Nars Gaiety Blush

 Blush, NARS  Comments Off
Jan 152012
 

 Nars Gaiety blush ($27) is a cool candy pink matte blush with a touch of orchid.  Nars description says “joyful exuberance”–Cafe Makeup says “love.”

Of course, Gaiety is going to work beautifully for cool skin tones. Although I have warm-toned skin, I’ve long loved the look of a cool pink blush. It really makes me look healthy and glowing. The contrast is not jarring, instead, it adds a soft glow of color that adds a dash of interest. Yes, I love my reds, peaches, and bronzes, but candy pink awakens my skin like nothing else.

Lately, Nars blushes seem to have a more consistent formula. Some of the older designs (Mounia, now discontinued) required careful control with a stippling brush.  Perhaps it’s just me, but lately I can use a standard blush brush and average pressure to get a good glow every time. I put Gaiety in this same line–I love the formula, quality and sleek packaging of Nars blushes, and that there is also a vibrant pink-pink that I can apply without special care. Really, this one’s easy.

Of all my cool candy-pink blushes (oh, I can hear the comments already! Yes, I have a few), Gaiety is closest to the long-ago limited edition Chanel Turbulent, but does not require the special care and handling that Turbulent does (for more about this, see this review–really, it’s nuclear).  Unlike the vibrant, pearly Chanel Tubulent, Nars Gaiety can be applied normally and has a matte finish.

You can see the tonality difference here, with Nars Gaiety and Chanel Turbulent being the closest friends. Bobbi Brown’s French Pink (in the old round pot) is far less bright and clear.  Chanel Rose Tourbillon has a touch of rose red, but Nars Gaiety leans more blue/orchid.

Another comparison–here is MAC Full Fuchsia (reviewed here) which is an amazing color, but far more blue and fuchsia compared to Nars Gaiety.  Chanel Pink Explosion (reviewed here) is a soft cool pink, but not as cool as Gaiety. Finally, Chanel Tweed Fuchsia (reviewed here) has much more red and is deeper in tone.

I swatched some of the closest shades. As you can see, Chanel Turbulent was the closest. Keep in mind that Turbulent is applied very lightly here, because I tried to keep the tonality the same.  Turbulent shows as a more pearly texture, compared to the matte Nars Gaiety.  You can see that Chanel Rose Tourbillon is slightly more red and has a pearl texture.  MAC Full Fuchsia is a much deeper violet tone.

Same blushes:

Overall, one of my favorite pieces from this Nars collection. I’ve been worried that I might run out of Chanel Turbulent, and regretted the time investment needed to make it work. Nars Gaiety is a far more workable formula, in more sleek and packable packaging. I love the color, the forumla and the final effect. Again, my apologies that Liz isn’t here to model–she’s working quite hard and I hope that sometime soon her schedule will allow her to return.

Nars Gaiety was sent to Cafe Makeup for review without charge.

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Nars Spring 2012 Preview

 Blush, Eyeliner, Eyeshadow, Lip Pencil, Lipstick, Nail Polish, NARS  7 Responses »
Jan 112012
 

Nars Spring 2012

Here’s an upcoming preview of Nars Spring 2012, a collection that is a study in contrasts: bold color underscored by sophisticated shimmer. For eyes, either tones of lavender and pink or bronze accented with navy on eyes. Cheeks are flushed with candy pink. Lips gleam in topaz or pop with berry. Metallic violet nails add a finishing touch to a collection that’s bright, strong and iconic. Here are the details of the complete Spring 2012 Nars collection.

Douce France Trio Eyeshadow ($45), with three gorgeous powder eyeshadow variations on pink—a cool light pink highlighter, a medium rose-petal pink and a deep rose with a touch of brick:
A minky silver-lavender single powder eyeshadow Lhasa ($23), named for the Tibetan region that hosts many Buddhist palaces:
An powder eyeshadow duo, Paramarimbo ($33) with a soft metallic green-brass and green-bronze tones. These are both shimmery textures with a rich complexity.

Gaeity Blush ($27), which I’ve been waiting for with my breath held. This is an extremely cool-toned pink:

Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24). I love this formula. This is a red/hot pink combination made to make your lips look gorgeous and glossy:

Valpraiso Pure Matte Lipstick ($25), an deep rose with a touch of coolness:

A shimmering gold-topaz deep nude in Bilbao Lipstick ($24)

Dark Rite Soft Touch Shadow Pencil ($24)

Diamond Life nail polish ($17) (not yet arrived)

In person, everything so far looks gorgeous. I’ll be providing you with updates and reviews on these products in the coming days.

These products were provided to Cafe Makeup without charge for consideration and review.

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Dior Spring 2012: Rose Glow Awakening Blush

 Blush, Dior  2 Responses »
Jan 032012
 

Dior Rosy Glow Blush

Dior Spring 2012 includes Rosy Glow Blush ($44/0.26 oz.), otherwise called “Healthy Glow Awakening Blush No. 1.” In the pan, the blush is remarkably cool–a fuschia that contains a hint of violet. According to Dior, Rosy Glow includes Fresh Color Reveal, a technology that is intended to adjust to your coloring to develop a rosy radiance to match your skin tone. I can say that the technology works on me–the blush applies as a pink with red undertones when applied on my cheeks worn over foundation.

The compact is the heavy silver type that is used for several other Dior special edition face products:

Open:

The split pan and the luxe brush:

 

 Dior Rosy Glow applies very sheerly and light at first.  Please do not judge your application by these first swipes.  The color intensifies and becomes more visible over the next several minutes–as Dior describes, “the halo of color gradually intensifies as if my magic, revealing an ultra-natural and customized rosy glow.” On my, I got a strawberry-pink sheer matte wash. It was very pretty, and reminded me a bit of a red-pink fruit punch color. It was medium deep in tone.

I suspect that most arm-swatches that you see on others will not be helpful at all, and I don’t expect these to be any different. The color looks different on your cheeks –it’s intended to change color and it does in a magic sort of way. Really, to know you’ve got to wear the color on your own.  Nonetheless, I’ve swatched this next to Chanel Turbulent and Chanel Tweed Fucshia. The color on my face is more similar to Guerlain’s Rouge G Blush, although a bit deeper and rosier in tone:

Overall, Dior Rosy Glow Blush is a bit of an experiment–do try it at a counter if you can before you buy. It’s a very flattering color, so the technology works for me personally. It’s a little disconcerting to wait to see how the blush will look for several minutes afterwards. The powder applies without caking–the powder melds to the skin so it looks like a natural part of my skin. Although the texture is matte, the overall impression of the color is a “rosy glow.”

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Le Metier de Beaute Blush Kaleidoscope

 Blush, Le Metier de Beaute  9 Responses »
Dec 312011
 

Le Metier de Beaute has released a Blush Kaleidoscope ($95/ Neimans in Troy, Michigan), which includes a combination of colors made with a high-quality, beautifully milled powder. The Best Things In Beauty has been tracking the line’s limited releases this season, and most of them I’ve skipped. With this exception. I find that very high-quality blush palettes are rare, so I called to order one when this was released. Because I don’t own any of Le Metier’s powder blushes (typically sold for $30 each), this seems a safe introduction to this aspect of the line.

Other than The Best Things In Beauty’s review, there is a helpful write-up by Le Metier de Beaute’s Mikey Castillo (here), there is another review at The Beauty Info Zone, who says that more will be available in January. I thought it useful to take a few moments to write up some thoughts.

Overall, I’m incredibly pleased with the palette. The blushes can be layered beautifully. The power is finely milled, so that one can layer without the color blocking up or caking (I wore the top three levels layered and loved the pink-peach-gold effect). The pigmentation is excellent-a dense brush lays down significant color and a soft brush just a bit. There is a range of textures from matte to shimmer. Le Metier de Beaute has included a “shimmer” shade that can be layered with the matte shades to add versatility. I’m very glad that I’ve ordered it, and I know I’ll get significant use from it.

First, the basics. The packaging:

The label:

The ingredients (click to enlarge):

As with other Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscopes, the packaging is extremely compact and seems quite strong. It has a flip-top mirror and swing-out pans.  The pans are unnamed:

The top pan (I’ve called it “Level 1″) is a soft matte honey apricot:

The Level 2 is a matte pink rose, in the same family as Chanel Rose Ecrin:

Level 3 is a honey gold shimmer that can be used alone as a warm shimmer or layered over the other colors.  Unsurprisingly, this shade is not entirely transparent–so when you lay down this color over another, it knocks down the pigmentation a bit. In other words, it adds a touch of gold nude in addition to the shimmer. If you like, you can limit this layer to the upper cheekbones:

Layer 4 is a gorgeously shimmery cool pink:

Swatches of all shades:

Here’s a quick attempt to put the gold Layer 3 over the two matte layers:

Here’s Liz wearing Layer 4 alone. She’s also wearing Chanel Rouge Allure in Super (because she loves that one):

Overall, Le Metier has a winner here.  The price works out to about $25 per blush. If you care, the box lists the total weight as 0.49 ozs. The colors are highly wear-able, on trend, beautifully made, and the packaging is modern and travel-friendly. Yes, yes, yes!!

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Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Brun Rose Review

 Blush, Chanel  17 Responses »
Nov 012011
 

 Chanel Les Tissages de Chanel Blush in Tweed Brun Rose ($45 / #70) is a finely-milled, complex blush with subtle shimmer.  The color is a mix of brown, rose, gold and peach.  Here is the pan as it arrives from Chanel, with a light dusting of gold overspray.  A quick sweep removes most of the gold shimmer.

The color virtually melts into the skin, the quality is really excellent.  I’ve worn this over Ko Gen Do Foundation, and thought that the effect was extremely natural.  Although pictured here on Liz wearing a light pink lipstick (Chanel Crystal, which is no longer made), Tweed Brun Rose will look lovely with red, beiges, peaches and nude lip colors as well.

 Chanel Tweed Brun Rose applies as a pink-peach-nude. It has more color than most other nude blushes, here pictured with Nars Madly, Nars Loveljoy, and Chanel Fandango.  Tweed Brun Rose is much more nude/bronze compared with last year’s Chanel Espiegle:

 I didn’t expect to like Chanel Tweed Brun Rose, but after playing with the color for several days it won me over completely. The color is tenacious–it doesn’t fade.  The texture is beautiful in that it does become part of the skin without looking powdery.  The texture is not as “glowy” as blushes from Chanel’s Joues Contraste collection, the overall impression is slightly more matte with a tiniest bit of shimmer.  The color is gorgeous–a beautiful, natural, year-round shade.

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