Review: Chanel Rouge Coco in 21 Rivoli

Say what you want about Chanel - in the past I have been left very unimpressed by certain things that have been said and done in connection to this brand - but there's just something about those two interlocked C's that screams luxury and elegance any way you look at it.

While I'm a massive fan of Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua foundation, I've not yet taken the plunge to purchase anything else from their make-up collection (maybe due to the fairly luxurious price tag) - up until now. As a bit of a treat to myself, I trekked to the Chanel counter in Selfridges and asked the MUA for a lipstick that would make a change from the dusky pinks and rosy nudes I always go for.

I ended up with a Rouge Coco lipstick in shade 21, Rivoli. As far as packaging goes, Chanel are pretty hard to beat. As a brand they seem to know exactly where they want to be positioned and every minute detail will reflect that. The case is sleek, elegant and classy. No frills, no girly swirls, no futuristic novelty, no avant-garde. Just classic, timeless design that speaks for itself.

You certainly don't have to be embarrassed pulling one of these out in public to touch up your make-up. As far as functionality goes, the case is solid and secure, so no need to worry about the lid sliding off in your handbag or the twisty element breaking. This one's going to last.

Now, onto the shade. Rivoli is a deep wine red, shot through with flattering blue undertones that perk up the complexion and make teeth appear whiter. I've always shied away from bright lipsticks a little bit, as they can sometimes wash out my pale complexion, but there's something about this shade that makes me believe that it would look good on pretty much any skin tone.

Chanel Rouge Coco in 21 Rivoli hand swatch

On the lips it gives a velvety, semi-matte finish that lasts about 4 hours and will survive small bouts of eating, drinking or smoking. It does not seem to stain the lips very much, so after a while reapplication is definitely needed. I'll be completely honest and say that it's not the softest and most comfortable lipstick formula I've ever worn - it doesn't dry lips out but at the same time it doesn't provide any form of moisturisation either.

Chanel Rouge Coco in 21 Rivoli in natural light

Chanel Rouge Coco in 21 Rivoli with flash

However, the colour distributes evenly and smoothly without streaking or settling into lip lines, which is often a problem with more pigmented lip shades.

So, what's the final verdict? There is nothing about this lipstick that you wouldn't technically be able to get for a much lower price. The high street is full of budget and mid-market brands that would easily provide a dupe for this colour. Wearability, longevity and pigmentation were all excellent, but again nothing that other brands haven't done, either. What you pay for, is the luxury aspect of this lipstick and I, for one, made a conscious decision to do just that, which is why I love it to pieces.
But unlike my deeply beloved Chanel foundation, I wouldn't say that this lipstick is a must-have I couldn't live without.

Sunday Catch-Up #12

One of the things I love about London: Sushi delivery services! // Quiet Saturday night with Grazia and a bar of Dairy Milk // New jewellery from Camden Market // Drinking pina coladas out of pineapples - on a Thursday morning // Tried out my new Headline Colors polish // My blog hit 100k visits! // Beauteco box arrived and got me very excited // Found a toy horse, took him home // Japanese Zen garden at Kew Botanical gardens

Shhhh, so I may be doing a Sunday catch-up on a Monday - I'm a rebel like that.
Has it been 2 months since I last did a catch-up post anyway?? I've moved and settled into the new flat share and am thoroughly enjoying the freedom of not living with either mine or my boyfriend's relatives.
We went to Kew for their summer IncrEdibles display, which was alright as we'd not yet seen the rest of the gardens, but I'm not sure I'd go there just for the exhibition alone.
I then spent Thursday in Camden browsing the stalls and eating lots of delicious market food (-and, erm, getting slightly drunk on pina coladas). I then proceeded not knowing what to do with myself on Saturday night, so opted for a magazine and chocolate combo - never a bad idea!

Bourjois Cream Blush Review - Shade 03, Rose Tender

There's been a bit of a hype around this launch, so I feel like I'm a little late with my actual review of the Bourjois Cream Blush - apologies if you're fed up of them popping up all over your dashboard, haha!

One of my very first blushes was actually from Bourjois, which at the time was a brand that was difficult to get hold of for me. Unfortunately I no longer own it and I don't even remember what happened to it in the end. Anyway, I now have a new one to play with, so I'm not too sad about it.

The packaging of these is very similar to the "little round pot" packaging that is so inherent to Bourjois as a brand. However, the cream blushes are a little wider, thinner, lighter and just overall sleeker. They also house a magnifying mirror in the lid, which is a bit small to do your make-up in, but will do the job in a pinch.
Out of the four shades that have launched I got 03, Rose Tender to review.

Bourjois Cream Blush 03 Rose Tender Swatch

Rose Tender is a dark, dusky pink shot through with little flecks of shimmer in the pan. It applies a little sheerer and therefore lighter than it looks in the packaging, though I have no doubt that you could easily build it up to its true pan colour if you ever wished to do that.
Personally, I prefer to have a lighter flush on the cheeks and that's easily done applying it just with my fingers. The pigmentation is pretty much spot on in my opinion and while it's not ultra-bright and pigmented, that means that it's much easier to apply even for someone who might be a tad heavy-handed.

The blush applies as a cream and then dries down to a powder finish, just as advertised. Thankfully, the bits of shimmer translate into a healthy, flushed glow, rather than into glitter face.
There's just one negative with this blush and that is its staying power. It lasts about 4 hours on my face and then simply melts off and as it's a cream product it's not very convenient to reapply it on the go.

Is it worth the hype then? Yeeee...almost. It ticks pretty much every box apart from longevity, which I feel could be vastly improved. At £7.99 per pot though, I feel like it's a very welcome addition to the high street cream blusher department.

June Wish List

White Diamond Print Jacket, Romwe, £40.28 // Ivory Tassel Bracelet, Urban Outfitters, £8 // Fluro Lace Plastic Mac, Topshop, £45 // Cutout Geo Necklace, Forever21, £3.15 // Jordan Wolf Crewneck, Drop Dead Clothing, £50 // Eagle Necklace, Asos, £15 // Photo Dove Tee, Topshop, £16

Admittedly, this month's wish list is a tad top heavy, but I've come to realise that I'm simply not a summery flutter dress kind of gal - and the recent weather has had me craving something warm and snuggly to throw over.

The star of this month's list has got to be that Topshop coat. Neon, lace and pvc all in one? It shouldn't work, but it so does and I would undoubtedly get a lot of use out of it in these grey and rainy conditions.

When I first heard that Olli Sykes, lead singer of Bring Me The Horizon, had his own clothing brand I was a tad skeptical - but after having a bit of a rummage through Drop Dead Clothing's site I found myself liking most of the items on there, particularly the wolf jumper.

I'm also a major fan of the diamond baseball jacket by Romwe - this type of diamond is exactly the style I want as part of my tattoo sleeve!

Beauteco Box June 13 - A new kid on the beauty box block

After last month's incredibly disappointing Birchbox I thought that was it - I was done with beauty boxes and the slew of same old samples, mixed with the bitter disappointment that personal beauty profiles seemed not to be taken into account at all. I was done wasting my money.
Then Beauteco popped up on the market, with a whole new concept. Rather than make you fill out lengthy profiles, only to ignore your input completely when the boxes were packed, they let you choose one of three variations for yourself, before it gets delivered.

At first, I was unsure. Getting to pick a box completely destroys the element of surprise, which was the main thing I loved about beauty boxes when they first launched. But when I took a peak on their website to see what was on offer, I couldn't help but feel a little excited, so I selected box 2 out of 3 and handed over my hard earned cash.

I cannot help but say a few words on the packaging of this box. At first Glossybox seemed to get it spot on with their luxurious packaging with plenty attention to detail. After a while, however, I just didn't know what to do with all those hard cardboard boxes - they were too pretty to throw away, but a girl only needs so many pink boxes in her life. Birchbox packaging on the other hand didn't appeal to me at all. A tiny brown box with this random drawstring bag that nobody needs in their life - it went straight in the bin as soon as it arrived.
Beauteco Box seem to have hit the nail on the head. There's no "box within a box" inception going on here, just one outer packaging which is filled with some pretty tissue paper and the products. No clutter, no unnecessary random bits, but still enough prettiness to make this feel like a treat. I'm impressed.

Now, while I knew pretty much exactly what would be in my box, I still couldn't help but feel rather excited about unwrapping it and inspecting each and every item. Here's the selection I went for.

1) Organic Surge | Gentle Cleansing Lotion

Full size: £5.99 for 200ml

I opted for the lotion over the cleansing wipes or the moisturiser, as I felt that this is what my skin will get on with the best (that and I just bought a really disappointing cleanser, so was in dire need of a new one). This is a full sized product, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it. It has a very refreshing herbal scent - you can really, really smell the rosemary, but it's not unpleasant. Two things I'm not a great fan of is that it's quite hard to get out of the tube and I can see myself struggling to get the bottom bits out. The instructions also say to wipe this off with a tissue or cotton pad and I much prefer to wash my face with something I can just rinse off with water rather than littering my bathroom with bits of cotton.

2) Headline Colors | Glamour Nail Polish

Full size: £9 for 10ml

Two items in and I've already made my money back on this box with another full sized product. Granted, the bright blue colour from box one would have been much more "me", but I'm sure I'll still enjoy this one as well. While I have plenty of blues in my nail polish collection, there's not a single gold colour, so it's going on my nails pretty much straight away!

3) Amie | New Leaf Skin Exfoliating Polish

Full size: £4.95 for 75ml

Woah, there - it's another full sized product in my box! This product was available in all three boxes, but I'm still very happy I got it. I love a good grainy exfoliator and this one looks like it fits the ticket perfectly. And the smell - oh my god, the smell. It smells like an even more delicious version of a Solero ice cream and makes my mouth water every time I get a little whiff. Cannot wait to try this out.

4) Balance Me | Wonder Eye Cream

Full size: £20 for 15ml / Sample value: £13.33

Though this is the first item that's "only" a sample size, it's still an incredibly generous sample which I'm sure will last me a long time. This is exactly what I have in mind when beauty boxes promise "luxury samples" and I would have still been happy if there were no full sized products, but all samples were this size.

Balance Me are a brand that has been popping up in beauty boxes before, but never in one I've had. I've never read a bad review of any of their products and they appear in loads of "Favourites" type posts, so I was dying to give them a go. This is another product that appeared in all 3 versions of this month's box.

5) Eve of St Agnes | Body Balm

Full size: £6

Here's me complaining about multi-purpose balms and then I go and pick a box with a body balm over a moisturiser or a nutritional supplement. Truth be told, I'm not quite sure yet how and when I'm going to use this. I imagine it will be of much more use to me in winter, when my skin can get quite dry, but at the moment a normal body moisturiser does the job just fine. This does have an amazing rose scent to it, so I'm thinking I might just use it in small amounts after showering and see what it does to my skin. Did I mention it's another full sized product?

Total value: £45.94

Overall, I have to say, Beauteco Box have simply blown me away. With four full sized products and one very generous sample - all of which I'm going to get some sort of use from, the box feels like a real treat to me. I didn't miss the element of surprise at all, but instead got rather excited about getting a box full of goodies that I know are tailored to my needs. 

Though none of the brands featured were luxury brands, I still made my money back both in mathematical, as well as perceived value. The fact that the focus is on natural and organic beauty means I get to try out loads of brands I've never used before.

Most importantly, however, Beauteco Box have managed to do something other subscription services have failed to do for the past couple of months: To really get me excited about beauty boxes once again.