As promised I have tried out all my Art Deco products and taken a few photos for you all to see what it is like.  A few days or so ago I ventured into the Debenhams in Guildford to seek out the Dita Von Teese range of make-up for Art Deco.  As Dita was previously a make-up artiste I was quite keen to try them out as she obviously knows a thing or two about make-up.

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My first impression was a little underwhelmed.  Art Deco is one of those brands that isn’t the top end designer price point, yet neither is it cheap as chips.  It seemed to me like the Art Deco stand was just shoved in any old place.  There were several staff milling around but no one approached me.  So I looked over all the products carefully to see which ones I might like to buy.  There was quite a choice so I was unsure which colours to go for.  Still not quite knowing what I wanted I asked the shop assistant if she could help me choose.  Now at this point I was expecting a little bit of knowledge from the staff, maybe she could suggest colours that may suit my complexion and help me put together what I wanted.  All she did was look at the back of the compacts and proceed to tell me what I had already read on the back of the packaging.  The compacts are magnetic and depending on the compact you choose, you choose your items according to how many slot in.  As you can see in the above picture, the packaging is pretty self explanatory.  This is of course a Debenhams staff training issue not anything to do with the brand of make-up.  Disappointing though as I probably ended up choosing colours I already know suit me, rather than try anything new.  Anyway customer service aside and on to the products!

The packaging is beautiful, sleek and glossy with cute imagery.  The insides have just as much attention to detail with writing on the mirrors

“Beauty is Art”
It is the little things that count I think, especially when the price point is quite high.  Even the covers over the individual eye colours and blushers are pretty.

The normal Art Deco ranges don’t have this cute little detail, it is just Dita’s colours :).  So as you can see I bought blusher number 09 and eye shadows numbers 371, 520 and 524,  The lightest is from the shimmery range and the two dark colours are matt.  You can see the sparkles better in the below picture.

Lets now look at what this make up looked like on yours truly.
So how did I get on with the products?  Well let us start with the eyebrows.  I have struggled to find the right product for my eyebrows for ages.  I don’t like when my eyebrows are too dark because my eyebrows are naturally quite light, and it looks a little ‘heavy’ on me.  For this look I used the middle brown (no 520) and I was very impressed.  It gives my eyebrows definition without looking too dark or eveningy, so this gets a big tick from me.  On my eyes I used the light shimmery beige (no 371) and the dark brown (524).  The thing to mention with all three eye colours is that it is very powdery; there is a lot of fall out.  I usually wet my make up brush and make a sort of paste out of my powder shadows as for me it makes the eyeshadow stick on my eyelids better and gives a stronger pigment.  So either mix your powder with water if you have this problem, or tap the brush before applying to get rid of the loose bits.  The result was this lovely subtle day look.  The dark brown was quite dramatic on first application but with a lot of blending it can create a subtle look.  I guess it is just a question of preference or what occasion you are wearing it for.  So ticks all around for the eye shadows!  The blusher, as with the eye shadows, is quite powdery so this time I made sure I tapped the brush before applying.  Number 09 is an utterly gorgeous peachy/apricotty colour and adds a lovely healthy glow to my cheeks.  I am keen to try the pinkier colours that were also in the range, I love this blusher so much.  It’s super wearable in the day and can be layered up for a more dramatic evening look.  Now on to the powder.
For what it is I thought it was quite expensive at £29.  The texture is lovely.  As with the other products they are all really finely milled and soft to the touch, so it certainly makes your skin feel silky soft.  The packaging, again is spot on and really well presented.  My only problem was, it is more of a finishing powder than a powder you can substitute for foundation.  The coverage is not all that good on me and didn’t cover my freckles or blemishes.  Like I said it is more of a finishing powder.  If I use this again it will be to set my liquid foundation.  Used in this way it gives a nice velvety matt look.  In all reality I probably won’t use this again as I am happy with my Clinique face powder, which gives a really good coverage and I use when I just pop out to the post office (instead of using my liquid foundation, which I only use when going out somewhere nice).  My Clinique powder is also cheaper at only £22.  So I was a little disappointed with the Art Deco compact as it was so beautifully packaged and I SO wanted it to be good.  But hey we live, we learn.  I took a slightly better lit photo to show you all my freckly face so you can see the coverage for yourself.

Zoooooom in to see me in all my freckly glory, it’s the last time you’ll see them ;-).  Oh and the lippy I am wearing is good old Rockalily.  I would have bought an Art Deco Dita lippy, but a) ReeRee would kill me and you gotta support the small indies out there!! and b) don’t fix what aint broke.  I am 100% a Rockalily lippy girl as they are better than MAC and the colours suit me and quality is unrivalled.  Anyone who has tried Rockalily lippies will agree with me!  I may try the coraly colours in the Dita range though when I next have a splurge on make-up.

And so, I have saved the best till last.  I had already spent WAY too much on make-up that day, so the nail varnishes actually belong to my mummy.

Again full marks for the packaging.  I applied the dark red colour just as a taster (sorry no pictures).  I didn’t put a clear base coat, or a top coat on and I applied two layers.  This nail varnish is amazing!  I was doing it in a hurry and not really taking care, but it lasted AGES without a bottom and top coat with only minimal chipping.  So I’m guessing with both top and bottom coats it will last even longer! The red is also a lovely deep brooding red.  My mummy put the pink colour on.  She experienced the same feelings as me.  She didn’t put base or top coat on either (must be something in our genes lol) and said that it was much better than average in it’s staying power and the colour was very pretty.  She also said that she likes Rimmel nail varnish as it is really good…………..thanks for that tip mum!

So there you have it, my views on the Art Deco – Dita Von Teese range.  I hope it helps you decide which items to get – just don’t count on knowledgeable staff if you buy it in store at Debenhams.  All in all I give it a thumbs up with a slight sideways thumb for the face powder.  Do let me know if you get any and how you get on with it.

Lots of love
Betty xxx

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