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On Google Reader’s imminent closure, & keeping up to date with theNotice

July 1, 2013

Rae Chen

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Tags: /About theNotice

Marc Jacobs Beauty: full collection details | Coming this August (exclusively at Sephora)

June 27, 2013

Rae Chen

19 Comments

Launching this August is the much-teased Marc Jacobs Beauty line, a range of 120 new products, exclusively to Sephora and select Marc Jacobs stores.

The line, which will debut in its entirety on August 9th, 2013, will include sixteen complexion and colour cosmetic products (each in a wide array of shades, of course,) alongside four luxury makeup brushes.

Inspired by “the girl” and her makeup ritual, Marc created the line around the “idea of transforming into this person you want to be,” an idea that is very much in line with the Marc Jacobs ethos.

P.S. I re-wrote all of these product descriptions for you. Hopefully they’ll be a little more helpful than your standard marketing spiel!

The product range

Smart Complexion: Tomorrow’s technology today

• Genius Gel Super-Charged Foundation ($58 CAD)

Anti-ageing and hydrating, this multi-tasking formula is the first-to-market foundation featuring Buoyancy Gel™ technology. Available in 16 shades, the formula touts coconut water extracts and offers buildable (natural to full) coverage.

• Perfection Powder Featherweight Foundation ($56 CAD)

Ultra-lightweight and instantly brightening, this powder foundation is made to diffuse flaws and remove shine for all-day wear or mid-day touchups. Available in 10 shades.

• Remedy Concealer Pen ($47 CAD)

Available in 7 shades plus a universal brightener (Bright Idea) and a universal corrector (Stand Corrected), the Remedy Concealer Pen is designed to act as an all-in-one eraser, corrector, and brightener. One of Marc’s personal favourite products, the pen features a patented palladium tip to cool and smooth skin immediately upon application.

• Face I Liquid Foundation Brush ($58 CAD)

For liquid foundations.

• Face II Sculpting Foundation Brush ($58 CAD)

For powder foundations.

Blacquer: Invented for blackest, shiniest black

• Magic Marc’er Precision Pen Eyeliner ($36 CAD)

Available in just one shade (Blacquer, an intensely black black), the Magic Marc’er Precision Pen Eyeliner features a waterproof liquid liner formula & a calligraphy-shaped pen tip.

• Lash Lifter Gel Volume Mascara ($32 CAD)

Also available in just one shade (Blacquer), the Lash Lifter Gel Volume Mascara features Elash-tic Lash™ technology which “works like spandex to make lashes lifted, curvaceous and voluminous,” without the help of a lash curler. Flake-proof, run-proof, and life-proof (yet promising to wash off with warm water), I wouldn’t be surprised if this Marc-approved mascara touted a tubing formula.

• Highliner Gel Crayon ($30 CAD)

Available in Blacquer and 5 additional shades, the Highliner Gel Crayon is a waterproof gel eyeliner in pencil form for rich pigment + smooth application.

Hi-Per Color: Unexpected colour range envisioned by Marc

• Style Eye-Con No. 3 and No. 7 Plush Shadow Eyeshadow Palettes ($51 and $71 CAD, respectively)

Featuring richly pigmented eyeshadows in three finishes (metallics, mattes, and sheens), six three-shade and four seven-shade palettes will be available.

• Lust for Lacquer Lip Vinyl ($34 CAD)

Available in two opacities (colour-drenched/full and light-hearted/sheer), these champagne grape-infused glosses feature a paddle applicator and will be available in 12 music-inspired shades.

• Lovemarc Lip Gel ($36 CAD)

Highly pigmented and hydrating, the Lovemarc Lip Gels gently plump using 3-D optical volumizers and have a sleek, shiny finish. Available in 16 vivid shades, all inspired by Marc’s favourite movies.

Keep reading! »

Tags: /New This Week (& etc), Sephora, Spring/Summer 2013

19 Comments

YSL Vert d’Orient swatches & review, La Laque Couture Summer 2013 | Another strange, beautiful YSL green

June 25, 2013

Rae Chen

16 Comments

The products: Yves Saint Laurent La Laque Couture in No. 36 Vert d’Orient

The collection: Prefaces for limited edition products are usually easy, because I can just link to the collection teaser. This time, however, I’m going to have to take a moment — I was so enamoured with Vert d’Orient when I swatched it that I haven’t even found time to do the collection overview yet (but I have to share the polish with you anyways)!

The two limited edition YSL Summer Look 2013 nail varnishes (the other is No. 37 Taupe Mauresque, which you may recognize from this YSL Tie & Dye Top Coat review) are made to compliment No. 14 Violine Surrealiste, a cult favourite from the La Laque Couture range. They’re calling it a “colour extravaganza,” and, well — they’re not wrong.

The shade: Described simply as a “deep, radiant green,” Vert d’Orient (just like all the other La Laque Coutures I’ve ever tried) completely exceeded my expectations. The gorgeous, cream-finish polish toes this fantastic blue/green balance — in most rooms, it reads as a deep, rich, slightly-smoky green turquoise; with tungsten lights, however, it looks more like an emerald with a soft yellow undercurrent.

Vert d’Orient feels like the middle of summer, sweltering and humid. It’s amazingly complex and deep, despite its theoretically very basic finish and formula: rather than relying on texture and shimmer to add interest, YSL does it all with just a handful of [amazingly well-blended] pigments.

The formula: Again, just as with all the other YSL La Laque Couture polishes I’ve tested before, Vert d’Orient applies absolutely beautifully. With a fairly wide, thin brush and a cream-finish formula, it’s practically foolproof: even a shade as bold as this is a cinch to get smooth and even.

Though YSL’s polishes aren’t marketed as being fast-drying, their perfect viscosity almost makes them seem as such — by the time I’ve gotten to my pinkie finger, my thumb is just about ready for another coat. For a shade like this, I’d recommend three thin coats of polish for optimal ease & opacity, but two thicker ones will work as well.

The verdict?

Like last season’s Jade Impérial, YSL La Laque Couture in No. 36 Vert d’Orient is a green that both green-lovers and… well, I don’t want to say “green-haters,” but that green-not-so-lovers will love. With a fantastic formula and stunning, complex green hue, it’s well worth a look if you’re on the hunt for a striking, slightly unusual statement nail.

Availability: $25 USD/$27 CAD, permanent as of May 2013. Find them at Holt Renfrew & select The Bay, Murale, and Sephora stores.

Keep reading! »

Tags: /Nails, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Spring/Summer 2013, Yves Saint Laurent / YSL

16 Comments

Essence Vintage District It’s Popul-Art Blush review, photos, swatches | A gorgeously intricate blush for less than a fiver

June 20, 2013

Rae Chen

38 Comments

The product: essence cosmetics 01 It’s Popul-Art Blush (Vintage District collection)

Alright, so: I’m a little late with this. That, topped with the fact that that the Vintage District collection was hard to find in the first place, means that there’s a pretty slim chance that you’ll be able to get your hands on this beauty.

(Sorry about that.)

I don’t love posting about products you won’t be able to find, but for this one, I couldn’t help it.

Despite its limited North American availability and measly price tag, the pattern and overspray of It’s Popul-Art make it one of the most stunning blushes that I own–at least, in the pan,–and at a mere $3.49 CAD, it’s the cheapest one in my collection, too.

The intricate gold flower on the pan of It’s Popul-Art is an overspray, and comes off after a few uses*. As pretty as it is, I’m far from crushed by its loss: I’m not a fan of shimmer or sheen on the cheeks, and that is one dense gold.

Underneath the overspray lies a solid dusky red flower, large enough that you can easily get only this shade on your brush. Despite its potentially-intimidating colour, its soft texture makes it easy to sheer out, and I think it would work well on most fair to medium skintones.

*If by “a few uses,” you mean “once you manually and meticulously remove all of it with a small brush, in typical crazy-person style.”

Swatched heavily L-R: Gold overspray, gold overspray + red flower / red flower, peach background, red flower + peach background

Essence Vintage District “It’s Popul-Art” blush swatches (same order). Direct sunlight.

Surrounding the flower is a light peach background (again, large enough that you could get just this shade) which I think would make a lovely peach blush on lighter skintones. It’s a little chalky on its own, but not enough to be noticeable on anything lighter than a medium skintone.

Blended together, It’s Popul-Art (minus the gold overspray) is a lovely, pinky-peach blush with a soft matte finish. I can see it working on pretty much all fair to medium skintones, but it probably wouldn’t show up on anyone with deeper colouring (think NC35 and up).

The verdict?

If you can find it, It’s Popul-Art is absolutely worth its $3.49 CAD price tag. While the shade isn’t the most unique, and the formula is a little talc-heavy, the design of this product makes it worthwhile — reminds me of high-end holiday collection blushes (but at literally less than a tenth of the price!)

Whether you’re leaving the overspray intact for a serious sheen or removing it for a matte finish (this could theoretically transform from a blingy blush to the perfect early autumn “naked” cheek), this pinky-peach blush is something I would wholeheartedly recommend snapping up…

…if you can find it.

Ingredients + more photos and swatches! »

Tags: /Cheeks, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Spring/Summer 2013

38 Comments

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine Swatches, Review, Photos | Orange Dream (ob collection)

June 17, 2013

Rae Chen

10 Comments

The product: shu uemura rouge unlimited supreme shine in orange dream

The shade: Orange Dream is on the sheer side, but still manages to deliver reasonable impact. It gives a lovely, barely-pinked orange veil of colour to the lips in spite of its sheerness, and has an appealing “plumping” effect as a result of its shine, translucence, and shimmer.

Oranges (and other warm colours) don’t always work on me, but this one absolutely does. The sheer colour is noticeable even on my pigmented lips, but enough of my own lip colour shines through its glossy sheen to look — well, maybe not natural, but still at-home.

Shimmery shades don’t generally work on me either, to be honest, but again: this one does! Its gold microshimmer is so finely milled that it just adds to the illusion of fullness created by the glossy finish of shu’s Supreme Shines, and meshes well with the base colour at any angle.

The formula: The Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine lipstick formula is one that I find myself rather fond of, despite the fact that I’m not crazy about a super-glossy lip. Its shiny, slippery formula feels like a dream on my super-dry lips, and always looks very “fresh” — I think it’s perfect for the summer.

The slippery texture of the Supreme Shines doesn’t settle into lip lines (hmm, I wonder if that’s due to shu’s “revolutionary film keeping capsule”), but it does wear a little on the shorter side. At $36 CAD, I’d really have liked it to last), but I can’t say I really mind reapplying — the sheer formula is easy to touch up, and they do feel lovely going on.

The verdict?

This limited-edition orange beauty is nice to have around (particularly if you’re an orange-lover who prefers a softer, glossier lip), but it’s not a must-have. If you really love a glossy lip and you’re looking to splurge a little, then these are worth a look — but at $36 CAD, I’d really like to have seen a slightly richer, longer-wearing formula.

The adorably-packaged Orange Blossom is already sold out online & will be off shelves soon, but give or520 (a shimmering apricot-peach) a try if you’re searching for something similar in the permanent Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine range.

Availability: $36 CAD, from the ob for shu uemura Summer 2013 collection. Find it at Holt Renfrew and select Sephora boutiques from April 2013 onwards. Limited edition.

Ingredients, swatches, & more »

Tags: /Lips, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, shu uemura, Spring/Summer 2013

10 Comments

New 16/06/13: Spring-summer catch-up

June 16, 2013

Rae Chen

2 Comments

Here’s a little secret: these were supposed to go up last week (with that snarky, hysterical mess of a post), but there were just too many pretty things… and I maybe broke the widget I was using.

Maybe. A little bit. Juuuust enough to get an angry URI TOO LARGE crash; not enough that anyone fired me from blogging. (It’s a really good thing you can’t get fired from blogging. For yourself. From home.)

Anyhow, some pretty things! I hope you all enjoy your Sundays, even if they’re less tasty than sundaes.

Tags: /New This Week (& etc)

2 Comments

Sephora x Disney Jasmine Magic Carpet Ride Palette Review, Swatches, Photos

June 14, 2013

Rae Chen

12 Comments

The product: Disney Jasmine Collection by Sephora Magic Carpet Ride Eyeshadow Palette

The new Sephora x Disney Ariel collection is still just that side of available (well, other than the Storylook Eyeshadow Palette, $55 USD/$66 CAD), but for those of us who can’t wait, Sephora already has a gorgeous Disney collection out & ready for the hauling.

Today’s review is of a beautiful, Aladin-inspired eyeshadow palette, on shelves now.

The overall aesthetic

There are four shades in the Magic Carpet Ride Eyeshadow Palette, all of which are named with overwhelming confusion. Sephora’s descriptions of these shades doesn’t quite seem to match up with their placement in the palette, so instead: there’s a taupey lilac, a dark plum, a shimmering peach, and a bright blue.

The palette is rather summery overall, and the shades serve easily as an all-over wash, crease shade, highlighter, and “pop of colour,” respectively. I can’t see myself wearing all four of the shades at once (I’m not quite that bold, I’m afraid), but you can definitely put together a handful of different eye looks with just this palette!

The textures & shades

The taupey lilac looks more silver in the pan, but swatches as more of a purple taupe on my skin — I bet it would look more silvered on someone warmer. A true frost, it applies uniformly with finely-milled shimmer throughout; beautiful and subtle whilst still adding colour and lightness to the eye area.

Next to it, the dark plum stands alone from the other shades. Much drier in texture, it’s more of a matte plum with blue and fuchsia micro-shimmer shot through it for depth: gorgeous and not unlike a starry night ~~on LSD~~.

Sephora x Disney Magic Carpet Ride swatches in warm, indirect sunlight

On the bottom, a light peach provides shimmering, slightly-chunky texture. It’s sure to make a standout inner corner highlighter on any skintone, but this buttery eyeshadow has a much more “aggressive” shimmer to it than the lilac — closer to the glitter end of the spectrum.

Finally, the bright blue. It’s not as smooth as the peach, but not as hard the lilac. Think of it as the shimmer to the lilac’s frost and the peach’s glitter; this medium-sheer shimmer feels vibrant, beachy, and surprisingly on-trend.

Swatched on primed skin; indirect sunlight

The fallout

I’m not entirely sure which eyeshadow is at fault (if I had to guess, I’d say the plum), but an eye look with this palette always involves glittery fallout during placement and blending. Whether it’s over a primer or foiled, even a stiff tap doesn’t get all of the glitter chunks off. Be prepared to use a shadow shield… or suffer the consequences of fairydust cheeks throughout the day (or night).

The verdict?

At $36 CAD, I don’t think this palette is a must-have — but it’s still a good palette, and is nice to have if you love the shades inside. The amount of shimmer fallout means that these eyeshadows fall (ha!) short of great, but it’s not an uncommon sight: even well-loved brands like Urban Decay and Stila are often guilty of their over-shimmery eyeshadows dropping down.

Overall, Magic Carpet Ride is a pretty, well-packaged palette that houses four beautiful eyeshadows. It has its flaws, but makes up for them with a cohesive, summery aesthetic that I think many beauty addicts will love.

Availability: Limited edition this Spring/Summer at Sephora, $30 USD/$36 CAD.

P.S. If you wanted to pick anything up from the Cinderella collection, make sure to do it now (before Ariel launches)! Once Ariel is up, I have a feeling that Cinderella will be coming off shelves for good.

Additional photos & more »

Tags: /Eyes, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Sephora, Sephora x Disney, Spring/Summer 2013

12 Comments

Hair-removing phasers, angry eyeliners, and alphabet soup for your face | New 09/06/13

June 9, 2013

Rae Chen

17 Comments

CC Creams (Or, The Trend That Just Won’t Die)

Okay, I’ll admit it: I am really over this BB trend. It was a little tired even at its launch, and while it’s given us some fantastic products, I feel like most of them are duds.

Which would be fine! That could be said about anything. But, well — anything doesn’t stretch on for BBs, CCs, DDs… it’s time to let it go, dear Beauty Industry Gods. Nobody asked for a BB shampoo. This is the opposite of what we wanted.

Two Tidbits of Tech

Neither of which, unfortunately, are phasers set to stun.

(They totally could be, though. I mean, look at those things!)

Look! Pretty Eyeliners.

Yeah, this section really didn’t need to exist as a standalone — it’s only one product, but in a ton of different shades. SEPHORA COLLECTION (typing that always makes me feel like an angry green rage monster) came out with a new formula, and–while this would not typically be exciting,–some of the shadees are pretty. Like, really, really pretty.

Check out that green! That beige! That pink! Eyeliners usually launch in black, brown, grey; maybe navy and plum if we’re lucky. These Waterproof Contour Eye Pencils ($9 USD/$11 CAD) are launching in thirty-five shades, though, which — well, that’s a pretty darn big step up from three or four.

So, okay. I’m maybe a little over-excited. But can you really fault me for it?

Tags: /New This Week (& etc)

17 Comments

Lancôme x Alber Elbaz: 1’30” of whimsy | The Lancôme Show

June 8, 2013

Rae Chen

4 Comments

Oh, dear! My apologies for being so remiss with following up on ~~anything~~ everything in a timely manner — in case you haven’t yet seen it (which, let’s admit it, you probably already have), here is the full 1’30” reel from the upcoming Alber Elbaz collection with Lancôme.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful, whimsical piece!

I hadn’t expected something so… lighthearted from Lancôme, but this collaboration has me absolutely beside myself. It doesn’t fit my usual aesthetic in the least, but there’s really something to be said about watching a brand step outside of itself for a moment; to show everyone that, sure, it’s classy and refined — but it can be relevant and trendy, too.

The Lancôme x Alber Elbaz collection launches in stores June 15th.

Tags: /Lancome, Spring/Summer 2013

4 Comments

Lise Watier Sweet Lips “Pistachio” Yummy Lip Balm: Review, Photos | & something sweet for your lips, too

June 7, 2013

Rae Chen

17 Comments

The product: Lise Watier Sweet Lips Yummy Lip Balm in Pistachio

Launching alongside the new Lise Watier Something Sweet perfume, Pistachio is one of three limited-edition Sweet Lips Yummy Lip Balms made to satisfy even the sweetest of sweet tooths. (I would love to say “sweet teeth,” but I think that would just be weird. And, yes, the “yummy” is right there in the sugary-sweet name!)

Enriched with Vitamin E & shea butter, the macaron-inspired Sweet Lips balms apply as slightly-shimmery, surprisingly lightweight clear lip balms. I haven’t tried Sweet Berry or Chocolate, but I think Pistachio would be my favourite of the bunch even if I had: there’s something very novel about applying such a tasty-smelling blue lip balm, even if it’s practically clear!

The verdict?

While Something Sweet was, well, too sweet for me, Lise Watier’s Pistachio Sweet Lips Yummy Lip Balm hits the nail right on the head. The light, delicious fragrance dissipates quickly, but smells mouthwatering and edible in the super-cute tin. It may be more sugar than substance, but I’d take a wonderful gourmand lip balm over a pot of opaque blue any day!

Availability: $12.50 CAD for 9 g, exclusively at Shopper’s Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Québec). Limited edition, but available in Sweet Berry, Pistachio, and Chocolate until they sell out.

PS: This little macaron closes very securely, and once you finish the balm (which, if you have a sweet tooth like me, you totally will), I bet this purse-friendly pot would make for awesome, macaron-inspired storage, too.

Tags: /Canadian beauty, Lips, Lise Watier, Product Photos, Product Review, Spring/Summer 2013

17 Comments