The Paul & Joe mania continues with pearl powders. These are loose eyeshadow powders. They all contain finely milled shimmer, the holiday colors have a silver micro-glitter sparkle that is very subtle but still visible. Compared to MAC Pigments, the pigment is a bit softer and not as frosty and the texture is a bit more powdery/light feeling.
01 Secret of Gold, 03 Silhouette, 04 Afterglow, 001 Smoke Black, 002 Smoke Brown
* 001 and 002 are from the holiday 2009 collection & are limited edition
* Number 02 Blaze is from a sample.
For comparisons and swatches to other brands/colors, check out these past Paul & Joe features:
Here is Day 2 of my Paul & Joe collection featuring 4 of the seasonal eyeshadow palettes. These currently retail from $38 to $40 USD and come in a cute mirrored compact along with a double sided brush/applicator. The textrue/pigment of these palettes is just as good as the single eyeshadows. I’m not a huge fan of the applicator-brush, but then I rarely am with any brand for eyeshadow palettes.
Great neutral colors for both warm and cool tones.
Swatches of the Holiday 2009 Palettes, Mesmerize 001 (cool toned):
Spellbound 002 (very warm):
Swatches from Spring 2009, Ingenue 001 (more neutral):
Starlet 002 (neutral but cooler toned):
For other blogs that have pictures of the palettes, check out:
The first collection feature for Paul & Joe will be about the single eyeshadows. I love the pigment and texture. They are soft and blendable with lovely shimmer. To me, they are on par with Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadows for how they feel, but the Paul & Joe are less prone to breakage. Some are a bit more sparkley than others, but there is a great range from matte, to satin, to sparkle, and shimmer.
The cute packaging it comes in:
Here are all the eyeshadows I have in my collection to date:
Swatches with high flash (over Armani LSF 5.5 as a base):
The pigment is excellent and please take the swatch pictures with a grain of salt – the flash tends to wash the color/pigment out a bit.
Swatches without flash:
The arm swatches don’t do the paler colors justice, they don’t show up well in the photo above, hopefully this will help show the pigment better (even if it can’t capture the true essence of each shade):
Close up of the limited edition packaging:
Swatches:
The regular shades come in a single mirrored compact form, but it appears that early next year Paul & Joe plans to revamp their eyeshadow line and make them available in palette form. Check out the Spring 2010 Promo Pictures on Rouge Deluxe.
All were purchased at Bergdorf Goodman, The Primping Parleur, Beautyhabit and Dermstore.com. I highly recommend you check out Beautyhabit.com and Dermstore.com for more product views and color descriptions.
FYI – The Primping Parleur has 20% off with code NOVFAMILY and Beautyhabit has 20% off as well with code INSTYLE – all codes good until the end of this month.
Here’s November’s List of Ten Things I’m Loving Right Now. As always, I want to hear your lists too! And they don’t have to be beauty/makeup related.
1) Henri Bendel Candles from Bath & Body Works $26 – these are the best candles I’ve tried with so many feel-good scents. My favorites are Vanilla Bean, Fig, Quince, Pomegranate – and my husband loves these too.
2) L’Occitane Holiday Sets – Still loving the scented hand creams, in particular the Shea Vanilla and Frangipani scented ones! I wish they weren’t limited edition. Also love the Shower Celebration set – wish all the scents came in larger sizes (I believe the only one available individually right now is the Almond Shower Gel).
3) Paul & Joe Lip Lacquers $20 – You’ve seen these in my look features earlier in the month and my regular readers know that I bought practically every color. They are absolutely fabulous and I hope these are here to stay. They are great alone or over a liner/lipstick. I can’t rave enough about them. Cute packaging, nice pigment, non-sticky texture, very wearable colors. I’ve purchased my Paul & Joe items from Bergdorf Goodman, The Primping Parleur’s Online Boutique, Beautyhabit.com and Dermstore.com – but check the Paul & Joe Beauty website for locations around the world.
4) PhytoSpecific Integral Hair Care – this is a spray hair treatment which is supposed to “restore moisture, smooth, redefine curls, detangle, make setting easier, and protect hair from heat damage.” I have thick slightly wavy hair which I cannot air dry because it poofs up into a huge frizz ball. Up until a year ago when I started using this, I religiously blow dried and straightened my hair daily. I tried a number of no-frizz serums and straightening sprays, but I still had to go through the daily ritual of blow dry/straighten. This spray is incredible for me and once I spray and comb through, it allows my hair to air dry without turning into a huge frizz ball. I haven’t tried any of the other PhytoSpecific products, but I do love the shampoos in the regular Phyto line.
5) Dolce & Gabbana Caramel Blush $44 – I love nude blushes and this one is pretty without looking muddy on my skin. You can buy D&G online at saks.com, but I highly recommend ordering through the Saks NY or Beverly Hills counters because you get excellent customer service and the makeup artists who run the counter are very good at recommending colors. If you have any questions about other products, you can ask me too! I’ve accumulated quite a few things from them since they launched the line.
6) Edward Bess Daydream Bronzer $48 – By far my favorite powder bronzer of the moment. Wasn’t so thrilled with the hefty price tag, but I have to say that it gives that natural tanned glow. My skintone is on the pale side right now, I’m the equivalent of what’s in between MAC NC30-35. Normally I’m more of a NC35-40ish. You can purchase Edward Bess at Bergdorf Goodman or online at EdwardBess.com. Compared to some other bronzers:
7) Le Metier Eye Brightening & Setting Powder $36 – I’ve always been skeptical of brightening powders mainly because I usually don’t see a difference when using them. This, however, is every bit as great as Ellyn (from Neimans King of Prussia) and Lisa (my fellow Le Metier fan) have both raved. I use the shade Revive which is good for medium-tanned skintones. The next shade down Refresh is quite a bit paler. Seems like they need a shade in between. I use it after I apply my foundation in place of concealer under the eyes and it is an instant-brightener/evener all in one. (FYI – Neimanmarcus.com has free shipping with code and a promotional Peche Lip Creme with any Le Metier purchase, good as long as supplies last.)
8) MAC Pigments: Naked, Fairylite, Your Ladyship, Shimmertime – I like light/neutral pink shimmers for a natural barely-there all over eye color. I believe all of them have been discontinued except Naked, but you can get a full sized Shimmertime Pigment in one of the MAC holiday sets and Naked is also available as a mini in one of the holiday pigment sets.
The swatch picture couldn’t capture the real color, so I’ll try my best to describe the differences:
Naked is the most neutral
Fairylite has the most pink and most visible silver sparkle/micro glitter
Your Ladyship has a golden sheen to it
Shimmertime is the most pink/frosty throughout
9) MAC Style Black Mineralize Eyeshadows: Gilt by Association, Cinderfella, Young Punk $19.50 each – Yes, I do like MAC products even though I don’t write much about the line! I was afraid these would be too glittery, but they work well when applied with a damp brush or over a gel liner for a pretty smoky eye. It appears they are sold out online, but most MAC stores usually still carry seasonal stock so check your local store.
10) Hot Chocolate – I know many of you prefer I stay on the beauty topic, but I really love this time of year because it’s the perfect time for hot chocolate, apple cider, and warm teas. A classic favorite is the Williams Sonoma Hot Chocolate that they only carry during the holidays. I’ve seen a few at Godiva and Crate & Barrel that I’m dying to try out. I know Trader Joes has a lot of holiday ciders and goodies, so I’m hoping they have a hot chocolate too. Do you have a favorite hot chocolate?
Back in September, I was planning to do a full series on Giorgio Armani, but have been slacking. I will feature Armani more frequently since I know a lot of you are interested in the line, although I can’t promise to get fully back on track since there are so many other brands that I want to write about.
Giorgio Armani released 4 eyeshadow quads (Numbers 01, 02, 03, 04) in 2005 back when Armani hard to find since it was only available at a few Saks locations and various Giorgio Armani Boutiques. They have since reformulated the quads in their Maestro Eye Shadow Formula and the pigment is much better.
In addition to the original 4, they have released a number of limited edition eyeshadow palettes with various seasonal collection. The two newer colors 05 Desert and 06 Mineral were released as part of the regular line.
The quads I still have with swatches:
Top: 02 Floral (original formula) , 03 Earth (original formula) Bottom: 04 Stone (original formula), 05 Desert (new formula)
#02 Original Formula:
#03 Original Formula:
#04 Original Formula:
#05 New Maestro Formula:
Limited Edition Quads, L to R: Midnight Eye Mania, #10 Leather, Pink Light
Midnight Eye Mania:
#10 Leather Collection:
Pink Light:
All of mine were purchased at Saks over the years. Today, they retail for $58 US each which I feel is fairly steep. I tend to wait for Saks events when they have GWPs or Triple Points. I believe Armani recently did a 20% discount online, perhaps they will do another promotion soon.
I have not repurchased the shades I already own in the new formula because I am happy with the consistency, although I have tried the newer formula instore and can confirm it is much better than the original.
For more Armani photos and swatches, click on this Giorgio Armani label. I’ve done a full feature on the New Maestro Eyeshadows and Blushes and Bronzers. There are bits and pieces of other items scattered among other articles.
Laura Mercier’s new Club Couture collection has been spotted in person at Nordstrom! If you like soft light colors, then you will really like the new look Laura Mercier put together. The colors are stunning on her fair skin and just as pretty in person. You can get details on what products were used for the look on Laura Mercier’s website under “What’s New – Get This Look.”
I picked up the following items (L to R):
* Lip Color Shimmer in Designer Beige – a warm nude-brown with very slight gold shimmer (not really shimmery like her typical shimmer formula for lipsticks) * Creme Lip Color in Pink Label – cool cream pink (a less purple version of MAC Syrup) * Lip Glace in After Hours – shimmery milky light pink (reminds me of Chanel Sesame) * Foiled Eye Color in VIP Silver – highly pigmented silver sparkle
Swatches: 1) Designer Beige Lipstick 2) Pink Label Lipstick 3) After Hours Lip Glace 4) VIP Silver Foiled Eyeshadow 5) Platinum Metallic Cream Eyeshadow (not part of the collection – just for comparisons) 6) VIP Silver layered over Platinum Metallic Cream
Gloss comparisons & swatches: 1) MAC Partial to Pink 2) Laura Mercier After Hours 3) Laura Mercier Babydoll 4) Laura Mercier Pink Pearl (plumping gloss) 5) Chanel Sesame 6) Nars Turkish Delight
Combination ideas/suggestions:
I think these colors would go well with: * a smokey eye like Edward Bess Dusk Eyeshadow and Stila’s Black Cat Smudge Pot * a soft pink cheek like Laura Mercier Barely Pink, Chanel Narcisse, or Le Metier Fresh Blush * complimenting lip liners for the pink lipstick, Laura Mercier Chestnut or MAC Naked Rose * coordinating lip liners for the beige lipstick, Laura Mercier’s Ambrosia or Nude Lips
There was also a Gold version of the Foil Eyeshadow which was also pretty, but a little too 24k gold looking for my skin. Would probably work well on darker skin tones though! There were a few repromoted items, such as the Whisper Cheek Duo, false lashes, and eyeliners.
Last week I shared a few other items from Nars Holiday 2009: Luxor, Brousse, Eurydice & Aigle Noir. This weekend I was able to check out the entire tester unit (since it wasn’t blocked by tools and tissue boxes from the event) and picked up two more items Taiga Eyeshadow Duo and Mousson Cream Eyeshadow.
No swatches for these, but Taiga has a sheer sparkley light golden color and a shimmery olive-greyish green. The duo does seem to be a bit more sheer than most of his eyeshadows, but is still gorgeous in my opinion. Definitely test it out before buying.
Mousson is the prettiest sparkley silvery-green color. I don’t have a crease so I don’t have to worry about creasing. I know a lot of ladies don’t like the Nars Cream Eyeshadows – I must be in the minority because I have several that I use regularly and love. I do find they fade faster than most, but I personally don’t mind!
* 001 and 002 are from the holiday 2009 collection & are limited edition
* Number 02 Blaze is from a sample.
