Reviews of the Month – July 2011

Below are our favourite reviews for July. Review are picked for being helpful, insightful or just really interesting.

Each reviewer will receive a £20 Escentual gift voucher! For your chance to win, simply review your past purchases.

 

Stila Collectable Beach Palette 1 - Stunning in SayulitaKwarnst’s review of Stila Collectable Beach Palette – Stunning in Sayulita

“This cute Stila beach palette is great value for money! Four eyeshadow colours, 1 blush and 1 highlight colour (the box calls it a bronzer but I find it rather pale to be a bronzer) in a cute book-like box, a mirror and a how-to are included.
The colours are very pretty and easy wearable. The eyeshadows are soft, have great colour pay off, are easy to use and easy to blend. The blush and highlighter are beautifull and make a great combo for everyday use. The size of the powders is average, not too small nor too big. I think this is the right size for this kind of palette.
The colours are very easy to work with, this palette is very versatile and makes a great start for lots and lots of beautiful looks. A good eyeshadow base makes the staying power of the colours even more outstanding.
I think these kind of palettes are great value for money (makes a great gift too!) and I hope Escentual will sell the rest of the collection in the near future.”
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“I’ve read a lot of so-so reviews about this fragrance, but for me this is outstanding, and undoubtedly one of my favourites. The fragrance has a lot of herbal greenness to it, very little of a sweet muskiness (thank god – there are far too many of those), and strong woody presence of moss and sage (I’m assuming that’s the guaiac), but with a hinting presence of bergamot. It seems to pass into nothingness after a while and yet every so often, particularly on warm days, your senses grasp at its cool clarity, and immediately I find it both rewarding and relaxing. Great fragrance, unique, compelling and well worth a try.
Other fragrances I enjoy: AdP Blu Med Cipresso, Canali, Zegna Colonia”
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Avene Eluage CreamMo17‘s review of Avene Eluage Cream
“This really is a hidden beauty gem. I’ve tried much more expensive anti ageing creams and I’ve tried cheaper anti ageing creams such as Olay and Boots No. 7. None have been as effective or as gentle in plumping up the skin and rolling back the years. When Boots stopped stocking it I went into a mini panic before I noticed it for sale on Escentual. This is the best there is and within a week you will notice a difference. Great product and a great price.”
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“After being disappointed by a series of ineffective mascaras, some cheap and some less so, I decided to give the slighly odd Givenchy ‘spherical brush’ a try. I’m not sure about their claims for a ‘curving formula’ but it coats well and I definitely do like the ease with which you can accurately apply it to your outer lashes with the little spiky bobble. It’s this that produces noticable and attractive results – I won’t be swapping back to a traditional mascara wand any time soon.”

 

Serge Lutens Five O'Clock au Gingembre Eau de Parfum SprayVeda‘s review of Serge Lutens Five O’Clock au Gingembre Eau de Parfum Spray

“I’ve been on a perfume odyssey recently and I ended up at the altar of Serge Lutens with a bottle of 5 O’Clock.

It opens with a heady blast of bergamot, citrus with a background of warm spicy ginger. It’s sweet, spicy and lemony. The heart notes are supposed to be black tea with a honey note. I must say I’m not that familiar with the scent of black tea, but you really get the honey tempered by a delicate, woody, smoky note.
The dry down I’m left with is a lovely spicy ginger, again with a background of wood embers and a hint of vanilla pod.
It last a good 4-5 hours on me and while the sillage isn’t so much that it knocks colleagues out in the lift, it’s enough that I get the occasional waft and I assume others do too.
It’s quite a sexy fragrance with the spice notes, and smells as expensive as you would expect from a niche fragrance. If I had to use my (limited) powers of descriptive imagery I would compare this to being in the wood panelled Library of an old Tudor house, sat in a leather chair in front of the embers of a fire, cup of tea and dark sticky ginger cake in hand”

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