I’m sure you’ve already seen the previews of the holiday colors from The Lancome Blog. One can never really tell what to expect from backstage or runway photos. I was expecting a steel grey with a hint of blue but what arrived was a blue with slight grey tones in a metallic finish. The red shade Le Rouge L’Wren 020 (reviewed last week here) seems more holiday-appropriate but the blue shade is still lovely nevertheless and it is indeed swoon-worthy.
Here it is with 2 coats, no base or top coat:
I was prepared to do a full comparison to steely greys but since it’s definitely more blue, I searched through my stash for blue-greys. Here it is compared to a few other blueish shades, l to r: NARS Full Metal Jacket, Rescue Beauty Lounge Stormy*, Lancome Le Gris L’Wren 021, MAC Blue India
* The Nars & RBL shades were previously featured here.
Overall thoughts: Lovely color but I prefer the red one released in the holiday collection. In terms of the finish/texture Le Gris L’Wren gives full coverage with 2 coats but I found it slightly goopy making it a bit difficult to apply evenly. Do note that I am a bit clumsy when it comes to self application of nail polish. Not everyone will find this hard to work with. The metallic finish makes it a bit streaky if not applied with a steady hand. To me, Le Gris L’Wren seems like a pearl version of MAC Blue India. Still Lancome has caught my attention and I hope they will continue to release more shades in the US.
Lancome and stylist L’Wren Scott have released two mini nail polishes for the holiday collection in Le Rouge L’Wren 020 (deep sparkling red) and Le Gris L’Wren 021 (shimmery steel blue-grey). Both are indeed swoon-worthy and I opted for the red one today since there’s nothing like a good red nail polish to make a woman feel like a woman.
Le Rouge L’Wren is a deep wine red with tiny red micro-sparkles that are slightly brighter than the base. From arm’s length you can’t really see the shimmer but the finish is glossy and the red is uber sophisticated. It has just the right amount of red to prevent it from being too vampy. I know I have similar shades in my nail polish stash – I just haven’t pulled any to compare. Off the top of my head I don’t think any have the same red sparkle quality. Now if I could only find a lipgloss the same color …
The holiday nail polishes ($14.50 for 6 ml) come in a mini version of the full size ($18 for 10 ml). It has the same style packaging but comes with a black twist off cap instead of silver. They are too cute!
Here is Le Rouge L’Wren in action:
Applying Bobbi Brown’s Kir Sugar Lipgloss over MAC’s VGVI Lipstick:
Getting ready to go out:
Just posing:
I did get the blue-grey one too. That color will be reviewed soon.
I was in the mood for stormy blue greys this past week as I was anxiously waiting for NARS Full Metal Jacket to arrive in the mail. As soon as it came I put the NARS on the fingers and Rescue Beauty Lounge Stormy on the toes. I rarely ever wear blueish shades on the fingers but both are lovely and I definitely see myself getting regular use out of these colors.
NARS Full Metal Jacket is a recent release from their Vintage Collection of nail colors. I had never paid much attention to NARS nail polishes (except Chinatown and Jungle Red) so I don’t remember this one being released before. NARS Full Metal Jacket is a cool frosty grey-pearl with a blueish tinge. It definitely requires a very steady hand for application. I had my nails professionally done to get a smoother application. When I swatched it on my own it was clearly streaky although it’s not something you can notice easily. This color is more on the sheer side. I have this on with 2 coats. I would have preferred 3 though.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Stormy is a color I have long resisted. I never understood the appeal to grey toned nails, but Chanel Particuliere changed that for me and ever since I have been curious about all types of greys. Smooth finish. Not quite as impressive as Chanel’s recent cream-finish shades, but almost. With 2 coats it gives full coverage that is smooth and glossy.
If I were to do my mani/pedi over again, I would have used RBL Stormy on the hands and NARS Full Metal Jacket on the toes. Neither are exactly office appropriate for a conservative business environment but not too in-your-face that it’s completely inappropriate.
I spotted a preview of Dior’s Holiday Minaudiere from British Beauty Blogger back in July and have been dreaming about the holiday collection ever since then. The clutch-like compact they designed this year is beautiful! Kari from Fab Over Forty showed us the Saks grey version earlier last week and as soon as I saw it I ran to my Nordstrom to check out the pink version. I put it aside as a pre-sale item for an event but picked up a few other things from their holiday collection that they had in stock (hence the title “round one”).
What I picked up: Pink Stiletto #234 Addict Lip Gloss, Endless Shine #529 Quint, Timeless Gold #226 Nail Polish & Czarina Gold #916 Nail Polish
Endless Shine Quint – This one comes in the Iridescent formula and all shades have a high level of frost, much like Earth Reflection, Goldfever, Crush Glow, Ready to Glow etc. The colors are highly pigmented and smooth making them easy to blend. This quint seems better suited for spring or summer but is still neutral enough to pull off year round. It’s beautiful and much more wearable than the quints from the past few seasons (Misty Mauve, Crush Glow and Ready to Glow). I rarely wear all five shades at one time – there’s simply not enough space on my eyelids to fit all the colors. They do layer and blend together beautifully. Do I think it’s a must-have? Dior quints have beautiful pigmentation and complex colors that you can’t easily find elsewhere. However I think you can definitely find similar shades in other lines. I personally could not find any dupes – the closest quad I could find was Chanel’s Shimmering Dunes which is significantly less frosty and still different among all the colors.
In direct sunlight:
*Updated* better swatches than my original ones:
Chanel Shimmering Dunes versus Dior Endless Shine:
*Update* Comparisons to a few other quints so you can see how different Endless Shine is:
Pink Stiletto Lip Gloss – This is one of those colors that made my jaw drop. It’s a gorgeous light warm pink with gold flecks. Very sheer but just absolutely stunning in the tube. I couldn’t find anything similar – it’s like a pink version of Bobbi Brown’s Rose Gold Gloss but with gold flecks added. Simply stunning. From the photos you may think it resembles MAC’s Nymphette – but it’s very different. This is one you have to see in person to really see how beautiful it is. I haven’t noticed much of a difference between the original addict reflect gloss and the new formula except the packaging/tube size. These are still smooth with a high gloss finish. Lasting power is not the best.
Timeless Gold & Czarina Gold Nail Polishes – I was pleasantly surprised by both shades. There were no testers at the counter yet because they didn’t receive their display but I knew I had to have them both. Timeless Gold has a similar finish to Silver Pearl from last spring. High frost, rich pigment, almost foiled-like finish but has a non-streaky finish. Czarina Gold is a black-gold with a somewhat sheer formula. You will need 3 thin coats for a full finish but it’s also stunning. When I first pulled my other black-golds I thought “oh no, I’ve wasted another $20-something on a color I already have dupes of.” I will say from arm’s length it looks similar to D&G Stromboli and MAC Seriously Hip, but the Czarina Gold is the best in my opinion because the base has the slightest hint of plum-brown which prevents it from looking greenish as some black-golds can look.
Left: Timeless Gold
Right: Czarina Gold
Another interesting detail I noticed – Dior has changed the brush this season to have a wider/flatter tip that is slightly chiseled and tapered. See below how it compares to the old version and also Chanel’s brush tip. I can’t say I like one over the other, although this new chiseled tip is very unique and had me ooohing and aaahing as I was swatching the colors.
Comparison shades: I could not find a dupe for Dior Timeless Gold, although Chanel Kaleidoscope is strikingly similar. The differences are that the Dior is less streaky but it lacks that greenish/olive tinge that the Chanel has.
Czarina Gold comparisons: What you see in the bottles is slightly deceiving, scroll down for the swatches to see what I mean.
The collection is absolutely stunning. When I went to the counter they didn’t have the display unit up but my sales associate pulled everything for me to see. They didn’t have the Five Golds Quint for sale (although the tester is to die for) and the other gloss was way too glittery for my taste. I was surprised there wasn’t anything for the cheeks this season but was happy for my wallet. I passed on all their “sets” (minaudiere excluded) because I felt like the full sized individual items were better suited for my coloring.
Chanel Pulsion Le Vernis ($23) is a vibrant hot pink cream color that is cool-toned. I thought Riviera was bright but Pulsion is like Riviera electrified. It’s a few shades deeper and significantly brighter. I’m not sure I would really associate this with a winter/holiday color except maybe for a holiday party. Definitely too bright for a conservative office environment, perhaps ok for the toes.
Here it is compared to a few other pinks, left to right:
Chanel Melrose, Chanel Riviera, Chanel Pulsion, Dior Red Dahlia
The Les Khakis de Chanel Le Vernis shades are growing on me even though my initial reaction was “meh”. The formula however is very impressive. You will get a full coverage application with just one coat. I find that this quality definitely makes these well worth the high price tag ($25 each). I did an extensive review and comparison post a few weeks ago Les Khakis de Chanel: Khaki Brun, Khaki Vert & Khaki Rose and finally did a full manicure with Khaki Rose, a warm coffee-with-milk type of brown. Not really something I would normally be drawn to for nails, but I like it. There’s no brand like Chanel that can capture my attention for trendy shades.
I had five nail polishes with me in my bag the other day (yes, 5) because I could not make up my mind, so I e-mailed my sister with my handy iPhone “which one should I do?” She said “thumb!” Thank goodness for sisters.
More views:
Recap of my comparison to other shades, Rescue Beauty Lounge Om & Chanel Rose Confidentiel:
Butter London’s All Hail McQueen seems to be the season’s hottest neutral for nails. Raved about by Amy from Café Makeup, Gaia of The Non-Blonde and Soaper1 on Karla Sugar – this instantly caught my attention and I knew I had to try it. All three reviews give us a slightly different glimpse of this beautiful shade. I loved how it looked in each review and immediately ordered one for myself.
The color is a complex holographic beige with bits of reflective particles in various shades of gold, silver, beige, tan, yellow – very hard to describe. Unfortunately the holographic quality only really shows up when the light hits it directly. It’s a beautiful shade, no doubt, but on my skintone, I feel it makes my hands look aged and tired. I actually prefer OPI’s DS Classic shade which is similar, just less brownish/grey, warmer and slightly brighter.
The formula itself is very sheer. I had to ask the salon to apply three coats to get it to show up. Lasting power was decent – it lasted about 3 days without any wear, chipping or flaking and I didn’t reapply any top coat after the initial application.
OPI DS Classic vs. Butter London All Hail McQueen
Overall pretty, just not really super flattering on my skintone unless the sun shines on my fingers directly. I personally prefer Butter London’s Yummy Mummy (reviewed and compared here) and also Chanel Particuliere for a more contrasted shade of beige/grey. It’s beautiful when the light hits, but just not really cup of tea. I will probably be sending this to a close friend who I know will go gaga over this shade and won’t mind that I used it already.
