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YSL Spring 2010 Golden Glosses 19 Golden Petal & 20 Golden Macadamia

January 18, 2010

I was initially really excited about the YSL collection for Spring 2010, but saw it in person a few days ago and wasn’t all that thrilled. I only came home with 1 new item: Golden Gloss #19 in Golden Petal, a pigmented soft rose-pink with gold shimmer. I had #20 Golden Macadamia from the release at Neimans a few months ago but never got around to photographing it, so here are both the glosses.

#19 Golden Petal is the pink gloss and is surprisingly pigmented for a golden gloss. Those who have tried golden glosses before know many of the light pinks are sheer with the gold shimmer dominating the gloss. The new one for spring has a strongly pigmented pink base with gold shimmer that isn’t overpowering which is nice for a change.

#20 Golden Macadamia is the beigey-gold. It doesn’t go on as beigey-nude as I expected because of a pinkish iridescent sheen to the base. It gives a lovely wearable nude lip. It’s a bit on the sheerer side for me.

I wanted to love the new Rouge Voluptes and Gloss Voluptes but nothing really caught my eye. I plan on trying out the new highlighter and blush in person in the next upcoming week. The counter I went to was swamped so I didn’t get a chance to get a closer look at these.

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What’s Your Definition of “Nude”?

December 28, 2009

I love the theme of nude-colored makeup for everything ranging from eyeshadows, lipsticks, and glosses but find it amazing how many different interpretations there are of this word “nude.” I personally associate nude with something the color of one’s natural skin, but with so many different skintones how does one define “nude”? Is there such a thing as a universally flattering “nude” lipstick or blush?

Take for example the following products that have the name “nude” – all of which are very different and not entirely flesh or skin colored.

Blushes (clockwise from top left):
Bobbi Brown Nude Shimmerbrick,
Dolce & Gabbana Nude, Chanel Nude

Eyeshadows (clockwise from top left):
Dior Nude Look 565, Dior Nude Look 365,
Bobbi Brown Nude Eyeshadow, Dolce & Gabbana Nude,
Edward Bess Nude, MAC Nude (d/c), Stila Nude

Lips (left to right): Dolce & Gabbana Nude Lipgloss, YSL #1 Pure Nude, Trish McEvoy Sexy Nude Beauty Booster, Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nude, Bobbi Brown Nude, Bobbi Brown Nude Glitter, Chanel Nude Rouge Allure, Laura Mercier Nude Lips (sheer), MAC Creme D’Nude, Laura Mercier Barely Nude

Do any of these nudes work to give you a true “nude” eye, cheek or lip? I am still on my neverending quest for the perfect flattering nude blush and lip combo. I find my definition of nude is quite diverse as there are brownish nudes, pale nudes, golden nudes, beige nudes, pink nudes, peachy nudes etc. My holy grail nude eyeshadow is MAC Camel which has long been discontinued.

Tell me your skintone and what your favorite nudes are (nude-colors that is, not necessarily products with the name “nude” in them)!

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YSL Rouge Volupté = Pure Luxury for Lips

November 13, 2009

I finally caved in and gave the YSL Rouge Volupté Lipstick formula another try because of all the gorgeous pictures I’ve seen of perfect nude pink lips from the #1 Nude Beige shade. I’ve never paid much attention to YSL in the past because of the high price tag, but lately with the release of some gorgeous new Golden Glosses like #26, 28 and 29 I have looked more into the line and have to say I am impressed!

Left to right: #1 Nude Beige, #2 Sensual Silk, #3 Ultimate Beige, #23 Luscious Pink, #25 Soft Beige, #26 Tender Peach

These lipsticks are full-coverage with a smooth and creamy finish that I haven’t seen in any other lipstick. They have a sweet watermelon-like scent. I normally don’t go for full-coverage lipsticks because I usually find them too thick and matte, but these have a nice subtle shine to them and don’t feel heavy at all. I also find that full-coverage lipsticks tend to be less forgiving if the shade isn’t perfect for your skintone. But perhaps I am just pickier than most.

Thanks to the one-day discount sale at Neimans, I was able to get these at a 20% discount instead of paying the full $34 retail price. As fabulous as these lippies are, I don’t think I would have splurged for them if it hadn’t been for the discount. I think anything over $30 for something lips-related is ridiculously steep, especially when you compare it to all the other things you could buy for $30.

More views + swatches:

I don’t have #13 Peach Passion, but I believe it is brighter and more vibrant than #26 Tender Peach which I find less bright/fake looking in the lips.

Those of you who own these – how do you wear them? Alone? With a liner or gloss? Would love to hear what you’ve tried and like since I’m new to these!

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YSL Golden Gloss & Gloss Pur

October 31, 2009

YSL has released a few new Golden Glosses that are currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus. The shades released include #22, 23, 26, 28 and 29. Check out this link for the Exclusive Shade Online Swatches. I’ve seen a few colors like #24 and #25 on ebay, hopefully these will be released soon at all counters.

Here are some pictures and swatches of the new ones I picked up with the other Golden Gloss (shimmery ones) and Gloss Pur (non-shimmery ones) colors that I have:

Overall thoughts: I’m not the biggest fan of YSL because of the gold packaging and because of my super sensitive nose. These are among the sweetest-smelling lip products I have which I’m not always able to wear. The Golden Glosses are very sparkley with the sparkles being very strong in gold tones – sometimes the lighter ones simply show up as gold sparkle because the base is so sheer. The Pur Glosses are pretty basic, but I really like to use them to enhance lipsticks and add a little shine without changing the overall undertones.

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Mini YSL Fall 2009 Haul + Review

July 31, 2009

YSL fall was a disappointment for me – I checked out the new colors (except the gloss volupte which they did not have yet) and came home with 2 items, and then returned the eyeshadow duo the next day. The remaining colors just weren’t me, and didn’t seem coordinated at all.

Pictured below Ombres Duolumières #23 Pearly Peach-Mink Brown and Crème de Blush #02 Powdery Rose:

Swatches, #02 Blush on bare skin, #23 Eyeshadow Duo over Laura Mercier Eye Basics

The blush while a pretty pink is extremely tiny for the price of $39 USD. The eyeshadow duo was chalky and had very little pigment, the swatches were applied very heavily over a cream eyeshadow base while it was still moist. When applied to the eyes with the same technique, it barely showed up.

I also checked out the new Rouge Volupté Lipsticks which weren’t my style either. The lightest one was #19 Frivolous Pink which looked like a neon powdery pink, extremely unflattering in my opinion. The others were very brown/plum.

Unless you’re a die hard YSL fan, I’d suggest you save your $$$ for other items.

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Fall 2009 Collection Biteki & Maquia Scans

July 25, 2009

This an update to the post below with scans from the Biteki Beauty Book & one from Maquia featuring the fall collections. I’ve scanned most of the pages of the little book with the exception of some Asian brands that I’ve excluded. For photos from other magazines, check one post below.

For my own product photos of some recent fall collections, check out these links:

Bobbi Brown Nude Collection 2009
Bobbi Brown Forest Shimmer Ink Gel Liner & Honeysuckle Lip Crayon
Chanel Fall 2009 has arrived at Saks!
Dior Fall 2009 Jazz Club Eyes + Nail Polish . . .
Estee Lauder Sensuous Gold Fall 2009
Giorgio Armani Fall 2009: Manta Ray Collection
Guerlain Fall Collection 2009
First Look at Nars Fall 2009
Nars Fall 2009 Tokaido Express Swatch + Review

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Fall 2009 Sneak Peek: Paul & Joe, Shiseido, Cle de Peau, Armani, Guerlain, YSL

July 25, 2009

Happy Friday! I’ve recently gotten into Japanese magazines such as JJ, Biteki, Maquia, and Voce thanks to one of my favorite beauty blogs Haru’s Rouge Deluxe. Luckily, there is a Mitsuwa Marketplace near me which has a bookstore inside which has allowed me to find these magazines in Southern California.

This month the September issues have released their fall lookbooks with photographs of the fall releases of numerous brands. Unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese, but luckily, there are many items that release products with numbers in their color name which makes it easy to match the number to the product color names by doing some research . Here are a few pictures of some of the collections I found interesting:

Paul & Joe from Maquia: