A Golden Makeup Look with Laura Mercier + Sunday Riley

 

 

Golden tones can sometimes be hard to make work on my pale skin tone, so I am often dubious when trying a new shade on my eyelids. When this beautiful Gilded Moonlight* pan landed on my desk from Laura Mercier, I was equal parts impressed with the embossed powder and hesitant about how it would look atop my lids. I decided to go for broke and dipped my Royal & Langnickel dense shadow brush into the pan!

Gilded Moonlight is quite a yellow based gold, and I decided to pair the shadow with my Max Factor Colour Elixir Giant Pen Stick in Hot Chocolate as the golden shimmer in the dark nude shade tied in nicely with the overall look. Gilded Moonlight is pigmented but not as buttery as something like Urban Decay, and I can see myself wearing this at Christmas time for that stereotypical festive look! Considering the size of my eyeshadow collection I surprisingly lack gold shadows, with my Urban Decay Naked palette being the only thing that springs to mind for that category, so I am very happy to have Gilded Moonlight nestled in my drawer. 

 

I used a light base as I only had a few errands to run, and my favourite light base is the Dove Tinted Moisturiser topped with a dusting of Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. It gives enough coverage to even out my skin tone and make me feel comfortable, but feels like I’m not wearing much at all which is perfect for a catch up with my local barista ;)

 

I finished off the look with a sweep of my new Sunday Riley Powder Blush in Blushing, which is a very easy shade to throw on and has made me pop a few more Sunday Riley shades onto my wish list (Honeymoon Night, come to Mama!) I think the next time I use this shadow I will anchor down the yellow tone with a slash of black liner and a chocolate brown in the crease, but I'd love to hear what YOU think I should pair this with next?

 

How often do you wear golden shades on your face?

What do you think of beautifully embossed pans like this one?

*Marked items were provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Max Factor Colour Elixir Giant Pen Stick // Photos & Swatches of 4 Shades!

Max Factor have flown under the radar for me for quite a while now, and I have to admit that most of the time their products don’t jump out at me for whatever reason. I have found great success with their eyeliners though, and have been impressed with the new products they have been rolling out this year which seems to suggest a new, fun direction for the classic brand. When I spotted these Colour Elixir Giant Pen Sticks for half price ($4.95 from $10!) while out shopping with Chris, he told me to pop a couple into the basket as we made our way around the store. I chose 4 shades that I am really happy with, and thought I would share some swatches and brief thoughts for those who might be thinking of picking one up.

Designer Blossom is the wintery shade I’ve been craving, and is a nice pop of red that I’ve been wearing quite often since I brought these home. Vibrant Pink is the brightest offering in the new range, and since I’ve been addicted to bright pinks like this I am very happy with this shade. Couture Blush is the ‘wearable pink’ from the Giant Pen Stick range, and because it is quite close to my natural lip colour I’ve been using this as a base under some of my pink glosses for an au natural lip look. Hot Chocolate is a shade that some people have questioned in blog posts I’ve read, but it is such a nice sheer nude shimmer on the lips that I took a gamble on, and luckily for me it turned out perfectly for me! It isn’t pigmented enough to be one of those dreaded brown lipsticks, and the mix of nude and golden shimmers is really flattering once it is on the lips.

These are a little bit glossy on the lips, perhaps similar to the shine of the Revlon Balm Stains but not as glossy as the Face of Australia lip crayons or the Clinique Chubby Sticks. Shade wise I quite like all of the 4 I chose, but I haven’t been tempted to go back for any of the others. Those who want a good level of pigmentation would be happy with Designer Blossom and Vibrant Pink, but as I said I am pretty happy with the other shades.

 

I find that these fade a little unevenly unlike the Clinique crayons, but it isn’t bad enough to put me off wearing them. My lips crave balm at night after I’ve worn these, so those with chronically dry lips may need to steer clear or buy one to try before indulging in a few from the range. I am pleased with these especially considering the price I picked them up for, and though I prefer the real ‘crayon’ type lip products, these lip pencil/crayon hybrids are pretty cool too.

Have you tried any of the ‘lip crayons’ that are flooding the market?

Which of these shades would you grab first?