Guerlain Parure Aqua Review

Guerlain Parure Aqua Liquid Foundation is a spoiled indulgence at $55 USD but well worth the hefty price tag for a delightfully wonderful foundation.

I had a difficult time deciding between purchasing Guerlain Parure Aqua or Guerlain Parure Extreme. In the end I decided to spoil myself with both as each performs a different function and both are beautiful pieces to add to my daily makeup routine.









Today I'm reviewing Guerlain Parure Aqua and later next week I'll be bringing you a review of the Guerlain Parure Extreme.

Guerlain Parure Aqua combines good for your skin ingredients that are mineral rich and moisturizing. Parure Aqua takes it name from the fact that it combines sea water and natural spring water to create a cocktail of intense hydration for the skin. The hydrating factor of the foundation brought me to purchase it because as the colder weather sets in my skin will be aided and thankful for any extra moisture my foundation and other products can provide.

Parure Aqua is, as promised, a highly moisturizing foundation. It smooths on beautifully well, absorbs quickly, and leaves behind a radiant, flawless finish. Honestly, did you expect anything else from Guerlain?





The formula is nicely pigmented and I'd say coverage is medium. The texture is creamy and highly moisturizing and absorbs easily into the skin. I liked how well this absorbed quickly into my skin without much effort on my part bringing both a dewiness to my skin and a nice even finish. One pump of foundation should cover your entire face so this should last you a good long while.

The bottle is quite glam and reminiscent of Guerlain Forever Gold from the Holiday Collection in 2007. I love how pretty and gold the bottle is and it looks truly lovely on my vanity.







Although the price tag is hefty, I think the product speaks for itself if you're a lover of posh cosmetics that do exactly what they promise. Radiant feel-good foundation, moisturizing and mineral enriched with SPF 20...the Muse likey!

I'm going to Muse Approve this one for purchase, I like it, alot.



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Guerlain Holiday Collection 2007 Review

Sugar Sweet Cheeks Baked Blush Review

I simply adore Sugar's new Sweet Cheeks Baked Blush!







I seen these while browsing Sephora's website recently and I couldn't resist picking up both shades available. They did a truly amazing job with these and I hope to see more colors added in the future!







Each generous size compact contains one baked blush that has two shades of color. You can use the shades together or seperate to create various looks! I personally liked the effect of swirling my brush around both shades to create a deep blush shade that can be applied sheer or built up to create a popping look on your cheeks! I deem these suitable and pure perfection for those with darker skin tones! The two shades available are Cupcake and Gingerbread. Cupcake is more of a frosty pink shimmering finish and not pigmented to work alone as a blush but more as a highlighter and Gingerbread, my personal favorite, is a beautiful combination of copper and cranberry. Gingerbread creates a beautiful peach glow on my cheeks that's absolutely stunning. For once in my life I'm not obsessed with having paler skin, I'm actually wishing I had more of a deeper skin tone as I think these would be amazingly flattering on dark tones.







Left hand swatch shows what the colors look like blended together, Right hand side displays colors separate.








Left hand swatch shows what the colors look like blended together, Right hand side displays colors separate.


Normally baked cosmetic products do not have the best color payoff however Gingerbread happens to have amazing color payoff and I personally think multitasking the compact as an eyeshadow would be awesome. Both shades compliment each other brilliantly so why not get your money's worth and use it on your face and cheeks! The formula is silky and smooth, blends wonderfully well, and has just the right amount of shimmer to create a beautiful glow. These are $24 USD and since the compacts are pretty generous in size I'd say well worth the price.

I like that Sugar was thinking out side the Fall Collection Look box and created colors that are unique and completely flattering for the cooler weather.

Sugar Sweet Cheeks Baked Blush, particularly Gingerbread, is definately Muse Approved for purchase!



See more of Sugar's Fall Sketchbook by visiting the Sugar Website.

Are these on your Fall wish list?

Love 'em?

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Missha Shimmering Over Blush Review

See the New Shu Uemura Glow On Blushes for Fall

Aromaleigh Rocks Mineral Powder Blush Review

DuWop Cheek Venom Blush Review

Urban Decay Baked Bronzer

MAC Sonic Chic Mineralized Blush Review

Darphin Paris Lip Gloss Review

I've always wanted to be French and fabulous.

Sadly, I'm neither.

Where did I go wrong do you think?

Fortunately for me I can have fabulous French cosmetics from Darphin Paris.

I know how much you guys love hearing about beauty from abroad brands and in this case you may have never heard of Darphin prior to this. You can thank your Muse later for introducing you to awesome brands from abroad!

Today, I'll be reviewing for you Darphin's newest shade of lip gloss for the Fall season entitled Illusion. Illusion is a opalescent shimmering pink shade that has a mod, nude finish that flattering on bare lips or with a touch of lip stain to create a rather lovely and natural lip look.



Darphin Lip Gloss in Illusion is one of those shades you'd deem suitable for a popping eye look. When you're not wanting to take away from a more dramatic eye look with a vibrant lip look, Illusion offers a beautiful nude finish that's stunning in it's simplicity. The applicator is a sponge tip and considerably smaller than normal sponge tip applicators which makes for nice precise application of the gloss. The formula isn't sticky or tacky but manages to have a nice, long wear. The packaging on the gloss and many of Darphin's makeup collection is retro chic which totally appeals to my vintage side.















To further advance my career as a fabulously, fashionista French woman (I wish) I can pop a Les Anis de Flavigny in my mouth and go for the full French effect. When I opened this package today I couldn't help but smile. I haven't had a tin of Les Anis de Flavigny in at least two years. A friend of mine that lived in France (next door to Johnny Depp....I'm kidding, I'm kidding!) used to send me tins of these every time she sent a package over and they were simply lovely! If you've never been to France I highly suggest grabbing a tin, you'll be magically whisked away to Paris in no time at all! I recommend Coffee, those are my fav but of course you might want to go with Rose flavor to match the mint to your gloss! You know how much the Muse loves to match!





For my look below I used Darphin Lipgloss in Illusion on my bare lips. Instead of doing a vibrant eye look I used softer shades on both my eyes and cheeks to compliment the simplicity of the gloss!





You can purchase Darphin Lip Gloss in Illusion for $22 USD at the Darphin website. Lucky for us they ship within the US! CLICK!

While you're visiting Darphine do check out the Darphin Blush Sensation Compact, so Muse-like! Darphin Ideal Fluid Concealer looks particularly lovely as well hmmm we might have to add this one to our concealer line up for review! What do you think?

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Other glosses you may love.....

Shiseido Maquillage Neo Climax Lip Review

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Cushion Review

Aube Gloss Frutina Review

Tarte Double Dose Lip Gloss Review

Mally Beauty City Chick Nude Lip Kit Review

DuWop Moon Venom Lip Gloss Review

Jill Stuart Illuminance Review

Jill Stuart's Illuminance for Fall was rather tempting this year. It's been quite a while since I indulged in any of Jill Stuart's offerings but I must admit that this year the eye palettes had a special place in my heart!



MuseTV Presents: Jill Stuart Illuminance

As I mentioned in my video I was really tempted to purchase all five of the Jill Stuart Illuminance Eye Palettes but I ended up asking for three in total. Sadly, the LE palette was sold out but I am somewhat thankful that happened because it doesn't appear as lovely as I had imagined after viewing pics of it on various blogs.

I've been much more reserved with my purchases lately and I settled on a total of two eye palettes and one blush for this collection.

One of the first things I noticed about this particular collection is the fact that both the eye palettes and the blush compact have had a slight revamp in packaging. Jill Stuart eye palettes normally have a smooth mirror finish in this case the compact has a slightly raised floral motif that I really think adds a little something extra and special to each palette. I'm hopeful they'll keep this style of packaging as new palettes are released. The new powder blush compacts also have a brand new design with beautiful lace overlay and the brush handle now sports a rather cute "J" initial charm. These small yet pretty touches really made the packaging even more girlish and more princess-like than it's predecessors.



Old Jill Stuart Eye Palettes Versus New




Old Jill Stuart Blush Compact Versus New


I'm not the biggest fan of Jill Stuart's compact blushes (it goes without saying what a big fan I am of the loose powder blushes though!) but I adore the packaging and when I seen the new colors I had to have at least one. The shimmering gold spray on top of the powder (which quickly disappears with one swipe of your blush) was definately a key selling point for me. Although in the end this shimmer quickly disappears it still had me hopeful that the powder would actually have a fine mill of glitter straight through. Sadly, that's not the case. The color I got was Gold Illuminance which is made up of cream, bright pink, and two shades of peach. The effect of the powder is a peachy glow do to the dominate peach shades in the palette. Color payoff isn't
fantastic but it's decent and pretty.







With Flash




Without Flash






The two eye palettes I got were Jewel Dress and Brocade Gold. I am tempted to revisit the collection and get the other two palettes but for now I'm playing good girl as I'm hopeful Christmas will bring somthing particularly wonderful. Brocade Gold is my favorite of the two colors for the Fall. The shades are a stunning array of golds, peaches, bronze, and taupe. Jewel Dress contains more Summer friendly colors featuring hues of pinks, lilac, and taupe. The palettes contain a healthy amount of shimmery, glittery overspray that pretty much follows straight through to the shadow. Pigmentation is medium but can easily built up in intensity leaving behind a beautiful shimmery eye look.



With Flash


Without Flash








With Flash


Without Flash


Although all the colors are easily duped or replicated from past palettes I was still thrilled to pieces with this collection. The colors seemed deeper, more vibrant, and some had faint unique touches that weren't completely identical to past shades. I particularly loved the eye palettes in this collection!

I'm very happy I did indulge and I wasn't disappointed in the least! I highly recommend nabbing these if you have the means! I'm Muse Approving the Jill Stuart Illuminance Fall Collection for purchase!



The Muse loves it!

Love Jill Stuart?

Did you buy any of this collection?

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MuseTV: Spotlight on the Muse's Jill Stuart Collection

Jill Stuart's US Debut

Further Information on Jill Stuart Illuminance Collection

Jill Stuart Seductive Eyes Summer 2008

Jill Stuart Perfume Review

Jill Stuart Christmas Coffret Review