For the love of Guerlain

Hi and hope everyone had a fantastic New Year - ours was really quiet - Monopoly and watching the Dubai attempt at the Firework World Record was about as exciting as it got.  New Years resolution for 2014 is to go somewhere fabulous for NYE!!

Anyway I wanted to blog about a couple of freebies which I got!  My lovely husband got me some Le Petit Robe Noir for Christmas - now I love Guerlain, especially their scents, Shalimar and Mitsuko (which can be really hard to find here in the ME) - so was really happy when he rather unceremoniously handed me the free samples he got along with the purchase!!

I have Les Meteorites both in the tin and in the compact in my must haves for every day - but Guerlain is a brand which mostly I buy at Duty Free as a real treat as, lets face it, its not cheap.  Anyway I was really happy to have the following two products to try!

Firstly L'OR a make up primer with flecks of 24 carat gold (how much more Abu Dhabi can you get!!)

Gorgous looking!!

As you can see it immediately looks very decedent and the sample size is quite good, given that  a full bottle is 30ml.  I loved the silky feel of the base and actually you don't need too much to cover your whole face and neck (which I always do as I have the beginnings of a goose neck! LOL).  Mind you, I could not immediately see any golden shimmers which is what I thought I might get - but actually the gold is not supposed to show..... its rather a luxury ingredient.  The description on the Guerlain website is rather more 'enticing' :

 "Gold is the most precious of all metals. Pure, it reflects light in an extraordinary way. Guerlain reinterprets exceptional know-how in a magical formula: an embellishing make-up base sprinkled with pure 24-carat gold flakes. Like the most luxurious jewellery pieces, the precious flakes were crafted into ultra-sparkling and ultra-reflective particles, then dispersed in a hydrating smoothing gel. The reflection of warm metal, the coolness of ice: opposites attract in this essence glimmering with pure gold."

Well for me its a lovely product and makes my skin feel luxurious - but is it better than say Laura Mercier or Bare Essentials primers that I use?  Probably not - I will use it until its gone, but I am not sure I would buy it for myself at AED260.78 on Essential Mall

On the other hand the lipstick sample I got was absolutely fantastic!

Just look at this cute little sample!

Firstly the sample itself is cute as a button - its not in the 'Automatique' casing but as you can see, a teeny tiny 1.4g little case.  The colour I got is part of the Les Roses collection and this one is number 165 'Champs Elyses'.  The colour did not come out too well on the photo but its a lovely dark rose colour (as you can see on my lips below).  But more than the colour, the texture is absolutely lovely, just like smearing butter on your lips - really hydrating.  The staying power is good too - I went out to lunch wearing it and still had a little left at the end.  I would probably buy this one - Cost is around AED140 which is not cheap, but I think the colour could see me all the way through the spring.

So all in all I was pleased with my free samples this week - also came with a cute make up bag in pink and black.

Well that's all for now folks - would love to hear about your latest free sample trials!

Louise
xx