Link: Jill Stuart Sweetness Collection Swatches & Look

As you guys all know, I am SO excited to get this year’s Jill Stuart holiday coffret. I bought mine from Gooddealer and it cost $99.75USD (including shipping). I believe it is sold out everywhere, including all the brick-and-mortar stores and most of the online stores. The only place that I know that still has this coffret in stock is Bobodave and it is priced at $107.48 including shipping with tracking. So if you want it, get it fast!

I’ve been looking all over for swatches of this coffret that includes the powder in Puffy Marshmallow, and I finally found one over at Iswii.net (you can find the direct link here). You can also find extreme close-up pictures of the coffret here. That last link really gives a good depiction of the products’ true colours.

The editor, Lara, included a look that she did with the products and I must say it does look really sheer, but I think still good to have. You can see that the lace overspray from the powder brushes off immediately. Also, she noted that the cream colour on the top left corner has glitter bits in it, so when it is mixed in with the other colours, it is more suitable to be a point highlighter. The rest of the colours are also quite shimmery but I think when used with a light hand, it could work as a powder (this was the main reason why I bought it in the first place).

A trick to using the Jelly Eye Colour N in order to gt more colour is layering it over white eyeshadow and some good primer. The sheer pink jelly mixed in with our natural skin colour just makes it look even more sheer and bland, with only the glitter/shimmer bits showing up. But with a good base and some white eyeshadow to cover up the natural skin colour on the eyelids, you should get better colour payoff.

My set is still in HK waiting to get put on an airplane and shipped here, but I can feel the anticipation building!

Now… back to studying for exams!

I’m kicking myself: Jill Stuart Sweetness Collection for Holiday 2009

I’m probably a little late in posting this information, but the main reason for that is because I am really lemming this collection, like REALLY lemming it (for those of you non-Asians… lemming basically means “wanting,” lol). I am a huge sucker for pretty, princessy packaging, which is why I was a sucker for Anna Sui, and now I am a sucker for Jill Stuart. As you may have previously read, I just recently bought another Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compact, so I shouldn’t be buying something else again >__> But sometimes, it just calls out to me, you know what I mean? This is THE perfect instance for when something is calling out to me… *sigh*.

Anyways, Jill Stuart releases a limited edition holiday coffret every year. This year’s coffret is especially tempting because the products are more usable and the colours more versatile than previous years.

In this collection:

Mix Face Compact Powder in 101 Puffy Marshmallow,

comes with a natural fibre brush

Update: This is actually a powder, not highlighter like originally thought. The shimmer/glitter is just overspray. Yay for more reasons to get this =)

Jelly Eye Colour N in 103 Snow Parfait

Jelly Lip Colour in 101 Sugar Kiss

Nail Lacquer in 106 Romantic Macaron (OMG perfect for France next semester!! see this is totally calling out to me!)

A nail emery board

Nail stickers

And… a cake pouch!

Basically, the entire thing is supposed be like a cake collection, that explains why everything is named after some aspect of food, and the promo pic of course. This retails for $2450NT, which roughly translates to $83CAD. I’m hoping to get it off Gooddealer or something, because their prices are the most reasonable.

You can see product swatches and closer picture from this Iswii post made by another blogger.

What do you think, should I get it?

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Review and Swatch: Dior Vernis in 782 Silver Purple

OMG Dior, do I love you, or do I LOVE you. I think I LOVE you. This i is one of the prettiest nail polish colours I have seen in a LONG time, probably since Dior Vernis in Paprika, which is a bright fuchsia with silver shimmers. Not only is the formula consistent throughout all of my Dior polishes (I have 6 now), the colours are ones you seldom find in other brands.

Here is the swatch, as well as my mani of the week:

My mani this week was Dior Vernis in 782 Silver Purple, which was part of the Holiday 2009 Cristal Boreale collection.

Apart from the ultra smooth application, the colour is rich, and you can achieve an opaque colour with just one coat, but I did two coats because I prefer a very rich, darker look. It dries relatively fast, although due to my past experience with Essie, I waited extra long, just in case.

The colour itself is really beautiful. It reminds me of those metallic pens I had when I was younger, where it is comes out purple, but immediately develops a silver coating on top, and then you can erase the purple coating to reveal a true purple underneath. Yeah, it is like that, but the metallic coating in this case is not a coating, but blended into the purple itself. It also kind of reminds me of Dior Vernis in Lemon Balm, which I don’t have but I’ve seen swatches of. This one is a truer purple though, compared to Lemon Balm which is a taupe-y, bronzy colour.

I salute Dior for making such a gorgeous pairing between this and the rest of the Holiday 2009 collection. This would be the perfect nail polish to pair with the 5-colour Iridescent Eyeshadow in Smoky Crystal, and of course the Cristal Boreal pendant.

FYI, Dior raised the prices of its nail polish in the past few months. They are now $24, versus it being $23 in the summer.

Holiday 2009: Sofina Aube Couture

Aube Couture by Sofina is definitely a very wearable brand, and perfect for the beginner makeup wearer because as you can see in the palette design, it is basically like an eyelid and the eyeshadow position directly refer to where you should wear that colour. The packaging is also very cute, which makes it a really great holiday gift for a younger teen (maybe 12-14?).

For Holiday 2009, Aube Couture is releasing four shade variations of an eye and lip palette. It comes with three shades of eyeshadows and three lip colours, plus a powder liner. It also comes with two double-ended applicators (three sponges and a brush).

The three shades of eyeshadows are already coordinated and can be used to create either the look that they have created for you, or you can create your own.
This is definitely something I would consider buying for myself as a palette that I can take around with me or as a gift. Although the lip colours are in palette form (sigh), it is very convenient and not bulky. This is also something I would get for some of my cousins who are still beginning to learn how to apply makeup. It is neutral enough for day wear which makes it perfect for an office lady or someone who is more conservative with their makeup.

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Holiday 2009: Bobbi Brown Chrome Collection

For Holiday 2009, Bobbi Brown is releasing Chrome Collection, a set of products mainly based around metallics.

The star product is its Chrome Palette that contains 10 eyeshadows, 4 lipstick/glosses and 2 brushes.

Along with the Chrome Palette, there will also be the release of the Shimmer Brick Metal Compact, which are basically mini shimmer bricks. This will be available in two colours, #01 Plum and #02 Nectar.

No collection is complete without lipsticks! There are two finishes released this year: Metallic and Chrome. Metallic is comprised of #02 Plum Pearl and #03 Chrome. Chrome is comprised of #02 Port and #03 Pink Nectar.

There is also a new mascara, the Extreme Party Mascara. Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog has already reviewed this mascara, so if you want to know how it turns out, you can refer to her blog.

Personally, I am not that excited by this collection. The only thing that might pull me in is their Shimmer Brick Metal Compacts. I’m not a fan of lip palettes, and even worse that this is a lip and eye palette together (wouldn’t the powder from the eyeshadow transfer over to the lip products?!) and I have already found my HG mascara. The lipsticks don’t look at that exciting either, although Sweet Nectar looks pretty wearable. I probably won’t be getting anything from this collection.

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