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Summer 2011 Bronzers: Chanel, Dior & Guerlain

April 25, 2011

Chanel, Dior and Guerlain have all designed stunning bronzers for this summer – the most beautiful I think I’ve ever seen. I splurged on five and featured Chanel Bronze Corail & Bronze Rosé here and Dior Aurora and Sunset here. I have not yet featured Guerlain but several have asked for comparisons asking which one is best. Others have asked if I could compare Chanel to other summer collections such as Lancome, Estee Lauder, MAC.

I have a sizeable bronzer stash (I always want to be tan) so this summer I decided to go for the ones that seemed the most unique – namely Chanel, Dior and Guerlain. I have not checked out the other brands this year and most likely won’t since I already splurged on five pricey ones all before May/June when the real summer season begins. I definitely could go the rest of my life without buying another bronzer (or another piece of makeup for that matter).

Here are all five lined up plus swatches and further down, my thoughts and comparisons on Chanel Bronze Rosé, Chanel Bronze Corail, Guerlain Terra Inca, Dior Aurora and Dior Sunset.

Chanel Bronze Rosé

Chanel Bronze Corail

Guerlain Terra Inca

Dior Aurora

Dior Sunset

Swatched in different lighting, all with a very heavy hand:



I’m currently working my way to a NC40/Chanel Beige but I’m not quite NC35 yet. I am back to a Chanel Shell Teint Innocence and my Vitalumiere Aqua B20 is now too light. My thoughts on bronzer is that I’m open to anything. Orangey, brown, gold, pink, peach – I’ll wear and try almost anything. Note that I don’t love ones that look orangey but I don’t hate them either. If you pushed me to pick just one of the new summer shades I would probably be very upset. I like options. But here is what I’ve observed on each. Do note these were swatched with a heavy hand and that what you see on the arm is definitely not what you would see on the face.

Chanel Bronze Rosé 537 ($50) & Chanel Bronze Corail 547 ($50) – These are luminous and glowy but not frosty. I’ve taken a soft powder brush and swiped these up and down to blend/mix and then apply on the apples of the cheeks. If you’re the type of person who is afraid of bronzer or find most are too dark/muddy on you – Chanel’s are the perfect hybrid between bronzer and blush. The fact that there are 4 stripes in each compact allow you to get something that shows dimension without looking like a true bronzed-bronzer. The texture is so soft and glows. Pigment is soft to medium but totally layerable. It’s the goof-proof bronzer. I don’t think you can overdo it. So easy to use, apply and coordinate with virtually any eye or lip look.

Guerlain Terra Inca ($70) – Gorgeous but oh so pricey. I found this to be more of a highlighter. It’s not as frosty as some previous Guerlain Limited Edition Bronzers. If you remember Orient Sun, Terra Inca is a lighter softer less frosty version of Orient Sun. It’s like a softer more luminous MAC MSF. It’s absolutely beautiful but after applying it on my face, I could tell it’s not for everyone – the shimmer factor might be a deal breaker. It’s not as frosty as Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks – but you can definitely see it on the skin. The compact is magnetic which I find different. The packaging and design are absolutely stunning but not the most easy to use and must be used with care.

Dior Aurora ($46) & Dior Sunset ($46) – These are the least shimmery but still very luminous on the face. I prefer these for the most beautiful design and functional packaging. They give the best bang for your buck and I love that the brush is stored in a separate pouch instead of being inside the compact (does anyone ever use those dinky brushes anyways?). I will say these are very warm-toned. Aurora doesn’t go on orangey but the warmth might not work on everyone. Will this work on NC40’s? I can’t say for sure, but my Dior sales rep is around NC40-45ish and she was wearing Aurora beautifully when I purchased mine. That being said, test it out yourself first to check. Sunset is swatched with a SUPER HEAVY hand and looks orangey on my arm but on the face it is not orangey unless you pack it on. I wore it yesterday for Sunday Brunch and it gave a healthy warm tanned glow.

So which one is best? That is a tough pick. You definitely don’t need all of these, but I’m obsessed with bronzer like I’m obsessed with peach blushes and taupe eyeshadow. If I could only pick 2 – it would be Chanel’s Bronze Rosé and Dior’s Aurora, although Sunset by Dior is gorgeous as well.

I hope this helps you see a side-by-side comparison. There is no substitute for trying these on in person. If you go to the counter, I highly recommend you try these on the face and not just on your arm or hand. A good brush makes all the difference (versus your fingers).

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Dior Electric Tropics Catwalk Duos: Aloha 638 & Paradise 558

April 25, 2011

This is a quick post to show you the two new nail shades from Dior in the Electric Tropic Duos in Aloha and Paradise, each $26 including a top coat. These colors are vibrant. I’m sure you could spot them from a mile away. They are that bright.

Aloha 638 was featured earlier (see one post down). My Dior Paradise 558 photo attempts = total fail. The neon simply does not do well with my camera. In this post are the comparison pictures of the two shades in the bottles and a few shots of Paradise. To quote Café Makeup, “Paradise is within an entirely different species of nail polish” – INDEED! I do have a couple Paradise swatches below. Note that I am not being modest when I say the photos below are extremely poor in quality and accuracy. Paradise is a jelly neon pink that dries to a matte finish. The texture is so interesting – just like jelly shoes. I highly recommend these sources for better swatches:

A few more pictures:

In real life Paradise is a hot sheer cool pink, it doesn’t glow like this in person, but this is the best I could do – see how it kinda blinds my camera:


One last shot:


Aloha (shown one post below) photographed much better! It’s my favorite of the two.

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Dior Electric Tropics Catwalk Duo: Aloha 638

April 24, 2011
Dior and Chanel have both released hot colors for nails this summer. Dior’s Electric Tropics Nail Duos are the winners for representing a “true summer” resort theme with Aloha and Paradise. Chanel’s Mimosa, Morning Rose and Beige Petale, while absolutely stunning, seem more “spring” to me, but I feel both collections are wearable for year round – especially for us Southern California girls.

There are two color options for the Electric Tropics Catwalk Nail Duos ($26 each, on Dior.com, personally spotted at Nordstrom and Saks) which consist of a bright neon jelly-finish nail color paired with a quick-dry top coat. Aloha is an electified tangerine and Paradise is a glowing neon pink. The fact that both Aloha and Paradise are fluorescent made these incredibly difficult for me to photograph accurately. My camera doesn’t do so well with neons. Aloha photographed better so I decided to feature this one first.

The duos each retail for $26 which seem incredibly reasonable in price considering full sized nail polishes retail for $21. Aloha 638 is a hot orange that looks incredibly bright when any bit of light hits the nail color. In real life the shade it looks a bit more reddish – like a burnt orange color. Regardless of the lighting though, Aloha glows. The texture is smooth and slightly transparent due to the almost jelly like finish but goes on with full rich color in two coats. It dries to a soft semi matte finish but there is still shine. (Paradise on the other hand dries to a non-shiny finish.) These are officially THE brightest shades I own.

There is a little instruction card that comes with each duo:

Here it is in direct sunlight – electric! Two coats Aloha, 1 coat Top Coat:

In different lighting, not direct sunlight, but with flash – still neon (note, in real life, it’s more reddish):

At an angle you can see how it’s slightly transparent/see through near the tips of the nails:

No matter what lighting – it looks fiercely fluorescent, like a super bright orange electrified. In real life you can see more of a reddish hint to it so it’s not a pure orange on me, but more of a tangerine bright.

I thought Chanel Orange Fizz (here) and RBL Coral (here) were bright. Nothing compares to the Dior. Next to Chanel Coromandel (here) the Dior Vernis Aloha looks like it has no red, but it really does.


Overall Dior is the winner for summer brights. My bright nails combined with the beachy coconut smell of Jo Malone’s Sweet Milk Cologne make me feel like it’s summer. I personally prefer the Aloha far more than Paradise. It will go with a crisp white shirt, a silk navy blouse, a white and black printed button down – the versatility is amazing considering it’s such a vibrant in-your-face bright.

So far the top coat seems to be like a winner. Smooth coverage and my nails are shiny. No shrinkage of bubbling (huge plus). The texture seems thinner than most top coats so it’s not quite as shiny as some others. I’m really impressed so far but I’ll have to see how it wears in the next few days to really decide.

I liked these other reviews of Dior Aloha which I think you’ll find helpful:

Happy Easter everyone!

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Diorskin Nude Glow – Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora 001 and Sunset 002

April 22, 2011

The summer collections this year have some of the most beautiful bronzers I have ever seen. I’ve been trying to find Aurora and Sunset everywhere – it appears Saks received their items first in the US and finally Nordstrom just received them this week. (On Saturday Aurora and Nude Tan Quint were both sold out already.) Being the bronzer-obsessive woman that I am, I jumped on both bronzing powders, Aurora 001 and Sunset 002.

The Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder couldn’t be better named. They both give a warm healthy glow. Each shade has a beautiful woven pattern with four different shades in each. Both have visible shimmer and if you swipe your finger into the palette you will see a highly pigmented frost. On the skin, however, the shimmer tones down and you get a beautiful glow. The shimmer, to me, is barely detectable on the face.

Aurora 001 is the lighter softer version with soft peach and different shades of brown and tan. It’s fairly warm, not quite peach, not quite brown, but a peachy-brown hybrid.

Sunset 002 is darker, warmer, deeper and it was borderline orangey when applied with a heavy hand – but I have gotten a bit of color so I think this will be gorgeous on Chanel Beiges/NC35’s (not quite there yet, but almost!). A bit of blending out and it looks just fine on me but I don’t mind a strong bronzer. I always want to be more tan, and unfortunately I’m really fair right now!

Side by side, blurry but hope you can see the undertone:

I couldn’t find any dupes. The woven pattern makes this easy to mix and blend all the colors together so you don’t end up with stripes on the face. Plus the combination of colors makes both of these unique.

Comparison Set 1: MAC Shooting Star MSF, MAC So Ceylon MSF, Dior Sunset 002, Dior Aurora 001, MAC Sunny By Nature MSF, MAC Warmed MSF, MAC Gold Deposit MSF



Comparison Set 2: Le Metier Maldives Magic, MAC Refined Matte Suntan, Dior Sunset 002, Dior Aurora 001, MAC Refined Golden, NARS Irresistiblement



Lucky girl Café Makeup has been able to play with Dior Summer for a few weeks since she found them in Paris. Definitely check out her series to see what Aurora looks like on Liz and Amy’s arm (both are lighter and cooler toned than me).

Overall I love both. I think once I get to be at NC35 I will be able to wear the Aurora 001 and have it show up. Sunset 002 is darker and more orangey but not too orangey for me. If you’re fair like Chanel Cameo or MAC NC30 – it may too much for you.

For reference, I’m currently Chanel Shell Teint Innocence, in between MAC NC30-35. My arm underneath is probably closer to a NC30 because the sun does not hit that area.

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Chanel Le Vernis Color Comparisons For Morning Rose & Beige Pétale

April 15, 2011

I searched for possible dupes of Chanel Morning Rose and Beige Pétale but could not find anything in my stash that was identical to either shade. Those looking for cheaper alternatives, I do think with a bit more searching it might be possible to find similar colors from Zoya or OPI. However, I am usually of the opinion that Chanel does it best with nail colors.

I pulled colors in the same family for Morning Rose and Beige Pétale. There are quite a few similar shades, but no true dupes. I could not find any bright yellows to compare Mimosa to. But I suspect since this seems to be the “it” shade for summer, other blogs will be doing dupes soon.

L to R: Chanel Riviera, MAC Girls Will Be Girls, Chanel Mistral, Dior Flapper Pink, Chanel Ming, Chanel Morning Rose, Paul & Joe #12


A few shades swatched on the fingers (2 coats each):

L to R: Chanel Inattendu, D&G Nude, Chanel Allegoria, Chanel Beige Petale, Chanel Jade Rose, Dior Nude Chic, Chanel Lily Beige


Similar shades finger swatched, since they are sheerer, these have 3 coats each:

Hope this helps some 🙂
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Loving Right Now

April 11, 2011

Right now I’m loving …

Jo Malone Tea Fragrances – layering these together creates the most lovely uplifting scents. I find them simple, pure and refreshing! (each scent reviewed here)

Chanel Ombres Perleés de Chanel, perfect for a lovely glow and easy to apply with fingers (reviewed and swatched here)

NARS Kalahari Duo & Fez Single Eyeshadow – I’ve been using my depotted Kalahari and it was about time for a replacement so I bought a new one. It’s one of my holy-grail neutrals. Fez is a beautiful bronzey copper (swatched here).

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof in Ébène is a pure black and stays put all day and Urban Decay’s 24/7 Shadow Pencil Blending Brush is the perfect brush for blending smokey colors (not so great for blending lighter shades all over the lid, but for darker shades and detail areas or smudging it’s great)

Giorgio Armani Blush #2 – the original Armani products were the best in my opinion. Classic nude soft neutrals never go out of style. #2 is a soft luminous peachy pink.

Bobbi Brown Aruba Illuminating Bronzing Powder is a golden shimmer bronze (see it here too)

Chanel Joyeuse from the Le Blanc Asia Exclusive Collection is a beautiful bright pink (see it reviewed here as well)

More bright lips: Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer 02 Can-Can (here too), Dior Model Addict Lipstick (also here) and Chanel’s Rouge Coco Shine in Adventure (I used up the entire sample from the little card I received and went out to buy the full sized version)

What are you loving right now?
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Comparisons For Chanel Misia Rouge Coco Shine & Miami Peach Le Vernis

April 8, 2011


For Chanel Liberte v Misia: Liberte is more milky and less shimmery but more pigmented while Misia is brighter more vibrant and has a sheerer shimmery texture with more red.

For those wondering whether I prefer Chanel’s Miami Peach or Orange Fizz: right now the vote goes to Miami Peach. Do note that Miami Peach is less pigmented with a slight jelly-like finish. The gold shimmer is very fine and not very noticeable. Orange Fizz is clearly more orange and has that amazing rich smooth opaque coverage Chanel is well known for these days, it may be harder to pull off on all skintones.

Hope this helps some!

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