Dior Jazz Club Collection for Fall 2009 Sneak Peek – Part 2
Dior’s Jazz Club will see the release of two limited edition palettes — Smoky Jazz and Purple Jazz ($65.00 each). I managed to get my hands on the Smoky Jazz palette, and it has easily become one of my favorite smoky eyes palettes to-date. One of the major reasons I love it is that they’ve included a plastic slip that labels each of the eyeshadows in it. They help make it just a bit easier for you! Each palette includes a liner, eyebrow color, three eyeshadows, and a topcoat.
The packaging is sleek, with the patent-leather (I don’t know if it’s *real* leather) look on the outside. Inside reveals the products, along with two double-sided brushes. (As with most palettes, the included brushes are just so-so, and those who use full-sized brushes regularly won’t be apt to switch unless it’s an emergency.) I appreciate included brushes, but I rarely use them myself.
The shades are just right for a smoky eye, and I like that they include both a more subdued bronzy-gold shade as well as a bright silver. This lets you mix up your smoky eye as you desire, rather than just the default gray/silver smoky eye. The liner is quite intense, almost like a deep black-brown. It will work best when used with an angled brush for sure. Even though one shade is for brows, you could easily use that as a fourth shadow, too!
Check out the inside and swatches… Continue reading →
TINte Cosmetics Match Book in Natural Beauty ($28.00) is an easy, everyday kind of makeup palette perfect for anyone in the market for a solid, everyday look. TINte offers three Match Books: Blushed Beauty, Natural Beauty, and Smoky Eyes. Each Match Book contains two eye shadow colors (a base and contour), a cream eyeliner, blush, two lip glosses, and two brushes. On the back of each Match Book is a “Match the Look” which is a stpe-by-step guide (with pictures!) on how to use the products.
The Natural Beauty palette contains a base color that’s a soft, whitish-beige shade and then a color shade that’s a soft, golden tan color. The cream eyeliner is an intense, deep black-brown with a bit of warmth to it. The blush is kind of a bronzy shade, but it isn’t shimmery or anything, so it gives a natural flush to cheeks. The two lipglosses include one in a coral-peach shimmer shade and then a bronzy-tan with gold shimmer shade.
I like that the brushes included aren’t miniature in size, because I find those tiny handles impossible to use. These are more like short handled brushes, which makes them a lot more manageable. Also, the brushes were a nice add-on, because you get a lip brush, shadow brush, and a liner brush (one brush is dual-sided). The palette itself is housed in cardboard/paper packaging, so it is more earth-friendly than plastic palettes, and you don’t have to worry about this cracking if you drop it. I was really impressed by the intensity of the cream eye liner, because it was ridiculously deep and creamy. I also preferred two glosses over a gloss and a lipstick, because I find lipstick pans tend to be kind of sheer and blah.
For $28, this palette is a great deal, too. This is something I’d give to friends/family who weren’t comfortable with makeup and wanted something that’s totally go-to when they had a special occasion or wanted to play around with makeup. It’s also nice to have in the stash for weekend getaways where natural is all you need.
See the inside & get swatches! Continue reading →
Benefit Smokin’ Eyes ($36.00) is an all-in-one palette to give you sexy, smoky eyes in no time. It contains three eyeshadows, black eye liner, brightener, two brushes, mini tweezers, and then instructions. The palette is housed in traditional Benefit packaging (cardboard/paper), which I can appreciate for its earth-friendliness. What I like most about this palette is the inclusion of eye liner, brow wax, and the mini tweezers. Those mini tweezers can really come in handy, actually! The brightener can be essential for those of us who aren’t getting quite as much sleep as we’d like, too.
There is a light pink highlighter, a soft gray with shimmer, and a deeper, gray-brown base shade. The eye liner is pretty black, surprisingly, and the brushes are average. I’ve never found palette brushes to be particularly noteworthy; they usually get the job done in a pinch, but they’re not brushes I’d use by choice. The instructions are a nice touch for those who are not so makeup-savvy. So, this makes a great gift to give to the new beauty fan or to someone in need of an all-in-one palette for special occasions.
See inside and swatches! Continue reading →
Dior Nude Pink Designer Quint ($58.00) is designed to be an “all in one” palette. I tried out the Nude Pink Designer Quint, and while it looks stunning, it’s not my favorite Dior quint.
The two light pink shades (bottom left corner and top right corner) are extremely sheer, and the one on the top right corner is almost a bit glittery in texture (think lustres). The middle shade is stunning, as a gorgeous peachy-pink shimmer shade. The top left shade is a plummy pink with multicolored shimmer that goes on almost pinky/plummy brown. The bottom right shade is a creamy shadow/liner in a rich burgundy-wine shade. With this quint, I just don’t see a ton of looks popping out from it. They definitely could have varied the two light pinks up more–going light and medium, for instance.
I haven’t been able to swatch or see any of the other ones in person, but from photos, I’d have to say that the other Designer Quints look fantastic. The Nude Pink one is the only one that seems to fall short of the mark. Amber Design has a stunning combination of burgundies and peach and golds, while Navy Design has rich, smoldering blues and lighter blues. Green Design (Asia Exclusive) also looks gorgeous with mint greens and golden-toned forest greens. I’ll be sure to get swatches of the other ones once they’re out at my local Dior counter!
See swatches! Continue reading →
Urban Decay Get Baked Eye Kit
($28.00) includes Baked, Half Baked, Twice Baked, and Flipside eyeshadows, along with a travel-sized 24/7 Eye Pencil in Bourbon. It also comes with a mini Sin primer potion.
Baked is a stunning shade of ultra pigmented, deep bronze. Half Baked is a softer, more golden-toned bronze shimmer shade. Twice Baked is a dark, chocolatey brown with subtle gold shimmer. Flipside is a bluish-teal with blue-green shimmer. I love the Baked shades, because they’re really rich in color and go on so smoothly. I just see these being stunning in neutral looks, especially during the summer. Flipside is a bluer version of MAC Shimmermoss, and it is a welcome addition in my collection!
I already have Bourbon and Sin in full-size, and I do like both. LOVE Bourbon, but I love all of the 24/7 Pencils. I like Sin for a shimmery base — I do, personally, like it more than regular UDPP.
Get Baked is a great summer palette with a good price to boot. Check out your local Sephora or Urban Decay counter to see for youself!
See swatches… Continue reading →
Chanel’s Cote d’Azur Summer Collection definitely stirred up some beauty temptations when we first learned about it. I ended up with most of the collection, and you’ll definitely get a full review soon 
I thought I’d break it up a bit, so you can at least get a sneak peek for now! My Nordstrom did have the summer collection on counter already, so I bet yours does, too — if you and Chanel are likethis, get your bum over to your local beauty counter!
Pictured above is the Iridescent Effects Eyes in Plein Soleil ($56.00), and it is an eyeshadow quad. It features four bronzy colors, ranging from coppery bronze to peach-bronze to medium bronze to deep, dark bronze. In-store, it swatched a little sketchy, but I was thinking that it might have just been because of the oil and gunk build-up from other customers swatching. However, the swatches included in this post are from the one I purchased, so it’s fresh and clean, and yet the colors didn’t quite swatch as smoothly as I would expect of Chanel. I’m definitely going to have to do a look or two with the quad to determine whether it will earn a spot in my beauty stash for keeps!
The next item I’d like to let you in on is Aqualumiere Gloss in Candy Glow ($27.00), which is part of Chanel’s normal Aqualumiere Gloss line-up, but it is repromoted with this launch. I’m not a huge glossimer fan (though I’m slowly warming up to them), but I adore the Aqualumiere Gloss formula. Talk about thick, non-sticky, pigmented goodness. Candy Glow is a pinky-coral with gold shimmer gloss that is so up my alley! I have the other three that came out with the launch, and they are equally as lovely, but I will tell you more next time
See swatches + Candy Glow… Continue reading →
