Yesterday was a look into some new trends of polish with OPI's suede formula.  Today, it's traditional with a twist.  While I don't have any acutal swatches, it's a color that I'm pretty sure will sell out for one reason: it's Chanel.  As a lover of all things fashion and beauty related, I've come to accept the fact that I will never own any clothing that says Chanel on the label, but at $20-$30 a bottle, I can afford a bottle a polish every now and three.  My current collection includes three shades and I think Chanel polishes are lovely, but I'm personally going to skip these two.  They're perfectly lovely colors but not unique or special enough for me to bite the bullet.  Chanel is generally a more tranditional brand, but this mint green color is Chanel stepping out of the box. From all the swatches I've seen,  Jade and Jade Rose have some shimmer in them that is so subtle, you'd only see them in direct, bright sunlight.  If you're going to purchase one, I'd suggest Jade.

You'll have to hurry though because the polishes are limited edition and only available at Chanel.com or at Chanel Boutiques.

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I think that if I had a choice, Italy would be the first European country I'd choose to visit.  There are other places I want to see for sure, but there's something about Italy that is calling my name.  Okay it's probably more the food than anything (pasta is my friend!), but Chanel has decided that their Fall 2009 makeup would be inspired by the city of Venice.  I have images of lovely gondolas and canals in my head; someone who's been there can tell me if these colors are reminiscent of Venice.  I have previously stated that as much as I love Chanel stuff; the price point is pretty high.  It's a sad thing too, because I'm quite intrigued by a couple of items in this collection.  But the job market is still "in transition".  Bah!  My one thought would be that this is cheaper than actually going to Venice.

Eye Gloss: Lumnious Cream Quadra Eyeshadow.  If I had $65 for one product, this would be it.  The consistency of these shadows is just so unique!  It's very much like lip gloss, but it's for the eyes.  It's a good thing these colors are not pink or red, otherwise I'm fairly certain a lot of people would use it on the lips.  But seriously, I'd be interested in seeing how this wears on everyday people.  I've seen some other blogs and it appears to be a good layering tool, which I can see being true.

This is the other item I covet: Tweed Sienna blush.  At $45 for a blush though, it's not something I would be purchasing though, so I'll just look at the pretty effect it creates.  I think the blush would be great for a lot of people; it looks like you'll get a nice pink and some bronzer.

Two nail polishes.  Pretty, but meh.  Intermezzo is more interesting since it's a pearly white and I can honestly say I don't have a white nail polish.

I am getting back into this blogging thing just in time for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  How is that?  Well just fo you, here are the "Beauty Exclusives" that are released just at Nordstroms, either online or in store.  Most are available in stores, but there are some that I admit I have never seen in stores.  There are a lot more exclusives that I'm not mentioning here, so head to this site to check them all out.  Everything is available for preorder now (and has been, sorry!) but it starts tomorrow, so I'd head tho a Nordstrom's quickly if you have any intention of picking up some stuff.  I'll note which ones I think are more likely to sell out, if not sold out already.

MAC Look in a Box: Three looks titled Seductress, Sun Siren, and Sweet Tease.  These are good for those who need an introduction to makeup.  Each look includes 2 eyeshadows, a lipstick/lipgloss, a powder and brush, and a mascara.  All the items are permanent and would have a total retail value of about $100.  For Nordstrom's, it's $59.50.  I think these will sell out, especially Sun Siren.  If you don't have the eyeshadow Shroom or if you want to get a Dazzleglass, Sun Siren would be a good kit.

Graphic Gardens eyeshadow palettes.  Fresh Cut (L) and Graphic Gardens (R), $35 each.

MAC Lip Bags.  Those bags are really, really tiny - probably would hold about 4 lipsticks.  Just saying...I was like, why so small?  But it's a group of prodcuts valued at $57 for $35.  Very neutral and probalby one I will be skipping, but that's just me.

The two brush sets, 5 brushes each, for $49.50.  For the novice/intermediate user, these brush sets are a quick way to start building a brush collection, but if you really want to build a collection that will last a long time, the quality of these special edition brush sets is usually a little lower than those in the regular collection.  The good thing about these brushes is they generally have shorter handles, so they're great for traveling.  The bags are cute and graphic.  Actually I think all these MAC sets are likely to sell out, even if I won't be buying.

Bobbi Brown "Must Have" Set.  Wow - there's a lot of product here for $75.  A lip palette with 7 lip shades, the gel eyeliner (fabulous!) in Espresso, plus the brush, a mascara, and a two pan eyeshadow (can be replaced with new shadows when it's empty).  It's a $122 value if purchased separately, so if you love Bobbi Brown's neutrals, this is a great kit.  The gel eyeliners are great - I gave the one I had to my sister and have been looking for another one. Hmm...better hurry, this well probably sell out.

Oh Chanel how I love you.  $45 for this palette of 2 shadows and 4 lip products.  The 2 green shadows are at the bottom are just lovely and are reminiscent of the nail polish I heard Chanel is releasing this fall.  A typical Chanel quad of shadows is in the $60+ range, plus with lipsticks in the $25 range, I think this is quite a bargain for Chanel.  Not cheap, but reasonable for Chanel.  Will.Sell.Out.

If you're a fan of the Chanel No. 5 scent, you may want to pick up this bath oil.  I like the three colors, but personally find the scent too flowery for my liking.  $75.

Dior "Jazz Club" Eye Palette.  $65 for six shadows in a nice palette.  The purples, pinks, and grays would combine to create a nice range of looks ranging from the dramatic to the neutral.

Lippmann Collection of nail polishes.  $35 for 3 nail polishes is a little steep, but these polishes are gorgeous.  Ruby Red Slippers, Funky Chunky (sequined sheer black glitter) and Superstar (copper-flecked fugde glitter) are amazing looking and are one item I haven't seen in stores.

Lancome "Declaring Indigo" Brush Set. Four brushes for $52.  While more expensive than the MAC brush sets, i love the cobalt blue bag and blue detail on the brushes.  A pre-cursor to the indigo nail polish Lancome is coming out with later.  Yup. I'm excited about the fall nail polishes.  That's another post =).

Smashbox "After Hours" collection.  I'm a little perplexed by Smashbox's identity; I'm not sure if they're supposed to be a fun color young lady or a sulty, smoking evning mistress.  With this collection, I'm leaning toward the latter. $59.

Nars "Modern Love" Palette. These are 6 eyeshadows that are part of the permanent collection, but as one of the two shades in a duo.  A nice way to get your $55.  People love Nars though, and so I suspect it will sell out.

Ahh Clairsonic.  I want one, but even a $225 special package isn't enough.  You get the Clarisonic, some trial sizes of cleansers and an 2 extra brush heads (one sensitive, one normal).  The Clairsonic won't sell out, but I'm sure this package is limited to just the anniversary sale.  A regular Clairsonic is $195, plus the $25 brush head

La Mer "The Signature Collection"  Have you heard of Creme de La Mer?  The creme that costs over $100 an ounce?  Well add a lifting serum for face and for eye and you're at $300.  But for a limited time, this is only $240.  Fans of La Mer, hurry!  The rest of us? Get back to me when the economy picks up.

Ahh Clinique, a little more wallet friendly.  This "Best of Clinique" set is only $45 and gets you 6products.  Youth Surge w/ SPF 15; All About Eyes; Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser; Almost Lipstick in Black Honey; Cream Shaper for Eyes; High Impact Curling Mscara.
And no picture necessary, but get a value sized (6.7 oz) bottle of the ubiquitous Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion or Gel for $35.

Juice Beauty "Organics to Glow" set. 3 Lip Moisturizers, 2 facial moisturizers, a hydrating mist, and a green apple full strength peel.  Only $29.

Okay like I said, there are lots of other Beauty Exclusives, so head online or to Nordstrom stores tomorrow.  Oh, the rest of Nordstroms will probably have specials too.

Oui Oui!  Are you feeling French?  I do when I hear Chanel Lumieres Celestes.  What is it?  It's actually a collection of 8 lipglosses (the Aqualumieres) and 4 (2 old, 2 new) nail polishes.  I admit that I have no firsthand knowledge of the collection, I've gathered this from some other sites.
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The 8 glossimers retail for $27 each.  Love the colors, just not the price tag.  I've only sampled them at the store and while I like the overall colors, I think the price is a little high.

• Nebula Rosewood
• Meteore Deep coral
• Mica White
• Mirage Brown
• Venus Fuchsia
• Silex Coral
• Cosmos Bronze
• Jupiter Red

Le Vernis Nail Colour:
Allegoria (repromote)
Dazzling (repromote)
Cosmic Violene (new)
Mica Rose (new)

I absolutely cannot claim these pictures to be mine - this is the fabulous Michelle from All Lacquered Up.  She somehow manages to get all the polishes I'd love to have...and takes beautiful pictures.  First up is Cosmic Violene, followed by Mica Rose.

If anybody happened to glance down at my nails last week, they likely would have done a double take at the colorful array I was presenting.  I was at a local Nordstrom's that had an array of Chanel polishes, so I decided to test a few out.  At first, I just wanted to try out the two summer shades, Golden Sand and Orange Fizz, but decided to try some other colors as well.  You'll have to excuse the paint job on some of the nails - I tried to do it quickly, plus it may have smeared since I wasn't trying to be super careful.

So here they are from left to right, thumb to pinky.

Golden Sand.  I didn't expect to love this color as much as I do.  It's described as a peachy bronze,  The brush strokes are a little obvious with this shimmering metallic; I managed to do two coats, but they were definitely done quickly.

You can see the rest of the polish colors on my left hand here, but it's actually the best shot of the index finger's and middle finger's colors, Vamp and Shanghai Red.. On the index finger, Vamp was one of those shades that I'd heard of a long time ago; its availability seems to have evened out and has generally been in stock every time I see the Chanel polishes.  It's a deep, dark red that applies well.  The only thing that surprised me about it was its sheerness; I would try for a third coat under normal circumstances.
Shanghai Red is a typical bright red creme.  There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but red is such an ubiquitous color, you don't need to spend $23 for a bottle of it.

Okay, the above picture isn't the greatest, but along with the picture above that, you get an idea of Vendetta's dark purple shimmer.  I'm not a fan of purple, never have been, but this one is kinda cool.  It's really dark, almost black, but it's purple-ness shines in the sunlight. Because of its darkness, 2 coats of polish will do.

One of my favorites, especially for summer is this bubblegum pink, Organdy.  Again, it's one that I would use 3 coats on, but 2 is pretty good. A bright, fun pink, although one friend said it might not be the most 'professional'.  I say, depends on your work environment!

Orange Fizz is a pinky coral color, much pinker in real life than my camera shows.  I was thinking of a tangerine or creamsicle color when I heard the name; this is much more pink or coral.  Now don't get me wrong, I love the color, but I don't quite get the name.

Sorry for the blurriness of this picture; it's the best I could get.  The color is Lotus Rouge, which I call the child of Vamp and Shanghai Red.  A little lighter than Vamp, with more red.  Still a red though, so probably failry easy to find a dupe for less.

Application problems and some careless placement of my hands make this a difficult polish to picture, but you get the idea.  This is Madness, a rich chocolate brown.  It's a creme and has no shimmer unlike the holiday release of Haute Chocolate.  I prefer some shimmer in my polish, but it's a smooth, opaque brown.

Lilac Sky is a pale lavender, slightly pink polish with some shimmer.  Like I said earlier, I'm not a fan of purple, espcially the light ones, so this is not my cup of tea.  Probably a good color for spring and summer.

And finally, on the pinky, is Black Satin.  It's exactly as its name suggests, a shiny black.  It essentially looks like patent leather (not quite as shiny) on your fingers.  Gorgeous, but I think other brands have similar colors at a lower price.  Zoya's Raven and China Glaze Black Diamond are 2 that I can think of quickly.  Chanel's was an instant classic, probably since it came out at a time when funky colors were not yet mainstream.  I've also heard that there are two versions, the 'real' one is made in the USA and should have a slight silver shimmer.

All polishes are available at Chanel.com, but check local counters for older shades, as availability changes frequently.

So there's a brief introduction to some of the Chanel polishes.  Honestly, I don't think I would buy any of these at full price; $23/bottle is just not palatable to me right now.

I apologize in advance for not having any information on this look.  I can tell you when it was taken, but that's really not going to do you any good.  I think it was an interview look, but I can't really be sure.  Overall, I am pleased with the look, as it's  neutral, professional and would be easy to duplicate.  I'm going to guess that I used my Chanel quad of eyeshadows, but that would be purely speculation.  It appears I also took the time to curl my eyelashes and apply mascara, but I really don't know what I used.  Normally, I keep a record of the products I used, especially if I'm taking a picture, but my head wasn't in the game on March 12th.  Yep, this look is from exactly 1 month ago.

The foundation is the biggest mystery; I really have no idea.  I think that's a lesson for me; I can't tell if it's a drugstore brand or a department store find.  Applied well, foundation really will help even out your skin,  I can probably figure out the lipstick at some point, but for now, here's the mystery look.

Chanel's Cote D'Azur Collection for Summer 2009 is currently available at Chanel.com and at makeup counters. The color scheme is bronzes, pinks, and coppers.  As always, pricey. Oh Chanel, how I would love to use your cosmetics more, but the price point is just too high.
I'm a little late with this, as this bronzing powder is already out of stock online.
$65 if you can find it.
Precious Bronzing Loose Powder in Effet Hale (LE) $65
Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Rose Bronze $42
Lumineres Facettes (eyeshadow quad)  in Plein Soleil (LE) $56.  Sold out online

Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadows in Seashore (LE) and Source.  (photo at left is not either color). $32
Soft Touch Eyeshadows in Island and Sand. $28.50 each.

Aqualumiere Sheer Colorshine Lipstick in 6 shades for summer. $28.50 each

Aqualumiere Gloss in 4 shades for summer. $27 each
Nail Polish, 2 new shades. I think Golden Sand (a rich copper) is a LE. $23 each.

I really, really like the colors of this summer collection, but as you can tell from the prices, I'm going to have to pass.  Paging my sugar daddy...

Yesterday was a review of last year's Best Beauty Buys from InStyle, so today I'm going to compare it with this year's selections.  This year's list has more detail, since they don't have the exact shade recommendations on the website, as they do in the magazine.  If anybody has last year's issue and has the shade choices, I'd be glad to get those.

Bolded picks are repeat winners

Foundation
Liquid Foundation: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk*
Primer: Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer*
Tinted Moisturizer: Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer

Editor's Pick: 2008: Yves St. Laurent Perfect Touch Foundation; 2009: Pixi Illuminating Tint&Conceal
Inexpensive Foundation: L'Oreal True Match Foundation*
Oil Free Foundation: Laura Mercier:
Mineral Foundation: Bare Minerals Foundation*
Inexpensive Powder: 2008:  Cover Girl Clean Pressed Powder; none selected in 2009

Cover-Ups
Blemish Concealer: Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage
Inexpensive Concealer: Max Factor Erace Concealer

Powder: 2008: Laura Mercier Loose Translucent Powder*; 2009: Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish

Editors' Pick: 2008: Prescriptives Site Unseen Concealer; 2009: Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil
Undereye concealer: Cle de Peau Correcteur Visage
Blotting Papers:Shiseido Pureness Oil-Control (none in 2008)
Green Makeup Line: none selected in 2008; 2009: Cargo Plant Love


Cheeks
Cream Blush: Stila Convertible Color
Bronzer: Guerlain Terracotta

Inexpensive Powder Blush: 2008: L’Oreal True Match; 2009: L'Oreal Paris Bare Naturale Mineral Doux

Editor's Pick: 2008: Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator; 2009: Nars Multiple Duo* (no photo available)
Powder Blush: Nars  Blush*

Luminizer: 2008: Stila Liquid Luminizer ; 2009: Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer

Lips

Long Wearing Lipstick: 2008 MAC Pro Longwear (long wearing lipstick)*; 2009: none selected

Editor's pick: 2008: Go Light On My Lips; 2009: Cover Girl Wetslicks Amaze Mint

Inexpeinsive Lipgloss: 2008: L’Oreal Color Juice (inexpensive gloss)*; 2009: Maybelline Shine Seduction
Inexpensive Lipstick: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick*

Lip Balm: 2008: Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Therapy SPF 15 (lip balm); 2009: La Mer
Lipstick: 2008: Chanel Rouge Allure; 2009: Nars
Lip Gloss: Chanel Glossimer
Lip Gloss with best color range: MAC Lipglass (2009 only)
Inexpensive Lipstick with best color range: L'Oreal Colour Riche (2009 only)
Inexpensive Shadow: L’Oreal HIP Eyeshadow*
Nars Cream Eyeshadow* (none selected in 2009)
MAC (powder eyeshadow)*
Best Gel Liner: Bobbi Brown Longwear Gel Liner* (none in 2009)
Pencil Eyeliner: MAC Eye Kohl*

Mascara: 2008: Chanel Inimitable; Dior Dior Show, Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof, Lancome L’Extreme
Inexpensive Mascara: L'oreal Paris Voluminous (none in 2008)
Waterproof Mascara: Lancome Definicils (none in 2008)
Editor's Pick: Tarte Bottoms Up Lower Lash mascara (none in 2008)