Here is a series on some taupe eyeshadows. For me there are numerous shades that could qualify as “taupe”, these mostly range from neutral to cool-toned taupes. For most of the pictures, I’ve included MAC Satin Taupe to help you gauge the colors in comparison to one another. Also note there will be some repeats in some photos!
MAC, Becca & FACE Stockholm Eyeshadows:
MAC Pigments, Paul & Joe Pearl Powder, MAC Solar Bits:
Bobbi Brown Metallic, Bobbi Brown Shimmerwash, Laura Mercier, Scott Barnes Eyeshadows:
Bobbi Brown (some repeats to include Fawn Shimmerwash):
More Laura Mercier & Scott Barnes:
Chantecaille Eyeshadows:
YSL & Chanel Eyeshadows:
Christian Dior, Calvin Klein (original discontinued line), NARS Eyeshadows:
Urban Decay & Giorgio Armani Shadows:
Jouer, Le Metier de Beaute, Shu Uemura & Trish McEvoy:
I was able to pick up my pre-orders yesterday! Check with your Nordstrom – they called me to let me know they were able to ring up pre-orders in a way that you still get your points, but can pick them up early. What I ended up with:
Laura Mercier Renaissance Collection which includes: * deluxe Flawless Skin Day Creme SPF 15 * full-size Undercover Pot UC-3 * exclusive full-size Pink Champagne Lip Glacé * exclusive Renaissance Eye Color Duo * mini Black Thickening and Building Mascara * double-ended Secret Camouflage Powder Brush * a mini velour puff
Entire set from nordstrom.com:
Renaissance Eye Color Duo & Pink Champagne Lip Glace:
Swatch comparisons – in the tubes these look really similar, but swatched you can see the differences: 1. Nars Dolce Vita Lipgloss 2. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lip Glace 3. Laura Mercier Blush Lip Glace 4. Chanel Glass Quartz Aqualumiere Gloss 5. Chanel Bel Air Glossimer 6. Chanel Giggle Glossimer
Lipstick vs Lip Glace Versions: 7. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lipstick 8. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lip Glace
Dior Mystic Violine Nail Polish 987 (nordstrom exclusive) vs. Black Plum 981 (fall 2009):
Black Plum (top) vs Mystic Violine (bottom & bottle):
Dior GWP with a $75 purchase:
MAC Lip Bag Sets in Baby Blooms (left) & Summer Crop (right):
Nars Modern Love Eyeshadow Palette: Top Row: Alhambra, Jezebel and Habanera Bottom Row: Tokyo, India Song and Pandora
Fall collections are trickling in! So far I’ve seen the fall collections for Chanel, Laura Mercier, Giorgio Armani, and now Dior. After seeing Karen’s fabulous article and swatches on Makeup and Beauty Blog for the Dior Jazz Club Collection Fall 2009, I went to Nordstrom to check out the collection myself.
This is what I came home with:
Smoky Jazz Eye Palette 001, the Total Eyelook Makeup Clutch for Liner, Brow, and Eyeshadows – they’ve included a nice brush!
Left to right: Liner, Eyebrow, Matte Eyeshadow, Iridescent Eyeshadow x2, Topcoat
Night Butterfly 173 Quint (5-Colour Eyeshadow) – this was lighter than I expected based on promotional pictures floating around the web, but Karen’s swatches gave me a good idea of what it looked like in real life before I stopped by the counter:
Black Plum 981 Nail Vernis:
Also picked up the Creme de Glosses and Addict Reflect Lipglosses, but for some reason these are not photographing well. For great pics/swatches, check out Karen’s blog!
Some other smokey eye palette variations for a classic smokey eye or soft smokey eye:
Dolce & Gabbana Champagne (Smooth Color Eye Quad):
MAC Smoking Eyes Quad – Next to Nothing, Satin Taupe, Showstopper, Smoking:
MAC Trip Palette Sultry Eyes – Sun Cruise Gloss, Freckletone Lipstick, Filament Lustre Eyeshadow, French Grey Satin Eyeshadow, Carbon Matte Eyeshadow (found a month ago at my local CCO):
Looking for some other smokey eye colors? To do a smokey eye, I often layer different shades with a black since blacks tend to turn blueish on my skin. Check out the 5 part series for swatches of dark shimmery eyeliners and shadows separated by color category:
Dior seems to be going through a trend of releasing new items with a twist on their regular products, such as their Designer Eyeshadow Palettes (cream-to-powder textures with gel liner) and their new Lip Glow (looks like clear lip balm, but turns your lips a bright cherry pink). Their newest release includes a extension of their addict line consisting of three smoothing glow glosses that have a roll-on/spinning type of applicator called Addict Lip Polish.
The description on the box is extremely detailed and states the following: “LIP POLISH: the first spin-on lip lacquer for perfectly smoothed and redefined lips.Immediate smoothing action: the high-tech formula, enriched with line-filling ingredients and superfine iridescent powders, instantly corrects the surface texture of your lips.Redefined lips after just 15 days of use: a firming and moisturizing agent helps smooth fine lines and redefine lips, with lasting results.Radiant shine: shades have been specifically developed to flatter different lip tones.A new and pleasurable application technique: the unique spin-on applicator gently massages your lips.“
The preview first came from Sephora’s Beauty Insider e-mail, and the website currently says they are exclusive and only at Sephora, but at this time I am not sure if it is just released early at Sephora or truely a Sephora-exclusive:
I just found these at the Sephora store today and being the gloss addict that I am, bought all three, they are pictured here left to right:
And some swatches on MAC NC30/Chanel Teint Innocence Shell 1.5 skin:
Overall thoughts – I’m a huge fan of Dior’s Addict Glosses, these are on the sheerer side, which is expected since they are meant to be smoothing with slight shimmers for a glow-effect. They are pretty expensive, retailing at $29.50. I just tried them on my lips and it did give me a glowing luscious lip look without being too wet. Textures are smooth and non-sticky with a slight cotton candy scent.
I usually don’t look for multi-purpose beauty products (meaning color and skincare in one), but it is an interesting concept. I personally think there is too much information on the box – I usually don’t have time to read through the entire product description unless it’s skincare. Three things I focus on with new products include smell, texture and color.
If $29.50 is too much for you for a sheer tinted gloss, other similar products I’d recommend include Becca Glossy Lip Tints $23, Trish McEvoy Beauty Booster SPF15 Lip Gloss $25, C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tints $5, Kiehl’s Lip Gloss $14, MAC’s Plushglass $17.50 or MAC’s Lip Lipgelée $14.
What are your thoughts? Have you tried these yet? Yay or nay?
* Promotional image from Sephora Beauty Insider E-mail Distribution
This year Dior released some beautiful bright colors for summer, however their summer launch seemed disorganized and extremely confusing since each retail store received different products for summer. It took a bit of researching online and in-store to figure out that each store did not receive the same items! For details on what was released where, visit Karlasugar’s Post on the summer collection HERE. For some excellent nail polish swatches and details, visit Steph’s Closet HERE.
One particular item I fell in love with and felt should have been launched/distributed through all Dior retail stores was the Pearly Lilac Quint. This was exclusive to Neiman Marcus in the US, but appears to have been part of the Dior Lilas collection available in Asia, France and some duty free locations.
Here is the picture of the Pearly Lilac Quint (#129):
Petal Shine (#809) versus Pearly Lilac (#129):
There was a limited distribution of this quint, each Neiman Marcus store only received a few items in their stock and it was never made available for sale online. Missed out on the quint? Not to worry as it can easily be replicated with some duplicate shades in other lines, my suggestions are as follows:
Top left shimmery pale white gold shade is similar to: 1) MAC Pigment in Quick Frost MAC Eyeshadow in Nylon (not pictured)
Bottom left shimmery cool rose pink shade is similar to: 2) Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Eyecolor in Bahamas 3) Chantecaille Eye Shadow in Quartz (this is now available in the iridescent formula) 4) MAC Eyeshadow in Wintersky
Center iridescent eggplant is similar to: 5) MAC Pigment in Grape MAC Eyeshadow in Fertile (not pictured)
Bottom right frosty pale whitish pink is similar to: 6) MAC Eyeshadow in Phloof
An in-between shade of the two right shades is: 7) Laura Mercier Eyeshadow in Dusk
Top right iridescent lilac is similar in effect to: 8) MAC Eyeshadow in Crystal (looks different in pan, but when swatched, almost identical)
I’m a huge fan of Chanel Nail Polishes and am addicted to collecting them. Pedicures are my no-fail stress-reliever and can instantly brighten my mood, especially with any of Chanel’s pretty colors. One of the reasons I love Chanel is they seems to be one of the few lines that has maintained the same classic packaging of most their makeup items. I appreciate re-vamps and product improvements (for example, I think Dior has done a fabulous makeover on their products changing their image from old-lady scents/packaging to sleek and modern). However, it is nice to have some consistency with packaging. The artists who design these colors are pure genius, since most of the shades seem to be universally flattering. Here are the colors I’ve collected, along with some NARS and Dior shades mixed in. Unfortunately, many of these shades are no longer available. A few, like Violette and Red Dream were CPs from overseas. (*NOTE – all pictures are clickable for larger viewing.)
