With the beautiful weather we have been having recently its time to change our dreary Winter/Spring makeup and embrace new colours and trends, today I would like to share with you No7 Summer Collection.
The No 7 Summer Collection has been inspired by Tropical Shores and Miami glamour, with an apt name too, ‘Colour In Paradise’ The fabulous No 7 team have created the collection with the amazingly talented Creative Director Lisa Eldridge.
I am extremely excited and lucky to share with you some lovely things from the collection, bold bright colours to compete with the hottest days and coolest nights.
No 7 Stay Perfect Nail Colours – I do love No 7 formulas in nail varnish. They have a really good consistency and look really fantastic on nails. Its one of the few formulas I have tried that often you can get away with just 1 coat which makes them really good value for money.
There are 3 colours in the Colour In Paradise collection; Hot Lava, Paradise Love and Daisy Darling.
I have 2 of the colours to show you swatched here today so you get a good idea of how the look on the nails….
Hot Lava is a cream formula varnish with a high gloss shine. It looks elegant on the nails and is perfect for those ladies who like red polishes but want to ‘brighten’ them up for Summer without ditching the reds. Hot Lava is a bright coral shade, more red than orange it stands out on your nails and will look amazing with a tan.
Paradise Love is a glittery formula nail varnish. It has a sheer pearl green base which is build-able with subsequent coats with a heavy glittered texture. I’m not a massive fan of glittery polishes but what really struck a cord with me with Paradise Love was that it was a more matt formula than gloss (I would call it a semi matt finish). There is 2 types of glitter in the polish; a fine sparkly glitter which is heavy in the formula and then a larger particle darker green which gives the nails more texture and sparkle. This means the glitter really stands out more. Its perfect for evenings out or catching a tan on the beach.
The No 7 Stay Perfect Nail Colours cost £6.00 for 10ml (0.33 US fl.oz).
No 7 Stay Perfect Trio Eye Shadow Palette in Beside the Sea – I like trio eye shadows as it means you can usually work more than one look out of a palette. Beside the Sea is perfect for my blue eyes as it really makes them stand out. This was my first time trying a No 7 shadow but I was really impressed with the colour pay off.
The Beside the Sea palette has 3 colours which are really great worn all together, alone or working them in pairs. The silver works really well as a crease colour or inner corner. The green I liked running over my lid and along my lower lash line and the blue looks good in the crease and lid. As the colours aren’t exceptionally dark you can pull them up onto your crease, as long as you blend them well.
Another bonus to these shadows is if you use them damp. If you damp a flat shadow brush and apply it to the shadows the colour intensifies. They really are quite buildable. My only point against these shadows is you do get some fall out, but its easy to clean up with a foundation brush.
The No 7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow Trios cost £9.50.
No 7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow (Single) – The single shadows are a larger quantity of 1 shade of the trio shadows. I find singles are brilliant if you use a certain colour a lot, like for creases, high lights (Browns and corners) or definition.
Pink Sorbet is a perfect inner corner high light or for all over the crease. Personally I don’t use frosted colours in my crease, but this would make a great crease colour if you were going for subtle. Its a beautiful pale frosted pink and also looks really good applied to the cheeks.
If heavily blended or applied lightly you could easily use this as a brown high light too. I found this shadow didn’t fall out as much as the Trios did, but maybe thats because its so light and harder too see the fall out. The eyeshadows from No 7 Stay Perfect range last really well on the eyes. I have fairly oily lids and even without a primer I found them to be really good.
No 7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow (Single) cost £7.00.
No 7 Extravagant Volume Waterproof Mascara – Being a mascara junkie means I’ve tried a lot of mascaras in my time. Its the one item I cannot leave the house without wearing and I’m happy to invest money into. I have tried No 7 mascaras before but that was years ago, I’ll be honest I didn’t like the forumla then as it had a quite strong fragrance which didn’t agree with my eyes, so I haven’t looked to the brand again for one. However, luckily trying Extravagant Volume has meant my opinion has been changed.
The No 7 Extravagant Volume Waterproof mascara is fragranced but not in a heavy way. My eyes can water a lot, so being a waterproof formula really helped with this. The mascara didn’t react with my sensitive eyes at all, although as with all mascaras if you do get it in your eye it will sting!
The brush is a plastic bristled type with short bristles that create a lot of volume. I did notice a good amount of curl and length too, even when not using eye lash curlers. I was really impressed with the formula on my lashes as it didn’t clump and was easily builable.
Overall, this is a really good mascara. If you like volume I recommend more than 1 coat. I also recommend working quickly as it does tend to try on the lashes faster and will go clumpy and thick if the first coat is dry. Being waterproof means its perfect for the Summer especially with swimming and sun bathing. I didn’t get any smudging nor panda eyes. It is a little harder to remove, but does come off with eye makeup remover (Both gel and oil based).
No 7 Extravagant Volume Waterproof Mascara cost £12.00 for 9ml (0.3fl.oz).
No 7 Natural Blush Tint Powder – Blusher for me, is something that can really add to a look and complete it. I love how that subtle glow to your cheeks can leave you feeling more womanly and fresh faced.
The No 7 Natural Blush Tint Powder brushers are light and buildable. A small swirl of your brush on this blusher in Cool Pink gave you a fresh faced glow. Work a little more product on and you were left with a deeper hue that still looked natural.
I was quite impressed with the Natural Blush Tint Powder and how it lasted on my cheeks. I will definitely be looking into other shades available in the collection like Honey and Coral Flush.
No Natual Blush Tint Powder costs £8.00.
No 7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick – Nothing would complete a Summer look without some beautiful lipstick to go with it. The Sheer Temptation Lipsticks from No 7 are super light formulas which really moisturise the lips. The formula of the lipstick reminded me of the Revlon Lip Butters or L’Oreal Rouge Caresse, except the Sheer Temptation Lipsticks felt and look better on the lips in my opinion.
I found these lipsticks had better colour pay off without being ‘full on’. This was especially noticable with Blooming Pink and Cuckoo Coral. These shades may normally be too much for some, but in the Sheer Temptations formula looks amazing. As with many of the sheerer lipsticks they don’t last as long as a matt formula may, however I did found they lasted quite well on my lips.
I also liked how my lips felt wearing them. With L’Oreal Rouge Caresse my lips felt a little ‘greasy’ yet with these my lips just felt moisturised. In fact, it felt very similar to wearing a lipbalm except you got great colour pay off and a light gloss finish.
I really loved the colours of all these lipsticks, although have found Blooming Pink and Shy Pink have had the most use. All 3 colours are perfect for Summer and look beautiful with a tan!
No 7 Sheer Temptation Lipsticks cost £9.50.
No 7 Intellingent Colour Bronzer – This review and feature is all about saving the best for last. I mentioned this product in my April Favourites video (Post here) as since getting it I’ve used it daily and fallen in love.
I use bronzer all year round, but in Summer I like to go the extra mile. With the Intelligent Colour Bronzer from No 7 you can build it up to just how you like it. The mousse like formula is really easy to work with. A few dabs on the skin blended in with a blusher brush or even your fingers gives you a really beautiful glow.
This product is pefect for cheeks, forehead, nose and chin for that sunkissed look. But I do love products you can multi task with and that’s exactly what I do with Intelligent Colour Bronzer. You can also use this for a contour if you build and layer the product, or even a base for your powder contour! It works well as a crease colour too on your eyes! I’ve found I use it all over my face for different things and can’t fault the product at all!
Another plus point is this is a matt formula, no shimmers or sparkles! So, it really does just give you that sun kissed look without looking like Edward Cullen. If there was ever a product I would recommend to people this year for Summer, it would be without a doubt No 7 Intelligent Colour Bronzer.
No 7 Intelligent Colour Bronzer costs £11.50.
So, there you have it. Some really fabulous items for Summer from No 7. My favourites are definitely the Sheer Temptations Lipsticks and of course Intelligent Bronzer!
The wider No 7 Summer Collection is available in stores now and the new shades are available from 15th May.
For more information on No 7 and their products; why not check out their page at Boots online, Facebook or Twitter?
Lots of Love,
Mel xxxx