Right now I’m obsessed with NARS Lip Pencils in the Velvet Gloss formula (swatches here), By Terry Baume de Rose (review here), Diptyque Baies (recycle tutorial here and size comparisons here), YSL Rose Scabiosa Nail Polish (review here) as well as Caudalie and Nuxe Dry Body Oils (review here). Current reads I’m loving this week:
Lily Pebbles and Vivanna Does Makeup both did an amazing video series on how to start a beauty blog, they cover topics of how to get started, blogging equipment and lots of other tips and tricks
Temptalia has the details on Hourglass’s latest Ambient Lighting Blush (I need one of each!)
What are you loving right now? I’d love to hear about your latest discoveries or what you’re obsessed with right now. I live to hear about the favorites from my readers.
PS – My first style/outfit post is up on Styled Notes. Still working on getting my other blog up and running. Work gets in the way of fun so it’s been a bit of a slow start.
Tom Ford Beauty fans: the Spring 2014 Beauty collection has arrived online at Nordstrom. The collection has new colors for lips and nails.
Nail Lacquers $32 each in Incandescent, Indiscretion, Coral Beach and Sugar Dune
Spring Lip Conditioners $49 each in Pink Dune, Paradiso, Bitter Sweet, Sweet Spot, Incorrigible, Summer Fling, In the Buff, Firecracker
I cannot wait for these to arrive in stores at counters. I am trying to resist the urge to order these online although I have all the nail polishes sitting in my cart right now. Plus Nordstrom has an online gift with purchase going on right now.
What has been your favorite spring collection released this year so far? I haven’t seen everything yet in stores so my favorite is still yet to be determined. This one just might be it.
NARS has four new blushes with the Final Cut collection ($29 each, exclusive to Nordstrom). I purchased mine sight unseen online as soon as the colors were released thanks to sneak peeks on Specktra.net and The Make-up Blogette I could make my purchasing decisions without having to test at the counter.
The four shades are new colors – all fresh and light shades perfect for spring. I was worried these might be too light for my skin, but they offer a lovely sheer wash of color without being too pale.
Sex Fantasy is a pale pink that makes the skin glow a lovely light pink. It works alone over powder and foundation although if you have dry skin you may need a cream base to help pick up the color more. (I find MAC Well Dressed and Edward Bess Filled With Desire similar.)
New Attitude is a pure fresh pink. This one almost melts into my skin. It is very sheer on my olive skin giving a very slight hint of pink with one swipe. If I apply too much color it darkens on my skin, but one to two swipes gives a beautiful wash of pink. (For me MAC Pink Swoon has an almost identical effect on my olive skin.)
Love is my favorite. It’s a lovely neutral rose-pink that applies like a peachy color on me. I like it because it doesn’t turn brown like some neutrals can. For some reason with my olive skin some peachy-brown-pink colors darken and end up looking muddy once warmed on the skin. This one doesn’t turn at all.
Final Cut is a darker peach. It has more brownish tones compared to Gina or Gilda (both of which are brighter and slightly more vibrant). This one looks very pretty but is similar enough to other matte peaches from NARS and MAC that you can pass if you have a lot of peachy colors.
Here are the colors swatched with a heavy hand, you can see that even with layering the color still looks fresh and bright:
I don’t have face swatches of these but others have lovely photos of the colors on the cheeks. You may want to check out Buy Now, Blog Later, Café Makeup, Temptalia and Beautezine to name a few.I’m in love with these blushes. It’s nice to see NARS release some lighter colors for the cheeks (although I’m all about dramatic colors for cheeks, a soft swipe of a bright color can make the skin glow). I think all four shades are really lovely but my top two picks would be New Attitude and Love.
These are available now online and in store exclusively at Nordstrom for $29 each.
NARS has four new Satin Lip Pencils ($25 each) with the latest Final Cut collection. The color theme is modern pinks and peaches. For those new to NARS, the Satin Lip Pencils are like large chubby stick lipsticks. They have a very lightweight airy texture but have full coverage with color. You need a smooth lip surface to wear these, if you have any flakies I recommend prepping your lips with a balm or smoothing base first. I find the Satin Lip Pencils to have a matte finish.
The four shades are Stourhead (a super pale powder pink), Villa Lante (a cool toned pink), Descanso (a soft peach-pink) and Torres del Paine (a straight apricot). I could only pull off the peach shades easily. The pinks turned to be too cool-toned for my pigmented lips and olive skintone. I suspect the pink colors are more flattering on paler skintones.
Stourhead was extremely difficult for me to apply smoothly. Below you can see with my pigmented lips the color looks blotchy and very pale. I’ve seen it on others who have fairer skin and it looks amazing on them.
Villa Lante and New Attitude
Villa Lante applied smoother with rich pigment. It turned a bit too blue on my skin with an almost Barbie-like look. If I had less olive in my skin it wouldn’t contrast so much and would be easier to pull off for me. For some reason Villa Lante looks warmer and more neutral in the pencil but on my skin it transform into a much cooler-toned color. I suspect I will have to do some layering with a gloss on top to make it less blueish.
Descanso and Love
These two are my favorites. Descanso is what I wanted Lodhi Pencil to be (which is lovely but very bright). I purchased a backup of Descanso because I can see myself wearing through this one quickly.
Torres del Paine and Final Cut
These come in close second to Descanso/Love. The peach color is bright enough to add brightness to the face but not too bright. In general I love peach shades.
For those who have other NARS Lip Pencils, I pulled some other shades to help you decide how close they are to previously released shades. As of now there are several different lip pencil formulas by NARS. I’ve also included a could Tom Ford lipsticks. In short:
Satin Lip Pencils (formula for the Final Cut) are full coverage pencils with a satiny finish, more on the matte side, but not quite 100% matte. They have a soft sheen making them look more natural.
Velvet Lip Matte Pencils are more matte in finish. They have full coverage as well with a more dramatic distinct finish.
Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils are my personal favorite, these have a thicker tacky finish with a gloss finish. They are long-wearing and some shades have shimmer. (Old lip swatches here, here and here.)
Left to right: NARS Bettina, Tom Ford Quiver, Tom Ford Smitten, NARS Stourhead, NARS Villa Lante, NARS Sex Machine, NARS Descanso, NARS Biscayne Park, NARS Torres del Paine, NARS Lodhi, NARS Happy Days.
I’m all over Descanso and Torres del Paine. Stourhead and Villa Lante are such gorgeous pinks in the pencil it’s a shame I can’t pull off those lovely pinks.
NARS Final Cut Satin lip pencils are currently exclusive in the US to Nordstrom and online at Nordstrom.com.
Did you check out the Final Cut collection? What did you think?
I’m very excited to share that Barneys New York has featured me on the style bloggers section of their fashion site The Window. You can read the feature here. Check out the interview to read about what inspired me to start blogging, what my winter skincare secret weapons are, my go-to scent this season and what I would do if I were “accidentally” locked in Barneys overnight (aka dream come true). If you haven’t been to the Barneys Beauty Counter recently, I highly recommend a visit. The floors have been remodeled into beautiful wide open beauty spaces making Barneys the ultimate beauty playground. Here is a sneak peek from my last trip to the Beverly Hills store.
MAC Huggable Lip Colours ($20 each for 3.2g/0.11 oz, limited-edition) are a new lipstick formula that were released several weeks ago. I would have missed out had it not been for Café Makeup who pointed them out to me and recommended I check them out. As she noted, the colors have been selling out quickly. I had to visit two different stores to track down shades. After surveying the swatches on Café Makeup, Temptalia and Weekend Ramblings, I picked out four: Touché, Fresh & Frisky, Out for Passion and Rich Marrón.
These new Huggable Lip Colours have a similar feel to Dior Addict Lipsticks (like Diablotine reviewed here). They have a creamy moisturizing feel. They are very emollient but with a thicker texture so they really adhere to and hug the lips. What surprised me is the level of pigment. The colors have a rich payoff with a soft shine finish. Lasting power is also quite impressive. You can control the coverage by swiping back and forth a few times for more color. If you have time to go to the counter to test, I highly recommend you visit soon.
The four colors I picked (with links to where the colors are located right now online):
Fresh & Frisky is a fresh natural peach that brightens the face:
Out for Passion is the best watermelon pink I’ve ever tried:
Rich Marrón is a nice classic, a bit brown but still nice for everyday:
Overall really pleased with these colors and formulas. I didn’t have time to pull comparisons but these colors work well without any tweaking needed. My husband loves Out for Passion on me so I bought one more as a back-up. Right now the colors are limited-edition. I do hope that MAC considers making these permanent. There are 12 colors in the US, but various stores have certain shades sold out. You may have to do a bit of searching but stores probably still have stock of most colors. For the ones I reviewed:
