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Burberry Fall 2011: Nude Rose, Nude Cashmere & Midnight Brown

July 26, 2011

Burberry has some new items for fall currently available instore at select Nordstrom counters. The items I ordered from Nordstrom San Francisco: Nude Rose No. 25 and Nude Cashmere No. 26 Lipsticks along with Midnight Brown No. 21 Eyeshadow. These are beautiful neutrals that will definitely become weekday staples.

Left is Nude Cashmere, Right is Nude Rose
Nude Cashmere No. 26 (left above) is a cream neutral nude brown. To me this is in the same color family as Edward Bess Sundown. It’s very fleshy-nude-taupe kind of shade. For me this is not a flattering shade. It makes me look dead. However, if you’re one of those lucky girls who can pull off colors like MAC Spite Lipglass, then you will love this.

Nude Rose No. 25 (right below) is a neutral cream pink-rose-peach. The color changes depending on the angle you look at it. Sometimes it looks like a straight rose, other times it looks more peachy. On the lips, it goes on fairly nude (like the name suggests). I like the smooth creamy coverage.

Midnight Brown No. 21 is a beautiful complex shimmery taupe-brown. This is definitely a must-have in any taupe-lovers collection. Although it’s more brown (rather than taupe) there is a beautiful taupeish tone that comes from the shimmer. I believe this is the most complex shadow Burberry has released to date. I absolutely adore it. Even though the shimmer factor is higher than most other Burberry shadows (on par with Rosewood’s complexity), the texture is still very smooth and finely milled. The pigment is just amazing with this and you can blend and layer easily to achieve the intensity you want. LOVE.

Swatched 3 ways
Overall … if you’re not digging the metallics or greens and blues from other brands this season, Burberry has a few beautiful neutral options that will be suitable for year round. While Nude Rose isn’t the most unique, it is easy to wear – sometimes finding a good nude pink rose can be difficult. This one has just the right mixture of nude and pink. Midnight Brown is the must-have for me. There are so many different ways to wear this shade and it’s texture makes it easy to apply.
I haven’t pulled any other products to compare so I can’t really say how unique/similar these are to existing colors. I do believe regardless of existing dupes that Midnight Brown is a must-have. I recommend you also check out The Ultimate Makeup for her thoughts and swatches 🙂 She’s done a few helpful comparisons.
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Latest Discoveries From Burberry: Copper Lip Mist, Blush Lip Gloss, Midnight Black Eyeshadow

June 1, 2011

I stopped by Burberry Beauty at Nordstrom South Coast Plaza mid-May to check out the new Lip Mists (see my window shopping snapshots here). I came home with three things: Lip Mist in Copper, Eyeshadow in Midnight Black, and Blush Lipgloss.

The new Burberry Lip Mists are supposed to be a sheer natural formula with a dewy finish. I didn’t find them as shiny/glossy as Dior or Chanel’s newest lipsticks, nor did I find them really sheer. I would describe them as a medium finish lipstick, the texture is definitely natural but slightly less creamy than their regular formula. I looked at all the shades, the only two that stood out to me were 02 Copper and 09 Feather Pink. I decided to get just one to try, I came home with Copper, a natural brownish-pink.

I also picked up Blush Lipgloss 04 which I find more pinky-rose than most promotional photos show this one as. This one has been repromoted for spring. I’ve had this on my wishlist for a while, I decided to cave. It’s a lovely natural rose blush with shimmer. I would describe it as a neutral-cool shade.

Last, I picked up Burberry’s Midnight Black Eyeshadow – a soft sheer shimmery black. This has a gorgeous shimmer with a slight greyish undertone. It is a bit high maintenance in my opinion. It’s not as easy to blend as the other Burberry shades I have (I own both light and dark, shimmer and mattes). This one applies streaky, sheer and uneven on bare lids. You need an emollient base like UD’s Primer Potion for it to show up well. I applied this with a fine tip smudge brush as a thick smudgey line and then took a lighter shade to apply on top to blend out the edges and then reapplied the black to intensify the color.

Swatched in a few different views:


Overall I love the Blush Lipgloss. The Lip Mists are nice, but I prefer the regular lipstick mainly because the color selection is better. Formula-wise, Lip Mists are less creamy but do have a semi-transparent texture even if the finish isn’t really sheer (in my opinion). Copper is a nice basic but not a must-have. Midnight Black is a disappointment, mainly because I think it will be more of a high maintenance black shadow, but when applied over a moist base and packed on (rather than brushed on) it does show up.

I have a few comparison shots for your reference. I did not have time to swatch them all though and most likely will not be swatching in the near future due to time constraints.



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Chanel Ultra Correction Lift: Travel Essentials Set

April 6, 2011

My skin recently had a mini freak-out session due to weather changes and work stress. My usual go-to items weren’t doing anything to speed up the recovery and given the weather/seasonal changes I felt that my skin needed a change. (This happens around the same time every year and most of the time my skin clears up on its own.)

I spotted this cute set at Nordstrom a little over a week ago – perfect timing for me. New and limited edition, Chanel has released a mini travel skincare set in the Ultra Correction Lift formula. It retails for $175 with smaller trial sized items encased in a black zip pouch. As much as I love Chanel, my experience trying their skincare line hasn’t been wildly successful since they discontinued my favorite Age Delay line. I have tried the Ultra Correction Lift and Ultra Correction Line Repair range during makeovers (Chanel will often give you a wonderful mini facial to prep the skin) but was never quite sold. I decided to give this line a second try.

The ingredients, description and benefits according to Chanel:
  • Sculpting Firming Concentrate (0.5 fl. oz. airless pump) “ELEMI PFA* Derived from a pure botanical found in Indonesia, the Elemi tree, for traditional use in healing, and purified to its most potent essence. The unique ingredient helps boost the production of tensin — providing benefits beyond those of elastin and collagen — to help rebuild and strengthen the supportive dermal network. Skin appears lifted from within.
  • Lifting Firming Day Cream SPF 15 (0.5 oz. jar) An anti-aging treatment with high-performing star ingredient elemi PFA* stimulates the production of tensin, improving the quality of skin’s collagen and elastin fibers, and helping to improve their bonds within the skin to create a firm supportive network. Lush cream, luxuriously textured and delicately scented, delivers a very soft, matte finish, with ultimate comfort, for a visible lifting effect.
  • Ultra Firming Night Cream (0.5 oz. jar) High-performing star ingredient elemi PFA* stimulates the production of tensin, improving the quality of skin’s collagen and elastin fibers, and helping to improve their bonds within the skin to create a firm supportive network. Velvety cream, luxuriously textured and delicately scented, intensely nourishes for a plumping and firming effect, specifically formulated for skin’s night function.
  • Comes with two mini black spatulas for the creams
I asked my sales associate how much of a “deal” this was so pulled out her calculator for the breakdown. We did it in a hurry but found the set was approximately the same price proportionally. Concentrate retails for $165, Day Cream retails for $150, Night Cream retails for $165. To buy all 3 items in the full size would have cost me around $500.

While $175 is pricey for skincare that might not work, it certainly was a lot more affordable than buying three full-sized items for $400+. I thought this was the perfect set for me to try out and test everything given a few raves from my friends.

Thoughts to date: I have been using these items since the 26th of March (so approximately 11 days). I’ve been using the concentrate and day cream everyday under foundation. With the night cream – I haven’t been as disciplined and have only used it 3 times. I think I will need at least a full 3 weeks to make a concrete decision on how I truly feel about these. Skincare can take time to really take effect.

The first two days my skin became a bit red on the cheek areas, but I thought this could have just been to my own personal stress. I kept using it to see if my skin would improve. In addition, I got a sample of the new Express Lifting Firming Mask at the counter and tried that as well. After 11 days of testing my skin I have smoother softer skin. My disaster spots are almost gone. I don’t know that I will see any lift as I don’t really have any sagging areas yet on my face.

The Concentrate is a gel-like texture that applies smooth and non-sticky. My SA recommends patting it into the skin rather than rubbing, but I’m still more of a slathering-type of person when it comes to skincare. There is no detectable scent.

The Day Cream is on the thicker side with a slightly tacky feeling. It does dry down a little to be non-sticky. There is a noticeable scent which I cannot describe. It’s not overpowering and fades within a few seconds. I have a highly sensitive nose and cannot stand strong fragrances in skincare.

The Night Cream is thick but smoother than the day cream with the same scent. I haven’t been using the Concentrate with the Night Cream even though it is recommended. I personally would rather save it for the daytime.

I need a few more weeks to see if this is something that I like or if my skin is just simply getting better on its own. I will update in about a month with further thoughts. The packaging however is beautiful. The pouch is a decent size for travel and the black holder inside is easily removable so you can fit more items inside. The only downside is that is made of a nylon material which I think can get dirty easily if not careful.

Have you tried Chanel Skincare? If so – what have been your experiences? Any favorites? I’ve received countless samples of their Sublimage over the years – most of which I have gifted away. Every now and then I’ll try one of my samples and I find it too rich for my skin. Still, they are nice to try and I can’t tell you how many of my friends are always eager to take my unwanted samples off my hands.

FYI – a number of you have asked about my update on Vitalumiere Aqua foundation. It was reviewed in more detail a month ago, re-linked here for your convenience. Hope this helps!
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Latest From Burberry Beauty Spring 2011: Blushes

March 19, 2011

Burberry Beauty has released three new blushes and lipsticks this spring at exclusively at Nordstrom in select stores and online. The three blush shades are 06 Tangerine, 07 Earthy and 08 Misty. All are soft and muted colors but apply with enough color and pigment to show up as a visible blush. The texture of these is soft & powdery – like velvet. Don’t let the swatches on your hand (or my arm) deceive you. When I first saw the line at South Coast Plaza I was disappointed at first glance (see it here). They looked incredibly boring, but after trying them on the face I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t detect any shimmer although I wouldn’t call these a full matte. They have a satiny finish. These come in a sturdy metal mirrored compact with the Burberry Check pattern on the outside. See details below.

06 Tangerine is a peachy color with a hint of brown. Compared to Blossom, it’s more dusty and lighter in color with a touch more brown.

07 Earthy is a lighter soft brown-tan. It has greyish undertones with the tiniest bit of pink tones making this a good contour shade. Kristy from Nordstrom SF recommends using this as a crease color for the eyes as well.

08 Misty is soft cool pink. Compared to Peony, Misty is lighter, cooler, more muted.


For additional swatches, check out NaturalNChicMakeup’s blog. She has excellent photos in different lighting.

Comparison photos below. Comparison swatches did not turn out so well so these will have to suffice.



One last view of all three:


Overall thoughts: All were purchased from Nordstrom San Francisco. Burberry Beauty is only available at a few select Nordstrom locations. I like these for a natural soft contour-like shade. All are goof-proof and highly versatile. The texture is amazing and melts into the skin. They feel like velvet and feel natural on the face. Lasting power is decent for a powder blush and colors are naturally flattering.

In general, I feel like the blushes from Burberry apply darker on the face than they appear in the compact. You can see from the swatches above they look darker than what you might expect.

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Dior Rock Your Nails Collection: First Look

March 14, 2011

Quick swatches of the new Dior Vernis from their Rock Coat Collection. My own review & thoughts to come later this evening! And because I know everyone is going to ask, Blue Label is darker than Bond Street (comparison to come soon). In the meantime, check out Fashion Polish, Joey’s Space, and TriGirl from The Purse Forum for additional swatches, reviews and thoughts.


Left to Right: Perfecto, Nirvana, Purple Mix (Rock Coat Finger is where ever you see the corresponding bottle in the background)


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Dear Chanel, I Love You! Spring 2011 Le Vernis Shades Have Arrived

December 17, 2010

Chanel spring is starting to trickle in stores and the best news is that in the U.S. they have brought back the American-style formulas of the blush (no longer baked) and eyeshadow quad (back to square). I’m ecstatic! With the past few collections I was worried that in 2011 I would fall out of love with Chanel. There is so much to cover and I haven’t had time to play with everything yet so I’m going to split up my reviews. The first review will cover the new Le Vernis shades: Pearl Drop 511, Black Pearl 513, Pêche Nacrée 515.

The colors of white-gold, murky greyed-green and soft peachy-pink are an interesting combination for nails, but I love them. I love how Chanel matched the new Eyeshadow Quad, Regard Perlé (review coming soon). You might think the colors have been done before – but Chanel has a way of combining colors and pigments that no other brand can match. The result is a sophisticated and fresh palette that is appropriate for now and also serves as the perfect transition to spring.

Nails matched to the quad:

The finish of these spring nail colors is a pearl-frost. You can see brush strokes on Pearl Drop and Black Pearl if applied with a shakey hand, but the streaks aren’t too bad. All of them are a bit sheerer than your typical Chanel nail polish (in my opinion). I find the cream-non-shimmers to be full coverage while these are not full-coverage-with-1-coat. The Spring Shades definitely need 2-3 coats. Fortunately, they aren’t as sheer as Riva is. The nice thing about the texture is it allows you to build your color as you like.

Pearl Drop 511 is a white base with gold shimmer. It’s almost a duo-chrome color. This color is lovely, but not exactly my favorite. It’s simply too contrasted with my skintone. The yellowish undertones in my skin also don’t really help with this color. I wanted to compare it to Hard Candy’s Sugar Daddy, but it appears I had gifted that shade away. So, I pulled a few other Chanel whites for your reference. Blanc Petal is a pure white frost, Intermezzo has that opal-pinkish sheen, Pearl Drop is clearly a white-gold frost.

L to R: Chanel Blanc Petale, Intermezzo 501, Pearl Drop 511


Black Pearl 513 is the most highly anticipated shade of spring (for me). I have been dying of curiosity to see how it compares to other greenish murky shades. I am happy to report that Black Pearl appears to be truly unique. It’s one of those shades that is true-to-the-bottle in the sense that what you see in the bottle is what you get on the nails. So many dark greenish teals look gorgeous in the bottle, but go on nearly black on the nails. Chanel Black Pearl has a beautiful sheen to it with a mixture of teal, grey, silver, dark green. It’s hard for me to describe but it’s a stunner! Compared to the colors below, it’s lighter in color and exactly as gorgeous as I had hoped.

L to R comparisons: OPI Cuckoo For This Color, Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams, Chanel Black Pearl 513, Lancome Pop Petrol (reviews/swatches on other colors are linked)

Pêche Nacrée 515 was a pleasant surprise. I expected it to be an unflattering frosty shade of peach but it has just the right amount of pearliness which makes it a lovely soft peachy-pinky-pearly color. It is on the sheerer side, so it definitely requires 3 full coats. This is the most spring-like color out of all 3 shades.

L to R comparisons: OPI Love Me Tender, Chanel Pêche Nacrée 515, Dior Angelic Rose 152

FYI: The spring collection is up on Chanel.com and I found the items in-store at Nordstrom in Southern California. I’ve also heard reports that it’s been spotted at Bloomingdales in NY. So ladies, call your counters – it should be arriving any day now if it hasn’t already!

More reviews to come soon, here’s a sneak peek . . . please do not republish or hotlink my photos, all content is copyrighted!

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