Browsing Tag

Blush

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Ten Things I’m Loving Right Now

March 21, 2010


1. Paul & Joe Alice in Wonderland Fantasy Set – So cute, I can’t help but smile everytime I look at my P&J Alice sets. I wish I could take it with me in my purse, but it’s not really practical for toting around. The lipbalm goes on basically clear even though it has a pink tint. I haven’t seen the new movie – anyone who has, what are your thoughts?


2. Chanel Sillage Eyeshadow – From the spring collection, this is a lovely shimmery light highlighting color. It’s along the same lines of Lotus, Liberty and Island eyeshadows but has a bit more pink with slight peach to it. It gives a lovely glow to the lid.


3. Chantecaille Sel Eyeshadow – Yes, of course, I’m always loving at least one taupe shade every month. This month my favorite is Chantecaille Sel – a complex color that has shades of silver, taupe, grey, and gold making this very uniquely stunning. It looks different depending on what angle you hold the compact at. I have a hard time pulling off most silvers. Taupes I can do, but pure silvery shades end up making me look tired. On my skin Sel is more silvery but the gold in it makes it wearable for me which is a plus. I love this over Laura Mercier’s Platinum Metallic Cream Eyeshadow.


4. Giorgio Armani Maestro 23 – This color replaced the original Eyeshadow #4. It’s a deep navy-black with a satin finish that has a slight shimmer. There are definitely other similar colors, but I like that the Maestro 23 isn’t too harsh like most blacks or navys which are typically flat matte shades. The texture makes the finish a bit softer since you can blend and layer it to the intensity you prefer.


5. Lancome Pop Petrol 014 Nail Polish – See the full review plus some other views here. Such a lovely murky steel green blue shimmer. I prefer it on the toes rather than fingers, but I’ve never received so many head-turns, compliments and random women coming up to me to ask “what color is that you’re wearing?” just from a nail polish.


6. NARS Ophelia Lipgloss – Also from spring, this is a sheer healthy pink with shimmer. Looks lovely over the new Cruising lipstick or Tutti Frutti lipstick. (Pictured below, swatch is at the top.)


7. Chanel Maline 141 Glossimer – From the spring 2010 collection, it’s on the sheer side and basically goes on clear, but I love the sparkles in this. It looks great over lipsticks to add a pretty sheen. I really like this over nudes like Chanel Como Aqualumiere and MAC Marquise D. (Pictured above, bottom swatch.)

8. Chanel Gardenia 13 Rouge Coco – This is exclusive to Neiman Marcus. It’s a soft shimmery warm pink on me. I’ve already reviewed/featured this before, but here it is on me below again. It might be replacing my Chanel Waikiki for HG (holy grail) status.


Also check it out on Tali at The Gloss Goss here to see how it looks on a different skintone. It’s gorgeous on her!

9. Chanel Caprice Blush – This came out years ago in the US and is by far the prettiest pink blush I have ever seen. I was really sad that it was discontinued but luckily I have a back up! It’s like a soft pink version of Chanel Rose Bronze/Armani Blush #10 without the bronzey looking finish that these have sometimes. There’s no dupe for this that I know of and I’ve searched hi and lo through almost every high-end brand. No luck.


10. Chanel UV Essential – For the past week, I’ve been using this on top of my moisturizer, underneath foundation as a primer. It’s very liquid and has a thin texture so a little goes a long way. The recommended use is to apply it as the last step of your daily skincare regimen. It works really well for me to make my makeup last all day.

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Dolce & Gabbana Makeup Spring 2010

March 20, 2010

The Dolce & Gabbana Makeup Spring 2010 Collection has arrived instores in the US and it’s beautiful. The products released have a diverse mix of pink, orange-peach, and purple colors. You can see the full line-up at Karen’s Makeup and Beauty Blog. Below are the close ups and comparisons of the things I picked out.

L to R: Innocence Lipgloss, Precious Lipstick, Petal Lipstick



Innocence Lipgloss Comparisons: Dolce & Gabbana Seduction, Dolce & Gabbana Baby, Dolce & Gabbana Innocence, NARS Turkish Delight, Laura Mercier After Hours, Dior #247


L to R: Dolce & Gabbana Petal Quad, Apricot Blush, Mystery Duo

Natural sunlight:

Petal Quad:


Petal Quad Comparisons:

In natural sunlight:

Apricot Blush (no swatches):

Mystery Eyeshadow Duo:

Mystery Duo – Purple Side Comparisons:

Mystery Duo – Bronzey Side Comparisons:

Swatch comparisons:


The spring collection is lovely, but seems like an odd combination for a spring look. The pigment of each item is incredible. The eyeshadows are soft but highly pigmented and easy to blend. The lipsticks are full coverage and creamy. The lipgloss is semi-sheer and gives a pretty creamy milky pink look that isn’t too milky like NARS turkish delight can be.

As you can see with some of the comparisons, there are definitely some close dupes in other lines. What’s unique about the Dolce & Gabbana eyeshadows is the texture and finely milled shimmer which gives them that extra sparkle and shimmer which the camera can’t fully capture.

I’m still undecided about the Apricot Blush – it just seems darker more brown-orange than I’m used to. I’m debating whether or not to keep it.

There were quite a few other new items in the spring collection which I did not purchase. All these were ordered sight unseen based on descriptions over the phone. The following items are also new in the spring collection (but not purchased) and there were several repromotes:

Ultra Lipliner
Nude Eyeliner
Glam Lipstick
Petal Nail Polish
Drama Nail Polish
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Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2010 Sneak Peek

March 17, 2010

Hi ladies, I just received some of the new Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2010 items from Saks! I’m swamped this week so I don’t have much time to write a full review or answer questions in depth, I will get back to you as soon as I have time – hopefully sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, here are the items I picked out from the spring collection. More details on The Spring 2010 Collection, The Roses Lipstick Collection and a few Saks Exclusives to come in the next few days.

Hope everyone is having a great week!


I will say – for those of you thinking Apricot Blush looks orangey-brown, it is indeed brownish. It looks like the color of a dried apricot. I’m not going to be touching it until I decide whether or not I can pull it off. It’s way out of my comfort zone!

Please do not republish photos. All work is copyrighted. Thanks!
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A Few MAC Too Fabulous Lip + Cheek Combinations

March 12, 2010

I’ve been playing around with my new MAC Too Fabulous Mineralize Blushes and Cremesheen Glass lipglosses all week and tried a few combinations for each product. Eye makeup was very low-key this week, only using a neutral cream eyeshadow + gel liner + mascara.


The new mineralize blushes are really pretty! Those with darker skins will really like the colors. I agree with the consensus among other reviews that these tend to be on the more shimmery side. They aren’t overly frosty when applied with a lighter hand. Those who get oily/shiny fast or have larger pores, I’d say these will probably be a nay for you.

The cremesheen glasses are among my favorite gloss formula from MAC. I like that they repromoted some colors and mixed in some new shades. This gives me ideas on how to use the colors I already have with some new blush colors.

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Look #1: MAC Rhapsody in Two Mineralize Blush + Paul & Joe Creamy Cheek #02 + Partial to Pink/Boy Bait Cremesheen Glasses mixed

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Look #2: MAC Bi-Tone Mineralize Blush + MAC Love, Henri Lipstick + Moth to Flame Dazzleglass

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Look #3: MAC Buddy Up Mineralize Blush + Trish McEvoy Baby Pink Essential Pencil + Just Superb Cremesheen Glass

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Look #4: MAC Sun & Moon Mineralize Blush + NARS Cafe Con Leche + MAC Ever Hip Lipstick + Richer, Lusher Cremesheen Glass

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Look #5: MAC Deelight Cremesheen Glass + Laura Mercier Chestnut Lipliner + NARS Tutti Fruitti Lipstick + MAC Afterdusk Blush/Stark Naked Blush mixed together

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One last view of the my picks from Too Fabulous:

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Color Focus: Light Pink Shimmer Highlighters & Blushes

March 11, 2010

I feel like I haven’t done a Color Focus feature in a while! The release of Rhapsody in Two from MAC’s Too Fabulous collection gave me a good reason to write a Color Focus post on my favorite light pink shimmery blushes and highlighters.

If you like lighter pinks for lips, check out my Color Focus: Milky Pink Lipglosses & feature on light pink lipsticks here at MAC Dsquared² Nude Rose Lipstick.

There’s something so pretty and girly about a light pink shimmer powder. Unfortunately, many times, the light pink ones go on white on my skin even though they look pink in the container. These are the ones that are shimmery and that do show up pinkish on my skin (light-medium, Chanel Shell, equivalent to MAC NC30).


Note, MAC Cute (discontinued) is only photographed for a frame of reference.




Paul & Joe has a number of great lighter shimmery pinks too that aren’t too frosty/shimmery like MAC can sometimes be. Compared to MAC Porcelain Pink as a base-line. The products from Paul & Joe are called Face Colors and come in a mirrored compact.


Le Metier de Beaute has a beautiful shimmer powder called Whisper. Chantecaille also had a blush product called Whisper, but it’s now discontinued (the lid is pinkish because I dropped nail polish on it). Both compared to MAC Porcelain Pink.


Swatching was difficult today, so I only did my MAC Blushes, MSFs and Beauty Powders + Becca Sylph. Swatched over MAC Prep & Prime.


What are your favorite light shimmery pinks for cheeks?

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Urban Decay Afterglow Blush: Score, Quickie, X

March 9, 2010

Urban Decay’s Afterglow Blush in X is among my oldest blushes. I used this on a regular basis when I was an undergrad and it’s one of the few blushes that I hit pan on and used up. It never failed to give me a natural pretty glow (a less frosty version of NARS Orgasm) and generated endless compliments whenever I wore it. Unfortunately, it’s since been discontinued, but luckily I repurchased it before they pulled the plug on the color.

I recently ventured to my local Sephora to check out the other shades. Score is a peachy shimmer and Quickie is a bright cool pink shimmer. Here are the colors compared to X. Each retail for $17.

Label/Packaging – Seems similar to the original, but the weight went down a bit:




Overall thoughts: I think these are highly underrated, but I believe this is due to the price and size. $17 for 3.8 g is a bit pricey (compared to MAC $18.50 but for 6g/.21oz). I’m not usually one to nit-pick on price-per-gram, but when I saw the actual product, my first instinct was “eek, tiny!”

That being said, the pigment is excellent/easily blendable and formula seems to be of high quality. The texture makes it easy to layer. Being that they do seem to have high pigment, I would recommend applying with a lighter hand and then proceed by layering/blending so you don’t get a dark spot on one part of your cheek. I do believe they formulas justify the higher price, but unfortunately, I know I’ve passed by these numerous times just because of the price-to-size ratio.

I personally like a lot of Urban Decay products, particularly their shimmer eyeshadows. I’ve tested a number of their other products and have found a lot of great items but they’ve discontinued almost all my favorites, including their Lip Gunk (original wand lipgloss), Nail Polishes, Original Surreal Skin Powder Foundation, and a number of their Lip Liners that were fabulous.

I would expand my UD collection in a heartbeat if it weren’t for their bizarre packaging and neverending glitter supply. Then again, I don’t think I am exactly their target market. I do like that they are unique, edgy and very rocker-chic. There are some staples I have from the collection including Toasted, Blaze, Stray Dog, YDK, and Sellout Eyeshadows. Their eyeshadows have amazing pigments/texture. Zero Deluxe Eyeshadow is the one of the prettiest black shimmers ever.

I am still keeping my fingers crossed that they will release the exclusive colors in their Book of Shadow Series into individual shadows, in particular Mushroom, Nylon, Sidecar, Gridlock.

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Chantecaille Les Dauphins Palette + Bourbon Rose Lip Chic

March 4, 2010

Chantecaille’s Les Dauphins Palette & Bourbon Rose Lip Chic are more beautiful than words can describe. I’ve been thinking of how I can give a review that does justice to the Les Dauphins Palette – and all I can say is I think it’s a must-have for those who love soft spring-like neutrals and especially those who love taupey shadows. Bourbon Rose is the softer color out of the 2 spring lip chics. It’s a natural rosey pink – similar to Tea Rose, but slightly lighter and has golden shimmer.

Another view with flash:

Without flash:


I haven’t had time to do swatches of this palette, but Karlasugar has already done an amazing feature on all the items – so I highly recommend you check out her post if you haven’t already.

I played around with the palette at Neimans and the color on the dolphins is an overspray. The shadows and blush all have a lovely subtle shimmer. I’m typically not a huge fan of split-pan shadows or blushes, but all the colors in this palette are so pretty, I don’t mind.

This is the planned look of the day with the Chantecaille Dauphins Palette & Bourbon Rose Lip Chic.

Cheeks:
Giorgio Armani Blush 1
Chantecaille Dauphins Palette

Eyes:

Chantecaille Dauphins Palette
Giorgio Armani Eyeliner #12

Lips:
MAC Naked Rose Lipliner
Chantecaille Bourbon Rose Lip Chic
MAC Full For You Plushglass


Outfit:

Jcrew Button Top
Banana Republic Beige Pencil Skirt
Jimmy Choo Black Pumps
Gucci Princy Tote

One last view of the palette: