Marc Jacobs Le Marc Liquid Lip Creme - Swatches

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Liquid Lip Creme ($28 each) at Sephora

As someone who loves neutral-nude lip colors, Marc Jacobs lipsticks are definitely among my favorite.  There are sooo many shades of beige and brown and pink and dusty rose and any other MLBB shade I can think of in the Marc Jacobs lip color range, and the formula feels fabulous on the lips.  The new Le Marc Liquid Lip Cremes seem to follow the trend with 6 shades ranging from soft to deeper neutrals in a lip-friendly liquid lipstick formula.  These new lip colors are similar to glosses in their texture - creamy liquid formula - but of course are much more pigmented.   The Le Marc Lip Cremes provide full coverage and a soft satin sheen.  Scroll on for swatches.

Burberry Liquid Lip Velvet - Swatches

Burberry Liquid Lip Velvet ($34 each) at Sephora

Burberry Liquid Lip Velvets are a new formula combining a comforting whipped cream texture with a pigment-rich matte finish.  I spotted these at the Burberry counter at Nordstrom, and according to the SA there, these are available for presale - can pick them up around January 14/17 (check your local Nordstrom for details).  These are also available online at Sephora.  Available in shades ranging from pale nudes, neutrals and bright reds and deep oxblood, the Burberry Liquid Lip Velvets are the latest in the matte liquid almost-lipstick trend.  The formula feels soft and creamy, and the finish is a  velvety matte.  Not totally dry, but it does settle into a soft matte finish.  Scroll on for swatches.

Easy Glam: Red Lips & My Version of a Winged Liner

Easy Holiday Makeup Look:  Red Lips & My Version of a Winged Liner

Of all the makeup trends that pop up every year, winged liner seems to be the one that has stayed put (and grown in popularity) year after year.  This is also the makeup look I never manage to get right.  After quite a few failed attempts, though, I have figured out why following the winged liner trend is never ever going to work for me.  I amn't sure if I should describe my lids are hooded or droopy or just that my eyes pop out so much that my lids disappear when I am staring straight ahead 😳, but whatever combination of issues my eyes have, the fact is the only way a winged liner would look good on me would be if I walked around with my eyes half closed and my brows lifted up.  Not very practical in real life, outside of photos.  What does work for me is keeping my liner thin along the lashline and lifting it up only toward the outer corner of the eyes.  While this is not really much of a wing, it does give an illusion of elongating my eyes rather than making them look rounder/wider.  Using a fine-tipped liner/brush is essential, at least for me, since that gives much better control with the application and also helps with the tightlining.  Scroll on for more photos, products used, and an easy how-to.

Products Used:  NARS Key Largo eyeshadow quad - DHC Eyeliner - Milani Corallina blush - Smashbox lipstick (Infraed Matte) - Urban Decay Perversion eyeliner pencil

Lancome La Palette Des Reves (Paris En Rose - Holiday 2016 Color Collection)

Lancome La Palette Des Reves (Paris En Rose - Holiday 2016 Color Collection)

I saw the Lancome La Palette Des Reves palette in a Lisa Eldridge video a while back, but I never did see any much mention of it online.  I finally found this palette at Ulta, in-store, and I think this is part of Lancome's holiday 2016 makeup collection (Paris en rôse).  I don't have any official/PR information, and I could be wrong about this 😛.  Anywho, the palette is housed in elegant, textured gold packaging that's small enough to slip into a clutch - looks like a mini-clutch too.  The 6 eyeshadows in this palette include a matte cream shade, soft shimmery neutrals, and a dark matte shade.

Lancome La Palette Des Reves eyeshadow palette (translation - the palette of dreams)

The colors in this palette are inspired by Paris in the winters - lights and shimmery snowflakes - to day to night holiday nude and smokey eyes.  Scroll on for swatches.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette - Swatches

Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette ($49) at Sephora

Too Faced Sweet Peach eyeshadow palette is not a new launch - it was released around spring-summer earlier this year - but it is now available again as part of the Too Faced Sweet Peach Collection.  The palette features 18 eyeshadows, all infused with the juicy scent and antioxidant-rich essence of peaches.  The colors included are a lovely mix of pale creams, gorgeous peaches and corals, rich bronze, and deep purples and browns.  I tried this palette in store and didn't notice the peach scent.  I didn't try smelling the palette, though - I don't mind swatching testers, but I do draw the line at sniffing them 😐.  It's definitely a pretty palette, with a charming peach-colored tin packaging, and the eyeshadows housed inside are just as pretty.  Scroll on for swatches.

MAC Spellbinder Eyeshadows - Swatches

MAC Spellbinder Eyeshadows ($22 each) at maccosmetics.com

MAC Spellbinder eyeshadows are a newish launch, and I have been waiting to give these a try ever since I spotted the promo pictures.  I love how rich and vibrant the colors look on model, and the eyeshadows themselves have a strange velvety appearance.  I recently tried these at the MAC counter, and at least in terms of packaging and design, these eyeshadows are definitely different from anything I have tried so far.  The eyeshadows are packed in a pot, similar to a lot of cream eyeshadows, but the pot/tub is actually mostly a heavy magnetic base, and the eyeshadow is only in a small portion at the top.  I haven't checked a new, untouched eyeshadow, but there's definitely a lot less product in there than might appear from the size of the pot.  The eyeshadows themselves are - MAC claims - magnetically charged pigments that bind together and create a dense, pigmented vibrant look.  Because they are magnetized, the eyeshadows feel quite strange to touch.  They mostly just move around in the container when pushed around, but once picked up on brush or fingers, they are look and feel like smooth metallic eyeshadows or pigments - a bit less prone to fallout than pigments, I think.  Scroll on for swatches.

Chanel Coco Codes Spring 2017 Makeup Collection - Photos, Swatches

Chanel Coco Codes Spring 2017 Makeup Collection - available at Nordstrom

It seems a bit strange to talk about spring makeup collections now, but the makeup world always seems to be a step or two ahead with the seasons.  Still, I was a bit surprised to find Chanel's spring 2017 makeup collection - Coco Codes - at the Chanel counter at Nordstrom.  The collection, designed by Chanel Creative Makeup and Colour Designer Lucia Pica features conventional colors like gold, black, red, and white - more common in winter and holiday makeup collections - and creates a new trend for spring with glossy reds, soft gold, and tints of darker tones.  Scroll on for photos and swatches.

Viseart Eyeshadow Palette Dark Matte (04) - Swatches

Viseart Eyeshadow Palette Dark Matte (04) at Sephora

Viseart is a brand that has been quite popular among professional makeup artists and is now available to us ordinary makeup lovers thanks to Sephora.   The Viseart makeup range includes a lot of palettes, but perhaps the most popular are the Viseart 12-shadow palettes.  These are currently available in 9 different shade-formula combinations of mattes, shimmers, satins and neutrals, bolds, and brights.  The two that I have been most interested in are the mattes - neutral matte (01) as well as the dark matte (04).  I spotted the Viseart Dark Matte (04) palette recently at my local Sephora and got some swatches to share.  Scroll on for more.

Dior J'adore Eau de Parfum

Dior J'adore Eau de Parfum at Sephora 

Fragrance Notes (as listed on sephora.com): Ylang-Ylang Essence, Damascena Rose Essence, Sambac Jasmine Absolute. 

Style:  Feminine. Luxurious. Sensual. 

Dior J'adore is an iconic perfume that celebrates femininity and luxury in a floral bouquet of Comoro Islands ylang-ylang, Damascus rose, and sambac jasmine.  It is housed in an elegant drop-shaped glass bottle with a long gold stopper.  The fragrance itself is a fruity-floral blend with top notes of ylang ylang, heart notes of rose, and base notes of jasmine.  The perfume opens with sweet floral ylang-ylang notes that stay prominent on my skin all through the day.  As the perfume warms on the skin, the floral rose and jasmine notes blend in with the ylang-ylang adding a heavier note to the perfume.  I am not sure what adds the fruity notes to this perfume, but I do feel there is a sweet fruity in this perfume and a warm creamy note mixed in with the florals as it dries down.  The first time I wore this perfume, my husband told me I smelled of jasmine - the flower is commonly worn by women in southern parts of India where I am from but I really hate wearing it (which is why I assume he mentioned it).  Anyway, I was quite surprised he detected the jasmine note right away because I couldn't.  While I can detect the floral notes in this perfume, I don't really pick it up as rose or jasmine.  It's a light, fresh floral that's not too heavy or overwhelming, and I like the hint of fruity sweetness I detect in it.  

I am not a huge fan of floral perfumes, but J'adore is an exception.  It's not my favorite perfume, but I love how simple yet elegant this perfume smells.  I could wear this all year round, though I would reach for this more during cooler days or in the evenings.  The perfume does last a long while on my skin.

Dior J'adore Eau de Parfum - Ingredients*
alcohol - parfum - aqua - butylphenyl methylpropional - benzyl salicylate - hexy cinnamal 
hydroxycitronellal - citronellol - ethylhyexyl methoxycinnamate - alpha isomethyl ionone 
hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde - limonene - linalool - butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane 
ethylhexyl salicylate - geraniol - BHT - benzyl benzoate - citral - cinnamyl alcohol 
benzyl alcohol - benzyl cinnamate - methyl 2-octynoate - farnesol 
CI 191940 (yellow 5) - CI 14700 (red 4) - CI 42090 (blue 1)
*check product packaging for accurate information

Surratt Beauty Artistique Blushes - Swatches

Surratt Beauty Artistique Blushes ($32 each) at Sephora

Created by celebrity makeup artist Troy Surratt, Surratt Beauty features products that combine Parisian elegance with Japanese innovation and simplicity.  My local Sephora recently started carrying this brand, and I just had to get swatches of some of the products to share here.  First off are the Surratt Artistique blushes.  These blushes are sold as slim refill palettes and are meant to be used with the Surratt customizable palettes, so the packaging might not seem much for the price.  The product itself, though, is quite amazing - finely milled, very pigmented, and available in a range of colors from classic rouge to the palest peach.  Scroll on swatches.

Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipsticks - Swatches

Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipsticksn($22 each) at Sephora

Make Up For Ever recently launched their Artist Rouge lipstick range with lipsticks saturated with 25% more pigment (than the older MUFE lipsticks) and available in innovative, bold colors.  The creamy, nondrying formula is extermely pigmented and available in matte as well as creamy finish.  The color range varies from nude/neutrals to deep plums and reds, and there is even a black lipstick - definitely a color for every skin tone and makeup mood.  Scroll on for swatches.

Tom Ford Cream Foundation Brush 02

Tom Ford Cream Foundation Brush ($72) at Nordstrom

As wonderful as buying a gorgeous new lipstick or a beautiful eyeshadow palette might be, my favorite products to buy are makeup brushes.  With a little care, they last a long time - never expire - and makeup application is so much easier (and better looking) with a good makeup brush.  Among the makeup brushes that I have tried, Tom Ford brushes are one of my favorites.  The brush I am reviewing today is the Tom Ford Cream Foundation brush.  Made in Japan, this brush features a lacquered brownish black handle, a gold ferrule, and a supersoft brush head made of natural hair.  The densely packed bristles are arranged in a small, fluffy cotton ball like shape.  This brush is designed to be used for applying cream foundation, but I have only used it with liquid foundations (currently, the extremely runny Diorskin Nude Air serum foundation) so far.  Scroll on for more.

Belif The True Cream - Aqua Bomb

Belif The True Cream - Aqua Bomb ($38) at Sephora

While I love trying out body scrubs and lotions, I never ever mess around with what goes on my face.  I have oily-combination skin that doesn't take too well to experimenting with skincare, and while I rarely get acne breakouts now, I have had a long struggle with pimples and still have the scars and marks left behind on my skin.  For the longest time, I was using Lush's Dream Cream - a hand and body lotion designed for sensitive skin - as my face cream.  As strange as it sounds, it's what calmed my irritated skin and helped sort out the breakouts.  It's only recently that my skin has calmed down enough for me to branch out with my skincare.  I discovered Belif Aqua Bomb thanks to a GWP sample from Sephora (about the time when Korean skincare was the latest trend), and I fell in love with it right away.

An Easy Berry-Toned Neutral Makeup Look

After a couple of days sporting a dark vampy lip, I figured it's time to get back to what I love most - a soft neutral makeup look.  Today's makeup look has a lot of my old favorites - products that I have been using and loving for a long time now, and also old because, well, some of these are now discontinued and unavailable even on Ebay or Amazon. 😛 I bought a lot of makeup when I moved to India a while back (at that time, I wasn't certain about returning to the US) - and most of this was brands I wouldn't find easily in India.  NARS was at the top of the list, and while I am a little - okay, a  lot - embarrassed at how much makeup I have hoarded, I do love my NARS eyeshadows.  NARS Grenadines - a dusty matte garnet shade that looks more like a blush than an eyeshadow and is one of my must-haves.  It doesn't seem to be available anywhere currently, and I am so glad I bought it when I did.  I have seen similar shadows, though, in MUFE and ABH.  Scroll on for products used and an easy how-to on this berry-toned neutral makeup look.

Clinique Pop Matte & Pop Liquid Matte Lip Color + Primer - Swatches

Clinique Pop Matte & Pop Liquid Matte Lip Color + Primer at Sephora

Matte lipsticks and glosses - or liquid lipsticks - have been quite a trend this year, and it seems like every brand has managed to put out a range or two to cater to this trend.  Clinique joined the fray with it's range of matte lipsticks and matte liquid lip colors - Clinique Pop Matte Lip Colour + Primer lipsticks as well as the Clinique Pop Liquid Matte lip colors.  The colors in this range are what I typically associate with Clinique - basic plums, browns, pinks - all of which would work well on anyone looking for an easy but polished makeup look.  Scroll on for swatches of some of the colors in this range.

Tom Ford Lips & Boys Lipsticks - Swatches

Tom Ford Lips & Boys Lipsticks at Nordstrom

Inspired by the men in Mr. Ford's life, the Tom Ford Lips and Boys lipstick collection features smaller-sized (than the regular Tom Ford lipsticks) lipsticks with colors ranging from pale nudes to deep plums and everything in between.  The smooth, hydrating formula uses moisturizing ingredients like muru muru butter, chamomile flower oil, sofa seed extract, etc., for a luxurious yet lightweight lipstick that delivers rich color with a single swipe.  These lipsticks are available in matte, metallic, as well as cream finishes.  With 25 new colors added this year, there are now 50 lipsticks in this range.  Scroll on for swatches.

DHC Eyeliners and Prefect Pro Double Protection Mascara

DHC Eyeliners and Prefect Pro Double Protection Mascara 
Product provided c/o DHC

DHC is a Japanese skincare and makeup brand with some amazing products that have quite a loyal following online.  The DHC Deep Cleansing Oil is a favorite of mine as are their Olive Virgin Oil Swabs (conveniently packaged cotton swabs presoaked in makeup remover).  I hadn't paid much attention to their makeup line, though, until I heard Lisa Eldridge gush over a DHC mascara in one of her videos.  DHC doesn't have a huge makeup line (at least here in the US), just a few basic makeup products in each category.  Their makeup philosophy seems to focus on a clean, polished makeup look utilizing a couple of easy-to-use products.  Thanks to the kind folks at DHC, I got to try out a few of their eyeliners, and of course, the mascara that I was so curious about.  Scroll on for my thoughts on these.