Sunshine through my window, thats what you are…

MAC’s Chrome Yellow	After tempting us into digging our summer clothes out of storage, the cheeky London sun has once again hidden itself into winter gloom. All this is very depressing, and I have decided, that even if my clothes must return to their winter warmth – my makeup is definitely going for high summer. As anyone who reads my recommendations of products will know, I’m not one to be shy of colour – however, there is one colour that even I feel requires serious input in order to work properly – and what is that you ask? Yellow of course. As I like my yellows anything but mellow – finding a yellow to quench my urge was going to be difficult. First stop in search of some artificial summer sun was the glorious Chrome Yellow by MAC (£10) which is a pigment rich primary yellow. It is an utterly flawless matte without any extraneous nonsense like glitter or pearlescence. Meaning that it can be worked into a numerous amount of looks.
B Never’s Buttercup	Wear it as a wash over the entire lid with a thick kittenish flick of Blacktrack fluidline by MAC or add a touch of MAC’s bitter eyeshadow (£10) a sour lime colour to the inner eye to make it infinitely more wearable. MAC’s attempt at the perfect yellow has one flaw however, and that is the texture – despite being ultra pigment rich, it’s not that easy to blend, especially for those of use who use Urban Decay’s Primer Potion (£11) in order to ensure your eyeshadows remain pigment rich all day. Therefore, the search took me in the direction of B Never – the vegan cosmetics brand owned by LUSH. Their option surprised me greatly. I was expecting a slightly muddied colour, but instead I found one that lived up to its name. B Never’s Buttercup (£8 or £5 for a refill) is a very sweet but intense yellow with a slight silvery glow that is much softer and has a more buttery texture than that of MAC’s – however, when swatched next to each other, MAC’s looks like a free range eggyolk yellow next to it’s paler cousin Buttercup. This colour is very pretty, but that’s just it…pretty, in no way a showstopper – it would be perfect as a eyeduct colour to go with the blissful Chrome Yellow – or mixed with greys and beiges for a more interesting take on a work-a-day look.
Barry M’s Yellow Dazzle Dust	Onwards and upwards, my search turned to my fail safe for all things colour related – Barry M. While hoping dearly for a yellow eyeliner to go with my collection of red, orange and hot pink eyeliners from Barry M, it was not to be. I did however find a Dazzle Dust. These loose eyeshadows are a cheaper (but smaller) version of the MAC pigments, and have yet to disappoint. Barry M’s Yellow Dazzle Dust(£4.50)is a soft, shimmery yellow, and while not super intense colour wise, is fun and easy to blend. This colour is perfect for mixing with slightly cooler gold eyeshadows, and luscious yellowed greens for an incredibly verdant look. For a soft look, layer it over MAC’s coquette eye shadow (£10) and pair with a grey eyeliner – a very unusual and surprising lovely combination – could yellow and grey be a new classic?
T. LeClerc’s Banane	While wandering amongst various cosmetic counters muttering ‘yellow yellow yellow’ to myself, I spied on the Benefit shelves their complexion enhancing powder Bluff Dust which I had once tried, attempting to find a substitute for my rather expensive love of the T. LeClerc powders. This of course set me in a whole other direction – like the preverbal coup de foudre I realised – my search for summer doesn’t have to be relegated to eye products – there is a whole face to look at! This lead me back to reinvestigate my loves – having been an averate buyer of T. LeClerc’s Tilleule powder (minty green, to tone down my rather pink complexion) I instead wanted to check out the famous Banane (£26) a much whispered about product by so many makeup lovers, it used to be the subject of pilgrimages to Paris to buy it’s fluffy yellow goodness. Now however, it can be easily purchased from t-leclerc.co.uk. The powder is heaven, it controls oil and leaves a soft velvety finish to the skin – while the colour helps even out the complexion, tone down redness and a quick flouf of this powder across the cheeks can help repair an overzealous application of blusher.
Shu Uemera’s Yellow	Keen to find out what else yellow helps to control, the next stop was Shu Uemera, were I remembered a product I have been wanting to try out for ages – their artisan lipsticks. Made to the same formula as their other much loved lippies, the artisan range feature a selection of colours the average woman would never dream of swiping across her lips – purple, blue, green and yellow. Each colour is designed to have a purpose – and the yellow ($23) when layered over other lipsticks is supposed to add a peachy gold effect. Sounds fantastic! So, did it pass the ultimate test? Did I buy it? The answer is no, though I was sorely tempted – the reason being reapplication – I am not one of those girls who can carry around 10 different lipsticks in her bag so as to reapply them in exactly the right order to re-achieve the perfect pout. Until I have my own lipstick lab at home – I will continue to search for a perfect lipstick (that can stand up on its own…errr…tube?) in every shade :o)