CHANEL

Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer BAGATELLE Review and Swatches

February 23, 2012

Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer has released with three new limited edition shades with the Spring Collection – BAGATELLE, BONBON and PÉTILLANT. Given that I have already had quite a substantial collection of Glossimers, I decided to only purchase BAGATELLE, and passed on the rest as they are too sheer and look very similar to what I already have.

I don’t think I have ever expressed my infatuation with Chanel Glossimer. First of all they have the most aesthetic appeal to me for someone who judges makeup by its look 😛 I don’t normally like to wear over-the-top shimmery lip glosses, and although Glossimer can look quite sparkly from the tube, the micro shimmer actually translates to a soft gleam to the lips (not glittery). It applies smoothly without the gritty feel, and the consistency is a little on the thick side so it stays put for a much longer time than other lip glosses.

Glossimer varies from sheer to rich. Many that I own are on the sheer side, with no exception to BAGATELLE. It is swatched as a medium pink with gold shimmers on bare skin but shows up as a sheer pale pink on my lips.

Lip Swatch of BAGATELLE:

Overall Look:

With a sheer Glossimer, I find that it is functions well when it is layered on top of a lipstick, for an added high shine pearly glow effect. I layered BAGATELLE on top of Rouge Coco Shine in Flirt in the pictures below.

A comparison swatch

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Labels: CHANEL • LIPGLOSS

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Flirt and Royallieu Review and Swatch

February 18, 2012

Chanel is a brand that makes consistently great lip products, and out of all their lipsticks the Rouge Coco Shine wins my heart the most. So naturally I had to get my hands on their latest from the Spring 2012 Collection. I only bought the shade in Flirt 69, and passed on Candeur as I thought it looked very similiar to Royallieu 58 (limited edition) that I acquired a while ago but never had the opportunity to show you.

I had expressed my thoughts on Rouge Coco Shine Lipsticks in several of my previous posts, so I won’t repeat them here.

Flirt appears as a bright coral orange from the tube, but the sheer texture translated to a fresh pink coral color on my lips. I have been neglecting Rouge Coco Shine for a while, and wearing Flirt now just reminded me of how much I used to adore the finish. The wet glossy and moist semi-transparent texture gives an innocent and youthful finish to the lips, and the color just instantly brightens up my face.

Flirt Lip Swatch:

Full Face:

Royalleiu has never made it to the Australian shore. I bought it sight-unseen which I don’t normally do…and Royallieu proves that I have no luck with buying lipsticks this way. Had I tested this shade in real life, I would not have bought it. It is a very sheer pale nude pink shade when it is swatched on the skin. Unfortunately on my naturally pigmented lips, the pink color barely shows up! It works more like a glossy lip balm for me but with a a hint of mauve undertone. I personally do not like to wear lip shade that has a mauve or voilet hue to it as it just doesn’t look flattering against my skintone.

Here is a group swatch – noted that both Flirt and Royallieu shows up completely different on my lips than on my skin.

Left: Royallieu Right: Flirt

Bottom Line: Thumbs up for Flirt – a universally flattering Spring shade for everyone. As for Royallieu, though it is a beautiful color on its own, it takes the right complexion to pull it off and that is why I did not pick up Candeur.

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Labels: CHANEL • LIPSTICK

Chanel Spring 2012 – Blush Horizon de Chanel Review and Swatch

February 13, 2012

I am not in a makeup phase right now, so I was quite hesitant to buy the Blush Horizon de Chanel (Soft Glow Blush) from the Chanel Spring 2012 Collection given that it has received quite mixed reviews. I had no idea what made me bought it in the end but it was one of those “Don’t want to miss a LE Chanel” regretful purchases. By no means is the blush a bad product, but I just feel other than the alluring design there is nothing else about this product that really blows me away. And for such a high price tag, I expected a lot more than just a pretty package!

Blush Horizon de Chanel is packaged in a black mirrored compact. Different to the blushes from the previous releases, it comes with a seperate brush that is packed in a velvet pouch which I thought was cute. The brush feels surprisingly silky soft.

The blush powder is very buttery smooth and pigmented – one swipe is enough to show up on fair skin. There are small strips of white, beige and dark raspberry color mixed with the pink blush, and each strip contains different degrees of shimmer. When applied mixed together, as the name claims it gives a natural flush of pink with a soft glow. I was in love with this blush until I saw my face under direct sunlight – it can look too frosty and the shimmer flecks just enhances the size of the pores which is quite unflattering. After playing with it for a few days, my tip is to avoid the white and beige strips as much as you can for a less glittery finish.

On Me

I pulled out the Les Tendres De Chanel in Les Roses that I acquired when I was in Asia, and despite the size of the strips, don’t they look surprisingly similar?! This could be one of the reasons why I thought Blush Horizon de Chanel was not so unique.

On the skin, Blush Horizon appears slightly more peachy pink than Les Tendres. Both blushes are shimmery, but I personally prefer Les Tendres as it just looks more flattering on me without the obvious glitter.

So, have you picked up the Blush Horizon de Chanel? Do you love it or do you wish you could have spent the money on something else?

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Labels: BLUSH • CHANEL

The Romantic White Lace Dress

February 2, 2012

I have learnt a very important lesson for shopping at shopbop or any popular online clothing sites, that is – as soon as I see something I absolutely LOVE, just forget about my monthly budget and get it straight away! Otherwise it will be sold out in a blink of an eye. The Diane von Furstenberg Zarita Lace Dress was the lesson for me, it was on Shopbop a month ago, and I was trying to practice “wait till the next day, and get it if I am still thinking about it” tactic. And guess what, it was all gone the next day! I believe any shopaholic could relate to how frustrating that was. I had to wait a long time until it was restocked…relieved!

Diane von Furstenberg Zarita Lace Dress in White (available here), there are also the blue, nude, and black versions of it.

Chanel Pump from Fall 2011 -more info in this post

Chanel Medium Classic Double Flap with Gold Hardware

YSL Arty Ring in Green – more info in this post

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Labels: CHANEL • Fashion • OOTD • YSL

My Picks for the Best Eye Makeup 2011

January 13, 2012

It is Friday night! I usually don’t blog on Friday night as it is my “happy hour” time, but I wanted to lose a couple of pounds after the festive season so I decided to stay home and just vegetate, and in the meantime killing my time off blogging…This post is about my picks for the best eye makeup year 2011! The same with my previous post – I picked one or two of my favorite and most used items from every eye makeup category.

Best Eye Shadow Primer – Nars Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base

Best Liquid Eye Liner: Dolly Wink Liquid Eye Liner in Jet Black, reviewed here.

Best Gel Eye Liner: Bobbi Brown Gel Eye Liner – an oldie but a goodie!

Best Eye Liner Pencil: Dior Crayon Eyeliner Waterproof – I use an eye liner pencil to define the outer third of my lower lash line, and I like the Dior as it is soft and pigmented so doesn’t tug my skin, and it stays put for a whole day without any smudge.

Best Eye Brow products: I get asked all the time what eye brow products I used in my FOTD. They are always by my holy grail combination – The K-Palette Real Lasting Liquid Eye Brow Pen in dark brown, followed by the Laura Mercier Brow Powder Duo in Deep Blonde

The Laura Mercier Brow Powder Duo in Deep Blonde has a light brown ashy color which works really well with my complexion. I use the dark shade to define my eye brow and the lighter shade to contour the bridge of my nose.Best Eye Brow Tint: MAC Brow Set in Girl Boy. If I go for a very soft and fresh makeup look, I tend to tint my eyebrow slightly lighter and I really love the color of MAC Girl Boy.

Best Cream Eye Shadow: Chanel illusion d’ombre long wear luminous eye shadow, I like the weightless texture and the shimmery semi-translucent finish.

Best Pigment: Inglot Pigments

Best Single Eye Shadow: Le Metier de Beaute True Color Eye Shadow. I haven’t used them long enough to do a proper review yet, but I was impressed and they win for their exclusiveness!

Runner Up: Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eye Shadow. Chanel offers a beautiful and wearable selection of single eye shadows. I have collected quite many of them and both the texture and the colors never let me down.

Best Eye Shadow Palette in general: Without a doubt that it’s my Suqqu Blend Color Eye Shadow, the entire range is easy to wear on a daily basis.

Best Cool Neutral Eye Shadow Palette: Other than Suqqu I have also included a few of my all time favorite neutral eye shadow palettes in this post. For the cool neutrals, Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow in Prelude wins my heart. Do you know Chanel les 4 Ombres has also won the 2011 Japanese Cosme best eye shadow award?!

Best Warm Neutral Eye Shadow Palette: the legendary Lunasol Beige Beige – perfect for a “no makeup” makeup look.

Best Sparkly Neutral Eye Shadow Palette: Tom Ford Eye Color Quad in Golden Mink (reviewed here)

Best Collectible Eye Shadow Palette: Shiseido Maquillage Eye Creator by Alexander Wang (limited edition). This is my most precious makeup as I am huge fan of Alexander Wang’s modern and edgy design. I was lucky enough to snatch up some products from his first makeup collection in collaboration with Maquillage.

Best Drugstore Eye Shadow Palette: Kanebo Lavshuca Melting Eyes – as the name suggests, the eye shadows are so fined milled that they almost felt they were melting into the skin.

Best Mascara: The Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Mascaras. I have both the original lash queen and the feline extravaganza lash queen. The feline adds more volume to the lashes but the original defines the lashes better and gives a soft and feathery finish. Absolutely adore this range!

Runner Up: Fresh Supernova Mascara – it gives super thick and dramatic lashes (almost doll like). The only downside is it doesn’t hold the curl well so I have to use another mascara or a primer underneath.

Best Drugstore Mascara: Kiss Me Heroine Make Volumising Mascara

Best False Eye Lashes: It’s a tie between the Princess Lee criss cross 7 in light black and the DUP Eyelashes. They are the most natural looking falsies I have used so far – soft and feathery and the human hair blend into your own lashes. I get a panic attack if I don’t have multiple backups of them. Just a note to those of you wanting to buy the Princess Lee lashes, be aware that there are so many counterfeit on the internet as Princess Lee lashes are extremely exclusive.

What a long post! If you have made it to here, well done! Hope you all have a good weekend 🙂

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Labels: CHANEL • DIOR • Eyebrow Pen • EYELINER • EYESHADOW • FALSE LASHES • FRESH • Helena Rubinstein • Heroine Make • INGLOT • Laura Mercier • Le Metier De Beaute • LUNASOL • MAC • Maquillage by Shiseido • MASCARA • NARS • SUQQU • Tom Ford

OOTD – New Year’s Eve

January 3, 2012

Hello everyone, Happy New Year and I hope you all had a nice Christmas break! I did. I was in hiatus for two weeks and during which I did absolutely nothing other than sleeping and eating, which is exactly what an ideal break should be for me . I had planned to blog more unfortunately that didn’t happen..but I did manage to overcome my laziness and wrote a few blog posts which I will be posting them up in the next few days.

I went to a wharf near my home to watch the fireworks on New Year’s eve, and before it was flooded with people I had quickly taken a few shots.

Lace Tee by Bec and Bridge – one of my favorite Australian designers, bought it from GrandSocial.

Marc by Marc Jacob Katie Bracelet

Jimmy Choo Shoes

Chanel 2.55 Reissue

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Labels: CHANEL • Jimmy Choo • Marc Jacobs • OOTD

Chanel Therapy

December 20, 2011

Just a post with a double interlock C to express my infatuation…

Part of my fashion haul from US – a pair of timeless black patent leather pumps with an edge, as it has a silver metal toe engraved with Chanel which seems to be the style of the moment. Very low key as the logo is hardly visible when worn, and most importantly I can run in them!

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Labels: CHANEL • Fashion • SHOES • SHOP

My Best Concealers

December 15, 2011

I’ve been meaning to do a concealer post for a long time. I can live without foundations but I can’t live without a good concealer, because I would never leave my house without wearing one hence I have collected many… My concealers are mainly for highlighting the under eye areas. I don’t really have visible dark circles but I find that brightening the under eye areas makes a HUGE difference to my complexion, as it just instantly makes me look more awake and my face looks more lifted.

I am a little lazy doing a proper review on each concealer that I own (you know as a beauty blogger once in a while you lose the blogging mojo!…), so I thought I’ll just quickly share what I have with you now.

THE BREAKDOWN:

Chanel Corrector: It’s a good concealer but not the best, will not repurchase.

Shiseido Natural Finish Creamy Concealer: Nothing special about this one, will not repurchase.

SANA Make Essence Concealers: One is a yellow based concealer in an essence (serum) consistency to cover dark circles, and the other one is a pink based concealer with silicone to cover pores. Best value for money as they only cost less than $10 each.

ColorScience Eyes Wide Open Eye Brightener: Strictly speaking it is an eye cream with a baby blue color made of all natural botanical ingredients. It has a lotion consistency that sinks into your skin straight away. When it is first applied it has a cooling sensation, then quite magically it brightens and takes away the dark circles very effectively. A great alternative for those of you who don’t like to wear makeup. I bought it on skinstore, and you can find more reviews on this product there as well.

Ellis Faas Concealer: My most recent favorite! The texture is creamy but not heavy, easy to blend and provides very good coverage as well as brightening. For those of you who prefer a lightweight concealer that has a better coverage than the YSL Touche Eclat, this is the product to try.

YSL Touche Eclat: My all time favorite concealer for the under eyes! It just has a perfect formulation to diffuse light and create a soft illumating effect. The texture is neither too creamy nor too silicony, which makes it perfect for the delicate under eye areas as it will not enhance any fine lines. In the meantime it is great for retouching your makeup any time of the day, as it glides on smoothly without rubbing off your base makeup.

Estee Lauder Ideal Light: A cheaper dupe for the YSL Touche Eclat.

Bobbi Brown Corrector: Very creamy and emollient and it covers the dark circles well, I don’t feel the need of applying another concealer on top of it as recommended by Bobbi Brown. My only gripe is that it doesn’t last the whole day and it makes my mascara smudge.

Shu Uemura Pro Concealer: A heavy coverage and dryer concealer that I use to cover occasional spots.

Cle de Peau Concealer: Another holy grail concealer for me. This is my third tube! Formulation is perfection and it is versatile enough to cover both the dark circles and freckcles/blemishes in a natural way.