Recent purchases, Present thoughts and Future events

I don’t have much time at this moment to browse neither the online nor the counter collections but I still managed to splurge on a few items… Some are still on their way to me and others were bought at the counters here, I’ll share mine and if you found any great items or holy grails for the Holiday collections, please share with us!

I had been looking at this Chanel Charming palette for a little while, wasn’t really tempted because it reminded me a bit too much of the Edward Bess quads. I hesitated and when I finally decided to get it it wasn’t available anymore. I was able to find it because the shopping center where I usually buy the By Terry products had thought of re-ordering as soon as it was sold-out, lucky me.

Is this really too similar to the Edward Bess quads ? No. Although it looks like. The pattern and some of the textures are similar but if you take a closer look, the shades aren’t.

I tried to take some swatches of the most similar shadows from the EB quads hoping to show you some difference.

 

• The number 1 from the left is completely different from the 3 lighter shades of all the EB palettes which are totally matte, almost too matte for my liking.
• The number 2 is a matte but has a satiny finish, my favorite type of finish and the color is just enough visible to create a subtle shadow to the crease, that shade is divine. It is not powdery at all.
• The number 3 in the center looks so close to the EB Sun and Stars from the distance but in the swatches the Chanel is a darker bronze with more brown in it.
• The number 4 is a gorgeous warm brown with again a matte-satiny finish. When I read Temptalia’s review, I feel like I did not get the same palette, her swatches look more powdery and now I wonder if there is any difference between the USA and the Europe palettes.
• The number 5 is a matte very dark grey purple that doesn’t feel powdery to me at all.

All the shades apply nicely, evenly and the wearable combination makes it one of the most attractive palettes since I am really into easy to wear daily palettes. The 3rd shade is too shimmery for me and that is my only regret. I mix it with the brown and blend both together, it adds more wearability and the result is more sultry and less coppery.

I saw the Chanel blush in Accent and once more I thought I had a similar blush already (but I still took it…because you all tempted me with your comments in the forum…). The Lancome Miel Glacé is my go-to for a no-makeup makeup look, it’s what I call a perfecting type of blush, gives some shine and a fair unifying neutral color. Accent is more sparkly and Miel Glacé is more satin-metallic but both in a good way, not at all a blocking point.

 

 

Both are easy to wear, I’d say that the Lancome is a beige-pink and the Chanel a pink-beige 🙂 Ignore the black liner, it’s just there for camera-focus purposes…

 

When I spotted the Chanel Radieuse I thought I was looking at Mac Lazy Day ! I had to take it with me because Lazy Day is my go-to summer sexy lips, blue-pink lipsticks are not easy to wear for me, I have to apply a light coat and leave it subtle but I adore the final look paired with a very black smokey eye.

 

I really hope you can see the difference in the swatches, Radieuse, Mac Lazy Day and Mac Angel are very similar, Mac Hue and Creme Cup are warmer.

 

I was wearing Radieuse this week but I used the Tom Ford 04 Pink Guilt gloss lightly on top of it and it was totally ok for the office since it was twisting down the blue of the lipstick. Just for info, TF Pink Guilt is my favorite lipgloss EVER, I will feature it in my upcoming holy grail post, I never really saw an interest in having my lips look glossy-in-your-face until I saw this look in a Charlotte Tilbury video, I was in Scotland at that time and I literally had to run to Harveys to get it, if that gloss could give the same effect as it does in the video it had to be mine asap. And it does deliver, not for shy people but there is a way to have it look normal though, don’t be scared by the video.

It’s a huge love affair, ladies and gentlemen, you have just been introduced to the gloss of my life. Either just lightly in the center of the lips or dramatically all over, this TF gloss is to die for.  Even though I hate the fact that TF customer services never replied to any of my emails (I think I just sent 2 so far), I have to award TF the MUM (makeup man) of the year 2013.

I also got the Chanel Rose Poudré, it’s the best lip liner for me, nude enough but brightening, adds some color to the lips but for me it acts just as a base underneath a lipstick or the TF gloss. It’s in between my other two fabs, RBR Marco and By Terry Rosy Nude, this Chanel is spot on and she told me it would remain in their collection, I really hope so!

In the same shop I saw the By Terry holiday collection, I wasn’t tempted by the sparkly liners or the metallic cream shadow sticks this time but I saw the new serum foundation, it’s called Terribly Densiliss, you can read an article here about it. Usually the By Terry foundations I wear are shade 5 but this time it looked really too fair for me, that’s why I ended up with the two samples 🙂

I tried it two days in a row, yes I confirm I saw that the appearance of my skin was improved (although not much more than with Ellis Faas to be honest), I loved the finish and it made me look younger (didn’t make a miracle but at least it’s the impression it gave me…) unfortunately it’s a bit too matte for me, I applied it lightly otherwise it was looking too thick and obvious and is not that easy to work with and make it invisible, I am thinking that for combination or oily skin it would look much better. I really love how it looks on myself, the coverage is light to medium but it just doesn’t work on my very very dry skin, sad… Maybe this could be a nice foundation for summer, since I will not apply it thick and it will tone down the shine that my moisturizer over-delivers, I think it has the potential of a great combination. For now, with the winter weather we have here I will have to stay away.

 

I was chatting with the lady at the beauty counter about the cold weather and telling her my dry hands were crying for help and she said “try Cicalfate from Avene, it’s amazing, a thick layer at night and you will see in the morning your hands will feel sooo smooth and nourished“. So I looked for it in a pharmacy nearby and bought it, it was approx 12 usd.

I wash my hands all the time and sanitize them often (all the shaking hands at the office makes me nervous, too many microbes going on). I think that at the end of this winter I will be print-free by the look of it, the cold and chemicals are burning my fingertips. I tried the cream, it helps on the back of my hands but the palms are so dry that I am scared to touch anything, feels awful, even the microfibre cloth for cleaning the brushes feels terrible when I touch it. After trying this Avene for a few days, I can say it’s a nice cream but does not repair all that I need repairing… the back of my hands feel better, the front it’s not solved yet.

…do you  have any miracle tip ?? who knows, maybe someone here is reading and can give me (us) a hand 😉

 

 

The same evening I was browsing in the rest of the shops and I was looking for something that could help with the smell at home, the renovation works are causing a really weird glue smell to be too invasive and I wanted to do something -at least locally- about it. I found this Room Fragrance from Mathilde M. interesting.  A mixture of woody notes, spicy and vanilla. It costed approx 20usd for a 100ml bottle but it solved my problem 🙂 I can come back from work now and feel more relaxed. Some small things can do a lot sometimes.

 

 

It was during the same scarily shopping evening that I found this…. when I saw that they now carry Ciate and that they had the Christmas calendar I felt like a child. I have last year’s and wanted this one so much but it’s not easy to order nail polish and I couldn’t find a way to get my nails on it 🙁

Last week I was telling my BF how much I wanted this type of holiday calendar but with nail polish just like the one I had in 2012… 🙂 (not with chocolates!)

I went totally crazy and grabbed it (was the last one), when it was time I opened the number 1 but felt like something was not right…

They don’t have the bow glued to them! My other calendar is in a box due to the house works but I am pretty sure it had a bow! if you look online you clearly see the tiny little bows… and a Ciate without a bow … hmmmm is not a Ciate 🙂 but it’s lovely, I am just thinking that something is missing here and if the next years doesn’t have a bow, I will probably skip it. The devil is in the detail and the detail is missing…  😉

 

 

 

Now onto something different… Some months ago I asked in the forum what shampoo you could recommend me and you mentioned Philip B.

When I went to the shops in UK, I saw it, saw the price and I just could not…. seriously ?  more than 100 Gbp for a bottle ? NO way.

This week I found this sample in my stash and I tried it. H-o-l-y…. ok ok I get it.  I tried to find it somewhere at a better price, there is no much luck with that but I still had to order it… I decided to go for Net-a-Porter because we are related professionally and because they were offering express shipping for free and I need that shampoo ASAP. I got the Russian Amber ones by the way.

I feel like I have hair again… I will try the Russian range and let you know if that meets my expectations 🙂 it sounds promising specially also because of its scent.

 

What’s now ??

Still trying to do my Suqqu post but it’s not easy, not enough time for everything 🙁  I am right now trying products that I received and I hope I will be able to combine a makeup and skincare review.

 

What’s next ?

There is the big Christmas release… I am totally excited about the new functionality of the blog, if you love brushes I think there is a big chance you’ll love what’s coming up…  Every minute counts in order for me to open this section on time, but I will ! I am doing everything myself so don’t expect a very professional look but sometimes I like to believe that a more personal and intimate feel is not that bad… We are a small community of brush lovers here and I am blessed with your support!

For the future renovation works at home it will finally concern my “room”. It’s a room where I have my office and my Ikea Besta Burs. What you see here is before the works, I will show you what it will look afterwards once done, they should complete the works by January. They will change one window, add another one, remove the wood on the walls, add isolation and only then I will be able to paint and decorate it.

In the meantime, if you are curious to see what it looks like today, well, just a few minutes ago… here  it is :

 

I don’t like the lights so they are not up yet (too bright), I will have to find another solution, I am using an old  piano chair and I had to add a mirror in the middle because the one at the back is too far away…

The brushes I use on a daily basis are there but they get changed all the time. I don’t have a wall behind me because they are working on the cables and electricity so I just hanged a curtain in the meantime to hide the big cabling mess.

And on the shelf here are my little kabukis :

My temporary office looks like that (now you can imagine me reading your comments sitting here) 🙂

 

 

I will need to buy an office chair, but I already bought the desk, not a great idea to get a glass desk because it’s freaking cold here but at least it’s hygienic… (looking at the bright side). I bought it in Ikea for approx 65 usd, not bad! it has the world map drawing underneath the glass, I like it but as I said, it’s really cold -if the room is cold- and when you lay your arms on it, you won’t like it.

All the white Ikea furniture you see is filled with beauty products … handy when I am typing to be able to reach for everything.

I will show you in January or February what they did, I am nervous because this week I left 200 brushes sitting on my desk (with the Kashoen silk cloth to cover them) and when I came home they had put my bf’s tools and other things on top of the silk cloth and the brushes…. nearly had an heart attack. Hopefully 2 more months and the works will end (at least in my room).

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday, I just had breakfast that I cooked myself, this is called a “Tresse” (a braid), it’s like bread but softer and buttery and typically for breakfast 🙂 What are you up to??

 

PS : if you have tried to register in the forum and your account is not active yet, please contact me because this means your account went into the spam folder by mistake! Please leave a comment here or send me an email 🙂 thank you!!