I took the day off work to go to South Coast Plaza. Two-day weekends simply don’t allow enough time to goof off and have fun. I just finished a series of presentations at work so I decided a day off was in order. There were so many beautiful window displays. How fun would it be to have a job in visuals? Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of all the pretty ones because my iPhone died while I was there. Most of these are from today’s mini shopping trip. There are a couple that are from earlier in the year.
Miu Miu
Tiffany & Co.
Tod’s
Madewell
Louis Vuitton (from earlier this year, can’t believe it’s already mid-May)
Jo Malone – lovely Cherry Blossom displays
Chanel Boutique {swoon}
I missed out on Dior which always has beautiful displays, but you can see Dior’s reflection:
SpaceNK inside Bloomingdales (in the back corner of the beauty department) featuring Rococo Nail Apparel
Have a happy Friday! It appears Blogger is still working out a few kinks with their maintenance. I noticed a number of comments have mysteriously disappeared. If they aren’t restored in the next day or two, I will restore them myself from my emails.
For those wondering, all pics in this particular post were taken with my iPhone which I believe is the very first generation of iPhones. I’m one you would call a “late adopter” of technology and rarely upgrade on new gadgets unless pushed (my regular Sony camera is after all more than 5 years old). Although, when I do, I have to say, I love to oooh and aahhh at all the fancy features and often wonder why I didn’t change sooner.
Back on topic – who makes your favorite window displays?
New Year’s Eve is only a few nights away! I’m keeping it low-key this year with family but it’s still fun to get dressed up in the spirit. This year I’m in the mood for those high metallic, chrome-like/foil-like colors on the nails which is out of the ordinary for me as I’m not the biggest fan of those high-shine metallics. I end up feeling like an ornament or metal statue, but for NYE I think it’s fun. My picks (which I am still trying to decide on) include:
OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (Swiss Collection, Fall 2010)
Rococo Nail Apparel R2T2 (can be found in the US at Space NK) reviewed here
Rococo Nail Apparel Metal Jacket (can be found in the US at Space NK reviewed here
The fun part about metallic nails is how the colors change depending on the light and how you move your fingers. I love how these have rich pigment and the metallic finish pearl particles make these dry really fast and last long. The formulas of these have a semi-matte finish, not quite like the OPI suede colors, but not like a shiny varnish either. I always love the colors in the bottles, but what goes on the nails is sometimes too intense for my personal taste.
Close ups and on the nails, Dior Timeless Gold, Dior Silver Pearl, YSL #140, YSL #139:
Close ups and on the nails, MAC Soiree, OPI lucerne-tainly look marvelous, Rococo R2T2, Rococo Metal Jacket:
I have too many options and can’t decide! Maybe you can help me pick 🙂 Of course it will depend on what I’m wearing. I have a few outfits picked out which are versatile and will go with any of these nail colors.
Where has the time gone? In August, I featured a Chanel Rouge Noir 18 manicure with the intention of writing a dupe post shortly after. It seems I have lost track of time. Chanel Rouge Noir is one of those shades that has reached cult status as one of the most highly sought after shades. Is it simply because it’s hard to find? I’m not entirely sure. It is indeed a gorgeous dark chocolate cherry vampy kind of shade. I love how it will look reddish with one coat and get darker and more vampy with each progressive coat.
What makes Chanel Rouge Noir unique is the reddish base which prevents it from appearing like a straight black. It has a flawless glossy finish with 2 coats. It’s pure love. It’s currently available in the US in one of the Holiday Trio Nail Sets (with Rouge Noir, Gold Lamé reviewed here and Coromandel reviewed here). For those who don’t like Chanel, can’t find this shade or don’t want to splurge on a trio for 1 color . . .
The question is: Can you dupe it?
I pulled shades I thought would be similar. Some turned out to be very close, others not so much so. Here is Rouge Noir compared to colors from OPI, NARS, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Rococo Nail Apparel and Dolce & Gabbana.
I’ve swatched these with 1 coat and then 2 coats so you can see the reddish base in virtually all of these. What I find intriguing is Chanel Rouge Noir vs. Chanel Forbidden. In the bottles above, Rouge Noir looks darker. However when swatched the results are different. (See more vampy swatches here in different lighting.)
With a high flash you can see the reddish base colors come out:
One Coat Swatched:
Two Coats Swatched (Thick):
The verdict: Yes, it can be duped! My take: the closest colors I found are Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat and Dolce & Gabbana Dahlia (with 2-3 coats applied).
If you cannot find Chanel Rouge Noir #18 individually, no need to fret. There are quite a few colors that are similar. Even if the colors aren’t an exact dupe, the effect of each are similar enough that you can barely tell the difference from arm’s length. Hope this helps many of you!
A Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat manicure will be featured shortly. Enjoy the last bits of your weekend 🙂
A few summery brights for the tips and toes with Chanel Orange Fizz (a vibrant orange) and Rococo Trash (a pretty raspberry cream). Fall collections are tempting me, but I’m still in spring mode. I just started feeling like it’s really summer – but haven’t quite fully transitioned (in my mind at least).
I have never really been into coral or orangey nail polishes. I usually feel like they are so loud but I thought Chanel Orange Fizz would be fun to try something different. I find it still a bit too bright/loud on the fingers. I think I’ll like it better for a pedicure. Rococo Trash on the other hand is a stunning red raspberry. I’m sure there’s a dupeable color out there by Zoya or OPI, I just haven’t looked into it. It was a bit of a hunt for me to track down Chanel Orange Fizz. As far as I can tell, there are plenty of online places to buy it. I had to go to a few counters near me to find this one even though it’s been out for a while. I finally found it at one of my local Macys and they only had 2 bottles left. The Rococo was found at Space NK Bloomingdales South Coast Plaza.
Chanel Orange Fizz:
Rococo Trash on the toes:
There’s a lovely coral-peachy-pink that I saw at Sephora that I need to check out again. I can’t remember the name but it’s by the OPI for Sephora line.
All the coral nail polish lovers. Do you have any favorites you’d like to share? I’m open for recommendations for summer!
I was invited to my first blogger event hosted by South Coast Plaza for an afternoon filled with fashion, beauty, travel-packing tips, good food and great shopping. It was a great event and I was able to meet bloggers Stef and Tyna from We Heart This, Diane from Orange2LA, Alex from Blab Communications and many other wonderful women from the South Coast Plaza marketing team.
SCP is over an hour drive from where I live, and since I don’t go often, I’m always up for any excuse to go. When I received the invite, I knew I had to attend. While I’m lucky enough to have access to most of my favorite brands, South Coast Plaza does have a number of unique stores that I don’t get to shop at frequently. Among my favorites to check out are MAC Pro, Shu Uemura, Miu Miu, the Bloomingdales Chanel Studio (which carries select imported Asian/European exclusives), and the corner where they have Space NK. In addition they have a gigantic Sephora and large J.Crew store which are always fun. The mall also carries a wide variety of designer boutiques including Tod’s, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Dior, Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, Ted Baker to name a few. One can definitely say that there’s something there for everyone.
The event was focused around a travel/bon voyage/jet setters theme and they gave us a tour featuring a few select stores with product demonstrations at Tumi, Spa Nordstrom, Henri Bendel, and a new lingerie boutique called Intimacy. While I don’t normally shop at the stores that were featured, I found the product demonstrations helpful, interesting and educational. I know that I will definitely go back to Tumi in the near future with my husband to shop for travel gear. There are so many different options to make packing easy and efficient. So many fun accessories. In my excitement, I wasn’t able to get as many photos as I wanted, but here are a few that I was able to capture.
Tumi Demonstration:
Henri Bendel (smaller version of the one in NY, but still chic and cute):
Rows of my most favorite candles in the world (but I purchase mine at Bath & Body Works):
Loved the design of the cute scent cards:
Found this note pad amusing (want vs. need):
The new Intimacy Boutique:
We were given about 1 hour to shop on our own time before cocktails (hardly enough time) so Diane and I rushed to Bloomingdales to see if Chanel Fall had arrived (no luck yet), then to Molton Brown to check out their shower gels and hair care line. I’ve been a huge fan of Molton Brown’s Coco De Mer Shower Gel – but unfortunately the stores near me no longer carry the line which makes it a bit difficult for me to replace these days. I wanted to try something new, so I picked up several shower gels in their travel size (6 for $49) in Heavenly Ginger, Inspiring Indigo and Cool Buchu (for the husband). For visiting, they gave us a complimentary goody bag filled with some minis to try out.
My Molton Brown purchases (left) + gift (right):
I went back to SpaceNK at Bloomingdales to check out more Rococo nail polish shades. My readers know I am a fan of Rococo Nail Apparel for their color selection and quality. Those not familiar with the line, check out my previous articles, swatches and reviews (linked here) of the nail polishes. I have forever been trying to purchase Fashion Victim Day and Fashion Victim Night but it seems as though they are always out of stock. There was a lovely dusty purple cream shade that I was enamored with, but they were sold out of that color too. I settled for a raspberry red shade called Trash (shocking for me, I know, but the color is really lovely).
One hour later, we were treated to appetizers, cocktails, dinner and a fashion show featuring Jimmy Choo and La Perla at AnQi by Crustacean. I sat with Stef, Tyna and Diane (all beauty bloggers) and we had chatted non-stop about our beauty favorites, compared cameras, discussed our favorite brands, shared skincare tips. Stef & Tyna have a wealth of knowledge from testing a wide variety of products. Both had flawless skin so I need to find out their secret. I am reading through their blog right now to see what new lines I should try out based on their recommendations (I hear Kate Somerville is good). Diane and I hit it off from the start – we both love the same brands (among our top two picks include Chanel and Paul & Joe). Her eyeshadow look was incredibly gorgeous and she has lovely hair (I immediately took note of her favorite hair care brands and am determined to try them out in the next month).
The customized Anqi menu for the bloggers:
The La Perla Fashion Show:
It was an eventful afternoon and it was great to meet other bloggers and marketing professionals. Even though the event lasted from 2 pm to past 8 pm, there was still a lot more I wanted to visit but didn’t have the time. I definitely have more to explore at South Coast Plaza. I’m already planning my next trip – hopefully in the next few months or so.
Diane has also written an article on the event. Check out her fabulous blog and article here at Orange2LA.com.
As soon as I found out there was a nail polish with my name, I knew I had to get it since it’s not that often that I find things with my own personal name. Today’s mani + pedi is Zoya Sabrina on fingers + Rococo Nail Apparel Metal Jacket on toes.
Zoya Sabrina is a sheer pale cream off-white-pinkish color. I think it’s a nice classic cream color for the nails. The color is rather sheer, so the manicure has 3 coats for a more opaque look. It actually looked a lot better with a more natural finish with 2 coats, but my manicurist thought it could use one more coat. Next time I’ll just ask for 2 coats for a more natural look. Otherwise, it just feels a tad too contrasted with my skin.
Rococo Metal Jacket is a complex mixture of taupe-brown-silver. This one is an odd one for me. When I tested it at Space NK, it was clearly brown, much like you see on Vampy Varnish’s review. However, the one I received from my online order pulls more silver-taupe on me. If you haven’t read the first article I wrote about Rococo Nail Apparel (here), to recap, I’ve experienced some inconsistencies with the colors – which seem to differ slightly based on which batch the product was made from. Which may explain why Metal Jacket looks brown on others and looked brown from the tester I saw in the store, but looks more silvery taupe in the bottle I received. (More explanation in the original post.) The pigment is amazing though and didn’t really need more than just 1 coat, however 2 coats were applied at the nail salon.
Zoya Sabrina:
Rococo Metal Jacket:
Zoya Sabrina:
Zoya Metal Jacket:
Zoya Sabrina looks really similar to OPI Bubble Bath and Chanel Allegoria in the bottles – but I haven’t swatched them on the nails to see the actual difference. I don’t have a dupe for the Rococo, but then I don’t have many taupey sparkles for nail polishes. Overall, I have to say I’m not completely in love with either shade. My nails look nice and polished, but the colors on me just feel a bit bland.
Rococo Nail Apparel has released a few new shades for spring and Stone Cold Karma caught my eye from SpaceNK. I ordered this online along with a few other shades (will be featured soon). Stone Cold Karma is a grey-mauve cream with a subtle pearl finish that you can only see when you look closely. This is an odd shade because sometimes it looks mauve, sometimes it looks more grey depending on the lighting which you’ll be able to see in the photo swatches below. In this way it reminds me of Chanel Particuliere – it looks brown in the bottle, but on the toes, sometimes it pulls more mauve, sometimes straight grey, sometimes a mushroom brown. Perhaps my eyes are just playing tricks on me.
Rococo Nail Apparel Stone Cold Karma (3 coats):
Manicure: Rococo Nail Apparel Stone Cold Karma Pedicure: Chanel Particuliere
Rococo Nail Apparel Stone Cold Karma compared to: Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge OPI Tickle My Francey Chanel Particuliere
I had 3 coats applied to get full coverage. It’s lovely, but I think I’m just not really used to greys on my fingers. It’s in the same color family as RBL Grunge and OPI Tickle My Francey. In the bottles, they look really similar, but as you can see in the swatches, they are very different once applied on the nails. Compared to RBL Grunge, Rococo Stone Cold Karma’s sparkles are more visible giving it more depth so it’s not so flat-looking.
Rococo Nail Apparel Nail Polishes retail for $16 each. I found the line at SpaceNK.
