New and Notorious

This is a very similar look to yesterday's, but with glossy textures instead of mattes -- I've been in a bit of a neutral-eye-rosy/berry-lip rut of late, and am going to post this right on the heels of the last both to illustrate said rut [er...again], and also because people have asked to see the specific products I used in action.

Because two are new and shiny:

Lunasol Sheer Glossy Eyes EX-01 Nuance Grey (limited edition)

and YSL Glossy Stain #25 Fuchsia Neo-Classic, one of the six new shades (swatched by Rouge Deluxe)

....and t'other is Notorious. Aka Chanel's Joue Zombie. Recently Miss Lizzie of Glossed in Translation has complained that pigments look unrealistically pretty on my skin...well I call LIES because this powder looks so much better on her. As on Xiao of Messy Wands.
There may be a future blogpost in this if/when I acquire actual Knowledges, but it does seem to be true that my skin is some kind of cosmetic Switzerland, dry, clear and neutral, on which the vast majority of colours and textures read true.

if you can't see the shimmer, click to enlarge

See that microshimmer in the pan? It's very fine, but my, it's plentiful. Every rave blog review has sworn it doesn't translate onto their skin; well, it shows up clearly on mine. Even if you don't share my personal bias against visible shimmer in face products, I think it's pretty widely accepted as a bad plan to have face contour that sparkles like a tinsel-miniskirted starlet desperate for attention...

The other major selling point of this Joue Contraste [uh, assuming we are bein Rational Consumers and putting aside stuff like "new thing" or "limited edition zomg" or "TAUPE"] is the colour: a warm grey. About which I have no bad things to say. A too-cool grey would really read as zombielicious on most, a too-warm taupe would easily tip into orange territory for those of us who already find shadowing shades tricky to shop for; this is an excellent balance, and in Chanel's dryish, sheerish, blendable powder, relatively beginner-friendly.

Here it is against some of my other contouring options:
Burberry Earthy (original review)
Catrice Starlight Espresso and Grey's Philosophy (original swatches), which I mix together
Illamasqua Primal (discontinued holy grail D:)

natural light, shade

Okay, obviously Earthy no longer works on me now that my tan has faded and I'm back in cold London winter light :P Texture-wise, Notorious is the only product to make my arm look were-hairy and patchy and freakishly goose-pimply. And that, my friends, is what a dry texture and visible shimmer does to my dry skin.

To make the Chanel shimmer, visible to my naked eye, register on camera, I used flash:

dark room, direct flash

and cunning angling:

natural light, indirect sun

...so I hope you can see what I mean. Because I nearly fell down the stairs getting that last shot.

Sure, it's not Nars-Multiple obvious. I don't think most people would register it as shimmer, they'd probably just think I was rocking some killer porous sideburns with that red lipstick.... But it bugs me. A lot. And I can get a similar shade by mixing 6Euros' worth of eyeshadows with a finer texture, when my beloved Illamasqua finally runs out :'( Which is possibly kind of never, because despite meaning to get all skilled and stuff, I hardly ever bother to contour, so don't improve, so rarely bother....

In case the subtext isn't coming across clearly: despite all this, I STILL WANT THE DAMN ZOMBIE BLUSH. It looks awesome as eyeshadow. Also, TAUPE.

Chanel Notorious under cheekbones and on eyes (outer v and socket), unblended

Blended....ish. I rarely contour, okay.

EYES Lunasol Sheer Glossy Eyes EX01 Nuance Grey over lid and onto lower lashline -- please note this is layered underneath Notorious on my outer v, pulling it greyer. Notorious is on its own in my socket, and looks more taupe, as it does under my cheekbone. L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash WP mascara. GOSH White eye kohl.
LIPS YSL Glossy Stain 25 Fuchsia Neo-Classic (2 coats)
CHEEKS Kjaer Weiss Cream Blush Lovely
BASICS Laura Mercier Silk Cream Soft Ivory mixed with Yuki CC Cream Purple, Burberry Concealer 01. Browlash EX Natural Brown brow pencil.

Boring look is boring :P This is about the products, remember?

More boring things:
Nuance Grey was a present from a lovely friend.
Notorious was a temporary loan from another delicious friend.
Fuchsia Neo-Classic was an actual purchase, thanks to the SA who put these out early by mistake :P