October 2009

A Bit About Me . . .

October 31, 2009

I loved reading all your responses to my poll earlier last week! Thank you for sharing a bit about your lives with me. Here is a bit about me:

Some non-beauty related things about me – I love to bake sweet-flavored things (cakes, cookies, cupcakes, breads), I just celebrated my 1 year anniversary with my husband, I have 2 jack-russell terriers and 1 cat, my clothing style is simple/classic (along the lines of Banana Republic & Jcrew), TV shows I love include The Office, 30Rock, Fringe, Bones, The Closer.
Where am I from? I’m from Southern California, been living here most of my life.
A few things I bought recently that I love – Williams Sonoma Chef’n Salad Emulsifier (this is genius!), Chanel Enthusiast Nail Polish LE from Neimans but also available on Chanel.com, Paul & Joe Lip Lacquers, Shu Uemura Tsumori Chisato items (more details/pics coming soon)
At the top of my wishlist? The Neimans Exclusive Bobbi Brown Mini Shimmerbricks, Edward Bess Holiday Jet Set, Paul & Joe.
What other hobbies do I have besides shopping? Going for walks with my hubby and 2 dogs, baking, cooking, blogging, reading other peoples blogs, watching TV.
What other things do you collect besides makeup? Flats, scarves and purses, here are few of my favorites:

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YSL has released a few new Golden Glosses that are currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus. The shades released include #22, 23, 26, 28 and 29. Check out this link for the Exclusive Shade Online Swatches. I’ve seen a few colors like #24 and #25 on ebay, hopefully these will be released soon at all counters.

Here are some pictures and swatches of the new ones I picked up with the other Golden Gloss (shimmery ones) and Gloss Pur (non-shimmery ones) colors that I have:

Overall thoughts: I’m not the biggest fan of YSL because of the gold packaging and because of my super sensitive nose. These are among the sweetest-smelling lip products I have which I’m not always able to wear. The Golden Glosses are very sparkley with the sparkles being very strong in gold tones – sometimes the lighter ones simply show up as gold sparkle because the base is so sheer. The Pur Glosses are pretty basic, but I really like to use them to enhance lipsticks and add a little shine without changing the overall undertones.

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A Few Alternatives to Super Dark Nail Polish (That Are Still Kinda On The Dark Side)

October 27, 2009

When it comes to fashion and beauty trends I am not always brave enough to be a true follower. There are always styles that are cute and chic on others that I could never pull off (for example teal eyeshadow, black lipstick/gloss or leggings with boots). If you like dark nails but feel the new releases are a bit too vampy or deep, here are four softer alternatives I really like:

L to R: OPI Melody in Mocha, Paul & Joe #20 Manhattan, Urban Decay Gunmetal, Dior Lemon Balm, Chanel Noir Ceramic

* I believe the OPI and Chanel are both discontinued, but you can still find quite a few online through swap boards, ebay or discount nail e-tailers

* OPI Melody in Mocha is a complex fawn grey with slight mauve tones and gold shimmer, I was lucky to get one in a swap and love it – I think there are quite a few dupes, there’s one from China Glaze that might be similar (the flash makes it look lighter and emphasizes the silver – in real life it’s not quite as pale for the swatch at least)

* Paul & Joe #20 Manhattan is a sparkley medium-light gunmetal shimmer, it is on the sheerer side so I had to use four coats but the finished result has a lot of depth – it’s hard to explain but it looks different depending on the way the light hits the color

* Urban Decay Gunmetal is currently only available in the Apocalyptic Nail Kit, I really hope it comes out in full size, it’s a deeper gunmetal shimmer with slight brownish tones in it so it doesn’t turn blue on me like most gunmetal shades

* Dior Lemon Balm was a Nordstrom Exclusive for their last Anniversary Sale, I believe you might still be able to find it online at nordstrom.com, it’s an oddly-named color, in the container it looks more greyish, but on the nails and compared to the other greys, it definitely pulls more purple with brown shimmers

* Chanel Noir Ceramic was photographed mainly for comparison purposes, but it’s a nice black with silver shimmers which make it softer and less harsh than most blacks, a close dupe is Chanel’s Black Satin which is darker

One more view:

I’d really LOVE to hear your favorite shimmer nail polishes that are medium-to-dark. I’m always looking for more colors by recommendations to check out. I tend to feel overwhelmed when I shop at Ulta or Sephora for nail products – too many colors to choose from and I usually end up with too many reds that look almost identical.

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New L’Occitane Limited Edition Scented Shea Butter Hand Creams

October 27, 2009

My favorite hand cream is L’Occitane’s Shea Butter Hand Cream. I almost always have a small tube in my purse or car in the Original Formula or Cherry Blossom scent. This holiday, they have released some new scents and kits that are great for gifts. The scents are subtle enough to not be overwhelming but not so faint that you can’t smell them.

The two sets I got were from the L’Occitane boutique and Nordstrom. I plan on splitting them up into little gift sets for friends and mixing them with some other items.

Individually, they retail at L’Occitane Boutiques for $10. However, there are several specials, promotions and sets where you can save money.

At L’Occitane Boutiques, they have a 6-pack set called Hand Cream Bouquet for $45 (comes to $7.50 each) that has 2 regular Shea Butter creams and 1 of each of the new scents Ylang, Rosebud, Frangipani, and Acacia.

If you don’t like all the scents, they currently have a promotion where you can mix and match any 3 for $27 (discount comes to $9 each).

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At Nordstrom, they have a cute 3-pack called Enchanting Hands for $25 that has Shea Vanilla, regular Shea Butter and Frangipani.

There were a few other sets I saw instore that I don’t see online yet. Also new is a hand cream/lipgloss set which is cute. Check out your local Nordstrom for more sets.

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Sephora has a few sets as well. Their Hands Celebration for $25 is a 3-pack containing Shea Vanilla, regular Shea Butter and Lavendar hand creams. Their Hands Delice set for $25 has Cherry Blossom, regular Shea butter and Lavendar hand creams.

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I’m sure there are a lot more sets to check out and I expect more to be released in the next month or so for the holidays.

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Nars Holiday 2009: Taiga Eyeshadow Duo + Mousson Cream Eyeshadow

October 25, 2009

Last week I shared a few other items from Nars Holiday 2009: Luxor, Brousse, Eurydice & Aigle Noir. This weekend I was able to check out the entire tester unit (since it wasn’t blocked by tools and tissue boxes from the event) and picked up two more items Taiga Eyeshadow Duo and Mousson Cream Eyeshadow.

No swatches for these, but Taiga has a sheer sparkley light golden color and a shimmery olive-greyish green. The duo does seem to be a bit more sheer than most of his eyeshadows, but is still gorgeous in my opinion. Definitely test it out before buying.

Mousson is the prettiest sparkley silvery-green color. I don’t have a crease so I don’t have to worry about creasing. I know a lot of ladies don’t like the Nars Cream Eyeshadows – I must be in the minority because I have several that I use regularly and love. I do find they fade faster than most, but I personally don’t mind!

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Giorgio Armani Holiday 2009: Crystal Palette and Silk 94 Lipstick

October 25, 2009

Giorgio Armani’s Holiday collection has been arriving in stores in limited quantities, so if you like anything, I suggest you grab them fast! I called Saks today to find that they had sold out most of their palettes and had only one left which the SA was kind enough to hold for me.

I came home with the Crystal Palette and Silk 94 Lipstick:

Silk Lipstick #94:

The top layer of the Crystal Palette 2009 and Silk 94 (the embossed parts of the palette are overspray):

The bottom tier of the Crystal Palette:

One more view:

I wish they had released an eyeshadow the same shade as the lipgloss, it would have made a gorgeous eye color! No swatches yet since it’s too pretty to touch!

I don’t remember all the shade names/numbers but this is what I saw:

* Crystal Palette – two tiered compact with crystals that contains a highlight powder oversprayed with silver sparkle, and 4 eyeshadows in shimmery cool charcoal, shimmery multi-dimensional teal, light silvery-blue, cool taupe grey
* Silk 94 Lipstick – sparkley (more shimmery than most armani lipsticks) golden-taupe
* Silk ?? Lipstick – shimmery warm red
* Lipshimmer 61 – matches the gold lipstick, but looks a bit more metallic/brassy
* Sheer Shimmer Powder #5 – I believe Armani had shimmer powders before, I can’t remember how many there used to be, but they are the same size as the blushes/bronzers, this one is a pale iridescent light pink (similar to Chanel Rosee Poudre Douce)
* Mascara Top Coat in a glittery bronze/gold

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More Paul & Joe Lip Lacquers & Nail Polishes

October 23, 2009

Another package arrived from Bergdorfs from Paul & Joe with the new holiday catalog and a swatch card from the Paul & Joe counter of a few lacquers and nail polishes.

I got the nail enamels in #1 Secret of Gold, #3 Lampshade, #4 Provence and #20 Manhattan. I haven’t been able to swatch these, because I just got a manicure. From looking at them in the bottles, I have a feeling these will be on the sheer side which will require at least 3 coats. But at least they are pretty to look at!

Here are the lip lacquers lined up (except for #9 and #10 which I didn’t get), several views:

To reiterate from yesterday’s post, I think I found my new holy grail tube glosses. The pigment is medium – better than MAC Lipgelees (which I found too slick/sheer) and not as highly-fragranced like Lancome Juicy Tubes. If you remember back in the day when Armani had the tube glosses, the Paul & Joe are similar to the Armani with a bit more pigment and not quite as sticky, but still thick enough to feel on the lips. They have a pretty glossy finish.