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    On the cutting room floor | Sephora + Pantone Lacquers

    October 28, 2012
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    I took a break from Halloween this weekend to go over some more fall launches before the season ends — which, for the record, is going to be altogether too soon. Partway through cutting some SEPHORA + PANTONE UNIVERSE images, though, (don’t you just hate it when names are awkwardly capitalized? Like, um, theNotice?), I got distracted and ended up putting together this little guy for you…


    The two polishes not in this (interactive!) image will be reviewed early this week, hopefully. Have a great Sunday, my dearlings!

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    Tags: /Fall/Winter 2012, Nails, New This Week (& etc), Sephora, Sephora + Pantone Universe, The Edit
    8 Comments

    How happy hands (and happy noses) make for a happy blogger, too | L’Occitane Shea Butter Fortune Flowers collection review, photos

    October 25, 2012
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    The collection: L’Occitane Shea Butter Fortune Flowers (LE) Collection

         ↳ The products: Shea Butter Lip Balm, Hand Cream, and Body Cream in…

              The scents: Date Bouquet, Rose Petals, and Mango Flower.

    The Shea Butter Fortune Flowers collection draws inspiration from the West African ancestral traditions of basket weaving (for the packaging) and storytelling (for the scents,) focusing on the three African fortune flowers — rose, date, and mango.

    While I’m actually not a huge fan of many L’Occitane fragrances, I think the scents in this collection are gorgeous: fresh, soft, and well-blended. The Mango Flower fragrance is particularly edible, and Rose Petals is stunning; delicate and soft without any being cloying or dusty in the least.

    Shea Butter Lipbalm in Date Bouquet, $18.00 

    100% natural, 55% organic, and 10% fair trade shea butter, this lip balm has a lot going for it, at least from a distance. That said, though, it’s actually my least favourite Fortune Flowers product out of the three I’ve tried, both in scent and formula (though neither was, per se, actually bad.)

    Based in vegetable, castor, and sunflower seed oils, as well as the 10% shea base, this lip balm formula just doesn’t seem to give enough moisture for my lips. It goes on smoothly and feels lightweight, but it’s just not what I’m looking for: too slippery to use under lipsticks but not hydrating enough for a night treatment, I think I’d recommend this only as a bare-lip balm, and then only if you really liked the scent.

    The verdict?

    It’s not a bad product, but at $18 a tube, I’d skip this one. The lip balm gives decent moisture and wears comfortably, but like the Date Bouquet scent, it’s just good, you know? Whereas the rest of the collection is actually great.

    Shea Butter Hand Cream in Rose Petals, $12.00        *Silicone-free! 

    L’Occitane’s shea-based hand creams are by far their most iconic product, and for good reason. The formula is rich and hydrating, but it absorbs without an oily finish, and you don’t have to wait around for it to sink in.

    Formulated with 20% fair trade shea butter, the Rose Petals Shea Butter Hand Cream leaves hands feeling soft and moisturized, and I absolutely love the scent — it’s light and slightly sweet, hitting just the right balance of both. Less sugary than your typical cherry blossom fragrance (for example), but without the metallic tang of cheap rosewater, it’s noticeable but far from overwhelming.

    The verdict?

    I find most rose scents too cloying, but I can’t get enough of this one. Uncharacteristically subtle for the brand, it’s the perfect “office drawer moisturizer,” a gorgeous midday pick-me-up for dry hands that won’t leave your hands greasy (and won’t fill up the whole floor with fragrance).

    Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Cream in Mango Flower, $28.00

    I tried my Mango Flower Ultra Rich Body Cream weeks before anything else, and I thought it was going to be the hilight of the season collection: it’s just that tasty. While I’m smitten with Rose Petals, though, I think this one’s going to be the big hit — I could (and will) call it mouthwatering, and it wouldn’t be the slightest bit of a lie.

    Sweet and punchy, the magic of Mango Flower lies in its believability. It smells like what I’d imagine an actual mango tree to smell like; ripe and juicy but a little green, too. There’s a soft powder note in the fragrance, like a not-quite-ripe mango, that gives it a slight sophisticated edge, setting it apart from a drugstore body spray.

    The verdict?

    The scent’s a must-have, but I while I like the body cream, don’t love it. The super-hydrating, 25% shea butter formula is a little heavy, and I find the Mango Flower scent too strong to use everywhere — it’s a good product, but (and here’s something that doesn’t happen too often) it’s almost too scented, in a way! 

    Try the Mango Flower scent in the Shea Butter Hand Cream instead, or use the Ultra Rich Body Cream as a intensive moisturizer for only your really stubborn dry patches.

    The verdict?

    Each product has a mini “verdict” section, but I wanted to throw just a few more words at you before we finish up. While there have definitely been L’Occitane collections in the past that have really intrigued me, this is the first that really makes me go huh, okay, wow.

    Gorgeous both in formulation and fragrance, it’s the one “fragrance” collection that you absolutely cannot miss this season — I kid you not. Be sure to pick up a few of the hand creams, and don’t miss the mouthwatering mango and feather-light rose scents.

    Ingredients, additional photos, & more »

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    Tags: /Fall/Winter 2012, L'Occitane, Lips, Moisturizers, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Silicone-free, Skincare
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    Black smokey eyes & lace appliques | A Halloween makeup look that’s glam, not gory

    October 24, 2012
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    I’ve always been a fan of more glamorous Halloween makeup looks; the sort that let you stretch your artistic muscles, but don’t necessarily translate into a character.

    So, for this month, I put together three looks that are too over-the-top for everyday wear, but could totally pass at a Halloween party — without necessitating a trip to the local costume store. You’ve already seen the first of the three (last Monday’s vampy statement lips,) but I hope you enjoy this one, too.

    Don’t miss the full lace makeup tutorial on She Said Beauty, and keep a lookout on theNotice for the secrets behind this smokey eye (later in the week).

    I started the look with a basic black smokey eye; dramatic and glittery on a creme base (Annabelle SmudgePaint in Glitzy Black) and paired it with sculpted cheeks, fresh skin, and (perhaps most importantly) a nude-but-not-too-nude lip: in this case, Have A Lovely Day!, the MAC Casual Colour that I’m so in love with.

    Then, for that extra bit of Halloween, I added a lace mask to the look. Rather than pinning actual lace to my hair, I’ve used Sweetart, an easy lace appliqué from the FaceLace range.

    I was a bit iffy about the range at first (you want me to pay how much for a piece of lace??), but they might just be worth checking out. The masks stick directly onto the skin, making them less finicky than pinned-in fabric lace, and the flexible vinyl both wears comfortably & holds up to repeated uses.

    Keep reading! »

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    Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Annabelle, Eyes, FaceFront, Indie brands, MAC, Makeup looks: colour, Other, Tutorials
    28 Comments

    Second verse, same as the first (though this one feels a little different.)

    October 22, 2012
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    You’re going to be seeing a lot of this look this week, and I feel a bit bad about that, but. But.

    One of my favourite things about photography is the way that you can take the same subject; the same person, or place, or feeling, and just by photographing the scene differently, the resulting product is changed right down to its core. The casual disregard, the too-easy twisting and tweaking of reality is almost a transcendent action in my eyes; the ability to fully manipulate the viewer’s perception of the scene through techniques and technologies made entirely of human ingenuity without having to make headway on even the smallest of paradigm shifts.

    For me, it speaks volumes about the subjectivity of the world, not just in perspective, but in the overwhelmingly transient nature of the individual experience. You can feel it in everything from a magician’s death-defying illusion; to a trick of the light; to the optical aberration, translated metaphorically into every interpersonal interaction, and it shakes us to our bones.

    What we see is almost entirely controlled by what is intended for prying eyes, and what we see through a lens even moreso: what we see of each other, then, is obfuscated so efficiently by what we are wanted and want to see. When you can be sixteen or twenty-six; when warm pink bends toward a dusty cyan; when lighting and technique have more sway on the observer than the subject’s own facets, when —

    When the human experience is embodied with such fantastic intensity, what then could be more sublime?

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    Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Eyes, Makeup looks: colour, Makeup looks: neutral, Photoshop and photos, Ramblings
    26 Comments

    Brush up a spell with the new Sephora + Pantone Universe Enchanting Dual-Sided Brush Set: review, photos

    October 17, 2012
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    The product: SEPHORA + PANTONE UNIVERSE Enchanting Dual-Sided Brush Set

    Of all the Sephora + Pantone products to come out this season, this set was the only one to really grab! my attention. I missed out on the split fibre brushes in the MAC Semi-Precious and In Extra Dimension collections (last winter & this spring, respectively), so I was hoping these would fill the gap.

    And they did, sort of. Maybe. Kind of.

    The build: It’s always interesting to work with really novel tools, and these rather were. With a synthetic side (great for picking up and spreading out cream products) paired right up against a natural-fibre side (perfect for buffing and blending), they’re a different experience than normal brushes, and I think it really works in their favour.

    What I’m not so crazy about, though, is the natural-hair side of these brushes. It’s a little on the rough side, and I find they shed, particularly when I’m working with heavier products, like concealer or cream foundation. For the results and expediency, I’ve been putting up with it, but the shedding really keeps these from being a HG brush set.

    The individual brushes

    I’m not crazy about the overly-fluffy powder brush, but I’m actually quite pleased with the other three shapes in this set. (It’s a first, for me — maybe it’s just because this one’s on the small side, but I find brush sets typically have at least three or four brushes that I just know I’ll never use.)

    The eyeshadow brush is great for applying concealer to the eye/undereye area, as well as around the nose, and the foundation brush is kind of brilliant, at least in shape. The shedding’s a letdown, but I can finish my face in less than half the time with this than I’d need with a regular (all-synthetic) foundation brush, or even a kabuki brush.

    But the true star of this set’s the blush brush. While it doesn’t look small, there’s just something about the build and shape that makes it surprisingly versatile. I can use it for sheer washes of colour, strong pops of pink… anything!

    Since I started using this set, the blush brush is the only thing I’ve been using to contour — it puts down just the right amount of colour and blends with ridiculous ease.

    The bag

    Cases usually aren’t a selling point for me, but I actually really liked this one. Sleek and well-pocketed, it fits the brushes well, and has space to hold and sort a few basic products, too.

    It’s easy to clean and travel with, and I think it manages to take the set from “pretty okay” to “actually rather impressive.”

    The verdict?

    If the Enchanting brush set had just one flaw, I’d say the $42 USD/$50 CAD price tag was a really good deal. With two, however (I could do without the powder brush, & the natural fibres do shed quite a bit with “stickier” cream products,) my praise is a bit more reserved.

    That said, I do actually really like this set, and both the foundation & blush brushes have weaselled their way into my permanent (personal) brush collection. At $50, the price is a touch too high, but there are whispers that Sephora’s annual Friends & Family sale is coming up ;)

    Keep reading! »

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    Tags: /Fall/Winter 2012, Product Photos, Product Review, Sephora, Sephora + Pantone Universe, Tools
    23 Comments

    Don’t miss this » Gothic statement lips in red and black

    October 15, 2012
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    The cool thing about October being a beauty blogger is that you’re totally allowed to throw whatever on your face, whenever you want to. Not so much with the wherever, but two out of three’s not bad. And then, to top it all off, (because everyone else can technically the whatever-whenever thing,) you get to label it as “work” instead of “whimsy and a lack of impulse-control.”

    Anyhow. Here’s a step-by-step photo tutorial to on gothic statement lips, aka “we already did blue and violet ages ago so let’s use red and black and maybe throw some purple in there.” Because everything is better with burgundy and violet. Everything.

    Read the full tutorial (albeit with less photos and much less nonsensical rambling personality) here on She Said Beauty. 

    Start the look with bare lips and contoured, just-flushed cheeks…

    Then give yourself an unsightly pinched mouth with lipliner (and, okay, eyeliner).

    Don’t lie; you know you’re dying to keep reading »

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    Tags: , /4. Makeup looks, Lips, Makeup looks: colour, Marcelle, Tutorials
    28 Comments

    New 14/10/12: Holiday launches from Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, & more

    October 14, 2012
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    Is it just me, or has this year gone by ridiculously fast? It feels like just last week that we were gearing up for the summer season’s onslaught of new launches (by which I mean: foundations, foundations, foundations), and now Holiday collections are starting to tumble in.

    Clearly, the makeup world never got the memo that you totally can’t sell Christmas ornaments before Halloween, the free market be damned.

    With sets and palettes from Bobbi Brown, Yves Saint Laurent, Laura Mercier, & more, though — the holidays do look like they’re going to be rather exciting this year.

    Stay tuned for the Dior and Guerlain Holiday 2012 collections! I haven’t had time to put them together, but god, they look gorgeous.

    P.S. What even, Tom Ford:

    I get that you’re a “luxury” beauty line. I really do. But — $365 for an (albeit shiny and soft-looking) brush set? Really? 

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    Tags: /New This Week (& etc)
    8 Comments

    Japonesque goes pink to support breast cancer awareness | Japonesque Pink Manicure Kit and Mini Heated Mini Eyelash Curler reviews, photos

    October 12, 2012
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    The products: Japonesque Pink Heated Mini Eyelash Curler and Manicure Kit

    The Heated Mini Eyelash Curler

    A pink version of their regular heated lash curler, this cut-and-dry tool is a great update on a basic. With a sleek silhouette (seriously, straight heated lash curlers are so much easier to throw into a makeup bag than actual lash curlers) and a rubbery finish that makes it hard to drop (but in a good way, not in a NARS way), this is a pretty great find, from an aesthetic point of view.

    For functionality, though? It has a few handy features (like a little running light, and a clever on-switch that can’t be moved unless the cap is off), but I’m just not sold on heated lash curlers. I find that I can’t get the same kind of lift out of them that I can with a good, traditional, clamping one — the effect is pinch- and crimp-free, but they’re just not for me.

    The lash curler heats up really quickly, though, and the effect does last. If you have really hard to curl lashes and find that heated curlers tend to work well for you, this one’s $18 USD at Ulta right now (plus $5 off a $10 purchase in-stores), so check it out before it disappears.

    The Manicure Kit

    Another quick basic dressed up for the BCA season is Japonesque’s manicure kit, which (like the lash curler) typically comes in black. It’s not the most space-friendly, but the fold-apart bag-slash-case keeps your tools (and then a few extras) safe and secure from whatever else you have with you, so you’ll never have to worry about scraping up other objects or losing your tweezers to the depths of your bag.

    The set, which retails for $28.35 at Dermstore.com with free (US) shipping, comes with tweezers, a file, scissors, nail clippers, and cuticle nippers.

    It’s pretty basic, all around; well-made basics and everything you should really need for a simple, polish-free cleanup. I haven’t given these a try (might give the set away, instead), but Japonesque do tools more or less exclusively — and they tend to do them quite well.

    The verdict?

    It’s great to see brands getting on the BCA bandwagon, but I think Japonesque could have gone a little further, you know? $1 out of $11 (which the  collection starts at) isn’t bad, but $1 out of $28 isn’t a lot — not when brands like Jane Iredale or Estee Lauder are donating 100% of the proceeds for some of their products.

    If you’re looking for pink products that pack a charitable punch, I think you’re best giving these a skip. If you’re a fan of the brand, though (or if you just want some rosier hues in your collection beauty tools), don’t miss this month’s limited-edition pink versions of some of the brand’s bestselling tools.

    Keep reading! »

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    Tags: /Fall/Winter 2012, Japonesque, Product Photos, Product Review, Tools
    7 Comments

    There’s nothing quite like…

    October 10, 2012
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    …your favourite limited edition gloss to brighten up a hard week.

    My “bad day lipgloss” is Annabelle Le Gloss Lip Shine in Bitten, from the etheREAL Holiday 2010 collection. It’s a gorgeous, non-sticky blue-red with a completely shimmer-free finish (which is harder to find than you’d think!)

    The Le Gloss line has just recently been discontinued entirely, and I hate to see it go — not only were they scent-free and comfortable, but they stayed right where they ought, too. Not even a super-pigmented shade like this one bled into the lines of my dry lips, which was more than a little impressive!

    What’s your go-to lip gloss for when you need a bit of a pick-me-up?

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    Tags: /Annabelle, Lips, Product Swatches
    14 Comments