Still Crazy About Mad Men (and Estée Lauder)

First, I waited for what felt like forever for the fifth season of Mad Men to come out. Then, I was a little disappointed that it just wasn't as saucy as it had been in the past. Now, with only two episodes left. I'm back to the edge of my seat. Well, I am pretty excited to see what happens next.

Mad Men is a fun show to watch just to see how Janie Bryant, costumer designer, dresses all of my favourite characters. It was Christina Hendricks' figure hugging dresses have made me feel more confident about rocking my own curves. I feel that everyone can use a little Mad Men inspiration in their wardrobe.

Banana Republic did a collaboration with the show and designed some really neat pieces, but I was more excited by the Estée Lauder collection that came out back in March.

There are only two pieces to it, but much to love about 'em.

A Tiny Tube of Cherry Lipstick

Yes, the tube is tiny, but I love that Estée Lauder made the point of putting it in the same that the company used in the 1960's. Tubes of lipstick were just that small and that's OK, it packs quite a punch. The Cherry Lipstick ($25) goes on nice and smooth. It has quite a bit of colour to it was still having an element of sheer. It is a comfortable red for me, since I still shy away from colourful lips (most of the time).

Compact of Creme Rouge

This Creme Rouge blush in Evening Rose ($40) accompanies the lipstick perfectly. The pinky red shade is a nice basic blush shade to use for nearly anything. It is easy to apply with a brush as easy to blend with your fingers. The compact is the only piece of the twofer that has Mad Men embossed on it showing that it belongs to a particular collection.

I'm still very happy with these pieces. They will definitely keep me occupied long enough while I wait for Season 6.

The First Part of My MAC Hey, Sailor!

I don't necessarily need another new face powder, but this one certainly caught my eye. I like striped and colours, so of course I will like this Highlight Powder ($29). Now that I have it in my hand, I am surprised that it is so big! In all the pictures I had seem, I had assumed that it was just a little bit bigger than an eye shadow. I am already feeling the value in this purchase.

Here is it up close. So pretty!

Here is To Catch a Sailor ($15.50). I like that it has a shimmer to it. The MAC associate told me to use foundation over my lip to ensure that I create a purely nude lip (with shimmer). I think this lipstick can also be used to add something to almost any other matter lip colour.

Here's me highlighted and with To Catch a Sailor. I have more that is on its way. I can't wait to write all about it.

An Old Friend with Benefit

Coming from San Francisco I thought everyone knew about Benefit Cosmetics. Up here in Seattle Benefit is around, but not a household name like back home, but it should be. To help spread the benefit love, here are a couple of my favourites.

Dallas Face Powder ($28), a dusty rose.

Coralista Face Powder ($28), a corally pink. My Box is well loved.

He'res Coralista going on. I love the natural fiber brush that is including with every box. It's pretty darn handy. Also, I apologize for my pesky blemishes that have decided to pop up.

I will have much more on smokey eye come June 3rd, but here is Benefit's Smokin' Eye's set ($36). It's a whole set with instructions! Unfortunately, my little sister still can't figure out the smokey eye after I got this for her.

Here's just a quick show of the Smokin' Eyes. 

Here are some swatches of the Face Powder and three of the Ultra Shine Lip Shines ($18). Life on the A List is a nice bubble gum pink with a little sparkle, Who Are You Wearing is a pretty passion fruit pink, and Back to the Fuchsia is a very sparkly fuchsia (as the name would suggest).

The Benefit brand is all about having fun while making yourself pretty. It is a great product and feels light when going on. If you haven't already had a chance to place with it, it is definitely worth checking out.

Short Hiatus

...scoping around for new material and waiting for others to arrive.

The Routine

I personally believe that my beauty routine is very important to me. At one unfortunate point, it was not. I used to think nothing of a clean, healthy, exfoliated face, but then I wised up and learn to at least wash it once in a while. Too bad that's not enough. I knew I needed to start using some product. After my introduction to Borghese's Fango I needed more. I invested in a few things and received some testers for others. I had to have been on the right path since the cosmetics manager at Bloomingdale's started complimenting me on my skin.

It is a bare (bear) necessity to have a routine that you can stick to. It's ok to slip up here or there. I certainly do, but I know my skin will make me pay for it the next day.

Over the years I feel like I have tried enough products to know what works with my skin. I am, however, always looking for ways to improve what I already have. I like hearing about what other products everyone else uses and why. Maybe, I might come across something even better.

With that, I will share my current routine and why I like it so much for me.

I need to start out with a nice clean face, of course. Most mornings I use Sisley's Cleansing Milk with White Lily ($118). All I have left is my GWP sized bottle to photograph (these littles seriously last forever, about 3 months). It is normally for dry or sensitive skin, but I like it because if I washed my face and had an absolute emergency my face wouldn't feel tight or dry at all without any moisturizer.

For days that my face is feeling a little more icky (or if it has just been awhile) I will exfoliate. I use Borghese's Esfoliante Delicato ($27). Since there is no Borghese up here (and because I want to give it a try) I have ExfoliKate Gentle ($65) for when that runs out. I am curious to see how the two match up.

Now it's time to tone and moisturize. I found out that some things are just worth it (well, to me). The first splurge I made into high end skin care was the La Prarie Marine Biology Tonic ($95). If you didn't already know, I raved about it in "Nearly a Decade of Eyes." I love how it makes my face feel like a big puff of oxygen just hit it. It's like, "bam" and my skin is awake. I was told from the La Prarie rep that a little goes a long way, and it certainly does. One bottle lasts nearly a whole year with regular use.

My face has never felt better since I started using Moisturizing Cream with Cucumber from Sisley ($170). Also first mentioned in "Nearly a Decade of Eyes." This facial cream is so great, even the Mr. noticed a difference in my skin. That's really saying a lot too.

After that, primer and make up. Whew, what a day. Time to take it all off. I used to be so lazy with removing my makeup at night. Then, a friend recommended the MAC Facial Wipes ($28 for 100). They're awesome and now even after a night partying (not that I do that too much anymore) all I have to do is pull out a wipe and well... wipe.

While I'm in there taking off all my makeup, I might as well throw on some Bobbi Brown Hydrating Intense Night Cream ($60). It goes on well and when I wake up again, my skin still feels nice. I will admit that there is a night cream I do like better, but I hate wastefulness so I'm going to use up my Bobbi Brown first. It is the Sisley Botanical Night Cream with Collagen and Woodmallow ($195). It feels so much lighter on my face when going to bed, but it will be a beauty splurge when my current cream runs out.

I don't always need the most expensive product just to be happy. For my eyes I love my Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream ($46). My eye cream has to work like an MVP because I have a problem with never getting enough sleep. A good eye cream makes it so I have less baggage to conceal in the morning. The nice thing about this eye cream is that I can use it night and day. I will put a little tiny bit on my lids while getting ready in the morning and it will help to act as a base for my eyeshadow to prevent creasing.

There we have it. A routine. My skin may not be anywhere close to perfect but it's current the best it has ever been. I do still get a pimple here and there. With that, take note that whenever you are changing skin care creams and things, breakouts can occur as your skin is adjusting to the new product.

NARS Summer 2012

Finally I have enough pieces to have a dedicated post about the NARS Summer collection.

This is probably all that I will be getting from the entire collection. What I have here is the

Nail Polish in Trouville ($18)

Never Say Never Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($24)

Eyeshadow Trio in Ramatuelle ($45)

Blush in Liberté ($28).

What I am missing out on is

Eyeshadow Duo in Marie-Galante ($34), which might be too adventurous for my eyes

Sheer Lipstick in Vengandges ($24), it seems way too deep for my face

Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Buenos Aries ($24), it seems so similar to a Bobbi Brown shade I have 

Soft Touch Pencil in Calabria ($24), also a little adventurous for me

Pure Matte Lipstick in Moscow ($25), which I might still get

The pieces I chose really come straight out of the collection's campaign photo with Ginta Lapina. It's a perfect summer look.

Here I wore the Bobbi Brown lipstick where Ginta is wearing Buenos Aries in the picture. 

Sorry for the blurry picture, but here you can kind of see everything put together. 

I love these colours together. This will be my new look.

Here I switched over to the Never Say Never Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. I love it, although only when I'm feeling brave enough for a cranberry lip (more here).

Swatches!

I'm getting so much better. You can already tell that I have been utilizing my Trouville (more here). 

Chanel's Dee-light

I haven't had much play with Chanel Cosmetics, but their Summer 2012 Collection was looking mighty interesting. One particular "Vernis" has been popular around my parts. So popular, it was sold out. That's fine, I'll wait. Then, one day while walking through the cosmetics department I asked the Chanel Rep, just maybe it had come back in. No, but she did spot one around. We found it and my day was made.

It goes on so easy and smooth and when it hits the light just right you can see just a hint of pink. This is a great summer addition. I'm glad I finally got my hands on it.