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Is Chanel Recycling Good Ideas? Aragonite Glossimer vs. NARS Moon Fleet

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Yesterday I almost judged a book by its cover. After reader Mahnaz asked how Aragonite, one of the new Glossimers from the Chanel Les Perles de Chanel spring collection, compared to NARS Moon Fleet, my initial reaction was, “Uh oh! Chanel must have copied NARS.”

NOTE: If you’re interested, you can see swatches of the entire Les Perles de Chanel collection at the bottom of this post.

But then I pulled out both colors and gave the question more thought. Both shades are related, but NARS Moon Fleet, a permanent color from the line, is a sheer and shimmery yellow gold, and I think it looks much darker and yellower than Aragonite does.

What about other possible Aragonite dupes? Hmm… How about Chanel Glossimer in Galactic (circa 2007)?


NARS Lipgloss in Moon Fleet (left) and Chanel Glossimer in Aragonite (right)

First cousins, perhaps?


Chanel Glossimer in Aragonite (left) and Galactic (right)
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It’s No Secret: I’m Looking Forward to the Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden Collection This Spring

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  • CORRECTION: 1/13/2011 — The promotional pictures in this post have been replaced with color corrected versions provided by Dolce & Gabbana.

dolce & gabbana secret garden

I wonder what Lewis Carroll would have thought about the secret garden of pink Post-It notes that decorate my desk…

…and my notebook.

Of course, the note’s totally unnecessary, because there’s no way I’m going to forget about the new 12-piece Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden collection for eyes, nails, face and lips. When it hops into town this spring, I’ll need a fainting couch to catch me when I fall (in love). 🙂

The colors look so bright and authentically springy that I can almost smell fresh-cut grass and sunshine when I look at them (I swear I can smell the sunshine).

But the story behind the collection, according to Dolce, is one of mystery…

“With Secret Garden, we wanted to provide a kind of privileged information — or a secret formula — for the women we love so much, so she could effortlessly achieve that illusive look of intrigue that all women crave.”
–Domenico Dolce

I haven’t quite figured out the mystery angle yet, but designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana say they played with the idea of a hidden paradise in which a mythical, delicate beauty seduces the senses.

Perhaps she’s wearing a flower-print dress to a garden party. Yes, I think I can see her now. She’s walking barefoot across a large lawn of vivid green grass. I don’t know who she is, but I feel like I should go to her.
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Seeing the Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design All-In-One Artistry Palette in Action

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Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design on Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog

Today I took the brand spankin’ new Dior Soft Pink Design All-In-One Artistry Palette ($58) from the Dior Montaigne spring 2011 collection out for a spin using the little tutorial that comes with the palette as a guide…

I love it when products come with these things (sending positive reinforcement to all the companies out there) because they make looks as easy as 1-2-3.

Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design eye step 1 base
Base

Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design eye step 2 colour
Colour

Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design eye step 3 shadow
Shadow

Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design eye step 4 shine
Shine
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Dior Montaigne Spring 2011: You’ll Be a Pearl of a Girl in the City of Lights with the Soft Pink Design Quint

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Dior Montaigne Soft Pink Design

Expect a downpour at Dior this spring when the new Montaigne Collection comes to town, but you won’t need your umbrella for this storm. That’s because it’ll be pouring pearls when the 13-piece release for eyes, lips, cheeks and drips on Dior counters, in Dior stores and at Sephora in the next few weeks.

Named after the Paris address where the first Dior boutique opened back in 1946, the palette of pearly grays and baby pinks suggests spring soirees in the City of Lights, and to these soirees you’re wearing pearls. It’s a soft, sophisticated, natural look, and passersby won’t be able to miss your subtly shimmering glow.

To my eye, the Soft Pink Design Quint ($58), one of two for eyes in the release, characterizes the collection’s vibe with its nuanced pinks and grays. It comes with (almost) everything a girl would need to live the eye portion of the look — an eyeshadow base, a liner, two shimmer shadows and one glitter shadow. The only thing missing: mascara.

Below are pics and swatches showing the colors on NC35 and NW20 skin. Take a look, and let me know what ya think. 🙂

Dior Montaigne Spring 2011 soft pink design quad
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Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Eye Base Plays It Cool

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To quote (and then paraphrase) the great Sade, “No need to ask, he’s [she’s] a smooth operator.” Except her charms aren’t working on me. 🙁

The new Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Eye Base ($22) may be a touch too light for this brown girl, but lighter lasses, listen up. This pretty pink primer just might shine for you.

The warm yellow undertones in my skin don’t agree with Smooth Operator (it turns gray on me), but that shouldn’t happen if you like the way you look in shades of cool-toned pink.

Released as a QVC (yep, that QVC) exclusive last December, Smooth Operator Eye Base looks to me like a hybrid of two other products, Benefit Eye Bright Pencils and Urban Decay Primer Potion. It combines the light pink color of Eye Bright with UDPP’s fluffy, smooth texture.

Tarte refers to it as a brightening eyeshadow base designed to prevent shadows from smudging and creasing, and increase how long they last on the skin.

As you can from the name, its claim to fame is the Amazonian clay it contains, which Tarte claims has “intuitive” properties. They say it’s able to adjust to the wearer’s skin. If need be, it’ll hydrate dry spots into nonexistence, or absorb oily patches to eliminate shine.

Now that’s some smart clay. 🙂
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Make Tonight a Black-Tie Affair with Dior Addict Lip Gloss in Black-Tie Plum

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Antonia

Written by Antonia

If you decide to make tonight a black-tie affair, Swedish blogger Antonia (LOVE!) found just the thing to help. Scroll down for a peek in today’s guest post.

Dior Addict Lipgloss in Black-Tie Plum

When the Dior Holiday 2010 Collection finally arrived at stores in Sweden, of course I was first in line. I got the the Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Flash in the shade Black-Tie Plum 982, one of four glosses of its kind in the collection. Two of them are completely new colors, but the two others, Black-Tie Plum 982 being one of them, are repromotes.

This season has been all about darker plummy lip shades, and this particular lip gloss is not for the faint of heart. You can wear it lightly as a stain, but that can be difficult with the included brush.

The color reminds me of plums, red wine and, in certain lightning, even purple ink! It has a little red shimmer in it, too.

Dior Addict Lipgloss in Black-Tie Plum
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What’s Your Skin Care Routine? Here’s What I’m Doing Now

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I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours. 🙂 Every so often I’m asked about my skin care routine, and because I make little adjustments to it all the time, I thought I’d share the process and products I’m using now.

Heya Milkmaid21!

(Love your Twitter handle, BTW)

Although I try new skin care products and techniques all the time, I find myself returning to many of the same core products and tactics over and over again, especially when my combination dry/oily/acne-prone skin goes ballistic.

My Skin Care Routine: The Abridged Version

In the morning…

In the evening…

Then, one or two nights a week…

My Skin Care Routine: The Unabridged Version

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Bobbi Brown’s Two Pretty Powerful Palettes Pack Plenty of Pink to Spare

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Does going au natural always mean you have to go naked?

Not according to Bobbi Brown.

Next month, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of her Pretty Powerful campaign, which turned the tables on makeup modeling by turning real women into makeup models, the queen o’ neutrals is launching two new multipurpose palettes with products for eyes, lips and cheeks.

This season, I was inspired to ask my friends — not models — to be the faces for my new campaign. They’re pretty to begin with, but with just a few simple tweaks, they look their absolute, most confident best. That’s pretty powerful.
— Bobbi Brown

The purpose of the two palettes, the first called Pretty and the other one Powerful, was to put a pink twist on Bobbi’s signature natural nudes. She packed both of them with universally flattering shades, and all I have to say is HALLELUJAH! You know I love ya, Bobs, but there’s only so much brown, beige and gray a girl can take. 🙂

I’ve always loved a natural look, but that doesn’t have to mean nude color, and it certainly doesn’t mean washed-out color. The Pretty Powerful Palettes are filled with pink tones that range from soft to warm and even a shot of bright to create a healthy look, because nothing is more beautiful to me than a healthy complexion.
— Bobbi Brown

bobbi brown pretty powerful palette closed
The top of the Powerful palette shown here is black with pink typography; the Pretty one is pink on top with black typography

Both palettes are limited edition, which is a bummer. I don’t ever want to say bye to this packaging. I adore the casual handwritten font on the outside. I think it really sets the right tone considering the products inside. They’re a combination of new and repromoted colors — four neutral powder eye shadows, one powder blush and three lip colors.

The Pretty palette has a selection of lighter and cooler pinks, while the Powerful one broadcasts bolder and warmer shades. I’ve been wearing the products in the slightly more dramatic (well, dramatic for Bobbi) Powerful palette for a couple of days now, and I think I know what kind of girl might like them a lot; she falls for sheer eye makeup and likes to pair it with bold cheeks and lips.
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