I have to share with you all this gorgeous cake that my lovely friends got for me for my birthday! They are just so sweet, and of course know me very well to have chosen a cake filled with (edible) Chanel makeup. Yes, they’re not real! Especially the makeup bag, since that’s where the real cake is hidden!
You can’t imagine how excited I was when I saw this cake. :’ )
Were you able to spot some recent Chanel makeup releases? I will have the real items to show you all very soon! : )
Included in this year’s Tom Ford Summer Collection is this Bronzing Powder in 01 Gold Dust, which is not a new product from Tom Ford (it has been available in the US and most other countries since last summer). However for us in Hong Kong, this Bronzing Powder (along with the other shade 02 Terra) is a new addition to the Hong Kong line-up.
This bronzer and the Fire Lust Skin Illuminator are the first products that caught my eye in the collection. I skipped Fire Lust during my first visit because I have too many highlighters at the moment, and since summer is right round the corner, I decided that a bronzer would come in handier for the season.
The Bronzing Powder comes in a sleek metallic mahogany and gold packaging. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and feels weighty despite being a rather thin compact. The huge mirror in the compact is another reason why I love this powder, it’s great for travelling!
This bronzing powder comes with a good amount of product (21g) which justifies the high price ($90 USD/$700 HKD). The recent Nude Tan Paradise Duo from Dior’s Summer collection is $56 USD for just 9.5g of product, so Gold Dust is not that expensive when compared.
Gold Dust is a warm golden brown with fine gold shimmers. The glitters are subtle so people like me who has combination/oily skin won’t have to worry. The powder is very fine, and works perfectly with Tom Ford’s own Bronzer Brush (which has recently become available in Hong Kong finally!). It creates an amazing sunkissed glow. And with such a large pan of product, it makes it very easy to apply with any brushes, especially with the Tom Ford Bronzer Brush.
I have been using this bronzer everyday since I got this, and I just love the natural sunkissed glow that it creates. It’s long-wearing that it stays on for at least 10-12 hours.
Once again this is a new product for us in Asian countries, so I urge you all to give this a try. In my opinion it’s worth every penny and just imagine how long you’ll be able to use this for!
Tenoverten is a NYC nail salon which I used to visit when I was still living in New York. I love to have my manicures and pedicures done there since it’s clean and all the manicurists are very professional. I of course paid Tenoverten a visit during my trip to New York just about a month ago, and I brought home with me one of their own polishes – Rivington.
Honestly when I looked at the range of their colors available, I was a little disappointed. All the colors are just standards, a lot of oranges, corals and reds. It’s understandable since it’s still a relatively new brand, but it was hard for me who already has a lot of nail polishes, to choose something that I’d like to add to my stash. Rivington caught my eye though since it’s a beautiful emerald green which luckily I don’t own in my stash. It’s also the Pantone Color of the Year. All their polishes are 3 free (dibutyl phthalate (dbp) + formaldehyde + toluene), cruelty free, camphor + resin free, and retails at 18 USD.
Rivington is opaque with one careful coat, otherwise a second coat would do the job. The texture is just perfect, it’s not too thick and not too thin.
It gives a semi-matte finish which I am not a fan of, so I like to add a top coat for a glossy finish. Below is a swatch with topcoat on. The color translates well anyway with or without a top coat, so it’s your choice really.
I like this polish a lot. The color is beautiful, especially for spring and summer, and it looks even prettier on the nails than from the bottle. I sincerely hope that Tenoverten would expand their collection soon so that there’s more colors to offer!
Summer Collections are finally starting to emerge here in Hong Kong, but for Guerlain we still don’t have Terra Ora Collection. Instead we have the new Gloss d’Enfer Maxi Shine Lipglosses, and also finally a whole line of nail vernis from Guerlain!
I have swatched all 20 shades of the Gloss d’Enfer glosses and here they are!
400 Gold Tchlack, 401 Praline Blop, 402 Browny Clap and 403 Brun Buzz.
420 Rouge Shebam, 421 Red Pow, 440 Coral Wizz and 441 Tangerine Vlam.
460 Rose Splatch, 461 Pink Clip, 462 Rosy Bang, 463 La Petite Robe Noire, 464 Guimauve Vlop, 465 Bubble Gum and 466 Dragee Bomp.
467 Cherry Swing, 468 Candy Strip, 469 Fuchsia Ding, 470 Magenta Waouh and 471 Prune Zip.
I purchased 467 Cherry Swing, and I love how lightweight its consistency is. It’s not sticky at all and the glitters are not gritty so that adds to the comfort of wear. It is also hydrating, and depending on the shade, you’ll get pigmentation from sheer to quite opaque. Even shades that look darker on the tube can go on quite sheer, so I highly suggest that you purchase based on swatches you see here or elsewhere, or even better, to actually go and see these glosses in person. It’s a treat anyway since they are gorgeous.
I didn’t purchase any of the new Guerlain Le Vernis Maxi Shine Nail Polishes, since I find the shades available not too interesting, they are more like basics which I already have a couple of similar shades in my stash. I may however purchase one after all just to try them out, since I can never say no to polishes! : )
For swatches of other recent new releases of lip glosses, such as Giorgio Armani’s Flash Lacquer, click here, and Dior’s Dior Addict Glosses, click here.
Giorgio Armani’s Flash Lacquer, Dior’s new Dior Addict Glosses, and next up would be Guerlain’s Gloss d’Enfer Lipglosses… This is definitely a month for lip glosses! I have the swatches for Dior’s Addict Glosses and Armani’s Flash Lacquers posted up a few weeks ago, and now it’s time to review the Armani Flash Lacquers.
These Flash Lacquers are the glossiest lip glosses I have ever seen. It’s highly reflective, and it shines at every angle. It is the shape and shine technology that causes the light to reflect off of every point of surface. It follows flip movements and always recreates a perfectly smooth film. It does not settle into lip lines.
Not only are these Flash Lacquers highly glossy, they’re also very pigmented, moisturizing and non-sticky. I got three colors to show you today: 303, 202 and 522.
303 is a translucent coral base packed with multi-colored micro-shimmers. This is sheer so I usually use this on top of a lipstick. It’s too sheer to wear this alone for color. Even though the gloss is fully loaded with shimmers, it’s still quite subtle, and it just adds to the glossiness without showing individual glitter particles.
202 is a rosy brown packed with multi-colored micro-shimmers. It adds a bronzy look to my lips which I’m not used to but I do enjoy the look of it. It would pair well with sun-kissed skin.
522 is a pigmented coral pink, this doesn’t have any shimmer in it. It’s pigmented that I wear this alone and the color stays put for an impressive period of time.
Here’s another picture of the swatches. See how glossy they are?
Application is a breeze thanks to the long, slanted doe foot applicator. It is not particularly long-wearing, and the gloss wears off eventually after about two hours. But I don’t mind reapplying often since I really do feel like my lips are kept moisturizing with this gloss on!
Have you tried any of these Flash Lacquers yet? You can find these at any Giorgio Armani Beauty counters in Hong Kong now, be warned though, some of the shades are extremely popular so they are constantly out of stock.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Margaret!
I have sent an email to your email address so please check and reply! I will have to choose another winner if I don’t receive a reply within a week.
Thank you all for entering this giveaway, and most important of all, for reading my little beauty-obsessed blog. I know many of you would love to try asia-exclusives, so my next giveaway (which may be soon) will most probably be another asia-exclusive product. Maybe Chanel’s CC Cream? or a Tom Ford lipstick?
Leave a comment if you have certain Asia-exclusive or asian products that you’d love to try! I’m very interested to know. : )
When someone asks me for eyeshadow palette recommendations, Giorgio Armani’s always top on my list. I just love how buttery soft and fine their eyeshadows are, which were reformulated just last year. And Armani has been very consistent with the formulation of their eyeshadows, which I really appreciate. So far all the shadows from their limited edition palettes released in seasonal collections were just as excellent, so I know I won’t be disappointed with the new Eyes to Kill Eyeshadow Shimmer palettes.
I decided to pick up #10 Mirage, which is a pretty peachy golden palette, and even though all four shades are shimmery, they are quite subtle, so I wasn’t overwhelmed by them. Usually when palettes contain highly shimmery shades, I’d prefer something matte or maybe satin to balance out the shiny finish. But I am happily contented with all the shimmers offered in Mirage.
The top shade is a shimmery pinkish peach, I use this all over the lids for a beautiful sheen. The second shade is a shimmery shell shade that creates a gorgeous highlight for the eyes. The third shade is a shimmery warm gold that adds warmth to the eyes. And lastly is a shimmery mid-brown that offers depth in your eye look.
These pigmented eyeshadows work perfectly with each other, and you can easily blend them with either a brush or your fingers. They are buttery soft and fine. As mentioned, the shimmers are subtle, so it works great for both day and night look!
With a primer, these stay on very well for about 8 hours before I start to notice some minor creases at the inner corner of my oily lids. So overall I am very happy with this palette, I’m no longer impressed since I have experienced the high-quality in Armani shadows numerous times already, so it wasn’t surprising that I would love this palette as well!
These eyeshadows are already available in all Giorgio Armani Beauty counters in Hong Kong, along with their new line of lip glosses – Flash Lacquers. I will post a review on the Flash Lacquers very soon, be ready for something insanely glossy! For the time being you can check out the swatches of all the lacquers available in Hong Kong here!
*This post includes affiliate links.
Lastly from Chanel’s Asia-exclusive Le Blanc Les Delices de Chanel Collection that I have to share for you all today is the Joues Contraste 78 Delice. I had a very hard time photographing this product, because I don’t think my pictures do this product justice! This is much prettier in person, so if you like the photos or swatches below, then I’m sure you love this even more when you see it in action.
Delice is a frosty white highlighter with multi-colored micro shimmers. The powder is extremely soft and fine, and it’s also very pigmented. 
I really adore this highlighter, it gives a gentle and subtle glow, the shimmer particles are visible but only under certain lightings. You can see below a heavy swatch that shows up pearly white and another that is blended out, creating that subtle glow.
Since I have combination/oily skin, I am always afraid that highlighters would make my face look even shinier than it already is during the day. But this highlighter does not emphasize pores, and most of all it does not make me shinier. I am very pleased with this product, and I think Chanel should definitely make this permanent!
I’ve heard that Chanel from other countries will start to receive products from this collection around May, but it’s unsure whether this specific product will be available, since most products in this collection are created for Asia countries. I suggest you call your local Chanel counters or stores and see if they will receive this as well!
Tom Ford released a few Asia-exclusive products to celebrate the launch of his Makeup Line in Asia. Some of the products include 2 eyeshadow palettes, namely Seductive Rose & Lavender Lust. (Other products include the Naked Coral Lipstick and recently released Ultra Raven Lengthening Mascara and Finishing Powder.)
I have had this Seductive Rose Palette for quite some time now, but never found the time to write about it since there were so many limited edition products out for the past few months that I wanted to write about before they become unavailable. But with all the asia-exclusive collections around here in Hong Kong, I thought I’d finally write about this palette, and also to take this opportunity to do my first giveaway!
It’s been about a year since I started this blog, and since a lot of my readers are from outside of Asia, I thought I’d say thank you to both my regular readers and new readers who just happened to stop by here for the first time by giving away a brand new Tom Ford Seductive Rose Eye Color Quad palette!
Anyway, before I give you details on the giveaway, let me get back to this gorgeous palette.
Seductive Rose is a sophisticated palette with a soft shimmery shell pink, a glittery rosy pink, aglittery soft purple taupe, and lastly a satin plumy maroon. These shadows especially the non-glitter ones are very soft and their color payoff is great. The two glitters have a translucent gel-like but powder base, but the glitters are very intensely packed that once applied, it adds color to the base.
Since the glitters are so intense, I understand that this palette may not be for everyone, but what’s not to love about pretty glitters? And I do think that this palette is very wearable, you can tap on a little bit of glitter to brighten you day look, and add more for a party night look. I love palettes that do that!
I have had excellent experiences with Tom Ford palettes, so I am not surprised that this palette gives an impressive performance in terms of application and wear time. Not only do the shades work and blend well together, with a primer this lasts about 8-10 hours on my oily lids without any creases. The glitters adheres very well, most probably because of the gel-like yet powdery translucent base, I didn’t experience any fall outs during application or wear.
I enjoy this palette very much, and have been reaching for it quite a number of times especially for performances where glitters are very much welcomed. Even with its hefty price tag, Tom Ford Eye Color Quads never disappoint me, and I am so glad that Seductive Rose is available here in Hong Kong.
So if you’re from Hong Kong, you can find this palette at Tom Ford Counters in Lane Crawford Canton Road and Times Square, and also at the Tom Ford Boutique in IFC.
And for those not living in Asia…
THE GIVEAWAY
CLOSED
Here’s the instructions to enter to win this brand new unused Seductive Rose palette!
And then there are 5 ways to get more than one entries:
If you do all of the above, you’ll get 6 total entries! Or else, each extra step you do besides leaving your comment here means an extra entry. *Just a reminder, you will have to comment on this post to enter this giveaway.* It would also be great if you could let me know in your comment which extra steps you did for the extra entries, Thanks!
And of course this giveaway is open internationally, and you must be at least 18 years of age to enter this giveaway.
The giveaway starts today April 6th, and ends about two weeks later on Sunday, 21st April at 11:59 HKT. (You can check your local time here.) I will select the winner with a random number generator. The winner will be contacted via Twitter or email provided in your comment.
Hope you all like this palette, and good luck! : )
Thank you all for participating! The giveaway has already ENDED, and I will announce the winner very soon! : )
I love how fun new nail polish trends are! Deborah Lippmann’s Staccato Collection for this Spring is ice-cream themed, and even though I am not a big ice cream fan, I certainly wouldn’t mind my nails looking like it!
According to Deborah Lippmann:
“When creating this formula, I was thinking of ways to make black glitter wearable. I like how the glitter pops with a crème base, and I love that we took very wearable spring shades and gave them more pizzazz – even a bit of an edge.”
All these are thicker in texture than most Deborah Lippmann polishes, but it’s most probably to suspend the black glitters in the polish. Application is still very easy as the polish self-levels after each coat, and the black glitters are easily and evenly distributed. I love how the black glitters from the first coat turns to grayish after putting on the second coat! You can get an opaque finish with 2 careful coats.
I’m Not Edible is a bubble gum pink creme with speckled black glitters.
Polka Dots and Moonbeams is a white creme base with speckled black glitters. This reminds me so so much of cookies and creme.
Rockin’ Robin is a mint green creme with speckled black glitters. My favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate, so Rockin’ Robin has got to be my pick out of the three.
I only have one polish to compare with Rockin’ Robin, and that’s Illamasqua’s Fragile Nail Varnish (from I’mperfection Collection). Fragile doesn’t have the mint in it, it’s a light sky blue with multi-sized black glitters.
You can find these at any Joyce Beauty counters or Boutiques in Hong Kong. I got mine at Hysan Place. They are each HKD 210.
