Priceline had a 40% off cosmetics sale recently and I tend to use these bigger sales to test out products I can’t justify paying full price for… usually because I don’t really need them. I was pretty good and only bought a few things.

I've been using the Anastasia Brow Wiz for about 9 months and have been really enjoying it but when it comes to brow products I have quite the wandering eye so when I finally remembered to swatch the Urban Decay brow pencil in store at Mecca earlier this year, it came home with me and I've been meaning to do this swatch n compare ever since.

A few months back I noticed that I might be developing a slight problem when it comes to purple eyeliners. It’s always the first colour liner I check out within a brand and I always seem to have at least one on my wishlist (currently its two from MAC - Permaplum and Prunela). I love pairing mauvy, plumy, smoky and taupy purples with my brown eyes and dark lashes so my purple liners get quite a workout, much more than any browns or black/greys I own. With the addition of my most recent eyeliners a few months ago (Stila Black Amethyst and Bobbi Brown Black Plum), I thought it was time to put them all together in a Swatch n Compare including how they performed over a typical day.

I love the Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks but haven’t really tried anything else from the line until now. I’ve read some great reviews about the reformulated Silk Creme Foundation which were all over the blogospere back in April of last year so figured I’d give them a go.

The new formulations come in Moisturising or Oil Free and having had oily skin for most of my life, I decided to start with the Oil Free formula. The first thing as usual is to find a colour match. Looking online I worked out that my NC20-25 skin would probably be one of the ‘Beige’s’ so I managed to get a hold of a sample of each of them and swatched them against other foundations in my collection that match my skin tone at some point throughout the year.

 

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Oil Free Photo Finish Foundation.
Each foundation was swatched heavily then blended to the right and allowed to set for a few minutes. Photo taken in natural light.

 

Clockwise from top left: Wet'n'Wild Comfort Zone definer shade, NARS Malacca, Mac Club

 

I’m definitely not current with the latest releases from cosmetic brands so it’s no surprise I completely missed the release of the NARS Summer Collection for 2014 earlier this year which featured the single eyeshadow Malacca. But I kept coming across reviews that saw it described as ‘Club-like’ in its duality with less red and more brown than Mac Club so of course I had to check it out. Thankfully it’s a permanent shade.