Sabrina, Author at The Beauty Look Book

Loving Right Now

July 28, 2010

A lot of repeats this month from recent features. Right now I’m loving …

NARS Eyeshadow Duos – here are a few of my favorites that haven’t been depotted yet (which I don’t recommend, but did for the compacts that got too sticky, now stored in my Trish McEvoy planner pages)

Top: India Song, Cordura, Brumes
Middle: Rajasthan, Alhambra, Brousse
Bottom: Silk Road, Tzarine, Bohemian Gold

NARS Nourishing Eye Cream (previously reviewed here)

Urban Decay Naked Palette (previously featured here)

Chanel Teint Innocence Foundation and Natural Finish Loose Powder – No matter how many other foundations I try, I keep coming back to the Teint Innocence. Just recently tried their loose setting powder and love it as well. I use Shell in the foundation and Naturel in the powder.

Chanel Rouge Coco in Chintz & Rose Dentelle – A little bit more delicate than most of my other Chanel lipsticks. These came a bit dinged on the sides but everything else was in tact. They are really close in color, Chintz is more peach, while Rose Dentelle is more pink.

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliners – Rich pigment and longlasting plus no sharpening required! Wish they would re-release that old shade Tweed (a lovely golden taupe).

Black Shimmer & Ebene swatched here
Cassis swatched here
Marine swatched here and here

Edward Bess All Over Seduction Cream Highlighters – Perfectly glowy (previously reviewed and swatched here)

Paul & Joe Lip Lacquers – Great pigment and shine. I had to get almost all of the colors. I’ll get to lip swatches eventually.

Burberry Lipglosses are great . . . but I’m loving everything I purchased (click on the Burberry tag)

Quilted accessories, purses, makeup planners – dreaming of a quilted flap bag

Out of all the Trish planners I have, the quilted ones are my favorite.

Last but not least, my kitty, small but mighty fierce. This is the only photo I could get of him that makes him look non-evil. (I love my puppies too but they won’t sit still for a picture – way too excited about my brother in-law visiting this week after having been gone to the east coast for several months)

What are you loving this month?

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Nails of the Day: Dolce & Gabbana Nude and Chanel Golden Sand

July 27, 2010

Nails of the day are Dolce & Gabbana Nude Nail Polish ($20) on fingers and Chanel Golden Sand Nail Polish ($23) on the toes. Nice neutrals for summer for a subtle polished look without drawing too much attention. Sandals photographed are from J.Crew (currently on sale).

Dolce & Gabbana Nude is a nice neutral nude with slight peach tones. Probably easily dupeable in other lines – however I have a hard time finding a good nude for my skin. Most “nudes” turn pink or very greyish on my skin. I’ve previously featured and swatched it here. Chanel Golden Sand is a metallic warm gold. I believe it’s been discontinued and I don’t own any dupes but the color seems similar to various OPI and China Glaze shades I’ve seen swatched on other blogs.

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Burberry Light Glow Natural Blush Peony

July 26, 2010

When I saw the Burberry Beauty line at Nordstrom I was most surprised by the blushes, mainly because they were nothing like what I expected. Based on the online photos, I was expecting softer more nude and brown based colors. The actual product is very different – darker than I had anticipated, but the colors are still very pretty. The blushes are called Light Glow – Natural Blush $42, I find appropriately named, because they really give a glow. All the colors I looked at had a slight shimmer to medium shimmer. I tried on Cameo a lovely pink, but it went on too dark for my taste. The artist suggested Peony which looked extremely pale and powdery looking but I was pleasantly surprised.

Peony is a soft natural pink. The blushes are all very pigmented but the texture is soft making them easy to blend and layer for that natural blush finish.

No flash:

Compared to a few other pinks, they look strikingly similar to Edward Bess’s Soft Orchid and Chanel Narcisse. The difference is noticeable once on the skin. EB Soft Orchid is cooler toned and I also find this one softer/sheerer in finish. Chanel Narcisse has a more powdery-looking finish because of the shimmer in it. I would say that Burberry’s Blush finish seems similar to that of Chanel Narcisse (the US version). Out of all my Chanel blushes, for some reason I find Narcisse the softest. All are swatched over a mixture of MAC Prep & Prime, Armani Lasting Silk 5.5+6.5.

How I swatch my blushes on my arm:

I also had my eye on Russet and Blossom. They were sold out of Russet and I decided to wait on Blossom. Diane from Orange To LA has an amazing photo of Blossom which has me drooling with slight regret that I didn’t buy it too.

At $42 these are fairly pricey. I’m not sure how I feel about the price. At this time, it’s cheaper than Armani ($43) and D&G ($44) the same as Chanel ($42). More than Dior ($40) which I’m not a huge fan of because they are so sheer. Prices keep going up which I’m not really happy about. I guess it’s something we all have to deal with. In my mind, I think ideally a blush should be $35-ish maximum.

In my mind I still feel like skincare, foundation, brushes and powder should be the only items that exceed $45. Still doesn’t stop me. Personally I would love to have less fancy packaging with no brush in the compact for a lower price. I never end up using those brushes anyways. One reason I love Bobbi Brown individual blushes and eyeshadows, along with NARS.

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NARS Tzarine Eyeshadow Duo (Grey Side) vs. MAC Smoke & Diamonds Eyeshadow

July 25, 2010

For Estelle: How does NARS Tzarine Eyeshadow Duo compare to MAC Smoke & Diamonds Starflash Eyeshadow?

My take: It’s very different and unique for a greyish eyeshadow. I don’t have any shade that compares to NARS Tzarine – it’s difficult to describe because it’s a very complex cool grey with steel blue tones and gold flecks which reflect a golden-ish sheen depending on how the light hits. For me there is no comparison – at least among all the greys I have. Most other greys are either very black, taupe or silvery. The only two in my collection that I find similar in undertone are Urban Decay Gunmetal which isn’t nearly as pretty, is more of your basic silvery grey frost with silver sparkles (see swatch here), also NARS Notorious is in the same family which is significantly lighter and a more powdery dove grey (see here for dove grey eyeshadow pics). Scroll down for more comparisons.

Therefore my answer is: It doesn’t really compare. I normally can’t do cool blueish greys but NARS Tzarine is just so gorgeous. Photos don’t do it justice. The gold flecks give it that extra special finish that can’t be duped (in my opinion). I hope this helps!

Close up where you can see the tiny gold flecks in the NARS duo (grey side):

Swatched on bare skin:

Swatched in natural light, no flash:

Swatched with high flash:

*Updated per request* Compared to Urban Decay Gunmetal & NARS Notorious (note that UD Gunmetal pulls really blueish on my skin as with most greys, it may not be as blue on you):

The original photos from my NARS Fall 2010 Picks (from here):

Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog also has amazing swatches of NARS fall (her article is linked for your convenience). I highly recommend you check it out as well.

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Burberry Lip Glow Natural Lipgloss: Tea Rose #05, Cameo Pink #07 and Nude Beige #09

July 22, 2010

Burberry Lip Glow Natural Lip Gloss ($27) comes in 12 different shades ranging from pale mauve, beige, tan, pink and red. These are packaged in a clear tube with a sponge tip applicator. The formula is smooth and pigmented, although I will say the testers at the counter had their tips cut off for sanitary reasons and the disposable wands at the counter did not pick up the color like the actual product tip does. Therefore, if you try these at the counter and find them sheer it is most likely the tester tip that is affecting the application. They have a soft almost powdery scent that isn’t too strong. Lasting power is medium as with most glosses. I like that these are non-sticky. They have enough pigment to wear alone, but are lovely over the Burberry Lipsticks to enhance the color of your lips.

The beautiful packaging:

I picked up three shades in 05 Tea Rose (creamy cool pink, no shimmer), 07 Cameo Pink (shimmery warm pink with slight coral tones) and 09 Nude Beige (nude beige-peach with a very slight sparkle). I reviewed Cameo Pink Lipgloss compared to the Lipstick yesterday. I can’t recall what Tea Rose Lipstick looked like exactly, but I believe it was even more blue-based and cooler toned than the Tea Rose Lipgloss. Nude Beige Lipstick is significantly paler than the Lipgloss version. I found the Nude Beige lipstick too pale for my skin, but the lipgloss version is very wearable.

L to R: Tea Rose, Cameo Pink, Nude Beige

Close up, top to bottom: Tea Rose, Cameo Pink, Nude Beige

The lipstick and lipgloss line up, L to R:
Lipsticks – Cameo, Cameo Pink, Rosewood, Antique Rose
Lipglosses – Tea Rose, Cameo Pink, Nude Beige

I found these at Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza.

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EdwardBess.com Promotion on Ultra Slick Lipsticks, July 22nd

July 21, 2010

I was notified by Susan from Edward Bess that the Ultra Slick lipsticks are featured in the August Issue of O, The Oprah Magazine and that they are running a promotion for 40% off Edward Bess lipsticks tomorrow, July 22nd from 12:01 am to 11:59 pm on EdwardBess.com. Check out the link to The O List – Magazine Deals and Special Offers here.

The code to provide at checkout is OPRAH as listed on the deals website and magazine. The offer is good online only at EdwardBess.com and runs for one day. As a disclaimer, I am in no way affiliated with this promotion, nor do I benefit from this in any way.

Those wondering about the shades, I have written a number of articles about his line. There a number of other great blogs out there such as The Non-Blonde and London Makeup Girl who love his products as well. I hope these links will be helpful to you:

See Eternal Passion on Josie’s blog, The Eyes Have It
See Midnight Bloom on London Makeup Girl

And of course, the best resource of all, Karlasugar has the lipsticks swatched on her arm here Edward Bess Lipstick on Karlasugar

Happy Shopping!

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Burberry Cameo Pink Lipstick #03 and Lipgloss #07

July 21, 2010

Cameo Pink Lipstick #03 and Lipgloss #07 are probably my two favorites lip colors out of all the shades I tried from the new Burberry Beauty line. Both are warm pinks with just the right amount of brightness to bring a pretty pink glow. Cameo Pink Lipstick #03 has subtle microsparkles but is more of a cream than a shimmer. The Lipgloss Cameo Pink #07 has an iridescent frost to it. Looks like it would be frosty from the tube and swatch on the back of my hand, but on the lips it blends out more naturally. Combine the two (lipstick + lipgloss) and you get a more intensified look. Still natural but just with a bit more kick.

Both have a subtle scent which I am still trying to put my finger on. It’s noticeable when you apply but fades shortly after. I reviewed the lipsticks already – creamy, lightweight, moisturizing with medium coverage. The lipglosses are also creamy with a medium thickness. They come with a sponge tip applicator and have a smooth non-tacky texture. I’m still testing out the other two I purchased, but Cameo Pink is definitely a winner. The gloss has a similar texture to Dior Addicts, but with a tad less slip and more pigment.