My Top 10 Makeup Discoveries of 2010

 Blush, Bobbi Brown, Burberry, Dior, Edward Bess, Eyeshadow, Foundation, Guerlain, Le Metier de Beaute, Nail Polish, Rescue Beauty Lounge  11 Responses »
Dec 312010
 

This year, I discovered new beauty products as never before!  Here were my top ten favorite discoveries of 2010:

1.   Edward Bess:   Which products? Well, everything I’ve tried so far–bronzer, highlighter, blushes, eyeshadows…. I love new brands, and the quality of these products are superb.  These always make me look and feel my very best.

2. Burberry Beauty:   Introduced during 2010, this full line of luxury cosmetics has been a real pleasure to explore.  Coincidentally, I’ve been able to keep up with the line through the fabulous assistance of Kristy, the sales manager at Nordstrom at San Francisco Centre.  Yes, the packaging is gorgeous but the quality of the products is excellent.  My favorites so far:  Lipsticks, lipglosses, foundation and eyeshadows.  Next year I’ve heard rumors that we should see their beautiful brushes for sale, concealers, more lipstick shades, and eyeshadow palettes.

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MAC Cham Pale: Chilled on Ice and Vintage Selection

 Eyeshadow, MAC  3 Responses »
Dec 302010
 

Liz and I went to see MAC’s Cham Pale collection the other evening, and I picked up Chilled on Ice and Vintage Selection Paint Pots ($16.50 each).  There’s something about a shimmery warm neutral with a strong black liner that sends me over the edge.

I was impressed with the buttery texture of these when applied with a finger, which warms the product up to a nice consistency. Although there are tiny sparkles in these, when applied to the lid I thought that they were pretty and not at all over-the-top, particularly when worn with a matte brow bone color or matte brown in the crease.  I would not likely wear Chilled on Ice on the brow bone during the day;  I tried it this morning and it was a little glittery for my own taste.

Chilled on Ice applies as a champagne color, essentially a warm cream tone with a touch of gold and silver.  Vintage Selection like a rose champagne — a greyed down soft rose with a touch of gold and silver.

Swatch comparisons with other creme eyeshadows in my collection:  RMS Beauty’s Living Luminizer, RMS Beauty’s Luna eyshadow, MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot and Laura Mercier’s Metallic Creme Eye Color in Gold.  Note that these swatches were applied with a brush, I found that MAC’s Chilled on Ice and Vintage Selection applied much more smoothly with finger application than you see in this swatch (here, n neutral light):

Same order, in sunlight (click to enlarge):

Chilled on Ice and Vintage Selection were my top choices for an easy, neutral eye with my light skin tone.  I was tempted by the other colors, and you may be too, if you look at KarlaSugar’s swatches and Sabrina’s review at The Beauty Look Book.

Getting to Know Jane: Beauty Round Up Member

 Beauty Round-Up  Comments Off
Dec 272010
 

Jane at Daly Beauty is featured in this week’s Getting to Know a Blogger series…. enjoy!

When did you start blogging and why? I have always been a beauty junkie, but I didn’t know what that was until I started reading beauty blogs. I started blogging as an experiment (I know nothing about html or that programming stuff!)and as a personal outlet. My friends regularly would ask for advice, and I was also known to offer unsolicited beauty tips as well. So I guess I wanted to share what I know and what I love.

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Chanel Black Pearl and Comparisons

 Chanel, Nail Polish  6 Responses »
Dec 262010
 

Chanel’s Black Pearl nail polish ($23 Le Vernis Black Pearl #513) is the much-anticipated shade for Spring 2011.  This is a beautiful deep gray tinged with green, evoking the Tahitian pearl that shares the name.

On nails, Chanel Black Pearl is a fresh take on the deep tone shimmer. There is a softer appearance to this polish, Chanel has tweaked its formulation so that the texture is softer, more pearly, than other metallic darks.  There is a frost texture, which melted a bit on application which minimizes that troublesome streaking that can occur with other lines.

Another:

So that you can place this color on a spectrum of comparisons, here is Chanel Black Pearl with a variety of other colors that I happen to have in my stash (from left to right):

  • China Glaze Wagon Trail–a deep coppery green
  • OPI for Sephora- Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, a shimmery gray-green with sparkle
  • Zoya Freja–a metallic gray frost that is similar to Chanel Black Pearl, but lacks Chanel’s softer texture and green cast
  • Chanel Black Pearl
  • Chanel Steel
  • Chanel Noir Ceramic
  • Chanel Black Satin (U.S.)
  • Chanel Black Satin (France)

Click to enlarge:

Here is a close-up of Zoya Freja and Chanel Steel, which are not duplicates but rather as a contrast to show the texture and tone of Chanel Black Pearl:

Personally, I love Chanel Black Pearl.  I do not know of any duplicates for the shade as yet, it is a noticeably beautiful and unique color.  The formula is extremely fast-drying, and two coats are necessary.

The pictures above are using three coats.  Personally, I prefer using two coats over using three coats.  There is a slightly nicer luminosity with two coats, and a slightly heavier look with three.

Chanel Aragonite Glossimer

 Chanel, Lipgloss  10 Responses »
Dec 242010
 

Chanel Glossimer in ($27/ Levres Scintillants Glossimer #151) is a light, shimmering lipgloss that showcases how well Chanel executes shimmer.  There’s a beautiful fairy sparkle combination of teal, pink, purple and gold in a nearly-sheer base that imparts Chanel-signature pearly glow.

Applied (picks up flashes of light):

Although one is commonly advised to wear these as a topcoat on a favorite lipstick, I love wearing this alone.  Who needs another color?  It’s pretty on all on its own.  This is not the first Chanel glossimer that has this gorgeous 3-dimensional effect, but we’ve used up our other ones already.  Liz and I like to keep one in a pocket, they are quite easy to apply without a mirror for a quick, polished glow.

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