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Notes from the Editors of The Lipstick Page Forums: A Dedication to the Art of Beauty and Fashion.
· Blog Home · Profile · FAQ/TOS On This Page · Nars Collections 2003 to 2004 · Nars Spring 2008: Shanghai Lily · Beauty Notes: What I've been into, lately #2 · More Nars & other porn... · Another handy source of Nars and other porn... · NARS: The Consummate Stocking Stuffer · Nars Holiday 2007: Siren Song · Beauty Notes: What I've been into, lately · Beauty Notes: Mom Makeup: The Early Years · Beauty Notes: Mom Makeup · The perfect blush: then and now · Beauty Notes: Chanel Moiré lipstick part 2 · Major Nars blush porn link · Nars Fall 2007: Modern Odyssey · Eye makeup for green eyes: then and now · Nars Jezebel Duo Eyeshadow, plus a link to some nice Nars "porn" · Nars The Multiple in Malibu · Sephora Emeryville review · Nars duo eyeshadow ponderings... · Closing in on a signature lipstick · Stash musings · Finally, Nars Summer 2007 has been sighted, Net-wise... · Ever bought a beauty product purely for its shade name? · Nars Summer 2007, brief commentary · Cosmetics ennui · Favorite "high end" beauty products · MAC Strawberry Blonde lipstick · Beauty breakthroughs Comments · January 18, 2008 4:31 PM by Dain · January 18, 2008 4:57 PM by Colleen Shirazi · January 18, 2008 8:54 PM by Dain · January 19, 2008 3:28 PM by Dain · January 20, 2008 1:53 PM by Colleen Shirazi · January 1, 2008 9:42 PM by Dain · January 3, 2008 11:17 PM by Colleen Shirazi · November 7, 2007 3:14 PM by Dain · November 7, 2007 5:13 PM by Dain · November 7, 2007 11:49 PM by Colleen Shirazi · October 25, 2007 3:35 PM by Dain · August 13, 2007 7:16 PM by Dain · August 13, 2007 8:41 PM by Colleen Shirazi · August 10, 2007 8:18 PM by Dain · August 10, 2007 8:35 PM by cmm · August 10, 2007 8:47 PM by Colleen Shirazi · August 11, 2007 7:46 AM by cmm · August 11, 2007 8:25 PM by Colleen Shirazi · July 22, 2007 11:23 PM by Dain · July 23, 2007 12:18 AM by Colleen Shirazi · June 20, 2007 6:44 AM by Dain · June 20, 2007 6:45 AM by Dain · June 20, 2007 1:06 PM by Colleen Shirazi · June 3, 2007 8:36 AM by cmm · June 3, 2007 9:49 PM by Colleen Shirazi Archives · Beauty Blog (2003-2004) · Fashion Blog (archive) · New Releases Blog (archive) · Beauty Articles (archive) · April 2005 · May 2005 · June 2005 · July 2005 · August 2005 · September 2005 · October 2005 · November 2005 · December 2005 · January 2006 · February 2006 · March 2006 · April 2006 · May 2006 · June 2006 · July 2006 · August 2006 · September 2006 · October 2006 · November 2006 · December 2006 · January 2007 · February 2007 · March 2007 · April 2007 · May 2007 · June 2007 · July 2007 · August 2007 · September 2007 · October 2007 · November 2007 · December 2007 · January 2008 · February 2008 · March 2008 · April 2008 · May 2008 · June 2008 · July 2008 · August 2008
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Nars Collections 2003 to 2004 Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Monday, January 28, 2008 6:45 PM (Eastern) Nars Raw Glamour - Fall 2003 Nars Flirtatious Fantasy - Spring 2004 Nars Tropical Heat Wave - Summer 2004 These are from our now-defunct New Releases blog, and are included here for reference purposes. Labels: nars, nars collections
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Nars Spring 2008: Shanghai Lily Posted by Colleen Shirazi, 6:34 PM (Eastern) ![]() Labels: nars, nars collections Beauty Notes: What I've been into, lately #2 Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Friday, January 18, 2008 3:14 PM (Eastern) I think we need a label for this, somehow...a blend of favorite things and Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida at a Drive-Thru. Anyhow. Shall we commence? Ava Luxe Voyage earrings ![]() I'm not affiliated with Ava Luxe, I should mention. I just like her stuff. Here I thought this was beautiful, a binary combination of kyanite and labradorite, strung on karat gold. Sometime I will do something similarly binary...I can't wear 14KT gold earrings, but I'm hoping someone will come up with a wearable golden leverback cheaper than 18KT gold. mumbles... ![]() Here is my own stuff. Less spectacular for sure, but keep in mind, there can be a difference between making something to wear, and making something to sell. With the emphasis on "can be." It's been on my mind lately, because I tend to acquire less for the sake of owning something beautiful, and more for that of owning something useful. Sometimes the twain meet, oh, take this for example: ![]() I've gotten the most mileage from Island Fever (far right). In the pan: a gorgeous shimmery sea blue shade, plus a medium shimmery iridescent grey. It should be pretty, but useless; something you bought on a whim because it looked nice. But it isn't useless by far. The blue shade, applied very lightly, is the most natural, unobtrusive shadow I own. It shouldn't work but it does. Hence, the Ava Luxe earrings could well correspond to this concept. Bright and pretty, but potentially utile as well. My little hoops (these are the most conservative earrings I've made thus far) would be more like this: ![]() Nars Mambo, the unsung eyepencil. I paid $19 for you at Sephora, and momentarily felt a complete idiot; you can buy a perfectly decent deep brown eyepencil at Longs Drugs for four bucks. Then I started using you. Mambo is deep brown, yet possesses hints of purple and red--making it subtly ideal for green or blue eyes, and making it go with everything. Thereby replacing brown, purple, and bronze pencils for me. No, you don't swatch particularly well, but on, you are a minor genius. ![]() The Scented Salamander follows up on the Bond No. 9/Liz Zorn Perfumes story: Trademark Questions Over The Use Of The Word "Peace" / Q & A with Laurice Rahme of Bond No.9, Liz Zorn of Liz Zorn Perfumes, & Sarah Horowitz -Thran of Creative Scentualization Dwelling in lawyer-infested California, I suspect the entire thing was less of a shock to me. And I found some people seemed to turn it into a girl-on-girl fight--not good for business, for either party. Oh well. I see Zorn has some samples on her site; you might want to check them out. ![]() And finally, for your perusal--Michelle Phan, aka RiceBunny, demos the aspirin mask (here with honey): RiceBunny's Xanga Site - Aspirin = Beautiful Skin No, I'm not into this myself. I'm far too lazy. But the idea of using aspirin and honey as a mask makes perfect logical sense. You are exfoliating. Exfoliating is good. Have a great weekend! Labels: alchemist's apprentice, ava luxe, bond no. 9, eyes, indie, internet, jewelry, nars, natural beauty, perfume, skin
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More Nars & other porn... Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Tuesday, January 01, 2008 12:30 AM (Eastern) Happy New Year! I'm not exactly sure what attracts me to Nars. I seldom feel like buying a lot of it...because...I just don't. It's well to be judicious about an expensive brand; a few carefully-chosen items from such a brand will be cheaper, over the long run, than quantities of less expensive makeup, even at a lower overall cost: the better stuff works better. But you will lose that edge if you acquire many expensive items. Then it becomes the same as buying masses of cheaper stuff, except...you'll be way more broke. And yet...I really like Nars porn. (There are some other brands there too, such as YSL, Bobbi Brown, Majorica Majorca, et cetera.) There's something a bit touching about someone carefully setting out their Nars and taking tender photographs of it. If I'm honest I'll admit I don't like makeup porn in general, only Nars (and you will note I don't link to makeup porn in general). Anyhow enough preamble, bring it on! http://nyarorin.at.webry.info
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Another handy source of Nars and other porn... Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 9:13 PM (Eastern) Nars Duo Eye ShadowThis site contains various other brands of makeup porn including something called Lunasol (owned by Kanebo?), Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, Shu Uemura, Sisley, and sundry other brands. I linked to the page above because that's what I was looking for... Here's the previous one for your reference. Major Nars blush porn link image courtesy www.narscosmetics.com NARS: The Consummate Stocking Stuffer Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Thursday, December 06, 2007 3:02 PM (Eastern) So you want to snag a lil' something for your best girl's stocking this year. And you're thinking: "I have no idea what to get. What if she hates it?" Enter the makeup palette, which performs for cosmetics what perfume samples do for fragrance. You give your gal a whole bunch of options, the opportunity to try various shades of this or that, at her leisure. The key is to choose a good brand, a universal brand even, so that some of the shades are bound to work. ![]() Here is the whompin' Nars Artist Palette. $60 at Sephora.com Palette includes eye shadows in India Song (soft butter yellow with a hint of shimmer), Night Star (sheer peach with gold pearls), Night Clubbing (black with gold pearls), Ondine (plum with gold shimmer); The Multiple in Copacabana (glistening pearl) and Malibu (pinkish brown); and lipstick in Honolulu Honey (satin flesh toned beige), Dolce Vita (sheer dusty rose), Gipsy (sheer warm berry), and Trans Siberian (semi matte ruby rose). On a personal note, this palette contains several shades I've been meaning to try since forever, plus one shade that is my holy grail blush (the Malibu). ![]() The Fame lipstick palette $65 at narscosmetics.com (scroll down some) contains a full dozen shades of lipstick in a range of hues. For a more compact, red-oriented lip palette, consider the Nars Hot Sauce palette $30 at Sephora.com: ![]() Palette includes lip colors in Tobago (sheer warm taupe-grape with soft shimmer), Dolce Vita (sheer dusty rose), Gipsy (sheer, warm berry), Catfight (semi matte nude-rose), Flair (sheer burnished berry), and Captiva (sheer currant). If all of these seem a bit too practical to you, you might go for something more luxe and sensual (not a bad idea this time of year), such as the Nars Body Glow set $98 at Sephora.com (also available on the narscosmetics.com site): ![]() "In the tradition of French Polynesia, Monoï de Tahiti oil is the result of macerating the native Tiare flower (Tahitian gardenia) in refined coconut extract for at least ten days, a process that slowly infuses the oil with Tiare's delicate, natural fragrance." The set includes a bronzed version of the oil, to rekindle the heat of summer (sighs), and an untinted oil containing an authentic tiare flower. (You'll note either bottle may be purchased individually as well.) Finally, if she's already pretty Nars-savvy, you'll want to skip the palettes, and maybe even the body oils, and get straight to the Nars e-Gift Certificate (available in denominations of $50, $100 and $200): ![]() Labels: bath and body, eyes, face, gift guide, lips, nars Nars Holiday 2007: Siren Song Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Wednesday, November 07, 2007 2:24 PM (Eastern) ![]() ![]() Labels: nars, nars collections
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Beauty Notes: What I've been into, lately Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Thursday, October 25, 2007 3:07 PM (Eastern) ![]() Nars Mambo eyepencil. I haven't felt like wearing eyeshadow, much, so eyeliner is key (and faster to put on, anyway). I had three liners back in August of this year, and found I reached for this liner more and more, to the point I tossed the other two (which were getting old) without needing to replace them. ![]() Dr. Hauschka lip products. I wouldn't have guessed these would be so good (no offense, but I always thought of Dr. Hauschka as the skincare guys, not the color cosmetics guys). It makes logical sense though, if you think of lip products as (tinted) skincare for lips. ![]() Nars The Multiple in Malibu. This is really useless as a multiple-purpose product, at least this shade is. It's too dry to use as lipstick, and mediocre as eyeshadow. But it's my ideal shade of warm-toned bronzed-rose blush, wearable year-round. ![]() Montale perfumes. These are so strong, I spray some in the palm of my hand and apply it that way. Perhaps the perfect cure for ephemeral scents, and the ordinary. 24 - Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida at a Drive-Thru 24. If you've watched this show even once (or eaten at an In 'n' Out), you'll immediately recognize the references in this parody. If you haven't, I would highly recommend both! Labels: beauty notes, dr. hauschka, eyes, face, lips, montale, nars, perfume, tv
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Beauty Notes: Mom Makeup: The Early Years Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Tuesday, August 28, 2007 1:16 PM (Eastern) Hm. Last night, after I published Mom Makeup, I realized that was "old Mom Makeup," and that the average new Mom would probably burst out laughing at the idea of having time to wear eyeshadow, so... ![]() The top row is what I considered necessary (actually minus the blush, since I didn't own it back then): sunscreen (here it is tinted) and powder (because I have oily skin). Eyepencil is the quickest way to look as if you bothered, so you will need at least one good eyepencil. Lipstick is something you can put on in the car (not while driving obviously, I never really got that). In fact to this day, I keep the lipstick I'm using in my purse, in a mirrored case like these: ![]() There are some years when you will need to get by on the items you consider bare necessities. These items have to work, since you won't have time to fuss with them. I never bought into the notion that a woman suddenly becomes a different creature when she gives birth. Don't give up your makeup, or the concept that you're still entitled to looking good, but do hone your routine to fit into the time you have. Labels: beauty notes, dr. hauschka, mac cosmetics, nars Beauty Notes: Mom Makeup Posted by Colleen Shirazi, 1:08 AM (Eastern) ![]() Along with Mom Clothes, there should be Mom Makeup. I already had one of my kids, and was pregnant with the second, back when I discovered beauty messageboards. Part of my makeup quest has always involved time. Quick application, minimal touch-ups or fuss...minimal shopping. Something affordable, both in terms of money and of time. Here is a quick collage of the makeup I wore today. Top row, left to right:
Bottom row, left to right:
Labels: beauty notes, dr. hauschka, mac cosmetics, nars The perfect blush: then and now Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Monday, August 13, 2007 1:41 PM (Eastern) Then: The Lipstick Page Forums Beauty & Fashion Blog: The perfect blush Now: Hm. I agree with Dain, that blush should be regarded as a foundation product, rather than as a color cosmetic. It's true you can create entirely different looks using different blushes, and if you employ a wide variety of lip colors, you might want a few blushes to coordinate with these (warm blush with warm lip, cool blush with cool lip, delicate blush with red lip), but the word is "might." You might not want to, or need to, if you have already found the perfect blush. ![]() I love this blush! It's Nars The Multiple in Malibu. Note how it works with the different lipsticks (left to right): Chanel Moiré, MAC Strawberry Blonde, and MAC Sophisto. I could have gone through the bother of coordinating blush with lipstick, but there's really no need to. I have never found a drugstore blush that could do what a spendier one does, although there are good drugstore blushes. L'Oreal tends to make good ones...they're not as complex as their Lancôme counterparts, with less, but still respectable, staying power. Jane used to make good blushes too but I haven't tried the "new new" Jane...the original brand produced some excellent blushes, then blushes with utter mediocrity, like half an hour's worth of lasting power; now I have no idea. Milani was another shooting star of the drugstore blush world, with their beauty-board "lemmings" of Luminous and Mango Tango blushes. Now I understand they've tanked their blushes in favor of a bronzer-blush duo (with the bronzer outranking the blush). Luminous lives on--I believe it was the only one Milani kept, albeit in bronzer-blush form--as the famous look-alike to Nars Orgasm blush. Imo there is no easy way to choose a blush. I went through a lot of beauty advice rigamarole, such as going for a peach blush (my coloring is on the warm side), or rose, or mauve, or...? You really have to try some on. Ultimately what worked for me was a complex blend of rose, the slight warmth of peach (the defunct Lancôme Rose Charmant) or bronze (the Malibu), slightly muted but not too brown. A definite base of rose, not red, peach, pink or brown. Labels: chanel, face, jane cosmetics, l'oreal, lancome, mac cosmetics, milani, nars
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Beauty Notes: Chanel Moiré lipstick part 2 Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Friday, August 10, 2007 5:45 PM (Eastern) ![]() Okay, I give up. It's not that plummy. To my eye it seems plummy, but it's more rose than plum. I also have Nars Jezebel, Mambo and Malibu on in this pic, and my hair is completely wet. Happy Friday! Labels: beauty notes, chanel, eyes, lips, nars
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Major Nars blush porn link Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Wednesday, August 08, 2007 2:54 AM (Eastern) my NARS blush collection The blog itself is in Chinese (drat!): http://blog.pixnet.net/snowkei Nars Fall 2007: Modern Odyssey Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Tuesday, August 07, 2007 2:08 PM (Eastern) ![]() I feel a bit remiss here, if only because it occurred to me only today that taking screenshots of the Nars collections was way easier than downloading the images. And I'd like to keep track of the collections. So what looks good here? Brazil looks kind of cool actually. image courtesy www.narscosmetics.com Labels: nars, nars collections Eye makeup for green eyes: then and now Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Friday, August 03, 2007 1:48 PM (Eastern) Eye Makeup for Green Eyes #1 Eye Makeup for Green Eyes #2 Eye Makeup for Green Eyes #3 I was going back on some older posts to index them (you can now pull up posts by clicking the Features, Categories and Tags labels to the right ->), and came across this series of posts I made two years ago. Some of the images are missing--likely linked to images in the reviews section, which we've also recently overhauled--is it worth restoring the images, or even indexing the posts? The short answer is no. I no longer have even the same philosophy regarding eye makeup as I had back then. Things have changed...I'm no longer willing to buy products I know will last less than a year, either quality- or interest-wise. To me it's not worth it; my time is worth something, and has to be figured into the cost of the item. There is also the classical Cost Per Wear factor, which I first encountered in Caterine Milinaire's Cheap Chic (1975). I don't remember how that book got into my hands...it was a library book...but I found it fascinating. Ms. Milinaire went through an exercise calculating the cost per wear of a dress...I want to say it was an $80 dress, extravagant back then...and how, if the dress were of good quality, in a style that lasted some years, its cost per wear was less than that of a $20 dress that didn't wear as well.I've come to have a similar philosophy regarding makeup, although I do believe it's important to draw a line. Higher cost in cosmetics does not necessarily translate to higher quality. Sometimes it does; sometimes it simply means you pay more. It's been well pointed out that women are new to the concept of having their own money, and like any other nouveau riche, we are surrounded by an infinite number of people with their hands out, trying to grab a chunk. So! what has ended up in my green eyed makeup stash these days? Nars Jezebel duo eyeshadow: ![]() This is to die for. Although, to my eye, it is a teeny bit warm, and may not suit you if your overall coloring is cool. The darker shade is purple-tinged, coppery brown; the lighter shade is matte lilac with a hint of pink. When I put this on, I don't get anything screaming "brown eyeshadow!", I think largely because of the shot of purple in the coppery shade. (I have not seen this exact color anywhere else, in nine years of avid makeup junkie-dom.) The lilac shade is the perfect foil for it. Prior Nars duos, left to right: Babylon, Ireland and Island Fever: ![]() These are still going strong. They haven't turned hard, the way most of my other shadows have (knock wood). Nars duos currently retail for $31, meaning I buy them very slowly; however it's well to mention the cost is comparable to that of two single shadows from any number of "less expensive" brands. Eyepencils: Nars Mambo; MAC Bordeauxline and Grey Utility: ![]() The Mambo is new to me. It's described on the Nars site as "chocolate brown," but when I swatched it, I detected a definite hint of red (perhaps plum as well) that I knew would look good with green eyes. The MAC's I've had for two and a half, and two years, respectively. Quality is still good. Um...that's it. I've tossed my cheaper shadows in the main, and put aside some others. I'm seldom in a hurry to throw out expensive shadows, but I do see the solution as simply buying less to begin with, or buying more slowly. Cheap Chic image courtesy www.enokiworld.com Labels: eyes, mac cosmetics, nars Nars Jezebel Duo Eyeshadow, plus a link to some nice Nars "porn" Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Sunday, July 22, 2007 11:01 PM (Eastern) ![]() Isn't it perfect? Some nice Nars "porn" It's in Japanese...nice pics! Labels: nars
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