The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

Rise and shine, morning glory. Say it with me: “It’s going to be a beautiful day. It’s going to be a beautiful day. It’s going to be a beautiful day.” Maybe if all of us pull together, our combined powers of positive thinking can make it so no matter how cold it is outside. 🙂

Worth a shot, right?

Did you do anything fun last night? El Hub and I went to Chipotle for din-din and then to see The Dilemma, with Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder and Kevin James.

Talk about dilemmas. Did I, or did I not, like The Dilemma? Hmm, that’s a toughie. I liked parts of it, like whenever they’d let Vince Vaughn cut loose (because that guy can TALK), but then it would get heavy for a while, and I’d sort of drift off into my popcorn…

Were there any highlights for you last week in the worlds of makeup and beauty? How about highlights of your week overall? Was it a good one? Mine wasn’t bad. No complaints over here.

I’m REALLY excited about MAC Wonder Woman. With the collection coming, I spent some time online surfing for info, but I actually got sidetracked by all of the great Wonder Woman comic art that’s out there.

I never collected any of the WW comics (I was more into the cartoons), but I can’t believe how much she’s changed over the years.

Wonder Woman circa 1942

Wonder Woman circa 2011

BAM! She looks so badass now…

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

DOLCE & GABBANA SECRET
GARDEN SWATCHES

Greetings, young lady. I wanted to show some swatches of the Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden collection this afternoon (lip, eye and face shots are coming soon).

About the lippies, there are just two lipsticks and glosses in the release. The coral-ish lip gloss seemed very out of place to me at first (straight out of Mad Men), but, um, after I thought about it a little, I think I can see what Dolce & Gabbana was going for. I like the way it contrasts with the pale pastels. As for the other gloss, the pale pinkish violet, it has micro bits of silver glitter that you have to look closely at to see. Read more…

DOLCE & GABBANA NAIL
LACQUER IN PLATINUM

Besides its top-shelf pigmentation and oodles of micro-glitter, Dolce & Gabbana’s Nail Lacquer in Platinum ($20) has a nice surprise that makes it stand out from all the other gray polishes showing up at department store counters this spring (see Estee Lauder Wild Violets and Dior Montaigne).

The sole nail color in the new Secret Garden Collection might look like your typical shimmery silver polish in the bottle, but on my nails Platinum subtly flashes from silver to gray to green to taupe depending on the light. Very cool!

I haven’t yet tested Platinum for durability since the bottle just came in, but if it’s anything like the Dolce & Gabbana polishes from the last few seasons it should resist chipping with a good base coat.

I applied two coats of Dolce & Gabbana Nail Polish in Midnight on my toes before leaving for a trip last fall (it’s one of my “good luck” nail polishes; do you have any of those?), and being the lazy @ss that I am, I didn’t paint my nails again for a good three weeks after. By the end of the third week, my polish showed a few chips, but the color was almost as vibrant as the first day I put it on. Read more…

THE NYX 10 COLOR
PALETTE IN BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me…because the NYX 10 Color Palette in Bohemian Rhapsody makes everything better. It comes with 10 of the line’s most wearable neutrals in shades of silver, taupe, brown, beige, gray, peach and black, all for an easily digestible $11 (and they even included a case!).

NYX tends to get a little repetitive with their 10-Color Palettes. I say, NYX tends to get a little repetitive with their 10-Color Palettes, but a variety of matte and shimmery finishes keeps this Bohemian Rhapsody from singing the same song twice.

Each and every time I open this thing I want to break into song! — like I’m a long lost Von Trapp child (who happens to be brown). Read more…

THE CLARINS NEO
PASTELS COLLECTION

I wonder what would Neo from The Matrix would think about the new Clarins Neo Pastels Collection. Would he consider ditching his black cloak and brooding persona for its uplifting makeup in pink, purple and peach?

I highly doubt it, but ya never know…

Available now on counters and online at clarinsusa.com, the new Neo Pastels Collection features 21 new and repromoted items consisting of an eye palette, six blushes, 12 lipsticks, one mascara and a wrinkle-smoothing primer in a palette of primarily soft pinks, purples, peaches, with a sprinkling of neutral brown, beige and black thrown in for safe measure. To me the colors seem like typical (in a good way) spring/Easter shades. Read more…

THE CARGO COSMETICS
COLLECTION FOR SPRING 2011

All aboard! The cosmetics captains at Cargo aimed to take us on a trip with their new spring 2011 collection, and I like the destination.

I took a long, leisurely look at the six piece collection today (aren’t the pouches cute?) and absolutely love the travel theme. Most of the color products lean warm, and I think they work well with my yellow undertones. If you like the way you look in warmer shades, you might like them too.

For what it’s worth, don’t miss the Voyages Safari collection/kit. I was surprised by how great the products looked on both darker and lighter skin tones.

Now I just need someplace to go! Read more…

WILL YOU WEAR PACO RABANNE
OR WILL IT WEAR YOU?

1 Million by Paco Rabanne is all about power.

Notes of chilled grapefruit, blood mandarin, smooth peppermint, sweaty musk, dry cinnamon bark, aged leather, tonka bean, subtle patchouli, and amber ketal don’t just call for attention; they demand it.

1 Million begins with airy peppermint and sparkling blood mandarin. These two notes are rather distinct for the first five minutes or so, creating a refreshing blend that lends a sort of brightness and glow akin to that which accompanies a night with a lover. However, these soon begin to fade and give leave to more smoothly blended Middle Notes.

The Middle Notes mostly consist of dry cinnamon and a general spiciness. Here is where the power enters. At this stage, this scent is like someone whose mere touch is enough to make others bend to their will. It’s the power behind the throne, subtly pulling strings and directing the entire operation.

Within 30 minutes, 1 Million settles down into its Base Notes of leather and amber ketal (a synthetic variant of the naturally occurring ambergris). A sophisticated air takes hold, demanding a part in the hair and a steam-pressed coat. But a certain accord that can only be described as sweatiness hangs close to the skin. Perhaps this higher being is not as perfectly coiffed and buffed as his appearance suggests. Remove his jacket and you may see that his shirt was not fully tucked in the back. And wasn’t that part in his hair neater a minute ago? Ask around, and no one will mention having seen him. It makes one wonder. Read more…

HAVE YOU SEEN THE HELLO KITTY
SEPHORA BEAUTY LINE?

Sephora is expanding into the kitty herding business, but I know at least one cat lady who isn’t furtastically impressed.

Their new Hello Kitty makeup line, called Hello Kitty Sephora Beauty, is available now in stores and online. Products range from $5-55, and the line covers makeup, fragrance, makeup brushes and accessories, too (there’s even a shower cap).

I caught a brief glimpse of two of the palettes and some of the fragrance items at my nearby Novato store the other day when the cute display caught my eye. Most of the makeup is packaged in white with silver accents. Read more…

THE LANCOME ULTRA LAVANDE
COLLECTION FOR SPRING 2011

It’s time to bust out your lighter and sway back and forth, because Lancome’s new spring makeup collection is a regular Prince!

As in Purple Rain. 🙂

Just how much purple are we talking about here? Well, if you crammed a thousand Prince impersonators, all of them wearing sparkling purple suits with matching ruffled shirts, into one HUGE room, that would be less purple than Ultra Lavande, Lancome’s spring release of new and repromoted items for eyes, lips and cheeks. Read more…

I FEEL GOOD ABOUT
NARS MULTI-PROTECT PRO PRIMER

Look out! It’s a primer triple threat! From the fertile mind of Francois Nars, the new NARS Pro-Prime Multi-Protect Primer SPF 30 ($32) creates a smooth canvas for your makeup while it supposedly nourishes skin with a bevy of plant-based ingredients.

This newest member of the permanent NARS Pro Prime line has a colorless, lotion-like texture that feels light and fluffy to the touch. Oil-free, it totally reminds of Urban Decay’s Complexion Primers, absorbing quickly without leaving a greasy residue or white cast on my skin. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen