October 2009

Paul & Joe Holiday 2009: Face Highlighters, Pearl Powders and Lip Lacquers

October 23, 2009

I have fallen completely head over heels over Paul & Joe’s Holiday Collection and new Lip Lacquers. If you haven’t checked it out, go to the Paul & Joe Beaute website or the Facebook Paul & Joe group page to look at their new holiday items. Josie shared her new items with us last week from her guest review with some gorgeous pictures and detailed descriptions. Check out the article First Look at Paul & Joe Holiday from Guest Writer Joey.

My holiday order from Bergdorfs arrived this past weekend and here is what I hauled along with my descriptions:

* Highlighting Powder in Sheer Radiance 001 (top left) – soft pale peach undertone
* Highlighting Powder in Sheer Glow 002 (top right) – soft highlight with a slight pink undertone
* Pearl Powder Smoke Black 001 – shimmery deep steel grey shimmer with silver flecks
* Pearl Powder Smoke Brown 002 – complex warm auburn taupe shimmer
* Lip Lacquer Nectar 01 (top gloss) – nectar peach
* Lip Lacquer Serenade 03 (middle gloss) – soft pink beige
* Lip Lacquer Riviera 05 (bottom gloss) – a cute coral pink with sparkles

My thoughts, photos and some swatches:

Highlighting Powders: The best thing about the highlighters is the packaging and the cute box it came in. The packaging/size is larger than the face colors and they come with a cute brush. The downside is that the pretty design on the powder is only an overspray so once you swipe it, the design is gone and you are left with a pale iridescent glowy powder.

Pearl Powders: Both Pearl Powders are limited edition and gorgeous for a smokey eye. They have an excellent pigmented base wtih silver flecks. 001 is a gorgeous deep smokey grey without blue undertones and 002 is a pretty auburn shimmer that might be too warm/copper for some, but I love it. With any loose powder, there is always a potential for some fall out. When applying these, they did fall on my face, but once on the eyes, they stayed put.

Comparisons to some other loose powders in the same color family (you can see that the Paul & Joe colors are unique!). Two views with contrasting backgrounds:

Swatch comparisons (applied over Paul & Joe’s Moisturizing Primer #2 as a base to pick up the pigment better):

1) Stila All Over Shimmer #13
2) MAC Dark Soul Pigment
3) MAC Sweet Sienna Pigment
4) Paul & Joe 001
5) Paul & Joe 002
6) MAC Gold Stroke Pigment
7) MAC Copperbeam Pigment
8) MAC Chocolate Brown Pigment

One more comparison set to include MAC Tan Pigment which looks similar in the container, but goes on a lot lighter than it looks in the pot (applied on bare skin without a base):

1) MAC Chocolate Brown Pigment
2) Paul & Joe 002
3) MAC Tan Pigment
4) MAC Copperbeam Pigment
5) MAC Gold Stroke Pigment

Lip Lacquers: These come packaged in squeeze tubes in 10 different shades. The Paul & Joe Beaute website and Facebook Paul & Joe group pages both show excellent photos! These are 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. The ones I bought are fairly similar: 01 is a nectar peach, 03 is a soft pink beige, 05 is a cute coral pink with sparkles. I don’t have swatches yet because I’m expecting another package soon for most of the other shades. I will post all the swatches together then. Check out Josie’s post for a swatch and picture of gloss #10!

Overall thoughts: P&J Holiday = huge win for me! Gotta love the cute samples and GWP from Bergdorfs that they had from their artist event. Are any of you Paul & Joe fans? I’d LOVE to hear what your favorite products are. I don’t have access to this line in person near me, so I rely heavily on internet blogs, message boards and reviews to try and figure out what to get!

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Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour Palette for Holiday 2009

October 22, 2009

I normally get excited about all the holiday palettes and kits that come out every year, but felt this year there were too many palettes and not enough individual products to choose from. Laura Mercier has some gorgeous palettes which are nice if you don’t have a lot of products from her line. But if you’re like me and are looking for something you don’t already have in your collection, then you might be more inclined to wait and see what comes out for spring.

She does have quite a few bath & body kits that look interesting, but for her color items, the only thing that really caught my eye was her Baked Eye Colour Palette which retails for $48 and has 5 colors with a double-sided brush.

Left to right: Champagne, Sepia, Mink, Malt and Sterling

Overall thoughts: Champagne, Malt and Sterling are very sparkley and light. If you remember those Diamond Dust Eyeshadows from Bobbi Brown years ago, these are similar in concept. Light base color with loads of silver sparkle. These are nice and not over the top, but since they are so sheer, all three colors look the same on me.

Sepia and Mink are gorgeous shades, but feel a bit “over baked” making the pigment so-so. It’s still workable and they show up if you apply them with a brush that is slightly damp or over a cream base.

The Laura Mercier website states this is a $108 retail value which I am completely at odds on how they calculated this.

If you like Baked Shadows but want more pigmented and fun colors, check out the Gemstone Eye Collection which is exclusive to Saks. I actually never used the kit and ended up returning that kit soon after I received it in the mail because I couldn’t justify the price – but have to say the colors were stunning and if you don’t mind a splurge the brushes are fantastic and colors cute.

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Macy’s Dior Exclusive Lipgloss & Nail Polish for Breast Cancer Awareness

October 21, 2009

A fellow Dior fan told me about a few exclusives she found at her Macy’s for Breast Cancer Awareness. The two exclusive items include a Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Reflect Pink Layette 067 & Dior Vernis Nail Lacquer Pink Dahlia 251. When you purchase the 2 items together you get a cute little pink envelope mirror in a pink satin pouch. Both are pale shimmery pinks. The lipgloss is very pale and milky (see my other milky pinks lipglosses) and the nail polish is very sheer and needs 3 coats to show up, but reminds me of a more sparkley version of Chanel’s Pink Satin that came out several holiday/springs ago.

Updated nail swatches per request compared to Chanel Pink Satin (3 coats) v Pink Dahlia (4 coats):

I’ve included pictures of the tops of the boxes because I know Dior sometimes has two sets of names for each item, one used in the US and the other in other countries.

The little gift mirror with pouch:

I couldn’t find any information or products online, but check your local Macy’s Dior counter and ask about their exclusives. I believe these might have been part of the Dior Lilas collection that seemed to be available everywhere except the US (we only got the Pearly Lilac Quint).

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Nars Holiday 2009: Luxor, Brousse, Eurydice & Aigle Noir

October 18, 2009

My local Nordstrom was having a store wide event and each line was having makeovers or gifts-with-purchases. The place was packed, so I wasn’t able to see the new collection tester unit and was only able to pick up a few things. From Nars Holiday 2009, I came home with Luxor Multiple, Brousse Eyeshadow Duo (top), Eurydice Eyeshadow Duo (bottom) & Aigle Noir Soft Touch Shadow Pencil.

Luxor Multiple ($37) is an pale shimmery pink. The Nars promotional picture on their website is fairly accurate in showing how light it is. If you like light colors like Giorgio Armani Blush #12 and Chanel Wintersky, you will probably like this one. I feel it’s a bit pale and more on the sheer side for me (Chanel Shell/Beige, Armani Lasting Silk 5.5-6.5) but it’s different from any other cream product I have.

Nars Luxor vs. Giorgio Armani Blush #12 (see #12 comparisons at Armani Sheer Blush Comparisons & Giorgio Armani Sheer Blush & Giorgio Armani Fall 2009 Manta Ray):

For Brousse & Eurydice Eyeshadow Duos ($32 each), I felt the promotional pictures were a lot more exciting than the actual product, but I did find them both very unique for Nars and different from anything else I own as well. Brousse has a soft shimmery brown (think a puppy chocolate lab) and a soft purple shimmer. Eurydice has a brighter purple-eggplant with hints of fuschia and a dark complex charcoal.

Left = Brousse, Right = Eurydice:

Some comparison pictures:

1) Brousse (L) versus Cordura (R):

2) Kalahari vs. Brousse vs. Charade:

3) Eurydice vs. Dior Night Butterfly vs. Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill 3:

Aigle Noir Soft Touch Shadow ($24) is a blackened gold. Along the lines of Clinique Egyptian but in a chubby pencil form.

I haven’t had a chance to play around with the products except for the multiple. This will be a busy week for me, so I don’t think I will be able to get swatches up until the end of the week. Hope these pictures help a bit! I plan on going back to Nordstrom to check out the rest of the products in the collection hopefully when it’s not so crowded.

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Bobbi Brown Black Plum Deluxe Brush Collection (Neimans Exclusive)

October 16, 2009

The ultimate brush splurge you can find right now is the Black Plum Deluxe Brush Collection exclusive to Neiman Marcus & Bergdorf Goodman. It retails for $250 and has 8 different full sized brushes with stunning black and chrome handles.

If you purchased each brush individually, the total retail value of all the brushes in the set is $267, so while this set isn’t exactly a steal, the quality of the set is just as good as the regular individual brushes (which I find rare among other brands) and it’s packaged in a gorgeous shiny deep plum zipped case.

(As of now, here are the prices individually: blush $50, bronzer $50, cream shadow $28, eyeshadow $28, gel liner $25, eye definer $28, eye smudge $28, eye shader $30. Ladies – correct me if I’ve miscalculated.)

Neiman Marcus is also having their InCircle event and the gift with purchase is a mini lip quad, mini lip brush and a mini clear lipgloss. InCircle Card Holders – check your mail because you may have a $50 gift card that you can use instore during the incircle event days (certain exclusions apply).

Looking for a set with brushes and color items? Check out their Black Plum Collection set that features a 9-pan palette with brushes and case. Additional photos HERE.

Eye Brush Details:

Larger Brush details:

Comparisons to my other full size individual Bobbi Brown brushes:

Overall thoughts: I have never bought a full-sized brush set because I usually find the quality to be different from the regular individual brushes. I have purchased a few mini brush sets in the past. This was definitely a must-buy for me and my sweet SA was kind enough to throw in an extra Bobbi Brown gift because she had extras from their beauty week in addition to the Incircle gift. The cream shadow brush in the set is slightly more flexible than the full sized ones I currently own, but not enough to make it significantly different. The only thing I would change is I wish she had included her new eye sweep brush in here instead of the regular eyeshadow brush.

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Giorgio Armani New Rouge D’Armani Lipsticks: Beige 100, 101, 102 & 103

October 16, 2009

I have yet to see the holiday collection from Armani, but my local Saks and Neimans just received the new long wear lipstick, Rouge D’Armani. They retail for $30 each and come in a new sleek black packaging that has a magnetic clasp which holds the lid in place.

Nude-beige and nude-pink lip lovers, you will like the colors in the Beige Family: Beige 100 and Beige 101 are both more of the true nude-beige brown colors. Beige 102 and 103 are more peachy-pinky and nude-pink. I haven’t tried them to see if they do in fact last 8 hours. However, I couldn’t resist the friends and family discount Saks has going on right now and figured they were worth the splurge.

They had quite a few lovely rose pink shades. Those who like a neutral-cool mauve pink, check out the Pink #501. The ones I purchased were the lightest and most neutral, but most of the shades were bolder and more vibrant. Have you seen/tried these yet? What colors did you pick up? Thoughts/comments?

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Mini MAC Magic, Mirth & Mischief Haul

October 14, 2009

Picked up a few things from MAC but I didn’t have time to check out the entire collection or kits. I came home with these:

Top: Superduper Natural (L) & Conjure Up (R) Mineralize Blushes
Bottom: Jingle Jangle Dazzleglass

In natural sunlight:

From pictures I’ve seen online, I thought Conjure Up would be a mineralize version of Stark Naked Beauty Powder blush, but when I got home, I found it was a lot darker and more plummy than pink (see comparisons below). Superduper Natural is gorgeous and different from any other peachy blush I have. Yes, I have too much peach blush in my collection, but I’m happy they released one different enough from all the other ones they have released before. Jingle Jangle is a pretty sparkley pink. It’s not quite as bright as Steppin Out and doesn’t have that blueish-sparkle-sheen that Internationalist has which makes it a good inbetween color.

Superduper Natural comparisons to Sunbasque, Nuance, Improvise, Warm Soul, Eversun, Earth to Earth and Cheeky Bronze (all from MAC)

Conjure Up comparisons to Hot Planet, Grand Duo, Gentle, Love Thing, Plum Foolery, FAB, Gleeful (all from MAC)

Jingle Jangle comparisons (I don’t really like this picture b/c the sparkles threw off the flash and made all the MAC shades look the same): 1) Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect #557 Denim Pink, 2) MAC Steppin’ Out, 3) MAC Jingle Jangle, 4) MAC Internationalist, 5) Chanel Nebula #122, 6) Lipstick Queen Creation, 7) Bobbi Brown Pink Raspberry