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Marc Jacobs Beauty

Marc Jacobs Beauty Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer: Petra #140

August 13, 2013

Marc Jacobs Petra #140 Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer ($18 for 13 ml/0.43 fl oz, Sephora.com) is a rich complex sparkly plum-taupe-silver. It’s one of those shades loaded with multi-colored shimmers giving a foiled metallic look (think along the lines of Chanel Graphite and Delight). Petra has a thick formula that requires a slow and steady application. You need to let the first coat dry entirely before you apply the second. I had to redo several nails as I tried to smooth out the first coat (which didn’t work too well). The finish is smooth and streak-free. It has a smooth texture and feels like one of those shades that will adhere well to the nail and last a long time.

Here it is swatched with two coats, although one coat covered the nail entirely. It’s mostly a purply-taupe on me, but looks silvery depending on how the light captures the silver flecks.

In sunlight with flash:

In sunlight, no flash:

I couldn’t find anything quite like Petra. In the store it looked like it could match a few OPI shades but when I pulled comparisons, I couldn’t find any dupes. Here it is compared to Rococo Metal Jacket, OPI Holiday Glow, OPI The World is Not Enough and Dior Aztec Chocolate (now called New World Purple). All of these shades are rather complicated shimmers. Here are 2 sets of the same shades so you can see the shimmers:

I love the color. I wish I had this in an eyeshadow and eyeliner form. I wish I had this color in my closet as well. It’s perfect for this time of year and I found it unique. It’s a beautiful complex metallic without being too glitzy. I love that Petra has a lot of purple, taupe and brown mixed into the color with a tiny bit of silver. I’m currently testing and swatching half a dozen nail polishes or else I’d have this color on my nails the rest of the month – tips and toes. Marc Jacobs Beauty is currently exclusive to Sephora.

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Marc Jacobs Beauty

Marc Jacobs Beauty Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquers – Preview

August 12, 2013

Marc Jacobs Beauty launched at Sephora last week. I stopped by my local store to check out the line and picked three of the Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquers ($18 each for 13 ml/0.43 oz). There is a wide range of colors and textures to pick from. I saw creams, shimmers, frosts, glitters and some sheers. I picked out three of the shimmery shades in Gatsby, Le Charm and Petra as my first intro to the line. I’m working on reviews and swatches as fast as I can on each shade. For now, here is a sneak preview. The bottles are so cute. They have a pull off cap and I love that the bottles feel very sturdy. Part of the display at Sephora.

The packaging and brush:

Gatsby, Le Charm and Petra close ups:

Detailed report to follow shortly. Did you check out the Marc Jacobs Beauty collection at your Sephora? Did you pick anything up? I’m all ears for what everyone has tried 🙂

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Dior Lilac Colorvision #398 Vernis – Sephora Exclusive

April 17, 2013

Dior has released a Sephora-exclusive nail polish called Lilac Colorvision #398 ($24, limited on Sephora.com and in stores). It’s a new shade to the US, but actually a repromote of a Japan Exclusive Frou Frou #398 (see review on Ala Peach). It’s currently sold out online but the Find In Store feature shows that physical stores should still have it in stock. I found mine in-store several weeks ago.
Lilac Colorvision #398 is a lovely cream light lilac nail color. Many lilacs are either too pink or pale and end up clashing with my skintone but the Dior #398 has enough color to not look chalky. It has a very fresh youthful look that’s lovely for spring. The application was smooth and flawless with two coats – Dior keeps getting better and better.

Swatches below with two coats, no top coat, I was happy to find it dried to a glossy finish very quickly:

I don’t own many lilac shades to compare, but I pulled a few purples from Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and OPI to compare (each photo has the same set, just different lighting):

Bottom line gorgeous. If you’re interested I suggest you try to track it down at your local Sephora store soon, I don’t know if it will be restocked at Sephora.com. Did you try Dior’s Lilac Colorvision? What’s your favorite lilac shade for nails?

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Dior Vernis Releases for Spring-Summer

March 23, 2013

Dior has released several new shades for spring-summer this month. I am currently testing some new nail products so won’t have time to do a comprehensive detailed review since I’m reserving my fingers for testing. I did want to share a few swatches to help. There are several shades exclusive to certain locations in the US and therefore rather limited, you might want to order sooner than later so you don’t miss out. All retail for $24 each.

Sparkling Shine Collection, available at all Dior counters and online locations consists of:

  • Princess 553 is a sparkling light baby pink
  • Spring Ball 343 is a high shimmer baby peach
  • Délice 433 is a gorgeous medium peach-orange shimmer
  • Diablotine 643 (reviewed here) is a bright coral red shimmer

Two shades from the Asia Exclusive DiorSnow collection have been launched in the US at Saks Stores, Saks.com and the Dior Palazzo Boutique in Las Vegas (ask for Massiel at (702) 734-1102 she’s amazing).

  • Nymphea 307 is a pale baby blue with a slight hint of aqua (see it on AudreyEleven and comparisons on Kais Obsessions)
  • Crystal 205 is a transparent frosted snow-white sparkle (see it on AudreyEleven)

Sephora has launched a series of Color Vision collections focused around color themes. They have released an exclusive lilac shade which is a repromote of a Japan exclusive.

I’ve acquired all except the lilac shade (not sure about pale lavendars, seems a bit too pastel, will have to test in person). For now, here are the live bottle photos and swatches on a nail wheel. I hope this helps!

Shades swatched in outdoor lighting:

Did you pick up any of the spring shades from Dior? If you tried (or bought) the lilac one, what did you think?

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Highlighters Hourglass Cosmetics

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder – Luminous Light

February 4, 2013
Hourglass has released a series of beautiful finishing powders designed to emulate various lighting effects. There are six shades of their new Ambient Lighting Powder ($45 each for 0.35 oz/10 g, currently available online at Sephora.com). According to Hourglass, the Ambient Lighting Powders are not your typical highlighting powder. These powders have “photoluminescent technology that refracts light, creates transparent coverage and renders the skin gorgeously radiant.”
I received Luminous Light (a champagne glow) from Hourglass and have been playing with this for a few weeks now. Luminous Light was designed to give a candlelight glow to the face and this fits the product perfectly. It’s a stunning champagne pearl with a slight pinkish tint that gives THE prettiest natural glow. The application instructions on the box recommended that you use their Ambient Powder Brush ($35) and dust the powder all over the face. I’ve been using my regular blush and powder brushes to test which have worked quite well. Given the glowy nature of the product, I found it best used as a highlighter (rather than all over). I’ve used it numerous ways, under and over blush, mixed with a powder bronzer, over a contour powder or over a cream bronzer.  The formula is soft and the color-intensity has just the right balance of pigment and softness to make the entire face glow. It melds into your skin and illuminates the face (rather than sitting on it or emphasizing pores like some highlighters can).

What amazes me is how complex the pearl particles are. Depending on the angle you will sometimes see a straight champagne, other times more pearl, other times a hint of pink. I attribute the candlelight glow this product gives to the complexity and perfect blend of pigments. On the arm, Luminous Light swatches more pinkish but on the face it’s more neutral/flesh toned for me.

 

 

 

Swatched:

 

There are a number of champagne highlighters on the market. Luminous Light stands out to me because it adds a natural glow without looking too frosty. It has the perfect balance of glow and color to look mimic lighting effects. The lasting power was quite good – on me it lasted all day. Other highlighters pale in comparison – the difference is difficult to capture in photos or swatches, but I’ve included a few to help show the difference.

 

Below: Chanel Poudre Signée de Chanel, Mouche de Beauté, Bobbi Brown Beige Shimmer Brick, Estée Lauder Tom Pecheux Highlight, Laura Mercier Stardust.

 

I can’t wait to order more shades and the brush from Sephora – however I do want to try them in person. As of this past weekend I did not see any of the Ambient Powders or brush at my local Sephora, but I’ve been told they will arrive instore mid-February.

 

Here is the ingredient listing:

 

 

I’ve found my holy grail powder lighter in Hourglass Luminous Light. I haven’t tested or tried the other shades to compare but based on what I’ve seen I am impressed. Few products make it into the “this changed my life” category and the Ambient Lighting Powder from Hourglass has made it. It gives that perfect glow that I aim for with cream highlighters or liquid ones – but in powder form (the benefit is that this one lasts much better than liquids). I think everyone needs at least one in their collection. More information and insight on HourglassCosmetics.com and Sephora.com.
Have you tried the Ambient Lighting Powders? What shade did you try? Thoughts on the brush? Do I need it?
This review contains a product sent by PR without charge for review. This post also contains affiliate links. For more information please refer to the About/FAQ section.
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JINsoon Nostalgia, Auspicious, Debonair, Rhaspody and Charade

December 12, 2012
Here’s a quick post showing some nail swatches of JINsoon Nail Lacquers. I’m still working my way through swatching so the feature will be split into two parts. Part 1 includes Nostalgia, Auspicious, Debonair, Rhaspody and Charade.

Nostalgia – two thin coats gives full coverage
Auspicious – extremely sheer, needs three coats for full coverage, below is shown with two
Debonair – sheer jelly cream finish requires three coats for full coverage
Rhaspody – semi-sheer, shown with two coats
Charade – full coverage with two coats
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JINsoon Nail Lacquers

December 10, 2012

A gorgeous feature of JINsoon Auspicious from Messy Wands prompted me to order some JINsoon shades sight unseen from Sephora. In October, I featured JINsoon Coquette, a gorgeous sheer jelly red. Since then, I’ve had a few months to play with some more of the JINsoon nail lacquers that I ordered online from Sephora.com. They retail for $18 each and come with a black pull-off cap. (I’ve photographed them without the caps.) The past few months Sephora has had some amazing promotional codes for various discounts and gift-with-purchase sample packs. I found the offers hard to resist and I ended up ordering 9 different shades: Nostalgia, Auspicious, Debonair, Rhapsody, Charade, Metaphor, Coquette, Audacity and Risque. This is a preliminary review/swatch post with a few comparisons (scroll down to the end). Actual finger swatches to come in a separate post soon.
I found the bottle swatches online to be very true to the actual product. All the shades are creams (no shimmer). The pigment varies from a jelly finish to a full-coverage cream. Sheerer shades like Auspicious, Debonair and Coquette require three coats for full even coverage. The others are good with two coats. I found lasting power to be quite good with around 4-5 days without tip wear or chipping.
  • Nostalgia is a pretty full-coverage peachy nude with a tinge of pink
  • Auspicious is a lovely gray-lavendar with a jelly-transparent finish (3 coater)
  • Debonair is a sharp purple cream with a semi-jelly (3 coats needed)
  • Rhapsody is a dark navy blue, semi-sheer finish (2 coats needed)
  • Charade is a full-coverage gorgeous green teal
  • Metaphor is a dark forest green with full coverage
  • Audacity is a sheer aubergine
  • Risque is a sheer vampy color with a jelly finish
  • Coquette is a bright sheer red

Swatches below are with three coats:

The colors look like basic creams. For the most part I think these are very likely dupeable. I searched through my Chanel, Dior and RBLs to see what I could find. Half the shades are unique while the other half are very close to existing colors. I pulled one shade to compare to each of the JINsoon polishes I bought. Thoughts:
  • Nostalgia is more neutral than Chanel Inattendu but has enough pink to not look like death
  • Auspicious is darker and more lavendar than most greys, it’s darker than Chanel Frenzy
  • Debonair is a unique dark purple (at least in my stash), it’s dark but not so dark it looks black
  • Rhapsody is very similar to other navys like Dior Blue Rebel
  • Charade is a gorgeous teal green, I found this quite unique, it’s very wearable for a green
  • Metaphor is a dark forest green cream, I don’t have a lot of greens to compare
  • Coquette is warmer than Chanel Pirate
  • Audacity is very similar to other vampy shades, it’s a sheerer version of RBL Moulin Rouge (very close)
  • Risque is a dark vamp, it’s darker than Chanel Rouge Noir
Overall I’ve found that the JINsoon nail polishes have performed well. The shades are flattering on my skin and are good classic shades. For me they were worth the price I paid (about $14-$16ish for each shade from using a 10% discount or 20% discount code for VIB). Some of the shades have a jelly finish which require more coats unfortunately, but the good thing  is that these dry relatively fast. Some might ask how the JINsoon compare to my other favorite brands. Long time readers know that I’m a die-hard Chanel, Dior and Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish fan. My heart still belongs to those brands for color/pigment even though they are higher in price. I would say that JINsoon performs similar to NARS/Dolce & Gabbana, better than Sephora for OPI, but not quite as good as RBL, Chanel or Dior (at least in my experience).
Have you tried any of the JINsoon nail polishes? Thoughts?
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