MAC and Marcel Wanders Collection

I haven’t seen the collection yet, but MAC has teamed up with Marcel Wanders, a Dutch Industrial Designer, to create new limited edition packaging and new products.

After just seeing the images, I have to say that the packaging is really pretty. It’s kind of vamp and gothic and I absolutely love the curves and styling in pure black. The palette was inspired by 17th century Dutch painting (think Girl With a Pearl Earring), so the colours are slightly muted.

The colours for the lipsticks are:

Martha – Golden champagne with pearl/frost (Frost)
Gesina – Red with slight pinkish undertones (Cream)
Catharina – Fuchsia (Cream)
Digna – Blackened red (Cream)

I know – the pictures don’t seem to match up, especially for Martha and Gesina.

The gloss colours are:

Mary – Light gold
Beatrix – Golden nude
Aleydis – Fuchsia
Gertruyd – Blackened red

I am completely lemming Beatrix – I think it’s a must have.

Both the lipstick and lipgloss will retail for $26 Canadian.

The collection also includes a perfume – Air of Style Scent which is going to come in a solid perfume formula (they are calling it a “concentrate”) which will retail for $36 Canadian.

Also, if there’s one product you should check out, it’s the Sheer Mystery Powder ($72 Canadian). We have seen this powder before for other MAC collections, and at $72 you are most definitely paying for the packaging not the powder. The packaging is really nice, so you have to decide for yourself if this is worth it. If you’re going to be pulling this out of your purse, then I would say it is. This time, the powder comes in Light Medium (pale ivory) and Medium Plus (tan beige).

This collection will be available Nov. 24th in North America.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged , | Leave a comment

L’Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tuberose

One of my favourite perfume notes used to be tuberose, but with all the tuberose and big white floral scents on the market, I quickly grew out of it.  I fancied myself wanting something edgy and different so I kept away from Tuberose scents.

But then, my favourite perfume brand, L’Artisan Parfumeur decided to discontinue their first Tuberose scent (it came out in 1978) and they created a new one this summer, called Nuit de Tuberose.  I was intrigued but had pretty low expectations.  How could this be any different from everything else?

Well, it’s L’Artisan, so of course they’re going to do things their own way, and they’re not going to come out with something that’s on the market already.

Their Nuit de Tuberose isn’t wildly different in its tuberose note – but the scent overall is a darker fresher feel than other tuberose perfumes and that makes it so unique.  Forget about your grandmother’s or your aunt’s tuberose perfume.  This isn’t a department store scent. The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour, who is quickly becoming the most talked about perfumer these days.  He created L’Artisan’s new Traversee du Bosphore, and Penhaligon’s new Sartorial.

The concept behind this scent was a Parisian night, and the night time aspect really comes through in the scent.  When I think of night, I think of dew, freshness because of the cooler temperature, and the remnants of floral perfume in the air.

All of that comes through in this scent.  It’s not quite as heady as most tuberose scents are, and it has a touch of rose and jasmine mixed into it.  The middle of the scent is quite floral, but the top notes feel more tropical and the drydown is definitely musky, with light touches of sandalwood and an earthy patchouli.  I feel like this is a tuberose flower plucked from a garden with stem attached.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged | Leave a comment

Scent Gifts

One of the nicest gifts I know I can get is a collection based around my favourite scent.  It’s one thing to just wear a perfume and stick with it – and it’s totally another to be able to layer it so that you can smell it and enjoy it all day.

There have been so many fantastic scents this year – Balenciaga, and Chloe were two of my favourites this year and they both have the chicest gift sets around.

Balenciaga’s includes an Eau de Parfum spray, a lotion, and an Eau de Parfum Mini for $197, and it comes in a pretty Balenciaga box that’s pretty much an instant collector’s item. This box is exclusive to Holt Renfrew.

Chloe offers an Eau de Parfum spray, a body lotion, and a cute little deluxe mini eau de parfum in a Chloe box for $125.This box is available at The Bay, and Holt Renfrew.

Pick them up while they last!

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Swatch: OPI Bring on the Bling

OPI’s glittery nail polish from their 2010 Holiday collection, called Burlesque, is insane.  The glitter is so pretty that I can’t stop staring at my nails.  Here’s my photo of Bring on the Bling.  The first image is with just 1 coat of the polish, the second is with 2 coats, which is how I prefer it.

My only complaint about the colour and the finish is that it didn’t last very long on my nails, and you know that I always use a base and top coat.  The first time I wore this, it flaked off in big chunks mere hours after I had applied it.  That’s definitely not a good thing because in most cases you’re going to be doing your nails the day before a big party, and you don’t want the big day to come only to see that your manicure is ruined.

Regardless, the nail polish is still too pretty and I’m still going to be trying to wear it. Maybe on top of another nail colour.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged | 2 Comments

WWD Turns 100: YSL Opium

I’m thoroughly enjoying sharing with you the beauty highlights from the 100 anniversary issue of WWD which hit stands yesterday.

Today’s scan has to do with the launch of YSL Opium which pretty much rocked the beauty and PR world at the time.  Could you imagine a beauty company spreading the rumour that the launch party is being held in an opium den?  I’m sure that us stuck up 21st century people would think that a little distasteful.

The WWD issue really shows us now society has changed in such a short while.  Opium came out in 1978 and that wasn’t really a long time ago!

Take a look at # 48 from the magazine’s 100 Remarkable Moments and read about the Opium launch for yourself.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New NARS Bento Box

The new NARS Bento Box collection is inspired by Japan and created by Francois Nars.  He was inspired by Kabuki makeup for the lips and wanted to incorporate that idea into the NARS lineup.

This holiday season, the NARS Bento Box comes out and is a limited edition set of 2 Kabuki cups that have hand-poured NARS lipsticks in them.  The shades in the cups are called Maiko (bright red) and Sakura (hot pink). The lipstick cups contain the same amount of product as a normal NARS lipstick bullet does.

A brush is also included in the set, and is hand-made and wrapped with a Wisteria plant.

Only 1000 sets are going to be sold in North America, and only 2000 in total will be available world wide, so this is definitely a special product that won’t last very long at NARS counters.

In Canada, this will be sold exclusively at Holt Renfrew counters for $140.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged | 2 Comments

Estee Lauder’s New Sensuous Noir

Sensuous Noir was released by Estee Lauder this fall as a new version of their perfume Sensuous, which was launched in 2008.  Although Sensuous was loved by most, it didn’t suit me because it was a little too sweet.

Sensuous Noir is a little cleaner, woodier, and spicier than the original scent and isn’t as sweet.  The amber note is a little less prominent, and I could smell it strongly at first, but this scent dried down with only a hint of it which I rather like.  I smell more black pepper and patchouli than I did in the original and I do like that for fall.

Sensuous Noir is not an entirely original scent, with all the other woody scents on the market, but I really like it.  I feel like it can compete with some of the woody niche fragrances out there, and is more dramatic than most of the other Estee Lauder scents.  It takes Sensuous to the next level and the brand as a whole to the next level.  I know that the regular Estee Lauder customer will like this and buy it – but some new customers will get it too because it’s unlike anything else on the EL counter.

It has fantastic lasting power and doesn’t turn syrupy sweet on my skin like Sensuous did.  If, like me, you didn’t like Sensuous because of the amber, definitely try the Noir version.  You may like it better than the original!

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged | Leave a comment

Womanity by Thierry Mugler

Thierry Mugler, he of the hit perfumes Angel and Alien, has a new scent for women and it is anything but the norm.  My press package says that “Womanity is the invisible link that binds women together” and after reading that Zoolander kind of quote (anyone remember “water is the essence of moisture”?), I had to hope that the juice inside the bottle wasn’t designed for a movie character.

The starting point for the perfume was blending the sweet with the savory.  Green, oriental, floral, and then gourmand but with a salt note all in one.

The note has an opening of fig that’s so green and sweet that it almost doesn’t smell like fig at all.  I’m a fan of fig scents and can’t help trying one on when I see it, but this did not smell of fig to me at all.  It’s more of a dried fig note than a fresh one. More syrupy sweet than on the stalk fresh.

The middle notes are more milky and woody, and the dry down is green yet still sweet.

I really wanted to like this scent, but for some reason it’s not one that I could wear.  It’s just too sweet to work on my skin I will say that just one spritz had me smelling it for the entire day, so it definitely has a ton of tenacity and sillage.  Your neighbor at work will smell this as much as someone hugging you.

Womanity is on counters right now and comes in a refillable spray bottle.  30ml will retail for $66.

In Canada, the scent is exclusive to The Bay right now.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged | 1 Comment

Review: Living Proof Full Thickening Cream

I don’t really love Living Proof No Frizz products because they’ve left my hair dryer than before.

But I still want to find the next amazing product for my hair, so I continue to try them whenever I can.

I have really fine hair so I was looking forward to trying the Full Thickening Cream by Living Proof.

All I can say is that I wish I had a life-time supply of this stuff.  It is AMAZING.

Long hair just needs a nickle sized amount.  You just apply it to your hair as you would a serum or any other styling cream.  Run a comb through your hair to make sure that it’s spread evenly throughout your hair.

I put it into wet hair, and I could feel a difference right away.  As I ran my hands through my hair, it felt like it was fuller already.  It felt like I had more hair.

The best part comes after your hair is dried.  The cream dries nice and shiny like a serum and isn’t at all stiff or scrunchy to the touch.  That means that it looks amazing and completely full.  After I started using this, I’ve gotten so many compliments on my hair because it “really seems to be growing”.  I’m the only one who knows that it’s not my hair that’s changed – it’s just what I’m putting in it.

If you have fine hair, I would say that this is a must-have, can’t live without it product.

I got mine from TheShoppingChannel.com where it ships for free, and costs just $21.

Posted in Styling Products | Tagged | 2 Comments

Review: Shu Uemura UV Under Base SPF 30

Last week at Holt Renfrew, I picked up the Shu Uemura UV Under Base SPF 30.  A primer that also has sunblock in it?  Perfect since I do want to wear sunblock daily and I need a primer to set my makeup!

This comes in a can and is a mousse formula.  It really does look like hair mousse when your squirt it into your hand.

However, on the skin, this turns into a matte lotion that dries so quickly that it’s a little difficult to blend.  You can get around the blending problem if you just use a little bit and blend on one part of your face at a time.  I did my face, and then used more for my neck.

The result is matte skin that you can blend makeup on to.

The only problem I have with this base is that it leaves a whitish cast on my skin.  I cover it up with makeup, and the makeup colour itself looks lighter, which is no good.  If you’re fair already, you won’t have a problem using this, but if you’re not – I’d just avoid this product.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged | Leave a comment