Tuesday, July 30, 2013

My Guerlain Wishlist Till the End of 2013


1. Terracotta 4 Seasons Bronzer

2. Meteorites Light Diffusing Perfecting Primer

3. Ecrin 4 Couleurs in 07 Les Cuirs

4. Rouge G Jewel Lipstick Compact in 65 Grenade

5. Rouge G Jewel Lipstick Compact in 63 Giulette

6. Rose Aux Joues Blush Duo in 03 Over Rose

7. Meteorites Compact Powder in 02 Teint Beige

8. Guerlain Maxi Lash




HOW TO: Organize your Jewelry

There are many ways to organize anything you can think of, and there is not a way that is better than other, because it is all about personal preferences. In this blog post, I would like to share with you a couple methods, tips, and how I prefer to keep my jewelry organized.

The first thing I do is separate jewelry by the material, meaning that all of my silver jewelry go together, all of the gold together, if I have rose gold I'll put them together, if they are made out of fabric or plastic or whatever. Essentially, I categorize the jewelry based on the kind of material. There is actually a reason why I advise separating them, and the reason being is that any gold jewelry cannot be mixed with silver or any other kind of metal, or they will eventually ruin my gold jewelry, and I saw it first hand with my aunt's jewelry. So basically, make sure than you dont mix several kinds of metal together, because steel can get rust, silver can lose its color in the long run, and gold is sensitive to other kinds of metal.

After you have separated your jewelry on that basis, you can pretty much organize them however you want. The key to organization is to get some jewelry boxes, organizers, or any kind of container. My advice would be to get one that can be closed, because as I mentioned earlier, silver jewelry can oxidize with time, and lose their color and shine, and also because you can put several ones on top of each other. Personally, I prefer jewelry boxes, but that depends on your personal preference. Containers can be made out of transparent plastic, if you would like to see the content within, or they can be made out of plastic or cardboard, which is not a problem because you can either color code them, or you can put a sticker on top of it and write down what each box contains.

Now the next step is to organize them either according to what kind of jewelry piece they are, say bracelets, necklaces, etc. Another way of organizing your jewelry is by the kind of stone they have, such as pearls, zircon, clear, etc. Basically, the silver pieces with pearls should have a container of their own, the gold ones with pearls too, and so on. Or, what I personally do, is that I put the pieces I like to wear together in one box, which means that each jewelry box I have contains a set. Now I do have more earrings than necklaces and bracelets, so generally, in each container, there are more than one pair of earrings, and I just choose whichever I want to wear. 

Afterwards, you should end up have several boxes of each kind of jewelry, or several boxes of jewelry sets that you have mixed and matched. If you got transparent containers, you wont need the next step, but if you didn't, then you'll either need to find a system of color coding, or coding them by size, or you can just use a sticker. 

Now you have a bunch of containers in front of you, you need to find a place to store them. I assume the obvious answer is drawers. Now it really depends on the quantity of boxes that you have of each category. but if you have a large amount of boxes of one category, like I have a lot of gold pleated items, I suggest you dedicate a separate drawer for them. It depends on the amount of containers vs the size of the drawer itself. I keep all of my Gold and Gold pleated items in the same drawer, but in the jewelry boxes, there's either gold or pleated gold, but never mixed together. and on the other drawer, I keep my silver ones and my steel ones, which are quite few since they get rust quickly and I just get rid of them. The boxes in each drawer are organized according to what I wear the most, so basically, my most worn sets are right in the front of each drawer, and each kind of metal is of course separated. 

Now, since I can see how what I have said before may sound confusing, I will run down quickly and shortly my preferred method that I use to organize my jewelry:
 1. Separate your jewelry based on the material they're made of - silver, gold, pleated gold, etc. 
 2. Get as many jewelry containers as you think you need, make sure that they come with a lid to close them and protect your jewelry.
 3. Take each category of jewelry and separate them according to sets that you wear together, and put each set in a jewelry box of its own.
 4. Write down on stickers a description of the content of each box, and stick them on the boxes' lids!
 5. Try to fit them in drawers according to the categories we've created in step 1, so that each drawer should have at least one FULL category of jewelry, and make sure that you dont mix the same category in more than one drawer.
 6. Organize the boxes in your drawers according to what you like best, your favorite sets should be in the front, accessible and ready for you to take them out and wear them.


Dont Forget to check my YouTube channel to see my new videos!
I hope this was helpful :)

Monday, July 29, 2013

My Favorite 3 Makeup Products to Wear Together (Featuring Guerlain and Tom Ford)

 




1. Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs  in number 04 Les Bois De Rose




2. Tom Ford Cheek Color in 06 Wicked





3. Guerlain Shine Automatique in shade number 265 Pao Rosa





Shades next to each other:




PS. A tutorial will be coming up next week on my YouTube Channel.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Battle of the Eyeshadows

Today, and in this post, I will be comparing my favorite two eyeshadow formulas, Dior quints and Guerlain quads. I wont be addressing specific colors, but the formula itself, the price, the quantity, and the like.

First of all, I should first say that I do not have a dozen eyeshadow quads or singles. I have 6 quads and one single eyeshadow, and of course, my collection shall grow. I have 3 Guerlain quads (Ecrin 4 Couleurs), and one Dior quint (5 Couleurs Eyshadow Palette). Now lets try to figure out which one of these is better.

I LOVE both of them dearly, but I have a feeling I will end this post by declaring Guerlain as a winner... so lets see!

1. Guerlain's eyeshadows are a quad, Dior's are quints. Basically, in terms of variety of looks, I think Dior has more room for creativity and creating different looks.

2. Dior's quints have a total of 6 grams, meaning it offers an average of 1.2 grams of each color in the quint. Guerlain quads have a total 7.2 grams, which means that they offer 1.8 grams of each individual color in the quads. Therefore, in terms of quantity, Guerlain is the winner.

3. In terms of price, I think Dior and Guerlain are in the same price point. Here in Israel, they're more expensive, but essentially they have the same price. However, Guerlain runs great discounts that Dior never seem to do. And for the price, getting 7.2 grams is better than 6 grams. Therefore, I think that Guerlain is a better purchase.

4. In terms of how the colors feel, I honestly cannot tell you which one I prefer, they are both extremely butter and soft, and they work fine with brushes or sponge applicator, and I dont feel like there is a waste of product. They are also equally blendable and easy to work with.

5. In terms of longevity, I feel like Guerlain is just slightly more crease resistent, just ever so slightly more long lasting. But I wouldn't say that there is a huge difference, or that Guerlain has superior longevity compared to Dior. Essentially, I would say that they are equally as good, and with a primer, I think that they'll be truly equally long lasting.

6. In terms of pigmentation, I think Dior is slightly more pigmented and truer to color. I find that to be true only with one of my quads, but in the rest of the quads, I find them to be equally as good. If I was pressured and if I had to say which one is better, I'd say that Dior is just slightly better than Guerlain, but I havent tried enough of their quints to be entirely sure.

Overall, I think that we have a tie, or that Guerlain is slightly better because it has more product with better deal prices and deals.

Next Saturday, I'll be doing The Battle of the blushes, comparing my beloved Tom Ford blushed to my beloved Guerlain Blushes. Subscribe so you wont miss out on it :)

(PS. pictures of what the quads and the quint looks like will be uploaded soon)

WARNING - Super Disappointing product: Lancome Blush Subtil Palette

I hate to be the one to bring the bad news, especially when the product is a long anticipated one, and even worse when I had such high expectations for the product. But, what can I say, gotta do what you've gotta do, right?

Anyhow... the product I am talking about is the Lancome Blush Subtil Palette in the shade Nectar Lace. I wanted this product for months, and then there was a 50% discount at Lancome counters, so I decided to purchase it. It has all that a cheek could ever need, a matte bronzer, a blush, and a highlighter. Now the good thing about it is that Lancome has obviously thought about the consumption of each of the powders in this palette, the blush is the most used, and its' quantity is larger than the bronzer and the highlighter, and the consumption of the bronzer is generally more than the one of the highlighter, which is why the quantity of the bronzer is bigger than the one of the highlighter. But overall, this palette is very poor in terms of quantity, as it only offers a total of 4.5 grams, and this includes everything in the palette. I dont have anything in my blush/bronzer/highlighter collection that is less or even equal to it, not to mention that this palette has three products. Overall, I dont think that this palette is worth any kind of applaud. I think Lancome did not do their math correctly.

Other than the fact that the quanitity is terrible, the quality is also disappointing. I apply it with my Dior Blush brush, and trust me, it is ultra soft, but the powder just doesnt seem to handle it well, and it feels like product is being wasted constantly, which bugs me even more. Wasting product that is hardly ever there is probably the worst point I want to make in this "review", but its not all.

The product is so powdery, I feel like it transfers easily, doesnt last very well, and the blush and the highlighter are too shimmery to be used in conjunction. Yes, it does look pretty, but its really not worth it. And what I really hate is seeing some powder residue inside the pan, with brush marks on the powder, like actual streaks. OH WHAT A DISASTER.

To be honest, I did jump into the concept of 3 products in one way too quickly, I didn't even bother reading about it, or how much product it contains. I admit that it was my fault. But to be honest, I also purchase Lancome's limited edition highlighting blush from last year, and I was also disappointed. I guess there is something about Lancome powders that I don't like at all! But the quantity just absolutely killed me.



Bottom line: I truly wouldn't recommend getting this product at all. It is relatively inexpensive for a high end palette, but I can totally see why. This was an absolute miss for me, and I dont feel like I will be using this much, such a shame.


PS. This is how the powdery highlighter from last year looks like today! look at all the powder residue on the compact! and the mirror looks terrible too, but its too reflective, obviously! I have not used it in a long time, to me, this just looks, mind me, disgusting, and I have cleaned this several times, but it always ends up looking like such a mess...

Friday, July 26, 2013

My First Tom Ford Purchase - Tom Ford Blushes

Let me just start out by saying that this is probably the most exciting purchase to share with all of you! I have yet to see a Tom Ford counter in my country, and I hope I will find one, but so far, I don't think Tom Ford cosmetics are sold in Israel. Therefore, I asked my relatives who were travelling to buy two Tom Ford blushes which I was certain I will love. I really wanted more than two blushes, but since Tom Ford products come with a rather hefty price tag, I decided to resist the irresistible temptations. I wanted a couple eyeshadow quads and lipsticks, but unfortunately, I am not a millionaire yet :(!

Anyhow, lets hop into what really matters, my new TOM FORD blushes. As I mentioned, I got two, number 03 Flush, and number 06 Wicked. Possibly the brightest colors out of his permanent blushers line. Of course, I did not see them in person until a week agi, and I couldn't have been happier with my picks! I thought I was going to like Flush better, but Wicked is such a gorgeous color, as you'll see in the pictures below.










 I guess before I start talking about the actual colors, I should mention some technical facts. Lets start with the only drawback, the PRICE! My relatives purchased the blushers at Harrods, London, and they were 45 British pounds each, definitely pricey! But, as I said, its the only drawback. Now lets get into the good stuff, I'm going to explain why these blushers are worth every penny or dime or whatever! These blushers come with 8 grams of product, and that is truly generous, and I cant think of a blusher that comes with more product, except for my Guerlain Sheer Bronzing Powder which has peach and pink, and comes with 10 grams of product. But nonetheless, 8 grams is great, and will last for absolutely ages, even with constant use. The packaging is to die for, stunning comes short of describing the elegance of the actual package, It is mostly brown, with a golden side like you can see in the pictures. More importantly, it does not attract fingerprint, as long as your hand are clean of course. It comes in a very sturdy brown carton compact with golden writing on it, which goes in conjunction with the product's packaging itself, and it comes with a lighter brown velvet sleeve, extremely chic. Now what's even better is the fact that these powders are unscented, which is perfect for sensitive skins of course. And the best part of all is the product itself, its' pigmentation, longevity, blendability, texture, etc etc etc! Actually, these blushes are the longest wearing blushes I have ever tried.


I guess now I can start talking about the colors themselves. I will start with Flush, which is a bright and cheerful corally orange with some faint and extremely fine golden shimmer. However, I wouldnt call it a shimmery blush by any means, it actually has a satin finish, it gives a superb subtle sheen, nothing too dramatic and clownish of course. This blush is the most pigmented one out of the two, if applied heavily, it will look clownish! But if that's the look you like, then I guess its a plus ;)! Anyhow, I suggest using it with a brush that is not heavily loaded with bristles, because I think it will give the blush a more beautiful and natural result. Or if  you are like me, and you only have one blush brush (in my case it is the Dior blush brush with the silver handle), and your blush isnt exactly sparse, tapping the brush to get rid of any excess is a must. And remember, it is easier to add product than to take it off!





(Pictures and Swatches of Flush)

Now Wicked is my favorite, it is one little heartbreaker blush! It is a raspberry pink, and I think it has some rosegold fine shimmer, they're very fine and at least to me, not immediately detectable, or at least less obvious than it is with Flush. It gives a gorgeous satin finish, and I consider the color to be a cool toned shade, yet still wearable on all skin colors and tones. The pigmentation is also intense, though not as strong as Flush, but still the application method should be the same. I think that this will probably find its way to my favorite blush of all times, and I think it will become a resident in my makeup bags in no time!





If you were on a budget, I would still recommend that you save some money and splurge on a Tom Ford Blush, and out of the two I got, I would highly recommend Wicked. It is just fantastic!


Hope this was helpful :)

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Tag: My Makeup Story

Question:
          How old were you when you started wearing makeup??
               I was 21 Years old. (July 2012)

Question:
          How did you get into makeup?  
               I accidentally saw a video on YouTube, it was a Guerlain haul by TheLuxeBabe, and I was intrigued by the amazing packaging of Guerlain's meteorites and the Rouge G lipstick. I basically did not care that they were makeup products, the packaging just sucked me in and I was determined on buying them just because they looked really awesome. And then I noticed how amazing they were in terms of quality, and I started to expand my Guerlain products, and I fell in love with all of them. And after about 6 months, I started exploring other brand.

Question:
          What are some of your favorite brands?
               As I mentioned earlier, Guerlain was my first love, and I must admit that Guerlain is my absolute favorite brand. However, I really love Dior, YSL, and Lancome. But in a couple days, I will get my first Tom Ford products, and I think I will have to add Tom Ford to my favorite brands very soon.

Question:
          If you could only wear 4 products on your face, what would they be?
                Well, a foundation is a must, so I'll go for my beloved Lingerie De Peau. A Mascara is also a must, but I dont think I have a favorite mascara, which is why I'll choose the one I'm currently using which is the Lancome Hypnose mascara. I love blushes, especially the YSL cream blushes, number 2 in particular. And last but not least, lipstick, and my favorite lipstick EVER is Guerlain Shine Automatique in number 265 Pao Rosa.

Question:
          What does makeup mean for you?
               Makeup is a luxury thing. Not essential, but its this thing that you do every morning, the time you devote for yourself everyday, a kind of daily treatment. I can live without makeup, and it wouldn't make a difference, but why not take the time to pamper yourself everyday, just 30 minutes or an hour to get dressed, do your skincare routine, style your hair, and apply makeup. It's the hour that you forget about stress in it. At least to me.

Question:
          What do you think about drugstore makeup vs. high end makeup?
               Just like I said before, makeup is luxury, its one of the things I dont mind paying a fortune for. Because of that, I haven't considered exploring drugstore beauty products, I purchase one or two every couple months, but I dont use them as much as I use my high end products. I think that if makeup is necessary to boost confidence, then maybe quantity will matter more than it does to me. So I think that if makeup is not necessarily a luxurious kind of practice, but a boost of confidence, then maybe drugstore makeup will work. I hope this makes sense, but I just love using Dior much more than I love using Maybelline or Loreal.

Question:
          What is one tip you can give beginners?
               Discover your favorite kind of products (Eyeshadows/lipsticks/blushes), and invest in high end ones. I knew I loved Eyeshadows and Lipsticks, and they were two of my main focuses.

Question:
          What is one makeup trend you never understood?
               Honestly, I have no idea about beauty tends, I dont read magazines or know about trends. Which is why I will be replacing this question with another question by the end of this tag.

Question?
          What do you think about the beauty community on YouTube?
               I honestly am not very happy with the beauty community on YouTube. I feel that new YouTubers are very competitive, they send messages asking for people to subscribe to them, but I dont find any kind of reciprocity in there. I am a YouTuber, I've been a Youtuber for a few months now, I haven't sent any requests for anybody to subscribe to my channel, and not many people have discovered my channel to begin with. But those who have did not care to subscribe to me, they just wanted me to subscribe to them. I think that the beauty community appears to be nicer and more appealing that it really is.

An Extra Question:
          Pick the best product of each makeup category?
               Foundation: Guerlain Lingerie De Peau
               Concealer: Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer
               Eyeshadows: Guerlain Ecrin 4 Colors
               Eyeliner: Lancome Le Crayon Khol Waterproof
               Mascara: Still havent found my holy grail mascara yet
               Bronzer: Guerlain Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder
               Blush: Tom Ford Blushes
               Highlighter: Guerlain Meterorites Perles D'azur
               Lipstick: YSL Glossy Stains
               Lip Gloss: I dont like lipglosses
               Lip Liners: I never tried them yet.


I will be doing a video soon, and I'll make sure to attach a link if you're interested in watching it

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Guerlain Rose Aux Joues Blush Duo in 01 Peach Boy

It is no secret that Guerlain holds a special place in my heart, and I don't think anyone who tried some of their products have found them disappointing. I was not certain whether or not I like blushes as much as I love eyeshadows and lipsticks, but this blush duo is a game changer. I think that I should stop rambling now and dig into why I love this blush duo.



Before I talk about the colors, I should note that this blush duo comes with a generous 6 grams of product, which is quite good compared to other brands. It retails for 50 dollars in the states, but here in Israel, the price is higher (duo to taxes and all that jazz), but the good new is that sometimes Guerlain holds amazing sales, like 50% off, and the price will be reduced to a total of 40-45 dollars, which isn't bad at all. And honestly, for the quality and the quantity, I wouldn't mind paying the full price every now and then, as Guerlain products are truly top notch.





And now, lets get into the product and the colors. As you can see in the picture above, this duo has a matte orange coral and a light peach color with fine golden shimmer. Each color can be applied alone, or together. Its very easy to layer and blend the colors without looking cakey at all, and the shimmer doesn't look unnatural or give like a disco ball effect, on the contrary, they give such a gorgeous effect under the sun (not that you should expose yourself to the sun all day long). I personally love using the shimmery peachy color as a soft highlight color, and the matte one separately as a blush. The orange color has excellent pigmentation, and it works beautifully on all skin tones, as it is light enough to not look clownish on fair women, but dark enough to still show on darker complexions, its just gorgeous. Now the shimmery peach may be just a little too light for darker complexions, which is why it makes the perfect highlight color that looks quite natural.

The colors are very long lasting, as they last all day, with minimal fading. Reapplications or touch ups aren't necessary for at least 6-8 hours, which is really amazing. This duo works beautifully even straight on the face without foundation.




Now it terms of the packaging itself, the package is identical to the one of the Ecrin 4 Colors eyeshadow quad. Basically, its a gold compact, very shiny, and it looks like a mirror with gold cellophane on top. It comes with a black velvet. The cardboard package is quite sturdy and elegant too. However, I am not fond of the gold packaging, as it seems to attract fingerprints immediately after I touch it, and if I put it in my drawer without the velvet pouch, the packaging can get scratched too. Honestly, I would absolutely love to have all Guerlain products in the Terracotta bronzers packaging (its the most gorgeous packaging I've ever seen), but that is not going to happen, and its' not essential too!

This blush duo comes with an angled brush that is quite soft, but I find that it sheds way too much, but its still nice! It  takes up half of the packaging, which I dont particularly nice, as I dont really use it, but its still good to carry around in our makeup bags, for touch up, though I don't really touch up when I'm wearing this. It also comes with a large mirror, which is quite huge. And my favorite part is that like the eyeshadow quads packaging, the mirror flips open for more than 180 degrees, which is surprisingly beneficial, and makes holding the compact and applying the product even easier on the go!


Like most of Guerlain powder products, this one has a floral smell, but once its applied on the cheeks, it just fades. And also I found that the product's scent gets less noticeable with usage. I dont think the product will cause irritation once its applied on the cheeks. I personally really like the smell, but I am in no position to talk for anyone else, I'll just say that if you dont like the smell, the smell fades once it is applied.

Overall, I think this is an absolutely excellent product, it is definitely worth the price tag, and I highly recommend you try it out. I personally love it! I even have got my eyes on the blush duo in number 03 Over Rose, but we'll see about that!

I hope you found this review helpful, and if you have any questions or comments, dont forget to mention them in the comments box down below. :)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

July 2013 Haul: Mac, Lancome, Ysl, Nine West

Beauty:

Mac 187 Duo Fiber Face Brusy (Stippling Brush)






Lancome Hypnose Mascara kit:




Lancome Blush Subtil Palette number 02 Nectar Lace



Lancome Rouge in Love in 322B Corail in Love




YSL Glossy Stain in number 9 Rouge Laque





Fashion:

Nine West Neptune flip flops:







Nine West Red Doctor Handbag:











Black Lacy Cardigan: