Omovoricza Complexion Corrector ($155/ 1 oz.) (also available from Omovorica’s website) is a premium multi-tasking product made for day.  I’ve been testing this product for a few weeks getting my mind wrapped around all of the thing that it can do.  Which is considerable, because it is one of the products that you don’t realize that you wanted, because you didn’t think it could exist. And yet, here it is.

One of the unique properties of Omovoricza’s Complexion Corrector is that it hydrates and gives a matte /satin finish at the same time.  You begin to realize the full import of that after you reach your late 20′s, and realize that all skin– even oily skin — needs hydration to look its best. Omovoricza’s Complexion Corrector can be used as alone, or as a primer, to hydrate and plump up my skin cells, so I get the “I spent all day in a spa” effect even after its removed for the day.  However, unlike many hydrating primers (or worthwhile moisturizers), Omovoricza’s hydration does not get greasy or heavy.  It remains as steady as a porcelain surface on the skin, very lightly so you do not notice it is there.  Except for the fact that your skin looks glowing, hydrated, and healthy.

That’s a pretty neat trick-usually hydrating products make my skin “glowy” far too early in the day and do not have this stability.  In addition, there is something really healing about Omorovicza’s line. After one 14-hour day that including a drive that took us from 100+ degree heat to 50 degree fog (and back), including a long family gathering in between, my Dolce & Gabanna foundation looked untouched after all of that time using this as my primer base.  Further, the Complexion Corrector helped my stressed out skin look brighter and pinker after it was removed.

The product is said to have brightening properties as well. I did notice that the product softened and diffused imperfections, including slight discoloration because of the pigment in the product itself. According to the line, the product includes Vitamin C and watercress leaf extract which “brightens the complexion and corrects skin tone to diminish the appearance of imperfections.” I will say that my skin did look more even-toned after several days of use.

This comes in a luxe frosted glass bottle with a plastic pump:

Another significant benefit is that the product has a softening effect on my slight imperfections of my skin, and even very slightly blurs uneven color on the skin. I think diffusing imperfections is an accurate way  to describe the effect. It comes out of the bottle white, but blends quickly into a sheer matte-satin finish (click to enlarge):

I blended some product out from the left side of the image all the way to the right on my arm.  As the product goes to almost invisible, the effect is a little difficult to see (click the image below to enlarge):

Omorovicza’s Complextion Corrector includes an SPF 20 rating.  Ingredient list (click to enlarge):

For outdoor wear, I layered this over my sunscreen.  The product still gave me a beautiful porcelain finish and didn’t feel heavy.  During my in-office days, I wore the Omorovicza Complexion Corrector alone.

Overall:  I loved it. It stabilized my makeup during the day, gave me a beautiful finish without the “silicone” feeling that some primers have, gave my skin moisture without feeling heavy or glowy, minimized imperfections, and gave my skin hydration throughout the day.  For those who live busy lives, having all of those features in a single product is a huge time-saver, saving me many steps in my morning beauty routine.

Available from Omovorica’s website (use code JUNE15 to get 15% off through mid-June) and also from Nordstrom.com

This product was sent to Cafe Makeup without charge for consideration for review, and this post includes affiliate links (for more information, see About Cafe Makeup)

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The third color for Chanel Fall 2013 is Chanel Elixir, a medium rose ($27).  Elixir has a touch of subtle warmth and a bit of beige which gives the color a slight touch of Chanel sophistication.

Chanel Elixir has the same tried-and-true formula that’s become familiar for its creams. This feels like the same formula as Chanel Dragon and Particuliere. It’s a fast-drying, opaque in two and has enough shine to hold its own.

There is no topoat used in these images, although adding one significantly improves wear time.

Here are comparisons with Chanel April, Infidele, Suspicious and the deep pink Rose Exuberant.

Another:

Chanel Elixir will be a nice, on-trend color for everyday during Fall 2013. This color will go well with the deeper tones of Fall–grey, beige, navy, olive, and should coordinate well with the other colors in Chanel’s Fall 2013 collection.

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The post Chanel Elixir Nail Polish Reviewed, Swatched and Compared appeared first on Café Makeup.

I’ve also had requests to swatch Chanel Alchimie (reviewed here) against Chanel Peridot and Diwali. I’ve thrown Chanel Graphite into the mix as well. As you can see, the color and texture of these is quite different.

All shades together:

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The post Quick Nail Comparisons: Chanel Mysterious and Alchimie appeared first on Café Makeup.

Chanel Mysterious ($27) is an mossy olive cream nail polish for Fall 2013. This has a little dusty beige mixed in, which gives the color a little twist.

Chanel Mysterious is a very easy color to work with–this is two coats with the Dior Gel topcoat. Here’s a comparison with the few greens that I have–Chanel Alchimie (reviewed here), Chanel Kaleidoscope, Chanel Khaki Brun, Chanel Khaki Vert, and the lush true green Nars Zulu.

Overall, Chanel Mysterious is an excellent formula for an on-trend color–successful color from Chanel.

Available from Nordstrom.com.

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For Fall 2013, there are three nail polishes for Chanel–Mysterious, Elixir and Alchimie ($27 each). Not that I can necessarily play favorites, but for me the most unusual must-have is Chanel Alchimie. This is a shimmery mossy-olive color that has a pretty reflectivity even without a topcoat.

Chanel Alchimie is cross between a metallic and a frost. A one-coat wonder, I found myself adding a second coat during testing just to make sure that the formula didn’t get too thick (it didn’t). Chanel Alchimie is complex–the base is a shimmery green with a yellow cast, with multicolored micro-shimmer in the formula.

If your nail bed is perfect, you might stop at one coat, if you have any uneveness, then two will be fine. For this images, I used a base coat (CDN Sticky, but any will do) and no topcoat. Of course, the wear time will be better with a topcoat.

In a word, this warm green is rich, interesting, and perfect. Chanel Alchimie going to go well with navy, burgundy, blacks, beiges and roses in the Fall (and works nicely for mid-to-late summer as well).  

The formula allows application without streaking, although if you are very careless you might get some. I applied this in generous layers, then allowed the formula to just sort of “set” itself down so that the brushstrokes mixed into obscurity.

Bottom line:  Chanel Alchimie is perfect for me.

Available at Nordstrom.com with free ship.

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The post Chanel Alchemie Nail Polish Reviewed and Swatched appeared first on Café Makeup.

This is a first look at Chanel Mystere Eyeshadow Quad ($59/.24 oz./#43), a shimmery mysterious eyeshadow combination of deep greens, soft cream and light taupe.

This comes packed in the same elegant compact as all other Chanel eyeshadow quads.  In some light, the quad can look a touch gray, but in reality there are some very subtle and complex colors in this beautiful palette.

Because of the shimmery cream (top left) and soft shimmery taupe (bottom left), you will have the basis of a beautiful daytime eye with this quad (using either of the deeper shades as a liner or softly in the crease).  However, the deeper colors have enormous potential for dramatic, rich color.

You can see the beautiful rich color and the subtle shimmer of each of the shade.  All shades are richly pigmented and soft. The deeper green/brown in the bottom right is a satin with subtle shimmer, not a matte.

The green in the upper left is spectacular.  Indoors with soft flash, you can see the lower color on the right goes toward a near-gray:

Swatches:

More, same order:

So far, I’ve only done one eye and it was beautiful and foolproof with my hazel/green eyes (this arrangement, although many others are possible of course):

This could be the beginning of a very beautiful Fall 2013.  I’m so excited about this collection, really Chanel did a superb job with many of the items.  Chanel Mystere is a beautiful neutral with a twist–absolutely gorgeously formulated. Winner, winner.

The post FIrst Look: Chanel Eyeshadow Quad in Mystere with Swatches appeared first on Café Makeup.

Fall 2013 brings these six Le Blush Creme de Chanel ($38 each/.09 oz), a entirely new format of cream blushes by Chanel. It has been more than a decade since we’ve seen Chanel release cream blushes, and these bear little resemblance to those created with former technology. Instead, these have excellent, controllable pigmentation. If you like to wear your blush with a water-color whisper lightness, or as a bright statement (or anything in between), Chanel has got you covered with these. These have a bit of slip and a silicone feel, as you can see from the ingredient list posted below.

The color range is broad, with a strong emphasis toward pinks (and no reds).  I’ll be doing more in-depth coverage of each color, for now I wanted to present an overview so that we can see what this new release brings. First up, the colors:

• Presage is a highly pigmented coral (warm apricot)
• Inspiration is a cool light pink (this has the softest pigmentation of all)
• Revelation is a warm pink/rose
• Destiny is a warm bronze/tan
• Fantastic is a highly pigmented pink berry that is close of fuchsia
• Affinite is a beautiful bright, pigmented pink

The compact size is a slim square, which is smaller than the larger eyeshadow quad/powder blush compact and larger than the small eyeshadow compact.

The compact is a touch slimmer than either of the other two.  When the package is opened, there is no slipcover, sleeve or brush.

Inside, the cream blush sits in a circular pan with a mirror in the lid. The sales associate used the Chanel duo-fibre brush (reviewed here) to apply the product. However, I prefer to use my fingers (dot, dot, dot and then blend, blend).

Chanel Fantastic cream blush

Here is the Chanel cream blush ingredient list (click to enlarge):

I’m still playing with these, but wanted to put up some quick swatches of the existing shades. Also, it’s exciting to have cream products to play with given that, with a little practice, I’m able to mix the colors to create new shades. 

Here are some heavy swatches:

Here are some light swatches, just tapped onto the skin with a concealer brush:

Because of their versatility, I believe that one of almost any skin tone can wear these without concern that they will show beautifully on the skin.  These don’t cake up for get thick-looking when more is added–the pigmentation is highly buildable.

I’ll be posting some comparison swatches later on, mostly with powder blushes. Truth be told, I own very few cream blushes (I didn’t invest in Dior’s recent release or YSL’s either), so I will have to rely on my blogging brothers and sisters to give you comparisons with other creams on the market.  I will note that the texture of these Chanel cream blushes are fantastic, very easy to work with and to control.  Although I’ll post more updates, I’m finding that these have excellent longevity on my arm (I wore counter-swatches on my arm for hours yesterday, including through lunch and shopping).

This first look has me really impressed. I must confess I was reluctant to invest in any of these until I saw them in person. Although this may sound a bit off-key for a $38 product, I found that the price point was lower than I thought these would be for a new Chanel release.  Also, the colors are absolutely gorgeous.  So far, so good.

Available at Nordstrom.com with free ship and free return (affiliate link, for more information see About Cafe Makeup).

The post Overview and Initial Review: Le Blush Creme de Chanel appeared first on Café Makeup.

Cafe Makeup will have more information up tomorrow regarding the new Le Blush Creme de Chanel blush formulations for Fall 2013. Please stay tuned! In the meantime, please enjoy this image of all six, Chanel Présage, Inspiration, Revelation, Destiny, Fantastic and Affinité.

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The post Coming Soon: Le Blush Creme de Chanel appeared first on Café Makeup.

I’ve been using Chanel CC Cream ($55) for the past several days since posting my original “first look” here. As promised, here are a few of my thoughts.  Along with these, here are more comparison swatches of the Chanel CC Cream in 20 Beige with Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in Beige 20, Guerlain BB Beauty Booster in Light, and Shiseido Urban Environment Tinted UV Protector in Medium:

As you can see, Chanel CC Cream is quite light in tone. Vitalumiere Aqua is deeper, Guerlain’s BB Beauty Booster is pinker and slightly deeper.  Shiseido’s Tinted UV Protector in #2 is the deepest of all.

This has a light perfume scent which fades quickly upon application.

Here are a few of my thoughts on using Chanel’s CC Cream:

Application tips:  The texture of this CC Cream is thick. As the ingredient list suggested, this formula silicon-like ingredients that are unusual. On one hand, the product glides on, but on the other hand it feels a bit thick. It’s a little tricky to apply if you are used to applying liquid foundations.

I was expecting this to be sheer, so my first effort was using a lot all at once. Big mistake! You do not need much to get some good layer of pigment down. The key is building up very, very light layers to get the coverage that you want.  Start with the tiniest amount, and work up from there. I used my fingers, which warms the product nicely. It goes quickly, and once you get the hang of it, the process is actually pretty pleasant because it gives you so much control.

I had the best results by taking a very small amount–less than the head of a pin amount–and spreading it out over a fairly large area. Work it into the skin with your fingers. Then add light layers and work in some more, as many as you wish in the areas where you’d like more coverage. Imagine adding little light overlapping feathers, just adding more where needed. It’s certainly buildable to 4-5 layers, probably more.  I never reached the point of this caking up, at any point. I’ve never seen anything layer this well (except Burberry and Armani’s foundations come quite close).

This silicon-like feel made it quite different from the light, whip-cream feel of Omovoricza’s BB Complexion Perfector. This is a purely subjective opinion, but after using both products, Omovorica’s had a more noticeable skin-care beneficial effect on my skin at the end of the day.  Don’t get me wrong, the Chanel was nice–the hydration was good, and it was nice to have a solid SPF rating. But if you are looking for an all-day spa effect, Omovoricza seems to give my skin the  extra boost once the product is removed for the evening.

Longevity and feel:  Chanel is very long-wearing, even in 100+ degree heat. It just did not move at all.  Together with the SPF rating, this makes Chanel a good choice for summer (with an appropriate SPF sunscreen beneath, of course). Wearing Chanel’s CC Cream, I got the tiniest bit of glow toward the end of the day.  Overall, I’d give this an A+ rating for stability.  However, this does feel a bit heavier on my face that other foundations and BB creams that I’ve used.  Some will find this heavier feeling a little out of step with some of the modern, lightweight foundations (including those in Chanel’s own line).

Color match:  Chanel’s CC Cream is light and warm. It’s on the fair side for me, but it’s certainly in my comfort range.  I’m a bit confused about its availability in one shade. I know that Chanel has lovely control over it’s aesthetics, development, and high quality control. Companies that include Clinique, Smashbox, and others have released their CC creams in as many as five shades. To me, it makes no marketing sense to limit sales to one audience. At the same time, it also sends an odd message to women and men who are not this specific skin tone. To me, this is the largest downside of this release.  Dear Chanel, if you are reading you fabulous darling, increase your shade range.

Bottom line:  Here’s the thing. There’s a lot not to like about Chanel CC Cream. The single shade, the heavy feeling. On the other hand, after the first five minutes it made my skin glow with beautiful health beyond that which I actually possess. It melded to my skin and perfected it. In other words, the skin on my face looked wonderful. The coverage was completely controllable–in an off-the-charts sort of way.  So once I had a porcelain canvas, the silicon-derivative components gave my skin this even texture with a slight, skin-like sheen.  To make sure I wasn’t looking at this through Chanel-colored glasses, I asked a few people who confirmed my skin looked especially nice.  See, that’s the thing about Chanel.  They seem to get that, at the end of the day, it’s about the person looking like the best possible version of themselves.

…and at that particular task, Chanel hit it out of the park.

Available at Nordstrom.com (with free ship and returns) and at other Chanel sources.

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The post My Thoughts: Chanel CC Cream Review appeared first on Café Makeup.

1. Style.com Print.  Who doesn’t love a good fashion magazine?  Although I’ve long considered Vogue the fashion bible in my home, lately I’ve been straying to Elle and a few others. Style.com print sent me a back issue of one of their magazines as a courtesy, and I seem to have become hooked. Two issues a year, at $14.95 per, isn’t out of line for this lush, highly detailed coverage of cutting edge and upcoming trends.

I couldn’t help noticing that their cover echoed the same tones in MAC Pro’s Nudes and Metallics eyeshadows (due out online as early as this week, but don’t quote me on that).  Inside, the photography was not only gorgeous, but color accurate (a rarity in the beauty world!).

MAC Love’s Lure (and Brazenly to the side)

I picked up this Fall 2013 issue at Barnes and Noble yesterday. It’s got gorgeous, sharp, rich images of runway fashion, backstage features, designer stories, and a decent beauty section. Is Style.com Print the new Vogue? Right now, that’s a very tough question! I must admit that Style.com Print wins in several categories, but twice per year isn’t quite enough to get me through every plane trip and lazy Sunday afternoon–I wish it were available even more often. Anyway, if you are wandering through a magazine rack near you, it’s worth a look.

2. Mini samples. I’m currently playing with Chanel’s new three-step Day, Night, Weekend skincare trio, Tarte’s Amazonian Treasures Collection (a Sephora 500-point perk), YSL Baby Baby Doll mascara sample from Neiman’s Camp Gorgeous sample bag, and some Diptique fragrance samples sent by the lovely Sabrina of The Beaauty Look Book. Is there anything cuter than a fun makeup sample?

 3. Gucci Makeup?  Women’s Wear Daily is reporting that Gucci may be starting a beauty line. If so, that will be yet another luxury clothing and accessories addition to the makeup world. Are we ready for more?

So, readers, what things are you obsessed with today?

The post Three Things I’m Obsessed With Right Now…. appeared first on Café Makeup.