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Armani Madre Perla Palettes for Holiday 2011

November 14, 2011

Armani has released two palettes this holiday season for their Madre Perla Collection. The theme for the eyes and cheeks are shimmery golds, nudes, pearls and silvers. I found the collection has arrived in-store at Neiman Marcus. One is a Face & Eye Palette #1 (the golden one) and the other is designed as an Eye Palette #2. Both are $59 each and are limited edition. The two palettes contain three shades each, very reminiscent of Nude Contrasts from Spring 2010. I approached these with a bit of hesitation. As beautiful as the colors were from Spring, I have to admit both palettes have barely been used. All the colors (except the black) from the spring eye palettes show up similar on the skin which results in just one overly-sparkly eye when the colors are layered. Still, the palettes this season took my breath away as soon as I saw them. The palettes were a bit difficult to photograph to capture the dimensional aspect of the shimmer. I’ve tried several angles to try and help give you an idea.
Madre Perla Face and Eye Palette 1 is a trio of golds. The texture is soft, slightly powdery and fairly shimmery. Applying with an eyeshadow brush (or a denser brush) results in a very shimmery pigmented application. I wore this on the eyes last night to a play and it was beautiful but definitely on the sparkly side. The three colors you have are pale ivory, warm pale gold, neutral tan gold. I feel the colors are uniquely distinct from each other when swatched on the hand but if you want to layer three shades I think you can only create a subtle gradient. Since the payoff with a small brush was so pigmented I was worried it would be too frosty for the face, but applying with a regular brush brush (I used Bobbi Brown’s when testing this one) resulted in a sheer but visible wash of shimmer. Love!

Madre Perla Eye Palette 1 is also beautiful with a cool sharp white with gold frost, neutral tan beige shimmer and cool lavender. I’m not a fan of lavender shades but I learned from Le Metier that this color can be a great highlight to layer over beiges/tans and golds. I really love the middle shade, it’s like a soft beige with a slight hint of grey shimmer. I applied the middle shade first over most of the lid, then added the lavender to center on top and blended. I then added the ivory-gold as a very soft highlight near the top. Today I used Bobbi Brown Bronze gel liner to finish the look. Overall it’s a stunner but very pale. Next time I will need to add a darker contour like Chanel Sand.

Here’s another close up plus swatches:

Comparisons of last year’s highlighter (less yellow and lighter) to this year’s:

Palette comparisons from Spring 2010 to Holiday:

Overall all out gorgeous, not overly frosty, beautiful for holiday. I will definitely get more use out of these than the spring 2010 palettes. They are more versatile and wearable in my opinion.

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Loving Right Now

November 13, 2011

Right now I’m obsessed with metallic nails, Edward Bess Back to Basics, Koh Gen Do skincare, Chanel Noir-Ivoire Duo, mixing Le Métier de Beauté Purple Haze with Nadine, and Tom Ford Spanish Pink Lipstick. I’m also loving what others have featured lately …
  • The Man Repeller shows a killer Chanel Péridot manicure
  • The Non-Blonde has me wanting to run out immediately for Laura Mercier’s Rose Rendezvous Face Illuminator
  • Café Makeup and Liz feature a lovely look with the holiday duo from Chanel in Noir-Ivoire
  • Messy Wands is drop-dead gorgeous in the soon-to-arrive Le Métier de Beauté Antiquité Poupée (update) so is Joeybunny via The Black Panties (this kit is exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman in December, I’d be all over it if it didn’t have that brick shade)
  • Best Things in Beauty loves the new Edward Bess South of France face quad & I love that she loves it
  • Makeup Magpie features the new Chanel Velvet Nails in Pirate, Rose Exhubérant & Rose Caché with the new matte top coat (I felt this release was completely unoriginal and uninspiring, but her photos make me want to put on Rose Exhubérant right away)
  • The RaeViewer did a gorgeous Tom Ford Tutorial with Cognac Sable Quad and Sable Smoke lipstick, I highly recommend watching it
  • Spring 2012 previews are already surfacing:
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Dior Vernis in Silver Lake 071

November 12, 2011

Dior has released a new edgy metallic silver nail polish called Silver Lake in celebration of Allure’s 20th Anniversary. It’s exclusive to Dior.com for $22. If you’re interested I suggest you act fast because it’s limited edition. Silver Lake 071 is a gorgeous complex silver loaded with all sorts of sparkles in shades of silver, gunmetal grey, blue and black. On the nails it’s a cooler-toned metallic with very slight blueish tones. I adore it. First question on everyone’s mind is: how does this compare to Chanel Graphite (click here for feature from last July)? It’s similar in the complexity but different in color. The Dior is more of a silver-gunmetal while the Chanel flashes more gold. I think they are different enough to justify owning both, but that’s just me. Scroll down below for the comparison details but first up are some more shots of Silver Lake. Applied with two coats below.

Dior Silver Lake 071

Dior Silver Lake versus Chanel Graphite

Close up comparison shots to a few other metallic silvers:
Chanel Graphite, Dior Silver Lake, Dior Silver Pearl

Comparisons to more shades: Chanel Graphite, Dior Silver Lake, Dior Silver Pearl,
Dior NY57th, OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Bottom line: Yes, you can dupe it with other brands, but I love Dior’s quality and finish. The color is to die for and I prefer it over Chanel Graphite. Those new to my blog, welcome! Kindly do not leave links in the comments as I like to keep this an advertising-free and spam-free blog. Also note all content and photos are copyrighted which means I do not allow photos to be republished, hot-linked, or used on other websites, message boards, forums, blogs etc.
Also, check out Makeup Magpie for her lovely swatches and comparisons.
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Le Métier de Beauté Merry Metallics

November 12, 2011

Le Métier de Beauté has released two beautiful nail sets exclusive to Neiman Marcus this holiday. Each set is priced at $32 and contains four beautiful metallic nail polishes with a stunning leaf ornament. You can see Café Makeup for the press release details and Karla Sugar for swatches of both sets. I died for Merry Metallics and did not hesitate to buy an extra set as a gift. Each come in the signature mini Le Métier nail polish packaging, the colors:
  • Plum Puddin’ – a rich light plum spun with sheer silver and micro-glitter sparkles
  • Red-E and Waiting – a sheer red with metallic gold undertones
  • Tarnished Silver – a moonlit highly metallic platinum
  • Lamé Entertain You – a foiled shimmering copper with silver undertones

Red-E and Waiting is a beautiful rich red with a gold shimmer infused throughout. On the nail it applies beautifully and smoothly with just one coat although I did not really see any gold shimmer on the nail once applied. I adore this color. One simply cannot have enough reds.

Tarnished Silver is a highly metallic frosted platinum with blueish tones. It’s very similar to OPI Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvelous but more blue. I find it very festive and gorgeous for holiday. Even though the shimmer factor is high, it’s still office appropriate.

Lamé Entertain You is a beautiful complex coppery pink silver frost. It’s almost foiled-like when you apply it. I adore this one. I put it on as a full manicure and it lasted all week without any chips or tip wear. This color screams “holiday” to me. I want an eyeshadow this color.

Plum Puddin’ is the most fun color in the set but least office-appropriate (in my mind). Still for a glittering purple it’s more wearable than most other frosted purples. I’m not a glitter fan at all but the tiny micro-sparkles in this shade add a kick to make this fun to wear. I found the finish on the sheer side even with 2 coats.

One last photo since I know everyone likes comparisons. I found each shade in Merry Metallics unique but here are a few other shades to help you gauge the color based on varying computer screens and my skintone.

Bottom line: Totally gorgeous, festive, and fun. The Le Métier de Beauté StocKen Stuffer Nail Sets are $32 each and currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus. I found mine in-store. The set is worth every penny. Happy Friday to everyone!
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Edward Bess Berry Chic

November 9, 2011
Edward Bess Berry Chic is the more dramatic pink-plum palette option this season. I ordered this sight unseen and did not ask for descriptions in advance so I did not know what to expect. I will say that Back to Basics is my favorite of the two, but Berry Chic is surprisingly wearable even though it has pinks and warm plums for the eyes (which I normally cannot wear at all). The formulas/textures are the same as his other palette so I will mainly describe the colors. The cream products also have the same fig scent as his lipsticks, glosses and bronzer.
  • Lip/Cheek color – muted plum rose (not as bright as his Island Rose Compact Rouge)
  • Highlighter – pale shimmery pink (smoother in texture than his Back to Basics highlighter)
  • Eyeshadows -soft satin ivory, warm pink-tinged plum shimmer, warm pale bubblegum pink, warm brown shimmer (all very pigmented, layerable and easy to blend)
  • Glosses – top shade is a sheer cool light fuschia, bottom shade was a complete surprise, the top layer seemed to be slightly oxidized, the color once top layer was swiped was a warm rich plum-red (the bottom color is very pigmented)

I applied this over the weekend with slight hesitation. I think the eyecolors in this palette aren’t the easiest to pull off with ease. If you can wear warm pinks or plums (think NARS Kuala Lumpur or MAC Swish) then this will be pure love for you. I tend to avoid pure pinks or warm reds/burgandies/plums on the eyes because they give me that pink eye look. Edward Bess Berry Chic was surprisingly wearable and naturally flattering. I applied the eyeshadow colors by layering them (lightest to darkest). Still I will mainly stick to my safer neutrals for eyes. Perhaps the next time I visit the EB counter I will ask someone to show me how to use it. Bottom line: still undecided but trying to go outside my comfort zone.
LA/OC girls, not to sound like a broken record, but Edward will be in LA starting tomorrow for a week. If you can get to the Beverly Hills Neimans I highly recommend you try and visit.
Berry Chic retails for $75 and is available online at EdwardBess.com and instore at Bergdorf Goodman.
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Edward Bess Back to Basics

November 8, 2011

Edward Bess Back to Basics ($75) is the perfect palette of polished neutrals for the woman on the go. It’s natural yet not too natural and I believe it’s as goof-proof and universally flattering as his Daydream Bronzer. The Non-Blonde has a great review with beautiful photos and swatches. I agree whole-heartedly with everything she says. My thoughts & descriptions (working my way from the left side of the palette to the right side):
  • Lip/Cheek color – This has the same texture as the Compact Rouges. The color in pan for Back to Basics was slightly misleading but in a good way. In the compact I expected a warm nude with brown tones. Instead it goes on a nude-pink. It’s lovely on the cheeks for an understated pink tint and gorgeous on the lips. The pigment is excellent – buildable, non-greasy and easy to blend very much like his compact rouges. Also has the fig scent.
  • Highlighter – The highlighter is a cream formula. It’s a warm sheer nude sparkle. I felt the texture of this one was slightly textured to the touch of the fingers (in pan) but it felt completely smooth when applied to the skin. The color is sheer but more sparkly than his other cream highlighters. Still not overly so. I layered this over the lip/cheek color on the face and it added a wonderful highlight. This does have the fig scent.
  • Eyeshadows – The eyeshadows in the palette are beautifully pigmented – even more so than his regular shadows. The colors are all shimmery. I found the shimmer factor to be higher than all his other shadows. The colors are an ivory shimmer, a beige shimmer, a warm pale copper frost, a deeper warm brown shimmer. I was scared of the light coppery shade thinking it would be too warm. Alone, I think it is. But when layered with the other paler shades it gives the eyes warmth and depth.
  • Glosses – I agree with The Non-Blonde these were the weakest points of his palette. Both are sheer beiges, one with slight pink tones. They do add a nice shine to the lip/cheek color, but alone I suspect they will appear very sheer.
  • The Brush – The double-ended brush contains one side for applying cream products, the other for shadows. Initially thoughts were a let-down. The brush seemed to be not-the-greatest quality. The bristles for the powder didn’t appear to be hand-made. Yet again Edward Bess never fails to please. The brush is a wonderful mini applicator and applied the eyeshadows with ease.

A few close ups of each side:

Swatches below. Note mine are applied with a very heavy hand. Don’t be scared of the shimmer factor for the shadows. If you’re familiar with Edward Bess Eyeshadows you know they apply beautifully but are layerable. The colors in his palette work the same magic as the individual colors. The frost isn’t overpowering at all. Be sure to check out The Non-Blonde’s review. Her swatches are more inline with what the colors look like when applied naturally.

Bottom line: Even though I prefer to pick items individually (rather than palettes) and prefer creams to be separated from powders (in palettes), I adore this. It made my whole face glow naturally. It’s worth every penny and I will just take extra care to try and not get the debris from the shadows in the other cream-based products. The palette is available at Bergdorf Goodman in-store. It is also up online at Neimanmarcus.com and EdwardBess.com. I haven’t checked with the Beverly Hills store to see if they have this yet, their number is (310) 550-5900. PS – I just heard that Edward will be in LA starting tomorrow until next Thursday. I highly recommend calling the counter for the details, if you can visit while he is in-store, you are in for a real treat.
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Edward Bess Back to Basics and Berry Chic Palettes (Preview)

November 8, 2011

Edward Bess has released his first two palettes this holiday season ($75 each). Each palette comes in a black mirrored rectangular compact containing:
  • one lip/cheek color (similar to Compact Rouges)
  • one cream highlighter
  • four eyeshadows
  • two glosses
  • a double-ended brush (one side for creams other for shadows)
Back to Basics is the neutral-nudes option and Berry Chic is a palette which has cool-toned pink plum shades. The palettes are currently available at counter in-store at Bergdorf Goodman and also on EdwardBess.com. Here is the packaging:

A few close ups of the lips/cheeks:

Next up will be details, descriptions, reviews and swatches of each palette individually. Both were purchased sight-unseen. I’ve only been testing for a few days but initial thoughts are thumbs-up. All the cream items in this palette have the beautiful EB fig scent (I can’t smell anything from the shadows). I’ll be putting up my reviews as fast as I can. For more details you can call the Bergdorf Goodman Edward Bess counter (212) 872-8826.
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