Browsing Tag

Paul and Joe

Uncategorized

Fresh Pinks from Koh Gen Do, Burberry Beauty and Paul & Joe

July 5, 2011

Three fresh pink lip colors from a few harder-to-find brands I think everyone should check out:

  • Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Lipstick in Fresh Pink PK04 – a sheer fresh light pink with a soft frost ($38 can be found at Barneys.com and KohGenDoCosmetics.com)
  • Burberry Lip Mist in Fresh Pink No. 09 – a healthy semi-bright cool-pink ($30, can be found at Nordstrom.com)
  • Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer in Can-Can 06 – a cool-toned healthy pink with slight shimmer and high sheen ($20 check Paul & Joe for locations)

Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Lipsticks have a sheer moisturizing formula. While the color is sheer, it is visible on the lips and gives healthy glowing lips like no other lipstick formula. I’ve reviewed two others Pink Beige and Pink Rose here. Fresh Pink PK04 was provided to me for review. It’s a sheer light pink. Looking at the tube, one might worry that the color would be too sheer. The color does show up on my lips, but just barely. I think those with darker skin or darker lips might find this color too pale.

Burberry Lip Mists are natural lightweight lipsticks with a unique creamy-gelled texture that makes it feel in between a lip balm and natural lipstick. I’ve reviewed a different Lip Mist, Copper, here. Feather Pink is a fresh neutral-cool pink. It goes on smoothly and doesn’t require any tweaking. There is no detectable scent. Lasting power is medium. The texture is smooth and applies evenly.

Paul & Joe’s Lip Lacquers are among my favorites for lipglosses. I’ve raved about the formula in the past, but I don’t think I’ve done very many lip swatches. These are high pigmented high shine glosses that last on the lips a long time. Unfortunately they don’t photograph well because of the shine. It looks brighter in real life than it does on the lips below. Can-Can 06 is one of my most-used lip lacquers.

For more pink loves, you can see my Spring Pinks from April here. What are your favorite pink lip items for right-now?
Koh Gen Do Fresh Pink was provided to The Beauty Look Book without charge for review.
13 Comments
Uncategorized

Love To Layer

May 10, 2011

I love layering and blending out colors, especially for makeup. Layering different textures and shades allows me to create extra depth and also helps to give that slight glowy finish. Layering multiple products is something I usually only do when going out for a special occasion. In the mornings, I’m always running 5 minutes behind. Makeup for work is usually kept as simple as possible, except for the rare occasions that I am able to wake up an extra 30 minutes early.

My makeup looks usually revolve around my clothes/outfit of the day or night. This past weekend I wore a simple floral strapless dress (shown here). It was fairly neutral so virtually any look would go with it. I realize this would be more helpful if I had a photo of my face to go with this, but this is more for my own personal reference since I was quite happy with the result. The numbers in each photo indicate the order of application.

Cheeks: I applied Armani’s Fluid Sheer #10 on cheeks and then applied Dior’s Aurora on top as a contour. I then took a separate blush brush and applied Chanel Espiègle just on the apples.

Lips: Simply line with liner. Fill with a sheer gold lipstick. Top with a sheer coral gloss.

Eyes: The first step was to apply Laura Mercier’s Metallic Gold Creme shadow on the lids as a base. I took the white side of NARS Exotic Dance and and dipped MAC’s 242 (a stiffer brush) into the frosty white and patted it on 1/2 way up the eyes. Taking a larger fluffy brush, I swished it into the golden tan shimmer of Exotic Dance and loosely applied it all over. Next, I took MAC’s Spare Change and applied it along upper lashes in a messy smudgey line and layered Le Metier’s Splendid Frost taupe on top to blend. Last steps were to add a clean fine black line along upper lashes and outer corners on the bottom. Finishing step was with Armani’s Eyes to Kill Mascara.

  1. Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer #10 – shown here
  2. Dior Aurora Bronzer – reviewed here
  3. Chanel Espiègle #65 Blush – swatched and reviewed here
  4. Paul & Joe Lip Pencil Duo – Melon (01) – partially swatched here
  5. Bobbi Brown Candlelight Shimmer Lipstick – shown next to Beige Gold Metallic here
  6. Chanel Pensée 277 Glossimer – here
  7. Laura Mercier Metallic Creme in Gold
  8. NARS Exotic Dance – white applied with a stiff MAC 242 brush patted on lids
  9. NARS Exotic Dance – gold applied with a loose fluffy brush all over lids, here
  10. MAC Spare Change eyeliner – applied in a smudgey line along upper lashes, swatched here
  11. Le Metier de Beaute – Splendid Frost, top shade applied along lash line smudged on top, blended, also reviewed here
  12. Bobbi Brown Caviar Ink to finish as liner – swatched here
  13. Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara

Swatched, two views with different lighting:


One last view:

14 Comments
Uncategorized

Chanel Le Vernis Color Comparisons For Morning Rose & Beige Pétale

April 15, 2011

I searched for possible dupes of Chanel Morning Rose and Beige Pétale but could not find anything in my stash that was identical to either shade. Those looking for cheaper alternatives, I do think with a bit more searching it might be possible to find similar colors from Zoya or OPI. However, I am usually of the opinion that Chanel does it best with nail colors.

I pulled colors in the same family for Morning Rose and Beige Pétale. There are quite a few similar shades, but no true dupes. I could not find any bright yellows to compare Mimosa to. But I suspect since this seems to be the “it” shade for summer, other blogs will be doing dupes soon.

L to R: Chanel Riviera, MAC Girls Will Be Girls, Chanel Mistral, Dior Flapper Pink, Chanel Ming, Chanel Morning Rose, Paul & Joe #12


A few shades swatched on the fingers (2 coats each):

L to R: Chanel Inattendu, D&G Nude, Chanel Allegoria, Chanel Beige Petale, Chanel Jade Rose, Dior Nude Chic, Chanel Lily Beige


Similar shades finger swatched, since they are sheerer, these have 3 coats each:

Hope this helps some 🙂
7 Comments
Uncategorized

Loving Right Now

April 11, 2011

Right now I’m loving …

Jo Malone Tea Fragrances – layering these together creates the most lovely uplifting scents. I find them simple, pure and refreshing! (each scent reviewed here)

Chanel Ombres Perleés de Chanel, perfect for a lovely glow and easy to apply with fingers (reviewed and swatched here)

NARS Kalahari Duo & Fez Single Eyeshadow – I’ve been using my depotted Kalahari and it was about time for a replacement so I bought a new one. It’s one of my holy-grail neutrals. Fez is a beautiful bronzey copper (swatched here).

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof in Ébène is a pure black and stays put all day and Urban Decay’s 24/7 Shadow Pencil Blending Brush is the perfect brush for blending smokey colors (not so great for blending lighter shades all over the lid, but for darker shades and detail areas or smudging it’s great)

Giorgio Armani Blush #2 – the original Armani products were the best in my opinion. Classic nude soft neutrals never go out of style. #2 is a soft luminous peachy pink.

Bobbi Brown Aruba Illuminating Bronzing Powder is a golden shimmer bronze (see it here too)

Chanel Joyeuse from the Le Blanc Asia Exclusive Collection is a beautiful bright pink (see it reviewed here as well)

More bright lips: Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer 02 Can-Can (here too), Dior Model Addict Lipstick (also here) and Chanel’s Rouge Coco Shine in Adventure (I used up the entire sample from the little card I received and went out to buy the full sized version)

What are you loving right now?
18 Comments
Uncategorized

Comparisons For Chanel Misia Rouge Coco Shine & Miami Peach Le Vernis

April 8, 2011


For Chanel Liberte v Misia: Liberte is more milky and less shimmery but more pigmented while Misia is brighter more vibrant and has a sheerer shimmery texture with more red.

For those wondering whether I prefer Chanel’s Miami Peach or Orange Fizz: right now the vote goes to Miami Peach. Do note that Miami Peach is less pigmented with a slight jelly-like finish. The gold shimmer is very fine and not very noticeable. Orange Fizz is clearly more orange and has that amazing rich smooth opaque coverage Chanel is well known for these days, it may be harder to pull off on all skintones.

Hope this helps some!

7 Comments
Uncategorized

Coordinating Brighter Colors With Neutrals

March 29, 2011

I’m a neutral lover at heart but brights are nice to wear in sheer washes mixed in with neutrals. For coordinating brights I don’t there are any rules you need to stick to. Just experiment with different combinations of colors to see what you’re most comfortable with. I mainly pick out colors depending on the occasion or what clothes I’m wearing for the day (one example here with a yellow top, bright coral cheek, coppery bronze eye and nude gold lip). I usually go for something that is as natural as possible and here are a few things I go by:
  • Brighten the face by applying bronzer first then layer a soft wash of bright pink or coral or peach on top
  • Mixing pinks and peach blushes together can add depth and dimension
  • Can you match your lip color to your blush? Sure! For example using different variations of pink can create a pretty coordinated look
  • You don’t have to match lips and cheeks, having a bright coral cheek with a sheer bright or soft pink lip can work well too
  • If something is too bright, you can sheer it out with a soft blending brush or by adding a paler shimmer color on top
A few ideas – use these for color ideas rather than the specific name of the brand or product.

* Tip – At a national artist event for NARS, the artist blended Goldfinger with Nepal together and it created the most beautiful soft rose gold shadow. When using bronzer and a bright blush, I usually apply bronzer first, but most artists at events apply bronzer as the final touch.

* Tip – For the eyes, layering colors can be done by applying the lightest shade first, then the cream, and finally the bronzey powder on top. For MAC Fleur Power Blush, I find it so universally flattering it will go with either a bright lip and a pale lip, or the bright and pale mixed together for a softer peachy glow.

* Tip – Mix pinks and peaches by layering them on top of each other on the cheeks. Depending on your mood or preference, you can adjust the color by applying one color more heavily than the other.

* Tip – Coral blushes can be coordinated with either bright pinks or bright peaches for lips since many have both pink and peach mixed in.

You may notice there are no nail polishes featured in any of these looks. I think bright nails can be mixed and matched in almost any combination to work with a variety of looks. I hope you found this mini series helpful. Summer collections are about to trickle in soon – so I’m sure there will plenty of inspiration for all of you in the upcoming months!

If you have any tips or want to share how you wear brighter colors, feel free in the comments! Makeup events with a good artist can be incredibly useful for tips, tricks and ideas on how to incorporate new things with well-used loves 🙂

14 Comments
Uncategorized

Spring to Summer Sheer-Bright Colors for Lips

March 25, 2011

For lips, I like to wear sheer see-through colors for brights. What I like (left to right from above): NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover, Dior Addict in Model 564, NARS Angelika Lip Gloss, Chanel Nakkar Glossimer, Chanel Pink Pulsion Glossimer (see it here) Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer in 08 Bouquet, Bobbi Brown Hot Pink Lip Gloss, Edward Bess Island Rose Compact Rouge.

Swatched on arm, same order, in direct sunlight:

One more view, with flash:

I haven’t done lip-swatches of all the colors yet, but here are the ones I do have:

NARS New Lover (also here), this is a unique shade that looks different on everyone. It looks so different on my hand compared to my lips. See it on Cafe Makeup on Liz who is fairer and slightly cooler toned (here) while this is what it looks like on me below:

Nars Angelika Lip Gloss:

Paul & Joe Lip Lacquer 08 (looks brighter in real life, flash washed out color a bit, all my Paul & Joe Lip Lacquers here they are among my favorite lip glosses, I have almost every color):

Edward Bess Island Rose Compact Rouge (also here and swatched for Karlasugar here):

I apologize if all the links have you clicking in too many places. I’ve just referenced them in case you wanted to see more detailed reviews or comparison from past reviews. Have a happy Friday!
16 Comments