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Spring to Summer Sheer-Bright Colors for Lips

March 25, 2011

For lips, I like to wear sheer see-through colors for brights. What I like (left to right from above): NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover, Dior Addict in Model 564, NARS Angelika Lip Gloss, Chanel Nakkar Glossimer, Chanel Pink Pulsion Glossimer (see it here) Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer in 08 Bouquet, Bobbi Brown Hot Pink Lip Gloss, Edward Bess Island Rose Compact Rouge.

Swatched on arm, same order, in direct sunlight:

One more view, with flash:

I haven’t done lip-swatches of all the colors yet, but here are the ones I do have:

NARS New Lover (also here), this is a unique shade that looks different on everyone. It looks so different on my hand compared to my lips. See it on Cafe Makeup on Liz who is fairer and slightly cooler toned (here) while this is what it looks like on me below:

Nars Angelika Lip Gloss:

Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer 08 (looks brighter in real life, flash washed out color a bit, all my Paul & Joe Lip Lacquers here they are among my favorite lip glosses, I have almost every color):

Edward Bess Island Rose Compact Rouge (also here and swatched for Karlasugar here):

I apologize if all the links have you clicking in too many places. I’ve just referenced them in case you wanted to see more detailed reviews or comparison from past reviews. Have a happy Friday!
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Spring to Summer Brights for Nails

March 24, 2011

I’m known for loving neutrals. Bright colors are usually not my thing unless its on the fingers, toes or blush {I love bright blushes}. I’m doing a three-part series for the brights that I love and adore {for Debra who requested a summer brights feature}. Part 1 features bright nails in orange, pink and red. It’s too early to be thinking about summer but brights on nails can be pulled off in any season.

I’ve linked previous reviews and features. There are a few I’ve republished below along with a few new mani-pedi pictures.
  • Chanel Riviera – reviewed compared and dupe attempts here and here
  • Chanel Coromandel – reviewed here

Dior Cabaret Pink – see it here too

Chanel Pulsion – swatched, compared and reviewed here

Chanel Enthusiast – pedicure here

Chanel Orange Fizz – manicure here

Chanel Melrose (no longer available)

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral – shown below

I believe you can still find all the shades currently except for Chanel Enthusiast, Riviera and Melrose. Riviera is very close to Chanel’s Rose Insolent and Dior’s Cabaret Pink though. Are you wearing bright colors right now?
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Dior Vernis Perfecto 804 Comparisons

March 21, 2011

Dior Perfecto ($21), part of the Rock Your Nails Collection, is a dark grey-black cream with a slight blueish undertone. On the nails it goes on fairly dark and almost looks black. All the newly released shades have been swatched with and without the new Rock Coat here. Since Perfecto is already dark, I didn’t see much of a difference with the Rock Coat on top.

Here are a few swatches on the fingers to show you depth/intensity of Perfecto. L to R: Gris Montaigne, NY57th, Perfecto and Sephora by OPI Break A Leg-Warmer (two coats each for the Diors, but three coats for the Sephora by OPI)

A few more swatch comparisons all lined up: 1) Gris Montaigne, 2) NY57th, 3) Perfecto, 4) Blue Label, 5) Sephora by OPI Break A Leg-Warmer, 6) Chanel Black Velvet

Two coats each except the Sephora by OPI which needed three coats:

Overall Perfecto is a lovely dark cream finish grey. It’s so dark I can’t really get in the mood to wear it right now for spring or even summer. It’s not a pure black (when compared to something like Chanel Black Velvet) but pretty close. Not a must-have in my opinion unless you’re looking for a dark color that doesn’t scream pure goth. The texture and finish is wonderfully smooth and opaque though.
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Deep Blues: Chanel Blue Satin, Dior Bond Street & Dior Blue Label

March 17, 2011

Dior Bond Street from the Gris City Collection seems to be everyone’s favorite from the limited edition trio released earlier this year. It’s a beautiful smokey blue with a tinge of grey with limited availability to a few select Dior Boutiques (NY, London and Paris) and Dior.com. With the release of the Rock Your Nails Collection, I know many of you are wondering if Blue Label is a good substitute for Bond Street. Here are three blues compared side by side to help you decide: Chanel Le Vernis Blue Satin 461, Dior Bond Street 707 and Dior Blue Label 997.

Chanel Blue Satin is an ultra dark navy with subtle iridescent blue shimmer that is hard to detect unless viewed in direct sunlight or with a flash. It’s a beautiful less harsh version of black, but is still very dark.

Dior Bond Street is a smokey blue cream. You can see a detailed comparison linked here from January. It has a cream finish and applies smooth with opaque coverage in 2 thin coats. I find the texture rich and luscious giving it an almost cushy finish.

Dior Blue Label is a darker deeper navy than Bond Street. They are fairly similar in my opinion, I don’t think you need both. It’s virtually identical to Blue Satin from arm’s length. You can see the differences in the close up swatches and in the bottle. As dupe-able as this color may seem, I am thrilled with Dior’s revamp of their nail polish formula. The texture is amazing and lasting power very good (as long as you apply thin coats).

With High Flash:


One more view, they look very similar:

Overall thoughts – Bond Street is still the winner for me mainly because it’s noticeably blue and not so dark that it looks black. It’s still available (at the time of this post) on Dior.com. Still, Blue Label is lovely. I’m not so sure I’m feeling these colors for spring. But they are more spring than summer.
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Dior Rock Your Nails Collection: First Look

March 14, 2011

Quick swatches of the new Dior Vernis from their Rock Coat Collection. My own review & thoughts to come later this evening! And because I know everyone is going to ask, Blue Label is darker than Bond Street (comparison to come soon). In the meantime, check out Fashion Polish, Joey’s Space, and TriGirl from The Purse Forum for additional swatches, reviews and thoughts.


Left to Right: Perfecto, Nirvana, Purple Mix (Rock Coat Finger is where ever you see the corresponding bottle in the background)


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Beige & Lavender with Dior Beige Lotus & Butter London No More Waity, Katie

March 5, 2011

A manicure & pedicure was the perfect way to end the week. I’m so happy it’s Saturday but I fear the day will go by too fast. I picked out two newly released shades Dior Beige Lotus 211 (first featured here) and Butter London No More Waity Katie.

Dior Beige Lotus 211 ($21 from Dior.com) is a warm neutral caramel-nude infused with tiny silver micro sparkles. The shimmer is refined and so pretty to look at. Why can’t there be a shadow that exists like this one? (Most beige sparkles I’ve seen are a lot lighter.) With two coats you get full coverage but the shade is so close to my skin tone it looks like a true mannequin hand. Like but will love it more when I’m more tanned (hopefully soon).


Butter London No More Waity Katie ($14 from ButterLondon.com) is a sheer lavender jelly-like base with chunky silver and lavender glitter. I wonder why most of us were expecting a lavender version of Buttter London’s All Hail McQueen (reviewed here)? I had to apply three coats to get it to show up but decided it was a bit too chunky for my fingers. I put it on the toes. London Makeup Girl shows you how it looks with fewer coats versus three coats. Lipglossipping also has a lovely feature. What do I think? Hmmm … it doesn’t seem like a grown-up-princess type of color, the glitter is super chunky, the base is really sheer, but with three coats it does show up. I’m still undecided.


Comparisons + Swatches:

L to R: Chanel Inattendu, Chanel Sahara Beige, Dior Beige Lotus, Chanel Delice, Paul & Joe 005 Mirage


L to R: Chanel Rodeo Drive, Chanel Lilac Sky, Chanel Paradoxal, Butter London No More Waity, Katie*, OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?

* Apologize for the mis-spelling!

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New Dior Vernis Shades from Dior.com & Saks

March 1, 2011

Dior has been revamping their nail polish formula and brushes for a while, but apparently on stealth mode as I have not seen or read any press releases communicating the new changes. I heard about the changes word of mouth from another Dior/Chanel nail polish friend who emailed me that Saks had an exclusive to release new colors first (you can see some on saks.com). I ordered City of Gold some months ago and ever since purchasing the Gris City colors online (see my reviews here), I have been checking in on Dior.com to see if anything new would show up.

Those of you who have been dying over Nude Chic (seen here), good news, it’s been re-released under a new name 219 Safari Beige on Dior.com. At this time I do not know if or when these will be released on counter (with the exception of City of Gold from Saks).

What I ordered left to right: 453 Flapper Pink, 428 Sienna, 211 Beige Lotus, 563 Cabaret Pink, 668 City of Gold (Saks)




Updated with thoughts & descriptions: Overall love the formula and finish. All the swatches were applied with 2 thin coats and went on the nails without any issues. These all have the tapered brush, which I am getting the hang of for application. Descriptions:

453 Flapper Pink – cool iridescent bubblegum pink
428 Sienna – cream, non shimmer beige-pink
211 Beige Lotus – luminous nude with silver & beige sparkles
563 Cabaret Pink – bright warm pink
668 City of Gold (Saks) – frosty warm gold

Comparisons to come in the future weeks.

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