Chanel Spring 2013 Collection - Printemps Precieux de Chanel

The spring collection from Chanel has just arrived on the company's website and this is the collection that I tend to look forward to the most every single season.  Reading the biography of Coco Chanel during my winter break has made me love this company even more and now I want to start saving up for a quilted bag...in addition to all the makeup and fragrances that I already want from this collection.  I have a list of fragrances that I want to order from the website (many of the fragrances are not available at the counters and I will need to order them from website or buy them at a freestanding Chanel store) and I still have a list of products that I haven't gotten to try yet.  In addition to everything else that I want, I am still falling more in love with the Illusion d'Ombre shadows that I own and I am always hoping that new shades will come out every single season.  I wonder what spring will hold for me...

I can't decide what items I am most excited about, I love the nail polishes every season but I want new lip shades and more eye makeup too.  Is it sad that my local Chanel counter manager knows me by name? 

"Precious pinks and rich plums awaken the vibrancy of Spring for lip and nail, with a fresh makeup palette inspired by Gabrielle Chanel’s codes of simplicity and sophistication."  More pinks are just what I wanted for this spring season!!

Here is the newest collection from Chanel!

Vitalumiere Moisture Rich Radiance Sunscreen Fluid Makeup - The ultimate solution to tired skin, the best-selling CHANEL foundation instantly revitalizes the complexion upon application — and throughout the day. The formula has been updated with ingredients to specifically target dry, dull and uneven skin, and moisturizing agents to provide hydration and comfort. A marine extract boosts cell energy to enhance radiance, and light-reflecting pigments smooth away imperfections, creating a soft-focus effect. Creamy and luxuriously lightweight, this essential daily foundation blends effortlessly for perfectly smooth, even-toned, radiant skin. Available in a range of shades to suit all skintones.

Poudre Signee de Chanel Illuminating Powder - A limited-edition creation, this sheer highlighting powder is artfully embossed with the icons of Chanel. Bringing a fresh vitality to the face, the soft pink powder lightly dusts over cheekbones and high points to capture and reflect light with a delicate luminosity. Part of the PRINTEMPS PRÉCIEUX DE CHANEL Collection.

Joues Contraste Powder Blush - Unique powder blusher offers buildable coverage, from natural to dramatic, and imparts a flattering radiance to cheeks. Remarkably silky texture ensures easy application of seamless colour. Applied high on the cheekbone, or near the eyes, it instantly 'lifts' and softens the face for a more youthful look.
- 76 Frivole - deep peachy coral

Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow - One essential compact offers unlimited eye looks, with shade combinations that range from matte to satin to shimmer. Versatile smudge-proof formula can be applied dry for subtle shading, or dampened for more intense colour, all with long-wearing results -- in even extreme climates. Dermatologist tested.
- 39 Raffinement - deep rose shimmer/pale champagne shimmer/medium tan shimmer/deep mahogany shimmer

Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner - Waterproof, smudge-proof eyeliner delivers long-lasting definition with a twist of the wrist: Colour winds up when you need it, winds down when you don't. Gentle, soft, silicone-enriched formula delivers smooth, even lining. A built-in sharpener at the opposite end detaches for quick refreshes.
- 89 Or Rose - medium gold with shimmer finish
- 100 Santal - deep chocolate brown with gold shimmer
- 102 Beryl - medium champagne shimmer

Rouge Allure Lumimous Intense Lip Colour - The next generation of ROUGE ALLURE dresses lips with unmistakable attitude. A new formula with concentrated, ultra-thin pigments offers radically intense colour with full coverage and a satin finish. Leaves lips supple and protected with lasting comfort.
- 112 Fantasque - medium nude cream
- 114 Precieuse - medium neutral peach cream
- 116 Envootante - deep cool purple cream
- 119 Capivante - medium dusty rose cream

Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss Pure Shine Intense Colour Long Wear Lip Gloss - CHANEL reveals a next generation lipgloss – with colour so rich and shine so intense, it could only be inspired by the iconic lipstick, ROUGE ALLURE. Bold colour combines with the smoothest, silkiest gel texture for luxurious wear and deeply dramatic effect. Lips feel comfortable – never sticky or tacky – and look luminous, full and sensuous for hours. The double-sided, flocked applicator is beveled to deliver ultra-precise definition.
- 69 Merveille - medium cool mauve cream
- 70 Attriance - medium nude cream

Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Colour - Elevating matte to a new elegance, this next-generation, non-drying matte lipstick glides on lips with intensely rich colour and a sumptuously soft, velvet matte finish.
- 42 L'Eclatante - bright matte pink blue
- 43 La Favorite - medium warm matte coral

Le Crayon Levres Precision Lip Definer - Enhance the shape of your lips and give them perfect definition with this creamy-textured pencil. Long-lasting, full-coverage colour with a semi-matte finish glides on to soften and soothe lips, and ensures lipstick stays in place while extending its wear. Makeup-artistry touches for the most professional-looking result: a built-in brush for blending, and a lip pencil sharpener for precise application.
- 58 Rubellite - muted rose pink
- 59 Palissandre - deep brown

Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Colour - Glorious long-lasting colour paired with high-shine gloss delivers full-coverage colour that lasts all day. Glossy top coat imparts brilliant shine and superb hydration, while the innovative fluid texture of the base colour coat applies smoothly, comfortably, with perfect adherence to lips - and no transferring or feathering.
- 11 Rose Pearl - medium neutral rose shimmer

Inimitable Intense Mascara Multi-Dimensional Sophistique - This technologically advanced formula builds on the success of the original mascara, delivering dramatic effects with a unique brush. The result is a more intense lash look, with the same easy application. Lashes appear longer, thicker and more curled, yet each lash, even the finest, is still precisely separated – without clumping, spiking or flaking.
- 10 Noir - deep black

Le Vernis Nail Colour - Classic and trend-defining shades from the runways of Paris. State-of-the-art formula strengthens and moisturizes nails as it delivers long-wearing, high-shine, chip-resistant colour. Applies evenly without streaking.  All Chanel nail products are formaldehyde-free, toluene-free and DBP-free.
- 569 Emprise - neutral pink beige cream
- 571 Fracas - vibrant pink cream
- 573 Accessoire - deep plum red cream

This is collection of contrasts, the shades are from all aspects of the color range.  I am thinking about all the looks I can create with these products and how I can wear some of them and then all of them in the spring months, this collection will allow you to create any type of eye and lip looks from subtle to dramatic.  The model for the collection is more about the dramatic lip look, she is wearing lighter eye makeup and the bright pink matte lipstick shade (L'Eclatante), I love this look and this is the look that I want to wear all throughout the spring months.  The lipstick shade is my top choice from this collection and then my second choice is the Les 4 Ombres, I will use the entire compact now and then again in the fall months but I will only use the lighter shades in the spring.  These are two two pieces that I really need from this collection even though there are still more that I would like to own.

If I can do some more shopping from this collection, the next item that I would love to own is the Fracas shade in Le Vernis, this bright pink is really pretty and will be perfect for spring.  However I already own a very similar shade from OPI in my collection (Kiss Me On My Tulips from the Holland collection) and therefore I will not be heartbroken if I get to the counter and it is already sold out.  The new shades in Stylo Yeux also really catch my eye, each of these shades will really complement my blue eyes and I bet that I will end buying at least one of them the next time that I go to the counter.  Lastly, the new shade in the Rouge Double gloss will look great with my skin and I will be about to wear it in a professional environment or when going out.  This collection really gives me some great choices for the spring months.

There are two products that I really don't want or need.  The blush shade is much too warm for my skin and I wouldn't find it flattering at all.  The Poudre Signee de Chanel is a very lovely highlighter but I know that this is one of those products that I would gaze at in wonder rather than actually use it and I don't have room in my traincase for items that I doubt that I would ever use so I will skip over this one this time around.  This is pretty big collection and for there only be two products that I really don't like is pretty good for any collection.

Printemps Precieux de Chanel (Chanel's Precious Spring) is one of my prettiest collections that I have looked at so far and I know that it will be one of my favorites of the season.  I will be visiting this counter the next time that I go to Macy*s...

photo courtesy of Chanel

OPI and Mariah Carey Nail Polish Collection

OPI has released a very early first spring nail polish collection, I still believe that there is another full color collection coming out later for spring.  I have heard rumors that the full spring collection is another travel collection, with all the polishes being inspired by major cities and landmarks all over the European Union...how many will I buy just because I love the city or the place?!  The Holland collection from last spring is still a favorite of mine from them and I know that this spring's collection will end up being another favorite of mine.  Nail polish storage is going to be an issue this spring (even more than it already is!)...

But until the European collection releases in the next few months, the Mariah Carey collection is nw.  Mariah Carey is not a musical artist that I am a big fan of, I loved the song "Butterfly" several years ago but I haven't really listened to her since then so this collection doesn't hold the appeal for me that it will hold for her longtime fans.  I can see this collection selling really quickly, her fans will buy every single shade no matter what they look like.  I will always thank Mariah for her influence on Deborah Lippmann though.  Mariah is the person that suggested to Lippmann that she should start her own product line and polish formula and I have been using Lippmann products for years now...

This collection introduces a new finish to the OPI polish line up, the Liquid Sand finish.  This is one of the first (if not the first) textured polishes from OPI, it reminds me very much of the Velvet Manicure from Ciate however this formula does not require more than one step.  I would be likely to buy one shade in this finish just to try it out (assuming that there is any shade that I like that comes in the Liquid Sand finish that is).

"Mariah Carey by OPI introduces 8 new Limited Edition shades, selected personally by Mariah Carey."  So far this collection is only available on the OPI website so I imagine that it will come to Ulta and most major salons very soon. 

First we will look at the traditional finish polishes in this collection and then go onto the Liquid Sand finish shades.  Anti-bleak is the first shade in this collection, it is a deep magenta cream that would be great for the fall or winter on pale skin hues but would only work for the spring months if you have a deeper skin tone.  I like this shade but don't love it enough to purchase it so I will put this shade on the backburner for now.  The next of the traditional finish shades is Sprung, a deep copper metallic shade.  This shade will be awful on me, it is too warm for me to pull off and this looks nothing liek the shades that will be in style this spring.  This shade would be very flattering on a skintone like Mariah's but since hers' in nothing like mine, this shade will go on the "no" list for me.  A Butterfly Moment is the third shade, this obviously was named after her hit "Butterfly" and is a pale pink with a shimmer finish.  This is the only shade that would be flattering to my skintone so far and therefore is the only one that I am even considering buying.  Pink Yet Lavender is the last shade without the Liquid Sand finish and is the most unique shade in the collection.  This shade is a clear base with huge pieces of pink and lavender glitter suspended in it, this would be a great top coat for any pink, purple, blue, or even gray polish shade.  This is the only other shade that I would even consider buying from this set, this shade would really compliment many of my current polish hues but I run very hot and cold with glitter top coats, I own a few but don't use them very often.

Now onto the Liquid Sand finish part of the collection.  Liquid Sand dries to a matte finish that has the texture of small sand grains on the nail.  Get Your Number is a medium blue polish with a jelly finish that is spiked with all sizes of silver glitter.  I like this shade but everything will depend on my thoughts on the Liquid Sand polishes.  I love blue nail polishes and normally I would be all over this shade (if it was a traditional finish from OPI).  The second of the Liquid Sand polishes is Can't Let Go, a grape purple shade with the same style of multiple sizes of silver glitter in the mix.  I don't like the grape purple shade anyway so this one is off the shopping list already.  the Impossible is a bright warm pink jelly finish with huge pieces of silver star glitter mixed in, I hate this shade.  The pink is too wamr for me and the star glitter just pushes it into child territory, I cannot see any grown woman seriously wearing this polish...  The last of the Liquid Sand finsh is Stay the Night, a deep black cream spiked with bright pink glitter.  I am not a fan of this shade either so I will be skipping over this one too.  The only shade that I find attractive in the Liquid Sand line up is the Get Your number shade and this is the only one that I would consider buying...

But I HATE the Liquid Sand finish...I find it so ugly.  My description of this finish is "what happens when your nails are still slightly tacky and you accidently press them up against a cloth".  Basically, this finish just looks like an accident, if my manicure looked like this, I would be redoing it since I would never wear it out in public.  Therefore this pretty much kills me buying the Get Your Number shade. 

Since I hate the Liquid Sand finish, I would only consider buying shades from the traditional finish part of the collection.  The only shade that I considering buying from this group is the pale pink shade, I don't love the shade, I like it and I know that I will get lots of use from it but I won't die without it.  This is not a collection for me and I will be looking forwward to the full spring collection from this company instead of shopping now.

photo courtesy of OPI

Smashbox Spring 2013 Collection - Love Me

The spring collections are really coming out faster and faster this week, I see a bunch more that are coming out and now I am planning on adding more items to my shopping list for the month, I need skincare more than color but after I replace a few pieces of facecare...the color and perfume shopping begins!  I have noticed that I seem to be gravitating toward lots of pink hues already and I am envisioning how large my lip product collection is going to grow and how many new shades of pink I will be adding to it.  Last fall, I was all about trying to buy more eye makeup since every spring I tend to buy more lip items than any other season.  I didn't do quite as well with that I would have hoped but I cannot resist adding more lip hues to my lipstick and gloss collection!

Love Me is the spring collection that Smashbox just released, this reminds me of the collection that was released in the spring of 2010.  Both of these two collections were released very early in the season and reminded me more of Valentine's Day than just a spring collection.  Now every single year, I whine and complain about Valentine's Day and this year will end up being no exception (I'm sure) however pretty makeup and beauty products created for this holiday can still make me happy.  I loved that collection from Smashbox and I first saw the products in the Sephora on Fifth Avenue and I fell in love with the huge Smashbox display that that store has.  Cannot wait to get an MBA and move to the city...

This collection is available in all forms on the Smashbox website and I see a few select pieces on the Sephora website so I assume that it will be fully released at Sephora in a few days.  "An epic collaboration with world-renowned artist Curtis Kulig that brings his signature message from the street to our sets - and to you!  As major as this collaboration is, as universal as the concept is, it's sometimes hard to believe that is was literally done over lunch.  It took all of a minute to decide that Smashbox Cosmetics and artist Curtis Kulig - with his famous "Love Me" mark - needed to work together."

Here is the Love Me collaboration...

Love Me Eye Shadow Palette - Art meets beauty with these collectible palettes etched with Curtis Kulig's iconic "Love Me" mark. Both palettes-one with perfectly on-trend shades and another with to-die-for neutrals-include 5 highly pigmented, blendable shadows.
- Admire Me - champagne/matte nude/soft shimmering coral/bronze/deep golden brown
- Entice Me - sparkling purple/icy blue/deep sparkling navy/icy pink/purple taupe

Love Me Be Legendary Lipstick - Developed to match artist Curtis Kulig's signature colors, our creamy formula makes your pout pop like a work of art! Plus, it's packed with vitamins A & E and shea butter for major moisturization.
- Love Me - deep cool red cream
- Tempt Me - medium warm coral cream

Love Me Lip Enhancing Gloss - Paint on a lip look to love! Inspired by the work of artist Curtis Kulig, our signature gloss is sure to give your pout high-impact, pop-art shine.
- Adore Me - fuchsia pink
- Charm Me - nude pink

Love Me Paint Pen Eye Liner - We've turned artist Curtis Kulig's signature paint pen into the ultimate liquid liner! It's a must for creating edgy, epic eye looks.
- Jet Black - deep true black

Love Me Blush - Our ultra-luxe blush inspired by the work of artist Curtis Kulig-your face is the canvas, this blush brings the flush!
- Idolize Me - poppy pink

I love this entire collection, if this is the way that the spring collections are going to be then it is going to be a very good season for my style (and a very bad season for my wallet!).  While I must admit that there is nothing uber-unique in this collection and I bet that I could easily find almost all of these shades from many other companies, I want so many products from this collection because they will all be perfect for me. 

To start with, I want the neutral eye shadow palette (I added the picture to this post).  These neutrals will work very well with all the shades in the Urban Decay Naked Palettes and I will be able to create all kinds of nude eye looks with these palettes.  This is one of those essential palettes that I will able to use the second that I receive and then all the way into the spring and summer.  Admire Me contains a great mix of matte and shimmer shades and I can't wait to try this palette out.  In addition to the great neutral eye looks that I can create with this palette, I want to see how many of these shades I can mix with rose and pink eye shadow shades, I will be loving the rose gold eye look this spring too and it seems that it will be trendy again this spring season. 

The lip and cheek shades are just the icing on the cake for this collection.  I love the red lipstick hue in this collection, it looks slightly more rose than a bright blue red and I don't own many rose red lipsticks so this will fill a hole in my lipstick collection.  I like both of the lip glosses but I only really want the Charm Me shade, the nude pink will be a staple for me and will work against any kind of bronze eye look that I can some up with this spring.  I don't really love the fuchsia shade, it is pretty but I tend not to mix bright colors with lots of shimmer.  I just prefer my bright lip glosses with more a shiny and cream finish and miminal shimmer.  If this lip gloss was a cream, then I think that I would be all over it.  The blush shades is another great pink, I have never used a blush from Smashbox so I first I want to try this at Sephora and see if the pigmentation can hold a candle to the formulas from NARS and Illamasqua, if not this product will not be coming home with me.

Love Me will not become my mantra and I will not be embracing Valentine's Day this year either but at least I can look good on this holiday...

photo courtesy of Smashbox

Benefit Primping with the Stars

Last fall, we saw Benefit release a bunch of great palettes right in a row and this spring will be no different.  I think that I see at least two or three new ones on the Sephora website and we aren't even out of the first week of January yet, who knows what else will be waiting for us over the next few weeks.  Primping with the Stars is the first set that really got my attention, I loved the name and it jumped out at me right when I was browsing on the Sephora website.  This is a set that contains some of the best selling and cult items from Benefit, I can already see two of my favorites from this company: They're Real! Mascara and The Pore-fessional Pro Balm.  They're Real! is one of the few mascaras that I would ever repurchase and the primer is one of the best for the warmer weather months (for skin that isn't as dry as mine, this would be a good priming choice for every season in the year).  I also spy the Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain, my first product ever from this company and one that I still use.  I wonder what other cult Benefit favorites will work for me now...

This set is exclusive to Sephora so I will pull all of my information from this company's website.  "An all-time greatest “fake-its” kit for face, cheeks, eyes, and lips that'll make them all starstruck.  Primp yourself to star-worthy status! This collection of Benefit’s iconic favorites for the face, cheeks, eyes, and lips will make you red-carpet gorgeous. Now that’s cause for applause!"

The products in the set!

Stay Don't Stray Stay-Put Primer - A 360 degree primer for concealers and eye shadows.  Tell your eye makeup to stay, don't stray! This dual-action primer works 360 degrees around the eyes to make concealers and eye shadows REALLY stay put. Concealers never crease and eye shadows stay vibrant and true—you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!  Stay Don't Stray preps, protects, AND perfects!  Preps: The lightweight formula blends seamlessly into skin, brightens eye area to minimize the appearance of fine lines, and comes in a universally flattering nude shade.  Protects: Hydrates with sodium hyaluronate to lock in moisture, fights signs of aging with vitamins C & E, and does not contain parabens.  Perfects: It's long-wearing to keep makeup looking fresh, locks on ALL concealers & eye shadows and prevents creasing of eye makeup.

Some Kind-A-Gorgeous Foundation - A sheer, oil-free, cream-to-powder complexion perfector.  This lightweight, translucent, foundation-like product smoothes out imperfections and evens skin tone with a silky, smooth finish that's super natural and super gorgeous.
- Medium - sheer natural beige

Benetint Rose-Tinted Lip and Cheek Stain - The original—and still the best—rose-tinted cheek and lip stain.  Benefit Benetint is a kiss-proof and smudge-proof, indelibly sheer tint. It gives an innocent yet provocative glow to keep everyone guessing, "what has she been up to?"  It's the sexiest flush you can get from a bottle.
- Benetint - rose

The Pore-fessional Pro Balm - A PRO balm that minimizes the appearance of pores.  The POREfessional quickly minimizes the appearance of pores. Apply this silky, lightweight balm to achieve translucent pore coverage and smoother-than-smooth skin. Pores—now you see 'em, now you don't!  Oil-free. Instructions included.

Girl Meets Pearl Liquid Pearl for Face - This soft, golden-pink liquid pearl luminizer features light-reflecting pigments to give your complexion an exquisite, dewy glow. It includes raspberry & chamomile, known for their soothing properties…and sweet almond seed extract known to help improve skin firmness & smoothness. Pat it on over blush to highlight cheekbones with a pop of pearly pleasure!  Pat & blend over makeup for eye-catching luminescence. Wondering how much to apply? One twist for subtle sheen…two or more for dewy radiance.
- Girl Meets Pearl - rose gold shimmer

They're Real! Beyond Mascara - A jet-black mascara that lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts, and separates lashes for a spectacular "out-to-here" look.  This mascara features an exclusive brush specially designed to maximize the performance of the long-wearing, glossy formula revealing lashes you never knew you had! Staggered bristles grab close to the root, boosting length and volume beyond belief. The precision bristles on the custom-domed tip lift, define, and curl even your tiniest lashes. The end result is luxurious, silky lashes that won't smudge, clump, or dry out. 

I am thinking that buying this set would be a great choice for me, I already know that I will use and love three of the products.  Both the primer and the mascara are top choices of mine and I would never turn down a reason to pick up some more of these two products.  And if i can get more of these two products and then try some new ones out yet too?!  I want this set!

Girl Meets Pearl is the product that I am most interested in, I want to use it over blush when I go out at night.  I do think that it might be too much for the daytime hours but will look wonderful at night to brighten up my pale skin this time of the year.  This product could make my winter pale skin look a million times better.  I am always game to try a new eye shadow primer so I will use the Stay, Don't Stray that is included with this set, I love it when I can find a new formula of eye shadow primer that works as well at the Urban Decay version of the product, I need to have a few good formulas just in case Urban Decay would be sold out of what I want or change up their formula. 

The foundation shade in this set might be too dark for me, I would have to hold this product until next summer when I have used self-tanner a few times.  I typically would only use a power formula during the warm weather months anyway, my skin is too dry in the fall and winter for it to work well.  I will have to put this product on the back burner for the moment.

So far I love the new sets from Benefit and I am so excited to see what other sets come out in the next few months!

photo courtesy of Sephora

Urban Decay Spring 2013 Collection

Urban Decay was a favorite line of mine for many years and even though I haven't been buying as much from then recently, I still treasure their Naked palettes and use them at least three or four times a week.  The company has released their spring collection and I cannot wait to see what the newest addition to the Naked family is, I feel that new pieces of the collection have been coming out almost every single season and I want to know what is in store for spring.  We have already looked at na introduction and overview of the new Naked Basics eye makeup palette, the matte version of the two best selling palettes.  I see that this palette is included with the spring collection, we will briefly touch upon it if you missed the original write up but I will not go into much detail until I have purchased the palete and played around with each shade.  While I am excited for all the new products that will come out with this collection, I think that I am the most excited about the Beauty Balm that is coming out with this collection.  I need to start using this type of product and I want to see how they perform against my favorite tinted moisturizer formulas...

With this collection, I can again see that Urban Decay has re-released another one of their great eye shadow palettes from years past, the Ammo palette.  I do not believe that I own the Ammo palette but I am sure that I already owned eye shadow shades from it in other palettes and in all the singles that I have bought.  I own way more eye shadow palettes from this company than any other.  I wonder if I need to own this palette this time around.  Lastly, I am so excited that new shades from been released in the Lip Junkie Lip Gloss formula, I started using this product when a small gloss came with the Naked 2 Palette and I bought another shade very soon but only found a few shades that I liked enough to wear.  I hope that these new shades will appeal to me!

The newest collection of products from Urban Decay!

Naked Skin Beauty Balm - Minimize pores, lines, wrinkles and redness instantly. Get significantly firmer, more lifted skin in 8 weeks.  It’s not just any beauty balm—it’s Naked Skin Beauty Balm—the BB cream with INSANE benefits. Unlike a lot of beauty balms, Naked Skin delivers measurable anti-aging benefits—and we’ve got the claims to prove it. And while many beauty balms are tinted to provide coverage, ours diffuses light with high-tech pigments to give you amazing, natural, NAKED-looking skin that keeps getting better every week.  Naked Skin is like an instant retoucher in a tube! This multitasking formula:
- Perfects: Optical blurring pigment instantly evens out skin tone and minimizes pores, lines, wrinkles and redness.
- Protects: SPF 20 shields skin from sun damage and Pepha®-Protect helps inhibit DNA damage.
- Treats: Vitasource™ and dGlyage® firm skin, improve elasticity and provide measurable anti-aging benefits.
- Primes: Extremely blendable formula creates a smooth finish so makeup goes on beautifully and stays put.
- Hydrates: Moisturizing but never greasy, Naked Skin Beauty Balm hydrates skin instantly and improves hydration over time.
This lightweight, velvety, oil-free miracle works instantly AND over the long term! Blur flaws in seconds and get serious anti-aging benefits in just 8 weeks—the kind that will have your friends BEGGING to know your secret. The universal shade glides on and dries down to a translucent, flawless finish that works on most skin tones. And did we mention the light-diffusing spheres that make you look professionally retouched? You’ll definitely look better Naked!
Naked Basics Eye Shadow Palette - Our first MATTE palette, featuring six gorgeously Naked neutrals to build on or wear alone—including four never-before-seen shades.  Naked Basics is more than just the long-awaited, multipurpose MATTE companion to Naked. It’s the palette EVERY woman needs in her beauty arsenal. With six stripped-down, Nakedly neutral shadows, it has everything you need for the perfect neutral matte eye—including four totally new and exclusive shades.  Use these shadows to contour, line and highlight to create the right amount of definition for any occasion. Or for the days when you’re craving more color, pair them with your fiercest, boldest shadows. Richer than other mattes, the color goes on with a smooth, luxe finish (never chalky or powdery). There’s even one demi-matte shade, Venus, which has the tiniest touch of satin—perfect for highlighting and adding dimension.  While this palette is small, we loaded it with full-size shadow pans, just like our other Naked palettes. Every shade features our Pigment Infusion System™, a vehicle for color that holds tightly to pigment and gives the formula its glide. The proprietary blend of ingredients allows color to weave itself through the Eyeshadow formula. What does all that mean? Insane color payout. Color that stays on your lids. Sparkle that doesn’t fall. And velvety, suede-like smoothness and blendability.  It all comes in a sleek compact (embossed with a pretty, metallic “NAKED” on the front) that has a slight sheen and a suede-like feel that practically begs to be touched. (Hello…how gorgeous will THAT look coming out of your bag?!) Best of all, the slim design is perfect for travel—so you’ll never have to be without these must-have shades.
- Venus - soft off-white demi-nude
- Foxy - cream bisque matte
- Walk of Shame - very light nude matte
- Naked2 - taupe matte
- Faint - warm dusty brown matte
- Crave - deepest darkest brown/black matte

Naked Flush - Go ahead…get Naked and FLUSHED with our silky bronzer, highlighter and blush. Then bask in the radiant glow and let people wonder what you’ve been up to.  Talk about a hot little threesome—a SILKY bronzer, highlighter and blush in a sleek, travel-ready compact. Just try to resist the urge to experiment. Use these silky pressed powders individually or blend them together to create just the right effect—and let this seemingly straight-laced trio morph into a tangled color love fest. Then bask in the radiant glow and let people wonder what you’ve been up to. Our micronized, jet-milled formula has a luxe, featherlight texture that feels amazing on your skin. And the finish? Flawless. Light-diffusing particles enhance and perfect to give your skin a fresh, glowy look (even when your late-night antics have you feeling anything but). The color is intensely pigmented yet blends beautifully—and the universal shades are versatile enough for any skin tone. It all comes in a sleek case with an easy-open magnetic closure and a big mirror. It’s compact enough for travel or mid-date touchups, but don’t let that fool you. With a much larger fill weight than similar products on the market, this trio gives you a lot of bang for your buck. What You See Is What You Get: Bronzer (medium bronze satin), Highlighter (soft pink champagne shimmer) and Blush (dusty rose satin with a hint of shimmer).

Ammo Eye Shadow Palette - A relaunch of one of our most iconic palettes EVER, this set features ten best-selling shadow shades—from neutral to vivid to all-out smoky.  A revamped version of our Eyeshadow Ammo Shadow Box, this baby mixes the best of old-school UD (ten all-time best-selling shades) and new (our longest-lasting shadow formula EVER). It comes fully loaded with TEN shades no Urban Decay junkie should be without—from neutral to vivid to all-out smoky. Pair up the vertically color-coordinated duos or channel your inner artist to create multihued looks that are all your own.  Every Eyeshadow features our Pigment Infusion System™, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power and blendability.  If you’re a hard-core UD junkie, you probably already noticed that we reworked the design elements from the original palette. This version features a metallic purple skull on the front, intricately woven out of animals, flowers, pistols, swords and other UD elements. Inside, skulls, snakes and flowers collide to create a dreamy backdrop for the mesmerizing array of shadows. We also replaced the old sponge-tip applicator with a shadow brush and added a travel-size Eyeshadow Primer Potion—to keep whatever looks you dream up vibrant and crease-free around the clock.
- Smog - deep coppery bronze shimmer
- Mildew - mossy green shimmer with gold shift
- Oil Slick - black matte with silver micro-glitter
- Last Call - metallic plum
- Chopper - copper shimmer with silver micro-glitter
- Maui Wowie - metallic golden beige with silver glitter
- Shattered - turquoise shimmer with gold shift
- Polyester Bride - white snow shimmer with silver micro-glitter
- Grifter - sheer lavender shimmer with silver micro-glitter
- Sin - champagne shimmer

Lip Junkie Lip Gloss - Get hooked on shine, without the sticky hangover. Lip Junkie features a soft, luxe texture, stay-put shades and tastes like wedding mints. Addicted yet?  You want a super-shiny gloss, but can't stand the sticky texture, right? Wait till you feel the soft, cushiony texture of this gloss! Lip Junkie stays put longer than other glosses, but never feels gummy or gooey. It comes in a range of pretty amazing shades (if we do say so ourselves), and the color payout is amazing. Take your pick from sheer pretty neutrals, kick-ass brights, or glimmering near-black. And the flavor? Think yummy wedding mints... a sweet mint with a little zing that makes breath feel fresh.
- Obsessed - creamy baby pink
- Flushed - creamy mauve pink
- Trashed - bright pink shimmer

I am loving a lot of the items in this collection, I'm not yet sure what my favorite item is yet, there are so many that I plan to buy and play with.  It goes without saying that I will be buying Naked Basics, I think that this product will be part of my next Sephora order since I have not yet seen it in the store.  The Beauty Balm is a top choice of mine too, I must try this new formula too.  I am thinking that my next Sephora order is just going to be huge, too bad that this is one of the few holidays that I have not received any Sephora gift cards, there are a bunch of items that I want to order very soon.  The new shades of the Lip Junkie Lip Gloss are just what I was looking for late last spring when I went to buy more shades so that I could really review the formula.  I think that Obsessed will be great pale pink for the spring months, then I will go over to Trashed for the summer months.  Flushed is more of a subtle mauve shade so this one will work well all throughout the year.

The Naked Flushed palette is another item that I am very interested, I would love to add this bronzer and highlighter palette to my spring and summer makeup collection.  I don't need this product yet but I will be more likely to purchase this product later in the spring months.  More to come on this one...

I am really considering purchasing the Ammo Palette this time around, I want the new eye shadow formula and this seems like the best of both worlds.  This is a combination of the best of both worlds, some of the best selling traditional Urban Decay Eye Shadow shades with the brand new formula.  I already own a pretty good amount of these shades: Smog, Oil Slick, Last Call, Chopper, Maui Wowie, Grifter, and Sin are all already in my collection.  Smog, Maui Wowie, Chopper, and Sin are among my favorite neutral shades and I then all very often so having a back up (or two) wouldn't bother me.  This might be my favorite of the Urban Decay Eye Shadow palettes that have been re-released even though I still don't think that this company needs to re-release old items and should just look to the future and invent new items and palettes.

photo courtesy of Urban Decay's Facebook page

Fendi Fan di Fendi

Happy New Year!  I hated to start the New Year off a negative note but today we are looking at one of the first fragrances from Fendi, a scent that I had high hopes for.  I had heard some great reviews of this fragrance and therefore I was so excited when the sample was offered with my Nordstrom order.  This fragrance was said to be very Italian, in all the best ways.  Silician oranges and bright summer days were what I had in mind when I decided on this sample, citrus fragrances often do not work well with my skin chemistry, making me even more determined to fine one or two that I can wear in the bright days of summer.  Also, any fragrance that brings back memories of my trip to Italy is tops in my book, I have great memories of Venice and I must go back one day.  Needless to say, this fragrance from Fendi failed on two huge accounts for me.  I wasn't loving the fragrance itself and I was also disappointed with how short of a time that it stayed on my skin. 

This fragrance is one of those that started off great but then quickly faded into blah.  "Fan di Fendi is the fragrance you just adore to adore. Like a hit refrain, it's insistent, addictive, and irresistible. Electrifying you, possessing you, haunting you. Getting under your skin, inhabiting you.  A radiant floral scent resting on a leather base, this wildly exciting eau de parfum pays tribute to Fendi's expertise with materials such as fur and leather—plus the arty, rock and festive spirit that defines Fendi. It diffuses Roman sun and electric nights, leather and roses, luxury and seduction.  A glamorous chunk of gold, the bottle features Fendi's emblematic double F logo—a reference the Forever buckle on the iconic Baguette bag. On top, the cap recalls the black lacquered clasp of the Fendi Peekaboo bag. And with its golden juice inside, the bottle beams with a sun-yellow tone, resonating the House of Fendi's opulent aesthetic, unbridled creativity, and spirited elegance."

Courtest of the Sephora website, the notes of the fragrance are: Pear-blackcurrant Accord, Tangerine from Calabria, Pink Peppercorn from Reunion Island, Damascena Rose, Yellow Jasmine Accord, Patchouli from Indonesia, Soft Leather Accord.

This fragrance starts offf with the Tangerine note and then quickly shifts over to the Rose and Jasmine.  When I first started wearing this fragrance, I was so happy with the mix of the citrus note with the florals, the florals tempered the sharpness of the citrus and the fragrance smelled lovely on me, I really thought that this would be have a great fragrance for me to wear next spring and summer.  Thank goodness that I held out for a few hours before I decided to order the fragrance from Sephora.  As the fragrance develops, the tangering wears off and it goes more floral, the rose note comes out a bit but then fades really quickly.  It didn't bother me at this point, I still liked the florals but wished the the tangerine and floral mix would have stayed on a bit longer.  In about another hours, this fragrance basically falls apart and disappears.  The first time that I used the fragrance, the lack of staying power reallyn took me by surprise.  The second and third times, I was prepared and measured that both of those times, the fragrance lasted less than four hours each time.  I was using the traditional EDT, not a lighter body spray or any type of version that wouldn't be designed to last very long. 

I was really disappointed with this fragrance, the lasting pwoer was awful and it started out so great and then faded away into nothing.  If this fragrance would be remained at the same level and the fragrance blend that it was about half an hour into the wear, then I would have already bought a botlte of this to set aside for the spring and summer months.  The citrus and floral blend worked so well on my skin and the mixture reminded me of my time in Italy.  I was pretty much crushed by the awful lasting power of the fragrance and I even considered purchasing both the EDT and then a rollerball to put in my bag and touch up with throughout the day.  To be real, I will forget to touch up the fragrance until well after it totaly fades.  There is just no point to me buying a bottle of this fragrance and I guess that my search for a great Italian-inspired citrus fragrance will continue into the new year...

photo courtesy of Sephora

Most Wanted January 2013

Happy New Year!  What is the best way to start off a brand new year?!  Why new beauty products of course!  This is the time fo the year when I start looking through all of my current beauty products and start looking at what can be used up and start finishing up some half-used items so that I can begin introducing new items for the spring into my collections.  This is also the time of the year that I need hydrating skin and haircare products more than any other and I will spend more money on items from these categories this month and next month. 

This month I am most excited about shopping all of the new MAC collections and adding more hydrating products to my product lineup.  I am also starting to look at the spring trends and starting to pick up a few products that I can use now and then keep using into the spring, I am so excited for the bright pink NARs Pure Matte Lipstick shade and I will be buying this one very soon!

The new items that I want to buy to start the year off right!

- Essie Smooth Trick Deep Conditioning Cuticle Oil
- NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Carthage
- Fresh Rose Hydrating Face Gel Cream
- Stila Light Source Spot Correcting and Brightening Serum
- Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Nomad
- MAC Pressed Pigment in Amethyst
- MAC Strength Lipstick in Pink Pigeon
- L'Occitane Ultra Rich Face Cream
- MAC In Extreme Dimension Lash Mascara
- Philosophy Vanilla Cream Topping 3-in-1

This month I will be coming out with a new theme week about skincare ingredients and what are some of the best products to use in for each ingredient.  I have been buying skincare products like it is nobody's business and winter is the time of the year that my skin needs the most help so we will look at certain ingredients and how they improve the skin. 

Here's a great 2013!