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Victoria’s Secret Makeup: Heidi Klum’s Exotic Jewels & VS Makeup Collection

December 4, 2009
I stopped by Victoria’s Secret a few weeks ago and decided to check out the Exotic Jewels Holiday collection by Heidi Klum among other things (thanks to some recommendations). I’m a huge fan of Heidi Klum, she always looks stunning and glowing. I like her modern and chic style – I especially love that she’s been featured for Ann Taylor’s holiday ad campaign. She gives the brand a more modern look.

What I came home with (beauty-related):

* Lipglosses & Lip Lacquers $10 to $14 – The lipglosses are pretty sheer, they are have a non-sticky texture similar to MAC Lip Gelees, but a bit sheerer. The lip lacquers are more pigmented.

* Heidi Klum Perfect Lipstick in Exotic Spice $16 is a great nude nude with good coverage/pigment. It has a tiny bit of sparkle in the tube, but it’s not visible on the lips. I’m not the biggest fan of the packaging and $16 seems steep for something from VS, but the texture is creamy and I love the color. I’m not sure about the regular lipsticks in the VS line, but this one has a chocolate scent.


These blend out very sheer:


* Eyeshadow quads in Eye Contact and Sultry $15: I have to say I am fairly impressed with these! $15 is a steal for this size – you get a decent sized quad. The texture is really soft and pigment is decent and very blendable. I wouldn’t carry these in my purse though – I think the formula is pretty fragile – there were several boxes on the display unit in the tore that had broken shadows inside.


* Heidi Klum Luminous Gems $22 – a bit pricey in my opinion for VS makeup and it seems like you get about 1/2 of what is pictured on the Victoria’s Secret website (in terms of amount of product) , but there is still enough product in the actual container and I can’t imagine ever using this up. Swirled together you get a pink-gold shimmery glow. (Swatch didn’t turn out so hot on my arm.)


I have to admit I bought these mainly b/c I had some coupons to use up. If I had paid more attention to which glosses were “lip glosses” versus “lip lacquers” I probably would have passed on some of these knowing that they were very sheer.

For those who just like sheer makeup and decent prices, I recommend checking the line out too. They had quite a few good neutral nude-pink lipsticks. I didn’t purchase any though.

Do you have any VS makeup favorites?

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Tsumori Chisato for Shu Uemura Highlighter & Lipstick

November 2, 2009

This year’s holiday collection from Shu Uemura was designed by Japanese fashion designer Tsumori Chisato featuring a “wish upon a star” theme with the most adorable stars and cat design.

I was smitten with the Highlighter Duo which comes in a cute mirrored compact with a cat design imprinted on the powder. The shimmer is finely milled and has decent pigment but isn’t too sparkley.

The Jupitor Brown lipstick also caught my attention because of the packaging. It’s not quite as brown as it looks on the Shu Uemura website and goes on a sheer rosey-brownish color. It has golden shimmer which makes it look slightly peachy in the photograph. It comes in the unlimited formula which has a slightly glossy finish on the lips. There are 2 other lipsticks for the collection, but unfortunately, I believe they are an Asia exclusive.

The 2 items I picked up with pictures of the packaging:


There were a couple eye/cheek palettes I passed on. The glow on blushes in each palette were pretty, but the combination of colors just weren’t me. Check out the rest of the collection on Shu Uemura’s Website!

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Paul & Joe Holiday 2009: Face Highlighters, Pearl Powders and Lip Lacquers

October 23, 2009

I have fallen completely head over heels over Paul & Joe’s Holiday Collection and new Lip Lacquers. If you haven’t checked it out, go to the Paul & Joe Beaute website or the Facebook Paul & Joe group page to look at their new holiday items. Josie shared her new items with us last week from her guest review with some gorgeous pictures and detailed descriptions. Check out the article First Look at Paul & Joe Holiday from Guest Writer Joey.

My holiday order from Bergdorfs arrived this past weekend and here is what I hauled along with my descriptions:


* Highlighting Powder in Sheer Radiance 001 (top left) – soft pale peach undertone
* Highlighting Powder in Sheer Glow 002 (top right) – soft highlight with a slight pink undertone
* Pearl Powder Smoke Black 001 – shimmery deep steel grey shimmer with silver flecks
* Pearl Powder Smoke Brown 002 – complex warm auburn taupe shimmer
* Lip Lacquer Nectar 01 (top gloss) – nectar peach
* Lip Lacquer Serenade 03 (middle gloss) – soft pink beige
* Lip Lacquer Riviera 05 (bottom gloss) – a cute coral pink with sparkles

My thoughts, photos and some swatches:

Highlighting Powders: The best thing about the highlighters is the packaging and the cute box it came in. The packaging/size is larger than the face colors and they come with a cute brush. The downside is that the pretty design on the powder is only an overspray so once you swipe it, the design is gone and you are left with a pale iridescent glowy powder.


Pearl Powders: Both Pearl Powders are limited edition and gorgeous for a smokey eye. They have an excellent pigmented base wtih silver flecks. 001 is a gorgeous deep smokey grey without blue undertones and 002 is a pretty auburn shimmer that might be too warm/copper for some, but I love it. With any loose powder, there is always a potential for some fall out. When applying these, they did fall on my face, but once on the eyes, they stayed put.

Comparisons to some other loose powders in the same color family (you can see that the Paul & Joe colors are unique!). Two views with contrasting backgrounds:


Swatch comparisons (applied over Paul & Joe’s Moisturizing Primer #2 as a base to pick up the pigment better):

1) Stila All Over Shimmer #13
2) MAC Dark Soul Pigment
3) MAC Sweet Sienna Pigment
4) Paul & Joe 001
5) Paul & Joe 002
6) MAC Gold Stroke Pigment
7) MAC Copperbeam Pigment
8) MAC Chocolate Brown Pigment

One more comparison set to include MAC Tan Pigment which looks similar in the container, but goes on a lot lighter than it looks in the pot (applied on bare skin without a base):

1) MAC Chocolate Brown Pigment
2) Paul & Joe 002
3) MAC Tan Pigment
4) MAC Copperbeam Pigment
5) MAC Gold Stroke Pigment

Lip Lacquers: These come packaged in squeeze tubes in 10 different shades. The Paul & Joe Beaute website and Facebook Paul & Joe group pages both show excellent photos! These are my new holy grail tube glosses. The pigment is medium – better than MAC Lipgelees (which I found too slick/sheer) and not as highly-fragranced like Lancome Juicy Tubes. The ones I bought are fairly similar: 01 is a nectar peach, 03 is a soft pink beige, 05 is a cute coral pink with sparkles. I don’t have swatches yet because I’m expecting another package soon for most of the other shades. I will post all the swatches together then. Check out Josie’s post for a swatch and picture of gloss #10!


Overall thoughts: P&J Holiday = huge win for me! Gotta love the cute samples and GWP from Bergdorfs that they had from their artist event. Are any of you Paul & Joe fans? I’d LOVE to hear what your favorite products are. I don’t have access to this line in person near me, so I rely heavily on internet blogs, message boards and reviews to try and figure out what to get!

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Color Focus: Neutral Sparkle & Glow

October 13, 2009
This is an expansion on some color focus features I’ve done in the past for face/eyes, nails and lips. When I was getting into makeup, there were only 4 loose shimmer powders I knew of and was always looking for something in between since the silver ones were just a tad too white and the bronze ones were way too dark. Now there are a lot more options out there!

I have medium golden-toned skin, so this is a post on more neutral glowy nude-beige products that work for me to give that natural glow. I love these because they are so versatile, you can use these alone or layered over other colors to add shimmer. Laura Mercier Stardust and MAC Silver Dusk are featured even though they are on the paler side and look more silvery because they still work if used with a very light hand.

Loose Shimmer Powders: These are my most neutral natural loose shimmer powders. I have a lot more colors of peach, pink, and bronze variations, but those I will save for a later feature. For these, I would say the most sparkly ones are MAC’s Silver Dusk and Dancing Light. The most subtle ones are Armani’s Midnight Shimmer Powder and Becca Hyawatha. The rest are somewhere in between.


Laura Mercier Stardust:

Laura Mercier Candlelight:

Laura Mercier Starlight:

MAC Silver Dusk:

Scott Barnes Diamond Dust:

FACE Stockholm Gold Shine:

Becca Hyawatha:

MAC Beauty Powder in Dancing Light:

Giorgio Armani Midnight Shimmer Powder:

Swatches: 1) Laura Mercier Stardust, 2) Laura Mercier Candlelight, 3) Laura Mercier Starlight, 4) MAC Silver Dusk, 5) Scott Barnes Diamond Dust, 6) FACE Stockholm Gold Shine, 7) Becca Hyawatha, 8) MAC Beauty Powder Dancing Light, 9) Armani Midnight Shimmer Powder


For liquid/cream products, I find colored products (bronzey and peachy included) more forgiving because you can blend the colors out easily or mix them with your foundation. Nars St. Barts is my holy-grail nude highlighter because it blends out to give that perfect contoured and slightly tanned look without any orange or bronze.

Left to right: Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Topaz, Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Opal, Chanel Brilliance Pur Sunkissed, Armani Fluid Sheer 2, Armani Fluid Sheer 10, Nars Multiple Maldives, Nars Multiple St. Barts


Swatches in the same order as above (note that these are not blended out):


For nails, I’ve always been into that barely-there natural manicured look. These are natural with a pretty sheen. I don’t have swatches as I just got my nails done. I highly recommend searching Nailgal.com for awesome pictures with different lighting and also swatches on different skintones.

Left to right: Chanel Galactic Touch, Nars Adelita, OPI Sand in My Suit, OPI Hollywood Blonde, Rescue Beauty Lounge Ani, MAC Golded


For lips, I have yet to find that perfect glowy lipstick that works all the time. I do have glosses that I love which gives that glow:

Left to right: 1) Bobbi Brown Rose Gold, 2) Bobbi Brown Sand Sugar, 3) MAC C-Thru, 4) MAC Young Thing, 5) MAC Instant Gold, 6) Nars Greek Holiday, 7) Chanel Gold Light #118, 8) Chanel Beige Guitare #121, 9) MAC Sugarrimmed Dazzleglass, 10) Dior Addict #137 Trenchcoat Beige, 11) Laura Mercier Champagne Glace (old packaging)



For eyes, I like to use the loose shimmer powders a lot, but there are quite a few beige-gold shimmer eyeshadows that enhance your skin making it look like a subtle glow. Basically your lids-but-better in a warmer nude glow. MAC Bagatelle is my favorite for this, but has since been discontinued, here are some other alternatives:

1) Bobbi Brown Copper Penny Shimmer Wash, 2) Benefit Rich Beach, 3) Chantecaille Rose Gold, 4) Chanel Gold, 5) MAC Bagatelle, 6) MAC Creme de Miel, 7) MAC Blonde’s Gold Pigment, 8) Paul & Joe Pearl Powder 01, 9) Bobbi Brown Sunset Gold Metallic, 10) Armani Maestro #2, 11) Urban Decay Blaze, 12) Becca Loose Shimmer Powder in Odette

Swatches, same order:

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Chanel Fleurs Celestes de Chanel Natural Finish Face Highlighter

August 29, 2009

The second round of my Symphonie Blanche de Chanel haul finally came and I got the Fleurs Celestes de Chanel Powder in the mail today! I apologize for having posts about this collection all over the place. For the nail and eye products click down to this past Tuesday’s post Chanel White Whisper Quadra Eyeshadow & Blanc Petale Nail Colour.

This is the product description according to Chanel.com:

Product & swatch photos, came in a cute Chanel Gift Box:

Close up of the palette:

Swatched on fingers (please note that the photograph doesn’t do the shimmer justice! I usually don’t do swatches b/c I can rarely get accurate photos of them, this should just give you an idea of the pigmentation):

Overall thoughts: I was a bit hesitant to order this since I’ve found Chanel Highlighters to be hit or miss. Sometimes they are gorgeous in the pan, but go on so sheer, you can barely see anything on. This palette did not disappoint at all – the shimmer is pigmented enough to give a beautiful glow but is subtle enough that I don’t look like I have glitter.

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Day 2 of Beauty Tools & Essentials: Face Brushes

July 27, 2009

Powder Brushes: I tend to splurge heavily on powder brushes. The most luxurious powder brush I’ve tried is the Trish McEvoy #5, but I find myself using my MAC powder brushes more often. The Laura Mercier Blending Brush is a more coarse brush meant to apply mineral foundation to the face in a circular motion. The MAC #150 and #134 are similar in size, but the #150 is fluffier giving a sheerer application while the #134 is denser and fuller. I also like to use this for highlighting powders.

1. MAC Large Powder Brush #150
2. MAC Large Powder Brush #134
3. Stila Large Powder Brush #8
4. Trish McEvoy Powder Brush #5
5. Trish McEvoy Bronzer Brush #37
6. Laura Mercier Blending Brush

Blush Brushes: Being obsessed with blush, I probably have the most blush brushes out of all the types of tools I own. Most of these I own duplicates of so I don’t have to wash them as often. Some like the MAC #129 are meant for both powder and blush.

1. MAC Powder/Blush Brush #129
2. MAC Blush Brush #116
3. Stila Blush Brush #1
4. Laura Mercier Cheek Colour Brush
5. Shu Uemura Natural Brush #20
6. Trish McEvoy Sheer Blush Brush 2B (revamped version)
7. Trish McEvoy Sheer Blush Brush 2B (older version)

Angled Face Brushes: These are meant to help contour the face. I have yet to master the art of contouring, so I use these for blush and highlighters.

1. MAC #174 (pro, discontinued)
2. MAC Large Angled Contour #168
3. MAC Angled Contour #169
4. Shu Uemura Natural Brush #2oH
5. Trish McEvoy #27A

Foundation or Cream Product Brushes: The oldest brush is the Prescriptives foundation brush which I believe was the first mid-highend/department store line to come out with one. Other companies like Bobbi Brown and MAC followed soon after with their own versions. I have to say that out of all the ones I’ve tried, the Prescriptives foundation brush is still my favorite (has lasted since 1998 when I purchased it). There are several cheek cream blush brushes out there, all of which are too small for me to find functional, so I often use these foundation brushes for cream blush as well.

1. MAC Face Brush #189
2. MAC Foundation Brush #190
3. Chanel Foundation Brush #16
4. Prescriptives Foundation Brush
5. Giorgio Armani Blender Brush
6. Stila Concealer Brush #11
7. MAC Concealer Brush #195

Bronzer, Contour & Highlighting Brushes: In addition to blush, I’m also into bronzer. I have to admit, I don’t love all of these. Whenever I get my makeup done at events, I often get sucked into buying the tools they use and push. My recommendation – definitely go to events, they are a great way to learn new techniques and color combinations. Do some of your own research first about the line by looking at each company website and browse through the products in advance so get an idea of what they have to offer. That way you’ll have a better idea of what to look for, ask to try out, and start a shopping list.

1. Bobbi Brown Bronzer Brush (new version)
2. Laura Mercier Bronzer Brush
3. NARS Bronzing Powder Brush
4. Bobbi Brown Bronzer Brush (old version)
5. Stila Double Duty Cheek Contour & Blush brush#21

Highlighting Brushes: I cannot live without the MAC Duo Fibre Brush #187 and absolutely love the new Duo Fibre Powder/Blush #131 (released with Color Craft). If you could only have 2 highlighter brushes, these would definitely be the ones I’d pick. Like the concept but not the price? I’ve seen similar brushes at Target for less.

1. MAC Duo Fibre Brush #187
2. MAC Small Duo Fibre Face Brush #188
3. MAC Duo Fibre Powder/Blush #131
4. MAC Tapered Face Brush #138
5. MAC Tapered Cheek & Highlighter Brush #165
6. Trish McEvoy Blending Brush #48
7. Bobbi Brown Face Blender Brush

Short & Kabuki Brushes: I find myself drawn to short brushes because I find them cute and often they are made with super soft materials. The Laura Mercier Face Brush is intended to be used with the Mineral Finishing Powder as well as other powder formulations. I find the handle too short for the size of the bristles making it difficult to hold. The Laura Mercier Mineral Primer Brush has a half moon-shaped head and small handle I find difficult to hold, so I find that I rarely use this one as well.

1. Bobbi Brown Face Brush
2. MAC Small Buffer Brush #183
3. MAC Small Buffer Brush #181
4. Laura Mercier Face Brush
5. Laura Mercier Mineral Primer Brush

Again, if you have any brushes for the face that you love, please share!!!

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Le Metier de Beaute: Eyes & Cheeks

July 10, 2009

The Sheer Brilliance Glosses & Lip Cremes from Le Metier de Beaute have been my favorite products in the line, but I have also added a few gorgeous neutral eyeshadows and blushes to my collection. Included in this post are some eyeshadow, blush, highlighter and bronzer pictures from Le Metier de Beaute.

Eyeshadows come in a single-compact format or in a set of four packaged in a unique swivel-stacking system they call their Kaleidoscope Kits. Most of their Kaleidoscope Kits are pre-made and contain shades exclusive to each kit. The Persephone Kit did contain shades available in single-compact format. Check out these links to Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman or Karen’s Makeup and Beauty Blog to see the more product photos.

Eyeshadows, left to right: Mulberry, Jojo, Milan, Spicy

Close up of Mulberry & Jojo

Close up of Milan & Spicy

From Persephone Eye Kit: Rose Quartz (available as a single)

From Persephone Eye Kit: Alexandrite (available as a single)

From Persephone Eye Kit: Canvas (available as a single)

From Persephone Eye Kit: Sequoia (available as a single)

Whisper Highlighter, Fresh Blush, Echo/Sunkissed Blush Bronzer Duo

Close up of Whisper & Fresh (note Whisper doesn’t show on the websites for purchase but is available at counters)

Close up of Echo/Sunkissed Duo (which I received as an extra from the King of Prussia Le Metier Counter)

Overall thoughts: the eyeshadows are soft and with pretty pigment. I would say the pigment is in the medium-full range – not quite as rich as Urban Decay, but not as sheer as MAC Lustre Eyeshadows. The blushes have the same pigmentation as Nars, but have a more natural finish – I find some Nars shimmery blushes can be a bit too frosty if applied with a heavy hand. The Le Metier Bronzer is absolutely divine giving a soft warm glow. A HUGE thanks to Ellen at Neiman Marcus King of Prussia for including this!

Interested in more Le Metier? Check out these links:

Le Metier de Beaute Nail Lacquers (see pictures of nail polishes in Phlox, Lenton Rose & more)

Le Metier de Beaute: Feature on Lips (pictures of Sheer Brillance Glosses & Lip Cremes – my personal favorite with a gorgeous selection of pinks and beiges)

Neiman Marcus Camp Gorgeous Event: Siena Lip Gloss GWP (details on various GWPs from Neimans for Le Metier)

Makeup & Beauty Blog: Ever Heard of Le Metier de Beaute? (pics of kaleidoscope kits & more)

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