I used to love Christmas shopping, but now, with my aches and pains, it's not as much fun. The Internet has been my saviour.
I have been waiting patiently, as has Michael Reinhardt, for his The Countess Kaleidoscope Eye Kit to arrive at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie. I hope it shows up today. It would be worth a trip to Chevy Chase during rush hour to see it in person.
I have received in comments a lot of questions about new Chanel colors. I was speed shopping when I saw the new display, so I can't answer specific questions about items I didn't purchase. There are sneak peek photos on other blogs, so if you have a question, definitely go Web surfing.
We are expected to have a beautiful warm surge this weekend. I am so looking forward to temperatures in the "60's approaching 70." This snow/ice "thing" has been frustrating. Now I'm always on the lookout for black ice when I go out in the dark every morning to fill the bird and squirrel feeders.
It's time for the Friday Forum. 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.
I will be writing next week, but perhaps not every day. Certainly not on Christmas day. I have new goodies from several companies to show you. If you aren't "here" over the holidays, I hope you have a joyful celebration!
Update: NEST Fragrances will get your order to you by Christmas Eve if you order by December 22. No code needed. I'm relieved.
Photos courtesy of mansfieldfeed.com and a friend
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26 comments:
I was terrible these past 2 weeks. I ended up purchasing Chanel spring, the new nude glow collection from Bobbi Brown, Clarins spring(absolutely gorgeous) and Guerlain spring ( the boutique just got the pieces in yesterday).Although I was able to get 10% off the Chanel since Nordstrom was price matching Lord and Taylor's friends and family. I am eagerly awaiting YSL spring and Chantecaille.
Anahita, if that's terrible, I am just as bad.
I just ordered another CHANEL Quadrille eye quad bc it is LE. I must say that the Quadrille quad and CHANEL'S recent Seduction quad, also LE, are similar. In fact, the darkest shades in each are almost identical. My husband says they are identical--but he's a man and, well, you know. Anyway, the Quadrille is a brighter Seduction. I love them both. I too am awaiting your swatches of the Countess, Cg. How can one go through each day of life without buying something wonderful? And you, dear lady, are our makeup guru! The best of Christmases to you and Charleston and your mom.
Hi CG! I understand about the black ice. Ice remained here for a solid week, which is unusual. I stayed in the whole time, then slipped and fell in the shower! I ended up bruised and sore but no major harm done.
I slipped through Neiman Marcus yesterday to "scan". I usually receive perfumes and palettes from my wonderful husband, so I rarely buy anything until after the holidays. I do have my eye on the Chanel spring collection though. I did pick up a Naked 3 palette during Sephoras' Giftopia event, as I know I won't receive that as a gift. I sniffed the new Aerin Lauder fragrances but they didn't really excite me. Springtime might change my mind as they are so light. I bought husband the new Cartier Pasha fragrance. It smelled good in the store but couldn't describe it now other than rich and definitely not like the original Pasha.
Happy shopping!
What is it with cats and Christmas trees? I have two and they have decided they must be ornaments in the tree....every single time.
Merry Christmas and happy shopping.
Hi CHarlestongirl!
It's always so funny to read about future French collections (Chanel, Guerlain, Clarins, YSL etc...) on your blog while here we don't have any idea of what they will be like: all the blogs are taking winter and Xmas make-up! In January...if we are good-) we'll hear about spring fashion but nothing else..In Guerlain headquarters in Paris, last Saturday there was no sign of Spring products!!
By the way I hope you got my mails about another box to arrive at your door...
Merry Christmas and celebrations to all those who will take a break soon:-)
Ohhhhhhh Guerlain spring collection seems solo pretty!!! So many purchases ahead!!
Our local Guerlain counter has received the testers for the Blossom Collection but not the products. Although the display and testers weren't out, my lovely Guerlain gal gave me a peek. I'm very eager to try the newly reformulated Météorites. The new pearls are supposedly softer and more luminous. I'm also curious to see how the cream blushes and eyeshadows look against my skin. The lipsticks are gorgeous, but I've been wearing vibrant colors for two seasons so far and am ready for a bit of a change. So, we shall see . . . I might feel completely different about them once I can swatch them. Anyway, my Guerlain sweetie said she had me on speed dial and would call as soon as she had things set up.
There are so many beautiful spring collections on the horizon. I saw Clé de Peau's La Boheme promos the other day and can hardly wait for it to arrive in February. I also like the look of Lancôme's French Ballerina and YSL's Flower Crush. Dior's Trianon is lovely but a bit too colorful overall for me--especially since I'm not a young woman who likes to dress up as a shepherdess! ;-) it will be delightful on younger women, though, like Chanel's L'été Papillon from last summer. The only collection that I've found boring so far is Armani's Effetto Nudo. It seems to have taken nude to an extreme. On me it would look more like Effetto Morto! LOL
Hi Anahitha,
It sounds like you had quite a beauty shopping spree--Chanel, Guerlain, Clarins, and Bobbi Brown. Lucky you! Think how gorgeous you'll be :-) Mind sharing with us what you actually got?
I'm sure many of you have a busy weekend ahead as you get down to the wire for holiday preparations. Good luck with any last minute purchases you need to make and hopefully you'll also have time to relax and take in all the joy of the holiday season. Happy weekend, everyone.
That cat reminds me of my dog. A present from Santa himself, he treated the tree in the house as he would one outdoors for his second Christmas with us. I miss him dearly.
I thought that I was ahead with shopping this year, getting the grandparents done by mid November, but now I am behind -- and losing sleep over it! I want to go to the mall like I want a hole in the head. I am going to try the small stores for this final crunch. On-line has been my saviour, too, but things would never get here now on time.
Thanks again for another excellent year of blogging, CG! I always appreciate your time and insight.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Eileen: I am embarassed to even say. Its ridiculous. From Chanel, I got the quad, both glosses, both cream blushes and the 2 rouge velvets. From Clarins, I got the LE face palette, the LE eye palette, 2 of the cream blushes and a pink and coral lipstick. From Bobbi, I got the bronze and crystal eye palette, the bronze glow face powder and the pink rose lip sheer. From Guerlain, I got the LE eye shadow palette, the opal gloss and matching polish, the medium meteorites and both bubble blushes. Im surprised to say that my fave collection so far is Clarins. I love the pink and corally tones. If you haven't checked it out, you should. The colors are so appropriate for spring. From YSL I plan to ge the LE eye palette and the blush and I also have my eye on the magnetic nudes collection from MAC. Its a good thing I get regular paychecks.
The Guerlain Spring collection is available at Bergdorf Goodman. I saw it there last evening and purchased one of the cream blushes. The meterorites look beautiful.
Hi Charleston Girl,
Just got my Naked 3 palette and I gasped when I opened it. I have blue/green eyes and these shades look marvelous. This is my first Naked palette and I could not have chosen better. Hope this finds you feeling well. Good luck on your next shopping trip and PLEASE be careful!
Annie M
I saw the new Chanel Spring collection at Nordtrom last night, and swatched a few (blushes, lipsticss...), and didn't find anything that I had to take home with me. In fact, I only have my eyes on very few Spring items in 2014, maybe just the highlighter from Giorgio Armani and Eye Palette from YSL have so far really jumped out at me. Maybe it's the guilt speaking, as I did spend way too much money on holiday shopping. Almost every major beauty house this year offered 20 to 30% F&F deal, so I just couldn't resist. The biggest item would be the Crema Nera Extrema cream from Giorgio Armani ($380 a jar!!!) At first I was very put off by its strong scent and thought about returning it, but after using it for a couple nights I found my face glowing so I had to keep it. That and other skincare sets have totally break my bank this holiday...But hey, what's holiday without some holiday shopping right? Merry Christmas to you all!
I love the picture of the cat in the tree! It's a wonder the whole tree didn't go over! I'm sure he thinks the tree is for him! Spring is my favorite time for makeup and from the sound of all the items the other ladies have snatched up, I shall be minus many dollars very soon. Have a great Christmas everyone!
I just returned from the Guerlain counter with my spring selections. I bought the new Météorites in 02 Claire, the nail polish in Stardust, the Rouge Automatic in Attrape Cœur (the lighter of the two new shades), and the gloss D'Enfer in Stardust and in La Petite Robe Noire. LPRN is a repromote, but it looks beautiful over Attrape-Cœur so I had to get it. As for Stardust, it is going to look phenomenal over my cooler rose and soft berry shades. Both Stardust products are perfectly named. They are translucent, silvery white toppers that are shot through with silver, blue, green, and pink micro-shimmer---enough to make Tinkerbell jealous :-)
The only area of disappointment was with the eye shadows. I fell in love with the new duo in VIP but my lovely Gisu didn't have any of the product to sell. She looked to see if it was available at another store, but had no luck. She's going to call her regional manager tomorrow to see what the story is on the missing product. I'd really like to get it because that sparkling violet "veil" looks stellar and, along with the deeper satin shade in the duo, will result in a beautiful evening look--smoky but lighter and more erthereal as befitting a springtime twilight. Note to self: Must get VIP! :-) As for Les Tendres, I have an aversion to mint green so I didn't even bother to swatch the new quad.
I also gave the two new cream blushes a miss because I have entirely too many similar shades. They are very pretty, though. Perhaps Anahita can report back to us on how well they wear since she picked up both of them. All considered, I think Guerlain has put out a cheerful springtime collection.
With so many beautiful interpretations of spring being released this year, the next couple of months are going to be budget busters for sure :-)
Hi Anahita,
All I can say is Wow! What a haul :-) Enjoy!
I received the Too Faced Chocolate bar palette today and it looks and smells heavenly, cant wait to try it out, colour selection looks very good. I want to wish everyone hear an excellent holiday and cheer!
Kathy
I hate Christmas shopping, so I did mine asap. No more presents to shop for, phew! I haven't discovered anything new beauty related these past few weeks though. Work has been taking up all my time. At least it's good for my bank balance ;-)
hi!!! i have questions for anahita and eileen and anyone else who would know....bobbi brown spring...as much as i always love to look at bobbi's products, her eyeshadows, as gorgeous as they look in the pan, never work for me especially the glittery ones. i know bobbi's look is subtle. how do you like the texture and wearability of the spring quads? guerlain...that name attrape-couer was driving me bananas! but, the lips are not a repromote, except for the one gloss. it must be a different product with similar name. can you tell me the other colors in the quad with the mint green? i can't tell by pictures...it looks like gray and maybe violet? in my opinion, although natalia looks pretty in the visual, she's looked gorgeous in others. i was told by a guerlain rep. that she's wearing the quad. i'm wondering is the mint a sheer highlight color? i can't tell by the picture..dees she have the mint in the inner corner of the eyes? couldyou please describe the lip sticks? is one pink and the other coral? what are your thoughts about the mascara, formula wise. i heard it comes in brown for spring. thankyou very, very much!!! my local counter only gets 1 or 2 of each. it's probably sold out already even before the display gets put up. i saw clarins...it is beautiful but, i do not always here good reviews about the quality of the quads?? i tried on the sheer lippies...gorgeous but, the 1 the model supposedly is wearing is very bright on me. i wanted to know any thoughts about the creme blushes compared to chanel's. thankyou very, very much for your time!!!!
Hi Wendy,
Attrape-Cœur was the name of a quad last spring (purple shades) and is the name of a lipstick this year (coral). Perhaps that is your source of confusion. The collection only has two repromoted items that are on the display: Two Candy eyeshadow duo and La Petite Robe Noire gloss. Everything else is new.
Les Tendres eyeshadow quad's highlighter shimmer shade is the mint green color. It has good pigmentation and is not sheer. You can easily see it on Natalia. The other colors are pretty basic neutrals. The overall appearance is warm and slightly pink tinged with the mint green serving as an interesting contrast. We all know how many brands love their pink and green combinations for spring, but Guerlain's is more neutral and does not stray anywhere near the candy store :-). If you've got a good monitor, the promo pictures that have been posted online are accurate. The eyeshadow duo (love!) is a violet tinged slate with a glittery violet "veil". It's overall look is cool and sparkling. I think it is drop dead gorgeous and that it will make a stunning springtime smoky eye.
Attrape-Cœur lipstick is a bright, slightly sheer coral. It's bright without being in-your-face bold. Insolence is a deeper, more opaque pink shade. They are both lovely, springtime colors in the typical Rouge Automatic formula.
The mascara is one of my favorite formulations. It lifts and lengthens the lashes. For day, I only need one coat for long, feathery lashes. It resists water, but it removes easily (I use Chanel's bi-phase). I prefer black mascara, but the new brown shade was deep and very pretty. I always buy mine during Nordstrom's twice a year Mascara Madness.
The two cream blushes have that dry slip and feel like Chanel. They sheer out and look lighter on the skin than in the "bubble". Since I only tested them on my hand, I can't say any more about them.
Anahita actually bought the quad and blushes; perhaps she can be more helpful :-)
thankyou eileen for all your kindness!! and, it was extremely informative!! xo.
Hi Everyone,
I've been wearing my new Météorites since Friday and think all you Météorites fans will love the newly reformulated pearls. I do! The three shades are basically the same as before. Rosé became 02 Claire, Beige became 03 Medium, and Doré became 04 Doré. They are, as Guerlain claims, softer in texture than the previous pearls and they have a light-diffusing soft luminescence that is very pretty on the skin. At my counter, there was already a bit of cross contamination because someone had used the Météorite brush in something quite sparkly before testing the pearls :-P The "virgin" product, though is not glittery. If you want something matte; however, the pearls are not going to be for you. Try the new Voilettes pressed powder instead. It is mattifying without looking flat or chalky. On the skin it looks velvety with a bit of light-diffusion.
Hi Wendy,
Me again! I forgot to say that of the three nail polishes on the display, only Stardust is new. The other two are repromotes.
Eileen, I have all three on the way from Guerlain, plus the blush bubbles - and more! I am so excited. I'd have them now if Jonathan hadn't taken two days off. Some folks don't know their two lovely days kill me. :)
Hi Charlestongirl,
The new Météorites were well worth the wait. It's hard to imagine how Guerlain could improve upon a cult favorite, but they did. They are Guerlain quality through and through and I think you're going to love the ultra fine powder and soft pearlescence.
I apologize for taking up so much space this weekend and had to laugh at the abundance of comments I've made. No sooner had I hit "Publish" on my very first comment when my lovely Guerlain gal called to say she had everything set up and was ready to do business :-). So, naturally, I had to dash out to Nordstrom's to make my purchase and then I just had to share my haul with you and your wonderful readers when I got home and then Wendy had questions, and then . . . and then . . . Well, you get the idea. LOL
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and the coming week. Happy holidays to you, your mom, your furry loves, and everyone else you hold near and dear!
Eileen, you're the best. Don't ever worry about taking up space. We all love and appreciate you.
Anne, that hurt just reading it! I hope you feel better.
I just started answering comments, and my boy just started misbehaving. Excuse me. I must go see what he is trying to ruin.
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