Judo Red by Victoria Beckham & Nails Inc.

Finally, Victoria Beckham I can afford!  I love her bags and totes. Venetian glass bottle, fancy box, and limited edition status none-withstanding, "Judo Red" is just an average cream polish.  It's neither too thick or thin, and covers opaquely in two coats. My nail tips have shown minimum wear since I applied it last week.  But that may be because the Dior Gel Top Coat I use keeps anything from chipping.  Oh, and "Judo Red" is actually the color of tangerines, not red. It will be lovely for this summer. I bought my bottle at Sephora. 

Poèsie - Chanel Multi-Effect Quadra Eyeshadow

Another nice neutral palette from Chanel. Very nice actually.  I love it.  You've probably read lots about Chanel's new formulas by now. Chanel describes Les 4 Ombres Multi-Effect Quadra Chanel describes as

  "an expanded shade wardrobe of vibrant, versatile palettes for elegant eyes. Each easy-to-wear compact offers endless possibilities, with two medium tones to colour and contour, a deep shadow to intensify and a light shade to highlight."

Poèsie, however, has two pinkish light shades - one warm, the other cool - a medium taupe, and deep maroon/plum shade. Nothing here that would work as a contour shade, at least not on me. Perhaps this difference is why it's limited edition. Still, it is a beautiful quad. The new formula's texture is similar to Topkapi and Harmonie du Soir, only slightly less creamy. The shadows are deeply pigmented. They apply true to the pan even on my NC43-45 skin tone. They are more durable than the old quads, lasting 12 hours without a primer and showing only the slightest bit of fading. And no creasing.

 If you swipe these on with a brush you'll get quite a bit of fall out, so try patting them instead. Better still, use the velour applicators that come with. They pick up quite a bit of product and distribute evenly with no fall out. (!) I picked up Poèsie at Dillard's in El Paso during my family reunion. They had just gotten it in - it wasn't even on display yet. I fell in love immediately and bought it on the spot. If you're even remotely interested go check it out at your Chanel counter immediately. Some stores have already sold out and it's not sold online.

 

My Hiatus

Are you all still there?  I injured my back in January. Between the pain and the meds, I didn't have the wherewithal to blog and was too fuzzy-minded to put up a post saying what had happened.  Soon six months were gone. I apologize for simply disappearing.   I've been in physical therapy for a while now, so I can stand and angle myself into positions to take photos again. The frequency of my posts will be scaled back for a while, but I think I"m back.

Instagramming has been easier, faster and dirtier than blogging: I don't have to compose much text, and the platform is more forgiving of photo quality.  You can follow my makeup (and food and knitting) posts @avaruth.

I got a bit of a makeup jump start last Thursday. Had to go to Manhattan for work and dropped into Saks where I ran into the  Armani dream team, Tim, Rhona, and Blair. I couldn't believe it because I've been trying to catch up with Rhona forever! So I felt like the stars had aligned just for me to run into them. They all kept me entertained (Tim kept me in stitches!) and Rhona gave me a lovely makeover. None of the new CC creams worked for me, but I learned some new techniques using some of their older products. I bought lip gloss, lip stick, a lip liner, and one of the fluid sheers, which I had not known how to use properly. I also picked up some Surratt at Barneys. Small, but lovely line.

I'll leave you with a photo of the lippies I've been using the most this summer.





I'll be back!

2013 Faves

I can't believe that I have not reviewed most of my 2013 faves! 

Caudalie Divine Oil:  I keep one of the  9 oz. spray bottles in my handbag to smooth over my hair, my hands or other dry spots during the day. It's too expensive to use on a daily basis, so luckily, I rediscovered

Neutrogena Body Oil, an old favorite.  It works so much better for me in the winter than the richest body lotion.  It doesn't dry down quickly like a dry oil, so I smooth onto damp skin and wait a few minutes before putting on my clothes.  They even make a scentless version these days.

Chanel Mystere Quad and Chanel Illusion d'Ombre Apparence.  I wore Mystere practically every day all summer, using Apparence as a base. Apparence's antique gold color compliments the gold shimmer in Mystere.  I beat Mystere's fall out problem by using the sponge applicators or those inexpensive disposable ones you can get at Target or Ulta.  Karen reviewed them here.  I like them better than other brands because the paddle-shaped end is not indented as most disposables are, but are curved out and textured so that they pick up the product better.

Chanel Charming:  now that I've discovered that the the meh looking matte that I didn't know what to do with is an excellent contour and brow filler,  I'm totally sold on this deceptive quad.  On me, and suspect others of similar skin tone, it looks lux.

Chanel Le Volume: Chanel came out of the mascara backwater with Le Volume.  The first coat is unremarkable, but the second one - wow!  It's Voluminous on steroids without the crumbling.  It's also fab in blue, and I even love Prune, a purpely brown color, especially with the Kaska Beige quad.

Dolce and Gabanna Ultra Shine Lip Gloss in Gold:  a simple gold tinted translucent lip gloss with golden shimmer.  It adds oomph to warm skin tones when worn alone, and to creme lip glosses. You'd think it would be loud but it's not.  Gold shimmer looks wonderful on skin with warm undertones. I hadn't given it much thought until testing a series of highlighters, all with varying amounts of silver shimmer or even sparkle as in the case of Chanel's Mouche.  Would some of those ashy products looked better on me if they had contained gold shimmer instead of silver?  My current faves - Mysteré, Charming, Guerlain's Terracotta Sun in the City, Rock and Republic's Call Me - all have it.

Hourglass Eyebrow Pencil:  runs with Tom Ford's pencil.  I think Hourglass's formula is slightly better.  The TF pencil bloomed like chocolate over time and dried out slightly, making it harder to apply.  I wish Hourglass came with that plane sharpener.

Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence:  I just love this stuff.  It smells fabulous. I love the feel of the spray in my face and the way it makes moisturizers glide on.  I thought toners or facial water sprays would have the same effect, but they don't.  But the price.  Oh.  Floral Essence was included in a packet of press samples from Space NK, and I fell in love immediately. I bought a deeply discounted bottle on Gilt or Haute Look.  Keep your eyes open for it.

L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Multi-Restorative Dry Oil For All Hair Types: goes on hair the way dry oil does on skin: leaves a moisturizing affect without oily residue. It has a scary ingredient list, but it works on my hair.

Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Keratin Intensive Treatment:  designed for color-treated and chemically processed hair.  This stopped my ends from breaking like no other conditioner I've ever used.

T3 Blow Dryer: I was forced to learn how to blow out my hair when, in an infuriating 30 seconds, my stylist cut the top far shorter than the curlers I owned for wet setting. Rolling my hair on half- inch rollers just wasn't going to cut it, so blowing it out was the only solution.  I taught myself by watching this Dry Bar video, and watching another stylist who blew out out my hair in the interim. Not knowing which blow dryer to buy, I settled on the T3 because Nordstrom was selling one that included a free travel-size T3 flat iron, also an excellent product.  So blow dryers have come a long way since I last used one. I can't believe how quickly it dried my hair.  

What were your 2013 faves?