Instant Glow, huh, Clarins? Sounds good enough to me. Especially for spring. Natural glow seems to go well with this season. I don’t even know why. It just does. So, it’s a good starting point by Clarins. We’ll see if it holds true to it and proves to be just as good as I expect it to be. Ok now, I’m excited, let’s go 🙂

 

I’ll start the way I do usually. With face products.

 

Especially as Clarins released something new as part of their spring collection. This something new is BB cream.

 

Or else, BB Skin Detox Fluid SPF 25

 

For starters, I’m not really into the whole BB frenzy. I could easily skip all the alphabet stuff out there, all the BB’s and CC’s and everything… Because it’s hard enough to make one purpose product that is great. And it’s almost impossible to make an awesome two purpose product. At least, that’s how I feel about it.

 

Still, I’m trying this BB Skin Detox Fluid. Hoping for the better as usual 🙂 Oh, there’s a pump. Pump seems to be the new thing in skin care and tone.

 

Ok, so it feels fine. I don’t know if I feel any BB. Any detox. It’s a solid base product. A little amount takes you a long way. You know how those bases are. You get just a little out and can cover like half of your face with it. BB Skin Detox Fluid by Clarins has a fresh smapooey and romantic flowery kind of scent to it. It’s not overpowering, but it’s there, defitientely there. And notice that it has a pretty good SPF – SPF 25. All in all, I’d say, the product is fine, not great though.

 

Now let’s talk about the shade. The shade I got is the most fair of the three available. 00 fair.

 

I like pink beige shades, when it comes to face products. And I don’t like yellow. It has to be at least beige that doesn’t lean to yellow for me to go for it. And it can’t be too dark. I’m not into bronzers, so I like it to be natural, not darker than my natural skin tone. And not too much lighter either.

 

Before I get to the shade, there’s also 01 that looks darker and more yellow or, let’s say, warm, at least. And then there’s 02 that’s a darker beige, but still cool in terms of tone.

 

So, this shade 00 fair, when I got it, looked exactly what I want, generally speaking – beige leaning to pink. But when I started applying it and sampling it, it went through a whole series of transformations. First it looked so-o yellow I got scared.

 

Then pink started coming through, so it got to be a markedly pink beige.

 

And then, finally, once it settled down, it got to be what I thought it’d be, when I bought it, beige with some distant pink undertone to it.

 

So, don’t get scared up front, wait for it to go through its motions and, believe it or not, whatever happens in between, you’ll probably get the shade you want eventually.

 

The second face product in this collection is a cream blush.

Multi-Blush

 

Cream Blush

Natural, Long-Lasting Effect

Cheeks – Lips

 

You’ve got to be kidding me. I have four shades of this product, and I never ever noticed that it’s a multi task lips and cheeks thing. I always thought of it as a blush, which proves the old truth – read closely before using anything. Well, I guess it makes sense. It’s soft and creamy enough to work well on both cheeks and lips.

 

Here’s the good news for wearing it on the lips. At least, to me it’s good news. Almost no scent. If anything, very fresh, natural and distant.

 

The shade is 05 rose.

 

Wow, how very baby doll. It’s this light and warm and bright – very bright pink.

 

I mean, this is not natural by a long shot. Not really rose. It’s a very warm pink leaning to coral almost. It’s almost as baby doll as it gets. Try before you buy is the key here. It’s a pretty shade, but it won’t look good on everyone. Definitely not.

 

Actually, it’s one of those shades that’ll go well with tan. Only spring is too early for tan in most places on Earth. The box is very small, so you can easily carry it around in your purse. Even in your clutch, actually.

 

Moving on here. From face to eyes.

 

And the first thing to talk about here is definitely Palette 5 Couleurs

 

This spring season this 5-Colour Eyeshadow Palette comes in 03 natural glow.

 

There’s a quick manual inside, which might be of essence to some, not to me though. I’m too impatient, can’t wait to get to the try-it-and-see-how-it-looks part.

 

Oh, no, I keep forgetting about the carton packaging with a rubber band thingie.

 

Yes, yes, I know, it’s environmental and organic, it just doesn’t look good or up to the luxury market level. I wish they came up with something better than that. But then again, that’s just me. Maybe, you like it.

 

Despite all said above, the hue of this carton packaging is really cute this year. It’s this pinkish beige and gold. Very nice. Very natural glow like.

 

This time around, or shall we say – this spring around 🙂 – the eyeshadow in this palette is very good quality, soft and nice and silky and satiny, not too soft though, which is sometimes the case with Clarins eyeshadow, and which is something I, personally, don’t like. But these are good.

 

There’s a dual ended brush in this palette.

 

One end is a brush proper,

 

the other end is a sponge.

 

The brush is small and easy enough to use.

 

So, the five eye shades are:

 

This complex brown I like which is pretty rare, as it only gets released as limited editions most of the time. It’s not this warm and languid chocolate brown, that we get all the time in holiday collections. I mean, all the time. It’s brown mixed with black. It’s an interesting shade that can be very appealing on many people. Try it as an eyeliner. You’d be surprised.

 

Uh, here we go, a warm brown shade, but it’s not that simple either. It’s not really a chocolate brown and not really bronze. It’s a cool brown shade with a golden glow to it. Another complex and rare brown shade. I’m in awe. Love it. The same way as the first one, it will look good on more people than chocolate brown. Cool 🙂

 

Light orangey pearly shade. A nice one. Orange eyeshadow in any forms is not my kind of thing. This is one of the few shades I don’t like on my lids. But it’s a very nice take on it. Once again, it’s not bronze, it’s not too orange, it’s not golden, it’s not coral. It’s elegant and nice. It’s a good shade.

 

An off white base shade. Not much to write home about, but it might come in handy.

 

Boy, this is a beauty. Ivory with some pearl to it and some sparkle, not too much. How very exquisite. This is a noble shade. A sophisticated shade. A great shade that will work anywhere – from a shopping spree to the red carpet. And it will look stunning everywhere. There’s some light pink lingering in the background there in an undertone kind of way. This shade is really something. Gorgeous.

 

You know what, this natural glow palette proved to be great. I didn’t expect it, to tell you the truth, but it is. Totally worth it. Not something we get every day here in makeup world. Most shades are just so-o good. So natural. So special. Appealing and pretty and exquisite. It’s all here. In this small palette. Wow.

 

And that’s not even all for eyes. There are also four shades of cream eyeshadow. Cream eyeshadow is just such a great thing, when it’s done right. And Clarins usually does it right. It’s an easy way to look stunning in a swipe. And that’s something I appreciate.

 

Especially as Clarins formula is Cream-to-Powder, that is, really easy. And the eyeshadow this season is Iridescent. So becoming for spring. It’s long-lasting too. I can’t say I have much trouble with that, when it comes to eyeshadow, but this seems to last long enough.

 

04 silver ivory

 

Silver with a whisper of greige undertone loaded with golden pearl

 

05 silver pink

 

Pink with with a mauve undertone to it and a golden sheen

 

06 silver green

 

Silver green with a golden sheen to it. Beautiful.

 

07 silver plum

 

If you took romantic lilac and got it hot and sultry to the point of no return, you’d get this purple with pink golden sheen.

 

The quality of the cream eye shadow is amazing. Soft, nice, love it. Love the shades too, will wear them like tomorrow. So iridescent, so natural glow, so spring like. They’ve got it all. All four shades are really really nice. And the little jars with the lids showing off the shades are just so cute. I mean, look at this. Left to right: 04 silver ivory, 05 silver pink, 06 silver green, 07 silver plum.

 

And silver purple, by the way, is an odd man out in this romantic world, because if you do smoky eyes with it, it can be hot beyond belief. Oh, yes, it can.

 

Well, if you’re waiting for lip products in this collection, we’re finally getting to these here, and your patience will be rewarded, as there are six lip shades in Clarins Eclat Instantané spring 2016 collection.

 

We’ll start with lipstick shades. There are four Rouge Eclat Satin Finish Age-Defying Listick.

 

Before we get so lost in the shades we forget all about the lipstick proper, here’s something to know. It’s a sheer formula lipstick that you can layer, if you’d like, to get full on colour with shine to it, or use it moderately to achieve the delicate sheer finish. You choose 🙂 Unfortunately though, there’s this overpowering tropical flowery bubble gummy scent to this lipstick by Clarins. I’m scent sensitive, and I couldn’t wear it. Not for the life of me. If you’re scent sensitive too, beware. If it weren’t for the scent though, the formula is Ok. It’s not the best out there, but good enough.

 

Ok. Now do you like pink lip? Then I sure hope you’ve registered the information about the lipstick quality and formula because…

 

23 hot rose

 

Tropial flower like pink.

 

Bright hot warm pink.

 

Vibrant. Saying hello to coral but doesn’t really dip right into it.

 

A pretty shade, but won’t look good on anyone, so be careful.

 

24 pink cherry

 

Red like pink.

 

Cherry pink.

 

It’s not really red. It’s pink, but there’s some red in it mixed in there.

 

Which brings it into the… raspberry territory.

 

25 pink blossom

 

Delicate flower like pink.

 

Pink. A classic.

 

This is what pink used to be before we got fuchsia and all that other stuff out there.

 

It’s soft in a pearly kind of way, well balanced in terms of warm and cold, not too bright, womanly.

 

26 rose praline

 

Yummy desserty pink.

 

Beige with a pink undertone. Nice.

 

Nice.

 

I like this beige, even if I’m not generally a fan of beige nude lip.

 

Seriously, if you’re into pinks in general, or into pinks this spring, this is a feast. Dive right in. You’ll enjoy. Left to right here I have: 23 hot rose, 24 pink cherry, 25 pink blossom, 26 rose praline.

 

Seriously, if you’re into pinks in general, or into pinks this spring, this is a feast. Dive right in. You’ll enjoy.

 

BTW, I can’t feel the anti-age, that is, care part of this lipstick much. Maybe, it’s because I can’t wear it long enough because of the overpowering scent? Ok, Ok, maybe 🙂

 

And to crown it all, for those who like super shiny and light colour on the lips, Clarins has in store two shades of Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector.

 

It comes in a Lancome like lip gloss plastic tube. Only it’s thinner and longer.

 

What? A sponge? Ok… How does this work???

 

Ok, you squeeze on it, and then you get the colour.

 

And then you rub it around the lips with the sponge. I guess, it kind of works.

 

The sponge gets nasty in the first run though 🙂

 

If in Rouge Eclat we had overpowering tropical flowery scent, here, woe is me, we have an overpowering sweet desserty scent. No way I could wear this. No way. If you’re scent sensitive, go to a store and try before you buy. If you buy… Pity. This Lip Perfector thing with all the Instant Glow could be fun 🙂

 

The two shades are

07 toffee pink shimmer

 

A nude beige shade. Warm beige.

 

Don’t see much pink here. Or any pink at all, to tell you the truth.

 

08 plum shimmer

 

Yes, it is plum. A classic. I’m not sure it fits in with the whole instant glow concept.

 

I’ll tell you what though. It will match that purple cream eyeshadow well. Those smoke eyes plus this plum sihmmer make for a fun night out and a dangerously vampy and hot look. Told you, it’s an odd man out. Talk about all the spring romance 🙂 It’s gone in a whiff here. This combination of two purples on eyes and lips is super sexy.

 

Here we are: 07 toffee pink shimmer (on the left) and 08 plum shimmer (on the right).

 

And you know what, this Lip Perfector does feel soothing on the lips. It’s not just lip gloss, there’s definitely something there, something more. Very nice 🙂

 

That’s the collection, and I have to say, I think it’s a good one. There might be some glitches here in terms of not even quality, but personal preferences, like strong scented lip products. All in all though, Clarins held true to the collection concept stated in its name – Eclat Instantané. It’s glowy, it’s spring like, it’s romantic. It’s versatile enough, where you can probably find something there to your liking and… it has it all, if you love Clarins and don’t want to bother and mix and match – face, eyes, lips, Clarins covered it all. Those products definitely come together in a number of looks. And pink lip fans should definitely rejoice. And rejoice they will 🙂