Browsing Tag

Dior

Uncategorized

Color Focus: Purple Nail Polish Photos & Swatches

November 6, 2009

Thanks to several e-mails and other blog recommendations, I checked out the new Hard Candy Mr. Wrong at Walmart and the new OPI Merry Midnight Nail Polishes. Hard Candy Mr. Wrong is very sparkly with a base similar to Dior’s Silver Purple but with chunky gold glitter mixed in. I was initially worried that OPI’s Merry Midnight would be too over the top, but when I tried it on at home, it turned out really pretty. The formula is super sheer though and required 3 full coats for me. Here are a few swatch pictures to compare.

Unique Purples: Hard Candy Mr. Wrong (Walmart), Dior Silver Purple (Holiday 2009), Dior Lemon Balm (Nordstrom Exclusive)


Plummy-Mauve Purples: Le Metier Violaceous Splendor, OPI Merry Midnight, Le Metier Black Orchid

* Note, the OPI Merry Midnight sparkle doesn’t show up so well in the swatch photo, I highly recommend you check out All Lacquered Up or Scrangie’s Blogs for better swatch pictures!

Light purple shades: Like purples, but don’t like darker colors? Check out Le Metier de Beaute Phlox, Chanel Violette, MAC Love & Friendship


If you want to see more purple nail polishes I’ve written about, check out these links:

* Color Focus: Dark Vampy Nail Polish
* I *HEART* MAC Baby Goth Girl
* A Few Alternatives to Super Dark Nail Polish . . .

4 Comments
Uncategorized

Looks I’m Loving Right Now: Day 4

November 5, 2009

Today’s focus is around silvery eyes with a few alternatives in case you can’t pull off silvers. I have warmer skin with olive tones and can’t always pull off silvery eyeshadows because they make me look tired, but the Dior Smoky Crystal Quint was a surprisingly pretty on! I hope this gives you a few ideas of what types of colors you can use. These may not work for everyone, but these are looks that I’ve done that work for me.

To recap (in case you haven’t read my About Me section), I have dark black/brown hair with red highlights, medium olive/golden skin and use Chanel Shell/Beige Teint Innocence, my eyes are dark brown.

Look Day 4: silvery eyeshadow with rose-pink lips/cheeks


Cheeks:
Dolce & Gabbana Desert Bronzer (not swatched)
Lorac Velvet Rope Baked Blush

Eyes:
Shiseido Rose Tulle H11 Hydropower Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Steel Cream Eyeshadow
Dior Smoky Crystal Quint
MAC Feline Eyeliner

Lips:
Chanel Tulip Lipliner
Trish McEvoy Pink Innocent
Le Metier de Beaute Cannes Lipgloss or Bobbi Brown Pink Lilac Brightening Gloss as an alternative

* Note the swatches for the eyeshadows look greenish on my screen for some reason. In real life they are close to what the product photo looks like in the picture near the top.

**************

Alternative if you can’t pull of silvers: try champagne, a soft taupe, a sparkley silvery-gold cream shadow and a smokey black eyeshadow


Cheeks: Giorgio Armani Blush #10

Eyes: Giorgio Armani Maestro Eyeshadow #30
Bobbi Brown Galaxy Cream Eyeshadow
Giorgio Armani Eyeshadow Maestro #32
Giorgio Armani Manta Ray Duo #1

Lips: Bobbi Brown Blondie Pink Lipliner
Chantecaille Oleander Lipstick
Dolce & Gabbana Nude Lipgloss

**************

Cheeks: Bobbi Brown Pink Sugar Shimmer Blush

Eyes: Chantecaille Quartz (top left)
Chantecaille Meteorite (top middle)
MAC Sunnydaze Pigment
MAC Cinderfella Mineralize Eyeshadow
Chanel Noir Le Crayon Kohl Eyeliner

Lips: MAC Dervish
Dolce & Gabbana Charm Lipstick
Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer #9

4 Comments
Uncategorized

A Few Alternatives to Super Dark Nail Polish (That Are Still Kinda On The Dark Side)

October 27, 2009

When it comes to fashion and beauty trends I am not always brave enough to be a true follower. There are always styles that are cute and chic on others that I could never pull off (for example teal eyeshadow, black lipstick/gloss or leggings with boots). If you like dark nails but feel the new releases are a bit too vampy or deep, here are four softer alternatives I really like:

L to R: OPI Melody in Mocha, Paul & Joe #20 Manhattan, Urban Decay Gunmetal, Dior Lemon Balm, Chanel Noir Ceramic


* I believe the OPI and Chanel are both discontinued, but you can still find quite a few online through swap boards, ebay or discount nail e-tailers

* OPI Melody in Mocha is a complex fawn grey with slight mauve tones and gold shimmer, I was lucky to get one in a swap and love it – I think there are quite a few dupes, there’s one from China Glaze that might be similar (the flash makes it look lighter and emphasizes the silver – in real life it’s not quite as pale for the swatch at least)

* Paul & Joe #20 Manhattan is a sparkley medium-light gunmetal shimmer, it is on the sheerer side so I had to use four coats but the finished result has a lot of depth – it’s hard to explain but it looks different depending on the way the light hits the color

* Urban Decay Gunmetal is currently only available in the Apocalyptic Nail Kit, I really hope it comes out in full size, it’s a deeper gunmetal shimmer with slight brownish tones in it so it doesn’t turn blue on me like most gunmetal shades

* Dior Lemon Balm was a Nordstrom Exclusive for their last Anniversary Sale, I believe you might still be able to find it online at nordstrom.com, it’s an oddly-named color, in the container it looks more greyish, but on the nails and compared to the other greys, it definitely pulls more purple with brown shimmers

* Chanel Noir Ceramic was photographed mainly for comparison purposes, but it’s a nice black with silver shimmers which make it softer and less harsh than most blacks, a close dupe is Chanel’s Black Satin which is darker



One more view:


I’d really LOVE to hear your favorite shimmer nail polishes that are medium-to-dark. I’m always looking for more colors by recommendations to check out. I tend to feel overwhelmed when I shop at Ulta or Sephora for nail products – too many colors to choose from and I usually end up with too many reds that look almost identical.

11 Comments
Uncategorized

Macy’s Dior Exclusive Lipgloss & Nail Polish for Breast Cancer Awareness

October 21, 2009

A fellow Dior fan told me about a few exclusives she found at her Macy’s for Breast Cancer Awareness. The two exclusive items include a Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Reflect Pink Layette 067 & Dior Vernis Nail Lacquer Pink Dahlia 251. When you purchase the 2 items together you get a cute little pink envelope mirror in a pink satin pouch. Both are pale shimmery pinks. The lipgloss is very pale and milky (see my other milky pinks lipglosses) and the nail polish is very sheer and needs 3 coats to show up, but reminds me of a more sparkley version of Chanel’s Pink Satin that came out several holiday/springs ago.



Updated nail swatches per request compared to Chanel Pink Satin (3 coats) v Pink Dahlia (4 coats):



I’ve included pictures of the tops of the boxes because I know Dior sometimes has two sets of names for each item, one used in the US and the other in other countries.


The little gift mirror with pouch:


I couldn’t find any information or products online, but check your local Macy’s Dior counter and ask about their exclusives. I believe these might have been part of the Dior Lilas collection that seemed to be available everywhere except the US (we only got the Pearly Lilac Quint).

7 Comments
Uncategorized

Dior Holiday 2009: Smoky Crystal Quint + Silver Purple Nail Polish

October 9, 2009

Dior Holiday 2009 has been spotted at my local Macy’s and I picked up the new Smoky Crystal 089 quint and Silver Purple 782 nail polish from the collection.

I just got a manicure, so I didn’t swatch the nail polish for you. I do recommend you check All Lacquered Up for a swatch of this lovely purple though. The entire holiday collection seemed very cool-toned, most of it seemed like repromoted items with the exception of a new sparkle-chrome-like single shadow and a charm with gloss.

Close up of the new eyeshadow palette:

Comparisons to a few other quints that I have to show how cool-toned it is. It’s even more cool than Sky Glow:

I don’t have dupes for the other shades, but the closest I could find to the bottom left color is MAC Moth Brown. The Dior is even more blue-cool toned than MAC Moth Brown which I consider to be one of the coolest-toned eyeshadows that I have:

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This is one of the iridescent formula quints, so the pigment is very rich. It’s definitely unique and not easily dupe-able in my opinion. Lovely for a soft silvery eye or a smokey eye. There are a lot of different looks you can create with this palette.

UPDATE: I was initially worried this would be too cool-toned or frosty for my medium olive-golden skin, however, I tried it tonight and it worked just fine for me! I even ventured out of my comfort zone and used all the shades tonight and it wasn’t too frosty.

I signed up for a Dior event this next week at my local Nordstrom – so I will see if they can show me more techniques on how to use this.

9 Comments
Uncategorized

Color Focus: Deep Purple Eye Shadows

September 25, 2009

I love the smokey eye looks that come out for fall but until recently, it seems like most all the lines usually release the typical variations of black and grey for their “smokey look.” I am not one who can pull of black eyeshadow or eyeliner easily because it’s often too harsh or ends up looking blueish on my skin. I have to opt for other deep colors and did a series on Smokey Eye Variations back in June and am so excited that lines are now releasing collections with a “black/smokey” theme that include colors other than just black or grey.

I just discovered 2 new deep purple shimmery eyeshadows from MAC and Dior and thought I’d pull out some of my favorite deep purples to compare.

1. Dior Ultra-Smooth High Impact Eyeshadow in #186 Ultra Violet
2. MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Young Punk
3. Laura Mercier Sateen Eyeshadow in Kir Royal
4. MAC Fertile Eyeshadow
5. Giorgio Armani Maestro #18
6. Bobbi Brown Metallic Eyeshadow in After Hours
7. Stila Poise

A few other pictures of smokey purples:

1. Bobbi Brown Metallic in After Hours
2. Chanel Magic Night
3. MAC Smut
4. MAC Deep Purple Pigment (Pro)

3 Comments
Uncategorized

Dior Beige Print Eyeshadow Comparisons

September 4, 2009

Per request this will show a few comparisons of the new Dior Beige Print Eyeshadow compared to some other shades from the original post New 1-Colour Ultra-Smoothing High Impact Eyeshadows.

Product photos:

1. Paul & Joe Pearl Powder 01
2. Nars Cyprus
3. Benefit Fawn Over Me
4. Dior Beige Print
5. MAC Deckchair
6. Shu Uemura P Brown 820
7. Dior Beige Sunshine
8. MAC Femme-Fi
9. Bobbi Brown Beige Shimmer Wash

**************************************************

Swatches (used a sheer tinted moisturizer as a base):

1. Paul & Joe Pearl Powder 01
2. Nars Cyprus
3. Benefit Fawn Over Me
4. Dior Beige Print
5. Bobbi Brown Beige Shimmer Wash
6. MAC Femme-Fi
7. Shu Uemura P Brown 820
8. Dior Beige Sunshine
9. MAC Deckchair

4 Comments