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Edward Bess Quad Royale in Monte Carlo 02

January 16, 2012

This past weekend I had a much needed girls’-day-out in LA. On our list was a stop at Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills to check out the newly launched Tom Ford beauty line and of course our favorite girls at the Edward Bess counter. I didn’t expect to see anything new from his line (although I’ve been eagerly waiting for his eye bases to be released) but spotted a new Quad Royale in Monte Carlo 02 a beautiful highlighter quad of peachy goodness ($45 for 0.25 oz/7g). Being the peach fanatic and EB fan that I am, I snapped one up immediately without even trying it at the counter (I had other blushes on that I was testing from another brand).

Monte Carlo 02 is the third Quad Royale face highlighter Edward Bess has released. It has four colors in a black mirrored compact, all different variations and intensities of peach shimmer. The lightest shade is a pale champagne but the others are darker and more pigmented. I previously featured Summer in Capri 03 and South of France 01 in prior months and love layering them over his Daydream Bronzer or other blushes to add a soft glow. I find they are perfect for my medium skintone to add a subtle highlight to brighten the face. Monte Carlo is also a highlighter but I find the colors darker so this could also work as a blush. I do find it more pigmented and more shimmery than the others but in a beautiful sense (it’s not overly frosted). The texture is similar to that of the other quad royales: smooth, finely milled shimmer and easy to blend on the face for a natural glow. I do find it a bit harder in texture compared to his original version of the Daydream bronzer which is the one I have featured in the past. The Quad Royale still applies smoothly and easily on the skin. Monte Carlo has no detectable scent. I love the brush that comes in the compact – it’s a step up from most compacts other brands have and is usable to dust the cheeks evenly with color. Here are all 3 of Edward’s face quads plus a few more close up shots:

Outdoors, cloudy lighting, no flash:

Ingredient listing (clickable for larger viewing):

On the face it applies shimmery. I have worn this as a blush alone but prefer this layered over another semi-matte to fully-matte product (whether it is blush or bronzer). I was hoping for sun this weekend but it was overcast. Here are the best swatches I could manage:

A few comparisons to other peachy blushes and bronzers. There are others I could have pulled but right now I am limited on time so I pulled a small sample to help give you an idea of the color. Please note that right now I do not have time to accommodate extra comparison or dupe requests.

Swatched left to right: Bobbi Brown Nectar Shimmerbrick, Dior Aurora, Edward Bess Summer in Capri, Edward Bess Monte Carlo, MAC Ripe Peach

Bottom line: love. It gives a natural peachy glow with a subtle refined shimmer. Pigment is sheer but noticeable on the skin with one swipe and it is also layerable for more color. If you have Summer in Capri, do you need Monte Carlo? They are similar in color but the Summer in Capri has bigger portions of lighter shades while Monte Carlo has more peach. I think they are different enough to justify both. Is Monte Carlo a must-have? In my opinion yes, even with the dozens of peachy shimmers I already own, yes.
As of this past weekend I was not able to find this anywhere online for sale. I do know the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus counter has this. I highly recommend you call them to order if you’re interested. I have not yet checked with the Bergdorfs counter.
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Le Métier de Beauté Resort 2012: Jet Set Sheer Brilliance Glosses in HibisKiss and Orange Juiced

January 12, 2012

This spring Le Métier de Beauté and Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus have created bold and bright lip and cheek colors for Resort 2012 with their Jet Set Collection. There are two new Sheer Brilliance Glosses ($32 each) that come in two juicy shades: Orange Juiced, a hot golden orange glow, and HibisKiss, a sheer but bright fuschia red. Both come in that classic sheer Le Métier glow infused with subtle shimmer and have a high-shine finish. The colors look shockingly bright in the tubes but luckily for me, they apply on the lips with a sheer wash of color. More photos and swatches below.

Another view of the swatches plus the 2 shades mixed. I love mixing and layering Le Métier shades. The colors are layerable over other Le Métier lipsticks and work well over other brands too. Here you can see that HibisKiss dominates when you mix equal portions of both colors:

Extra close shot so you can see how fine/subtle the shimmer is in the tubes. They glow!

HibisKiss goes on a warm fuschia red, which is odd because I usually associate “fuschia” with blueish-cool tones. This one is more of a neutral red leaning slightly towards the warm side. It has a sophisticated subtle shimmery glow. I found it too bright for me alone. It is definitely outside of my comfort zone although it does photograph well. In real life/in person it’s a bit too bright for right now. Perhaps I will feel more comfortable with color once the weather warms up and once I get my tan back.

Oranged Juiced was a pleasant surprise for me. In the tube it’s a borderline neon golden orange. It looked extremely unflattering at first glance but the shimmer looked beautiful and having fallen in love with other LMdB glosses I tried it with an open mind. It swatched on the hand orange but on the lips it sheered out to give a soft warm golden glow. There are neon tones in this gloss so it doesn’t always photograph well with a digital camera. The photo below was the best I could get. Sometimes neon shades tend to look, well, extra-neon-like with a camera.

Overall beautiful high quality shades. Those who like an extra punch of color will fall in love. I personally feel it’s a bit too early in the year to be completely won over right now. Even with year-round perfect weather in Southern California I’m just starting to get into spring mode and I’m more into the softer shades right now for this time of year. I do think I will pull these out for more use in a few months, although Orange Juiced seems to be versatile enough for layering and warming up other colors. These days I’m lemming their oh-so-hard-to-find exclusives like their Blush Kaleidoscope and Jan’s Jewel Lip Creme hoping they will eventually make their appearance at all Le Métier counters (one can wish).

I highly recommend reviews by Best Things in Beauty and Messy Wands for extra thoughts, photos and swatches on the glosses. These lovely ladies also have reviews of the 3 new nail lacquers on their blogs as well (equally shocking and bold as the glosses, if not more).
Le Métier de Beauté’s Resort Jet Set Collection will be out this month exclusively at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman and online at both retailers as well. Have you spotted these yet in store? What are your thoughts?
These were provided courtesy of Le Métier de Beauté for review.
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Chanel April, May and June for Spring 2012

December 10, 2011
© The Beauty Look Book

Chanel Spring has started to trickle into stores in the US. Nordstrom should be receiving their items any day now and Neimans already has the product instore at counters (most of the items have arrived). Chanel.com just launched the spring items online. Of course I could not resist the three new Le Vernis Nail Colours in April, May and June – all cream non-shimmer shades with smooth rich coverage. Although these shades do not appear to be special or unique, I find that Chanel once again has mixed the perfect amount of color to create shades that are amazingly beautiful. Lined up together they remind me of a sunset.

April is a cream mauve plum. In the bottle it looks like almost reddish but it swatches with a hint of purple.

May is a baby soft pink. It’s a neutral-cool, similar to Melrose, but April is slightly warmer in undertone.

June is a soft pastel apricot cream. It’s a lighter brighter version of Miami Peach/Orange Fizz.

Comparisons to other Chanels and 1 RBL, L to R: Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised, Chanel April, Chanel Fantastic, Chanel Rouge Fatal, Chanel Rose Confidentiel, Chanel May, Chanel Melrose, Chanel Morning Rose, Chanel Riviera, Chanel June, Chanel Peche Nacree, Chanel Miami Peach and Chanel Orange Fizz.

Bottom line: I don’t know what else to say but “love”. *UPDATE* Check out The Purse Forum: Chanel on your nails #2 thread page 408 for awesome comparisons from Elisaq (I think you have to login to see images).
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Tom Ford Violet Blonde Eau de Parfum

December 8, 2011
Tom Ford Violet Blonde is my first experience with Tom Ford fragrances. It turned out to be an unexpected love. I was lucky to be gifted a bottle right before the official release, but to my dismay it was not love at first spritz. I have to admit (in all fairness) I made the mistake of not testing this on myself, but rather on a small piece of paper. Back into the violet box this went and it sat on our shelf for a month until my husband noticed it and asked, “ooh, is that for me?” He can never resist a new fragrance, especially when it comes in a beautifully packaged bottle. He has a knack for finding things that smell good – our house is forever filled with some kind of smell-good scent. (I have to hide my Jo Malone tea fragrances because he loves them so much he runs around our house to “freshen” it with Assam & Grapefruit.) Once again, he decided to use a fragrance to fill one of our rooms with scent. He spritzed Violet Blonde in our bathroom and as soon as I walked in, I fell in love.
Violet Blonde is a new addition to Tom Ford’s Signature Line and comes in three different sizes 1 oz ($65), 1.7 oz ($100 and 3.4 oz ($145). It’s a soft elegant floral with a hint of a powdery finish. In the past few months I’ve started to explore a few more Tom Ford mini vials and am amazed at how his fragrances transform once they dry down on the skin. Violet Blonde is no exception. When first spritzed, there is a fruity floral with a hint of green (what I think is the violet). It dries down to a softer floral and warms up with a slight powdery woody feel. I don’t typically like strong floral or green scents, but I’m enamored with Tom Ford’s Violet Blonde. It’s a departure from what I’m typically drawn to yet I adore it.
I’m sure by now many of you have already tested out Violet Blonde. I love the reviews by The Non-Blonde, Fruity Lashes, The Candy Perfume Boy and Temptalia. What more can I add? Not much. I’m still learning how to review fragrances. I highly recommend you read their reviews to get a better sense of how Violet Blonde behaves on the skin. Their descriptions and reviews are amazing. I agree with Gaia that while this is marketed as a perfume for women, men also seem to love it. My husband adores it. Bottom line: dreamy, feminine, elegant and classic.
All photos taken by me. More details shown below for the inspiration, top notes, middle notes and base notes.

What are your favorite Tom Ford fragrances?

Tom Ford Violet Blonde was gifted courtesy of Neiman Marcus.
© The Beauty Look Book.
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Tom Ford Silvered Topaz Eye Color Quad

November 20, 2011

Tom Ford’s full makeup line has just been launched in the US at Bergdorf Goodman and select Neiman Marcus locations. I have not yet had a chance to see the entire lineup in person but I did pre-order a few items online. I’ve been enamored with the formula of all his lipsticks (original and new revamp) so my expectations were set pretty high for the rest of the line. First up to be reviewed is his eye color quad in Silvered Topaz 05 ($75 for .35 oz/10 g). Each quad has a diverse range of finishes, Silvered Topaz has an intense champagne sparkle, a satiny silvery grey, shimmery pale mauve and matte brown plum. The overall undertone of this quad is very cool, I found it a bit too silvery for my olive skintone but it looks amazing on Karla Sugar (see her makeover results here). (On thumb at top is Chanel Rose Cache.)

Here are some more close ups and swatches (scroll down for the review):

* On thumb is Chanel Nuit de Russie (from 2008)

Quality, Pigment & Texture: The quality of the shadows in Silvered Topaz are good but not great. The texture is smooth and easy to blend which is nice and the shimmer is finely milled for the satin/shimmer shades. The high-sparkle shade is lovely as a finishing color with no fall out but very intense. The matte shade is also smooth. Pigment is medium but layerable. Overall I think the quality is decent, but perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by Le Metier & Dior lately. $75 is a huge ouch to the wallet. I would rather pick out shades I love individually or spend an extra $20 for a Le Metier Kaleidoscope.
Packaging: The compact has a large mirror, magnetic closure and two double-ended applicators. I like that the compact comes in a decent size. It feels sturdy but not $75-worthy. Again, I feel it’s good, but not great. I highly recommend you check out The RaeViewer’s Video Tutorial and Swatches of Cognac Sable. I felt her thoughts resonated with me.
Colors: The promotional photos and previews from UK girls Get Lippie & London Makeup Girl had me drooling. Upon receiving the quad and seeing it in person, I was a bit less than wowed. It’s a bit too cool-toned for me and the colors don’t seem all that original. Still, in my stash, I couldn’t find a dupe for any of the colors.

Here are a few comparisons:

Bottom line: It’s like but not love. At $75 I need to love everything about this to feel ok about the price. Yes, buying four shadows individually from most brands will most likely cost me over $75, but I still haven’t been completely won over. Upon further digging through my stash I figured out why I thought this wasn’t so original. It appears to be close to Chanel Stupendous (comparisons to come tomorrow). My heart still belongs to his lipsticks. (I’ve also purchased one blush and lipgloss but still need to do some more testing on those.)
Have you been able to check out Tom Ford’s Beauty Line in person? What were your thoughts? Share your hauls or testing experiences at the counter so the rest of us can live vicariously through you. (For inquiring minds, nail polish featured in the top photo is Chanel Rose Cache while nail polish in the middle with the back of the compact is Chanel Nuit de Russie. Photos were taken over different days.)
Copyright © 2009-2011 The Beauty Look Book.
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Armani Madre Perla Palettes for Holiday 2011

November 14, 2011

Armani has released two palettes this holiday season for their Madre Perla Collection. The theme for the eyes and cheeks are shimmery golds, nudes, pearls and silvers. I found the collection has arrived in-store at Neiman Marcus. One is a Face & Eye Palette #1 (the golden one) and the other is designed as an Eye Palette #2. Both are $59 each and are limited edition. The two palettes contain three shades each, very reminiscent of Nude Contrasts from Spring 2010. I approached these with a bit of hesitation. As beautiful as the colors were from Spring, I have to admit both palettes have barely been used. All the colors (except the black) from the spring eye palettes show up similar on the skin which results in just one overly-sparkly eye when the colors are layered. Still, the palettes this season took my breath away as soon as I saw them. The palettes were a bit difficult to photograph to capture the dimensional aspect of the shimmer. I’ve tried several angles to try and help give you an idea.
Madre Perla Face and Eye Palette 1 is a trio of golds. The texture is soft, slightly powdery and fairly shimmery. Applying with an eyeshadow brush (or a denser brush) results in a very shimmery pigmented application. I wore this on the eyes last night to a play and it was beautiful but definitely on the sparkly side. The three colors you have are pale ivory, warm pale gold, neutral tan gold. I feel the colors are uniquely distinct from each other when swatched on the hand but if you want to layer three shades I think you can only create a subtle gradient. Since the payoff with a small brush was so pigmented I was worried it would be too frosty for the face, but applying with a regular brush brush (I used Bobbi Brown’s when testing this one) resulted in a sheer but visible wash of shimmer. Love!

Madre Perla Eye Palette 1 is also beautiful with a cool sharp white with gold frost, neutral tan beige shimmer and cool lavender. I’m not a fan of lavender shades but I learned from Le Metier that this color can be a great highlight to layer over beiges/tans and golds. I really love the middle shade, it’s like a soft beige with a slight hint of grey shimmer. I applied the middle shade first over most of the lid, then added the lavender to center on top and blended. I then added the ivory-gold as a very soft highlight near the top. Today I used Bobbi Brown Bronze gel liner to finish the look. Overall it’s a stunner but very pale. Next time I will need to add a darker contour like Chanel Sand.

Here’s another close up plus swatches:

Comparisons of last year’s highlighter (less yellow and lighter) to this year’s:

Palette comparisons from Spring 2010 to Holiday:

Overall all out gorgeous, not overly frosty, beautiful for holiday. I will definitely get more use out of these than the spring 2010 palettes. They are more versatile and wearable in my opinion.

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Le Métier de Beauté Merry Metallics

November 12, 2011

Le Métier de Beauté has released two beautiful nail sets exclusive to Neiman Marcus this holiday. Each set is priced at $32 and contains four beautiful metallic nail polishes with a stunning leaf ornament. You can see Café Makeup for the press release details and Karla Sugar for swatches of both sets. I died for Merry Metallics and did not hesitate to buy an extra set as a gift. Each come in the signature mini Le Métier nail polish packaging, the colors:
  • Plum Puddin’ – a rich light plum spun with sheer silver and micro-glitter sparkles
  • Red-E and Waiting – a sheer red with metallic gold undertones
  • Tarnished Silver – a moonlit highly metallic platinum
  • Lamé Entertain You – a foiled shimmering copper with silver undertones

Red-E and Waiting is a beautiful rich red with a gold shimmer infused throughout. On the nail it applies beautifully and smoothly with just one coat although I did not really see any gold shimmer on the nail once applied. I adore this color. One simply cannot have enough reds.

Tarnished Silver is a highly metallic frosted platinum with blueish tones. It’s very similar to OPI Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvelous but more blue. I find it very festive and gorgeous for holiday. Even though the shimmer factor is high, it’s still office appropriate.

Lamé Entertain You is a beautiful complex coppery pink silver frost. It’s almost foiled-like when you apply it. I adore this one. I put it on as a full manicure and it lasted all week without any chips or tip wear. This color screams “holiday” to me. I want an eyeshadow this color.

Plum Puddin’ is the most fun color in the set but least office-appropriate (in my mind). Still for a glittering purple it’s more wearable than most other frosted purples. I’m not a glitter fan at all but the tiny micro-sparkles in this shade add a kick to make this fun to wear. I found the finish on the sheer side even with 2 coats.

One last photo since I know everyone likes comparisons. I found each shade in Merry Metallics unique but here are a few other shades to help you gauge the color based on varying computer screens and my skintone.

Bottom line: Totally gorgeous, festive, and fun. The Le Métier de Beauté StocKen Stuffer Nail Sets are $32 each and currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus. I found mine in-store. The set is worth every penny. Happy Friday to everyone!
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