Dior

Lips Luxe Out With Dior Addict Lip Balm in Crystal Coral

May 14th, 2012 by Karen 31 Comments

dior addict lip balm

Remember when all it took was a single tube of Strawberry Lip Smackers?

Now that I’m hopelessly addicted to makeup, I spend hours every day (okay, more like several minutes) contemplating my lipstick, lip liner and gloss.

And those are just the lip products! 🙂

Don’t get me wrong — most of the time, I love it. I love the process, but sometimes I miss those old Lip Smacker days when my makeup was always easy.

If you’ve ever wondered whatever happened to those no-pressure lip looks, I think one of them may have been hiding in this tube of Dior Addict Lip Balm in 003 Crystal Coral ($30).

New for summer, this pigmented coral reminds me of a Revlon Lip Butter, only much more luxurious. It’s a super fancy limited edition luxury lip balm fortified with moisturizing shea butter and lip plumping hyaluronic acid spheres, and it shimmers ever so slightly on my lips.

It’s a truly loveable lip balm in charming pink packaging, and it almost couldn’t be any easier to use (unless it applied itself). No lip liner, no brush, no mirror — nada. The hardest part is probably pulling it out of my purse.

dior addict lip balm

dior addict lip balm swatch
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Brushes, Be Gone! Dior’s New 1-Couleur Eye Glosses Have Application Covered

May 11th, 2012 by Karen 29 Comments

dior 1-couleur eye gloss

Behold! I’m a makeup magician, and my trademark trick involves making my eye brushes disappear, poof!

One minute they’re there, behaving on the bathroom sink. Next minute…

Have you seen my MAC 217? It was right here a minute ago…

Magic like this is unpredictable, and brushes disappear all the time, sometimes to reappear later in the unlikeliest of places, like the back seats of cars or the pockets of camp shirts.

My 224 was the latest to pull a disappearing act. It must have been swallowed up by the same insatiable accessories eater that consumed my Shu Uemura Lash Curler…

Thankfully, my magic can finally rest. With the new limited edition Dior 1-Couleur Eye Glosses, I may never need to reach for another eyeshadow brush again! — or at least not until fall.

The doe-foot applicator affixed to both of these two $28 sparkling gel shadows (like creamy eye glosses), which start out like a fluffy mousse but dry down to a powder, does wizardly work, precisely guiding the product where I want it on my lids. I just swipe, say “abracadabra!” and blend out the edges with a finger.

Done. 🙂

Um…just be sure to prime first, or you risk jaw-dropping creasing within an hour. With NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (the best!) layered beneath them, I get between 6-8 hours of wear.

Oh, and you might want to avoid applying too many layers. These shadows tingle on my lids (it’s supposed to be refreshing). One or two layers seem fine, but many more than that, and they start to sting a little, ouch!

dior 1-couleur eye gloss
The 1-Couleur Eye Glosses in 750 Sunset (top) on the left and 560 Tan (bottom)

dior 1-couleur eye gloss swatches
560 Tan on the left and 750 Sunset on the right
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Will Your Lips Take a Shine to Dior’s Addict Extreme Lipsticks?

March 13th, 2012 by Karen 41 Comments

dior addict extreme incognito
Wearing Dior Addict Extreme in Incognito

Like a pretty beach bikini, Dior’s shiny new $30 Addict Extreme Lipsticks are saucy and bold, but still leave a little something to the imagination. Lightweight and glassy, they provide just enough pigment and coverage to stand out without overpowering the sheer blushes and eyeshadows we’ve been seeing so much this spring.

Available in 17 moderately moisturizing shades, they’re just the kind of lippies I like to wear around this time every year, when I grow a little weary of fall and winter’s heavy mattes and full-coverage products.

Designed to go the distance with a long-wearing formula, they’re also supposed to have a lip-plumping effect, but per usual, my lips must be immune…

dior addict extreme lipsticks
From the left: Incognito, Lucky and Black Tie

dior addict extreme swatches
Swatches from the left: Incognito, Lucky and Black Tie

One thing I do notice about these is how great they feel. I love the texture! They’re so smooth that I almost forgot about the $30 price, and they’re pretty hydrating, too, although I do like to layer a little lip balm underneath.

If I had to compare them to something, maybe the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines, except I think those are a little more moisturizing.

dior addict extreme black tie
Black Tie
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The $59 Dior 5 Couleurs Garden Pastels Eyeshadow Palette Is Quintessentially Dior

January 5th, 2012 by Karen 57 Comments

dior garden pastels (2)

Might as well take a chisel to Michelangelo’s David. That’s how I felt about swatching the new Dior 5 Couleurs Garden Pastels Eyeshadow Palette ($59) and why it took me so long to build up the courage.

Every time I’d contemplate taking a brush to the raised roses on the pans, I’d see myself tearing into a beautifully wrapped present, squishing a frosted cupcake or picking apart a delicate hors d’oeuvre.

I don’t want to do it! I don’t want to do it! I don’t want to do it!

But I finally did…

dior garden pastels (1)

dior garden pastels (3)
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