Dior Holiday 2011 d'Or Collection: Exquis

It's going to be a nail-centric two weeks at Messy Wands, but I can't help it. Anything with flecks of gold is more or less guaranteed to tug at my heartstrings and there are a lot of flecks of gold out at counters right now. You can bet it hasn't been easy walking away from a lot of things. I'm still patting my own back over not succumbing to Merveille.

Definitely wasn't the case for Dior Vernis Exquis #611. I was so enamored by it I actually cooed while I was at the counter. Exquis is a taupe brown with delectable gold microshimmer. I haven't had a chance to try it on my nails but I can tell it'll probably be my favorite nail polish of this season. From painting it on the nail wheel, it seems like there should be nothing to worry about in terms of texture and application.

Happy sigh. 

I don't have a similar color in my stash at all. The closest was Butter London Fash Pack, but as you can see, it's not close at all. Not even. Gold flecks. Swoon.

Dior Vernis Exquis #611 retails for $22 and is available at Dior counters nationwide. The rest of the Holiday 2011 Collection (except the palette! Argh!) has hit stores as well. My local Dior was sold out of the Or lipstick long before I reached it, so if you have an eye out for any of the key pieces of this collection, run to your nearest counter before it's gone.

Les Scintillances de Chanel Holiday 2011: Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel and Beige Lamé

Sorry Guerlain, but Chanel wins this round. 

Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel is the centerpiece of the Les Scintillances de Chanel Holiday 2011 Collection. The intricate high relief design aside, Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel is a great white gold highlighter. Those who lamented the lack of pigmentation in Guerlain Parure de Nuit can gleefully swipe their brushes over this prettiness and see a more pronounced effect. At least, in the hand swatch. On the face, you get the soft glow the best of highlighters provide.

L-R: Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel, Beige Lamé

The texture of the palette itself is buttery soft. When I touch it, it's almost like touching marshmallows, but not as squishy, if you know what I mean. I cannot stress how easy it is to pick up pigment from Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel. Just lightly press any brush to its surface and there it is. In the picture above, I applied Joues Contraste Tempting Beige to my cheeks and swiped Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel above it to highlight. I also applied a little of the highlighter to the area below my brow.

I'm also wearing Beige Lamé in the picture, but you wouldn't be able to see it. Beige Lamé is the exact color of my lids with a smattering of pink and blue glitter. I don't know why I like it even when it doesn't show up on me, but I really do. Though in terms of functionality, I guess people who are less yellow will get more use out of it.

The Chanel Holiday 2011 collection features a bevy of other products, including some other eyeshadows, a blush, a loose powder, two Glossimers, two Rouge Allures, one Rouge Allure Laque, one Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss and a gold liquid liner. I didn't purchase any of the lip products because none of them clutched at me and made me take them home. I thought Triomphal and Famous (the gloss and RA) were splendid reds based on the promo pictures, but they turned out to have a pinkish tint, which I didn't like. RAL Empire made my lips look chapped - a pity, since I'm a huge fan of the RAL formula. I would have loved Brun Rose if it swatched true to pan, but it turned out to be peachy on the skin. Pretty, but not really what I was looking for. 

Lumière Sculpteé de Chanel and Beige Lamé retail for $72 and $28.50 respectively and are now available at Chanel counters, boutiques, and online at chanel.com. Items from this collection may be something you'll want to run out to get. Since it's been around for a week, I can imagine half the counters to be sold out of the highlighter palette already.

Les Scintillances de Chanel Holiday 2011: Rouge Carat

Chanel Holiday with its reds and golds was my first "true" Holiday 2011 experience. Guerlain, while beautiful, didn't strike me as festive, which is what I've come to expect from holiday collections. As repetitive as it gets year after year, I say bring on the golds! (Can you tell I'm dying for Dior's gold palette to hit stores now? Because I am.) 

Following my disappointment (mostly at myself) with Chanel's Sophisticated Eye collection, I've become very picky about succumbing to Chanel. I realized that I've become far too susceptible to the interlocking Cs instead of paying attention to quality or uniqueness in terms of color and texture. When Chanel Holiday finally rolled into stores I forced myself to look at the collection with a discerning eye, and picked up only three pieces, one of which is Rouge Carat. 

This last picture captures what fascinated me about Rouge Carat. Without a doubt, one of Chanel's best products is their nail polishes, and that's because they're the master of the understated shimmer. It ever so slightly peeks out from the nail. Rouge Carat is a blue-based red with a tinge of pink to my eye. Dior Holiday also features a red polish called Merveille, which is decidedly orange-based. I chose not to purchase it because I already got uh, too many nail polishes this season, but you can see a comparison shot of it to Rouge Carat on The Beauty Look Book. 

Rouge Carat retails for $25 and is available at Chanel counters nationwide. I purchased mine from Neiman Marcus. The full Chanel Holiday 2011 Collection is also available on chanel.com.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips: Halloween

I'm not a Halloween girl. I didn't grow up partaking in the festivities (imagine. My mother leaving me to knock on random strangers' doors for sweets. Not where I come from.) and by the time I came here, I felt like I was stealing candy better left for the ghost children. Also, pumpkin spice. What?

While I'm not going to be dressing up for Halloween. I think people need to know about these limited edition Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips. Aren't they just the best idea ever?

L-R: Ghoulie Girl, Hot Wired

I'm saving them for closer to Halloween, but for now you can see how one of them looks on Karla's fingers. There are five strips you can choose from. Featured here are Ghoulie Girl and Hot Wired, the three others are Wish Nets (red with black fish net pattern), Numbskull (skull and crossbones pattern), and Spun for you (cobwebs of course).

I purchased mine for $9.99 from ulta.com.

Neiman Marcus InCircle: Le Metier de Beaute GWP Cinnamon Kiss Lip Creme Palette

With Saks and Barney's and Neiman Marcus (and Nordstrom and Sephora newsletters via e-mail), I'm starting to lose track of beauty events. How we manage to live in this overabundance of information and temptation, I will never know.

That said, I have a pretty fantastic Neimans sales associate (shout out to Traci!) who reminds me of these things, and my local Neimans mercifully got most of the Holiday collections in before the InCircle event. I purchased enough for a Chanel and Le Metier de Beaute GWP. Neither are really anything to shout about, but I thought I'd show you the Le Metier one in case you were interested. InCircle runs till this Sunday.

Cinnamon Kiss Lip Creme Palette

Also, a chance to feature Boston talent! I had my first makeover from Shawn Kelly of the Boston Le Metier de Beaute Neiman Marcus counter and now I want everyone to have one. 

He used Sugar, Jojo, Plum, Spicy and Silk Road on my lids

Ginger Lily Creme Fresh Tint with Echo dusted on top for cheeks. Peau Vierge #2 for skin.

Mixture of Cafe Creme and La Belle lip gloss. Slightly faded.

If you don't have a Neiman Marcus store near you, you can give my fabulous sales associate Traci Dastou a call at 617-536-3660 x2111 and tell her Xiao from Messy Wands sent you. Just today she managed to track down the elusive (it's sold out everywhere) new Chanel foundation brush for me by promising away her firstborn child. Also she totally doesn't judge me for being there three times a week. Um. I hope.

If you live near Boston, do make an appointment with Shawn. He takes his time with your make up, and I've had my fair share of bad experiences at beauty counters to know that artists who thrive on details are gems. 

Butter London Toff

Aaaaaand we have a winner! Just in the nick of time too. Rola gets the virtual monthlong supply of Emergen-C with the correct guess of Butter London Toff. May you never have to reach for a real packet.

I love that the answers from yesterday's Guess What were so varied. Out of all the answers I only had Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised on hand, so I whipped it out for a little comparison.

Top-bottom: RBL Bruised, BL Toff

L-R: BL Toff, RBL Bruised

Very close, but not quite. Bruised is just a smidge of a tone darker. 

Now for the goodness of Toff. I mentioned some months ago that I will own it - now I do, and it's brilliant. Toff is Butter London at its best. Smooth application, opacity (I did two coats just because, but you could easily get away with one), insert all adjectives for a good polish and it's right here in this dusty rose bottle. 

Toff retails for $14 and is available at butterlondon.com and various other e-tailers. I purchased mine at ulta.com, and they still have the nifty buy two get one free offer going on. I say take full advantage of it!

Le Metier de Beaute Fall/Winter Nail Lacquer Giveaway Winners

Congratulations Elizabeth, Amanda, and Allison! Your polishes are on the way and should reach you within the next week. Keep your eyes peeled for the mailman, and I hope you enjoy your new gifts.

Thank you everyone for reading Messy Wands!

Original post here.