This is a follow up on my Sephora Haulings post to show more pics of the new Dior Red Dahlia Nail Polish for Fall 2009 which is a Sephora Exclusive (other counters received Black Plum).
I wasn’t happy with the original swatches because the photos were pulling more red than fuchsia for the Red Dahlia, so hopefully these will give you a better look at what it really looks like.
Black Plum & Red Dahlia
1. MAC Rougemarie (bottle shown) 2. Dior Red Dahlia (bottle shown) 3. OPI Miami Beet 4. OPI Quarter of a Cent-Cherry 5. Nars Jungle Red
1. OPI Quarter of a Cent-Cherry 2. MAC Rougemarie 3. Nars Jungle Red 4. Dior Red Dahlia 5. OPI Miami Beet 6. Essie Private Bash 7. Essie Very Cranberry 8. Chanel Shanghai Red
Two views, left to right: MAC Rouge Marie, Dior Black Plum, Dior Red Dahlia, Nars Jungle Red, Nars Chinatown, Essie Very Cranberry
Bobbi Brown Must Have Set, which includes: * 7-well lip palette with lip brush (featuring Italian Rose Creamy Lip Color, Nude Pink Lip Color, Heather Buff Creamy Lip Color, Uber Pink Creamy Lip Color, Baby Peach Metallic Creamy Lip Color, Dusk Metallic Lip Color and Kir Metallic Lip Color) * two-pan eyeshadow palette with Nude Beach Metallic Eye Shadow &Hot Stone Eye Shadow * full-size Espresso Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner * mini black Everything Mascara * new mini dual-ended eyeshadow/ultra-fine eyeliner brush
The entire set from nordstrom.com:
Close up of the lip palette:
Close up of Nude Beach & Hot Stone:
Close up of Espresso Ink:
Trish McEvoy Simplicity Little Black Card, set from nordstrom.com:
Top Deck includes: Weekend Allover Face Color, Natural Blush, Rose Quartz Glaze Eyeshadow, Iris Eyeshadow, and Navy Cream Definer
Bottom Deck includes: Pink Rose Lipstick, Jolie Lipstick, Simply Glamorous Lip Gloss, and 2 Brightening Line Minimizing Concealers
Chanel Rose de Vents Nail Polish: L to R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Chanel Rose de Vents Nail Polish swatches: 1. Chanel Rose Blossom 2. Chanel Rose de Vents 3. MAC Abstract 4. OPI Dancing in the Isles 5. Shu Uemura P927
I was able to pick up my pre-orders yesterday! Check with your Nordstrom – they called me to let me know they were able to ring up pre-orders in a way that you still get your points, but can pick them up early. What I ended up with:
Laura Mercier Renaissance Collection which includes: * deluxe Flawless Skin Day Creme SPF 15 * full-size Undercover Pot UC-3 * exclusive full-size Pink Champagne Lip Glacé * exclusive Renaissance Eye Color Duo * mini Black Thickening and Building Mascara * double-ended Secret Camouflage Powder Brush * a mini velour puff
Entire set from nordstrom.com:
Renaissance Eye Color Duo & Pink Champagne Lip Glace:
Swatch comparisons – in the tubes these look really similar, but swatched you can see the differences: 1. Nars Dolce Vita Lipgloss 2. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lip Glace 3. Laura Mercier Blush Lip Glace 4. Chanel Glass Quartz Aqualumiere Gloss 5. Chanel Bel Air Glossimer 6. Chanel Giggle Glossimer
Lipstick vs Lip Glace Versions: 7. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lipstick 8. Laura Mercier Pink Champagne Lip Glace
Dior Mystic Violine Nail Polish 987 (nordstrom exclusive) vs. Black Plum 981 (fall 2009):
Black Plum (top) vs Mystic Violine (bottom & bottle):
Dior GWP with a $75 purchase:
MAC Lip Bag Sets in Baby Blooms (left) & Summer Crop (right):
Nars Modern Love Eyeshadow Palette: Top Row: Alhambra, Jezebel and Habanera Bottom Row: Tokyo, India Song and Pandora
For makeup I’m obsessed with neutrals, but for nails, I’m obsessed with dark vampy colors and reds. Even though it’s mid-summer, I thought I’d share my favorite vampy colors to go along with the recent fall release themes like Dior Black Plum & Nars Tokaido Express. (Please excuse the messy manicures.)
***Note all pictures taken in direct natural sunlight. Also note the bottles shown don’t necessarily coincide with the shade on the finger directly above it. Bottles shown are notated in each category.***
Vampy Burgandy Shades (Sephora for OPI I’m With Brad & Chanel Vamp bottles shown): 1. Sephora for OPI I’m With Brad 2. Chanel Vamp 3. Chanel Rouge Noir 4. Chanel Cosmic Violine 5. Chanel Tulip Noir
Vampy Wine Shades (Dior Black Plum & Nars Gimme Shelter bottles pictured): 1. Nars Gimme Shelter 2. OPI NYPD Beet 3. Sephora by OPI Meet for Drinks 4. Dior Black Plum 5. MAC Boom!
Vampy Plums & Purples (Dior Licorice & Chanel Feu de Russie bottles pictured): 1. OPI Black Cherry Chutney 2. Nars Tokaido Express 3. Le Metier de Beaute Black Orchid 4. Dior Licorice 5. Chanel Feu de Russie
Miscellaneous Dark Shades (Chanel Nuit de Russie & Blue Satin bottles pictured): 1. OPI My Private Jet 2. Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams 3. Chanel Nuit de Russie 4. Chanel Blue Satin 5. Chanel Vendetta
Unfortunately for me this is how these blues/purples look on me without the sunlight:
I’m new to photographing nail polishes – so for more views or to check out these colors, I’d highly recommend checking out other various nail polish blogs for more swatches in case any of these look off on your screen! Or if some of the shades look identical, these blogs and galleries might help!
Here’s a swatch of the new Nars Tokaido Express nail polish:
Overall thoughts: I have several other nail polishes from Nars that I really like (Saratoga, Madame Butterfly, Orgasm, etc.) and this is probably the worst in formula that I have. While the color looks rich and lush, the formula is very thin and streaky this application required 3 coats (I applied the third coat heavily). I normally don’t apply nail polish myself (due to the total lack of manicure/pedicure skills), so perhaps a more even finish would be achieved if done by a professional.
It’s very similar to Dior Licorice from last year’s Nordstrom Anniversary (comparison swatches coming soon).
So while you can get a nice rich finish, be warned that it will take several coats and that your first two coats might be streaky and uneven.
FYI the original Nars Fall 2009 post has been updated with this picture as well. Check a few posts down to see more of the collection.
I recently started to get back into NARS and just saw some of the Nars fall items on Nordstrom.com so I used their online-order-instore-pickup feature to purchase a few items. Pictures of what I picked up:
NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Silk Road (very similar to the Nars Duos in All About Eve and Alhambra, at first glance this looks a tad peachier and slightly less pale):
NARS All About Eve, Alhambra, Silk Road Comparisons (2 views):
NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Brumes:
Eyeshadow Single in Mekong – haven’t tested this yet, but the Nars rep at Nordstrom said it’s like their Night Series eyeshadows:
NARS Mekong Single vs Cordura Duo (note that Cordura isn’t part of the Fall 2009 collection):
Nail Polish in Tokaido Express:
Close up of the nail polish in the sun:
Swatch on nails:
I didn’t stop by the Nars counter to check out the Fast Ride Lipstick or Indian Summer Eyeshadow Duo since I simply picked up my goodies at customer service, but over the phone the SA described Fast Ride as a deep plum red and Indian Summer as mustard yellow.
There have been some details on more duos floating around the web for three more duos that I didn’t see online yet, Brousse, Eurydice and Taiga – so I called the counter to inquire about those three. The Nars rep at Nordstrom said they hadn’t received those yet, but that they will probably come out later in the fall and put me on his call list saying he would let me know when he found out more details. As of yet, they didn’t have testers and also that they were only pre-selling the Fall items for their anniversary sale. Luckily I had placed the order online before hand so I was able to pick up my items today.
But overall I have enough goodies to keep me happy for a long time!
Fall collections are trickling in! So far I’ve seen the fall collections for Chanel, Laura Mercier, Giorgio Armani, and now Dior. After seeing Karen’s fabulous article and swatches on Makeup and Beauty Blog for the Dior Jazz Club Collection Fall 2009, I went to Nordstrom to check out the collection myself.
This is what I came home with:
Smoky Jazz Eye Palette 001, the Total Eyelook Makeup Clutch for Liner, Brow, and Eyeshadows – they’ve included a nice brush!
Left to right: Liner, Eyebrow, Matte Eyeshadow, Iridescent Eyeshadow x2, Topcoat
Night Butterfly 173 Quint (5-Colour Eyeshadow) – this was lighter than I expected based on promotional pictures floating around the web, but Karen’s swatches gave me a good idea of what it looked like in real life before I stopped by the counter:
Black Plum 981 Nail Vernis:
Also picked up the Creme de Glosses and Addict Reflect Lipglosses, but for some reason these are not photographing well. For great pics/swatches, check out Karen’s blog!
Some other smokey eye palette variations for a classic smokey eye or soft smokey eye:
Dolce & Gabbana Champagne (Smooth Color Eye Quad):
MAC Smoking Eyes Quad – Next to Nothing, Satin Taupe, Showstopper, Smoking:
MAC Trip Palette Sultry Eyes – Sun Cruise Gloss, Freckletone Lipstick, Filament Lustre Eyeshadow, French Grey Satin Eyeshadow, Carbon Matte Eyeshadow (found a month ago at my local CCO):
Looking for some other smokey eye colors? To do a smokey eye, I often layer different shades with a black since blacks tend to turn blueish on my skin. Check out the 5 part series for swatches of dark shimmery eyeliners and shadows separated by color category:
