jeudi 31 mars 2011

Artdeco Aqua Glow Bronzing Collection haul




today i found the new summer collection from Artdeco by chance. it's called "Aqua Glow Bronzing Collection", the colour scheme consists of bronze and turquoise shades and it also contains some bronzing products. not very innovative but a safe look for the summer.
i initially only wanted to take a look at the multichrome nail polish, one of 6 new iridescent shades, too see if it's similar to one of the recently released versions by Essence and Catrice. after a bit swatchy swatchy i got home with some eyeshadows of the collection, too ;)


Ceramic Nail Lacquer in #225


this is a multichrome nail polish, which probably is the "new" trend for this year (after Deborah Lippmann and OPI now the drugstore brands take an attempt on this). it has a grey-mauve base colour with a turquoise/gold green pearl that flashes deep blue and purple. it's unlike my other multichromes, more green/blue without any pink hues. the consistency is very good, also the rather soft round brush, but it's very sheer. i can't seem to build it up to full opacity, i think it needs a base colour to develop it's full effect. it contains 6ml and costs 7.39€ (which i find much too expensive for a drugstore-type brand and so little product - i am shocked right now as i take a look at the receipt!)

Nubar Purple Beach - Catrice Iron Mermaiden - Artdeco #225 - Essence Where Is The Party - Zoya Ki


eyeshadows


i like the magnetic system, but i always get around buying a new palette although my other one is already filled. i find them too expensive. i also think that Artdeco needs some product names, i hate numbering systems.
the texture of the eyeshadows are normally rather soft, these shades in particular are all very fine and buttery. i have no problems with Artdeco eyeshadows in creasing or fading in general if i use an eyeshadow base underneath. they contain 1g and cost 4.69€.


#12
is a shimmery medium tan/bronze shade with rose hues. it reminds me of the light shade in NARS Kalahari duo, i need to take some comparison photos soon.



#57
is a shimmery light aqua blue with a gold pearl. it's rather sheer, but looks great layered on darker shades. i don't have eyeshadows like this yet (other than in my super colourful 88-pan-palettes) i use such colours too rarely to invest in them.



#263
is a shimmery sky blue with a blue pearl. i will wear this on the outer lower lashline in summer, combined with a neutral eyeshadow on the lid. also with this, no really comparable shades as i rarely use such colours. i only have darker blues.





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Planète Beauté Awards - Session #1



31 mars aujourd'hui (et demain jour du poisson d'avril, parfait pour un vendredi !), nous voici donc rendus au terme de ce premier trimestre 2011. L'occasion parfaite de lancer cette petite cérémonie à laquelle je réfléchissais depuis quelques temps et où j'ai plus que jamais besoin de vous car le seul jury de cette terrible compétition des "Planète Beauté Awards", c'est vous ! L'idée est simple comme les répliques de Jean-Pascal dans un épisode de RIS Police Scientifique ! 6 catégories seulement : soin visage, soin du corps, parfum féminin, make-up, soincapillaire et homme. Chacune d'entre elles comptera entre 3 et 5 nominés, choisis par mes soins parmi les lancements forts de ces trois derniers mois. Grâce aux différents modules que j'ai installé dans la colonne de droite de notre Planète, vous aurez la possibilité de voter une fois pour chaque catégorie. A vous donc d'apporter votre petit clic pour récompenser le nouveau produit qui vous aura le plus séduit, intrigué, convaincu, interpellé, intéressé, plu... ces dernières semaines.


Je laisserai ces six petits sondages une semaine, jusqu'à jeudi prochain à 20h. J'effectuerai alors un petit relevé des compteur pour vous annoncer les six produits qui auront recueilli le plus de votes. Ces derniers seront du coup sélectionnés pour la phase finale de cette cérémonie virtuelle. Puisque je procéderai à ce petit check-point trimestre après trimestre, nous aurons donc à la fin de l'année 4 nominés dans chacune des 6 catégories. 4 nominés qui représenteront ce que l'année beauté aura fait de mieux et qu'il faudra alors départager une toute dernière fois (je ne sais pas si tout cela est très clair mais je vous rassure, dans ma tête, ça l'ai !) pour connaitre les grands winners, VOS chouchous de l'année. Je trouve que c'est plus simple de s'y prendre ainsi, au fur et à mesure de 2011, car une fois arrivés en décembre, on ne souviendra jamais des produits qui ont marqué le début de l'année. Avec ma mémoire de poisson rouge, c'est impensable ! Tout est clair pour vous ? Prêt(e)s à jouer le jeu ? Alors, c'est parti, voyons donc les premiers nominés...

MEILLEUR SOIN DU VISAGE




MEILLEUR MAQUILLAGE



MEILLEUR PARFUM FÉMININ



MEILLEUR SOIN DU CORPS



MEILLEUR SOIN CAPILLAIRE


MEILLEUR SOIN HOMME



Je vous en conjure, ne me flagellez pas si j'avais oublié par mégarde un lancement capital ou l'un de vos produits chouchous. J"ai essayé de sélectionner quelques produits dont on a pas mal entendu parler ces derniers temps, en essayant de varier les différents réseaux de distribution. Mais j'ai peut-être publié certaines choses qui vous auraient pourtant semblé légitimes... Je vous laisse voter ? Là, juste à droite de l'écran ! Bon courage pour la fin de semaine et à très vite !

PS : je n'ai pas été assez rapide sur ce coup et c'est du coup ma chère consoeur du Beauté-Blog qui a réussi à récupérer la première le visuel de la nouvelle gamme de soins Plus belle la vie. Comme on le pressentait, c'est un peu cheap et plutôt déstabilisant comme projet. Je vous invite à vous faire votre propre opinion en découvrant son billet ICI et à me dire si c'est pire que ce que vous craignez, ou plutôt tolérable finalement ?

Anna Sui Glittering Mermaid Beach Collection

The Anna Sui Glittering Mermaid beach collection launches tomorrow (Friday) at Isetan stores and the testers were already on display at Isetan Orchard today.

The Double Eye Colors are S$39, the Eye Makeup Sets are S$58 each and the Pedicure Sets S$76 each.

Below are swatches of the Glittering Color from the Eye Makeup Sets #1 (left) and #2 (right). These come with a sponge doefoot applicator and basically show up clear with a smattering of glitter. They can be used either as mascara or eye colors.

The nailpolishes in the Pedicure Sets are lovely vibrant shades but given the relatively high price of the Pedicure Sets, I wish that the nail polishes were full size instead of just 5ml (half of the regular size) each.

Here are swatches of the Double Eye Colors, which contain 0.8g of product each. These have sponge applicators that you dip into the tiny pots inside the end caps. Each Double Eye Color has a very shimmery icy shade paired with either a bolder metallic or a satin shade. The photo below was actually taken 7 hours after I did the swatches with my camera, as I had left my camera at home. By then, the bottom row of more shimmery shades had faded somewhat. The swatches were done without any primer or base underneath. Most of the shades had good colour payoff.

There are a number of unusual shade combinations in the line-up like #1 which is a bold metallic blue paired with a gorgeous mauve with pink shimmer, reminiscent of MAC Trax (the swatch had faded quite a bit by the time I took these photos and it's much prettier in real life). I also liked the metallic royal purple of #3.


The photo below was taken shortly after I did the swatches with my Samsung Galaxy Ace phone. It shows more accurately the high shine nature of the shades in the bottom row, but it didn't capture the metallic and satin shades in the top row accurately.

I decided to test the lasting power of the Double Eye Colors further by not removing them before my shower. After the shower, I also washed my hands with a Lush soap. I was impressed that some of the metallic shades actually lasted through both the shower and handwashing. The more shimmery shades had all disappeared while the metallic light leaf green and royal purple shades lasted the best.

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A Surprise Gift from Mai-Kat Oshaberi

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Kat of Mai-Kat Oshaberi and told that I had won the third prize in their 1st blogversary. Mai and Kat had done the drawing unannounced for their current public followers, which I thought was really thoughtful of them. The package of beauty lovelies landed in my mailbox yesterday, all the way from Hawaii!

In it were My Beauty Diary Natto Masks and Intensive Refining Eye Mask, Tarina Tarantino Magic Hour Smudge Pen in Purple Velvet (below), Maybelline Fit Me liquid foundation in Classic Ivory and Wet n Wild Lust palette. As Kat knew that I already had the Lust palette, she included the Fit Me Foundation as a last minute surprise and told me to do whatever I liked with the Lust palette. Hence, I've gifted the Lust palette to Mag (Makeup Stash) as she appreciates an excellent smoky eyes palette :-)

I'm truly touched by Kat's and Mai's kindness and loved everything in the package, especially the gorgeous Purple Velvet Smudge Pen and the Fit Me foundation which I had earlier contemplated purchasing while in the US.

A heartfelt thank you to both Kat and Mai!

liquid highlighters. III: Rouge Bunny Rouge Highlighting Liquid.


i've saved the best for last, this is my favourite liquid highlighter, the Rouge Bunny Rouge Seas Of Illumination Highlighting Liquid in the shade #009 Sea Of Showers (there are 4 shades all in all).
i bought it on zuneta.com, it contains 30ml and costs 45£. this is really a very hefty price tag, but for me it's worth every cent.  so let me explain to you why:

#1: have you ever seen a prettier packaging? i know such few products with a beautiful, whimsical, detailed and luxurious packaging like that, i can easily count them on 5 fingers of one hand. even the cardboard packaging looks so fabulous, i can't throw it away :)


it comes in a frosted glass bottle with a lovely print on it that seems to resemble a myriad of lilac flowers to me. it has a black shiny cap and a pump, which could be more precise i find. you'll need some pumps to get used to it and to find out the right press point to get the right amount of product. for me, only one short light press is enough. never press down completely - you would need like a week to use it up ;).


#2: it's super super pigmented. i think i won't ever need to re-purchase (unless to get another shade :P). even the tiniest amount will be enough to do the entire face, a little goes a looong long way! so please don't be scared if you use the pump for the first time, got too much product, blended it out and received a frosty metallic finish. it was just waaaayyy too much.  the texture is rather thick and creamy, not silicony at all. it can be easily sheered out and will give you a gorgeous fine fairy like shimmer that won't be noticed when it's on the face. i use a duo fibre brush with it, a MAC 131 or a small classic skunk brush (MAC 188-type), or a dense synthetic brush like the Illamasqua Blusher Brush #1 to dab it on. it will result in a subtle blended effect.

#3: the effect! Sea Of Showers is a bronzey tan/gold in the bottle, but once sheered out a little, you'll see it's a bronze champagne colour with a pink tint to it, that makes it blending into most skin tones more easily and seamlessly. so you will only see the pretty champagne-gold shimmer but not a bronze tint when you apply it.
as i said before, the first impression was quite scary for me also, i thought it was too metallic and too dark. but applied, it made my skin look like summer immediately with a subtle polished appearance. it's hard to describe, because not natural, not healthy, not shimmery, not dewy, but maybe a mix of all plus a fairy like summery glow. J-Lo glow (i don't like her that much, but she is the epitome for glowy, sunny latina-like complexion for me. the classic one. or Adriana Lima.)
the much i love to mix the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl into my foundation in the cold months, the much i love it to mix the Rouge Bunny Rouge Highlighting Liquid (but only a tiny tiny quarter-of-a-tiny drop!) with my foundation in the sunny months. it makes every foundation look glowy and fresh on my skin without shine or greasiness.
but for this, i like the local application even more (on the cheekbones, the cupid's bow, the bridge of the nose) and also as a wash of bronze shimmer on the eyelids - especially if i got too much product :P - combined with lots of mascara and a bright glossy pout it's a perfect easygoing summer look.


look how i only blended out that little dab. i blends into my skin nicely. in fact it needed to be blended out much more, but i wanted to show you the colour/condensed effect.

only foundation (i used MAC Pro Longwear in NC20)
foundation mixed with Rouge Bunny Rouge Highlighting Liquid in Sea Of Showers.



pure foundation + Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea Of Showers on the cheekbones


i'm very glad i bought this, and that Rouge Bunny Rouge didn't let me down again. i'm very excited to get my next supply of this brand (zuneta, i'm waiting! ;) ) as i'm sure i will be pleased with the products.
what about you? have you tried it? did i intrigue you to? or do you find the effect not that great and i'm just overreacting?



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mercredi 30 mars 2011

NARS blushes revisited! #11 - Albatross.




this series is just for better pics&swatches. my opinion about the blushes stays the same, take a look at older posts.

NARS blushes contain 4.5 - 4.8g each for the powder blushes, and 5.5g each for the cream blushes.
they cost 29€/19.50£/26$.

Albatross is the only highlighting powder by NARS. it's an ivory white with fine yellow gold iridescent shimmer. the yellowish tint makes it quite hard to capture in pics, it gives a greenish hue to the photos - but not if it's applied, no worry.
i don't find myself reaching for it very often, mostly because in my eyes it's just too yellow gold and makes me look icteric if i'm not careful, especially in cold artificial lighting. i only use it when i get a slight tan, otherwise it looks weird. i find this to be unusable for pale cold skin tones.
the shimmer sheers out easily - and it has to, because you should only take a tiny little bit. i hope they will release some more shades in the future (i think there will be a lavendar one in the summer collection? i will buy it for sure just because of the interesting colour ;). ) because i'm not very pleased with this one.
i apply it with a MAC 131 to the top parts of my cheekbones and the cupid's bow. it looks good in combination with (matte) peach and coral blushes. i somewhat want to try Copacabana Multiple, but on the other hand it's very expensive and i use cream shimmers much too rarely to buy such a big stick.

NARS Albatross in bright sunlight
NARS Albatross in natural light
NARS Albatross in late sun
NARS Albatross in natural light: swatched heavily & blended out

in comparison to other pale gold(-ish) highlighting powders:
MAC Vanilla Pigment is more shimmery, the gold sheen is a softer gold and it also has a slight peachy pink iridescence. MAC Too Chic Beauty Powder has a soft gold pearl and is finer in texture.

MAC Vanilla Pigment - NARS Albatross - MAC Beauty Powder Too Chic
MAC Vanilla Pigment - NARS Albatross - MAC Beauty Powder Too Chic
MAC Vanilla Pigment - NARS Albatross - MAC Beauty Powder Too Chic

this is how Albatross looks worn: i paired it with NARS Gina blusher.



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