Dolce Vita

Closer look of Nars Dolce Vita:



Dolce Vita appears as a brick red in the pan, slightly scary for someone fair skinned and prone to redness like me. In fact I've had it for a year without actually wearing it because I was afraid it would make me look like I have rosacea. However I'm glad I decided to give it a go, because when applied lightly (just don't pack in on) with a blush brush it gives a healthy glow to my cheeks.



Also, Revlon Peach looks different here compared with my previous post, probably due to the sunny lighting + different camera settings. I think the most accurate representation of the colour is actually in the first full face picture.


Eyeshadow closeup - used all colours from the Lavshuca Eye Select palette in PU-2






Here is the full breakdown of what I used:

Face
Mix of Lunasol Water Cream foundation + Guerlain Parure Extreme
Cargo blu-ray concealer
MAC Emote blush
Nars Dolce Vita blush

Lips
Revlon Colourburst in Peach

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Lavshuca Eye Colour Select in PU-2
Kate Super Sharp Liner BK-1
Mary Kay Ultimate mascara

Nars Mud Mask

A long overdue review of this product:



According to Sephora this is what the Nars Mud Mask claims to do:

" Mud Mask deeply cleanses pores for clean, smooth, refreshed skin. Kaolin and sea silt remove dirt and purify, as algae and white lily extracts soothe the skin. "

From the description I was expecting it to absorb clogs right out of my pores but sadly that wasn't the case.

I've taken my time to use it til the jar is almost all done to see any long term effects on my skin. Unfortunately it hasn't done anything to purge clogged pores, however it does seem to help control the oily areas of my face. If I skip using it a week there is definitely a difference in my skin. However the same can be said of any clay mask - I need to use one at least once a week for my skin to be happy.

This mask smells strongly of alcohol, which I hate. I can't be sure of the alcohol content, but it doesn't dry my skin out, luckily. I just can't stand smelling it. I do like that the mask dries down a bit faster than other clay masks - probably because of the alcohol. Its also helpful that the mask is grey colour, because when I use toner after, I can see the traces of leftover mask on the cotton if there are any left.

The mask comes in a heavy glass jar (which I find annoying because it could be breakable). However if the picture from Sephora is accurate then they seem to have recently switched to a plastic jar similar to the Aqua Gel Hydrator.

This retails at US$45 / CA$51.43 for 3.4 oz (100mL) size jar. Canadians, don't buy this product from department stores as Nars skincare tend to be marked up more at counters than the Sephora website. I'm not sure why, but the price discrepancy is quite silly, it can be up to $30 difference sometimes.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this mask to anyone unless they wanted to splurge the $$. Otherwise just stick with a cheaper mask from the drugstore.

Price: 3/10, expensive
Performance: 6/10, slightly above average but nothing amazing
Packaging: 2/10, looks classy but impractical and unsanitary
Repurchase?: Nope!

Nars Jolie Poupee eyeshadow duo

Closeup of the product:




Pigmentation is decent, similar to MAC eyeshadows. They are also soft and blendable, even the matte shade blends easily. The shade on the left is a matte bluish purple, while the shade on the right is a shimmery purpley plum.




I tried comparing Jolie Poupee to the some of the purples in my collection:




The matte colour on the left is a lot more unique than I thought. The closest match for it when swatched was ELF's Periwinkle eyeshadow (but ELF has a bluer tone, while Nars has a purplish tone). The shimmery purple was easier. In the pan it looks like MAC Nocturnelle, but when swatched it is more similar to Milani Shock, but still not an exact match.




Quick EOTD with Jolie Poupee duo:



Sorry about the weird concealer job, haha. I was experimenting with a new concealer palette at the same time and didn't realise it was going to show up so much when taking the pics on Foliage mode.




Matte shade on the inner 2/3 of the lid, then the shimmery purple over the outer half of the lid. I added some Maybelline eyeshadow in Make a Move Mauve to highlight the inner corners but its not very obvious.




I think its worth buying if you don't already have similar colours. Also I tried to pack on more colour to show up on camera. but you can definitely use a lighter hand if you prefer a sheerer look.

Various hauls

A collection of hauls from the past month or so that I haven't posted yet:

From Holt Renfrew:

• La Mer Fluid Tint in Light 02
• Beauty Blender sponge and cleaner set
• sample of La Mer Moisturizing Lotion

Sephora:

• Clarisonic brush in pink
• Urban Decay VIP pencil set
• Nars duo eyeshadow in Jolie Poupee (my first Nars product!)
• Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo, travel size
• Sugar I Dream of Sugar palette - on clearance at CAD$21
• Sugar colour stick in Apple Cider

I actually bought more items than shown in the pic, but I'm going to return them because I seriously don't need any more...

Closer look at the Nars duo:



MAC Warm and Cool pigment sets








Ebay:

• Milani eyeshadows in Atlantis & Shock
• Maybelline Roller Colour loose eyeshadows in Make a Move Mauve, On Track Lilac, Steel Wheelin, On the Ball Blue, and Skate til Midnight

Also from Audrie @ All the Pretty Shimmers:

• MAC Slimshine in High 90s
• Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Yeyo
• Lure Beauty blush in True Love
  
• Shiseido eye cream sample and lip sample

I also bought a couple of things too from Forever 21's Canadian website...will post some once I actually wear the items :)

Nars rant, MB Silver Powder and some haulage

I just found out that Nars is so overpriced in Canada! :( I've been lemming the Nars Aqua Gel Hydrator ever since reading the great reviews for it on Makeupalley. On Sephora.com, it shows the price as being around $76, so I thought okay, probably it'll be an extra $10 for Canada as most products are like that. But when I went to the Nars counter last weekend, the lady told me that it was $115! Like wtf?? Thats a markup of $40...like almost a 50% increase? Thats insane.

I double checked the prices of some of their other skincare products, and all of them range from $30 to $50 more than the US retail price. Sucks, because I was really looking forward to getting the hydrator.

Apparently the counter currently has a GWP of a highlighter and blush duo with any purchase over $125, or a GWP of a neutral eyeshadow palette with purchase over $50. That would help ease the pain somewhat....so I'm still sorta considering it in the back of my head.

Its a good thing I haven't been enthalled by anything from Nars so far...except the upcoming holiday collection that is. But if the prices are this insane here, I'll just wait for a GWP to get them as I don't think they are LE.

***



I bought the Mario Badescu Silver powder off Audrie a couple months ago. I was interested in it because I've read so many reviews that it realy helps unclog the pores especially if followed with a nosestrip after. Tried it a few times but I can't seem to get it to work for me! Does anyone have any tips?

I've already tried it two ways:
1. Mixing a bit of it with some water to form a paste, and applying that on my nose / chin
2. Pouring some out onto my hand and using a wet cottonball to pick up the powder and apply it on my nose / chin (which are the instructions on the jar itself)




Both methods don't do anything for me. It'll dry down to a white layer on my face and if I let it dry too much its difficult to get off! That happened the first time, and I had to wash my face again :S

Second time I let it dry a bit, then washed off the white stuff. Like other reviewers have said, the white stuff does stick to your blackheads, making them more obvious. I then followed with a nosestrip which is what most people seem to do. However, whatever I get off with the nosestrip seems to be about the same amount as what I get without using the silver powder beforehand....so I don't see what good the silver powder did?

Its probably just my weird skin...but I hardly seem to be able to find skincare products that work for me :S The claims products make always seem too good to be true...and they usually are for me even though they work for others :(


***

Some stuff I hauled last week:

The Body Shop



-Deep Sleep spray (for the bf because he has insomnia...)
-Lip butters in Mango and Coconut, they were a Buy 1 get 1 50% offer
-Sample of Coconut body butter, some other samples I got the SA to make

The spray smells good, sorta Aveda-ish if you know how Aveda products smell. Its a blend of essential oils supposed to help you calm down and sleep better. I don't know yet if it works as the bf has been rather lazy to remember to use it. You're supposed to spray it on your pillows/sheets before going to bed.

I'm tempted to use the lip butters, but I have so many lipbalms already I should just save and use them as stocking fillers for Christmas :)


And, I got a ton of samples from Holt Renfew...:D



- La Mer Hydrating Infusion
- Giorgio Armani Face Fabric in #4
- Cle de Peau Smoothing base for pores (primer)
- Cle de Peau Nourishing emulsion (a night lotion)
- samples from Amore Pacific, a Korean brand newly launched here

I don't even know how I got so many. There was a super nice lady at the Cle de Peau counter, and she gave me most of the samples even though I didn't buy anything but was just asking questions about the line!

I had been interested in the Giorgio Armani Face Fabric foundation so I asked for a sample. The SAs said they don't make samples from the testers, but they only had a sample tube in shade #4 so I took it anyway. From the reviews I read on MUA, I'm probably a #2 so #4 was definitely too dark. However, at least I can test out the texture and whether I have any skin reaction to it. Not in a hurry to use it now though, since I've made the resolution to stay away from foundation for a bit.

I also got more stuff from Clarins and MAC over the weekend ...to be continued next post :)

a wordy post about possible hauls

I checked out the MAC Slimshines today. The formulas felt really nice and went on creamy. However I couldn't get a decent enough colour payoff with a lot of them. The only three colours that I liked were Funshine, Missy, and Long Stem Rose. Now these are permanent so I decided to get only Long Stem Rose. However at the counter I realised I forgot to bring my wallet :S so I ended up getting nothing at all.

After that, I went to Sephora to check out the NARS Orgasm lipgloss and Tarte cheekstains that I'd been lemming for a little while. The lipgloss was rather disappointing for me. I hate trying glosses on at Sephora with the testers (eww..) so I swatched some on my hand instead. The colour was quite similar to my Dior Ultra Reflect Gloss in Raffia Orange, but the consistency was thicker.

Since the Dior gloss doesn't show up on me all that well, I knew the NARS gloss definitely wouldn't show up. So I moved on to the Tarte aisle to look at the cheekstains. The stains were listed for CDN$39! WTH....these are only US$28 on Sephora.com! :( No way am I spending $40 on a blush...I might consider spending that amount on a Dior blush but not Tarte.

To digress, Dior has a LE blush out for $US52 / CDN$54, which looks so pretty!

Dior Flower Blossom



But considering the design would be ruined once I used it, I've decided I really don't need it.

Going back to the Tarte cheekstain, a markup of $10 doesn't make sense. (Not that any markups make sense now that both US and CDN currencies are on par...) Going from $28 to $39 is a 35% markup! The Dior blush for example is only $2 more, while MAC stuff is about 20% markup usually.

Anyway as you can see, I wasn't much in the mood for hauling anything today, even if I had remembered my wallet. However I spent a huge amount of time online checking out Japanese makeup collections. Reason is because my bf's making a trip to Japan soon, so he asked me if there was anything I wanted from there (hell yeah! lol :D)

So I was reading up on Japanese cosmetic lines trying decide what to put on my list :) I wish I could go there myself and test out the products though! its killing me to look at pictures of all these products and not be able to try them out myself.

Oh, and according to A Touch of Blusher, the must try look for Spring 2008 seems to be lilac. Great news for me, because I love purples. I've been digging the purples in the Shiseido commercials, and am considering buying that SV844 palette used for the look.



I do already have purples from NYX, MAC, and ELF but I want to see how Shiseido eyeshadows fare in comparison.

I also really want the Majolica Majorca eyeshadow palette GR741, partly because its LE and because the Muse made it sound so good...



Source

NYX Haul

Haul from Sunday:

NYX single eyeshadow in Lime Juice
NYX single eyeshadow in Lanikai
NYX Jumbo eye pencil in Black Bean
NYX Jumbo lip pencil in Pink Nude
NYX pigment in Turquoise
NYX pigment in Ocean
NYX liquid eyeliner in Electric Blue

Samples from Sephora of Fresh Freshface Primer, and Fresh concealer in #2



I wasn't planning to get any eyeshadows at all....just the pigments. But I just happened to spot Lanikai (the blue) and was struck by how it was such a bright, almost cobalt blue. Had to have it. And then I spotted Lime Juice and man, together they really look like a good dupe of the Nars eyeshadow duo Rated R:



vs



Swatched the Nars one at Sephora and the colours ARE a tad brighter, however I think the NYX one is still pretty close. Just need to pack the colour a bit more. Also, the NYX ones together cost CDN$12, compared to CDN$31 for the Nars duo.

By the way these eyeshadows also look VERY similar to the MAC Paint Pots Pharaoh and Electro Sky from the McQueen collection. I'm sure the Paint Pot colours are more intense though since they are cream-based.


Swatches:

Lime Juice, Lanikai



Electric Blue liquid liner, Pink Nude lip pencil, Black Bean eye pencil.



Didn't think of swatching the pigments since there are so many swatches of them already...

I originally wanted to get the Jumbo eye pencil in Yoghurt to use as a eyeshadow base, however Pharma Plus drugstore didn't have it :( so I bought the Pink Nude lip pencil thinking that it was an eye pencil....didnt' realise it until I got home. Gonna see if it still works ok as an eyeshadow base. If not, I can probably use it as a lipcolour base at least.