Weather-wise, it hasn’t been the greatest Summer, has it? It started so well (my aunt was here from Australia in June and she was struggling with the heat!) then suddenly it reverted to traditional British weather, where you had no idea how to dress on a day-to-day basis and we saw more rain than sun. Today is a great example of that, with the dark skies and uncertainty, but I say let’s embrace the cooler weather with a look at some great Autumn collections, such as the Clarins Graphik Autumn 2017 Collection.
The Clarins Graphik collection is a really lovely edit of products that’ll take you into the Autumn (and Winter) months with a gentle pop of colour on the eye and some deeper shades for the lips too. There’s a bit of everything, with a palette, a liquid eyeliner, a single eyeshadow, a blush, two lipliners and three lipsticks.
The eye products have a large focus on ocean shades of blue and green, but in smoky, moody, wearable hues. The 4 Colour Eyeshadow Palette in Forest is absolutely gorgeous and a perfect one to add to your collection if you’ve always fancied trying out these types of shades but feared looking a bit dated – these are four extremely pretty shades that all work together to give eyes a wash of smoky green which you can pair down for day and build-up for night. The four shades include two greens, a soft pink and a matte grey, so there is a lot of room to play with different finishes. It’s £34 here – link.
For the first time in a long time (if not ever!) I got a compliment on my eyeliner last week and it was when I was wearing the Graphik Ink Liner from this collection. It’s a deep black that feels almost like a watercolour pen (but without the wishy washy finish) and it’s very easy to use. You can simply draw a line, then go back in and neaten any kinks and fill any gaps. It’s £21 here – link.
Surprisingly, my favourite eye product is the Ombre Matte in Midnight Blue, as it’s just such a gorgeous shade of blue that I love wearing. The Ombre Matte shadows are kind of cream/powder hybrids, as they have a spongy feel during application, but they look like a powder once applied – they’re really interesting and the finish they create is brilliant. Midnight Blue is the perfect name for this shade as that’s exactly how it looks – a deep, inky take on blue that works really well as a sweep across the lids – I’m wearing it above worked over the grey shade from the palette. It’s £19 here – link – and there are some seriously awesome shades in the collection.
If you haven’t tried a Joli Rouge Lipstick then you need to correct this ASAP – what a glorious formula! They’re buttery, hydrating, balm-like with strong and striking colour that builds up to opaque. There are three shades included in the Graphik collection, Deep Red – a surprisingly wearable red that straddles berry and red; Guava – a pretty and flattering nude pink (want!) and Litchi, which is a kind of pinky red that I can’t believe how much I love – it’s just the ideal shade for giving you that polished finish when you’re short of time and can’t do a full look, or if you just want something to quickly brighten your face – it’s really, really lovely. The Joli Rouge lipsticks are here – link – for £20 each, pictured are Deep Red and Litchi.
Finally there are also two Lipliner Pencils finishing off the Graphik Collection, Red, which is a traditional red and the one I have, Roseberry, which is a slightly nude berry shade that works well with Litchi – apologies for the blurry swatches! As you’d expect, these are buttery yet firm enough so that you don’t end up slipping all over the place; these allow you to create a perfect line of definition without looking too harsh or obviously. They’re £17.50 each here – link.
In the picture above I’m wearing grey from the palette with the Midnight Blue Ombre Matte on the eyes, then the Roseberry lipliner and Litchi lip colour on the lips. There’s also a Blush Prodige in the shade Golden Pink that looks like it would work really well with this collection, as whilst they’re all very wearable shades, they’re pretty strong colours, so you wouldn’t want anything too bright to detract from the overall finish. I love the Ombre Matte shade but I also love the Litchi lipstick and I think the palette is beautiful too, so it’s really hard to pick a favourite, thus proving what a great collection it is!
*PR Samples
