Drew Barrymore and Selma Blair: Strange Layers

I can't quite figure out the fashion sense that spawned Drew Barrymore and Selma Blair's outfits. Is it Pajamas Chic week in L.A.? Laundry-day-and-all-I've-got-is-80s leftovers? It's not that I've never left the house in my yoga pants, but there are ways to be comfy without looking like you just raided Britney Spears' closet.

Photos: Faded Youth Blog

Drew Barrymore and Selma Blair: Strange Layers

I can't quite figure out the fashion sense that spawned Drew Barrymore and Selma Blair's outfits. Is it Pajamas Chic week in L.A.? Laundry-day-and-all-I've-got-is-80s leftovers? It's not that I've never left the house in my yoga pants, but there are ways to be comfy without looking like you just raided Britney Spears' closet.

Photos: Faded Youth Blog

Drew Barrymore and Selma Blair: Strange Layers

I can't quite figure out the fashion sense that spawned Drew Barrymore and Selma Blair's outfits. Is it Pajamas Chic week in L.A.? Laundry-day-and-all-I've-got-is-80s leftovers? It's not that I've never left the house in my yoga pants, but there are ways to be comfy without looking like you just raided Britney Spears' closet.

Photos: Faded Youth Blog

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette looks like an eye shadow set. However, if you try using it the way you'd normally approach a Bobbi Brown or a Lancome  palette you will soon realize that these mostly dark colors with their intense pigment don't really work for a traditional highlighter-crease-liner look. Even the shimmery gold is too dark to highlight your brow bone, and using two or three of the palette's colors together is more likely to turn one into a reject goth.

So what's the story here? It's all in the name. This Chantecaille palette is really all about defining and contouring. The colors are dark gold with a very warm undertone, milk chocolate, an intense tealish blue, a very cool toned dark inky purple (no red in there, so it will not make one look bruised) and a dusty charcoal. Each one of them can work as an eyeliner, even the gold. You can use them dry as I did in the first swatch or apply with a damp brush for even more color intensity. Each color works perfectly on its own, and while you can always experiment  with layering and mixing, this is not the best palette for it- it's an opposite approach to Le Metier de Beaute's kits and kaleidoscopes and the final result is decidedly different, but no less fetching.

The textures are near perfect, as you'd expect from a Chantecaille product. The charcoal is the only color that had minor crumbling, but the debris is easy to clean and doesn't affect application or the finished look. The shadows/liners stay firmly in place and maintain the color integrity even when you blend and rub them for a softer look (see third swatch). The palette is sleek and elegant and the included eyeliner brush is of good quality and quite useful.

The one thing missing is either a real highlighter or a light neutral base color to make the look more polished. Some people actually prefer to only wear a strong eyeliner and leave the lids otherwise naked, but my opinion is that it works better on the very young, while the rest of us need a little more than that. Thus, I always have to use an extra eye shadow or two with my chosen color from this palette, making it less than ideal for travel and quick fixes.

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette ($68) is available from top department stores, online and in store. I bought mine from Neiman Marcus.

All photos by me. Finding them on other sites with no credit makes me cranky and also creative in finding ways to hunt and haunt content thieves. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette looks like an eye shadow set. However, if you try using it the way you'd normally approach a Bobbi Brown or a Lancome  palette you will soon realize that these mostly dark colors with their intense pigment don't really work for a traditional highlighter-crease-liner look. Even the shimmery gold is too dark to highlight your brow bone, and using two or three of the palette's colors together is more likely to turn one into a reject goth.

So what's the story here? It's all in the name. This Chantecaille palette is really all about defining and contouring. The colors are dark gold with a very warm undertone, milk chocolate, an intense tealish blue, a very cool toned dark inky purple (no red in there, so it will not make one look bruised) and a dusty charcoal. Each one of them can work as an eyeliner, even the gold. You can use them dry as I did in the first swatch or apply with a damp brush for even more color intensity. Each color works perfectly on its own, and while you can always experiment  with layering and mixing, this is not the best palette for it- it's an opposite approach to Le Metier de Beaute's kits and kaleidoscopes and the final result is decidedly different, but no less fetching.

The textures are near perfect, as you'd expect from a Chantecaille product. The charcoal is the only color that had minor crumbling, but the debris is easy to clean and doesn't affect application or the finished look. The shadows/liners stay firmly in place and maintain the color integrity even when you blend and rub them for a softer look (see third swatch). The palette is sleek and elegant and the included eyeliner brush is of good quality and quite useful.

The one thing missing is either a real highlighter or a light neutral base color to make the look more polished. Some people actually prefer to only wear a strong eyeliner and leave the lids otherwise naked, but my opinion is that it works better on the very young, while the rest of us need a little more than that. Thus, I always have to use an extra eye shadow or two with my chosen color from this palette, making it less than ideal for travel and quick fixes.

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette ($68) is available from top department stores, online and in store. I bought mine from Neiman Marcus.

All photos by me. Finding them on other sites with no credit makes me cranky and also creative in finding ways to hunt and haunt content thieves. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette looks like an eye shadow set. However, if you try using it the way you'd normally approach a Bobbi Brown or a Lancome  palette you will soon realize that these mostly dark colors with their intense pigment don't really work for a traditional highlighter-crease-liner look. Even the shimmery gold is too dark to highlight your brow bone, and using two or three of the palette's colors together is more likely to turn one into a reject goth.

So what's the story here? It's all in the name. This Chantecaille palette is really all about defining and contouring. The colors are dark gold with a very warm undertone, milk chocolate, an intense tealish blue, a very cool toned dark inky purple (no red in there, so it will not make one look bruised) and a dusty charcoal. Each one of them can work as an eyeliner, even the gold. You can use them dry as I did in the first swatch or apply with a damp brush for even more color intensity. Each color works perfectly on its own, and while you can always experiment  with layering and mixing, this is not the best palette for it- it's an opposite approach to Le Metier de Beaute's kits and kaleidoscopes and the final result is decidedly different, but no less fetching.

The textures are near perfect, as you'd expect from a Chantecaille product. The charcoal is the only color that had minor crumbling, but the debris is easy to clean and doesn't affect application or the finished look. The shadows/liners stay firmly in place and maintain the color integrity even when you blend and rub them for a softer look (see third swatch). The palette is sleek and elegant and the included eyeliner brush is of good quality and quite useful.

The one thing missing is either a real highlighter or a light neutral base color to make the look more polished. Some people actually prefer to only wear a strong eyeliner and leave the lids otherwise naked, but my opinion is that it works better on the very young, while the rest of us need a little more than that. Thus, I always have to use an extra eye shadow or two with my chosen color from this palette, making it less than ideal for travel and quick fixes.

Chantecaille Eye Define Palette ($68) is available from top department stores, online and in store. I bought mine from Neiman Marcus.

All photos by me. Finding them on other sites with no credit makes me cranky and also creative in finding ways to hunt and haunt content thieves. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Untitled No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz

The first perfume to cure me of an acute aversion to violet was surprisingly not Apre L'Ondee (my appreciation for the Guerlain masterpiece came a lot later) and not even Uncle Serge's Bois de Violette. Instead, it was Untitled No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz.

The Untitled Series is a Luckyscent/Scent Bar exclusive- a commissioned limited edition range by several prominent West Coast perfumers. Sarah Horowitz is the creator of Creative Scentualization. I like her work quite a bit, but always found the Creative Scentualization perfumes to be a bit safe or too close to other favorites. But the abstract Untitled No. 3 breaks the mold and feels like a purple and green adventure.

This is a perfume oil, thus the development feels more like a spiral. It goes round and round in several directions but stays close to the core of the yuzu and violet that balance each other perfectly. It's not a citrus scent and not really a floral. The sweet anchor of creamy sandalwood-amber-musk is a beautiful and satisfying backdrop for the violet. One might not expect it from these notes, but Untitled No. 3 is not powdery at all and not overly feminine. Men who don't categorically object to perfume oils and violet notes might find that their skin brings out the darker spicy wood-incense aspect and would enjoy it quite a bit.

The Untitled Series is limited to 125 bottles of each scent. No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz ($65, 8 ml) was released  in 2006 and still available from Scent Bar in Los Angeles and their online store Luckyscent. I bought it about three years ago and my bottle is still fresh and full of life.

Image: Violet Flight, fractal art by Vicky Brago-Mitchell

Untitled No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz

The first perfume to cure me of an acute aversion to violet was surprisingly not Apre L'Ondee (my appreciation for the Guerlain masterpiece came a lot later) and not even Uncle Serge's Bois de Violette. Instead, it was Untitled No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz.

The Untitled Series is a Luckyscent/Scent Bar exclusive- a commissioned limited edition range by several prominent West Coast perfumers. Sarah Horowitz is the creator of Creative Scentualization. I like her work quite a bit, but always found the Creative Scentualization perfumes to be a bit safe or too close to other favorites. But the abstract Untitled No. 3 breaks the mold and feels like a purple and green adventure.

This is a perfume oil, thus the development feels more like a spiral. It goes round and round in several directions but stays close to the core of the yuzu and violet that balance each other perfectly. It's not a citrus scent and not really a floral. The sweet anchor of creamy sandalwood-amber-musk is a beautiful and satisfying backdrop for the violet. One might not expect it from these notes, but Untitled No. 3 is not powdery at all and not overly feminine. Men who don't categorically object to perfume oils and violet notes might find that their skin brings out the darker spicy wood-incense aspect and would enjoy it quite a bit.

The Untitled Series is limited to 125 bottles of each scent. No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz ($65, 8 ml) was released  in 2006 and still available from Scent Bar in Los Angeles and their online store Luckyscent. I bought it about three years ago and my bottle is still fresh and full of life.

Image: Violet Flight, fractal art by Vicky Brago-Mitchell

Untitled No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz

The first perfume to cure me of an acute aversion to violet was surprisingly not Apre L'Ondee (my appreciation for the Guerlain masterpiece came a lot later) and not even Uncle Serge's Bois de Violette. Instead, it was Untitled No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz.

The Untitled Series is a Luckyscent/Scent Bar exclusive- a commissioned limited edition range by several prominent West Coast perfumers. Sarah Horowitz is the creator of Creative Scentualization. I like her work quite a bit, but always found the Creative Scentualization perfumes to be a bit safe or too close to other favorites. But the abstract Untitled No. 3 breaks the mold and feels like a purple and green adventure.

This is a perfume oil, thus the development feels more like a spiral. It goes round and round in several directions but stays close to the core of the yuzu and violet that balance each other perfectly. It's not a citrus scent and not really a floral. The sweet anchor of creamy sandalwood-amber-musk is a beautiful and satisfying backdrop for the violet. One might not expect it from these notes, but Untitled No. 3 is not powdery at all and not overly feminine. Men who don't categorically object to perfume oils and violet notes might find that their skin brings out the darker spicy wood-incense aspect and would enjoy it quite a bit.

The Untitled Series is limited to 125 bottles of each scent. No. 3 by Sarah Horowitz ($65, 8 ml) was released  in 2006 and still available from Scent Bar in Los Angeles and their online store Luckyscent. I bought it about three years ago and my bottle is still fresh and full of life.

Image: Violet Flight, fractal art by Vicky Brago-Mitchell

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics- Mineral Primer

I'm a primer fiend. If you're a regular reader you already know that (and you use one. Right? RIGHT?). A good primer create the smoothest base for everything that comes on top, allow you to use less foundation and get a better coverage and keep makeup looking fresh for long hours, even in extreme weather conditions (NYC in mid-August). Silicone-based face primers have become the standard and many companies offer one. They rarely vary, though some are thicker than others and all of them use some form of Dimethicone Crosspolymer as the main ingredient. The differences are in the minor additives and I've discovered that a few can be slightly pore-clogging.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics have their own primer, and looking at the list of ingredients it is, as they claim, chock-full of mineral and plant extracts. It's hard to say how much of it (if any) actually gets to work on my skin, but what I like about this Mineral Primer is that it actually feels lighter than than several other similar products I've been using. I wanted to take a photo comparing a drop of three or four silicone primers, but between my camera's limitations and my lack of skills I couldn't capture the difference. So you'll have to take my word for it- the Youngblood product looks the clearest and has the lightest texture. It doesn't affect performance, though. I still get the perfectly smooth canvas effect that works well with every foundation I've tried to use over it. Makeup stays vibrant and fresh from morning to night and I've not experienced any skin issues. Knowing that the primer is made of things like malachite extract, honeysuckle flower extract and also includes jojoba oil is just a bonus.

 Mineral Primer from Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics ($37.50) is available from Henri Bendel (highly recommended to visit the counter, where you can get some good advice and match the products to your needs) and from the comany's website, ybskin.com. I've been testing a sample that was a GWP and recently received a full-sized product directly from the company.

Photo of Princess Natalie Palie in Paris, 1937 from myvintagevogue.com

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics- Mineral Primer

I'm a primer fiend. If you're a regular reader you already know that (and you use one. Right? RIGHT?). A good primer create the smoothest base for everything that comes on top, allow you to use less foundation and get a better coverage and keep makeup looking fresh for long hours, even in extreme weather conditions (NYC in mid-August). Silicone-based face primers have become the standard and many companies offer one. They rarely vary, though some are thicker than others and all of them use some form of Dimethicone Crosspolymer as the main ingredient. The differences are in the minor additives and I've discovered that a few can be slightly pore-clogging.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics have their own primer, and looking at the list of ingredients it is, as they claim, chock-full of mineral and plant extracts. It's hard to say how much of it (if any) actually gets to work on my skin, but what I like about this Mineral Primer is that it actually feels lighter than than several other similar products I've been using. I wanted to take a photo comparing a drop of three or four silicone primers, but between my camera's limitations and my lack of skills I couldn't capture the difference. So you'll have to take my word for it- the Youngblood product looks the clearest and has the lightest texture. It doesn't affect performance, though. I still get the perfectly smooth canvas effect that works well with every foundation I've tried to use over it. Makeup stays vibrant and fresh from morning to night and I've not experienced any skin issues. Knowing that the primer is made of things like malachite extract, honeysuckle flower extract and also includes jojoba oil is just a bonus.

 Mineral Primer from Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics ($37.50) is available from Henri Bendel (highly recommended to visit the counter, where you can get some good advice and match the products to your needs) and from the comany's website, ybskin.com. I've been testing a sample that was a GWP and recently received a full-sized product directly from the company.

Photo of Princess Natalie Palie in Paris, 1937 from myvintagevogue.com

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics- Mineral Primer

I'm a primer fiend. If you're a regular reader you already know that (and you use one. Right? RIGHT?). A good primer create the smoothest base for everything that comes on top, allow you to use less foundation and get a better coverage and keep makeup looking fresh for long hours, even in extreme weather conditions (NYC in mid-August). Silicone-based face primers have become the standard and many companies offer one. They rarely vary, though some are thicker than others and all of them use some form of Dimethicone Crosspolymer as the main ingredient. The differences are in the minor additives and I've discovered that a few can be slightly pore-clogging.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics have their own primer, and looking at the list of ingredients it is, as they claim, chock-full of mineral and plant extracts. It's hard to say how much of it (if any) actually gets to work on my skin, but what I like about this Mineral Primer is that it actually feels lighter than than several other similar products I've been using. I wanted to take a photo comparing a drop of three or four silicone primers, but between my camera's limitations and my lack of skills I couldn't capture the difference. So you'll have to take my word for it- the Youngblood product looks the clearest and has the lightest texture. It doesn't affect performance, though. I still get the perfectly smooth canvas effect that works well with every foundation I've tried to use over it. Makeup stays vibrant and fresh from morning to night and I've not experienced any skin issues. Knowing that the primer is made of things like malachite extract, honeysuckle flower extract and also includes jojoba oil is just a bonus.

 Mineral Primer from Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics ($37.50) is available from Henri Bendel (highly recommended to visit the counter, where you can get some good advice and match the products to your needs) and from the comany's website, ybskin.com. I've been testing a sample that was a GWP and recently received a full-sized product directly from the company.

Photo of Princess Natalie Palie in Paris, 1937 from myvintagevogue.com

Kanebo Sensai The Lipstick (Hiwada 10)

It's quite a statement when a brand names one of it lipsticks The Lipstick, and once I tried The Lipstick from Sensai by Kanebo it was quite clear why they think it deserves the title. I find that the lipsticks I use the most are the ones that not only provide a gorgeous color and pretty shiny finish, but also keep my lips soft and moisturized throughout the day and would never ever end up as a leftover pigment on pruny looking lips.

This Kanebo Sensai lipstick offers one of the greatest textures you can find on the market. The rich pigment doesn't betray the fact that this is probably just as much a skincare product as a makeup item, which gives both immediate and lingering results. When I use the lipstick for a couple of consecutive days (hey, it happens), I see a difference in the level of plumpness and smoothness. I've been testing this lipstick for months now (the date on the earlier photos I took is from October) and it performed beautifully on the harshest winter days.

Hiwada is a very warm red.with a slightly orange-brown base. It's bold and dramatic and requires you to make sure your skin is in the smoothest, clearest shape possible (go for the whole shebang and don't skip anything: primer, foundation, concealer and light-diffusing powder). Keep the eye makeup minimal- mascara, eyeliner and nude-looking lids. Think of Dita Von Teese when she's off-stage and you'll get it right.

Bottom line: Red carpet-worthy.

Kanebo Sensai The Lipstick ($55) is available from Bergdorf Goodman online and in store and Neiman Marcus (online only). You can also order through the company's website and have a consultant call you to make sure you're getting the best product for you. The company's PR provided me with a free press sample.

All photos are mine. Model: Lizzy.

Kanebo Sensai The Lipstick (Hiwada 10)

It's quite a statement when a brand names one of it lipsticks The Lipstick, and once I tried The Lipstick from Sensai by Kanebo it was quite clear why they think it deserves the title. I find that the lipsticks I use the most are the ones that not only provide a gorgeous color and pretty shiny finish, but also keep my lips soft and moisturized throughout the day and would never ever end up as a leftover pigment on pruny looking lips.

This Kanebo Sensai lipstick offers one of the greatest textures you can find on the market. The rich pigment doesn't betray the fact that this is probably just as much a skincare product as a makeup item, which gives both immediate and lingering results. When I use the lipstick for a couple of consecutive days (hey, it happens), I see a difference in the level of plumpness and smoothness. I've been testing this lipstick for months now (the date on the earlier photos I took is from October) and it performed beautifully on the harshest winter days.

Hiwada is a very warm red.with a slightly orange-brown base. It's bold and dramatic and requires you to make sure your skin is in the smoothest, clearest shape possible (go for the whole shebang and don't skip anything: primer, foundation, concealer and light-diffusing powder). Keep the eye makeup minimal- mascara, eyeliner and nude-looking lids. Think of Dita Von Teese when she's off-stage and you'll get it right.

Bottom line: Red carpet-worthy.

Kanebo Sensai The Lipstick ($55) is available from Bergdorf Goodman online and in store and Neiman Marcus (online only). You can also order through the company's website and have a consultant call you to make sure you're getting the best product for you. The company's PR provided me with a free press sample.

All photos are mine. Model: Lizzy.

Kanebo Sensai The Lipstick (Hiwada 10)

It's quite a statement when a brand names one of it lipsticks The Lipstick, and once I tried The Lipstick from Sensai by Kanebo it was quite clear why they think it deserves the title. I find that the lipsticks I use the most are the ones that not only provide a gorgeous color and pretty shiny finish, but also keep my lips soft and moisturized throughout the day and would never ever end up as a leftover pigment on pruny looking lips.

This Kanebo Sensai lipstick offers one of the greatest textures you can find on the market. The rich pigment doesn't betray the fact that this is probably just as much a skincare product as a makeup item, which gives both immediate and lingering results. When I use the lipstick for a couple of consecutive days (hey, it happens), I see a difference in the level of plumpness and smoothness. I've been testing this lipstick for months now (the date on the earlier photos I took is from October) and it performed beautifully on the harshest winter days.

Hiwada is a very warm red.with a slightly orange-brown base. It's bold and dramatic and requires you to make sure your skin is in the smoothest, clearest shape possible (go for the whole shebang and don't skip anything: primer, foundation, concealer and light-diffusing powder). Keep the eye makeup minimal- mascara, eyeliner and nude-looking lids. Think of Dita Von Teese when she's off-stage and you'll get it right.

Bottom line: Red carpet-worthy.

Kanebo Sensai The Lipstick ($55) is available from Bergdorf Goodman online and in store and Neiman Marcus (online only). You can also order through the company's website and have a consultant call you to make sure you're getting the best product for you. The company's PR provided me with a free press sample.

All photos are mine. Model: Lizzy.

Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail

I have the same issue with the juice inside Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail bottle as I have with the packaging. I can't decide if it's cute or tacky. In both cases it's quite overdone, but I actually like it, except for the moment the perfume takes an over-sweet turn and for a brief minute or two makes me queasy as though I was  quickly descending down one of those too big and too modern theme park roller coasters. Then something else surfaces, a light woody incense note and the world stops spinning.

I'm not a huge fan of Lolita Lempicka fragrances and never found a reason to own any.The coral-colored box made me a bit suspicious that  Fleur de Corail was going to be a fruity mess, but the bottle inside is actually light blue (though that's hardly a recommendation. I like aquatic even less than I like generic fruity florals) and somewhat clashes with the box. But this is a Maurice Roucel creation, and that's a good enough reason to give Fleur de Corail a chance.

So, yes, it's sweet. An ambery vanilla with some spice: cinnamon and anise. There's a huge tropical thing going on there, frangipani flowers and orchids (vanilla orchid, according to OsMoz). While the opening and the initial development feel a bit dense and take up all the air around them (that's what causes my occasional stomach reaction. I'm usually pretty immune to syrupy sweetness), things lighten up later and I find myself really enjoying the drydown, including its sweet musky end tail. Maybe it's somewhat of a guilty pleasure, but I do find the composition quite unique.

Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail ($69, 1.7 oz) is available from Sephora.

Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail

I have the same issue with the juice inside Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail bottle as I have with the packaging. I can't decide if it's cute or tacky. In both cases it's quite overdone, but I actually like it, except for the moment the perfume takes an over-sweet turn and for a brief minute or two makes me queasy as though I was  quickly descending down one of those too big and too modern theme park roller coasters. Then something else surfaces, a light woody incense note and the world stops spinning.

I'm not a huge fan of Lolita Lempicka fragrances and never found a reason to own any.The coral-colored box made me a bit suspicious that  Fleur de Corail was going to be a fruity mess, but the bottle inside is actually light blue (though that's hardly a recommendation. I like aquatic even less than I like generic fruity florals) and somewhat clashes with the box. But this is a Maurice Roucel creation, and that's a good enough reason to give Fleur de Corail a chance.

So, yes, it's sweet. An ambery vanilla with some spice: cinnamon and anise. There's a huge tropical thing going on there, frangipani flowers and orchids (vanilla orchid, according to OsMoz). While the opening and the initial development feel a bit dense and take up all the air around them (that's what causes my occasional stomach reaction. I'm usually pretty immune to syrupy sweetness), things lighten up later and I find myself really enjoying the drydown, including its sweet musky end tail. Maybe it's somewhat of a guilty pleasure, but I do find the composition quite unique.

Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail ($69, 1.7 oz) is available from Sephora.