Bourjois Suivez Mon Regard...

...Heritage **
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Bourjois is a French cosmetics company, and quite possibly my favourite. I don't even go near Chanel or Lancôme or any of the other well-known French brands, because I know I run the risk of falling in love with those too! The company was founded by Alexandre Bourjois, a French perfumier, who devoted his time to creating make-up that was better than the greasy, thick, uncomfortable make-up ...
...of the oldest cosmetic companies, Bourjois prides itself on being at the forefront of fashion and style, with what it describes as a 'Parisian twist'. It has a great reputation for colour, thanks to a "colour design" team in Paris, who constantly update its colour offerings according to the seasons and fashion trends. It describes another of its key concepts as 'newness' and innovation - like M. Bourjois with his first powder blush, it ... more

Having recently read a lot of great reviews of very expensive cosmetic products, I've taken a long hard look into my own make-up bag, pretty bare that it is. I don't tend to wear much make-up, and I certainly don't spend a great deal of money on it. Having said that, I do have one weakness when it comes to cosmetics....Bourjois.

** Bourjois' Heritage **
--------------------------------
Bourjois is a French cosmetics company, and quite possibly my favourite. I don't even go near Chanel or Lancôme or any of the other well-known French brands, because I know I run the risk of falling in love with those too! The company was founded by Alexandre Bourjois, a French perfumier, who devoted his time to creating make-up that was better than the greasy, thick, uncomfortable make-up that was worn at the time (1863) by stage actresses in Paris. The result...the world's first powder blush, Pastel Joues.
Pastel Joues was a huge success and not just among the actresses - it soon spread and women everywhere were eager to get their hands on this 'new and revolutionary make-up'. The small round pots (which, by the way, are very cute in my opinion) remain the signature of the brand today.
Despite being one of the oldest cosmetic companies, Bourjois prides itself on being at the forefront of fashion and style, with what it describes as a 'Parisian twist'. It has a great reputation for colour, thanks to a "colour design" team in Paris, who constantly update its colour offerings according to the seasons and fashion trends. It describes another of its key concepts as 'newness' and innovation - like M. Bourjois with his first powder blush, it is the mission of the people at Bourjois to lead the way with innovative new concepts, new textures and new packaging.
~ Quality ~
Bourjois claim that all products are of the "highest quality" and "are created and manufactured in France, in laboratories and factories that maintain the strictest standards of quality control, ensuring excellence in every item carrying the Bourjois logo."

1. Bourjois does NOT test its products on animals
2. Bourjois does NOT use GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in its products.
3. Bourjois claims to make every possible effort to ensure that its products are as hypoallergenic as possible. If you require more information on a product or shade you should consult the Bourjois Ingredients Booklet, which you'll find present at each and every Bourjois stand. If you have a specific query you could also contact Bourjois with the following e-mail address: products@bourjois-corps.com

** Suivez Mon Regard **
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The product is a multi-shimmer loose eye powder: as you cast your eye over the colourful array of Boujois products at any given stand, Suivez Mon Regard will jump out at you as being little pots of colour, the pot itself being transparent, allowing you to see the colour within, there is a thin label around the pot which is shade-matched and says 'Suivez mon regard...' This label actually forms a small seal to ensure that the product hasn't been opened before you get home and get to use it!
The pot stands at about 2 inches high and it approximately 1¼ inches in diameter. I say approximately...it's not as if I've just got a ruler out and measured...honest! It's a perfect sort of size for you to be able to carry it in your handbag, I'd say it's perhaps a bit too big for a small pocket though.
The lid unscrews and inside you'll find the brush, which simply sits in a little well. To use you simply remove the brush and the correct amount of eye shadow will have already been deposited on the brush. If you're going for an intense, dramatic look, then it advises you on the label to shake before use. Or, for a more subtle look you can tap your brush on the side of the pot to remove any excess.The net weight is 2.6g, from the outside of the pot it looks like there is loads of powder inside, then when you remove the lid and the brush and look into it it seems as though the opposite is true. I have yet to replace any of my pots (I have three colours) and I have had them each for several months, so long in fact that I couldn't actually tell you how long I've had them. Needless to say that they do last quite a while.

The powder is multi-shimmer, which gives a really nice effect when you wear it. The thing that I like the most is that you can be bold with it, as you would expect, but it still looks really nice if you use it subtly. Of course which some of the shades - most notably the green I'd say - the subtle look is a little harder to achieve!

You can wear two or more colours together, or get different looks from just one colour. Some of the shades are even suitable to be worn on the cheekbones or on the décolleté to add a touch of shimmer, and according to the US Bourjois site, the Illuminateur du regard - shade 10 - can be used as a highlighter.

This is another great point about the product, and infact of the company as a whole. As I've already mentioned, Bourjois is regarded as somewhat of a colour specialist, and it prides itself in making products in a wide variety of colours - from subtle to spectacularly dramatic. Now this is where the snag in my research kicks in. Try as I might, I had extreme difficulty in finding a list of the shades available. So my mother (being the saint that she is) agreed to go in to Boots with a pen and paper, looking a tad suspicious I would imagine, and make a list of all the colours available. Unfortunately for her, I've since found a list on the US Bourjois website - oops, sorry Mum! However, my mum's hard efforts weren't all in vain - I now know which colours are available in the UK, as those in the US have a wider selection of colours to choose from.

I've had to refer to the US Bourjois website several times (I shall include all relevant website addresses at the end) simply because it was more useful with supplying information on available shades. Remember though, when consulting this website, that not all of them will be available in the UK. I've marked the ones unavailable (to my knowledge) in the UK with an *asterisk*. I would imagine that all shades would be available in France, though this I'm not 100% sure.

- 01 Praline rosé
- 02 Violine*
- 03 Rose or
- 04 Bleu nuit*
- 05 Gris pépites
- 06 Rayon vert
- 07 Ambré
- 08 Trompe l'œil
- 09 Sable nacre
- 10 Illuminateur du regard
- 11 Bleu rosé
- 12 Rose lilias
- 13 Kaki mordoré*
- 14 Chocolat doré
- 15 Bleu glacier
- 16 Mandarine*
- 17 Regard Or Scintillant

Keep an eye out for the colours 'parme étincelant' and 'bleu insolite' which are colours my mum made a note of but aren't included on the list. I did a google image and found shade 19 - parme étincelant which is a sparkling purple kind of shade (see photos), but cannot find 'bleu insolite'

** Wear **
From my own experience of the product a little bit of this will go a long way - I have a terrible habit of putting eye make-up on and then rubbing my eyes, not a good look! Of course when I do this some of the product will come off, but not all of it, which impressed me.
I don't think that it is particularly waterproof, thought it doesn't claim to be. It certainly washes off quite easily - I use eye make-up remover and this gets it off without too much trouble at all.

Unfortunately I can't give you any information on the ingredients, there are none on the actual product and I've looked on the website as I mentioned earlier - if you have any worries about the ingredients they advise you to check the Ingredients Booklet at a Bourjois stand or contact them on the e-mail address I provided earlier: products@bourjois-corps.com
I don't think I have any allergies or anything so I don't tend to look too closely at what my make-up contains, though I can imagine for some people it would be very important, so I think it's a shame that Bourjois doesn't make this information more readily available on its website.

I personally love this product, I think that the packaging is very innovative and space-saving, I hate having to carry around little brushes which always get lost and ruined, this way I have a brush for each colour and they never need get mixed up. I think that it dispenses just the right amount of eye shadow, though I'd be careful if it's been tumbling around in your bag - just tap it on the side of the pot just to make sure there isn't any excess - it can make quite a lot of mess if you don't!

So how much is this little pot of magic fairy dust going to set you back? Well...here's the good news, if you buy this...or pretty much any Bourjois product, you're going to get quite a few points on your Boots Advantage Card (of course assuming that you have one). That's the good news. The bad news is it'll cost you just under £7. I think it's £6.45 in Boots at the moment but it might be £6.95...it's definitely no more than £7. It's certainly not the most expensive eye shadow on the market, but it's definitely not one of the cheapest. However I definitely feel like I've got my money's worth, it's lasted several months - so long that I can't even remember when I got it.

** Availability **
I buy nearly all of my Bourjois products from Boots - mainly because you can get a lot of Avantage points from them, and they often have offers on Bourjois products in Boots.

On the 'Where To Buy' section of the Bourjois UK website the following stores are listed:

- Boots
- Superdrug
- Tesco
- Sephora
- John Lewis
- Lloyds
- Independent Chemists
- Asos.com

Depsite my best efforts, I've not been able to find Suivez Mon Regard... on the Boots website, nor the Superdrug website, nor the John Lewis website. I know that they definitely sell them in store though - Superdrug in particular (I once picked up a tester in there and accidently dropped it on the floor...oops. Oh the shame, I was out of there sharpish!) Trying to find places that sell it online has also proved a bit of a nightmare - I put it into google.co.uk and a couple of websites came up, but I'm not familiar with them. However if all else fails you'll definitely find them in Boots, Superdrug or John Lewis.

-- Useful Websites --
www.bourjois.com -- here you can choose France, United Kingdom, United States or Japan.

www.bourjois.co.uk -- will take you directly to the UK website. The US website is useful if you want to look at the shades available for Bourjois products (remember not all available in this country)

http://www.bourjoisusa.com/eyes/shadow/38 -- this is the product page for Suivez Mon Regard...on the US website (so with shades included)

www.sephora.com -- you can purchase Bourjois products from this site.

www.asos.com -- a new addition but you can now buy Bourjois products (though currently only 10) from Asos.com. Suivez Mon Regard is £6.50 on this site at the moment.

I shall sum up in the words of Bourjois itself:
'Have fun with your make-up and let Bourjois bring a touch of joie de vivre into your life.

After all, it's a joy to be a woman!'

Well I'm not entirely convinced...but Bourjois products certainly have a certain je ne sais quoi...

Thanks for reading!  

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