Burberry Fall 2012

What I love about Burberry is that they give you updates to their iconic look each season, instead of just offering you products that are super trendy. That means that if you subscribe to the Burberry beauty look – almost-smoky eyes paired with a natural lip – you’ll be able to stick to it each season without much fuss or muss.

The highlight of this fall’s collection is their new Velvet Foundation ($68) which is a long-wear sheer foundation. It’s easy to apply with your fingertips and literally melts into skin. Available in 8 skin-true shades, this is a long-wear foundation that you’ll find easy to use.

The new Sheer Eyeshadows ($33) come in 3 shades: No 23 Dark Sable, No 24 Mulberry and No 25 Porcelain White. The Lip Cover lipsticks ($36) come in Mocha Glow and Sepia Pink. My favourite from the whole collection is the Sepia Pink lipstick because it’s darker than the other natural pinks that Burberry already has out but not so dark that it’s going to force the vampy lip look on you. It’s the perfect update for fall if you’re not willing to go all out.

Pick up Burberry makeup products at Holt Renfrew Vancouver and Bloor Street.

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Essie Fall 2012 Stylenomics Collection and Swatches

I know that I’m going to be reaching for these colours all winter.  As the name suggests, Stylenomics goes beyond trends and includes colours that can really become staples – which means that you’re going to get more bang for your buck.

The colours (from left to right are):

Miss Fancy Pants: they’re describing it as a greige (we’ll be seeing TONS of that this season).  This greige leans more towards the beige side rather than the grey.

Recessionistra: Magenta.  Kind of like a grape.  Pretty and totally a fall must-have.

Stylenomics: teal green.  Truly a gem tone.

Head Mistress: bright red.

Don’t Sweater It: they are calling this a mauve, but I think it’s more of a… taupe.

Skirting the Issue: Burgundy.

And here are the swatches:

Miss Fancy Pants

It’s hard to play favourites, but this is probably my favourite colour out of the entire collection. It’s a perfect transition from summer, and I can imagine it looking good on almost anyone.

Recessionista

This is going to be a staple when the weather gets really cold. Reminds me a lot of Lancome’s Infusion de Prune from their fall 2012 collection (see swatch here).

Stylenomics

I’m not a green kind of girl, but I think I could get behind this jewel tone.

Head Mistress

In my opinion, the only miss from the whole collection. This feels more spring to me.

Don’t Sweater It.

See what I mean about it being more of a taupe? Check out my swatch of Taupe by Yves Rocher from Fall 2011 (hard to believe that was only last year!). That’s the last time that Taupe was really big.

Skirting the Issue

I had high hopes for this one, but it wore more like a jelly. You can see that it’s slightly transparent even after 2 coats.

The entire collection should already be available at your local salons and drugstores. Which one will you choose for your mani?

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Lady Gaga FAME Videos

Remember that little bit about “catching up”… well I’m still at it, and I’ve been meaning to post these video teasers for Lady Gaga’s FAME fragrance.

The videos are actually teasers for the full feature length film that’s going to be debuting at the Guggenheim next month. The movie was directed by Steven Klein and the teasers seem more like short fashion-y horror movies.

See for yourself.

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Lancome Fall 2012 – Midnight Roses

Lets get right to it: the product to covet from this collection is the Blush Highlighter in Moonlight Rose ($48). The bad news? Because it’s a cool-toned shimmer, it really doesn’t look great on those girls that are olive-toned or tan.

But the one product that everyone can wear is the Vernis in Love ($16) in Infusion de Prune. This trendy wine colour knocks it out of the park by being glossy, full coverage, and perfect for chic nails.  Lancome has also come out with a matte topcoat, called Givre Magique, but personally, I prefer the glossy nails, so I’m sticking with my prune polish and wearing it throughout the season. The entire collection is based on purples, and I love the nail polish because it strikes the right balance between being ultra-trendy and still matching up with the rest of the collection. That said, I would recommend checking out the polish in person before buying, because there’s a good chance that you might already have a colour like this in your collection! The colour is vampy but definitely more fresh and updated than a vampy red that we’ve seen seasons ago.

There’s also the Color Design 5 Shadow and Liner Palette in Volet Magnetique ($54).

The entire collection goes on counters this month!

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Love, Chloe Eau Florale is Different Yet The Same

Love, Chloe Eau Florale is the latest flanker fragrance for Love, Chloe. Launched this summer, this is a fresh twist to the original Love, Chloe, with top notes of mate leaves and heart notes of sweet pea added to the mix. On first spritz, the scent is fresher and cleaner than the original Love, Chloe, but the dry down remains exactly the same, which is powdery almost like talc, and for some reason super sweet orange blossom on my skin.

You can pick up Love, Chloe Eau Florale for $82 at Holt Renfrew, Murale, The Bay, and Sephora. Available for a limited time only.

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Just on Counters: MAC Cremesheen + Pearl

Yesterday, MAC’s latest collection, Cremesheen + Pearl went on to counters.

The collection is inspired by Asian shades:

A shimmering twist on an instant classic. cremesheen Lipstick and cremesheen Glass get infused with crushed pearl in 15 new Asian-inspired shades. modern pinks, nudes and corals pop and glow against all skin tones with a light-reflecting finish that leaves lips luminously and decidedly lacquered. With foolproof coverage, gleaming shine and creamy gloss, this smooth and seductive update to cremesheen is Double happiness for your lips.

I’m not sure how “asian” this collection really is… but the colours are super pretty and wearable by anyone.

There is a set of lipsticks and Cremesheen glosses. All the colours in the collection are sheer and almost neutrals. Though the description of all the colours says that they’re frosted, actually they’re more of a modern pearl finish adding luster and light to the lips.

The lipstick colours are:

Japanese maple Frosted light beige

Pure Zen Frosted warm nude

Peach Blossom Frosted cool nude

shanghai spice Frosted neutral pink

sunny seoul Frosted light warm pink

Pink Pearl Pop Frosted mid-tone pink

coral Bliss Frosted light coral

saigon summer Frosted bright orange

$14.50 U.S./$17.50 CDN

All the colours are on the sheer side, except for Saigon Summer and Coral Bliss which actually wears more like a hot pink. Peach Blossom and Shanghai Spice are the two colours that I picked up, and Peach Blossom is actually more of a sheer nude pink rather than a peach as the name might suggest.

Cremesheen Glass colours are:

Paper Lantern Frosted soft warm pink

Double happiness Frosted light nude

Dynasty at Dusk Frosted neutral pink

Imperial Light Frosted light peach

Pagoda Frosted cool pink

Floating Lotus Frosted soft rose

rising sun Frosted bright orange

$19.50 U.S./$22.50 CDN

Pick them up at your local MAC counter.

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Dior Fall 2012 – Golden Jungle (With Lots of Pictures)

Dior’s Fall 2012 look for their Ready-to-wear show was a clean and polished one. Pat McGrath gave us no crazy eyeshadow colours or tons of eyeliner. No major lipstick shades to watch out for. There was perhaps some neutral eyeshadow on the eye to bring some sort of definition to that area, but the lips were kept barely glossy, and a clean polished low ponytail by Orlando Pita finished off the look.

See for yourself:

What’s interesting then, is their Fall 2012 makeup collection entitled Golden Jungle. Nothing could be further from their runway look, yet here we are. The collection features khaki and green tones that have hints of gold shimmer at every turn. All the colours in the collection are so easy to wear because they’re more or less neutrals. Even if you’re not a fan of the jungle or khakis in particular, this collection has something in it for everyone. The bronze tones go great with blue eyes, while brown-eyed girls will find that these are good neutrals to add to their makeup kits.

The highlight of the collection is the new crackle nail polish. With a gold base and olive green crackling topcoat, the duo is made to give the effect of snakeskin ($29 for the duo).

Believe it or not, the effect lives up to its name and actually does look like snakeskin!

There are also two other colours new to the polishes: Amazonia and Golden Era ($24 each).

Here is golden era on: it really is a beautiful light gold.

Amazonia is going to be my go-to colour this fall. I love that it’s dark but in a shade that I’ve actually never worn before.

There are the Golden Jungle palettes which come in Golden Browns and Golden Jungle ($70 each).

Here’s my picture of the Golden Browns palette. It’s a pretty and creative way to package eyeshadow, and I found that it was easy enough for me to use a regular eyeshadow brush and pick up the colours I needed.

Dior comes out with palettes like these every season, and the best part is that not only do they have good eyeshadow colours, but the lipgloss shades are always very wearable. They’re not nudes, but natural-looking pinks that work with any look and any skin tone.

There are two Dior Golden Jungle 5 Couleur Palettes: Golden Savannah and Khaki Design ($60 each).

Check out Golden Savannah:

I found the palette to be exceptionally easy to wear, and it gave me lots of options for natural or smoky eyes. I loved that the two darkest colours are not just plain browns, because it meant that my smoky eye looked a little different and updated.

The blushes that are part of the collection aren’t new, but they accent a dramatic look perfectly. The existing duos are Sugar & Spice and Sunkissed ($42 each).

Here’s my picture of Sunkissed which is a bronzy pink. It would suit almost anyone since you can layer it on if you want more colour.

The lipsticks are Wild and Daring ($31 each). They’re meant to punch up the look – Wild is more of a beige, while Daring is more of a burgundy shade. Both are glossy and juicy colours so they’re easy to wear.

The entire collection is on counters now. Do you see anything you want?

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Blake Lively’s New Gucci Commercial

Watch the new Gucci Premiere commercial that Blake Lively stars in – I kind of love it.

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Lancome’s New Fragrance: La vie est belle

This August, Lancome comes out with a new fragrance called La vie est belle.  I always await Lancome’s scents because I loe that they usually have a rose accord, and on the whole their scents are always pleasant and easy to wear.

The scent is a floral feminine with a gourmade twist.  Jasmine is at the heart of this scent, and it has opening notes of orange blossoms.  Most of the gourmande notes are in the base, and they include tonka bean, praline, vanilla, and patchouli.  If you’re looking for a scent that’s light and carefree, this definitely delivers, and I’m sure it’s one that many people will gravitate to because it has just the right mixture of feminine and gourmande notes.

Pick it up at Lancome counters and pharmacies.  30ml for $72, 50ml for $95, and 75ml for $109.

There will also be a body lotion – 200ml for $63.

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Lady Gaga’s Fame – The Ad is Out

The latest this morning is that Lady Gaga’s ad for her perfume Fame was released. It features an almost-nude Gaga with little masked men all over her. The caption reads: “Lady Gaga Fame The First Ever Black Eau de Parfum”. I am wondering whether the juice in the bottle is black and that’s why she’s calling it a “black” perfume. Or maybe it’s the face that it may (or may not) contain poison and blood.

In any case, the more I see, the more I can’t wait to smell the perfume.

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