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Rococo Nail Apparel: Stone Cold Karma

April 29, 2010
Rococo Nail Apparel has released a few new shades for spring and Stone Cold Karma caught my eye from SpaceNK. I ordered this online along with a few other shades (will be featured soon). Stone Cold Karma is a grey-mauve cream with a subtle pearl finish that you can only see when you look closely. This is an odd shade because sometimes it looks mauve, sometimes it looks more grey depending on the lighting which you’ll be able to see in the photo swatches below. In this way it reminds me of Chanel Particuliere – it looks brown in the bottle, but on the toes, sometimes it pulls more mauve, sometimes straight grey, sometimes a mushroom brown. Perhaps my eyes are just playing tricks on me.

Rococo Nail Apparel Stone Cold Karma (3 coats):


Manicure: Rococo Nail Apparel Stone Cold Karma
Pedicure: Chanel Particuliere



Rococo Nail Apparel Stone Cold Karma compared to:
Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge
OPI Tickle My Francey
Chanel Particuliere


I had 3 coats applied to get full coverage. It’s lovely, but I think I’m just not really used to greys on my fingers. It’s in the same color family as RBL Grunge and OPI Tickle My Francey. In the bottles, they look really similar, but as you can see in the swatches, they are very different once applied on the nails. Compared to RBL Grunge, Rococo Stone Cold Karma’s sparkles are more visible giving it more depth so it’s not so flat-looking.

Rococo Nail Apparel Nail Polishes retail for $16 each. I found the line at SpaceNK.

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NARS Summer 2010: Love Devotion Lipstick + Versaillies Nail Polish

April 22, 2010

NARS Summer Collection has been spotted at Nordstrom along with the new Pure Sheer Lip Treatments. I stopped by to check everything out and left with only 2 items:

  • Love Devotion Lipstick ($24) – a bright peachy coral with a super sheer texture
  • Versailles Nail Polish ($16) – a light pale shimmery yellow gold

NARS Love Devotion actually reminds me a lot of MAC Blow Dry. Looks bright in the tube, but the sheerness makes it so it only gives you a sheer peachy tint to the lips. The main difference is that MAC Blow Dry has a slight pinkish tint while NARS Love Devotion is more of a straight peach.


NARS Versailles is a pretty shimmery light yellow. Not quite a baby-like yellow, but pretty close in my opinion. Here it is compared to some other golds: Chanel Gold Lame, Chanel Beige D’Or, NARS Adelita, and Chanel Antilope.


I was initially excited about the new Enchanted cream blush and Lamu multiple from promo photos, but unfortunately, they both have a sheer base with chunky glitter making them completely unwearable for me. Enchanted was too sheer for my liking. If it had been a powder formula, I think the finish on the skin would have been divine. Lamu is a more intense version of South Beach. It has a slightly deeper color and also contains micro-gold-sparkles. I tried it on my cheeks at the counter but it turned out to be a glittery mess.

I passed on the cream eyeshadows and lipgloss – they were just not me. I didn’t find them very “summery” either.

The Pure Sheer Lip Treatments were all incredibly sheer (just like the name implies). I could barely see a slight tint on my hands. So I didn’t bother to ask the sales associate to clean any for me to test on my lips.

I typically find NARS to be very inspirational for me. The collections are usually artistic and fun, but this one just wasn’t as impressive to me mainly because of the formula and finish of most of the new shades in this collection.

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Lunasol Cool Beige #19 Nail Finish

April 17, 2010
This was a present thanks to my sister who went to Japan about a year ago – I had given her a list of things to check out for me and asked her to pick out a pretty nail polish and this is what she brought home: Lunasol Nail Finish in Cool Beige #19, a pretty beige base with gold-silver complex sparkles and glitters.





This is the only Lunasol nail polish I have but I am really impressed with the formula. It’s rich and opaque and needs only 1 coat to get a full even finish. This mani is with 2 coats because that’s what the nail tech did. The color is chock-full of so many colors, I can’t even describe how complex it is. I’m not usually a huge fan of super-sparkles unless they are super sheer (ala Chanel Cry Baby or OPI Hollywood Blonde) but I really like this one and am glad my sister picked this one out.

Is this dupeable? I would say no. The finish is truly unique and so complex, I haven’t seen anything like it. Paul & Joe #27 Gilded is similar (check here), but slightly darker and has a similar finish but with a darker gold base. I am curious to find out how the new one from P&J coming out this summer will compare to it.

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Les Pop-Up De Chanel Summer 2010 Picks

April 9, 2010
*Updated with a few swatches + descriptions* Les Pop-Up De Chanel has hit counters with a very bright and summery collection. The damage from Saks:
  • Mistral Le Vernis – soft pink with tiny micro multi-glitters (very subtle)
  • Nouvelle Vague Le Vernis – surf blue with a subtle pearl
  • Riviera Le Vernis – hot fuschia
  • Bondi Aqualumiere Sheer Color Lipshine – soft peachy coral shimmer
  • Bondi Beach Aqualumiere Gloss – gorgeous iridescent peach-gold-glow
  • Bikini Peach Glossimer – soft pinky-peach with shimmer

Close Ups of the Nail Polishes:


My fingers feel like the came from the 80’s or like they belong in a gumball machine.

Comparisons to some other Chanel colors: Ming, Jade, Azur, Melrose



Lipstick + Lipglosses:


Summer Gloss Comparisons to MAC Love Nectar, MAC Sublime Shine, Armani #1, and Chanel Sesame:

Lipstick comparisons to: Como, Lily Beige, Cancun


Overall thoughts: You all know I’m a die-hard Chanel fan, but this collection seemed a bit lacking. The collection seemed a bit uncoordinated. There weren’t any new blushes or eyeshadows which I was hoping for. The bronzers seemed a bit unoriginal. The lips had a good balance of bright and neutral, of course I picked up the neutrals and I am completely obsessed with both Bondi Lipstick and Bondi Beach Gloss!

Bikini Peach Glossimer is nice, but is similar to Sesame Glossimer, just a bit deeper in color.

The nail polishes are not must-haves in my opinion, although I do love Riviera which I think will be cute on the toes. Of course I got them because I collect Chanel nail polishes. The formula of these 3 summer colors are incredible and applied like a dream. I didn’t really need 2 coats, but decided to do it anyways because my application was sloppy. At this time, I don’t have any idea how or when I will be pulling off the Nouvelle Vague. I still have yet to brave the Jade color on tips or toes. But at least they both look nice in my vanity.


Being the Chanel fan that I am, I was still able to find some items I liked. The collection as a whole just didn’t wow me as much as past seasons have. The sheer glosses were interesting – I already had a few Fluo Glosses from a previous collection and haven’t used those much because they were just so sheer. However, the new ones seemed to have more color due to their brightness.

If Neimans has a good Incircle GWP, I might consider picking the other glosses up. Saks’ Triple Points GWP was less than thrilling with a mini lifting cream, No 5 body cream mini and a mini mascara. Hardly worth the $150 minimum. Thankfully my SA threw in a few other goodies and extras that she could gather, but this time I had to actually ask.

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Nails of the Day: Rococo Organza + Paul & Joe 02

April 8, 2010
I intended to get a mani/pedi with one of the shades I featured from my last week’s post, but I never made it to the nail salon. By the time I had a free moment to go, I had completely changed my mind on colors due to the fact I am the most indecisive when it comes to nail colors. They all look so pretty, I can never decide, so always bring 2-3 bottles with me to either:

A) Decide at the last minute, or
B) Ask the salon which color they recommend

I brought Rococo Organza and Paul & Joe 02 Heirloom with me and could not decide on a color, so the nail aesthetician said, “why not use both?” I happily agreed. She applied a layer of Rococo Organza on the bottom (which applied like a dream) and then two coats of Paul & Joe 02 Heirloom on top.


The result = a very natural and conservative barely-there nail look that is both interview and work appropriate.

Rococo Organza is a soft nude pink with opal iridescence. However, there was a slight difference from the one I purchased compared to the tester at SpaceNK (which was a nude with gold shimmer much like Essie’s Chips-No-Potatoes). You can see other swatches of Organza linked here.

Paul & Joe Heirloom 02 is a sheer transparent champagne-gold with the most gorgeous microglitters. I don’t know if you can tell from the swatch photos, but if you look really close at the fingers, it just looks magical. I believe Paul & Joe 02 Heirloom is discontinued, but you should still be able to find it. There are similar shades that you can see in my post here on Paul & Joe Nail Enamels.





Together, the colors are very sheer and give that barely-there look. While it may seem too natural to some, it will definitely suit those who aren’t a fan of having noticeable color on their fingers. I know DH approves. He’s not a fan of bright colors on my fingers, but tolerates it, lol.


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Dior Love Vernis Comparisons

April 3, 2010
Dior Love is most similar to OPI’s Lourve Me Lourve Me Not, but applies a lot better. The Dior only needed 2 coats where the OPI needed 3 to get a full application. The remaining colors aren’t necessarily dupes, but just colors in the same color family so you can gauge how purple/burgandy/fuschia/bright Dior Love is compared to other purples.

Same order, just closer shot:


I’m sure there may be other closer dupes out there for Dior Love, I just don’t have any others that compare to it.

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Sneak Peeks from Paul & Joe and Edward Bess

March 28, 2010

Two of my favorite brands Paul & Joe and Edward Bess have some great new things coming out! I have some information on a few upcoming new products I am super excited about and wanted to share the details with you!

Paul & Joe has posted a preview scan of their upcoming Summer Brochure on Facebook, so check out their fan page. There are:

  • 3 lipsticks – Caravan (a natural coral pink), Sahara (a sexy vivid pink), Morocco (a warm golden pink)
  • 3 nail polishes – Marrakesh (a stunning exotic coral red), Mirage (a soft neutral sand brown), Oasis (a sophisticated earthy blue)
  • 2 shimmer powders – Dune & Desert Sand
  • + more: body shimmer oil, blotting papers, nail files

Jocelyn from Paul & Joe was kind enough to send me a few sneak peek photos:

* photos from Paul & Joe

* photos from Paul & Joe

Also coming in April (before the summer collection is released) are 5 new double-sided lipliners and 10 new wand lipglosses which I believe will replace the current wand glosses. I was lucky enough to be able to swatch testers of the lipliners! The lipglosses were lovely, but unfortunately I didn’t swatch those. The packaging is similar to the older wands but the tubes have the flower design embossed. (Disregard my scribbles to the right, I meant to say that lipglosses are being released in conjunction with the lipliners.) Each lipliner has 2 formulas on each pencil, one more creamy and slightly glossy and the other more opaque.

* Photo from Paul & Joe

Edward Bess has released some new products! I spoke with both Susan and Edward last week to get the 411 on the new products. They sent a swatch card in the mail which made me even more excited.

Soft Smoke Eyeshadow Trio which has:
* a pale color similar in concept to their Nude eyeshadow, but brighter less creamy/beige
* a soft dove-grey which is described as EB’s first true grey (a sister shade to Dusk which isn’t a true grey since it has a more mossy finish)
* a deep dark charcoal not quite as dark as Night Eyeshadow

Soft Orchid Blush: soft cool pink (see Amy’s lovely review for photos and description on CafeMakeup.com)

After Sunset Compact Rouge: described as a burned rose, almost bronzey, darker skinned girls who want more color, I think you’ll really like this!

BONUS NOTE: Note that Bergdorf Goodman is having their giftcard event coming up starting April 18 – I believe both counters are doing a promotion in addition to their $25 off $100 purchase.

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