{Pages}

About   |   Travel   |   Contact   |   Style   |   Beauty

Sunday 31 August 2014

Dupe Duel; Dior Vs. Sleek

  Diorskin Rosy Glow in '001 Petal': c/o Debenhams & Sleek Blush in '936 Pixie Pink'.

The images above are in order, so the image of me wearing the blush is below the image of the blush itself. 

Hello all!

A beauty post has emerged.. well well well, and about time too!

As a very fair skinned person who naturally looks quite deathly, blush is one of the most important steps in my make-uped face creating routine. I just invented a word; make-uped. So much so, that I have to apply blush when leaving the gym after a ferocious work-out, and many a time I'd be walking around the grounds at school and a teacher would place a caring hand on my shoulder and say 'Arabella, are you ok? You look like you're about to faint!' - I was never about to faint, that's just my face. I suspect (hope) I may just be a vampire and don't have any blood.

Because blush is so imperative to me, I decided a while ago that I wanted to do a post on one of my favourite blushes. However, I fully appreciate that the blush I'm talking about, DiorSkin Rosy Glow at £30.50, is generally not something to pick up on a whim - so, I sought out what I've learned is referred to as a 'dupe'. I found that dupe at a Sleek counter, a drugstore brand I'd never tried before. As this is my first real beauty post, I should give you a bit of a background on my make up history. I'll be honest with you, I don't frequent the drugstore makeup stands all too often, and I'm not saying that in a la-dee-dah 'I only like the best' kind of way. Ever since I started experimenting with makeup around the age of 13 and arrived home from school with a face full of my friend's 5-shades-too-dark Maybelline Matte Mousse, it became clear the next morning when my face morphed into a surface drier than the desert, that I have very sensitive skin. Ever since, my mother has encouraged me to invest in high end products - and so, I've always owned a comparatively small collection of high end products, rather than drawers full of drugstore products that wouldn't do my skin any favours. 

DiorSkin Rosy Glow: At £30.50, it's touted as a blush that 'reacts with the moisture in each skin type, developing into a tailor made rosy blush to suit each individual complexion' I expected a lot. I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure if I believe that. It's a beautiful blush but I can't say I've noticed it 'reacting' or 'adapting'.  To begin, I have to mention the beautiful packaging which is typical of Dior. It's minimalistic, sophisticated and practical with it's large compact mirror and mini brush. The colour, I admit, does look a bit frightening at first glance. However, on the (or should I say my) skin it's actually a really wearable 'pretty pink' - which are always my favourite colours to wear. In terms of lasting power, whenever I wear it it's always in place at the end of the day - which is a big plus. (You can purchase the Dior blush here!)

Sleek Blush: I can't fault the colour, but I would say I found the Dior blush easier to blend. But, when the blush is on, it's almost identical to the DiorSkin Rosy Glow. Its lasting power isn't incredible despite being referred to on the Sleek website as 'long lasting' but at £4.49 I didn't expect incredible results. Saying that, I was surprised and impressed by the pigmentation, and it still looks great on! A downside is that in my opinion, the packaging isn't dressing-table worthy, but it still has it's own compact mirror for on the go touch ups. (You can buy the Sleek blush here!)

Conclusion: So, as I mentioned, with the Dior blush you get the benefit of impressive lasting power and of course the beautiful packaging, which when buying a 'luxury' product, is partly what you're paying for. However, if lasting power isn't particularly important to you and you're happy to have to occasionally reapply the product - honestly, I'd go for the Sleek option. It's almost the exact same colour as the Dior product and quite literally, a fraction of the price. 

Monday 4 August 2014

Sunset in Paris - Magenta Dress and Dinner by The Seine

Belt & Dress; ASOS (the dress was purchased ages ago I'm afraid!) Earrings: J. Crew at Net-a-porter  c/o ASAP. Shoes: Zara (really old again, sorry!)

Hello all!

This post is one that I've been really looking forward to sharing. These photos were taken as we strolled along the Seine at sunset, on our way to have dinner near Notre Dame. Whenever I go to Paris, I seem to always end up eating burgers - not the most sophisticated (or French?) image, I realise. There's just something inexplicably good about burgers in Paris, in my humble, burger-loving opinion. 

Anyway, it also happened to be Bastille Day, so after enjoying the parade (and a little shopping) during the day, we decided upon a late dinner, then a stroll to a nearby bridge to watch the Eiffel Tower fireworks at 11pm. We wondered around enjoying the warm weather, beautiful surroundings and generally glorious atmosphere, until I eventually chose my perfect burger-touting venue (photo included, obviously.) My evening restaurant criteria isn't too unreasonable - it must have cocktails, outside seating & preferably burgers, when I'm in a burger type mood. Essentially that evening I was burger in one hand and a cocktail in the other. Classy gal. 

On to the outfit - I'm afraid I've done that really irritating thing where I parade something in front of you that you (most likely) can't have. I hope if nothing else, it provides some inspiration or even just serves as something nice to look at. I bought this dress from ASOS many, many months ago and decided to save it for a special occasion because it was so elegantly pretty. It's now out of stock, so I've linked the navy version below, which is now in the sale!

You may laugh, but I had to actually psyche myself up to wear this dress due to it's (in my opinion) rather plunging neckline. Call me old fashioned, but when in public I prefer a more demure look. If I'm going to get attention, I'd rather receive it for my outfit, face or personality, not my... assets (not that there's anything wrong with that, if you want to get your assets out, you go for it!) - so for me, this dress is like... flashing the flesh. You know when you're not used to wearing something and so feel self-concious wearing it, like every single person you pass is staring at that area of you? I felt like that. That said - I wanted to push myself to wear it and I'm glad I did. I felt nicely turned out everywhere but that deep V neck. I admit, I'm ridiculous. 

Do you ever feel the same about a piece of clothing? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
and here's what I'm wearing (in this case, the same style of dress is in the sale, in stock, in navy - so I've tried to co-ordinate the accessories with that!)