Introducing Zoya’s Spring 2012 collection called True, I’m going to go out and just say it, I wasn’t too fond of the neutrals in this collection. They weren’t the best performers and really why have neutrals in a Spring 2012? Especially neutrals with these particular undertone. The last three shades listed below are my favourite from the collection, they are a much truer representation of Spring, and not to mention they are very unique!

As always, all swatches are two coats with no top coat.

Bevin

A dusty, medium sage green with teal tones, reminds me a lot of ORLY’s Jealous, Much? (which is actually lighter) or OPI’s Mermaid Tears which was actually the first polish I thought about without even referencing it.

Cho

Probably my least favourite from this collection because of the bubbly finish I got from it. I do admittedly tend to shake up my bottles before using them, rather than rolling but I almost never get any bubbling. Cho is a yellow toned light soft peachy beige with an ultra fine shimmer, and while the shade itself isn’t too bad, the finish wasn’t for me. Zoya’s Minka is a darker version.

Farah

A light khaki-beige with subtle sandy greenish undertones, I’d almost go so far as to say it is slightly muddy. Essie’s Sand Taupe is a very comparable polish.

Lotus

Love this shade and Tru, they are very much in the same family in terms of consistency and texture. Lotus is a very soft blue-toned amethyst purple with gold shimmer flecks that reflect pink. I found Chanel’s famous Paradoxal to have a very similar shade, minus the shimmer. And Zoya’s Meeka to also be in the same family.

Skylar

This is the stand out (and not necessarily in a good way) of the collection, a medium steel blue with a softened dusty look, infused by both gold and silver shimmers. It’s an interesting shade, but something about it doesn’t make me love it even though I’m a big fan of blues.

Tru

A saturated red-toned grape purple infused with gold shimmer that reflects gold, orange and red. OPI’s Funky Dunkey is very similar in shade, but with no shimmer.

It is true, I am a sucker for packaging. A while back Chanel did a mail out on a new very limited edition mini collection called the Las Vegas De Chanel. It seems the eye shadow and powder products are always the ones that draw my eye. They are usually the most eye catching item from most collections, and they tend to be the products I get the most use out of. Well, those and eyeliner and mascara which are pretty much staples to me.

Anyways, let’s focus our attention back to Lucky Stripes, said to be powder for both the eyes and cheeks.

If you’re skilled enough and (more importantly) can be bothered using thin enough brushes (or fingers) to pick up the individual stripes to use on your eyes, then yes, this product can definitely be used as eye shadow.

But realistically I can’t see many people doing that given the enormous array of wonderful eye shadows already in the market that would be much easier to use. So selling this as a palette of eye powders is slightly misleading in my opinion.

However , that said, I actually am using this product as a wash over my eyelid (all stripes mixed together), even though I think this is better as a cheek product. And that’s simply because I don’t feel the tone really suits my skin tone, I think it would work as an amazing highlighter for people with darker yellow based skin tones. I feel like the tone or rather the use is similar to Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee, but less shimmer and far more subtle.

As with most Chanel face powders, the pigmentation is above average and soft to the touch. And you have to admit that the design on the top (which disappears after a while) is pretty cool The swatch on the far right is with all stripes combined.

Unfortunately you cannot buy this product in Australia, available only from Chanel.com for a hefty $95US.

Blushes are such a mood dependent product for me, I only ever wear them when I’m wearing a BB cream or foundation and the shade I wear really depends how I feel on the day. I think NARS’ Gaiety is likely to be something I’d wear to work if sheered out because of it’s lovely matte finish. Gaiety is one of the products from NARS’ Spring 2012 collection.

I think the bubblegum pink shade (surprisingly) works wonderfully for people with generally lighter skin tones or people with very dark skin tones, sheered out for light skin, but because it’s so pigmented you can pile it a bit more for darker skin tones. The pigmentation on this blush is pretty amazing as you can see below, so you need to be careful and take only the smallest amount and blend blend blend. Build the colour rather than trying to get it right on the first go.

This product has a matte finish, there is absolutely no shimmer or sparkles, which once again makes this perfect for any conservative looks you may be trying to re-create. All in all I really do love this blush and can see it being a much loved item in my collection

You can purchase this blush for $49AU or $28US.

This collection from Zoya was released for Winter 2011, which for Australia is quite appropriate as we’ll be moving into Winter in a few more months. A general theme throughout this collection were taking colours and combining them with gray to turn them into more wearable colours, which I really loved! I work in a more conservative environment so I love that I can get away with shades like these.

All swatches are two coats with no top coat.

Avery

A blonde beige crème, a cool neutral shade perfect for most skin tones. Dior’s 220 is very similar only with more shimmer.

Carey

A periwinkle gray crème, Essie Cocktail Bling is just a tiny bit darker and Zoya’s Clove is a lighter version.

Kendal

A lavender beige crème, I was surprised that I wasn’t able to find any dupes in my own collection despite it not appearing to be the more unique of shades. I think this shade is much more suitable for medium to lighter skin tones, not sure how it would be for very dark skin tones.

Kennedy

A lovely pale french beige crème, being a sucker for nudes I can see this being great for the work environment. Essie’s Demure Vixen is a similar dupe with shimmer.

Kristen

A gull gray polish with a mild bluish hue, like a dusty blue. Eyeko’s Rain polish is similar (through now discounted) and Essie’s Sag Harbour has more green.

Megan

A taupe gray crème, this is a pretty unique shade and I couldn’t find anything similar.

This month Jane Iredale released their Spring 2012 set which features an array of pinks, pastels and bronzy shades. The collection includes a rose bronzer, two lip sticks, two eye glosses and a lip liner. Special thanks to Jane Iredale for providing the collection below! I wanted to take the opportunity to review and provide swatches for you.

Rose Dawn Bronzer

When mixed together this bronzer gives a pinky based bronzed look, you can see what it looks like when all four corners are mixed together (last swatch below on the right hand side). Personally however I was more keen to try and use them individually, because I feel like it contains everything you need for contouring, highlighter, blush and bronzer! It’s unfortunate each little “pan” is too small though, only works if you have a smaller brush.

Lip Plumper Just Kissed – L.A & RIO and Lip Definer – Pink

These two lipsticks are pretty subjective purely thanks to their lip plumping properties. If you’re someone who wants that little extra boost, give these a shot! When I put these on I could feel my lips start to tingle after a few minutes, which I personally am not a fan of. However I don’t feel I suffer from small lips so I’d only recommend them to individuals who are looking for fuller lips as I noticed my lips swell just a hint.

The lip pencils are smooth and creamy and glided on without too much hassle, the colour is gorgeous but easily dupable.

Eye Gloss – Pink Silk & Aqua Silk

I feel like these eye glosses are the highlight of this collection because they are so unusual and unique! Basically the name is pretty spot on, these are not cream eye shadows, they are literally eye glosses. In the swatches below they appear relatively pigmented because I piled it on. However when I actually applied this product to my eye lids they ended up needing to be completely sheered out else the finish would be blotchy. The formula is surprisingly watery too.

As you can see below, if you sheer out the product, it gives a beautiful hint of colour to your eye lids, great for on the go or if you want something very subtle. You do need to give it a bit of time to dry as they can leave your lids feeling a bit sticky. If you like you can also treat these as a primer and top them off with a powder eye shadow to avoid the stickiness.

If you’re interested, the entire collection retails for $144AU from various salons, or if you prefer you can purchase the product individually in May 2012

I’m a bit late to the party with this collection, I did a review on the actual makeup from this collection almost two months ago but only got around to swatching the polishes lately~ I’ve always been a fan of Chanel polish, but to be honest I can’t really tell if it’s because it’s “Chanel” or whether the quality is really that great. I’m a bit of a marketing pawn But if I was trying to be as objective as possible, if you can find these shades in a cheaper brand, I don’t see why you wouldn’t go for them (unless you’re a marketing pawn too!)

Anyways without further ado, swatches! As always two coats with no top coat (so you can see the natural finish)

533 April

I’m not sure how the colour is appearing on your screen, but April is a very pigmented deep red shade with some gray throughout it to give it a more mauvey-like result. I found the shade quite flattering against my skin tone, going through my collection I found Essie’s In Stitches is a lighter dupe and OPI’s Hoodoo Voodoo is almost exactly the same! So might be worth taking a look into that shade if you are keen.

535 May

Probably my favourite from this collection because I’m a sucker for nudes and subtle pinks! Universally I’d think this shade is flattering and I know it was one of the more popular shades from this collection. Ulta3′s Silver Pink is a slightly darker version with shimmer, whereas Chanel’s version is a true crème.

539 June

A beautiful light-ish tangerine crème, another favourite from the collection because despite being an orange shade, it is still very flattering. Essie’s Haute as Hello is a pinker matte version.

Seems that moisture driven lipsticks are the new thing amongst brands, which I love! Drying lipsticks was the main reason I never personally indulged in their daily wear. The lipsticks I have for you today are from Face of Australia’s Lip Quench Moisturising range and are designed to give the wearer’s lips long lasting colour whilst keeping them hydrated.

The range comes with 13 shades all up, Face of Australia were kind enough to provide me with three, Lychee Crush, Nude Satin and Malibu Barbie.

Generally I was pretty impressed, these lipsticks, they had good pigmentation, easy to apply and lasted a good few hours (without eating) before I felt the need to touch up. They are certainly creamier than most other lipsticks (NARS), but I wouldn’t classify them in the same group as the Rouge Coco Shines, SUQQU or Lunasol, which to me were truly moist lipsticks.

I’d say they reminded me more of MAC and Topshop lipsticks in the crème sheen formula. Not moisturising but creamy.

I did really love the packaging, though not photographed, one end is the name of the product, and the other contains a small see through plastic top that allows you to see what colour the lipstick is without opening it.

There is a distinct chemical smell that come with these lipsticks which is pretty standard for all “drug store” lipsticks I’ve found.

One thing to consider, given I tend to review more high end products, that these are priced at $9.45AU each! I’d say that’s a pretty amazing price, take into account that a Chanel lipstick is closer to $50AU. These lipsticks are available from most Pricelines and Kmarts.