My Best of 2011

Favorite Makeup for 2011 by avaruth on polyvore.com

It was hard to decide on my "Best" list.  I've used many products that I like a lot, so I decided to hone down the list to those things I reach for automatically and most frequently.  

 Le Metier de Beaute Flawless Face Palette:  I've hit pan on three out of the four products contained in this palette:  the powder, highlighter and blush. It's so convenient and fast to swing each of these products out of the barrel, I reach for it most mornings when I'm in a hurry, and use one brush.  It’s also brilliant for travel.  I only used the bronzer in the summer, but lately I've begun to use it for contour more often than not. The convenience of this palette is under rated.  I hope LMdB will consider routinely selling this palette as a customizable one;  magnetized trays would make it easier to insert the colors that suite various skin tones.

LMdB Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Complexe Tinted Treatment:  I immediately loved the glow this product gave my face and have used it almost every day since I won it in a Neiman Marcus drawing.  At the time of my review, it had not lived up to its claims to lessen dark circles, smooth fine lines, blur blemishes and tighten pores within a week of once-daily use.  It took longer than a week, but my skin looks much better now, most noticeably my skin tone has evened out, and fine lines smoothed out.  It's expensive at $125 for 1 oz., but a little goes a long way:  1oz. lasted six months.

YSL Noir Radical Mascara:  Can I say it's L'Oreal Voluminous on steroids?  It volumizes as promises, and it's subtly blacker than its cousin YSL Faux Cils.  It doesn't crumble at the end of the day like Voluminous, and though it isn't advertised as waterproof, it doesn't run as easily as some (Eyes to Kill, I'm thinking of you!)  You do have to be careful to close the tube tightly, as it does have a tendency to dry out quickly.  Since it's expensive, I like to buy it during Nordstrom's one-day Mascara Madness event in which you buy two tubes and get one free.  I go in with a friend if I can, or I buy when Nordies offers double points.


Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Color:  I love this lipstick more than any other!  First of all, it's not completely matte.  It's just not so shiny that your lips proceed you into a room!  The brighter colors looked odd (to me) on my medium skin tone, but I fell in love with the darkest red, Le Sensuelle.  It has incredible staying power, so I don't have to worry about looking totally washed out after a business lunch if I can't get away to re-apply.  It's perfect with the Topkapi quad and Rouge blush from the Byzance collection, better than the lipstick in that collection, in my opinion.

Chanel Kaska Beige Quad:  The colors are the perfect neutrals for me.  I even use a little of the second darkest color to fill in my eyebrows if I'm in a real hurry.   Since I learned this little trick from a Chanel national artist, I've been surprised at the range of colors I can use to fill them in.  I'm not talking about primary or secondary colors of course, but muted browns, taupes, including those with a hint of purple could be considered.  The Chanel artist used the darkest purple-toned shadow in the Prelude quad on me.

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Longwear Luminous Eye Shadows:  I especially love the black Mirifique.  I haven't worn it as an eye shadow, but as a most glamorous eye liner.  The small, curved, brush that comes with each shadow is the best I've ever used.  Chanel should add an standard-sized version to its permanent collection.  Emerveille, the pale pink/peach shadow is beautiful, a great everyday color for many skin tones;  it is notably good for medium-to-dark skin tones in that the color really shows - it's not just ashy.  The color pay off for the green-colored Epatant was not as good unless used over a primer.

Chanel Nail Color in Mimosa and Khaki Vert:  I'd have never thought that yellow and green nail polish would become my regular "go to" colors!  I love Graphite too. 

Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint:  The last impossibly humid weeks of September 2011 gave me a new appreciation for what a workhorse this tinted moisturizer is! It’s oil-free, fragrance-free, buildable, and water-resistant. It never budged, lasting at least 15 hours with no fading.  For women of a certain age, all foundations should be water-resistant. 

Vera Wang and Dolce and Gabbana Rose the One scents:  Rose the One obviously smells like roses - warm roses, if that's possible.  I don't know how to describe the Vera Wang; is it "cool"  since it appeals to me primarily in spring and summer?  I'll learn how to write about scent as the year progresses.  For now I'll just say that these provoke a visceral response in me.   
 

Sleek Au Naturel i-Divine Palette from the Nude Collection

The reviews of Sleek's eye shadow palettes have been uniformly good, and the price was right at $10 per palette, so I jumped at the chance to get this palette of what would be neutrals for my skin tone.

I was surprised at the size of the palette.  It looked so much larger in photos.  It is actually the size of two Chanel quads, and not as thick.  No big deal - makes them easier to travel with. 

The colors looked promising.

The first five colors in the top row are matte, and look flat and chalky when applied to my arm as you can see below, but have a little more interest on the eye.   They work well as bases for the shadows in the row below it.  The last shadow has some shimmer, but little pigmentation so it just looks ashy with little of the peach color you see in the palette.   I think this one may be totally useless unless I can use it to blend the matte, pale shadows in the top row with the darker ones on the bottom.  The shadows in the bottom row are are richly pigmented with a bit of shimmer.  While they spread on my arm smoothly, they applied with a bit of a drag on my eyelid, and the shimmer disappated somewhat.  I'm still on the fence about this - I'm accustomed to using eye shadows with more shimmer.  There was a bit of fall out during swatching - eta:  with a sponge applicator.

I bought two palettes; the other one is Storm, which I will review later.  Postage from the UK was $10, so these were $15 per palette.  Delivery only took about a week.  I'll let you know how these shadows wear in the Storm review.

Sleek products are available on Sleek.com.  The site doesn't say whether these are limited edition or part of the permanent collection, so I assume they are permanent. 

What has your experience been with these palettes?

Bobbi Brown Bronze Tortoise Shell Eye Palette

I was attracted to the shimmering bronze-toned shadows in this new Limited Edition Bobbi Brown palette, particularly Olive and Amber, which is bronzy pink.  Unlike the traditional black Bobbi Brown palettes, these shadows come in a mock tortoise shell palette, without brushes.  Six of the eight shadows are shimmery, two - Banana and Espresso - are matte.  The shimmery shadows are subtle enough to wear to the office.  I tried to darken them by applying them with a sponge applicator, and over both Urban Decay and Kanebo eye shadow primers with  no success.

I should have read the blurb on the Bobbi Brown site, which explains that one should "start with the lightest shade, then layer the darker shades until you get the desired intensity."  That worked beautifully, and will make it a more versatile product for all skin tones.  It especially made the pink in Amber pop.  You could even use Espresso as a base for the other colors to interesting effect, or apply a lighter color over the Espresso if you apply too much of it.  I used Copper Cocoa in the crease, which is dark enough to  give my eyes depth without looking too made up.  I used Espresso as a liner on the outer halves of the top and bottom of my eyes; again, dark enough to make my eyes more pronounced, but not too much.  I experienced a bit of fall out when applying Espresso as a liner, but solved this problem by tapping it on, rather than using strokes.

There is another palette, "Sand Tortoise Shell Eye Palette" that contains more neutral colors.  It is also limited edition. 

I bought my palette at Nordstrom.  It's also available at BobbiBrown.com (don't forget to go through Mr. Rebates), Bergdorf's, and Neiman Marcus.

Les Regards de Chanel, Les Bruns



ETA to clarify that the palette is now available on Chanel.com.

This all-purpose palette has been out of stock for quite a while.  It's only available on Chanel's website, where it really isn't defined.  Chanel fails to tell the consumer that it contains two eye shadows, an eyeliner, an "eyelighter" (really another eye shadow), and two eye brow powders.  The name on the bottom of the palette is Les Regards de Chanel, Les Bruns.

Les Bruns looks rather blah on the site, but the colors are perfect for those days when you have a meeting in the office and want a subtle eye color or a neutral eye to wear with a stronger lip.  I like that it has shadows, liner, and brow color in one palette, making it perfect for travel.  It comes with an a good eyeliner brush; a serviceable eyebrow brush, if you have no other; and a sponge applicator.  A double-ended one would have been nice.   I typically use brushes, but think that sponge applicators deserve more respect.  I find that they're useful when applying eye shadows that have lots of fall out. 

without primer

with primer

Like most Chanel eye products, they are deeply pigmented, including the eyeliner.  The eye shadows and liner have just enough shimmer to make them interesting. The shadow at top left is taupe, top right is dark brown. The liner is dark brown, swatched with water here, but goes on well without.  The "eyelighter" is a light frosted pale pink.  The lighter eye brow color on the right may look like it has a hint of green on your monitor, but it doesn't appear green when applied.  On my medium brown skin, the color defines my brows, without making them too dark. 

This is a keeper.

Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope Flawless Face Kit

I love this kaleidoscope.  Its shape doesn't immediately seem travel-friendly - whenever I think of travel-sized makeup products, I think small and flat, with smaller amounts of product - but the barrel-shaped Kaleidoscope is perfect.

The kaleidoscope comes with four products:  Classic Flawless Face Finish Translucent Compact Powder; Highlighter in Whisper, Rouge Radiance Powder in Echo; and a Bronzer.  The powder was too light for me so Lisa, Mazza Neiman Marcus' Le Metier Rep, replaced it with the Eye Brightening and Setting Powder.  After applying the Peau Vierge and concealer,  I apply the Brighening and Setting Powder on my entire eyelid, the bronzer as contour in the cheek hollow, the Echo Powder Rouge on the center of the cheek bone, the Whisper highlighter on top of the cheek bone, all with the same brush, then set it all with T. LeClerc loose powder.  Having four products in one palette that swing out easily and are big enough to drip the same brush into is perfect and fast.

From left the right:

The Bronzer

"Echo" Blush

"Whisper" Highlighter

Brightening and Setting Powder

 I use loose powder on my lids to create a smooth and oil absorbing for eye shadow.  It's my version of primer and works for most eye shadows.  The Eye Brightening and Setting Powder does this well, provides a good highlighting color for eye shadows that one might use, but the real the bonus is that though it's supposed to set under eye concealer, which it does well, it's also a great under eye concealer by itself if your under eye circles aren't too dark.  I brushed it on quickly before I ran out to do errands last weekend and did a double take after application.  My under eye circles looked less dark, and face generally brighter.  It does not settle into the small lines around my eyes.  This is a great multiple-use product.  It is also sold in a compact by itself.

I was little skeptical about the Highlighter, because it seemed too light and too pink, but it worked for me too. Since it's a highlighter, I use it sparingly, just on top of the brow bone, blending into the rouge. It looks a little pale and light at first, but settles in to highlight imperceptibly. I'm going to try it as a highlighter under the brow bone the next time my makeup color palette is pink or purple. "Too light" seems to be one of my recurring first impressions, which has turned out to be wrong many times. I should press on past it from now on.

The Echo Powder rouge is a perfect blush. I can't imagine that it wouldn't look good on everyone. I fell in love with the tester, and was very pleased to find that it was included in the palette. It's a peachy pink - the peach or the pink will dominate depending upon the other colors in your makeup palette on a given day. For example if your eyeshadow and lip color are in the pink family, the pink in the blush would stand out; the peach would stand out with a brownish palette.

The Bronzer is golden brown, making it a great universal bronzer, but not too golden that it can't be used for contouring.  Contouring doesn't seem to be a standard practice any longer, but I find it useful to apply a little just under the cheek bone to accentuate the hollow, and a little in a straight line along the jaw line to deflect some jowly areas that are developing there.  Done with a subtle hand, it tricks the eye into seeing a slimmer face.  I have also used it as standard bronzer on my cheeks and it was perfect.  Another multiple use!  The Bronzer is sparsely infused with silvery flecks, but they're not evident on the skin. 

Used altogether, these products create a subtly chiseled face.  These colors would complement many complexions.  I'm not sure that Le Metier intended the palette to be customizable - it's not advertised as such - but if one of the Kaleidoscope's standard products doesn't work for you, ask your Le Metier rep if she's willing to swap it out for a product that does.  There's a little pin hole on the underside in which you could insert a pin or the end of a paper clip to push the pan out.  Or you could do it yourself if you already own other products you'd rather have in the palette.