Paul & Joe and Bergdorf Goodman still remain at the top of my favorites list and I am super excited about the upcoming Wild Flowers, Alice In Wonderland, and new additions in cream blushes, eyeshadows and nail polishes for spring 2010.
Since my Paul & Joe series back in November, I have added a few more items to my collection thanks to the recommendations of the Bergdorf Goodman staff and think I have found my holy grail creamy lipliners!
The loot:
Lipliner 01 Plum – natural pinky color with plum tones
Lipliner 04 Caramel – neutral beige
Lipstick 12 Bougainvillea – neutral-cool rose pink
Lipstick 27 Debutante – sheer sparkley peach
Lipstick 28 Darling – beige
Eyeshadow 22 Belle du Jour – peach shimmer
Eyeshadow 91 Butter & Sugar – pale cream shimmer
Nail Polish 06 Framboises – mauvey pink cream
Nail Polish 09 Full Bloom – baby pink cream
Holiday Blue Paisley Makeup Bag – comes with a brush holder inside
* Note #28 Lipstick is not swatched b/c I’m undecided about keeping it right now.
I brought my OPI Hollywood Blonde & Urban Decay Gunmetal to the salon for a mani/pedi color change. I had forgotten how sheer the UD Gunmetal was – with one swipe we saw how transparent it was. I asked for 3 coats and she was skeptical it would show even with 3 coats, so she suggested to use another color as a base with the UD on top for the shimmer. She picked OPI’s You Don’t Know Jacques which is a darker version of the new Chanel Particuliere click the link for more pics/comparisons. It was pure genius!
The 3 colors used: OPI Hollywood Blonde, OPI YDKJ, Urban Decay Gunmetal
Mani/Pedi Results:
Close up of Hollywood Blonde (3 coats and still sheer looking, but very sparkley)
Close Up of OPI YDKJ 2 coats + UD Gunmetal 1 coat (to spare you from a close up of my unsightly toes)
One more view
Those who have UD Gunmetal and are worried about what happens when the product runs out of that tiny bottle, I definitely recommend using a darker taupe grey cream color first in 1-2 coats, then applying the UD on top. You’ll definitely be able to stretch out the lifespan of that uber-tiny bottle by doing so since it’s so sheer you’d need at least 3 coats to get what you see in the bottle anyways.
Happy New Years Eve to everyone! Ani (left, manicure) & Black Russian (right, pedicure)
WARNING: Don’t scroll down if toe-pictures make you queasy!
Want to know how Ani compares to Pink Shimmer from Christmas Eve? Ani (left) is more beige and Pink Shimmer (right) is whiter and paler. Please excuse the messy looking toes!
Happy Christmas Eve to everyone! I wish everyone a great holiday full of good health and happiness.
I jumped on the bandwagon for the Rescue Beauty Lounge sale and added quite a few new shades to my mini collection of Killa Red, Cherry Love, Ani, and Leila. I got a manicure for tonight’s Christmas Eve dinner with my family with Pink Shimmer from RBL, here are the pictures (3 coats):
Most of the RBL nail polishes I’ve tried are great for their color, pigment and texture. The Pink Shimmer is quite a bit sheerer than most of the other colors, it barely showed up with 2 coats, so I asked the girls to add one more coat at the salon. The color comes out to be a really pale light pink pearl. I like that it’s not frosty and that the shimmer is subtle, but it’s not the most unique color and seems easily dupable.
I like lighter colors for my fingers (darker ones for the toes) so this works great for me. I’m thrilled to have been able to get some at 50% off. I hope they do this sale again soon! There were quite a few shades I didn’t get that I wish I had now.
With flash:
In natural sunlight:
More swatches and photos of the other shades to come in the next week once my manicure wears off.
After a few iffy collection releases, I am happy to say that Chanel has gotten back on their gorgeousness track with the release of their Les Impressions de Chanel collection for spring (which seems more like summer, but still stunning).
Here is my “omg, I can’t believe I spent so much, but I’m so happy” haul:
It seems like the star product of the collection is their compact highlighter Empreinte de Chanel Poudre Eclat Illuminatrice – this has a multi-colored base powder with an embossed crossing C logo on top in a gold shimmer powder. The shimmer goes all the way through, the Cs are definitely more pigmented, the base powder shows up, but is more sheer.
The new blush #59 Imprevu is probably the most shimmery Chanel blush I’ve seen. It’s a peachy-tawny-nude that will probably be too dark for fair skins. Right now, I have medium skin (check My Foundation Shades Here) and it gave me a bronzey-peach look. It doesn’t go on as shimmery as it looks in the compact and is just a tad lighter than Fandango but very similar.
Part 2: Eyes
These are definitely my favorite pieces. See MORE VIEWS HERE. The eyeshadow quad #18 Kaska Beige is very natural with a unique combination of colors: pale cream, medium pink-brown-beige, shimmery dusty plum, shimmery beige-gold.
Equally stunning are the new eyeshadow singles #85 Sillage (shimmery pinky shell) & #86 Trace (sparkley warm bronze). Sillage is more pink and less pale than Lotus and Island. Trace is warmer and more sparkley than Le Bronze and Cinnamon with the gold shimmers being more visible.
Part 3: Lips
The lipsticks come in the Rouge Allure formula. The colors, L to R are #79 Impertinente (dusty rose pink), #80 Delicieuse (soft coral), #81 Insouciante (nude beige-grey), #82 Incognito (neutral nude pink).
The glossimers in this collection are both sparkley and sheer but still really pretty. #139 Futile is a super pale pink and #141 Maline is a pale gold. If you have colors like Rose Sand, Seashell, Pink Crystal, or Bronze Crystal, you probably won’t need to get these unless you’re a die hard Chanel fan. I believe both are Limited Editions.
Part 4: Nail Polishes
I posted pictures and swatches of the nail polishes already a couple days ago here, so today I’ll do comparisons to other similar shades I have.
#503 Inattendu comparisons L to R: Chanel Jasmine, Chanel Inattendu, OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy
#505 Particuliere comparisons L to R: OPI You Don’t Know Jacques, Chanel Particuliere, OPI Over the Taupe
#507 Tendresse comparisons L to R: Paul & Joe #10, Chanel Tendresse, Chanel Rose Satin, Zoya Jessika
Also in the collection (not purchased): * #68 Khaki Dore Le Crayon Yeux (olivey-gold shimmery eyeliner) * #100 Ombre D’eau (a khaki-greenish fluid eyeshadow) * #36 Beige Le Crayon Levres (pale beige lipliner) * #110 Beige Claire Poudre Universelle (a luminous setting powder) * #68 Sand Eyeshadow Single (repromote) * Soleil Tan de Chanel (Sunkissed – reformulated version of their Brilliance Pur) along with a few other items I didn’t catch since everything was still in boxes.
Overall thoughts . . . Winners = Eyes: To me, the must haves are the Kaska Beige Eyeshadow Quad and Sillage/Trace Singles. Face/cheek: While I love all the Chanel JC blushes, the new Imprevu didn’t wow me as much after I saw how it compared to my other Chanel colors (if you have Fandango or Enchantresse I don’t think you need this new one). I must admit the store lighting made me gasp when I saw the new blush though. The highlighter powder is really nice, but I think YMMV on this one. It shows up on me, but I was a bit disappointed that multi-colored base is sheerer than the rest of the powder. Nails: The nail polishes are amazing in the formula, but not so unique with the colors. I really wish they had some pearl or shimmer to them to give them that extra unique Chanel-touch. Particuliere (the grey/taupe) can be easily duped with OPI Over the Taupe – the only difference is that OPI OTT is more warm/brown where Chanel Particuliere is a tad more greyish/cool. If you like grey/taupes but want something lighter with a pearl finish, check out Zoya Pasha. Lips: These are great if you like natural wearable colors. I think Chanel always does a great job with their lipsticks and glosses.
So I’m supposed to be studying Securities Law & Business Associations for finals right now but I couldn’t contain my excitement for the new Chanel Spring 2010 line. The spring collection has been trickling instores and my local Saks just got them in yesterday and my favorite SA pulled the testers from the back even though the Chanel rep was off for the day and didn’t have the unit set up.
For official promotional photos, check out Marina’s blog Makeup4All!
A more comprehensive post will be coming soon, but I wanted to show you the three new nail polishes that came out:
#503 Inattendu – neutral light peach
#505 Particuliere – grey taupe
#507 Tendresse – soft pink cream
All three are cream and have no shimmer. Those who love neutrals will like these, although I must admit they are very dupe-able (more dupe swatches to come soon). My biggest weakness is for Chanel – when I got home, I had slight buyer’s remorse feeling that “why did I buy these nail polishes?” when I already have similar colors. But when I put them on, I found they have just the right amount of pigment so that they aren’t too yellowy or white. Often times, peachy colors end up looking yellowy on my skin and pinks look whitish once they are on my nails.
The eyeshadow singles and quads are the winners in the collection for me.
Sillage (left) & Trace (right)
Kaska Beige
More descriptions and details to come in the next couple days featuring the highlight powder, new blush, rouge allures and glossimers. Along with comparisons too!
They have a different scent than most nail polishes – almost a powdery/floral scent. My top three picks would be 02 Heirloom (sheer champagne gold with sparkles), 10 Poodle (cotton candy pink with a slight iridescence) and 20 Manhattan (pretty sparkling gunmetal).
* Note #28 Lipstick is not swatched b/c I’m undecided about keeping it right now.
