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China Glaze

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A Few Reader Requests

May 1, 2010
Some of you have requested info, photos and swatches on a few items in the past few weeks. I apologize for the delay, I have not forgotten – here are the swatches and info you have requested. For reference, I am a Chanel Shell 1.5 in Teint Innocence (the liquid version). To see what other foundation shades I am, check out the sidebar – there’s a link to my foundation shades.

1) Can you swatch Edward Bess Bare Rose on your lips alone? Here it is by itself, please excuse the skin I don’t have any foundation or powder on:

2) Please swatch Paul & Joe 06 Nail Polish! I like this better in the bottle. On my fingers, I feel it’s a bit muddy looking. I’ve seen it on my tan friends (who are the equivalent to NC40 and a bit darker) and it looks gorgeous on them though. Here it is (2 coats):


3) How does NARS Love Devotion compare to last year’s Outsider?
Love Devotion is brighter and sheerer. Here they are also compared to Beautiful Liar:

4) Can you swatch Shu IR Brown 850 compared to Shu ME 850? Sure, I’ll do one better. Here it is next to the other Shu Uemura taupes that I have. I find it fascinating how the base pulls out different undertones in each taupey color. These are swatched over a moisturized arm:

5) Can you write a post on how you pick out your makeup-of-the-day/look-of-the-day? There’s not much to write about this one. I pick out my clothes first and this is based on my mood. Makeup looks are picked out depending how much time I have and the colors I’m wearing for clothes. Sometimes, I’ll pick one product and create a look around that color. I’d like to say it’s more planned out through a more creative process, but it’s really just based on whatever works.

6) Will you show stash/closet pics? Most likely not. It might seem like I’m organized, but I am far from it. Just ask my husband. Granted, I do keep an organized mess – everything has their own section/pile – but it’s still very chaotic. I will share an old photo of my purse organization (this is an older photo from long before I started blogging, before I started my MBA, back when I was much more organized):


7) Did you purchase the new Chanel Shanghai-Paris Nail Polishes? What are your thoughts? But of course! How could I resist? I wasn’t going to write about these because so many other bloggers did, but since I’ve received several requests, I will. This one will be a bit more comprehensive, so I will do a separate post on this topic in a few days or so.

8) Will you be swatching NARS Versailles? Here’s a swatch, but I plan on this being my next manicure, so stay tuned for more pics! (FYI, I’ve seen this swatched on other blogs and it looked very streaky, I had to apply with a really steady hand to get an unstreaky result on my finger.)


9) Is there a dupe for Rescue Beauty Lounge Pink Shimmer? Yes – I’ve found 2 dupes, Chanel Le Perle (long discontinued) and China Glaze Heaven. They look really different in the bottles, but on the nails, the result is strikingly similar. If you look close you can see the difference in finish and opacity, but’s not really noticable from afar.


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Color Focus: Teal Eyes & Nails Inspired by Marion Cotillard

January 20, 2010

I watched part of the Red Carpet coverage of the Golden Globes and was inspired by Marion Cotillard’s beautiful deep teal-green dress, eyeliner and nails she wore to dig through my collection and find similar shades so I could try to recreate the look. You can see her look linked here.

I don’t have a lot of blues or teals in my stash but with a little practice was able to combine the shades to achieve a similar result. Just a disclaimer: I have no idea what products or colors were used on her actual look, this is just what I tried myself to get a similar effect.



My application steps/technique:

Cheeks: First apply MAC Dainty on apples of cheeks followed by a sheer dust of Pink Swoon.

Eyes: Apply a pale champagne cream on eyes as a base like Nars Copacabana and dust MAC Quick Frost pigment from lash to brow (apply heavier near lash line). Right around the rims of the eyes, apply a seafoam green shimmer like the Bottom Left shade of Chanel Murano followed by a smokey line of a darker smokey grey-green like the Top Left shade of Chanel Murano. Apply a teal green liner like Laura Mercier Black Turquoise Eye Kohl heavily along upper lash line and lower lash line. Take a slightly damp brush and apply a shimmery teal-green shadow like MAC Deep Blue Green Pigment or Chanel Murano right over the pencil blending with a soft brush for a smudged look. The last step for the eyes (not pictured) is to take a contouring powder or soft brown like MAC Soba or Era and apply right over the middle of the eye for depth/contour.

Lips: Line with a pale pink shimmer like Trish McEvoy Essential Pencil in Baby Pink and top with a shimmery shell pink lipstick like Chanel Waikiki Aqualumiere. Top with a matching gloss for shine like Dior #431.

I would have liked to get a brighter smokey teal along the lash lines, the teals I have are darker and more subdued. I learned from experimenting that the key to get a brighter teal is to layer the colors from light to dark. Layering the Laura Mercier Black Turquoise, MAC Deep Blue Green Pigment and dark green shade from Chanel Murano over the lighter shades brings out the teal shimmer more.

For nails, I pulled out my green shades. I’m still in search for a dark teal shimmer that doesn’t look black in natural light. It’s hard for me to find something that’s the right balance of teal and dark shimmer. Most teals are either too bright for my taste or too dark. All swatches are taken with a flash, each has 3 coats. Anyone have alternative recommendations on pretty dark teal shimmers?





I already featured some other teal shades in my Smokey Eye Series in Color Focus: Smokey Eyes Part 5 (Blues & Greens) last November.