The Happy Wanderer

As soon as I was old enough to go wandering about the shops on my own without supervision (although Mr P would probably argue that I should never be left unsupervised....)  I would immediately hit Superdrug and linger about the aisles looking at make-up, perfume, shower gel and whatever else they had until security would start hovering around me waiting for this awkward, frizzy haired, over-sized teenage girl to pilfer the latest Rimmel lipstick and start running.

That would never happen of course. I can't run for a start.

Nowadays I can safely say that nothing has changed. My wanderings will inevitably take me towards a retailer of cosmetic goods like a moth to a flame. I can't help it, it's always been the way that I relax and de-stress. It's not the purchasing that I love, it's the browsing, choosing, selecting, trying, swatching, deciding....

(Actually that's a lie, I love the purchasing too :))

So the other day, I went wandering once again and I thought that I would share my thoughts on what I found and not make it an entirely wasted trip.

First stop was the department store and the Guerlain counter. I use the word counter in the loosest possible terms, as it's basically a mounted display where you pretty much serve yourself unaided, a bit like the more budget brands would have. Anyhow, Guerlain had their summer collection out which, as in every year, is pretty much dominated by the Terracotta stuff, a whole gamut of products to bronze you up in ways which you never knew existed; sprays, compacts, lotions, creams, body balms... you name it. I, however, was drawn by the new and limited edition Ombre Fusion cream eyeshadows which were packaged a little bit like lipglosses.

Guerlain Ombre Fusion Cream Eyeshadow - Summer 2011

There were 3 gorgeous shades, one pinkish, one bronzy-ish, and one khaki-ish (don't you just love my colour descriptions?). I swatched them all, and I loved them all. The colours were so easy to wear, perhaps the khaki one being my absolute favourite. The texture was creamy and blendable and the colour seemed to stay put. All three colours are slightly shimmery and the khaki and bronze shades are shot through with a gorgeous golden shimmer which I can imagine looking fantastic with a tan but also would work pretty well in the winter too. I love cream eyeshadows like this, they are so useful to pop into your travel make-up bag, no brushes required, maximum impact, minimum effort. Methinks I feel my wallet rumbling....

Also at Guerlain I spied the new Terra Inca compact, a hefty round wooden compact with beautiful engraving on the top encasing a gorgeous shimmery powder.

Very beautiful, very very expensive, and sadly not very versatile in my humble opinion. If only it had been matte.... There is a lot of product here and a lot of shimmer and I can't imagine how anyone would ever get value for money from it other than as a collectors' item. Unless of course you are permanently bronzed and you wish to use it all over the body too. This is a gorgeous, soft textured powder which creates a beautiful amber-bronze shimmer. In small doses as a highlighter it would be wonderful, and maybe as a blush, but I would absolutely not use it liberally as a bronzer, it's just too shimmery.

Moving over to Clinique I saw the new Moisture Surge tinted moisturiser and swatched that too. It was far more matte than I thought it would be and also looked like it had a decent amount of coverage, far more than my No7 tinted moisturiser which I bought about two months ago.

 
Obviously I can't say what it looks like on the face, but the texture and blendability looked very promising. I'm loving Clinique at the moment since I was introduced to the Liquid Facial Soap and the All About Eyes cream, both of which I'm really pleased with. I think that I'll be buying this once I've run out of the No7 one, although since my discovery of BB cream I'm not sure that's really going to be anytime soon.

Next stop Dior, and I was admiring the new palettes in Rosy Nude and Rosy Tan. Both very versatile and oh-so feminine.

Rosy Nude

Rosy Tan

Rosy Nude is more suited to paler complexions, and Rosy Tan would pretty much work on anyone. Gorgeous textures, smooth and creamy and easy to blend and very pigmented. Both would be wonderful on brides and bridesmaids. For excellent swatches check out the amazing and very dedicated KarlaSugar!

Another gorgeous palette was the DiorSkin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer (long, I know... ). I think this may be my bronzer of choice this summer, seeing as I've all but given up on my Bourjois Delice de Poudre (or Delice de Useless as I've decided to call it). There are two shades of this Healthy Glow compact, Aurora for pale complexions and Sunset for medium to dark skintones. Both are just stunning, with a satin finish and a barely there hint of shimmer which is almost undetectable on the skin. I'm in love.... and the packaging!! This is absolutely worth checking out.

DiorSkin Healthy Glow in Sunset

I popped into Ici Paris (for those of you unfamiliar with my blog it's one of the main cosmetics retailers here in Belgium) and had a nosey about there too. I had a sniff of a few perfumes, most notably Un Jardin Sur Le Toit (A Garden on the Roof!) by Hermes which I loved on first sniff.....

after about half an hour however I could smell more roof than garden and the dry down was not flattering on me at all, becoming quite harsh and masculine.

Remembering that it's Father's Day soon, I decided to buy my dad some cologne seeing as he gets through the stuff like water. I chose a fresh and non-offensive one called Eau des Minimes by the little known brand Le Couvent des Minimes, a French botanical cosmetics company, a little like L'Occitane with monks added.

Anything that's got that air of 'made by monks and nuns' seems like a good bet for an original gift, don't you think? Just think of the lure of the Farmacia of Santa Maria Novella in Florence....

I asked them to gift wrap the cologne. They did. It now looks like a gift for a 5 year girl, all pink butterfly wrapping paper and pink ribbons. Oh well, my dad needs to get in touch with his feminine side I suppose.