Macaron Dreams

I'm glad pastels are still in for Fall.

I'm dying to get this Creme De Couture eye shadow palette.  I know I'm too make-up lazy but the colors are just as dreamy as a pile of macarons are to indulge in.

Le Sigh!

SD Review - Dior Color Awakening Lip Balm

Dior's Color Awakening Lipbalm may be the prettiest lip balm I've ever experienced. I'm totally smitten with it's feminine presentation and just want to use it all the time because it's so pretty. Luckily, the balm itself is actually pretty amazing as well.

Dior describes it as:

A made-to-measure lip balm that beautifies and durably enhances the lips’ natural color. A customized color result : thanks to its Color Reviver technology, Dior Addict Lip Glow reacts directly with the unique chemistry of each woman’s lips before releasing its color ingredient. Lips seem revived from within, amazingly fresh, full and radiant. In addition, its SPF10 formula enriched with wild mango and luffa cylindrica continuously protects and moisturizes. A universal balm for all lips.

I have to admit that it works. My lips are soft and rosy.  This isn't a gloss but a soft balm that leaves you with a bit of sheen and a flush of pink.

I've always heard (although I didn't put much credit in it) that wearing lipstick fades your lips over time.  I haven't seen that but, even if it's true, this does the opposite.  It leaves your lips worthy of a book heroine description. Who doesn't want that?

SD Review - Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain

I've spoken before about my love for lipstains and now I have a new one that I've fallen for.  I have just bought three colors of the Revlon "Just Bitten" collection.

I bought Twilight (deep berry), Passion (medium pink) and Frenzy (bright fuchsia).  They don't drip going on, stain well, and have a nice balm on the other side.

Great color, great application and as natural or bright as you would like to go.  I bought mine at CVS for about $9 each.  Since I just bought them I'm not sure how long they will last but I'll let you know!

GPOY Lipstain

Color Smitten

I have never ever had nice, long, strong nails.  Nooo, I have to have crummy nails that break when you so much as look at them and have no nail beds to speak of so even short nail look lousy.

But I'm trying to do better about taking care of them in the hopes that they will grow and look nice. And I'm becoming a bit obsessed with nail polish.

I've recently done a big sweep at Ulta and Bergdorfs to get some gorgeous colors.  Colors that I hope will incent me to take good care of my nails.

I don't typically buy Chanel polishes as much as I do their lipsticks but I really wanted this pretty orchid-y pink-purple Lilac Sky.

Then last night I went to Ulta for more:

For fun I got a small bottle of Orly's VIP pink glitter which I think I'll wear over a pale pink base .

The main reason I was there was to find a pale yellow to match the Lemonade Converse I want to get. And funnily enough, this Orly color is called Lemonade as well!

But all the pretty spring colors were calling out to me.

So I bought a sample pack of the new French Affair collection from Essie.

French Affair -

Nice is Nice -

Sand Tropez -

And Coat Azure, which I'm wearing now -

But I had to get a few other colors, just to test them out.  Like Wicked (a dark dark burgundy)

The olive-y green Sew Psyched -

Searching for the perfect lavender in St. Lucia Lilac -

And another pretty, less shimmery blue in Lapis of Luxury -

Obviously I'm pining away for the soft colors of spring.  No flowers yet but I can have them on my nails.



Bubblegum Plastic: Review - Nars Bloodwork

I bought the Nars Bloodwork lipgloss ages agot but I never got around to doing a post of the actual color.

The formulation is very opaque and pigment-heavy. You need to be pretty careful with the application.  The wand has a sponge tip so it does go on smoothly, which is good.

My lighting here isn't the greatest, but you can see that this is pretty va-va-voom.

And while it may seem a bit counter-intuitive, I actually prefer to apply and then blot. 

If you've ever seen an actress in a movie with perfect, seemingly naturally carmine lips, I think this is how they do it.  The color when blotted makes your mouth flushed but without even seeming to have anything on.

Maybe a bit of lip balm for a soft sheen and then a small amount of Bloom eyeshadow in platinum, and you are done for look with kissable lips.

Bubblegum Plastic: Review - Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick #22 Paris

I am not a huge make-up person.  I don't wear a lot and I'm not good with experimentation or pushing the boundaries on color.  I just don't have the face for it.  So I typically go for pretty colors and simple looks.  I love mascara and a good lipstick and gloss.  I have recently started trying out the L'oreal Studio Secrets primer, maybe dot on some Prescriptives custom base (which I've been using for 15+ years) and a dusting of translucent powder.

I don't spend a lot on eyeshadow or powder, etc., but I do like to splurge a bit on lipstick.  And my favorite is Chanel.

As you can see, I have quite a few.  The big problem is that I tend to fall in love with a shade and then find out it was a seasonal limited color and have to try and find replacements. Then I hoard the little amount I have left, doling it out only on special occasions. 

The most recent color I fell for was the Chanel Rouge Coco #22 "Paris".  

I saw this vibrant, almost fuchsia, pink on Sandra Bullock at the Oscars this year and had to track down that pink.

There was quite a run on the color but I eventually got my tube.. and it is bright!

Check out the cute commercial with Vanessa Paradis

The range comes in colors from browns to pinks to corals perfect for the looks seen in the Spring 2011 shows.  I may go and check out the brownish-pink "Mademoiselle" and just got the coraly-red #58 "Audace" (to be reviewed soon).

I find this color to be very intense going on out of the tube.  It's soft and moisturizing but not overly creamy.  This color has a real shine to it.  It's not shimmery at all. 

When I combine this with my bright red hair it's kind of a contrast, so I like to blot it.  You still get quite a good pink but not so in your face.  I can stop there if I want to keep a matte look but I usually layer this with a darker toned lipstick or top with a slightly more coral gloss.

 

Blotted only

This time I topped the Paris with the Chanel Glossimer #197 "Gazelle", which is a shimmery peach.

With "Gazelle" Glossimer

I luvvvv the Glossimers too! My favorite is #15 "Spark".

 

 I find it challenging to buy make-up, especially lipstick.  The tube never gives you a real look at the color or the feel or the application.  They need to sell more mini-tubes like perfume samples so you could wear it a time or two before you commit.

I've received a few samples of products including toners, lotions and nail polish, as well as a few new make-up items I've bought.  I plan on doing more reviews so keep an eye out for the Bubblegum Plastic banner.

Doe a Deer

Going to the drugstore ended up with me getting a trio of dark sparkly eyeshadows and two matte dark red lipsticks to be played with.

So this:



Plus this adorable which arrived tonight...



Equals crazy make-up playtime!



That was relatively normal... then I started to test everything and clean out my make-up case which created the "drunken harlot look" (or so I was told! doh!)



Ignoring me... how freaking adorable is this?

I can not wait to wear this tomorrow. I haven't taken it off since I came home. Sadly I can't sleep in it. It really is the most comfortable headband I've evern worn too.

If you want to see someone else looking adorable in this piece, check out Miss Mademoiselle Robot who is even shown wearing this in her site header.

Deer headband via Pretty Good Things on Etsy. Also, check out here blog listed over there to the right under Where The Money Goes.

New York, New York - Day 1

My first day in New York was quite a hectic one. It's been ages since I'd been back there. And it didn't start off well - I got off the plane and it was pouring down rain! Good thing I'd packed other shoes. I wore a black trench dress (which I'd had for a while but hadn't worn yet) paired up with my Jimmy Choo Buzz heels. I'd packed a ton of outfits, because you know you need options, and had all of my shoes in the carry on bag. I just don't trust checking them, ya know!



So, I got in around 8am and the friend I was staying with picked me up at the airport. We went back to his apartment and both took quick cat naps, since he works nights and I'd been up since before 5am. Then we got a yummy lunch in a local restaurant. I had a great ahi tuna-topped salad.

After that and since the rain had stopped, I decided to slip on some flats and take the N train into the city. Lucky for me, the train lets off right near Bergdorfs! First check on the To Do list.



I wandered around a bit and ended up in the cosmetics section. I've been looking for a replacement lipstick for this one special edition color that I just love. Sadly, I haven't found it exactly yet, but I did get a lipstick and a Glossimer. The lipstick is Rouge Allure #17 Emotion and the Glossimer is #197 Gazelle and both are a light pinkish-orange.



But the lovely surprise is that, when I wandered into the shoe department, they were having a big designer shoe sale. And it was a mad house. Ladies, shoes and sales reps were everywhere with piles of shoes in their arms. Shoes of every designer brand were out on the racks and started at 30% off. I grabbed a few to try on myself, because, you just can't pass up a sale like that, right?

After trying on a bunch of styles I ended up getting these two pairs. The first is a pair of black patent slingback peep-toes from Christian Louboutin. I had already been walking around in my flats quite a bit but slipping these on found they were so comfortable. I almost considered wearing them for the rest of my shopping.









The other pair were these sapphire blue satin Manolo Blahniks. They're a big big but with inserts they fit fine and I couldn't resist the gorgeous blue color.











I seriously wanted to take them back to the apartment with me and wear them during the trip but I knew I would never be able to fit them in my bags (and I would have been right!) so I had them ship them to my home. This actually saved me from having to pay NY sales tax which would have been more than the shipping.

From there I decided to make my way down Madison and see what I passed along the way. I didn't have too much of a game plan. What was amazingly helpful was that before I had left, I put all the places I wanted to go into my iPhone. I had a general idea of what places were near each other so I would just use my iPhone to map the location and see where I was going. Much better than carrying around a guidebook or map, plus I could call the locations if I had a question about their hours or where exactly they were.

I did pop into H&M since we don't have one at home. But, while I've seen some cute stuff from there on folks, I just didn't spark to anything. So, back out I went.



Next up was Saks and the 10022-SHOE shoe floor. They have an express elevator which takes you right to the floor (or just confuses the heck out of people when they aren't paying attention to the sign above the doors!)

I walked all around to see if there was anything I was really dying for, since they were also doing a sale, but no luck.



I did get an opportunity to try on the Gucci sandals that I really really wanted, but, alas, the size 6s were too big. I was hoping that I could get away with the 6s and they looked really cool but nope. I did have the look to see if they came in 5 or 5.5 at all, but sadly no. And they were on sale too. Wah!



From there I kept on walking and ended up spying this store filled with gorgeous gloves. And I love gloves. I'd even brought my vintage driving gloves and Italian black embellished gloves with me.

I didn't know that Sermoneta gloves were where WendyB had purchased her controversial yellow gloves (I say she wears them well).



I tried on a few pairs but didn't get quite as adventurous as Wendy. I was more interested in the driving glove looking ones and finally got these two-tone green and off-white pair. I was hoping for an orange-pink pair but no luck. I wear a lot of green in the summer so I think they will get a lot of use. I may wear them to work on Monday.



One of the other places I wanted to go to was Caron Perfumerie. They're owned by the same person who owns Phyto so it was a bit difficult to find. The Caron products are house on the third floor near the spa but they still have the gorgeous decanters of perfumes.



The lovely Diane Haska took a great deal of time letting me sniff endless strips of delicate scents to help me narrow down to a few perfumes to try on.



I tended to move away from their more floraly ones and gravitated towards some of the more spicy ones.



The other reason I wanted to go there was to get an adorable "poof" which come in three sizes and an endless array of sherbet colors. You can get scented powders to go with these but I justed ended up getting the poof. Can you see the huge pile of tester strips under there? Those are all from me.



I ended up with the medium light blue poof. For perfumes I bough a bottle of the Parfum Sacre, which has top notes of pepper, cinnimon and coriander. You can smell the pepper clear through the box. Here are a few reviews who describe it better than I ever could -

- by Bois de Jasmin
- at BaseNotes
- by Sweet Diva



Diane also gave me decants of the three scents you see there in the front. Since I liked the spicy, she gave me Tabac Blond, Poivre (more pepper) and a classic Nuit de Noel. They're all delicious as well. You can order decants through The Perfumed Court.

After all this I was just beat. So I headed back to, basically, crash. On Wednesday I had my work conference so got ready for bed.

Day two to follow.