Chanel Diwali release date | Paris Bombay Makeup Collection Launch

Last December I posted up all the details about the Chanel Paris Bombay makeup collection and runway show and told you it would release this month, June 2012. (You can read that post here) 

Well, it's June already and everyone's been wondering why the collection isn't out yet! I was thinking the same thing and contacted Chanel a few days ago to ask them for exact release dates and they got back to me with all the information:

The Chanel Paris Bombay Make Up collection will be launched 27th June 2012. 

Below are the stores where it will be stocked: 

Selfridges, London 

Frasers, Glasgow 

Fenwicks, Newcastle 

Harrods Colour room 

Selfridges Exchange Manchester 

John Lewis, Oxford Street, London 

So who is super excited for this launch? I can't wait to get my hands on the new Illusion d'Ombre in Nirvana (it's basically the glitter free version of mirifique, read the post about that here) and the gold highlighter Route des Indes de Chanel looks like it would be a nice addition to my makeup kit! 

And lets not forget Chanel Diwali nail polish, it has instant sell out written all over it. The amount of hits I've gotten on my blog through searching for when Chanel Diwali will be released has been insane!! 

 

Let me know in the comments which items you can't wait to get a hold of! xx

Bourjois Felt Tip Eye Liner Feutre in Ultra Black Review | Drugstore Product of the Week | Currently Loving

I bought the Bourjois Felt Tip Eyeliner a few weeks ago when I visited the Bourjois pop up shop during London Fashion Week. They had some really good offers so I decided to pick up a few things.

I was deciding between the liquid or the felt tip liner and settled on the latter since I've never tried one before. And boy am I glad I got it! Ever since then it has found a permanent place in my makeup bag for when I'm in a rush! And I'm always in a rush...!

There are several reasons why I love this product and the best way to explain it is by comparing it to similar products.

• It's better than a pencil liner because it has a very thin, long and pointed applicator. No matter how much I sharpen a pencil liner I can never do a precise flick with it.

• It's much better then a liquid liner because because it doesn't require a super steady hand to use. If I ever used liquid liner in a car or on the train I'd probably end up with lines all across my face.

• It's better than a gel liner because I don't need a brush to apply it. 

So hopefully that puts into perspective why this is my liner of choice when I'm in a rush or applying makeup in a moving object. 

Other than the convenience the liner is also the blackest black. It can be applied in a quick sideway sweep to get a thick line and the pointed tip can be used for more controlled application. It also stays put for a good few hours. I know it says it lasts 24h on the packaging but I doubt it'll last that long. I wouldn't want to test it out for that long either tbh... 

For the waking hours of your life though, if you do accidentally rub your eyes, don't worry, it doesn't smudge. However you do get some sort of black residue on your fingers and around your eyeliner. The kind that you'd get after holding a newspaper...!

The one and only drawback about this product is that if you're planning to cry on the day you use it, please give it a miss. The second it comes in contact with H20 it starts to run. So unfortunately, this won't be such a great product for people with eyes that tend to water easily because it isn't the slightest bit waterproof. 

The non waterproof thing really isn't an issue for me because I usually use this liner when I'm in a rush (I know I've said that about a 100 times already) and have to quickly go somewhere for a few short hours, 'round about two to five hours I would say. However, if this eyeliner came in a waterproof formula it would totally earn holy grail status in my personal makeup bag. 

Another point I'd like to add is that this isn't waterline safe. I tried to line my upper waterline with this (yikes!) and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Overall this product get's a thumbs up for me for convenience and ease of use to paint on very precise black eyeliner on the go that'll stay put for a few hours!

 Intense black colour  CHECK

Pefectly painted cat eye liner CHECK

Conveniance CHECK

Quick & easy application CHECK

For everything else, there's Maybelline Gel Liner.

(I just had to put that in there, ha!) 

Tell me:

Have you tried this? 

If so, what're your thoughts?

Have you tried any other felt tip liners?

If so, any recommendations?

x

The Harrrods Edition March GlossyBox and why I'm unsubscribing again.

I received my Harrods edition March Glossybox a few hours ago in the post. I had cancelled my subscription in February but when I heard about the Harrods collab I did a little bit of sneaking around and read a few spoilers about what products were going to be in the box. When I saw a miniature Burberry lipstick I knew I had to have it so I resubscribed.

After going through several early reviews the pattern I detected was that everyone got the Burberry lipstick mini and the other 4 products were varied. However, when I ripped open my box this morning it didn't have the lipstick! My heart sank a little bit and the excitement I had about the box was zapped straight out of me.... BUT that was a few hours ago... now that I'm looking at my box again I'm not so disappointed anymore because there are quite a few good things in it.


From left to right, clockwise, here are the things I got: Clarins Extra Firming Body Cream, Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara, Valentino Valentina eau de parfum, Shu Uemura cleansing oil, SKII - Skin Signature moisturiser, Molton Brown bath and shower gel.

1. Clarins Extra Firming Body Cream:

I would have never picked an 'extra firming' body cream myself but I'll try this out anyway. Actually, I won't, come to think of it, I have an aunt who would LOVE to use something like this. I'm going to go see her in a few weeks anyway so I'll take this with me!

2. Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara:

I've heard loads about how great Lancome mascara's are so I'm quite pleased with receiving this product. It has a really interesting curved shape wand too... I'm really looking forward to trying this out... I shall test it out tomorrow! I also love miniatures of everything to carry around in my makeup bag and this sample sized version is perfect!

3. Valentino Valentina eau de parfum:

I'm not a big perfume person, most of them give me major headaches. I've only ever liked 3 perfumes: Chanel's N. 5, Estee Lauder Pleasures and the third one is something I picked up in the Jardin Majorelle gift shop at my recent trip to Marrakech. I'm dying to tell you guys about it but I've been a bit lazy with blogging lately... I promise it's coming up though!

4. Shu Uemura cleansing oil:

I love Shu Uemura cleansing oils, I've been using them for over 2 years now and I have a upcoming review in the works at the moment.

As much as I love the Shu oils, I'm not thrilled about receiving a tiny sample like this in my box. I've got a sample like this (and sometimes bigger in a proper tiny bottle) quite a few times from the Shu counter both in Selfridges and House of Fraser.

I have absolutely no problem receiving sample sized items, that's what the box is about, but to receive a sample that I can easily get for free at a counter is something I'm not too pleased about.

Nevertheless, I'll slip this in my handbag to use during makeup removal emergencies.

5. SKII - Skin Signature moisturiser:

The SKII range is exclusive to Harrods and I've heard really great things about it. It's super expensive so to get a sample of the moisturiser is actually pretty impressive. I'm super duper excited to try this out!

6. Molton Brown bath and shower gel:

This is a nice little sample too but then again, it's yet another shower gel and reminds me of hotel toiletries. However, Molton Brown makes lovely products so it's always nice to use one of their products.


All in all, I think the SKII moisturiser and the Lancome mascara make this a wonderful worthwhile box but I really wish that there would be some sort of consistency amongst the boxes especially since all the early reviews and spoilers had the Burberry lipstick. I think it's a great box but when there's a lot of hype around something and then the exact thing isn't delivered it's a bit disappointing. I think if Glossybox is going to send out boxes for review purposes maybe those people shouldn't put out spoilers beforehand. I think that builds anticipation towards receiving certain products... I think it's still a great box with absolutely fab things but if there weren't any early spoilers I might not have had the initial disappointment when I didn't see a mini Burberry.

Why I'm unsubscribing: 

I will be unsubscribing from GB again though. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, I think when it comes to beauty boxes Glossy Box gets my vote, I haven't personally tried any of the other boxes but I've read many reviews about them and based on those I'd pick glossy box each time. However this month's Jolie Box was quite fantastic as well.

Secondly, as a makeup artist and a beauty blogger I already buy A LOT of beauty and makeup related products. I also know what I want and what I like. I'm not in the experimentation part of my life when it comes to beauty products (apart from a few things here & there) so receiving new things especially when they're skin care related are really a waste on me. I have cleanser, serum, toner, moisturiser, etc that I'm already in love with. That's not to say that I don't want to try new things. I want to try new things all the time but I also know which new things I want to try. That's where beauty blogs come in, before I make any purchase I go through tonnes of blog reviews before spending my dollar. I'd rather save the £12.95 I'm spending each month on samples and buy the full sized thing instead based on the blog reviews I read.  I'd also rather spend on a service that gives me a premium sized sample of my choice. But then again, most makeup counters and skin care ones do giveaway generously sized samples when new products are launched. Just yesterday I got a very generous sized sample of the new Benefit foundation for free.

These beauty boxes feel a little bit like a gamble and well, the excitement has worn off, for me anyway. Even after the exciting collab with Harrods that made me re-sub the magic really isn't there for me anymore. Other than receiving great products it was the whole experience of waiting for a pink package every month on a Monday morning that I used to love! For some reason I just don't feel the same anymore...

The business studies student in me speaking I feel that GlossyBox might have strayed a little bit from their business strategy... or maybe they need to revise their strategy.

I feel that previously the boxes included things that GlossyBox felt we should try, things that were new, classic or cult products. There was some direction to the brand. Now I feel that the contents of the box are shaped more by what's available to put in them...

Also, I used to be excited every second Monday of the month and would wake up extra early so I could open up my Glossy Box. In the past few month's this excitement has worn off.. I did become a little excited with the Harrods Glossy Box like I used to but it still wasn't the same especially after the box wasn't consistent with the early reviews I had seen.

I also think the way they have positioned themselves in the minds of their customers might be of a slight hindrance to their entire business plan. Most reviews I've read and most people I've spoken to have a different idea about what they want from their Glossybox. Most people expect different things from the service and with so many variations it's hard to please everyone.

Also, initial expectations set around the beauty profile and boxes being catered individually to the customer have garnered a lot of negativity towards the company. I think somewhere down the line Glossy Box closed down the beauty profile without making it very clear that the boxes wouldn't be personalised anymore. If the boxes are personalised they certainly don't feel like they are.

I think if Glossy Box was to state exactly what it was delivering through it's service, and designs a strategy around exactly what experience it wants to deliver to its customer all the way:

1. from the kind of products that will be in the box (large, small, high end, drugstore)

2. how individualised the service will be (completely or partially or not at all)

3. and the consistency amongst the different boxes (will everybody get the same thing or is it more of a gamble)

it will be beneficial to both the customer and the company since it'll remove any confusion about what the company aims to achieve each month and what the customers should expect.

These are just my thoughts, and perhaps I'll email this in to my professor to get a few brownie points that I'm actually using what I've learnt my Business Strategy class in the outside world! Just kidding.

Once again, these are just my honest thoughts and I felt I should tell anyone who reads my blog about why I unsubscribed from the box because I know a lot of people who read my blog, my friends and family have signed up to the box after reading my reviews each month.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the whole matter too!!

xx