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.

Ushering in Spring with flowers from Clinique

Maybe "eternal" is a little too strong, but looking at how the Clinique Cheek Pops have been holding up at the rate I'm using it, I'm pretty sure the petals will only disappear when I'm close to hitting pan.

Clinique has been absolutely on point with its makeup innovations of late, and these new-for-spring Cheek Pops take the cake. They are housed in sturdy clear plastic containers, making them great everyday travel companions. The texture is a little out of the ordinary. I would call it densely packed powder, since it takes a bit of work to pick up the pigment with a soft blush brush. The swatches below were made with fingers: one single hard swipe for Plum Pop and Peach Pop, two hard swipes for Ginger Pop.

L-R: Plum Pop, Peach Pop, Ginger Pop

Ginger Pop is a neutral red blush, and what I suspect would flatter the majority of skin tones. Peach Pop is a shimmering coral. In the swatch, it looks like NARS Orgasm without the sparkle. Plum Pop is the cool plummy pink blush I never knew I was missing. Again, it looks scary in the swatch, but on the cheeks (see below) it is quite demure.

Ginger Pop. Look breakdown here

Plum Pop. Look breakdown here

While they come off as almost too bright on my arm, these shades are flattering and can look very natural when applied to the cheeks. While finger application works fine in a pinch, I prefer building up the color with a blush brush. The blush lasts all day on me, though the color is slightly faded by the end of the day.

Clinique Cheek Pops retail for $21 and is available at Clinique.com, Sephora, and Nordstrom.

Full disclosure: This entry contains sample products sent by PR or the manufacturer for editorial consideration. This entry also contains affiliate links.

Le Métier de Beauté Barrett Beauty Lip Crème, A John Barrett Salon Exclusive

A few days ago I visited Dustin, who's currently holding fort at the John Barrett Salon. Along with the Marchesa illuminator (which I have been lemming since I found and swatched an old tester in March), he introduced me to a couple of salon exclusives. I didn't swatch the kaleidoscope kit, which consists of two light neutral eyeshadows, Echo blush, and a nude pink crème, because frankly, it's really staid and not what I believe any of us would pay $95 for. I did, however, snap a picture of the Barrett Beauty Lip Crème.

At first glance I believed it similar to Ginger Snap and in many ways it is. Barrett Beauty features a sheer peachy-pink base with multidimensional shimmer (the picture above is a heavy swatch), and the only difference I could discern is that Ginger Snap leans warmer and its shimmer less various. This one didn't blow my mind, but nonetheless it looks very pretty on, and sometimes that's all you need from a lip gloss.

If you would like to order one, you can contact Dustin at 212.872.2714.

Swatched: My Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crème Stash

Once upon a time, I was a blogger with a modest stash of six basic lip cremes. That was the wardrobe – they were all a girl needed to concoct almost any color she might have wanted to wear.

A little over a year later, that stash tripled in size. This, ladies, is why a gloss purchase for me is a rarity.

Incidentally, this is how Messy Wands got its name

Since the beginning of this blog's existence over a year ago, I have consistently proclaimed my love for Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crèmes. While I have enjoyed plenty of other lip formulas, I've never found one that rivaled my love for them. For the uninitiated, the lip crèmes are lipstick/gloss hybrids, so they are heavier than regular glosses and quite pigmented when applied to the lips. The best thing about the lip crèmes is while they can be worn alone, they are also meant for mixing and layering together or with other lip products. I've written about this a few times in the past, with concoctions here and here.

Today's post is purely about updating my swatch gallery of these pretties (taking advantage of the swanky new lighting!) and um, providing eye candy. I just love seeing them all lined up.

L-R: Creme de la Creme, Vanilla Rose, Sweet Creme, Two Lips*, Peche Creme, Ginger Snap*, Creme Caramel, Cafe Creme, Cocoa Creme

L-R: Purple Haze, Mum's The Word*, Copper Leaf*, Chocolate Creme, Fraise Creme, Framboise Creme, Red Velvet*, In The Know Bordeaux

The lip crèmes marked with * are limited edition. The only two lip cremes from the permanent collection I don't have are Toffee Creme and Papaya Creme, which I am confident I can get by mixing two of what I already own. For those interested, I think Toffee Creme = Chocolate Creme + Creme Caramel; Papaya Creme = Peche Creme + Creme Caramel + Fraise Creme.

Out of all these, Peche Creme gets the most use (I'm almost done with my tube). If you're pondering a first purchase, I think Peche Creme, Fraise Creme, Purple Haze, and Creme Caramel are good bets. I personally found them the easiest to layer and mix with other colors.

Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crèmes retail for $36 and are available at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, as well as select Saks and Nordstrom locations.

Some products in this post were provided by the company for editorial consideration

Swatched: Tarte Holiday 2012 Collection Sets

Unless you've been living under a beauty rock, you must have heard of these fantastic Tarte Holiday Sets. From what I've seen and heard, they've been flying off Sephora shelves so fast it's like UD Naked all over again. Looking at them and how little they cost, I totally understand the frenzy. With most of these sets, you're essentially paying a little over the price of one item for multiple products. The best part? Aside from the blush set, they aren't even mini-sized. 

A portion of my face has been rather odd lately so I haven't been able to take photos of myself wearing makeup. For now, here are swatches of the three sets I have, in case you were hesitating on your purchase (but seriously, why are you?).

Fantastic Foursome 4-Piece Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush Enthusiast Set ($35 for $60 value)

L-R; Angelic, Fantastic, Magic, Stellar

L-R: Stellar, Magic, Fantastic, Angelic

The colors are all exclusive to this set! Angelic is an ivory highlight, Fantastic is a matte cool pink, Magic is a pink-leaning coral, and Stellar is a shimmery light bronzer. Out of the four, Fantastic was slightly chalky (since it's matte) while Stellar required some packing to show up, but I think that's a good thing in a bronzer shade. 

5-Piece LipSurgence™ Collector's Set ($34 for $120 value)

L-R: Escape, Enchanted, Exposed, Sweet, Elite

Tarte included three different formulas in this 5-piece set. Escape and Sweet are Lip Lusters (sheerer, more shimmer), Enchanted and Elite are Lip Tints (more pigmented), while Exposed is a Matte Lip Tint. It's fantastic if you've been hankering to try out a variety of Tarte lip offerings without breaking the bank. My only caveat is it's mostly comprised of warm pinks. I would have liked to see a wider color selection, maybe switch two out for a red and a nude.

Eye Catchers 6-Piece SmolderEYES™ And Skinny SmolderEYES™ Collector's Set ($39 for $144 value)

L-R: Ash Violet, Rainforest Black, Champagne, Gunmetal, Gold, Onyx

Again, the colors are exclusive to this set and not available in their regular line. I can't even begin to explain how awesome swatching these liners felt. Gliding butter! Yet they won't budge! Look at those colors! And that black! I mean, that's what I call a black! 

I guess it felt like a lot of exclamation points. I think the colors are pretty self-explanatory from the swatches and accompanying names, except Gunmetal, which is a taupey brown and not a steely gray as the name would suggest.

From swatching and some light testing, all the items in these sets hold up to the usual Tarte standard. I've been a longtime fan of their blushes, Exposed being my go-to browned rose, and am happy to rediscover their lip pencils and eye liners. I was once a staunch devotee of SmolderEYES in brown and only put it away because I went back to wearing black liners. 

These Tarte sets are available at Sephora and Tarte.com, and I say they're all worth it. Even if you only like one color out of the entire set, you can split them up and give them as Thanksgiving/Hannukah/Christmas/I-Don't-Need-A-Special-Reason gifts. After all, what girl doesn't like receiving makeup?

The products in this post were provided by the company for editorial consideration

An Evening Face Tutorial

I recently received an invitation to an evening event and was pondering the makeup I would do for it. Warning: I might be abusing my recent fondness for brown neutrals with a second brown-based eye tutorial this week. Granted, it's not the most flattering shade on me, but irrational fancy needs no excuse, I suppose (for those who live through life wondering why some girls look absolutely amazing in "universal" shades of brown and wheat golds when they make our eyes look like muddy swamps, this fantastic post from Ars Aromatica is worth a read).

Eyes

I started with Le Métier de Beauté Tamarack as my eyeshadow base, then placed Burberry Midnight Brown all over the eyelid, blending toward the brow bone. I used Taupe Brown to deepen the outer corner and Porcelain to highlight below the brow and around the inner corner. 

I applied NARS Rue Bonaparte on my waterline to minimize redness and used Burberry Pale Barley to smoke out the bottom lash line. I lined my eyes with Giorgio Armani Smooth Silk Eye Pencil 1, and as usual, a couple coats of Guerlain Noir G Mascara to finish.

Cheeks

Speaking of abuse, are you sick of hearing about Chanel Notorious yet? Because I'm totally still using it everyday. Pictured above is Notorious under the cheekbone, Benefit Dandelion on the apples, and RMS Living Luminizer to highlight.

Lips

Ellis Faas L207 on the lips for a rich, creamy peach.

Nails

On my fingertips, a deep navy creme a la JINsoon Rhapsody. Texturally, Rhapsody was slightly thicker than Auspicious (which was thinner than the standard, which means Rhapsody resembles "regular" polish). I only needed two coats to reach full opacity.

The Complete Look

Products Used:
Face -
RMS Beauty "Un" Cover Up #22
RMS Beauty Living Luminizer
Benefit Dandelion Blush
Chanel Notorious Sculpting Veil for Eyes and Cheeks

Eyes -
Shu Uemura Seal Brown Retractable Eye Brow Pencil (not available in US)
Le Métier de Beauté Dualistic Eye Pencil in Tamarack
Burberry Eyeshadows in Porcelain, Pale Barley, Midnight Brown, and Taupe Brown
NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Rue Bonaparte
Giorgio Armani Waterproof Smooth Silk Eye Pencil #1
Guerlain Noir G Mascara

Lips -
Ellis Faas L207

Nails -
JINsoon Nail Lacquer in Rhapsody


And because friends tell friends when there are savings to be had:
Giorgio Armani Cosmetics – 15 percent off with code EXCLUSIVE at checkout.

Paul & Joe Color Powder CS in Inseparables

I've revisited the Paul & Joe counter many times since I first wrote up their fall collection (link here), and it is a testament to my recent exercise in restraint that I caved for only one of the Color Powder CS, in Inseparables. 

Doesn't that swatch picture surprise you? When I first saw the color I didn't think I could pull it off at all. I thought it would turn out to be a light peach-apricot, but when combined the blush became coral. Not all corals look good on me, but this one does its job wonderfully.

Eyes: Suqqu Kakitsubata; Lips: RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek in Rapture

Inseparables is super pigmented. I suggest a light hand when picking up the color, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time blending it out on your cheeks. I can't reliably comment on wear time since I'm a serial face toucher, but from what I remember most of it stayed on throughout the day. 

For your own, contact Caroline or Alex at the Paul & Joe counter at Bergdorf Goodman. 212.872.8648. Paul & Joe is also available at Beauty Habit. 

Before It's Gone: Suqqu Kakitsubata 01 Eyeshadow Quad

The word around the blogosphere (Drivel About Frivol, The Non-Blonde, and @GlossedTweets) is Suqqu has discontinued their 01-06 eyeshadow quads. Of those, I own Ginbudou 06 and Keshizumi 04 (seen here). Here is a look at Kakitsubata 01 before it's gone forever.

taking cues from Alexander Wang Fall 2012

Kakitsubata is the most "neutral" of the Suqqu palettes I own. It's made up of a fleshy peach, coppered brown, matte violet and matte ivory. The violet was splotchy in the swatch but performed well when used as a liner, which is its official purpose anyway. The rest of the quad are buttery smooth. 

I am weird with earthy tones because I actually find it very hard to wear brown. I think Kakitsubata works for me because it leans copper, and I stumbled upon the right shadow placement. When I place browns on my crease the look ends up muddy, so instead I blended it all over my brow bone and it looked much better. I love making new discoveries. Eyeshadow suddenly became much more fun.

Cheeks: Paul & Joe Color Powder CS Inseparables; Lips: RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek in Rapture

I suppose this post is dedicated to those lucky 'uns from London and Japan where Suqqu counters exist, as it is no longer stocked on ichibankao.com for US folk. I do think the colors in this particular palette are easily dupe-able, and I was really excited about the look and wanted to share... Please don't throw your makeup brushes at me.

Lipstick Bandits: Nudes

What do we mean when we say nude? Is it the color of your lips, the concealer lip, or somewhere in between? It gets a little confusing when we use this term when everyone has their own definition (rendering it not a very good word since it confounds communication), but I suppose in the beauty blog world we have pictures to make up for that. 

The Bandit Collective didn't define nude for this assignment, so I will be interested to see how my fellow masked villainsfriends see it (links below, as usual). For me, nude is somewhere in between concealer and original lip color, so in my mind there are many shades of nudes. And because I never properly wrote about it (but used it in this post), here's Rouge Dior #314 Beige Angelique.

I screwed up the white balance on my camera so I look much more olive in my pictures. It's an interesting color on me, and I'm surprised I actually like looking so bronzed (after years of wanting to look lighter). The purpose of stating it is just so you know the below is not a product of excessive bronzing. 

Eyes: Chanel Prelude Eyeshadow Quad; Cheeks: LMdB Creme Fresh Tint in Tenne

Beige Angelique is a beige peach shade on me. Going by the tube, I would assume it wouldn't go well with my skin tone, but in real life it works. I do think that as far as nude peach shades go, Burberry Nude Peach looks better on me. 

We are missing a lot of comrades this time around, but please do still give Bloomin' Beauty, Call It Beauty, Makeup Morsels, and Rocaille Writes a visit!

• Beauty Reflections
• Eye Heart It
• Getting Cheeky
• Glitter Geek
• Musing on Beauty
• My Funny Valentine
• My Women Stuff
• theNotice: a beauty blog‎

Upcoming Releases from Paul & Joe

Don't you just love really getting into a new brand? Recently I've been hanging around the Paul & Joe counter more often and have been surprised by the quality of their products at such a low price point. I'm now itching to try their skincare (from what I've seen so far, very moisturizing and chock full of hyaluronic acid) and would love to procure every single one of their boxed powders. 

I first previewed the Powder CS blushes in this post. They are super pigmented and long lasting, and to my recollection feature no scent. It comes with a tiny brush, but I can see myself chucking that into the bin immediately. Packaging-wise, my favorite is the geometric print but the blush in the pelican case fits my skintone the best. The box powders retail for $30 each.

The new lipstick range comes in three finishes: Sheer, Natural, and Full Coverage. The Sheer lipsticks are basically lip balms (barely showed up on me), while the Natural ones are what other brands would call "sheer lipsticks." On the other hand, the Full Coverage lipsticks are crazy pigmented! I tried on #304 (a vibrant red) and it lasted without feathering for eight straight hours. Unfortunately, it was also staining. My lips were a few shades redder after complete removal and remained so into the next day. 

These are the lipstick holders you can place the bullets into. I think the third from the right is just genius on their part, considering the majority of beauty bloggers I know are cat fanatics. The holder retails for $5 while the lipsticks go for $17 (the old formula was $20).

This is how the lipstick looks slotted into a holder

In celebration of Paul & Joe's 10th Anniversary, the owner and creator of the brand Sophie Mechaly curated a makeup kit of essentials, titled the Love Story Makeup Collection. It is made up of a Pressed Powder Duo, Face Color, and five Eye Color sheets, and comes with a soft pouch.

As with all Paul & Joe items, the powders feature quite an amount of shimmer. I thought I wouldn't like it but they were beautiful and more understated when swatched. When combined, the blush is a peachy coral while the highlighter was shimmery white. I was skeptical about the Eye Sheets and told Alex (the SA) that they look like sample eye shadows. She said there is a fair amount of product in each sheet, but I'd personally treat it as a bonus feature rather than the raison d'être to buy this set (said reason, in my opinion, would be the pouch). 

The Love Story Makeup Collection will be available October 2012 at BeautyHabit.com and Bergdorf Goodman for $100. The fall lipsticks should be available in a couple of weeks, while I already spotted the lovebird blushes in store. If you need a contact or have any questions, Alex and Caroline of Bergdorf's Paul & Joe counter will be available to help you at 212.872.8648 and 212.872.2759.

As an aside, did you know I am now on Instagram? My username is messywands. I try to post adorable things and cupcakes on a regular basis. See you there!