a hoarder's blog

I was gifted my first Chanel polish last Christmas and it is none other than Paradoxal - a grey mauve with purple micro shimmer.

The polish has a nice consistency and applies smoothly. It is opaque and looks good in 2 coats. This swatch is taken indoors with natural light flowing in but not shining directly on the nails. It is a deep, rich looking shade, won't you say? The shimmer that you see in the bottle isn't very obvious on the nails, at least to me. I never really noticed it.

I have read so much about how Barry M Dusky Mauve is a dupe of Chanel Paradoxal. And just because I have the former, I decided to do a comparison swatch to see for myself.

Swatches are 2 coats each. In the sunlight, I can see the difference between the two shades. Paradoxal has much more depth and the purple base colour is much darker than Dusky Mauve. The shimmer in Dusky Mauve is more visible and is what makes the difference in the 2 shades.

In the shade, they look a little more similar.

And sometimes they look the same.

Side by side, they are not the same, but if worn separately, I don't think one can tell the difference.

This is a bit overdue, but I just had to say that I had a very nice Christmas this year. These were the gifts from my Secret Santa who turned out to be none other than Sophia. I received my first Chanel nail polish and you can't tell how excited I was when I saw the small Chanel paperbag. She also gave me this Secret Santa box from Lush.

Chanel Paradoxal

Li'l Lush Pud Bath Ballistic - looks like a pudding, smells like a pudding, fizzes like a spicy Bath Ballistic

Snowcake Soap - hand and body soap, smells like delicious icing off your Christmas cake, feels like almond mousse on your skin

Popcorn all over the place!

I love my gifts. Thank you Santa!

So..it looks like I caved and bought myself my first Chanel products from the summer 2011 collection called Les Fleurs D'Ete de Chanel (which translates to the Flowers of Summer). To be honest, I don't know much about Chanel makeup, I don't follow their collections, like I do for, say MAC. I hadn't even considered checking it out and had absolutely no intention whatsoever of buying anything. So what happened? Let's just say that if it wasn't a case of love at first sight, it was indeed a case of love at first swatch.

Why do I say that it wasn't love at first sight? Well usually, my lemming for a certain product begins with the promo images or product pictures and swatches, etc. When Sophia from the make-up blogette posted pictures of the bronzing powders, I wasn't left drooling at them at all. I was like, well they're pretty but nah, not for me, not gonna buy them. So yes, what happened?? Well, it wasn't my fault that Isetan was showcasing the collection on the day that I went there in my bid to spend my $10 voucher before it expired. So, I got curious since I'd heard so much about the collection, and approached the display, all along thinking that there was no way I would be getting anything. The first thing I swatched was the eyeliner and omg, I loved it on the spot. The colour was lovely, and when I tried to swipe it off, it wouldn't budge! I was like, is there something I'm missing by not checking out this collection?

I then went to the real counter where the BA swatched the bronzing powder on me, and it was another revelation there and then that I probably need this in my collection. It was oh so pretty. She showed me how I could apply the colours individually (blush, bronzer, highlight, contour). When blended together, the colour is pretty sheer and gives an overall glowy look to the skin. I decided to buy the Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronzing Powder in Bronze Corail (Limited Edition) as well as the Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Liner in Rose Platine (also LE).

I also received a sample of Vitalumiere Aqua foundation and Vitalumiere Eclat Compact Powder to try out. I hope it doesn't create new lemmings!

Sorry for the lame swatch. It was just one swipe of the pencil.

This is how I started and ended my holidays...with some shopping at the airport! The Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lippies were selling in a predetermined set of three consisting of Liberte, Boy and Aventure. The trio is well worth the price of SGD99, as I believe one lippie costs SGD44 each.

Liberte: Sheer Apricot

Boy: Natural Rose

Aventure: Shimmering Pink

The lipstick lives up to its description of sheer and hydrating. It applies buttery smooth on the lips and feels really really moisturizing. It also has a faint scent, and at first it felt like I had perfume on my lips, but the feeling quickly faded away.

I bought this set of shu uemura UV under base mousse at the airport in Hong Kong before heading back to Singapore. Ever since seeing this product on a few blogs, I've been curious about it and just because it presented itself to me, I quickly grabbed the duo pack. It was a pretty spontaneous buy I must say.

Limited Edition by Mika Ninagawa

"Introducing a weightless makeup base that creates a sheer veil for the skin's utmost comfort. 20x lighter than other cream or makeup bases, the mousse texture allows skin to breathe freely and provides exquisite coverage with high skin proctection SPF 30."

Just some preview pics of what I hauled last week when I was in Hong Kong for a quick break.

Makeup stuff:

Non makeup stuff: