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Before I became an illustrator/designer, I worked at Dior. It was one of my part-time jobs in college and a rewarding experience that sparked my love for fashion, luxury, and well…Dior.
I’ll always have a soft spot for the brand. I feel like they do everything with an understated (or, an amazingly dramatic!) elegance.
Their Summer 2016 Milky Dots Collection has a playfully elegant edge that I find refreshing for the classic brand, and here’s a look at some of my favorite pieces from the launch.
As much as I love Dior, I can’t believe I never tried the Diorshow Mono Eyeshadows before now!
I mean, I haven’t been totally living under a rock, because I do have an eyeshadow palette or two, and I LOVE the sparkly Diorshow Fusion Mono Eyeshadows. And I’m also a fan of Dior foundations and brow products, and these nail polishes look amazing, so I really have no excuse for not trying them sooner.
This spring Dior released nine new shades of their $29.50 Diorshow eyeshadow, and here are four of my favorites from the line: Gallery, a soft champagne gold with a satin/shimmer finish; Minimalism, a grayish taupe with a satin finish; Atmosphere, a cool-toned purple with a satin finish; and Power, a rich plum with a satin finish.
Here are two sets of swatches in different lighting:
These eyeshadows look pretty standard in their pans, but get them on your skin in the sun? Wow! They’re more complex than they seem, and there’s a really pretty (but subtle) shimmer running throughout. I think they’re great if you like matte shadows but want ones that won’t look so flat. I’m really surprised by how beautiful these eyeshadows are. If you’ve wondered about them, definitely take a look in a store! I don’t think that pictures online can do them justice.
Right now, I seriously can’t help smiling every time I look down at my nails. 🙂
I’ve had negative time for my nails since starting night classes, but the new Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kits ($31 each; three limited edition color combos available) remind me what a fun manicure can do to brighten my mood. Every time I’m driving or typing, I feel more put together!
I usually do my own nail painting, and I’ll stick to a few classic colors, rotating every two weeks or so, but I get bored of these same colors real fast. So, with these Polka Dots not only do I get two beautiful shades of the best polish formula (IMO), there are many ways to wear them together — or alone! If you can’t already tell, I’m completely smitten.
As part of the 2016 Dior Summer Milky Dots Collection, each manicure kit comes with two 0.23-oz. bottles and a sexy “Dior” branded dotting tool. The dotting tool has also been a pleasant surprise. Now I can easily draw with my other polishes too.
The color combos — in classic Dior fashion — are elegantly intriguing; my favorite being 002 Confettis. The light orange shade is really doing it for me…and I WILL be using it alone in the near future! I’ve had no issues with the lighter color showing up on the darker color either.
Dior nail polishes have an outstanding formula. They have a medium consistency and apply opaque with two coats using a wide brush. One of them, Junon, is one of the longest lasting polishes in my collection.
I always say that summer is without a doubt my favorite season.
But then spring comes around, and I’m not so sure anymore… I mean, I love the endless possibilities that come with long summer days, but the feeling of rebirth that spring brings is pretty hard to beat.
It’s so invigorating.
I love it when the freezing wintery air shifts into that warm spring breeze. You know, just taking a walk and soaking in the sun puts me in a better mood. The smell of freshly cut grass and new flowers is mildly intoxicating… In spring, I feel like I’m on a constant high.
I think that what makes me like spring so much is that it’s a big moment of change. As human beings, it’s usually the moments when (good) changes happen that give us that utter sense of joy. Later on, most of us tend to get used to what we have and lose that feeling of ecstatic excitement.
Besides the changes in the scenery and weather, spring also brings along changes in my beauty routine. There are a few products I always rediscover at this time of the year, and today I’m sharing them with you.
Aside from the occasional dusting of bronzer here and there, most of the time in winter I tend to embrace my corpse-like complexion, but once the sun comes out of the clouds and the leaves grow back on the trees, I’m all about that healthy, sunkissed look. Since my face and neck are usually a shade lighter than the rest of my body, in the spring and summer I like to use a self tanner to make sure everything matches.
The best one I’ve tried so far is the Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning lotion, a lightweight lotion that gives me a nice glow in two or three applications. The effect is pretty gradual and not too dramatic, so I think it’s well suited for fair/light complexions.
Being an oily-skinned gal, I can’t just grab any random SPF and slather it on my face… Some of them tend to feel pretty heavy and greasy, you know? But luckily, these days, there are quite a few options for us shiny girls in the sunscreen department! My current favorite is La Roche-Posay Anthelios Dry Touch Gel-Cream SPF 30, because besides looking perfectly matte upon application, it doesn’t make me oilier over time.
I’m always trying new products, but I thought it would be fun to share what have been my most-used makeup products lately. For me, these are the products that “just work,” and they’re the things I reach for when I want to throw something on my face without having to give it any thought. The colors are just right, and they help me achieve my signature look — glowy skin and pinky/nude lips. 🙂
I am a sucker for glowy, lightweight bases, and I’ve been constantly reaching for PUR Minerals HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation in Tan and NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Annapurna, which may be a tad too light for me, but it’s sheer enough that it still works.
The PUR Minerals foundation is amazing, by the way. Here are swatches and a full review. It’s available now at PUR Minerals for $39.
No brand matches my skin as well as NARS, and I love that NARS Pure Radiant has SPF 30. This was one of my first high-end foundations, and I’ve repurchased it time and again and will probably continue to do so because it’s a great everyday foundation. It’s available now at NARS Cosmetics for $44.
And, just to make sure my face is seriously glowy, I also like to use Pixi by Petra Glow Mist. It adds glow and helps my makeup last a bit longer. It’s definitely one of my favorite facial mists, and it’s available now at Target for $15.
Today was one of those days when I sat down to get ready, and I wanted to switch things up but still keep it casual.
Enter: navy blue.
I’ve got a red-orange earthy palette happening naturally, and I really like how navy blue brings out the brightness in my eyes.
Maybe my jumper inspired it; maybe I just like to be two-toned. We may never know! 🙂
So right now we need to talk about the new foundations in the Tarte Double Duty Beauty collection at Ulta. I recently tried the Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation ($39), a medium-to-full coverage foundation that promises to smooth, plump, blur, and moisturize for up to 12 hours. Recommended application is with this Double Duty Beauty Foundation Brush & Spatula ($30).
Despite its official moniker, “State of Gold,” Dior’s holiday 2015 collection could have been called “State of Gold and Gray,” because gray makes a memorable appearance. Dior played with the concept of mixed metals in this release, and even though gray is not a color that usually pops into my head when I think, “Yay! Holiday collections!” I think it really works here.
I’ve been wearing five of the 13 pieces in the release, which is available now at dior.com and coming to Dior stores and counters this November, and I’m impressed by the way Dior handles these mixed metals.
But first! — why gray and gold? Well, both are iconic, signature colors at the House of Dior, much like beige and black are over at Chanel.
But with this collection, Dior handles the two colors in what I think are unconventional ways, like what they’ve done here with the eyeshadow palette I’ve been wearing, Blazing Gold. There’s a cool gold in the center next to a gray shade, but the gray isn’t just one of those blasé run-of-the-mill grays. No, it’s a breathtaking shimmery taupe-ish gray with flecks of cool golden micro glitter.
Seriously, it’s so beautiful that I almost can’t take it! — and when you wet it and wear it as an eye liner? Great Caesar’s ghost, it sparkles like 100 Leonid meteor showers. Gimme dat sparkly gold and gray! 🙂
I love funky combos and interesting ideas like that, and Dior does it again with the Gris-Or Nail Lacquer, where they combined gold and gray in the nail polish. I never would have expected it to work — a mix of metallic gold and metallic platinum? — but I think it totally does.
I’ve worn two of the four lacquers in the collection — gold and platinum Gris-Or and creamy, classic red Passion — and I like them both.
And can we just talk about Dior’s nail polish brush for a second? Isn’t it the best thing ever?! Flat and wide, it covers my entire nail from base to tip in a single swipe, and that brush tip is a beast. I love the crescent moon shape; it perfectly fits along the base of my nails, creating crisp, clean lines every time. It never leaves a mess, either, by getting polish on my cuticles.
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There is absolutely no freakin’ way that matte-heavy eyeshadow looks are even remotely acceptable among members of the makeup-loving mermaid community, and I know this for a fact.
Actually, I don’t really know that for a fact, since I haven’t kicked it with any of my mermaid friends lately, but if I had, they would DEFINITELY be rollin’ with shimmer.
So…why am I talking about mermaids??
Excellent question.
Well, because it’s late August, and even though I’m excited about fall, I’m still sad to see summer go. *sad tabby face* 🙁
I was thinking about the beach this morning (I haven’t been once this year!), and that led me to think about mermaids, and about mermaid water babies basking on the rocks with their shimmery tails swishing in the crystal clear waters and their subtle blue and green eye makeup sparkling in the sun…
So that’s what I was going for here.
For the record, this look is also appropriate for landlubbers, so you don’t need to have a mermaid tail to wear it, although that would be pretty rad.
I think this is a good look for late summer parties and barbecues, or maybe a back-to-school party where everyone gets kinda dressed up. Or, if you’re heading someplace fabulous that just so happens to have lively nightlife and be located near a warm body of water. Or, if you just want something shimmery to wear while you walk your cat around your neighborhood.
It’s a good look for multiple occasions. 🙂
Now, honey, if you just scrolled down, I know this look might seem impossible based on the number of steps, but you can do it! — even if you’re a straight-up beginner.
If you’ve never attempted anything like this before, though, cut yourself some slack. It’s OK and perfectly normal if it looks like shimmery poo the first few times, and it probably will, unless you’re a makeup wunderkind. But so what? Rome wasn’t built in a day.
OK, enough gabbing… Let’s do this.
Get yo’ base on that face, because we’re not about to leave the house without a little something-something. For this shimmery mermaid look, I like a full-coverage base because I think it balances out the bold eyes and false lashes.
Go with your fullest coverage foundation, concealer and powder, if you need to. Doing a goofy face while you do this is completely optional but highly encouraged. 🙂
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