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Love To Layer

May 10, 2011

I love layering and blending out colors, especially for makeup. Layering different textures and shades allows me to create extra depth and also helps to give that slight glowy finish. Layering multiple products is something I usually only do when going out for a special occasion. In the mornings, I’m always running 5 minutes behind. Makeup for work is usually kept as simple as possible, except for the rare occasions that I am able to wake up an extra 30 minutes early.

My makeup looks usually revolve around my clothes/outfit of the day or night. This past weekend I wore a simple floral strapless dress (shown here). It was fairly neutral so virtually any look would go with it. I realize this would be more helpful if I had a photo of my face to go with this, but this is more for my own personal reference since I was quite happy with the result. The numbers in each photo indicate the order of application.

Cheeks: I applied Armani’s Fluid Sheer #10 on cheeks and then applied Dior’s Aurora on top as a contour. I then took a separate blush brush and applied Chanel Espiègle just on the apples.

Lips: Simply line with liner. Fill with a sheer gold lipstick. Top with a sheer coral gloss.

Eyes: The first step was to apply Laura Mercier’s Metallic Gold Creme shadow on the lids as a base. I took the white side of NARS Exotic Dance and and dipped MAC’s 242 (a stiffer brush) into the frosty white and patted it on 1/2 way up the eyes. Taking a larger fluffy brush, I swished it into the golden tan shimmer of Exotic Dance and loosely applied it all over. Next, I took MAC’s Spare Change and applied it along upper lashes in a messy smudgey line and layered Le Metier’s Splendid Frost taupe on top to blend. Last steps were to add a clean fine black line along upper lashes and outer corners on the bottom. Finishing step was with Armani’s Eyes to Kill Mascara.

  1. Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer #10 – shown here
  2. Dior Aurora Bronzer – reviewed here
  3. Chanel Espiègle #65 Blush – swatched and reviewed here
  4. Paul & Joe Lip Pencil Duo – Melon (01) – partially swatched here
  5. Bobbi Brown Candlelight Shimmer Lipstick – shown next to Beige Gold Metallic here
  6. Chanel Pensée 277 Glossimer – here
  7. Laura Mercier Metallic Creme in Gold
  8. NARS Exotic Dance – white applied with a stiff MAC 242 brush patted on lids
  9. NARS Exotic Dance – gold applied with a loose fluffy brush all over lids, here
  10. MAC Spare Change eyeliner – applied in a smudgey line along upper lashes, swatched here
  11. Le Metier de Beaute – Splendid Frost, top shade applied along lash line smudged on top, blended, also reviewed here
  12. Bobbi Brown Caviar Ink to finish as liner – swatched here
  13. Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara

Swatched, two views with different lighting:


One last view:

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Loving Right Now: Spring Pinks

May 5, 2011


I’m loving spring pinks right now. I can’t get enough of them. They make me feel polished and brighten my skin in a soft and feminine way. A few favorites right now:

  • Chanel Riviera Le Vernis – reviewed here, featured here, compared to Rose Insolent here, duped here
  • Chanel Morning Rose Le Vernis – reviewed here and compared here
  • Chanel Aventure Rouge Coco Shine
  • Edward Bess First Kiss Lip Gloss – featured here
  • MAC Pleasantry Mineralized Blush – from 2008ish



Compared to Bobbi Brown Pale Pink (old packaging) for color reference:

Morning Rose feels like it’s a bit faded looking – I think it’s because of the top coat I used which is the Dior from the Electric Tropics duos, I feel as though it doesn’t help colors last and makes them look slightly faded. It looks amazing on the Dior, not so much on Chanels.

All swatched on the arm for reference:


What are some of your favorite pinks?

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Diorskin Nude Glow – Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora 001 and Sunset 002

April 22, 2011

The summer collections this year have some of the most beautiful bronzers I have ever seen. I’ve been trying to find Aurora and Sunset everywhere – it appears Saks received their items first in the US and finally Nordstrom just received them this week. (On Saturday Aurora and Nude Tan Quint were both sold out already.) Being the bronzer-obsessive woman that I am, I jumped on both bronzing powders, Aurora 001 and Sunset 002.

The Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder couldn’t be better named. They both give a warm healthy glow. Each shade has a beautiful woven pattern with four different shades in each. Both have visible shimmer and if you swipe your finger into the palette you will see a highly pigmented frost. On the skin, however, the shimmer tones down and you get a beautiful glow. The shimmer, to me, is barely detectable on the face.

Aurora 001 is the lighter softer version with soft peach and different shades of brown and tan. It’s fairly warm, not quite peach, not quite brown, but a peachy-brown hybrid.

Sunset 002 is darker, warmer, deeper and it was borderline orangey when applied with a heavy hand – but I have gotten a bit of color so I think this will be gorgeous on Chanel Beiges/NC35’s (not quite there yet, but almost!). A bit of blending out and it looks just fine on me but I don’t mind a strong bronzer. I always want to be more tan, and unfortunately I’m really fair right now!

Side by side, blurry but hope you can see the undertone:

I couldn’t find any dupes. The woven pattern makes this easy to mix and blend all the colors together so you don’t end up with stripes on the face. Plus the combination of colors makes both of these unique.

Comparison Set 1: MAC Shooting Star MSF, MAC So Ceylon MSF, Dior Sunset 002, Dior Aurora 001, MAC Sunny By Nature MSF, MAC Warmed MSF, MAC Gold Deposit MSF



Comparison Set 2: Le Metier Maldives Magic, MAC Refined Matte Suntan, Dior Sunset 002, Dior Aurora 001, MAC Refined Golden, NARS Irresistiblement



Lucky girl Café Makeup has been able to play with Dior Summer for a few weeks since she found them in Paris. Definitely check out her series to see what Aurora looks like on Liz and Amy’s arm (both are lighter and cooler toned than me).

Overall I love both. I think once I get to be at NC35 I will be able to wear the Aurora 001 and have it show up. Sunset 002 is darker and more orangey but not too orangey for me. If you’re fair like Chanel Cameo or MAC NC30 – it may too much for you.

For reference, I’m currently Chanel Shell Teint Innocence, in between MAC NC30-35. My arm underneath is probably closer to a NC30 because the sun does not hit that area.

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Chanel Le Vernis Color Comparisons For Morning Rose & Beige Pétale

April 15, 2011

I searched for possible dupes of Chanel Morning Rose and Beige Pétale but could not find anything in my stash that was identical to either shade. Those looking for cheaper alternatives, I do think with a bit more searching it might be possible to find similar colors from Zoya or OPI. However, I am usually of the opinion that Chanel does it best with nail colors.

I pulled colors in the same family for Morning Rose and Beige Pétale. There are quite a few similar shades, but no true dupes. I could not find any bright yellows to compare Mimosa to. But I suspect since this seems to be the “it” shade for summer, other blogs will be doing dupes soon.

L to R: Chanel Riviera, MAC Girls Will Be Girls, Chanel Mistral, Dior Flapper Pink, Chanel Ming, Chanel Morning Rose, Paul & Joe #12


A few shades swatched on the fingers (2 coats each):

L to R: Chanel Inattendu, D&G Nude, Chanel Allegoria, Chanel Beige Petale, Chanel Jade Rose, Dior Nude Chic, Chanel Lily Beige


Similar shades finger swatched, since they are sheerer, these have 3 coats each:

Hope this helps some 🙂
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Coordinating Brighter Colors With Neutrals

March 29, 2011

I’m a neutral lover at heart but brights are nice to wear in sheer washes mixed in with neutrals. For coordinating brights I don’t there are any rules you need to stick to. Just experiment with different combinations of colors to see what you’re most comfortable with. I mainly pick out colors depending on the occasion or what clothes I’m wearing for the day (one example here with a yellow top, bright coral cheek, coppery bronze eye and nude gold lip). I usually go for something that is as natural as possible and here are a few things I go by:
  • Brighten the face by applying bronzer first then layer a soft wash of bright pink or coral or peach on top
  • Mixing pinks and peach blushes together can add depth and dimension
  • Can you match your lip color to your blush? Sure! For example using different variations of pink can create a pretty coordinated look
  • You don’t have to match lips and cheeks, having a bright coral cheek with a sheer bright or soft pink lip can work well too
  • If something is too bright, you can sheer it out with a soft blending brush or by adding a paler shimmer color on top
A few ideas – use these for color ideas rather than the specific name of the brand or product.

* Tip – At a national artist event for NARS, the artist blended Goldfinger with Nepal together and it created the most beautiful soft rose gold shadow. When using bronzer and a bright blush, I usually apply bronzer first, but most artists at events apply bronzer as the final touch.

* Tip – For the eyes, layering colors can be done by applying the lightest shade first, then the cream, and finally the bronzey powder on top. For MAC Fleur Power Blush, I find it so universally flattering it will go with either a bright lip and a pale lip, or the bright and pale mixed together for a softer peachy glow.

* Tip – Mix pinks and peaches by layering them on top of each other on the cheeks. Depending on your mood or preference, you can adjust the color by applying one color more heavily than the other.

* Tip – Coral blushes can be coordinated with either bright pinks or bright peaches for lips since many have both pink and peach mixed in.

You may notice there are no nail polishes featured in any of these looks. I think bright nails can be mixed and matched in almost any combination to work with a variety of looks. I hope you found this mini series helpful. Summer collections are about to trickle in soon – so I’m sure there will plenty of inspiration for all of you in the upcoming months!

If you have any tips or want to share how you wear brighter colors, feel free in the comments! Makeup events with a good artist can be incredibly useful for tips, tricks and ideas on how to incorporate new things with well-used loves 🙂

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Spring to Summer Colors for Eyes and Cheeks

March 27, 2011

Bright blushes are a definitely must-have for me, although I usually layer two colors for more depth and dimension. Most of the time I will layer a soft wash of bright over a bronzer. For eyes I don’t really wear brights. The brightest shades I have are golds or pinky-peachy shimmers. I’ll feature a few non-neutrals, but for bright eye colors I’m a bit lacking.

Bright pink blushes (L to R)*: NARS Angelika, MAC Pink Swoon, NARS Desire, Chanel Tweed Fuschia

Bright peaches (also see my peach obsession here): NARS Taj Mahal, MAC Style , Bobbi Brown Coral Shimmer Blush, NARS Gilda


Bright corals (clockwise from left): NARS Cactus Flower Cream Blush, Guerlain Série Noire Blush G, Bobbi Brown Pink Coral Shimmer Wash, MAC Fleur Power

Brighter eye colors for me (not necessarily bright for everyone): NARS Goldfinger, NARS Étrusque, MAC Pink Bronze Pigment* (note the picture has been corrected, it’s Pink Bronze, not Pink Gold), Edward Bess Escape (which isn’t bright but I put it in just for a color reference)


The next and final part of this series will include a few tips and look ideas of how I incorporate brights with neutrals.

* Those who follow me on Twitter know that I no longer have my NARS Angelika Multiple since my Jack Russell pup Lucy ate it. Thanks to all who have asked about her! She is fine and dandy just like the vet assured me over the phone. In fact she is acting like it was any other puppy treat. The picture above at the very top was taken pre-puppy-consumption.
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Inside My Makeup Bag

March 18, 2011

My makeup bag started this week with only 4 items (EB Daydream, Lancome Juicy Tube, mini blush brush, Chanel Boy Rouge Coco Shine), but since Monday it’s accumulated quite a few more things this long work-week. Today, what is inside my Laura Mercier zebra print makeup bag:
  1. NARS Tzarine Eyeshadow Duo
  2. MAC Blonde MSF (limited edition from January 2009)
  3. Burberry Misty Blush (new for spring, review to come soon)
  4. Chanel Boy Rouge Coco Shine
  5. Laura Mercier Mini Double Sided Brush
  6. MAC Wolf Pearlglide (limited edition from 2008ish)
  7. Lancôme Yayoi Kusama Edition Juicy Tube in Dot Apricot (now at Nordstrom)
  8. Edward Bess Daydream Bronzer (my holy grail bronzer, reviewed numerous times here)
  9. Le Métier de Beauté Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss Ibiza
  10. Le Métier de Beauté Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss Captiva
  11. Shu Uemura ME Black 990
  12. Bobbi Brown Mini Blush Brush
Close Ups Labeled:


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