Beauty addicts around the world have been raving about Givenchy’s newest range of lipsticks, Le Rouge. Packaged in silver-metal tubes wrapped in real lack leather, these luxurious matte colours are intense and long-lasting, although not cheap.

Enter the Givenchy Le Rouge Trio, a travel-exclusive product from the brand available at selected airport locations (I got mine at Gatwick airport in the UK) and some airlines that includes three popular shades from the Le Rouge range at a decent discount.

The set includes shades 102 (Beige Plume), 201 (Rose Taffetas) and 204 (Rose Boudoir). In the UK, each Le Rouge retails for £24 and the trio sells for just over £53, making it a great purchase if you’re interested in all three colours – I didn’t have any lipsticks from the range before buying this so it was a fantastic opportunity to add them to my collection for less.

As usual, click on the pictures for larger versions. The swatches (one-swipe only!) were photographed in natural light on a fairly gloomy day – I apologise in advance for British weather! 🙂

  

  

French brand Bourjois has a number of duty-free kits, most popular on board airlines but also available at airport stores. This one, the Bourjois 3 Lipgloss Effet 3D set, is a trio of full-size lip glosses that, as the name suggests, create an effect of fuller lips when applied.

The set features three shades: Transparent Oniric (18), an invisible top coat; Rose Symphonie (20), a frosty pale pink with silver sparkles; and Rose Lyric (36), a deeper rosy shade also with fewer visible sparkles than the previous colour.

All feature a brush-style applicator and the sparkles aren’t gritty, which is a bonus.

I’m afraid I don’t know how much this set retails for as I got mine as a gift. These usually carry a saving of at least 15% compared with high-street prices though, so it should be a good deal if you like all colours.

The first set of swatches was photographed in indirect sunlight and the second, in direct sunlight. Click on any of the images for a larger version.

  

  

Japanese brand Shu Uemura likes to release special, limited-edition versions of its best-selling cleansing oils, and this is one of those.

The Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O Seoul Edition is a duty-free exclusive product that combines the famous cleanser formula and cute packaging representing the South Korean capital.

As you can see in the picture, both the bottle and the outer carton are thoroughly decorated with drawings depicting “the breathtaking sights of Seoul”, according to the brand.

The 450ml product retail on board Korean Air flights for $69, and at Shinsegae Duty Free for $73 – in theory it shouldn’t be available outside Korea but a quick Google search tells me otherwise!

Click on the image to see the bottle and packaging in full.

Every once in a while Clinique updates its travel-exclusive products. The Clinique Eyes To Go palette is not a new concept, but for 2013 it is being revamped with different shades.

The palette is compact and comes with eight Colour Surge Eye Shadows in complementary shades, with a formula described by the supplier as “creamy” and “intense”. They come with a dual-ended eyeshadow applicator and the palette also has a mirror for touch-ups on the go.

Eyes To Go is available now for a limited time in travel-retail locations worldwide. I don’t have a list of shades at the moment but will update this post as soon as I can. Click on the image for a larger version.

Dior and World Duty Free Group are celebrating the launch of Miss Dior eau de toilette in the UK with a special promotional area in the retailer’s store at London Heathrow airport terminal 5. The in-store event space features a sculpture shaped like an oversize fragrance bottle blooming with thousands of handmade pink silk roses (one of two that exist worldwide).

The promotional zone is also showcasing a video directed by Sofia Coppola and featuring Hollywood actress Natalie Portman, La Vie en Rose, on its “contentainment” screen to allow customers to “immerse themselves in the world of Dior Heritage and experience the fragrance for themselves”, World Duty Free said.

The scent itself is described by Dior as a modern chypre with a top note of Tunisian neroli oil, a heart that mixes Bulgarian and Turkish rose and Indonesian patchouli in the base. Dior has also launched a new Miss Dior eau de parfum bath and body range comprising body milk, shower gel, deodorant and and edp soap, the latter exclusive to the UK.

Like other beauty collections including Sonia Rikyel and Ladurée, French brand Agnès b. only offers its makeup ranges in Asia, and this particular set was exclusive to Singapore Airlines (although I believe it might be discontinued now – sorry!).

The Agnès b. Harmony Makeup Pouch contains a series of products selected by the designer herself, according to the airline, to achieve “an intense and luminous look”. These include  theAgnès B.B. Cream SPF 20 PA++ in 01 Light, B. Glossy Stick Shimmering Lipstick in 2132 Framboise Glossy, the Palette Sublim’ Regard Eye-Enhancing Kit for Eyebrows and Eyelids, a Contour Haute Def Eyeliner Pencil in Black  and a free Agnès B. Beauté Makeup Pouch. The eyeliner is made in Germany, the palette is made in Italy,  the lipstick is made in China and the BB cream is made in France, making for a truly international set!

This is one of the nicest and best put-together makeup sets I have seen in a while – every product is something I would be happy to have bought individually. The palette shades are pigmented, the lipstick is very comfortable and the eyeliner doesn’t budge, and the BB cream is a match (which is rare as I am very light and most Asian BB creams lean towards yellow). Priced at a very reasonable S$87 (about $70), I consider this set a success.

Click on the pictures for larger versions. Apologies for the lack of any other makeup on the lip swatch shot.

 

 

 

I am excited about this post as this is the first time I have ever seen an Ellis Faas product in duty-free, and it is an exclusive set commissioned by Dutch airline KLM.

The Ellis Faas Make-Up Set, available inflight and for online pre-order on the Shop@KLM website, has been created by the make-up artist herself with a selection of three essential products from her range: Milky Lips L201, also known as Ellis Red and her signature colour; a grey-brown shade which I believe to be Creamy Eyes E104; and her Mascara E401 (black).

If each product was to be individually purchased the set would cost €74 (about $99 according to today’s rates), but KLM sells it for a bargainous €59 (about $79). And with the swan-decorated packaging, the kit looks so pretty I want to fly with KLM just to get it!

Most makeup brands that make it in the cutthroat world of beauty products include at least one item that achieves cult status among its fans. For Bobbi Brown, shimmer bricks are one of those – and they have an interesting backstory, according to the brand:

One season, with just minutes to go before the runway lights went up, a fashion designer asked Bobbi to give all the models a lit-from-within look. So she took a shimmery eye shadow and dusted it on everyone’s cheeks—and that’s how the idea for Shimmer Brick was born.

Obvious, perhaps, but it worked for her! Shimmer bricks are handmade in Italy by pressing five different shades of “ultra-luxe pure pearl pigments” into one pan and double-baking them, the brand explains, and a variety of highlighter shades have been available through the years, some permanent and some limited.

The latest addition to the family is Bobbi Brown Wild Rose Shimmer Brick, and this one is exclusive to duty-free and travel-retail locations. As the name implies, it has a duskier, darker rose colour pattern and, if the product shot is anything to go by, could probably be used as a blush if you’re light-skinned (and use a heavier hand).

The Wild Rose Shimmer Brick is available from this month at worldwide travel-retail locations, and I’ll update this post with the price as soon as I see one in loco. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Last month Giorgio Armani renovated its counter at London Heathrow terminal 5, making it even more luxurious and incorporating some of its more recent concepts, such as an Armani/Privé wall for its top-of-the-range fragrances, a makeup bar with a double consultation area, a new perfume bar and renovated staging towers.

As if to celebrate the refit, the brand brings to Heathrow T5 an exclusive limited edition: Armani Crystal Edition, a reinterpretation of the bottle created by Giorgio Armani in 1982 for his first scent as part of the 30th anniversary of the fragrance.

Like the original, Armani Crystal Edition is inspired by Art Deco geometric patterns but, instead of the original glass bottle, is made of a block of crystal hand-sculpted in Saint Louis. Only 100 numbered pieces have been created, and two of them – bottles nº3 and nº8 – will be on sale at T5 from today. According to the brand, Armani Crystal Edition is exclusive to World Duty Free in travel-retail and also in UK in 2012.

I don’t know how much they cost but can assure you they won’t be cheap! In the meantime, here are a couple of lovely pictures of the new Armani counter at Heathrow T5 – click on them for larger versions.

 

Here’s another duty-free exclusive launched recently, this time on board airlines (at least I haven’t seen it at an airport yet, but will report back when I travel next!).

The Dior Addict Lip Experts Duo comes with two products (as the name indicates): Lip Maximizer,  described by the company as a lip care gloss containing collagen activ that can be used on its own or over lipstick; and Lip Glow balm, which is supposed to “instantly revive your natural lip colour”.

Dior claims this expert duo will result in “smoothed, replumped and naturally more luminous lips” – sounds good in theory! 🙂

As usual, prices vary according to the market of origin of each airline, but here are a couple of examples: on board Dutch carrier KLM the set costs €48 (about $62), while Cathay Pacific Airways charges $56 for it (remember that Hong Kong is essentially a duty-free territory). Click on the picture for a larger version.