Summer shades from Armani Beauty

I paid a long-awaited visit to the beauty department in Brown Thomas today; it was the first time I'd been in since before the baby was born. I mainly wanted to see the new Armani Tokyo Corals collection, as well as the Blushing Fabric, but sadly none of the products were in stock, due to the delivery going to Cork instead of Dublin.

I did get to play with the testers, however, and came away with a generous sample of the Blushing Fabric in shade 3 - a lovely peachy pink (don't pay any attention to the shade descriptions on the Armani website - as usual they are way off). This blends beautifully to leave a wash of colour and the tiniest dab is all you need, so even though the tube looks small for the €35 pricetag, it will last forever.

It looked like only some of the Tokyo Corals testers were out, but I did like the look of Shine lipstick in shade 54, a nice bright summery pink. The lollipop pink and coral nail polishes were absolutely gorgeous and perfect for glossy summer manicures and pedicures.

Let's hope that delivery finds its way back to Dublin some time soon!

Today I am wearing...

The baby fell asleep while I was getting dressed this morning, so while she takes a nap and I wait for her to wake up so I can feed her and we can go out and do some shopping, I thought I'd do a quick post on my makeup today.

When I was working I tended to wear the same makeup every day, so being on maternity leave is a nice chance to look through my collection and pick out new things to wear every morning, often finding things I'd completely forgotten I own. Today, for example, I came across the Becca Eye Tints, which I own in three shades and which I'd completely forgotten about.

The picture above may not be great for accurately depicting the shades, but here's what I'm wearing:

Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch: A fantastic under-eye concealer, this blends beautifully, covers dark circles, brightens the eye area and lasts all day. I wear shade 2 and I'm fairly pale.

Giorgio Armani Micro-fil Loose Powder: Perfect for taking down the shine of sunscreen when I don't want to wear foundation. This is really light and looks very natural on - I use shade 1 in this.

Giorgio Armani Sheer Blush in shade 10: The picture doesn't do it justice but this is a pretty rose bronze with shimmer. It's easy to overdo it with this, so I use a light hand when applying. Lovely summer shade and nice if you're not a fan of bronzer but like to look just a little bit sun-kissed.

Becca Eye Tint in Baroque: At least I think it's Baroque - for some reason they don't put the shade name on the tube - if it's not Baroque then it's Paracus. This is a cream shadow in a lovely neutral brown with fine shimmer; doesn't give a lot of colour, but evens out the eyelid and is perfect for a very natural look. Very easy and quick to apply and also works well as an eye shadow base.

Becca The Ultimate Mascara in Black: This is one of those tubing mascaras and gives my lashes lovely length and definition. Unfortunately this tube has been on the go for a while and is drying out a bit so it's time to replace it.

Shiseido Perfect Rouge lipstick in BE208: This neutral beige shade has just the right amount of pink in it so that I don't end up looking like a corpse and finishes off a natural look nicely.

Armani Manta Ray - Liquid Silk Eyeliner

I promised this a while back so apologies for the delay. I planned to take more decorative pictures but never got around to it, so here they are, carelessly swatched on the back of my hand in an unnaturally large close-up.



Available in two shades, these liners come in the same packaging as the High Precision Retouch Concealer and are the type where you dip the brush into the liquid. I usually find this type really messy to use, but because the liner is thicker than usual and really pigmented, I don't have too much of a problem with these once I got some practice and realised I could wipe off a lot of the excess product inside the neck of the bottle.



These colours are GORGEOUS. #1 is a metallic deep blue and goes exactly as it looks in the picture - it doesn't end up looking close to black. #2 is a medium grey with no shimmer, but a really glossy, almost plastic finish. This is a really modern shade and unlike any other liners I own, but dark enough to give proper contrast as a liner.

These are available now from Armani counters priced at €25.50 and of all the new products Armani has put out lately, definitely my favourite.

New from Armani - Lip Wax

The product-naming department were obviously on holidays the day they decided to launch Armani's latest offering, but despite its shortcomings in that area, Lip Wax looks like a very interesting new must-have for my collection.

Available in 6 shades, from a nude beige to a deep wine (perfect for this season's deep berry lip), Lip Wax is a lip stain in a compact. Apply with your fingertips for a sheer wash of colour, or layer on with a lip brush for a more precise application and deeper colour. And if you like to coordinate your lip and cheek, try blending this lightly onto the apples of your cheeks for a sheer flush of colour.

Priced at $26 on the US website, I am guessing this will be around the €24 mark here. Definitely one to look out for at the Armani counter...

Giorgio Armani Spring 2008

Armani's Spring collection is out and although I haven't seen it up close and personal yet, the ad campaign featuring model Sasha Pivarova makes it look seriously pretty. Featuring a naturally luminous base, with iridiscent highlights and just a hint of colour, this look is all about perfecting the flawless base and then gently highlighting the features. The new Luminous Silk Powder will be a welcome companion for the already popular Luminous Silk Foundation, and the limited edition Radiant Pigments Fluid Sheer adds a hint of colour and illumination to the cheeks. I'm already a fan of the Fluid Sheer highlighters, so I look forward to trying this new formula out.

As alway, theAdvisor feature on the website describes in detail how to achieve the look.

In Ireland, this collection should be available from Brown Thomas towards the end of the month, if not earlier.

Giorgio Armani Maestro Eye Shadow

I have to hand it to Giorgio Armani - he knows exactly how to suck me in with his lethal combination of fashion and beauty. Maestro Eye Shadow has just been added to the Armani cosmetics line - a collection of 18 shades in 3 different finishes, all inspired by the silk that Giorgio Armani works with in his fashion design. Containing matte, satin and sparkling shadows, the colours in the Maestro range from nude pink and beige to purple, brown, navy and black.

I have already tried out 10 - sparkling lilac and 12 - satin purple and I love the fine texture, smooth application and polished finish these shadows give. As with the existing Armani eye shadows, the Maestro shadows are still somewhat sheer in finish, but that happens to be the look I like, so I will definitely be picking up more colours from this line. I believe these are priced at around €22.50 in Ireland and are available from Armani counters in Brown Thomas and hopefully at Dublin airport too!