Yearly Archives

2010

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Dior Mystic Smokys 5-Colour Eyeshadow

March 2, 2010

Four new 5-Colour Eyeshadow Quints have been released in the US with a new formula. There are 2 new shades and 2 existing-reformulated shades. I was drawn to the Mystic Smokys 004 palette which features a good mix of pale and intense deep shades to give you a nice smoky eye that isn’t your typical black/grey.

With high flash:


I love Dior Quints because they convey a sense of urban-chic with a bit of edge. I find they have great pigment and lovely color combinations even though I rarely use all 5 shades at once. They are convenient and they have a diverse range of colors to suit just about any look you want to achieve. The Mystic Smokys looked stunning at the counter but when I got home, I realized most of the shades aren’t really all that unique. Here is the quint compared to a few other brands and colors.


* Dark purple shade = Dior Ultra Violet or MAC Deep Purple Pigments

* Sparkley silver shade = Dior Argentic or MAC Charred

* Smokey grey-brown shade = no dupe, but close to P&J 17 or Bobbi Brown Java Metallic, darker than MAC French Grey

* Bottom champagne shade = close to MAC Quick Frost or Universal Mix Pigments

* Center cool pink shade = I couldn’t find an exact dupe, but it has a similar finish to Armani Maestro 29 and MAC Phloof

(Note, I ran out of room on the arm so I didn’t swatch the paler pink shades)





I this quad is easily dupeable. The benefit is in the convenience in that it combines multiple shades into one compact which is nice for an all-in-one palette. I like that you can use a damp brush on the darker shades to intensify the colors. The darker colors all seem to be fairly dark. My first smokey eye attempt to use this palette today ended in a punched-eye look, so I ended up taking it all off and was lazy so I just did foundation, powder, bronzer and my EB lippies (no eye makeup).

All around nice palette, but not a must-have in my opinion, especially not at the price. If you were contemplating this palette, it’s good if you don’t have a smokey eye palette. It’s much more wearable than Chanel’s Smokey Eye Palette because the Dior is not all black/grey based. If you’re iffy on this, I’d say wait for summer! The previews that have been popping up on other blogs looks promising!

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Lancome Erika F Eyeshadow

March 1, 2010

I was finally able to jump on the Lancome Erika F bandwagon which was possible thanks to my UK blogger contact (thank you a million times over again). It is even more gorgeous than I had imagined. I’ve seen it described a number of ways – so I was really curious to see what it looked like in real life. I’ve read it described as a lovely taupe – but to me, it’s more of a silvery greenish shade rather than a taupe. To me it’s a complex silvery green sparkle with maybe the slightest hint of taupe. Maybe it’s just my skintone, but I find Stila’s Diamond Lil to be green and I know many disagree with me.

The Lancome Erika F is very unique and the pigment is superb. I haven’t been a huge fan of Lancome eyeshadows, but this one has definitely changed my mind. Now if only they would release this formula & packaging in the US!


I pulled out my other greenish-taupe-silver shadows to see how it compared. Here it is compared to Benefit Where’s the Smoke, MAC Greensmoke, Paul & Joe #18, Bobbi Brown Pewter Chrome & Stila Diamond Lil. I feel that the Lancome Erika F is truly unique!

Swatches on bare skin (note again, please take swatches with a grain of salt, I have a light-medium complexion, if your skintone is different from mine, of course this will look different on you, and also, I’d like to point out again that my swatches are not the best):

Two more views of swatches, same order, different lighting:



Anyone else have this shade? What other colors do you use to compliment this color? I need inspirational ideas!

I want to thank you again for everyone who submitted feedback in my recent survey. Next week I will be doing a series on reader requests, focusing particularly the topics that received at least 3 or more mentions.

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New Rouge d’Armani Pink Lipsticks 506, 507 & 512

March 1, 2010

Armani has some good beauty week GWPs this year! I opted for the Saks GWP because my Neimans didn’t have the new pink lipsticks in for the rouge d’armani line. The counter didn’t get all the shades in, but my SA was kind enough to sell me a tester for one of the shades.


I also compared it next to NARS Dolce Vita to help give you a baseline for comparisons. I just finished a tube and got a new one. For some reason I remember DV being cooler-toned. Unfortunately I already threw out my old tube, but perhaps it just looks warm next to the pink Armani shades.



Rouge D’Armani Lipsticks are mostly non-shimmer colors. They have more lasting power compared to the typical Armani lipstick (which are gorgeous, slightly glossy, but have little lasting power). These retail for $30 each and have a magnetic lid to hold them shut. I nearly had a few lipstick casualties when propping them up next to each other because the magnetic forces pushed and pulled the lipsticks in different directions.

Most of the new pinks were brighter. There was one, I believe it was 508 that was a cooler lighter pink than 507. If you love NARS Roman Holiday, then you might want to check out Pink 508.

The Saks GWP comes with a full-sized 44 lipshimmer and minis (just an FYI, I stocked up on some other staples such as mascara, powder foundation etc to meet the minimum purchase for the GWP, they are not photographed here):

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Saks Exclusive Laura Mercier Spring Must-Have Collection

February 28, 2010

If you haven’t filled out my survey, this is the last day I’m collecting responses in case you have any feedback you would like to leave, thanks! Click here to take survey

Out of all the Laura Mercier Exclusive Sets this year, the Saks Spring Must-Have Collection is definitely the winner! The set retails for $65 and is exclusive to Saks Fifth Avenue in the US and can now be found online here. It includes:

* full sized Babydoll Lip Glace
* mini pink rose face quad
* mini bold berries eyeshadow quad
* 2 mini brushes, face and pony tail
* mini mascara
* mini foundation primer

FYI – All the colors and items are also available in the regular Laura Mercier line with the exception of the Bold Berries eyeshadow quad which is exclusive to this set. Her mini brushes are excellent in quality and are usually just as good as the full sized versions. By now I have so many mini brushes, I’m starting to get repeats. My mom and sister get to benefit from my extras 🙂

It seems like a really good deal for the set. There is a cute GWP at Saks too (see pics below). The Bold Berries quad is really cute and all the shades have shimmer. I won’t be swatching this quad – I did test it instore and the pigment was pretty good. Seemed to be on par with other single eyeshadow colors. I wish the quad was bigger – it seems like it might be difficult to apply since all the colors are placed so close together. I will just try to use my smaller brushes.

This is the GWP from Saks. It includes a full-sized Blush Lip Glace which is a great natural your-lips-but-better pinky shade.


Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus also have their own exclusive sets. These feature brighter shades of orange, teal and bronze. Fun for summer, but definitely not me and doesn’t seem very “laura mercier.” When I think of Laura Mercier’s line, I think sophisticated, classic, demure. The new sets seem to be very “out-of-the-box” for her brand. Still fun and cute though. The Saks set seemed the most wearable for me. I believe each store’s sets retail for $65 – so if you’re near a neimans or nordies definitely check them out!

FYI – I also purchased some bath and body items along with this set for the GWP.

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Chanel Rouge Coco = Pure Luxury for Lips

February 28, 2010

Yes – I am a die-hard Chanel fan and went nuts over the new Rouge Coco Lipsticks. Even though I love the unique smaller independent brands, if I were pressed to pick only one brand to use, it would hands-down be Chanel for the color selection and quality.

When I heard the news of the upcoming lipstick launch, I initially thought, oh great, another brand revamping something just so they can charge $30 for a lipstick. But when my friend and I checked out the new lippies, we couldn’t contain ourselves. We were like kids in a candy store and bought way too many lipsticks – but at least we can feel like we look good.

Most of the shades are available at all Chanel retailers. The U.S. Exclusives I know of include:

  • Chanel.com – Teheran #56
  • Saks Fifth Avenue – Byzantine #28 (vibrant berry wine/almost fuschia color with slight shimmer)
  • Neiman Marcus – Gardenia #13 (featured one post below)

While swatching the colors at Saks and Bloomies, I started at #01 and swatched consecutively so I wouldn’t miss any colors. However I lost track after I ran out of space on my hand and I didn’t see 07, 12, 30 or 35 in the line up at any of the counters. So the investigator in me wonders if they simply skipped those shades or if those are exclusives elsewhere.

So far, to our knowledge, Nordstrom and Bloomies do not have exclusive shades. We didn’t even think to go check out Macys. In 2 hours we had literally shopped until we were ready to drop.

If anyone has details about the other major department stores exclusives, please let me know!!

Some of the colors I bought: Mademoiselle, Ruban Rose, Gardenia, Muse & Rose Comete. I swatched these today but failed miserably. It’s cloudy and rainy and the swatches were just very blah. The remaining shades I purchased will be featured at a later date.


Swatch fail, please don’t let these crummy swatches deter you – this is for the commenter who wanted to see how Gardenia compared to Ruban Rose.


Pigment: The pigment is excellent. Some of the colors are a bit sheerer than others – but they those are the ones like Perle, Ruban Rose and Rose Comete. They aren’t super sheer like Aqualumieres – it’s just some of the lighter colors have a more transparent finish.

Texture/Finish: I’ll reiterate that I think these are a great swipe-and-go lipstick. I loved the Peter Phillips videos featuring his discussion of these colors. La Chanel Phile is great for info and news (thanks to Leslieal for pointing this out to me). The formula is moist and creamy and easy to apply, yet lightweight. My SA said it’s like they took the Rouge Allure + Aqualumiere and mixed them together for a rich creamy moisturizing lipstick.

Scent: No overpowering scent. There is a subtle hint of a lipstick smell, but it’s nice and soothing. I can’t put my finger on exactly what that scent is though. I have one of the pickiest noses and only tolerated the Hydrabase Lipstick Scent simply because it was Chanel.

Packaging: These come in a new metal tube rather than the plastic. It definitely has a more luxurious feel. The Chanel design team did a great job giving this lipstick a higher-end feel in the material without changing the classic packaging – one among the many thing I really appreciate with Chanel. I really like the fact that they have kept the same classic packaging over all these years keeping the product true to their brand image and feel. I love that they are classic and trend-setters both at the same time.

The lipstick caps have a more snug fit to the lipstick itself. There’s no loose feeling when you push the lid down. The tube is metal like the Rouge Allures.

One more thing I am happy to report is that they have maintained the same product weight for the Rouge Coco as with their other lipsticks. They are still 3.5 g/.12 oz. Big YAY from me – especially when it’s a trend with other lines to revamp packaging and give us consumers less product.

Here are a couple of the Hydrabase tubes compared to the Rouge Coco Tubes, left to right: Lilac Sky Hydrabase, Rose Comete Rouge Coco, Rose Baby Hydrabase (Euro)


More color features to come soon!

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Chanel Gardenia Rouge Coco & Rose Paradise Nail Polish (Neiman Marcus Exclusives)

February 27, 2010

My friend and I just checked out the new Chanel Rouge Coco Lipsticks and we hit up all four major department stores near me to investigate on any store exclusives (yes, we went to all four). We found that only Saks and Neimans had exclusives and we both were delighted with the ones at Neiman Marcus: Rose Paradise Nail Polish and Gardenia Rouge Coco.


In addition to their full Rouge Coco display, Neimans also has a mini unit featuring:

* Rose Paradise #185 Nail Polish (Retails for $23) – a warmer pink rose frost

* Gardenia #13 Rouge Coco Lipstick (Retails for $30) – a soft warm pink base with & cool pink shimmer

* Bel Air #147 Glossimer (Retails for $27) – this is the second repromote for this shade, it’s a classic creamy pink-rose (pinker than giggle)

We both had to get the newer shades and I already had Bel Air from the Les Naturels Collection from last April/May 2009. All the Chanel reps were either wearing the exclusive Gardenia #13 or Mademoiselle #05 (featured on Vanessa Paradis in the Rouge Coco ad). Both colors were stunning on all the artists regardless of skin-tone and coloring.

To clarify – the lipstick is not an exact match for the gloss. It appears they simply decided to repromote the Bel Air to compliment the new lipstick. The artists told me they were also combining Pagoda Glossimer (another favorite of mine) with Gardenia Lipstick for their makeovers.


No flash, natural light:



It looks like Rose Paradise Nail Polish is available on Chanel.com, but it’s currently Out Of Stock which makes me think they might not have got it in quite yet. So perhaps these aren’t really “exclusive” as the little display showed. I’ll do a manicure post on this later in the next week or so, but here it is compared to a few other shades, Ming, Rose Blossom, Paparazzi. The Rose Paradise is a warm shimmery rose, similar to Tarte Love Child Cheek Stain in a nail polish form.


I am sad to see the Hydrabase go away, but the new colors and formula is amazing. I swatched as many as I could fit on my hand and ended up coming home with way too much. If you had or tried any Hydrabase colors you know that there was a strong floral scent and that some of the shades felt a bit dry to apply. Once on the lip they were perfectly fine, but the texture tugged the lips a bit upon application.

The new Rouge Coco Lipsticks have a creamy moisturizing formula that just glides on the lips without feeling too shiny or glossy. I find that it really is the best of all Chanel lipsticks – like if you mixed all three formulas from Aqualumiere, Hydrabase and Rouge Allure together. There is a slight scent, but I could barely notice it. I am thrilled with the new colors and formula. You really can just apply and be done in one swipe. No liner or gloss needed in my opinion.

One last view:


You can see a swatch of Bel Air here.

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MAC Abalone Shell Nail Cream Nail Lacquer

February 26, 2010


I thought my wallet would be safe from MAC’s Spring Forecast, but I broke my resolve after peeking at a few items in person. I was intrigued by Abalone Shell Cream Nail Polish from the Amber Collection Series. It looked like a pretty nude in the bottle and it looked stunning in all the pictures/swatches I’ve seen so far on other blogs and message boards.

Yes, I confess, my last manicure was only 2 days ago, but I felt the green was better suited for my toes. The Pop Petrol was getting too much attention and kept turning heads. It made me feel self conscious. I went to get a color change with Abalone Shell and here is what it looks like with 3 coats.




So what do I think? News alert: There is a nude that’s too nude for me. Shocker, I know! It’s a lovely nude, but it just looks too matchy with my skintone making it feel too nude. I feel like it would be amazing if I had a tan. I would like more of a contrast between my skin and the nails for this color. If it had shimmer/pearl, perhaps I wouldn’t mind so much.

It just feels flat and lifeless – and dull. If you’re looking for a nude-nail look, then you’ll love this. I’ll just be saving it for the summertime when I finally get the tan that I so desperately need.

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