It's unbelievable how little I've tried from Clinique in the past few years. In my youth it was quite a big brand for me, the first higher end cosmetics I tried were Clinique and some of them I still owned until moving house required a brutal clear out last year. I remember enjoying their skincare for a spell but even with the many blogger reviews and major launches they've had lately.. I just haven't been drawn to a counter. There are certain brands that just don't appeal to me and I think most of it comes down to the counters/packaging looking dated. Sometimes you need to be pushed to try things before you really consider a range. Estee Lauder is a perfect example of that for me, I had no interest until I HAD to try Double Wear to finally see what all the fuss was about.. and then their Pure Colour Envy lipsticks made their way through the net.. it's a slippery slope, perhaps you'll see more Clinique from me in the future.

I ended up at Newark airport last month with hours to kill and left over dollars to spend and the only counter with products available was Clinique. I had what felt like all the time in the world to peruse the messy stand and make my choices and I still came away with pretty beige products, didn't I? But given that it was going to be my first real feel for the brand I wanted to choose colours I might actually wear on the regular. I knew I wanted a Lip Pop because they'd got some very positive press and maybe a Cheek Pop because they looked cute and the brow pencil jumped out at me when I recalled Laura saying she really liked it some time ago.

The brow pencil ended up being the star of the show, very similar to the MAC one I love (this is Soft Brown, I wear Fling in MAC) in texture and application and a great colour for my current hair colour. The blush (Melon Pop) is nice, very sheer with a little sheen to it, easy to wear and a pretty coral shade for spring. The Lip Pop (Sweet Pop) was unfortunately the dud.. the colour is very close to my natural lip colour but the texture is too thin. It clings to every area of dryness and doesn't last 5 minutes, I don't know if that's indicitive of the entire line but if it is I'm not getting the hype AT ALL! I'd buy another Cheek Pop, the sheeny finish gives a glow without emphasising pores and there are so many colours to choose from but looking at the rest of the line right now, nothing else stands out. Do you have any absolutely Holy Grail favourites from Clinique?