is a trio if nail lacquers that come in a set. The formula is ultra-smooth and you can get away with wearing a single coat if you are in a hurry because they go on so pigmented. 

I was not expected that dark scarab-green metallic (No 2) to be my favorite but it's beautiful. 

EYE LOOK BELOW

The Body Shop Holiday 2015 Swinging Silver Palette (and Frosted Plum)

Whether you're into bath and body products or not, you have to hand it to The Body Shop for great holiday makeup.

I'm quite a fan of their eye-shadows which were reformulated about 2-3 years back. And Christmas is the season where they come up with annual limited edition eyeshadow quads that are perfect for the party season, and won't break the bank. If you're not sure how to use the shades, there are instructions and a diagram on the back of the package.

I received the Singing Silver eye palette (below) for review, and had to immediately dig in when I touched the shadows.

This is a cool-toned palette, but there is a little warmth (a peach pink) to add some soft, prettiness, and also prevents the look for being too harsh and cool. You get a warm peach pink, a soft grey, a blackened navy and an aluminium silver.

The swatches are done with fingers, but the eye look is done with brushes, so you can see the quality is pretty consistent. If I have to nit-pick, I would say the grey shade has a bit more fallout than the rest, and as is normal for most brands and formulas, the dark black-navy tends to come off more like charcoal than blue when applied sheer with a brush. But these are slight, and not major problems.

Tip: To get the deep sapphire blue tones to come out more, I would apply with a brush and blend first, then as a last step, dab on a little extra navy with a clean finger to intensify the color. But if you prefer a more neutral look, just use a brush and it will look like a smoky charcoal tone.

But really, the quality is great overall, and the peach and silver are fantastic.

The best part for me is probably the versatility. The peach shade itself can be used as a warm transition color in the socket if you have pale to medium skin. You can wear the peach and grey for a simple warm-neutral day look, just the navy and silver for a dramatic night look, or skip the peach if you want a very cool-toned Rock'n'Roll smoky eye with cool greys and blues.

The packaging is no-frills. Eco-friendly cardboard that won't weigh down your makeup bag. If you care about luxe packaging this won't be for you - but as a reasonably-priced gift for someone who just wants good quality makeup or step out of their neutral comfort zone and try different colors for the holidays, I recommend checking this palette out.

For the eye look here, I had

1. peach all over the lid
2. grey in the socket and blended up and out at the outer corners
3. navy in the outer half of lids
4. silver in inner corners and down the center of the eye

I used a metallic navy pencil from Urban Decay to accent the lash line, then used the sponge tip in the palette to run the navy shadow over the pencil. This sets the pencil and brings out more of the navy blue in the look. You can use any other navy liner you own. Or stick with black for a more neutral look. 

P.S. aside from the makeup, I do want to quickly show some products from the Frosted Plum body range as well because I really liked the scent a lot more than I would have expected. It is juicy and fruity, but also quite perfume-y and quite grown-up; you won't smell like candy or a can of juice if you know what I mean.

I wouldn't call it "fine fragrance" but if you enjoy fun girly scents from Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret etc, this would be perfect for you.

The range includes full-size body products like body butters and shower gels, but there are also fizzy bath melts and a shimmering perfumed body spray to "frost" your skin. But the cutest thing is probably the Frosted Plum Feel Good Tin. This big metallic reusable purple tin contains mini sizes of the shower gel, lotion, body butter, scrub, and lip balm.

Perfect for sampling the full range - or for making someone's eyes pop out when you gift it to them.

A Look At: Shu x Maison Kitsuné Holiday 2015 Makeup Collection

Often when makeup looks like airy, dreamy spun-sugar confections, they don't necessarily flatter the face. But Shu has done it beautifully this holiday season with the upcoming Shu x Maison Kitsuné collection.

The up-n-coming Japanese design house Maison Kitsuné is known for very eclectic but tasteful mixing of contrasting elements, but the final effect is relaxed, tasteful, and fun. This is translated into the makeup collection by Shu, where we see plums paired with silver and persimmon orange, or deep indigo and icy steely colors blended with soft petal pinks and sparkly gold.

They also pair deep smoky shades with translucent fairy sparkle, and while most people would not think to pair purple shadows with orange cheeks and lips, the overall effect is actually beautifully balanced; colorful but not too loud, and neither too cool nor too warm.

I personally love the 2 Beauty Remix Smokey Eye & Cheek palettes; one plum and one indigo. And I can't say which one I like more. Which almost never happens. (Usually I will like one more than the other.)

They are both flattering and very wearable, although I find Plum a bit more suited to daily wear, and Indigo slightly more dressy simply because the cool midnight blue and steel grey tones stand out a bit more than the warmer plum and taupe tones.

There are 4 Play & Remix Drawing Pencils to go with the collection, and I personally prefer the 2 matte ones because they just give a lot more color impact, although the silver and gold would be nice as soft accents along inner corners, or traced along the upper lash line when not wearing strong colored shadows.

 As for the lip shades, they are BEAUTIFUL. Love these. There are 3 Laque Sparklers. Just the name sounds so festive and fun already.

There are 3 shades, and all 3 are lovely. There is Persimmon Glow, an acidic orange, Plum Shimmer, a strawberry red with pink undertones, and Fleur Shine which is a soft mauve-y cool toned pink. Each one is shot through with fine microsparkles. to make your lips look even more dressy.

I wanted to show more than wrist swatches, so I did a look this morning using the Plum palette, M plum pencil, and Persimmon Glow Laque Sparkler. You CAN get a soft, wearable look with these if you go easy on the darker shades. Everything these days is quite translucent and buildable so it's easy to just pop a few soft colors on, add a medium shade in the socket, apply liner and go.

If you need more drama, just add more of the darker shades around the outer half of the lids and along the upper and lower lash lines.

As for the lips, I recommend applying 2 coats of Laque Sparklers. The applicator deposits a light layer on the first pass, and that's ok but with defeats the point of getting these beauties. 2 layers is just right because you get richer color, a deep shine, and the golden sparkles will also come through more.

Don't worry about these being sticky and gloopy. They have a gel-stain texture so they're quite light and fresh feeling.

And if nails are your thing, Shu x Maison Kitsuné has 2. They're themed to go with the eye palettes but are more in line with the Fall/Winter theme. Both shares are deep and rich metallics, to balance the sweetness on the face.

Shu x Maison Kitsuné is out at the ION Orchard boutique and will be available at all Shu free-standing counters and boutiques from 1 Nov!