Holiday 2011: Dior Couture Golds

Dior was a bit late in releasing their 5 color eyeshadows for this season, but I snagged one yesterday at my local Nordstrom counter. This was swatched in indoor OTT lighting.
The quint is of the newer formula and is a bit harder pressed than the usual irridescent quints. It still applies fine though

Dior Holiday 2011--Celebration Collection Deluxe Palette and Eye palette

The last couple of years, Dior has managed to sucker me into purchasing their deluxe palette. This year I got suckered into the eye palette as well. The packaging for these was too adorable for me to pass up.

Dior Holiday Eye palette (outside)

Dior Holiday Eye Palette (inside)

The eye palette contains 3 eyeshadows and an eyeliner and comes packaged with intructions for creating certain looks with the palette. The eyeshadows themselves a beautifully pigmented and silky in texture. Each of these only took a single swipe to photograph well on my arm. The eyeliner is a cream liner that I'm not all that fond of. It stays creamy and never really seems to set, even if you press the dark brown eyeshadow over it to set it. Unfortunately, this means I had smudgy eyeliner under my eyes by the end of the day. I really wish Dior had gone with a 4th eyeshadow instead. I do however, really love the eyeshadow colors that were in this palette. They're shimmery without really being frosty this time. I'd say the lighter gold-brown shade is more metallic than a frost this time. I fell in love with it when I wore it. The darker brown is also beautiful. The eye palette retails for $44 (pretax)

Dior Holiday Eye palette over UDPP, natural+OTT lighting

This year's deluxe palette features 3 eyeshadows, a cream liner, 1 lipstick, 1 gloss, a lip balm, a miniature Diorshow Iconic, and a miniature Diorskin sculpting powder (020). My honest opinion on this one is that the eye shades are similar enough to last year's palette that you probably don't need this one if you bought last year's. Unfortunately for me I got suckered into this one for the adorable packaging, and ended up really liking the lip shade (Rouge Dior 644).

The eye shades are a pink-beige shade, a lilacky taupe, and a smoky plum shade. The eyeliner is a soft black, and unfortunately, like the one in the eye palette, smudgy. I probably would only use this liner in a pinch. The insert that comes with the palette gives you directions for 2 eye looks, as well as directions for using the sculpting Powder. The sculpting powder has 3 sections; the top section, which is lighter is for hightlighting. The middle shade is supposed to be for contouring, and the bottom shade is for setting/blending. It seems like it'd be a cute product, but unfortunately, with the powder being the size that it is, it's virtually impossible to use this powder the way it was intended. I attempted to just swirl it all together and use it as a setting powder, but the powder sits lower in the palette instead of at the surface, making it even more difficult to use. The lip balm, Creme de Rose, is decent; it's nothing special in my book, and carries a light rose scent. This probably would have been better if it had a more portable option. Either way, it was nice for Dior to add this in as I find the regular lipstick line kind of drying. The lipgloss (Ultra-gloss Reflect 246) is practically clear. It has a tiny bit of a peachy tint to it, but on my lips it might as well be clear gloss. I definitely wish Dior had chosen a different shade, as I can't really tell the difference between the gloss and the lip balm on my lips.

Dior Holiday Deluxe palette (outside)

Dior Holiday Deluxe palette (outside)

Dior Holiday Deluxe Palette over UDPP, natural+OTT lighting

I do like the big palette overall, and it's a nice little splurge if you don't already have a lot of Dior, but I don't really consider it a must-have. There's definitely other nice things that you can spend your money on this holiday season, but if you want to shell out the $77 for it, it's not a bad purchase either.

Dior Fall/Winter Ready to Wear palette (Nordstrom exclusive)

I'm trying to get back into the swing of swatching things, but the lighting in my room has been less than optimal. For some reason my house just doesn't really seem to be getting any good natural lighting anymore. Anyways, I'm crazy enough to have a Nordstrom Visa, so I was able to shop the sale early (got my stuff last week). I hadn't really been able to do anything with it really though until today. I picked up 3 of the exclusives from the sale; the NARS Bright Lights Big City eyeshadow palette and this Dior palette, which retails for $52 before tax.

The palette contains 4 eyeshadow shades, a powder foundation in shade 020 (not swatched), blush in 950 Framboise/Raspberry, and 2 Dior Gloss Ultra Gloss Reflects in shades 183 and 483. The eyshadows themselves are nice and silky. The Pink shade swatched closer to white on my skin (about nw20 right now I think), the taupey shade swatched purpley, the brown was fairly consistent with how it looked in the pan, and the white shade has pink duochrome to it so it came out pink on my skin. The blush is a nice neutral-warm pink with very minor shimmer. The two glosses came out very very sheer on my arm. They were actually a bit difficult to get on the brush though.
Overall, I'm really happy with this palette. It's a nice travel palette for girls with lighter skin (girls with medium-dark skin most likely would not be able to use the foundation) and is very reasonably priced for Dior. I'm fairly surprised at what seems to be a low price point for Dior, since their holiday palettes which have come in similar formats have retailed for $75 (I'm not complaining though, I love that this palette is about $20 cheaper)

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Beauty Exclusives 2011

Hello Ladies...I just wanted to share a quick update of some of the things that Nordstrom is cranking out for the Anniversary sale this year. It's kind of a quick copy and paste, so I apologize for the way it looks. The sale will start sometime in mid-July.

Chanel Rouge Allure in Joyeuse (pictured) and Desinvolte--$32 each
Chanel Rose Tourbillon--$43
Chanel Rose Envolee Quad--$57
Chanel Glossimers in Blossom (pictured) and Liason-$27 each
Chanel Poudre Lumiere Pearl Glow Powder--$60
Bobbi Brown Tortoise Shell Beauty Kit-$80
Kit includes:- Shimmer Brick in Beach (limited edition).- Creamy Lip Color in Toffee (limited edition).- Shimmer Lip Gloss in Rose Gold (0.14 oz.).- Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink (0.1 oz.).- Extreme Party Mascara in Black (0.21 oz.).- Mini Ultra Fine Eyeliner Brush.- Mini Face Blender Brush.

Dior Fall Ready to Wear Palette-$52

Lancome Parisian Sultry Eye Look Set--$48
Color Design Shadow and Liner Palette in Coral Crush (warm corals and browns). Complete your look with a full-size Le Crayon Khôl Eyeliner in Black Ebony, a travel-size Aquatique Eye Color Base (0.08 oz.) and Hypnôse Instant Full Body Volume Mascara (0.135 oz.) for lash drama. All tucked inside a Parisian-chic cosmetics bag.
NARS Bright Lights Big City Eyeshadow Palette-$55
Shades included are Cyprus, Biarritz, Fathom, Night Clubbing, Coconut Grove and Night Breed.
Smashbox Studio Stash Brush Set-$36
Full-size #7 Tapered Shadow Brush.- Full-size #15 Definer Brush.- Travel-size #28 Precision Liner Brush.- Travel-size Angled Blush Brush.



Smashbox Studio Stash Set-$59
Set contains:- Eyeshadow palette featuring shades Vanilla, Slate, Twilight Grey and Charcoal.- Full Exposure Mascara in Jet Black (full-size, 0.38 oz.).- Lip Enhancing Lip Gloss in Smitten (full-size, 0.2 oz.).- Cream Eyeliner Palette featuring ten versatile shades.- Blush/Soft Lights Duo in Split/Second.- Roll cosmetic bag.

Trish McEvoy Portable Beauty Romance Set-$75

Colors include eyeshadows in Shell, Romance and Antique Rose, Eye Definer in Deep Aubergine and new Bronzer in Golden.Also includes:- Instant Eye Lift under-eye brightener and line filler (deluxe travel size, 0.025 oz.).- Beauty Booster Lip Gloss SPF 15 in Sexy Petal, (deluxe travel size, 0.2 oz.).- Dual-Ended Eye Brush featuring two of Trish's most iconic eye-enhancing brushes on opposing ends: Brush 50 Angled Eye Lining and Brush 23 Angled Crease Contour.- Brush 48 Blending, the perfect face-color application and blending brush.
Trish Mc Evoy Timeless Beauty Makeup Planner--
Includes:
Red Bow Petite Makeup Planner.- Petite Refillable Makeup Page containing eyeshadows in French Vanilla and Soft Grey, blush in Glow, Medium Matte Bronzer and Translucent Finishing Powder.- Eye Base Essentials in Bare (deluxe travel size, 0.025 oz.).- Mini Classic Eye Pencil in Black.- Mini High Volume Mascara in Black (0.1 oz.).- Lip Color SPF 15 in Mulberry.- Brush 62 Fan Brush.- Medium Refillable Double-Decker Compact containing Even Skin Portable Foundation in Shades 2 and new 3.5 with professional sponge applicator.

There's a lot more goodies available, but I just chose some of the stuff available based on brands I personally like myself.

I'm thinking of getting a glossimer, the Dior palette, the NARS palette, and possibly the Lancome Set...I already have the Chanel JC so I'll skip it this time. I hope that helps somebody who's been trying to hunt down a list or some pictures.

DiorAddict?

(via fashiongonerogue)

MissDiorCherie

 

 (via fashiongonerogue)

Dior Fall 2009--Smoky Jazz and Night Butterfly

This year I went absolutely nuts at the Nordies Anniversary Sale. From Dior I picked up a Diorskin Forever Compact and the two palettes that are available for Fall 2009. I didn't pick up the Nordies exclusive palette Purple Jazz. (it was too reddish for my tastes) I'm not usually a huge fan of Dior, but this Fall's collection made me plop down my credit card after maybe 5 minutes at the counter. Both of the palettes for fall are gorgeous and lemming worthy to me. (Though I will admit they aren't must-haves)


Smoky Jazz is a cute little palette with 4 e/s, a brow powder, and a cream eyeliner. It comes with a double ended floam applicator and a double ended brush with an angled brush on one end and a thin smudge brush on the other. At first glance, I feel that this palette doesn't really look very smokey, but trying this on my eyes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it works very well as a smokey palette. The plastic insert in the palette calls the white shade a "Topcoat" This color is a pretty shimmering white which can be applied to be an opaque, glittering white, or sheered out over the lid to have a nice shimmer. This is a great hightlight color and makes a passable base color as well. The next color over is a shimmery taupey silver. The color next to that is a warmer taupe. The last e/s shade in the palette is a really pretty matte taupey purple grey. I like this color the best probably out of the colors in this palette, but it definitely seems a bit out of place. The taupe color next to the black liner is labeled as a brow powder by the plastic insert. It looks too light to be of any use as a brow powder for ladies with black hair, however, when I gave it a try on a whim while I was playing with the palette, it worked surprisingly well for me. I guess it's good to know that in a pinch I can get away with using this as a brow filler. It also works just fine as an eyeshadow. The cream eyeliner is a basic black eyeliner. It applies just fine, but never fully sets like gel liners do (remains smudgeable). It does last an awfully long time though..it took me 2 days to get this one off my arm. This palette retails for $65. for that price it's a "nice to have" item, but not a must have.


The 2nd palette I picked up was a beautiful quint of purples, Night butterfly, which retails for $56. The texture of this quint differs from Dior's regular quints in the sense that it's not super buttery, however, all of the colors in the quint (except the black maybe) still apply smoothly and blend just fine. It's also much less shimmery than Dior's permanent quints, which I really like. The black color was chalky to the touch, but I'm not sure I'll ever use it since I tend to ignore blacks in palettes) The colors in the quint are a beautiful cool toned purple with blue shimmer, a pinky lilac color, black with silver glitter, a mid toned grey, and a red based plum. Put together, I can create a really nice purple smokey eye with this palette. Out of these two palettes I think I am definitely more drawn to the colors in this palette, although I don't think that the colors in the palette are wholly unique. Because of this, I'd also say that this is nice to have, but definitely not a must have item.

Dior Spring 2009--Elegante quint

From the Dior 2009 Spring Collection, I purchased the Elegante quint, a great quint of nude eyeshadows, sight unseen, from Sephora. which retails at $54 pretax. Sephora describes the shades as camel, golden ivory, pale gold, deep bronze, and peachy beige, which to me describes the shades perfectly. The eyeshadows are of Dior's usual soft, easy to blend formula and are much less shimmery than their usual quints. The shimmer in this quint is very polished and subtle and is just enough so that the colors are not flat and boring. (Though I'm sure that some people find nude eyeshadows boring, but that's a matter of opinion) To me, this quint is a perfect choice for colored eyeliners or stronger lip colors and I can definitely picture myself wearing this a lot. I have labeled the colors with numbers on my photo of it in order to distinguish them from each other as they aren't named individually.

Swatches were done on NC30 neutral leaning warm(medium neutral) skin over UDPP (Urban Decay Primer Potion) in indoor lighting that is slightly warm. I tried to picture the colors as accurately as possible, but there will be variance depending on the color settings on your screen. For those who have lighter skin, and would like to know what these shades would look like, KarlaSugar has some great swatches on her blog (http://karlasugar.blogspot.com)

I wasn't quite sure that this quint would show up with me, but I am definitely quite happy with it. It's very subtle on my eyes, but I definitely like this and would recommend that anyone with light-medium skin that likes nude colors. For those with darker skin, I probably would not recommend this, as I'm not sure this quint would show up.