Shoes

I know this is random and unrelated to cosmetics, but I saw these shoes in Saks during my haul on friday and cannot get them out of my head. I took a quick picture, but don't know any information on them. They are gorgeous. I just wanted to share, and if anyone knows anything about these guys feel free to comment! =)

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. - Hal Borland

NarsSkin Purifying Foam Cleanser and Multi-Action Hydrating Tonor and Nars Eyeshadow in Strada

I wasn't originally going to review the Narsskin Purifying Foaming Cleanser as I had received it as a sample with my New Wave Pallet and didn't think it was all that fantastic. However, upon my most recent trip to the Nars counter, I had been given a deluxe size sample of the Toner, which I am in love with, and now figured I would just review them both. I threw in the eyeshadow as well as I bought it at that time, and its Nars as well, and well why not!

I am absolutely in love with this toner. I usually just use a pH balanced water as my toner as I never thought it necessary to get fancy with it, but this toner completely changed my mind. It is described on the Nars website as a gentle exfolient that "instantly refreshes and tones, refining the appearance of pores for a smooth and even appearance. Skin is revitalized and brightened." Apparently all of the Narsskin products contain "Nars exclusive Light Reflecting Complex designed to restore skin's youthful radiance and reflect light like a prism." This Toner is fragrance free, paraben free, oil free, and alcohol free. Why the love for this toner? The exfolient mentioned at the beginning of the description. As stated previously many times, I have dry skin and in the winter, it flakes a bit. This toner gently removes all those little flakes from my face while moisturizing so my face looks refreshed and moisturized and my foundation applies much smoother. I'm also loving how much product is in my deluxe sized sample. I will absolutely be purchasing this when it runs out. My skin looks that good.

The Narskin Purifying Foaming Cleanser is just alright. I would liken this to the Shiseido Pureness Foaming Cleanser I reviewed here. It has foaming beads in it that very lightly exfoliate. Nars states that is is "a refreshing, foaming cleanser that lifts away makeup and impurities with botanical exfoliating spheres to gently smooth the skin's surface. Enriches with Wild Rose and Peony extracts, it soothes skin and reduces shine." This is idea for normal to oily/combination skin and seasonally oily skin. This also contains no synthetic fragrances, is paraben free, alcohol free, and oil free. I suppose the reason I wasn't so excited over this was that it is nothing really special. The only thing remarkable about it is the scent. I cannot quite place my finger on what it smells like and every time I open the bottle it drives my nuts. I will figure it out at some point, or if any of you have any ideas I would love to hear it. It cleans nicely and isn't too over drying, I just really can't say its anything special. I prefer the Shiseido version better.

With Flash

Without Flash

With Flash

I am so in love with this color it is ridiculous. I went to the Nars counter mostly to play, but had to walk away with this. It is described as an Amethyst infused with gold and it is just amazing. It was really hard to capture just what this color looks like with my camera phone (I need to get a better camera at some point) and I do not think I did this color justice. It is a gorgeous light blue-purple with lots of golden shimmer in it. I mostly use this color as a layering color as its the shimmer that I love so much about this color. However, I am wearing this color on its own right now and it looks splendid. This, like other Nars colors, is highly pigmented and lasts all day with no problem. It is smooth and buttery and a joy to use. 

All these products can be purchased wherever Nars is sold. I purchased mine at Lord and Taylor, but they are also available at Barney's, Sephora, http://www.narscosmetics.com, etc.

Barney's/Saks Haul and Nastassja Skincare line

Rachel was a bad girl yesterday...=(

I think I might have lost my head a bit. There is the new limited edition Chanel Illuminating Powder (Poudre Signee De Chanel), 2 Burberry Eyeshadows, a Burberry Lipstick, 2 Lush eyeliners (which will be reviewed in my next Lush update), Koh Gen Do foundation, Armani Eyes to Kill, Sponge Krema Triantfillo (finally!!!), and a sample of something I'm not really sure of (it was kind of thrown at me). Soooo...I had a bit of fun? I think I might have a problem. My name is Rachel and I am a beauty shopaholic.

I got home from this haul and found my glossybox prize on my doorstep. I won the Nastassja Skincare line and was surprised when I opened the box and found the entire line, I thought I would get some products and mostly samples.

It also came with a 50% off my next purchase coupon. I really don't know anything about this line, so I'm going to do a little research and try these out and review them soon!

First Guest Post

Carly from Lacquered Lover went on Vacation this week and as such asked if anyone would be interested in guest posting for her. Well, I jumped at the chance and you can see my first guest post here! The post is about the nail polishes I recently received in my Luxebox and my Glossybox this month.

The Beauty Blogazons Weekly Roundup: December 29

• Makeup Demon: Makeup idea for Christmas, New Year or other party. Let's sparkle!
• Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom: The Zoya Lovely collection is full of fun, airy pastels! See Destany's swatches.
• Pinked Polish: A Mani featuring polishes from two of my fave Indie polish makers!!!! And It's Pink :)
• Amber Did It!: Amber flies high with Philadelphia Eagles nails in her NFL Nail Art Series.
• Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Looking for a fabulous new eye cream? Lola's Secret Beauty Blog loves vbeauté Eye Never Nourishing Eye Crème because it does EVERYTHING a great eye cream should do!
• Emily Hudspeth, hair design and makeup artist: Quick and Easy Tips for Holiday Makeup.
• Ishah x Beauty: Check out this gorgeous Pop Art inspired nail art tutorial.
• Rachel's Makeup and Skincare: Rachel once again indulges in her new obsession with Lush.
• TheFabZilla: TheFabZilla shows her two looks from Christmas Eve & Christmas Day!
• Lacquer Buzz: Christmas might be over, but it's not too late to take a look at this cute Santa and Elves mani!
• Beauty by Miss L: This week Miss L created golden Christmas manicure.
• Beauty Info Zone: There's so much to love from Lush, everything is so cute including the names. Check out Mr. Punch soap to see why you need it.
• Vicerimus: Just spotted a lizard! If you are a bit tired of blogs busy with Christmas nails (which are all awesome!) and want something else for a change, take a look at this reptile-inspired manicure (it's not an OPI Just Spotted A Lizard swatch post, though :P).
• Liesl Loves Pretty Things: West End Wonderland Part 2! Last week Liesl showed off the lippy. This week it's Butter London's gorgeous polish.
• Lisa's Nail Obsession: Pink gold on my fingernails? When I'm dressing up why not?
• Mama Fashionista: It's time for MAC Matters! See what Quinn picked as the 2nd item from MAC to build her "core collection!"
• Betzy's Makeup: My go to makeup look for running errands on weekends.
• SoFlaJo: AutoNation shares Christmas at Broward Nursing Home.
• Baking Beauty: Baking Beauty Rounds Up The Best New Year's Eve Manicures.
• The Beauty Delicacy: Ego-Friendly nails with Sation nail lacquer. A multi-glitter must have for every polish collection!
• My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: Laura from My Newest Addiction shared her review on Anastasia Beverly Hills Hypercolor Brow and Hair Powder.

Dior 'Rouge Dior' Lip Color in 786: Mysterious Mauve

I searched for quite a few months until I finally found my perfect purple lipstick. A color that was not too cool (i.e. too blue), but yet not too pink. Many purple lipsticks that I tried looked perfect in the tube, but once applied looked more pink than purple. The Dior lipstick was the closest I found to my perfect purple. I have just recently seen online that Lancome has a new lipstick: L'absolu Nu in Prune Mantille that looks great and I will need to try out.

With Flash

Without Flash - sorry for the yellow, I took this at night

This lipstick has a wonderfully creamy texture and remained on my lips for over 8 hours and stained my lips so that even after 8 hours some color remained. There was no bleeding without a lipliner and was quite moisturizing for a lipstick. I didn't think it was drying at all. It was very comfortable on my lips. 

This item can be bought from Lord and Taylor or Nordstrom or online at either of those stores.