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Dior Vernis: Nudes in Charnelle, Grège, Trench and Dune

September 24, 2012
I’ve been loving the nude-makeup theme this year from Dior. I haven’t had a chance to look at the new lipsticks or trios yet, but I immediately ordered the four new nail polishes in Charnelle #115, Grège #413, Trench #223 and Dune #715 as soon as I could ($23 each). I love the formula on these nail colors – they are smooth in coverage and very easy to apply. Charnelle is a pale nude cream with slight pink tones. It’s very sheer and required three coats for me to get even coverage. Grège is my perfect nude in the sense that it matches my skintone almost perfectly to give mannequin hands. There is some warmth to it so it’s not a dead-looking beige. Trench is my favorite. It’s a warm brownish tan shade. On my fingers it turns slightly cooler-toned than what you see in the bottle. Dune is a darker bark brown. It’s cool-toned.

Here are the four shades swatched on my fingers. All with two coats, except Charnelle which required three. Note that I’m probably around a Chanel B30-40 right now, NARS Alaska, Dolce & Gabbana Powder Foundation in Tan.

Grège

Trench

Dune

Nudes definitely aren’t new and there are only so many ways one can reinvent nude makeup. I can’t say any of these are absolutely must-haves, especially if you already have nude nail polishes in your collection. Still, these colors/formulas from Dior are quite nice. Since I collect nail polishes from Chanel and Dior, I found it easy to justify adding to my collection.

For dupes, I believe there are probably many other colors that will give a similar look. There are a number of other blogs that have done excellent comparisons to a wider variety of brands. I don’t own a lot of OPI, Essie or drugstore brands for nail polishes, but I recommend you check out Kais Obsessions, the make-up blogette, Fruity Lashes to name a few for more extensive comparisons.

Here are my comparisons:
Did you check out the new nudes from Dior? Any must-haves for lips, eyes or nails?
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Color Focus: Pink Nudes for Nails

August 20, 2012

I have an obsession with neutral pink nudes for nails. I love the clean polished natural look of colors that have a mix of pink with nude/beige/mauve/rose. My current favorites range from semi-sheer to full coverage shades, most are creams but there are a few that have subtle shimmer. The shades I’m loving this season are listed below. All photos are my own.

Row 1: YSL Beige Leger 22, Chanel Jade Rose 493, Deborah Lippmann Naked, Dolce & Gabbana Rose Petal 102

Row 2: Dior Incognito 257, Deborah Lippmann Fashion, Dior Beige Lotus, Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge

Row 3: Dolce and Gabbana Petal, Chanel Rose Cache 521, Deborah Lippmann Modern Love and Dior Sienna

On the nail wheel, with a few true beiges and pinks added to compare, two views:

I believe all these shades are still available for sale with the exception of Chanel Mistral which is no longer for sale (I think). Currently, Chanel Jade Rose is listed as limited-edition on Chanel.com. What neutral pinks are you loving?

Kindly note that all photos and content are my own and copyrighted. Please do not copy, reprint, edit, republish or hotlink images.
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Dior Vernis Bengale #615

August 5, 2012

Dior’s Golden Jungle collection for fall has been out on counters in the US for about a month now with the exception of one nail color called Bengale #615 ($23 for 10 ml/0.33 fl oz). This shade is a medium brown cream and currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Dior.com in the US. It just arrived last week in stores at the Neimans counter near me. The coverage is smooth with a naturally glossy finish. If you look closely at the bottle under the light you will see tiny bits of silver shimmers suspended. Most of my non-shimmer Dior shades have the tiniest bit of micro shimmer infused in the colors. Unfortunately these aren’t visible on the nail but it does help give the colors a bit more depth. I had hoped Bengale would be a warm soft brown with pink tones like the promotional photos. In real life it’s a darker brown with the slightest hint of green undertones on my skin. It’s still lovely for fall, just not quite what I had expected. 

Here you can see the sparkle:

Here it is with two coats (no base or top coat):

Many have been wondering how this compares to other browns such as Chanel Khaki Rose and Dior Underground. I’ve pulled out a few colors to swatch side by side: Chanel Particuliere, Chanel Khaki Rose, Chanel Khaki Brun and Dior Underground.

Although Dior Bengale wasn’t quite what I expected, I still find it very unique in the sense that it’s a true medium brown on me, something I was lacking in my collection. It gives a nicely polished look that can be easily incorporated into my work wardrobe for fall. It’s conservative, polished and neutral. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for me, I give it a thumbs up (although I can’t say I think it’s a must-have).
Did you check out anything from Dior Fall? Thoughts?
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Dior Les Violets Hypnotiques: Orchid, Shadow and Poison

June 17, 2012

Earlier this year, Dior released a new trio collection of nail polishes called Les Violets Hypnotiques. Back in February, these plum-purple themed shades were exclusive to Europe, later rolled out to Asia, and finally have landed in the US. I believe they are currently exclusive to the Dior Boutique in Las Vegas Palazzo, however there are rumors these will be released at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale (I haven’t confirmed though). The three shades released are Orchid 981 a plum cream with tiny flecks sparkle, Shadow 783 a complex deep purple with red shimmers and Poison 996 a deep rich blackened-eggplant cream. Those who have been long-time Dior fans will see two of these shades as slightly revamped updated versions of prior limited-edition releases. (Comparisons and swatches below.) These all come with the chiseled brush in the new Dior Nail Lacquer formula. The colors are rich and beautiful, however I found ease of application to be slightly inconsistent.

Orchid is a gorgeous deep wine color. It applies as a cream but if you look closely in the bottle you will see tiny flecks of sparkle. These unfortunately are not visible on the nail. The formula goes on sheer/jelly-like making application slightly challenging. I found it difficult to achieve even coverage with 2 coats. Three thin coats gave full opaque coverage but I had to apply with a very slow and steady hand. Below, the first swatch on the left has 3 coats, all other fingers have 2 coats. I found this to be almost identical to Black Plum (released fall 2009).

Swatches below all have three coats:

Shadow is the stunner of the collection. It’s a deep plum infused with suspended red, wine, gold and purple shimmers. The formula on this color was slightly thick so I recommend applying with two thin coats. I found that using a base coat helped smooth out application. Those who remember Dior Licorice from Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale in 2008 will notice Shadow looks familiar. To me they are almost twins, the new Shadow is slightly more purple in the base while Licorice applies more reddish. Also, Shadow looks slightly more “dusty” in finish, I believe it’s because of the base. Below shows two coats. 

Poison is my favorite in the entire collection. It applied the most flawlessly out of the three. It’s a blackened eggplant but has enough blue/purple to prevent it from looking black. It has a similar effect as some other shades such as Chanel Vendetta and Rescue Beauty Lounge Recherche. If you don’t have Poison and are wondering if it’s different enough to justify owning, I would say no. The effect is just too similar. However, I do love this one and have no regrets.

Overall gorgeous. If you missed out on prior releases, this will be the opportunity for you to pick up something similar. Even with the inconsistent formula of these three, I’m still very pleased. Other blogs I recommend checking out for more photos, swatches and comparisons include Joey’space and Fashion Polish. I also love the swatches by AudreyEleven, see them here on The Purse Forum.
These retail for $23 each. I ordered mine from the Palazzo Dior Boutique (702) 734-1102. I cannot rave enough about their excellent customer service (which stands out these days, especially given some recent less than satisfactory experiences I’ve had with a few big retailers). In addition there are a few more items available as part of this special release: a purple lipgloss, purple mascara in the Extase formula and a purple trio.
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Loving Right Now

May 31, 2012
I’m always drawn to matched lip and nail collections. I loved the Chanel Extrait de Gloss Collection (from 2010, see summary on Karla Sugar) and the recent MAC Fashion Sets, in particular Angel and Please Me (see lineup on Temptalia here, here and here). Right now I’m loving something that’s a little more mixed lip/nail combination and something a little less matched, but still in the same color family. Here are a few mixed and matched combination sets I’m loving right now. Swatches below as well.

Glowing neutrals
Left to right: YSL Golden Sand #54 Gloss
YSL Golden Shell #51 Gloss
Chanel Island #597 Le Vernis
Chanel Pêche Nacrée #515 Le Vernis

Corals and golds
Left to right: Chanel Nakkar #149 Glossimer
Dior Brown Panama #432 Addict Ultra Gloss
Chanel Holiday #617 Le Vernis
Chanel Delight #607 Le Vernis

Snapshot of jewelry from J.Crew’s Published June Style Guide and online at J.Crew here (I need one of those bracelets!) (Online versions of the J.Crew catalog are published on their website, currently May’s Style Guide is available to browse, I suspect June’s will be uploaded soon)

Pink lavenders
Left to right: Laura Mercier Nude Lilac Lip Glace
Dolce and Gabbana Lilac Nail Polish
Dolce and Gabbana Raspberry Lip Gloss
NARS Ratin Jot Nail Polish

What are lip and nail combinations are you loving right now?
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Loving Right Now

May 20, 2012

Right now I’m loving soft baby blue nail polishes. In particular these colors shown below: Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air, NARS Kutki, Dior Glacier, Dolce & Gabbana Anise and OPI My Pointe Exactly. All photos by me.

Loving this week:

  • Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Rivière, a soft seafoam green shimmer as seen on Cafe Makeup and The Non-Blonde (I heard rumors that the latest Asia Le Blanc Release will be available at Nordstrom for their Anniversary Sale) 
  • Cupcakes and Cashmere has the most creative beauty storage ideas
  • The Coveteur covers Jessica Stam’s look, Hair and Make-Up Courtesy of Jen Atkin and Lauren Andersen
  • Rouge Deluxe reports six new Armani Eyes to Kill shades will be released soon
  • Into the Gloss has an awesome video of WAH Nails in NYC
  • MAC Hey, Sailor! reviews and swatches can be seen on Temptalia and Yuki’s Lazy Channel
Also, The Beauty Look Book just turned 3! It all started with a guest post at Makeup and Beauty Blog. Thanks from the bottom of my heart to Karen at MBB, Karla Sugar, The Non-Blonde, London Makeup Girl and Rouge Deluxe – you were all my inspiration when I first started. Special thanks to Cafe Makeup for also keeping me going, in particular this past year.

Three years, 7.2 million hits, 3,200+ google followers and a Twitter account later, I still feel like I’m just getting started. I am forever grateful to everyone for their support, comments, tweets, sweet e-mails and for reading my blog each week. I’ve made new friends, discovered new brands, started getting into perfumes, learned new techniques, figured out how to paint my own nails properly, and have learned so much from so many of you. Thank you for your support!

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Coral Nail Polishes for Spring and Summer

April 7, 2012

Coral seems to be all the craze this year for spring and summer nail polishes. My peachy-coral obsession for blushes has now transitioned into nails. I’ve already reviewed a number of new peachy corals this year: Chanel June, Laura Mercier Cabana, Dior Riviera and Chanel Distraction. Many have asked about the newest from Dior Bikini. From promo photos it can be difficult to identify differences between so many similar shades. I gathered what I could find online, here they are lined up:

In real life, here is what I see below, they are all more similar than promotional digitized photos appear to be. (Many thanks to my Twitter friends who let me know Dior Bikini arrived online at Sephora.com.) Here is the verdict, left to right:

  • Chanel Orange Fizz – is the lightest and brightest, it’s more orangey than all the rest
  • Dior Bikini – has the best coverage, it’s more of a true peach, with slight reddish tones, slightly darker
  • Chanel Distraction – semi-sheer medium jelly finish with the subtle iridescence
  • Laura Mercier Cabana – most jelly-like, slightly more pink undertones
  • Dior Riviera – most vibrant coral red

A few more swatches to other oranges, peaches and corals: Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral, Revlon Demure, Dior Sweet Orange 334, Dior Bikini 231, Chanel Distraction, Dior Riviera 537, Laura Mercier Sizzle, Chanel Orange Fizz, Chanel June, Chanel Miami Peach, Laura Mercier Cabana.

Overall, if you have Chanel Distraction or Laura Mercier, you do not need Dior Bikini. I do believe Dior Bikini has the best formula and richest coverage. I really do love it (even though it’s almost identical to other corals) and it would be my vote for the season’s best coral. At this time I haven’t seen Dior summer anywhere on counter on the West Coast (Southern California), although it has just arrived online at Sephora.com and Nordstrom.com as well. I suspect it will arrive any day in store.

Have you checked out any corals for nails this summer? What is your favorite? Or do you have a classic coral in your collection that you’re loving right now?

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