Palettes

The Chanel Pearl River Ombres MatelassÃ©es Eyeshadow Palette From the Hong Kong Collection: A Pearl River in a Gilded Land of Quilted Pans, Coral Fans and Golden Tans

February 21st, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

Chanel Pearl River Ombres Matelassees Eyeshadow Palette — Wearing the Chanel Ombres MatelassÃ©es Eyeshadow Palette in Pearl River ($80) from the new three-piece Hong Kong collection for eyes and nails, available now online

Chanel and gold eye shadow. Gold eye shadow and Chanel. The two go together like…short-sleeve t-shirts shirts and Jeremy Renner’s arms, high heels and pencil skirts, breakfast and Tiffany’s, perfume and pajamas…

In other words, things that go together well. 🙂

Add a pinch of peach and a drizzling of dark chocolate brown, and you get a veritable dream team palette to accompany those springy coral cheeks and lips you’ve been — okay, I’ve been — obsessed with lately.

There’s no real way to get around the fact that Chanel’s $80 Pearl River Ombres MatelassÃ©es Eyeshadow Palette demands an arm, a leg, a low-hanging tabby tum AND a twitchy tail. Chanel ain’t exactly budget, if you know what I mean.

But oh! — the extras you get, like the quilting on the pans and Chanel’s trademark black velvet storage pouch (it looks like a tiny makeup sleeping bag!). It’s the little touches that make it so easy to stay on Team Chanel.

As for the palette itself? Picture this: five (a shout-out to Mademoiselle’s lucky number, perhaps?) powder eye shadow shades based on the luminous reflection of Hong Kong shimmering in the South China Sea.

[Continue reading…]

The Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Face Palette: Sunset in a Garden of Gorgeous, Subtle Colors

February 20th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

Botany enthusiasts/luxury makeup lovers who like late afternoon gardening and subtle colors will love Aerin Beauty’s new A Garden at Dusk Face Palette.

Um…yeah, that’s a very targeted market. 🙂

The second of two $70 limited edition eye and cheek palettes in Aerin Beauty’s spring line (A Garden in Bloom is the first) shares many traits in common with its equally expensive sibling, like pretty packaging; subtle, cool-toned, sheer shades; and easy-to-blend powders.

Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Palette Swatches — Blush on the far left, eye shadow on the right

[Continue reading…]

Unzipped, Aerin Beauty’s A Garden in Bloom Face Palette Calls to Upscale Makeup Lovers Longing for Watercolor Washes on Eyes and Cheeks

February 19th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Wearing the new Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom Face Palette ($70) on my eyes and cheeks

I think there’s something very cool, very “power to the people!” about products able to work well for a wide range of beauty lovers — different skin types and tones, young people and older folks — especially when those products aren’t too expensive.

At the same time, I also like products designed with a very specific girl (or guy) in mind, like Aerin Beauty’s new $70 A Garden in Bloom Palette, which focuses like a laser on beauty lovers with some extra spending money.

There’s a good chance A Garden in Bloom girl already carries a Chanel bag, and all of the sales associates at Neimans and Saks know her by her first name. One of her inspirations? Audrey Hepburn, and the classic eye look she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 🙂

She likes a very specific makeup look, too, with her eyes and cheeks defined by light washes of color, and only rarely ventures into bolder, brighter territory. Luckily, this limited edition spring palette, with its three cool-toned, moderately pigmented powder eye shadows — a pinkish beige with a satin finish, a matte taupe and a purplish gray — and matte rosy pink powder blush, offers exactly that.

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom photos pictures packaging — The cloth-covered, zippered packaging looks pretty to me, but it sure isn’t easy to keep clean…

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom Face Palette swatches — Blush on the far left; eyeshadows on the right

[Continue reading…]

From the Moment I Laid Eyes on Guerlain’s Ã‰crin 4 Couleurs in Coup de Foudre, It Was, in Fact, Love at First Sight

February 14th, 2013 by Karen 34 Comments

Love at first sight.

This, according to Google Translate, which tells me that Coup de Foudre, also known as the name of Guerlain’s new spring quad, means “love at first sight” in English.

And yes, it was (love at first sight). First time I opened this gorgeous gold compact, I made goo-goo eyes at it and twirled a lock of hair around a finger like I was trying to get it to buy me a drink at the bar.

Haha! 🙂

Guerlain Coup de Foudre — Hey, baby, what’s your sign? I’m a Gemini, in case you were wondering…

Coup de Foudre shocked me in a couple different ways. First, the $59 price is alarming. Second, I think it’s supernatural… I keep expecting to see it on an episode of Lost Girl or Grimm!. Its gray, jade green, khaki and coral powder shadows are so enchanting that I bet even sirens and succubi would struggle to resist them.

Why?

Because this is a damned fine quad, babe! An expensive one, for sure, but I think Guerlain struck near perfection.

I mean, where do I start?

How ’bout here: when you’re 37, sometimes you have to do the math in your head to remember your age (mark my words, it’ll happen). On top of that, shimmery finishes become really challenging.

Most shimmery finishes, that is. Coup de Foudre has magic shimmer — shimmer that glows on my lids without accenting my fine lines.

When I wear these shadows and look in the mirror, I feel like asking, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s that 27-year-old looking back at me!? Hot damn and hallelujah!!” 🙂

[Continue reading…]

New Sephora Exclusives From NARS and Make Up For Ever, One of Them in Technicolor and the Other Inspired by Eve

February 12th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

The new Make Up For Ever Technicolor Palette ($45), available now exclusively at Sephora

Seriously, dude, I go to Petco so often that when I see the Friskies delivery guy there restocking the gravy display, he gives me the “What’s up?” nod in the cat food aisle.

Like we’re buds. Because we see each other so often. 🙂

In my town, one of the upsides of frequenting the local Petco on behalf of my famously demanding feline employer is that there’s a Sephora right next door.

I know! It’s makeup/cat lady heaven…

So whenever Tabs sends me on a gravy run, I try to swing by Sephora (but please don’t tell Tabs, because I don’t want to hear his speech about personal errands on company time, blah, blah, blah…).

Yesterday Miss Thang (Tabs) was running low on Science Diet, Gravy and Greenies, so after restocking at Petco, I wandered next door to the Sephora to quickly look around, and check if the new Hourglass Ambients had arrived yet (nope!).

It was weird… Most of the time when I visit Sephora, I usually see a few guys either trailing their girlfriends/wives or waiting up near the front of the store with their noses buried in their phones, but yesterday, they were everywhere! — wandering the aisles like lost cattle, most of them with blank looks on their faces.

That’s when I realized: Valentine’s Day. I think there was some present shopping going on there…

Most of the dudes, bless their hearts, looked completely clueless, too. I thought, “Let me help you!” LOL! But I was under a tight schedule and had to get back to the office to give Tabs his daily full-body shiatsu massage.

If I had been able to offer assistance, I would have steered the dudes toward the new $45 Technicolor palette from Make Up For Ever first, with its eight powder shadows, four of them brights and four of them neutrals.

My inner film buff likes the inspiration behind it — the era in cinema when movies were transitioning from black and white to color, circa the 1930s — while my practical side loves that MUFE included classic black, brown, beige and white shades to go with the electric yellow, green, blue and purple.

So flexible! Plus, it comes with a step-by-step tutorial and two eye brushes.

[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Followed the Yellow Brick Road All the Way to Two New Limited Edition Palettes Inspired by Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful

January 23rd, 2013 by Karen 40 Comments

Urban Decay Oz Palette — Urban Decay’s new $49 limited edition palettes were inspired by Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful

If you’re wearing one of Urban Decay’s two new limited edition $49 palettes inspired by the upcoming Disney flick, Oz the Great and Powerful, and someone shouts, “Witch!” DO NOT bust out your Tae Bo moves.

I repeat: no Tae Bo, Jiu-jitsu or Aikido moves, and absolutely DO NOT remove your hoop earrings.

Throw no blows! — because they’re just complimenting you on your makeup. 🙂

The two colorful palettes, Glinda and Theodora, recently materialized online — POOF! — just like witchcraft, tying in with the new Oz film with makeup to recreate the looks worn by the witches played by Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.

And this time, Urban Decay went all out!

These aren’t just some of their existing products in fancy packaging (not that I don’t like some of those palettes too). They created all-new colors here, and even included tutorials.

Nothing half-@ssed or cheesy. I feel like UD put a lot of thought into both products.

Each one comes with eight completely new eyeshadow shades…even though there are only six pans (two of the pans in each palette are duos), and the pans contain 0.05 ounces of product, making them the same size as Urban Decay’s interchangeable full-size shadow pans.

Urban Decay also included a gloss and liner with each palette, considerately completing the look.

First, Theodora — the richer, moodier magician who excels at conjuring up fab looks for brown smokey eyes.

The Theodora Palette

[Continue reading…]

A Subtle Performance With 724 Moves: The New Dior 5-Coueleurs Eyeshadow in Rose Ballerine #724

December 13th, 2012 by Karen 8 Comments

Wearing the colors from the new Dior 5-Couleurs Eyeshadow in Rose Ballerine #724 ($61)

Take a bow, Dior, because that performance was right en pointe!

“Bow,” as in Dior’s new Cherie Bow collection, and “en pointe” as in Rose Ballerine #724, the second of two new $61 5-Coueleurs Eyeshadow quints in the release (the other is Rose Charmeuse #854).

Eyes take center stage with the quint’s shimmery pink, peach, beige and taupe shades, which brighten my lids without putting my fine lines under a spotlight.

[Continue reading…]

This Spring, Smokey Eyes Are Hot (Pink): The New Dior 5-Couleurs Eyeshadow in Rose Charmeuse #854

December 12th, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

dior rose charmeuse 854 cherie bow edition 5 couleurs palette — Wearing the new Dior 5-Couleurs Eyeshadow in Rose Charmeuse #854 ($61)

Although it’s fun to sometimes match your eyeshadow to your Cadbury Mini Eggs (mmm…chocolate), spring eye makeup doesn’t have to be all about sweet, sugary pastels.

This spring Dior’s showing off its spunky, tough girl side with a blast of hot pink and black in the new Cherie Bow 5-Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette in #854 Rose Charmeuse ($61, one of two quints in the collection).

Oui, oui, Rose Charmeuse also houses a few traditionally springy shades in its houndstooth patterned pans (so cute!) — a shimmery pinkish beige, a shimmery rose and a sheer, matte peach with golden glitter (which, by the way, looks a little like one of my favorite NARS eyeshadows of all time, NARS Night Star).

But for me, the shimmery hot pink and matte black shades are what turn this Rose into a fun, fresh way to wear smokey eyes.

I like to start by patting the black eyeshadow all over my lids as a base. Then, for a purplish pink smokey eye, I layer the hot pink shade directly on top, and blend the two together.

The hot pink by itself probably wouldn’t have been this wearable; I think it really benefits from the matte black.

The black shadow also works great as a base for the other colors in the palette and makes a bunch of different smokey eye effects possible.

[Continue reading…]