Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill in shades 3 and 5

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I've given my invitation to the doorman, but please don't tell Armani I arrived late to the party -- I fear he might be cross with me. Eyes to Kill, an eyeshadow range by Armani, has been floating around for a couple of years now, but I only just tried this formula myself in order to see what the hype was all about. Eyes to Kill formula glides on and stays put all day long. The ease in which it applies was a bonus for me; as much as I love Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre, Armani's formula gives you a bit more freedom when it comes to application and overall brush anti-discrimination. When I met with Sebastian about a month ago, he sold me on shades 3 Purpura and 5 Gold Blitz. The look electrified my hazel eyes.

shade 3

shade 3

Eyes to Kill Shade 3 reminds me of my favourite flower when I was a little girl -- purple pansies with golden centres; talk about a happy flower! My parents would give me a potted pansy plant almost every Easter, because not only are they cute, they are also easy to take care of by a five-year-old. Pansies only want for a little sun and water every now and then. Much like pansies, the facets of gold and purple work well sheered out (left swatch) or can be intensified with a dash of water (right swatch).

Shade 5

Shade 5

Shade 5 highlights the flecks and halos (iris) which encircle the pupils. Sebastian swept Gold Blitz all over my lower lid and lined my lower lash line with shade 5 as well. You really can't go wrong with a solid performing gold shadow. Burberry's Pale Barley might be a great partner in crime too -- taupe and gold with a touch of liner, yum! Shade 5 can also be worn dry (left swatch) or wet (right swatch).

In addition to the shadows seen here, I also added Armani's Waterproof Smooth Silk Eye Pencil in black.

Works like kohl, sets fast and smudges with ease should you want to soften or add smoke to your eyes.

Have you tried Armani's Eyes to Kill? If so, which colour is your favourite?

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Armani's Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadow:

  • $47.00 AUS / $32.00 USD per glass pot

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 8 out of 10 bags for both shades 3 & 5 – lasted all day without creasing.

Likelihood to purchase:

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Chanel Noel 2012 Collection

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Can't decide what to wear to your company's Christmas party come December? Grab an LBD and pair it with Chanel's Regard Signe de Chanel in Harmonie du Soir -- their newest eye quad. I've become a big fan of Chanel's quads because it gives me the opportunity to try colours I don't necessarily have my eye on. One might consider this quad wasteful due to the expense and the fact that three out of the four shades are extremely dupable -- I for one love the unexpected iced cranberry shade.

Quad

Quad

Gold, berry, sparkle and shine. Chanel's Harmonie du Soir are just those things.

In order to get the eye look above, follow these steps:

  • Start with your trusty eye primer of choice and apply all over your eyelid.
  • Then blend a couple of layers of the light pink shade from your lash line and stop at your brow bone.
  • Grab a fluffy eye brush, something similar to MAC's 217 and sweep the taupe shade on your eyelid; make sure to buff the hard edges just above the crease.
  • Go for gold and line your lower lash line with a stiff brush, I used MAC's 239. In order to open my eyes a bit more, I lined the inner corner of my upper lash line with the gold as well.
  • Arm yourself with an angled eyeshadow brush; if you don't have one, a fluffy eye brush will do. Focus in on the outer half of your eyelid and crease and apply the cranberry hue to these areas.
  • Finally, line your upper lash line (I went with NARS' Koala) and paint on a bit of black mascara.

Want to bring your pout to new heights and showcase a bit of a vampy edge? Chanel's Rouge Allure Velvet lippie in L'impatiente will elevate your look. To be quite frank, I wasn't a huge fan of the pairing you see above or the application process. If you love this colour, then do a strong lip and counter it with a super mellow eye.

And what about the application? Well, make sure you exfoliate your lips and seal in the moisture with chapstick. Only then can you easily apply L'impatiente; this particular matte formula will glom onto and saturate any dry flakes on your lips. As for obtaining the hard and clean edges, I cleaned up my handiwork with a Q-tip and makeup removing water. One final note, be wary of uneven application at first -- at the very minimum you'll need two to three coats to fill in the patchiness.

If you'd like to take this look down a notch or two, try painting your pout with a soft pink. I mixed things up with Chanel's Rouge Allure in Seduisante; the subtle glossiness ties this look together far better.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel's eye quad in Harmonie du Soir & Rouge Allure Velvet in L'impatiente:

  • $98.00 AUS / $65.00 USD & $50.00 AUS / $32.50 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 8 out of 10 bags for Harmonie du Soir – pretty and easy to use.
  • 5 out of 10 bags for L'impatiente -- tricky to apply and drying. I expected more.

Likelihood to purchase:

  • Apparence is selling like hotcakes! Act fast or you could miss out.

Essie's Tour de Finance - weekly nail review

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Close your eyes and think to yourself, Barbie pink with sophisticated shimmer. It's sort of like the moment when I spotted the Barbie section inside of FAO Schwartz when I was ten-years-old; they had these illuminated translucent columns filled with water and thousands of Barbie's pink plastic heels which slowly floated up and down with glitter and bubbles. It was probably one of the most magical experiences for a kid my age, that and crossing the gate into Disney World.

Essie's Tour de Finance is the type of colour you want to reach out and touch -- it's like a unicorn floating atop cotton candy and sprinkles. Next to Lovie Dovie and Flirty Fuchsia (review to follow), Tour de Finance is my third most favourite pink from Essie.

Natralus' Paw Paw Pure Gel

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Come December I'll be toting Natralus' Paw Paw Pure Gel in my purse and gym bag. Between the strong sun, all sorts of bugs and spiders waiting to attack their prey (with my luck, me) and my sensitive skin, I'll be needing all of the help I can get. Natralus' Paw Paw Gel is colour, alcohol and fragrance free. This South Australia-based brand also doesn't test on animals. Paw Paw (yes, the fruit), aloe vera and vitamin E work together and fight a host ailments -- bug bites, rashes, sunburns. Paw Paw Pure Gel might not be as glamorous as the next big lipstick or nail polish, but riddle me this... will either item soothe your skin? I don't think so ;) If gel isn't to your liking, Natralus has an ointment version -- a little goes a long way.

Between my being a calamity Jane at times and general delicate flower nature, I smeared a bit of the Paw Paw Pure Gel on random scratches and cuts earlier this week; things have since healed up quite nicely.

Word to the wise upon opening the tube: remove the protective foil and then give it a good squeeze into the trash in order to get it flowing. Let's just say I had an accident and wasted a bit of product in the process.

Select Natralus products can be purchased from the following online retail locations:

Small tubes (7g) on average retail for $3.50 AUS. Not too shabby.

*Natralus provided me with free full size samples in exchange for this review.  Thoughts and ramblings written here are completely my own.