Monday mani Dior's Aztec Chocolate

 Dior's Aztec Chocolate is a gorgeous plummy chocolate brown shade. I wore this polish to complete my Halloween costume. I truly love this color!! If it were up to me, I would wear Aztec Chocolate for the remainder of the Fall season; but I'm trying to not neglect my other nail polishes.

 In natural light

I applied two coats

I started to lose the light, so the rest of the photos were taken with flash 

Aztec Chocolate was a limited edition color but Dior has released it with their Fall 2011 collection under its new name New World Purple (not sure why the name was changed).  Aztec Chocolate (New World Purple) retails for $22 and can be purchased at saks.com, nordstrom.com, neimanmarcus.com and wherever else 

dior beauty is sold.  

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time. 

Maybe She's Born with it...

I purchased these False lashes the other day while I was in Ueno. personally, I don't usually wear falsies but I sure love to buy them.

 I'll be wearing these for Halloween. They look amazing on!!! I'm really loving these Decorative eyelashes and for 1,050 yen, their even better.

 I wanted to really vamp up my look, so I decided to wear bottom lashes

 Couldn't decide on which pair to get, so I got all three. Besides personal use, I can use them for work :)

The Dolly Wink's set were a little bit more (1,290 yen) and you only get two pair, were as the other sets come with eight : (


I'm going to a Halloween party tonight, I'll be posting picture later ;)


Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time

I didn't want to go another day without posting something, so while I'm cleaning my brushes, I wanted to pop in and say hi  :)

I found some awesome beauty and costume finds today in Suidobashi and Ueno. I'll be taking pictures (I prefer photographing products in natural light) and posting tomorrow.

4 days till Halloween!!!

I hope everyone is having a great day/evening :)

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time

For Your Eyes Only

Halloween is only 6 days away, and as I've stated before, I love, love, LOVE Halloween!!!

Today, I received the contact lens that I ordered for my Halloween costume. These contact lens were purchased from honeycolor.com (a friend of mine referred me to this site).  At the moment, I really can't comment on honeycolor.com; on account of not having tried the lenses yet, but one thing I can say is that the shipping time was descent. Since I couldn't decide on which pair to order, I did what I normally do, if in doubt...buy everything :)

The lens I purchased were the Neo Celeb and the Dueba Sassy, both in brown. Honeycolor.com did included (for free) this cute contact lens cases in the order.

Are you dressing up this year? If so, what will you be??

Looking Gorgeous one lipstick at a time

Nars Fall 2011 Nail Polish in Galion

Happy Monday!

I've decided to start the week with Galion on the nails. Galion is a creamy blackened charcoal grey with a deep blue base nail polish. This color reminds me of stormy sea waters; and like the ocean, I can stare at this color for hours (I find shades like Galion to be very claiming).

Galion in natural lighting without a top coat

The consistency of this polish is superb! The application is effortless; leaving no streaks and achieving opacity in two coats. Also, for a cream polish, Galion has an exceptional glossy finish. I decided to forgo a top coat, in order to demonstrate the shine in this lacquer.

With flash

Galion is a must have Fall/Winter shade for me!! A sooty blue based dark grey polish that adds a sophisticated depth to the nails. Sadly, it's limited edition but still available at neimanmarcus.com (they do except international orders!) and retails for $17.00.

Hope you're having a great start in your week :)

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time

To Infinity and Beyond, Too Faced Galaxy Glam Baked Eye Shadows

Ground control to Major Tom, Commencing countdown, 4,3,2,1... a review and swatches of Too Faced Galaxy Glam Baked Eye Shadows.

Galaxy Glam Baked Eye Shadows are available in eight colors, each shadow has either a black or brown base with swirls of an iridescent contrasting color; and can be applied wet or dry.

The packaging of these eye shadows is a futuristic ( feels more like some late 1960's-70's retro space decor) dome shaped mirrored plastic capsule with a twist off magnifying telescope lens lid.

Galaxy Glam Eye Shadows color descriptions are listed below:

Shooting Star, Super Nova, Moon Beam, and Deep Space

Shooting Star, Super Nova, Moon Beam, and Deep Space

Shooting Star: A black based tarnished gold.

Super Nova: A black based deep smokey purple with pink and peach sparkles.

Moon Beam: A black based forest green with an emerald green sheen.


Deep Space: A black based sapphire blue.

Cocoa Comet, Mocha Meteor, Magenta Moon, and Amber Asteroid

Cocoa Comet, Mocha Meteor, Magenta Moon, and Amber Asteroid

Cocoa Comet: A cocoa brown with a shy blue duo-chrome. Love this one!


Mocha Meteor: A bronzed fawn brown with gold shimmer.

Magenta Moon: A brown based purple pink with a lilac sheen.

Amber Asteroid: A yellow based brown with a pale gold/green shimmer.

Too Faced Galaxy Glam Eye Shadow's have stellar pigmentation and a "I Can't Believe it's not Butter" texture on the lids. Depending on the brush size (and the amount of swirls in the shadow), one can apply each shade individually; but I prefer to swirl all colors together to expose the marvelous duo-chrome sheen of these shadows.

The Price of these Galaxy Glam shadows may have a Kryptonite affect on the wallet, at $19.50. This amount may seem astronomical for some, but occasionally, I've seen Galaxy Glam's on sale for as low as $6 on toofaced.com during their regular vintage sales.

Do these shadows have you blasting off into space?

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time

An offer I can't refuse!

Hey everyone!

One of my clients contacted me to do her makeup for a charity event tonight and I gladly obliged. As I was doing her makeup, we started catching up on each others lives. My Client mentioned her plans to visit Los Angeles with her daughter at the end of the year, and how she was going to have to cancel her trip because of her daughter not being able to go.  Apparently, my clients daughter has been chosen to join this all star track and field team for Tokyo; so due to conflicting schedules, her daughter cannot go on the trip. Jokingly, I said " You can take me", she promptly replied with "Really! You'll come! Oh, that's great". I quickly let her know that I was joking but I could already see that is was too late. My client continued to tell me that she would pay for my flight and all expenses. I then went on to tell her how GRATEFUL I was for the VERY generous offer, but that it was way TOO much for me to accept. She told me not to worry, that having me along would be perfect, that it would be like having her own personal tour guide. We concluded the conversation with her making me promise to at least think about her proposal.  I know am very fortunate to have such a wonderful and loyal clientele base here in Tokyo. I've known this client for two years now and I know that she won't take "NO!" for an answer. Actually, as I'm writing this blog post, I got a text message from her, asking for my information to book all arrangements...sigh! I guess I'm going to L.A.

So what do you think? Would you go?

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time

Finger Friday with Rescue Beauty Lounge's Piu Mosso

Back in July I ordered Rescue Beauty Lounge's nail polish in Pui Mosso, and I've been anxiously anticipating its arrival ever since! Pui Mosso is one of four new shades released in the Firebird collection by Rescue Beauty Lounge.

Pui Mosso is a inky black blue with a sunset copper/orange shimmer, and it's unlike any color in my collection. Sadly, unless outdoors or in direct light, you won't see much (if any) of that coppery orange shimmer. So, to show case Pui Mosso's uniqueness, and to keep it from looking like another murky blackened blue polish (which still would be nice), I'm going to have to MacGyver some kind of wrist-attaching, flashlight device to shine directly onto my nails in order to get that lovely russet shimmer to show.

Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polishes apply like a dream and Pui Mosso is no exception. This polish is basically opaque in one coat but I applied three in order to achieve the same colors as in the bottle.

Pui Mosso has to be one of the most Difficult polishes to photograph; the things (and positions) I did to try to capture this polishes true shade. I love Pui Mosso, but I hate photographing it!!! This nail polish REALLY needs to be seen in person to truly appreciate all its glory.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Nail Polishes are on the pricier side, retailing for $18, and can be purchased at rescuebeauty.com

Looking Gorgeous one lipstick at a time

Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blush Swatches

I LOVE blush, any and all forms. Some individuals may not place that much importance on blush, but in my case, blush is EVERYTHING! I will and have spent a hefty sum of money to get that gorgeous flush of color.

I've decided to post color descriptions and swatches of my Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blush collection.

Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blushes have a cream to powder finish; they are neither greasy nor sticky. These blushes have a creamy mousse texture, which allows them to be applied smoothly and blend effortlessly onto the cheeks. A little goes a long way with the product, but if you're like me, a little is never enough :P

Yves Saint Laurent Creme de Blushes come in 6 different colors (numbers).

Natural light

Velvety Peach, Powdery Rose, Silky Praline, Audacious Orange, Fuchsia Temptation and Rouge Passion

With Flash

1 Velvety Peach: A perfect for Spring/Summer peach coral.

2 Powdery Rose: A universally flattering warm medium pink.

3 Silky Praline: The description of this shade states it's a spiced rose beige, and I agree. It's a gorgeous tawny spiced rose color, that give the cheeks a lovely warmth.

4 Audacious Orange: A bright orange apricot color that just SCREAMS summer. This color is limited edition (BOO to YSL!!!) .

5 Fuchsia Temptation: A cool tones vibrant bubble gum pink.

6 Rouge Passion: An orange tomato red. This color my appear bold in the swatch but it sheers out to a lovely "just pinched" flush.

These little blush gems retail for $38, and are available at sephora.com, nordstrom.com (they have all 6 colors), saks.com ( all 6 colors are also available), neimanmarcus.com  ( all 6 colors are also available), bloomingdales.com, barneys.com, and bergdorfgoodman.com .

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time

An Empress and her Kaleidoscope

Le Metier de Beaute (the craft of beauty in french) is a luxury cosmetics brand that I have been in love with ever since I discovered them over three years ago. This brand is probably best known for their series of face,eyes and lip kaleidoscopes and the "couches de couleur" application tecnique ( A BIG thank you to Amanda, my LMdB Mua, who educated me on this technique three years ago).

The Kaleidoscope lip kit in Empress is part of Le Metier de Beaute's Fall/Winter 2011 collection titled Silk Road. This palette offers four lip shades that can be worn individually or layer using the "couches de couleur" technique to customize the perfect lip for fall. The color combinations achieved with this product are endless :)

Imperial Silk

Silk Road

Empress

Plum Satin

Imperial Silk:  a sheer (almost clear) soft pale peach pink with tiny pink and gold sparkles. Don't under estimate the sheerness of this color. Imperial Silk enhances the lips natural color and gives the pout a lovely pinkish gold sheen.

Silk Road: a sheer to opaque shimmery crimson burgundy red. I normally gravitate towards this lip color during Fall/Winter.

Empress:  a sheer pinkish champagne mauve with pink and green sparkles. Although most of the pink and green sparkles are lost in transit when going from the pan onto the lips, I still really love this shade.

Plum Satin:  a sheer deep plum with a golden sheen and tiny gold sparkles. Plum Satin is a lovely rich plum shade that will compliment a subtle neutral fall look.

The four shades in this kaleidoscope are listed from top to bottom as they are featured in the palette. Also, using the "couches de couleur" technique, I layered all four colors together (starting from top to bottom) resulting in the fifth swatch, a sparkly rose berry shade.

As you can see (or not) in the photo below, the swatch of Imperial Silk appears non existent. 

Natural lighting
Imperial Silk, Silk Road, Empress, Plum Satin and a swatch of all four layered

With flash
Imperial Silk, Silk Road, Empress, Plum Satin and a swatch of all four layered

The Empress Kaleidoscope Lip Kit is Limited Edition and retails for $95.00. Le Metier de Beaute cosmetics are available at neimanmarcus.com, nordstrom.com and bergdorfgoodman.com

Have you tired any products from Le Metier de Beaute? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts on this brand.

Looking Gorgeous one lipstick at a time

Hi everyone!

I started the day at 4:00am, it's now 8:26pm and I'm spent!! I was hoping to come home earlier and take some pictures of my next post. Alas, this was not the case, as the sun has given way to the glorious night and the lighting in my apartment is not doing justice to the product that I will now be featuring in what has become tomorrow's post. 

Instead, I will move onto the next thing that I wanted to mention. I want to welcome and thank obsessed.makeup.addict and greenpease05 for joining me at So Lonely in Gorgeous. I know that there are only 9 of us but I do value EVERY one of you.  I just wanted put that out there : D

I'll leave you with a photo of a tasty treat that I picked up at my local grocery store, hope you enjoy (I know I did).

See you tomorrow

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time 

Dior's Mitzah Collection

The Dior Mitzah Collection is a limited edition collection that is exclusively available at Sephora and Sephora.com. Unfortunately, I only have two of three items that I purchased from this collection.  Some items where left out of my last parcel, and Dior's Vernis Nail Lacquer in Camel was one of them :'(

First, the 5 Couleurs Couture Colour Eyeshadow Palette in Mitzah. The exterior packaging is the same blue plastic palette casing. Besides the actual products, my second favorite thing in this collection is the dior panther (leopard) print lined velvet pouches. The panther lining adds an extra touch of chic to the collection. Normally, I toss these pouches but I will be keeping these; turning them inside out to expose the lining and storing the palettes in them.

The eyeshadows in the Mitzah palette also have the same panther print theme on their surface.

Natural light

With flash

The Colors in this palette are listed from left to right  

A rich chocolate brown with a slight shimmer (upper left corner)

A dark golden tan with a slight shimmer (upper right corner)

A Peanut brittle camel color with a sheer matte texture (center)

A cream beige with a slight pink in the shimmer (lower left corner)

A dark khaki taupe grey with a slight shimmer (lower right corner)

The shadows in this palette swatch like a dream :) 

The Mitzah 5 Couleurs Couture Colour Eyeshadow Palette retails for $60 and is still available online at Sephora.com. 

Next, is the Dior Mitzah Panther Eyeshadow Palette in Jungle Print. The presentation and packaging of this product is very lush! The Jungle Print palette comes in a weighty mirrored silver compact. Also included in this palette is small brush with its own matching tiny velvet pouch (so cute). Regrettably, I no longer have the numbered card that came with this palette due to SOMEONE throwing it away...(insert despising stare).

Natural light

With flash

The colors in the palette are listed from left to right:

A matte cream beige

A dark chocolate brown shimmer

A matte dark toffee camel 

I love anything leopard print and once I saw this palette, I had to have it!! This item can be a wonderful collectors piece; and even through I do "collect" makeup, I also believe in using it. The Jungle print palette retails for $90 but it is no longer available online.

If you were not able to get this palette, don't worry, as you can see in the swatches, the chocolate brown, beige and camel shades in the Mitzah 5 colour palette are almost idenitcal.   

The shimmer in the cream beige shadow in the Mitzah palette has a slight pink cast, where the beige in the Panther palette is matte and sheerer. 

The chocolate brown shade is just about identical in both palettes, except the panther shadow is a bit darker. 

Also, the camel shade in the panther palette is darker then the Mitzah shadow. 

What were your thoughts on this collection? Did you buy anything?

Update: here is a look I did using the Mitzah 5 Couleurs Couture Colour Eyeshadow Palette:
http://solonelyingorgeous.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_18.html

Looking gorgeous one lipstick at a time