Chanel Joues Contraste in 88 Vivacite - Swatches, Photos, Review, Comparisons + Face of the Day

And to think that when I received my first Chanel Joues Contraste blush from Mister Bovary, I announced that it would only be a yearly purchase...introducing 88 Vivacite, my 4th Chanel JC.

I only heard about the new blush shades being released a day before I saw these on counter, and I really didn't have to think twice about it because I had a voucher with Vivacite's name written all over it! Two new powder shades were released alongside the Perfection Lumiere Velvet foundation, with the second being 89 Canaille which I was at first not tempted by, but now have on my wishlist after hearing Jessica rave about it in this video. 

Vivacite is a beautiful and bright magenta shade that is heavily pigmented. I apply this (and in fact apply each of my Chanel JC's) with the Real Techniques Stippling Brush, and a light tap is recommended to not disturb the powder too much. The colour blended with ease and lasted all day, which I expected with the experience of my other Chanel blushes in mind. It brightened up my face and left a matte finish that was still quite satin, unlike my Pink Explosion JC which contains silver shimmer that you can see upon swatching.

Being such a bright shade, I can imagine many beauty lovers being intimidated by the colour and tone of this blush. I've laid it alongside some similar shades from my blush drawers to give a comparison for you, and as you will see in my face swatch further down this can be worn with ease even on the palest complexion.

It is probably the most matte of the blushes shown here, but I think you can see in the face swatch below how it gives off a sheen to the cheek (I don't have any powder or highlighter on in this post, just Vivacite popped over my Covergirl foundation)

Other Products Used:
Covergirl Outlast foundation in 810
Too Faced Ringleader + Gangster (Pretty Rebels palette)
Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves mascara*
Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist in 4 Pinky*

 

Chanel Joues Contraste blush in 88 Vivacite is available on counters now and retails for approx. $50 AUD. I highly recommend it for a beautiful magenta flush that brightens up the face, the Chanel JC formula really is worth swooning over!

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

 

*Marked items were provided for consideration.

Current Favourites - Mid April '14

The last few months have been a little trying for me, with work being filled with drama and wedding planning shoving my brain into overdrive. I did manage to find a few nights to sort through some of my beauty room, and Mister Bovary kindly built me some new drawers to store a portion of my makeup collection. It has made it much simpler to chop and change looks, and narrowing down my current favourite products was definitely an easy task this time around.

Despite my skin becoming less than covetable of late (perhaps attributed to new skincare trials and some lazy nights...) I've been enjoying the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water with gusto. Very similar to Bioderma Crealine H20 but at a much lower price point, the spendthrift in me rejoices at this release! Another skincare gem I adore is the Garnier Moisture Match moisturiser, of which I use the blue variant which targets normal to dry skin.

I've added another blush pan into the 'consistently reaching for' category to sit alongside Tarte Exposed...Hourglass Radiant Magenta really doesn't apply anything like it looks in the pan, but gives me a natural pink flush that makes me think of airbrushing each time I apply it. Another luxe cosmetic love of mine is the new Chanel Rouge Coco lipstick in Cheri, the purchase of which I blame on Tiffany from Will Work for Makeup. A full post is upcoming for this stunner, such is my love for the shade and formulation!

A press sample love of mine is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves mascara*, which I have already influenced a few of my friends to purchase. The formula is a little bit more wet than I generally like in a mascara, but it really stretches out my lashes and gives them noticeable length and curve which I appreciate. Last but not least for my current favourites is MAC Club eyeshadow, which has shown itself to be a real workhorse for me in the last little while. I have been wearing this sheered out for work, and then packing a few more layers on to turn it into a smoky eye of a night time.

What are your current favourites? Any new blushes I need to try? ;)

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

The Easter Face

It felt so good to get back into bright makeup to celebrate Easter! We had an amazing Greek feast with Mister Bovary's side of the family today, and it was nice to sit and colour in Easter pictures with the niece's and nephew's and to enjoy such delicious food. I was the favourite of the day for the kids, and as I sat at the kids table to eat I was surprised to hear our nephew pipe up with 'Aunty Em, I really like the green and purple on your eyes' - all of the little boys chimed in with approval, saying it was 'cool like a zombie'. I should take that as a compliment from a 7 year old boy, right...?

I wasn't able to capture how bright the look was in the flesh, but this gives you an idea of what I wore on Easter Sunday! I didn't mean to create a MAC-centric look, but lately it is all I've wanted to wear and so I ended up using one shade out of 4 different MAC palettes for this look!

 Can we stop for a moment to marvel at the creativity of MAC packaging?

*MAC Royal Assets Warm Eyes palette : Sunday Best to highlight the brow bone
*MAC Bare My Soul palette : Bare My Soul along the lower lashline and inner corner
*MAC Royal Tour trio : Dame's Desire for the outer half of the lid
*MAC Twists of Tartan Palette : High Spirits for the inner half of the lid

*Covergirl Outlast foundation in 810
*L'Oreal Project Runway blush in 326 The Muse's Blush
*Revlon Lash Potion Mascara in Blackest Black

The constant photo-bomber - Mr Charlie Bovary!

I hope you all had a marvellous Easter with lots of love and too much chocolate. I'm tucked up on the couch with Mister Bovary watching AFL with a tube of Cadbury Mini Eggs - safe to say I had a wonderful Easter!

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

Ulta3 Speckled Nails Collection - An Easter Skittle Mani

When it comes to special events and holidays, I really do like to go all out. Give me a pair of bunny ears and I will rock those right through Easter, even if I am in public or pushing my way through a hard work day! It should come as no surprise then that the speckled nail trend is one I happily engage in - not just for Easter, but all year round! On our weekend away last week Mister Bovary bought me the whole new Ulta3 speckled nail collection - sometimes being indecisive turns into a positive thing ;)

I was most excited about Egg-Cellent and Hippidy Hop - and can we stop for a moment to squee at how cute the names of these polishes are? I think that it may limit their year-round appeal, but they are cute nonetheless. Perhaps a bit childish for though who are die-hard luxe lovers, but my Hourglass + Chanel are happy to share my heart with these happy little bottles.

In terms of quality these are the same as the usual Ulta3 formulas, with the disappointing being Blue Bunny. I tried for so long to get a single speckle out of the bottle to no avail, and the bright blue colour is like zinc cream. The easiest to apply was probably Hop Pink, which I suspect might also be one of the most popular shades from this collection.

I do apologise for the ragged short nails - work has ruined them in the past few weeks

Let's talk chocolate - anytime I receive one of those giant Cadbury bunnies for Easter, I end up breaking them up and handing them out at work or tempting Mumma Bovary into eating them. They are lovely, but the thought of eating that much plain chocolate is way too much for me and so I prefer to indulge in a few mini egg bags to enjoy over the long weekend. The Kinder eggs have delicious little chunks of hazelnut throughout and they really are yum, but I've also just tried the Cadbury mini speckled eggs which are pretty awesome too!

I'm working a little bit over the Easter weekend, but for the family celebrations I think I am going to wear Hippidy Hop with a few Hot Cross Fun spots in the corner. If you feel like getting into the Easter spirit with these polishes, they are out now and only $2.99 each (I got mine from Terry White Chemist in Rosebud!)

I hope you have a lovely relaxing Easter - would love to hear your Easter tidbits in the comments below!

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

 

A Mint of Spring

I'm well into my 'at home gel nail' phase after purchasing my Sensationail kit, and in my recent Salon Melbourne haul I picked up my first Gelish colour gel. I really wanted to add a pale mint green to my relatively small gel nail offering, and after looking through the crazy amount of Gelish nail swatches on offer I ended up throwing A Mint of Spring into my basket. 

In the bottle it appears a light minty colour, but on the nails it is a tad more teal than I perhaps originally wanted. It is definitely a spring shade, but I threw caution to the wind and chose it for my long weekend away in autumn anyway!

 Shown is 3 coats, though 2 would probably have been fine.

I treated myself to the lastest edition of Elle Australia which served as a great back drop for my hastily snapped nail post, don't you think? Emma Watson is making me crave some major winged liner with my minty fresh nails!

 

I bought my Gelish A Mint of Spring for $17 and it is definitely the brightest in my gel collection to date!

 

What mint shade do you swear by?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

Weekend Makeup Bag

Over the weekend we took Charlie away for a little holiday at the beach house, after his photoshoot which we won from Max and Molly (pet division of StudioMax) Here's a peek at the products that I packed for the 4 days.

Forget low key makeup for a relaxing weekend - I prefer to use time away from home to play around with different looks and I tend to bring along products that are exciting to me. My base was the usual Covergirl Outlast Foundation and MAC MSFN (still not 100% in love, but happy to use it up) I brought my essence Metal Glam highlighter in Gold Digger because it's actually really impressing me right now and I quite like a strong highlight when we go out for dinner. As an aside, I can vouch for Paul Loueys Chinese restaurant for some yummy food (probably quite Western but so am I!)

Lip options were all glossy with my new essence goodies being quite prominent, as was Dior naturally. Only two blushes made the cut (that was me showing control, you see?) with Hourglass Ambient Blush in Radiant Magenta and Tarte Exposed being tossed into my makeup bag.

I stuck with two eyeshadow palettes with my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette and the new arrival, Wet & Wild's Comfort Zone palette which I just nabbed off eBay. Only one mascara came with me, the Revlon Lash Potion which I am still really enjoying.

I actually ended up using pretty much everything that I brought along with me, which for me is the sign of successful packing!

Are you a chronic over-packer, or are you talented at narrowing your needs down?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

Club Ringleader

I have been really enjoying my makeup collection lately - revelling in some new treats, using old favourites and just generally digging my whole stash. A late start at work resulted in me playing around with these beauties, and I was chuffed with the natural look I created.

Too Faced Ringleader is a certified kick-ass shade (bottom left shade in the Pretty Rebel palette!) It is glowy but natural on the lid and much less peachy than I had first thought. Paired with my new shadow obsessed MAC Club (housed in the gorgeous Royal Assets palette) it created a look I loved - so much so that I've been recreating the look by pairing Club with other shades all week.

I probably should have called this look the staples look, as I've been rocking this blush and lip duo quite frequently as well now that I think about it! I think I spent a total of 45mins contemplating my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Radiant Magenta before snatching it up - I hadn't really given them much thought before, so my knee-jerk purchase was a nice surprise on the day. The colour in the pan isn't really translated onto the cheek in my opinion, but the airbrush-esque finish is covetable and I'm one happy chappy.

El cheapo lipstick (Kmart Moisturising lipstick in Naked) + Luxe and pricy gloss (Dior Addict Gloss 363 Dormeuse) = my favourite lip look of late.

Add in some other current staples like Revlon Lash Potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance and I'm good to go!

How often do you use palettes? Are you a single-shadow loving gal, or love having options like this?

 

Emma @ emmabovaybeauty

The Autumn Transition - Lips



I think I may have slipped into a wintery state of mind while I was picking these lip shades, but if I'm honest, I've been cherishing every icy wind Melbourne has thrown at me lately so I can't say that it is a big surprise. Since I'm quite fair (ghost white, perhaps?) plum and wine shades tend to suit me, or at least they do in my opinion. A nice blush and a shot of sheer dark lip gets me pumped for cooler weather and I've pulled out some colours to inspire my autumn palette.

 A mix of high and low-end products eventuated from my rummage through the newly built makeup drawers (sadly not an Ikea Alex, but just as loved by me!) The effort to push myself into using my unloved lip products is also highlighted in this lot, with the book-ends of the line-up being practically brand new in condition.

For a juicier lip look I grabbed out my YSL Glossy Stain in Mauve Pigmente and my L'Oreal Shine Caresse in Lolita*. I haven't used the Shine Caresse's all that much despite being hyped for their release for the longest time, and the YSL Glossy Stain is a shade that sometimes streaks and is a bit dark for most of my daytime looks. Luckily I quite like wearing these out at night (lasting power and such) so this slots nicely into the line-up. 

YSL Mauve Pigmente - Revlon Berry Smoothie - Natural Compatibles Berry - L'Oreal Lolita* - MAC Plumful - Maybelline Lust for Blush*

In what seems to be an alarming trend now that I'm looking at it, yet another lip range that I own but don't use often is the Revlon Lip Butters - yes, those infamous sheer balm type products that often don't pack enough punch for me! Berry Smoothie seems like a good shade to ease myself into using these (important considering I own pretty much the entire original shade line-up!) Same goes for Lust for Blush*, which I have heard so many great things about but I was too love struck by Petal Rebel* (<3) to give it so much as a decent swatch.

The serious ball players for autumn? Natural Compatibles Berry*, my beloved matte lipstick that makes me feel a million dollars and that I would hate to be without. Every year when the air chills I pull this stunner out and swoon over how amazing it is to have a lipstick make me feel this way *love letter to Berry, over and out!* Another true lip love of mine is MAC Plumful, which in my opinion is the perfect shade to ease anyone into plum or wine lips.

So what do we think of my lip picks?
Do you have any nice plum, berry or wine toned lip shades I need to swatch?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty


*Marked products were provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Thalgo Rejuvenating Pure Velvet Cleansing Cream

I am a firm believer that cleanser is one of the most important steps in my skincare routine, and I find that using a great cleanser makes a noticeable different to my facial skin overall. I've been interested in cream cleansers for quite a while now but find that some are often too lightweight and others feel quite heavy on the skin, so I was pleased to see the term 'pure velvet' on this Thalgo offering as it sounded promising.

The Thalgo Rejuvenating Pure Velvet Cleansing Cream* is a thick cream that indeed feels really velvety on the skin without moving into silicone territory. I use it after taking all of my makeup off with the new Garnier micellar water, as a first cleanse before my Guinot Cleansing Gel Milk* (see my skin care post here if you're interested!) I find that the velvet cream textures cleanses my skin really thoroughly and the cleansing milk at the end just tops it all off and makes sure my face is ready for my serums and moisturisers.

This cream cleanser is heavily perfumed so those who aren't a fan of strong scents might not like that aspect of it, but is dissipates quickly and I find the scent pleasant and makes the product seem more luxe - which we know is always a good thing ;)

(ingredients are listed at the end of this post!)

This is targeted at mature skin according to the Thalgo website, which is something I generally like in skincare as it leans toward being more nourishing and comforting to the skin. Despite the parfum inclusion in this cleanser it never broke me out, and in conjunction with the rest of my skincare has kept my face pretty happy overall. I sometimes use a cloth to remove this but even when I use water it never leaves a film on my skin, and doesn't accentuate any oiliness despite being so nourishing. I'm almost at the end of my tube and will be moving onto trying new things, but I'd happily buy this cleanser in the future!

Thalgo Rejuvenating Pure Velvet Cleansing Cream retails for $59 AUD and is available from Adore Beauty (where it is on sale regularly!)

Do you like using products targeting mature skin?
What cleanser are you using right now?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty


Ingredients:
Aqua (Water)
Dicaprylyl Carbonate
Glycerin
Butylene Glycol
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
Glyceryl Stearate
PEG-100 Stearate
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)
Cera Alba (Beeswax)
Cetearyl Alcohol
Phenoxyethanol
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer
Chlorphenesin
Squalane
Polyacrylate-13
Parfum (Fragrance)
Xanthan Gum
Polyisobutene
Ethylhexylglycerin
Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract
Polysorbate 60
Benzoic Acid
Gelidium Sesquipedale Extract
Sorbitan Isostearate
Dehydroacetic Acid
Polysorbate 20
Sodium Hydroxide
Sodium Citrate
Citric Acid
Potassium Sorbate
Sodium Benzoate
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
Hexyl Cinnamal
Butylphenyl Methylpropional
Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde
Hydroxycitronellal

The Autumn Transition - Cheeks + Eyes

I can definitely feel the chill approaching despite some random hot days in Melbourne, and autumnal colours have begun to creep back into my makeup choices already. This season is probably my favourite of all, with the weather cool enough for boots and cozy knits but not as rainy and miserable as winter can sometimes be. Cracking out my fall makeup picks is something I adore doing, it is probably the season best represented in my stash anyway.

I love palettes, I just can't help but adore the ease of opening one lid for all of the shades I need and they often push me into pairing colours that I might not normally try. I threw some of my most autumnal MAC shades into my iPalette, like Mink & Sable, French Cuff, Outre and Satin Taupe.

 I really haven't gotten as much use from my Chanel Accent blush as I had first thought I might, but now that autumn has technically arrived I think I will enjoy this sheer and sparkly beige shade a lot more. Even if I use this as a highlighting sort of topper for Tarte Exposed, I will be a happy camper and have no regrets about this beauty coming into my blush collection. A direct comparison to my pricy Chanel love is the bargain Calvin Klein blush in Heather Shimmer, a rich shade that will be perfect at giving my cheeks a flush (and would suit my beloved leopard scarf too, non?)

More bargain blushes in this line-up, not intended but there you have it. LYLAS (love you like a sister) from the recent Australis Neon Crush collection is something you could probably still get your hands on, and is a beautifully large duo making it easy to mix shades or use either side individually. I quite like the matte shade for a nice berry toned burst on the cheeks. A cheapie that you most likely won't be able to nab (sorry!) is the Home Sweet Home Knits for Chicks shade from essence that is so pretty in the pan and equally as pretty on the cheeks!

This transition into autumn has spurred me on to use things that I haven't gotten much use from, and the much lauded Lorac Pro Palette definitely falls into that category! I continually see this in favourites posts and makeup looks, but I just haven't had much of a play with this and as yet it hasn't truly grabbed me. This season I'll be pushing myself to give this palette a red hot go!

I'm pretty tempted to add some new things into my autumnal stash (Revlon's new scented polish in Autumn Spice seems fitting, non?) but with the wedding coming ever closer we will have to wait and see if I can splurge on beauty or not. Pretty certain that MAC Cranberry  eyeshadow will be coming home with me as soon as I hit a Pro store though...

Do you feel inspired with the change of seasons?
Why is Melbourne in the 30's despite it being April?!

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

Getting Back on the Spotty Nail Bandwagon

 

shown with my 'Naked' lipstick that I bought on the same day

I've been using my at-home gel nail system for a while now but before that I indulged in one of the new Spotty Nail Polish kits from Academy of Colour that are available at Kmart since they relaunched their beauty section. The boxed set contains two cute little bottles of speckled nail paint, one a taupey beige and the other a robins egg blue. I fell so hard for the Illamasqua Speckled offerings when they first launched, so was pleased with this purchase that came in at $4 AUD.

The pale blue shade needed a few coats to achieve an opaque look, but I didn't find that each coat muddied the speckles underneath all that much so the effect was quite a nice one. I don't want to succumb to a cliché, but this has Easter written all over it and I don't care what anyone thinks!

My local discount chemist has the new Ulta3 range of Easter specific speckle polishes on sale in their catalogue (think shades like Hot Cross Fun + Hippidy Hop!) so Mister Bovary and I are planning on making a detour home soon to grab the whole lot - better than a chocolate egg, I say! This may signal that my speckled polish collection is getting a touch out of hand, but what is a beauty lover to do...

Are you a fan of the speckled nail trend, or have you moved onto textured polishes?

What nail colour or trend is your weakness? Blues? Nudes? Gimme the goss!

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty