This has been a horrid week for world peace. I hope the countries in chaos can find solutions, with the help of the rest of the world, and everyone wishing to choose their own governments will have their dreams fulfilled.
During the last week or so, I bought many new treasures. My wish is for sunshine this weekend. I've got hours of photography to accomplish so I can tee up my features for the next week. There's everything from Urban Decay to more Chanel and the new Clé de Peau. I feel so constrained! Fragrance too - I am so behind on some introductions I must feature.
What's new in beauty? According to WWD, Karl Lagerfeld will launch his Karl Lagerfeld Parfums project this month at Harrod's with two fragrances. His fragrances will follow quickly in the U.S. at Macy's. Will his name sell the scents? Only time will tell.
The Karl Lagerfeld women’s eau de parfum, which includes notes of lemon, peach, rose, magnolia, plumeria, musks, and woods, was created by Mane perfumers Serge Majoullier and Christine Nagel. The notes sound nice to me. In the men’s eau de toilette, created by International Flavors & Fragrances’ Jean-Christophe Hérault, there are notes of lavender, mandarin zest, apple, violet leaves, sandalwood, and amber. It sounds equally nice. I'm not one who uses marketing to determine whether I will like a fragrance.
Target is going upscale in skin care and will be overhauling the entire department this spring. The changes will be visible this month in the 750 Target doors outfitted with its newly installed premium skin-care assortment, which is anchored by Amore Pacific’s South Korean skin-care range Laneige. The line will be exclusive to Target in the U.S. The concept will also be occupied by six more brands, including MD Complete, Borghese Age Defying Cellulare Complex, Vichy, La Roche-Posay, 29 by Lydia Mondavi (I featured this brand a long time ago) and Own Beauty. I hope they are better stocked than they have been when they introduced their limited designer clothing - a debacle from my perspective. I assume Target has cleaned up its payment processing troubles, so you could actually shop there safety again. Let's hope.
Sephora is introducing 24 one-time-use nail polish samples, packaged together in a $39 set, which will bow on sephora.com in late April and in its stores in early May. “We know our [shoppers] love to experiment with new nail shades, and this allows them to preview our 24 bestselling Formula X shades before committing to a full-sized bottle,” Kristin Walcott, Vice President and General Manager for Formula X told WWD. “Each Press Pod has a built-in brush and covers all 10 nails in two coats of Formula X. Not only are they great for experimenting with color, they’re ideal for travel because they are so small.” What do you think? Hit or miss?
It's time for the Friday Forum - our first in weeks. I love this part of our week. 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.
Photo courtesy of enwikipedia
I love the new Chanel Zen eye shadow quad, but I'm going to pass because I have those colors already (or at least something extremely close). I've been trying really hard not to buy dupes.
ReplyDeleteI don't care for the nail polish "sample" bottles. I'd rather just spend the money on the colors I know I want.
I just ordered some of the new RBL polish colors and I love them! Ji does a great job with her polish.
Stay warm and dry, and have a wonderful weekend!
Watching/reading the news this week has just been so depressing. Not that it's any excuse to hide my head in the sand, but I'm sure others know the feeling.
ReplyDeleteTarget's latest upscale effort will probably flop in my area and right now I'm not sure I care one bit, as I'm rather angry with them as a company. That's probably another soapbox for another day though. Oh my gosh what a negative nelly I am today, because I also think Sephora's nail samples are a miss. 24 manicures for $39- I'll pass. Plus they're labeled as a one-time-use thing, so there's nothing left or no way to use it later on a smudge or chip. That doesn't sound very ideal for travel to me. I don't know about others but I'd much rather touch up a manicure when I'm on vacation instead of completely redoing it. I think the only way I'd be comfortable paying for a one-time-use sample would be if they'd offer the pods as point rewards. I've got to say that nail varnish there would be a nice change from the random mini tubes of black mascara they're always trying to foist on me.
The bright and cheerful spot of my week is that I'm still obsessing over Chanel's latest offerings and trying to decide what other pieces I might really want. I try to add to my higher-end colour collection in a more budget-friendly manner, and having so many things that spark my interest at once is almost overwhelming! Currently I'm debating the merits of the Rose des Vents illusion d'ombre, but I have a feeling that ultimately I'll wind up going for another lipstick. :)
Hello! I hear you on winter - I'm so sick of it too! Can't wait for the warmer weather, especially since I have so many treats to play with. So far for spring I've hauled Bobbi Brown Hibiscus Rouge Pot, Pink Apricot and Pink Gold lipsticks, Tom Ford lip sheers in Pink Dune, In the Buff and Sweet Spot, and NARS blushes in Final Cut, Sex Fantasy and Love. My latest treat was an Armani order - while I'm sad the old blushes and bronzers are being discontinued (thanks for the heads up on that!), I must say that Cheek Fabric #305 is gorgeous! I also got the sheer lipstick #314 - which I wouldn't have taken a chance on without seeing your lovely swatches first (no Armani counter near me, sadly). :) Keep up the great work and I can't wait to see what you'll post next week!
ReplyDeleteHeh, everyone's been complaining about the long, cold, snowy/icy winter this year, but surprisingly, I haven't been as bugged by it as I thought I would be, considering how much I normally detest winter. I think it's because 1) I gave in and bought a down coat, and while it's not as fashionable as my wool coats, it sure is warm, and every time I step outside, I barely notice the cold (unless it's in the single digits), and 2) I changed the lights in my house to bright white lights with mega-wattage, so even with the lack of sunshine/short daylight hours, I don't notice it as much when I'm cooped up inside (yes, I'm prone to seasonal affective disorder). Oh, and I try to avoid being outside. All in all, I think I've weathered this horrid winter quite well, so I guess my recommendations for the future are 1) invest in a warm down coat, and 2) invest in bright white lights. :)
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Target was upgrading their beauty section. I'll be interested in checking out Laneige in particular; I didn't know they're part of the AmorePacific family.
Can anyone recommend a mascara that won't smudge? This might be harder than you think: I've recently started slathering my eye area with eye cream and sunscreen; however, because my eyelashes are straight and downward-pointing (I'm Asian, can you tell? :), and due to the emollience of the eye cream/sunscreen combination, eventually any mascara I'm wearing on my upper lashes will smudge onto the area below my lower lash line.
May- I use Trish McEvoy high volume. It coats your lashes with spindles and doesn't smudge at all. All other mascaras smudge on me b/c I have oily skin, I have been using this mascara for years and swear by it.
ReplyDeleteHi CH,
ReplyDeleteJust a quick email to said you are doing a awesome job with your blog. I'm looking forward to reading it every morning. Keep up the good work!
Emma
I am so ready for spring, and dreading the time change this weekend. Ever since Congress changed when that change happens, I spend a few weeks finally waking up to sunshine, only to be sent back into darkness for another few weeks. Makes me grumpy.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, hrm, I like the concept of the Sephora tester package of polishes, since it would let me play at home at my leisure. I doubt I'd get it unless it were significantly less expensive, though. Spending more than $1 per tester just seems like a lot to me, but then I have a Sephora within walking distance from my office, so stopping in and swatching a few every time isn't a massive hassle...
In my stop this week, I played around with the new Hourglass and Clinique blushes, and definitely found the ones in each that will work for me. But what I ended up walking out with was one of the new Nars matte multiples: Anguilla. It's the perfect natural brightener for my cool, fair skin.
I can't imagine spending $39 on a set of 24 Sephora polishes many of which I probably wouldn't be interested in wearing. I only rotate a few colors at a time and prefer to get shades that are on trend. I would imagine a 24 polish sampler would appeal to women who enjoy experimenting with nail color, but the price point seems terribly high.
ReplyDeleteAs for Target's plan to bring some moderately priced lines to their cosmetics aisles, I hope it will work well for them. They picked some good brands--La Roche-Posay, Vichy, Laneige. Many women who shop Target are not necessarily looking for bargain basement skin care but they're not high-end shoppers, either. This is a nice middle ground--good products moderately priced.
As far as beauty products go, there isn't anything new in my sights. I've been wearing Clé de Peau all this week and loving it. I hope CdP will come out with more quads in this same satin-matte formula. The colors have such a pretty soft glow to them. The colors are delicate, but they have staying power and don't fade. As for the luminizing powder, CdP could bring out a new one every season and I'd be ready to buy it :-)
Here's wishing all of you back east sunshine and warmth. Happy weekend everyone.