Sunday, September 28th, 2008
Chanel’s Holiday 2008 collection includes Beiges de Chanel, which is a great quad of soft, warm tones. It’s perfect for subtle holiday eyes, as well as more dramatic combinations (by using the dark brown with gold shimmer color). The colors were silky smooth and had good pay off. The only one with a chalkier texture was the “highlighter” color, and for that purpose, the texture works out. I really love the bottom left color – it is just this gorgeous muted golden tan color. This is such a classic quad well-suited for the holiday season.
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Friday, September 26th, 2008
It’s Friday, lovelies! So what better day to share these pictures and swatches of Givenchy’s Holiday Launch?
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Sunday, September 21st, 2008
Bobbi Brown’s Shimmering Nudes Palette ($50.00) is BB’s latest palette launch. For the past months, I have seen and played with many of her palettes (it seems like every collection is bound to have some sort of coordinating palette!). On the whole, I haven’t been terribly impressed. I admit I like bold colors and rich pigmentation, so naturally Bobbi Brown isn’t a brand that has “TEMPTALIA” written all over it. Knowing this allows me to better appreciate the brand and its products for what they are.
With all that said, this is my favorite Bobbi Brown palette I’ve reviewed and seen to date. Seven shades of soft neutrals ranging from pearlized shimmer wash to metallics. It also comes with an eyeshadow/eyeliner brush (but who really cares?); the brush is workable, but I’d only use it in a pinch myself. So why is it my favorite? There is a nice level of color richness to the shades in this palette; I can see myself creating several glorious neutral and nude eyes using it. (Of course, I have to remember to pull it out, so it might not actually happen…)
The shades you’ll find are: Nude Beach (metallic), Nude Mist (shimmer wash), Naked, Nude Glow (metallic), Mica (shimmer wash), Nude Spice (metallic), and Espresso eyeshadows. And you know what you don’t find? Lip colors. FANTASTIC! The reason I say this is I hate getting eyeshadow residue on my lip colors (or anything creamy). The other part is I’m not a huge fan of lip palettes, because I don’t like to use fingers, only lip brushes, with them aka pain in the rear.
So if you are looking for a good neutral eye palette, you really should head down to your local Bobbi Brown counter and check this baby out. It will definitely suit your needs, methinks!
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Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
I recently tried a few products from Thevi Cosmetics, which is a line founded by Thevaki Thambirajah. Thevi created the brand because she “could never find cosmetics in shades that suited her coloring.” She wanted colors that were “rich and vibrant without being harsh,” so Thevi Cosmetics was born as an answer to the frustrations she faced (and countless other women face).
“I know that there are many, many women like me. Women to whom ‘natural’ means ‘colorful.’ After all, what is more natural than a flower, a butterfly, a sunset? In our homes, in our dress, even in our foods and in our makeup, we are women who feel comfortable with color. In fact, we crave it. And while our skins come in a wide range of tones and shades, we all look best with a more intense makeup. Red lips. Strongly defined eyes. Visible cheek color. And of course, fresh, smooth complexions.”
How do they fare? Continue reading →
Monday, September 15th, 2008
Beth Bender Beauty put out this great trio for summer that is/was perfect for the season, but it also makes for a nice way to fade into fall, too. This eyeshadow trio is called SGB ($36.00), and it is available at www.bettesboutique.com. I love the coppery brown color, and I think the pale golden shade makes for a nice all-over lid color. Beth Bender also knows about easy beauty, because she also is responsible for for the Get In Line Eyeilner & Stencil kits–making lining easier for those of us who struggle!
See swatches…
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Friday, July 4th, 2008
In Bobbi Brown’s Fall Mauve palette, it contains three shadows, three lip colors, and one blush. I’m much more pleased with this palette than say Bobbi Brown’s Nude palette, because the colors show up on me a lot better. The eyeshadows include Navajo, which seems to make regular appearances in her palettes, and I find it can be a chalky color on my skintone if I don’t use it right (which generally means using it lightly and blending/fading it moreso than normal); Vintage, a gray with mauve undertones color; and Chocolate Mauve, which is like a subdued chocolate shade. The blush is simply called Mauve, and it is a pinky-mauve tone. I imagine this particular shade of pinky-mauve is fairly universal. As for the lip colors, Dusty Mauve is a creamy lip color that goes on incredibly sheer for me; Mauve lip sheer is a little more pigmented, but not too much; and Vintage Mauve is the most pigmented, though still quite creamy and sheer. If you go heavier with the shadows, these included lip colors will work out, since you can pair the heavy eyes with softer lips.
I much preferred the individual lip colors for this launch, though admittedly, I’ve only tried Heather Mauve (a truly pale, toned down mauve with gray-pink). I also tried Black Pearl Shimmer Lip Gloss, which is a deep purplish-brown with icy pearl. Mauve Lip Gloss is a pale, low-sheen purple-mauve. It’s very opaque, which I like for this particular color. But the most stunning item from the launch was Bobbi’s Black Mauve Shimmer Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner! It’s like a black-brown-purple. I suppose it reminds me of a deeper, darker MAC Nice Vice Paint Pot (which was LE, anyway), but this formula is great for when you need eyeliner that sticks around all day long!
Overall, in my limited experience with Bobbi Brown as a brand, I found this collection more impressive than some of the others (like the Nude Collection). I feel like these offer pops of color and fun, while still being subtle and appropriate. I hope that you, like me, will look at Bobbi Brown through a different lens than you would a MAC collection–because the brands are distinctly different and separate!
Anything from Bobbi’s Mauve Collection inspire you? Will you at least check it out or will you let it pass you by?
See product photos and swatches… Continue reading →
