Wearing the new Dolce & Gabbana Animalier Bronzer ($57)

Alright, people, before we load up the Land Rover and head out on this safari, let’s run through a quick cosmetics checklist.

Lipstick? ✓

Eyeliner? ✓

Powder? ✓

Shimmery golden bronzer decorated like a spotted big cat?

…

I repeat, shimmery golden bronzer decorated like a spotted big cat?

No?! Well, that’s not right. Don’t worry though. We’ll fix that.

Locals refer to these wildcats as Dolce & Gabbana’s Animalier Bronzers. They’re $57, part of the new Animalier holiday collection, and recognizable by their distinctive spotted patterns.

A similar cat was sighted prowling makeup counters back in the summer of 2011. That one was also called Animalier.

This specimen’s spots, just like last year’s, are an overspray.

When we find one for you, I want you to mix the colors together. That should give you a cool-toned bronzy brown perfect for chiseled ’80s music video cheekbones.

Now, I have some experience with this cat, so I should warn you — it can be dangerous, especially while it’s still an overspray. I wore it around the house this week and felt very Flashdance, without the high-cut leotard and leg warmers, of course.

Wearing the overspray to contour my cheeks

The overspray doesn’t deliver the most natural look, so I wouldn’t wear it every day, but luckily, I don’t have to. The overspray wears off, revealing a velvety soft, finely-milled powder beneath it.

How soft is it? Well, to put it in perspective, it’s softer than a tabby’s low-hanging tum.

Once you get through that overspray, this cat will lavish your skin with warm, golden orangey brown kisses.

I think this year’s kitten is more pigmented than the Animalier Bronzer we saw last year, which was pretty sheer. I think it’s also a little more golden than orange.

Swatches of the overspray on the left, and the bronzer beneath it on the right

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Wearing the new Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Iconic

When boredom threatens your makeup bag, whom do you call?

Batman? Nope, he can’t help.

Spidey? Sorry, not this time.

Jeremy Renner?

Yes…you call Jeremy Renner.

But seriously, you call Dolce & Gabbana! With their fierce leopard-print caps, the three new $34 limited edition Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipsticks from the Animalier collection are so wild they’re practically feral.

Cat lady says what?

(What?)

Iconic (a warm-toned tomato red), Desert (a shimmery bronze) and Caramel (a sheer beige) will go purrfectly with some of my favorite accessories, like my leopard-print dress, the husky tabby often draped across my arms, and the golden neutral shades in D&G’s new Desert eyeshadow quad.

All three have Dolce & Gabbana’s faint rosy lipstick flavor and scent and a creamy, luxuriously smooth formula that lasts on my lips from 3-4 hours.

Classic Cream Lipsticks from the left: Desert, Caramel and Iconic

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Wearing the Dolce & Gabbana Eyeshadow Quad in Desert ($67), from the new Animalier collection

It’s a jungle out there. Thank goodness for makeup…and cats (what, you couldn’t tell I was a cat lady?).

And whenever my two favorite interests collide, let’s just say, I have a moment.

Like a straggler gazelle on the African savanna in the crosshairs of a hungry lion, I fell prey to the new Dolce & Gabbana Animalier holiday collection… It was inevitable — the cycle of life as it pertains to the new Eyeshadow Quad in Desert ($67).

Leopard-print packaging, golden neutrals and flawless performance? Yes, this is the quad I’m bringing with me when J.Renn and I get stranded on that deserted island (that incidentally also has modern conveniences like plumbing, air conditioning, a Sephora store and Internet access).

Granted, the $67 price tag is like a deep, painful cat scratch for wallets, but that’s Dolce & Gabbana for ya. They may charge borderline redonkulous prices, but when they get a product right, they knock it out of the park…

…and all the way to the Dolce & Gabbana Eyeshadow Quad in Desert.

The leopard-print packaging

Even if I wasn’t a cat lady, I’d love this limited edition quad’s packaging. Not only do I like the way it looks on the outside, but the colors inside it are based on the print! How cool is that?

The colors

Three of the quad’s four neutrals — the matte beige, shimmery gold and matte light brown — have golden, mid-color temperature tones, which should make them flatter a wide range of skin tones.

The darkest shade, the plummy reddish brown, is a touch warmer than the other colors, and because it’s the darkest, I use to smoke out the other shades and as a liner (works well on lash and water lines).

If you have very cool-toned skin (quick tip: if the veins in your arm appear blue, you’re probably cooler toned; if they’re greenish, more warm), the darker shade might be a little tough to pull off, but it could still come in handy as a fallback liner.

The performance

Man, these eyeshadows should get Hollywood agents because they’re superstars! They’re everything I could ever hope for and expect from a high-end makeup line (that charges $67 for a quad).

I have no idea how D&G managed to make them this pigmented and yet keep them so easy to blend. And the fallout? — what fallout? Zero, nada, zilch. And they last all day long for me without creasing or fading.

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Should you ever find yourself under doctor’s orders to refrain from wearing eye makeup “for a day or two” while your allergies subside, and you’re kind of a beauty nerd, you may also find yourself debating whether filling in your brows constitutes “eye makeup.”

I came to the conclusion that it does not…

I KNOW! But I couldn’t resist doing at least a little something.

My eyes don’t seem to mind, and they’re certainly enjoying gazing at three of the bright, shiny lipsticks from the new Dolce & Gabbana Summer Pleasures collection.

These $34 beauties, three of 10 new Passion Duo Gloss Fusion Lipsticks, are available now at Saks stores and saksfifthavenue.com (there are also five Nail Lacquers in the collection priced at $20 each).

The 10 new shades range from summery, soft nudes to bold, glamorous brights.

Clockwise from the dark shade in the lower left: Royal 110, Exotic 50 and Tropical 140

Dolce & Gabbana’s Gloss Fusion Lipsticks are among my favorite products in the entire line. Each has a shiny, moisture-filled core of gloss wrapped in a rich coat of pigmented lipstick.

I remember when they first made a splash on Dolce & Gabbana counters… Oh, the intense colors, the high-gloss finish, the texture so smooth it would give Ryan Gosling a run for his money.

As for the three new colors I’ve been ogling this morning? Just as fab.

Royal 110

Tropical 140
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As much as I like the idea of working beside Vampire Pam behind the bar at Fangtasia this fall, sometimes the look — the stilettos and skin-tight leather from head to toe, the super serious smokey eyes, and the jewel-toned shadow shades — is a little too, well, much for me.

So, this afternoon, I hit the pause button on the kinds of rich colors and intense shades we’ve been seeing a lot for fall, and spent a little time with the dainty, nice nudes in the new Dolce & Gabbana Lace collection.

The 10-piece release is all about bronzed skin and nude lips and nails, and the packaging? — oh, the packaging…

I just lurve lace. I kinda wish all of Dolce & Gabbana’s makeup had this same limited-edition packaging.

Here’s a quick peek at three pieces from the collection…

From the left: Intenseyes Black Intensity Mascara ($31), Ultra Shine Gloss in Perfection ($32) and Intense Nail Lacquer in Pink ($22)

Intense Nail Lacquer in Pink ($22)

If you’re getting married soon, consider classic, soft pink Intense Nail Lacquer in Pink ($22) for your tips or toes. Creamy, smooth and semi-sheer, it’s a little like Essie’s Ballet Slippers, but much, much smoother.

I’m wearing two coats here, but I’m sure I could have gotten away with one. Yes, the color isn’t altogether unique, but I think it’s perfectly executed.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

Two coats of Intense Nail Lacquer in Pink

Ultra-Shine Lipgloss in Perfection ($32)

On my lips, creamy beige Ultra-Shine Lipgloss in Perfection ($32) feels thick, but not sticky, and it has Dolce & Gabbana’s signature rose flavor and scent. It’s one of the smoothest beige glosses I’ve ever tried, and I can totally see it cruising down a red carpet below a shimmery gray smokey eye.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

Ultra Shine Gloss in Perfection swatch
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