I’d be really interested to know what your beauty style is, so if you have time please tell me more about what you love and what types of brands/colors you tend to lean towards.
Here is a general list/guideline, but feel free to write whatever you’d like to about your beauty style:
1) What is your beauty style? (Natural, classic, minimalist, dramatic, trendy etc.)
2) Where do you get your beauty inspiration from?
3) What beauty product(s) do you have the most of?
4) What’s your favorite/holy grail color for (can be more than one):
Eyes
Lips
Cheeks
Nails
Other?
5) Top three favorite brands of the moment.
My answers will be posted in the comments below. I hope it’s not too soon for another survey/poll! I know many of you filled out my survey near the end of last month – I’ve read all your responses, but I haven’t yet checked out every blog listed – I’m still going through them 🙂 But thank you for telling me about yourself!
Do you have a favorite lip balm? I’ve always had an obsession with tinted and flavored lip balms which started in high school (over 10 years ago) with Vanilla Lip Smackers, The Body Shop Kiwi Fruit Flavored Lip Balm, and SoftLips Lip Balms.
Trying out different lip balms has always been a relatively inexpensive and fun hobby for me with the different scents and flavors, but for years I could never find one that properly moisturized my lips. I have full lips that tend to dry easily with certain brands of lipsticks – but in recent years, thanks to some new product releases, I have finally found some that work for me.
Tried and true:
MAC Tendertones $14.50 – these were limited edition, I hope they bring these back eventually
C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Lip Balm $5.50 – soothing almond scent, from Bath & Body Works (there’s a promotion for buy 2 get 1 free right now)
NARS Sabrina Lip Treatment $24 – a light milky pink with shimmer with a watermelon scent
MAC Tinted Lip Conditioners $14.50 – the ones I have are in the older packaging and were part of limited edition collections like the Luella and Disney
Aquaphor $6 for a 2-pack at CVS – thanks to a very sweet swapper who included this as an extra for me to try and got me hooked!
Trying out right now:
Shiseido Water In Lip Sakura $8 – found this at my local Japanese supermarket
Bobbi Brown Glitter Lip Balm in Pink Crystal – part of the Breast Cancer Awareness Set which is $40 for the lip balm and a creamy lip color
L’Occitane Vanilla Fondant Lip Balm – from the Vanilla Hugs & Kisses Holiday set which is $18 for the lip balm and mini Vanilla Shea Hand Cream
Paul & Joe Disney Milky Lip Treatment $18 – couldn’t resist the cute packaging
C.O. Bigelow Lemon Pomegranate Lip Cream $7.50 – from Bath & Body works
Korres Lip Butter $9 each or $19.50 for 3 at Sephora – I’ve heard a lot of raves about these, so I stopped by Sephora to check these out
The November Giveaway is still open for another couple days – click on THIS LINK for more info! Those who have already entered, thank you for all your great responses! It’s good to know that there are others who feel the same way as I do about shopping 🙂
I finally caved in and gave the YSL Rouge Volupté Lipstick formula another try because of all the gorgeous pictures I’ve seen of perfect nude pink lips from the #1 Nude Beige shade. I’ve never paid much attention to YSL in the past because of the high price tag, but lately with the release of some gorgeous new Golden Glosses like #26, 28 and 29 I have looked more into the line and have to say I am impressed!
These lipsticks are full-coverage with a smooth and creamy finish that I haven’t seen in any other lipstick. They have a sweet watermelon-like scent. I normally don’t go for full-coverage lipsticks because I usually find them too thick and matte, but these have a nice subtle shine to them and don’t feel heavy at all. I also find that full-coverage lipsticks tend to be less forgiving if the shade isn’t perfect for your skintone. But perhaps I am just pickier than most.
Thanks to the one-day discount sale at Neimans, I was able to get these at a 20% discount instead of paying the full $34 retail price. As fabulous as these lippies are, I don’t think I would have splurged for them if it hadn’t been for the discount. I think anything over $30 for something lips-related is ridiculously steep, especially when you compare it to all the other things you could buy for $30.
More views + swatches:
I don’t have #13 Peach Passion, but I believe it is brighter and more vibrant than #26 Tender Peach which I find less bright/fake looking in the lips.
Those of you who own these – how do you wear them? Alone? With a liner or gloss? Would love to hear what you’ve tried and like since I’m new to these!
Back in September, I was planning to do a full series on Giorgio Armani, but have been slacking. I will feature Armani more frequently since I know a lot of you are interested in the line, although I can’t promise to get fully back on track since there are so many other brands that I want to write about.
Giorgio Armani released 4 eyeshadow quads (Numbers 01, 02, 03, 04) in 2005 back when Armani hard to find since it was only available at a few Saks locations and various Giorgio Armani Boutiques. They have since reformulated the quads in their Maestro Eye Shadow Formula and the pigment is much better.
In addition to the original 4, they have released a number of limited edition eyeshadow palettes with various seasonal collection. The two newer colors 05 Desert and 06 Mineral were released as part of the regular line.
The quads I still have with swatches:
Top: 02 Floral (original formula) , 03 Earth (original formula) Bottom: 04 Stone (original formula), 05 Desert (new formula)
#02 Original Formula:
#03 Original Formula:
#04 Original Formula:
#05 New Maestro Formula:
Limited Edition Quads, L to R: Midnight Eye Mania, #10 Leather, Pink Light
Midnight Eye Mania:
#10 Leather Collection:
Pink Light:
All of mine were purchased at Saks over the years. Today, they retail for $58 US each which I feel is fairly steep. I tend to wait for Saks events when they have GWPs or Triple Points. I believe Armani recently did a 20% discount online, perhaps they will do another promotion soon.
I have not repurchased the shades I already own in the new formula because I am happy with the consistency, although I have tried the newer formula instore and can confirm it is much better than the original.
For more Armani photos and swatches, click on this Giorgio Armani label. I’ve done a full feature on the New Maestro Eyeshadows and Blushes and Bronzers. There are bits and pieces of other items scattered among other articles.
For the collection, the standouts to me were the aqualumiere lipglosses and lipsticks, although they seemed to be more of a spring resort theme rather than a holiday theme. The lipsticks are unique enough that I couldn’t find dupes or similar colors in my Chanel collection.
Pictured left to right: Aqualumiere Glosses:Canari, Hirondelle, Colbri Aqualumiere Lipsticks: Grenada, Tasmania, Galapagos, Maldives Nail polish: Trapeze
Here are the comparisons to some other Chanel Aqualumiere Glosses and Glossimers within the same color families + swatches:
Left to right – Canari Aqualumiere, Candy Glow Aqualumiere, Coral Reef Glossimer, Hirondelle Aqualumiere, Courtisane Glossimer, Diamond Rose Aqualumiere, Colibri Aqualumiere, Wonderland Glossimer (LE), Whisper Glossimer (d/c)
* Canari Aqualmiere gloss has more pinky-coral in it compared to Candy Glow and Coral Reef * Hirondelle Aqualumiere is not as frosty/sparkley and more natural than Courtisane and Diamond Rose * Colibri Aqualumiere is more white than Wonderland (more sparkley) and Whisper (more beige)
Here’s a repeat picture of the Trapeze Nail Polish compared to Golden Sand and Antilope:
For the actual holiday collection, there have already been some great posts and pictures published on various blogs, so I didn’t want to do a rehash of everything. For more great photos/swatches/reviews, check out Makeup and Beauty Blog, Karlasugar, My Makeup Reviews and Beauty Moogle Zone (all linked to the actual Chanel Holiday articles for your convenience!).
Saks has received their holiday collection for Dolce & Gabbana and the colors are stunning!
There have been some promotional pictures of the Golden Beams holiday collection floating around the web on various blogs like Temptalia.com and Makeup4All.com and in the latest Saks catalog page 43, you can see photos of the Sparkling Lipstick, Royal Nail Lacquer, Magic Lipgloss, and Gold Eyeshadow Quad.
I ordered from Saks NY for the Triple Points event last week and these are the holiday items that came in the mail today (I ordered several items from the regular line too, but those will be saved for another article in the near future):
* Sparkling Shine Lipstick – sparkling warm nude-gold * Caramel Blush – the perfect caramel nude blush * Royal Nail Polish – extremely deep purple with reddish undertones and subtle sparkle * Magic Lipgloss (thanks to the sweet SAs who threw this in as a GWP!) – a rich ruby shimmer
Lips and cheeks:Magic Lipgloss, Caramel Blush, Sparkling Lipstick
Swatches of Sparkling Lipstick & Magic Lipgloss:
Swatch of Caramel Blush:
Caramel (most pigmented) vs Nude (more peachy/light) vs MAC Tendering (in the middle):
Royal Nail Polish: 3 coats with high flash (in natural light the sparkle is more subtle)
Compared to Nars Tokaido Express and Chanel Vendetta:
In natural sunlight: L to R – Nars Tokaido Express, Dolce & Gabbana Royal, Chanel Vendetta
As of this past weekend, the Saks NY store called to let me know they received their Golds Eyeshadow Quad in limited quantities. I decided to pass on this for now since I already have a lot of golds/silvers.
If you have the latest Saks catalog, check page 43 for a better picture:
Overall thoughts: I would say the standout is the Sparkling Lipstick. I love nude-golds and this one is really pretty and natural looking. Will definitely warm up the skin with a soft glow. I’m really happy with the other items as well. The holiday lipgloss is one of the more pigmented ones and the blush shows up better than the Nude Blush on my skin.
The Saks NY girls did a really great job again describing colors to me over the phone (thank you for your patience ladies!) and I couldn’t be more pleased.
