Perfect Spring / Summer Cheeks with Smashbox Cream Cheek Duo

Smashbox is unfortunately not very widely available in the UK, but recently when I was in Debenhams Oxford St I managed to pick up this lovely cream blush duo from the Smashbox counter.

I love cream blushes in spring and summer as they leave a fresh, dewy glow - perfect for popping over a tinted moisturiser on a sunny day. This one is no exception, and I love that there are two complementary shades. One is a warm peachy-pink; the other shade is a cooler-toned medium pink. The colours can be used alone, or blended / layered together. Both are very pigmented, but as you can see in my swatches they can easily be blended to a sheerer colour. The texture is non-greasy and non-sticky. Wear time is about 6 hours - about as good as I get from any cream blush really.

The lighter shade is a great everyday colour but I especially love the flamingo pink - it's not as scary as it looks but creates a nice bright pop of colour.

These duos are still available at Debenhams Oxford St and are part of the In Bloom collection. If I recall correctly they are about 18 pounds.

Steal vs Splurge: Boots No7 Instant Radiance Foundation vs. Bobbi Brown Skin

There's no doubt I'm a something of a snob when it comes to foundation - generally I stick to Bobbi Brown for foundations and occasionally venture into MAC, Dior or Chanel. Which is why I was very pleasantly surprised by Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation.

The last time I bought a drugstore foundation was probably in my teens, when I bought my very first foundation, Revlon Colorstay. It had a tendency to thicken over time and I never quite found the right colour match. But goodness I loved it - until at some point I discovered MAC and never looked back.

Until recently, that is - when I had a £5 voucher for No7 and on a whim picked up the Instant Radiance foundation. What really drew me in is that the consistency is very, very close to my absolute favourite foundation, Bobbi Brown Skin. If you've ever tried the Skin foundation, you'll know it's very lightweight (almost watery-feeling) and dries down to a very skin-like, radiant, slightly dewy finish. The Instant Radiance does exactly the same and honestly I can't tell much if any difference at all in the quality and finish. I've been wearing it for the last 2 weeks and I like it as much as, if not more than, Bobbi's version. It's a lovely foundation for warmer days when you want something light and natural but need a bit more coverage than a tinted moisturiser.

Instant Radiance only comes in a limited shade range (compared to Bobbi's very broad shade range) but I was lucky enough that New Ivory was a perfect match for me (MAC NC30). The shades seemed to run yellow, which for me is a good thing as it really gives my skin a lift. I do think the formula would work well on all skin types - dry skin will love its hydrating properties. My skin is very oily, but I did not find I had to blot or powder any more than usual and it's lasted well enough through some long and busy days.

The Instant Radiance retails at £12.50 for 30ml (£7.50 with voucher) compared to the BB Skin at £29 for 30ml. Bottom line: if you can find a colour match, it's definitely worth giving a whirl - it's a steal!

Review: New CID i-Smoulder Eyeshadow & Liner Pencils

Recently I've discovered a UK-based line of cosmetics called New CID. I've only seen counters on Oxford Street in London, but it's also available through several online retailers as well (e.g. QVC, Lookfantastic).

The i-Smoulder pencils intrigued me as they're a similar concept to the Stila Convertible Eye Colours, if you're familiar with those. At one end you have an eyeliner pencil - in this case, a flat pencil which can be angled for either a thin or thick line as you please. The other end unscrews to reveal a sponge-tipped applicator loaded with a cream eyeshadow. You apply your eyeliner pencil, then smudge out the cream shadow over the lid to create a soft, smokey eye look.

The two shades I have are Amethyst (a warm pinky plum) and Azure (a soft greyed blue with a metallic sheen). Both are lovely and surprisingly wearable colours. The liners are not particularly pigmented but go on soft and are nicely smudgeable. The cream shadows are easily blended, although I did get better results blending the shadow with a brush rather than with the sponge applicator included.

The only issue I had with these is that they do have a tendency to fade and crease. I definitely need to use a primer underneath, which seems to help. I wouldn't wear these on a night out as I don't think they would last, but are better suited for when I want a fresh and summery day look, or need something I can apply on the go.

I will be posting more about New CID as I do have some of their other products, some of which now count among my everyday staples. It's interesting to explore a new brand, and even nicer that it's local!

Star Violet is back (with a new name!)

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I've decided to give blogging another attempt! I stopped posting a while back as it was getting very difficult to find the time. I also managed to lose my camera on a work trip, so was unable to share photos for a while until I could get a new one.

Since then I've changed jobs and also moved cities. I'm no longer living in Oxford - as much as I liked living there, the commute was just too long. So now I have a much easier time getting to and from work - and hopefully, more time to blog..!

I'm still buying and using a lot of cosmetics - my most recent obsessions have been with Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown and NARS so I'm sure I'll be posting about these in the near future. You might wonder why the blog is no longer "Star Violet" - I discovered (purely by accident) that there is another blogger who is also using that name. To avoid any confusion, I'm now Miss Violet.

That's all for now, and I hope to be posting again very soon!

New Dior Cannage palettes

Admittedly I get very excited about duty free shopping because I love travel palettes. I spotted these new Dior palettes (part of the Cannage collection they seem to keep renewing) which are Duty-free exclusives. These were listed on Singapore Airlines Duty Free, but as I'm hopping over to Germany in the next few weeks I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for them to arrive in Europe. The lip palette looks a bit same-old, but I love the look of the eye palette - seems like a nice range of neutrals and jewel tones. The hunt is on!

Review: Diorskin Forever Powder Foundation

I got talked into getting this powder foundation by my local Dior sales lady. I actually wanted the Diorskin Nude loose foundation (which I ended up getting anyway and actually like better) but this is at least easier to cart around with me while travelling.

This comes in a small compact with the puff on the upper level - so it's much more portable than my previous powder foundaiton, Chanel Mat Lumiere.

As for the formulation, for me this is nothing special. It's medium coverage and very long lasting. Where it falls a little short is in the finish - it's very matte. I'm using it with Dior Ambre Diamond shimmer palette over the top which works well, but I wish this had a more radiant finish. On the whole, it's nice, but not really that different from MAC Studio Fix powder to justify the higher price.

Spring Looks: Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss Compacts

These have been out for a while now, and were launched as part of Bobbi's customisable palette range. I picked up shades Coral Pink and Guava at my local CCO here in the UK.

I'm a little on the fence about these. The packaging is actually pretty good. On their own the compacts are portable, or can be slotted into the larger Bobbi palettes along with eyeshadows and blushes. As well as the black-rimmed outer casing you can see, the gloss pans are also protected by a clear plastic flap, so if you want to create a palette with both powders and glosses, you won't get any powder in your gloss. What a revelation! More cosmetics brands should be listening here!

The gloss itself is very natural. And I mean... almost imperciptible. It's not a mirror-finish type of gloss, more like a soft shine. The two shades I got, Coral Pink (left) and Guava (right), are basically identical once on. Both pretty much go on clear with a hint of pink. Disappointing. Guava has more of a hint of peachy nude, and Coral Pink is a warm pink.

Great packaging, but I think I'm a little disappointed with the colours I chose. I'm pretty sure I'll use them up over summer, but won't buy these again.

Spring Looks: Body Shop Hi-Shine Lip Treatment in Golden Coral

I'm completley addicted to Body Shop body products, and though I normally don't dabble much with their colour cosmetics I'm a longtime fan of their Hi-Shine Lip Treatments. If you haven't tried these before, they're a very moisturising gloss tinted with sheer colour - kind of like a budget version of Clinique Tinted Superbalm gloss.

Anyway so I picked the shade Golden Coral up on an impulse whilst purchasing some Blueberry body butter (also delicious!). It's part of their Spring collection and this particular shade seems to have been a hit since mine was the very last one in store. It's a gorgeous soft peachy coral with golden shimmer. On the lips, it's a very natural shade (just a hint of coral and gold) but it's a very nice change from my usual uncoloured MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner.

This is limited edition so get it while it's going! :)

Review: Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Fresh Powder Makeup SPF10

I haven't really dabbled much with mineral makeup, having tried Everyday Minerals several years ago and pretty much finding that it did not agree with my super oily skin. I read some amazing reviews of this product so thought I'd give it a go - it's actually not a true mineral makeup, but since it's a loose powder foundation it essentially applies in the same way.

First of all, this is a hydrating powder with a high water content. It feels like nothing else I've ever put on my skin. It's hard to explain, but the powder is light, airy, and somehow wet when you apply it. You really don't get any feeling of dryness that powder foundations can sometimes give.

Secondly, I'm in love with the finish of this. This is easily the closest finish to bare skin of any foundation I've tried. It has a subtle radiance without shimmer that's stunning.

Why I am not wearing this every day then? Well, the coverage is light. Some days I think I need just a little extra cover than this gives. Secondly, unfortunately I'm in between shades (30 & 40). I have shade 30, but I can only use it if I haven't been using any fake tan. And lastly, it's not quite as long lasting on my oily skin as Makeup Forever Matte Velvet, or Diorskin Forever, though I'm sure most others wouldn't have this problem.

So although this isn't my HG, for me this is still a wonderful addition to my foundation wardrobe. But if you're in the market for a powder or mineral foundation I'd highly recommend giving it a go.

MAC Colour Forecast: Purple Quad & Fresco Rose = Spring perfection

First of all, hello I'm back!! Life has been very busy these last couple of months and it's been hard to find the time and willpower to motivate myself to post. By the time I get home these days, it's about 7pm and I feel just about ready for bed! :P

Anyway, thought I'd share a pic or two of the quad I picked up from MAC Spring Colour Forecast. I had actually planned to buy the purple quad from the Guerlain spring collection, but since it was sold out, this seemed a good alternative.

As MAC palettes go, I think the colours in this one co-ordinate nicely. The standout shade for me in this quad is Bruised Plum. It's a pinkier, plummier version of Illegal Cargo (from Naughty Nauticals) and the veluxe pearl texture is very smooth.

Mink Pink, a matte nude pink, unfortunately doesn't show up on me at all (NC30). I wish MAC had included a lighter highlight colour instead. The two dark purples are OK, though the darkest shade Jungle Moon could do with a bit more pigmentation.

I got this quad with Fresco Rose paint pot and they are a match made in heaven! I've swatched Fresco Rose (left) with the 3 darker shades in the quad (right). Fresco Rose is a pinkier version of Bruised Plum, so using this as a base really brings out the colours of this quad and helps them stay intense. I wore this combo yesterday on a mammoth shopping trip, and it lasted all day.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this quad, although for me I definitely need to use a separate brow highlighter.

Not dead... I promise!

Just a note to say that I haven't dropped off the planet! Have been fairly busy (and tired) lately, plus hubby has vanished on a month-long holiday to New Zealand (yep, lucky little devil) and it dawned on me right after he'd left that he's taken our one and only camera. So, bah to him, his camera, and his sunshine-filled days... (Me? Jealous? Never.) In the meantime, my haul from Dior's spring collection lies on my dresser, just begging to have pretty photos taken of it. That will have to wait!

In other news, I've been somewhat bored with MAC lately. I've even resisted the lure of the CCO at Bicester Village, even though no-one has been here to disapprove of my bad shopping habits! I'm more tempted by Chanel's spring collection, which seems to have suddenly made an appearance in the UK in the last week, if I'm not mistaken. The soft coral Rouge Allure has spring all over it. Now, only if it would stop snowing, I might be able to pretend it's spring already...

xx
star_violet

Inglot Reviews: Liquid Blush, Lip Gloss Duo, & more!

Whenever I walk into Inglot, I'm overwhelmed by the sheer choice of colours and products they have. It really is amazing! Since I've been loving my Inglot Freedom palettes so much lately, I thought I'd branch out and try a few other Inglot products too. (Not to mention, their store in Westfield London always seems a much more pleasant place to shop than MAC!). Here's what I got:

Inglot Eyeshadow Trio
I got this in a trio of purple shades. The formula is the same as in the Freedom palettes - pearlescent, smooth, and nicely pigmented. They had a big range of colour choices, including some that were too outrageous for my taste (e.g. hot pink). A very handy size for travel, although I kind of wish there was some variation in the textures (more satins and mattes, please!). The purples I got are vibrant and pretty, hubby even commented they were maybe a little too bright (or was that just 'cause I was nipping out to Tesco's in purple eyeshadow and hot pink gloss? Hmm..)

Inglot Young Skin Makeup Pressed Powder
As much as I love MAC face powders, I always seem to be in between shades. I'm a MAC NC30, but Medium Dark seems a little light, and Dark seems a little Dark. (Am I just being difficult? Maybe). Anyway, so the Inglot pressed powders caught my eye as they had a good range of yellow-based shades. I got shade #41, which is a perfect match for me - yay! The formula is as good as any powder I've tried, but nothing that makes me especially excited. The compact is black, sleek, and functional.

Inglot Liquid Blush
This one's a winner - thanks to Shifa at Get Gawjus! for recommending it! I haven't tried liquid blushes before, but this is very nice. The texture is somewhere between a cream, a gel and a stain, and is surprisingly buildable. Length of wear is slightly longer on me than other cream blushes, but still requires touch-up after a few hours, although my skin is pretty oily so that's no surprise. The colour I got (#82) is a beautiful nude pink that I think would work on just about any light-to-medium skintone. It's in the same colour family as MAC Lilicent blushcreme, only a shade or so deeper. Lilicent disappears on me in minutes, so I'm glad I found this as an alternative. It's also not sticky, just leaves a hint of moistness on the cheeks to illuminate naturally.

Inglot Lip Duo
Inglot sell a lot of different lip products, and this cute duo seemed a great way to try 2 for the price of 1. It comes in a cute transparent cube - the bottom half of the cube has Lip Paint, and the top has Lip Gloss. The formulas are slightly different - I have to say, the Lip Paint is absolutely divine, not like any lip product I've come across. It's very opaque and pigmented, very moisturising but not sticky. This, along with Chanel glosses, is one of the best gloss textures I've found. The Lip Gloss (top half) is quite shimmery and slightly more sticky, with good colour payoff. The colours look similar in the pot, but the Lip Paint is a creamy bright peachy-pink, whereas the Lip Gloss is a medium cool-toned pink with a lot of silver shimmer. I did find it hard to choose shades as many of them seemed quite similar (mostly variations on pink/pink, or nude/clear), so I do hope they introduce more colours into the range.

ELF Studio Mini Makeup Set Review

ELF UK have a very generous offer at the moment, that if you purchase £25 of product, you receive a free Studio Mini Makeup set worth £15. Since they recently added a lot more products to their range, I took the opportunity to order some more Studio brushes (most of which I love btw!), mineral eyeshadow primer & bronzer, and I got the kit for free.

I was pretty excited by this palette as not many kits come with such a fantastic range of products - eyeshadows (powder & cream), blush, bronzer, brow powder, lipglosses and and eye pencil. However I have to say that although I love this palette in concept, the actual thing didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Firstly, the eyeshadows - the range of colours is very good, you have some soft natural colours, blue-greens, and smokey greys. My main gripe though is that the two colours suitable for using as a lid shade (the champagne colour,and the pale cream shadow) are both way too shimmery. Since these kinds of colours are pretty much the foundation of any eye look, this is not so great for doing everyday looks. Maybe I'm just conservative, but for me, glitter doesn't belong in the office. The other colours are OK, but the pigmentation or consistency aren't wowing me.

The second disappointment is the lip products. The colours are quite dark, which for me is a negative, but at the end of the day comes down to personal preference. However, the consistency feels somewhat cheap. It's hard to describe, but they feel waxy and have an unflattering shimmer to them.

The blush, bronzer and brow powder are all smooth and nicely pigmented. Thumbs up.

The eyeliner pencil is not that pigmented (especially when I'm so used to Urban Decay 24/7 pencils). It would do in a pinch, but wouldn't be my first choice for eyeliner.

Overall I think this was a really nice freebie, but not one that I'll be using much. I'm really not convinced it's worth the £15 ELF UK is otherwise charging for it. On the US website, it sells for US$15 I think, which seems like a fairer price. I'm sure there are plenty of people who love this palette, but for me it was a bit of a disappointment given how much I love the other Studio products. I will stick to the ELF products I already love - especially the brushes!

Inglot Blush Palette Review

A few months back I purchased this (link here) Inglot Freedom Palette. What I love about this palette system is that it's made up of magnetic layers, so you can basically add as many layers to your palette as you want. You can choose from eyeshadows, blush, concealer, brow or lip products. So far I have two 'layers' of eyeshadows, and I've been so impressed with their smoothness and pigmentation that I decided to get a layer of blushes too.

There were plenty of blush shades to choose from, although almost all were shimmery shades. Some matte options would have been nice. I ended up choosing one deep bronze colour (to use as bronzer/contour), a bright candy pink, a coral and a medium peach. I've tried swatching them, unfortunately, the pictures aren't so great, I really must get a decent camera one of these days, but you get the idea. These are really very pigmented - more than MAC, but less than NARS, if that makes sense. The colours are clean and bright. Actually I'm wondering now if they're a little too pigmented for my taste, seeing as I tend towards soft colours. They will be wonderful in summer though!

The formulation could use a little improvement as it's very powdery. Because the product is so loose, my brushes tend to pick up a lot of powder, and because it's so pigmented one needs a very light hand when applying. So I'm using a stippling brush (MAC #187) in order to avoid picking up too much product, and that seems to be working well.

Overall I think the quality is good. The price is £26, which is reasonably good value compared to high-end brands. I love the fact this fits together with my existing Inglot eye palettes - I now have a "stack" of palettes that I can add to or downsize depending on where I'm going. I do hope Inglot introduce some more matte options at some point, and maybe some highlighter shades too, but for now I'm pretty happy :-)

Big heart for Mini Mavala nail polishes

I've recently discovered these adorable miniature Mavala nail polishes and I can't get enough of them!

Why I love these:
- They're 5ml(about one-third the size of your average polish) which in my mind is a good size. One gripe I have with nail polish in general is that it'll often thicken up before I'm halfway through the bottle.
- They come in quite a few pretty colours, so are a great way to test out new shades without investing in a full-size bottle
- For less than 4 pounds, you get a very high quality product with good length of wear, which is a great pick-me-up if you're on a budget

These came in a set of 8 polishes, which I picked up on sale for the princely sum of 15 pounds. All the colours are gorgeous, soft shades. What I love most is that this set came with a miniature base coat (SuperBase) and top coat (Fixator), which I haven't tested yet but I'm sure will come in handy, especially on long holidays where I know I'll have to retouch my nails.

From left to right, the shades are:
- LOTUS: Pearly white, this is a little more opaque than I'd like, might pass this one onto my sister as it's more her colour!
- DAKAR: Soft plummy pink with silver shimmer
- BAGHDAD: Pinky coral with silver shimmer
- BORABORA: Sheer peach with gold shimmer, very subtle on but quite pretty
- ADELAIDE: Medium warm pink with shimmer. A little brighter than my usual everyday taste, but nice to have an option for special occasions!
- TOULOUSE: Cream Barbie-pink, will look great in summer
- SUPER BASE: Base coat
- FIXATOR: Top coat

Stila deal on StrawberryNet

Just picked up this great deal on a Stila kit on StrawberryNet! For £13.50 (including free worldwide shipping), you get:

4x eyeshadows in shades: Kitten, Go Lightly, Wheat & Mystic
1x Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer in Shade 01
1x Convertible Color in Peony
1x Major Lash Mascara 5g in Black
1x Lip Glaze in 'Ulta Mate Pink'

Most of the products are full-size, and seeing as Stila has pretty much pulled its distribution in the UK, it's a great chance to snap up some classic Stila (particularly Kitten eyeshadow, and Peony Convertible Colour). The tinted moisturiser I think will be a bit light for me, but it's still worth it even just for the eyeshadows. I get a 10% loyalty discount at Snet, so in total it was £12.15. Bargain.

Click here for link

MAC Holiday Kits: Going naked this Xmas...

You might call me boring but I'm a sucker for neutrals. I'm not sure if it's because I'm just a chicken when it comes to wearing hot fuschia lipstick to work, or because I'm always trying to justify my purchases ("But it's neutral so I'll wear it all the time.."). Anyway, so although I'd originally planned to pick up the MAC Holiday kits in Sorceress and Smoke & Mirrors, I ended up with the latter plus the Heavenly Dish neutral lip kit.

The Smoke & Mirrors kit is the best smokey palette I've seen from MAC in several years. However it's not really a smokey palette as such, more of an everyday neutral kit. The colours are sheer, & if you're after sparkle or glitter you won't find it here. (Nor any horrible Lustre finishes - thank you MAC!). You can pretty much do anything from a barely-there look, to a soft everyday grey or warm brown eye, to a full-on smokey look with this. Some might find it boring, yes. Personally I think really decent neutral palettes are surprisingly hard to come by, so this one is a gem.

I've taken some pics with a handful of other MAC colours for comparison. The shades in this palette are all unique to the palette as far as I'm aware, & none of my other colours were exact dupes. The closest dupes would be Clue (from the Originals Collection) for the mid-tone grey, and perhaps Brun for the matte brown shade. All in all, I think it's a great buy for anyone.

The lip kit was an impulse buy, I didn't even try it on in store! It really is a very natura,nude look. The darkest colour is slightly darker than my lips. The midtone colour reminds me of a slightly peachier version of MAC Angel lipstick. The gloss goes on completely sheer, it's not pigmented at all. I can see why some people wouldn't bother with this kit as the colours are on the sheer side & don't exactly scream.. well, anything really. But I think it's quite cute and practical - I love that you can use the darker shade on the lips, then apply the lighter pink in the centre for a volume effect. A little gloss on top and it's perfect.

I'm on the fence about the packaging of these - it certainly feels classier than previous years but the mirrors are much smaller. They also don't angle back as far, which was a definite bonus with the old style of palette. The eye palette is very small - even though it has the same amount of product, it looks tiny compared to last year's warm palette!

Overall, I'm very pleased with this year's purchases though. I love MAC Holiday... can't wait until my next trip just so I can take these babies along!

Home-made brush cleaner recipe

OK so I know a lot of people have their own recipes for making brush cleanser, but I've been testing this simple recipe out for 5-6 months now and it's serving me well so I thought I'd share. I pretty much use this every day to sanitise & clean my brushes - I can clean them all quickly and they're ready to use again in a few minutes.

It's literally just 1 part spray-on leave-in conditioner, to approximately 7 parts isopropyl alcohol. The isopropyl alcohol is the basic ingredient in most brush cleansers, as it klls germs and dries in minutes. Unfortunately it can also be somewhat drying to natural fibres, hence the addition of the leave-in conditioner - it keeps the brush bristles nice and soft. You don't want to go too overboard on the conditioner in your formula though, otherwise you get residue in the brush and they take too long to dry.

Isopropyl alcohol is dirt cheap & can be bought in pharmacies (I used to get odd looks at the chemist in New Zealand, as I'd buy 4-5 bottles at a time! I swear they thought I was making drugs...) or from Maplin in the UK.

For the leave-in conditioner I'm using a cheapie one from Boots. Choose one that has a consistency like water, since a creamy consistency won't mix well with the alcohol.

Mix and pour into a spray bottle. To use, spray the brushes with the solution & wipe clean with a tissue. This is meant to be a spot cleaner only, so you should still deep clean your brushes regularly in water.

Happy cleaning!

MAC Holiday... Are my eyes bigger than my stomach?

Further on the topic of neglected makeup, now comes the time of year when I start making my wishlist of MAC holiday items. For me, the holiday collections combine all my favourite things in makeup (that's MAC, palettes, and miniatures!). Normally, I end up buying 2 palettes and a set of mini lipglasses every year. But in making my wishlist this year, I've felt a little guilty realising how infrequently I actually use my old Xmas palettes & glosses (even though I'm sure I was really excited about buying them at the time!). I think I've used last year's Red She Said - Warm palette maybe 3-4 times?

Am I becoming too spoiled? Maybe I just love the anticipation of waiting for a new collection, more than I ever fell in love with the actual products. Maybe I just consume my cosmetics the way I consume my food - I always think I'm hungrier than I really am.

2009 MAC XMAS Wishlist
- Sorceress eyeshadow palette
- Smoke & Mirrors eyeshadow palette
- Superdupernatural Mineralize Blush
- Sexy Shenanigans Mini Lip/Lustreglass set

MAC Pickle.. with Relish. Ewww.

Rhamnousia over at Desi Girl Does Makeup posted recently about Vintage makeup - you know, those cosmetics one has hiding away in drawers either forgotten & ignored, sometimes lovingly rediscovered, othertimes invoking an inner cringe of "What the hell was I thinking??!!" when they eventually make their way back into daylight. Anyway it made me think about what my oldest cosmetic items are - actually there's not too many, since before my recent move to the UK there was an enormous clean-out of my traincase - however there is one most ancient item which I hate, yet can't seem to bring myself to chuck.

It's called MAC Pickle, and it's a limited-edition eyeshadow from MAC which was released in circa 2000. It came in a quad which has long since been used up (I think it may have been called "Chromezone"), but this one colour has hung around in my makeup kit. As you can see, it's literally pickly, gherkin green. It's an odd formulation, it has a kind of sheer finish with lots of microglitter (similar to the equally craptastic MAC Honesty from the current line). Not subtle at all, but rather chunky glitter. I did actually wear this at one point, this being one of my first forays into "extreme" colour, until some kind soul thankfully told me it made me look ill. Since then it's just lived in my MAC 15-pan palette of brighter colours (i.e. the ones I avoid!). Somehow it adds a nice vibrancy to the palette, so even though I never use it, it serves the decorative purpose of ensuring there is a lot of green in my palette.

So, to MAC Pickle, who has stood the test of time as my most-avoided cosmetic item... here's to you.

P.S. Sorry about the dodgy pics, I can't seem to get good shots on hubby's camera!