Preview: Guerlain Fall 2012 Rouge G L’Extrait and Blush aux Joues

Yay! It’s Guerlain Fall 2012!

Guerlain is my favorite luxury cosmetics vendor and their Rouge G lipsticks have hooked me for life. While a new crop of Rouge G lipsticks are slated to debut for Fall 2012, the real stars of this collection are the new Rose Aux Joues blush duos and the Rouge G L’Extrait liquid-to-matte lipstick. For a quick rundown of all the items contained in the Guerlain Fall 2012 collection, please see my article up on TheStyleAndBeautyDoctor.com (yep, I’m contributing over there as well).

Guerlain’s new Blush Duos for Fall 2012 – my fave is Red Hot!

New for Fall 2012 are these gorgeous blush duos from Guerlain. Each shade is paired with a complimentary highlight shade comes with a slanted applicator blush for precision shading, and is packaged in Guerlain’s trademark brass mirrored compact. As with all Guerlain products it has that wonderful violet smell I’ve come to associate with this brand. The shade I purchased, Red Hot, is very complimentary on dark skin and looks like a pairing of NARS Sin with NARS Orgasm.

Slightly elongated applicator for Rouge G L’Extrait

Also new for Fall 2012 and what I have been eagerly awaiting ever since Chanel discontinued their Rouge Allure Lacque, is Guerlain’s Rouge G L’Extrait. This is the celebrated Rouge G in liquid lipstick form that dries down to a flexible matte finish that looks amazing and is beyond comfortable to wear. The packaging is elongated slightly but still carries a hefty weight. That is a small matter compared the color impact and the ability to precisely put this where you want it to go. I picked up M69 (Orgueil) which is a dark plum wine color that screams fall.

Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait from left: (M69) Orgueil, (M25) Colere, (M27) Luxure, (M71) Gourmandise, (M06) Avarice

More Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait swatches

Testers of Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait at Neiman Marcus

Guerlain Fall 2012 Red Hot blush duo and Rouge G L’Extrait in Orgueil

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Preview: Chanel Summer 2012 Haul

I know I said I wasn’t going to pick anything up from this collection but when I saw the pieces in person, I just had to have the lipgloss and nail polish.

Chanel Summer 2012: Calypso Glossimer and Les Vernis in Delight

Glossimer in Calypso

In general I’m not a big fan of Chanel’s glossimers because while it is big on shine, most of them are bland in color.
Calypso (and also Jalousie if you can find it) is VERY pigmented which make it a must-have for me. Caylpso is a tangerine orange with shimmer and will give your lips a nice tropical kiss of peachy orange with or without lipiner.

Swatch of Chanel’s Calypso Glossimer–a beautiful Tangerine shimmer lipgloss (w/ flash)

Les Vernis in Delight

It reminds me of SpaRitual’s Laughing In Pink. A beautiful warm beachy color that reminds me of the sun reflecting off of the hot sand on Miami Beach. Gorgeous next to tanned, deep and especially dark skintones. While it is paque in one coat, I can’t speak to the longevity of the wear until I’ve worn it for more than 1 day. The finish is slightly gritty but I like how it reminds me of beach sand.

Chanel Summer 2012 Nail Vernis in Delight–shimmering sand for your nail

Retailing for $29.50 and $26 respectively, the Calypso Glossimer and the Les Vernis in Delight are limited edition products.

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Preview: Guerlain by Emilio Pucci [Summer 2012]

I love Guerlain. And I love Pucci. Put them both together and it rockets right to the top of my Summer 2102 beauty shopping list.

Natalia Vodianova--the face of Guerlain looking gorgeous for the Emilio Pucci Summer 2012 collection (Source; British Beauty Blogger)

Les Meteorites Pearls D'Azur tricked out with the Pucci art on the tin for Summer 2012 (Source: British Beauty Blogger)

Terra Azzura blush/bronzer with Emilio Pucci motif--amazing! (Source: British Beauty Blogger)

There are eleven (11) pieces in this special collection. According to ChicProfile.com, here’s a breakdown of what’s included:

Terra Azzura Bronzing Powder & Blush

Formed with the iconic Emilio Pucci logo, it has separate bronzer, blush and possible highlighter strips that when all used together provides a bronzy blush glow to the skin. I’m a fan of the Terracotta bronzer so I’ll more than likely pass on this.

Meteorites Perles d’Azur

The world-famous meteorites highlighters that are more than worthy of their reputation. I own the Cruel Gardenia highlighter and the color is amazing on dark skin. If you’ve ever wondered if this would work for you definitely give it a try!

Terra Azzura Brush

This is in pretty Pucci print case! More than likely I’ll get it because it’s Pucci, my mom wore Pucci in the late 70’s so I’m programmed to want it.

Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette

#13 Capri (consists of a cream, pink, coral and brown shades)

Mascara Le 2 de Guerlain by Emilio Pucci

Indigo (dark indigo blue mascara)

Terracota Khol Kajal

I first saw this last year in the Guerlain boutique at the France Pavillion in EPCOT center in Disney World. The creamy smoothness of how this applied to my eye and the pigmentation really impressed me. Turns out this product had been out of the Guerlain product line for several decades but was being reintroduced to consumers. It is offered regularly in a dark black but for this collection it comes in a beautiful cobalt blue. Definitely picking this up.

Terracotta Kohl Kajal (source: ATime4Beauty)

Terra Azzura Vernis

I don’t remember Guerlain ever having nail polish before so this is a first.

#01 Paradisio (coral pink with a dazzling brilliant finish)
#02 Riviera (electric blue indigo with a metallic finish)

Terra Azzura Gloss

#10 Porto Fino (Coral pink)
#11 Porto Ercole (Chocolate)
#12 Porto Azzuro (Indigo blue)

The international release date is scheduled for 3 June 2012. In North America (more specifically the United States) It is possible that it could be released earlier by online retailers such as Nordstrom.com, NeimanMarcus.com and Bloomingdales.com. I will keep you posted if anything changes. Lemming for swatches? Then check out ATimeForBeauty’s website for more! The website is in Russian but if you’re using Google Chrome as a browser you can easily get a ‘close to English’ translation.

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Birchbox of the Month: March 2012

Have you heard of Birchbox? If not, go get yourself acquainted with it here.

If you have (and don’t feel like going to the site just yet) check out my unboxing of this month’s Birchbox filled with beauty booty for a monthly fee of $10. Last month I got my first box and while it wasn’t all that exciting, it wasn’t dissapointing and for $10 you can’t beat it with a stick. Then again, you could but why would you?

Special delivery from Birchbox for March 2012!!

For March I opted to get the Teen Vogue Birchbox which contained items hand-picked by the Teen Vogue staff. Granted I’m no longer a teenager but I love hip products so I went for it. Please note this wasn’t my ‘regular’ box but Birchbox sent me a ‘do you want this’ email and I gladly accepted. So let’s get to the goodies that arrived this month!

From left: Kate Spade's 'Twirl', Tarte lip tint in 'Lucky', Keratase hair oil serum, Essie Luxeffects nail polish, Twistband snag-proof hair tie.

‘Twirl‘ fragrance by Kate Spade

Classified as a fruity-floral, I received a standard ‘sample size’ atomizer on a card. This smelled absolutely delightful when sprayed but my body chemistry immediately turned it into sewage. Very disappointing as I love the complexity and sophistication of this fragrance. This is definitely not a personal favorite for me but I wouldn’t hesitate to give it as an upscale fragrance gift.

Tarte Cosmetics Lipsurgence Lip Tint in ‘Lucky’

For me this was the star of this month’s Birchbox. I’ve heard a lot about Tarte Cosmetics and while I’m in total love with their blush, I haven’t tried their lip tint before. Lucky is a light pink with brown and if overdone can look chalky on dark skin (use a light hand). Even so, this is a very pretty spring pink universal shade that should flatter cool as well as warm undertones. I’m personally very happy with how the color looks on my NW43 skin and look forward to trying more of these from Tarte.

Keratase Hair Beautifying Oil

I’ve never personally used Keratase products but I have heard of their excellent reputation for hair care. A small sample of ‘beautifying oil’ included in the box is going straight into my carry on for my upcoming trip. As a woman of color with textured hair, hair oil is always a welcome thing.

Essie Luxeffects Nail Polish

Regular readers of my blog know I’ve previously reviewed my pics from the Essie Luxeffects line. While fate saw fit to send me something I already own, I was very glad t see the silver glitter Set in Stones in my box.

Twistband Hair Tie

How handy is this little sweet thing? I’d never heard of this brand until it arrived in this months’ box. BIlled as a snag-free elastic tie that is gentle to hair, I received a pretty spring blue hair tie that will also go in my trip carry on. I’m always looking for great hair ties to keep my hair in place during sweaty workouts but won’t damage my hair when taking them out. I can definitely see myself ordering a few of these in the future.

Handy 'rundown' card of all Birchbox items and purchase information

Overall I am extremely pleased with this month’s Birchbox delivery. If you haven’t tried the service yet, it is a great way to try a variety of beauty products each month without paying a lot of money. For those of you who have tried the service, how do you like it so far? Have you tried it and decided it wasn’t for you?

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Makeup Intelligence: MAC for Chen Man Collection

Purely from a photography geek point of view, how hot is this promo shot?

MAC for Chen Man promo shot. Seriously, how sick is this photo? Mad photography skillz.

Chen Man is a visionary photographer whose images have set the Chinese couture world on fire. I honestly hadn’t heard of her until this collection popped on my radar. MakeUpForLife.net has a great promo shot of the offerings in this collection and The Musehas a concise price list.

MAC for Chen Man full line at MakeUpForLife.net

According to MAC this collection is scheduled for GLOBAL release in March at all MAC outlets. However, the word on the street and in the Google results hint this collection will be launched sooner. Check out what Macy’s.com has up so far for this. I’m personally not interested in anything from this collection as I’ve already blown my beauty $$$ for the Shop MAC / Cook MAC collection and a few items from Tom Ford. However, if I did want to pick up anything from this collection, I would get the Force of Love lipglass. Lipglass is a great product you can wear alone or over lipstick and/or lip pencil so it is a very good value. Whether you get anything or not, do take some time to check out Chen Man’s amazing photography at her officialsite at: www.ChenManer.com.