Bobbi Brown Brightening Bricks

Top photo: Coral & Pastel Pink. Botton photo: Cranberry & Pastel Peach 

If you want a great colour payoff with an ample amount of shimmer and sheen then the classic, and ever popular, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks are going to be your best friend. However if you are keener on a more subtle finish with a mere flush of colour and pretty luminosity then these new Brightening Bricks are just up your (makeup) street and are begging for a swatch next time you are walking past a counter!

This new range of Bobbi Brown Brightening Bricks (£34) are a multitasking must-have to give you the benefit of three products in one with just a couple of sweeps - the warmth of a bronzer, the pure colour of a blush and the luminosity of a highlighter. These mosaic-inspired palettes are formulated using a unique method of pouring the creamy, pearlescent paste into the pan, pressed while wet and then allowed to air-dry to create a softer, moisture-rich powder with a long lasting colour. You can really feel how oddly creamy these powders are and this means they glide onto your cheeks effortlessly without drying the skin or settling into fine lines. The main beauty of these bricks is the brightening effect it gives you thanks to their blend of mulberry and grape extracts which instantly illuminates the complexion with a sheer dose of pearl-infused radiance. There are six different colour combinations in the collection with a varying amount of shimmer, warmth and colour to enhance and lift everyone's individual complexion and skin tone meaning skin is left looking fresh, natural and glowing after a gentle dusting.

So are you a slave to your Shimmer Brick or do you fancy something more subtle with these new Brightening Bricks?

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Have a Lush Valentine's Day

If you are looking for something special to treat yourself to or lavish your lover with this Valentine's Day, then LUSH is your one-stop shop for fun, bath time bits. I adore a quick lunchtime visit to my local LUSH store and always look forward to the launch of their limited edition, seasonal collections every year with the V-Day releases being the highlight for me.

This year the LUSH Valentine's Day Collection* will have you lovestruck with their selection of sweet treats including The Unicorn Horn Bubble Bar, The Kiss Lip Scrub, Prince Charming Shower Gel and Cupid's Love Soap for an indulgent night in (bath tub partner optional!) The Unicorn Horn  Bubble Bar (£3.25) transforms you bath water to a magical experience of rainbow bubbles and lustre with the relaxing scent of lavender filling the air. For Hollywood kisses, The Kiss Lip Scrub (£5.50) is certainly very pretty (but maybe less practical) and is a perfectly pink lip scrub made up of caster sugar and essential oils topped with edible red hearts and yes, hundreds and thousands! It is a fun treat to kiss goodbye to chapped, dry lips. The search for your Prince Charming is over with LUSH's beautifully fruity shower gel that will sweep you off your feet with a waft of grapefruit, sandalwood and geranium oils. The skin-loving formula of organic pomegranate juice and almond oil gives the skin a refreshing, brightening effect whilst hydrating and soothing any dry areas. Finally Cupid's Love Soap (£8.50) will make your heart skip a beat with its unique, uplifting blend of bergamot and rosewood. It is also richly scented with fresh figs, passion fruit juice and soya yoghurt which set to work to nourish and soften the skin. Absolutely heavenly!

Whether you are celebrating this Valentine's Day with bubbles with your boyfriend or bubbles in your bath tub, I would definitely recommend swinging by your local LUSH to indulge in some V Day treats. They also have some lovely gift sets too, all boxed up and completed with a velvet ribbon, so make sure you give your partner a little nudge if you do pop in!

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Bobbi Brown Mini Long Wear Cream Shadow Stick Trio

You know what I love? Mini versions of beauty brand classics. Bobbi Brown's Long Wear Shadow Sticks have become quite a popular little product over the years with their effortless and high-impact application, an easy, all-in-one cream stick that can be used to shade, define, smoke or highlight the eyes. With a promise of no fading, flaking, smudging or creasing for up to 8 hours - simply swipe and go!

Last Christmas Bobbi Brown downsized their bestselling shadow sticks into a neatly packaged trio of three popular shades - espresso bean (rich charcoal black with subtle shimmer), Pink Sparkle (soft, shimmery pink) and Smokey Topaz (a brown heather mauve) - my personal favourite! There is nothing quite as alluring as a holiday, limited edition gift set and this Long Wear shadow stick trio set* (£29.50) is a perfect little selection of shadows to pop in your makeup bag for a quick, sparkly eye look. And thankfully they are still available to be snapped up from Harrods and Debenhams. The consistency is creamy and smooth and is lovely to apply all over the lid or along the lash line without any fear of pulling or tugging of the skin. The pigmentation is strong and a little overwhelming to begin with so I like to roughly run the shadow stick all over my lid and then go in with my fingertips to smudge the colour out and sheer out the finish a little. I did find that if applied too heavy the cream shadow can crease a bit over time so I much prefer to use these lightly blended out or gently applied along the lower lash line to define and smoke out a simple makeup look. They are pretty much foolproof and a great option to take you from daytime to party time with a simple swipe of shimmer and sparkle.

Which colour do you like the look of? Are you a fan of Bobbi Brown's cream shadow sticks?

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Clarins Instant Light Lip Balm Perfector

I am yet to meet anyone who does not love the Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfectors (featured here). Released nearly two years ago, these delicious treats for the lips have been a popular lip product of choice for beauty lovers everywhere and work perfectly as a treatment, gloss or all-over colour. It is understandable therefore that the beauty world buzzed with excitement when it was revealed that Clarins were adding to their popular Instant Light line and introducing six new Lip Perfector products in the form of a melting gel lip balm with the same, deliciously-sweet taste.

The Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Balm Perfectors* (£18) are available in six beautifying shades ranging from a rosy-pink, punchy coral, natural nude and a personalised pink that reacts to your lips ph levels giving everyone their own bespoke colour. These balms are packed full of wild mango and Shea butter as well as vitamin E so are incredibly moisturising and hydrating so are the perfect pick when you are after a lip balm that imparts a sheer wash of colour wrapped up in a luxurious, slimline package. The silky smooth formula glides on beautifully and gives your lips a luscious finish whilst giving them a plumped appearance and subtle gloss without any stickiness. My heart will still always lie with the original Lip Perfectors as I love the sponge applicator and creamy consistency which gives you a bit more colour payoff than these balms but if your lips are after some TLC with a pop of pretty colour then these are a great little option.

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YSL Touche Éclat Rose Gold Highlighter

The unmistakable packaging and allure of YSL's touche éclat "golden pen" highlighter is a cult product that has probably featured in everyone's makeup bag at some point (I know I have clicked my way through a fair few!). Well now YSL have introduced a new touche éclat product, giving this luxury classic a slight twist with a formula infused with gorgeous rose gold particles. This pink-hued version is designed to add instant radiance to your temple, cheekbones, inner corners of your eyes and brow bone and definitely needs to be regarded very much as a highlighter and not a concealer, which sometimes is a confusion point with the original touche éclat.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Or Rose Radiant Touch* (£25) is available from Boots for a limited time only and delivers a sublime blush-pink shimmering light to your skin. With a lightness in consistency and a formula that is easily blended with your fingers it is easy to see why the original touche éclat has become so popular and I think this new version is just as lovely. With a few clicks and some precision application, this slimline highlighter adds a rosy radiance to the higher areas of your face and the pearly-pink finish could be likened to Benefit's High Beam which does a similar job. If you are a big fan of the original Touche Eclat then this new Rose Gold edition might be worth checking out - plus it is limited edition so stock up quick!

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Tom Ford Lips & Boys Mini Lipsticks

left to right: Patrick, Giacomo, Preston, Michael, Alexander, John

Meet my boys! My mini, pocket-sized, limited edition line up of lip-loving Tom Ford lipsticks which are just too dreamy for words. Tom Ford have released this 'get-them-before-they-go' collection of clutch-sized lipsticks, a fabulous fifty shades in total, and all named after certain men who have inspired, entertained or interested Tom Ford during his life. Absolutely amazing! Rumour has it Colin refers to Colin 'Mr Darcy' Firth himself, Alexander is inspired by Mr Ford's 2 year old son whereas Richard is more than likely to be in honour of Richard Buckley, his husband.

The Tom Ford Lips & Boys collection* is available from Selfridges and comprises of fifty sensational shades ranging from light pink and peach hues, fuchsias, magentas, plums, reds and some very on-trend nudes and browns to help you perfect that Kylie Jenner pout! These dinky lipsticks are small but perfectly formed and at £26 each, they are a much more affordable option too compared to an eye-watering £37 for their original, larger-sized counterpart. But nothing is compromised in the formula, finish or packaging with these pocket-perfect lipsticks - the consistency is buttery-soft, highly-pigmented and long-lasting and they've even managed to squeeze the iconic TF engraving onto the bullet which, lets face it, makes the Tom Ford lipsticks look so luxurious. The majority of the shades in the Lips & Boys are slightly shimmery to give your lips a lustre and plumpness but there are also some matte shades to be found, so hopefully there is something for everyone!

Boy oh boy, this limited edition collection is just beautiful and so so tempting. Do I pick Leonardo, Pablo, Liam, Justin or Sebastian? They is just so much choice. Well, in the words of Tom Ford himself - "I like the idea of lipsticks named after boys. Why commit to one when you can have several?" Well if you insist!!

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Contour & Highlight with Clinique Chubby Sticks and Sculptionary Cheek Palettes

Chiselled cheekbones and contoured cheeks are the things of makeup dreams and something that most people can only admire from their sofa whilst catching up on the Kardashians. It is one of those coveted makeup secrets - how to enhance your natural bone structure in an effortless, natural way and something that I try to achieve, and sometimes succeed with, on a daily basis. Well Clinique has risen to the challenge and are launching a selection of new products to help us girls shape and sculpt with ease and say hello to those cheekbones!

First up is a variation on Clinique's classic Chubby Stick with these two new chunky crayons designed specifically to sculpt, contour and highlight the cheek area. Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight* (£19) and Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour* (£19) are a perfect pairing to help you achieve flawless cheekbones in a few simple strokes. The Sculpting Contour is a warm, rich brown which may look a little scary on first application but is so smooth and creamy it can be effortlessly blended into the skin. Just start lightly handed and build it up if necessary. This contour stick can be applied wherever shadows would naturally fall so just under your cheekbone, either side of your nose, along the jawline or around the temples - wherever you desire. You know the drill, suck your cheeks in and apply! You can use a brush or your fingers to blend this colour in but I find it best to gently blend and fade the contour colour in with my fingertips. Once the depth and definition has been applied it is time to add the highlight and the Sculpting Highlight crayon is wonderful at giving your skin a beautiful pearly sheen without any clumsy glitter or shimmer. It contains pearlised, light-reflecting pigments which helps you achieve a luminous look to contrast again the matte, darkened contours on your face. Again this stick can be easily swiped or dabbed along your cheekbones, down the middle of your nose or in the middle of your forehead. This cream highlight is so pretty and subtle but is slightly frosty which I like, but I know some people would prefer something warmer with golden tones.

But if cream formulas are not your thing when it comes to contouring and highlighting those cheekbones then do not fear as Clinique are also releasing their new Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palettes* (£28) in four defining shades to deliver a rich, long-lasting fresh flush to beautifully emphasise bone structure. Each powder palette contains a tri-toned compact - a colour, a contour and a highlight colour, which can be used separate or simply swirled together for a pretty, all over natural glow. For blush in a rush you can easily just use one, two or all of the three shades swirled together but for super-sculpted cheeks then you can use the darkest powder colour to contour, the lightest shade to highlight and then the medium shade to sweep onto the apples of your cheeks. These are beautiful blushers but they do contain a slight shimmer, even the darker contour shades, so I would much prefer to use the Chubby Stick to contour and then use these cheek palettes to highlight and add a flush of colour to my cheeks. I have shades 02. Defining Berries and 04. Defining Nudes and I think the latter one is definitely my favourite, The pretty cream, apricot and nude shades are lovely and it works best as a contour and highlight kit or just as a normal blush to add a sweet sweep of shimmer and colour.

What do you think of these new products from Clinique (available on counters nationwide from 6th February 2015)? What are your favourite products to contour and highlight those cheekbones?

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