NOTD: Zoya Hudson & Zoya Monet

Today's NOTD is another look with an accent nail.  Both Zoya Hudson and Monet were released as a part of the Spring 2014 collection.

Hudson is a silver-infused mid-tone purple shimmer.  It has a nice formula, and didn't require much special care in terms of avoiding streaks.  I have two coats on my nails in these photos.

Monet is a glitter topcoat that I have on top of Hudson on my ring finger. This one requires a basecoat, and the formula was honestly suspect.

NOTD: Zoya Vega

Today's NOTD is Zoya Vega, one of the three PixieDust polishes Zoya released for Spring 2014. I recently realized that I haven't talked about any of the textured glittered polishes I own.  To be perfectly honest, there are a few reasons why.  But let me show this this stunning shade first, and babble later.

There are three coats of Zoya Vega on my nails in this shot, no top coat.

The twist with Zoya's Spring 2014 PixieDusts is the inclusion of holo glitter, which I have a lot of difficulty photographing well.

OK, back to the matte, textured glitter shades. I have a number of them from Zoya, OPI, and Julep. Since I do work in a somewhat conservative office, I don't like wearing glitter on my nails as a general rule.  That, and I hate the removal. Oh, and textured polishes really aren't my thing. I like smooth and shiny nails.

But that doesn't mean I don't get distracted by the pretty every now and then!

Chantecaille Lip Chic- Wild Rose

First of all, Happy Mothers Day to all of my US readers who are mothers.  I had a shock at the grocery store on Friday when a group of children wished me Happy Mothers Day. I nearly asked "are you talking to me ?!?"  but realized they were attempting to be sweet. Just another reminder that I'm older than I feel.

All of this has a connection with today's post, the incredible Chantecaille Lip Chic in Wild Rose.  My own mother has a soft spot for roses, and I was raised at a home with an enormous rose garden that was my mother's pride and joy.  All summer, every summer our home was constantly filled with bouquets from our back yard.  It's not a leap that any time I hear the word rose, I immediately think of my mother.  To this day, I tend to buy her rose-scented gifts.

Chantecaille Lip Chic in Wild Rose came onto my radar when I attended an event last month at Neiman Marcus named Project Beauty. I finally had the opportunity to see this shade in action and added it to the mental wish list.  I've been testing this for close to a month, and my only regret is that I haven't tried other Chantecaille products earlier.  And that I may have "started something new" since I'm probably going to pick up future releases!

Since this is my first Chantecaille Lip Chic review, I'll take a moment to talk stats and packaging.  Chantecaille Lip Chics contain 2g/0.07oz of product and retail for $35.  I have local Chantecaille counters at Nieman Marcus and Bloomingdales, but products are also available online at Nordstrom, Net-a-Porter, Barney's New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Space NK, and the brand's website.  The sleek tube is far smaller than I was expecting, and smaller than the comparable Chanel Rouge Coco Shine.

Chantecaille's website describes the Lip Chic formula as "the perfect combination of gloss and lipstick."  The product description reads as follows:

"This exceptionally comfortable formula is easy to apply in an even finish that is shiny but never sticky. Lip Chic leaves lips fuller and decidedly more youthful in appearance, but never irritated.

• Combines the high shine and plumping effects of a gloss with the rich, even coverage of a lipstick
• Goes on with an incredibly soft, lightweight texture as it helps to smooth and firm the lips"

I'll be honest- I didn't notice any plumping- which is just fine by me since I detest tingling products.

Wild Rose is a LE shade from the Spring 2014 collection, but luckily it's still readily available.  It's described as "sheer and sophisticated fuchsia" by Barneys.  In the tube, it appears to be a bold strawberry red/pink hybrid. However, these are sheer products, so it's not as vibrant on the lips.

I'm going to break with my normal pattern and show this in action before I show swatches. I think it'll be clear why this is probably my favorite new release for Spring 2014:

It's a stunning, wearable shade that looks lovely on my pigmented lips.

Let me show a few swatches, as well as the comparison that I thought might be a dupe. Sadly, it's not.

In the sun (!):

Outside, not in direct sun:

Outside, with flash:

I think it's clear why my mind immediately went to Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine as a comparison.  This is the second year in a row that I've fallen for a sheer, pigmented pink- so I thought they might be dupes.  The shade that came to mind is one of my favorite lipsticks of all time- the LE Pygmalion from Summer 2013, which was my main shade last summer.

I happen to own a backup of Pygmalion- that's how much of a perfect shade it is for me.  It's of the same general genre (sheer, shiny, pigmented pink lipsticks) but Pygmalion is far redder than Wild Rose. I love this photo because it's also in the sun, which has been rare the past few months. There's something about swatches plus white puffy clouds that makes a photo look better, right?

Since I purchased Wild Rose, it's been either in my purse or on my lips every single day. I highly recommend it- it lasts 3-4 hours and fades gracefully.

I love Wild Rose so much that I'm debating whether I should pick up a backup or not.  I tend not to pick up backups simply because of the size of my lipstick stash.  That's how much I love this shade. 

Bite Beauty Deconstructed Rose Lipstick in Damask

Today I have one of Bite Beauty's LE Deconstructed Rose lipsticks to share with you ($28, Sephora).  I didn't feel the need to buy the whole set, but Damask called out to me.

I find myself struggling to describe the color accurately.  It's a saturated, vivid pink that lies somewhere past pale but not a medium tone.  It has blue undertones. It's demure when compared with, say, Tom Ford Flamingo but much darker than light pinks like Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Romance. It's far lighter than the LE Bite Rose.

Bite describes Damask as "rosy pink." I agree, but wish I had more specific terms to better help you visualize it.

There is a distinct rose aroma from this lipstick, although I only noticed it upon application. Wear time is acceptable, but not outstanding. Over the course of a work day (8 hours), I applied before leaving home, after my morning latte, after lunch, and before leaving for the day. On average, it probably wears 3-4 hours without eating or drinking.

I am probably the queen of saturated pink lipsticks and find this to be unique.  I tested this by wearing it to the office, and it's perfectly appropriate. I actually wore this as part of a tamer look, so it shouldn't intimidate anyone.  I've mainly bought reds from Bite, so I appreciated this change of pace.

Here's a swatch on my hand, outside (I did my usual set and they're all so close that there's no value added):

And on my lips:

Overall, this gets a thumbs-up from me. I wish it had longer wear time, but at least I feel comfortable that it's made of food grade ingredients.

NOTD: Butter London Keen

In all honesty, this nail probably deserves its own post because it was a new release. However, since Butter London's Summer 2014 collection is trickling into stores, it's been relegated to a NOTD.

Keen was released as part of Butter London's Boho Rock Spring 2014 collection. It's a lovely, soft peach with pink shimmer. I initially passed because I already own a bright peach coral (Kerfuffle).

Keen is incredibly soft yet pigmented. I love it!

I have two coats plus Butter London Hardware on my nails.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush- Mood Exposure

Whenever we ignore our instincts, it usually doesn't turn out well, right?  For those of us who make beauty either a hard-core hobby or our life's work, the same thing applies. Sometimes we can override our gut instincts with logic when our gut was right all along.

Enter Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure.

When I first saw the online swatches, this shade cried out to me. No, I thought, better to stick with a tried and true formula like Ethereal Glow.  And then go for a punch of color with Diffused Heat. And try to find a beautiful pink with Luminous Flush. Heck, I would've gotten Dim Infusion had it not swatched dead orange on me multiple times.

What was it that scared me away from the shade I instinctively was drawn towards? Other bloggers. The only testers who seemed thrilled with this shade were ladies of Asian heritage- especially those with yellow undertones and medium complexions.  Those are three descriptors that you'll never use to describe me.  Add in my aversion to deep blushes and pigmentation issues in the cheek area and I suppressed my instincts to buy this blush.

It wasn't until I started side-eying Radiant Magenta that I thought "enough is enough."

I can only say that next time I'm going with my gut, logic be damned.  Mood Exposure is by far and away my favorite in this range.  It's nothing like I was expecting. I've hyperlinked my other reviews by shade name so I won't be going into the details about this product since they're all the same size and price.

Mood Exposure is a combination of plum blush and Mood Light Ambient Lighting powder and is listed as the darkest shade in this line. On my skin, it looks nothing like what you'd expect.

I use a rather light hand and an angled blush brush when applying Mood Exposure, but have found it to be the most natural neutral blush.  On my translucent skin, it looks beige.  It wears on me like a cousin to Giorgio Armani Sheer Blush #10.  I think I've found my replacement for #10 when I use my current pan up!

The whole beige out of a plum blush thing has me really puzzled, but I'm not fighting it.  Mood Exposure is a lovely compliment to any natural, neutral look that I do. I'd rank it as the second least pigmented, with only Ethereal Glow as having less color payoff.  I'm not sure why my experience has been so different than most.  Bottom line- pale ladies, don't rule this one out.

Here are some swatches.  All were swatched heavily with a MAC 130SE to get the greatest color payoff and are unblended. Do not attempt to apply blush to your face in this way, obviously!

Outside, no flash:

Outside, with flash:

Inside, no flash:

Inside, with flash:

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes last all day for me without touchups.  This is quite an amazing formula, and the 4 that I have are 2/3 of my current blush rotation (the others are Armani #10 and a Burberry blush I promise to post about soon). Mood Exposure will be my last selection from this line for awhile, but I wish I hadn't put it off so long.

Overall, I find this to be the most wearable of my selections by a long shot.  So don't be scared about the color at all.

Lancome Lip Lover- Reviews in Review

It's been a couple of weeks since I brought home nine of the new Lancome Lip Lover hybrid lip gloss/stick/balms.  There appear to be 18 total shades, which means I've tested half of the collection.  In my humble opinion, not bad for your everyday beauty junkie who does not receive press samples.  Since I've swatched the rest of the line, I feel like I can speak with some overall knowledge base about this product.

First, some links. My prior reviews of each shade can be found here, here, here, here, and here. Add in my intro post, and yes this is really my seventh post about this collection.

In case you needed a refresher, I reviewed the following shades:

332: Beige Adage
334: Corail Cabriole
336: Orange Manege
339: Fuschia Attitude
355: Framboise Etoile
356: Belle de Rouge
357: Bouquet Final
361: Violette Pirouette
362: Bordeaux Tempo

Swatched- outside, no flash:

Inside, with flash:

Swatched on a piece of paper:

Rather than slogging through my reviews (which if you haven't, I do recommend), here are my quick thoughts (which include some shades I didn't purchase):

QBB's Top Picks: Beige Adage, Fuschia Attitude

Most On-Trend for Spring 2014: Violette Pirouette (Radiant Orchid), Orange Manege

Best Pick for Fall: Bordeaux Tempo

Most Like a Lipstick (opaque color payoff): Beige Adage, Fuschia Attitude

Most Like a Traditional Lip Gloss: Coral Cabriole, Orange Manege, Belle de Rouge

Sheer Alert: Coral Cabriole, Rose D'Eau

Best Nude Look: Casse Noisette, Beige Adage, Rose Ballet (for those who want slightly pink nude lips)

Dupe Alert (Pick one, not both) : Fuschia Attitude and Lip Lover, Orange Manege and Belle de Rouge

Shade Missing from the Line: A true red. Framboise Etoile is the closest, but it's a raspberry red.

Worst Online Shade Description: Fuschia Attitude, on Sephora.com- it's NOT purple, people!

I hope this quick reviews in review help. I truly believe everyone needs at least one of these in their stash.  Beige Adage now lives in my makeup bag because it's such a perfect MLBB shade for me and a classic fallback. Considering I only carry 2 products all the time (in addition to what I'm wearing), that's a big deal.

Have you gotten any Lip Lovers?  I suspect my exuberance in collecting so many of these is why I've yet to order the new Fluid Sticks from Dior. I'm lippie'd out for now.

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2014 Flower Crush Palette Rosy Blush

I have the ultra-rare double post for you today.  This is the last of the Spring 2014 collections, and since I'm already testing and posting about summer, I didn't want to delay for another day!

I know I'm a bit late with this Spring 2014 collection, but this particular item had been haunting me for months.  I first saw promotional photos of the Flower Crush Palette Rosy Blush Duo on a number of European beauty blogs, but it was never available at any US-based YSL counter or store website. Consider my shock when I spotted it on the US YSL Beauty site.

The Rosy Blush Duo contains 0.15oz/4.5g of product and retails for $46. As far as I can tell, it's a YSL online exclusive here in the US.

This is such a beautiful and glorious piece. It will be a shame to mess it up.  I have a silly number of photos for you to admire it.

The compact itself has a lovely "cracked" pattern:

And here's a look at the bottom:

Some more photos of this stunning blush:

Except... this product is mis-named.

You're going to have a very difficult time identifying the blush on my hand.  Remember, I'm a Bobbi Brown Alabaster/Marc Jacobs Ivory Light/NARS Mont Blanc/MAC NC10/NW15.  Blushes usually jump off my skin!

In direct sun:

Do you see it? I promise there's a strip there.

Let me annotate some other photos for you.

Outside, no flash (not in sunlight):

Inside, with flash:

Let's be honest with each other and really talk about this stunning product.  It's not a blush.  YSL did themselves a huge disservice by naming it a blush duo.  The pink and peach mixed together (or used apart) are simply a lovely highlighter duo.  There are some obvious flecks of glitter, but they appear to be surface spray.  This makes a beautiful highlighter for me- and I'll be using it as such.  Applied as a highlighter, I get a luminous effect which is very flattering on my light skintone. It's like Dior Shimmer Block Rose Diamond went to the beach and came back with a peachy tan.  I'll use this to its last bits- but had to adjust accordingly.

This prouct is lovely to stare at, but do not expect to get a blush duo. It's a lovely highlighter duo.

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2014: La Laque Couture Rouge Pablo

I have one remaining Spring 2014 collection to share with you: my selections from the Flower Crush Collection.

Confession time: I'd decided to pass on the two nail colors until I needed an additional item for a YSL online order to boost me into the free shipping category.  So, I picked up La Laque Couture #49 Rouge Pablo.

Rouge Pablo is a bold red creme that you probably have multiple dupes of in your collection. This shade will be great year-round, and is a nice alternative to Rouge Pop Art. I don't own many YSL polishes, but this is a brand that I'm exploring as of late.  I like the wide brush and the creme formula.  These polishes are naturally glossy, but a topcoat gives them a gel-like finish. I've got two coats plus Formula X on my hand here.

I don't have any comparisons swatched on a nail wheel, but I suggest that you visit The Beauty Look Book, as she's covered these beautifully.

YSL polishes retail for $27 and Rouge Pablo can be found either on YSL's site or your local counter.

And, as an aside, this photo comes with a funny story.  I actually took that before work yesterday.  I was already so late that I thought "what's 30 more seconds for a mani photo?".  The natural light was flooding into my home, and it's lighting my hand from right to left.  I wanted to get this swatched and up ASAP since I already showed you one summer collection item!

Lancome Lip Lover #361 Violette Pirouette

This will be the last shade of the new Lancome Lip Lover line that I feature for the season; with nine selections, I truly believe I've got my bases covered and then some.  Look for an overall post summarizing my thoughts in the next couple of days.

By now, you should be familiar with the basics on Lancome's Lip Lover line from this blog, so I'll keep this focused on this shade.

Violette Pirouette is an intense purple shade that reads more orchid on the lips.  Although Sephora incorrectly lists Fuchsia Attitude as a purple, this is the sole true purple shade in the line.

Here's a good look at the wand:

I wouldn't have thought to make this comparison, but I happened to have this shade on my nails when I initially swatched it.  It's quite similar to Tom Ford Nail Lacquer in African Violet.

Here are some quick swatches before I get into details:

Outside, no flash:

Outside, with flash:

Inside, without flash:

Inside, with flash:

And on my lips:

I've always been apprehensive when it comes to purple lip products, but this is a totally wearable interpretation. I think this is spot-on when I hear "Radiant Orchid," and it balances the sheer/pigmented spectrum well.  I tested this for a day and got lots of comments, especially as the shine faded to a lovely satin finish.  During a work day, I only had to reapply once, after lunch.

I decided to pull a couple of comparison swatches in the line.  First, I just want to demonstrate how flat out wrong Sephora's swatch description for #339 is- and where #361 sits in terms of being one of the darker shades in the line.

Shade names for reference:
#339- Fuchsia Attitude
#361- Violette Pirouette
#362- Bordeaux Tempo

Outside, no flash:

Outside, with flash:

First, can we all agree that there is absolutely nothing purple about #339? Thank you.  Violette Pirouette is one of the darkest shades in the line, but still quite light in comparison to #362.

Overall, I find this to be a 100% on-trend must-have.

Although I suspect a couple of other neutral shades may find their way into my stash, this is the last individual post for this line in this set of reviews.  I'll be pulling together my overall impressions of the line shortly.