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Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Karen

Chanel Venice Collection Eye Gloss Turns Up the Intensity

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chanel venice collection fall 2009 eye gloss

The Chanel Venice collection for fall 2009 keeps dishing out surprises.

First, the two summery Glossimers threw me for a loop, and now it’s the Eye Gloss ($65).

My first impression? Wearability — in that I wasn’t sure how wearable this quad would be, but after some quality playtime with it yesterday, I’ve made up my mind. The colors make fantastic eyeshadow bases, but they do come with a few serious caveats.

Varying pigmentation

Chanel packed the Eye Gloss quad with four creamy shadows in shades of shimmery gold, beige, burgundy and black. Both the beige and gold shades apply with a medium pigmentation, while the burgundy and black shades apply with rich, deep color.

chanel venice collection fall 2009 swatches reviews eye gloss beige
Eye Gloss in beige

Texture and finish

The tester I’d first touched at a counter the other day must have been sitting out for a while. At that time I’d thought the colors felt thin and dry to the touch. Not so, though, because the shadows in the quad I purchased feel thick and moist, kinda like a lip gloss.

The moistness allows for a lot of movement on my skin, and unlike MAC Paint Pots or Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows, which start off creamy but dry within a few minutes, the Eye Gloss shades remain wet much longer on the skin, and that allows for a lot of time to blend, layer and manipulate the gloss around my lids. Nice.
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MINX Nail Coverings: High Fashion for Nails

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Today Johnie of The Beauty Junkie blog talks about a fun way to let your fingers do the talking.

minx-nails1

Have you heard of MINX nail coverings yet? I ask because they’ve taken the beauty world by storm.

I caught my first glimpse of MINX nails about 10 months ago in one of the many beauty magazines that gets delivered monthly to my mailbox (always such a good mail day when one of those arrives!). Rhianna was sporting them in silver chrome, and I was like, “WHERE do I get some of those?” Her nails looked amazing and done to perfection.

Back then MINX were brand spankin’ new, and nobody had heard of them before, including the people at most salons.

Since then things have changed.

Now, they regularly appear in magazines, being worn by more and more celebrities. Beyonce is a huge fan and gets caught wearing MINX a lot, and the product’s getting more press all the time.

My first MINX manicure

Salons all across America are getting into the trend, and I was finally able to get my first MINX manicure about a week ago.

I don’t live in a big city like Atlanta, New York City or anyplace like that, yet there are already two salons in my area offering MINX. If I can get my hands on them where I live — rather, get them on my hands — you probably can too.

So what the heck are MINX nail coverings?

Literally, they’re adhesive nail stickers available in a wide range of colors and patterns.

You can go with a seasonal look, a plain jane solid or just go crazy with something outrageous; they have it all.

The variety is what makes these the coolest nail art I’ve ever seen, and the selection continues to grow.

I was told by my salon tech that they can now even do custom MINX nail coverings. If, for example, there’s a particular pattern or print you love, you can send a sample to MINX to turn into your very own design. Pretty cool, huh?
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Bloggerati Spotlight

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The Beauty Bloggerati

So how was your Monday? What was your favorite part?

My day wasn’t bad, dental visit notwithstanding. Well, even that wasn’t terrible. Like I said, no injections or drills this time, yea!

And the dentist told me I might have a weird tongue. Hmm…

I had fun this afternoon playing with the new Chanel Eye Gloss Quad. I’ll post a full review tomorrow, but what struck me today was how much the colors ramp up the intensity of powder eyeshadows. Way cool.

Have a great night.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I’m drinking red wine and watching True Blood Season 1 on DVD. Good times. 🙂

What’s Your Favorite Hot Weather Hairstyle?

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071309-hot-weather-hair-poll

Whew, nelly! It was hotter than an armpit here in NorCal today. 🙂 I wanted to wear my wavy hair down this morning, but it was just too darn hot and sticky to go there. I opted instead for my usual hot weather hairstyle, a low, messy bun at the nape of my neck.

Just mePigtails, ponytails, French braids, twists — what’s your favorite way to wear your hair when it’s too hot out to function? Do you like it up or leave it down?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Chanel Venice Collection Fall 2009: Hot Glossimers

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Chanel Glossimer in Courtisane

Coco and company cooked up two seriously *hot* Glossimers for their fall 2009 Venice collection.

Both Courtisane and Arlequin ($27 each) inject a hint of golden warmth to lips, balancing out the cool green and gray shades for eyes.

I love both of these Glossimers because they aren’t your typical fall lip fare.

Unusual for fall

Courtisane’s a hot pink with gold pearl; Arlequin’s a shimmery peachy gold. Makeup lines usually release darker, vampier lip colors in shades of berry, plum and red for fall, so I was pleasantly surprised to see shimmery glosses in golden hues.

And both of these could easily pass for summer colors, too. No reason at all to wait for autumn leaves. 🙂

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Chanel Glossimer in Arelquin

Courtisane is my favorite of the two. She’s richly pigmented — more so than most of the Glossimers I’ve tried — but the color’s not so bright or shimmery that it’s difficult to wear. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Arlequin, a peachy golden pink with bronze glitter, is the warmer of the two shades. She’s sheerer than Courtisane, but her glitter might deliver a nice pop of shimmer when layered atop bronze, peach or brown lipstick.Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+

chanel venice collection fall 2009 swatches reviews arlequin courtisane

A lil’ something for everyone

Even though Chanel stocked the Venice collection with a *ton* of cool shades, I’m glad they decided to throw in some warmer lip shades, too.

I really like the gold in these, but what do you think?

Dental Dalliances, Part 12

This summer is turning out to be my summer o’ teeth trubs… Yup, I’m heading back to the dentist this afternoon, aka my home away from home. This time I’m assured there there won’t be any injections up in the mix!
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, July 13

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071309-monday-poll

  1. Mood:

    2. Relaxed and optimistic.

  2. Describe yourself in five words:

    3. Creative, funny, sensitive, fickle, fun.

  3. What did you do last weekend?

    4. Apart from the regular boring life stuff like groceries, cleaning and laundry, I watched Public Enemies (maybe wait for the DVD) and started reading Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris, the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Oh! El Hub and I went house hunting yesterday and found a potential place, a condo in a town called Novato. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping it works out.

  4. Do you ever permanently “borrow” magazines from the gym or doctor’s office?

    5. I’m sooo guilty of this! I totally “borrow” magazines from the gym. I don’t really feel bad about doing it, though, because I donate magazines back all the time.

  5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    6. Nothing yet because I woke up late this morning. I’ll probably end up doing a look with some bits from MAC Colour Craft or Chanel Venice.

  6. When was the last time you went window shopping for makeup?

    7. Yesterday. I popped by the Macy’s Chanel counter in Corte Madera (about 10 minutes north of San Francisco) to pick up an Eye Gloss and to check out some brushes. By the way, if you’re going to be in the Bay Area this coming weekend, the Corte Madera Macy’s is hosting a Chanel Master Class on July 18th. The first class starts at 11 a.m. and second at 3 p.m., and it’s free to attend. For full deets, call (415) 927-3333 (extension 2362) and ask for Masooma. Don’t forget to tell her I referred you!

  7. Who’s the first person you call when you’re upset?

    8. El Hub.

  8. What’s your favorite way to relax?

    9. Going for a long run with lots of good music pumping through my iPod or curling up on the couch with a good book.

  9. Outfit:

    10. Khaki green sun dress, tan linen blazer and brown wedge sandals.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Do visualization exercises, run at least four times, start going for walks during the day.

I just finished guzzling my first cup of green tea (with honey, yum!), and I’m getting ready to go out for a quick 10 minute walk break. I haven’t been very good about giving myself breaks during the work day, so I figure there’s no time like the present to start a new, good habit.

How’s your Monday been so far? Before things start picking up on your end, let me know what’s going on. Just copy the empty list below, and paste it with your answers in the comments. I can’t wait to hear from you. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Describe yourself in five words:
What did you do last weekend?
Do you ever permanently “borrow” magazines from the gym or doctor’s office?
Eyes/lips/cheeks:
When was the last time you went window shopping for makeup?
Who is the first person you call when you’re upset?
What’s your favorite way to relax?
Outfit:
Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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