MAY LOVES

Okay I wanted to make a promise to myself and post about what I was using and loving in the month of May since I was busy and burnt out by the end of April.

I give you my loves:

It's a small lineup but it gave me maximum satisfaction and it's a lifetime of love!

I'll start with my recent big purchase: L'Art et la Matiere Guerlain, Angelique Noire. I discovered this at a Guerlain fragrance event at Neiman Marcus, mid-May, and I just couldn't go home without this bottle. The bottle is beautiful and heavy. It's gorgeous inside and out! Review from the fragrance event is coming soon, I promise.

Fragrance profile:
Top: angelica seeds, pink berries and pear
Middle: jasmine, sambac and caraway
Base: vanilla, cedar and angelica roots

I get almost a citrusy hit at first spray so I want to say there's bergamot even though it isn't listed as a note. It  then it turns to a powdery almond before settling into a sultry vanilla scent. Talk about a split personality but that's why I love it - I can wear this to work, running errands on the weekend and date night. It fits all occasions. This was money well spent!

Next are the lip creams from Le Metier de Beaute in Toffee Creme and Coffee Creme. I didn't own one so I did one better and bought these two the last time I visited the LMdB counter. The lip creme is a lipstick/gloss fusion. It packs a good amount of pigment with lots of moisture. This is a bit on the thick side for my liking but I love it because it doesn't make my super sensitive lips peel or itch. I don't have raw lips the next morning - huge bonus! Toffee creme is a peach copper with shimmer and Cocoa creme is exactly what it sounds like - milk chocolate brown with even more shimmer (lots more actually). They both have a heavy sweet, vanilla cream scent and have a doe foot applicator. I may have to add a few more, with less glitter, in my collection. This lasts for about four hours on me if I am not drinking any liquids but if I am then I get a little over three hours. I cannot complain about these lip cremes.

I also added the most sought after taupe, for those LMdB fans, Corinthian True Color Eye shadow. At first, I felt I only bought this just because I've seen it reviewed by many of the bloggers I adore and follow. I wasn't really wooed the first few times I wore it. But suddenly, I was swept off my feet.

(I am also wearing Toffee Creme on my lips)

At first glance at Corinthian in the pan, it looks like a medium cool taupe with major glitter. Yes, when first swatched it is a cool taupe but it does lean on the purple side on me and it's a very sophisticated shimmer. When worn on top of a good eye primer, you will have eight hours of wear time on your lids. It's very easy to wear and it plays well with other neutrals. I wear this a lot with my favorite blue liner, MAC Hyacinth - review coming soon! I can see why this is a cult classic and doesn't stay on the shelf for long.

And of course, there's a NARS blush. I love NARS blushes - seriously they are my HG blushes. I never like to name HG because I feel like I'm jinxing myself or offending MAC/Chanel blush fans. The one I picked up last month was Liberte from the Summer 2012 collection. I love this matte burnt apricot. On me, it's more like a dark reddish-orange. I apply with a light hand and it just wakes my face up every time I use it. This is my current favorite blush. It's perfect for Summer but I see myself using this throughout the year.

Liberte blush and I have Toffee Creme on top of NARS Velvet Matte lip pencil in Bahama.

Here's a swatch lineup of my loves:

And here's Cocoa Creme:

Some other honorable mentions:

My new Vince Camuto wedge sandals, reviewed here.

My new glasses that I picked up early April. I don't know why I forget to mention them.

They are Chanel - how could I not love them?

The side embellishments help!

And I am always amazed on how much I love this subtle trio again from the NARS Summer 2012 trio, Ramatuelle, reviewed here.

I know I'm probably missing something but it's late and I'm tired. 

What were some of your favorite discoveries for the month of May?

Peel Masque Review for Miss - 5/29/12

This week on www.missomnimedia.com, I review the revamped skincare collection from Joey New York.

I'm having fun with this masque, partly because I get to practice my skills of peeling it off in one big ass sheet. Just like in grade school when you'd peel Elmer's glue off of your fingers, well a much more fancier version of that.

To read the review, please click here.

A Wedgie I Can Get Behind

Every Fall I treat myself to new boots. Unfortunately, I didn't get any new boots this time around because I wasn't particularly moved by any at the time. That's good news to my over stuffed closet, my thin wallet and my price efficient husband. But I couldn't resist getting a new pair of summer sandals during Piperlime's last sale.

Because really, how could I say no to 30% off shoes?

For the first time, in a very long time I hopped on board with a current trend:

(color is a bit darker in this picture)

The woven wedge - Vince Camuto, Raven (canyon brown combo and available in black).


These cute buttery cognac sandals are by my favorite shoes to wear with my long bootleg jeans. These will gets lots of play this Summer - my work is incorporating 'denim days' during the months between Memorial and Labor Day. It's not much but I'll take what I can get.

(the color of straps are truer in this picture)

It's a synthetic outer - 4" wedge with a 1 1/2" platform. The upper is leather and it took me three painful days to break them in, even the ankle straps hurt and I have small ankles. They are still in the process of loosening but they are much more comfortable now then they were the first time I wore them a week ago. I'll be wearing these with all my jeans, slim capri pants and now I'm in the mood to buy a maxi skirt and bermuda shorts!

Also, my other favorite pairing with these sandals:

Grey lilac toes, Insouciant by Rescue Beauty Lounge. Insouciant has sadly been retired. But you can find other grey lilac out there - my other favorite is Essie's Lady Like and OPI's You Don't Know Jacques.

Have you begun your Summer sandal shopping yet? I'm hoping to add a flat black or brown sandal next. Suggestions?

I just checked the Piperlime site and these sandals are still on sale - click here.

Guest Post for M.I.S.S. 5/21 - Quick Eye Look

I think I'm at that point where I must force myself to utilize my current stash efficiently. My bathroom counter and wallet will thank me. My current M.I.S.S. post does just that - read here.

I'm thinking that a series of LOTD or FOTD posts are that far away.

Happy Monday!!

NARS Ramatuelle Trio for NC 42 Skin Tone

My fellow blogger, Pink Sith published a post on the Ramatuelle trio, from the NARS 2012 line. She tied it in with a lovely story about driving down the coast of Santa Barbara for the first time with her husband, well before they were married.

(narscosmetics.com)

I love how she ties each color with reference to the most delicious apricot she's ever tasted. The skin of the peach was like the delicate peach shimmer (middle shade). The ripe flesh of the fruit was like the same matte apricot shade here (right). The bluish silver frost was like the morning dew on the fruit.

Damn, that is some apricot and damn, this girl can write. I've always been a huge fan of her blog and an even bigger fan of her writing style.

Okay I'm not going to rewrite her review because that would be wrong and I'd lose a blogging buddy. Why am I calling attention to her post? She mentioned how this shade would look on someone darker.

So here I am - all swarthy NC42 me. I'll do a comparison of these shades on our very different skin tones:

Here's the swatch on Pink Sith:

She picks up more of gold tones of the peach frost and orange from the matte apricot shades. Also her skin warms up the icy silver frost.


And here it is on me:
The icy silver is cool, the peach frost is a very soft peach gold and the apricot is a very muted tangerine.

Here's an EOTD (eye of the day) swatch on Pink Sith:

And here it is on me:

I want to point out that our lighting sources were probably different - she may have used natural sunlight (arm swatch) and I used bathroom lighting at night. I do agree with her that this trio suits many skin tones. Since I was really skeptical at first, I asked a NARS makeup artist how to intensify this color on my skin and she suggested I used Super Orgasm Illuminator Liquid. It does add an extra layer of peachy gold to my lids with lots of shimmery glitter. I don't mind glitter as a base color. I didn't use the Super Orgasm in the picture above since I wanted to stay true to the look that Pink Sith did in her photo. I used the middle peachy champagne shade as my base, matte apricot as my crease color and the icy bluish silver frost as my brow highlight shade. I am going to take a guess that Pink Sith used the apricot as her base and peachy champagne as her highlight shade and perhaps the icy silver either mixed with the peachy champagne or used on top of the apricot base.

In terms of staying power, this stays on my lids the entire eight hours on top of a primer, I love my Too Faced Shadow Insurance and I also love NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Primer. I am delightfully surprised how much I like this trio. I was very dismissive at first - I immediately thought that this would be too sheer and wouldn't do much for my dark skin tone. But I should know better, NARS has great colors for everyone, including us tan skin gals! And there's always a trick to learn to make colors work. I have been using the trio more than I thought I would. It's a great palette to use when you don't want to spend too much time on your eyes but you do want a bit of effortless polish. Naturally, this is a great trio to use if you want to focus on a bright/dark lip look with sculpted cheeks.

I also like the surprise of a subtle shimmer summer trio. The matte peach keeps up with the tangerine/orange vibe for Summer but it doesn't entirely jump on the trend bandwagon. I wouldn't have thought to use the Super Orgasm Illuminator if I hadn't asked a MUA. I am even more delighted about that because now I know what to do with my deluxe sample tubes - I don't like wearing chunky glitter highlighter on my face.It's frowned upon at my buttoned down office.

I hope you enjoyed this comparison. If anything we hope that we encouraged you to stop by the nearest NARS counter to swatch this palette. I can't think of a better way to get me in a Summer state of mind. Especially, since it hits upper 60's, at best, here in the Bay Area in July.

Please see Pink Sith's original post here. Photos and content used with her permission. THANKS GIRL, I OWE YOU!!

Ramatuelle and the entire NARS 2012 Summer collection is available at department, Sephora stores and online retailers that  carry the  NARS brand.

I Honor a Certain Lady on Mother's Day...

My latest post at missomnimedia,I pay tribute to my mom. Not really a surprise for readers but for those who really know me (family and close friends) this is huge. We weren't the closest mother/daughter pair but now that I'm a mother, well I appreciate my mother a little more.





Also, because she really mellowed out...a bit. Trust me, this is a huge improvement on her part!

Read the story, here.

Guess Who's Going to do a Makeup Collaboration with Andy

A fan of Andy's? A fan of NARS? Well your dreams have come true!

Read my latest post here at missomnimedia.

I can't wait for October!

Sleepwalking...

I've been lazy...I have no excuse. I have been too tired to think about a product to review, way too tired to even try to think of something witty to write.

Please forgive me but since we wrapped up production and I completed my job as makeup artist for the show, I am finding it harder and harder to comeback to my poor, neglected blog. 

(hooking up Will's eyes)

Right now I am enjoying some time away from my laptop, sitting on my ass drinking red wine out of a box (yup, you read that correctly) and just catching up the time I lost by reading lots of bedtime stories to my daughter.

But I did manage to buy a new Burberry lip gloss today in No. 17, Bright Plum. I can't wait to wear this tomorrow and let you guys know what I think.

See, I'll be back sooner than you think!

In Love Again....

With Lancome's Rouge in Love lipstick collection that is - take a look at my review this week in missomnimedia.com

I am considering purchasing another color (NUDE) and this is a great way for me to tip toe back into Lancome again...we'll see. I'm mature enough to know that this excitement is the lust stage.

I am hoping it become a full on LOVE affair after the second month!