Every Tatcha Lipstick, Swatched

I've always had a soft spot for Tatcha because they were one of the first brands to ever support Messy Wands. Such was my love for them that I once reached out to the founder Vicky for a job, and though I've never worked for them directly, I did join the public relations agency that represented them, and happily they gave me the Tatcha account.

As you can probably guess, public relations is not my thing. However! I've never stopped loving the brand. While I've moved away from having an all Tatcha skincare routine (more out of a compulsive need for experimentation than anything), I usually still have one or two of their products in my lineup.

But today is not about skincare. It is another opportune moment to talk about lipsticks, the reason for which will be clear by the end of the post. I happen to be the fortunate owner of every single lipstick shade Tatcha ever made, which seems to mean that I'm duty bound to swatch them, especially when all but one, Peony Blossom, are still available on the website.

Left to Right: Twilight: A Cherry Blossom, Plum Blossom, Magnolia Bloom

First, let's talk texture. Tatcha maintained the same formula for all its lipsticks, varying only the colors. This is a fantastic thing, because it really is one of the most comfortable lipsticks I've worn. They're fragrance free, taste free, non-drying and has a buildable formula, which means you can wear them sheer or fully pigmented.

I swatched all six in one sitting, wiping each color off with a cotton pad doused with micellar water and applying a light layer of Tatcha lip balm in between color changes. Multiple lipstick posts aren't my favorite because my lips would be crying by the end, but being rigid about the balm application made this a breeze.

Cherry Blossom is my go-to nude pink, as you can see from the well worn bullet. I try to keep the diamond facets of Tatcha lipsticks intact as I'm using it, but one can only do so much. Plum Blossom is a nude that pulls the slightest cool plum, whereas Magnolia Bloom is a curious warm in-between red-pink.

Cherry Blossom Silk Lipstick

Plum Blossom Silk Lipstick

Magnolia Bloom Silk Lipstick

Left to Right: Peony Blossom, Beautyberry, Kyoto Red

Peony Blossom's brighter, more vibrant case always trips me up, because on lips it's a much lighter coral pink. Beautyberry is, as you might imagine, a true berry shade. I talked extensively about Kyoto Red in this post, so I won't repeat myself, but I giggle a little thinking about how all my photos used to be of the deer in headlights variety.

Peony Blossom Silk Lipstick

Beautyberry Silk Lipstick

Kyoto Red Silk Lipstick

From July 21 to 29, Tatcha is offering a free mini Plum Blossom with $100 purchase, mini Plum Blossom and Kyoto Red with $125 purchase, and mini Plum Blossom, Kyoto Red and Cherry Blossom with $150 purchase. Use code KISSES19 at checkout to redeem!

Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palettes

The new Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palettes remind me of paint by number kits. While it's not an exact science, the three-step approach does simplify the process of contouring your cheeks: darkest shade below your cheekbones, medium shade on the apples of your cheeks, and lightest shade above the cheekbones blending into the apples.

This is where I mean when I say "below the cheekbone"

Below will largely be #picspam because there's not much differentiation between the three palettes in terms of texture and formula. Defining Nectars is peachier than the other two, whereas I can barely detect a difference between Defining Roses and Defining Berries on my skin. I think Defining Roses is just slightly muted.

They're perhaps not as finely milled as some other blushes I own, but they're $10-20 cheaper and still do a fine job, in addition to the added benefit of reminding you that a little contrast in dark and light goes a long way.

Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette in Defining Nectars


Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette in Defining Berries


Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette in Defining Roses

Pro tip: cheekbones are more prominent when you you look like a deer in headlights.

Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palettes retail for $21 and are available at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Clinique.com (which also stocks two online exclusives)./

Products Used:
Shu Uemura Mechanical Brow Pencil
Guerlain Météorites Baby Glow in Medium 03
Clé de Peau Concealer in Ocher
Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara
Sisley Phyto 4 Ombres Eyeshadow Quartet in Dream
Look 1 -
Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette in Defining Nectars, Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist Tinted Lip Balm in Candy
Look 2 -
Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette in Defining Berries, Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist Tinted Lip Balm in Chestnut
Look 3 -
Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette in Defining Roses, Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist Tinted Lip Balm in Coral

Full disclosure: This entry contains sample product(s) sent by the brand for editorial consideration. This entry also contains affiliate links.

Le Métier de Beauté Spring 2013: Pink Berry, Coral Rose, Pink-e Promise

By a stroke of good fortune (or what my editor at Lifestyle Mirror calls "suffering from brand loyalty"),  I acquired three of the five new lip products Le Métier de Beauté has in store for spring. My Muji drawer, previously fitting just the right amount of lip cremes, is now overfloweth. While I recognize that this isn't really a problem, it's kind of still a problem (to my organizational self).

Ah, petty complaints. On to the swatches!

L-R: Pink Berry Lip Creme, Coral Rose and Pink-e Promise Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses

Pink Berry Lip Crème

In general, this spring's lip products are well named in that there's no guesswork involved on what color you're putting on your lips. There is no exact dupe of Pink Berry in the Le Métier de Beauté core line, but if you want me to make a comparison, I'd say it's the berry version of Fraise Creme.

According to The Ultimate Makeup, Pink Berry is the exact same shade as Cebu, which was previously exclusive to Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria (and sold out really quickly).

Coral Rose Sheer Brilliant Lip Gloss

This is me, suffering from deer in headlights face lethargy

Now this is a coral I can get behind! Just slightly pinked down and not overly warm. Great color for a nude summer look.

Pink-e Promise Sheer Brilliant Lip Gloss

I find the formula for this a little inconsistent to the name. Pink-e Promise is supposed to be a Sheer Brilliant Lip Gloss, which means it should be pigmented when swatched but barely show up when on the lips (hence "sheer"). I would have called it a lip crème based on the texture. Nevertheless, it's Barbie pink goodness in a tube.

Other Products Used:
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge #2
Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in Light
Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder in Revive
Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown
Le Métier de Beauté Penelope Kaleidoscope
Lancome Khol in Love in Jade Crush
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Tom Ford Narcissist Blush
Guerlain Meteorites Perles d'Azur

Jennifer Zeuner Mini Bar with Diamond Necklace

So You Want to Look Like Keira Knightley

source: tomandlorenzo.com

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back in business. Sort of. I still don't wear a lot of makeup when I go out, which is not fun because now that it's so near winter it's exactly the time to slap on a ton and still look "normal."

The good thing is now that Anna Karenina is about to (finally) hit theaters, editorial images of Keira Knightley are popping up all over the Internet. In case you didn't figure out by the sharpness of her cheekbones and jawline, I have a major crush on her. The editorial above was featured in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar UK and as soon as I saw it I told myself I had to recreate it.

I didn't realize how geometric the eyeshadow shape really was until I reviewed the pictures (or perhaps it wasn't on her and that's just how it translates on my Asian eyes. Adaptability = win!). I patted Addiction Fudge onto my eyelid and then blended it out on the crease and slightly toward the inner corner. Afterwards, I shaded the bottom lash line (covering the entire "bag" section) and made sure the shadow connected to a smoked out wing. Make sure to leave the inner corner clean.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Keira's upper lash line and waterline were white, so I went over mine with NARS Larger Than Life Santa Monica Boulevard (it wouldn't show up on my waterline since it's immune to makeup, apparently). But that's not all – her makeup artist sneakily tight-lined her upper waterline so the white wouldn't look odd.

... I realize I may be making all this up and it could have just been white eyeshadow. But that's how I achieved my look!

If you click on the source link, you'll see the writer and a large number of commenters harping on Keira for having a constantly open mouth in photo shoots. I don't personally have a problem with this, but I'll say in her defense - didn't they know cheekbones appear sharper when one's mouth is open?

Enjoy!

Products Used:
Face -
Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation in Camomile
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Le Métier de Beauté Classic Flawless Finish Powder #1
Chanel Rose Ecrin Blush

Eyes -
Addiction Fudge Eyeshadow
NARS Larger Than Life Santa Monica Boulevard
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner in Eye On 08
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown

Lips -
Le Métier de Beauté In The Know Bordeaux Lip Creme
Make Up For Ever Lip Pencil #13C

Butter Makes Everything Better, Of Korres

I'm sorry. I had to.

Cheesy titling aside, recently I've been enjoying the Korres Eros Coral Cheek Butter and Raspberry Lip Butter Glaze. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), neither made of real butter. 

L-R: Eros Coral Cheek Butter, Raspberry Lip Butter Glaze

I used to be a staunch powder everything girl. Certainly, my powder stash is still much larger than the rest, but I think it's about time I expanded on the cream front. There will be a separate post on this, but let's just say creams can be much more varied in feel and texture than I previously thought, and I find that discovery very exciting.

As far as the Cheek Butter goes, I'm used to much more... well-oiled textures from my cream blushes. In comparison, Eros Coral feels dry (let me clarify that while it feels dry, it's not actually dry) and oddly like powder as soon as you apply it to the cheeks. A finger dab's worth is all you need for each cheek, though you can always layer for more intensity. For best results, your first point of contact should be where you want the color to be most intense, then blend out from there. 

Eros Coral is a bright coral pink. When blended out, it produces a healthy, natural flush.

peeled lips (weakness, sorry!) make for patchy application

The Lip Butter Glaze is a follow up to their signature Lip Butters (for the uninitiated, they are potted balms that come in various shades and scents). To me, that suggests that it's more balm than gloss, but I think it works well as both. (Side musing: what category does glaze fall under? It's glossy but not gloss-like. I always found anything named "glaze" looks more watery, whereas glosses look stickier. Does anyone know what I mean?) The color of the Raspberry glaze is actually darker than what you see in my pictures. For some reason, gloss just doesn't translate well in pictures. 

This lasts for about four hours, but any food and drink in between will completely wipe it off. It also smells a bit like crème brûlée on the lips, and the fragrance doesn't wear off till much later. I wasn't affected by the scent, but I thought you'd want to know.

Korres Eros Coral Cheek Butter and Raspberry Lip Butter Glaze retail for $25 and $14 respectively, and are available at Sephora.

The products in this post was sent by the company for editorial consideration

Sneak Peek: Guerlain Holiday 2012 Swatches

Liu Eye & Lip Calligraphy Palette

I was very tempted by the Liu Eye & Lip Calligraphy Palette, which surprised me because I don't like palettes that houses both lip and eye products. The three lighter eyeshadow shades are what I've come to expect from Guerlain - smooth, pigmented, exquisitely shimmery. The black shade is more on the matte side and thus didn't swatch as well, but eyeliner shades are usually that way.

The standout, in my opinion, is the texture of the two reds in the palette. When I touched it it was actually smooth, as in it didn't feel like usual cream-type lipsticks. I imagine this would be how all those lip velvet formulas would feel if they were in pot form. The swatches were made using one finger swipe, and I know I said I shouldn't get any more reds, but just look at that.

Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eye Shadow in 500 Les Ombres Turandot 

The Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eye Shadow in 500 Les Ombres Turandot is so, so beautiful, except I know I definitely won't be able to pull off such warm colors. 

L-R: Meteorites Wulong, Shine Automatique #700 Altoum, #760 Lou-Ling

I hope you can see the very layered swatch of the Meteorites Wulong on the left. When swirled together, the powder is a pale, faintly shimmering pink. The two Shine Automatiques are quite sheer but can be layered for more intensity (do remember that Shine Automatiques are not made to be uber pigmented). Altoum is the perennial holiday gold, while Lou-Ling is a bright berry.

Edit: I took down my swatch picture for the nail lacquers because of the ugly horrid smudge on Lou-Ling, as I personally would hate to see it on any blog myself. You can proceed to Temptalia's site for her review of both Altoum and Lou-Ling.

I found the collection at Saks Fifth Avenue New York, which means it should reach Guerlain counters nationwide soon, if not already.

Le Métier de Beauté In The Know Bordeaux and Framboise Crème

Le Métier de Beauté In The Know Bordeaux and Purple Haze are finally available (more accurately, no longer backordered) on the Neiman Marcus website and I thought I should give those who own Framboise Crème a quick comparison, hopefully ending the "to buy or not to buy" dilemma. Those who don't, well, here are two excellent lip crèmes just waiting for you to agonize over!

Top-bottom: In The Know Bordeaux, Framboise Crème

L-R: In The Know Bordeaux, Framboise Crème

In The Know Bordeaux, as discussed, is the color du jour of this year's fall. You really cannot do wrong with this elegant cabernet hue. Framboise Crème, a neutral red infused with orange/gold shimmer, is part of Le Métier de Beauté's permanent lineup. 

L-R: In The Know Bordeaux, Framboise Crème

In retrospect, there really isn't much to compare since both are entirely different colors. That said, while Framboise Crème seems to be the more timeless option, if I had to choose only one (for now) I'd go for In The Know Bordeaux, solely for its limited availability.

In The Know Bordeaux and Framboise Crème both retail for $36. In The Know Bordeaux is exclusively available at Neiman Marcus and neimanmarcus.com, while Framboise Crème can be found at other Le Métier de Beauté counters (Nordstrom and Bergdorf's) as well.

In The Know Bordeaux was sent to me for consideration by the company, while Framboise Crème was a gift with purchase.

Le Metier de Beaute Fall 2011: Empress Kaleidoscope Lip Kit

Peeking through my window blinds are rays of piercing sunlight, and what should be a day of frolicking outside in the last beautiful weekend of New England is instead, spent gulping down fluid and pills of every variety to combat the onset of flu. I'm in that state of limbo before you descend into a monthlong full-blown cold, or if I play it right, recover before it begins. I'll raise my glass of herbal remedy to the latter!

Here's a long overdue post on the Le Metier de Beaute Empress kaleidoscope lip kit. As you recall, I posted a preview swatch of this a month ago here.

Clockwise: Top to bottom shade

L-R: Bottom to top shade

Empress is part of Le Metier de Beaute's Fall 2011 collection. It is a four-pan lip kaleidoscope that's meant to be layered from bottom to top, though you are free to experiment in any way you like. You can use only the bottommost shade for a darker lip, or just the second shade for a deep, intense red. The keyword with any kaleidoscope (and the entire brand) is to just play around!

When layered, Empress is a quintessential fall tone - a shiny deep berry. In the pictures above, I paired it with the other Le Metier de Beaute fall offering, the Silk Road eye kaleidoscope.

Typical of Le Metier de Beaute lip kaleidoscopes, texturally all four colors of Empire differ. The topmost and bottom two layers are thinner and stickier while the deep red shade is milkier, like a lip creme in pan form. Empress features the familiar burnt vanilla smell present in most lip cremes.

It's been some time since Empress hit counters, but I hope there are still some in stock out there. As per usual, Empress retails for $95 and can be found at Neiman Marcus stores.