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Burberry Fall 2011: Nude Rose, Nude Cashmere & Midnight Brown

July 26, 2011

Burberry has some new items for fall currently available instore at select Nordstrom counters. The items I ordered from Nordstrom San Francisco: Nude Rose No. 25 and Nude Cashmere No. 26 Lipsticks along with Midnight Brown No. 21 Eyeshadow. These are beautiful neutrals that will definitely become weekday staples.

Left is Nude Cashmere, Right is Nude Rose
Nude Cashmere No. 26 (left above) is a cream neutral nude brown. To me this is in the same color family as Edward Bess Sundown. It’s very fleshy-nude-taupe kind of shade. For me this is not a flattering shade. It makes me look dead. However, if you’re one of those lucky girls who can pull off colors like MAC Spite Lipglass, then you will love this.

Nude Rose No. 25 (right below) is a neutral cream pink-rose-peach. The color changes depending on the angle you look at it. Sometimes it looks like a straight rose, other times it looks more peachy. On the lips, it goes on fairly nude (like the name suggests). I like the smooth creamy coverage.

Midnight Brown No. 21 is a beautiful complex shimmery taupe-brown. This is definitely a must-have in any taupe-lovers collection. Although it’s more brown (rather than taupe) there is a beautiful taupeish tone that comes from the shimmer. I believe this is the most complex shadow Burberry has released to date. I absolutely adore it. Even though the shimmer factor is higher than most other Burberry shadows (on par with Rosewood’s complexity), the texture is still very smooth and finely milled. The pigment is just amazing with this and you can blend and layer easily to achieve the intensity you want. LOVE.

Swatched 3 ways
Overall … if you’re not digging the metallics or greens and blues from other brands this season, Burberry has a few beautiful neutral options that will be suitable for year round. While Nude Rose isn’t the most unique, it is easy to wear – sometimes finding a good nude pink rose can be difficult. This one has just the right mixture of nude and pink. Midnight Brown is the must-have for me. There are so many different ways to wear this shade and it’s texture makes it easy to apply.
I haven’t pulled any other products to compare so I can’t really say how unique/similar these are to existing colors. I do believe regardless of existing dupes that Midnight Brown is a must-have. I recommend you also check out The Ultimate Makeup for her thoughts and swatches 🙂 She’s done a few helpful comparisons.
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YSL Volupté Sheer Candy in Lush Coconut 01

July 17, 2011
YSL Volupté Sheer Candy ($30) is one of the newest lipstick/lipbalm formulas from YSL. It comes in 6 different shades (all shades seen and reviewed on Karla Sugar and Best Things in Beauty) and is designed to give a sheer but hydrating tint of color to the lips. I saw these at Sephora about a month ago, had a gift card burning a hole in my wallet and decided to give the light beige-gold, Lush Coconut 01, a try.

Lush Coconut is a pale beige gold shimmer in the tube. On the hands and lips, it’s so sheer, nothing shows up. Just shine. I know these are meant to be sheer, but I was rather disappointed with the finish. For $30, I could have achieved the same effect (hydration and shine) with something much more cost-friendly. The darker and brighter shades do give a tint, but from what I saw/tested, you can also find cheaper drugstore chapsticks that will do the same trick for a much better deal. The formula isn’t long-wearing. It has a somewhat slippery texture and feels like it will slide right off the lips within 2 minutes (even though it does not). Are there any pros? They do have a delicious mango-candy scent, however I wasn’t really keen on the taste from it sliding off my lips within minutes. The packaging is the most beautiful out of all the Rouge Voluptés with the silver tube (instead of the gold). These deliver a high shine which is nice, but it’s not enough to win me over.

Here it is compared to Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Canotier and YSL’s Rouge Volupté Perle in Beige Caress. I prefer Chanel’s even though the swatch looks sheer, on the lips there is a better finish with the Chanel.

Bottom line: Save your money unless you like super sheer and pretty packaging. Normally I like sheer, but I found this one just too-sheer to feel worth the price. Perhaps you will have better luck with the reds in this collection. Still, I think you can find better for cheaper in other brands. MAC Lustres are just one type of sheer lipstick that comes to mind. I did swatch Lush Coconut on my lips for this review, but it looks clear so I decided not to publish the lip-swatch photo. * Update* Per request, I’ve uploaded a lip swatch.

Some might wonder if these might work as a finishing gloss over a lip pencil. Perhaps it would work. I personally would not try it, especially in the summer time. Given the slip of this lipstick, I think that applying these over lipliner would not extend the longevity of the wear. I would be worried that it would make even long-lasting lipliners bleed.
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Fresh Pinks from Koh Gen Do, Burberry Beauty and Paul & Joe

July 5, 2011

Three fresh pink lip colors from a few harder-to-find brands I think everyone should check out:

  • Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Lipstick in Fresh Pink PK04 – a sheer fresh light pink with a soft frost ($38 can be found at Barneys.com and KohGenDoCosmetics.com)
  • Burberry Lip Mist in Fresh Pink No. 09 – a healthy semi-bright cool-pink ($30, can be found at Nordstrom.com)
  • Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer in Can-Can 06 – a cool-toned healthy pink with slight shimmer and high sheen ($20 check Paul & Joe for locations)

Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Lipsticks have a sheer moisturizing formula. While the color is sheer, it is visible on the lips and gives healthy glowing lips like no other lipstick formula. I’ve reviewed two others Pink Beige and Pink Rose here. Fresh Pink PK04 was provided to me for review. It’s a sheer light pink. Looking at the tube, one might worry that the color would be too sheer. The color does show up on my lips, but just barely. I think those with darker skin or darker lips might find this color too pale.

Burberry Lip Mists are natural lightweight lipsticks with a unique creamy-gelled texture that makes it feel in between a lip balm and natural lipstick. I’ve reviewed a different Lip Mist, Copper, here. Feather Pink is a fresh neutral-cool pink. It goes on smoothly and doesn’t require any tweaking. There is no detectable scent. Lasting power is medium. The texture is smooth and applies evenly.

Paul & Joe’s Lip Lacquers are among my favorites for lipglosses. I’ve raved about the formula in the past, but I don’t think I’ve done very many lip swatches. These are high pigmented high shine glosses that last on the lips a long time. Unfortunately they don’t photograph well because of the shine. It looks brighter in real life than it does on the lips below. Can-Can 06 is one of my most-used lip lacquers.

For more pink loves, you can see my Spring Pinks from April here. What are your favorite pink lip items for right-now?
Koh Gen Do Fresh Pink was provided to The Beauty Look Book without charge for review.
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Bobbi Brown Soft Nude Rich Lip Color SPF 12

July 1, 2011
There are three Rich Lip Colors featured for fall Twig, Soft Coral and Soft Nude along with three High Shimmer Lip Glosses in Bare Sparkle, Citrus and Beach. All the colors looked lovely at the counter, but I left with just one: Soft Nude Rich Lip Color ($23). Soft Nude is just that. A soft nude with a hint of pink. It’s a your-lips-but-better kind of color with full rich smooth coverage. It’s very natural but I love it. Soft Nude is one of those nudes that works perfectly. No tweaking or fixing required.

 

Compared to a few other Bobbi Brown shades, it’s most similar to Heather Pink (previously reviewed here). The difference is Soft Nude is less mauve/pink while Heather Pink has more pink/mauve.
  

The Bronze Palette swatches will be posted early Friday morning 🙂

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Bobbi Brown Bronze Tortoiseshell Eye Palette & Soft Nude Rich Lip Color Coming Soon …

July 1, 2011

Bobbi Brown’s Fall 2011 Tortoise Shell Collection features two gorgeous palettes of classic neutrals along with beautiful naturals for lips. I had vowed to not cave for another BB palette, but my resolve was weakened by KarlaSugar and Best Things In Beauty. I opted for the Bronze Tortoiseshell Eye Palette (a double decker eyeshadow palette with 8 shades) and Soft Nude Lipstick (a lovely full coverage true nude-pink). Initially I was a bit concerned the Bronze Palette might be too warm for me. Today, DSK Steph’s lovely feature confirmed that the Bronze option is gorgeous, wearable and naturally flattering.

 Details, swatches and review on each to come separately very soon.

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Chanel Royallieu #58 Rouge Coco Shine

June 30, 2011

Chanel Royallieu #58 Rouge Coco Shine is currently a Limited Edition Chanel.com exclusive. It’s a relatively new release in the US and I would describe it as a lovely pale cool-toned pink. In the tube it appears slightly faded with a slight greyish undetone. If you look closely, you will see the prettiest tiny micro-sparkles. As soon as I opened the tube, I was worried it would be too pale on the lips. Royallieu Rouge Coco Shine is actually quite a bit paler than I anticipated, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is sheer enough to not wash out the lips, but pigmented enough to give a soft pale wash of pink shine.

Here it is swatched on my lips, I’m a Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in 30 now:

If you love pale pinks, you will love Royallieu. It is similar to a few other shades I have so I wouldn’t say it’s the most unique, however it is a pretty pink that is very wearable. Of the existing Chanel lipsticks, it’s lighter/pinker than Mythic. Also shown below, Dior Urban (shown here) and Rose Comete. I find that Royallieu reminds me a bit of MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass (not shown).

Overall I think for me this fits the bill of a goof-proof go-with-everything lipstick. I will be able to wear it for any occasion and apply without needing a mirror. I love that it goes on smoothly and streak-free. I envision this looking great with a smokey eye, in particular the Prelude Quad from the fall collection!

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Chanel Rouge Cocos Plumetis & Étole and Precision Lip Definers Coralline & Rose Cuivre for Fall 2011

June 24, 2011
The last items I have to review for Chanel Fall 2011 include the new Rouge Cocos and Precision Lip Definers. For the lipsticks, we have Plumetis 79 (a nude pink-peach with silver flecks) and Étole 80 (plum brown). For the lipliners we have Coralline 46 (coral with silver shimmer) and Rose Cuivre 47 (rose brown with shimmer).

 
 

Rouge Coco comparisons to Stunning, Secret, Patchouli, Baroque.

The colors are pretty and will be usable year-round. I’m not wowed by them this season but perhaps this is because I already have too many lipsticks and lipliners. Lasting power is incredible though. The lipliners go well with the lipsticks, when used first they really extend the wearability of the rouge cocos.
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