Tag Archives: compact

Spring 2017 – YSL Touche Eclat Le Cushion

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Ever building on the Touche Eclat empire, YSL will be launching the coveted glow-getting formula in a new format for Spring 2017.  Yep, you guessed it…a cushion.  LE Cushion, to be exact. 😉 The product will be offered in 7 shades designed to enhance radiance with natural coverage. 

Chicprofile.com

Chicprofile.com

In addition to that exciting news, the Company is also brining in three Touch Eclat Glow Shots, a highlighter boasting the hefty promise of a 10-hour strobe effect AND ultra hydration, via hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, and Ruscus.  Glow Shots will come in 3 shades:

  • No.1 Daylight – Create a reflective, mirror effect (light skin tones)
  • No.2 Sunrise – Create a rosy glow (light skin tones)
  • No.3 Sunset –  Create a healthy glow (medium to dark skin tones)
Chicprofile.com

Chicprofile.com

And…one more dashing add…the YSL Touche Eclat White, Limited Edition.  I’m already chomping at the bit for this one because a “porcelain effect” is like music to my goth-y ears… It can be used for adding a beautiful sheen, or for more extreme strobe and contour effects. 

Chicprofile.com

Chicprofile.com

Autumn / Winter – Cushion Correction

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You know how trends go…they generally hit the mainstream and go through countless innovations and iterations until they are exhausted.  Cushions are a format that many have taken to, though, and given the popularity of multi-use single products (whether with respect to format, such as palettes, duo splits etc; or formulation, such as concealer and primer, or moisturizer and foundation etc), it makes sense that someone would come out with a half and half cushion.

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Cushion acts as a color corrector, and a primer in one – the color splits offered include a green and yellow (a traditional pairing) and a peach with lavender.  

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Of the four, lavender is always the color I’d use the least – it works really well for brightening on sallow skin, but I actually LIKE the yellow undertones in my own.  Peach often comes in handy too, to brighten dark patches and circles (I guess it’s fair to say I wish there was a peach with yellow combination…)

As for yellow and green, yellow often can stand in place of green, because it does calm redness a bit, and definitely helps to brighten and even skintone.  Green is a shade you do have to use with a gentle hand because it can become too cooling and “show” more so than a yellow might.

In any case, I love the idea… These boast an SPF 20, which is always nice to have, and they are non-comedogenic (something I make a point to find on the label!)

Holiday 2016 – MAC Nutcracker Sweet

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I’m a little bit partial to the Nutcracker because I grew up being classically trained – 10 years of ballet, and you’ll see ten years of the Nutcracker around the holidays…if not more (once a dancer, always a dancer.)  I desperately wanted to be in it, actually, and a friend and fellow dancer was – spectacular!

MAC is embracing the fun and festivities with a Holiday Nutcracker-inspired Collection – Sweet as can be.  For details, check out Chicprofile, who shares the full list of goodies, and a few more images. A little tricky to see all of the items clearly, given the bold pink patterning of dots and stripes but…anyway!  Personally, I love the Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Stormy Pink, a muted grey-purple hue.  I feel like it would add a barely-there depth (not a new shade, so much, but sometimes they aren’t!)

Chicprofile.com

MAC image

2017 Sneak Peak – Maybelline Khaki Camo (Et Al)

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I very distinctly remember – in my many years of Fashion – when “camo” would come back “in season.”  It was never just about the print, mind you, but the colors themselves – you couldn’t go to a fabric or leather show with seeing a proliferation of khakis, olives, sandy browns…

I follow the Runways (a lot) less these days – at the time, it was a huge chunk of my job! But, when you see posts about cosmetic companies backing a certain hue, you can be sure you will be seeing it in everything from handbags to shoes, to apparel.  So embrace your badassery and get to this borderline-grunge, sooty but sexy shade. It definitely will work for green and hazel eyes, but give is a shot – for a variation on smokey – no matter the color of your eyes.

There are LOTS of other products coming out as well from this brand, so be sure to check out Nouveaucheap’s post for pictures and descriptions!  It isn’t JUST about the camo khaki for sure…

 

L’Oreal Cushion Glow!

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The number of brands joining the cushion party is astounding…although I can’t say surprising!  I’ve written countless posts about the influence of Asian skincare (here, here, here, aaaand here, as a few examples) and color cosmetics, and the trend(s) just keep forging ahead.

L’Oreal is taking a step beyond just foundations and color correction (two areas that are becoming increasingly more saturated.)  Their Instagram page showed a sneak peak of six sassy, Spring-infused blush shades, suggesting that they will be rolling out worldwide shortly:

  • P1 Pink Fantasy
  • P2 Pink Romance
  • P3 Rose Affair
  • C1 Sunkissed Coral
  • C2 Sunset Coral
  • F1 Fuchsia Flush

The word is that they are less creamy than they are “watery,” but I think with any cushion product, you do get a lighter, sheerer texture in general.  For me, that’s a nice thing because I don’t like to be heavy-handed – buildable is always a nice thing, as with such control, you can fully create the intensity you are looking for.  It’s nice to have a natural, lit-from-within glow…isn’t it?

Lorac Light Source

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Lorac is following on the tails of a massive highlighting…er…strobing…trend with their Light Source Illuminating Highlighters.  There’s really nothing quite like having an ethereal glow – when I workout it’s a glow for sure, but I’m not sure it qualifies as ethereal exactly!

These beauties appear to come in four gorgeous, pale pink shades, though details are yet to be announced.  

I try my best to steer clear of glitter and shimmer these days because I prefer to be as natural and bare as I can manage.  Still, a gentle swipe of highlighter strategically placed can not only brighten and give you a rested appearance, but it also lends that youthful, baby glow that we all aim to maintain (or achieve when it’s nowhere to be found!) 😉 

These look utterly divine…

 

Tweezermen Curl & Go

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So this is one of my lady-directed posts…as this happens to be one of my “girlier” fetishes.  I like to kick heavy bags and curl my eyelashes…but, in my defense, I look half dead when I don’t do the latter! 😉

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My mother always told me to protect my lashes, so I’ve been conditioning them for probably two decades – moisturizer, petrolatum, lash conditioner, hair conditioner…you name it.  I need them to stay flexible!  It’s become a “thing” over the last few years, I’ve noticed, with a proliferation of products designed for natural lashes, or to boost ones own flooding the marketplace.

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When you compete, perform, and train in ballroom dancing, figure skating, and ballet, stage makeup and falsies (false eye lashes, that is) are par for the course.  Still, I’ve always HATED the false lashes, refusing to wear them the majority of the time (much to my dance partner’s chagrin.)

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Can they look gorgeous?  Absolutely!  But I didn’t like having them so close to my own….forget about all the times the glue decided to let a wayward edge go flying – not a good look.  So I stuck with the exaggerated liner, which you could always see far away, and used the curler and some black coats to keep them defined.

Anyway, I probably own a dozen curlers…but my favorites are always tweezerman.  For whatever the reason, these have worked the best for me – sorry, Shu Uemura (the generally considered “gold standard.”)

I have never seen this new version, Curl & Go, in person – at first I was very intrigued.  But I’m not 100% whether it is actually a step up and substantially easier to transport (in the video, it still looks sizable.)  Still, the prospect of having one nestle better in your bag is always a nice thing – I’ve got them all over the place (car door, bag, gym bag etc…) so compact is compelling.

Does it look a little too creepy-torture-device?  To most of the guys I know, probably.  I give Tweezerman credit for the innovation though, and will be curious to see this in person.

Adding Ambient

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You may have heard…Hourglass is adding four new Ambient Powders – The original Ambient Light Powders became a major player in the land of Highlighting and Strobing.  I almost want to say they had something to do with the technique becoming mainstream.

Ambient Stöbe Lighting Powder

Ambient Stöbe Lighting Powder

Well, if the six weren’t enough for you, Hourglass has launched four more, designed specifically to “strobe.”  Included in the Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders:

  • Incandescent Strobe Light (opalescent pearl for a celestial highlight)
  • Iridescent Strobe Light (illuminating pink for a soft highlight)
  • Euphoric Strobe Light (pearlescent beige for a natural highlight)
  • Brilliant Strobe Light (shimmering gold for a lustrous highlight)

The trend has become enormous enough that mass market brands have jumped on the bandwagon, and are launching their own versions (Nyx for one.)  To help you get your glow on, the company is also offering a new Ambient Strobe Light Sculptor.  Is it worth $22?  I can’t totally say, but I do like that it takes an applicator sponge one step further by adding a velvet pad on the bottom to blend – neat “add.”

Ambient Stöbe Lighting Sculptor

Ambient Stöbe Lighting Sculptor

I love barely-there, natural-looking (even under light) highlighters so I like that the originals were soft-focus.  That said, they still had shimmer, which I try to avoid – in daylight it is more obvious, and I’d rather be noticed for my skin, not my added shimmer.  So I’m not 100% sure how these look on the skin just yet but I’m eager to see!  I have found some great alternatives, ps, including from Hard Candy, which is substantially less costly if you aren’t sure!

 

 

Spring / Summer 2016 – Chanel Le Blanc

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Thanks to iVoce for the images of this up and coming Chanel Collection!  It will be launching in Japan on February 19, 2016, in Asia during February…and will be coming to the USA for Nordstrom in Summer 2016.

While I don’t have names of everything specifically, the Collection will include:

  • Chanel Perle et Fantasy Compact Powder (the pink and white pearl embossed powder)
  • Chanel Le Blanc Quattro Eyeshadow Palette
  • Lip glosses (these look bright and fun!)
  • Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick (in “intense” shades)
  • Cream blush (looks like a medium bright pink)
  • Chanel Le Blanc L’Extrait (20 ml – a whitening skincare product with a pearlescent shine)
  • Coco Mademoiselle Touche de Parfum (released March 18, 2016.  The product is a concentrated gel formulation and housed in a lip gloss-like container for easier application.)
  • Looks like a few other items as well…eager to update…!

The pearlized powered looks divine…and anything that whitens and brightens is awesome in my book! ❤