Givenchy Rouge Interdit 39 Absolutely Irresistible Red Satin Lipstick Limited Edition

Because there can never be enough perfect red lipsticks.

Givenchy makeup deserves to have brand ambassadors that are better than the average bored Sephora SA. The luxurious formulas and rich colors are lost in the general chaos and tackiness of the stores. Rouge Interdit lipsticks are especially fabulous- an almost glossy-creamy texture with a beautiful satin finish and impressive tenacity (very little if any transfers to your glass and some of the pigment is still visible after dinner). The lipstick glides on effortlessly and applies like a dream with or without a brush (do use a brush if you're getting a dark shade). It glosses over any imperfection and feels comfortable and a little moisturizing.

Absolutely Irresistible Red (#39) is as classic as they come, all Hollywood in its golden age. It has a pink(ish) base that doesn't come across in the tube but can be noticed in the swatches- both on paper and on my arm. I find it incredibly flattering and sexy. And quite irresistible.

Bottom Line: bold and beautiful.

Givenchy Rouge Interdit 39 Absolutely Irresistible Red ($28) is a limited edition and exclusive to Sephora, in store and online.

All photos are mine (and let's keep it that way).

Guerlain B64 Bee Limited Edition Rouge G Le Brilliant

I honestly thought that I was done with the 2010 Holiday collections on all their sparkle. Then last month I took a young cousin to Bloomie's and somehow we found ourselves at the Guerlain Counter. I already had a couple of Guerlain's holiday items and loved them, but then I came face to face with the limited edition Rouge G Le Brilliant in B64, Bee. It had to come home with me.

Rouge G lipsticks are fabulous from their beautiful packaging to the way they wear- the right balance of shine and color. In Le Brilliant Bee everything got kicked up a notch (now try to erase the mental image of Emeril Lagasse in a purple lipstick). There's more pigment, more golden shimmer and it stays on longer than the other Rouge G lipsticks I own, which are already pretty tenacious for such a moisturizing lip color.

The color is rich purple. It looks more violet in certain lights but reflects some red undertones in others. It's quite complex, thus looks very rich and pretty on the lips and I find that it has quickly become a favorite evening lipstick. The texture and luminosity make this Rouge G pretty low maintenance- I can get away with quick touch ups that don't include a liner and a brush.

Botton line:  There's a very cute bee embossed on the inside mirror. Who could ask for anything more?

Guerlain B64 Bee Limited Edition Rouge G Le Brilliant ($46) is available from decent department stores.

All photos are mine.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette

As promised, here are photos and full descriptions of the colors in the Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette. You will have to forgive me for the lack of swatches-I just haven't had the time (I'm trying to keep several balls in the air as we speak and I still owe several of you emails and replies. I'll get to it as soon as I post this).  I did my best to give as detailed a description as possible.

The palette contains:
3 eye shadows
3 lip colors- 1 is a liquid lipstick, two glosses
2 cream concealers
1 cream blush

General observations:
1. Collection Essentielle de Chanel is quite neutral in coloring and mellow in pigments. The eye shadows lean a little cool (just a little, though), the lip colors are on the warm pink side and a little shimmery, the blush is warm  apricot beige and both concealers are yellow toned.
2. The overall look you will get from the palette is almost-nude. It's office-appropriate and is perfect for a French-inspired face. All you need to add is a black eyeliner and mascara.
3. The color intensity could have been better. The shades are very low-drama and I haven't been able to build them. At all.
4. The applicators are crap. I don't even like the lip brush because it has a blunt end.

Eye Shadows:
What you see in the pan is exactly what you get. All three shadows are matte, which I love- very different from the Holiday Quad and its baked glitter texture. They are reasonably smooth but lack something to feel truly luxurious. The ivory one does not show on my skin at all. It's comparable to Bobbi Brown's Navajo and I guess would work in a similar manner if you subscribe to Bobbi's way of doing eye makeup of starting with a layer of invisible base color. I don't and this annoys me to no end. I would have liked a delicate non-shimmery highlighter that opens up the area under the brow bone.
As for the two mauve-plums, they are nice and create a natural almost-naked-but-not-quite look. The lighter shade is nearly the natural color of my lid. The darker one is not dark enough to be a real liner on me. At first I hoped these colors would make an elegant and subtle smoky eye, but they're simply not smoky enough.

Lip Colors:
The lip colors are best described as warm reddish pink. The dark(ish) liquid lipstick loses the very little shimmer it has in the pan when applied and is a very pretty light berry color- dense but not completely opaque. It's flattering and easy to wear alone or topped with a gloss.
The ligher gloss is a sheer shimmery pink. My natural lips are too dark for it to show, so I only wear it atop a lipstick. The texture is lovely- Chanel really knows how to make a lip gloss. The middle color is a red berry with golden shimmer. It's pretty and can be lightened by mixing with the light gloss or used to give the cream lipstick some extra punch.

Blush:
We don't get many cream blushes from Chanel, at least not as singles, so this is exciting, especially since it's a great product. My skin tone is probably the darkest that can work with this specific color. If you have a tan or are naturally darker than my pale olive skin (NC 30-35ish, but not quite) it's probably too light for you. The blush is sheer and shimmery- on a darker skin it might actually be a very nice highlighter. I can wear it alone but think it's prettier over a powder blush- it tones down the more aggressive Nars Dolce Vita, for example. I apply it with Julie Hewett Cheeky blush brush.

Concealers:
Chanel makes excellent face products and these concealers are no different. They are on the yellow side and I wear the lighter one better but mix a little of the darker concealer in it for custom color where needed. They give excellent coverage and blend perfectly.

Bottom Line: Collection Essentielle de Chanel is nice but a little underwhelming and is definitely not for those with darker skin tones. If you're trying to decide between this one and the other limited edition, Les Regards de Chanel eye palette (back in stock for now), I'd recommend the latter, unless you're utterly in love with the blush.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available now from chanel.com.

All photos are mine, including these two bonus ones starring Lizzy and Sophie:

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette- Sneak Peek

While I passed on the entire Chanel Holiday 2010 Collection, the newly released limited edition Collection Essentielle de Chanel (aka the Paris-L.A. Palette) had me clicking "add to bag" faster than my Buffy can say "purrr". By the way, the highly-coveted Les Regards de Chanel eye palette is back in stock for a limited time, so those who missed it the first time around get another chance to buy it.

This is just a little preview since I only got the Collection Essentielle de Chanel the other day and didn't even swatch it yet. I plan on wearing it exclusively over the weekend so I'll have something to report early next week. In the meantime, here's a quick overview and impression of the collection:

The Paris-L.A. palette looks nicely edited. On the website they call it "a plum harmony", though the cream blush is more of a beige peach and the lip colors (two glosses, one cream lipstick) seem red-based in the pan. The eye shadows are ivory and two plum/mauve colors that look neutral and polished. There are also two shades of concealer, which is an excellent approach- it allows you to mix and customize your concealer for a perfect match and tailor it to your needs in different areas of the face.

The applicators that come with the palette are tiny and other than the lip brush not too useful (a sponge applicator? seriously?). They are placed inside special slots in the Chanel velveteen pouch, which is an improvement and a nice touch. All in all, I can't wait to start playing.

Stay tuned.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available from chanel.com

All photos are mine (a lot more to come). Model: Buffy.

Let's talk about it: NARS Bento Box Lip Set

This is an open thread about one of the most sought-after (at least in theory) products of the season- the Nars Bento Box lip set.

When I first received the press release about the limited edition Bento Box I did several things:
1.Got a serious case of the Covet
2. Added my name to the wait list on Nars website
3. More coveting
4. Reminded myself that Nars might be my least favorite brand when it comes to lipsticks.
5. Told myself to shut up. Coveting resumed.
6. Pondered the $125 price tag. Can it be worth it?
7. Deciding it probably isn't.
8. Wondering if I'm missing something.

Now here we are a month later. The set is available from Nars website as well as from Barneys, Neiman and Saks. It hasn't sold out yet though it's been out for a week now and supposedly there are only 1000 Bento Boxes in the US market (1000 more will be offered in the UK). I'm still looking at the photo and trying to figure it out.

The colors are pretty straight forward- one is a gorgeous red, the other is a dark pink. The Japanese aesthetics and the concept of lipstick in a cup you slowly apply with handcrafted tools are elegant and appealing. It says "luxury", which is probably why the Bento Box is so attractive to me. In theory.

Now, NARS promised the lipsticks are a new formula enriched with vitamin E, which is a very good thing considering their regular lipsticks are much too dry for me. Still, are they on the same level as Kanebo Sensai,  Cle de Peau and Tom Ford? Is the packaging really worth the price hike? And what about the brush? It looks  like a cousin of my beloved Nars Yachiyo blush brush with its hand-spun black wisteria handle. I use lip brushes quite often, but this is one brush category I never found a huge difference between top and mid-level brands as long as they're thick enough. Besides, if I were to drop top dollars on a special lip brush I'd probably go with this one:

That's the Kolinsky large craftsman lip brush from Hakuhodo, a real Japanese brand that makes professional makeup brushes (hakuhodousa.com).  Their entire Japanese Tradition series is on my wish list as well as the red-handled S100- they look exquisite and will probably get a lot more use than any two lipsticks in a cup.

What do you think: are you buying the set? Have you seen it in person? How do you feel about this product in general? Please share any thoughts you have about this.

Photos: NARS and hakuhodousa.com

Guerlain Shalimar Ode à la Vanille

Opinions on the new Guerlain Shalimar Ode à la Vanille vary greatly. Some say it's a return to Shalimar of yore, or at least to some past version. Other say it's closer to the dearly departed Shalimar Light/Eau Legere or its recent incarnation as the somewhat wimpy Eau de Shalimar. Then there are those who claim it's more powdery/less powdery or whatever. But I doubt anyone would dispute the fact Ode à la Vanille is a legitimate member of the Guerlain family. It is definitely a Shalimar.

I usually prefer to spend more than two days and one night with a perfume before attempting to review it, but considering Guerlain released Shalimar Ode à la Vanille as a limited edition I figured it would be a good idea to hurry up a little. I did test it outside in the crisp(ish) fall air and indoors, slept in it and indulged as much as I could. So, yes, I really really like it.

The name Ode à la Vanille is misleading. It is definitely a vanilla scent, but what Shalimar isn't? Thierry Wasser, Guerlain's in-house perfumer, didn't turn Shalimar into a scary gourmand version of itself and I don't find the famous patisserie accord to be amplified in Ode à la Vanille. I also don't find it especially related to the boozy syrup of Spiritueuse Double Vanille other than in that general Guerlain family resemblance. Now that we established what this new perfume is not, let's see what I can actually make of it.

The biggest difference I find between Ode à la Vanille and several of the Shalimar versions I own is in its relative dryness. Despite the variety of citrus fruit (bergamot, lemon, mandarin orange) used in the opening of Shalimar it is anything but light or sporty. Shalimar is all drama and feels perfectly at home in a red carpet gown and other formal attire. While the vanilla note of Ode à la Vanille is deeper and more complex than what we've gotten from past versions (according to Guerlain it was achieved by using different types of vanilla from various sources), there is a mellowness here that starts at the top notes and makes Ode à la Vanille more laid back scent.

The late dry-down seems to share some of the complexity I find in Bois Torride. They don't smell anything alike, but there's an impression of a dusty bitter dark chocolate in both, and I love it. It's just interesting and quirky enough without compromising wearability or beauty. I find Ode à la Vanille less baroque but very elegant. It holds back a lot more than the original but it's still quite plush- not like the aforementioned evening gown, more like a finely-cut blazer that is made of the best possible materials and you can wear it with just about anything and go stroll the Upper East Side and feel like you belong there.

Is Ode à la Vanille to Shalimar the same as Eau Premier is to Chanel No. 5?
Not really, if you ask me. Eau Premier has done away with the more questionable part of No. 5, the perfumy aldehyde opening, that tends to bother many a modern nose. While the relationship between the two Chanels is obvious, one can easily dislike one and adore the other. It's not that simple in the case of this Guerlain. Ode à la Vanille might be easier to wear for some (men, especially), but it's still very much a Shalimar and those who smell it and run for their life or just object to this style of oriental perfumes would not change their minds all of a sudden. I doubt I'd be able to convince even my own mother to wear Ode à la Vanille for a full hour, but then again she has never met a semi-gourmand perfume she liked.

Guerlain Shalimar Ode à la Vanille ($110,50ml EDP) was released in the new Shalimar EDP bottle (the Jade Jagger design). It's a limited edition and bottles seem to be selling quickly but still available from most Guerlain boutiques around the world (Bergdorf might have run out at this point, but the Vegas boutique should still have it). I don't recommend buying unsniffed, especially if one is a bit iffy about Shalimar. It's a great perfume but hardly likely to rock your socks off if you're not already a fan of Guerlain in general and Shalimar in particular.

Photo of Christy Turlington and Louise Vynet by Gilles Bensimon, 1987

Les Khakis de Chanel Nail Polish

I know I'm the very late in reporting on these, but I was away when Chanel released the nail polish trio Les Khakis on Fashion's Night Out. I got them as soon as I came back, of course, because the colors were so special and irresistible to me in their edgy elegance. I chose to skip Khaki Vert, the mossy green one, for practical reasons. It's beautiful, but knowing myself it's not something I'd wear very often and I already had Essie Sew Psyched, so I felt covered in this color department.

Les Khakis de Chanel are a limited edition, and I enjoy Khaki Brun and Khaki Rose so much I'm considering a backup, especially for the latter. It's such an easy to wear shade and works for me perfectly. I love that they are a little muted and it takes a second glance to realize how unique and complex they are. This fact makes them quite office friendly and ensures one would get a good use of the Les Khakis.

Khaki Rose is a warm beige brown. The rose undertone is more pronounced in full sun, while a gray and rainy day like today brings out the brown cinnamon heart. I find it very flattering on my hands and makes me want to go shopping for some accessories in this color. Khaki Brun is a very interesting polish. As you can see in the photos taken in direct afternoon sun, it has a lot of khaki in it (thank you, Lady Obvious), but indoors it's much more of a taupe in the same mushroomy style Chanel has made famous. It's still elegant enough to be perfectly acceptable in all but the most conservative environments.

Quality-wise, Chanel has made some serious progression. As Sabrina of the Beauty Look Book observed the other day, the creamy consistency is so opaque you only need one coat for a uniform full coverage. I can't begin to tell you how happy tis makes me. I'm a DIY girl despite my klutziness, so being able to paint and go without waiting between coats (and messing up my nails every time a cat even looks at them) makes it the polish I'm more likely to use.

Bottom Line: I wish it were part of the permanent collection.

Les Khakis de Chanel Nail Polish ($25 each) can be ordered online from chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

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

NARS Blush Douceur Fall 2010 Limited Edition

Nars Fall 2010 collection is stunning. There's no arguing about that. The eye colors are bold and each one of them can and should be the focal point of a full makeup look. I passed on the lip colors despite their gorgeousness because Nars lipsticks are too dry for me. But I was most curious about the new limited edition blush, Douceur, because the texture is so soft and sheer, and it lacks the gold shimmer found in most Nars blushes.  The question was: would it be too light to show up on my skin?

Some bloggers recommended Douceur for light skin tones and they're mostly right- if you're very tan or dark there's a good chance this blush wouldn't work for you, even when layered heavily. But my medium-pale olive skin actually loves this color because it's visible but looks very natural. I don't need to build the intensity or use a super thick brush. One swipe is all it takes for an easy effortless look.

The swatches show you just how compatible Douceur and I are. I swatched with a regular Chanel blush brush and only swiped once, just as I would do on my face. You can see that awful mosquito bite I got the other day right on my wrist (it hurts like you wouldn't believe), and the blush color is just a natural extension of the shade I get when bitten. Not a recommended method for testing makeup, but it works. You can also see that the NARS imprint in the compact fades as soon you swipe your brush over it. I started using it right away, without taking pictures first, so by the time I got to photograph the blush it was almost gone.

Bottom Line: I hope they reconsider the limited edition thing. I want Douceur in the permanent line.

NARS Douceur Blush ($26) for Fall 2010 is available from most decent department stores, Sephora and narscosmetics.com.

Photos and swollen wrist are all mine.