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Loving Right Now

February 9, 2014
I’m living vicariously through fashion bloggers and designers as they post runway and backstage snapshots of New York Fashion Week. There are some amazing streams through Instagram. A few of my favorites above and linked below. (I’d love to hear what you’re following now too!)

@narsissist backstage at Alexander Wang & Helmut Lang
@esteelauder at Derek Lam
@lancomeusa at Jason Wu
@maccosmetics backstage at Alexandre Herchcovitch
@nordstrom backstage with Herve Leger
@neimanmarcus with Bobbi Brown at Tibi

A few fashion bloggers’ instagrams I’m also following right now for NYFW coverage:
Angel Food Style | @sophieelkus
With Love From Kat | @kattanita
Gal Meets Glam | @juliahengel
Pink Peonies | @rachparcell
One more thing I’m loving: Porter Magazine. As many of you know, Net-A-Porter released their first issue of their Porter Magazine on February 7th. I’ve been working my way through the first issue (I love it so far). You can follow them on Instagram as well @netaporter or @portermagazine.
In the beauty world here at my home, I’m loving some new items from Tatcha, I’m working my way through swatches of the Tom Ford spring nail polishes and finally found Armani spring in stores (fell in love with both highlighters). I’ve discovered some new favorites from Ole Henriksen that has worked wonders for my skin in a little over a week. Stay tuned for updates and reviews. What are you loving right now?

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Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation Illuminator in Beige IL01

February 5, 2014

Koh Gen Do released two new liquid highlighters called Aqua Foundation Illuminator ($39 for 0.61 fl oz/18 ml, made in Japan). I tested both at Barneys in Beverly Hills – the White IL00 is very white and pigmented while Beige IL01 is a sheerer luminous beige shimmer. I picked the Beige shade – it’s a stunning complex mix of beige and champagne colored micro-sparkles. On my arm and hand it appeared extremely sparkly, however on my face it blended out to be a very natural luminous sheen. The shade matches my skintone closely and almost disappears upon application but it enhances the skin in a unique way.
I’ve used this a couple of ways. One method is to mix in one pump with a liquid foundation and apply all over the face. I’ve found my skin seems to lack luster and look a bit dull during the past couple of months. This method adds just the right amount of glow to give a radiant natural look to your foundation. Another way is to dab and blend over foundation and powder over the temples or cheeks. This gives a very natural sheen. The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation Illuminator is one of the best liquid illuminators I’ve tried to give that candlelight glow.

Here are swatches shown a few different ways to show how the color blends out. It looks frosty on the hands and arms but it melts into the skin beautifully.

In natural light:

With a flash, lighting highlights the shimmers:

I pulled Giorgio Armani’s Fluid Sheer #2 ($62 for 1 oz) to compare for packaging and size. Koh Gen Do’s is smaller but also less in expensive in price. The concept of both products is similar. You can use liquid highlighters a number of different ways: alone over foundation to highlight the cheeks, temples or eyes, mixed in with foundation or applied all over as a luminous base. I would say the Koh Gen Do Beige is slightly more luminous while Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheers tend to be very sheer.

Comparisons below to a few other pale highlighters. I like the Koh Gen Do Beige because it’s the darkest and matches my skin the best. Koh Gen Do White Illuminator, Armani Fluid Sheer 10, Armani Fluid Sheer 2, NARS Copacabana Illuminator, MAC Strobe Liquid, MAC Golden Elixir Strobe (discontinued).

Blurry but allows you to see the undertone and level of sparkle that reflects with light:

Sharper set:

Overall very impressed. The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation Illuminator has no detectable scent, blends out very smoothly and stays put well through the afternoon. I still found I needed to touchup my makeup mid-day as I usually do, but the highlighter stayed put with minimal fading.

You can find the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation Illuminator at Barneys and Sephora. I bought mine at the counter in Barneys Beverly Hills.

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Valentine’s Day Splurge Ideas

February 5, 2014

Some Valentine’s Day gift idea inspiration whether you are looking for a splurge for yourself or a gift for others. Some options for those who like soft pinks or dramatic reds, plus a few universally appealing items to suit all ages.
  1. YSL Rose Scabiosa La Laque Couture (review here)
  2. Diptyque Eau Rose Hand Cream
  3. Aerin Rose Balm in Pretty (I want one of each shade, these feel so amazing on the lips)
  4. MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Fairly Precious (review here)
  5. By Terry Rose Balm Coffret – 10th Anniversary Limited Edition
  6. Bobbi Brown Baby Pink Lip Gloss (review here)
  7. Tom Ford Lip Color Sheer in Incorrigible for those who like a strong vivid pink (swatches here)
  8. Tatcha Kissu Valentine’s Kit (Gold Camellia Nourishing Lip Balm + one bag of Tatcha sweets)
  9. MAC Viva Glam Rihanna Lip Glass such a gorgeous sheer hot pink
  10. Tory Burch Lipstick Case
  11. Tom Ford Indiscretion Nail Polish
  12. Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Fiction a stunning natural but semi-bright red/plum
  13. YSL Rouge Pablo La Laque Couture (swatches here)

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Tom Ford Lip Color Sheers | Summer Fling, In the Buff, Sweet Spot, Paradiso and Pink Dune

February 4, 2014

I ordered a couple Tom Ford Lip Color Sheers ($49 each for .1 oz/3g) online last week and then picked up several more shades at the Neiman Marcus counter in San Francisco (see swatches of all the new shades here). These new beauties from Tom Ford are called “Lip Color Sheers” although I would say they are really not all that sheer. Pigment is somewhere in between the Regular Lipsticks (full cream coverage) and the Lip Color Shines (see-thru but still pigmented and glossy). The Lip Color Sheers have this lovely natural sheen and impressive pigment. The shimmery shades are a bit more sheer while the creams are more pigmented. although they are not quite glossy. I found lasting power to be quite good. The lip colors adhered well to the lips and faded nicely after several hours of wear. I tested In the Buff yesterday afternoon and it lasted from noon until the time I ate later that afternoon at around 5:00 pm.

The colors left to right: Summer Fling, In the Buff, Sweet Spot, Paradiso and Pink Dune

Summer Fling is a soft light pink with gold shimmer. The shimmer isn’t super visible on the lips although you can still tell it’s a shimmer. This one has impressive coverage if you swipe back and forth on the lips a few times. It layers quite well. I found Summer Fling to have a glossy finish.

In the Buff is a pale seashell nude shimmer. It’s what I wanted Blush Nude to look like on me (that one is like concealer lips for me). In the Buff has just enough shimmer and color to not wash me out completely. Pink Dune is similar but darker and has more of a swirly peachy pink shimmer to it. This one is also a lovely shade. Both these two are my top picks.

Sweet Spot is a brighter coral peach. It has a bit of shimmer but to me looks more like a cream on the lips. You can blend and sheer it out for lighter color but it’s still quite bright.

Paradiso is a hot pink. It’s a medium pink in the tube and swatched on the hands. On my lips the color really adheres to the lip and brightens up with a bit of layering. This one surprised me at how pigmented it is.

For the ingredient-conscious I managed to photograph the ingredient listings on the box before I tossed them (click to enlarge).

I’m a huge Tom Ford Beauty fan. Anyone who has tried his lipsticks can vouch that they are indeed best in class. They are a luxurious splurge and in my opinion – there’s just nothing you can compare. Still $50ish is still very difficult to justify for a lipstick. The spring/summer collection offers some gorgeous fresh shades for spring, all of which need no additional tweaking or added definition. I found the colors perfect as is, straight from the tube. The formula is long lasting and pigment is flawless. Given the number of bright options that have been released, you can definitely find a similar color from MAC or NARS. I’ll try to pull some comparisons later this week once the sun returns. 
Tom Ford Lip Color Sheers are $49 each. The Spring/Summer shades are currently listed all as limited-edition. My top picks are the lightest shades in Summer Fling, In the Buff and Pink Dune. I can’t always pull off those gorgeous nudes or pales, and these are suitable with no extra work needed. Be sure to check out Makeup Magpie for her updated lip swatches.

They are available at Nordstrom, Saks, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman now.

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A First Look at Tom Ford Limited-Edition Lip Color Sheers | Spring/Summer 2014

February 2, 2014

I ordered several items from the new Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2014 collection but haven’t had time to photograph or swatch yet. Some shades are already selling out online, but you can still find colors in stores. There are 8 lip color conditioners and 4 new nail colors (all limited-edition).

I hope to have reviews soon, but in case you can’t wait, I swatched each lip color on my hand at the Neiman Marcus San Francisco Tom Ford counter. According to the Tom Ford reps there, Pink Dune is currently their best seller, they say everyone has been asking for this one (I found it to be my favorite out of the bunch as well).

A sneak peek at the gorgeous Tom Ford counter at Neiman Marcus San Francisco (click to enlarge):

The colors swatched indoors with counter lighting and also outdoors to help you get a sense of how the colors look. For skintone reference I use the Tom Ford foundation sticks in 4 and 5 and am usually a Chanel B30. The color offerings:
Indoor/store lighting at the counter:

Outdoors with flash:

For additional reference, check out Makeup Magpie and Wondegondigo for extra swatches. You can find the Lip Color Conditioners online at Nordstrom, Saks, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus. Also in store at Tom Ford Beauty counters.

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New From Bobbi Brown: Baby Pink Lip Gloss and Pink Apricot Shimmer Lip Color

January 28, 2014
Bobbi Brown has a released several new collections this spring including her Nude Glow, Uber Pinks and Shimmer Lip Color reformulations. I reviewed Bronze Nail Polish earlier (which I love). Today I bring some swatches of her Baby Pink Lip Gloss ($25 for .24 fl oz/7 ml) from the Uber Pinks collection and Pink Apricot Shimmer Lip Color ($25 for .12 oz/3.5 g) from her new formula of shimmer lipsticks.

Baby Pink is a soft peachy pink with shimmer. The shimmer shows up more on the lips than what you see in the tube, but it’s a natural kind of shimmer. It’s fairly pale on me due to the silvery flecks inside but still has enough color in the base to show up and not completely wash me out. I suspect fairer skin girls will love this. Medium-tan girls who love pale colors for more of a contrast will like this too as it will show up on the lips. I couldn’t detect any scent although I’m sick with a cold right now and traveling so you may want to try first. As far as I can recall, most of her regular lip glosses are without a noticeable scent. Lasting power is medium for a gloss. It’s better than Chanel Glossimers and Armani Flash Lacquers but I wouldn’t call it long lasting.

Pink Apricot Shimmer is just as the name implies. It’s a lovely pink apricot loaded with shimmer. The texture is fairly smooth for something with this much shimmer. It’s not frosty even though I find it very shimmery. There are a number of gorgeous shades it was hard to pick just one. I’m happy to report that these are a quite a bit sturdier than her last shimmer lipsticks (she’s reformulated them several times since her original ones). I had four shades of the older formula and found them so soft that all of them broke at the base. The new colors all appeared to be holding up well at the tester counter and they looked like they had been out a week or so to withstand some heavy testing. 

Swatches side by side:

I highly recommend both. The shimmer lipsticks are definitely worth looking into – there’s a wide range of shades to choose from. I might have to go back and revisit to try one more.
Bobbi Brown Baby Pink Lipgloss and Pink Apricot Shimmer Lipstick are at all counters now. Online at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales.
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Tatcha Gold Camellia Moisturizing Lip Balm

January 27, 2014

Tatcha’s Gold Camellia Moisturizing Lip Balm ($36 for 8g / 0.28 oz.) is a luxurious lip treatment. Everything about this is phenomenal from the packaging (pot and box packaging), scent, texture and design. The Camellia Lip Balm is a semi-transparent jelly-like balm covered with a thin layer of crushed 24-karat gold leaf. It has a soft spa-like scent, like a mix of Botan Rice Candy and flowers, but softer. As others have noted this is a very smooth lip balm that gives hydration to the lips instantly. It covers the lips entirely but doesn’t feel too sticky. When you touch the surface the gold leaf breaks into small pieces. It’s designed to give a subtle hint of gold shimmer to the lips when applied. For me the shimmer barely showed up which I was ok with given the formula felt so amazing.
In terms of how it compares to my other favorites such as By Terry Baume de Rose, Jo Malone and Hourglass, Tatcha’s Gold Camellia Lip Balm has made the cut to join my group of favorites. If you have dryer lips that are prone to cracking or peeling with certain lipsticks, By Terry or Hourglass’s Lip treatments offer a deeper and more intense treatment which I need after using MAC Lipsticks or Lipglasses (my lips usually peel a day after using MAC Lipsticks or Lipglasses but it still doesn’t stop me from using them). These however are more heavy on the scent so if you’re one who prefers something more light the Tatcha is light enough for even the most sensitive noses.

on the nails Chanel Rouge Rubis

I like to apply this mid-day at work or at night before bed. The scent is soothing and refreshing. It’s like a mini spa treatment for the lips.

Ingredients: Squalane (Olive Origin), Dimer Dilinoleyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Dextrin
Palmitate, Fragrance (Natural), Dextrin Palmitate/Ethylhexanoate,
Polyglyceryl-10 Pentaisostearate, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Oil, Camellia
Japonica Seed Oil, Water, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate (Licorice Extract),
Oryzanol (Rice Bran Oil Extract), Hydrogenated Lecithin (Soy Origin),
Inositol (Rice Extract), Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract,
Alcohol, Glycerin, Algae Extract, Gold.

Tatcha Gold Camellia Moisturizing Lip Balm retails for $36. You can find it at Tatcha.com and Barneys. I received a few samples with my order from Tatcha and am working my way through a couple of serums. Have you tried this line? What are your favorites?

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