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Favorite Bobbi Brown palette for Spring 2010

Esme Vos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:15:51 +0000

I love Bobbi Brown’s eye and lip palettes. The colors are suit so many different skin tones and the textures are wonderful. For spring 2010, Bobbi Brown does a palette that is much more colorful than her usual neutral tones.

Eye shades include:
Ivory Eye Shadow, Bermuda Pink Metallic Eye Shadow, Seashell Metallic Eye Shadow, Bonfire Metallic Eye Shadow, Tan Eye Shadow, Burnt Sugar Metallic Eye Shadow

Lip shades include:
Cabo Coral Lip Color, Salmon Lip Color, Shell Lip Color, and Coral Reef Metallic Lip Color

You can find the palette at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman for $60. I have not seen it for sale on the Bobbi Brown website.

Favorite Spring 2010 makeup

Esme Vos — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:12:38 +0000

Spring 2010 Makeup Picks by Esme Vos on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
LES QUATRE OMBRES DE CHANEL QUADRA EYE SHADOW – CHANEL -…, $56
Yves Saint Laurent Ombres 5 Lumières – Powder – Bloomingdales.com, $56
Yves Saint Laurent Complexion Palette Collectors Edition – Beauty -…, $65
Armani White Contrast Palette For Eyes – New Arrivals -…, $58
Lancôme Color Design Quad – NEW COLORS – Get Happy with Lancôme -…, $50

MAC All Ages, All Races, All Sexes Collection: neutral, wearable makeup for all

Esme Vos — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:45:41 +0000

MAC is best known for its flamboyant, dazzling ads showing models with lots of bright, sparkly makeup. But occasionally, the cosmetics company brings out color collections that are more suitable to daytime wear. MAC’s latest – All Ages, All Races, All Sexes – is one of those. In a way, it’s misleading because MAC already has a range of colors that suit nearly every skin tone and age group on the planet. But who can complain about the gorgeous eyeshadows in shades of taupe and brown, and new lipglasses in baby pink and sheer taupe?

A first look at Spring 2010 makeup

Esme Vos — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:45:05 +0000

When it’s cold and gray outside and winter seems to last forever, I cheer myself up by looking at the beautiful new spring makeup colors that we will soon be seeing in the shops. Here is my initial selection of spring makeup favorites from Dior, Guerlain and Clinique. I love the gorgeous packaging and the happy light colors.

A first look at the 2010 Spring makeup collections by Esme Vos on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Guerlain Eyeshadow Palette, $59
Guerlain blush, $49
Clinique Eyeshadow – Nordstrom, $18
Dior 5 Color Iridescent Dentelle – 2010 Spring, $57
Dior Poudrier Dentelle – 2010 Spring, $55

Clarins Lisse Minute: flawless face for the holidays and beyond

Esme Vos — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:50:51 +0000

It’s that time of the year when we have to attend a lot of holiday parties and galas. We’re tired, have too much to drink and not enough sleep, and our skin may not look as bright and cheerful as the holiday decorations around us. My skin rescue secret is none other than Clarins’s brilliant Lisse Minute (Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch Makeup Base). You apply it before you put on your foundation. The result is visually stunning. Every time I use Lisse Minute, my skin looks radiant, smooth, and dare I say, “photoshopped”.

But once you get used to the magic of Lisse Minute, you’ll find yourself using it everyday, not just for parties. Sometimes I use it alone (without foundation) just to give my skin an instant boost.

Click on the image below to buy Clarins Lisse Minute:

Bobbi Brown 20 percent off online orders Nov 30 through Dec 2

Esme Vos — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:52:27 +0000

Fans of Bobbi Brown cosmetics have an extra incentive to get the new holiday palettes now and to stock up on items they use regularly: 20 percent off all orders from the Bobbi Brown website between November 30 and December 2. The savings are quite significant given that there is no shipping charge if you order $65 and more, and there is no sales tax (note: in California, the sales tax is almost 10 percent). My top pick is the Chrome Palette which consists of gorgeous silvery colors for the eyes and lip shades that would look good on most skin tones. I have worn Bobbi Brown’s makeup in the past and I consider it to be consistently good. The shimmery eye shadows are not too sparkly.

But if the colors are too “cool” for your skin tone, or if you already have too many shadows like these, try the Earth Metal Palette below which has warmer colors.

Go to www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com.

Giorgio Armani makeup: subtle, exquisite colors for the holidays and beyond

Esme Vos — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Giorgio Armani makeup favorites by Esme Vos on Polyvore.com

By now, you have seen the holiday makeup kits stacked up on cosmetics counters in department stores. For some reason, cosmetics companies believe that our faces should be as decked out as Christmas trees: that means lots of sparkly eye shadows, heavy blush, glittery powders in lurid colors, and more. This is a mistake. Many women will be going to a holiday party in a sequined dress or wearing more jewelry than usual. Applying heavy, sparkly makeup is vulgar and unattractive; it throws your entire look off balance. What to do?

Go to the Giorgio Armani counter and check out their makeup range. Armani has a few bold colors but even those go on sheer in the beginning, allowing you to build up more color, just in case you do decide to go for the Christmas tree look. To help you narrow down the best products, see the photo above. These are the Armani products I recommend (beginning from left, clockwise):

4-color eye shadow: finely milled powder makes this shadow silky and easy to apply, colors are gorgeous;This palette is called the Pink Light palette;
Single color eye shadow #5 – silky, rich brown color;
Blending blush duo: a cream to powder blush which gives the face a fresh, healthy youthful glow;
Rouge d’Armani: the latest lipstick from Armani, emollient yet long-lasting. The color above is #403, a warm red;
Luminous Silk Foundation: cited by most women as the best of all the Armani makeup products. This foundation goes on sheer and makes the skintone look more even; and
Luminous Silk Powder: use this powder to finish your look.

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More holiday makeup palettes: MAC, Guerlain, Clarins and Laura Mercier

Esme Vos — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:27:16 +0000

You can tell the Great Recession has not receded judging from the uninspiring holiday makeup palettes this year. Compared to previous years, I did not see anything that I really had to have. If this is the maximum that cosmetics companies can do to get us to spend money, heaven help us all. The best one I’ve seen so far is the Bobbi Brown Chrome Palette I wrote about yesterday.

Above, (clockwise from left):

MAC 6 Devil May Dare eyeshadows, $36
Laura Mercier Colour Wardrobe, $98
Guerlain Bal de Nuit, $58
Clarins Gold Attraction palette, $40

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Holiday makeup favorites: Bobbi Brown Chrome Palette

Esme Vos — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:57:05 +0000

I know it’s a bit too early to be talking about Christmas but I have to start reviewing the holiday makeup kits and palettes right now because they run out quickly. Many of these palettes are limited editions and they do fly out the door. So here goes.

The Bobbi Brown Chrome Palette is, in my opinion, the most beautiful of them all. It is versatile because the colors are not too extreme. You can wear them for holiday parties or any party. If you apply the colors with a subtle hand, you can wear them during the day, in any season. The lip colors are lovely and like the eye shadows, you can wear them for evening or day. The Chrome Palette costs $75.

To see what a fully made up face looks like, with tips on how to apply the colors, watch this video from the Bobbi Brown website.

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Goodbye, Prescriptives

Esme Vos — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:24:51 +0000

One of my favorite cosmetics brands, Prescriptives, won’t be around much longer. The Estee Lauder Group, which owns the brand, has decided to kill it. I have been suspecting for many months now that Prescriptives was on the list of soon to be dead brands because they have not had product launches in a while, they are not advertising and their counters do not have staff. It just felt empty. Now we know why. The Estee Lauder company has not been investing at all in this brand.

Prescriptives was the first brand to categorize colors of foundation, eye shadow, blush and lipstick into three color groups — warm, neutral and cool — to help women choose the right shade for their complexion. It was also one of the first to create yellow-based foundations which appealed especially to Asian women. Despite its innovations in the early years of its existence, other brands caught up and Prescriptives never really came up with the *killer* product. Brands like MAC and Benefit targeted younger women with trendy packaging and edgy advertising campaigns. But in its own market — high-end cosmetics for older women — other brands, including those within the Lauder group, were more successful.

The last products I bought from Prescriptives was their custom-blended foundation. This was an absolutely brilliant way to get a foundation that exactly matches your skin tone. They also had custom-blended powders and lipsticks.