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Sabrina

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Tatcha Gold Camellia Moisturizing Lip Balm

January 27, 2014

Tatcha’s Gold Camellia Moisturizing Lip Balm ($36 for 8g / 0.28 oz.) is a luxurious lip treatment. Everything about this is phenomenal from the packaging (pot and box packaging), scent, texture and design. The Camellia Lip Balm is a semi-transparent jelly-like balm covered with a thin layer of crushed 24-karat gold leaf. It has a soft spa-like scent, like a mix of Botan Rice Candy and flowers, but softer. As others have noted this is a very smooth lip balm that gives hydration to the lips instantly. It covers the lips entirely but doesn’t feel too sticky. When you touch the surface the gold leaf breaks into small pieces. It’s designed to give a subtle hint of gold shimmer to the lips when applied. For me the shimmer barely showed up which I was ok with given the formula felt so amazing.
In terms of how it compares to my other favorites such as By Terry Baume de Rose, Jo Malone and Hourglass, Tatcha’s Gold Camellia Lip Balm has made the cut to join my group of favorites. If you have dryer lips that are prone to cracking or peeling with certain lipsticks, By Terry or Hourglass’s Lip treatments offer a deeper and more intense treatment which I need after using MAC Lipsticks or Lipglasses (my lips usually peel a day after using MAC Lipsticks or Lipglasses but it still doesn’t stop me from using them). These however are more heavy on the scent so if you’re one who prefers something more light the Tatcha is light enough for even the most sensitive noses.

on the nails Chanel Rouge Rubis

I like to apply this mid-day at work or at night before bed. The scent is soothing and refreshing. It’s like a mini spa treatment for the lips.

Ingredients: Squalane (Olive Origin), Dimer Dilinoleyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Dextrin
Palmitate, Fragrance (Natural), Dextrin Palmitate/Ethylhexanoate,
Polyglyceryl-10 Pentaisostearate, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Oil, Camellia
Japonica Seed Oil, Water, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate (Licorice Extract),
Oryzanol (Rice Bran Oil Extract), Hydrogenated Lecithin (Soy Origin),
Inositol (Rice Extract), Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract,
Alcohol, Glycerin, Algae Extract, Gold.

Tatcha Gold Camellia Moisturizing Lip Balm retails for $36. You can find it at Tatcha.com and Barneys. I received a few samples with my order from Tatcha and am working my way through a couple of serums. Have you tried this line? What are your favorites?

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NARS Spring 2014 Larger Than Life Lip Gloss – Bimini and Années Folles

January 26, 2014

The NARS Spring 2014 Collection has two new shades of Larger Than Life Lip Gloss in Bimini and Années Folles ($26 each for 0.19 oz/6ml). Both are fresh spring shades that are give a sheer wash of color. These have a high shine with a slightly thick formula to help them last long on the lips. They come with a brush applicator on the end. It’s been a while since I’ve purchased a new lip gloss from NARS and I’m happy to see the brushes on these are slightly bigger and longer than previous colors making them easier for me to apply color to the lips. As far as I can tell there is no detectable scent.

Bimini is described as a sheer guava pink. To me it looks more peachy. It swatches fairly sheer like a light shimmery peach-pink-guava. It’s so pretty in the tube and on the lips. On my lips it pulls more pigmented due to my natural lip color but it applies pretty much true to what you see in the tube. It’s sheer shimmery natural perfection.

Années Folles is a lilac pink cream. Sheer pink lilacs can add a soft hint of pink and brighten the whole face. Annees Folles applies a bit streaky with a few quick swipes (as seen below). If blended properly it smooths out to a sheer wash of lilac on the lips. This one may take a bit more work and blending with a lip brush depending on your natural lip tones.

Comparisons below to Chanel Calypso (discontinued), Armani Flash Lacquer 303, Chanel Coral Love (discontinued), Bobbi Brown Baby Pink Lip Gloss (new, review soon), Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose (discontinued), Dolce & Gabbana Pink Sapphire (review here), Dolce & Gabbana Raspberry and MAC English Accents (discontinued).

I favor Bimini since the color is easier to apply on my lips. It’s a good everyday kind of color that can be worn alone or over other lipsticks for added shine.
NARS Bimini and Annees Folles are available online at Nordstrom and narscosmetics.com. In stores and at counters starting February 1st.

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NARS Final Cut Collection | Adelaide Illuminator

January 26, 2014

NARS Adelaide Illuminator ($30 for 1.1 oz/30ml) has been on my radar for several months. I saw some sneak peeks on Specktra and almost died of excitement when I found out there would be a shimmery pink highlighter. Adelaide is currently exclusive to Nordstrom with an official release date of February 1st. As many others have noted, Adelaide is a very shimmery pink and almost glittery. I usually do not like glitter on the cheeks but this illuminator is almost like a grown-up version of glitter. I have to use sparingly and swipe it lightly over powder blush to give a highlight. I found it lasted all day over a powder blush – right now my skin is normal but slightly dry. There was no shimmer or glitter fall-out. It stayed put on the skin from morning to night. If you don’t like any sign of glitter on the cheeks you may want to try Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer #8 instead which is similar but paler in color (scroll down for swatches).

Swatched below you can see that Adelaide blends out to a cool sparkly pink on my olive skin. For me it’s pigmented enough to wear as a very soft blush but I prefer to layer over a powder blush with a very light layer.

Here is Adelaide blended and sheered out with a foundation brush:

Swatches below compared to NARS Maui Multiple and Armani Fluid Sheer #8:

As others have noted, the shimmer and glitters are noticeable. I half love it. I tested during the work week for multiple days. Half of the testing days I felt it was too over the top, while the other half I thought it was subtle enough for the office. I recommend testing before buying if you’re unsure about the shimmer. On my olive skin it shows up and brightens the skin with the combination of pink and silver glitter shimmers. Perhaps I just need to be braver with shimmer and sparkles sometimes.
NARS Adelaide retails for $30, it’s a limited-edition color, available now at NARS.
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What's In My Bag

Inside My Makeup Bag

January 24, 2014

Here’s what’s in my makeup bag right now. It’s one of those weeks where I switched handbags mid-week and I forgot to transfer a few floating items such as my face powder, a couple lipglosses and two mini brushes between bags (I don’t always put them back in the makeup bag after use). Here’s what I have inside my bag right now, listed from top to bottom.
YSL Volupte Candy in Lush Coconut
NARS Blush in Deep Throat
By Terry Blackstar Ombre in Bronze Moon (review here)
NARS Volumizing Mascara
Frederic Malle Carnal Flower (review here)
By Terry Baume de Rose (here and here)
Hourglass Femme Nude Lip Stylo #5 (swatch here)
NARS Velvet Gloss Stick in Happy Days (swatched here)
What do you have in your makeup bag right now? Do you change bags mid-week or do you usually stick to the same purse for longer periods of time?
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Loving Right Now

January 23, 2014

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:
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.

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Tom Ford Beauty Spring 2014 Online at Nordstrom

January 23, 2014

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.

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NARS Final Cut Collection | Blushes

January 23, 2014

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.

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