Dior Summer 2011 Rosy Tan #754 Eyeshadow Quint

Dior has a really nice summer collection out right now, and part of it includes two new eyeshadow quints- one is Rosy Nude #534, and the other is Rosy Tan #754. I purchased Rosy Tan for two reasons: a) my skintone seemed too dark for the Rosy Nude quint, and b) Rosy Tan seemed to have the better variety of shades; Rosy Nude looked like five light "skintone" eyeshadows in comparison, and I just couldn't justify spending $58 for a quint of all light nude eyeshadows.

Rosy Tan consists of a shimmery ivory-champagne, frosty light pink, satiny soft taupe, shimmering golden brown, and warm milk chocolate with gold shimmer:

Swatches.  L-R, ivory, pink, taupe, golden brown, chocolate brown:

I was shocked at how cool and almost lavender-grey the taupe pulls on my skin! In my experience, Dior's quint shades are a little sneaky- they look one way in the pan and can turn into another shade on tan skin. The ivory and pink are typical highlighter shades and versions of them are in almost every quad and quint on the market.The two brown colors looked dupeable once I got to playing with this at home, and I was sure they were too similar to ones I already had. When I compared them to my other shadows, however, they were a bit more unique than I thought. 

I compared the taupe shade to (left to right) MAC Satin Taupe (look at how lavender it looks compared to ST!), Make Up for Ever eyeshadow in 127, and Laura Mercier Bamboo eyeshadow. The Dior taupe is second from left:

I compared the golden brown to a few others I thought might be close, including MAC Sable (far left), MAC Woodwinked (second from right), and MAC Tempting (far right). Again, no matches. (I have no idea why I didn't compare it to Laura Mercier Bamboo- it might be the closest to it).

And finally, I swatched the milk chocolate shade alongside Milani Java Bean (far left), Urban Decay Twice Baked (second from right), and MAC Mulch (far right). No matches, yet again. My eyes tricked me by thinking they were so ordinary.

Rosy Tan's shades are all nicely pigmented, with good blendability and a silky texture. This will be lusted after by brown eye makeup lovers, but it would make a nice addition to almost anyone's stash since the colors look great year-round.

NARS Pore Refining Primer is Perfection!

I don't really like makeup primers. Apart from the ones made for eyeshadows, they seem like an unnecessary step in my makeup routine. Yet I try them all the time, giving in whenever I hear or read about them from make up artists or in beauty mags. They're stressed as a vital part of makeup application, and parallels are drawn between an artist's canvas and your face: "both need to be primed before you can begin to paint." You know. Stuff like that ;)

NARS recently released two face primers- both named "Pro-Prime". One is oil-free and refines pores, and the other contains sunscreen (SPF 30 to be exact) and antioxidants. Both retail for $32. I picked up the Pore Refining Primer and have been using it for a week now. It's oil-free, alcohol-free, paraben-free, synthetic-fragrance free, non-comedogenic, non-allergenic, and dermatologist tested. Pure lentil seed extract "diminishes the appearance of dilated pores over time for a more refined appearance". Mineral powders "manage oil in the t-zone and other shine-prone areas while blurring the look of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles". The bottle is quite small, but a little really does go a long way with this. It has an ultra-light, watery gel consistency (which I love) and a light herbal scent. It blends into skin nicely and leaves a velvety matte, but not tight or dry, finish. When tested under various foundations, MAC Select Tint tinted moisturizer, and even just powder and concealer, it performed well under all of them; extending makeup wear, keeping shine at bay for hours, and giving skin an almost soft-focus finish. It's a winner!

For reference, primers I've tried in the past include Laura Mercier oil-free primer (which didn't seem to be for oily/ acne prone skin at all- it was so greasy and broke me out), Smashbox Photo Finish (broke me out) and Photo Finish Light (I disliked the silicone feel of this, but it was my favorite), Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Primer Potion (which has the consistency of glue), MAC Prep + Prime Skin (this was ok. Not as much of a silicone feel as some others, but it messed up my skin), L'oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base (good, but not very spreadable and tends to pill up on my skin), Monistat Chafing Gel (didn't work on my combo skin), and Clinique's Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector (did nothing!). I haven't tried any of Make Up For Ever's yet, which do get positive reviews.

Sephora by OPI Urban Ballerina Swatches

"Urban Ballerina" is Sephora by OPI's newest collection for Spring 2011. I picked up the Urban Ballerinas mini set to try out, which consists of four tiny (and they are tiny! They were pretty hard to hold onto in photographs) bottles: Leotard Optional, The Way Tutu His Heart, Who's Spinning Tonight?, and Break A Leg-Warmer! 
I usually love Sephora by OPI polishes, but the formula on these were a bit of a let down (is it because they're minis? This is my first time buying minis). Thin, watery, and two were streaky.

Leotard Optional is an opaque, very pretty neutral cafe latte creme. The formula was pretty good on this one, albeit a little thick and somewhat streaky (I used three coats for this picture). It looks warmer in the bottle than it did on my hands, where it seemed to magically become pinker. This reminds me a bit of OPI's Kreme de la Kremlin, but not as rosy. It's a nice, work appropriate neutral:

  
The Way Tutu His Heart is a very pale semi-opaque whitish pink. So many people are always after the nail polish color Giada de Laurentiis often wears; a creamy pinky white that looks like really clean nails (it's been said that OPI Bubble Bath is it, but BB didn't look anything like it at all on me). When I saw this in the bottle, I thought it just might be that color on me. While this is a very pretty version of that shade, the formula is difficult: streaky as hell! I needed three coats. Opaque pale pinks are pretty much always hard to work with, however, so I just may suck it up and end up buying the full size (I'd also like to compare the formula of a mini to the full size version's, just to see if there is any difference). Especially since most opaque pale white pinks are too pastel. This one looks natural in comparison to those:

 
Who's Spinning Tonight? is a warm purple with magenta and blue sparkles. Really cool, but....again, the formula was just "eh": extremely thin and watery on the first coat, better on the second but streaky, and the third covered up all previous sins:

Break A Leg-Warmer! is a grey creme with strong blue undertones. Not my favorite on myself, but still a very cool shade. The first coat was very watery and thin. The second coat went on evenly, however, so I only had to use two coats:

There are two other shades that are part of the Urban Ballerina collection which are not included in this set: Shiny Dancer (a metallic slate grey), and Let's Plie (a metallic beige- which I really want to try since I love shimmery nudes).

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Biarritz and Cavalière

Chanel released a new lipstick recently; a shiny, sheerer version of their already popular Rouge Coco. The appropriately named Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks are housed in slim versions of the classic Chanel/ RC tube (black and gold) and retail for $32 (crazy, I know, but it seems there's a sort of war going on with high-end makeup companies to see just who can make the priciest and most luxurious lipstick).

I purchased Biarritz and Cavalière after playing around with the testers at the display (although I wanted a few more, to be honest ;). Biarritz is a gorgeous soft natural peach with golden microshimmer, and Cavalière is a beautiful "my-lips-but-better" shade of shimmering mauvey plum that is very similar to Dior's famous Addict lipstick in Chestnut Chic, only much, much better in my opinion. While Cavalière looks very cool-toned in the tube, on my lips it turns into one of the most gorgeous and flattering MLBB shades I have ever worn.

                                         Biarritz:

 

Cavalière:

         Swatches (Cavalière on the left and Biarritz on the right):

The shimmer in these two shades is extremely fine and hardly noticeable once on lips; nothing frosty or even remotely disco ball. The formula is to die for. As smooth as butter, cushiony, and super hydrating, these almost feel like liquid on your lips and leave behind a soft shine. Although they are soft and glossy, I didn't experience any bleeding with these lipsticks.

While I think $32 is a ridiculous/ borderline hilarious price for a lipstick, these are definately worth it. The only thing that might deter anyone from buying is if you are sensitive to scent: they have the somewhat heavy Rouge Coco floral scent (a mix of rose and vanilla), but I honestly don't notice on my lips. And I am concerned about how these will fare in even slightly warm weather- they're so soft, I fear they'll melt in no time flat.

The other shades (of the 18 available) that caught my eye were Liberté, a peach-coral; Unique, a strawberry pinky-red shade which looked like a lipstick version of Spark Glossimer; and Évasion, a pale pink-peach. The sales associate tried to sell me on Boy, a pinky mauve that is the most popular shade right now, but it looked too cool for my NC40-ish coloring.

Dior Addict Lipstick in Spotlight 612 and Nude 333

As I've come to expect from Dior, they recently revamped (I swear they re-release/ revamp shades and products more than any other brand) their Addict Ultra-Shine lipstick line. The lipstick now costs a few dollars more ($28), the packaging seems to be heavier and thicker and now features a silver band on the outside of the cap. A whopping 44 (!) shades are now available, including some extra ones exclusive to stores like Sephora and Nordstrom. The array of shades at Sephora was dizzying. 

I went home with two of the most wearable shades: Spotlight 612 (a brownish mauve plum with silver glitter; The Lipstick Formerly Known As Chestnut Chic) and Nude 333 (creamy peach nude, which may be a repackaged Nude Silhouette from the old line. I'll have to compare sometime to be sure). I really wanted Tokyo (a soft peachy pink), but it was sold out (and the tester was worn down!), and I tried on Garçonne (a very warm rose shade with green microglitter in it) but was not too happy with it- it looked orangey on me. Urban (a sheer pale pink that resembles NARS Turkish Delight lipgloss, only with an added bit of shimmer) caught my eye since it looked exactly like the über pale lip Jennifer Lopez has been sporting lately on "American Idol", but I came to find out it was sold out at multiple Sephoras in NYC. My all-time favorite shade of Addict Ultra-Shines was Beige-a-Porter, a shimmery dark mauvey rose pink, and I'm so sad to see there isn't a replacement for it! And what about a replacement for the gorgeous Addict Ultra-Shine shade of Model Brown? I've been looking and haven't found one.

The shades in this line seem to run on the cool side- not the best for me. I played around with some of the brighter pinks, but in all honesty they all seemed to blend into one another, and they just weren't unique enough shades to warrant the price tag (you could buy two MAC lipsticks for almost the price of one of these). 

                                       Spotlight 612:

                                          Nude 333:

          Swatches (Nude on the left and Spotlight on the right):

When I first saw Nude in the tester, I thought it looked a lot like MAC Freckletone, one of my faves. I held them side by side and even did a comparison swatch, only to find out Nude 333 is pinker. When side by side, Nude appears to be a peachy-pink nude:

The Dior Addict formula is wonderful; light, creamy, and moisturizing. Shades with any microglitter (like Spotlight) can feel the tiniest bit gritty sometimes. I hate sound like a crabby bitch, but my only gripe is that Dior didn't seem to change their formula at all...this seems like exactly the same old Addict lipstick I loved (with a wider range of shades, minus some shades I -and many people- loved), albeit repackaged in somewhat chunkier tubes, with Kate Moss as the spokesmodel and going for about $4 more. Seriously, I thought they'd at least add some SPF or something to help warrant the higher price! So I'm a bit on the fence about these, and hesitant to open up my wallet for any more of them, even though they are terrific lipsticks.

Best New Nudes: Lippmann Naked and Sephora by OPI Let's Plié

I love nude and nude beige nail polishes. I know they're boring compared to the rainbow of shades out there, but I love putting on a pale nude and just having my hands look clean after wearing vamps, reds, berries, roses and peaches for weeks or months at a time.

Two of the best new nudes on the market now are Naked by Deborah Lippmann ($16) and Let's Plié by Sephora by OPI ($9), both below:

Let's Plié is described as "opaque metallic beige" on Sephora's website (where I ordered it off of due to it being sold out in every Sephora I checked!), but that's a poor description. It's actually a creamy (the formula on this one is really nice and smooth- and two coats got the job done), opaque pale peachy beige spun with very fine silver shimmer that passes for a creme from a distance. It reminds me a bit of Barielle's Beaches and Dreams nail polish (a super pale opaque creme peach), only this is more subdued and much less stark:

Naked, by Deborah Lippmann, is a somewhat sheer, glossy neutral beige. It looks flat in the bottle, and I was weary of it being too sheer (...like an essie), but three coats covered my nails nicely and the jelly-ish finish gave them a look that reminded me of Faye Dunaway's nails in "The Thomas Crown Affair":

I really hope Let's Plié is a hit and Sephora keeps it around. Naked, on the other hand, I could live without- but I do love having a somewhat opaque glossy beige in my stash, since the rest are always way too sheer.

Bumble and Bumble Texture Does What It Says

A stylist at the salon I go to was sweet enough to give me a sample of Bumble and Bumble's latest product, called Texture hair (un)dressing creme, which is meant to give hair "that elusive, undone yet done quality, with a hint of grit, hold and a tousled, shine-free finish". I had been hearing about its release for a couple weeks, and the stylists were saying Texture was "going to be like Dirt by Jonathan, only better." (Also on the horizon is a new shampoo and conditioner called "Shine", which will be lightweight glossing formulas. Bumble's current Bb.Shine spray will no longer be an aerosol, and will be returning to a pump bottle as part of the new "Shine" lineup).

Since I have an almost shoulder-length bob with choppy layers, I thought this would be the great product to enhance them with. Texture has a fresh/ clean scent, a light gel-cream consistency (this is not a heavy product) and it must be used on damp hair. The directions say to use a small amount and build. Let sit a minute, then loosen and ruffle, freehand. Apply at roots for extra lift. Use a diffuser for more volume all over. Anyone can use it, no matter your hair length, thickness or texture.

Texture has been used on me twice- once on my own, and once by my stylist. One of the main ingredients is a super hold polymer that the girls in the salon almost warned me about: "it can get...REALLY tacky in your hair if you use too much". My stylist applied it on my damp hair and scrunched it in, and then scrunched some more. She worked it in for about five minutes total. "The key to this product is really working it in...and when you've worked it in, work it in a little more", she said. She blow-dried my thick, straight hair using only her hands and a diffuser, scrunching and finger-combing until it was dry, bringing out waves I never knew I had. Texture made my hair HUGE (as it did with two other thick-haired stylists who tried it), and I don't mean that in a bad way. This product can literally add a ton of volume to hair, which I really didn't need in the first place.

Later on that day I ran my fingers through my hair, and I could feel the super-hold polymer. Maybe my stylist used a bit much, but a tacky feeling (it felt a bit like if you've ever used too much hairspray) is not something I like in my hair. And because of Texture's shine-free finish, my hair had a bit of a rough look to it. I'm constantly looking for products that smooth my hair, and add shine and softness (since it's quite thick and I color and highlight constantly), so Texture really isn't a godsend for me. I did, however, love the lift it gave my roots (which can get a little flat) and the separation it gave my layers. I gave the rest of my sample to a fine-haired friend who fell in love with the volume, lift, and texture it gave her.

This would be a dream product for anyone who loves undone, beachy hair but doesn't like the dryness caused by using salt sprays. Texture is available for $26 in a large tube and $12 for a mini at Bumble salons and Bumbleandbumble.com, where they have an excellent video about how to use this.