Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
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Swatches of the new NARS Velvet Lip Gloss Pencils ($24 each), available now at NARS counters and narscosmetics.com.
Top row of swatches from the left: Frivolous, Happy Days and Hopi.
Bottom row of swatches from the left: New Lover, Club Mix and Baroque.
For a full review of the NARS Velvet Lip Gloss Pencils, check out The New NARS Velvet Gloss Pencils Look Sharp but Don’t Always Feel That Way.
What say you?
NARS Spring 2011 Lip Glosses and Lipsticks clockwise from the lower left: Angelika, Super Orgasm, Nana, Tzigane and Madere
Sometimes I feel like a makeup mad scientist, mixing and matching beauty products to create something greater than the sum of its parts (it’s ALIVE! ALIVE!!!).
And it usually happens when I’ve got hella sh*t to do…like paying bills, doing the dishes or preparing my taxes.
That was the case today when I got to thinking about lip combos using the five lipsticks and glosses from the new NARS Spring 2011 collection.
Not exactly the most productive way to spend a Tuesday morning, but c’est la vie. 🙂
I’m feeling the Tzigane lipstick and gloss combos more than the Madere ones below, but that’s probably because I think Madere’s cool pink makes me look like a 
zombie.
These are just to spark some ideas, so let me know if anything springs to mind.
Lip Gloss in Angelika atop Lipstick in Tzigane
Lip Gloss in Super Orgasm atop Lipstick in Tzigane
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Start saving your pennies, Chanel fans, because le House of Coco is readying a new lipstick line called the Rouge Coco Shines ($32 each).
The new line of 18 lippies (they’re like next gen Rouge Cocos) saunters onto shelves this March.
If you live near a Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue store, then you might be able to sneak a peek at one of the shades before the rest of the line launches, as select counters will be selling a rosy pink color named “Boy” exclusively for Valentine’s Day.
I spoke with a Chanel artist this morning about Boy, and she says it’ll be available for purchase between February 10-14, then disappear, only to return for the launch of the full line in March (whew, that was complicated, LOL!).
I haven’t tried any of the Rouge Coco Shines yet, but the word on the street is that they’re sheer, shiny, moisturizing and feel light on the lips. 🙂
Images via Bellasugar.com.au
What a coincidence! Reader Aimee must have known I was planning a jaunt to Tar-ghay today. 🙂
Hi Karen!
I’m traveling to Miami in the US next month, and I’d like to hear about your favorite drugstores in the US…
Which of these are best for make up (price and variety): CVS, Target or Walgreens? Thanks!
–Aimee
Hi Aimee,
You’re a girl after my own heart. Whenever I travel, I always try to do a bit of beauty research beforehand, and I’m stoked about your enthusiasm for drugstore makeup. I’ve been a Rite Aid regular (aka a Walgreens wallflower) since as far back as I can remember. Drugstores are veritable cosmetics cornucopias!
I’ve shopped all three of the stores you mention — CVS, Target and Walgreens — and have generally had good experiences with each.
I end up going to Target a lot because of 1) how close and 2) how big it is. In addition to carrying the big drugstore beauty lines (your Revlon, Cover Girl, L’Oreal, etc.), they also carry “higher end” drugstore brands, some of them exclusive to Target (at least in the US), like Sonia Kashuk, JK Jemma Kidd, NP Set and Boots.
Target also has testers, which makes swatching easy, but I’m not crazy about their makeup return policy. Most of the time products have to be new, unused and in their original packaging.
With more than 7,000 stores in 45 states, chances are there’s a CVS somewhere nearby. They have a great selection of drugstore brands and a fantastic product return policy. Truth be told, I’d shop at CVS more often if there wasn’t a Target so close. They accept returns on any opened or unopened beauty products and will refund the full purchase price, no questions asked. Just be sure to bring your receipt or invoice. Oh, and some CVS stores carry the awesome NYX line, which is one of my favorite drugstore brands for colorful eyeshadows and blushes.
No joke, but I used to haunt the Walgreens beauty department back when I worked in downtown San Francisco. Walgreens carries many of the same beauty lines that CVS and Rite Aid do at very nearly the same prices, but I don’t visit as often as I used to (there isn’t one close).
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