too celebritis: October 2010

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Laura Mercier Color Wardrobe Holiday 2010

This holiday season seems to be all about palettes and sets. Laura Mercier has quite a few options this holiday but the only one that stood out to me was the Color Wardrobe Palette. I purchased this from the last Neimans Incircle Event to take advantage of their gift with purchases but was under the impression the retail value was less than the $98 listed price. I will say my jaw dropped when I saw the price on the receipt. I do think it's a relatively good value for 6 eyeshadows, 3 blushes (these have more product than a full sized blush), 8 lip colors, and 2 double ended brushes, however if I knew the retail price beforehand I probably would have passed on this.

Top Layer, Top Row: Chocolate, Sable, Twinkling Star, Stellar, Tiger’s Eye and Baroque Eye Colours
Top Layer, Bottom Row: Spice, Apricot Blossom and Lotus Cheek Colours
Bottom Layer, Top Row: Mulberry Stain, Hibiscus Stain, Shy Pink Stain, Plum Lip Glaze
Bottom Layer, Bottom Row: English Rose Stain, Brick Red Stain, Mocha Stain, Naked Lip Glaze

If you're more into the individual products the good news is that most of the lip stains are available individually. I've been told that the 2 exclusive eyeshadows Twinkling Star & Tiger's Eye are going to be released next year (these are a new sparkling formula). The three blushes are gorgeous but are similar to existing colors. I compared them at the counter and they are clearly different but still close to some shades.

Don't get me wrong - this is a beautiful palette and very versatile to take you from day to night. The lip colors are neutrals with a kick. My favorite items are the brushes (Laura always does great brushes with her palettes unlike many other brands) and the blushes. I just would have rather purchased items individually.

The colors, descriptions, close ups + swatches of the top layer:

Eyeshadows:

Chocolate - shimmering deep cocoa chocolate brown
Sable - cool silver-taupe
Twinkling Star - glittering champagne with a hint of pink
Stellar - neutral champagne nude
Tiger’s Eye - sparkling warm bronze
Baroque - warm tawny brownish neutral

Blushes:

Spice - the name says it all, a warm brown spice with slight shimmer
Apricot Blossom - reminds me of Orange Blossom
Lotus - bright pink with shimmer, brighter/cooler than Lotus Pink

The colors, descriptions, close ups + swatches of the top layer:

Lip Stains:

Mulberry - warm red brown
Hibiscus - bright healthy pink
Shy Pink - nude pink
English Rose - medium warm pink rose
Brick Red - not sure what to make of this color, it's not really a brick red
Mocha - cinnamon mocha brown

Lip Glazes:

Plum Lip Glaze - sheer glossy plum
Naked Lip Glaze - light peachy-beige, almost clear

Overall a nice neutral polished and classic looking palette that isn't too neutral. If you're new to Laura Mercier or are looking for a versatile palette to go with virtually everything in your wardrobe this is a great pick for you. Great for travel and the product sizes are decent. I don't know that I would be comfortable toting this around in my purse but the compact is fairly sturdy and comes with high quality brushes. It is on the pricey side but if you consider all the items you get, it's a relatively good value.

Laura Mercier Color Wardrobe Holiday 2010

Top Layer, Top Row: Chocolate, Sable, Twinkling Star, Stellar, Tiger’s Eye and Baroque Eye Colours
Top Layer, Bottom Row: Spice, Apricot Blossom and Lotus Cheek Colours
Bottom Layer, Top Row: Mulberry Stain, Hibiscus Stain, Shy Pink Stain, Plum Lip Glaze
Bottom Layer, Bottom Row: English Rose Stain, Brick Red Stain, Mocha Stain, Naked Lip Glaze

The colors, descriptions, close ups + swatches of the top layer:

Eyeshadows:

Chocolate - shimmering deep cocoa chocolate brown
Sable - cool silver-taupe
Twinkling Star - glittering champagne with a hint of pink
Stellar - neutral champagne nude
Tiger’s Eye - sparkling warm bronze
Baroque - warm tawny brownish neutral

Blushes:

Spice - the name says it all, a warm brown spice with slight shimmer
Apricot Blossom - reminds me of Orange Blossom
Lotus - bright pink with shimmer, brighter/cooler than Lotus Pink

The colors, descriptions, close ups + swatches of the top layer:

Lip Stains:

Mulberry - warm red brown
Hibiscus - bright healthy pink
Shy Pink - nude pink
English Rose - medium warm pink rose
Brick Red - not sure what to make of this color, it's not really a brick red
Mocha - cinnamon mocha brown

Lip Glazes:

Plum Lip Glaze - sheer glossy plum
Naked Lip Glaze - light peachy-beige, almost clear

Crackle, Snapple, Pop- Barry M Instant Effects Polish

2x Wet'n'Wild French White Creme, 1x Instant Effects

When nail bloggers from the UK first started to blog about this polish, I was blown away. I know crackle polish isn't exactly super new (BYS has been making some for a while) but I'd never seen anything so cool. Luckily, at the time I was in the midst of arranging a swap with Jess from Blogger Fae Glasgae and managed to get my hands on a bottle.
Barry M Instant Effects did not disappoint. It's fascinating to put on, and almost instantly the cracking begins. The whole process finishes pretty much within a minute.

Same mani, with one more coat of Instant Effects. Pre- cleanup!

Now, for the best crackle effect it's important to follow the directions- put one smooth coat on over another color (or clear base coat) and don't go back and retouch if you've missed a spot because that area will be thicker and not crackle as well. If you'd like to intensify the black crackle to under color ratio, wait a minute for the process to finish, and put on a second coat. The neat thing is that it cracks in the same areas, leading me to think that the lacquer pulls away from the places where the attachment to the surface underneath it is the weakest.
I haven't tried a whole lot of combinations of color with crackle pairings yet, but I think that bright, neon colors provide the most amount of contrast with the matte black crackle to provide the most interesting look. A girl in my class suggested I do neon pink next time underneath Instant Effects, and I think I'll definitely do that!
I don't remember exactly how much Barry M Instant Effects was (believe it was under £5) but if you're wondering where to get it on this side of the pound, have no fear. It's rumored that the Katy Perry OPI collection will feature a crackle polish. My cool crackle polished fingers are crossed in hope that it's true!

What do you think of crackle coats? Are you like me, thinking it's the coolest thing since sliced bread and can't wait to see it in more colors, or is this trend a pass for you?

Product was obtained in mutually beneficial swap.

October favorites

Why is time flying so fast? Now I really can't deny we're deep into Fall and heading towards Winter - my October favorites are so different from the previous month's ones!

Nars Sheer Glow: again and again, my favorite foundation. Now that I can't get along with Tinted Moisturizer alone, we have been reunited and it's still love.

Vampy lips: between Mac Dubonnet, YSL Rouge Volupte #12 Dirty Burgundy, Mac M.A.C Red and my brand new Mac Violetta, I've been rocking the deep shades all month!

Mac Mystery eyeshadow: where was this eyeshadow all my life? Since I've been wearing a lot of bright lips, I have also toned down the eyes. My go-to eye look has been: a wash of some light shade, Mystery in the crease and gel liner. This is the perfect crease color for me if I only want to give depth to the eye without particularly showing the color I used. This dark brown with cool greyish undertones works great, and looks better on me than Copperplate that is too cool.

Mac BlackTrack gel liner applied with a flat square liner brush.
The brush I use is by T.Leclerc but there are tons of others on the market. Its particularity is to have stiff synthetic bristles and a square shape. I use this with gel liner to push the color between the lashes. It's practically fool proof, super quick, and gives a very thin line that really makes your lashes look fuller. That's also the only way I can wear black liner without it looking too harsh, otherwise I have to work with navy or brown.

Estee Lauder DayWear Plus has returned to my daily routine after having been replaced by lighter formulations during warmer months. Still efficient, still a favorite.

What were your favorites this month?

Sunday night award and share some blog love!

The lovely Aina awarded me this nice Cherry on Top award :) Thanks Aina!
If you don't know her blog, go and check it. She writes in Norwegian but the pictures are beautiful since she's so pretty, and Google Translate does a great job at helping you understand the writing.

The rules for the awards are as follows:
1. Thank the person you got it from
2. Copy the award to your blog
3. Share 3 things you like to do
4. Forward the award to 5 people who deserve it

Three things I like to do :

Sleep! You guys have no idea :) And I really enjoyed the extra hour last night!
Listen to music and sing really loud when I'm alone in my car
Read

The blogs that I like and forward this award to:

Hope you check them out and like them!

Haul: Oct 2010

Just squeezing in a tiny haul! I've bought my plane ticket to Atlanta so I'm a little short on make up money right now! On Friday I met up once again with Cosmetichameleon. Our reasoning was that Sleek MakeUp's new palettes were out so they needed investigating. And then we needed dinner afterwards to discuss them.

Told you it was only a little one! Superdrug were sold out of the other Sleek MakeUp palette, so I just got this one. Actually, there were 3 left and we cleared it out. Cosmetichameleon bought one, and I bought two (one is on its way to the US).

-Sleek MakeUp Bad Girl Palette
-Sleek MakeUp Eye Dust "Outrage"
-Accessorize Nail Polish "Aztec"

I couldn't not buy Aztec when I found it buried under bottles of pale pink in Accessorize, everyone has been going so nuts over it. I even dragged Cosmetichameleon back to Accessorize to buy one! Check out the awesome duo-chrome on this, probably the only picture I'll ever take that manages to capture it:

Isn't that pretty? Check out Lipglossiping's NOTD post (which is the reason why I wanted it so much)! She has much nicer nails than I do, so look at her pics.