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Nordstrom Beauty Exclusives Haul Part 1

July 15, 2009

I was able to pick up my pre-orders yesterday! Check with your Nordstrom – they called me to let me know they were able to ring up pre-orders in a way that you still get your points, but can pick them up early. What I ended up with:

Laura Mercier Renaissance Collection which includes:
* deluxe Flawless Skin Day Creme SPF 15
* full-size Undercover Pot UC-3
* exclusive full-size Pink Champagne Lip Glacé
* exclusive Renaissance Eye Color Duo
* mini Black Thickening and Building Mascara
* double-ended Secret Camouflage Powder Brush
* a mini velour puff

Entire set from nordstrom.com:



Renaissance Eye Color Duo & Pink Champagne Lip Glace:

Swatch comparisons – in the tubes these look really similar, but swatched you can see the differences:
1. Nars Dolce Vita Lipgloss
2. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lip Glace
3. Laura Mercier Blush Lip Glace
4. Chanel Glass Quartz Aqualumiere Gloss
5. Chanel Bel Air Glossimer
6. Chanel Giggle Glossimer

Lipstick vs Lip Glace Versions:
7. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lipstick
8. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lip Glace

Dior Mystic Violine Nail Polish 987 (nordstrom exclusive) vs. Black Plum 981 (fall 2009):

Black Plum (top) vs Mystic Violine (bottom & bottle):



Dior GWP with a $75 purchase:

MAC Lip Bag Sets in Baby Blooms (left) & Summer Crop (right):

Nars Modern Love Eyeshadow Palette:
Top Row: Alhambra, Jezebel and Habanera
Bottom Row: Tokyo, India Song and Pandora

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Color Focus: Dark Vampy Nail Polish

July 14, 2009

For makeup I’m obsessed with neutrals, but for nails, I’m obsessed with dark vampy colors and reds. Even though it’s mid-summer, I thought I’d share my favorite vampy colors to go along with the recent fall release themes like Dior Black Plum & Nars Tokaido Express. (Please excuse the messy manicures.)

***Note all pictures taken in direct natural sunlight. Also note the bottles shown don’t necessarily coincide with the shade on the finger directly above it. Bottles shown are notated in each category.***

Vampy Burgandy Shades (Sephora for OPI I’m With Brad & Chanel Vamp bottles shown):
1. Sephora for OPI I’m With Brad
2. Chanel Vamp
3. Chanel Rouge Noir
4. Chanel Cosmic Violine
5. Chanel Tulip Noir


Vampy Wine Shades (Dior Black Plum & Nars Gimme Shelter bottles pictured):
1. Nars Gimme Shelter
2. OPI NYPD Beet
3. Sephora by OPI Meet for Drinks
4. Dior Black Plum
5. MAC Boom!


Vampy Plums & Purples (Dior Licorice & Chanel Feu de Russie bottles pictured):
1. OPI Black Cherry Chutney
2. Nars Tokaido Express
3. Le Metier de Beaute Black Orchid
4. Dior Licorice
5. Chanel Feu de Russie


Miscellaneous Dark Shades (Chanel Nuit de Russie & Blue Satin bottles pictured):
1. OPI My Private Jet
2. Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams
3. Chanel Nuit de Russie
4. Chanel Blue Satin
5. Chanel Vendetta

Unfortunately for me this is how these blues/purples look on me without the sunlight:

I’m new to photographing nail polishes – so for more views or to check out these colors, I’d highly recommend checking out other various nail polish blogs for more swatches in case any of these look off on your screen! Or if some of the shades look identical, these blogs and galleries might help!

Some of my favorites:
* Community Nail Polish Gallery
* Scrangie
* All Lacquered Up
* Steph’s Closet Blog

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Nars Fall 2009 Tokaido Express Swatch + Review

July 13, 2009

Here’s a swatch of the new Nars Tokaido Express nail polish:

Overall thoughts: I have several other nail polishes from Nars that I really like (Saratoga, Madame Butterfly, Orgasm, etc.) and this is probably the worst in formula that I have. While the color looks rich and lush, the formula is very thin and streaky this application required 3 coats (I applied the third coat heavily). I normally don’t apply nail polish myself (due to the total lack of manicure/pedicure skills), so perhaps a more even finish would be achieved if done by a professional.

It’s very similar to Dior Licorice from last year’s Nordstrom Anniversary (comparison swatches coming soon).

So while you can get a nice rich finish, be warned that it will take several coats and that your first two coats might be streaky and uneven.

FYI the original Nars Fall 2009 post has been updated with this picture as well. Check a few posts down to see more of the collection.

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Beauty Look Inspirations

July 13, 2009

A few of my favorite beauty looks from promotional ads/photos:

Christian Dior (love the perfect liner and nude lips)

Chanel (from the Think Pink Collection, Asia Exclusive)

Cle de Peau (simple yet glowing)

Becca (pretty and natural)

Trish McEvoy (from Spring 2005 Neiman Marcus Beauty Looks)

Urban Decay (love that red on her lips)

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Le Metier de Beaute: Eyes & Cheeks

July 10, 2009

The Sheer Brilliance Glosses & Lip Cremes from Le Metier de Beaute have been my favorite products in the line, but I have also added a few gorgeous neutral eyeshadows and blushes to my collection. Included in this post are some eyeshadow, blush, highlighter and bronzer pictures from Le Metier de Beaute.

Eyeshadows come in a single-compact format or in a set of four packaged in a unique swivel-stacking system they call their Kaleidoscope Kits. Most of their Kaleidoscope Kits are pre-made and contain shades exclusive to each kit. The Persephone Kit did contain shades available in single-compact format. Check out these links to Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman or Karen’s Makeup and Beauty Blog to see the more product photos.

Eyeshadows, left to right: Mulberry, Jojo, Milan, Spicy

Close up of Mulberry & Jojo

Close up of Milan & Spicy

From Persephone Eye Kit: Rose Quartz (available as a single)

From Persephone Eye Kit: Alexandrite (available as a single)

From Persephone Eye Kit: Canvas (available as a single)

From Persephone Eye Kit: Sequoia (available as a single)

Whisper Highlighter, Fresh Blush, Echo/Sunkissed Blush Bronzer Duo

Close up of Whisper & Fresh (note Whisper doesn’t show on the websites for purchase but is available at counters)

Close up of Echo/Sunkissed Duo (which I received as an extra from the King of Prussia Le Metier Counter)

Overall thoughts: the eyeshadows are soft and with pretty pigment. I would say the pigment is in the medium-full range – not quite as rich as Urban Decay, but not as sheer as MAC Lustre Eyeshadows. The blushes have the same pigmentation as Nars, but have a more natural finish – I find some Nars shimmery blushes can be a bit too frosty if applied with a heavy hand. The Le Metier Bronzer is absolutely divine giving a soft warm glow. A HUGE thanks to Ellen at Neiman Marcus King of Prussia for including this!

Interested in more Le Metier? Check out these links:

Le Metier de Beaute Nail Lacquers (see pictures of nail polishes in Phlox, Lenton Rose & more)

Le Metier de Beaute: Feature on Lips (pictures of Sheer Brillance Glosses & Lip Cremes – my personal favorite with a gorgeous selection of pinks and beiges)

Neiman Marcus Camp Gorgeous Event: Siena Lip Gloss GWP (details on various GWPs from Neimans for Le Metier)

Makeup & Beauty Blog: Ever Heard of Le Metier de Beaute? (pics of kaleidoscope kits & more)

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First Look at Nars Fall 2009

July 8, 2009

I recently started to get back into NARS and just saw some of the Nars fall items on Nordstrom.com so I used their online-order-instore-pickup feature to purchase a few items. Pictures of what I picked up:

NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Silk Road (very similar to the Nars Duos in All About Eve and Alhambra, at first glance this looks a tad peachier and slightly less pale):

NARS All About Eve, Alhambra, Silk Road Comparisons (2 views):

NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Brumes:

Eyeshadow Single in Mekong – haven’t tested this yet, but the Nars rep at Nordstrom said it’s like their Night Series eyeshadows:

NARS Mekong Single vs Cordura Duo (note that Cordura isn’t part of the Fall 2009 collection):

Nail Polish in Tokaido Express:

Close up of the nail polish in the sun:

Swatch on nails:

I didn’t stop by the Nars counter to check out the Fast Ride Lipstick or Indian Summer Eyeshadow Duo since I simply picked up my goodies at customer service, but over the phone the SA described Fast Ride as a deep plum red and Indian Summer as mustard yellow.

There have been some details on more duos floating around the web for three more duos that I didn’t see online yet, Brousse, Eurydice and Taiga – so I called the counter to inquire about those three. The Nars rep at Nordstrom said they hadn’t received those yet, but that they will probably come out later in the fall and put me on his call list saying he would let me know when he found out more details. As of yet, they didn’t have testers and also that they were only pre-selling the Fall items for their anniversary sale. Luckily I had placed the order online before hand so I was able to pick up my items today.

But overall I have enough goodies to keep me happy for a long time!

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Guerlain Fall Collection 2009

July 8, 2009

One of my favorite beauty resources told me that Guerlain fall had arrived at Saks but didn’t have testers yet, so I stopped by Saks again to check and see if they received the products in. They didn’t have the tester or display unit out, but my sales associate looked through the drawers and this is what we found:

Volga Princess Palette for Eyes and Lips which comes in a metallic pink compact with a cute drawstring pouch:

Brun Mordore #441 – Ombre Eclat 4 Shades Eyeshadow Quad (note this was very difficult to photograph b/c of the reflection off the compact):

KissKiss Baby Lipsticks, left to right (two views):
#220 Red Nude, #241 Rosewood Nude, #240 Honey Nude, #260 Romantic Nude, #261 Rosy Nude

Also picked up the Russian Doll Liquid Blush but haven’t played around with it. Check out Yuki’s Lazy Channel Blog’s Feature on Guerlain for awesome pictures and swatches. Other items I saw included 3 metallic eyeliners and the KissKiss Baby #200 Cristal Nude which was a clear iridescent white shade.

I was in a rush, so I forgot to ask about the other eyeshadow quad with a flower print pattern on the top, but will check back sometime next week. Yuki’s blog also has great swatches/pictures.

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