Givenchy Le Prisme Blush Blooming Fuchsias Fall 2010 Limited Edition

The limited edition Givenchy Le Prisme Blush Blooming Fuchsias arrived at Sephora just as I thought I was all covered when it comes to blush colors for the new season. But the pretty shade, nice packaging and overall loveliness won me over, so here it is. Givenchy makeup suffers from the Sephora syndrome. It's a great line with high quality products and gorgeous colors; yet many potential customers pass on it since it's a Sephora exclusive. Those of us who avoid the store because of its broken, missing or cootieful testers, horrible loud music and general atmosphere of a high school on the Jersey Shore can always order online, but in many cases (like with this Le Prisme Blush) the photos aren't accurate. I guess that's what beauty bloggers are for.

Blooming Fuchsias blush comes in the quilted Le Prisme format in a special compact that includes a mini brush in the bottom compartment. The brush is much better than those that usually come with blushes- it's wide enough to cover the skin without streaks, so it's usable if you're stuck without a real blush brush. The texture is sliky soft and has no shimmer. The pattern is this abstract splashes of colors, more peony pink than fuchsia, but I'm not complaining. It combines two shades of pink and two shades of beige/tan, so the final result  is a natural warm pink, quite sheer but buildable to the level you want- one side is darker than the other, so you can customize and balance the amount of pigment you pick.

I swatched with the brush that came in the compact, and only swiped it once before taking the picture, so you can see that the lightest application is still visible on my pale to medium olive skin. I think the color would look flattering on most because it is a very natural shade (seriously, ignore the photo on Sephora's website. It made me question both my eyesight and my sanity), but it's probably too sheer for very dark skin.

Givenchy Limited Edition Le Prisme Blush in Blooming Fuchsias for Fall 2010 ($48.50) is a Sephora exclusive. Thankfully it's available online.

Bottom Line: Lovely.

All photos are mine

Is This What We do Now?

Maybe I'm showing my age. Maybe I'm a prude and have lost my sense of humor. But is this really how we sell lip gloss now? I don't know about anyone else, but I just want to feel pretty when I buy and wear makeup.

And don't even get me started on the barely single use sample size. It's not Sephora's fault and they're being more than generous with their VIB and Beauty Insiders perks, but do brands (Buxom by Bare Escentuals and Urban Decay in this case) really think a smeared foil is enough to make us run and buy their glosses? When I'm testing something I like to give it at least 2-3 tries. In the case of lip gloss one usually needs to reapply after a couple of hours, so if the original sample is already gone I will just reach for whatever else is in my bag, and forget all about these ridiculous samples.

Photo by me.

Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat & Essie Jazz

I've been having a nail polish crisis. All of a sudden I got tired of super bright colors and ultra shimmer. Everything looked off, too much, overdone and just plain wrong. I also got tired of the three coat ritual to get that perfect utterly unnatural finish. So I dug out my namesake, Gaia by Zoya, which is a white with gold flakes. I used it as a wash of color more than a full coverage manicure, but even that was not quite what I wanted because Gaia looks better mid-summer. I have several beige options but somehow none made me happy, until a quick shopping excursion for other items led me to these two colors.

Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat is a taupish nude beige with very light shimmer. It's not quite as mushroomy as Chanel Particulier and other colors in that range, but it has a cool undertone balanced by the almost gold shimmer. Essie Jazz is a bit warmer, more opaque and creamy- there's no shimmer there.

Texture-wise, The OPI is much thinner and dries quickly. It's perfect as a quick one coat, not-quite full manicure look, though with a second coat and a clear top it's as elegant and sophisticated as any color can be. Jazz is very creamy and a lot thicker, which means streaky, so I must take more time to let it dry properly and apply a second  coat . It's worth it, though, because the result is quite refined and looks effortless and very chic.

I bought Under My Trench Coat ($9) at Sephora Union Square (also available online) and Essie Jazz ($8) at a J. Crew store.

All photos are mine.

Let's Talk About Sephora

This wouldn't be the first time I'm kvetching about Sephora. Maybe it's my fault for still occasionally shopping there, because it certainly looks like the company has lost interest in me as a costumer. I can still remember that ten years ago Sephora was a lot more fabulous. The stores (at least the ones I frequented in NYC and NJ) were better maintained, the brands offered were more interesting and even the perfume selection was better- more prestige/luxury houses, less mass market. They used to offer the entire range of Cartier perfumes, for example, not just the latest/bigger sellers. There was more Chanel (including makeup!) and Guerlain parfum extraits- can you imagine buying L'Heure Bleue at a Sephora store today?

There were also smaller high quality makeup brands that weren't necessarily geared towards teenagers. I first discovered Skin by Alison Raffaele at Sephora. The same goes for Paula Dorf makeup, Becca Cosmetics and Anna Sui nail polish. All of them are no longer available there, and the bad news keep coming: Both Cargo and Laura Geller makeup brands are being withdrawn from Sephora. You'd be able to find them on QVC, but seriously, I'm not a fan.

But beyond the kiddy brands, the disappearance of old favorites and the clueless SAs (what else is new?), the biggest turn off is the state of the makeup displays. It's the same in every store I visited over the last year or so, from Paramus to the brand new store on Times Square. Testers are broken, missing and dirty. The general feel is that you're going to get a serious case of cooties if you touch anything there, and that, my dear LVMH friends, is the total opposite of luxury.

Photo by me.

Fresh Brown Sugar Body Cream

The 1 oz tube of Fresh Brown Sugar Body Cream was a Sephora Beauty Insider GWP, and I must say I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I used to have several favorite products from Fresh and I still remember the wonderful scent of the Bulgarian Rose line. But that was before the company was sold to LVMH and lost its soul.

Kristen, The Beauty Addict, has already touched on the silliness of naming a product Brown Sugar while making it smell of lemon. The very synthetic citrus has nothing of the dark molasses-like aroma you'd expect from the name, and there's nothing rich or comforting in the cream's texture or performance. Maybe someone whose skin is dry and doesn't require deep nourishment from body creams would find it acceptable, but I don't. I kept testing the Brown Sugar cream under several circumstances (day, night, exposed skin, covered skin, cold day and balmy weather), but the result was always the same: within an hour of application I had to reach for another cream or lotion, because my skin was showing signs of dryness.

Bottom line: No.

Fresh Brown Sugar Body Cream ($35, 6.8 oz) is available from Sephora and Fresh boutiques. As I said above, the 1oz tube I have was a GWP.

Image: ehow.com

Kat Von D Rock'n'Roll Eyeshadow Palette

A couple of month ago I cashed some of my Sephora Beauty Insider points for the Kat Von D Rock'n'Roll Palette. I have to confess that I don't get Kat Von D or any of the body modification culture. I don't understand the aesthetics or anything else about it. I know I'm extreme: none of the women in my family has ever had her ears pierced for three generations, and even though my great-grandmother had hers done when she was very young, as far as my mom can remember, her grandma never actually wore earrings, not even clip-ons. It's interesting, considering they all loved jewelry and had several beautiful statement pieces, but regarded pierced ears as vulgar.

This might or might not explain why piercing and tattoos are so out of my personal comfort zone that I can't look at Kat Von D without cringing. I guess I'm not her target audience and never gave the makeup line a second thought until I accumulated too many points and had to redeem them for something, and the Rock'n'Roll Palette looked decent enough. Which it is, just not really good.

The colors are fine. I wasn't sure about the lavender purple one, but as you can see in the swatches, it's not quite s bright as in the pan. Still, not really my color and doesn't look very healthy against my skin, but that's what you get when you're clearly related to Martians. The two light colors- a shimmery white and a shimmery peach are actually super sheer. I had to pile on five coats to be able to take a picture. The other problem with them is glitter fallout. In the palette they both look more pearly than glittery, but once you apply the eye shadows, there's a lot of glitter landing on your cheeks, and that's over a primer. When swatching I only used a light lotion underneath and had to do some cleanup before I could take a clear picture. The dark glittery charcoal, on the other hand, has a lot less glitter than you'd expect from looking at the palette. It would have made a nice liner if it weren't so crumbly.

I'm spoiled, I admit. The products in my regular rotation, from Armani to Edward Bess, have taught me to expect gorgeous shades and superb quality. Kat Von D's below average color payoff and questionable texture are just not my idea of excellence in makeup. I understand that her prices are very attractive: the current eye shadow palettes in the regular line offer 8 colors for $34 (Dior Palettes run between $42 to $58), but even in the Kat Von D price range you can do better- Cargo palettes are great and priced at $32 and Urban Decay has several options between $30-38.

Bottom line: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Photos of the palette and swatches by me, Kat Von D from hollyscoop.com.

Sephora Brand Complete Lip Balm

There are a handful of gems hiding in the otherwise not impressing line of Sephora Brand products. One of them is their Complete Lip Balm. I'm usually not a fan of petroleum-based lip products because they feel heavy and tend to just sit there on the lips, not doing much other than providing a barrier (which sometimes, I admit, you need). But this tiny pot seems to also have a few more active ingredients, such as mango butter and vitamin E, both actually making my lips feel good.

The balm is not sticky at all and works well under many lipsticks. It seems to provide quite a bit of moisture and relief, and has just enough menthol to give a cooling effect (and supposedly some plumping, but I think that well-hydrated lips tend to naturally fill up).

Since it's one of those "dip your finger" packaging, I prefer to keep it at home for use with just-washed hands. These days you can't be overly germaphobe. I'd be very happy if Sephora would release a stick version.

Sephora Brand Complete Lip Balm ($8) is available in store and online. I got it as a gift with purchase.

Image: August 1940 cover of Harper's Bazaar

Sephora Friends, Family, Frustration

It's 4:15AM. Do you know where your Sephora shopping cart is?

Sephora's Friend&Family online sale was supposed to start tonight (20% off nearly everything with code FF2009. US only). I thought I'd beat the web crowds by shopping at 3 am. After all, I had a wishlist longer than my hair. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with the same brilliant idea, and Sephora's website crashed. It's 4:15 now, give or take a minute and the site is still down.

Saks used to have the very same problem during their F&F sales, but this season it went smoothly, as far as I could tell. Maybe they can give the people of Sephora a number to call, or something.

Cargo Runway Palette

Fashion is inspiring, and one doesn't even need Tim Gunn to tell you that. Cementing the connection between fashion and makeup, Cargo came out with a face and eye collection- the Runway Palette. It's a Sephora exclusive (and a limited edition, of course) and looks even more stunning in person than on their website.

From the outside, you might mistake Runway for a hardcover book. It holds several full size eye shadows and blushes and is certainly a lot bigger than any normal makeup palette, so this is not the item to slip into your evening clutch or keep in your desk drawer for quick fixes. Instead, leave it home, place it on your dresser in front of a mirror, take out your best makeup brushes (the palette doesn't include any) and get ready to play. It will make you feel like a makeup artist.


The Runway includes two eye shadow sets: the one in the centre is perfect for an elegant smoky eye and has instructions embedded right into the colors. The colorful buttons offer fashionable colors that can be used alone or mixed to create many looks and variations. All of them are very pigmented and wearable. The buttons are high in shimmer, the grays are more toned-down, all of them are smooth and apply beautifully. I only tested them over a primer, and at least this way there's no creasing and flaking.

All of these colors are beautiful. The brass and bronze really light up the eyes. The blue is a shimmery bold version of my favorite blue eye shadow, the one from the Ten Thousand Islands Cargo palette. The green is one of the hottest colors this season and I can't have enough of it.


There are three blushes in the cable-knit embossed pattern. The wonderful thing about it, is that it lets you mix and customize your color more than any other cheek product I've come across. I was surprised to see that I can actually use all three to various degrees and get the most natural looking blush. I love adjusting the blush tone according to my other makeup and the clothes I'm wearing. The bronzer is a flattering medium shade. I wish it wasn't divided into two strips (for aesthetic reasons), but I made it work. It's especially great if you like to swirl your brush and collect both bronzer and blush together.

As you can tell, I've been having a lot of fun. This palette can make you late in the morning, unless you can stick to a quick routine, but using it when you can take your time and play is a joy because of the many possibilities. The quality is great. It's not Cle de Peau, but it can stand out to anything else you find in Sephora, and the look and innovation of this palette puts it miles ahead of other kits. At $49 it's also a good bargain and an excellent gift idea (while it lasts).

Bottom line: While it's too big to be portable and doesn't contain everything one needs, the Runway Palette is beautiful, extremely useful and a lot of fun. Cute as a button.

All photos are mine.

Not really related, but a great article about getting into the fashion industry- yesterday in the NY Times Style section.

Givenchy Prismissime Eye Shadow Poetique Blues & Browns

I admit I blind-bought the two Givenchy Prismissime eye shadow compacts. I saw the Poetique Blues and Poetique Browns on Sephora's website and had to have them. The jewel-like appearance and the many color options were impossible to resist.

Both palettes are full of subtle shimmery colors. You can wear each one by itself or mix and layer them together. The shadows are sheer but surprisingly pigmented and it's a lot of fun to play with the different hues. It can also make you late, if you're getting too absorbed in adding just a little of this or that, but the compacts are also perfect for just a quick wash of color on the lid or in the crease. If you're pale, the darker blue shadows wold also make a beautiful eyeliner. I just use them close to the lash line for extra depth.

The Prismissime texture is very fine and smooth. Both sets last a lot better over an eye shadow primer- they stay on from morning to night, even in this humid weather. Take note that the individual pans aren't big, so the widest brushes might not be the best to use here, unless you're swirling over several colors. Speaking of brushes, it's really a shame the brushes that come in the compact (there's a lower compartment) are so thin and crappy. The product itself is high quality and elegant, it deserves better.

Prismissime Eye Shadow Poetique Blues and Poetique Browns ($53 each) are a limited edition Sephora exclusive (at least in the US).
All photos are mine.

Colorful Makeup Brushes: Lancome Declaring Indigo and Sephora Color-Dipped

I've been refreshing and sprucing up my makeup brush collection. Some of the items simply needed to be replaced, but I was also inspired by the new and colorful brushes that have been popping up. Sephora has a collection of five double-ended makeup brushes ($18-$35) in bright, happy colors that cover most of one's possible needs, from foundation application to creating a smoky eye:


The rock star of this season's special brushes is Lancome's Declaring Indigo set. This Nordstrom exclusive is a limited edition and part of the Declaring Indigo makeup collection for fall 2009. Makeup-wise, I was only interested in the new gel eyeliner (review coming soon), but the brushes were so gorgeous I had to buy two sets, one for myself and one for my sister.


The set includes four brushes (one is a double-ended shadow and liner) in a glossy pouch that looks much more elegant than most makeup bags available and is a perfect size to slip into one's handbag. The largest one is a mineral powder foundation brush, but if, like me, you're not a mineral foundation user, it's still useful for various finishing powders and products. I love it with my Laura Geller Balance'n'Bronze. While the brushes aren't as fluffy and soft as I would have liked, they are super thick which makes them great performers- they grab and hold the right amount of product. They are also the perfect size for me- I prefer shorter handles, not just for ease of use but also for storage, which is extremely important for me: My makeup brushes must be firmly locked out of feline reach.



Images: Sephora Double-Ended Color Dipped Brushes from sephora.com. Lancome Declaring Indigo Brush set photos are mine.

Yellow

Yes, I know bright yellow is one of the hottest colors for the comming summer, but even Natalie Portman doesn't convince me that having yellow nails is a good thing.

But for those who are interested in getting the look, here are a few options for yellow nail polish(click to enlarge):



Would you wear it?

Photo of Natalie Portman: A socialite's Life

Nail Candy, Take 2

I had a little deja vu moment when I opened the newsletter from Sephora announcing their spring 2009 nail color collection from OPI. The title was "Nail Candy" and the bright colors are happy, bright and sweet. And very much like a cream version of the ChitChat collection Zoya introduced last summer, which was shimmery with gold undertones .

The link above goes to my post from May 2008, titled Nail Candy, and here are the color samples from both Zoya and OPI/Seophora press releases. Fun colors, for sure. I'd still stay away from painting your nails yellow. I tried it last year and wouldn't repeat it.

Zoya ChitChat Summer 2008

Sephora by OPI Spring 2009

What do you think? which ones looks better?

original image is mine

My Little Guilty Pleasure- Sephora Vanilla Cupcake

A recent Sephora order made last month has arrived with something extra: A birthday gift in the form of a mini (2.5 oz) Vanilla Cupcake bath & shower bubbles.

It's cute. It's shimmery. It smells like dreamy buttercream. Not exactly the stuff one is supposed to pursue after a certain age. But I could not help myself and ended up wishing the hot water would never end so I could keep playing with the sugary bubbles.

Vanilla Cupcake is shamelessly foody (I swear I could also smell coconut in the almond-butter-sugar-vanilla mix). It's also addictive for those of us not opposed to the genre, and I had to stop myself from ordering the entire product line. It's a fun scent, but I don't really want to smell like that, and eventually I was happy it didn't linger on my skin once I was all dried up.

Speaking of dry, the fun ends once I'm out of the water. Despite the promises of hydrating ingredients like aloe and jojoba oil, my skin ends up feeling like it has been washed in regular (drying) soap. The gel's strength is not in pampering, that's for sure, but it doesn't stop me from using it again and again (and slathering myself silly with creams and oils once I'm out of the shower and back to my senses after the sugar high).

Bottom line: It's not something I'd buy for myself, but this product is addictive in a guilty pleasure kind of way. It's like wearing a plaid miniskirt and knee high boots. Not very appropriate but a lot of fun.

Sephora Vanilla Cupcake Body Collection ($12-$16) is available online and in store. The one I got was a Beauty Insider perk that came as a GWP during the month of my birthday.

Image: http://alpineberry.blogspot.com/ (it was the most fun image search ever)

Sephora by OPI I'm With Brad Nail Polish

Here's something you can add to your shortlist of life certainties: The one nail polish Jennifer Aniston would never wear: I'm With Brad from the Sephora by OPI collection.

Not all of the colors in the line were created equal. Looking at the in-store display, I couldn't help but think that too many of the bottles had a seventies drugstore reject thing going on (read: cheap looking). But there are more than enough pretty and interesting shades. I got my mother a bottle of Let's Do Lunch, an elegant coral-beige, her seasonless signature color.

I was looking for something super dark, but yet different than all the other dark burgundy versions I already own. I'm With Brad was a perfect choice and is currently working hard in my fall-winter rotation. Sephora's web site describes it as "shimmering wine over dark coffee", which is another way of saying "reddish Coca-Cola". In any case, it's pretty, sexy and dark without going into Elvira's territory.

Application, as with most OPI polishes, is easy and smooth. Even I didn't manage to get it to streak. A single coat can be enough, but I like to use two to get the exact color of the bottle. Without a top coat, the first chips appeared after a couple of days, but when using one the polish lasts 6-7 days and looks great.

I'm not really a Brad fan, but when it comes to this polish, it really is Jen's loss.

Sephora by OPI nail polish ($9) is available from every Sephora store and online. I bought mine at my local mall.

photos: mine