Essie Winter 2011: Luxeffects Collection

The Essie Luxeffects Collection is, in my opinion, the most exciting nail collection to hit stores this holiday season. It features five top coats of shimmer, flakies, and chunky glitters guaranteed to spice up any polish already in your collection. These are so. much. fun. If there is only one nail collection you look at this winter, I fervently hope this is it.

L-R: A Cut Above, Set in Stones Shine of the Times, Pure Pearlfiction, As Gold As It Gets

Productivity is all about hitting as many birds as you can with one stone, so I used one of my new Le Metier nail acquisitions as the base color. I'm glad there really is nothing new to add to the conversation in terms of the formula. It's everything you want in a nail polish. The only difference from my usual routine is since Je N'ai Se Quoi has a slightly thicker formula, I left my application at one coat instead of two. 

Je N'ai Se Quoi

Size comparison. Incidentally, Jaded Love (bottom) is an exact dupe for Je N'ai Se Quoi

Je N'ai Se Quoi

Now, the stars of this post. Please ignore the atrocity that is my ring finger and the injured pinky! I botched up my application on the ring finger and was in the process of fixing it, and I... fell down and scraped my pinky while I was coming out of the subway. Um, concentrate on the sparklies!

Set in Stones

Set in Stones

A Cut Above

Set in Stones and A Cut Above are top coats containing different-sized chunks of glitter. These are designed well in that the glitter spreads out evenly in one coat. In retrospect, the blue-green base is perhaps not the best to show off A Cut Above, but I hope you get a sense of how it performs on the nail. A friend of mine tried these on and worried that they made her look like a twelve year old. While I personally don't think so, I can see why she would be worried about wearing it to work.

Pure Pearlfiction

Pure Pearlfiction

As Gold As It Gets

Pure Pearlfiction and As Gold As It Gets are my runner-up favorites of the collection. After all, you know my love of layering! These two polishes are like silver and gold snowflakes, featuring tiny bits of shimmer to add some very interesting dimensions to your base color.

Shine of the Times

Shine of the Times

Shine of the Times is my favorite of the collection, featuring a top coat of copper/gold flakies! Again, the blue-green base is not the best to show this off but I can't stress how great they look, not to mention super fun! Shine of the Times was my first experience with flakies and I have to admit, I might be hooked. I need more of these.

Essie nail polishes retail for $8 at physical retailers, but you can get them at a lower price from select e-tailers. I bought all five of mine as a set from Amazon.

Winter Solstice

A little fun fact about Winter Solstice and how we Chinese celebrate it! For years all I knew about it was that I get to make fun little balls immersed in sugar water to eat on December 21/22. But there's a little more to it than that.

Winter Solstice (冬至 dongzhi) occurs on the shortest day and longest night of the year, traditionally marked as the first day of winter (you can read more about it in this fairly comprehensive Wikipedia article). On this day, we make a treat called 汤圆 tangyuan, which are glutinous rice balls, usually served with sugared water. 

Though I've been having these since I was born, only today I found out the reason why these balls are round is because they symbolize reunion (the word for reunion in chinese is 团圆 tuanyuan), which made me all fuzzy inside because I was home. 

Uncooked tang yuen

How they look cooked

I like to make special shapes with it. One of the only times we are allowed to play with food

Though my sister's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle heads take the design cake

Technically you're also supposed to eat according to your age as a commemoration of a year gained in life, for example since I'm 22 I should eat 22 balls, but um, I never followed that rule. 

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone. May we all have a bearable winter ahead!

Le Métier de Beauté Couches de Couleurs

I got into these late, which is ridiculous because for over a year now I've known these are the best eyeshadows in the industry (this statement said after author has been through every aisle in Sephora and every counter in Bergdorf/Neiman's). But there's something about beginning your experience with the brand with a kaleidoscope (Splendid Frost, in my case): It's all there arranged for you. When you throw me into the wild with 34 eyeshadows to choose from, I start to panic. Like what I said in my lip creme tutorial, sometimes people just need a little bit of structure and guidance before they know how to experiment.

So after pestering Dustin for another hour of instruction, here you go! We throw the words Couches de Couleurs around fairly often without really explaining what it means (I personally just thought it meant layering), but now I have a comprehensive chart detailing exactly how you should layer eyeshadows according to the Le Métier de Beauté technique. Keep in mind you can always experiment any way you want. The chart below is not the be all end all to eyeshadow layering. I just personally hold that you should know the "rules" before you start breaking them, you know? 

Oh to own the whole array

There are four types of colors according to the Couches de Couleurs technique: 

• Brighten: Resembles skin color, but has a little radiance to it
• Warmth: Resembles your natural blush color. Everyone has a different color, some people have more red, some more pink. He suggests using the knuckle trick (clench your knuckles and look at the color by the protruding bones) to determine which tone you are
• Focus: What the overall look is going to become
• Depth: Usually placed at lash line, gives a veil on the entire look. The texture of the Depth colors are harder, thus it's usually a little difficult to pick up pigment from them

And you layer them accordingly! I swatched the colors according to type in the chart below. Do click on the picture to access the enlarged version. For arm swatches, please visit Karla Sugar's fantastic recap of the entier Le Métier eyeshadow line.

If anyone is interested to know, my Brighten and Warmth colors are Jojo and Tuscan Sunset.

Click to enlarge!

I should tell you that Dustin was hesitant to label certain colors under "Brighten" or "Depth," because women have different skin tones thus use different Brighten colors. For example, people with darker skin tones can use certain Depth colors (like Spicy) as Brighten colors. So do take the chart above with reservations if your skin tone is much darker than mine!

Also, notice I labelled Corinthian under "Everything." Corinthian is unique in the sense that it could be used as a Brighten, Focus, or Depth color (or if you're lazy or in a rush, it's pretty enough on its own that you can just slap it on and call it a day). I'm surprised it's not one of my first acquisitions - in fact, I only got this a few weeks ago when I was visiting New York, largely because Joeybunny and Dustin both gave me looks of acute disbelief when I admitted I didn't own it. Ah peer pressure!

Now, you probably realize by now that the seasonal kaleidoscopes don't exactly follow this technique. A prime example is Violaceous Splendor, which is basically an explosion of color! To this Dustin says the seasonal kaleidoscopes are unconventional ways for color to go together, like fashion-forward accessories that are just made for the season. This is not to say they'll go out of style as soon as the snowfall ends or the spring flowers bloom, but like the ubiquitous cape of Fall 2011: nice to have now, but you bet I'm going to wear it over and over again in the years to come.

In response to Larie's question about the eyeshadows and whether they contain paraben (and my horror at not finding even one picture of the ingredient list online), here's a picture for those with sensitive skin:

Le Métier de Beauté single eyeshadows are $30 each. I'd love to thank Dustin for sharing his knowledge, so if you don't have a counter near you, I hope you will give him a call at 212-872-8612. Let him know I sent you and I promise he'll be extra nice (not that he isn't already)!

Le Métier de Beauté Brown and Metallic Nail Polishes

This last installment absolutely slays me in the foam-in-mouth I-want-all way. Le Métier de Beauté does killer browns and metallics and had the holographic/glitter top coat thing going on way before Nails Inc. came over to the States. Looking at pictures now, I wish I bought all three of the browns and the top coat, but hey, these are not limited edition so we can get it whenever we want! 

L-R: Kona, Bali, La Belle, Tres Taupe, Grey Gardens, Silver Belle, Femme Fatale, Disco Fever

L-R: Kona, Bali, La Belle, Tres Taupe, Grey Gardens, Silver Belle, Femme Fatale, Disco Fever

I knew I couldn't capture accurate colors in the salon so I placed all the tape on a paper and brought it home for a dose of my regular lighting and camera. As you can see, the browns and metallics completely reflected light, so I'm thankful the photograph above was as close to true color as it could be. That taupe color is so intriguing, but I wouldn't purchase that without trying it on my finger before. If you have it, let me know how it looks!

These Le Métier de Beauté nail polishes retail for $18. They are exclusively available at the John Barrett Salon in New York City, but you will be able to order them through the lovely Heather at 212-872-2700 x2714. Let her know I sent you!

Le Métier de Beauté Nude Polishes

I'm not big on nude nail polish. They're typically reserved for interviews, and even so I still go for edgier nudes, like the holographic goodness of Butter London All Hail The Queen, or a mushroom taupe like Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge, or even Chanel Particuliere. It's not that I have anything against a good nude polish (I'm sure there are plenty), it's just ballet whites and pinks usually clash with my skin. I guess it's a good thing I didn't grow up doing ballet, though a huge part in me is rueful about my utter lack of grace.

L-R: A La Carte, Love Poemes, Kiss Me Couture, Mon Petit Cheri, Ma Belle Amie, Tussled Tulle

L-R: A La Carte, Love Poemes, Kiss Me Couture, Mon Petit Cheri, Ma Belle Amie, Tussled Tulle

So maybe I'm just making up for not learning how to dance like a swan, but I purchased three of these. Watch me use it and descend into despair because demure pinks and me just cannot happen. 

Each of these polishes retail for $18. Tomorrow will be the final installment of this nail series, and I definitely saved the best for last!

Le Métier de Beauté Orange/Red Polishes

Today we delve into the brights with varying shades of orange and coral, and one lone red. I can see these being a major hit during summer, though if you need a little pick-me-up come snow time these will brighten up your day.

L-R: Clockwork Orange, Wango Tango, Riviera, Orange You Lovely, Krazy Koral, Red Hot Mess

L-R: Clockwork Orange, Wango Tango, Riviera, Orange You Lovely, Krazy Koral, Red Hot Mess

These polishes retail for $18 each. Stay tuned for the next couple of days and I'll show you the browns, sparklies, and nudes! If you absolutely cannot wait, you can give Heather a call at 212-872-2700 x2714. Do tell her I sent you!

Le Métier de Beauté Pink Polishes

Welcome to our weeklong feature of the exclusive Le Métier de Beauté nail polishes available only at the John Barett salon. I'm providing swatching services in case anyone is interested in them! These polishes are in the larger-sized bottles and the formula lives up to its usual top notch standard (oh so smooth). Yesterday I showed you the blues and greens, today it's the pinks and um, one shimmery lilac.

Again, I apologize for the lesser quality of these photos. That blurry swatch photo is the most color accurate out of the bunch I took. I hope it still gives you some inkling of what the colors look like.

L-R: Summer Soiree, Cheeky Rendevous [sic], Paris, Grape To See You, Monaco, Uma Paro, Rio de Janeiro, Palm Beach

L-R: Summer Soiree, Cheeky Rendevous [sic], Paris, Grape To See You, Monaco, Uma Paro, Rio de Janeiro, Palm Beach

These polishes retail for $18 and are exclusively available at the John Barrett Salon. Stay tuned for the next few days and I'll show you the oranges/reds, browns, metallics/sparklies, and nudes! If you absolutely cannot wait, you can give Heather a call at 212-872-2700 x2714. Do tell her I sent you!