The Makeup Box

L’oreal Festival de Cannes 2013 L’Or Sunset Collection (2 Lipsticks I couldn’t resist!)

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Aside from the drop-dead gorgeous Doutzen Kroes in the campaign visuals, with the “celestial” gold glimmer on lids, lips and nails, I was really drawn to 2 of the luxe gold-infused marbled Color Riche lipsticks in the collection.

But it wasn’t the gold swirls that sold me on them. (And you can see that despite the beautifully-retouched advertising, the gold shimmer in the lipsticks aren’t all that obvious once you apply them.) It was the wonderfully smooth texture. These are like sheer, glossy, balm lipsticks. They feel real good on, and you CAN see the gold glimmer up-close in real life, though they aren’t as dramatic as MAC Dazzle Lipsticks.

There are 2 other colors in the lip collection (a brown-gold and a rose-gold) but I picked the 2 shades I felt would look more flattering on me personally.

• Blackened Pearl: Beige-gold; this is by far my favorite lipstick out of the 4. The gold doesn’t show on camera because the base shade is so light, but it’s very pretty in real life.
• Smokey Rouge: Red-gold. This isn’t as bold and dramatic as it looks in the tube. It’s more a warm, glossy tomato shot through with a little gold.

The collection also includes 2 eye palettes (a neutral and a burgundy-and-dark-green set) but I don’t exactly need more eyeshadows so I passed on them.

Simple Neutral Lids, Barely-there Cheeks, and Dramatic Red Glitter Lips!

Night out on the town and not in the mood to mess with complicated makeup? Jazz up a soft eye look in 5 minutes with a dramatic, long-wearing scarlet glitter lip. 

The entire look is actually just classic-glamour, with neutral lids and a blue-based red lip, but they won’t notice until you come closer (or the camera flashes) that your crimson pout is COATED with a layer of glitter.

Good for all skin tones and eye shapes.

P.S. Nail color shown: Butter London “Knees Up”

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Coral Lipsticks: Shades, Swatches, Tips!

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Coral is that hybrid shade that is not quite orange, not quite red. Some even have a shot of pink and peach thrown in. Read down further for brands and details of the swatches listed!

It can be a hard shade to wear if you don’t take care to even out your skin tone with a good base or concealer first (it can make blotchy skin blotchier) or a little matching blush on the cheeks (it can make medium to dark skins sallow-looking).

But get your base covered and coral is its own statement and does not need much eye makeup accompanying it. (Interestingly, all the beautiful looks I found featuring coral lips had MINIMAL eye makeup.) 

P.S. Thanks to all of you for chipping in with your favorite corals! More, more! We need to know where all the good stuff is!

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Shu Uemura Karl Lagerfeld Collection 2012

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ARRRRRRRRR is this cute or what???

Those who know me know I don’t like cute. I avoid Hello Kitty merchandise and those endless 3D animation family-friendly films like the plague. When I do go for “cute”, I have a rather eccentric preference for slightly kooky and weird things with a twist of dark humor and irreverence in the face of all things sugary and girly. (The only soft toy I ever voluntarily bought in remembered history is a pink Gloomy Bear.)

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Maybe it says something that I actually find myself very drawn to the new Karl Lagerfeld collection by Shu Uemura. Aside from the slightly psycho-looking, spaced-out Mon Shu Girl mascot with red glowing eyes and bowl-cut hair, the collection actually looks pretty good. I, for one, will definitely check out that red lipstick.

We also all know Shu shadows have a texture to die for, so if you’re on the market for a palette, the Karl Lagerfeld collection has some pretty wearable sets with a good mix of colors that can bring you from occasion to occasion easily this holiday season.

That makeup box is actually really cool too, but I don’t have the space for that in any case.