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?

Chanel Charming Eyeshadow Palette

Is it December already?  Late December?  The last few months have flown by - it all started with my organization's busy season in early fall, and escalated when we began rescheduling projects in anticipation of the government  shut down.  Luckily we weren't furloughed; instead, our work schedule intensified.  Some of us are recovering.  For a while I didn't have the time to blog (or read blogs), then I lost my momentum.  Ugh!

Anyway. I still managed to pick up some makeup, including Chanel's Charming palette.  I ordered mine from Nordstrom's Chanel studio in Seattle. As you probably know, it is one of the Limited Edition Ombres Matelassées de Chanel, and part of the Holiday 2013 Collection.  Chanel described the colors as soft beige to rich purple...offering "endless opportunities for custom-blending."

Well, no.  I was disappointed when I opened it because it is so plain looking, and particularly because the dark brown/gray shadow on the end doesn't look purple in the pan as  Chanel said it would, and it doesn't pull purple on me either.  The colors look pigmented enough when switched on my arm, but imminently dupable.  How could this be the centerpiece of the Holiday Collection?

Turns out that for my complexion, these colors are just pigmented enough to define my eyes without looking made up.  Like my eyes but better.  

The lightest color on the far left is a peachy pink, with the barest hint of shimmer.  The effect is a subtle, pearlized finish.

The matte taupe second from the left goes on a shade or two darker than than my skin tone, but I'm so accustomed to shimmer or colors that pop on my skin that this just looks blah to me.  I'll keep playing with it.

The center color is the most interesting one.  It's a medium brown infused with just enough golden shimmer to make the shadow glow a bit without adding that ashy, flashy,  sparkling look. Golden shimmer looks really good on warm skin tones - why is it used less frequently than silver?  I use this color on my entire lid and the lower to create a daytime smoky eye.

The brown second from the right is matte, though the shimmer from the medium brown almost always sprays over it, so it's hard to tell.  I use it most frequently on the outer corners, including on the bottom, blended well with the medium brown to complete that daytime smoky eye.

The darkest color on the far right is just an unremarkable brown/black. I use it sometimes instead of the dark brown on the outer corners.  Even when applied wet, it's still not really black, in keeping with the subtlety of the palette. 

Charming comes with two applicators, one double-ended sponge applicator, and the another with a sponge on one end and a brush on the other.  The sponge applicators pick up and apply lot of product without a much fallout.  The small brush was also handy for getting shadow into the corners. 

So why did I keep this palette despite my ambivalence you read here?  It's the only palette I have that gives a finished yet unmade up look that's perfect for meetings in a conservative organization or anytime you may just want to define your eyes.  I grumble when I put it on every morning ("$80 for brown eye shadow? You fool!"), yet I'm so pleased with the final polished look, which I haven't achieved with other palettes.  There are dupes, but they haven't created as subtle and sophisticated look as Charming.  Most of the time I can wear as much flash at work as I want but sometimes a look this subtle is perfect.  Was this Peter's last creation?