MAC Surf, Baby! SWELL BABY Eye Shadow Swatches & Review

Well, it happened... I couldn't take it and the last time I was at Macy's I picked up a fourth MAC Surf, Baby! Eye Shadow. You can check out the other 3 shades by clicking HERE. I won't be picking up the fourth shade, Short Shorts, because it's too similar to a few other shades that I own.

Now, let's talk about Swell Baby ;)

Swell Baby is pretty soft and easy to use for a Satin. I tend to steer clear of the Satin finish because, for me, unless it's a highlighter shade, I just can't get it to look nice and even. That is not the case with Swell Baby. It's a dream of a gray shade with a very slight shimmer. I think it's unique enough to warrant owning, and I do think the Surf, Baby packaging is really cute ;)

This shade IS Limited Edition to the MAC Surf, Baby! Collection but you still may be able to find it at your local MAC store or counter for $15.50. It is currently sold out on the MACcosmetics.com website.

DEBORAH LIPPMANN Presents Beautiful Hues for Fall 2011

WARM UP WITH DEBORAH LIPPMANN’S FALL 2011 SHADES
I have worked directly with some of the world’s top fashion designers on everything from ad campaigns to fashion shows. When I set out to select nail looks for the fall 2011 collections, I noticed a common theme among all of my collaborators: warmth. The clothes featured vivid, lush earth tones—think lush greens, rich reds and intense golds.
I wanted to capture a similar heat and earthiness in the accompanying polishes, but with an added punch. BILLIONAIRE, a moody hunter green, BRICK HOUSE, a shimmering rust, and SINGLE LADIES, a flirtatious red, all have warm undertones, which give them a beautiful intensity, but also have a jewel-like quality so they really make nails pop.

SHADE DESCRIPTIONS
Billionaire: moody hunter green (creme)

Brick House: shimmering rust (shimmer)

Single Ladies: flirtatious red (creme)

XOXO,
Deborah

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com for $16 each.

SHOW WORTHY
Deborah Lippmann’s new shade, STORMY WEATHER, is a collaboration with fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.

Usually Narciso requests a nude nail to complement his minimalist designs, but for fall 2011 around he wanted something bolder—a color with strength and edge to offset both his collection and the softness of the hair and makeup. For the perfect custom finish, I mixed (and mixed) a new shade by hand in just 24 hours. The final product: an edgy granite that emanated power and intensity. The models who walked the show (and who rarely, if ever, comment on the nail color) gushed over the shade. And so STORMY WEATHER was born an edgy granite (crème) for a strong fall statement.

XOXO,
Deborah

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com for $16.

Just in time for the holiday season,
Deborah Lippmann Gets the Party started

Nothing says ‘Party’ like the magnetic sparkle of glitter. So for the biggest party season of the year, I’ve created shades that truly dazzle. Get This Party Started, a set of three glitters, was inspired by the overwhelming demand for my best selling Happy Birthday, a glittery party in a bottle. The set includes Happy Birthday, along with two new variations of the sparkling shade: Forget You and Candy Shop. They’re both packed with the same unique hexagon-shaped glitter that gives Happy Birthday its magnificent glint, only Forget You has a sheer black base and Candy Shop a bubblegum pink.

I love how festive all three look and feel, whether wrapped a round a champagne glass or peeping out of a glamorous pump. But what I truly love the most: how a few coats of any shade instantly transform you into the life of the party.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: a party in a bottle (glitter)
FORGET YOU: party all night (glitter)
CANDY SHOP: bubblegum pink (glitter)

XOXO,
Deborah

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com for $42 per set.

Wet N Wild COTTON CANDY 565C & BERRY BURST 570A MegaSlicks Lip Gloss

I've been consistently impressed with the quality of Wet N Wild's eye shadows. It's about high time I gave some love to the other products that the brand has to offer!

Today I have 2 Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Lip Glosses in that shades of Cotton Candy (565C) and Berry Burst (570A) to share with you.

(Cotton Candy, Berry Burst)

(Cotton Candy)

(Berry Burst)

Cotton Candy doesn't look so much like Cotton Candy IN the tube, but on the swatch it definitely has that pale pink candy look to it. It applies with a light tint and is not sticky in the least!

Berry Burst literally looks nothing like Berry. It's more of a rusted coral color... aka my favorite color in the world for everyday makeup. This one is more pigmented than Cotton Candy and is a tad stickier, but not as much as, say, a MAC Lipglass. I'm loving this shade and think it will look awesome over Le Metier de Beaute San Tropez lippie.

The Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Lip Glosses retail for $1.99 and can be found at drugstores. For more information visit the Wet N Wild website (where swatches for these are not spot on), or follow Wet N Wild on Twitter or Facebook.

***Products were provided by the manufacturer or PR firm in exchange for an HONEST review. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.

L'Oreal MagicSmooth Souffle Makeup Swatches & Review

From time to time the magazines I subscribe to will have foundation samples and coupons as inserts. I was really excited to see that there was one from L'Oreal in either Vogue or Lucky (eek I can't remember!).

The card came with a sample of the Magic Perfecting Base Face Primer (which I reviewed HERE) and samples of 3 of the MagicSmooth Souffle in Classic Ivory 512 (Light), Nude Beige 516 (Medium), and Sun Beige 530 (Deep).

The L'Oreal MagicSmooth Souffle has a mousse texture and covers well with a nice wear! I can't comment on what the long term effects are, but from my one application I'm pretty impressed and plan on taking my coupon in for the full size.

For reference, I'm MAC NW25 and it's looking like I'll be going for the Classic Ivory. Not to worry, there are more than 3 shades! Ulta is listing 12 shades on their website.

The retail on L'Oreal MagicSmooth Souffle is $15.99 and you can pick this up at drugstores or Ulta.

Korres POMEGRANATE Lip Butter Glaze Swatches & Review

Korres Pomegranate Lip Butter Glaze has recently become one of my favorite products to keep in my purse. I can't believe I haven't shared this with you until now!

Korres Lip Butter is such a staple for so many people, I'm sure you've heard of it by now... but in case you haven't....

From the Sephora website:

Lip Butter Glaze
What it is:
A line-smoothing, buttery lip glaze in a tube.

What it does:
This lightweight, soothing lip butter imparts vibrant and shiny color, smells utterly delicious, and comes packaged in an easy-application tube.

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Synthetic Fragrances
- Petrochemicals
- Phthalates
- GMOs
- Triclosan

Sephora is the exclusive beauty retailer for this product.
Size: 0.34 oz

Lip Butter does everything it says, and this particular shade actually packs quite a pigmented punch. I was impressed with how smooth it applied with NO stick! And I love the applicator, it's angled perfectly for your lips so you don't have to get any gunk on your finger. It hung around for the normal wear of a colored balm... stayed on for a few hours unless I eat or drink before then. You can also use this as a cheek tint.

Korres Lip Butter Glaze can be purchased for $14 and is available at Sephora.

***This post contains an affiliate link... for more information please read my disclosure policy.

Guerlain FALL 2011 Must-Haves!

Guerlain is certainly setting the bar high for Fall 2011 collections!

Click the pictures below to enlarge and check out the latest Press Release on Fall 2011 Fragrance, Makeup, and Skin Care from Guerlain!:

I know I'm in big trouble with this one... how do you pare down when you want everything?! I'm mostly ready for the 4 Couleurs Eye Shadows! I can't believe we have to wait until August! =(

Dior LIFTING AMBER (642) 5 Couleurs Lift Eyeshadow Palette Swatches & Review

In person at my local Macy's the Dior 5 Couleurs Lift Eyeshadow Palette in Lifting Amber took my breath away.

From the Nordstrom website:

The first eye-lifting and radiance-boosting eye palette that features advanced serum powders. Both immediately and over time, 5-Couleurs Lift eyeshadows smooth, frame and brighten the eyes. Each smart palette offers a full radiance-boosting ritual with a smoothing primer that contains 40 times more skincare ingredients than a classic eyeshadow, a trio of serum shadows for long wear without creasing, and a versatile liner and brow definer. Four harmonies revealing natural and flattering colors that perfectly match different skin tones.

I've obviously not used it long enough to speak on the effects of the eye-lifting aspect, but I can talk about the wear and what to expect.

The middle of the palette contains the smoothing primer. Do not mistake this for your actual eye shadow primer. I found I needed to put my UDPP or Too Faced Shadow Insurance on before the smoothing primer to hold my eye shadows. I don't know if it effects how the Dior primer works for your eyes, but I did find it necessary to keep crease fading at bay.

The three eye shadows all have a soft texture. Included in the palette are a beautiful cream colored highlight (which, thankfully, isn't over the top white and shiny). The second color is the one that WOWed me. It's such a nice, light peachy-pink. The third shade is a warm, chocolatey bronze. The liner is a deep chocolate shade, extremely easy to apply.

This palette may LOOK shimmery, but on the eyes it really isn't so much (however you'll see below there is SOME but not so much that everyone couldn't pull it off). It does run warm, so if you're extremely cool toned you should probably pick yourself a different lift palette. I do recommend checking them out. I was disappointed that the Artist palettes had that horrible shimmer shade in the upper right corner, so I never bought one. The Lift Palette doesn't have that, but has the liner. WOOT!

The shades are not extremely pigmented, so if you're looking for something dark, this isn't for you. It's an everyday neutral palette, which is perfect for home or office, and easy to punch up with another shadow of your choosing for night. You could actually even use the liner as a base to darken things up a bit.

The Dior 5 Couleurs Lift Eyeshadow Palette retails for $60. A little more than the usual Dior 5 Color. But the palettes are so perfectly pristine, that it's totally worth the few extra bucks. Available at Macy's, Nordstrom, and wherever Dior is sold (though my local Sephora had no idea what I was talking about.)

***This post contains an affiliate link... for more information please read my disclosure policy.

FOTD Featuring MAC Jealousy Wakes & Hocus Pocus

I'm so excited over how great the MAC Bloggers' Obsessions Eye Shadows are I had to do a FOTD. This look was actually done yesterday, aka lazy Sunday. I think it's an interesting look to be sitting around the house all day in and then cooking for your in-laws in the evening lol

For This Look I Used:
~ MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer NW25
~ Dior Hydra Life Pro-Youth Skin Tint SPF 20 - 1 Cream
~ Lancome Dual Finish Powder Matte Bisque II
~ Dior DiorShow Brow Styler
~ MAC Brow Set - Clear
~ MAC False Lashes Mascara - Black
~ Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Lemon Drop
~ MAC Jealousy Wakes Eye Shadow (lid)
~ MAC Hocus Pocus Eye Shadow (crease/outer V)
~ MAC Fresh Daisy Eye Shadow (inner corners & highlight)
~ MAC Orpheus Eye Kohl (top liner)
~ Urban Decay Covet 24/7 Eye Pencil (bottom waterline)
~ MAC Eversun Beauty Powder Blush
~ MAC Emancipation Lipglass
***please note, clicking any of the above links will navigate you away from this particular page. You can right click your mouse and select "open in a new page" to remain on this one while you view other posts.

I keep checking the MAC website to see if they switch the sold out stuff (which is currently Jealousy Wakes e/s, Hocus Pocus e/s, and All of My Purple Life l/g) to "coming soon". A feeling in my tummy says they will, so if I see it, I'll post on Facebook and Twitter about it. I REALLY hope they give more people the opportunity to get these beautiful shades.

Chanel PERIDOT 531 Le Vernis Nail Colour Swatches & Review

Warning... lemmings ahead.

I just died, went to Heaven, and had Chanel Peridot babies. That might sound a little dramatic... but this nail polish is BEAUTIFUL. If you think the swatches you've seen online are gorgeous, wait until you check this one out in person.

This polish looks drastically different no matter how you look at it. Normally I only use a flash, but for this one I decided to post pics with flash and without, to show the differences and how beautiful it looks no matter how you look at it.

With Flash

Without Flash

You're going to want to click those to enlarge them to truly appreciate the awesomeness.

The color of Chanel Peridot is a goldy green burnished love of my life. The wear is that of your usual Chanel polish. I'm not sure I ever want to take it off. I have absolutely no negatives about this polish. It's a 10 star A++++++++++++!

Chanel Peridot is available with the Fall 2011 Collection. It is now available on the Chanel.com site. This is limited edition. So stop screwing around and order it before you regret it and pay $200+ on evil-bay! =P

Week Of June 20, 2011 - Top 5 Blog Posts

Well, here at BlushingNoir we've been doing the Top 5 blog posts for a month now, and I think it's so interesting how (for the most part) things change from week to week. When MAC has new things happening, look out! Once again MAC has infiltrated the Top 5!!!!!

For the third week in a row, the number one spot belongs to I Win, So You Win! Giveaway Anouncement! If you haven't entered already, click the link and check it out! There is still some time left to get your entry in!

At number two, really amazing since I didn't even post this until this past Friday evening, MAC Bloggers' Obsessions Hocus Pocus & Jealousy Wakes Eye Shadow Swatches & Comparisons. This collection from MAC is truly ground breaking, and I really hope they continue with the tradition. With LIPSTICKS next time, PLEASE lol

In third place is the Le Metier de Beaute Miami, San Tropez, Ibiza, Palm Beach, and Paris Color Core Moisture Stain Lipstick Swatches & Review. LMdB has some great lippies in their Color Core line. No gloss required!

Fourth place is the MAC Semi-Precious Product Pictures & Information. This is a HUGE launch coming out on July 7, 2011. I've gotten my list into the mid $200 range, but I need to cut a bit somewhere. Those brushes just look SOOOOO cool!

And, finally, in fifth place, Tag Post - What's In My Purse? In this post I opened up my newest Coach purse and shared what was inside - makeup, coupons, gum wrappers... OH, MY!

What did you guys haul this week? Or are you saving for these ultimate Fall collections that are releasing soon? I've got my heart set on that Dior Leopard Quad. I almost fainted when I saw it. If DH would let me, I'd have the whole house done up in leopard. <3

Too Faced COP A TEAL Exotic Color Intense Eye Shadow & Lemon Drop Shadow Insurance Swatches & Review

Let's talk about how much I love the name for this shadow lol Cop A Teal. Love. The name is almost as fun as the shade!

Cop A Teal and Lemon Drop Shadow Insurance are just two of the new products for Too Faced's Fall Collection - Midnight in the Garden of Glamour.

(Cop A Teal, Lemon Drop SI, Cop A Teal over Lemon Drop SI)

Cop A Teal is nicely pigmented, blends well, and applies evenly. One thing you need to make sure of, I had a lot of fall out and migration under the eye as I applied. PLEASE make sure when you're using this product to do your eye makeup first so that you can clean up around the eye without ruining your face makeup.

Lemon Drop Shadow Insurance is just as awesome as the regular shadow insurance. As you can see from the swatch photo, it didn't change the color of Cop A Teal, so you don't need to worry about that. Shadow Insurance will hold your shadows in place all day. This is one of two primers (the other being UDPP) that actually work for my lids.

As I was swatching these products, I thought Cop A Teal looked familiar. I was wrong AND right... I thought it would look like NARS Rajasthan. In the pan it did... a little bit. Swatched, no way. However, Cop A Teal is only barely a shade off from MAC Birds & Berries, which was a popular eye shadow released with the Liberty of London collection.

(L-R: MAC Birds & Berries, Chanel Murano Quad dark green, TF Cop A Teal, NARS Rajasthan, UD Haight)

(TF Cop A Teal, MAC Birds & Berries)

The Too Faced Fall Collection is so beautiful, I'm definitely going to have to check out a few more of the shadows and DEFINITELY the eye liners! The Exotic Color Intense Eye Shadows retail for $18 and the Too Faced Lemon Drop Shadow Insurance retails for $18. Currently this collection is exclusively on the Too Faced Website, but Sephora also sells Too Faced so you can check there for it soon ;)

***Products were provided by the manufacturer or PR firm in exchange for an HONEST review. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.