The NARS Trinity

Yes these are old news but when the news is sooo good I think its ok we talk about them again. 

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils!

These are the favorite matte lipsticks in my modest stash ( I use the word modest liberally as you might guess). They are long lasting, don't bleed, beautiful matte finish, super pigmented, dont make my lips feel like desert..I could go on and on.

The range is vast in color choice but as I wear red lip most often mine are all from that color family. However they are all "totally" different as you will see below.

So starting from the left we have the darkest of the trinity called Cruella (Link). Described as scarlet red by the brand this is "prepare to be seen" kind of lip color. Blue based deep red that is so "sexy" if that can be used as a color description. I would say this is a color not for the faint hearted. If rocking a red is your thing then this is a must have for fall-winter especially.

Next up is my latest addition and one I had been chasing for a while. Dragon Girl (Link) seems to be constantly sold out in various online stores so it was a long time coming. Boy was it worth the wait! Vivid siren red is how NARS describes it. This one is also blue based (we all know those are the best to make those pearly whites shine) but with strong pink undertones- a proper bright cherry red. The shade just lasts and lasts for a good 5-6h through the day. If I would describe Cruella as "sexy" then Dragon Girl would be my more "glam" option.

Lastly comes Red Square (Link) which was actually the lipstick that converted me into the red-lips-during-day-time business. I bought this years ago when visiting my sister in London and it was a random purchase to be honest. Little did I know it will start a whole red lipstick hording episode of my life. If someone asks for my favorite red lippy the first one that comes to mind is Red Square. Bright orange red is what the official description reads. I think this is such a day appropriate shade. Red Square is proper orange based warm-toned and pretty bright. I love that it isn't neon but more of a "retro" shade that makes me feel like a vintage vixen ( I have good imagination okay!)

L-R: Cruella, Dragon Girl, Red Square

So there we are. 

My favorite NARS reds all lined up for you. 

Have you tried the Velvet Mattes? Whats your favorite shade? 

Maybe I should be branching out from the red category?

New York Shopping List Makeup

So there is not long left til New York. We are talking less than a month and the excitement is real people!
I have been before since my sisters used to live there but its 3 years from the last trip to my favorite city and I miss it dearly.

Dont you worry the above products is just a few from the long long list I have been putting together. And in true Virgo style I have separate list for skincare and for lipsticks. I will of course not get everything on all the lists but I like knowing what I'm looking for. These 6 products have been on my mind for a while.

1. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation (Link)- I have never had this and I have always wanted it. I have chosen countries to live in poorly cause they often dont stock NARS and I'm scared to order online as I dont know which shade will work best. NARS is coming to Dubai in October but there is no way I can wait that long.

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz (Link)- It says you can define your ideal brow shape with Brow Wiz. I want to do that!

3. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hours Blush in Natural Beauty (Link)- I love the formula of this blush I have it in a nude pink shade called Exposed. Its so long lasting and I keep reaching for it over my other blushes. This rosy red shade is missing from my blush collection.

4. Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish in Dusty Rose (Link)- ohh I dont know. Its a foil finish eyeshadow that had a rose gold finish. Does it need more explanations?

5. Kat Von D Tattoo Liner (Link)- I love eyeliner and I use it most days of the week. Even if I dont feel like using eyeshadow a little eyeliner will often be there. I also love the videos of Claire Marshall from Hey Claire and she has raved about this liner numerous times. This is one of the first things that will go into my basket at the holy day that will be forever refereed to as The Visit to NYC Sephora.

6. NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Dione (Link)- Yeah lets just say one of the NARS stores in NYC is gonna get hit bad. You can believe me this is not the end of my NARS wishlist. But its high on the top of it. Based on swatches these new eyeshadows that you can use dry or wet look pretty amazing. 

 Me and my sisters are discussing of doing a little spa day in Mario Badescu and I am still not decided if I should focus my shopping on a new pair of shoes or a new handbag?

Also makeup wise please do suggest amazing you-must-buy-this products I should be looking out for while in New York? And is there anything on my list you have tried and it didn't impress you? 


Recommendations are highly appreciated. 

Get in my Closet Lipstick Edition 2

I am on a fast spiraling path of becoming a lipstick hoarder and I have no regrets. At least it is a product I use a lot(not like the weird crazy eyeshadow shades I buy convincing myself I will SURELY start rocking an orange or a green look!). The ever growing lipstick wishlist is getting ridiculous so I thought I will show you the most wanted beauties. (You can see the first edition of Get In My Closet here).
 

Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Colour in Incandescente-this is a hot tomato red from the reformulated Rouge Allure collection and I'm dying to try it. I love the original Rouge Allure but this one promises to a bit more hydrating. My current reds collection is mostly blue toned true reds so this warm punchy option is much "needed". I fell in love with it in 2sec when I saw it on Keira Knightley in this post.

Kevyn Aucoin The Matte Lip Color in Forever- First of all I have never tried anything from Kevyn Aucoin and secondly it looks like an awesome pink shade (I have come to this conclusion after looking at numerous swatches online). It promises to be velvety and nourishing matte lipstick so whats not to like.

Clinique Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick in Matte Mandarin- this one has been making the rounds on beauty blogs lately and everyone has only good things to say about the formula. In my mind I have already decided that Mandarin will be mine in the next few days. It does seem like a perfect orange and as mentioned before I'm a bit obsessed with orange lip lately. I have high hopes to cross this one off the list asap.

Nars Semi Matte Lipstick in Schiap- a shocking fuchsia pink if there ever was one. Its no surprise this shade belongs to the top selling list of Nars. Its a special kind of bright and wearing shades like that makes me feel all "try and stop me" confident. I think it will be purchased on the NYC trip in August cause there is no way I can wait til November which is when Nars finally comes back to Dubai.

Tom Ford in Wild Ginger- this one already made the cut in last Lipstick Edition and it is still there at the very top of my list. The orange based red that mesmerizes me again and again. I just haven't been able to part with the pile of cash needed to get it.
 

Do you have any of these shades? I would like to know if maybe some on the list are not worth it? Or am I right and I need them all...

New in from Clinique and a FOTD

I have picked up two little things from Clinique that I really wanted to share with you guys. 

As both of them are fairly boring (foundation primer and concealer) I figured throwing in a FOTD might spruce thing up a bit. I mean they are both great products contributing to a smooth base and whats more important that flawless complexion to layer on your less boring bits like eyeshadow and lipstick.

Newcomers are the Clinique Superprimer Universal Face Primer and Airbrush Concealer.

Few words about the primer first. Clinique Superprimer range has all kinds of color correcting options but I picked up the basic one. The one that promises to smooth and prep skin and help the foundation last longer. This water based Superprimer mainly caught my attention because silicone based primers give me the heebie-jeebies. In short conclusion the Universal Superprimer is great. It does what is says and I can see that the foundation looks so much more smooth and even. It totally blurs the smaller pores and I have been enjoying it daily. Great all around product to have.

I have only good words about the Clinique Airbrush Concealer as well. I would even say its not great but a fantastic one, especially if you have dark circles. Its creamy but doesn't settle in fine lines, its light weight but brightens any shadows super easily. I have been devoted to YSL Touche Eclat for years and I must say this one might be better on the days you need more coverage and it still manages to give you that luminous light reflection. Totally love it!

On the rest of my face you can find the Laura Mercier Mineral Powder. Still cant get over how amazing this mineral powder is. Once again have to admit Laura knows what she is talking about as she was the one constantly telling me I need this in my life. My go-to for the days I am looking for light base.

Smashbox Bronze Lights bronzer in Suntan Matte (applied with Real Techniques contour brush I love so so much). I have also rekindled my relationship with NARS Orgasm blush.

Now moving on to the eyes I wanted to play around with my Mac Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Bordeauxline. I covered the lids with Burberry Pale Barley which is such a nothing-special-yet-so-amazing eyeshadow. I really like it either as a base color or just an all around everyday shade. I then lined my eyes with Bordeauxline and smudged it out, added some more and smudged it out again. Its just as soft and neutral as my daily eye makeup usually but the purple really brings out green eyes.

Lipstick is the ever so dreamy Tom Form Spanish Pink. Seriously if you are looking for a nude peachy amazing lipstick just dont buy the 3 Mac ones you were thinking of and save up for this one. Its so worth the money and Im happy I have it. 

Hope you are well and cant wait to talk to you tomorrow again! Also I would really appreciate if you could drop me a comment which posts are your favorite? Outfit or FOTD or nail polish? I would love to include more of whatever it is you like. xxx

Meet my new friends Mekong & Gina

I read a lot of blogs. That means I see at least 20 things every day that I simply MUST buy.

Most of them I don't and soon I will forget about it. But once in a while there is a gem that gets stuck in my mind. When Simone posted a photo of Mekong eyeshadow by Nars on her Instagram I literally gasped and rushed to look at some swatches online. I mean it was brown and it has golden specks and it was just sooo beautiful..

The teeeny tiny problem remained. Nars is not sold in Dubai. Until by accident I found out that you can order some of Nars products on Glambox.me site. I could not believe this information had passed me and I decided to remedy the situation. First into the basket went Mekong of course.

 Mekong is described as an “Espresso infused with gold” on the NARS website, and I have to say thats exactly what it is. Its a dirty brown but also has deep black undertone. And we are talking pigmented like nobodies business. I did do some googling before ordering it as I was worried the gold specks will look like glitter on my eyelids. In reality they don’t translate to the eyes as much as they appear in the pan. I have used it smudged into the lash line for day time but really cant wait to play around with it for a smokey eye look.

Now I had added Mekong to the shopping basket and should have called it a night but the uncontrollable shopping addiction kicked in. I felt like..well I cant just order one tiny eyeshadow if I'm already ordering. That would just be wrong wouldn't it. Specially as I have just found a way to have Nars delivered home to me. I knew I wanted a peach toned blush however felt totally overwhelmed having the choose without testing it in real life. When facing a problem like that there is only one solution. I texted my make up guru "i-know-every-shade-of-every-brand-ever" genius friend Laura who helped me narrow it down to Gina.

Me and Gina will become close friends in the next few months. She is ever so lovely! The color is not vibrate or intense but a pretty muted butter soft orange/peach tone. I love that it has no glitter or sheen, I didnt own anything like that in my blush collection. It also has no pink undertones. What you see in the pan translate to the skin pretty accurately.

Oh yeah and Zulu is becoming a regular beauty expert as well! That Gina will bring out her green eyes just perfectly dont you think..

Get in my Closet Lipstick Edition

My lipsticks are mainly berry tones.. there is variety from dark to fuchsia and many other pinks in between. Pink/berry tones are my comfort zone.I have gotten a bit bored with all of them so currently I'm lusting over reds and nudes. This is my wish list:


Chanel #99 Pirate -a long wearing full coverage satin finish. I keep picking it up whenever I snoop around the Chanel counter. Its a blue red and makes your teeth look whiter than white.Basically its a classic and I kind of need it.

Nars Dragon Girl- Now these Nars Matte Lip Pencils are my favorite matte lip product ever.In the world. I absolutely adore my Red Square and Cruella so Dragon Girl just seems like a nice addition to the family. They don't sell Nars in Dubai so I have never gotten to try it on. This promises to be another blue toned red.

Tom Ford Wild Ginger- this one is swoon worthy. I mean firstly I don't own any TF lipsticks yet and I so so wish I did. The luxury point aside this color is just amazing! The previous two are classic reds but this beauty is orange based however on lips its much redder than in the tube. Its a proper bold and bright color and I'm mesmerized by it. I mean like I could stare at it for hours kind of mesmerized..

Mac Peach Blossom- I have yet to try this one on as the counter at mac said their tester had been stolen (this really must be a killer good lipstick!!) But I have seen it on various blogs and it seems a pretty peachy nude thats not too beige.

Tom Ford Spanish Pink- I have saved the best for last. This is actually the one Im lusting over the most. Let me be honest I didn't even notice it at theTF  counter but then Laura wrote about it and I got to try hers recently. I mean WOW. This is such a stunning color once on the lips. Its something else I tell you..


So yeah..I need new lipsticks. I think I will reward myself with at least two from the list soon. I have created this rewarding thing in my head by the way. Its not just buying a new thing its rewarding. Things I have rewarded myself in the past for include eating salad for lunch three days in a row or making it to crossfit more than twice in a week etc.. you get the point. Its the little things.


Anyway..Do you own any of the above? Is there one I totally should not waste money on?