Summer Lovin' 2012: Dior Bikini

Happy Saturday!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  I am on my way to my first MBA event this afternoon, and even though I had to go neutral on my nails with Chanel Rose Cache (did I ever review that polish?? I must check!!), I thought I’d show you a fun color today.  Time is of the essence, so let’s jump right in!

Today I have for you the second polish from the Dior Croisette Summer 2012 collection, Dior Bikini.  Bikini is a orange-tinted coral with a crème finish.  It reminds me a lot of the base color of Chanel Distraction (which I reviewed a few weeks ago) minus the pink shimmer in Distraction.  The formula on this one was a little wonky – very thick and not self-leveling (you can kind of see this problem on the middle finger in the photos below).  While the color is pigmented and I could have gotten away with 2 coats, I ended up doing 3 coats on a few nails to smooth out the bumps.  No fun!!

 

(Apologies for the hang nail on my ring finger – the perils of quickie manis before work!)

As I mentioned, Dior Bikini is really similar to Chanel Distraction, minus the pink shimmer.  If you have one, I’m not convinced you need both, unless you really love the base color and want to have a shimmer option.  If I had to choose, I’d probably prefer to own Chanel Distraction as it had the better formula and more interesting color.


What do you think?  Is Dior Bikini a must-have?  Are you loving the coral nail trend this season?  Or are you just ready for me to review a brand other than Dior (which is quite a reasonable request!)?

Dior Les Rouges: Icone

 Hey Everyone!  I hope you weren’t thinking (or hoping) I would get off the Dior train… I don’t know what it is, but I’m having such a love affair with the fashion house right now!  I was in Las Vegas this past weekend, and even put a stop at the Dior Beauty boutique at the Palazzo Hotel & Casino on my itinerary – because we all know nail polish is serious business! Haha.  I think this Dior affair will go on at least for another week (ahem, until my Rescue Beauty Lounge fan collection polishes arrive!!)

Last summer Dior released an exclusive collection named Les Rouges (not to be confused with Les Rouges Or, the holiday 2011 collection) that included 3 red nail polishes that celebrated the signature reds of the House of Dior.  I missed out on this collection when it was first released, but with persistence I’ve managed to get my hands on all 3 polishes!  The first polish I have for you today is Dior Icone.  Icone is a dark reddish-brown polish with a gorgeous red shimmer.  Unlike some other Dior polishes, the shimmer in Icone is prevalent and gorgeous to the eye both in sunlight, shade, and artificial lighting.   Icone was a dream to work with, and I only needed 2 coats for this mani.  It’s absolutely stunning!

Here’s a close-up  of Icone.

And another pic, just because it’s so pretty.  Icone wore really well and I could have gotten exceptionally long wear out of it, if I hadn’t spent 7 hours Saturday in the lazy river at the MGM Grand.  Chlorine will kill a mani, always!

Dior Icone was a limited edition release from the Les Rouges collection last summer.  It sold out nearly instantly, so if you really like this one, happy hunting!  You may be able to find a bottle through the interwebz or a swap from another fanatic!


What do you think?  Is Icone as unique as I think it is, or do you have something similar in your own collection?  Were you able to snatch up any of the Les Rouges polishes for the 10 minutes they were available?  And most importantly… what’s your favorite Vegas pool?  Sound off in the comments below!

Dior Glacier

 Hey Everyone!  I know, I know, before you say anything – I have been on a serious Dior kick lately!  I feel like it’s the only polish brand I’m wearing these days.  That’s partly because when I decided to reduce my collection it’s one of the few brands where I kept everything I owned, but also because Dior has been hitting it out of the park this year with some fantastic colors!

Today I have for you Dior Glacier.  Glacier is a limited edition release exclusive to Asia.  Apparently Dior does a regional LE collection like this for Asia for the past few years.  I’ve never hunted these polishes down before, but as soon as I heard about Glacier and saw swatches on The Purse Forum, I knew I wanted to have it for myself.  Glacier is a pale, icy blue polish with a hint of a frost finish – but not a full frost by any means.  It is sheer, and below is three coats for opacity.  I think I could also have used a white or very pale gray polish as a base, and then could have gotten away with one or two coats, but for this swatch I didn’t want to distort the polish whatsoever.

I have to admit, I normally don’t go for really light, pale polishes like this one.  I’m more of a brights and vampys kinda girl myself.  But for some reason I love Glacier – I love the contrast against my skin, the finish – everything.  I actually wore this mani for 2 days.  On my skintone I wouldn’t consider it safe for work, as it definitely stands out against my skin, but maybe it would be great for summer, with a bold outfit that requires a calmer, more subtle nail.  Either way, I can’t wait to play with this one!

If you’re interested, LacquerWear has a fantastic comparison of Dior Glacier to the much loved Chanel Riva here.  I didn’t realize they were so similar when I picked up Glacier, so now I’m even happier to have it as I missed out on Riva!

Dior Glacier is a limited polish from the Diorsnow Icy Halos collection released as an Asia exclusive.  If you have a friend in Asia and really want this polish, you may want to put them on the hunt for it for you.  I’ve also seen a few bottle pop up on eBay (I bought mine from seller babysweetie7), and while they’re retailing for approx. $38 USD, I found it reasonable as if you convert what Dior polishes regularly retail for in a country like Japan into US dollars, it’s comparable (for some reason, Dior polishes retail cheaper in the US for $23 – yay!).


What do you think?  Are you a fan of Dior Glacier?  Did you grab a bottle of your own?  Or is $38 just entirely too much to ever spend on a bottle of nail polish, no matter how pretty it is?!?

Dior St. Tropez

 Happy Friday, everyone!  What’s everyone up to this weekend?  It’s raining right now in LA, so I’m happily confined to my home for the day.  Not sure what’s on the agenda this weekend – I had my wisdom teeth pulled a few days ago (ouch!) so as long as I’m chewing food by Sunday, I’ll be a happy girl – I never thought I’d say this, but I am so over eating ice cream all the time! Haha.

Today I have for you a super popular polish that’s making a return in Dior Beauty’s Summer 2012 Collection – St. Tropez.  St. Tropez was originally released last summer to commemorate the opening of the Dior boutique in the town of the same name in the South of France.  The polish was an instant hit, and pretty much sold out at Dior.com and Dior boutiques instantly.  It was originally a LE release, but given the popularity and demand, Dior decided to bring St. Tropez back in the summer beauty collection (Thx, Christian!).  St. Tropez is a blue-leaning turquoise crème polish.  It is absolutely stunning in the bottle, and delivers perfection on the nail. 

So perfect, in fact, it deserves extra photos.

 

If you missed out on St. Tropez last summer, don’t make the same mistake twice!  This is an amazing polish, and I can't wait to try another mani with it, maybe with a bright coral accent nail - the other hit color of the season.  St. Tropez is currently available at Dior boutiques and counters and retails for $23 for a 0.33fl oz bottle.  Trust me, this one is worth every penny.  Snatch it up while you still can!


What do you think?  Is St. Tropez worth all the hype it’s getting?  Did you snatch up a bottle of your own?  And what’s your-must have color from the summer 2012 collections?  Sound off below!

April Beauties: What I'm Lovin'

Hi Everyone!  I know, long time, no post!  I'm still alive, I promise - just doing some soul-searching about this space, how I want to use it, and thinking about what's the story I want to tell.  I've done a lot of purging of my nail polish collection lately, mainly because I was overwhelmed by how much I had and would never reasonably use. I'm happy(er) with my collection these days, but as everything I've kept I've pretty much already blogged about, it makes me think... what's left to talk about?

The answer is - a lot of stuff!  I'm just going to take some time to explore blogging about other beauty topics (and yes, still polish!) and what's going on in this crazytown known as L.A., and hopefully there's still something here that resonates with you, my readers.

We're only 9 days into the month of April...and I've already blown my beauty budget.  Well, not blown it really, but definitely used up all the funds I budget for beauty products. Ha!  I've been really exploring blushes lately.  Back in 2008, a friend and MUA introduced me to my holy grail blush - MAC Ambering Rose.  It's a fantastic rose blush with gold shimmer, and with MAC MSF in Gold Deposit it gave me the best natural glow.  Well, last fall I decided to start trying out new NARS blushes, which just unleashed this whole new love I didn't know I had!

New blushes and highlighters by MAC, Milani, and Sleek Makeup are just a few of the things I'm hauling this month.  Take a look at what else has caught my eye!

Milani Baked Blush in Corallina.  Ugh, how I wished there was a stock photo so I could show this to you!  Corallina is a bright orange coral blush with gorgeous yellow and white gold veining.  It was absolutely stunning in the pan, and delivered when I rocked it all day Saturday at a beer festival!  I am no good at swatching - I've never done it before - but I swear I'm gonna learn, just so I can show you all this blush.  It's stunning.  And it's killing me to not run back to CVS and buy every other blush in the collection.

 MAC In Extra Dimension Skinfinish Highlighters.  You guys, I have to tell you - I have a highlighter fetish.  I LOVE them - they're my secret to always looking so warm and glowy.  When bloggers first started reviewing these, I had to have Glorify, the bronze-y one of the trio (especially as I'd just used up my MSF in Gold Deposit).  I also took a chance on Whisper of Gilt, a lighter yellow-gold color, but I have a feeling it's going back.  I would keep it, but I recently discovered....

Sleek Makeup Blush By 3 Cheek Palette and Glo Highlighters.  Sleek Makeup is a UK drugstore brand that I had never heard of until I found some great brown-skinned beauty bloggers like The Glamorous Gleam how have turned me on to what I've been missing. I've heard that Sleek blushes are highly pigmented (a la NARS), which is manna in the desert to a brown-skinned girl, for sure.  Since I had to pay $10 shipping, I decided to make this order worth it and picked up the Blush By 3 Cheek Palette in Pumpkin and Lace, as well as the Glo Highlighters in Bronze Baby and Gold Digga (I told you I had a highlighter problem).  Can't wait for these beauties to make their way across the pond and cross country to my eager hands!

Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. 4.  I. KNOW! I am soooo late to the UD BOS4 party!!  Let's be honest - this palette got less than stellar (but still average) reviews, and at $64 a pop, I wasn't having it!  However, UD recently reduced the price to $29 for BOS 4 in their sale section (and you can get it even cheaper today on Hautelook - just $24!).  Well, at that price I had to jump on BOS!  I haven't tried any shadows yet... I've picked it up twice now to try to create looks for certain occasions, but then I ended up putting it back down and opting for other eyeshadows.  An omen?  I sure hope not!  (Also, if you're shopping the UD sale section, also pick up the Rollergirl palette - it's only $13!)

That's it... for now.  I also picked up the much talked about MAC lipstick in Watch Me Simmer, a bright pink coral.  I don't know if I have the sass to pull it off, but we're definitely going to try!
  

What have you been hauling this month?  Any collections catching your eye?  How many days can you make it into the month before your beauty budget is blown?  And if you have any ideas on what you'd like me to talk about in this space, sound off in the comments below!