Product Review: Bourjois Paris Ombre à Paupières

I was in London this spring, visiting my sister. We stopped at a Boots pharmacy during one of the only rainy spells. Since I'd packed lightly, including makeup, I hit the cosmetics aisle to see what was different about makeup in the UK compared to Canada.

It was no surprise that the big boys were all present (Maybelline, L'Oreal, Revlon), and Rimmel London was there, along with Boots brands. But the other large display I saw was Bourjois Paris, and this intrigued me. There are about four Bourjois Paris items available at the Sephora website, but I'd only seen one or two items there and not an entire product line. Sis had bought me a cellphone charm lip gloss as a stocking stuffer last year for Xmas which was a hit, so I decided to take a closer look.

There were all sorts of products lined up, all with cute packaging. I decided to try the Ombre à Paupières, a wet/dry baked mineral eyeshadow (in the UK, they just call it Little Round Pot Eyeshadow). After humming and hawing over colours for about ten minutes (my little sis is sooo patient!), I decided to go with the Rose Tentation, a clear pink with larger gold shimmer. I thought it would match my makeup I'd already brought, but be the pink shadow I was missing. I brought it home and tested it out immediately.

The pot is quite large, and the makeup is baked until it's very hard. I haven't used water on it, but it applies almost like a pot that has already been wetted. The pot is very grainy to the hard and touch, but it goes on smoothly; I don't feel any graininess from the shimmer on my lids. I find that my brush picks it up well, but you have to work it onto the brush.

It's a shame that website really doesn't show how pretty these shadows are, and doesn't show all the cases, because the cases are the actual colour of the shadow inside. The shadows really change with the angle of the light, and it's very sheer colour that builds up slowly. Overall I'm loving it!

Unfortunately, it looks like Sephora is discontinuing the product from their shelves because what they do carry is now on clearance. I really love this line, so I'll have to source them online, or bribe Sis to bring some with her. I'd like to try a few more colours, but I can't choose which: they all look so good! My favourites so far:

• Bleu Myosotis (silvery blue with finer shimmer)
• Prune Intense (purple with gold)
• Rose Peau (pale shimmery pink with finer shimmer than Rose Tentation)
• Marron Glace (shimmering dark brown)
• Noir Cobalt (blue black)
• Rose Perle (iridescent pink)
• Turquoise Ensoleille (golden turqoise)

Product Review: Physicians Formula Baked Collection® Wet/Dry Eye Shadow

Shimmer. I love shimmer. I started wearing makeup in the 80s, so it was all about the shimmer eye shadow. Usually in three bright, contrasting colours. As a fair skinned girl, bright colours tend to stand out on my skin like ink on paper, so makeup application without looking like a paint-by-numbers is tricky. The 90s were all about matte neutrals, and learning how to blend within an inch of your life. Now I'm loving the 00s, where mineral makeup is everywhere. Non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic and contact lens friendly, mineral eyeshadows are sheer which allows you to layer on the colour until you have the right intensity. I haven't looked for a mineral foundation yet (next on the list!) and haven't tried mineral lipsticks (the point is?...), but I'm all over eyeshadows and blushes.

Right now I'm loving the Physicians Formula Baked Collection® Wet/Dry Eye Shadow. The colour palettes are beautiful, and blend very well. It is great for soft colourwashes or more intense wet applications. I do find that mineral makeup sort of floats on your skin, and Baked Collection tends to crease a little after about 6 hours. A makeup fixer applied to the brush during the final blending controls this.



This collection is awesome for rockin' the smoky eye. The light colour is perfect for browbone coverage or inner eyelid, the medium tone is a good base for the lid, and the deep colour can be layered for slightly darker colour or applied wet for lining the lashes with intensity. When I took a weekend trip, I was able to use this for three separate looks without an eyeliner pencil.

The colours are baked into little bubble shapes that are separated enough to reach without mixing. The packaging is a little bulky though because of the domed lid. The palette includes a two-headed sponge applicator that is too really small to be useful. I wish the case had a mirror built into it like some of the other Physicians Formula eye shadows.

I've tried Sweets and Smokes collections. Sweets has a light peachy beige, a lilac and a beautiful deep brown, all with a very rosy-toned shimmer. The colours blend together surprisingly well despite their contrast. Smokes is a more traditional collection of pearl, dove grey and deep graphite, all with a white-toned shimmer. I might try Baked Berries next, which is a mix of very rich pinks and burgundys.