I stopped by Neimans yesterday to check out the Chantecaille Dauphins Palette & New Lip Chics. My SA gave me the gift list for the upcoming beauty events.
The details: Spend $100 and get a denim bag. It doesn’t say if there are any samples in the bag or not. There are gifts with each line individually below. Want to know my thoughts? Read at the end of the list down at the bottom.
The bag, as usual, is hideously ugly and in my opinion, a terrible incentive. If it weren’t for the individual line GWPs I wouldn’t purchase anything. The only 2 GWPs I find appealing are Chantecaille’s & Giorgio Armani’s.
I just got the March 2010 issue of The Book from Neiman Marcus in the mail and two of the previews in their beauty section caught my eye:
1) A Trish McEvoy Planner set retailing for $95, exclusive to Neimans which includes: Petite Planner Page, Eye Base Essentials n Bars, Instant Pick-Me-Up Face Color, Translucent Setting Powder, Deluxe Diamond Eyeshadow in Crystal, Eye Definer in Arabian Nights, Glaze Eyeshadow in Azure, and Irresistible Lipgloss in Petal cased in a faux crocodile makeup planner.
I believe other Trish locations will be receiving the same set (contents) with a different planner in the blue python print similar to the case for the Champagne Truffles Card (reviewed here).
2) I heard of the Laura Mercier Zen palette from my friend Parsi about a month ago and I’m glad to finally see a photo of it because now my lemming is gone. The Zen palette retails for $60. The other items pictured were repromotes so I didn’t take pictures of those items.
I think my wallet is safe. I find the Planner Set is cute, but I’ve caved into one too many “planner sets” which I find end up collecting dust and end up being regifted or swapped away. The Laura Mercier set looks stunning, but I will need to see/test it in person before buying. I’m not the biggest fan of palettes that have creams (lipsticks) and powders (eyes/cheeks) on the same layer because they tend to get a bit messy.
The Bobbi Brown Neiman Marcus exclusives have arrived in-store which include 3 mini shimmer bricks in Nectar, Plum and Sandstone along with the exclusive lipsticks in Pink Nectar and Sand.
The colors are stunning and the packaging is gorgeous, but the bad news is that there is no set price as thought by my SA and price is steep at $45 each. They are extremely tiny and encased in a heavy magnetized metal compact with a velvet pouch. The lipsticks are regular price $22 and come in the same special packaging as the chrome lipsticks in Sand (nude beige) and Pink Nectar (coral-pink). They are also repromoting Port from the Chrome Collection.
There are three ways to get a better deal on these:
* Starting the 22nd until the 29th, you can save 10% off a purchase of $200 or more at Neiman Marcus * Neiman Marcus will have their Incircle event starting December 7th – there will be a GWP * Wait for Bergdorf Goodman’s $25 off $100 event starting December 2nd (however do note quantities may be limited)
The Neimans near me said they only received 3 of each shimmer brick and a limited quantity of the lipsticks. I was on the wait list, so my SA called me as soon as they came in.
The colors are indeed stunning but at $45 each, I feel they should have at least been the full size or come with a brush.
The ultimate brush splurge you can find right now is the Black Plum Deluxe Brush Collection exclusive to Neiman Marcus & Bergdorf Goodman. It retails for $250 and has 8 different full sized brushes with stunning black and chrome handles.
If you purchased each brush individually, the total retail value of all the brushes in the set is $267, so while this set isn’t exactly a steal, the quality of the set is just as good as the regular individual brushes (which I find rare among other brands) and it’s packaged in a gorgeous shiny deep plum zipped case.
(As of now, here are the prices individually: blush $50, bronzer $50, cream shadow $28, eyeshadow $28, gel liner $25, eye definer $28, eye smudge $28, eye shader $30. Ladies – correct me if I’ve miscalculated.)
Neiman Marcus is also having their InCircle event and the gift with purchase is a mini lip quad, mini lip brush and a mini clear lipgloss. InCircle Card Holders – check your mail because you may have a $50 gift card that you can use instore during the incircle event days (certain exclusions apply).
Looking for a set with brushes and color items? Check out their Black Plum Collection set that features a 9-pan palette with brushes and case. Additional photos HERE.
Eye Brush Details:
Larger Brush details:
Comparisons to my other full size individual Bobbi Brown brushes:
Overall thoughts: I have never bought a full-sized brush set because I usually find the quality to be different from the regular individual brushes. I have purchased a few mini brush sets in the past. This was definitely a must-buy for me and my sweet SA was kind enough to throw in an extra Bobbi Brown gift because she had extras from their beauty week in addition to the Incircle gift. The cream shadow brush in the set is slightly more flexible than the full sized ones I currently own, but not enough to make it significantly different. The only thing I would change is I wish she had included her new eye sweep brush in here instead of the regular eyeshadow brush.
I’ve posted about some tidbits about a few exclusive sets from Bobbi Brown & Laura Mercier in the past month and they are now all available online with full details. I also wanted to let you know about upcoming events that you might be interested in as well.
Current or upcoming events I know about:
* September 16th to 19th? – Bergdorf Goodman $25 off $100 purchase event. * Now until September 20th – Neiman Marcus Beauty Event, receive a leopard-print tote with 5 samples inside, each line has their own individual gift with purchase. You can find the list online or POSTED HERE. (Note that some of the gifts have already been removed from the website, which I assume they have sold out.) * September 24 to ? – Saks Beauty Event, at this time I don’t know what the gifts are. * Mid October – Neiman Marcus Incircle Event, which is a double points event for Neiman Marcus Card Holders, but open to anyone they have gift with purchases at this time as well
First – I want to let you know that each store I’ve been to have told me they only received 6 sets of each item. I’m not really sure if this is actually true, but just be aware that stock is limited. They can always try and locate the item at another store and have it shipped to you. But those who prefer instant gratification might want to keep this in mind.
* Bobbi Brown Black Plum Set $245 – Exclusive Navajo Eye Shadow, Ash Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow, Exclusive Deep Plum Shadow, Natural Bronzing Powder, Washed Rose Shimmer Blush, Plum Blush, Brown Lip Color, Rose Petal Lip Color, and Pink Chandelier Glitter Lip Gloss + 5 Brushes.
Scan from Bergdorf’s Magazine which I feel is more accurate in showing the product colors, while the image from online shows a better picture of the brushes:
* Laura Mercier Essential Organizer $125 – 12 Eyeshadow Celestial, African Violet and Bamboo Luster Eye Colours, Black Plum, Buttercream, Cashmere and Coffee Ground Matte Eye Colours, and Sandstone, Baroque, Haze, Stellar and Sable Sateen Eye Colours + 3 double ended brushes, details a few posts below + more real pictures.
* Bobbi Brown Black Fawn Set $100 – “ Chrome 4 Pan palette filled with two neutral shades of Eye Shadow, exclusive Shimmer Lip Gloss (with protective cover), and for the first time ever, Bobbi’s Pot Rouge in customizable form (with protective cover). Also includes three mini brushes-Eye Shadow, Lip, and Eye Shader – and a Chrome faux-leather organizer.”
Not disclosed online, but it contains: * 4 pan palette with full sized Ivory Eyeshadow, Fawn Shimmerwash, Powder Pink Pot Rouge, and exclusive Paisley Rose Lipgloss * 3 mini brushes: eyeshader, eyeshadow, and lip
* Laura Mercier Gemstone Eye Collection $125– “A first for Laura, five perfectly paired jewel tone baked eye colours that can be used wet or dry create endless looks. Contour and define eyes with three expertly chosen double-ended brushes. The Gemstone Eye Collection contains the following mini Baked Eye Colours: Pearl, Tiger’s Eye, Deep Amethyst, Tourmaline and Malachite. A Black Thickening and Building Mascara and Black Violet Kohl Eye Pencil provide a final touch of drama. Various looks can be achieved using the double-ended All Over Eye Colour Brush and Eye Crease Brush, double-ended Smudge and Corner Eye Colour Brush or the double-ended Crème Eye Colour Brush and Crème Eye Detail Brush.”
* Eyes & Cheeks To Go Set $60 – Warm Eye Quad includes Bone Shimmer Wash, Copper Sand Shimmer Wash, and Gold Dust Metallic and Espresso eyeshadows. Pot Rouge in shade Blushed Rose. Cool Eye Quad includes Navajo Metallic, Gunmetal Shimmer Wash, Rockstar Metallic and Navy eyeshadows.
I’ve heard that for the holidays Nordstrom will have some exclusive items for Laura Mercier, but don’t have details at the moment.
Also if you shop at Bloomingdales, they will have their Beauty Benefits Event mid-october, but at this time I don’t think they will have any Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier Exclusives – but they will have gifts with purchases. Perhaps for the holiday collections they will though.
I scanned in the list of gifts for each line per the mailer I received. The event starts on the 10th instore and there is a department wide gift – details should be showing up online at neiman marcus shortly. Images are clickable for larger viewing.
My Neiman Marcus finally received this instore! This is Sylvie’s Personal Palette and retails for $72. It so pretty I don’t want to use it to ruin the surface (the iridescence is the overspray).
For actual swatches, check out Karla Sugar’s awesome Blog. FYI Neiman Marcus has their Beauty Event starting next week so if there are more Chantecaille items, this is a good time to take advantage of the gift. I couldn’t think of more things to get so I decided to pick the palette up yesterday instead of waiting for the event. The gift with purchase for the line is:
They will be having two more incircle events for this year in October/November and December.
