I spotted a new nail summer polish in Paris at Sephora from Dior called Sundown #464. It’s a shade we didn’t get in the US but was released in other countries. It’s a bright summer pink with a hint of coral (no shimmer). I had this applied on the last week of our vacation – the manicurists used Deborah Lippmann for the base and top coat and my manicure lasted a full week after before tip wear started to occur. (For more swatches you may want to check out Color Me Loud.)
I took it with me to the beach in Mykonos to take photos. Below it’s swatched with two coats:
As soon as I got back home to California, I pulled some other shades to see if I could dupe it. My first instinct was to compare it to other Dior colors. I looked at all my Chanel Le Vernis nail colors as well to see what would be the closest. Dior Sundown is almost an exact dupe for Pasteque from many years ago (now discontinued). I ran out of fingers to swatch them on so I don’t have it shown below.
Swatch-wise, Dior Sundown is a 99% dupe for Chanel Tutti Frutti. The Dior is just the tiniest bit brighter in color, but the base and overall look from arms length is almost identical. Dior Wonderland is the next closest color but several shades lighter and more pink. Dior Aventure has a lot more orange and warmth making Sundown look almost pink next to it. Dior Glory by comparison looks red.
I’m a huge fan of Dior nail polishes. The application is flawless and smooth – once you try one you’ll be impressed with the brush shape and fluid texture. It’s really quite amazing. Lasting power is usually around 5-7 days without tip wear when I use either the regular Chanel Laque Brilliance Extreme, Rescue Beauty Lounge or Dior Gel Top Coat.
I’ve been a long time fan of the NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Dry Oil. It’s a really good dry body oil that absorbs quickly into the skin and smells amazing. I was excited to see all the products in French Pharmacies in Paris (a few snapshots here). There are a number of things you can buy in Paris that aren’t offered in the US (like the sun line and a number of body products). I really wish I had stocked up on items while I was in France, but there’s always next time. One of the places we stayed at, Hotel Brighton stocked NUXE Toiletries and I was in heaven. The first thing I did when I got back to the US was place an order for some shower gels, hand creams and lip balms. The new Huile Prodigieux® Shower Oil just launched and it’s amazing. It leaves the skin super soft and smells just like the dry oil. It’s sulfate-free and scented with sweet almond oil, orange blossom, magnolia and vanilla. I really love it.
Today NUXE is offering 30% off on their US site https://us.nuxe.com/ in celebration of Bastille Day. No code needed – prices are reduced, they also offer free shipping with any $50 purchase. According to the e-mail I received this morning, the offer expires on July 14th, 2015, at 11:59pm EST.
Quick shot of NUXE in Paris:
Some of my favorites include items from the Rêve de Miel line. They released a few limited-edition pots of their lip balm to celebrate their 20th anniversary (now sold out). I bought one of the yellow pots but haven’t had a chance to try it. I have tried the Lip Moisturizing Stick Rêve de Miel and like it for a soft lightweight sheer lip balm treatment. The Rêve de Miel Gentle Shampoo is a staple for me, it’s ultra hydrating and smells like honey. I don’t have super dry hair so I reserve this for once a week use and use other shampoos on a daily basis. The Cleansing Gel is designed for dry skin and is multi purpose for both face and body. It’s good for sensitive skin and cleans nicely without leaving a film but still leaves the skin feeling moisturized.
Two other shower gels I bought include the Men’s Shower Gel and the Fondant Shower Gel (smells like orange blossom and almond). Both are thick in texture but lather up gently. My husband is a loyal user of Jack Black’s Turbo Wash and prefers it over all others, but likes the way the NUXE smells.
Last but not least, NUXE has a new limited-edition summer bottle of the classic Huile Prodigieuse for summer out. It’s not yet available online at NUXE (so far I’ve only seen it at Beautyhabit).
Do you have any NUXE favorites? If yes, what are your favs and where do you usually buy NUXE? I’ve seen a number of places stock the Dry Oil, but have never seen the full line in stores near me (Paris was a first!).
The NUXE Rêve de Miel Shampoo, Rêve de Miel Shower Gel and Summer Huile Prodigieuse were provided courtesy of NUXE for review consideration. All other items purchased by me.
There are three new cream blushes in the Chanel Les Beiges collection called Healthy Glow Sheer Colour Sticks ($45 each for 8 g / 0.28 oz). All three have this soft texture that feels cool to the touch. The sticks are easy to swipe on the cheeks and blend flawlessly. Coverage and pigment is quite sheer compared to what you see in the tubes, but they layer nicely to give the face a very natural glow with a hint of color. These blush sticks give the skin a youthful glow with the perfect amount of soft color. If you like color you might want to skip these although I do think they make a good base for powder blush. If you have super oily skin I think these are probably going to also be a skip for you. They stay put for a few hours on normal/combination skin but if you get oily and find blush tends to disappear on you, these will probably do the same.
The three shades have a very tiny hint of shimmer in them. On the skin the shimmer disappears but rather gives the cheeks a glow-from-within kind of luminous look:
No. 20 is a soft bronze with golden shimmer
No. 21 is a warm rose pink with shimmer
No. 22 is a coral with a hint of shimmer
I photographed and swatched these back in May before I left for vacation. Back then my skin was light to medium ranging from a Chanel Beige 20 to 30. Living in sunny Southern California means there is sun everywhere – there’s no avoiding it and I tan easily even with a high SPF sunscreen. On our Europe trip both my husband and I were in the sun a lot with tons of walking, outside tours, and the cruise. We both made the extra effort to re-apply sunscreen constantly, wore hats, and on some occasions I tried to wear long-sleeved tees to cover my arms but it was extremely hot and many days tanks and tees were the only option for me. I got quite a bit darker and went from a Chanel Beige 20/30 to the darker end of Chanel Beige 40.
Back in May, all three were perfect for my light/medium skin. Weather here was moderate but warm so lasting power was really good since my skin didn’t get oily. I went back and forth debating whether to bring one with me on the trip but opted for Tom Ford Pink Sand instead. Now that I’m a few shades darker I tested these again for the past two weeks to see how they wear on darker skin. I also wanted to see how long they would last on the skin now that the temperatures are warmer and a bit more humid. On my Chanel 40 skin, the Bronze No. 20 disappears on me after 1 minute of wear. It gives the cheeks a very soft contour but after I blend I can’t see much of anything. The Pink No. 21 and Coral No. 22 still show up on my skin, but I find I need to apply + blend + let sit, then repeat with one more layer for the color to show up. The effect is still similar – you get that very natural glow with a hint of color. Now that I’m darker the colors have more of a glow finish versus color. I have them swatched below and blended out on Chanel Beige 30 skin (from last month). To see how these look on fair skin you might want to check out Café Makeup for swatches of the pink and bronze.
Close ups of each shade:
Ingredients:
Comparison swatches to the Charlotte Tilbury Beach Sticks in Las Salinas and Ibiza (currently on Chanel Beige 40 skin). Below you can see the Chanel and Charlotte Tilbury colors are different. Concept is similar in the way they give the skin a natural glow. Charlotte Tilbury’s have a sweeter vanilla scent and more visible shimmer flecks. Chanel’s smells like their UV Essential Sunscreen and has a more natural glow with finely milled shimmer.
One last shot:
In warmer humid weather I find these fade within 2-3 hours on the cheeks. In hot summer weather I have a hard time finding any makeup that is truly sweat-proof (some eyeliners and mascaras have exceptionally good lasting power). In moderately warm weather they last at least 5 hours without fading. All three give a really pretty soft glow. They are easy to apply and if you’re timid with blush these are goof proof. I truly believe these are impossible to overdo because they blend out so nicely on the cheeks. My take is that the pink and coral are musts for me. I’ve been wearing the pink one a lot. The bronze performed better when I was lighter in skintone. Right now I’m too tan for it to show up. On fairer skins these will perform more like a regular blush.
There are four new Le Vernis Nail Colours ($27 each) in this year’s Les Beiges Collection. The four beiges remind me of some of the classic sheer pink and beige colors Chanel had back in the 90’s – but in modern form and with better coverage (I remember the older ones being super sheer!). I picked up all four shades at the counter over a month ago – I know many of you have been asking for swatches, apologies for the delay! All are sheer in coverage with a super smooth streak-free finish. There is enough pigment that it will cover the nail entirely with two coats. Here’s a quick peek at the Chanel Les Beiges display:
Beige Rose is a sheer glossy baby pink, it has a bright quality to it so on my hands it actually looks pink even though it’s light in undertone. With this one two coats gives pretty good coverage but has a slight jelly finish.
Beige Pur is a sheer neutral beige. Out of the four this one is the sheerest on me. I think nude beiges can be hard to pull off sometimes with my skintone. If a nude nail polish color is an exact match or has too much warmth the color can make my hands look corpse-like or skin look sallow. I think your mileage may vary depending on your skintone with Beige Pur – I personally really like it on the hands. It gives them a neutral polished look.
Precious Beige is a warmer dark beige on my Chanel Beige 30 skintone (I was a Chanel Beige 30 when I swatched these last month, right now I have a tan and am more along the lines of Beige 40/50). It has a tiny bit of shimmer mixed in throughout but on the nail it looks more like a cream. The shimmer is still visible if you look at the nails up close.
Lovely Beige is the darkest of the four colors. This is a medium warm beige tan on me. I like that it’s warm but not too warm (like Intention was on me). There is the slightest hint of a terracotta pink undertone in Lovely Beige.
Based on the swatch comparisons, I couldn’t find a dupe for Beige Rose. It’s a few shades darker compared to other pale pinks that I own. Beige Pur resembles a more beige version of Chanel Jade Rose (discontinued). It’s also similar to Chanel Secret but the Beige Pur has more brown/beige undertone. For Precious Beige I think Tom Ford Toasted Sugar is the closest option (the Chanel is a bit warmer in undertone). Precious Beige is the closest dupe I’ve found to the long discontinued Sahara Beige Nail Polish. Chanel Lovely Beige is a warmer tan version of Dior Incognito.
Overall I find the four Les Beiges Le Vernis shades to be lovely polished classics. They offer good coverage with a slightly sheer finish making them easy to wear and apply. Texture is smooth and streak free which is a huge plus for pale nail colors (although Chanel almost always makes colors with good pigment and coverage). Being neutrals I do think there are other less expensive brands that have similar colors. My personal experience is that nudes and beiges need to have the right mix of white, cream, tan and beige to work on my olive skin. If it’s too warm it makes the hands look yellow. If it has too much grey or white it ends up looking like a pale white pink. Chanel, Dior and Louboutin do nudes and beiges the best in my experience – although depending on your skintone you may find other brands work just as well.
I give Beige Rose and Precious Beige a huge thumbs up for color. I could have skipped Beige Pur and Lovely Beige – they are lovely colors, I just prefer the other two. Bottom line is that they are definitely worth a look.
Several have asked about how to make Chanel polish last. I do believe the base and top coat make a huge difference in extending the wear. On several occasions when I have professional manicures and forget to bring my own base/top coat, I find tip wear and chipping occur by Day 2. For me the Chanel Nail Polish + OPI or Seche Vite combination just doesn’t work. OPI Top Coats doesn’t make the polish last and Seche Vite causes major shrinkage around the edges of both the cuticle and tips which makes tip wear occur much faster. Both are good brands but they work better with other polish brands.
Out of all the base and top coats I’ve tested, my top two favorite base coats are the Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat which seems to be discontinued (or maybe being repackaged?) and the Formula X Base Coat. For top coats Chanel Laque Brilliance Extreme and Rescue Beauty Lounge are my holy grails. With Chanel Fall there is a new base coat called La Base and a new top coat called Le Top Coat which is supposed to be a quick dry product. I just purchase both and will be testing in the next couple of weeks.
Chanel launched a Les Beiges Collection earlier this summer. I picked up the items from the collection a couple months ago before I left for Europe, took photos and swatches but didn’t have time to edit (by now fall beauty has already started to hit counters!). I thought I’d share some quick thoughts on the lips and nails from the collection (nail polish swatches to be posted soon). There are three new lip items in this year’s Les Beiges:
Rose Tendre 204 Glossimer ($30) is a sheer milky smooth pink
Beige Star 206 Glossimer ($30) is a creamy beige nude pink cream
All three are light in color without shimmer. Pigment and coverage is sheer to medium – not so sheer that they are invisible on the lips, but still pretty light. I’m in love with all three colors. They give the lips the perfect wash of effortless color. Polished and natural.
For the glossimers, you may find similar colors or dupes. I’m a sucker for the lush glossy sheen Chanel Glossimers give the lips. Beige Star is very pretty – it’s a your lips but better kind of gloss and covers the lip entirely. Rose Tendre is a sheer milky pink that goes on smoothly – many milky pinks tend to settle into my lip lines and are chalky looking (I have pigmented lips) but Rose Tendre goes on perfectly. It’s my favorite milky pink gloss to date. Right now it appears both are permanent, but I’m not 100% sure.
For the Healthy Glow Hydrating Lip Balm, I expected it to be transparent on the lips. On the back of my hand it looks really pale and usually pale lip balms wash out once they go on my lips. No. 10 however gives sheer to medium even coverage. It is lighter than my natural lip color so I find when it fades I have a pale rim on the outer portion and a darker middle. Lasting power can be extended by lining the lips and filling them in with a beige lipliner (I’ll have swatches below of some good light ones). In terms of hydration – it moisturizes the lips, but similar to the way Rouge Coco Shines do. It’s emollient, glossy and feels nice without sliding off – I’m not sure I can really tell if there are true moisturizing properties in it. The good thing is it doesn’t make my lips peel.
Two sets of swatch comparisons below, first to other glosses and then a few lipliners.
If you’re a neutral lip lover, I think you will adore the Glossimers. The Lip Balm is lovely but given the size and pigment, I think it’s overpriced. That being said I don’t have anything like it in terms of the lightness of color but smooth coverage. Your mileage may vary depending on your skin tone and natural lip color. I was surprised at how much I liked it on the lips, but I don’t love it enough to feel the need to buy a backup.
The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Early Access starts today for Nordstrom Cardholders. At the top of my list each year for the sale are the Beauty Exclusives, Paige Denim and anything from Zella (I’m obsessed with their capris). The catalog arrived last week with a sneak peek. I’m happy to see there is a wider selection online and in stores. Be sure to check out the gift with purchase offerings too – store options may vary. On my wishlist and radar:
Dior has four Nordstrom exclusives this year. On my radar is the neutral Rosy Eye Reviver Palette and this peachy Majesty Nail Polish. I hope to check them out in person today.
Shoes are always good for fall preview. These Enzo Angiolini Manna Heels look like classic staples but might be too high of a heel for me. (Have you tried these before?) I’m in some need of a couple pairs of ankle booties. The Dolce Vita Kadie Bootie is exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Last but not least, Longchamp has several colors of their Le Pliage Expandable Tote for the sale in Black, Navy, Red and Slate. When we were in Paris, my husband and I picked up Expandable 21 inch version (not on sale) because our carry ons weren’t quite enough (after this purchase, we each had 2 bags to carry on flights). After using it for 3 weeks I’m a huge fan of expandable bags.
A few other things on my radar.
Are you shopping Early Access? What’s on your list?
Dior has some new shades of the Dior Vernis Gel-Shine Long Wear Nail Lacquer out this summer. I have four that I picked out and have swatches to share today. Two of the shades are from the Tie-Dye Collection for Summer 2015 in Sunkissed #239 and Sunwashed #319. The other two are Dior.com exclusives from the Peter Philips Collection called NYC Peach #130 and BKLYN Pink #560 (all $27 each for 10 ml/.33 fl oz).
The four shades are all on the lighter or neutral side, I ordered all of these sight unseen although by now the Summer Collection shades should be readily available at all Dior counters.
NYC Peach is a light medium peach cream with a very tiny hint of shimmer
BKLYN Pink is a medium neutral rose pink that pulls slightly cool-toned
Sunkissed is a soft light peach with a subtle brightening effect
Sunwashed is a light summery yellow cream
On me, NYC Peach is very similar to Sunkissed. They are almost identical. NYC Peach is darker by maybe 1/2 to 3/4 a shade. By comparison Sunkissed almost looks pinkish when you put them side by side. Of course, I can’t pick between the two. They both go on super smooth and give the hands a brightened effect which I find is rare with peachy cream shades. They are both beautiful colors, I don’t think you need both.
A few close ups along with finger swatches. All swatches have two coats of the nail polish:
A full nail wheel of comparison swatches:
Chanel Rose Confidential (discontinued)
Chanel Mimosa (discontinued, from summer 2011)
Chanel Les Beiges Le Vernis shades in Beige Rose, Beige Pur, Precious Beige and Lovely Beige (new, review will be posted soon)
I’ve never been a fan of yellow nail polishes, but Sunwashed is a fun color that’s different and light. It is unique and I think appropriate for summer even for the nail polish wearers that wear neutrals – I think it’s fun on the toes. For peach colors, both Sunkissed and NYC Peach are phenomenal colors. If you’re like me, you probably find many peach colors pull brown or warm on the skin and can make the hands look sallow. Both of the new Dior shades have a good mix of white and bright in them that bring life to the hands while still looking peachy. BKLYN Pink didn’t impress me as much when I first applied it. It grew on me as the week progressed. I think it’s a fairly standard pink rose color. I would have loved it if it had some shimmer mixed in or if it was a bit brighter in color. In direct sunlight it looks lovely and bright. In regular light it’s a bit dull-looking (at least on me).
Although Sunkissed and NYC Peach are very similar, I give them both a huge thumbs up. In terms of formula, all of these performed true to Dior’s classic high quality style. Two coats will cover the nail fully and the formula is ultra smooth free of any streaks. Lasting power is very good on me, similar to that of Chanel which lasts 5+ days without tip wear as long as I use a good base and top coat. (My favorite tried and true here.)
