Revlon Nail Polish Swatches Grey Suede and Demure

Here are swatches of some Revlon nailpolishes I picked up sometime early this year. I have Grey Suede, which I thought would make a nice neutral for spring. I am aware that this was a big seller for the brand last year. In the shade it can look a little darker and more taupe. With flash, you can see little shimmer bits and a hint of pink.

Revlon Grey Suede



Tarte Mineral Powder Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess

Ulta had a special on the Tarte Park Avenue Princess bronzer last week and I decided to snag myself one while it was only $15.

Burberry Lip Cover Spring Collection Soft Satin Lipstick in Delicate Rose

Burberry Lip Cover in No. 22 Delicate Rose

I must confess, I cannot resist a nude pink lipstick. Burberry came out with a few Spring selections for 2011 and I caved and bought No. 22 Delicate Rose.

Sephora Jumbo Eye Pencil in Pinky Grey (506)

I swatched the Sephora Jumbo Eye Pencil in Pinky Grey when I did a quick post on the Hello Kitty Glittercute Eyeliner in Grape Soda.

Top 5 Rouge Coco Edition

This weekend, I want to share with you my favorite colors from the Chanel Rouge Coco line of lipsticks. I have to warn you, I'm more of a pink and beige kind of lipstick wearer so you're not going to find a red shade on my list. These are the ones I wear most often from my collection.

Guerlain KissKiss Gloss in Frizzy Mango

This is shade 849 Frizzy Mango from the Guerlain Spring 2011 makeup collection. I would describe it as pinkish peach with gold shimmer. If you're looking for a good coral gloss, this may also fit the bill.

Lancome Creme Radiance Clarifying Creme to Foam Cleanser

While I've been using a mild bar soap to wash my face lately, I've always been partial to liquid cleansers. I also love a good foam. Trying out Lancome's Creme Radiance Clarifying Creme to Foam Cleanser, I found the feel of the cleanser I used for years growing up. As a teen in the late 80s and 90s, I ran on a steady diet of Pond's and later L'Oreal cleansers. The benchmark cleanser was a cream that lathered up very nicely and cleansed your face to a squeaky shine. I'd say Lancome stayed true to that benchmark and this cleanser is a lot like those.

Maybelline Expert Wear Discontinued Swatches

I have a few Maybelline eyeshadows that I got on clearance at Target, before the shelves were reorganized. I thought it might be useful to get some swatches done in case anyone went looking for them online. I'm sure you can still find them somewhere if you really like the shades. I have one duo in Sea Glass and two singles in Emerald and Urban Brown.

Maybelline ExpertWear Eyeshadow Duo in Sea Glass

Fresh Rose FreshFace Primer

I was able to get a few sample packets of the Fresh Rose FreshFace Primer so I thought I'd give it a try. One packet has a generous amount in it and I got another small tub at my local Sephora so I was able to use the product for over a week with more left over.

L'Oreal attempts to find me a match

I was trying to see if I could come up with my Spring/Summer Essentials List using only drugstore brand products. I thought the first step was to find a really good drugstore brand foundation. I had come across L'Oreal's TrueMatch shade selector in a magazine. I played with it all day on the day I found it. I put it against my inner wrist like the instructions tell you to do and it was telling me that the lightest neutral shade was my perfect match. I went a step further and tried my darndest to swatch it against my jawline and it was telling me to go warm, but still with the lightest shade. The big question is, will it yield the right results? I won't really know until I actually test any of the TrueMatch Super-Blendable Makeup! So I went shopping.

L'Oreal TrueMatch Shade Selector

Laura Mercier Hydratint SPF 15 in Apricot

If you're looking for a tinted lip balm that's a little more luxurious than a tube of Burt's Bees, you might want to look into the Laura Mercier Hydratint line.

I have a couple of these lipbalms. One in Plum Tint and this one in Apricot Tint.

Spring/Summer Essentials List

Hello Spring! In place of today's regular top 5, I've come up with my list of spring/summer makeup essentials to create the look I'll be wearing all season. I'm still waiting on a few summer releases but this will give you an idea of what I'm eyeing as well.

1. For eyes, I'll be working with Chanel Ombre D'Eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadows which are wonderfully easy to use. They do not require primer, are nicely waterproof and budgeproof. My pick for easy neutrals are Delta (light gold) and Sand (taupe brown). I complement with the Laura Mercier Cake Eyeliner in Mahogany Brown for a natural effect and a favorite mascara.

Les Regards de Chanel - Les Bruns

I thought I'd do a little flashback today and feature a palette I've had for a year. I remember frantically searching online for any information on this palette before I bought it and there was very little I could find. I even tried writing to a popular blog to ask about it but my email was promptly ignored. The dearth of information kind of made me decide that maybe I needed to write my own blog. But thinking to actually doing took a few months. Either way, since I noticed that Chanel.com still sells this palette, I thought it might be useful to post something about it now. Different users have different opinions. Here's mine.

Les Regards de Chanel - Les Bruns

Laura Mercier Tightline Cake Eyeliner New Colors

I've mentioned how much I love Laura Mercier's Cake Eyeliners and there are three new colors out in the single pans. I was going to get them one at a time but decided to back out of the new baked eyeshadows and get all three colors of the eyeliner instead.

Chanel Glossimer in Maline

I was playing around at the Chanel counter and I asked the associate if she could recommend a Glossimer that I could use over the lipstick that I was wearing that day. I said that it felt a bit dull and I was wondering if the Extrait de Gloss in Insouciance might be a good fit. She said that I could try it although her initial impulse was to recommend a shade called Maline. "Don't you have Maline?," she asked.

Chanel Glossimer in Maline

DiorShow Extase Mascara

I started using this mascara right around the same time as the Shieseido Perfect Mascara and I was alternating the two. From the get go I found the DiorShow Extase formula to be more impressive. The pigment is intensely black and applies more smoothly.

Shiseido Facial Cotton

Shiseido Facial Cotton ($9.50)

On a trip to San Francisco years ago, I found myself at a Shiseido counter. I can't even remember what I was trying on or what department store it was but I remember the associate handing me a cotton pad with makeup remover on it and I ended up buying the cotton instead of makeup. She even taught me a very systematic way of removing a full face of makeup to maximize each pad. This entails holding the pad lengthwise between three fingers. You put the pad on your middle finger and fold down the sides and hold it there with your index and ring fingers.

Essie Topless & Barefoot Nailpolish

Essie has some new colors out for Spring and I picked out Topless & Barefoot to take home with me. I also got a sheer white called Jackie Oh My (not part of the Spring collection). It was half off so I figured, why not?

Essie Nailpolish in Topless & Barefoot and Jackie Oh My

Top 5

I write this list every week now but it's never in any particular order. If anything, the first item is probably what came to mind first. There's a link to a related post whenever possible and I update with links to future posts when I remember to :) So here's the top 5 for the week:

1. EcoTools brushes - these budget-friendly brushes have been my go-to brushes all week. I have three favorites, the powder brush, the blush brush and the bronzer brush. These can definitely compete with makeup brushes three times their price and are made with eco-friendly materials. The bronzer brush is the hardest to find. If you ever come across it, get it.

EcoTools brushes from left: Blush Brush, Bronzer Brush, Powder Brush

Boots No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse

I picked up two shades of Boots No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse at Target yesterday. The shelves of the cosmetics aisles have been cleaned up and purged of clearance items so I found them in a bunch of bins further down by the pharmacy. At $1.98 apiece, I couldn't resist getting two colors.

Boots No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse in Lilac and Khaki

Laura Mercier "Tightline Trio" Cake Eyeliner Palette

Laura Mercier makes the absolute best cake eyeliner... ever. They made three, and only three colors, for years. So imagine the squeal of delight that I made upon seeing more colors out. I have every intention of buying all the colors that this comes in and while I could wait awhile before I get them all, I could not resist a tiny trio packaged with a little brush. I couldn't even wait for triple points. I had to have it. Now.

Laura Mercier "Tightline Trio" Cake Eyeliner Palette ($39.50)

Chanel Rouge Coco in Jersey Rose

Maybe I just wasn't ready for it. Maybe I wasn't ready to wear a color that screams loudly that it's spring, because it's not. But my initial impression of Jersey Rose when I got it, was that it was so bright. I layered it on, like I do with most lipsticks. Then I took some test shots and was surprised that my lips looked almost neon!

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Finishing Powder in Suntan Matte

I've heard comparisons between the Revlon ColorStay Mineral Finishing Powder and MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Powder. I'm not really big on baked products so I've never tried MAC's but I was able to snag this Revlon powder for under $3 so I thought it was worth a shot. Boy, was I surprised.

Hello Kitty Glittercute Eyeliner in Grape Soda (deluxe sample)

Have you ever been inspired to wear a big pink bow on your head? No? Me neither. But walking into Sephora over the weekend and seeing the ladies in their Hello Kitty looks made me very curious. I'd have bought that giant pink headband some of the associates were wearing (with the bow on it) for my daughter if they sold it. I thought about getting some of the Charmmy Eyeshadow Sticks but opted instead to pick up Sephora's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Pinky Grey (506) and get a deluxe sample of the new Hello Kitty Glittercute Eyeliner in Grape Soda.

Essence Perfect Match Eyeshadow Duo

If you remember the NARS Wicked duo that I reviewed last Saturday, I tried to wear this Essence duo in Perfect Match exactly the same way and I love the way it turned out. The lighter, shimmery green all over the lid up to the crease and the darker green on the outer corner and blended into the crease. Then I used MAC Shroom to highlight under the brow. With some brown eyeliner and a thick coat of mascara, it livened up the eyes so much. I felt my face was brighter even if the eye itself was the most subtle green.

Top 5

Here are the things I've been playing with and loving this whole week:

1. Green Eyeshadow - I reviewed my NARS Wicked Eyeshadow Duo yesterday. But there's more where that came from... with names like Sage and Emerald, a duo called Perfect Match and even a new green cake eyeliner. I'm trying to decide which ones you need to know about first.

NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Wicked and Cheyenne

I have had good experiences with NARS eyeshadow duos. When Sephora had this ridiculous promotion where they sold them for $10 apiece, I snapped up the two duos they offered. At that point, it didn't actually matter what color the duos were. What a steal!

Search for Sunshine (conclusion)

I've presented a few of my top contenders in my Search for Sunshine. The search did not yield a perfect match but allowed me to find some new brands/colors to love and also to rediscover shades that I already had in my collection. In this post, I'll lay out the other items I considered and share my thoughts in brief.

Fresh Sugar Baby

I'd been browsing the Fresh display at Sephora and remembered that I once got a free full-size Fresh Sugar Lip Gloss in Sugar Baby which the Sephora website describes as a shimmering nude peach.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Nude Lustre

Revlon's display yielded only one possible match to my nude-peach description and I went home quite excited to see how Nude Lustre would work out for me.

MAC Lustreglass in Love Nectar

So off we went to the MAC counter and the associate and I went through oodles of lipglass, lustreglass and plushglass testers. Every possibility went against the tiny tube of Sunshine and was rejected as too beige, too bright, too brown or simply not close enough. I imagine the selection wasn't complete as it seemed totally impossible that MAC does not make a color that fits the description "nude-peach with a pearl finish." But could I possibly walk away without taking something home? Uh, no...