Comparison Swatches: YSL Cashmere Pink

After my swatch request last month, I had another from Lissa Jaye this time, regarding a YSL lipstick. I immediately came up with some comparisons, but finding the time to write it up has taken longer than I expected, so I apologise for that. I do love getting these requests though (and would kinda like to make it a regular feature) and will respond but it might take some time to fit it in around everything else. Hint-hint if they're lipsticks or pencils or something really easy to swatch then I'm likely to respond quicker : )
So Lissa wanted to know if I knew of any dupes for YSL Rouge Pur in 126 Cashmere Pink/Rose Cachemire. If it's because this line is now discontinued then the perfect dupe is YSL Rouge Pur Couture in 09 Rose Stiletto, the 'newer' version if you like. It's a really good match in colour. However if you're looking for a cheaper alternative then I have some close but not perfect dupes. My product photos aren't that hot (my camera really hates trying to focus on several things in one photo) but my swatches are good and that's what matters.
From left to right we have No7 Moisture Drench in 90 Waterlily, Wet'n'Wild Mega Color in Eternal Rose, Bourjois Docteur Glamour in 19 Brique secouriste, YSL Rouge Pur in 126 Cashmere Pink, YSL Rouge Pur Couture in 09 Rose Stiletto, Clinique High Impact in 17 Rosette and hiding in the corner, Barry M Lip Paint in 73 Mulberry.
I've had a quick look online and I think they discontinued that Barry M shade, Bourjois is definitely discontinued but you might find it on a discount makeup site and as for the No7 one, there is a 'Waterlilly' but I'm not sure if it's the same colour as the number was different and their swatch looks like a light pink. WnW is difficult to find in the UK now and I'm not sure that they still make that particular shade. This is probably proving very unhelpful (!) and I probably should've checked what was/wasn't discontinued beforehand, sorry!  
Ok, so onto the swatches and I've placed the lipstick in question along the top, so it's easier to see how the other lipsticks match up to it.
From left, No7 is lighter than YSL and less 'dirty', it's got an almost coral tone to it. Wet'n'Wild is a pretty good match, although it leans a little more red. I think it's the nearest in my 'budget' lipsticks though. Bourjois is much darker, more brown and reddish and not a good match at all. As I've already said, the YSL 09 Rose Stiletto is almost identical, it's probably a little bit darker than 126 Cashmere Pink. Clinique is more red and also has this copper sheen to it which the YSL doesn't. Barry M is a mauve colour and not much like it at all.
Off the top of my head, I think Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in 06 Rose Nu would also be a really close match, but I couldn't find mine the day I took these photos.  It's certainly worth checking out.  I hope this is of some help and I'm kicking myself for not picking some more alternatives that are available right now.  I already have another request for a discontinued Rimmel lipstick-I've yet to search for it and find dupes, but will get on that when I have a spare moment.  Please let me know if I can help out with anything else and thank you all for your helpful comments yesterday regarding my Topshop/Meadham Kirchhoff stuff.  I parcelled up and sent the return today...broke my heart a little, but there you go.  I thought all of your comments were particularly lovely though.    

Monster High Monday: Dot Dead Gorgeous Operetta

I have to confess that I haven't watched any of the Monster High webisodes for some time now (just haven't had time). I have seen the 'newer' character Operetta in some of the DVD releases though.  Although the way MH are releasing new characters, Operetta is pretty ancient by now! I think the doll looks more 'grown-up' than the rest of the gang (definitely not school age) and comes across as older than the others. In the cartoon series, she does have an air of maturity around her and can be quite snooty towards the others which is rather amusing! She's not an enemy of the central characters, but I wouldn't say she's in that inner circle either.
Anyway, I think she's a really beautiful doll and character. She always has pin-up, rockabilly type clothes and accessories.  Her fiery red hair with black streaks is usually styled in quiffs or victory rolls which look awesome. As the daughter of The Phantom Of The Opera, she's marked down the side of her face and on one arm and always wears a little mask to disguise that, with 'tattoo' like coverings down the arm. I think it's a unique concept to see on a doll targeted at 'children'.  Certainly in my day it was a decision between blonde or brunette, you had nothing like this to choose from!
Operetta is wearing her signature red lip here with bright pink eyeshadow paired with a rich bronze-brown and some glitter under the brow. I even tackled the beauty spot which I forgot about last time. No major issues this week, colour matching wasn't perfect but as close as I could find in my stash. Not surprising really as pink/bronze eyes and red lips aren't usually my thing.
So for the eyes, I began with Urban Decay Primer Potion. The closest pink I could find (the correct tone, but could have been a little brighter) was Anna Sui Eye Color Accent in 303. I applied this from the lashline, up to the crease using the sponge applicator in the compact for a bold effect. Thankfully I bought this palette the other week, or else I'd have been stumped for the brown shade. On Operetta it's matte, mine has a shimmery, metallic finish, but the depth of colour was correct. It's the very centre shade from the new Dior Mystic Metallic eye quad in 384 Bonne Etoile. Expensive, but really stunning, I'm so glad I bought it. Anyway, again I applied it with the sponge applicator for less glitter fall-out and to really press that strong colour on. I took this upwards and outwards and tidied it up with a little Micellar Water on a cotton bud for a perfect, straight line.   
Under the brow I'd applied Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eye Gel in Backstage and because it's quite green toned, I applied some gold shimmer powder over the top as Operetta mostly has gold glitter. It's a loose powder I got from a Fearne Cotton set one Christmas from Boots. My liner is L'Oreal Super Liner GelMatic* with Perfect Slim* for the flicks. On my lashes is Guerlain Maxi Lash and I finished my brows with L'Oreal Brow Artist* in Brunette.
I could not find a lipstick dark enough within my collection, so had to get creative to find the right red. It was still a little bright, but it was either red or wine and nothing in between, so I didn't have much choice. I applied Dior Lipliner Pencil in 883 Magenta Brown all over the lips (a dark purple), then Wet'n'Wild Silk Finish lipstick in Raunchy Red over the top. It looked patchy, so I reapplied and kept blotting until it looked even. I used L'Oreal Super Liner Blackbuster* pen to apply the beauty spot right next to my lip, like Operetta.
On my face is Lancome Teint Miracle in 005 with Dainty Doll concealer in 002 on blemishes and YSL Touche Eclat #2 under the eyes. I used DD concealer in 001 as my highlighting colour and The Balm Bahama Mama bronzer as my contour shade. I know Operetta isn't wearing blush, but I used some Diorskin Nude Tan in 001 Pink Glow on my cheeks. I finished with a light dusting of Paul & Joe Pressed UV Powder in 003 Beach Baby.
The eyes were much heavier than I'd normally wear, but actually grew on me until I put the lipstick on. I think with my hair, my outfit and all those makeup colours it was a little much (not on Operetta). I loved the subtle beauty spot though and think despite the colours not being a perfect match, the look was a successful one. What do you think? Also I've just finished the outfit post to accompany this look, you can find that here along with another outfit from last week here. Three posts in one day peeps, bam!

Monster High Monday: Ghouls Rule Clawdeen

This week I decided to go all-out with MHM, in my most daring yet. I tackled a glitter mono brow, one leopard print eye and completely lilac lips. Oh yeah! Monster High released a DVD to coincide with the Ghouls Rule range and as the characters attend a Halloween party in it, the clothes, hair and makeup is a little more wild than usual. Clawdeen Wolf gets a makeover with long lilac hair and shaved leopard print sides, with crazy makeup to boot.
I'd just written my review of the new L'Oreal eyeliners when I realised I could use them to their full potential on a Monster High Monday as mad as this one. I found the Blackbuster marker pen one was the easiest to use and you can read my full review of the liners here, where I've used them more conventionally.
If you look closely at Clawdeens eye makeup, you'll notice there's actually two different shades of green around the eye. On the 'plain' eye she has a dusky green up to the brow and under the eye a brighter limey green. On the leopard eye, the dusky green then surrounds the lime under the eye. So I managed to find two colours close enough to Clawdeen, although I'm not sure you'll note the difference here in the photos as it's quite subtle. I began with Urban Decay Primer Potion and applied the green from Wet'n'Wild 'Exotic' Eyeshadow Duo from lashline to brow.  Under the eye is Bourjois Ombre Stretch in 05 Very Etirable. The plain eye then has YSL Babydoll mascara on the lashes, L'Oreal Super Liner GelMatic liner (top and bottom) and Super Liner Perfect Slim for the flick.
On the leopard eye I used the same eyeshadows, but took the WnW one under the eye along with Bourjois. Again I lined with GelMatic along the top and lower lashlines and used Perfect Slim for the flick. For the leopard print pattern, I used L'Oreal Super Liner Blackbuster. As it's like a felt tip, it's easy to work with. I angled it so I was using the pointed tip as I wanted a reasonably small pattern. I copied Clawdeen exactly in size and placement, but because I have a very large area from my eye to brow, I added a few more prints because it looked quite sparse. Then I decided to take the Perfect Slim liner and following the socket of my eye, traced a line around it like Clawdeen (on both eyes). This one bled a little, so looked a little rougher than I'd have liked but it was worth a try.  It wasn't until I started taking photos of the finished look, that I realised I'd leopard printed the wrong eye!  I didn't even think about it to be honest, just did it, oops!
I should also mention, I took some foundation over my 'leopard' brow to conceal it and took the eyeshadow up over that one. Then for the glitter, I used F2 (Fudge) Luminous Jumbo Crayon in Matisse (a copper shade) for a base, drawing over my brow and across the top of my nose, into the centre of my face. I did have a gold glitter eyeliner, but it was all dried up, so had to use NYX Candy Glitter Liner in 03 Hot Orange instead. It's definitely more orange than Clawdeen, but was all I had. I just applied it over my metallic line and let it dry.
On my face I'm wearing, Lancome Teint Miracle foundation in 005 with a little Paul & Joe Pressed UV Powder in 003 Beach Baby. I applied Dainty Doll concealer in 002 on blemishes and 001 as my highlighting colour. I used The Balm 'Bahama Mama' bronzer as a contour and applied a little Diorskin Nude Tan in 001 Pink Glow on the cheeks.
For the lilac lips, nothing in my stash came close enough. Not MAC's Lavender Whip, Viva Glam Nicki 2 or Fashion Mews. Everything leaned a pinky lilac and Clawdeen is straight up blue lilac. So I improvised using NYC Jumbo Pencil in 866A Purple Paradise. It was spot-on! It's creamy enough to apply on the lips, although it didn't wear well.  For the benefit of the photos and task it worked well enough.
Unfortunately I didn't get to wear this look outside, click The Shoe Girl Diaries for my full outfit including my gorgeous gnome heels! I've been slammed this week and was a little disappointed that so much effort went into this look and my outfit...for nothing. You've all seen it now though, so it's not wasted entirely : ) What do you think? Definitely one of the least 'wearable', but worth a shot and perhaps inspiration for Halloween.

Monster High Monday: Ghoul's Rule Frankie

What up peeps? Monster High Monday again, after a little hiatus last week because I took a sneaky day off for some much needed rest. Now, I've had this Frankie doll since last year, but hadn't taken her out of the box until last week. I finally found some room for her on my shelf (which is very quickly running out of space). The Ghoul's Rule line coincided with a DVD movie release and was based around a masked Halloween party, so the outfits, hair and makeup were more wild than usual.
In saying that, when I broke Frankie's makeup down, I realised there wasn't actually much to it. I decided against trying to do anything vein/lightening-like which she has on the side of her face and I've never copied her stitched scar before, so didn't intend to this time. There was a lot of icy blue going on, so I felt the veins in particular would have made the look too blue and too Halloween for daytime, for me. I obviously had to mix up a concoction for the lips as I only own blue glosses and none are pigmented enough for this look. The eyes were simple and I had intended to do the black line in the crease, but actually forgot to, oops!
So to start with I applied Lancome Teint Miracle in 005 Beige Ivoire with Dainty Doll Concealer in 001 on blemishes and finished with a dusting of Clarins Ever Matte Mineral Powder in 00 Transparent Opal. I contoured using ELF Flawless Finish Foundation in Porcelain, setting with The Balm 'Bahama Mama' and highlighted with BeneFit Eye Bright. I applied a little Pout Face & Body Illuminator in Love Glow onto the cheekbones and MAC Don't Be Shy powder blush on the cheeks.
I used Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base and applied the silver shade from Hard Candy Eyeshadow Quartet in Techno from lashline to eyebrow (ooh scary). On the lids I applied Wet'n'Wild Eyeshadow Mono in Mystical (a light blue) and should've applied a bold black line to separate the two but forgot. On my lashes is the new Baby Doll mascara by YSL along with their Waterproof Eye Pencil to line the upper and lower lashlines, with Lancome ArtLiner for exaggerated flicks.
This doll comes with loads of silver glitter under her eyes, so I applied Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eye Liner in Pyrotechnics. It wasn't as glitter infused as I needed (plus contained some multi-coloured pieces and I only wanted silver), so I found an un-named pot of silver glitter and dipped the brush into that too. I was just about to apply it, pot of glitter and mirror in one hand, brush in the other and completely not thinking, inhaled. Yeah full glitter face and chest! I couldn't believe it, I had silver everywhere, mainly my nose, but it was on my clothes, all over my bed and it's a pain to get off! I dusted off as much as I could, but there were definitely stray bits of glitter I found throughout the day.
Then for the lips, like I said, I have several blue glosses. My Paul & Joe or YSL immediately came to mind, but both contained sporadic pieces of glitter and the blue lips on the doll have no sparkles, plus there just wasn't enough colour in either. So I chose to use 17 Eye Dazzle in Goody Two-Shoes, a pastel blue loose powder eyeshadow, mixing it with Lancome Juicy Tubes in 105 Rio Peach on the back of my hand and applying to the lips with a brush. The colour was near perfect (although looks more green toned in these photos), but the finish was a little streaky if you looked closely. It worked for the purpose of this task anyway : ) 
Overall, it's not my favourite look. I think had I been dark skinned, so there was a bit of contrast between the icy shades and my white skin, it would've looked better. It's one look I wanted out of the way though and I think I'll be looking for something with a variety of colours next week! The corresponding The Shoe Girl Diaries post for this should be up tomorrow, but I do have another outfit from last week, that I posted earlier today, so check that out.

Monster High Monday: Dawn Of The Dance Cleo

Hola! I'm feeling very sluggish (too much Easter chocolate and all my activity last week catching up with me), so I had zero motivation to post this yesterday and I'm not feeling much better today. However, I got to try out a different eyeliner technique and I totally failed matching the lip colour, booo! So it's worth reading for those two alone!

This week, my doll is Cleo de Nile, now I'm not a collector of Cleo (there's only ever been one doll I really liked of her and it's not this one), but I got her in a multi-pack and kept her at the time. Cleo started off as a main character and although technically she was in 'the gang' she was the bitchy one that just used Ghoulia as her sidekick, so I never really warmed to her. MH then introduced her sister Nefera (who kinda put Cleo in her place to be honest) and with the addition of the cat trio as the more 'catty' characters (no pun intended), they became the nemesis of the main MH girls and so I felt Cleo kinda lost her role in the webisodes and movies. Doll-wise there's been a resurgence in her character lately which will please her followers. Anyway, this one is from Dawn Of The Dance, a very early collection. You should note her outfit here is fashion pack for Operetta and not the DOTD original outfit.
Her makeup is a mixture of purples (both eyes and lips), but it's not a colour I would usually associate with Cleo. As an Egyptian princess, she has her Cleopatra style liner, which was much easier to replicate than I thought it would be and emerald, snake-like eyes.
I was excited to see a teensy bit of blush on this doll, she must be one of the few MH's with cheek colour! So on my face is Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24h in 005 mixed with Pout 'Love Glow' Illuminator, Dainty Doll concealers in 001 under the eyes and 002 on blemishes. I finished with Clarins Ever Matte Mineral Powder Compact in Translucent and on my cheeks is Milani powder blush in Luminous 08.
Over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I applied Wet'n'Wild eyeshadow mono in Lovely Lilac from lashline to eyebrow. For the sparkle under the brow I added Hard Candy Eye Candy in Popsicle. It wasn't quite sparkly enough, so I used some gold, loose powder glitter from a Fearne Cotton set I got in Boots one Christmas. On the lids up to the crease I applied Estee Lauder Pure Color eyeshadow in 29 Orchid. I thought the crease colour looked slightly different (more pink toned) on Cleo, so used yet another colour for that. It was Mary Quant Eye Openers in 06 Deep Sea. I didn't add the black line Cleo has in her crease...I'd spent so long picking all the right colours, I just wanted to get it finished and forgot about it!
For the liner, I applied YSL waterproof pencil, then did a flick using Lancome Artliner as I normally would. I then took a vertical line down from that and then horizontally back into the corner of my eye. This gave me that basic rectangular/triangular shape, which I filled in with Topshop Liner. It was probably the easiest part, despite it looking tricky! My mascara is Too Faced Lashgasm.
By this point, I was running late and had spent far too long searching for the 'perfect' purple shades of eyeshadow that I went with the only lipstick I could think of that was close enough and that was Revlon Super Lustrous in 663 Va Va Violet. I applied it over Lancome Le Crayon Contour in Violette which turned it a little more purpley than the plum it looked, but in my opinion it was still too plummy to look like Cleo. I tried to add some No7 Liplicious gloss in Purple Liquorice over the top because I thought the purple looked quite glossy on Cleo. It just sheered the colour out though, so I applied, reapplied and blotted until I gave in and went with what I had!

I didn't expect the lips to give me so much trouble. Next time I maybe need to prepare beforehand because it's getting quite difficult to think of perfect dupes off the top of my head from my massive collection of cosmetics.
So we'll see what I come up with next week.  I think I'm going to look for an easy-ish one, although I'm finding it's the ones that look simple that sometimes trip you up and the more complicated actually aren't.   

Monster High Monday: Mad Science Lagoona

Happy New Year! I'm not keen on posting two similar posts consecutively but that's just the way it's worked out as we're back to Monster High Monday again! I love Lagoona Blue, I think she's utterly adorable! I also feel she's very undervalued in the Monster High series and releases. Personally I think from watching the webisodes that she looks like a fabulous friend, she's very level headed, extremely beautiful and I just love the mash-up of her accent which comes across as Australian one second then Cockney the next (funny when it's not supposed to be)! I feel the other MH girls ignore her a bit though, as she's always stuck 'in the pool' being a sea monster and all and she's not always considered a 'core' character in doll releases, even although she was an original character, which annoys me! She seems very sweet anyway, so it's nice to see her featured in a few of the newer collections.

This particular Lagoona also happens to be one of my favourites. The release was based on school subjects and she was 'Mad Science' and even came with a little jar with a froggy in it! I think she's adorable in her white lab coat (I usually feared 'catching' something wearing the ones at my school)! She always has lovely shimmering blue skin, freckles and green eyes; so for once the colouring isn't too far from my own.

Her makeup features a bold, bright turquoise eye (which appears more blue in the pics, in reality it was bright aqua) with glitter highlighter and a frosty medium pink lip. She has no blush, so I altered that for my own face.

As usual I used, YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat in BR10 with Illamsqua Rich Foundation in 115 as concealer under the eyes and finished with ELF Studio translucent loose powder. On my cheeks was Playboy First Blush in Pink Pussycat.

For the eyes, I used a base of Paul & Joe Eye Gloss in 05 L'Aurore (a sheer sparkling lilac) with Urban Decay eyeshadow in Electric, applying from lashline to slightly above the crease (the colour isn't as 'exaggerated' as it has been on previous dolls). As it's a matte shade though it can look a little 'flat', so I used Lancaster Chameleon eyeshadow in 108 Pool Vibrations over the top just to soften the look a bit and also took this under the lower lashline. I applied MAC 'Reflects Pearl' glitter as a highlighter under the brow for some sparkle like Lagoona (the glitter is much prettier in person). As it's a loose powder, I dabbed the P&J eye gloss and applied the glitter while that was still 'wet' to avoid it falling everywhere. Eyeliner is YSL Waterproof pencil with L'Oreal Carbon Black SuperLiner and YSL Shocking Volume mascara.

For the lips, a frost lipstick was required to emulate Lagoona's lips. I used Clinique Long Last lipstick in All Heart as a base and also to add a deeper tone to create that mid-pink as I used Wet'n'Wild Wild Shine Lipstick in 52 Enamored over the top, which is much lighter. These two combined were absolutely spot-on the shade of this dolls lips. Sadly neither Lagoona's nor my lips showed true to colour in the photos (hers came out much lighter and more lilac, mine more rosy-red), so I had to play around with my lip shade here to show a slightly more true colour. If you've ever seen this doll in real life though, these two lipsticks undoubtedly mimic that lip colour.

I was pleased that this was a completely different look yet again from previous weeks. You can find my first Ghoulia post here and Draculaura last week here or click the "Monster High Monday" logo in the sidebar for all posts. Are you still enjoying my Monster High inspired faces?