Swatches: Lancome Christmas Beauty Box

Better late than never, here are the rest of the swatches from my big beauty haul the other week (click for the original post). We'll start with the Hello Kitty nude lipstick in Baby Doll from Superdrug. Swatches show it layered (top) versus a couple of swipes (bottom) and with and without the flash.  It's got an orangey tone to it, so it's not a true nude in my opinion, but I think it could look quite pretty with a gloss layered over it perhaps.

Next is the Lancome 'Les Paillettes Aux Yeux' in 20 Lumieres de Paris. I mentioned last time that the little pot is quite nifty with only a little hole to pour the loose powder from. Hopefully if you drop or spill it, only a little or none would come out. As for when you do want the powder out, I've found tapping it out onto the back of my hand, then using either my finger or brush to apply to my lids has worked fine. The swatches on this one weren't as accurate as I'd have liked. When I've been wearing this as an eyeshadow, it's actually come across quite dark, yet there's not much colour here in the swatch. I've applied it over Too Faced Shadow Insurance (top) and alone (bottom). There's a considerable difference between the two actually. I remembered the powder being a lot more taupe and shimmery in the shop-it's funny how your opinion can change when you get it home to play around with! I still like it anyway and have already worn it a few times to create a smokey eye.

The other eyeshadow I purchase from Lancome was the Petit Tresor in S112 Fil d'Or, which swatched absolutely beautifully. I haven't worn this yet, but it felt so soft and smooth, almost like velvet. It's got great colour pay-off, even without the primer underneath. This will be great for Christmas!

Now for the Color Design Eye Palette in 103 Golden Frenzy that I got in the Lancome Christmas Beauty Box. It's pretty neat getting a full-size version of this because in the UK (and Europe I think) we don't get CD palettes-they are a US/Canada thing, so it's pretty exclusive.  I'd also like to include here that there's been a little confusion with what is included in the Christmas Beauty Box.  Lancome are very region specific with their products, often excluding certain products or changing colour names depending on which country you're in-this happens for the main line and Limited Edition colour collections frequently.  So the look-book that came with this box included some products that weren't available in our UK box and I think this is what has lead some people (there's a review on the Debenhams website as an example) to believe that we somehow have been swindled out of some pieces (i.e. the Color Fever Gloss and Teint Miracle foundation and extra mascara were only available in some countries and I believe there's even a brush set and BB Cream and small Tresor fragrance in the Japan set), however we got extra skincare items that they didn't get, so it all works out, stress over!  Anyway, back to the palette and I felt my initial images didn't do this compact justice, so here are some pics that show it in all it's glory before I got my fingers in there to swatch!

Isn't it gorgeous? The palest shade across the top of the palette doesn't have a strong base colour, it's pretty much an iridescent sheen, but it's oh so pretty. The black I'd use as a liner, smudged along the top and/or lower lash line. The other trio are pictured left to right when looking at the palette but right to left on my arm (from light to dark). Roughly the top half of these swatches have Shadow Insurance as a base with the bottom on it's own and again I've taken them with and without the flash.

Finally the full-size Blush Subtil that came in the Christmas Box, shade 02 Rose Sable. Again I wanted to convey the fabulous shimmer to this powder, so took more images of it.

Almost unrecognisable without the flash (below)!

I've used it once and found it very pigmented, my brush picked up a lot of colour, so don't be too heavy handed with it. It's a mixture of peach and pink and gives a natural looking flush to the cheeks.

So there you go, did anyone purchase the Lancome Christmas Beauty Box or the LE pieces after my last post or are you tempted now?