Browsing Tag

Lipstick

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More Chanel Rouge Cocos – Hydrating Creme Lip Colour

March 16, 2010

I’ve been testing out the new Rouge Cocos, one by one, and am pleased to report that I find them to be everything Chanel claims them to be: lightweight, hydrating, full coverage and pure luxury. For the most part, they all seem to be full-coverage, but there are a few shades that seem a bit sheerer than the other which are basically the lighter ones like Perle. Here is the line up of the other shades I have: Perle 02, Secret 03, Cashmere 04, Camelia 10, Bois Des Iles 33, Sycamore 32.





I won’t be posting a swatch line up on my arm, but will be posting a few lip swatches in the near future like I did for Gardenia, Sycamore & Mademoiselle. There are already a number of great blogs who have swatched the lipsticks including Karlasugar, Temptalia, Makeup & Beauty Blog and Cafe Makeup, I highly recommend you check them out! Or even better, run to your nearest Chanel counter to try these if you haven’t already.

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A Few MAC Too Fabulous Lip + Cheek Combinations

March 12, 2010

I’ve been playing around with my new MAC Too Fabulous Mineralize Blushes and Cremesheen Glass lipglosses all week and tried a few combinations for each product. Eye makeup was very low-key this week, only using a neutral cream eyeshadow + gel liner + mascara.


The new mineralize blushes are really pretty! Those with darker skins will really like the colors. I agree with the consensus among other reviews that these tend to be on the more shimmery side. They aren’t overly frosty when applied with a lighter hand. Those who get oily/shiny fast or have larger pores, I’d say these will probably be a nay for you.

The cremesheen glasses are among my favorite gloss formula from MAC. I like that they repromoted some colors and mixed in some new shades. This gives me ideas on how to use the colors I already have with some new blush colors.

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Look #1: MAC Rhapsody in Two Mineralize Blush + Paul & Joe Creamy Cheek #02 + Partial to Pink/Boy Bait Cremesheen Glasses mixed

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Look #2: MAC Bi-Tone Mineralize Blush + MAC Love, Henri Lipstick + Moth to Flame Dazzleglass

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Look #3: MAC Buddy Up Mineralize Blush + Trish McEvoy Baby Pink Essential Pencil + Just Superb Cremesheen Glass

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Look #4: MAC Sun & Moon Mineralize Blush + NARS Cafe Con Leche + MAC Ever Hip Lipstick + Richer, Lusher Cremesheen Glass

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Look #5: MAC Deelight Cremesheen Glass + Laura Mercier Chestnut Lipliner + NARS Tutti Fruitti Lipstick + MAC Afterdusk Blush/Stark Naked Blush mixed together

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One last view of the my picks from Too Fabulous:

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Chanel Sycamore #32 Rouge Coco + Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer Magnifique #10

March 6, 2010

Today’s lips of the day features the new Chanel Rouge Coco in Sycamore #32 and Paul & Joe’s Lip Lacquer Magnifique #10. Both colors are in the plummy-brown category.




I also used Paul & Joe’s #2 lipliner (not pictured) which is a perfect match for both colors. The lipstick has amazing pigment and those who like darker plummy-browns will really like this. It’s like a more brown version of the Crazed Rouge Allure (which is another favorite).

Swatch of all 3 lip items used:


I attempted lip swatches, but they turned out more red and a bit washed out than it looks in real life. In real life, the lipstick is a pretty plummy-brown shimmer and the gloss deepens the color and adds shine. The swatch photos really don’t do the lipstick/gloss justice.

Check out swatches on other blogs such as Karlasugar and Temptalia to try and get a better idea of the color on different skintones.

Just the lipstick (looks less reddish and more plum in real life):

Lipstick & gloss (note the sun makes it look lighter, this is actually darker in real life):

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Chantecaille Les Dauphins Palette + Bourbon Rose Lip Chic

March 4, 2010

Chantecaille’s Les Dauphins Palette & Bourbon Rose Lip Chic are more beautiful than words can describe. I’ve been thinking of how I can give a review that does justice to the Les Dauphins Palette – and all I can say is I think it’s a must-have for those who love soft spring-like neutrals and especially those who love taupey shadows. Bourbon Rose is the softer color out of the 2 spring lip chics. It’s a natural rosey pink – similar to Tea Rose, but slightly lighter and has golden shimmer.

Another view with flash:

Without flash:


I haven’t had time to do swatches of this palette, but Karlasugar has already done an amazing feature on all the items – so I highly recommend you check out her post if you haven’t already.

I played around with the palette at Neimans and the color on the dolphins is an overspray. The shadows and blush all have a lovely subtle shimmer. I’m typically not a huge fan of split-pan shadows or blushes, but all the colors in this palette are so pretty, I don’t mind.

This is the planned look of the day with the Chantecaille Dauphins Palette & Bourbon Rose Lip Chic.

Cheeks:
Giorgio Armani Blush 1
Chantecaille Dauphins Palette

Eyes:

Chantecaille Dauphins Palette
Giorgio Armani Eyeliner #12

Lips:
MAC Naked Rose Lipliner
Chantecaille Bourbon Rose Lip Chic
MAC Full For You Plushglass


Outfit:

Jcrew Button Top
Banana Republic Beige Pencil Skirt
Jimmy Choo Black Pumps
Gucci Princy Tote

One last view of the palette:

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New Rouge d’Armani Pink Lipsticks 506, 507 & 512

March 1, 2010

Armani has some good beauty week GWPs this year! I opted for the Saks GWP because my Neimans didn’t have the new pink lipsticks in for the rouge d’armani line. The counter didn’t get all the shades in, but my SA was kind enough to sell me a tester for one of the shades.


I also compared it next to NARS Dolce Vita to help give you a baseline for comparisons. I just finished a tube and got a new one. For some reason I remember DV being cooler-toned. Unfortunately I already threw out my old tube, but perhaps it just looks warm next to the pink Armani shades.



Rouge D’Armani Lipsticks are mostly non-shimmer colors. They have more lasting power compared to the typical Armani lipstick (which are gorgeous, slightly glossy, but have little lasting power). These retail for $30 each and have a magnetic lid to hold them shut. I nearly had a few lipstick casualties when propping them up next to each other because the magnetic forces pushed and pulled the lipsticks in different directions.

Most of the new pinks were brighter. There was one, I believe it was 508 that was a cooler lighter pink than 507. If you love NARS Roman Holiday, then you might want to check out Pink 508.

The Saks GWP comes with a full-sized 44 lipshimmer and minis (just an FYI, I stocked up on some other staples such as mascara, powder foundation etc to meet the minimum purchase for the GWP, they are not photographed here):

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Chanel Rouge Coco = Pure Luxury for Lips

February 28, 2010

Yes – I am a die-hard Chanel fan and went nuts over the new Rouge Coco Lipsticks. Even though I love the unique smaller independent brands, if I were pressed to pick only one brand to use, it would hands-down be Chanel for the color selection and quality.

When I heard the news of the upcoming lipstick launch, I initially thought, oh great, another brand revamping something just so they can charge $30 for a lipstick. But when my friend and I checked out the new lippies, we couldn’t contain ourselves. We were like kids in a candy store and bought way too many lipsticks – but at least we can feel like we look good.

Most of the shades are available at all Chanel retailers. The U.S. Exclusives I know of include:

  • Chanel.com – Teheran #56
  • Saks Fifth Avenue – Byzantine #28 (vibrant berry wine/almost fuschia color with slight shimmer)
  • Neiman Marcus – Gardenia #13 (featured one post below)

While swatching the colors at Saks and Bloomies, I started at #01 and swatched consecutively so I wouldn’t miss any colors. However I lost track after I ran out of space on my hand and I didn’t see 07, 12, 30 or 35 in the line up at any of the counters. So the investigator in me wonders if they simply skipped those shades or if those are exclusives elsewhere.

So far, to our knowledge, Nordstrom and Bloomies do not have exclusive shades. We didn’t even think to go check out Macys. In 2 hours we had literally shopped until we were ready to drop.

If anyone has details about the other major department stores exclusives, please let me know!!

Some of the colors I bought: Mademoiselle, Ruban Rose, Gardenia, Muse & Rose Comete. I swatched these today but failed miserably. It’s cloudy and rainy and the swatches were just very blah. The remaining shades I purchased will be featured at a later date.


Swatch fail, please don’t let these crummy swatches deter you – this is for the commenter who wanted to see how Gardenia compared to Ruban Rose.


Pigment: The pigment is excellent. Some of the colors are a bit sheerer than others – but they those are the ones like Perle, Ruban Rose and Rose Comete. They aren’t super sheer like Aqualumieres – it’s just some of the lighter colors have a more transparent finish.

Texture/Finish: I’ll reiterate that I think these are a great swipe-and-go lipstick. I loved the Peter Phillips videos featuring his discussion of these colors. La Chanel Phile is great for info and news (thanks to Leslieal for pointing this out to me). The formula is moist and creamy and easy to apply, yet lightweight. My SA said it’s like they took the Rouge Allure + Aqualumiere and mixed them together for a rich creamy moisturizing lipstick.

Scent: No overpowering scent. There is a subtle hint of a lipstick smell, but it’s nice and soothing. I can’t put my finger on exactly what that scent is though. I have one of the pickiest noses and only tolerated the Hydrabase Lipstick Scent simply because it was Chanel.

Packaging: These come in a new metal tube rather than the plastic. It definitely has a more luxurious feel. The Chanel design team did a great job giving this lipstick a higher-end feel in the material without changing the classic packaging – one among the many thing I really appreciate with Chanel. I really like the fact that they have kept the same classic packaging over all these years keeping the product true to their brand image and feel. I love that they are classic and trend-setters both at the same time.

The lipstick caps have a more snug fit to the lipstick itself. There’s no loose feeling when you push the lid down. The tube is metal like the Rouge Allures.

One more thing I am happy to report is that they have maintained the same product weight for the Rouge Coco as with their other lipsticks. They are still 3.5 g/.12 oz. Big YAY from me – especially when it’s a trend with other lines to revamp packaging and give us consumers less product.

Here are a couple of the Hydrabase tubes compared to the Rouge Coco Tubes, left to right: Lilac Sky Hydrabase, Rose Comete Rouge Coco, Rose Baby Hydrabase (Euro)


More color features to come soon!

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Chanel Gardenia Rouge Coco & Rose Paradise Nail Polish (Neiman Marcus Exclusives)

February 27, 2010

My friend and I just checked out the new Chanel Rouge Coco Lipsticks and we hit up all four major department stores near me to investigate on any store exclusives (yes, we went to all four). We found that only Saks and Neimans had exclusives and we both were delighted with the ones at Neiman Marcus: Rose Paradise Nail Polish and Gardenia Rouge Coco.


In addition to their full Rouge Coco display, Neimans also has a mini unit featuring:

* Rose Paradise #185 Nail Polish (Retails for $23) – a warmer pink rose frost

* Gardenia #13 Rouge Coco Lipstick (Retails for $30) – a soft warm pink base with & cool pink shimmer

* Bel Air #147 Glossimer (Retails for $27) – this is the second repromote for this shade, it’s a classic creamy pink-rose (pinker than giggle)

We both had to get the newer shades and I already had Bel Air from the Les Naturels Collection from last April/May 2009. All the Chanel reps were either wearing the exclusive Gardenia #13 or Mademoiselle #05 (featured on Vanessa Paradis in the Rouge Coco ad). Both colors were stunning on all the artists regardless of skin-tone and coloring.

To clarify – the lipstick is not an exact match for the gloss. It appears they simply decided to repromote the Bel Air to compliment the new lipstick. The artists told me they were also combining Pagoda Glossimer (another favorite of mine) with Gardenia Lipstick for their makeovers.


No flash, natural light:



It looks like Rose Paradise Nail Polish is available on Chanel.com, but it’s currently Out Of Stock which makes me think they might not have got it in quite yet. So perhaps these aren’t really “exclusive” as the little display showed. I’ll do a manicure post on this later in the next week or so, but here it is compared to a few other shades, Ming, Rose Blossom, Paparazzi. The Rose Paradise is a warm shimmery rose, similar to Tarte Love Child Cheek Stain in a nail polish form.


I am sad to see the Hydrabase go away, but the new colors and formula is amazing. I swatched as many as I could fit on my hand and ended up coming home with way too much. If you had or tried any Hydrabase colors you know that there was a strong floral scent and that some of the shades felt a bit dry to apply. Once on the lip they were perfectly fine, but the texture tugged the lips a bit upon application.

The new Rouge Coco Lipsticks have a creamy moisturizing formula that just glides on the lips without feeling too shiny or glossy. I find that it really is the best of all Chanel lipsticks – like if you mixed all three formulas from Aqualumiere, Hydrabase and Rouge Allure together. There is a slight scent, but I could barely notice it. I am thrilled with the new colors and formula. You really can just apply and be done in one swipe. No liner or gloss needed in my opinion.

One last view:


You can see a swatch of Bel Air here.