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On My Radar / New in Beauty

October 21, 2014

A few new items on my beauty radar this week:

Jo Malone has released the Cologne Intense Mini Collection (1) in a set for the first time this holiday. It has Tuberose Angelica, Velvet Rose and Oud, Saffron, Dark Amber and Ginger Lily and Oud and Bergamot. I was almost ready to purchase but have never smelled Saffron before. Have you? What do you think?

Edward Bess has released four new shades of Lasting Kiss Lip Stain (2). I will have swatches to share with you very soon but first impressions are they are to die for.

Tom Ford Beauty has re-released two of the Cream Color for Eyes (3) in Platinum and Spice. Those who missed out before will be happy to know you can purchase them now with the holiday collection (but take note they are limited-edition again).

L’Occitane never fails to get me with their Shea Butter Hand Cream releases (4). With the holiday season approaching, I’m excited to see what sets they will release this year. Three new ones on my radar are the Rose Heart, Vanilla Bouquet and Whipped Shea Butter.

NARS has several holiday gifting sets out this year. This Virtual Domination Cheek Palette (5) looks like it could be the perfect compact size to slip into your purse for touchups or application on-the-go.

I’ve been getting lots of e-mails about the new Chanel Rouge Allure Gloss (6). Chanel.com released three shades as a preview, but all the colors have finally arrived at Nordstrom in case you have been looking. I have five I’ll be swatching and reviewing.

Diptyque has some amazing holiday offerings this year. The packaging on their holiday candles are breathtakingly beautiful. There will be candle sets available as well. For the first time they will have one of their photophores available for purchase outside of Diptyque Boutiques in a Limited Edition Set with a Candle Holder + Feu de Bois, 6.5 oz. (7).

Dior Holiday is also stunning. There are two limited-edition quints in Golden Shock and Golden Reflection (8). (P.S. for a limited time, Nordstrom.com has these on sale with 10% off for their price matching, check out the Sale Section on their website under Beauty to see what else is on a discount.)
What’s on your beauty radar this week?
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On My Radar / New in Beauty

October 13, 2014

I’ve been busy with a move, I didn’t plan to take a break from blogging but ended up having to take a few days off. I have quite a few new things I’m excited to share with you and hope to get everything unpacked from boxes in the next few days. In the meantime, here are some new things that have popped up online in the beauty world. Holiday collections and new releases are trickling in each day.

Diptyque has three new scents coming out this holiday in Spice, Winter and Resin (1). Three are available online at Neiman Marcus in the large size. If you are near a Diptyque Boutique, they will have an exclusive in-store one-day preview this Wednesday October 15 before it is released officially in November. (These will also be available in the smaller sizes too.)

Marc Jacobs Beauty The Sky-Liner Set (2) has 7 mini Highliner Gel Pencil set for the holidays. It has in O(vert) (forest green), Brown(out) (bronze with shimmer), Th(ink) (deep navy), (Plum)age (vivid purple), Blacquer (black), Sunset (golden bronze shimmer), Midnight in Paris (inky indigo blue). This is on my wish list.

Chanel Holiday (3) has arrived in stores and online. I bought the Volage Rouge Allure, Phenix Le Vernis, Les 5 Ombres Palette and Envol Illusion D’Ombre. I’m in love with the peachy lipstick and eyeshadow, more thoughts on the other items soon.

Oribe Liquid Gold Set (4) has mini 50 ml sizes of the Gold Lust Shampoo, Conditioner and Hair Oil. I tried a couple sample packets of the shampoo and conditioner and fell head over heels. I have some other shampoos I’m currently using now, so I may wait and get this set once those are used up.

Dior has added more shades to their 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette line (5). I have Cuir Cannage and Versaille to share soon. There will be two limited-edition options for holiday as well in Golden Shock and Golden Reflections.

Tom Ford Beauty has new matte lipsticks for the holiday (6). I am normally not a fan of matte lips but saw these last week and splurged on four shades. The colors currently available are Pink Tease, Pussycat, Ruby Rush, Plum Lush, Flame, First Time and Velvet Cherry.

Bobbi Brown has several holiday items and sets this year (7). There are some really pretty items from the Scotch on the Rocks collection. I played with these briefly at the counter a few days ago. I have my eye on the Bronze Glow Highlight Powder, Black Scotch Gel Liner, Scotch Nail Polish, Bellini and Gold Glitter Lipgloss, I will need to play more before deciding whether or not these will be too shimmery or not.
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I will resume posting as soon as I can, in the meantime I’d love to hear what’s on your beauty radar 🙂
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On My Radar / New in Beauty

September 28, 2014

I hope everyone has been enjoying the weekend. We’re still experiencing really warm weather in Southern California but it’s finally started to cool down a little bit. Fall and holiday items are trickling in stores but it doesn’t feel like fall yet. A few new items I’ve spotted that are on my current beauty radar:

Chanel has re-released some cult classics in the new Collection Les Rouges Culte (1). There are three Le Vernis shades in Rouge Flamboyant, Laque Rouge, and Rouge No. 19 along with three featured shades of Rouge Coco Shine in Boheme, Dialogue and Suspense. In my mind Chanel can do no wrong when it comes to reds so I ordered the nail polishes and will swatch them as soon as they arrive.

I’m always on the hunt for cool stationery. I find hand-written notes can be fun and they add that personal touch which I feel is slowly disappearing in this digital age of e-mails and texts. Connor has this cute Emoji Stationery Set (2) which I have on my wish list. I have their desk calendar and love their exquisite designs and the card stock they use is very good quality.

Marc Jacobs Beauty has some new items for fall and holiday. There are 9 new shades of Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer (3) for fall (hover over the shades on Sephora to see which colors are labeled as “new”). I have my eyes on Blanche (white cream), Cobra (black grape) and Louise (ballet pink beige). There are some new items for holiday which includes a new Collector’s Edition Midnight in Paris shade that comes in a keepsake box.

Also for fall, there are several new palettes of the Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No.7 – Plush Shadow (4). I just ordered Enigma which has a mix of black, grey, taupe and pink. I’ll be swatching in the next couple weeks and report back.

L’Occitane recently released the Bonne Mère Collection (5). There are a number of shower gels and soaps in this line that is very gentle. Each comforting formula is hypoallergenic and PH neutral, made without parabens or phenoxyethanol. I’ve been testing a couple of the shower gels in Rosemary and Olive over the past couple of months and they are amazing. Rosemary is such a unique one with a refreshing one that has a beautiful scent (it’s not like actual rosemary like I expected).

Laura Mercier Peach Hope Lip Glacé (6) is a shimmering coral peach with gold flecks. 100% of the profits go to the Laura Mercier Ovarian Cancer Fund.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette (7) will launch next month (you can add your e-mail to the wait list at Sephora). It’s a definite must-have on my list, I hope to have swatches of this beauty this week as well. First impressions are that it took my breath away as soon as I opened it.

Diptyque Benjoin (8) is an online exclusive that is described as somewhere in between vanilla and caramel. It sounds like it could be either incredibly amazing or overly sweet. I have this on the way to my house and will report back as soon as I am able to burn it. This one is available for a limited time.

What’s on your beauty radar this week?

P.S. Thank you to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway! The winner has been announced on the widget, congrats to Denise P at e-mail deniseg*******[email protected], check your inbox, i just sent you a message 🙂

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On My Radar / New In Beauty

September 5, 2014

Happy Friday everyone! September is a big month for beauty lovers, there are a number of new product launches and gift with purchase events. Space NK and Barneys New York have phenomenal beauty gift bags coming up next week, I’ll have more details posted shortly, but I recommend you start making your lists. The price points for the minimum buy is on the higher end, but the gifts they have are best I’ve seen in the industry.

Some items on my beauty radar:
Diptyque has a number of beautiful new items for fall. There is a beautiful La Redoute Candle (1) with a marble ceramic jar. Ambre (2) now comes in larger amber tinted hand-blown glass jar. There is also a new Vanille Candle (3). I smelled it at the South Coast Plaza boutique months ago (they had a preview) and it’s a lovely smokey vanilla, perfect for fall.

Dior has released a new lip item called Rouge Dior Baume (4). Saks has an early exclusive this month. These are supposed to be lip balms with rich pigment. There are 15 shades Dior describes as “easy to wear” ranging from soft nudes, feminine pinks, and luminous fuchsias.

Hourglass Cosmetics fans will be thrilled to know they open their first boutique at the end of this month (5). Also on my radar is their newly repackaged Illusion Hyaluronic Skin Tint (6). I played briefly with the colors at Sephora last week but was in a rush so I didn’t get to look at the colors in detail.

Tom Ford Fall Beauty collections have been incredibly difficult to locate for some. Items have sold out at a record pace online. If you found that you missed out, don’t fret, items keep restocking online so don’t give up. Both of the Contouring Cheek Color Duos in Softcore and Stroked (7) are now online at Nordstrom and have been restocked at Neiman Marcus (see this post for my swatches).

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty has been on everyone’s beauty radar. I have been really impressed with the Lip Lustre Lip Lacquers (8) and K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipsticks (9). She has some outstanding neutrals.

Bobbi Brown has a new Limited-Edition set called the Mixed Metals Collection (10). It’s exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Bobbibrowncosmetics.com. I hope to have the swatches completed this weekend to post early next week (keeping fingers crossed I’ll have the time).

The 30 shades of Christian Louboutin Nail Polish have launched in The Pops, The Nudes and The Noirs (11) (featured above). I don’t have a store near me that carries them yet, so I’ll be relying on online reviews and swatches. I did order a few of the colors from Nordstrom sight unseen. My fingers are working as fast as they can to swatch the colors I picked out.
What’s on your beauty radar?
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On My Radar / New In Beauty

August 27, 2014

Happy mid-week lovelies! A few items that popped on my beauty radar this week. Fall collections look incredibly beautiful and there are a number of new foundation formulas on the market that sound promising.

  1. Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt has arrived for fall and it sounds amazing! This will come in a Candle, Body Cream,  are the the 1 oz and 3.5 oz Cologne Spray, I can’t wait to check it out this week
  2. Christian Louboutin will launch 30 new shades of nail polish at the end of the month, I have my eye on The Nudes Nail Colors (available for pre-order at Nordstrom)
  3. Clé de Peau Beauté Radiant Fluid Foundation has been on my radar for a while now, I received a sample packet (but in the wrong shade), it felt really nice on the skin, if you’ve tried it please let me know what you thought, I have friends that keep telling me it really is the best, but I can’t bring myself to splurge just quite yet
  4. Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Foundation is another new formula on the market, I tested a couple samples I received at the store, it did feel amazingly smooth, evened out the skin and covered imperfections while looking natural, I had a hard time deciding on a shade
  5. YSL Fusion Ink Foundation is yet another new one, I’ve heard nothing but great things about this, it’s on my list to try out
  6. Giorgio Armani Fall has arrived, the Palette Yeux Organica Palette looks absolutely amazing, it’s on hold for me at my local Neiman Marcus counter and I hope to pick it up in the next few days
  7. Jin Soon Choi collaborated with designer Tess Giberson to create five new nail colors, I ordered two and will share them soon, the five shades are Heirloom, Farrago, Mélange, Pistache and Nocturne, available now at Nordstrom and Space NK
  8. Tom Ford Fall has started to trickle in stores and has been selling out at lightening speeds. Today, some items have popped up online at Neiman Marcus including the Contouring Cheek Duos in Stroked and Softcore, Black Cherry Nail Lacquer, and Lip Colors in Negligee and Twist of Fate.
I have the Tom Ford and a couple JINsoon polishes to review soon. I ordered the Tom Ford Fall Collection from Saks NY after calling around several stores to find they had sold out and had wait lists going. Many have been asking me to rush the review and post it stat. I took about 1/2 of the pictures to review and my camera broke (heartbreak!!) before I could do swatches, it will take 3 weeks to get repaired so I purchased another camera which is on its way. I have some other items photographed and ready to publish in the mean time. I appreciate your patience. If you’re thinking about the Tom Ford, I suggest you act fast. I’ve been testing it and the eye quad and cheek duos are a must if you don’t want to wait for online items to show up, call your closest Tom Ford Counter or Boutique to place an order.

What’s on your beauty radar this week?
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On My Radar / New in Beauty

August 19, 2014

A few new items on my radar this week:

  1. Truffle Privacy Clutches have just launched in 4 colors Dove Grey, Blush, White and Seaglass
  2. Edward Bess has designed a new Ultra Slick Lipstick in Betty named for personal shopper Betty Halbreich, an emblem of style at Bergdorf Goodman since 1976
  3. Urban Decay Naked Basics2 just launched today on Urbandecay.com (it will be available at other retailers later this fall)
  4. Make Up For Ever launched their new Artist Shadows (over 200 shades), I quickly swatched a few in-store a couple days ago but didn’t have time to look in detail, the texture seems super soft and pigmented
  5. Guerlain Les Sables Four Pan Palette is one of three Guerlain eye palettes to launch early fall
  6. Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick is a new formula that comes in over 20 shades, there are a number of stunning soft rose pinks, I have my eye on Fall in Rose, Baby Rose, and Golden Girl
  7. MAC Prep + Prime Finishing Mist is supposed to be the regular Fix+ in upgraded packaging, I’ve been a huge fan of the regular Fix+, I hope the formula didn’t change too much (or at all really), if you’ve seen this, do you think it’s the same?
  8. Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate is Shiseido’s latest for anti-aging and skin smoothing, it claims to give your skin the ultimate glow in just one week, I’ll have to investigate and see if I can find a small sample
  9. Bobbi Brown has a new limited-edition Smoky Nudes Eye Shadow Palette, I’ve found these to be hit or miss in the past with formulas, the colors look stunning from stock photos
  10. Bobbi Brown Sandstone Shimmerbrick is a repromote with the Smoky Nudes collection, it is one of my favorites of all the Shimmerbricks, if you missed out before I highly recommend you check this one out
  11. Bobbi Brown has four new Creamy Matte Lip Colors in Nude, Warm Nude, Soft Nude and Pink Nude, all of these colors look like they are right up my alley, although I’m not a fan of matte lips, I might make an exception if the colors are naturally flattering
What’s on your fall beauty radar?

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On My Radar / New In Beauty

August 7, 2014

Some items on my beauty radar this week, I hope everyone is having a great week so far. It’s almost Friday 🙂

These come in 6 shades and the darker shades Bloom Berry 4, Fig Fiction 5 and Toffee Cream 6 and look absolutely stunning, I think a trip to Barneys is in order soon (see Mandarina Pulp and the lighter/brighter colors swatched here)
Many of you have asked for recommendations on clear makeup bags, these Small Clarity Clutches by One Truffle look chic, sleek and absolutely adorable (they’ve been added to my wish list)

3. Charlotte Tilbury Beauty
The line is launching in the US in September, I have my eye on so many things from her line since I’ve fallen in love with the Filmstar Bronze & Glow, I placed an order from Charlottetilbury.com because I couldn’t wait to try some items, I’m loving the look of her Beach Sticks.
This Christian Louboutin nail polish has been on my radar for a while, I couldn’t justify the $50 price tag on a nail polish, but so many lovely readers from Europe and the US have been emailing me with raves and also requests to review, I caved and ordered, will report when it arrives.
5. Lash Growth Serums
I’ve had my eye on several lash serums on the market and I personally know several girls who have use Latisse and Neulash and they have lashes that are seriously to die for, I’m going to try one soon.
This sounds intriguing with it’s multi-purpose benefits, have you tried this before? It’s supposed to be a makeup remover and lash moisturizer that helps them grow.
This looks like an exquisite classic palette, I’ve splurged on quite a few eyeshadow palettes already this fall, I’ll have to investigate in person to see if it’s unique enough to buy, but the colors look perfect for an everyday polished look.

8. NARS Audacious Lipstick Collection
NARS will be releasing 40 shades lipstick to celebrate their 20th Anniversary in the Audacious Lipstick Collection, colors will include a full range of provocative hues from neutral nudes to striking reds and bold pinks, housed in a modern, matte-black metallic case with a magnetic closure, launching on Narscosmetics.com on September 1st (10 of the shades will be exclusive to Barneys).

9. J.Crew Ceramic Tray
J.Crew has a new Gold/Ivory Ceramic Jewelry Tray which looks gorgeous for storing small accessories and trinkets. I have these in previously released patterns and they make nice accents for the home.

As fall collections and new product releases trickle in, what’s on your radar? As beauty fans in the US wait for Charlotte Tilbury’s beauty line to arrive I’m living vicariously through UK girls and their swatches. If you’ve tried the line please tell me what your favorites are. For lashes, do you have any favorite lash treatments or serums?
 
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