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Paul & Joe Lipsticks

November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I wish everyone a day full of fun and delicious food 🙂

Today’s feature is on lipsticks. Since Paul & Joe has launched the beauty line, there have been several formulations of lipsticks that have been released. The current line consists of 25 shades called “Lipstick N.” The texture is smooth and creamy, pigment is semi-sheer with a glossy finish, similar to that of Chanel Aqualumiere lipsticks.

The Lipstick N colors I have:
02 Shaved Ice, 07 Rose Potpourri, 10 Maroon Glace, 13 Brick Roof, 14 Strawberry Jam, 16 Ballet Shoes, 19 Princess, 20 Milk Chocolate, 29 Mademoiselle

Also, each year Paul & Joe releases a limited edition collection they call Collection Sparkles in which they label those releases with a CS in addition to the color number. Haru at Rouge Deluxe gave an excellent overview, check out her post and a sneak peak at what’s coming out for spring.

The limited edition lipsticks:
055 Sakura Bonbon, 059 Motif, 061 Backstage, 062 Opening Night, 064 RPM, 101 Invitation, 001 Pink, 002 Orange

I’ve been asked how I’ve picked out the colors since I don’t have in-person access to the line. The colors have all been bought sight unseen – I’ve relied on various e-tailers like dermstore and beautyhabit who describe product colors for Paul & Joe. However, many times the color turns out to be completely different from what I expected. Many of the lipsticks I bought turned out to be lighter than I anticipated, but luckily, I’ve been happy with the way they all look.

Being that they are very new, I haven’t tried them all yet. I did wear 07 yesterday and 29 today and can say they have the same lasting power and texture as Chanel Aqualumieres. They last longer than Armani Lipsticks and MAC Lustres, but their glossy finish makes it where they don’t last quite as long some other formulas like Laura Mercier or Bobbi Brown Lipsticks. I’d definitely recommend wearing with a lipliner to make it last longer.

(Note there won’t be any swatches for these.)

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Neiman Marcus Holiday Exclusives for Bobbi Brown: Mini Shimmer Bricks & Lipsticks

November 23, 2009

The Bobbi Brown Neiman Marcus exclusives have arrived in-store which include 3 mini shimmer bricks in Nectar, Plum and Sandstone along with the exclusive lipsticks in Pink Nectar and Sand.

The colors are stunning and the packaging is gorgeous, but the bad news is that there is no set price as thought by my SA and price is steep at $45 each. They are extremely tiny and encased in a heavy magnetized metal compact with a velvet pouch. The lipsticks are regular price $22 and come in the same special packaging as the chrome lipsticks in Sand (nude beige) and Pink Nectar (coral-pink). They are also repromoting Port from the Chrome Collection.

There are three ways to get a better deal on these:

* Starting the 22nd until the 29th, you can save 10% off a purchase of $200 or more at Neiman Marcus
* Neiman Marcus will have their Incircle event starting December 7th – there will be a GWP
* Wait for Bergdorf Goodman’s $25 off $100 event starting December 2nd (however do note quantities may be limited)

The Neimans near me said they only received 3 of each shimmer brick and a limited quantity of the lipsticks. I was on the wait list, so my SA called me as soon as they came in.

The colors are indeed stunning but at $45 each, I feel they should have at least been the full size or come with a brush.

Close up of Plum & Nectar:

Size comparison:

Lipstick and lipgloss comparisons:

The Paul & Joe series will be continued tomorrow.

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YSL Rouge Volupté = Pure Luxury for Lips

November 13, 2009

I finally caved in and gave the YSL Rouge Volupté Lipstick formula another try because of all the gorgeous pictures I’ve seen of perfect nude pink lips from the #1 Nude Beige shade. I’ve never paid much attention to YSL in the past because of the high price tag, but lately with the release of some gorgeous new Golden Glosses like #26, 28 and 29 I have looked more into the line and have to say I am impressed!

Left to right: #1 Nude Beige, #2 Sensual Silk, #3 Ultimate Beige, #23 Luscious Pink, #25 Soft Beige, #26 Tender Peach

These lipsticks are full-coverage with a smooth and creamy finish that I haven’t seen in any other lipstick. They have a sweet watermelon-like scent. I normally don’t go for full-coverage lipsticks because I usually find them too thick and matte, but these have a nice subtle shine to them and don’t feel heavy at all. I also find that full-coverage lipsticks tend to be less forgiving if the shade isn’t perfect for your skintone. But perhaps I am just pickier than most.

Thanks to the one-day discount sale at Neimans, I was able to get these at a 20% discount instead of paying the full $34 retail price. As fabulous as these lippies are, I don’t think I would have splurged for them if it hadn’t been for the discount. I think anything over $30 for something lips-related is ridiculously steep, especially when you compare it to all the other things you could buy for $30.

More views + swatches:

I don’t have #13 Peach Passion, but I believe it is brighter and more vibrant than #26 Tender Peach which I find less bright/fake looking in the lips.

Those of you who own these – how do you wear them? Alone? With a liner or gloss? Would love to hear what you’ve tried and like since I’m new to these!

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Chanel Holiday 2009: Cage Doree de Chanel

November 11, 2009

The Chanel Holiday Collection finally arrived at Saks last week so of course I rushed over to check everything out.

I featured 2 of the Holiday Sets that came out in September, check out these posts for details and photos: First Look at the Chanel Holiday 2009 Gift Sets and Chanel Holiday 2009 Glossimer Duo.

For the collection, the standouts to me were the aqualumiere lipglosses and lipsticks, although they seemed to be more of a spring resort theme rather than a holiday theme. The lipsticks are unique enough that I couldn’t find dupes or similar colors in my Chanel collection.

Pictured left to right:
Aqualumiere Glosses: Canari, Hirondelle, Colbri
Aqualumiere Lipsticks: Grenada, Tasmania, Galapagos, Maldives
Nail polish: Trapeze

Here are the comparisons to some other Chanel Aqualumiere Glosses and Glossimers within the same color families + swatches:

Left to right – Canari Aqualumiere, Candy Glow Aqualumiere, Coral Reef Glossimer, Hirondelle Aqualumiere, Courtisane Glossimer, Diamond Rose Aqualumiere, Colibri Aqualumiere, Wonderland Glossimer (LE), Whisper Glossimer (d/c)

* Canari Aqualmiere gloss has more pinky-coral in it compared to Candy Glow and Coral Reef
* Hirondelle Aqualumiere is not as frosty/sparkley and more natural than Courtisane and Diamond Rose
* Colibri Aqualumiere is more white than Wonderland (more sparkley) and Whisper (more beige)

Here’s a repeat picture of the Trapeze Nail Polish compared to Golden Sand and Antilope:

For the actual holiday collection, there have already been some great posts and pictures published on various blogs, so I didn’t want to do a rehash of everything. For more great photos/swatches/reviews, check out Makeup and Beauty Blog, Karlasugar, My Makeup Reviews and Beauty Moogle Zone (all linked to the actual Chanel Holiday articles for your convenience!).

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Dolce & Gabbana Holiday 2009 Collection

November 10, 2009

Saks has received their holiday collection for Dolce & Gabbana and the colors are stunning!

There have been some promotional pictures of the Golden Beams holiday collection floating around the web on various blogs like Temptalia.com and Makeup4All.com and in the latest Saks catalog page 43, you can see photos of the Sparkling Lipstick, Royal Nail Lacquer, Magic Lipgloss, and Gold Eyeshadow Quad.

I ordered from Saks NY for the Triple Points event last week and these are the holiday items that came in the mail today (I ordered several items from the regular line too, but those will be saved for another article in the near future):

* Sparkling Shine Lipstick – sparkling warm nude-gold
* Caramel Blush – the perfect caramel nude blush
* Royal Nail Polish – extremely deep purple with reddish undertones and subtle sparkle
* Magic Lipgloss (thanks to the sweet SAs who threw this in as a GWP!) – a rich ruby shimmer

Lips and cheeks: Magic Lipgloss, Caramel Blush, Sparkling Lipstick

Swatches of Sparkling Lipstick & Magic Lipgloss:

Swatch of Caramel Blush:

Caramel (most pigmented) vs Nude (more peachy/light) vs MAC Tendering (in the middle):

Royal Nail Polish: 3 coats with high flash (in natural light the sparkle is more subtle)

Compared to Nars Tokaido Express and Chanel Vendetta:

In natural sunlight: L to R – Nars Tokaido Express, Dolce & Gabbana Royal, Chanel Vendetta

As of this past weekend, the Saks NY store called to let me know they received their Golds Eyeshadow Quad in limited quantities. I decided to pass on this for now since I already have a lot of golds/silvers.

If you have the latest Saks catalog, check page 43 for a better picture:

Overall thoughts: I would say the standout is the Sparkling Lipstick. I love nude-golds and this one is really pretty and natural looking. Will definitely warm up the skin with a soft glow. I’m really happy with the other items as well. The holiday lipgloss is one of the more pigmented ones and the blush shows up better than the Nude Blush on my skin.

The Saks NY girls did a really great job again describing colors to me over the phone (thank you for your patience ladies!) and I couldn’t be more pleased.

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More Dolce & Gabbana Goodies

November 8, 2009

These were from Saks.com from Friends and Family last month. Fuschia Nail Polish, Red Nail Polish, Soft Lipstick, Nude Lipgloss, Tender Lipgloss:

Desert Bronzer:

Compared to Edward Bess Daydream (left), Giorgio Armani #5 (right), Le Metier de Beaute Sunkissed (bottom):

L to R – Soft Lipstick, Nude Lipgloss, Tender Lipgloss:

Another view, Tender Lipgloss (left), Nude Lipgloss (middle), Soft Lipstick (right):

Fuschia (corally shimmer) & Red Nail Polishes:

Overall thoughts: I have to admit I’ve grown to like Dolce & Gabbana a lot more than I initially did. Although I did love everything from my first haul (First Look: Dolce & Gabbana Makeup) thanks to some great recommendations from Melissa at Saks NY – I wasn’t completely thrilled because I felt everything was overpriced.

However, after having tried more of the line, I’ve come to like the high quality of their products. Some can be a hit or miss. For me, I like the nail polishes as long as you get the newer skinny brush (rather than the original fat chunky ones), I love the eyeshadow quads and duos for excellent velvet like texture and rich pigment, and the classic lipsticks are vibrant and moisturizing.

The blushes in my opinion are pretty, but seem to be more on the soft side. I prefer to go a bit heavier with my blush, but they are nice if you like a natural soft cheek (think along the lines of the Laura Mercier reformulated blushes).

The lipglosses may vary per preference. I haven’t been able to try them all, but really liked Baby, Seduction and Sunset. They have a thicker rich texture. Nude and Tender are pretty, but I find them more sheer than rich. Still very pretty.

I have a couple of the holiday items coming in the mail soon, check back for it later this week.

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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!