Review: Estee Lauder Double Wear "ShadowCreme"

OK: These; my Chanel duo cake liner; and my Murad Blemish Kit, are my top beauty discoveries this year. They rank alongside forerunners Sweet Sienna pigment, Jewel Blue eyeshadow and those Chanel artist's gouaches that I adore. So, if not quite in the elite league of my beloved Double Wear foundation or Lancome effacernes, they are nonetheless BIG NEWS!!!

These are selling out fast, and unfortunately for me (well, typically) my prized colour choices are all limited edition. Some of the permanent ones, notably the dark navy, are stunning and will definitely warrant my full attention when I come back in the hope for more. I do not really 'get' why or how they made these arbitrary decisions to abort certain colours and stay on with others. Indeed, there are no signs instore as to which are perm and which are LE. And my SA said that Lilac Petals was perm, yet Hele's blog post said she was told LE. Aaargh why can't sales assistants be as geeky and obsessed as us and KNOW these things!!?? It's infuriating!

OK anyway on with the review... you might have guessed it will be positive....

These come in 10 colours, so you are sure to find at least a handful that you love. They come in a pretty jar which unlike a paint pot, shuts securely enough not to let a ton of air in. They are the same size amount as pp and virtually the same price point.

The colours are vivid, take minimal effort to apply and act as fantastic bases. EL DW is like a quality seal to me: the whole DW range lives up to its promise! Unlike a paintpot, these really adhered to my lid, more like a paint than a stodgy cream paintpot. EL suggests these are crease resistant for 15 hours... I would say 12 easily for me, perhaps London's Tube adds several hours worth within each half hour journey, that's quite plausible.

I highly recommend these!!! Especially the gorgeous shades I got:

Silver Leaf - A taupey dream come true: like Sweet Sienna in a paste, HEAVEN!!

Sea Mist - An unbelievably true turquoise green, pure unadulterated beauty in a paste, HEAVEN!!

Lilac Petals - A pure extremely pretty true lilac with just enough pink to keep it innocent and girly, yet just enough purple to make it anything but bland. Yes, that one's HEAVEN TOO!!

My camera is unjust to these beauties so I am nicking some pics which speak of their glory. Nevertheless, I would urge you to check these out in person!!

...what are your latest beauty discoveries???

Depotting for the Very First Time... and Estee Lauder 'haul'

Like a saddo, as soon as I had spotted Liz's blog post, I rushed out in a pitch of feverish urgency to pick up a load of the Bronze Goddess collection. The duo pencil had definitely grabbed my attention, and is sold out on the US site so it must be good. The bronze blushes look so pretty too.

Thinking I should kill two birds with one stone, I decided I felt brave enough to embark on my first ever attempt at depotting. MAC's very functional looking pots look like they are designed to be cracked open much like a clam shell, and all those YouTube videos made it look accordingly simple. My go-to guru is Enkore, I'm sure we all know him! I've even met him when he came to London, he was such a kind person - really helpful and giving of his time.

Anyway having said that, I blame him for me butchering my Shale eyshadow (I started with my least fave: Shale has no lasting power, even though it's a very pretty colour). His was the 'No Heat' method. Koren is a dancer and is strong, he peels back that lip (of the lid I mean!) with an ease that simply did not translate to my puny hands.

I managed to flip out the shadow tray of course, but then when attempting to pull the lip down to pour my alcohol in the gap, I failed. I dug my nails, my pliers, my finger, at various regular intervals, gouging deep crevices into the poor mangled shadow. Not to mention the mess. After eventually managing to free out the poor tortured Shale, with just its little shards of life seated within the pan, I decided I'll try heat. Well I don't care if it means breathing in fumes, it works, and even an absolute novice can do it. I used a hairdryer, then I used a hot light bulb (hair dryer was better, but it's my Parlux so I'm not keen on risking ruining it).

So with my 6 empties bagged up, I went to the shopping centre to get my free MAC lipstick, and my EL collection goodies. I first went to EL. They had no idea what I was talking about. Gosh, how infuriating when you know so much more than the people behind the counter?? They were like, "Oh it's discontinued". I managed to convince them it was in fact a forthcoming collection, and eventually one looked in the staff book and it transpired that at this stage, in fact for a whole month, it's a House of Fraser exclusive. My heart sank.

But not for long: I drowned my sorrows with the new Double Wear cream eyeshadow collection. Some of these shades, arbitrarily chosen it seems, are limited edition. I know the amazing bright turquoise Green, the Gold and the Silvery taupe are limited at least; the lovely lilac at least is perm. But I couldn't resist them, and Boots currently has, as Hele pointed out, a £6 points award for two EL items. So, I got 3. Couldn't decide between the purple and the silver, and the sales lady convinced me to treat myself...! She also said, "I can see you like your brights." haha. Quite.

I have been assured that they do not crease. Certainly my swatches have been impossible to remove, great sign! Especially the dark navy, which now I wish I had got as a 4th, that would have made more sense as well, oh dear, maths has never been my strongest suit. Plus I didn't realise how useful a dark base would be. But I would certainly recommend the dark blue for definite! I'm going to try these out before I can heartily recommend them as well. I'm going to try the stunning green one first, as it's really bright so perfect as I want to do my look for MizzWorthy's contest and I had an idea!

Then I went to MAC, and thankfully they barely looked at the pots (didn't even count them, I must have an honest face!) - let alone any trouble regarding the pans being missing or any suchlike trivia. The SA spent ages going through millions of lipsticks: Twig, the bright new Colour Ready shades, a multitude of others. But after all that, I just got another of my Kinda Sexy. I am not a big fan of MAC lipsticks, they all felt either very drying, or were just too sheer. Most of their range, I believe, would suit a darker skintone. Sadly all the Hello Kitty lipsticks had gone, or I'd have got another Big Bow. But Kinda Sexy at least makes lips look really big, so I'll put up with the way it makes my lips feel like they are as shrivelled as a 90 year-old's.

PS: I also bought clothes, but I'm not sure if those would be of interest, this is strictly a makeup blog, after all. But at any rate, damage to my wallet was extensive by the close of day. And my electricity bill awaited, like some sinister harbinger of doom.

PPS: Those depotted shadows in pic above are in the wonderful ELF palette, much better than MAC 4 pan palette, this is sturdy, MAGNETISED and has a mirror! Love it, got it in a swap. In US, these are only $1!! In UK £1.50, still pretty good! Colours are Mink & Sable, Femme Noir, Contrast and the why oh why discontinued Jewel Blue. Estee Lauder colours: Silver Leaf, Sea Mist, and Lilac Petal. (Review will follow, I have high hopes for these!) N.B: There are 10 shades available in the range.

Eye shadow primers

For someone like me, pale with thin veiny mottled eyelids, Benefit's 'Lemon Aid' is a miracle worker. Its thick dry dense yellow texture needed but a pat to cover the offending discolouration and allow the pretty colours of my eyeshadow to exhibit themselves untarnished. However, this so-called 'primer' unfortunately does not prevent the dreaded 'creasing' gross scenario. Although in many ways my lid colour bothers me more than any inherent oiliness in the lid, anyone who travles by Tube in rush hour knows that stress takes its toll on your face make up. Nothing looks so off-putting as carefully made up eyes that are weeping and creasing in the middle of their blended glory: it is very aging and kind of dirty looking as well. Lemon Aid, unfortunately, is not the hard stuff.

So MAC Paint Pots, and my favourite Paint Pot impersonation, Estee Lauder's thick 'Maximum Coverage' foundation (it's virtually identical to 'Painterly' in both colour and consistency)- both covered my lid colour beautifully and held up as an eye base... for around 5 or 6 solid hours before creasing.

Another dupe for 'Painterly' was one of the original players in the ' eye shadow primer' category, Guerlain's 'Base de paupiers', however the creamy texture had the same eventual pitfalls as 'Painterly', and the price was heftier of course. Although I found it allowed shadows to go on smoothly and richly, the color payoff did not compare to even Lemon Aid. It slightly muddied the paler shadows I used. But it held good for around 7 hours before creasing began to threaten. The colours also did not go on quite so true as they did over Lemon Aid. But they all lasted a good few hours longer- around 2 hours longer- than Lemon Aid I would say.

MAC Paints, which are sadly being phased out to be conquered by MAC Paint Pots, are amazing. Although somewhat limited as the closest to colourless is 'Bare Study' (which is gorgeous, but slightly rich for an everyday look, lending it a 'made up' edge which is hard to soften convincingly). These come in squeezable tubes, and I am a sucker for anything that encourages make up to seem more overtly artistic... if anyone recalls, Chanel came out with a limited edition set called 'Les Guaches de Chanel', a set of tube 'paints' even housed in an artist's 'palette' with a mixing bowl, I loved that! So these MAC paints initially ooze uncontrollably, leading one to curse the silly packaging, but soon enough the metal airtight tube proves this fabulous design has been around for centuries for a reason- it really keeps your product fresh! Paint Pots and Fluidlines, on the other hand, with their heavy glass jars, never seem to close fully airtight, and product inevitably dries out. It is also less pleasant to dip your finger on the greasy layer of product, rather than squeeze a dot on a finger and apply: much more hygenic!

Anyhow, as well as 'Bare Study', I use 'Chartru' (discontinued I believe), a beautiful golden green that helps blues and greens go on vivid.

I have Lancome's limited edition 'Color Dose' in 'Provence', which is virtually identical to a paint but a much more complex colour which I prefer to wear alone as a shadow in its own right. This comes in a paint tube and is marvelous too. Paints have held up my eyeshadow looks for a staggering 8/9 hours!!!

OK so obviously this whole post was leading up to the tried and tested and adored, Urban Decay Primer Potion, affectionately known to all by its acronym: UDPP. If you have never tried their Deluxe shadows, get the UD Deluxe palette immediately, or get the incredible (but constantly sold out) 16 colour Shadow Box. Either one is a brilliant deal and offers hours of fun, plus you'll get to sample this self-professed 'Magic Potion'. And yes, it is! This stuff really lives up to its hype. It's clear, so you can use it for any look at all and the eyeshadow adheres completely, its colour more vivid than ever. You don't need to use as much eyeshadow, so UDPP pays for itself in that respect! Only a little is needed, and putting a thin layer of pale shadow down as another base makes blending easier than it would otherwise be directly on UDPP. This stuff would probably make an eye look last 3 days straight, with no creasing. And I am not kidding. Get it if you haven't already!!