The great news is that the Bauhaus Kaleidscope Eye Kit arrived. I would be showing swatch photos if it weren't raining. The new, drop-dead-gorgeous Bauhaus Kaleidoscope Lip Kit, which I featured Monday, arrived last week, as did the new skin-care duo to peel and condition your face. There's a lot to explore for the holidays.
Let's talk about your week of beauty. It's time for the Friday Forum, our open chat. I love this part of our week. Have you selected your favorite holiday collection - and purchased a few new treasures? What new products did you discover this week? Did you find any deals you couldn't resist? Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Do you have a question others might be able to answer? Want to talk about skin care? What's new in your life? Just use the comments. Don't be shy. Just make sure to ask any question you might have over the weekend. By early the next week, most (not all) readers will have moved on.
Make sure to enter this week's giveaway contests. 'Tis the season. The first, which anyone can enter is for Bobbi Brown's Platinum Pink Shimmer Brick. The second, a contest for those who have left BTiB comments in the last few months (excluding contest entry comments) is Urban Decay's Smoked 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set. The deadline for entering these contests is Saturday, December 8, at midnight.
Update: You must go watch the film at Zuneta. Le Métier de Beauté's Mikey Castillo, Get The Look ¬ Bauhaus, demonstrates how you can apply Le Métier de Beauté's master products, including the new Bauhaus Kaleidoscope Eye Kit, for a stunning look. The model has to be "our Erin."
Update 2: I feel very badly about my failure to mention Pearl Harbor this morning. It's one of two days that will live on in infamy. We pause to remember.
Photo at top courtesy of gonewengland.about.com; other photo by Best Things in Beauty
I love rain ! I just love love love the sound of rain drops on the windows and the smell of muddy earth and walking in the rain ! But that's just me !
ReplyDeleteThe first picture and your write up cracked me up ! LOL !
It is so awesome that you get to work with and meet such talented people, Erin et al.
I presently work in a corporate MNC, and I am really considering taking up a Make up course in London at the Glauca Rossi school. I am an under grad in Mech Engg, working in Deloitte HR. It doesn't make sense at all. And I don't really love my job either. Nothing excites me for the last year as much as make up has. And so I started scouting and I am seriously considering a change of work industry. I would appreciate any suggestions/advice any one would offer !
On the beauty front, I simply threw all my money away on the YSL Glossy Stains that FINALLY debuted here. I am in love ! I am not a gloss person at all, but I love the look of these beauties on me. The smell is a lil bad at first, but it settles in a few seconds. I bought (for now) #7 and #2. I absolutely love how they look on me ! <3
I seriously considered ordering the Bauhuas eye kit, but decided that my bills were huge already what with the Zuneta bang about 15 days back plus the Dior haul/Shiseido haul and now the YSL stains. SO yes, pushing the kit for another month ! But I so wish I could get it now !
Hi CG
ReplyDeleteJust received my first LMdB Lip creme in the post in Cafe Creme- so excited!
Hi Swathi,
ReplyDeleteIsn't that little squirrel butt cute?
Isn't it strange that we always think the grass is greener on the other side of the street. Beauty is a tough industry - often with long hours, travel, and low wages (or ridiculous sales objectives).
Glad you like the stains! Who knows? That Bauhaus kit may survive the holidays, and there will be one waiting for you.
Hi MR!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it pretty?
Hi Charlestongirl,
ReplyDeleteThat picture is absolutely adorable! I smile every time I think about it :-)
Have you seen Clé de Peau's spring collection yet? It's called La Beauté Méditerranée and looks like it was tailor made for you blue-eyed ladies. It has two new quads that contain a selection of golden beiges and warm brown with a single pop of Mediterranean blue. They're stunning. There is also another one of CdP's gorgeous highlighters and three delicate lip colors. It's a very pretty collection. It's release date for Japan is in January. I hope we also get it about the same. I'd like to see the darker eyeshadow quad and the lipsticks. After months of intense lip color, I can really appreciate their delicacy. And so, my list of longings gets ever longer! It never ends, does it? LOL
Hi Swathi,
It's natural to get confused about career goals especially when you've got such a mish-mosh going on. Before you abandon your engineering plans, though, here are some things to think about:
Makeup Artistry: 1. Some things make better hobbies than careers. I adore makeup and love the creative aspect of it, but I'd never want to actually spend day after day, traveling from place to place, applying makeup on people. 2. Do you have any experience applying makeup on a variety of people? You might love makeup and enjoy wearing it, but you might not have the patience or artistry to work well with other people's features. 3. As a child, were you artistic? Did you love to paint and draw? Technique can be taught, but not true talent. And that is true whether you are painting a picture or someone's face. 4. What kinds of play did you engage in as a child? A child's preferred play is a very good indicator of the types of careers that will suit the child when she grows ino adulthood. 5. Have you explored the career opportunities for makeup artists? To be blunt, MAs--both professionally trained and self-styled--are a dime a dozen and most are only mediocre at best. Very few rise to the stature of celebrity or national artist.
Engineering: 1. How did you determine you wanted to become a mechanical engineer in the first place? Was it your own decision or were you led to it by someone else's expectations? Ultimately, your career needs to satisfy you and meet your expectations. 2. Engineering is a broad subject. Is there some other type of engineering that interests you more than the mechanical variety? 3. There seems to be a disconnect between your work (human resources?) and your studies. Can you find an internship actually in your field of study? 4. Talk to the school's academic advisor about your delimma. Many undergrads change or fine tune their major. A bit of objective guidance might help you find a better career fit.
Bottom line: Don't abandon your university studies just because mechanical engineering doesn't live up to your expectations. Explore all your options before making a decision.
You certainly didn't ask for a lecture like this, but the old, retired guidance counselor in me couldn't help it :-P Good luck with your decision, Swathi.
First of all, Swathi, I completely agree with Eileen. You have to be practical, even if you are a lipstick romantic. Besides, engineering will pay for all those highend products and you won't have to deal with snooty women and their mucous!
ReplyDeleteWell this week was a bit difficult as I was quite sick for a couple of days. All's well now, but I am looking pallorous, to say the least! So I had fix my mood and appearance. I went to the shops to buy Spanx, but they weren't for sale. The SA try to show me some painful looking corset thing, so I ran off. Then I discovered that Tart Cosmetics now has an undereye primer. Apparently, it's supposed to prevent concealer from migrating into wrinkles. Could this be my answer to the concealer problem?? I got a sample and cannot wait to try it! Let's see what happens :-)
Have a great weekend!
Oh, Lovethescents!
ReplyDeleteYou certainly know how to cut to the chase. When rambling on to Swathi, I didn't even consider that engineering would enable her to afford more of those precious lotions, potions, and paints :-) You are the quintessential voice of reason! LOL
I do hope you're feeling much better soon and that whatever bug you had does not sweep through the rest of the family. It seems flu season has arrived just in time for the holidays!
I think Smashbox and Benefit also make those under eye primers like the Tarte one. Perhaps Sephora can give you some samples of those to try as well.
Hi Swathi, for what it's worth, I ditto everything that Eileen has so eloquently said. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm facing a crisis: To spring, or not to spring, for the Guerlain Meteorites Voyage Compact. I have redness in my face that I would like to cover up or at least diffuse, without going the full-on makeup route (I'm a very minimalist gal).
I know Smashbox makes a green primer (according to color theory, green "cancels out" red), but other than moisturizer and sunscreen, I dislike putting more creams than absolutely necessary onto my face, especially since I use a physical sunscreen, meaning it just sits on top of my skin, and I don't think it would mix very well with the primer if I attempted to rub primer on top of the sunscreen.
A Guerlain SA demonstrated Meteorites Voyage to me a while ago, and I remember being quite surprised at the subtle yet significant difference it made in my complexion. On the other hand - that price tag! $170 for "just" a finishing powder? My wallet, it rebelleth.
I am just stuck on the video! I was able to watch it and know what they were using/doing with the captioning -- all without waking the little nappers in the house!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where I can find the ingredients list for their products? Thank you and Happy Friday!
Hi May,
ReplyDeleteYou'd be paying a bundle for the Voyage compact, that's for sure. Have you thought of just buying the refill? Guerlain also makes other pressed meteroites in plastic compacts that are a much more affordable option. If you just tell your Guerlain SA that buying the Voyage compact is not an option, I bet she'll find something perfect for you at a more affordable price point. Leaves you with more money to spend on the spring collections! :-)
After watching the Zuneta film, NOW I understand how Le Metier suggests layering the colors in the Kaleidoscopes! I was always confused at the thought of layering all the colors. I love the final look of the eyeshadows...gotta get me one of those Kaleidoscopes and I'll start saving my pennies now! It is interesting how the colors complement each other.
ReplyDeleteI've been waiting on this kscope to appear at Neimans. I watched the video on Zuneta and really found it helpful. I can't wait to see your swatches.
ReplyDeleteEileen,
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that the more affordable Guerlain Meteorites Compact powder was just a basic pressed powder having nothing in common with the Voyage compact. In fact, I was told so a few times by Guerlain SAs and MUAs. Were they wrong?
CG, I was surprised to see LMdB Bauhaus kaleidoscope available at Zuneta. For a couple of months I was listening to LMdB representatives excitingly describing this eye kit as "NM Exclusive" - turned out, it wasn't true. This kaleidoscope became available at Zuneta the same time as at NM! So much for "exclusivity"...
Hi CG,Eileen, lovethescents and May,
ReplyDeleteI wrote a really long reply and then checked and saw it wasn't there !
Thank you all so much for replying !
As a child I used to love and still love reading books, loads and loads and loads of books, I love pencil shading and painting - on cloth !
But as you all said, these are not viable career options, atleast if you want to be successful, it takes a lot of time and my oarents didn't think that these would be good career choices. And from where I am, there are mainly two choices - engg or medicine, I took up the one that 90% of my peers chose.
I love mech engg, but in my country, in this industry, girls are not encouraged, nor is the growth that great.
Therefore I chose my present job, I used to love doing what I do, but for the past few months, I have lost the enthusiasm and love.
I do agree with what you said about the beauty industry though. :)
Thank you all so much !
Hi Nina,
ReplyDeleteGuerlain has made their meteorites in both compact and ball form for ages. Traditionally, the colors used for the compacts were the same as those that were used for the balls, but rather than being mixed together to form one homogenous color, they were left separate and pressed into a mosaic pattern like the one you see in the Voyage compact. Several years ago, Guerlain changed the names and updated their basic meteorite tints (for example, Mythic became Teint Rosé) and they removed the mosaic pattern from the pressed powder version. The compact version still contains all the same colors you'd get if you were using the multi-colored balls in the corresponding tint, but now they are already blended together before being pressed.
People do tend to think the Voyage powder is the more luminous, whereas the regular compact is the more natural, but they both achieve the same result of correcting and enhancing skin tone via the selective use of color and light diffusion.
To distinguish their special compacts like Voyage and Wu Long from the regular ones, Guerlain has kept the classic mosaic pattern. Perhaps that's so people will relate them to the more glamorous and festive meteorite balls. It's important to remember, though, that all face powder is actually a controlled mixture of various different colors which are then blended together. If you've ever seen powder being custom blended, the variety of colors that goes into making beige is mind boggling!
All considered, May should be able to find a suitable powder without paying a premium for a compact case. I'd suggest she go and swatch Voyage since she likes that tint and then compare it to swatches of the other pressed powders. If May doesn't want to actually carry the powder around with her, she can always buy just the Voyage refill. It's a fraction of the cost.
Hi Eileen,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for what you asked and said.
You must have been an amazing guidance counselor, and am sure you still help people like me ! :)
Thank you !
Hi Swathi,
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome. I spent countless hours talking with young adults who were pursuing "status" careers only because it was what their families wanted for them. It was always a joy to help them find their way while pleasing their families.
I received my second LMDB Nouvelle Vague eye kit. Love it. So easy to use and the color is both subtle and dramatic.
ReplyDeleteHi Eileen, you are so right - the price of the Meteorites Voyage really appears to be for the compact itself! The refill is $55, which would make the compact $115! The compact is lovely, to be sure, but all I really care about is what's on the inside!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of buying the refill only but would like something to hold it in. Do you have any suggestions? I wasn't planning to carry this around with me anyway, but I don't like the idea of leaving the refill out on my bathroom countertop exposed to the air and bacteria.
Alternatively, do you know if the Meteorites Voyage corresponds to the Meteorites Pearls and if so, which "Teint"? It looks like Teint Rose to me, but I'm sure our resident Guerlain devotee knows best. :)
Hi May,
ReplyDeleteThe white Voyage compact released in 2010 contained Mythic 01 which became the reformulated Teint Rosé. At the time the white Voyage compact came out, I still had Mythic in my stash so I didn't pay much attention to it. Suggestion: Swatch the Voyage along side the Teint Rosé. If they are basically the same, then I'd apply Voyage to one side of my face and Teint Rosé to the other side of my face. Stroll around the department and also outside. Catch a glimps of yourself close up and at a distance. I think you'll find they are pretty much the same. If not, and you still love Voyage, then I'd buy the refill and put it in a pretty little decorator box or plastic container. There are some beautiful little boxes and containers to be found especially this time of year at gift wrap shops, party shops, crafting shops etc. Just fasten the refill to the bottom of the box so it doesn't wiggle around when you use your brush or puff. You can also buy a magnetized palette but that might not be worth the price unless you're into de-potting.
Hi Eileen,
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a wonderful detailed explanation - you gave me more information than I've got from all my favorite Guerlain SAs! Going to order my first Guerlain Meteorites compact powder now. I only hope it won't be as good as the Voyage, D'Or, or Wu Long compacts; it's hard to admit/accept that all these years I paid hundreds and hundreds just for pretty packaging :-)
Oh, Nemo, you surprised me a lot! If I remember correctly, you were planning to return Nouvelle Vague kaleidoscope because you were very unhappy with the pinky-mauvey colors and even had to bathe to get the black eyeshadow off of you! I remember a friend of mine was wondering what kind of brush one could use for application of these eyeshadows to end up with black pigment all over you and the bathroom - LOL! What changed your mind?
ReplyDeleteEileen, I saw La Beauté Méditerranée at Rouge Deluxe. I hope I like it in person. The last collection for fall was a dud - in my opinion. Sheer, glittery, poorly textured eye shadows did not excite me.
ReplyDeleteThe lip colors are always nice. I hope I have enough money left by then to buy some of it!
Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI've been reading along with interest and found you all so good at answering questions and contributing ideas, it seemed crazy to cut in with opinions. What a great conversation!
Mikey and Erin did that video in New York during Fashion Week. She has not been planned to be the model, but it worked out that way. Wasn't that a great film? Zuneta always has great films; I love watching and learning.
I saw the new Spring Guerlain this weekend. Wait until you see the Météorites! OMG. They are a range of platinum pinks and coordinating shades that are simply divine. Mine are on the way. I also saw four new eye palettes. I ordered one. The other three were bright colors and a bit too wild for my tastes. There are four Shine Automatiques and two lip glosses - all of which are gorgeous. I'll have more info soon.
Swathi,
ReplyDeleteI think you got some good career advice here. There is a huge demand for engineers here. MUA's? Not so much unless they are world-famous.
There are ways, like blogging, that allow you to follow you passion while earning a living that supports it.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI know of no site that publishes ingredients for Le Métier de Beauté's many products. If you do not live near a counter, and you are interested in a particular product, you will probably have to call a counter. I can tell you that the company strives to leave the bad actors out of its makeup.
Thank you, GC! I am in Canada and believe that the brand is still not here yet, not even at Holt Renfrew. Maybe one day!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone in the SF Bay Area is looking to try out Le Metier they should seek out Richard Marquez the makeup artist for this area. He is fabulous and always keeps me informed of whats new.
ReplyDelete