L to R: Le Metier de Beaute Whisper & Armani Holiday 2010 Shimmer Powder (to be reviewed soon)
Top to bottom: Chanel Star Glossimer, Laura Mercier Pink Diamond, Trish Irresistible Nude, MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass, MAC Gel Lipstick (on tube #3), D&G Perfection Lipstick
L to R: Paul & Joe Pearl Powder #01, MAC Naked Pigment, NARS All About Eve Eyeshadow Duo
OPI Hollywood Blonde Nail Polish, MAC Bare Study Paint Pot
MAC Bare Study Paint Pot, Paul & Joe Pearl Powder #01, MAC Naked Pigment, OPI Hollywood Blonde Nail Polish, Le Metier de Beaute Whisper Highlighter, D&G Perfection Lipstick, MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass, NARS All About Eve Duo, Chanel Star Glossimer, Laura Mercier Pink Diamond Lip Glace, Trish Irresistible Nude, MAC Gel Lipstick
Butter London’s All Hail McQueen seems to be the season’s hottest neutral for nails. Raved about by Amy from Café Makeup, Gaia of The Non-Blonde and Soaper1 on Karla Sugar – this instantly caught my attention and I knew I had to try it. All three reviews give us a slightly different glimpse of this beautiful shade. I loved how it looked in each review and immediately ordered one for myself.
The color is a complex holographic beige with bits of reflective particles in various shades of gold, silver, beige, tan, yellow – very hard to describe. Unfortunately the holographic quality only really shows up when the light hits it directly. It’s a beautiful shade, no doubt, but on my skintone, I feel it makes my hands look aged and tired. I actually prefer OPI’s DS Classic shade which is similar, just less brownish/grey, warmer and slightly brighter.
The formula itself is very sheer. I had to ask the salon to apply three coats to get it to show up. Lasting power was decent – it lasted about 3 days without any wear, chipping or flaking and I didn’t reapply any top coat after the initial application.
OPI DS Classic vs. Butter London All Hail McQueen
Overall pretty, just not really super flattering on my skintone unless the sun shines on my fingers directly. I personally prefer Butter London’s Yummy Mummy (reviewed and compared here) and also Chanel Particuliere for a more contrasted shade of beige/grey. It’s beautiful when the light hits, but just not really cup of tea. I will probably be sending this to a close friend who I know will go gaga over this shade and won’t mind that I used it already.
I recently received an e-mail from one of my readers asking if I knew of a dupe for Chanel Riviera. She had decided to wait a bit to think about purchasing it and by the time she decided to purchase it, the color was sold out everywhere online and at all the stores and counters near her. Knowing that “oh no it’s sold out” feeling all too well, I was more than happy to help. I called & visited a number of local stores (about a dozen) but I too was unable to locate the nail polish – so began my quest to find the perfect dupe.
I narrowed down my search to brands that had testers available thus eliminating brands without testers such as Zoya, China Glaze, Essie and all drugstore brands. I swatched about a dozen hot pinks in my notebook and then went back to each counter/store to swatch the four closest matches on my fingers. I have to admit I was a bit nervous swatching so many shades in my notebook – but the Chanel reps were so sweet at each store. They even chimed in with their input about which ones they thought looked the most similar to the Riviera shade.
For some reason the fuschia undertones of some of the shades were throwing off my camera flash, so it was hard to get an accurate picture. Here are two views (to the best of my ability).
Thumb: Sephora by OPI It’s All About Me – about 2 shades darker and brighter and a smidge cooler toned
Index: NARS Schiap – same intensity, one shade bluer, looks more magenta
Middle: MAC Steamy – closest dupe in my opinion, just a bit more intense/sharper looking
Ring: Chanel Riviera
Pinkie: OPI Strawberry Margarita – second closest dupe, slightly lighter (only a touch)
So, which are the closest dupes? The verdict: MAC Steamy and OPI Strawberry Margarita. From an arms distance glance – you can barely tell the difference. Here they are photographed next to Chanel Riviera. Note that while they look slightly different in the bottles, on the fingers the difference is not noticeable. Are the exact dupes? No.
I was also asked how it compared to Lancome’s Miss Perfectly Pink and Illamasqua Collide – Lancome’s is significantly cooler toned and Illamasqua is a hot electric neon pink. So if you missed out on Chanel Riviera, not to worry – no need to shell out extra money for the shade on ebay. You can definitely find a similar shade! Not an exact dupe, but yes, similar. (Here’s one more shot with the Lancome – can’t swatch it b/c it’s a present.)
In terms of pigment, I actually found all the dupes to be pretty smooth and nicely pigmented. The Chanel did apply the best IMHO, but after 2 coats, you get the same result.
Note that this is by no means the most comprehensive list – just the ones I found 🙂 I hope this helps some! All work is copyrighted. Please do not republish these photos.
Dior Love is most similar to OPI’s Lourve Me Lourve Me Not, but applies a lot better. The Dior only needed 2 coats where the OPI needed 3 to get a full application. The remaining colors aren’t necessarily dupes, but just colors in the same color family so you can gauge how purple/burgandy/fuschia/bright Dior Love is compared to other purples.
Same order, just closer shot:
I’m sure there may be other closer dupes out there for Dior Love, I just don’t have any others that compare to it.
I’m not sure if purple is “in” this season (with the exception of a part of MAC’s upcoming Spring Forecast collection) – but I’m not always one to follow the trends. When I think of spring, I think of soft colors and I love using purple on one feature for the face at a time (to avoid that purple overload look). I pulled out my soft purply colors and was surprised to find how much lilac and violets I own.
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Part 1: Eyes
For eyes, I can’t pull off all purples – some lilacs make me look like I have pink-eye but these are the ones that work for me. I would have to say my favorites are the Armani Maestro Single #10 because it has some slight gold sparkles and the new Paul & Joe Purple Clover from spring (waves to Josie for her wonderful swatch and review here).
1. Giorgio Armani Maestro Quad 6 Mineral 2. Giorgio Armani Maestro Single 10 3. NARS Duo Eyeshadow Violetta 4. MAC Violet, Dear (discontinued) 5. Laura Mercier Luster Eyeshadow Dusk (mini size from GWP) 6. Paul & Joe Face & Eyecolor CS in Purple Clover 066 7. MAC Eyeshadow Pro Palette in Crystal 8. Laura Mercier Mineral Eye Powder in Crushed Amethyst 9. Trish McEvoy Eyeshadow in Haze 10. Paul & Joe Eyeshadow Velvet Ribbon 06 11. MAC Pigment in Kitchmas 12. MAC Pigment in Lovely Lily (l/e) 13. MAC Pigment in Circa Plum (l/e)
* Please note, I’m not a fan of that Nars Violetta swatch, the lighter matte shade doesn’t always go on as muddy dark as it did on my arm
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Part 2: Lips
For lips, I can’t wear straight purples or lilacs for the lips. Most of these are either sheer or have some pink pearl in them to give a soft cool pink lip. My favorites are Laura Mercier’s Violet & Lilac Lip Glaces.
1. Bobbi Brown Brightening Lipgloss Pink Lilac 2. Laura Mercier Plumping Lipgloss in Wild Berry 3. Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Violet 4. Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Lilac 5. MAC Lustreglass in Morning Glory 6. MAC Lipglass Nico Now (l/e) 7. MAC Lipglass Fast Friends (l/e) 8. Nars Chastity Lip Gloss 9. Nars Sweet Charity Lip Gloss 10. Chanel Glossimer in Delight 11. Laura Mercier Stickgloss Lip Color in Purple Haze
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Part 3: Nails
I’m not the biggest fan of purple nails. I got a few of these as gifts yet can’t bring myself to regift them or give them away (because often times it’s the thought that counts). I desperately wanted to love Chanel’s Rodeo Drive (gorgeous violet purple) but it was simply too bright for my comfort. Chanel’s Lilac Sky is much more doable for me. I do like lighter purples for the nails, I also have a photo/swatch of Le Metier Phlox here, but it’s currently MIA.
Pinkie to Thumb: Sephora by OPI Call Your Mother, OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?, MAC Love & Friendship, Chanel Violette (euro exclusive), Chanel Lilac Sky
I brought my OPI Hollywood Blonde & Urban Decay Gunmetal to the salon for a mani/pedi color change. I had forgotten how sheer the UD Gunmetal was – with one swipe we saw how transparent it was. I asked for 3 coats and she was skeptical it would show even with 3 coats, so she suggested to use another color as a base with the UD on top for the shimmer. She picked OPI’s You Don’t Know Jacques which is a darker version of the new Chanel Particuliere click the link for more pics/comparisons. It was pure genius!
The 3 colors used: OPI Hollywood Blonde, OPI YDKJ, Urban Decay Gunmetal
Mani/Pedi Results:
Close up of Hollywood Blonde (3 coats and still sheer looking, but very sparkley)
Close Up of OPI YDKJ 2 coats + UD Gunmetal 1 coat (to spare you from a close up of my unsightly toes)
One more view
Those who have UD Gunmetal and are worried about what happens when the product runs out of that tiny bottle, I definitely recommend using a darker taupe grey cream color first in 1-2 coats, then applying the UD on top. You’ll definitely be able to stretch out the lifespan of that uber-tiny bottle by doing so since it’s so sheer you’d need at least 3 coats to get what you see in the bottle anyways.
I will admit that I tend to associate rosy pinks more with spring or summer, but I feel that rosy pink lips can pretty much be worn year round. For lips, I tend to lean more towards more natural pinks since I already have a lot of pink in my natural lip tone, so these won’t be the rosiest pinks that are out there.
Rosy Pink Lipglosses:
1. MAC Sweet Strawberry Lipglass 2. MAC Bingo! Plushglass 3. MAC Creme Anglaise Cremesheen Glass 4. Le Metier Siena Lip Creme (GWP) 5. Becca Rosita Lip Gloss 6. Nars Stella Lip Gloss 7. Paul & Joe Limited Edition 001 Lip Gloss 8. Chanel Imaginaire Glossimer 9. Edward Bess Love Always
Swatches, same order:
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Rosy Pink Lipsticks:
1. Chanel Ischia #96 Aqualumiere 2. Chanel Tasmania #99 Aqualumiere 3. Bobbi Brown Ruffle Metallic Lip Color 4. Le Metier de Beaute Cannes 5. MAC Strawbaby Lipstick (Fafi label came off) 6. MAC Party Mate 7. MAC Skew
(The swatches didn’t turn out so well, I might try again later)
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Nail Polishes:
1. OPI California Raspberry 2. Essie Very Cranberry 3. OPI Grand Central Carnation 4. Dolce & Gabbana Rose (received as a GWP, but part of the regular D&G line) 5. Paul & Joe #13
For the swatches, the order is:
1. Thumb = Paul & Joe #13 2. Index = Dolce & Gabbana Rose 3. Middle = OPI Grand Central Carnation 4. Ring = Essie Very Cranberry 5. Pinkie = OPI California Raspberry
My blush collection has a lot of nude pinks, hot pinks, dusty pinks, peachy-pinks. I don’t have very many rosy-pink colors for cheeks other than my Bobbi Brown Raspberry Pot Rouge. Hence, no focus on the cheeks. I definitely do not have any rosy pink eyeshadows.
Would love to hear what your favorite rosy pink colors are!
