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Sabrina

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Chanel Steel Le Vernis

September 20, 2010
Might be a bit too early in the year for a dark manicure but Chanel Steel is one shade that I just couldn’t wait to put on. I swatched the Soho Le Vernis in Steel & Strong last week and decided to go with Steel first. I find these shades typical of certain shimmery Chanel Le Vernis shades like Jade Rose, Paradoxal, Vendetta etc. in that what you see in the bottle isn’t exactly what you get on the nails. In this case, what you see in the bottle is a deep grey laced with silver pearly streaks. What you get on the nails is more of a deep midnight steel blue-black.


Here are a few close up shots and further below it’s on a full manicure (2 coats although 1 would have been sufficient) in different lighting so you can see the full effect.



Outdoors, natural light, this is what it looks like with a bit of sun shining:

This is what you see without direct sunlight or flash:


Photographed with high flash against Black Caviar Leather (you can see the blue sheen):

Also against Black Caviar Leather, but without direct flash (the color on the nails is dark but not a pure black):

I compared it in my previous post to a few other shades, Chanel Noir Ceramic and Essie Over The Top (see last week’s post). In looking at my other colors again, I thought it might be similar to Lippmann’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot, but I find the quality of the Chanel superior as you only need 1 coat while for the other you need at least 3 to get a rich opaque finish. The Lippmann shade has a more steely-blue cast, but if you have this color and don’t mind applying more coats then I think they are similar enough that you don’t need the Chanel.

Chanel Steel vs. Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot


Next to Bobbi Brown Black Sparkle – you can see the blueish tones:

It’s perfect for fall. Not too black and has a rich opaque finish (as you can see with just one coat swatched). I find it a tad thicker than most Chanel nail polishes (Strong as well) so you may want to adjust your application slightly with that in mind. Worth every penny.
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Le Metier de Beaute Marchesa Collection

September 19, 2010
The Le Metier de Beaute Marchesa collaboration was launched in New York for Fashion’s Night Out at Bergdorf Goodman and since there was a promotion, I decided to take advantage of their GWP and order a few things. Unfortunately the GWP did not arrive with my package, but hopefully will be resolved soon. The items I picked out included the 2 small palettes designed by Keren Craig and Georgina Chapman ($65 each) along with both Sheer Illumination Highlighters ($48 each). Also in my order were a few things from fall and their regular beauty line (to be reviewed later). In terms of availability – I got mine from Bergdorf Goodman, but all Le Metier locations should have these for sale in the next month. Check MetierBeaute.com for location listings.

The Sheer Illumination Pens come in 2 shades, one is a Highlighter which is a pale gold shimmer. The other is a Brightener which is a liquid form of their Refresh Powder Eye Brightener, a pale pinkish cream shade. I have not used these yet on the face, but they are meant to brighten the skin. I will have to experiment with these over the next few weeks to see exactly how they are best used. Both come in a click-style packaging. So far the texture seems easy to blend and smooth so I think they will work magic under my eyes.

The Marchesa Palettes are beautiful for touch ups and perfect for slipping into your purse for going out. Tiny but beautiful to look at. The Keren Palette has warmer tones for a more natural look while the Georgina Palette is more dramatic for an evening look.


Keren Palette contains:
  • Bronzer
  • Concealer
  • Lip Gloss in Le Caramel
  • Creme Blush in La Rougeur
  • Eye Shadow in Le Fauve


Georgina Palette contains:
  • Translucent pressed powder
  • Concealer
  • Lip Gloss in La Cerise Noir
  • Creme Blush in La Peche
  • Eye Shadow in Le Minuit
Here are swatches. I tried to do my best without using up too much of my product. The concealer in both palettes are the same. Also the gloss in the Keren palette goes on clear so I didn’t swatch it again. I almost didn’t swatch these because I felt it would be a waste, but I know many of you will appreciate this. I hope some of you will treat yourself to a splurge because they are indeed beautiful even though extremely expensive.


* note these have been applied with a sheer hand without any base and not all colors in each palette have been swatched


Overall extremely pricey and definitely a splurge. As much I love luxury brands and value high quality products, it was hard for me to justify the prices of these given the small sizes but in the end caved since I was already purchasing a few other items and wanted to qualify for their gift. If I had seen these in person I might have not splurged, but then I do have to say I am happy that I did get these. Although I wouldn’t call these a must have (have I confused you by now?) – I think there are other items in the regular Le Metier line that I like over these. Beautiful no doubt. At this time I am not sure if they are limited edition items or not.

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My Le Metier de Beaute Eyeshadows

September 19, 2010
Per request, here are the close ups and swatches of the Le Metier de Beaute Eyeshadows that I own. Note that these are the shades that are available for purchase individually (all kits that contain limited colors have been excluded, also by request). These swatches aren’t the best – so I highly recommend you do your own research to get a better idea of what these will look like. I find most of the shades apply true to what you see in the compact. Those who are critical of my lack of diversity in color selection, note that ALL of these were purchased sight unseen so I had no idea what I was going to get at the time I ordered these throughout the past year and a half. I have to say given the fact that I did not have immediate access to see these in person, I am very pleased with what arrived.

I have been to an actual counter on three occasions (Beverly Hills twice and San Francisco once). Unfortunately in my excitement I neglected to check out the shadows in detail as I was more focused on the lip items.

So onto the shades. The colors in the Persephone Eye Kit (Rose Champagne, Canvas, Sequoia and Alexandrite), also available individually, have already been featured. Check out my review here for those close ups and swatches.

Swatched over slightly moisturized skin:

Without flash, outdoors with slightly cloudy lighting:

Sugar


Mulberry


Jojo


Corinthian


Spicy


Bordeaux v Alexandrite


Milan


Water Sapphire


Innocence*
(note that this is the original Innocence, I have been told that there is a new version which is deeper and more dramatic as you can see in the photo Panties from MUA provided me here)

I’ve reviewed a number of these shades in detail on previous posts. Use the Le Metier tag below to search through the archives. All are extremely high quality and rich in pigment and super easy to blend and layer. They have a gorgeous glowing quality when mixed together give a sophisticated eye.

These currently retail for $30 each and come in a small black mirrored compact. Bergdorfs is having their $25 off $100 gift card event starting tomorrow. As far as I know there is no other promotion going on with the counter and standard shipping is around $12ish. Neimans still also has some Beauty Week gifts going on to tomorrow. You might want to inquire into your local Neimans to see if they carry this line and if they have any GWPs left. Instore usually has more inventory than online.

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Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eyeshadows: Black & Black Velvet

September 18, 2010
I’ve never been happier that it’s finally Friday. I survived the first week at my new job and don’t want to think about anything work-related or work-appropriate for the next few days. I thought it fitting to feature the new Sparkle Eyeshadows ($24) from Bobbi Brown’s Black Velvet collection which are loaded with visible sparkle and glitters. Both of which I think are not exactly appropriate for the office but perfect for going out (just my opinion).

A small intro: When I saw Bobbi Brown’s Black Velvet Collection (see my previous review here) all the counters near me seemed to be missing the testers and product to sell for the new sparkle eyeshadow colors. Having dismissed her past sparkle shadows as too glitzy, I wasn’t too concerned that the counter was missing these in their inventory. However when I passed by the counter last weekend and saw these in person I changed my mind.


If you’ve tried her sparkle shadows you know that these are chock full of sparkle. These are Bobbi Brown’s “grown-up take on glitter” and while I’m rarely attracted to glitter for makeup, I am oddly in love with these. The texture itself in the compact seems chunky and testers that aren’t handled with care do tend to look broken or dented with gaping holes. But I think they will hold up better when handled with your own personal love and care. They feel slightly creamy – but this is probably because of the softness. They are very pigmented, easy to blend, easy to layer for a sheer to full coverage smokey eye. I have surprised even myself as I am IN LOVE!

Black Sparkle is a blue-based black while Black Velvet is a smokey metallic mauve-purple. Gorgeous and intense. There is nothing subtle about these, but not too over the top for date night or going out for drinks. I don’t think you need both – if I had to only pick one I would opt for Black Sparkle just because it’s deeper and more dramatic. If you remember MAC’s Style Black collection – these are more complex and deeper than the black or purple shades. They also apply better dry. I haven’t tried these wet, but I imagine they will apply with a foiled-like finish if applied with a damp brush. It will be interesting to see how the shades from MAC’s Villains collections will compare.

These come with a clear flip-top lid, much like the compacted glosses which is nice to keep the glitter from spreading to other shades in the event you put these shadows in palettes:

A few close ups:


Black Sparkle


Black Velvet Sparkle


Swatches:


Overall winners for me. I do recommend you start with a sheer application and layer it for a heavier eye. These are very intense so applying a lot in the beginning might result in a black-and-bruised looking eye. I have lids without a crease so I have applied these along the upper lash line and blended upwards for a smokey liner-type shadow. I have found that applying the metallic shadows from the Black Velvet Collection on top of the sparkle shadows intensifies the look. Do give yourself plenty of time to experiment. I think these need some practice to get used to – I wouldn’t recommend trying these out if you have a short amount of time to get ready unless you’re an expert with dark smoldery shadows.

Enjoy your weekend! I know I will!

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Chanel Soho Story Collection: Stunt, Stunning & Star

September 17, 2010
Here is the Soho Story Collection continued with the lip items. Luckily there are a number of other resources you can look to for reviews, descriptions and swatches. Check out Beauty Moogle Zone and Karla Sugar for a few other resources.

Left to right: Stunt Rouge Allure Laque, Stunning Rouge Coco and Star Glossimer

  • Stunt Rouge Allure Laque – full coverage, creamy, no shimmer, plum-mauve leaning more towards the purple side, almost borderline too purple but ok when blotted
  • Stunning Rouge Coco Lipstick – beautiful natural light rose pink
  • Star Glossimer – a smooth sparkley sheer silvery pink (not as opaque or whitish as Brilliance)

Swatched on bare skin:

Stunt Rouge Allure Laque – slightly more purple than the photos show

I didn’t have time to swatch the other items before the sun went down, so here are some comparisons to other Chanel colors. Stunning is beautiful but I think if you have any of the other shades below, you can get a similar effect. I didn’t photograph it next to Perle Rouge Coco but the effect is similar in my opinion.

Stunning Rouge Coco compared to Aqualumieres:


Star Glossimer compared to other sheer light pinks:


Those who have e-mailed me I will respond shortly!

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Chanel Soho de Chanel Powder & Stupendous Quad

September 17, 2010
My lovely readers, I only have time for a few brief posts. This is a continuation of the Chanel Soho Story collection. The Soho de Chanel powder is a beautiful soft luminous highlighter. Pigmented enough to show up and has just the right amount of shimmer for a perfect glow. The quad is a lovely combination of soft cool shades which I find also very soft and more pigmented than most Chanel quads I’ve tried. If I could only pick 1, it would definitely be the powder highlighter. The quad pulls more cool but is still neutral enough to work on most skintones.

Photos and swatches:




Mystic Eyes v Stupendous:

Swatched on bare skin:

Sorry I don’t have much time for detailed descriptions. If you have questions – I’ll publish them through my iPhone but won’t have time to answer them until sometime this weekend. Definitely check out Beauty Moogle Zone and Estelle’s Guest Post on Karlasugar for other wonderful details and information.
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Chanel Soho Story: Steel & Strong Le Vernis

September 15, 2010
The Chanel Soho Story Collection is one of the few collections where I have ended up loving every single item featured. I am happy the colors exceeded my expectations as I found the collection a slight headache to make sense of. Details about this release were extremely confusing with conflicting information on a number of websites. A few of us Chanel fans exchanged tweets, e-mails, texts and called stores all around the US to find out exactly when and where these would be available. We could only could confirm that the items would be available at the Soho Boutique on FNO and also on Chanel.com. I purchased mine from Chanel.com not wanting to miss out. Even today I am not 100% sure where else these would be released. It’s been rumored to be available at other boutiques around the country in October, but none of us have been able to confirm.

First up are the new Le Vernis shades, Steel and Strong.




Steel is a beautiful dark grey steel pearl. It has a frost finish in the bottle but applies very smooth for a frost type color (no noticeable streaks). The texture is amazing and applies well with just one coat. I pulled out a few other shades I thought were similar: Chanel Noir Ceramic (d/c) and Essie Over The Top. You’ll notice how much sheerer the Essie is. The difference in color is slight. Chanel Noir Ceramic is the darkest and most black, also the silver sparkles are more visible. Chanel Steel is the middle shade, it’s got a slight blue cast (very slight) and is not completely black on the nails. Essie is the lightest but is very similar to Steel when you apply 3 thick coats.

One coat each shade:


Two coats with Chanels, three coats with Essie:

Strong is a dark vampy purple. Lovely as well, but much like Estelle (see her review on Karla Sugar)- I prefer Chanel’s Feu de Russie which has more visible red flecks, but they seem very similar from arm’s length. Here is Strong compared to FdR and Vendetta. Chanel Strong is one of those colors that pulls red in the bottle depending on the angle you hold it at. The flash brings out the reddish tones as well. However, it applies as a dark purple. Strong applies well with 2 coats but is slightly more thick than most of my other Chanels which makes this one a bit more difficult to apply smoothly. It’s not significantly different from other dark shades from Chanel, but I did notice a slightly goopy finish. This however doesn’t really affect the application too much if you get 2 thin coats.

Two coats each shade:

All the comparison shades:

One last view:

Beautiful and stunning. I personally prefer Steel over Strong but if you missed out on Feu de Russie, I definitely think Strong is the next closest thing.
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