Le Metier de Beaute Obama 2012 Set
22 March, 2012
Now, I’m going to try and keep the politics out of this as much as possible (even though I am a staunch Obama supporter, voted for him once and will vote again in November for him)-but when I heard about this, I had to pass it on.
As part of the Obama campaign Runway to Win initiative, Le Metier de Beaute (or should I say Richard Blanch, one of the bigwigs) has come up with a special set for $40-with all of the monies going to the Obama campaign. For the $40, you get three polishes: Red-y To Win Red (a deep red), Victory White (clean white, probably a cream), and Bo Blue (a shimmery navy blue). A very patriotic set, complete with a little cosmetic bag with the Obama campaign logo on it.
To me, this is a total win-win. Wanted to support the campaign AND get some polish to boot? This is great for that. I know some people may be turned off by the fact that it is for the Obama campaign, but I have to say that the whole Runway to Win initiative is quite genius. There’s also a lot of different fashion designers who did t-shirts, totes, and even scarves for the campaign-but the polishes? You can never go wrong with. The one thing I’ve heard is that the Le Metier polishes are quite small, but that they are great. I rarely buy polish nowadays though…so yeah.
Cook MAC: 9 Feb 2012
8 February, 2012
So this is up online-but a lot of the products are listed as “coming soon”. Odd…
Anyways, this is the big spring launch, and I have to say, I like it! I’ve heard inklings of controversy (promoting antiquated gender roles, stereotyping), but honestly, it’s very much a collection of on-trend colours and fashion will always have an aspect of kitsch as well as a tongue-in-cheek attitude. You just gotta poke fun at stuff sometimes!
This is the first one, and I’m doing it opposite of normal. Normally, I’d do the cosmetics first, but I wanted to do the other stuff for one reason: the nail polishes: See, my company has a super-exclusive line that I adore. Well…they are getting a bunch of garments IN THE COLOURS of the polishes. Orange coat, teal/orange skirt, lime green dress…all of which I need in my life. The polishes are $16 (eep!), so getting all three is definitely NOT going to happen. However, Al Fredo (bright acid green) will be MINE. I have a lot similar to Kid Orange already, and as for Salad Dressing? I may have to skip something else to get it. I honestly don’t have a lot of aquas, and it’s really interesting as it is on the darker side. Choices, choices… Read the rest of this entry »
MAC/Vera: 9 Feb 2012
8 February, 2012
Two new collections up today, and both have a few interesting things! First up is MAC/Vera. No, not Vera Wang or Vera Bradley, but Vera Neumann, a textile designer.
The collection is a very eye-heavy one, but it’s got great things. First up, can we talk Pearlglides? Sure, there’s nothing new. But these pencils are among my favourites, and if I need a go-to lower liner, then this is one of them. (If I am not using my magenta Chromagraphic pencil, that is). This go around, there’s:
Lord It Up-Bronze with pearl
Industrial-Blue-grey with pearl
Undercurrent-Teal with pearl
Designer Purple-Violet with pearl
Petrol Blue-Blue with pearl
Blackline-Black with gold pearl
Black Swan-Black with pearl
These are retailing for $15 nowadays. Read the rest of this entry »
My New Zoyas!
19 January, 2012
So the other day, my Zoyas (from the promo) arrived, and it’s so fun trying them out! (I am also glad that I got them when I did, seeing as trucks can’t really get up our hill with all the snow/ice) I’ve done the promos before, and if there’s one thing I learned from before, it’s to order as soon as possible after the code comes out. Figure it’s the cost of my morning coffee/bagel (if I work a morning shift), so I can swing it very easily. There have been times where it’s taken nearly 4 weeks for everything to arrive. This time? Less than two. (There’s all the processing, plus I don’t like paying more for shipping so it’s a week to Seattle)
Anyways, I got two blue polishes-Jo and Ibiza. The thing with Zoya is that there is so much I want to try and buy, but the nice thing is that they don’t really delete polishes from the range. It’s also good to get away from the super-metallics, although I have yet to buy a creme finish from them yet. I dunno why…
Jo is a beautiful colour, it’s very 90’s in a way. It’s a pale dusty blue with blue and silver shimmer that reminds me of Essie’s Lapis of Luxury (as far as the base colour goes). I think this may be prettier though because of a) the shimmer, and b) the fact that you just need two coats for total opacity. I don’t think I have another polish (besides LoL) that is close to this, and it’s a shade that goes with a lot. It’s not bright enough to where it overwhelms, but at the same time it’s still enough of a pop of colour to make an impact.
Ibiza, meanwhile, is a blackened blue with blue shimmer that is like a lot of stuff I already own. (Orly Star of Bombay, Essie Aruba Blue, OPI Russian Navy/Play til Midnight…to name a few) The one advantage that this has, though, is that you could theoretically get away with just one coat. The only problem is that it is VERY slow drying (I’ve never restocked on my Seche Vite), and the shimmer doesn’t really show up sometimes. It can look very…bleh. Maybe next time I’ll try it as a two-coater-I saw the opacity of the one coat and figured that it would cut it. Obviously, I was very wrong. Still, though, it’s a nice colour, if not terribly unique.
With my order, I got chipboards for the three new collection launches. That’s one thing I like about what they do: I can really see the colours and then get hyped up to buy them when they hit the local ULTA. I’m eyeing a couple of them, namely the Fleck Effects (even if flakies are a couple years old and it’s all about the magnets now).
New Zoya Spring 2012
6 January, 2012
With the recent Zoya promo that has come out (two free polishes with code ZOYA2012, just pay shipping…I got Jo and Ibiza), it means one other thing: new collections for the spring! They’re currently available for preorder on the site, so you can’t use the promo on them-but no matter, I’ll end up with some of them anyways.
Before I start, a nice note: on the Zoya site, you click on each polish and it has the opacity on a 1-5 scale, as well as the colour family, the finish, and colour tone. That’s not something you see often enough, so yay on them! It’s especially good because Zoya, for the most part, is not readily available as far as the good stuff goes. So for my colours, I’ll have the terms from the site paraphrased.
Cho-Warm peachy beige cream with a fine silver shimmer. Hits a 5 on the opacity scale.
Farah-Warm neutral beige cream with greenish undertones. Hits a 5 on the opacity scale.
Bevin-Dusty teal-toned sage creen cream. Also hits a 5 on the opacity scale.
Skylar-Dusty steel blue with gold/silver flecks. Hits a 5 on the opacity scale.
Tru-Reddish-grape with colour-shift shimmer (gold, orange, red). Hits a 5 on the opacity scale.
Lotus-Dusty blurple with colour-shift shimmer (pink, red, gold). Also a 5 on opacity.
The other thing: Fleck Effect glazes-also known as Mylar. Yes, Zoya is doing the flakies-although I have to say one thing: better late than never. These are all very sheer-but that’s the point: to use these as a topper, as opposed to on their own. The three colours are:
Maisie-Sheer blue with blue-green flakes
Chloe-Sheer warm pink with tarnished gold-blue and red-orange flakes
Opal-Sheer apple green with green-blue flakes
Because the promo for the polishes ends on the 9nd (Monday, these will be available for order on the 10th. I’m excited to see them at ULTA!
China Glaze/Hunger Games
15 December, 2011
So coming from, of all places, Perez Hilton…we have the news that China Glaze is doing a 12-polish set based on the wildly-popular (supposedly) trilogy of books (and movies, with the first installment scheduled for release in 2012). All the colours are based on what they look like on my computer screen.
Mauve creme (Dress Me Up)
Gunmetal grey shimmer (Stone Cold)
Golden orange glitter or shimmer (Harvest Moon)
Dark pinky brown (Foie Gras?)
Black, looks to be either a shimmer or a duochrome (Smoke & Ashes)
Yellow-orange duochrome or shimmer (Riveting)
Neutral silver shimmer (Fast Track)
Acid green shimmer (Acid?)
Golden-orange glitter (Electrify)
Silver-grey shimmer (Hook & Line)
Warm brown creme (Mahogany Music? Mahogany Magic? I dunno, my eyesight is failing)
White glitter with what looks like holographic or iridescent pieces (couldn’t get the name on this one)
I couldn’t get a release date on this, sadly-there was nothing on the article. But at least we now know what is coming soon!
New POP Beauty Nail Glams
5 November, 2011
So the rock that I have been living under kind of got moved big-time. I hadn’t bought any polish, really, since February of this year. I think 6 bottles, to be exact: Chanel Mimosa, one of the China Glaze crackles, and four POP Beauty polishes (Pinkest, Turquoise, Violetta, and Yellow-the last three being in a set for $10 at Urban Outfitters). But when I was on vacation, I was at Nordstrom and their juniors department just happened to have the Pop Beauty polishes. Not the ones I was used to, though. They are doing something like how they have Impulse Beauty at Macy’s, in that they have a few brands presented IN the Brass Plum department. I saw Too Faced and Stila, but there could be more. I think it’s smart: get some higher-priced brands in that are still fairly accessible, and it’s great for gifting (makeup and clothes in one transaction) without the intimidating nature that cosmetics counters can sometimes have. I was intimidated for so many years…
Anyways, they had several new polishes-the Glitzes and the Metals. There are a TON of them-the Glitzes being glitters and Metals…well, you know. Here are the shades!
Glitzes
Aquatic Glitz-Clear base with aqua glitter as well as some pinkish and silver accents
Confetti Glitz-Clear base with large fuschia and pale pink glitter flecks
Gold Glitz-Gold glitter
Lavender Glitz-Pale blue and lavender glitters
Pink Glitz-Mixed pink glitters…could it be like China Glaze Pom Pom? Hmm…
Metals
Denim Metal-Metallic blue (reminds me of a brighter, non-suede version of OPI Russian Navy Suede-you know, with the shimmer)
Golden Metal-Metallic gold
Jade Metal-Pale metallic green
Naked Metal-Metallic beige
Ruby Metal-Metallic pinky-red
Sterling Metal-Metallic silver
Additionally, there are two other shades on the “New” section: Flamingo Hollar (looks like a fluro pinky-purple), and Pansy Purple (shimmery purple). Read the rest of this entry »
Vacation Haulage (Lightly)
5 November, 2011
Well, I just got back from another vacation, and there were quite a few interesting things that I saw! I didn’t haul as much makeup as previously…I dunno. I think I’m in a bit of a rut, either that or just burnt out because I have so much already and I need to be better at using it all.
Anyways…my biggest news is that at 5 Macy’s locations in the US (South Coast Plaza and Fashion Valley are two of them), you can now purchase Inglot! Thanks to the Impulse Beauty, there’s my favourite brand to try-as well as get the full selection (somewhat) of Urban Decay. (Flipside is NOT at ULTA anymore, as well as many Sephora locations) The thing that I found very, very reassuring is that there is very heavy demand from my fellow Washington residents-the girl at the counter said that already there had been around a dozen people wanting it in Seattle or the Seattle area-and the counter had been there for just a few short weeks. I certainly would love it, because it would mean that I could start a Freedom System as well as get more of my favourite gel liners.
Speaking of which, I got three new liners, and I love them to death! 73 is a pale purple, not quite a lavender though. It’s a bit warm-toned, but not quite a plum or aubergine, and it’s light enough to where it’s just a hint of colour (not quite the pop of my beloved 88), but it still shows quite nicely. It’s very understated. 81 is the lighter of the two oranges that they make-80 is more of a primary orange. I’m definitely a fan of this one because it’s a unique thing. I mean, who else does orange eyeliner? Not many big brands. And I’m quite certain that even fewer of them make it in a gel liner form-so I had to get it. Again, it’s a great pop of colour without being too overbearing. Finally, I got 85 which is the chartreuse. I almost got it the last time I had been down, but I decided on 87 and 88 instead. It’s really fun to do that and then one of those for a bi-coloured waterline, but also since I use a lot of greens and blues it goes well. Next time I’ll probably get one or both of the pinks, as well as the royal blue. Gotta start setting aside eyeliner money! Read the rest of this entry »
Urban Decay Holiday 2011
13 September, 2011
I know, it may seem like it’s slow on the beauty front, but admittedly, I haven’t been paying as much attention. All that changes with the latest Urban Decay email…the holiday stuff is online, and it is full of win. I know, it’s over 100 shopping days til Christmas, but this is great to a) buy now to take care of little things, or b) stock up for numero uno-yourself.
First up is the Book of Shadows 4, retailing at $64. 16 shadows (10 of them neutral-ish, 11 if gunmetal is neutral to you-it is to me), a 24/7 liquid liner, the curling mascara, UDPP (in a tube, thank you very much), and the mini speaker/USB cord. I have to say, my mini speaker would be used for my iPod and that’s it. Am I buying this? No. After buying three iterations of the BoS, I’ve come to realize that nobody needs that much neutral. I certainly don’t, as the most neutral I get is Half Baked and occasionally, Twice Baked for a lower liner.
Something exponentially more appealing? Professional Size Primer Potion, in a tube, for $30. Yes please!
The stashes are back with a venegance this year-starting out with the 24/7 shadow pencil stash. It features minis of Clash, Rehab, Sin, Juju, and Delinquent, which makes it a great gift. Can’t say I’d be buying it, as I am not into the chubby pencils anymore. I was before I really got into makeup-but things change. This retails for $34-so it’s a pretty safe bet.
Also we have two new 24/7 liner stashes, Naked and Electric. Naked features Zero (black), Underground (plummy brown), Bourbon (the ubiquitous brown), Demolition (chocolate brown), and Stray Dog (greyish-looking brown). Electric, meanwhile, features Perversion (dark black), Woodstock (bright pink), Junkie (cool green), Radium (royal blue), and Ransom (Parfait Amour’s UD version, but brighter and more purple-y). These have gone up in price to $32, but who cares-I want them. Specifically, two of the Electric, unless Woodstock gets made individually. One will be for my best friend, as part of her Christmas present. Read the rest of this entry »
Code Kiki 