Radiant Orchid: Pantone Color of the Year 2014 (Beauty Edition)

Hey y'all. Today's post has been inspired by the gradient of shades that fall under the umbrella of Radiant Orchid. When I first heard that Pantone's "Color of the Year" for 2014 was deemed Radiant Orchid, I thought to myself, "I was already rockin' this last year." In fact, for the past two or three years, especially around Spring and Summer, I have been drawn to - with blinders on - lilac, lavender, and fuchsia-purple pastel shades. 

At first I was not planning on doing a post dedicated to the Radiant Orchid theme. I don't find purple based makeup particularly flattering on me. The closest I come to wearing purple based makeup is by wearing deep mauve pink and plum shades. Recently, I tried a lipstick by Cover Girl in the shade Delicious. Although I have plenty of nail colors like the shade Delicious and do think such a shade looks lovely on my hands, I cannot carry off such shades on my lips against my skin-tone. Fortunately, thereafter I purchased another shade by Cover Girl called Tantalize. I believe Tantalize is exactly what I had expected Delicious to look like on me. So, Tantalize, which is the color I am wearing in the picture below, is the better suited version of Delicious for girls with a similar skin-tone as me. 

My research for today's post began with this look below: 

What am I wearing? Cover Girl Bombshell Shine Shadow in Oh La La Lilac on the eyes deepened with a matte plum purple shade in the crease and blended out; Milani Baked Matte Blush in Delizioso Pink; Cover Girl Bombshell Lip Perfection Lipstick in Tantalize. 

However, I did not stop here. I selected two more blushes and plenty of more lip colors as y'all can see from the pictures. I posted one of these images on my Instagram to give a preview, but then I got carried away. 

The picture on the top left corner, first box, are my blush selections: Milani Baked Matte Blush in Delizioso Pink (bottom), Milani Baked Blush in Fantasia Mauve (middle), and Sleek Makeup Blush in Pomegranate (top). 

The picture on the bottom right, fourth box, displays the swatches for four of my top five lipstick "Radiant Orchid" lip color selections are: Cover Girl Bombshell Lip Perfection Lipstick in Tantalize (bottom left), Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick in #47 L'Amoureuse (top left), Purminerals 

Chateau de Vine Lipstick in Show Off (top right), and Milani Power Lip in Raspberry Tart (bottom right). 

Here are the lip swatches to match the arm swatches above: Cover Girl Bombshell Lip Perfection Lipstick in Tantalize (first), Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick in #47 L'Amoureuse (second), Purminerals Chateau de Vine Lipstick in Show Off (third), and Milani Power Lip in Raspberry Tart (fourth). Adding Rimmel London Lasting Finish Colour Balm in Viva Violet (fifth) was an afterthought, so I do not have an arm swatch for it.

Y'all may think the inquiry stopped once I added a fifth shade, right? Hereafter, I posted the picture above where I have displayed all of Radiant Orchid selections on Instagram. I think I gravitated towards the products mentioned above because they are all new additions to my makeup collection. 

Once I posted the picture on Instagram, I thought to myself that I must have other colors that might qualify as a Radiant Orchid shade. Indeed, I was right! 

At this point I was overwhelmed by my findings - so many similar shades! What was I thinking when I purchased all of these lipsticks? I was also feeling too exhausted to create more makeup looks or photograph these shades on my lips, so I hope y'all won't mind the arm swatches. I will add links to the review posts for any of these lip colors below that I may have already reviewed. 

Honestly, the way I actually wear makeup in reality does not justify my lipstick collection. Gel eyeliner and lip balm are my staple. I rarely actually wear makeup unless my Beau is taking me out. Sigh! I am glad I had this eye opening experience, however, because now I think I might place a ban on my lipstick shopping as I did with nail polishes last Summer. The nail polish ban was not difficult at all and I continued the ban till January. I am planning on doing a blog sale. I have mixed feelings about it though.

(1) Shiseido Perfect Rouge Lipstick in RS745 Fantasia (2) Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Rapture (3) Estee Lauder Pure Color Lipstick in Deep Lilac (4) Chanel Rouge Allure in #108 Determinee (5) Revlon Super Lustrous Shine Lipstick in Plum Velour (6) Milani Power Lip in Raspberry Tart (7) Rimmel London Lasting Finish Colour Balm in Viva Violet (8) Chanel Rouge Coco in #42 Culte (9) Sonia Kashuk Shine Luxe Sheer Lip Color in Sheer Plum (10) Revlon Super Lustrous Shine Lipstick in Berry Couture (11) Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick in #47 L'Amoureuse (12) Cover Girl Bombshell Lip Perfection Lipstick in Tantalize (13) MAC Satin Lipstick (LE) in Private Party (14) L'oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick in Purple Prelude (15) Purminerals Chateau de Vine Lipstick in Show Off 

(1) Shiseido Perfect Rouge Lipstick in RS745 Fantasia (2) Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Rapture (3) Estee Lauder Pure Color Lipstick in Deep Lilac (5) Revlon Super Lustrous Shine Lipstick in Plum Velour (8) Chanel Rouge Coco in #42 Culte (9) Sonia Kashuk Shine Luxe Sheer Lip Color in Sheer Plum (10) Revlon Super Lustrous Shine Lipstick in Berry Couture (12) Cover Girl Bombshell Lip Perfection Lipstick in Tantalize (13) MAC Satin Lipstick (LE) in Private Party (14) L'oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick in Purple Prelude

*I decided not to swatch (4) Chanel Rouge Allure in #108 Determinee because it is more of a muted mauve pink with a brown base, so it does not truly come under the Radiant Orchid category. This post took a lot of work. I kept going back and forth, adding more lipsticks, taking more pictures, editing, watermarking, and it all happened in annoying incriminates. At this point it would have driven me nut crackers to take another picture without (4). 

(16) Maybelline Color Elixir in Mystic Mauve (17) Maybelline Color Elixir in Amethyst Potion (18) Rimmel London Lasting Finish Colour Balm in Keep Mauving

I hope this post was informative and helpful. Your friendly comments are much appreciated. 

Come back soon. Thanks!

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L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Color - The Statement Piece (Textured / Gold Dust Collection)

Happy New Year's Eve Everyone! Farewell 2013 and welcome 2014! I hope the New Year bring each and every one of us joy and good company to share it with, good health, success, and peace. 

I suppose my suggestion of a manicure for tonight's New Year festivities might possibly be too late, but this nail polish has swept me off my feet. It is quite "the statement piece" and a must-have for those who love golden nail polishes. 

I have seen the Gold Dust collection recently pop up at Walmart, Rite Aid, and Meijer. These polishes cost $4.99 at Walmart and Meijer and $5.99 at Rite Aid. 

I have been searching for a gold nail polish for a few years. I don't like frosty, shimmery, satiny, duo-chrome, foil, or metallic polishes. I only like cremes. Every gold or silver nail polish I have tried till now made my hands appear dry, aged, and gray. Also, these polishes made me feel as if I had cut out nail shapes in aluminum foil and glued the pieces onto my nails. This nail polish is perfect if you share my feelings regarding most gold, silver, copper, and bronze polishes in the market. Copper blends too much with my skin-tone. Bronze also blends and looks a bit dull, but I still like it on me. Gold overall looks the best on my tanned skin-tone. Warm and neutral shades are universally flattering for tanned folks. 

I have applied two coats and no top-coat. I love the gritty texture! It is so unique, yet not overwhelming or overdone. I have already decided that I want to wear this nail polish on my wedding day, which is me thinking quite far into the future. I have worn the polish for a little over a day. It has not yet chipped and feels comfortable. 

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L'Oreal Le Lacque Lip Color #411 Never Lacque-ing

The other day I purchased a lip color from the L'Oreal Le Lacque and Le Matte collection to review on my blog. I decided to hold off on purchasing a Le Matte lip color because I did not want twice the amount of disappointment. Yes, I was a wee bit hesitant to try out these new lip products as my experience with the colour riche lip balms and Caresse wet shine lip stains was bad. 

So, here we have L'Oreal Le Lacque lip color in "Never Lacque-ing". The collection has creative names. I was going to buy "Matt-er of Fact" from the Le Matte range. This is a limited edition release for Fall 2013. 

Price: The price was a hefty $7.99. A little steep in my opinion for a drug-store lip product. 

Packaging: Standard plastic, colorful, sealed packaging. Not anything creative or classy. It doesn't hurt the eyes! I like that the color of the tube allows you to determine the color of the product. 

Color: Looks like a simple dusty rosy mauve that would be suitable for everyday wear. However, on my lips it looked like a milky baby pink / bubblegum pink. It looked very bright on me, like Kim K's signature "Turkish Delight" look, which I seem to reference a lot these days. I cannot seem to fathom why this looked so "pow wow in your face" and clownish on me. My lips looked defined, big, and pouty. Also, this shade has strong yellow undertones, bringing out the yellow in the enamel of teeth. 

Formula / Application: Although the price and color threw me off, the formula / application made me do a happy dance. This lipliner-lipstick applied so smoothy and felt buttery on the lips. I want to point out though that this particular shade does not appear like a liquid-lacquer as some other beauty bloggers have mentioned in their first-impression posts of the red and lilac shades. This looks creamy, but not "patent leather" or "liquid metal" glossy like a lacquer typically does. In fact, I was expecting it to be like the reviews I had read, so my first impression was that it appeared (not felt, felt buttery) slightly dry in comparison to the other Le Lacque shades. 

Longevity: This product wore off once I ate. It left behind an unflattering pink stain that made my lips look chapped. 

Overall: Do I think this is a must-have product? No. Would I recommend you spend $7.99 on it? No. If you can get it on sale, then it might be worth trying the red shade from the Le Lacque collection. I was tempted to try the deep-wine shade from the Le Matte collection, but I changed my mind after this experience and also reading other reviews on that particular shade, which suggested that it does not apply uniformly given that it is a very dark shade. So, I cannot recommend a shade to try out from the Le Matte collection. I will not be trying the red Le Lacque because "all buyers be aware" the bullet/stick of my Le Lacque broke in the tube, began to melt, and eventually was not twisting up. I wish the bullet/stick was slightly chubbier and not easily susceptible to breaking. 

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