Sephora x Pantone – Color of the Year Nail Enamel Set

I finally had a chance to snap up one of the sets of Sephora’s collaborations with Pantone , and surprisingly, not a single item was sold out, several weeks after the collection’s launch !

Sephora x Pantone Nail Enamel Collection

I was desperate to try this collection out, as mentioned in a previous blog – the packaging, the concept, and the bold hue legitimately “spoke” to me – so imagine my disappointment to discover these four shades for nails were more suited to a Halloween costume than a chic summer look.

Sephora x Pantone Nail Enamel Collection

The packaging is lovely – really, truly, lovely – the box is substantial and heavy cardboard, printed with a range of orange shades, all echoing the orange of 2012′s color of the year, “tangerine tango”. The top of the box slides off to reveal four variations on one shade, each housed in a square glass bottle with a white plastic cap. While the cap is lovely, underneath, the brush itself (which detaches from the cap) is flimsy, ridged plastic, which I found relatively hard to manoeuvre.

Sephora x Pantone Nail Enamel Collection

The shades – a shimmer,a matte, a cream and a glitter, are all inspired by “Tangerine Tango”, but unfortunately, they come across as more Jack-O-Lantern than the rich red-orange of the shade they’re based upon. The formulas were ok – the cream and shimmer took 3 coats to apply opaquely and evenly, the matte was difficult to apply and chipped off easily. The worst, however, was the glitter shade, which contains cheap looking, chunky orange glitter suspended in clear polish. I have, admittedly, been spoiled by the more refined glitter enamels on the market, and found this one reminded me a great deal of the Halloween makeup I bought at the local drugstore as a kid.

Sephora x Pantone Nail Enamel Swatches

Sephora x Pantone Nail Enamel Swatches

I really and genuinely wish the color in this collection had stayed more faithfully true to “Tangerine Tango”, which is, in my opinion, eminently more wearable. On my pale skin, these shades look frightfully bright and a bit 80s cheap, and a better, more wearable shade might have justified the mediocre formulas.

Sephora x Pantone Nail Enamel - CREAM

The bottles, however, are well priced at $24 USD for four full-sized nail enamels in wonderfully luxurious packaging, so if you are a fan of brights and neons, by all means, go ahead for this set. As for me, I’ll be returning mine, with a sigh of disappointment for the exciting collaboration that didn’t live up (for me, at least) to its hype.

Guerlain x Pucci Terra Azzura Collection for Summer 2012

Be still my heart – When I saw the images of Guerlain’s collaboration with Pucci for their Terra Azzura Summer 2012 collection, my NEED for these items was palpable – gorgeous packaging, warm colors, and a vibe that reminds me of lazy summers on the French Riviera.

The collection doesn’t come cheap, but the packaging is legitimately incredible, particularly that of the Terra Azzura Bronzing Powder & Blush ($75), pictured below – it’s encased in ebony wood, recalling the Riva boats so treasured by the chic Saint Tropez crowd.

Guerlain Terra Azzurra Bronzer Powder & Blush

The Meteorites for this collection are what I have my eye on the most – housed in a tin printed with Pucci’s iconic Winter Capri print. The pearls ($58) have shaken off their usual pastels for beiges and oranges that warm the complexion and bright Riviera blue that wakes up the skin.

Guerlain Meteorites Perles D’Azur

In addition to the gorgeous face products, included in the collection are a range of glosses($30.50) – including a blue that looks bold but applies delicately, a warm eyeshadow quartet ($59) in Capri (shell pink, tangerine, deep brown and shimmering white), a bright aquatic Le 2 de Guerlain blue mascara ($36), and two bold nail varnishes ($22). For collectors, there is also a limited edition Meteorites Brush, with its midnight blue bristles, embossed Pucci printed metal and wood handle, all stored in an exclusive Pucci pouch.

Guerlain Le 2 Mascara

Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eye Shadow Palette in Capri

Guerlain Terracotta Gloss

Guerlain Terracotta Gloss

Guerlain x Pucci Meteorites Pucca Collector’s Brush

 

The collection will be available for May, and I do believe I’ll have a difficult time resisting – this collection reminds me of bronzed 60s sun seekers on the Riviera, clad in Pucci jerseys and hobnobbing with the most glamorous of all Saint Tropez residents, Brigitte Bardot (despite having been inspired by the Italian riveria).  The bronzing + blush duo is certainly sure to become a cult collector’s item, and as always, another gorgeous offering from Guerlain with a perfect dose of French chic.

Source and Images : Musings of a Muse

Diptyque’s New Eau Rose

When I saw that Diptyque was launching a rose fragrance, of course I literally squealed a little bit with joy – if you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I adore Diptyque’s personal and home fragrances, and I am a rose scent addict in rose-colored glasses.

The Diptyque team was kind enough to send me a bottle of this lovely new fragrance, and it was entirely unexpected – from the packaging to the fragrance itself. Perfect for Valentine’s day, the box itself is decorated with pink geometric designs providing a background for the etched pink and black blooms. Inside, the bottle is very different from Diptyque’s traditional heavy, square bottles, instead favoring something taller and a bit sleeker. As always, the label on the bottle looks hand drawn and personal, with the signature Diptyque oval, printed with the flagship’s address, surrounding it. Interestingly, the label is transparent, as opposed to the opaque labels on the other Diptyque fragrances, which I feel is an astute reference to the sheerness of this perfume itself.

Diptyque Eau Rose

Diptyque Eau Rose

Diptyque Eau Rose

The notes are stated as follows;

TOP NOTES: Bergamot, blackcurrant, lychee

MIDDLE NOTES: Hedione, geranium, Turkish rose

BASE NOTES: Cedar, musk, honey

The scent itself is like a love letter to the charm of the most noble of flowers, alternating between powdery, sensual, and sparkling clean. On first spray, I smelled a combination of fresh dew covered roses along with strong notes of citrus, like orange peel (the Bergamot). I get no hints of the sweeter notes like the blackcurrant nor the lychee, but as always, I believe this is just how perfume comes across on my skin. The citrus dries down quickly to a powdery pleasant rose, almost like a Rose de Mai (I was reminded of a fresher version of Fragonard’s Rose de Mai) tempered by the greenness of geranium. I do get slight hints of honey, or perhaps even a floral honeysuckle, on the dry down, but mostly this is a very fresh, pleasant rose.

Diptyque Eau Rose

The sillage is not overpowering, as some of Diptyque’s fragrances can be, though the staying power is not as strong either. I can still smell this on my skin hours after application, but it is a fragrance that will be smelled when one leans in to you, not to be smelled by the entire metro car you’re riding on. I do appreciate its discretion, and those who have smelled it on me describe it as enticing and very much true to my signature fragrances. While all of their fragrances are ‘sexless’, to be used by both women and men, this fragrance strikes me as very feminine indeed, and might displease some men who like wearing very strong, bold roses. As always with Diptyque, this perfume smells fresh and natural, with no synthetic sweetness – I might describe it as a more authentic, sophisticated alternative to Paul Smith Rose.

Eau Rose's unique bottle, on left. Traditional Diptyque bottle (L'ombre dans L'eau) on right

This perfume is not as complex as Diptyque’s other rose fragrance, L’ombre dans L’eau, nor does it have any of its sharp greenness. I would describe this perfume as pleasant and pretty, as opposed to deep and beautiful. This has been my go-to perfume for daytime wear over the past week, and I do think it’s appropriate for a number of situations. This is very much a spring perfume, so it’s US launch is perfectly timed. Not only that, but this a fragrance that leans to the sweetly romantic, so along with its feminine packaging, it might make an excellent Valentine’s day treat for those who love rose. I do appreciate the company’s straying from their usual perfumes to make something so utterly wearable and feminine, and am elated to wear this very pretty ode to the rose.

The Eau Rose is available from Diptyque Paris in their boutiques as well as on their website;

www.diptyqueparis.fr

I’ll leave you with medieval French poet Pierre de Ronsard’s own ode to the rose, and love, quoted by Diptyque themselves on their website;

From my summer visit to the Chateau de Chenonceau, the Pierre de Ronsard Rose !

Sweetheart, let’s see if the rose
That this morning had open
Her crimson dress to the Sun,
This evening hasn’t lost
The folds of her crimson dress,
And her complexion similar to yours.

Ah! See how in such short space
My sweetheart, she has on this very spot
All her beauties lost!
O, so un-motherly Nature,
Since such a beautiful flower
Only last from dawn to dusk!

So if you believe me, my sweetheart,
While time still flowers for you,
In its freshest novelty,
Do take advantage of your youthful bloom:
As it did to this flower, the doom
Of age will blight your beauty.

* Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for review purposes.

Guerlain’s Parisian Pop Up Store

Guerlain Pop-Up Store

Two weeks ago, I received an invite on Facebook to a ‘noctourne privligié’ to Guerlain’s Pop Up store on the Champs Elysées, celebrating their new fragrance, London. Guerlain has been quietly releasing a series of limited edition perfumes over the past year or so, each inspired by a different city (Tokyo, New York, Moscow) and decided to hold a special event at their Paris flagship to celebrate the launch of the latest in the series, London.

Image Courtesy of Guerlain's Official Facebook

Since the party was technically open to the public, it was more geared to selling product than anything else, which made the whole thing, as my friend (and escort for the evening) said – awkward and off putting. We ended up having a ball playing with perfume at the giant Sephora next door afterwards, and literally couldn’t get out of the Guerlain store fast enough.

Munchies!

The idea was great in theory – the store was decorated with red, London style postboxes into which those attending the party were invited to slip letters of entry to win a weekend in London. A special stand was set up to engrave Guerlain products bought in the store that evening, which was a lovely touch, but I found also pushed one into buying. Champagne was served in double-decker bus-red flutes, and little plates of snacks were scattered around the boutique, which was also a luxurious touch for an evening that was not invitation-only, and sales assistants offered makeup application. It had the elements to make it a unique event, but somehow everything together came across as… stiff. Mind you, getting in to any sort of event with free Champagne and petits fours is sort of my raison d’être, so I consider myself an expert in this domain.

Image Courtesy of Guerlain's Official Facebook, Engraving Station

When I asked the manager of the boutique about the perfume, she had very little information to give me. I was also not permitted to take photos, due to the presence of a professional photographer recruited for the event. The decorations while clever seemed somehow  incoherent, British props in a very French location, as it were. Sales assistants hovered everywhere, coming across not so much helpful as pushy, and when they offered to do my makeup, I only had to take one look at their application before I responded with a resounding ‘NON’. You see, the boutique is located on the Champs Elysées, where French people very rarely go, and so their SA’s were made up in what I only imagine is a fantasy of Carole Bouquet in the 1980s in the mind of an American/Japanese/Saudi woman – blue eyeshadow, heavy lashes, lashings of glossy red lipstick and foundation you could scrape off with a baguette. My escort, a sort of local style icon here, was aghast at how heavily the SA’s were made up – he criticized it as poorly representing the elegance of the Parisienne woman, and of the Guerlain brand in general. French women are supposed to be elegant, no? But their makeup was so heavy and overdone (‘makeup like a stolen car’, he said!) that it looked, quite simply, vulgar and amateurish. The few women in the boutique didn’t look comfortable, and the hovering SA’s didn’t help matters.

Guerlain's New Style Idol?

When I quizzed the manager about the release of the Vol de Nuit collection for Holiday 2011, already out for several weeks in the US, she responded that the boutique would be receiving the products around the 20th of November ! My friend and I agreed that this was very disappointing news indeed – Guerlain is a quintessentially French brand with some legendary products and a rich, wonderful history (their Eau Impériale, still in production today and unchanged from the original recette, was created for the fabulous Empress Eugenie in 1853), so why are they focusing their energies outside of France ?!

Guerlain Pop-Up Store

We drank our champagne politely and fled – all in all a very disappointing experience from Guerlain, and a very poor reflection on the brand indeed. I feel like my image of Guerlain has traditionally been feminine, refined, and subtle, much in the image of their iconic Méteorites powder. It felt less launch /’privledged’ party than cynical marketing ploy. I find that I’m more apt to buy products when the atmosphere is fun and bubbly (like some of the Sephora events) and less stiff and overpowering, much like an old bottle of Samsara.

 

Edit: The London fragrance itself is lovely, if a bit classic. It is described as a fruity floral (so tired of these), inspired by the classic roses of Regent’s Park and the eccentric cavaliers of Rotten Row. Found it to have a good sillage, nice drydown, but nothing original.

Head notes: Bergamot, Rhubarb, Grapefruit

Heart notes: Cardammon, Rose, Violet

Base notes: Vetiver, Black Tea, White Cedar

The glass bottle is etched with an image of London’s Tower Bridge, and is being sold in a 100ml bottle for 175 Euros, exclusively at Guerlain boutiques and concessions.

guerlain.com