It’s become my life’s mission to try and track down a dupe to Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in Dragon. It might seem crazy to some but when you find the perfect red, anything less just won’t do. In my hunt to find a replacement for my ever dwindling tube of Dragon, I came across Guerlian Rouge G lipstick in Garconne.

Now, dupe or not, this is one lipstick you will never regret adding to your collection! Even if you never apply it, the packaging itself is a work of art. What makes the packaging so cool is the way the lipstick pulls out to reveal a mirror. This is such a genius idea because if there’s one thing you need when wearing such a bold shade, it’s definitely a mirror!

The great thing is that the mirror is actually functional which you wouldn’t expect since it’s so small. You can really only see enough to reapply your lipstick in it but that’s all you need. The lipstick case is also quite heavy and just feels expensive, which is good because it is expensive! The draw back though is that these lipsticks are a major fingerprint magnet.

The formula on this lipstick (and all the Rouge G’s that I own) is so creamy and lovely to apply. They’re not moisturising but they don’t dry out your lips so you just need to make sure you exfoliate before applying them. I clearly didn’t exfoliate before applying the lipstick in the picture below!

Garconne is such a beautiful rich red shade and it really lifts your complexion when you wear it. With my supply of Dragon running low, this has become my new special occasion red. But the real question is, how does it compare to Dragon?…

I applied Guerlain Garconne on one half of my lips and Dragon on the other so you could decide for yourself. Garconne is definitely a much closer dupe than my last comparison but it’s still not an exact match. Garconne is clearly brighter and lacks the metallic shimmer that Dragon has.

I also did some swatches below to compare. Dragon is on the left and Garconne on the right. The difference is a lot more noticeable when swatched like this. I still think that it’s just not possible to get the same dimension Dragon has from a non-liquid lipstick but Garconne is gorgeous nonetheless.

As I mentioned earlier, Garconne will set you back a bit and comes in at the higher range of the lipstick market. at $49.50 US/$63 AU. I think it’s worth the splurge if you want a bit of luxury in your life.

What’s your special occasion lipstick?

I’m making my way to Canada and the USA next week so I promised myself that I would go on a spending ban but these Rimmel Apocalips glosses were just too good to pass up at $7.97 each. They’re currently on sale at Priceline but are still cheaper in the US at $4.99 each.

What are Apocalips?

Rimmel says:

‘It’s the End of Colour as you know it! The intense rich colour of a lipstick, enhanced by a satin smooth shine. It’s neither a lipstick nor a gloss… It’s BIGGER than both!’

This product seems to be Rimmel’s answer to the wave of lip lacquers that have been hitting the shelves but to me this is just a really opaque lip gloss. Luckily the tube has a really good stopper which takes a lot of product off the applicator before you apply. The applicator is self is a doe foot with a little scoop in it which traps the product.

I picked up the shades Solstice, Apocaliptic and Stellar which I’ve swatched below from left to right.

Solstice lip swatch:

This shade is not one that I would usually buy as it’s so tame but this rosey- mauve shade was just such a lovely ‘my lips but better’ shade that I couldn’t resist. It evens out my lip colour and gives a very demure look that I love. The formula also really works in this shade as it’s such a natural colour and I found it really easy to apply.

Apocaliptic lip swatch:

This is a shade that I had to get because I can never resist a bright pink! It’s such a lovely pink  as well that treads the line between red and pink. The formula of this makes this shade tricky to apply though and I struggled to get this on neatly with the included applicator.

Stellar Lip swatch:

This is such a lovely bright coral shade and perfect for spring/summer. I had the same application issues with this shade though due to how opaque the colour is.

There are two major issues that I have with this product- it doesn’t dry down at all and the smell is horrible! Even though this is marketed as a lip lacquer, it doesn’t function like any of the lip lacquers I love (YSL Glossy Stain, Loreal Caresse Lip Stain Gloss) as it has no staining power and it doesn’t have any lasting power. As you can see below, the colour has totally worn off after I drank some water.

You can try and fix this problem by applying a lip liner underneath like I always do when using a coloured lipgloss. The smell, on the other hand, can’t really be fixed so beware if you’re sensitive to scents in lip products! The smell is some type of fruity scent but it’s not pleasant and I’ve had lots of people smell it and they seem to agree. The scent does go away after a while though so it’s bearable if you love the shade enough.

Overall I thought the product was ok but it didn’t rock my world. I did love the Solstice shade and assume that this formula will work well with any of the other more natural shades. With the very intense shades though, get out some lip liner and be prepared to touch up regularly unless you want to avoid eating and drinking through out the day!

Have you tried the Rimmel Apocalips range? What do you think?

I started the year with a resolution that I was going to stop buying so much makeup and start shopping my stash. Unfortunately that resolution lasted about a week until I got properly introduced to Burberry makeup and there’s just no going back. I haven’t been this into a brand in… well ever! I really love how the whole range focuses on naturally enhanced beauty with very chic colour choices. It also doesn’t hurt that the Burberry girl at the Melbourne city store was so lovely and helpful (thanks Ashley!). So far I haven’t tried any part of the Burberry range that I haven’t loved but my absolute favourite item so far has to be the Sheer Luminous Fluid Foundation.

First of all, just take a look at that bottle! Everything in the Burberry range exudes elegance and is just made to be displayed on your dressing table.

The bottle comes with a pump that releases the perfect amount of product.

It comes with a twist lock mechanism which comes in really handy (and saves your carpet) for all those times you don’t put the lid back on and the bottle falls on the floor…

My only issue with the packaging is how much of a fingerprint magnet it is! The beautiful metal with the Burberry check starts to look dirty after just one use but it’s nothing that a little wipe down doesn’t fix.

There are 13 shades available and , while I can’t speak to the lighter shades, I think Burberry did a pretty commendable job with their shades choices in the darker shades. The shades on the darker end of the spectrum have a good amount of yellow in them and I think there are an impressive amount of shades available (although the jump from shade 12 to 13 seems to be quite big). Check out Karlasugar’s post for swatches of all shades. Here’s a comparison with some other foundations in my collection. Click to see it bigger.

I picked this up in the shade Trench 10 and I have to say that this is a pretty perfect colour match for my skin tone. This doesn’t pull ashy on me and, if anything,  is slightly more warm toned than my complexion. The texture is really beautiful and a little goes a long way. The coverage is medium build-able and the finish is a natural skin finish that leans slightly dewy. I have normal/combination skin and I get oily across my cheeks and t-zone by the afternoon when I wear this all day but if I touch up half way through the day with a little powder, this lasts really well.

What I love about this foundation (apart from pretty much everything) is how weightless this feels on the skin. I honestly don’t feel like I’m wearing foundation and I feel like it gives a very natural but quite perfected look to the skin. I also love how this photographs and haven’t found any issues with flash back. I’ve worn this without any setting powder and found that, while it did wear away throughout the day, the texture and shade match meant that my skin didn’t look patchy. I prefer to set it with a dusting of MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural (although the Burberry Powder foundation may or may not be making it’s way to me right now… I know I have a problem!) or some translucent powder.

This final photo is how the foundation looks when I’ve done my whole face. This has definitely become my go to foundation during the day. The only thing not to love so much is the price. This product sells for a little over $70AUD for 30ml but I think it’s worth it for the quality of the product. If you’re looking for a new foundation and don’t mind splurging, I highly recommend this one.

Have you tried this foundation? What are your thoughts?

Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey is one of those cult classics that I’d been lusting after for a very long time. It seemed to be one of those products that was always just within my grasp but I could never fully commit to buying when the opportunity came up. That all ended a few months ago when fate intervened and my friend managed to track it down while travelling overseas. I’m very grateful to her (and to all my lovely friends who know that nice makeup is the way to my heart) and I’m surprised it took me so long to do a post.

If you haven’t seen any of Clinique’s Almost Lipsticks before, they’re basically sheer lipsticks that have a gel/balm texture that offer a wash of colour. They’re meant to allow your natural lip colour to show through so, theoretically, each shade should look different depending on the wearer. There are many different shades but Black Honey has been made famous due to its universally flattering nature.

When you look at Black Honey in the tube, it looks like it’s going to be this intense black shade but when swatched you can see just how sheer it is. The colour is described by Clinque as a blackened raisin and when worn, it creates a beautiful ‘my lips but better’ shade.

The product feels great on the lips and, while I don’t consider it moisturising, it does have a lovely balm like texture. The intensity of the product is enough that you can notice a difference on my somewhat pigmented lips but not enough that it covers up all the imperfections I have. Due to the texture and the sheer nature of the product, I find that it doesn’t go on as evenly as I’d like so I would recommend exfoliating prior to putting this on.

Bare lips:

Clinique Black Honey:

This shade was one of my staples during fall/winter because it’s vampy without being too dark. It’s what I like to think of as a modern dark lip and works perfectly with gold eyeshadow on the lids. If you want a more pigmented look then you can easily layer this over a darker lipliner or lipstick but you would detract from this product. This is meant to be an easy to wear shade so my tip is not to over complicate it. If you want some of my tips on wearing dark lip colour’s, check out this old post.

What do you think of Black Honey? Does it have a place in your beauty arsenal?