web analytics

Elizabeth Arden Summer 2012 Collection

 Blush, Bronzers, Brushes and Tools, Eyeliner, Lipstick  6 Responses »
May 052012
 

Elizabeth Arden Rose Aurora Spring/Summer 2012 Collection is a blend of bronzes and rose tones that looks beautifully gift-able (as Mother’s Day approaches, this may solve your shopping dilemma). This color story is a modern twist on the original 1950′s collection designed by Elizabeth Arden herself, with soft rose gold packaging. I loved the originality and beauty of this summer-lovely packaging–it evokes art nouveau in my mind. The colors are a built around accentuated eyes, a soft shimmery lip and glowing skin.

The Pure Finish Bronze Powder comes in three colors ($38 each/0.30 oz.))–Soft Radiance, Warm Radiance, and Deep Radiance. These have a soft, shimmering finish. All three tend to run warm, consistent with the Rose Gold theme of the collection. These bronzers include Zin’cite, an ingredient said to energize and protect skin cells, together with green tea, white tea and minerals that provide antioxidant protection.

For applying these, I found that a large soft brush (including Elizabeth Arden’s own ($22, pictured below) worked perfectly. These bronzers are well pigmented, so put that kabuki away! You do want to chose the right color for your skin tone–going too light or too dark won’t be as flattering as it might be.

Soft Radiance was the right choice for my warm-toned fair skin (NC15/Chanel Cameo/Ivoire). By my estimate, I would suggest those with NC30-40 to go with Warm Radiance, and deeper tones with Deep Radiance. These have a fairly large amount of product for the price point (the pans are fairly large), and with the good pigmentation one should last quite a while.

Here are swatches, including the Honey Ceramide Cream blush ($24), a very natural deep warm rose tone:

Here’s Honey blush:

The collection includes a rose gold shimmering highlighting powder, the Pure FInish Highlighter in Rose Illumination ($34), which delivers very high shine. This pictures shows the new Elizabeth Arden All Over Face Powder Brush ($22):

A close of the shimmering powder–those who wear this will want a very reflective glow, keeping the application to the upper cheeks, and perhaps a touch to the brow bone. Like the bronzers, the highlighter includes Zin’cite, green tea, white tea and minerals.

My favorite piece of the collection was the Rose Aurora Ceramide Ultra Lipstick ($22.50). I loved the light, wearable rose with the rose gold shimmer.

The collection includes two liquid liners with felt tip applicators–these Elizabeth Arden Liquid Eyeliners come in both Black and Brown ($18 each).

You can see the tips of these liners are nicely defined:

Here are swatches of these items:

Elizabeth Arden sent a sample of a new fragrance, Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Cherry Blossom ($29/1.7 fl. oz. and $39/3.3 fl. oz., Honey Drops Cream is $29.50 for 8.4 oz.).

This scent is an extremely pleasant floral mix, well-named as it does have a lovely cherry blossom scent. Really, it evoked the beauty cherry trees that I remember from my East Coast childhood. This is tempered with a light green tea undertone..

Because the packaging is so lovely, I could easily see these appreciated as gifts for several women that I know in my life. This time of year seems to be a particularly heavy gift-shopping time for me–teachers, principals, coaches, Mother’s Day (which seems to include my many “mother-like” mentors), and birthdays. Depending on your recipient, I can imagine many would appreciate the beauty and usefulness of any one (or more) of these items in this collection.

The Elizabeth Arden Rose Gold Collection was sent to Cafe Makeup without charge or consideration for review.

 

Chanel Brun Intense and Peche Cuivre Eye Pencils

 Chanel, Eyeliner  14 Responses »
Apr 302012
 

Chanel Summer 2012 brings us two new eyeliner pencils. First is Chanel Le Crayon Yeux Precision Eye Definer in Brun Intense ($29).

This pencil is a deep brown with subtle sparkle and a combination of both gold and red. It should coordinate beautifully with the Chanel Sable-Emvouyant Eyeshadow duo released at the same time (reviewed here), one of my favorite pieces of this collection. As with the other pencils in Le Crayon Yeux line, this comes with a smudge tip on one end, and of course a sharpener.

Chanel Le Crayon Kohl Intense Eye Pencil in Peche Cuivre ($28) is a subtle shimmery nude. Unlike Brun Intense, there is no smudger on one end, although there is a sharpener included.

The effect of using Peche Cuivre is very subtle. There is a slight sparkle, and the color nearly matches a fair skinned person. It adds the slightest touch of polish to the eye.  It’s pretty, but many of you will not notice any dramatic effect. Others will love the very soft brightness it will give to the eye area.  Because of the sparkle, those of you with sensitive eyes will want to use some caution if you are thinking about using this on your inner eye rim.

Swatches of Brun Intense and Peche Cuivre are able. I’ve also included some other eye-brighteners that Chanel has released over the past year–Khaki Platine and Rose Platine for comparison.

Bottom line:  Many eye pencil lovers will find Brun Intense a useful addition to their beauty stash. The texture is soft, and it is very easy to get an even, intense line of color. The smugger is handy to push the line into a subtle line of smoke. This is a very good addition to add a touch of depth to the bottom outer lid, as well as a good traditional eyeliner.

Peche Cuivre’s texture seems harder to me than Brun Intense. You’ve got to push it to really get some color onto the lid. Because the color is quite subtle on fair skin tones, the effect will be quite subtle. Given the price point, some caution should be exercised–that is, is the look perfectly subtle for you, or too subtle on your skin tone?  Personally, I liked the subtle effect of the pencil, it’s similar to adding a touch of a light eyeshadow (such as Burberry Porcelain or MAC Naked Lunch) under the eye as a brightener.

Edward Bess Makeover at Bergdorfs

 Blush, Edward Bess, Eyeliner, Eyeshadow, Foundation, Highlighter, Mascara  47 Responses »
Mar 222012
 

Liz and I were so fortunate to meet Edward Bess in person at Bergdorf’s last week. As we were walking through the magical beauty floor, we found him standing near a counter of his beautifully formulated makeup line. Even more incredibly, he offered to do our makeup. I took some pictures for you to enjoy–and we hope that you do!

First of all, Edward Bess is even more charming and knowledgable in person than we had imagined–and we are some of his biggest fans. A prodigy, his taste level and expertise is incredible. Also, his personality is so pleasant and easy-going–he had us laughing along with him throughout. If you could choose anyone to do your makeover, Edward Bess would be a most delightful (and talented) choice.

Edward began with Liz’s eyes–he explained that cleanups are so much easier if the color product somehow migrates.  We were so lucky to try his new Edward Bess Eye Primer.   This product, which comes in three different shades, is distributed via a brush pen to the lid. Above, the product is coming out of the tube before it is smoothed out (with fingers or the built-in brush). It creates a blank canvas on the lid, drying to an opaque matte finish. I noticed that both Liz’s and my eye makeup lasted beautifully until we removed it much later that evening. The finish is amazing. I cannot wait until this product is available in the next 2-3 weeks. I need it.

With a few exceptions, nearly all of the color products used on both Liz and I were from the Edward Bess Back to Basics Palette ($75). Although I realized that this was a very versatile travel palette, I was stunned to see how easily Bess could use this palette to create our “you but more glamorous” looks. With just a few of his brushes and his fingers, Edward used some of his collection’s favorite colors. You can see Sabrina’s review and swatches of this palette here at The Beauty Look Book.

The eyeshadows were used to create a very natural eye, using the neutral colors on the lid, and the darker shade just above the crease. Edward used his Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush ($40) (pictured with the palette, above, which I couldn’t resist buying).

A little Edward Bess Defining Eye Liner ($29)….

 More work on the eye area:

 And bringing some color under the eyes:

Edward gave Liz incredibly long, defined lashes with his Edward Bess Lash Designer Volumizing Mascara ($30):

Edward mixed his Edward Bess Platinum Concealer ($38) with a touch of his moisturizing Edward Bess Black Sea Deep Hydration Cream ($90) to do Liz’s under eye area. He also used a mix of this moisturizer with his Edward Bess Sheer Satin Cream Compact Foundation ($60), which he dabbed on Liz with fingers. Although I don’t own this foundation yet, it did provide a very lightweight, moisturizing feel. The finish was lovely. I do own at least three of the Platinum Concealers, which I keep at home, work, and in my purse.  It has amazing coverage and the quality is excellent. I’m discontinuing the use of the Cle de Peau stick concealer in favor of the Edward Bess.

He then began to dab on the blush and highlighter from the Back to Basics Palette to add subtle color to Liz’s cheeks:

He used very soft lipstick and pencil on lips:

Edward then used the South of France Quad Royale ($45) applied with his Luxury Face Brush ($56) to add a glow to Liz’s complexion.  This quad gave Liz a very natural sheen–really, we couldn’t leave the counter without picking one up for her.

The Beauty Look Book’s review and swatches of the South of France Quad Royale are here. If you love a soft, subtle, beautiful glow, this is a must have.

I hope you enjoyed this little essay–we certainly felt very fortunate to have met with Edward Bess. What an enormous talent–I cannot wait to see what else he will be releasing in the coming months.

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.

Chanel Liquid Eye Liner Or Review

 Chanel, Eyeliner  7 Responses »
Nov 062011
 

Chanel Holiday 2011 includes a limited edition Liquid Eyelines in Or ($32 / Ligne Extreme Or).  The packaging and formula are very similar to the liquid liner released earlier this year in Onyx (reviewed here).  The packaging is classic Chanel, and the brush pen is fine-tipped.  The formula is sufficiently pigmented to give an opaque finish in a single coat.  If you use this type of pen, you know you need to go in confident.  Little mis-steps show and require correction (a Q-Tip touched in Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover does the trick).

The color does not work for everyone, and certainly doesn’t work for me.  Although called “Or,” (which translates to “gold” in French), the color delivers an intense shimmery deep yellow.  My sense is that this color may work for light carmel-toned skins, and will look magnificent on deep skin tones.  There may be lighter toned skin tones that prefer a dramatic flash.  But Liz and I couldn’t handle this color in any way, shape or form.  Although my returns every year are typically fewer than the number of fingers on one hand, Liquid Eyeliner in Or was returned yesterday.

Great formula.  Great execution.  Like Chanel Eyeshadow in Blazing Gold (reviewed here), Chanel Liquid Eyelines in Or was far too yellow to warrant the label “gold.” The color just does not work for me.

 Older Entries