The makeup sessions: an afternoon with Giorgio Armani's Sebastian

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A few Saturdays ago Sebastian worked his magic and introduced me to Giorgio Armani's makeup line. The goal, primarily, was to learn more about the makeup and get the works -- foundation, blush, eyeshadow, lipstick, liner and mascara.  I've read the reviews, however I managed to keep Armani's makeup at arm's length out of fear.  The fear which conjured up thoughts of addiction, lust, envy and expense, well, sticker shock. For an hour Sebastian dished about his experience as a makeup artist while painting my face; he grabbed for colours and I just put all of my trust into his talented hands.

The results -- Copper Smoke, a hint of plum and a smattering of brown on the lips.

Out of the whole entire experience, I was pleased as punch with my eyes.  As for my favourite tip I learned that day, Sebastian taught me how to line my eyes with Armani's Smooth Silk Eye Pencil. First, he coloured a bit on his hand in order to warm up the product. Then Sebastian grabbed for his angled eye brush and picked up the freshly drawn on liner from his hand.  This practice, he believes, gives him more control and the ability to line the eyes far more precisely.

As for the goods I walked away with, here's what I purchased..

If you love Sebastian's handiwork, please pay him a visit inside David Jones on Bourke Street, Melbourne.

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Butter London's Dodgy Barnett - weekly nail review

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In a poorly lit room Butter London's Dodgy Barnett carries a regular, silver sheen - but, on a sunny day, go outside and let the light hit your nails.  Pure joy, bliss and a spectacle of colours radiate from your nails.  It's similar to the moment when Wonder Woman joins her cuffs together and bam!

Holographic nail polish has a tendency of becoming almost folkloric.  Only few have claimed to have seen something so rare like a unicorn, fairies or centaurs; for those who look too hard, they actually miss it. The holographic experience is much-loved in the beauty world; the buzz generates quickly and ultimately leads to these precious lacquers selling out.

One coat gives you a peppery shimmer, while two coats provide an almost opaque finish with a multidimensional spectrum of rainbow-y goodness.

If silver holographics aren't your thing, you can always try All Hail the Queen, a beige and silver shimmer holographic or Trustafarian, a sage green and gold holographic.

Dodgy Barnett is my 46th documented manicure since starting Bagful of Notions last October.  If you'd like to see what else I've sported on my nails, please take a gander at the nail library.

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Blue Illusion de Chanel - Illusion d'Ombre in Destination and Apparition

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I can't really settle on a theme for this particular topic. I've contemplated Kraft's Blue Box Blues  ... you know, "I've got the blues."

Or, there's the song How Bizarre which goes something like this:

"Destination unknown, as we pull in for some gas Freshly pasted poster reveals a smile from the past.."

But then I really got to thinking and decided to entertain you with a rendition of These Eyes, sung by Arrested Development's very own George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera).

And here you must be thinking where this is all going, but stay with me, please. My mind has been running amok since purchasing Destination and Apparition. After accidentally stumbling upon these baby blues, I took it as a sign that they needed to be mine.  Yet, how did I celebrate them? Well, by having a fiesta of pop culture references at the very beginning, of course! And now I digress.

Destination is a light icy blue with a silver shimmer and Apparition is a dark navy blue with flecks of black, silver and pink; I only noticed the different colours of shimmer after reviewing the photos I captured a few weeks ago.  Both Destination and Apparition have creamy formulas and colour payoff appears almost immediately.

I won't go into great detail or do a formal review on these.  If you want to get a better idea of Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre, please read my reviews about Illusoire and Mirifique.

Destination incites thoughts of Cindarella post-makeover; screw the pumpkin and hand her the glass slippers, pronto! Whereas Apparition is that perfect shade of navy.  Not too dramatic, but creates the right amount of smoulder, smoke, dimension and depth.

If you live in Australia, your local Chanel boutique might still have these in-store.  Chanel counters located inside of Myer and David Jones never stocked this particular limited edition collection.  As for the US, I spotted these on Sephora a few weeks ago, but I fear their stock's have since been depleted.

Tip: The best brush to apply Illusion d'Ombre shadows with is Chanel's No. 10 Concealer Brush; the synthetic fibres grab onto the shadow and lay it down better than any other brush I've ever used.

It's obvious I love Illusion d'Ombre and look forward to Chanel's future machinations with colour.

Did you spy that silver glimmer in my eye?  I lined my eyes with Chanel's Silver Light.  As for my lips, I'm wearing Giorgio Armani's Rouge d' Armani in Brown.

Reviews to follow.

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A glimpse at the lips: Chanel's Rouge Allure in Palpitante (102)

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Your heart will break should you walk away from Chanel's counter empty-handed. Stop. Turn back. Check your pockets. Then reconsider that red lipstick you were mulling over.

Should I?  Should I not?

I say "do it."

And I did.

I'm typically a coral, pink or berry hued lipstick kind of gal, but I felt like going bolder with my latest purchase. Palpitante lured me in with its blue undertones -- making it not quite red or berry pink.  It was a true Goldilocks moment.

I swiped Palpitante on my lips directly from the tube and didn't use a liner; colour bleed was a non-issue, so don't feel like you have to purchase a companion liner in order to keep things "in line".

Not ready for such a powerful colour?  Reduce its potency by pursing your lips around a tissue like your grandmother used to -- thus creating more of a stain.

Glossy or stained, it's up to you.

In terms of wear time Palpitante kept beating for a little over five hours.  Before applying Palpitante, I skipped exfoliating them, but I made sure I put on my cherry chapstick to create a smoother base.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel's Palpitante:

  • $50.00 AUS / $34.00 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

  • 9 out of 10 bags — moisturising, glossy and smooth.

Likelihood to purchase again:

  • 15 additional shades are calling my name.  Specifically Exaltee and Seduisante.

"Nestled in its sleek black case, ROUGE ALLURE reveals its full colour intensity and feminity in one simple click."  -- Chanel

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