9 FLUID SHEER GIORGIO ARMANI SPRING 2013 COLLECTION - SWATCHES and REVIEW

Fluid sheer dresses skin in an illuminating veil of radiance. This unique, translucent formula is available in a range of versatile hues including makeup base shades, correcting shades, and radiance boosting shades. Blend your favorite fluid sheer with foundation to add radiance, polish and sculpting definition to your complexion. Or use it alone as a makeup base. All skin types.

• perfects, sculpts and illuminates skin
• complete and versatile shade range
• doubles as eye shadow base, blush or bronzer
• sheer, lightweight texture and coverage

For Spring 2013 GIORGIO ARMANI brings six new FLUID SHEER shades.
The six shades: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 12 will be added to the existing five which are permanent. Of the six new shades I purchased 8 and 9 from the Giorgio Armani website. When navigating the website I actually had to do a search for them. I thought they would be listed under the blush / bronzer category but they were in fact listed under the foundation category. Which makes sense seeing as how the ultimate purpose for these are to be used in conjunction with your foundation.

FLUID SHEER 9 is a bright berry pink color that has a lot of depth. It is easily sheered out or you can layer it for an intense punch of color. It does contain miniscule flecks of pink and silver sparkle - not chunky and not quite glitter or shimmer either. At first glance I didn't notice the sparkle but when the light reflects on it or when it is blended out, then the sparkle is more noticeable but just barely. It is important to note that with this color there is some slight staining of the skin. Especially if it sits on the skin and it isn't blended out rather quickly then there might be residual on the face and hands. It is also recommended to shake or mix the Fluid Sheer before each use so as to obtain the most optimum results.

I found the Fluid Sheer 9 to blend just as easily as those from the permanent line. When blending, the Fluid Sheers typically dry rather slowly - this allows for time to really blend it out. However, if a heavy application is applied to the skin then you may end up with some streaking. The pump feature on these is nice but it puts out way to much product for my needs. I prefer to open the bottle rather than use the pump so that way I can control the amount I use. I just dole out a small sample onto a metal makeup palette and then I dab my makeup brush into it.

Final thoughts:
I prefer to wear 9 as a blush; just like 11, Amber, from the permanent collection. I find I can get the most use from both of these Fluid Sheer shades by utilizing them this way. Overall though I really love the Fluid Sheers and I am happy and excited to add 9 to my growing collection.

The Fluid Sheers are currently priced at $59 USD on the Giorgio Armani website, and on all other websites: Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, etc. they are listed at $60 for 1 fl. oz.

application techniques:
Apply with the blender brush to wear alone or mixed with foundation for a boost of radiance and color. Use on top of foundation for added highlighting and contouring.

Won InStyle's "Best 2012 Highlighter" for the 3rd year

MAC COSMETICS ARCHIES GIRLS PROM PRINCESS POWDER BLUSH

The ravishing rivals for Archie's affection inspire a colour collection celebrating their iconic persona. Smoulder in deep and seductive tones inspired by spoiled rich girl Veronica or beam like blonde-next-door Betty in soft and innocent shades for eyes and face. So gorgeous in exclusively designed packaging. Limited edition.

The envy of every girl, Veronica smoulders with a limited-edition colour collection rich in deep, seductive tones. Lipsticks in violet, red and blackened plum play up the va-voom while Lipglass shimmers in shades certain to steal hearts. Nails lacquered in dark berry and navy crème ready for a soda fountain catfight. All packaged in exclusive Archie's Girls designs.

Va-Va-Veronica goes violet with the all-new shade Prom Princess, a mid-tone pink berry for cheeks and face with a satin finish. Prom Princess powder blush is from the MAC Archies Girls collection. It is the second item I purchased from this collection (read about the lipglass here). On my skin the blush is more of a rich raspberry and even though the blush has a slight shimmer it doesn't show up. It applied with little to no effort and it lasted a solid eight hours. Prom Princess currently retails at $22.00 USD for 0.21 oz. I had wanted to buy a backup of this blush but unfortunately it is sold out everywhere. 

MAC COSMETICS ARCHIES GIRLS - KISS & DON'T TELL LIPGLASS

The ravishing rivals for Archie's affection inspire a colour collection celebrating their iconic persona. Smoulder in deep and seductive tones inspired by spoiled rich girl Veronica or beam like blonde-next-door Betty in soft and innocent shades for eyes and face. So gorgeous in exclusively designed packaging. Limited edition.

High-gloss, glass-like finish tinted with pale peach, pink and coral as sweet as Betty herself. Wear it alone or pair it with lipstick for a perfectly glossed look. 

Kiss & Don't Tell lipglass is from the MAC Archies Girls collection that debuted a few weeks back. Many pieces from this collection sold out immediately and are still not available. I managed to purchase a few items about a week ago from the Belk website. The Kiss & Don't Tell lipglass is described as a bright coral lipgloss. However, it seemed more like a bright watermelon pink with warm undertones. It retails for $16.50 and it contains .17 fl.oz.

Wear time with this lipglass was minimal. I had to reapply throughout the day and it really dried out my lips. I did notice that if I applied a chapstick or a lip moisturizer on my lips before applying the gloss it decreased the dryness and it increased the wear time by an hour or so.  

You can read more about the other items I purchased here.

 

167 BALLERINA CHANEL LE VERNIS NAIL COLOUR - SWATCHES AND REVIEW

I love a good nude nail polish, especially one with hints of pink. CHANEL 167 BALLERINA is a semi-sheer milky pink nailpolish that is extremely popular with brides. This nude pink polish is non-streaky, looks elegant on the nails and is perfect for all skin tones. It is a perfect nude polish for the bride to be. It is also extremely work appropriate as well.

I've had this polish on my must buy list for quite some time and I finally picked it up the other weekend. It currently retails for $27.00 and it contains .4 fl oz of product. It can be found at any major department store: Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Belk etc., at Chanel boutiques, and online at Chanel.com.

93 COMPLICE CHANEL OMBRE ESSENTIELLE SOFT TOUCH EYESHADOW - SWATCHES AND REVIEW

The focus of the Fall 2012 collection was the cream-to-powder formula eyeshadows (you can read more about this past collection here). These shadows deliver long-lasting sheer and shimmer effects and are exquisitely soft and long wearing. They come in vibrant hues, from warm peach to emphatic black.

OMBRE ESSENTIELLE SOFT TOUCH EYESHADOW in 93 COMPLICE was my favorite of the seven eyeshadows which debuted this past Fall. Just like the description says, these shadows are buttery soft and they last a good solid eight hours of wear time with minimal fading. I did experience some minor creasing but it wasn't very noticeable. Complice is described as a warm shimmery peach with some minor pink undertones. It has lots of shimmer flecks but none of the glitter you'd typically see in an eyeshadow like this.

These single eyeshadows are currently priced at $28.50 for .05 fl. oz.

For those of you who reminded me, YES, I know the Fall collection IS a thing of the past but Complice is definitely one of those shadows to be remembered and here's why...

A few weeks ago I received my March Allure mag (magazine). I started flipping through the pages, marking it up with little handwritten notes and bookmarking pages of looks I might want to recreate. Later on when I had more time, I went back through with my makeup journal (more about that later) and jotted down the items used by the makeup artists. One of the looks that I loved so much was of a beach scene where the model was wearing bright lips and very little on the eyes. What she did have on her eyes though seemed to jump out at you from the page. It was such a beautiful look and I knew I was going to make it one of my signature looks for the summer. So I checked the list of products used and I was pleasantly surprised to see CHANEL's soft touch eyeshadow in Complice listed as the main eyeshadow used to create the look. This definitely caused me to have a renewed interest in it all over again and it reaffirms how wonderfully beautiful Complice really is. If you don't have this eyeshadow you should definitely include it on your "MUST HAVE" eyeshadow products for 2013.

REGARD SIGNE DE CHANEL QUADRA EYESHADOW HARMONIE DU SOIR

This season's eyeshadow palette is at once a gift, a jewel and the ideal accessory. Embossed with a quilted effect and the CC monogram, each powder eyeshadow is reminiscent of the classic Chanel jacket button. Deep, dense bronze-gold with a radiant sheen complements colours from violet-plum red to smoky taupe to pink, for the definitive look of holiday glamour.

The REGARD SIGNE DE CHANEL EYESHADOW QUAD in HARMONIE DU SOIR was part of the Chanel Holiday collection (you can read more about the collection here). This is such a beautiful quad, I almost didn't want to swatch it for fear of messing up the quilted design. Like Chanel's other eyeshadow quads this palette of shadows are extremely pigmented. The lasting power was a solid eight hours with a slight touch of creasing. There were hints of glitter as well but nothing big and chunky. Overall I was really pleased with this quad and have no regrets.

REGARD SIGNE DE CHANEL QUADRA EYE SHADOW - $65.00 USD (limited edition)

HARMONIE DU SOIR - Bronze Gold, Taupe, Violet-Plum and Pink

NOTD - RESCUE BEAUTY LOUNGE AQUA LILY

For my monthly nail polish review I wanted to try something different. So for the month of February I decided to feature the Rescue Beauty Lounge line of nail polishes. I had read great things from fellow beauty and nailpolish bloggers about this brand so I was really excited to see if it would work for me.

THE REVIEW
The nail polish color I decided to review was AQUA LILY. (Please note: This polish was a gift from a dear friend for my birthday).

The brush applicator:
The brush applicator seemed a little small but it didn't hinder the application process.

The color:
From what I had seen and heard, this is the holy grail of all nail polishes. Supposedly it is one of the most coveted and hardest to find. I'm thinking it might have something to do with the intense aqua turquoise color with pink shimmers threaded throughout which makes it an extremely unique color to have.

The texture / formula:
The texture of the polish was slightly watery but due to the intense formula, the polish was almost opaque with only one application. To even out the application I did apply two coats. I noticed afterwards that this lessened the pink shimmer somewhat but it was still slightly visible.

Cost / Size:
The cost for this polish was $20.00 USD for .4 fl. oz. and can be purchased from the RESCUE BEAUTY LOUNGE website here.

Final Thoughts:
Overall I really loved this polish. It had a nice formula and the application process was extremely easy. I would definitely buy more polishes from this brand. The only negatives I found were the availability of the nail polishes and the selection of colors. The more popular shades / colors were almost always sold out. Unless you trolled eBay for them and you didn't mind paying double or triple the price in which case there were plenty. The remaining selection of available colors were, I think I counted 40 or 41 of them, mostly nudes and pale pinks, several dark polishes, and only a hand-full of colorful polishes.

If you decide to make a purchase from their website then make it count. Shipping is a flat rate of $5.50 USD unless you spend over $100 and then its free. For every $20 you spend you earn 1 point and points expire after one year. I'm still not sure the purpose of the points system as this wasn't explained very well. Also, the rest of the website is a little hard to navigate so plan on spending some time getting acclimated to it.