Fighting the rain, I made a little trip to the shops today to buy the palette I have been waiting for – The Chanel Blue Celestes Quad & Azur Limited edition polish.
T’was very irritating to be visiting Chanel counters today. Simple question – “What is limited edition?” – you know four counters out of five didn’t know (apart from pointing out the Fleurs Quad which is clearly limited because it says LIMITED on the stand).
I wanted to clarify since sometimes what is limited in the US isn’t limited in the UK and obviously there is no rush to buy anything that isn’t limited…tsk. I got so frustrated I stuck to my two new purchases.
Then I went to Superdrug. Superdrug is the second biggest drugstore type store in the UK, which recently has acquired a lot of exclusive make up brands that aren’t available in Boots. For example, Miss Sporty, ME ME ME Cosmetics, GOSH…er that’s all I can think of, although they stock Barry M and Mini Bourjois, which isn’t available in every Boots store.
Today I discovered a brand called FAMOUS by Sue Moxley.
Hmm Sue Moxely. Reminds me of the Tesco (a supermarket) make up brand, innovately called “Make Up” by Barbara Daly. Talented people with normal names. If I ever became a world famous make up artist I would change my name to Coco L’Wren, and when I marry Wentworth, become Coco L’Wren-Miller, so my brand could be called, “Cosmetic” by Coco L’Wren-Miller.
The first thing I thought was – ooh bright eyeshadow. The second thing was, £16!?!?!?!?!?!?!!! For a Quad?! Hello!
This was an eyeshadow on a stand for gods sake. Plus, soft as the eye shadows were, they kind of brushed away quickly. (I do a test with all my eye shadows. Softness, pigmented and brush-away-able-ness.) The packaging was black, but kind of big and a bit – well, footballers-wife.
Don’t get me wrong – the Chanel quad was £30.50 which is almost double. £16 to me, is a funny inbetween stage; it is no longer a value product, or a drugstore item, but it isn’t quite a luxury quad, since most high end quads are realistically £25-£40 arena.
When I buy a high end quad though, GENERALLY, I am treated so some luxury packaging and an excellent product. I don’t know what to do with a £16 in not very nice and chunky packaging, because I know I won’t lug it around with me, but its not cheap enough for me to try out and chuck into the corner somewhere. Hmmm.
Actually a friend of mine worked for Superdrug and she said they were going for a beauty boutique type of image these days, as opposed to the bar gin style, which probably explains the introduction of expensive brands. But I mean to be a boutique..they probably need to change the name to something slightly more elegant than Superdrug, and give their staff something other than lurid pink t-shirts.
Whilst I was there I tried out the samples of Max Factor’s new foundation, Miracle Touch.
Horrid, horrid stuff. Oh wait, let me build up to it.
Firstly, it is billed as a solid to liquid foundation. No its not, its a cream foundation. It didn’t magically turn from a rock hard piece of make up to water in my hands. It was basically a thick cream foundation.
Secondly there were four shades for me to choose from – I can’t remember the names of them all, but I tested the two darker shades for my NC35 skin, and they were both horridly pink based. And pretty white.
Thirdly, it was THICK. I love good coverage in my foundation, but it can’t be so dry that it looks cakey, and is hard to blend. I tested it on the back of my hand and it immediately covered any lines I had on my hand (ie. settled into lines) and even the boyfriend added, “Ew. That looks heavy.”
Anyway, even if I wanted to buy one (which I don’t), I couldn’t have; Superdrug is poorly stocked most of the time, and both Famous & Max Factor barely had anything left on the shelves.
I did find something decent there though (but it was out of stock!).
I can’t find a picture of it online, but it was a 12 colour eyeshadow palette from the brand Sleek – which is a range for black/darker skins although anyone can wear the eyeshadows of course.
The shades were soft, well pigmented and had some pretty hip, bright metallic colours…but all sold out. It was on offer (2 Palettes for £7!) D’oh. I feel a mission to locate it coming on…
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for reviewing Miracle Touch! Now I don’t feel so bad that we don’t have it stateside! I hate when creme foundation is drying and accentuates flaky-patches. Why put it in creme form, then? I’ve never tried a MF product that I liked, and this one would have been no exception, sadly.
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Me neither! Seriously. This was really bad in terms of colour choices, and texture. So heavy! I love decent coverage but this was so caked on there are much better cream foundations out there…
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that chanel polish looks gorgeous.
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I had a look at the Famous stuff in Superdrug, the bright bright shades attracted me to it, but exactly as you said , the packaging was so tacky and it all looks pretty cheap quality for the price.
Superdrug are always understocked, and so messy. It’s difficult to find make up in there that hasn’t already been opened and tried out.
I tend to stick to boots mostly but have to admit i’m a pretty big fan of Gosh, some of their shades of eyeshadow are gorgeous.
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Hey Blu3- yes its gorgeous but I’ve worn it for a day, its VERY sheer and has chipped! Already! And I used Chanel top and base coat so not happy with that!
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Chica!
Yes I am totally drawn to Gosh as well. I do love trawling though the stuff sometimes since Superdrug has released so many new brands I never heard off but everything is such a tip.
I always check my MU from them because I have bought something, come home and found a big finger wedge in it…and yes it is always totally understocked! Plus we get Boots points if we buy it from Boots!
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