Korres Autumn Winter 2010 Colour Collection!

'Korres, set up in 1996, is a Greek skincare brand with roots in Athens’ first ever Homeopathic Pharmacy. Based on its pharmacy experience in over 3,000 homeopathic remedies of herbal origin, Korres is focusing on primary and applied research regarding natural ingredients and formulae. The company today offers a natural and certified organic skin & hair care range, a make-up line as well as suncare products and herbal preparations.'

I’ve been lucky enough to have their colour collection products for their Autumn/Winter 2010 'look' sent to me recently and I have to say I am very impressed. My initial thought is that the collection is a very classy affair; no outrageous colours here, but make no mistake this does not mean boring. The colours are very wearable and versatile easily moving from a natural daytime look into a more dramatic evening look, just by increasing the intensity of the layers and making the eyes even smokier!

First up we have three of their eye shadows, these are priced at a very reasonable £11 each an are created with Sunflower and Evening Primrose Oil so they care for the delicate eye area whilst also creating a stunning visual!

Below is a quote from their press statement that outlines what they want to achieve with their AW10 eye selection.

“With defined eyes rapidly taking centre stage this season, KORRES pushes boundaries to reinvent winter’s inevitability - smoky eyes – based on natural metallic brown and golden tones.”

The textures of the eye shadows are beautiful; the 2 browns (28 and 36) are quite metallic, but not in a trashy way and more importantly they are long lasting.

The mid brown shade (28) actually has a slight bronze/deep gold hue to it and in my opinion is the more metallic out of the 2 browns, stunning.

The darker brown (36) actually looks like deliciously dark chocolate with the slightest hint of a metallic shimmer, perfect.

Then there’s the ‘Nude 15’ shade which to me is perfect for applying as your base colour if you’re looking for something natural as it seems more matte than the other 2 – but not cakey at all.

These shadows can both be applied as subtly or as strongly as you desire, you just layer them up to your desired intensity as the pigment in these product allows for this perfectly. Using an eye shadow brush (especially with slightly longer bristles) gives a much finer layer I have found, but if you’re looking for a stronger colour then maybe use either a sponge tipped applicator, or a brush with shorter bristles that gives a more dense, pigmented colour.

Applying them was made easy by their rich velvety texture too, and I loved that when using these there didn’t seem to be much product dropping onto the rest of my face – bonus!

The Korres ‘Provitamin B5 and Rice Bran Mascara’ (£14.00) in brown (2) promises to lengthen your lashes whilst giving volume and deep colour to your lashes and it really does, I loved the look of my lashes with this on them. I would usually wear black mascara as a lot of brown mascaras don’t have the deep rich colour that I require, but not so with this product. I now feel I can wear a brown mascara without it looking wishy washy.

Their eyeliner (‘brown 2’ £7.00) is a revelation to me, it goes on smoothly is able to be smudged into a softer, smokier finish but then stays put. In the past I have found eyeliners to either stay put, but not be soft enough to smudge or to smudge but then not stay put. It was always the case that I could have one but not the other, so this is a fantastic find for me.

The liner also has antioxidant protection in the form of macadamia nut oil and vitamin E and revitalising properties from Meadowfoam seed oil. I love this as it gives the liner dual purpose, meaning that not only does it look good; it’s also good for the eye area and whilst this doesn’t mean you should go ahead and throw out all your eye care products, it does mean that you may not feel so guilty for wearing it a lot, or even if you do the unthinkable and fall asleep in your makeup. Come on; we’ve all done it, haven’t we?

Zea Mays Powder Blush (‘Natural 15’ £16.50) is a velvety blush with corn starch powder particles, for a luminous effect and a smooth and even finish. I admit that when I opened this I didn’t think it looked anything special but after putting it on my face I found that it made my skin glow beautifully, in a really natural, healthy way. It wasn’t heavy, didn’t clog and even more importantly lasted for a whole day of shopping.

Last but by no means least we have their chosen lipstick for AW10 is ‘Nude 34’ (£15), a light beige with a slight hint of pink. It’s the kind of colour you should be wearing if you want to try out nude lips but are worried the full on nude look may not suit you. This is, in my opinion, because of that very slight hint of pink that just makes it that bit more wearable for the average person. It’s not glossy, it is very creamy though so it’s not totally matte either, this means it is longer lasting when being worn and again, more wearable in my opinion.

I adore that pretty much all their products not only have their primary function in making your face look fab, but also that they all appear to have some kind of benefit to the condition of the area it is intended for. There’s the Sunflower and evening primrose that care for the delicate eye area in the eye shadows, Provitamin B5 in the mascara that strengthens lashes and guava extract in the lipstick that offers yet more antioxidant protection. They seem to do all this without compromising the products main functions, as makeup.

One thing I can say for sure is that this selection from Korres is a total triumph in my book.

Blinc Heated Lash Curler!

I remember the days when curling your eyelashes meant holding a scissor-like clamp right on your lashes and *squeeeezing* them firmly to make sure they curled. I also remember the fear I felt that I may actually catch the eyelid with said clamp and really hurt myself; hence I didn’t really use them that much. Not to mention that the pressure used can actually damage the lashes, and that is not good news really. I am sure many other people got on perfectly well with them, but for me I was just not confident enough to use them regularly on myself.

Things have moved on a little since then and thankfully there is now a style of eyelash curler that I feel confident and comfortable using, all hail the heated lash curler. It seems like the obvious choice really, as we use heated appliances to curl and straighten the hair on our heads; so why not use heat to do our eyelashes too!

There are heated clamp style curlers available for those who are comfortable with that style, but also want the added benefit of heat to help ‘set’ the lashes but personally I feel like they’re double the danger for me.

The blinc heated lash curler in particular is a bit like a wand with a little comb head, and even though you don’t have the clamping action I feel you still get a decent curl from it. It uses a single AAA battery (included) and only takes 20-30 seconds maximum to heat up; you can see when they’re ready to use as the red indicator window at the back of the head of the wand turns to yellow.

To get a lovely curl that will last, all you have to do is ‘brush’ the comb up the lash whilst gently forcing the lashes back and then hold for a few seconds to 'set' them in place; start with the middle and then do the side lashes - it's as simple as that.

There is a safety guard that prevents the heat from being too close to the eye area, and the wand also delivers the ‘precise amount of heat that can set a long lasting curl without damaging your lashes’ so there’s no fear of singed eyelashes, thankfully.

The first curler that I was sent had a loose battery fitting (so the connection to connect the electrical circuit wasn’t able to be made, thus no worky) so that had to be replaced with another one that has worked perfectly. I am only mentioning this as it is something to consider when purchasing this product; it’s not something that I would say should stop you buying it as it is easily rectified as you can check right after purchase/delivery (depending how you buy it) and ask for it to be replaced if it is a unit with a dodgy connection.

This may not be for everybody, but personally I love it and will be using this heated wand from now on.

The blinc heated lash curler is available from Harvey Nichols and http://www.blincuk.co.uk at its official retail price of £18, or from having a quick glance on google I see you can get it cheaper at HQHair for £14.50 and BeautyBay for £15.75 so it’s worth having a shop around before you buy it.

Lovely Lashes - Clinique Lash Building Primer!

If you’re looking for full, long lashes then stop right here as I have found just the product you need, Clinique’s Lash Building Primer. The blurb on the Clinique website states that this product ‘boosts the benefits of Clinique Mascara as it conditions and protects lashes’ but what it doesn’t tell you is that it offers so much more than just nourishment and protection. It volumises and lengthens them whilst also helping to hold the curl longer and doesn’t make your lashes clump together at all – in fact they look more separated than ever before.

For me, it has given a true false lash effect (without the need to be ‘styled with inserts’) with all mascaras I have tried with it, not just Clinique’s. I also found that it seems to keep my mascara in place for a lot longer; even non-waterproof types, as demonstrated at V Festival when my mascara lasted the whole day with no smudging, running or disappearing into thin air. My lashes looked exactly as they did when I applied my makeup.

The product itself is a fairly runny white fluid that is easily applied with a wand, just like you would a normal mascara; once applied you'll also notice that the lashes immediately look longer and more separated and whilst it does go on ever so slightly white, it is a lot less opaque than it seems in the tube. I would still say that you need to apply some kind of mascara over the top of it to disguise this if you’re heading out though, as it’s not a hugely flattering look when left without.

You may be expecting this product to cost a fortune, being that it works so well and that it’s made by Clinique but I bought this at the surprisingly low price of just £10 from Boots. It might be worth noting that it’s currently being sold for £9 in Debenhams in their 10% new season sale and also John Lewis (a price reduction that seems to have come off the back of the Debenhams sale) so if you hurry you may get it even cheaper than I did.

All in all, I can’t recommend this product enough as it has completely excelled my expectations and will have a permanent (or at least very long term) place in my makeup bag.