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Hot Coral Lips and Silver Fingertips for Chanel Summer 2010

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All morning long I’ve been JWoWW-ing over the makeup that Karl and Co. sent down the runway for Chanel’s Spring/Summer Haute Couture show in Paris earlier this week. Turns out the look was a sneak peak at a couple of soon-to-be launched pieces from their summer makeup collection.

Karl gave Peter Philips, the Global Creative Director of Chanel Makeup, three key images to inspire the makeup for the show: neon baroque, chemical pastels and liquid silver. Oh, Karl! You so crazy. 🙂
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Les Impressions de Chanel and Productivity Problems

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For the life of me, I couldn’t concentrate at all this afternoon. I was hoping to get ahead on some things, but I guess my mind had other plans. I kept thinking about the movie I saw last night, It’s Complicated, starring Meryl Streep (woman has GAME!), Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

It would’ve been perfect — authentic, complex characters and a funny, touching story — had Alec Baldwin kept his clothes on!

There are simply too many scenes with him (still lovin’ ya, Alec!) in various states of undress, and now I have these images, hopefully temporary, of his rotund, furry tummy burned onto my retinas. 🙂

I did all sorts of fooling around this afternoon to get my mind back on track… Some involved a handsome tabby cat.

Others involved Photoshop and random pictures of pretty things on my desk…


Clarins Gentle Beauty Soap, $15


Kate Spade Beauty Shop Small Manuela cosmetics case, $95

Which leads me to Chanel: What do ya think about Chanel’s Les Impressions collection for spring? I think it looks pretty good in a collage. 🙂
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The Chanel Les Impressions Nail Polishes and My Thursday Manicure

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Ladies, can I get a little help? The MAC mani I rocked earlier this week now features more chips than a Cheetos convention (that’s what I get for skipping the top coat, DOH!). It’s time for something new.

I’m in the mood for springy, like one of the three polishes from Les Impressions de Chanel ($23 each). Have you had a chance to see ’em yet?

Particuliere goes on like a creamy grayish brown. I really dig the color and coverage, and two coats is all it takes for opaque nails with nary a streak. Of all three spring shades, it’s the one I’m guessing will have the widest appeal, looking great on ladies with skin tones from warm to cool, light to dark. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Chanel Particuliere Les Impressions de Chanel Spring 2010 1
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Chanel Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Color: An Ode to Mademoiselle

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For more fun with Chanel Rouge Coco ($30 each; avail. Feb. 25)…

Chanel Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour

Just a quick heads up for my Chanel fiends and lip lovahs! 🙂 Brace those lurvely lips for Coco’s upcoming Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour line of hydrating lipsticks.

Okay, are your lips sufficiently braced?

These couple pics from the European print ad campaign show it in action on French actress/singer Vanessa Paradis, aka Johnny Depp’s baby mama.

OOH! Don’t the colors look rich?

More deets…

  • Based on a lipstick design dating back to 1952… The team responsible for the new line tried to create lipsticks that Coco would’ve worn herself
  • Each lippie’s named after an influential period in Coco’s life, with names like Camelia (a deep rose), Mademoiselle (a soft pink) and Paris (a bright red)
  • The line will feature 30 different shades across four color families: roses-pink (nine shades), reds-corals (eight shades), violets-berries (four shades) and neturals-brown (nine shades)
  • Rouge Coco will replace the existing Rouge Hydrabase line
  • The formula includes a compound Chanel calls “Hydratendre Complex” to sooth and soften lips

source, source and source

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Peep the Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour line at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s stores, as well as Chanel.com, this March.

I’m counting down the days! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Yet another French beauty tidbit: Kerastase Paris is launching a new line of hair products on January 19 called Age Premium, a four-piece collection of shampoos, conditioners and treatments to address hair probs like thinning, dry scalp and uneven texture. I have some crispy-noodle white hairs (so NOT cute) buried up in my mane that are eager to give the new products a try…

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Look for ’em at salons and Kerastase.com.

Chanel Spring 2010 Les Impressions de Chanel Collection: A Friday Lip Look

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The weekend’s officially ON! 🙂
WOOT!
Tabs and I kicked ours off early. He spent the afternoon at the spa (aka the bathroom sink), while I clocked out early to take pictures of spring’s Les Impressions de Chanel collection.

MUSICAL SIDE NOTE: Hall and Oats, the song One on One — It’s about basketball, right?

I’ll have more swatches up soon, but I wanted to show you the plummy brown lip look I did for Tabs.

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Just fooling around I decided to add a layer of Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Colour in Rose Agate (a plummy brown cream, $34) on top of Glossimer in Maline (a shimmery gold, $27).

I kinda like how it turned out!

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From left to right: Rose Agate, Maline

Speaking of one on one, I bet this would play nicely with Benefit Sugarbomb (a sheer, plummy peach with golden shimmer) or the neutral blushes from MAC Ages, All Races, All Sexes…

Try to stay warm

Is it cold where you are? I am freezin’ my bum off right now, ladies. It’s colder than Häagen-Dazs up in here!
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Chanel Sparkling Satins Eyeshadow Quad: An Unsung Makeup Hero

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Sometimes, when I rifle through my makeup, I feel like a deep-sea explorer — like the Jacques Cousteau of cosmetics 🙂 — discovering new species of lipgloss and learning more about the many products that inhabit my personal makeup world, LOL!

I get a big kick out of rediscovering great products that I haven’t worn in months, like the Sparkling Satins Eyeshadow quad from Chanel ($56).

You see, I have a chronic case of makeup ADD. It’s almost debilitating, and Chanel’s stunning limited edition quads always make it worse.

When I recently reconnected with the cool-toned Sparkling Satins quad (comes with four powder shadows; I’d picked it up a few months ago at a Chanel master class), part of Chanel’s permanent line, I suddenly realized how lost I’d been without her.

Each of the four shades — a buttery gold, a light blueish gray, a silvery pink and a gunmetal gray with silver glitter — can do for eyes what only a two-week tropical getaway with a shirtless Ryan Reynolds could do. In other words, they do a lot.

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When I’m in the mood for more color than something like the NARS Kalahari can give me (big on the neutral shades), I’ll reach for something like the Sparkling Satins Eyeshadow quad.

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How to fake REM sleep

Here’s my favorite way to wear Sparkling Satins…
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How to Attend a Free Chanel Master Makeup Class

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Did you know Chanel provides free makeup classes for customers? The sessions are called Chanel Master Classes, and I went to my very first one last Saturday at my neighborhood Macy’s store.

Department store-sponsored makeup classes typically involve a group of customers observing how an artist applies makeup to a model. I’ve been to a few of them before, and while they’re fun (especially if you go with a friend) and good for a tip or two, they aren’t hands-on and can be kinda boring.

But there was nothing boring about the Chanel Master Class. Chanel makes sure you get your feet wet, so to speak. Instead of merely observing someone else apply makeup, you also get to do your own.

Interactive, Small Classes

Class sizes are kept small — just 12-16 students — so you don’t feel lost in the crowd. You get your own work station, complete with hand-held mirror and a cup filled with gloriously silky Chanel brushes. As an instructor demonstrates each technique on a model in the front of the class, you get to follow along with them, duplicating each technique on yourself.

In addition to the main instructor at the front of the class, a Chanel artist also sits with you to help you pick out colors and to be available to answer any questions you might have. Education + makeup + fun + snacks (cookies, crackers and bottled water) = Karen’s idea of a hella good time. 🙂

These courses are more than simply an opportunity to learn (not that there’s anything wrong with learning); you also get to play with soooo much Chanel. The entire Chanel makeup line is at your disposal to test, touch and drool over. HOLLA!

And if you know what products you want to try beforehand, you can ask your makeup artist for help. So awesome!

Going into the class, I knew I wanted to try the Emerald Coast eye shadow duo and Indigo Inimitable mascara…

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I ended up doing a light smokey green eye with nude lips and cheeks.

The Chanel Products I Chose to Use


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