Haul of Pretties feat. the new Anna Sui Lipsticks

Damn it... It was supposed to be a quick stop at the Dior counter to swatch the new Trafalgar eye palette...

And this happened.

%)(#^ ^$E_)#% ?>@#$@# !!!!!

I did indeed pick up Trafalgar (876) and also Pied-de-Poule (096) which I was told is LE along with Bar (056) in Taiwan. Continuing on the LE train, I also grabbed the Diorshow Fusion Mono in Soupir (741) and a Rouge Dior in Pied-de-Poule (977). I was very VERY tempted to pick up LE nail polishes in Pied-de-Poule (206) and Carre Bleu (796), but I wanted to see the new Nars polishes in person first.

Had also been moved by a couple of the reformulated existing Dior palettes, which are not LE, so I'll reconsider them in the next major round of sales, namely Jardin (456) and Versailles (566).

I’ll do a more detailed post on the Fall ‘14 Dior items separately, after I bask in their un-marred newness for a few days longer.

Could and should have left the Anna Sui items till the next sale too as these are all permanent, but obviously I have no self control.

I'm rather enamored with the new AS packaging. The semi-opaque dark grey plastic is just on the vintage-cool side of gaudy. Even the cardboard packaging has been revamped, and dare I say gotten more sophisticated while keeping the bohemian x art deco x Biba-esque whimsy.

The three AS Lipstick M lippies I picked up are the three ‘mixed’ colour ones, the rest of the lineup consisting of rich creamy opaque shades. Not really sold on the star shaped bullets, does take some getting used to, and I doubt I can apply these without a mirror.

#370 is a rosy pink with silver shimmer. The shimmery dimension really plumps my lips. The silver glitter does feel a little gritty and does create glitter fall out, so a lipstick sealer is advised.

#371 is a mix of fuchsia and plum. My one is swatching a rather bright fuschia right now, but the at the counter swatched a deeper, more vampy fuschia.

#770 is a soft plum magenta with antique gold shimmer. The shimmer in this one is much finer than #370, and thus it doesn’t feel gritty, nor does it create fall out. It swatches a beautiful rose gold and I have been LOVING it since I got it, but I wasn’t able to capture its magnificence with the poor bedroom lighting and poop camera, so I hope the swatches can give you an idea.

As with all AS cosmetics, there is a rose scent to these lippies, though it’s much more toned down than previously, I hardly noticed it on application, and certainly do not smell it after say 5 seconds later. Be warned, the new AS lipsticks aren’t cheap (in Taiwan) and rival Chanel/Dior prices, so I’ll probably save my money for Rouge Diors (because I love that formula) unless AS comes out with more of the mixed colour ones.

Also picked up the new AS Rose Cheek Color N in 602, which can range from a golden apricot to a burnt orange shade depending on how I swirl the brush. In the pan, the sparkle highlighting shades might turn off many because the glitters look pretty big, but they don't show up on the face, and the effect is a soft subtle glow. To me, the blushers contain a stronger rose scent than the lippies above, and I can smell it the second I open the blusher case. The scent doesn’t linger on the skin though, and disappears within seconds of application.

Wearing Anna Sui Rose Cheek Color N in 602 and Lip Stick M in 770

Hope ya'll had a great weekend !

Noodles :)

NEW Giorgio Armani Organica Palette

Another quickie FOTDs post featuring Giorgio Armani Organica Palette from their fall 2014 makeup collection ‘Fade to Grey’, which very quietly launched in Taiwan last week. The collection is quite a full one from the brand, with 1 eye palette, 1 blusher, 4 liquid eyeliners, 3 lipsticks, 4 nail polishes, 1 Eyes to Kill Solo (#25 a matte bone shade), and 1 black felt tip eyeliner. I’m pretty sure everything is LE, except for maybe the felt tip liner.

Today I showcase the Organica Palette, which comprises 5g (0.177oz) of two beautifully shimmery metallic eyeshadows in total, one a lavender pewter the other an apricot beige. Both shades have a grey metallic tone to it that makes the overall palette lean cool. When swatched and certainly under indoor lighting, the silver is much more lavender toned than in the FOTD shots. 

Packaging wise, it’s the same as the patent black case as their LE palettes from previous collections (thus a bigger version of the new Eyes to Kill Solos), with a mirror and 2 double tipped sponge applicators hidden in the bottom compartment. Unlike many of their recent LE palettes, the Organica palette does not have an overspray layer of deceptiveness. The embossed lotus pod (I think) detail will slowly erode after some use.

I have to say, the quality and pigmentation of both shades is PHENOMENAL. These are perhaps the most silky smooth, buttery soft shadows I’ve come across in recent memory. I thought I had a good general idea of how pigmented the shadows were from swatching it at the counter, and on both FOTD occasions below I wanted to keep eye makeup minimal, so I used my trusty pigment-diluting Smashbox #7 brush to do a light sweep of colour across the lids. With the beige colour, this worked perfectly fine, and I was certainly very impressed at how intense the colour was given how little product I applied. The same goes for the silver shade, and then some. Just a tiny bit, and I had full on dramatic silver lids. It was so intense, I actually had to micellar and re-apply with even lighter application the first time I used it. I am able to wear this for a whole day without primer, but the beige shade does slowly disappear when my oils do their wrecking.

The two in-a-rush looks created with the Organica palette very much resembles my FOTD using the Cle de Peau 302 quad (more or less applied in the same lazy spirit of someone who hasn’t really woken up.) In person, I’d say the Organica is more dramatic, more metallic and obviously more properly grey toned. I would even describe it as looking more dirty, smudgy (but in a good way) and grungy than the CdP 302, which is cleaner and softer (at least from how I’ve been using both).

I’ve also had a quick play around with the new metallic liners, nail polishes and the lipsticks at the counter, and will follow up with a post of my thoughts and what I plan to (or have) purchase when time allows.

Has anything from GA’s fall lineup captured your interest?

xx

Noodles :)

FOTD feat. Cle de Peau Ombre Couleurs Quadri in Stardust 302

Quickie FOTD look at the last of the three Cle de Peau eye quads I picked up last week, Ombre Couleurs Quadri in Stardust 302 (swatched here).

Other stuff on Da Face post sunscreen:

The Body Shop Instablur

Innisfree No Sebum Mineral Powder

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet in a 50:50 mix of 10 and 20

Chanel Crayon Sourcils brow pencil in 20

Pupa Cover Cream Concealer in 006 for undereye

MUFE Full Cover concealer in 6 for scars

MUFE HD Blush in 310 Rosewood

Guerlain Les Voilettes loose powder in 02 Clair

CdP Rouge a Levres #111 under #312 (testers)

Again, I kept application light, using the Smashbox #7 brush to apply the shimmery mauve nude (3rd colour from the left) all over the lids up to a little over the socket line. Applied the darker forest green shade as a blended liner with Bobbi Brown Angle Eye Shadow Brush, then applied the lighter olive green on top, blended upward above the crease line with the Smashbox #15, and brought it down to the lower outer third lashline with the BB angle brush. The lightest apricot nude shade was used in inner ⅔ of lower lashline as well as tapped onto the area under the brow arch.

When I first swatch this quad at the counter, my mind immediately scolded me for wanting it since I own and love Love LOVE Chanel’s Tisse Venitien (detailed review and comparison to come). It definitely came down to the mix of the mauve nude and the olive green that cemented my desire for this quad. The mauve nude is beautifully shimmery, and straight on its own it’s very complementary to my skintone. As a first try, I also loved how the olive green softened and brightened the forest green, the latter which actually contains more grey tones than I thought, making it a grey toned quad I find easier to use than a more classic grey palette.

Even though that darker forrest green colour is gorgeously sparkly and complex in the pan and finger swatched, I have to admit on application, at least with the BB brush, the glitter didn’t turn up as much, so I’ll have to play around with it some more to see how to make it work better.

In terms of wear time, CdP shadows lasts on my lids very well without primer. No fallout issues that I can think of, but I don’t own any of their previously proper sparkly palettes. My lids have definitely gotten drier lately, though it does oil enough throughout the day that actually compliments the shadows, enhancing it’s pigmentation, but not hindering wear. I suppose I might be able to achieve better pigmentation on application if I bothered with a primer, but I like what I’m getting with my CdPs as is.

I think if you’re looking for a very bling-ful, very statement-y green palette, then Chanel Venetien is absolutely worth it, but if you are looking for a softer, more luminescent type of green (almost grey) palette, then the CdP 302 might be up your alley.

What greens have been added to your salad bowl lately?

xx

Noodles :)

NEW Cle de Peau Ombre Couleurs Quadri Eyeshadows!

There’s (and will continue to be it looks like) definitely been an eyeshadow new release/reformulation overload this year. So far, I’ve particularly loved Armani’s new singles and Chanel’s Tisse quads. The new YSL palettes are nice, but I personally like the Chanels better. As for singles, the new Nars' are also nice, but price wise, it’s only slightly lower (at least in Taiwan) than the Armanis so, I would much prefer to save my money for the latter which is for me superior in quality and pigmentation. The currently-being-released Dior palette reformulations is a huge 11 palette launch, and I’m terribly overwhelmed and slightly not as excited about, because fatigued.

However, Cle de Peau to me is like dessert. I have multiple separate stomachs for more dessert. I am a cow for it, and I moo with enthusiasm. This curveball totally came out of no where. I received the flyer below in the mail about CdP’s newest launch only yesterday morning, didn’t even have time to really look at it and had assumed it was for their fall 2014 Celestial Radiance collection. Instead, when by happenstance I walked by a CdP counter during lunch break, I was met with a whole lineup of 8 newly reformulated eyeshadow quads, 2 reformulated mascaras and 3 new lipstick colours.

The world stopped ya’ll.

The very second my finger touched the tester, I knew I NEED! It was so buttery soft and silky to the touch. Swatching it, every colour was at least duochrome complex, and wonderfully velvety smooth pigmentation. They are definitely more buttery and shimmer-themed than a lot of the older CdP palettes, which tended to be more matte or sparkles than shimmer, that’s not to say there is a lack of gorgeously sparkly colours in the new lineup.

I was able discern 3 major textures; Radiance that has visible (but still micro fine) glitter, Shimmer, and Matte. By matte, it’s really not actually a powdery matte, there is still a soft, almost hidden shimmer to it, and as far as I could remember all had duochrome qualities. I ended up making a seriously messy swatch of everything including the lipsticks, so I don’t have any swatch pictures. I know I’ll be revisiting the counter again for these, so I’ll attempt a better swatch then.

Not surprisingly, I went into Pokemon mode and chanted in my mind ‘Gotta collect them all!’ Alas, I did the grown-up thing and walked away with merely three (I feel the weight of judgement…).

302 (Stardust) is a green themed quad with one radiance shade, and 3 shimmer shades.

L-R: A shimmery pale apricot nude that leans pink in certain angles, a shimmery olive green with gold tones, a shimmery mauve nude, and a radiance forest green with gold undertones and silver micro glitter (it's complexity didn't show up in this particular pic)

303 (Baby Universe) is a earthy pink nude themed quad with 2 mattes, and 2 shimmers.

L-R: A matte tan with a subtle purple undertone, a shimmery pink nude, a matte purple mauve with subtle gold tones, and a shimmery deep copper that leans purple. The beauty of this quad was quite hard to capture in the swatch pictures, but I can tell it will be one I reach for often.

308 (Cosmic Aura) is a purple themed quad with 3 shimmers and 1 matte shade.

L-R: A brighter purple with blue shimmer, a silvery lilac shimmer with pink iridescence, a more plummy purple shimmer with rose gold tones, and a navy matte with grey tones.

Even though the new quads can fit into their old palette cases, there is a new one that came out in the launch. I like to do without packaging as much as possible so I have only picked up the refills.

Some quickie first try looks with two of my three palettes. I don’t really wear strong eye looks for work, so I’ve basically used my Smashbox #7 (that has a tendency to dilute pigmentation) brush to lightly apply and blend. I’ll follow up with a more detail comparison after I’ve recovered from my multiple orgasms at the counter.

Using 303

Using 308 (camera couldn't capture fully the pink iridescence)

For now, all I can say is…LOVE!

What recent eyeshadow releases have been breaking your resolve?

xx

Noodles :)