Graceful Bloom Palette

The second palette for the Fall is the Dreamy Petal palette which is much warmer with shades of red, pinks and gold. This palette also includes four pressed eyeshadows, two cream eyeshadow/eye liners, a cream blush and two applicators

Dreamy Petal Palette

To top off this fantasy floral inspired look, Shu Uemura brings out Partial Floral Feather eyelashes. These lashes combine purple and red “feathers” to give the illusion of fluttering petals with each blink. These lashes will give you that wow factor when you really want your eyes to “pop”.

With purple being HUGE this Fall, the Graceful Bloom palette should be a big hit. I love how the outside of the palette is beautifully decorated with floral designs bringing the theme of the palette full circle. I am looking forward to Fall especially for the beautiful makeup and fashion that I love so much. Which of these two palettes is your favorite?

Partial Feather Floral Eyelashes

Each limited edition palette retails for $65 and the eyelashes retail for $25. All products are available on the Shu Uemura website.

Ever since the Urban Decay Naked Palette was released, I wanted it. But before I could get to a Sephora store the palette was sold out. Well today, on a whim I stopped by my local Sephora and looked for the palette but it wasn’t on the shelf so I left. Later that afternoon, something told me to stop by Sephora again and I did. I asked the salesperson about the Naked Palette and she informed me that there were just a few in stock in the back. Success!

There have been great reviews about this palette and I can see why. The colors are neutral but NOT at all bland or boring. In fact these are some of the prettiest neutrals that I have seen in a long time. Let’s take a closer look:

(l to r) Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked

(l to r) Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

In addition to the 12 shades in the palette, the set comes with a double ended eyeliner (Zero which is black and Whiskey which is brown) and Urban Decay Primer Potion. The 12 shadows, eyeliner and primer are housed in a purple velvet box with gold writing.  This palette gives a very luxurious feel and appearance. The kit seamlessly goes from light to dark and from shimmery to matte all while each color complements the other. This palette offers colors that will suit just about everyone and they can definitely go from mild to wild. So far this palette is my favorite purchase because of the packaging, the color selection and the great quality of the product. I would say that this is a must have purchase for Fall…if you can get your hands on it!

The Urban Decay Naked Palette retails for $44 and can be purchased at Sephora or www.urbandecay.com

Backstage eyeshadow palette - $28

Swatches - Backstage eyeshadow palette

The custom color blush reacts to your skins PH to create the perfect shade for you!

Custom color blush - $20

The new long wear liquid lip color is said to last for 24 hours, while delivering some serious moisture and bold color. This lip color is enriched with Vitamin E oil and Avocado oil to keep your lips soft and supple.

Long wear liquid lip color - $22

Swatches - Long wear liquid lip color

The new Stila long wear lip liner delivers 70% pigment so get ready to experience vibrant color!

Long wear lip liner - $18

Swatches - Long wear lip liner

The product that I am looking forward to the most is the Custom Color Blush. Stila has taken the guess work out of finding the perfect shade. Which products will you buy from this collection?

While browsing in my local Duane Reade I decided to check out the makeup section and see if I could pick up a few items on my beauty checklist. I came across Maybelline New York Eyestudio creme eyeshadows and I was immediately drawn to them. The colors are jewel toned and just down right pretty. So like a cat to a shiny object I picked up a set and dropped in in my basket and headed to the cash register. I came back to my desk at work and took a look at all the shiny objects makeup that I purchased and could not wait to get home to play around with all of it.

The trio of gold, purple and lilac are a beautiful combination. The shades are a bit sheet and will fade (like some creme shadows do) so be prepared to touch up through the day. I had the shadows on for about 2 hours (without primer) and I noticed that they began to fade. I know, I know it’s not at all what you want to hear but hey it happens. To make the color last longer be sure to use a primer and layer the shadow with a powder eyeshadow, if you don’t want to use a powder shadow then use a light dusting of translucent powder on top and voila!

Maybelline New York EyeStudio trio retails for $6.49

This Fall, Dior tempts us with beautiful smoky shades, deep purples and mauves. Take a look at this beautiful collection.

Serum de Rouge

Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow - Misty Mauve

Dior 5-Colour Designer Eye Palette - Pink Design

Dior Addict Ultra Glosses & Lip Maximizer

Dior Addict Lipcolor

Dior Vernis Nail Enamel - Black Sequins

Dior Fall 2010 collection is now available.

[Photo credits: joseishi.net/voce]

Inimitable Intense Mascara

Inimitable Intense Mascara  claims that “Lashes appear longer, thicker and more curled, yet each lash, even the finest, is still precisely separated – without clumping, spiking or flaking.” This  new mascara is available in Noir (black) and exclusively on Chanel.com for $30.

Ombres Contraste Duo

This unique eyeshadow palette offers two types of complimentary shadows. The lighter shade is a creamy shadow that can be used as a base or as a highlighting shadow. The darker shade is a bit more pigmented and true to color with a matte finish. Two applicators are included in this palette: a foam tip applicator and a small blending brush. The color combination featured is Gris which are silver and deep gray tones, however there will be six additional duos available this summer. This eyeshadow palette retails for $42 and is sold exclusively on Chanel.com

Will you be trying out Chanel’s latest collection?

]]> http://lipstickandluxury.com/2010/06/first-look-chanel-inimitable-intense-collection/feed/ 1 http://lipstickandluxury.com/2010/05/unleash-your-alter-ego/ http://lipstickandluxury.com/2010/05/unleash-your-alter-ego/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 09:00:52 +0000 Nicole http://lipstickandluxury.com/?p=935

“Illamasqua is for the bolder person hiding inside all of us. It is an act and an attitude. A symbol of tolerance. A celebration of idiosyncrasies. A confident statement of self-ownership.”

I’m new to the brand Illamasqua but I was anxious to try it because the alternative vibe and bold colors. Illamasqua was conceived by makeup artist Alex Box who shaped the brand’s development from conception to execution. Box has created avant garde looks for designers such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. Alex strives to bring to life the fantasy within all women and aspires for them to express their alter ego.

The first product that I tried from this line was the Illuminator which is a face and body product that can be applied to the eyes, cheeks, cleavage etc to highlight and enhance. It goes on wet but dries quickly to a high shimmer. The tips provided by the product suggest that this product can be applied over eyeshadow or lipstick for greater intensity. These are colors that you definitely want to wear at night due to the intensity of the pigments.

The color that I tried was called Halcyon which is listed an an ivory pearl shimmer but it’s really more of a pale gold color when applied.

This multi-purpose illuminator comes in 4 other colors: Fondle (peachy pink), Glimmer (golden tan), Odyssey, (white pearl) and Poised (pale pink). I will say that the product does dry pretty quickly so start by blending a small amount and then add more as necessary. To soften the color a bit you can blend it with you favorite moisturizer and voila a soft sheen!

Illamasqua is sold exclusively at Sephora and this product retails for $18.

Disclosure: The product mentioned in this review was provided for editorial consideration

I really liked the eye shadow colors, so I picked up two of the creme shadows: Berry Mix (L), Mocha Swirl (R)

Berry Mix (L), Mocha Swirl (R)

Natural Lash Kit in Black – Who can resist lush lashes that only cost $1?

These Hypershine glosses have a very similar design to Stila glosses…and for the price of $1. The shades are: Flirt (L), Honey (R)

Makeup brushes: Total Face Brush, Bronzing Brush, Eye Shadow Brush, Lip Defining Brush, Eye Liner Brush (L to R)

Complexion Perfection powder (to even skin tone and control shine) from the Studio Collection – this piece was $3

Overall I find the products to be a bit “hit or miss”. I liked the eyeshadows, they were easy to apply and had lots of staying power. The eyelashes were quite good, similar to the ones that you would purchase at the drugstore, more than worth the $1 cost. The glosses were quite sheer – almost too sheer for me to want to buy them again. The glosses just do not give off as much color as I like in my gloss but they do smell and taste great. The complexion perfection powder was too pale for my complexion but I’m not surprised since the main ingredient is Talc. The eyeshadow applicators were just too rough for me to use so I won’t be buying them again. The eyeshadow brushes were quite soft and I will be stocking up on more of these during my next trip to Target.  I would also say the same for the Total Face Brush which was one of my favorite pieces that I purchased so I will also pick up an extra one of these brushes.

What I will say is that for the price of these items you are certainly getting more than your moneys worth, you’ll just need to try out some of the products and see which ones work best for you.

While at my favorite makeup store I saw a kit by bareMinerals and decided to try it out. As I’m sure you’re aware of by now, I’m a little OCD about palettes and kits because their just easy and included everything you need. I snapped up this little gem on my way to the register so I really didn’t even look at it to see what was included in it. But since it was a kit I figured that it would have all that I needed for a new look. On the cover the kit reads: “Learn the lessons they didn’t teach you in school. Tutorials: Foiled Eye”

On the inside flap of the kit is the “tutorial” or  rather instructions on how and where to apply the shadow. I was kind of hoping for something a little more in depth. Take a look:

The kit includes two mineral shadows and a double-ended brush.

The two shades are Night Owl and Disco Glimmer – cute names huh? Night Owl is a translucent steel amethyst shade and Disco Glimmer is a lilac pearl shade. Both shades can be worn wet or dry depending on the effect that you are looking to achieve.

Night Owl

Disco Glimmer

The shadows are pretty pigmented dry on skin, here are the swatches:

Night Owl (l), Disco Glimmer (r)

I love these shades for the evening, I don’t know if I would wear them during the day. I also found the loose shadows a bit messy so it’s going to take me a while to get used to using them.

Overall the kit was worth the price because it includes two shadows and a double sided eye shadow brush.

The foiled eye kit retails at $32 and can be purchased at Sephora.

The color stories in the palette are:

Dinner in Paris: Grays and blacks

Coffee in New York: Browns

Shopping in Milan: Purples and pinks, green

Tango in Buenos Aires: Blues and greens

Clubbing in Tokyo: Baby blues, pinks, and yellows

Click here to view the embedded video.

This contest is open to my loyal subscribers so ONLY Subscribers are eligible to WIN this giveaway. Your subscription status will verified through the subscribers database.

To enter:

1. Subscribe via Feedburner (if you are not already subscribed)

2. Leave a comment letting us know that you are a subscriber and why you would like to win the 5 in 1 palette.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, 18+. The winner will be chosen at random on May 10th , 2010. All entries must be received by May 10th 11:59pm EST.

]]> http://lipstickandluxury.com/2010/04/color-me-beautiful-giveaway/feed/ 9 http://lipstickandluxury.com/2010/04/mac-cosmetics-art-supplies/ http://lipstickandluxury.com/2010/04/mac-cosmetics-art-supplies/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:00:07 +0000 Nicole http://lipstickandluxury.com/?p=629 I stopped by the MAC store to check out their latest line of limited edition cosmetics called Art Supplies. MAC has incorporated the look and feel of artists tools and translated it into makeup, and being that I was a Fine Arts major in college this really appealed to me. One of the first items that I looked at was the Pro Longwear Lipstain Marker, this lipstain has a felt tip just like a marker would. I liked that it’s long wearing as I can’t always refresh my lipstick after eating a quick bite. The formula dries to a matte finish so I also purchased a Lipglass Lip Gloss to add some shine to it. The color that I chose was Modern Mocha, which is a light brown shade, there are a total of 9 shades available in this collection. The Lipstain Marker retails for $16.00 and the Lipglass Lip Gloss retails for $14.00.

MAC Pro Longwear Lipstain Marker

Modern Mocha Swatch

MAC Lipglass Lip Gloss

Another limited edition product from the Art Supplies Collection was the Greasepaint Stick. The pencil is thick and the colors are edgy, this collection of eyeliners can also be used as eye shadow. I couldn’t decide on just one color so I got two! The colors were so fun that I opted for something other than a basic black or brown liner. I picked up Zinc Zone, a dark metallic shade and Charred Mauve, a funky metallic purple shade. There are a total of eight shades available and each Greasepaint Stick retails for $17.50.

MAC Greasepaint Sticks

MAC Greasepaint Swatches - Charred Mauve (l), Zinc Zone (r)

The only item that I did not get was the Pearlglide Intense Eyeliner. The colors were pretty and had shimmer to them but I felt that I would be able to use the Greasepaint stick for eyeliner. There are six shades in this collection and each one retails for $14.50 and is also available for a limited time.

Of course while I was there I thought that I should pick up some foundation and powder, hey you can never have too much of a good thing right? Here’s a pic of my total purches:

MAC Cosmetics purchases

Visit your favorite MAC Cosmetics store to purchase these beauties or order here online.

While browsing around Sephora I came across yet another palette that I just had to try. Too Faced Cosmetics brings us a Deluxe Palette named Fun in the Dark which comes with a light-up mirror, hence the name. I liked the idea of being able to do a quickie touch-up at a lounge without having to head to the often over crowded ladies room. So yes Too Faced, you reeled me in yet again! When I got home I tossed my purchases into my huge bag of Makeup to test at a later date, so when I finally got around to opening up the box I noticed that the light-up mirror didn’t work BOOOO! I was pretty bummed that the mirror didn’t work since this was one of the main reasons that I purchased the palette.

Take a look at the colors in the palette:

The kit contain four eyeshadows (Pin-Up, Peep Show, Full Frontal, Lucky Charms), a lip-gloss (Tropical Pink), a lipstick (Free Love), Blush (Papa Don’t Preach) and a two tone bronzer (Sun Bunny). The case has the usual Too Faced vintage images and a magnetic closure to keep the palette shut. The colors are pretty, nothing out of the ordinary in terms of shades but that can be a plus if you’re looking for everyday colors. The palette is small so it’s something that you can toss in your bag that’s neat and small. The palette retails at $32.50 so it’s pretty easy on the wallet especially if you’re a beauty junkie like me and you buy makeup like you buy breakfast.

My favorite piece of the palette is Sun Bunny bronzer, I like how it’s a mixture of a pink and gold shimmery tone which would compliment just about any complexion. My least favorite would be the Tropical Pink lip gloss which looks great in the palette but when applied it looks more like a clear gloss with flecks of glitter. The shadows apply smoothly and are highly pigmented which I like – they feel like velvet on the skin. Overall this is a great kit that is easily worth the price because all of the items purchased individually would cost much more. If you decide to purchase this kit just be sure to open it up to make sure that the lights work before purchasing. Go ahead ladies, get Too Faced!