NOTD Essie Velvet Voyeur

Velvet Voyeur is another color I picked up from Essie’s Fall 2010 collection. It’s a deep reddish wine nail color with a cream finish (no shimmer). Two coats of this color and you are good to go because it is quite opaque. It’s a great color for fall and winter…very vampy. Go check it out, I picked this color up at Ulta.

Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Effect: Tweed Pink

Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Effect ($45) is inspired by Chanel’s iconic tweed fabric used in their fashion collections.  They contain two contrasting shades woven together to create a nature glow.  Chanel offers four shades in their blush duos and one limited edition that arrived in the Holiday 2010 collection, Tweed Fuchsia.  I have had my eye on these blushes ever since they were released in 2008 so I decided to give one a try. I passed on the Tweed Fuchsia because the color was a little bright for my taste, so I decided on one of the permanent shades, Tweed Pink.

Tweed Pink is a soft cool pink color with subtle shimmer.  While it looks bright in the pan, it is very sheer when applied.  You can build up the color to a desired brighter look or to get a soft glow. I personally would much rather have buildable color than strong pigmented color from the get go and this blush is perfect for that. The texture is super smooth and silky, the goes on easily and blends perfectly into the skin.  I’m really loving this blush and will definitely be checking out other colors in the future.

Chanel Charming Glossimer

Out of the three new glossimers that were released with the new Chanel Holiday 2010 collection, I decided to purchase one. Charming (#237) Glossimer from the holiday collection ($27) is a sheer bright pink gloss with pink shimmer. As with all the other products in the collection, Charming is limited edition. The gloss itself shows little to no color on my lips, but the shimmer is colored enough that it’s noticeable. Like all of Chanel's glossimers, Charming is slightly-thick and non-sticky. The color glides on your lips like a dream. Charming is a great color that is easy to throw on in a hurry or layered atop of lipsticks to add shine and shimmer.

 Here is a swatch:

Charming applied on lips

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Chanel Les 4 Ombres Holiday 2010 – Tentation Cuivree

I popped by my local Chanel counter the other day and oh to my surprise the Holiday 2010 collection was displayed! I have been drooling over the eyeshadow quad in the collection since I saw swatches of it over on The Beauty Look Book. I picked up a few other items from the collection but I have to say my favorite is the Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow in Tentation Cuivree ($56).

First things first, this quad and the whole holiday collection is limited edition, so run out and get it while you can. The quad is very neutral with a warm brown smoky feel. The colors consists of a medium warm brown with flecks of silver and bronze shimmer, a soft off white shimmer, a shimmery light pink and a dark warm brown with deep coppery bronze shimmer.

With this holiday collection, Chanel introduced the overseas version of their quad which has round pans instead of the normal square ones used in the U.S.  In this form the shadows take on a “baked” look rather than the normal soft smooth texture of all other Chanel quads. I have read mixed reviews about this palette because of the change in pans but I really like it.  It’s a nice change from all the other Chanel quads I own.  All of Chanel’s eyeshadow quads can be used wet or dry but I found that this quad looks best over an eye primer or used wet. Both ways really bring the colors out more but I only swatched these over a primer for you all to see.

bareMinerals Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara

I love to try out different mascaras just as much as I like to try out different foundations. When a new formula is released I usually run to the store, snatch it up and give it a try. A while back I received a deluxe sample of bareMinerals Flawless Definition mascara as a gift with purchase and I really liked it. So when I saw that bareMinerals introduced a volumizing formula ($18), I went straight to Sephora to check it out. 

When it comes to mascara it’s all about the brush for me.  I like my mascara to have a full bristle brush, which I feel really helps to separate and lengthen my lashes.  This mascara definitely meets my brush standard.  It has a large full brush with lots and lots of bristles.  This mascara formula contains what bareMinerals calls “Nutri Plump” which promises dramatically plump lashes. One coat applies evenly and lightly for me. The formula separates and lengthens beautifully and gives a very voluminous look. I found that there is no flakiness and doesn’t dry out my lashes or look spidery. I am pretty impressed with this mascara and it was a great purchase!

bareMinerals flawless definition volumizing mascara's full brush