I posted a while back about Paul & Joe collaborating with Disney to create a 4-piece Japan-exclusive collection last spring. While I did manage to get 3 of the 4 items, I was a little bummed about not being able to get my paws on the Lady hand cream. Apparently the company has seen the light and realized how well the collection would sell stateside, so they re-released it!! The collection is available at Bergdorf Goodman in NYC and beautyhabit.com. I placed my order at Bergdorf because I've been loyal to their Paul & Joe counter for years (at least since the company pulled out of Sephora, anyway) and received the missing piece of my collection. So without further adieu, here is Lady:
And the salespeople at Bergdorf threw in an adorable notebook with the kitten pattern that appeared on the makeup pouch from this season's holiday collection (as well as the previously released "Flea Market in Paris" collection.") It was such a nice surprise when I opened the box. They take good care of you at that counter!
I'm really thrilled this collection is available in the U.S. so that everyone can enjoy the cuteness, and as a Curator I'm pleased to have filled a gap in the Museum's collection. :)
Sephora, possibly my favorite store on Earth, turned ten years old this fall. To celebrate the company came out with several limited-edition items, including this lovely Stila can filled with goodies.
Some alternate views of the can:
I thought the paint can was a great way to celebrate Stila at Sephora. For those of you unfamiliar with Stila history, shortly after the brand was created, paint cans with Stila girls on them were placed at department store counters to hold Q-tips, brushes, cotton balls, etc. These cans proved to be cult items, as customers started walking off with them when the salespeople weren't looking – apparently they were too cute to resist! The company finally started understanding the popularity of these cans and began working them into their lineup as promotional, limited-edition items. While some may say it's predictable that Stila came out with another paint can to celebrate Sephora's 10-year anniversary, since Stila has been with Sephora almost since its inception, I think it's highly appropriate for them to create a special paint can for Sephora. Another can to add to my collection!
The glitz and glamour of the holiday season are fast approaching, so today I'm looking at the oh-so-sparkly Night Diamond palette by Dior. Adorned in big clear crystals, the sparkliness continues on the interior of the palette – it's filled with a glowy highlighting powder that will come in handy for all those fancy holiday parties. I have to admit that at first glance I didn't think this was anything special, particularly after I saw it in person. It just looked like a compact with a lot of overly large cheap fake crystals glued onto it, making it seem, dare I say, a bit tacky. The compact is apparently inspired by Dior's "On the Rocks" sunglasses collection, which features the same crystals on the stems of the glasses (see photo below). But I was pleased to see that the concept behind one of Dior's fashion accessories was carried over into the makeup line of the brand, since Dior can be hit or miss when it comes to articulating their vision clearly in cosmetics. While these big faux gems don't appeal to me personally (which is why I'm still debating purchasing it for the Museum), Dior made a very fitting choice in grafting the crystals from their sunglasses onto a palette that's being marketed for the holiday season.
(photo from amazon.com)
Ever since Allure magazine featured palettes by Hourglass I've been intrigued by them. Well, the not the palettes themselves but the leather case used to hold them! The delicate, understated trees have a gorgeous Art Nouveau character about them, and even the font on the Hourglass logo looks vaguely early 1900s. At the same time, the palettes have a modern sensibility in how compact they are as well as the colors and ingredients used. The colors are subtle and are carefully chosen to create a cohesive look – whether it's a tropical one (the Island palette, with its bronzes and light golds, would be perfect for a sun-kissed summer look) or a daring nighttime one (the smoky shades in the Dusk palette are spot on for this), there is a palette to fit any mood of the wearer. And as a skincare bonus, all of the blushes and shadows contain Vitamin E.
I do wish the packaging for the rest of the line outside the palettes was as interesting, or at least for the palettes to have different designs depending on the colors. They could just make the trees a different color to distinguish the palettes from one another…especially given that the makers of Hourglass seem to enjoy the tree motif – they've also created a separate bath and body line called, you guessed it, Trees. Here's hoping the palettes are merely a starting-off point for more pretty packaging!
(photo from sephora.com)
This post isn't makeup-related, but I felt it was important to urge everyone to vote today. I'm pretty fired up about the election, and given how hard the suffragettes fought for a woman's right to vote in this country, I feel it's especially important for us ladies to put our beloved makeup on hold just for a tiny bit and cast our ballots. So if you haven't already, make your voice heard and GET TO THE POLLS NOW! If you don't know where to go, click here to find your polling place.
I was really looking forward to Paul & Joe's holiday collection this year, but I was disappointed, at least with the packaging. The collection includes three new lipsticks, along with a makeup bag containing lipstick and gloss.
(photo from paul-joe-beaute.com)
The bag is adorable, but it recycles a print that was used in the "Flea Market in Paris" collection a few years ago. I like the shiny gold flower adorning the lipstick tubes (shiny and gold are always great for the holidays!) but in the end, it's just their signature flower, and it's repeated in all 3 lipsticks in the collection.
I guess I'm disappointed because makeup companies usually pull out all the stops for their holiday collections – the season encourages them to come out with their most innovative, sometimes over-the-top packaging and designs, and usually Paul & Joe comes through and delivers some really neat packaging. Not this year though. Still, the Curator is a bit relieved as it's one less collection for the Museum to procure, and there are plenty of other interesting items just around the corner!
Stila Japan collaborated with CanCam magazine to create a limited-edition collection in honor of the magazine's 25th anniversary. It includes a lip glaze, makeup pouch and palette. The palette and bag feature a Stila girl holding a copy of CanCam magazine. I especially love the way the girl's gingham skirt becomes the print on the bag, as well as the adorable miniature red pom-poms on the zipper.
And here's the palette:
Since the palette is a rare item (at least in the U.S.) I've taken a shot of the shadows and blush:
I was curious about the publication itself and found this on Wikipedia: "Its name derives from 'I Can Campus', because girls who read it are expected to become 'campus leaders'. The magazine was created for these fashion-conscious consumers, and offers the latest information on fashion, makeup, bags, accessories, etc. The magazine is a popular fashion resource to 1st and 2nd year office ladies as well as university students." This is also Stila's main demographic (although I think the line is great for older women too!) so it makes sense that they teamed up with CanCam.
I like that Stila is still doing product tie-ins, even though they're in a country outside of the U.S…they need to do more here!
It's finally fall here in the Curator's neck of the woods – time for cold-weather fabrics like corduroy, cashmere and tweed, so I thought I'd look at Chanel's Pink Lamé palette. Released in the fall of 2006, the palette features a pink tweed pattern with silver and gold running throughout.
As with the Camellias palettes, Chanel took one of its signature fashion symbols and placed it onto a makeup item. While tweed obviously isn't an exclusive Chanel fabric, the tweed Chanel jacket is considered a classic and makes an appearance in nearly every seasonal collection.
I had been thinking for a while how cool it would be to have this tweed pattern repeated in other items within the line, and it looks like the company was reading my mind. Chanel has just released new blushes with tweed patterns on them. So if you missed the limited-edition Pink Lamé (and can't afford a Chanel tweed jacket) you can still get your Chanel tweed fix in these new blushes!
(photo from neimanmarcus.com)
I was browsing Sephora online (one of the Curator's favorite activities, of course) and discovered that Cargo has created an entire line of PlantLove products. The extensive lineup includes blush, highlighter, mineral foundation, lip gloss and eye shadow, all of which are paraben- and phalate-free and are housed in biodegradable (not to mention adorable) packaging. According to Sephora, the plastic cases are "100% compostable" and is made from plant-based plastic that is "green house gas neutral and doesn't contribute to global warming."
I've posted about the cute and environmentally sound PlantLove lipstick packaging before, and I'm so glad Cargo expanded the line – not just because it's eco-friendly and contains natural ingredients , but because these new items feature slightly different packaging than the original lipsticks. ;) I definitely need to get my hands on some of these!
(photo from Sephora.com)
In honor of the 30th anniversary of YSL's Opium1 fragrance, the company released a limited-edition bottle and palette in the fall of 2007. The palette features a red lacquered case with an exquisite phoenix and floral details.
While I'm not really sure what the reddish orange dot on the interior is supposed to represent, it could just be referring to the circle on the fragrance bottles themselves:
(photos from yslbeautyus.com)
The iconography of the phoenix is a little strange – maybe it's meant to represent the "rebirth" of the fragrance, but truthfully I can't find any concrete explanation of why the company went with a phoenix.
In any case, I can understand why they would have released this to go with the fragrance's anniversary, but that doesn't quite explain why they came out with a limited-edition Opium fragrance bottle and a palette featuring a matching design in the fall of 2006.
Both the bottle and the palette are adorned with a beautiful lotus flower, because, according to the company, the bloom represents “purity and splendour." That's all well and good, but I think it would have been more interesting if they included a flower whose scent is one of the notes in the perfume, or if they wanted to be really adventurous, a poppy flower.1 ;) Plus I'm not sure what "purity and splendour" have to do with the fragrance considering the Sephora description for it:
"Rarely in the history of fragrance has a creation embodied such enchantment, mystery, magic, and exoticism…Opium symbolizes Yves Saint Laurent's fascination with the Orient and his unique understanding of a woman's hidden emotions and inexplicable passions." I think in this case though, "Orient" refers to China, since the company introduced many China-inspired fragrances in recent years.
Over all, both of these palettes represent the designer's "fascination with the Orient" and the spirit of the Opium fragrance – I like that the same image was used for both the perfume bottles and palettes. And they're simply gorgeous to look at!
1Allure reported that there was an entire museum exhibition devoted to the 30th anniversary of Opium in Paris, complete with a faux opium den. The curator is most upset she was not able to attend!
2 For a perfume blogger's perspective on the fragrance, click here.
