Makeup Magpie: September 2011

Immortal Gold ($15 limited edition) is a new nail lacquer that was introduced with MAC's recent Posh Paradise collection. It reminded me a bit of Chanel's Fall 2011 shade Peridot ($25) and Butter London's Wallis ($14 originally a Nordstrom exclusive, but now available at Butter London.com), so I pulled them out to do a little comparison.

From left to right: Wallis, Peridot, and Immortal Gold shown above with one coat. Although it's hard to tell here, Wallis has a sheer black base. Peridot's formula provides a more even and smooth application, with finer shimmer particles than those in Immortal Gold.

As you can see above Wallis is by far the darkest of these. Its shimmer really stands out in contrast to its darker base. The Butter London formula went on smoothly and dried without any streaks.

Peridot is a burnished gold that has a unique, blue-green duochrome that is not present in Immortal Gold. Next to Peridot, Immortal Gold comes across as more yellow toned and brassy, and has a slightly more streaky, metallic finish. Yes, these two are definitely different enough to justify having both, but if you already own Peridot you might not "need" Immortal Gold because they have the same general sort of look when worn. Perhaps only a polish aficionado would appreciate the differences in them. After all, how many antique golds does a girl really need in her nail color wardrobe? (Apparently, in my case, one just wasn't enough!) I think any of these three would look especially beautiful for a dressy, night-time occasion.

At this angle, in low light, you can really see the blue-green duochrome in Peridot

Left to right: Immortal Gold, Peridot, Wallis

In flash lighting: Wallis, Peridot, Immortal Gold

In low indoor lighting: Immortal Gold, Peridot, Wallis

These colors gave me the "lobster hands" effect,

-- either that or the 95 degree heat outside! :)

If lizards make you squeamish you may want to skip this next part... ;)

Got this little trinket box at a gift shop on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables (Florida) many years ago

~Thanks for stopping by~

Over the weekend I had the good fortune to meet and have makeup applied by the lovely Kayla, national makeup artist from Le Metier de Beaute. She is every bit as sweet and down to earth as she is gorgeous and talented. As you may know, she has her own YouTube channel as well. For those of you who own the Penelope Kaleidoscope, her tutorial using this palette may provide you with some new inspiration, and she has also uploaded a very helpful video in which she displays some of the lipstick shades in the LMdB line. If Kayla is ever in your neighborhood I highly recommend making an appointment with her!

Yeah, that's my arm there to the right of fair beauty, Kayla. Unfortunately, just as the camera snapped I blinked and, geez, just my luck--my eyes are closed in the picture, so I deemed it unworthy for public viewing! But look how pretty Kayla looks! :)

Of course, I knew I could not go home empty-handed, even if it means ramen noodles and rice & beans are on the menu for the next few months. I purchased the Silk Road Kaleidoscope and polishes from the fall collection that I've been eyeing for the past month. By now you've probably seen many gorgeous photos and swatches of these quintessentially fall shades...and here are yet more...along with some photos and swatches of a few of the other items Kayla used.

Thailand lipstick, Nudite liner & Peche Lip Creme

Kayla used Thailand lipstick with Nudite liner, topped with Peche Lip Creme. I don't have Peche Lip Creme, so instead I swatched below Papaya Creme (note: the current name for this shade is Papaye), which I already own. It is more orange-toned and has the effect of a golden sheen. Peche is now at the top of my wishlist! It's the sort of beautiful and universally flattering shade that would coordinate well with just about any blush or shadow color.

(Note: Photos taken in sunlight, which made these shades look a bit warmer than in real life)

Silk Road Kaleidoscope

If you haven't seen or tried Silk Road in person yet, you may be wondering whether there is one plum too many in this palette, but rest assured these two colors appear very differently once applied and are both beautiful in their own special ways. As you can see Tapestry is more purple-toned, lighter, slightly more sheer and has golden shimmers, whereas Ikat is more of a red-toned plum and has a satin finish. These shades look lovely with an overlay of the golden brass shade, Damask. The dark chocolate, Brocade can serve as a liner or as a shadow for creating more dark and dramatic looks. It does have sparkles but they are very subtle and I did not experience any fall out.

This is my second Kaleidoscope purchase (the first being Splendid Frost) and I love the concept. All of the shadows in this palette applied smoothly and had great pigmentation. The colors are vibrant, long-lasting and true, with or without a primer--a quality that is not easy to come by and something I definitely appreciate as I don't always use a base. For me, perhaps the only thing missing from this palette is a pale highlighting shade, but otherwise it is absolute perfection! I find Damask to be a tad too dark for highlighting, although it is useful to add a lovely warm golden shimmer that contrasts with and enhances the deeper chocolate and plum tones. For the look below Kayla used the LMdB's Revive eye brightening and setting powder to diffuse and highlight.

Tapestry

Damask

Ikat

Brocade

Below are all of the shades layered together on the lid in the LMdB's signature "Couches de Couleur" manner. You can also see another view of this palette applied in a soft and pretty look on the lovely Perilously Pale.

(I've been asked in the past to show closed-eye photos to better demonstrate colors but such a photo of my lids of, let's just say, "a certain age" would not be a pretty sight, and I don't want to frighten anyone ;) Nevertheless, I hope these help a bit to give you a better idea of how these colors look once applied.)

I also purchased the four new fall collection nail lacquers:

Silk Road: shimmery copper-bronze

Dynasty: shimmery vibrant cool red

Anatolia: sheer raspberry-plum with golden sparkles

Urban Dweller: dark plum-brown with golden sparkles

Left to right: Silk Road, Urban Dweller, Dynasty, and Anatolia

I haven't swatched these (yet), but for beautiful photos of these on the nails visit:

I asked Kayla to teach me how to do winged liner, something I always admire on others, but have difficulty perfecting on myself. She used a wedge shape, starting out very narrow along the inside of the upper lid and getting thicker towards the outer edge, but because of the way my eyes are shaped we didn't end up doing a pronounced flick/wing at the outer edge. Love the way dark liquid liner adds instant drama and really dresses up a look!

Try to ignore the rogue strand of hair in the photos above :)

Products used:

Face: Peau Vierge #2, Peau Vierge Cool concealer, Sun Drenched bronzer, Echo blush

Eyes: Tamarack eye pencil as a base, Silk Road Kaleidoscope (all shades layered together), Revive eye brightening/setting powder, Noir liquid liner, Midnight Blue mascara

Lips: Nudite lip pencil, Thailand lipstick, Peche Lip Creme

Thanks so much Kayla! I learned a lot and am loving my new products! :)

There was a nice gift with purchase at Neiman Marcus and I received Artemis liquid liner & Peau Vierge Lash Growth serum. (As of this writing there is a similar promotion at Neiman Marcus online but with slightly different items offered, as well as second promotion: a complimentary Lip Paradis Lip Creme palette with a $125 purchase).