Palette + Chanel? How I could resist This caught my eye as I was browsing through Chanel.com, and then once again whilst I was walking through Myer. I decided to instead purchase this palette online via a mail forwarding service as (no surprise) it still worked out to be cheaper! But enough about acquisition, let’s talk about this palette.

This limited edition palette is called Ombres Matelassees, and was created to celebrate the opening of Chanel’s latest boutique in Paris. The shade is 51 Montaigne, also the address of said new boutique. The five shadows, besides the last all have a golden hue to them with a shimmery finish. The press of each shadow is reminiscent of Chanel’s signature quilted bags, a beautiful touch.

The shadows themselves range in pigmentation, with naturally the black being the strongest. I wouldn’t say the pigmentation is comparable to Inglot, but in comparison to some of the Chanel eye shadows I’ve tried before, this is rather impressive.

The last two darkest shades can also be used as liner, so the palette is relatively versatile, depending on how dark you dare to go. I’m not sure if this palette is still available at Myer (the only place in Australia I’ve seen it on sale). But it would be worth having a play before you put down any cash as generally speaking this is one heftily priced palette even in America, sitting at $80US.

In two more weeks Summer will have officially hit the northern hemisphere, in Australia? Winter! Though you’d be surprise at the sheer difference in climate between Sydney and Melbourne. I step off the plane in Sydney with t-shirt attire and am forced to rug up the minute I land back in Melbourne at the end of the week.

But enough about weather, we’re here to talk about Zoya’s latest Summer collection, which consists of two mini collections. One called Surf, and the second called Beach which is what today’s post is dedicated to. You’ll find that the majority of these polishes are crème, except for Tracie that has the slightest amount of shimmer.

As always all swatches are 2 coats with no top coat.

Arizona

A soft bright citrus orange crème, OPI’s Mummy Knows Best is a very similar shade, only the formula is a bit thinner and the opacity is far less.

Lara

A medium magenta-rose pink with subtle yellow undertone crème finish. Essie’s Tour de France is a pinker and darker version.

Reagan

A deep, cool fuchsia pink with subtle blue undertone and an opaque crème finish. Zoya’s Areej is a lighter dupe, and Ulta3′s Footloose Fuchsia is a plummier version.

Shelby

A soft but colourful cherry blossom pink with an opaque crème finish.

Tracie

A faded, yellow-toned pistachio green with delicate silvery shimmer for a frosted pearl finish. I found Ulta3′s Lagoon to be a more yellow toned version.

Wednesday

A faded dirty medium turquoise with green undertone and an opaque crème finish. Another shade I couldn’t find a dupe for, and likely my favourite from this collection Rather unique. From the photo it almost looks like Tiffany blue.

Recently I was lucky enough to attend a lovely event hosted by Lancôme to launch their new lipstick line Rouge in Love. I have to admit, living and working in Sydney CBD makes it much easier to attend events and meet the lovely Sydney beauty bloggers

Lancôme were kind enough to send me one of the lipsticks from the collection, a beautiful true red that leans on the pinker side in some photos.

The main thing I’ve noticed about this line of lipstick is pigmentation. To me that’s it’s signature trait. It’s pretty strong, amazing and long lasting. If you don’t properly remove the lipstick by the end of the day it can almost end up staining your lips, that’s how strong it is! When applied, the formula actually feels quite moisturising and has a very lovely sheen. However after a while the sheen disappears to an almost matte finish.

With a colour this strong I needed a lip brush to make sure I was completely within the lines, which is only really a pain upon initial application. Topping up shouldn’t be a problem, but it is something worth keeping in mind for those who prefer something a little less high maintenance. If you’re one of those, I’d recommend a more nude / pink shade.

These lipsticks are available for $45AU from either David Jones or Myer. Excuse the circle lenses, I’m running low on my clear daily lenses (which are quite expensive, $2-3 a DAY), but my circle lenses last a year are were only around $40AU, so I’ve taken to wearing them during the weekend / for photos to preserve my dailies for full days aka work.

Chanel’s Rose Ultimes de Chanel collection appears to have been an interim release between Chanel’s Spring and Summer collection. It contained six beautiful pink based new glosses and as featured below four new polishes that followed in the same colour family. I will note that all the colours are highly wearable, then again nothing jumped out as a must have in my opinion.

All swatches are two coats with no top coat. The entire collection is currently available in Australia from your local Myer or David Jones at $39AU a pop.

Tentation

A deep magenta shade with micro shimmers, its lip gloss equivalence would likely be Jalouise. I found Essie’s Super Bossa Nova to be extremely similar, and China Glaze’s Ahoy! to contain more shimmer.

Frisson

A soft fairy floss pink with iridescent micro shimmers, the Chanel gloss in Amour is the closest match. Essie’s Like to be Bad is a non-shimmer version, OPI’s Suzi & the Lifeguard is a pinker version with a metallic finish.

Attraction

My least favourite from this collection, a pearl white metallic polish that is incredibly streaky. Even when careful it’s hard to avoid creating streaks in the finish, so unless that’s something you like I’d avoid. I think it’s a pure white version of OPI’s Birthday Babe, which appears more silvery.

Distraction

A watermelon / coral pink crème polish with Volupte to be the corresponding gloss. ORLY’s Coquette Cute is a slightly pinker version, very close dupe however. Essie’s Cute as a Button is a less opaque version and is slightly pinker. Mecca’s Katherina is also a crème with a more orange tone.

Face of Australia’s Impact Curl Mascara is actually the main mascara I am currently using in Sydney (I’m tricky and have a makeup / skin care bag that I leave up in Sydney and the rest of my stuff in Melbourne). This mascara was kindly provided by Face of Australia for me to try out, and all in all it’s a pretty good mascara.

I wouldn’t say it’s particularly outstanding on either claim of curl and volume. In fact as you can see in my photos below that it isn’t terribly good at holding my curl, but it doesn’t straighten the natural curl in your lashes, if that makes sense. The curl in my no mascara photo was created with a lash curler. I wouldn’t classify this as a volumising curler either.

I didn’t experience any flaking or smudging, and I usually keep this on for around 18 hours a day, so it’s good to know it lasts. The wand is a plastic wand if that matters to you (personally it doesn’t to me).

To me this is a good everyday mascara. It wouldn’t have enough oomph for any serious makeup looks or evening wear, but it’s something I’m very comfortable wearing to work as it gives my eyes great definition without making my eyes look sultry or overdone. Which is exactly why it is part of my makeup collection up in Sydney (since my makeup in Sydney is only for work, I’m a bit of a loner / have no friends, so I don’t go out much)

You can purchase this mascara for $11.95 at any Face of Australia booth

Spring is coming for the northern hemisphere, and with it, the season for weddings. At least that tends to be the most popular season! Essie’s Wedding collection for 2012 contains all soft tones, pinks, purples and a mystery green / blue shade. It’s a lovely collection, but not one I feel is overly unique (and hence easily dupable). Personally I think I still preferred last year’s collection.

Like always, two coats with no top coat.

Instant Hot

A light pink/ nude crème polish with iridescent medium sized shimmers, they aren’t really visible on the nail in the photos (though in person they are if you stare hard), but they appear to be far more obvious in the bottle. Unfortunately the shimmers can make the polish appear a bit gritty on the nail as the polish tends to coat the shimmers. OPI’s Step Right Up! is a sheerer version and Essie’s Vanity Fairest is an ultra sheer version with micro shimmers.

Like to be Bad

A fairy floss pink crème polish perfect for everyday wear. Essie’s Vandigo has more pink tones.

Love & Acceptance

A soft lilac crème shade, I found Essie’s Lilacism to be a very similar dupe with more pink tones.

Who is the Boss

This was a hard colour to label, was it a blue or a green? In some lights it appears to be a dark grayish green, then others a lighter blue. Anyways you can clearly see the swatch here and draw your own conclusion (I’m leaning blue).

Last week I did a review on NARS’ Powder Blush Gaiety, and some of you may have noticed an eyeshadow that was photographed with it! That was Lhasa, also part of the Spring 2012 collection

Had to admit, really loved the colour options that came out with NARS’ Spring 2012 collection, they may not appear completely wearable in the pan (for example I thought that the blush would be way too bright for every day wear), but once applied you realise how versatile these colours are.

Lhasa is a taupe eyeshadow with a slight satin finish, in the pan I thought maybe I saw some shimmer, but when swatched you can clearly see it’s virtually matte. On the lid, you could almost consider it matte with some satin. A very wearable colour, everyday I’d pair this with a nude shade over the lid and Lhasa into the crease, but those who dare to wear a little bit heavier makeup during the day could treat this as an all over lid colour easily

The thing about this colour is that whilst it is highly versatile, it’s also highly dupable and I’m sure if I were at home with my makeup, rather than in a hotel room in Sydney *sad face* I could pull out some dupes for you (sorry!). But do check your collection before venturing out for this

This eyeshadow is available for $24US / $45AU either online at Kiss and Makeup NY or Mecca Cosmetics.