Chanel Rouge Coco Baroque

Figured I should blog about this before it's gone. If memory serves me, Rouge Coco Baroque was introduced as an online exclusive to celebrate the release of the (then) new Rouge Coco formula. This dark brick red is such a good winter shade, it would be a waste to let the season go by without pulling it out for a spin.

As Rouge Cocos go (awesomeness does vary from shade to shade), Baroque is one of the good ones. It stays put and fades evenly and I'm trying to be objective about this review but that color just absolutely slays me. Apparently I die for brick reds. 

Rouge Coco Baroque retails for $32.50 (price hike? sigh) at Chanel.com.

Makeup You Want But Cannot Have: Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette in Blue Ribbons #214

I didn't know this palette existed till a chance browse. I was urging my mother to try a new lipstick formula and I brought her to the Dior counter in a bid to hook her on to Rouge Dior, which was where I met the most insulting SA I've ever encountered in my life. I almost missed out on purchasing this palette because I loathed the idea that she would receive a commission for such rude manners.

But makeup prevails, especially since according to Joeyspace, Dior Blue Ribbons is an Asia exclusive.

I've been on a frosty eyeshadow kick lately. Anything with a good amount of shimmer or sheen I'll gobble up in a jiffy. Dior quints are some of my favorite eyeshadow palettes around, and Blue Ribbons doesn't make me change my stance. I think Dior has been on an amazing run lately (though, what does everyone think about the Spring Collection? The more I see it the less I want it, for some reason).

I'm not sure why the blue shadow looks more green to my eye in the pictures below. Maybe it mixed with my yellow skin and turned green? Or maybe I layered it over the peach and placed some of the black over it? Oh I don't remember. But I know it's pretty!

When I muster up some energy for some eye shots - yes, I do live like a fat slug when I'm back home - there will be more of Makeup You Want But Cannot(?) Have on Messy Wands. I haven't decided if it is glee or trepidation that accompanies my writing these posts (what if you hurl carrots at me for showing you things that are impossible to get?), but they'll (the posts, pray not the carrots) come either way.

2011 Introspection

It's past midnight where I am (happy new year!) but not where most of you are, so I wipe a metaphorical bead of sweat off my forehead for a post written still in time. I don't have a well-edited list of favorites and hesitate to make resolutions, so some candid reflections about the past year shall do.

The best thing to happen to me in 2011 was stumbling upon direction. I've been told once: dreams are not thought out, they are found, which I never understood when I was younger. After all, at seventeen when I was told I had the world in my fingertips, the endless choice felt like I could do everything and nothing at all. What if what I studied in college had nothing to do with what I wanted to do later? I used to be afraid of going into the workforce because I saw a bleak future out of school, thinking of work as the dreary everyday slaving to pay bills. My boyfriend knew what he wanted to pursue since he was five, and while every step of the way for him was one step closer to his dream, I was the blindfolded other half groping for nothing.

If you've been with me from the start, you'll know that I interned at BeautyBlitz.com in summer, an experience invaluable in so many ways I can never repay my debt to the lovely team for giving me a chance when no one else did. It was because of those three months that I could conceive of beauty writing as a "real job," and found out just how much I loved doing it. It is also because of Beauty Blitz that I have the internship beyond my wildest dreams lined up for Spring 2012.

During that summer I also shed my hesitant self and started tweeting the beauty gurus I admire (and received replies!), which led me to creating Messy Wands. In September, Messy Wands was nominated for "Best Beauty Voice" at Lucky Magazine's Fashion And Beauty Bloggers (FABB) Conference Awards. A month later, I was offered the opportunity to meet Essie Weingarten. But the best thing about starting Messy Wands is getting to befriend other beauty bloggers, the high point of which was being invited to be a part of a band of bandits.

And then, there's all you lovely readers. Many a comment has made my day, and there have been a lot of days made. For all your comments and support and emails and just being so incredibly nice to me, thank you thank you thank you. I can only hope you've found Messy Wands helpful enough to repay the kindness you've shown to me.

2011 has been a fantastic year. I think it is one I'll look back upon later in life and say, "that's when I got it." For 2012 I'm going to work smarter, laugh harder, and love better.

Happy New Year to all you lovelies! May you find your dream and/or have a dream come true.

Le Métier de Beauté Resort 2011: The Jet Set Nail Lacquers

So um, as a warning, coming back to humid Malaysia means my cuticles are in horrendous disrepair (I'm also suffering from breakouts, but strategic photo cropping ensures you'll never have to look at the horror), but we shall trudge on in the name of beauty reporting! I was battling mosquitos and all manner of wildlife while taking these photos, perhaps they thought I had candy drops on the tips of my fingers. I could certainly be fooled.

The Le Métier de Beauté Resort Collection Jet Set Nail Lacquers consist of a hot pink, a neon yellow, and a fluorescent orange. The keywords we're looking for are "bright" and "bold." They remind me of M&Ms. 

L-R: ShocKEN Pink, Yield to Yellow, Not So Safe Orange

L-R: Yield to Yellow, Not So Safe Orange, ShocKEN Pink

While Yield to Yellow comes in the regular formula, Not So Safe Orange and ShocKEN Pink dry down to a sort of jelly finish. It was my first time encountering the squishy texture and I was positively giddy with delight. In the picture above I painted each nail with two coats and no top coat so you can see the texture of the polish.

The only one I might hesitate to recommend is Yield to Yellow, since the formula is thicker than the other two and a little harder to go on smooth (like most other yellow polishes). In the picture above and you can see that with two coats it is still a little uneven, but with careful application I believe it will be fine.

A little runway inspiration: Thakoon Fall 2011 featured these exact three colors.

Photo credit: style.com

You must also visit Cult of Pretty for her sunset ombré manicure with the pink and orange shades.

The Jet Set Nail Lacquers retail for $18 each and will be exclusively available at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus in-stores and online in early January 2012. 

The products in this post were provided by the company's PR for consideration only. 

Le Métier de Beauté Resort 2011: Orange Juiced and HibisKiss Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses

While I was waiting for my taxi to arrive the day of my flight home, I got a knock on the door from a darling postman who brought an unexpected package around. Thinking it was an older purchase, I tore it open and squealed like the little girl I really am when it wasn't. Out came the brightest, happiest colors to combat the oncoming gloom, and in the nick of time too! I would have been too late to give you my thoughts by the time I got back to Boston.

I am talking about the Le Métier de Beauté Resort 2012 Jet Set Collection, another collaboration with Neiman Marcus Fashion Director Ken Downing. Today I'll be featuring the two glosses, Orange Juiced and HibisKiss, and tomorrow we'll look at the neon bright nail lacquers.

Orange Juiced

HibisKiss

L-R: Orange Juiced, HibisKiss

First, a note about the Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss formula. When swatched they look vibrant and opaque, but they don't appear the same on the lips. It works with your lip color to provide a sheer layer of gloss, so do keep in mind that these might look different on you as my lips are quite pigmented. The Sheer Brilliances are scent and taste free, and aren't sticky or tacky. In my experience, they usually last around three hours.

I was struggling with a color description for HibisKiss and remembered Best Things in Beauty calling it a fuchsia red, which is spot on. On my lips it looks like a fuchsia-red-rose. It didn't look the best on me, but I have no doubt this shade will be flattering on a lot of women. 

But oh! I've been wanting to show you Orange Juiced since I tried it on. I mean, who knew an orange gloss would not turn me into a yellow mess. I thought it would pull out all the yellow in my skin and make me look like a lemon, but instead it's a sheer layer of orange that adds some warmth and much needed sparkle to my lips. It's such a quintessential spring shade (and because I'm in the land of perpetual summer I can wear it now and be happy).

Le Métier de Beauté Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses retail for $32 each and The Jet Set Collection will be exclusively available at Bergdorf's and Neiman Marcus in-stores and online come January 2012. Will you be digging in?

The products in this post were provided by the company's PR for consideration only.

Lipstick Bandits: Festive Red Lip

Nothing like a Lipstick Bandit post to get me back into the groove of writing. I have to admit coming home has been such a treat I haven't been able to muster up the energy to blog. I suppose home brings out the best and worst in me. I become less of a hermit (due to warmer weather), I spend copious amounts of time with my family, but I become such a sloth when enveloped in this warmth. I'm very thankful I spent last summer away from home because Messy Wands wouldn't have been created otherwise.

This post was originally scheduled for before Christmas but most of the Bandits couldn't make it then (I was on the plane!). I do think that a festive red lip, "something red and sparkly," is still relevant now with New Year and Chinese New Year celebrations looming around the corner. 

My weapons of choice are: Tom Ford Cherry Lush, Burberry Nude Gold No. 15, and Chanel Fantasme. When we received this assignment, most of us panicked at the thought of sparkles. I had nothing in my stash that could remotely fit that bill. I went to different makeup artists at counters and asked what I could do. Dustin suggested red glitter (which I decided was too cumbersome for you to replicate, though wouldn't that look awesome?), Shawn whipped out a La Prairie red gloss that looked really sparkly, but I wasn't about to pay that price for something I'd only use once. 

In the end, I bought Fantasme, which I can justify because I've wanted it since the Illusion d'Ombres were introduced to the Chanel lineup. 

Tom Ford Cherry Lush

Burberry Nude Gold No. 15

Chanel Fantasme

L-R: Cherry Lush, Nude Gold No. 15, Fantasme 

For the lip, I painted on Cherry Lush and topped it with Nude Gold No. 15, then dabbed Fantasme onto the center of the lips for the sparkle. As fair warning, I should let you know that I do not know if that is lip safe! 

It's nice to be back! I have some posts lined up for the next few days and an exciting giveaway to announce in a week or two. It's many a blogger's Holy Grail and I'm jumping up and down on my sister's bed (shh don't tell her) at the anticipation of someone receiving it.

I'm about to check out my fellow Lipstick Bandits' interpretations of "sparkle" and I do hope you do the same. No doubt they'll make me want to buy glittery things to add to my collection:

• Arianne (Glitter Geek)
• Danielle (Bloomin' Beauty Blog)
• Jen (My Funny Valentine)
• Larie (Eye Heart It)
• Makeup Morsels
• Paris (My Women Stuff)
• Rae (theNotice)
• Rocaille (Rocaille Writes)
• Tracy (Beauty Reflections)

Happy Holidays!

I don't have any photos of Christmas trees so here are two of Bergdorf's holiday windows for cheer. If you happen to be in New York for Christmas don't miss these! They tear it down by the time Boxing Day rolls around:

look at the detail/textures!

Have a wonderful Christmas and happy holidays, everybody!