Mariah Carey and OPI have partnered to release some beautiful shades this month. As soon as I spotted A Butterfly Moment on DSK Steph, I knew I had to have it. I literally ran to my local Ulta and was ecstatic to find all shades available. A Butterfly Moment is a frosted nude-pink shimmer. On me it’s fairly nude in the sense that it’s close to my natural skintone. I found it a bit too neutral for me – although I suspect it would look a lot prettier on either paler or darker skintones. Still it’s a good work-friendly neutral and the pearly pink shade is just so pretty in the bottle. I found the formula to be a little on the thick side – I recommend you let your first coat dry completely before applying a second. Two coats were definitely needed for smooth even coverage.
Swatches – depending on the light you can see some of the golden glow:
A few comparisons to Chanel Perle Rosee (discontinued), Chanel Rose Cache, Chanel Rose de Vents (discontinued) and OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes:
Did you pick up any of the OPI Mariah Carey shades? I already can’t wait for the Oz collection to be released in stores 🙂
Per request, here is a comparison post of Chanel’s Raffinement Quad ($58) and Edward Bess’s Cosmic Bliss ($68). Both are glorious neutrals. To me they are different enough to justify owning both. The differences:
Chanel Raffinement has shimmer that is more frosted than the colors in Edward’s quad. The pales are also quite a bit lighter. Overall the quad pulls a bit warmer and slightly more pinkish/plum on the eyes. The darkest shade is also a matte.
Edward Bess Cosmic Bliss is more of a neutral/satiny palette. The colors are a bit darker and more neutral. The shimmer factor is not quite as high as with Chanel.
Both are equally good in pigment, texture and lasting power. I cannot choose between the two – I love them both.
1. Tom Ford’s Private Blend Fragrances – I’m slowly transitioning from my usual light airy scents to ones that are a bit darker and more complex. I’ve been lusting over Santal Blush for ages (see Temptalia’s review here) but also received a small sample at the counter of Tobacco Vanille (which made The Non-Blonde’s top vanilla perfumes list). I can’t decide!
2. Burberry Hydrangea Pink Blush – this is new for spring and on its way to me 🙂 It’s online now at Nordstrom.com. See it swatched on Gummy Vision.
3. Deborah Lippmann has some lovely spring nail colors coming out soon. I’m really curious about Moon Rendezvous (available for pre-sale on Neimans).
4. Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille – sweet smokey vanilla perfection in a bottle. I’ve never been able to pull the trigger on purchasing this one. Perhaps this year will be the year! I see a trip to Barneys in my near future. Details online at Barneys.com.
5. NARS Cythere Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil – gorgeous swatch on Makeup and Beauty Blog and also listed as being used for Helmut Lang’s Spring 2013 show, beauty breakdown listed on 15 Minute Beauty.
Last year YSL reformulated and repackaged their nail lacquers into their La Laque Couture. I haven’t had a chance to play much with the new formulas (although I do own three). They come in a lovely square-shaped bottle with a removable cap. The brush is wider than most brands, but also skinny (flat). I normally prefer brushes that are not quite as wide, but the YSL applies very easily with the shape of the brush. Bronze Pyrite #35 is the first YSL nail lacquer (in the new formula) that I’ve tried and so far I’m impressed. It’s part of the spring 2013 line ($25 for 0.34 fl oz./10 ml).
As you can see Bronze Pyrite is a beautiful metallic. It’s a true metallic in the sense that it goes on with a metal finish (rather than sparkle or shimmer). There is a lot of color mixed in. On the nails I would describe it as a pewter. Depending on the lighting, sometimes there is a very slight khaki/greenish glimmer. I was pleased that it applied with minimal visible brush strokes. The pigment is rich and only needed one coat, however 2 coats was best for me.
At an angle you can see a bit of the khaki glow:
Here are a few views of the packaging and brush:
Here it is swatched on me:
Compared to other metallic/high shimmers, YSL Bronze Pyrite is the most foiled/metallic looking compared to other similar metallics. Chanel’s Graphite has a more complex finish with larger sparkles, Tom Ford’s Silver Smoke is lighter and more neutral with a finely milled shimmer, Dior Timeless Gold has a more sophisticated shimmer and Chanel Diwali has more dimension.
Overall a huge thumbs up. I did get some tip wear on day 3, and on day 5 it started to chip a little. I found it lasted quite well throughout the week.
There is one more shade from YSL spring, a gorgeous seafoam green called Jade Imperial #34. I passed since it seemed so similar to one of the shades from last year’s OPI Holland collection but I didn’t try them side by side to compare.
Edward Bess Cosmic Bliss Prismette Eyeshadow Quad is every taupe-lover’s dream come true ($68 for 0.25 oz/7g). Some have chosen this one as their favorite of the three quads that Edward has released (I agree too). I particularly loved the reviews, reader comments and swatches on Best Things in Beauty and Café Makeup.
Cosmic Bliss has four beautiful neutrals: a creamy all-over-base shade, a soft shimmery beige taupe (same as his Intimate single shadow), a darker taupe shimmer with a very slight hint of mauve, and a dark chocolatey taupe shimmer with reddish tones. The palette is effortless and gives a gorgeous polished look. The shades are shimmery but on the eyes it applied more subtle – it has a luminous glow rather than a shimmery frost. Those who are scared of shimmer need not worry about this one. It’s very natural (but not too natural).
I love that it’s extremely versatile. The texture of the shades is amazing. The colors themselves are very pigmented but texture is soft and easy to blend. Each color is layerable and easy to control so you can create a soft subtle look or a more intense neutral smokey eye.
At first glance it reminded me of a less-frosty version of Dior’s long-discontinued Iridescent Leather (at least discontinued in the US). I pulled it out to compare along with Intimate and Burberry’s Pale Barley. You can see below some similar qualities but that the Edward Bess Cosmic Bliss has a more subdued finish.
Swatches, two views: top without flash, bottom with flash + sunlight
I find Edward Bess’s Cosmic Bliss beautiful and a must-have staple. It’s easy to apply and versatile enough to incorporate into any look. I used it with the following items recently:
I purchased mine from Bergdorf Goodman. It is also available online at Bergdorfs, Neimans and Sephora.com along with a few select locations such as Sephora in NYC and Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills.
Happy New Year to all! I love this time of year. Each new year I’m filled with hope and excitement – it feels like we all get a fresh new start. Beauty-wise, Café Makeup has a lovely list of what she’s looking forward to this year. For me, here are 5 things I’m looking forward to:
No. 1 Burberry Beauty and Tom Ford
Both Burberry Beauty and Tom Ford Beauty are among the newer luxury brands to enter the market. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the new year. Burberry Beauty has released a number of consistently amazing products, all with high quality and naturally flattering shades. They ended the year with the release of some new beautiful quads. Recent changes between the Burberry Beauty and Interparfums relationship has me wondering what will be in store for the future. I hope they continue to release more beautiful items as they transition (keeps fingers crossed for their brushes).
There are mixed feelings among beauty fans about the Tom Ford Beauty line. His lipsticks and blushes are among the best in the market, but the rest of the line didn’t match the quality or pigment (in my opinion). However, the Tom Ford Beauty brand significantly improved the quality of his nail polishes and eyeshadows with the fall 2012 collection. I hope they continue this trend.
No. 2 Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscopes
Le Métier de Beauté’s eyeshadows are breathtakingly beautiful. I know I’m not alone when I say the quality and texture is among the best of all luxury brands. I do hope 2013 brings us more eye kaleidoscopes, but ones that are more widely available to all Le Métier counters or online. There were at least 3 kaleidoscopes plus a number of glosses released this year that I wanted, however they were released in very limited quantities to a few select stores. I did not have the time to call around to track them down. I love that the brand encourages their artists’ creativity to design beautiful creations. I also understand that Le Metier is a smaller brand focused on quality. Yet at the same time, as an avid fan, it can be a bit frustrating to have items so challenging to find.
No. 3 More try-before-you-buy sampler sets for foundations and fragrances
I feel brands should be more creative and generous with their samples. I feel samples are scarce these days but they are essential to assist us with testing, in particular with foundations and fragrances. Both items require longer testing time than testing out a lipstick or eyeshadow at the counter. For foundations, we need to see how it wears throughout the day, make sure the color matches well, and also check that our skin doesn’t react with the formula. For fragrances, we definitely need to wear a sample for an extended period to see how it reacts with our body chemistry. I thought the Frédéric Malle Fragrance Coffret collection at Barneys was genius (although I did not purchase). I wish perfume companies would release mini versions at affordable prices. I love that Le Labo allows purchase of samples directly from the company online. I hope more brands offer these sampling options.
No. 4 Transitioning from PC to MAC
For Christmas, I received a MacBook Air. I’ve had so much fun transitioning but have so much to learn. I look forward to learning more!
No. 5 More artist features, how-to’s, videos, tutorials
Tutorials are invaluable for all of us. Clear, concise, well-edited videos such as those from Lisa Eldridge for Chanel and Uzo from NARS are easy to follow, inspirational and actually ones we can replicate (as in they aren’t edited too much). Professional videos from brand artists are immensely helpful. I hope Chanel and NARS release more and that others follow. As brands increase their social media efforts, I feel these video tutorials are a way to help connect with consumers like us. I personally would like them linked on the brand website rather than having to search through YouTube or magazine websites.
