Long lashes sans clumps!
Thickening? Meh, just a’ight.
Yay! No flakes, smudges.

Rimmel Volume Flash Scandal Eyes in Black

What about the shades?
There are two, both permanent.
Black and Extreme Black.

Brush comparisons from the left: Rimmel Scandal Eyes, Illamasqua Masquara, Maybelline Full ‘N Soft, MAC Zoom Fast Black Lash, Hourglass Film NOir and Tarte Lights, Camera Lashes

Sculpts, lengthens and plumps.
The brush is larger than most,
And easy to use.

Bare lashes

Flexible bristles,
They squeeze into corners well.
They waste less product.

Front view after two layers: some thickness, but not nearly drag-queen worthy as I’d like

Curled lashes relax.
Boo! That’s the biggest bummer.
I can live with it.

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I have a thing for tinted moisturizes, in particular ones that let me easily dial up or down my level of coverage.

Because really, who wants a totally inflexible tinted moisturizer? That would be like having to eat the same bland gruel for breakfast every single day, bluh. I guess that’s why I like NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF30/PA+++ ($42).

All nine oil-free shades in the line, which launched a few months back, contain copious amounts of pigment, and that spells flexibility.

Mixing equal parts of St. Moritz (a medium with neutral yellow undertones) and Cuba (a medium with a balance of neutral pink and yellow undertones) has been working pretty well for me since I got back from Kauai with a bit of a tan, but I think St. Moritz by itself is a pretty close match for my natural skin tone.

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Many run-of-the-mill pinkish beige lipsticks appear to loathe my lips. They feel heavy, look thick, apply unevenly in patches, and leave my pucker looking creepy and very, very unnatural (concealer lips, ugh!).

For the record, Chanel’s pinkish beige Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick in Empreinte is not one of those lipsticks.

Instead, it’s one of those rare, magical pieces of makeup made from kitten kisses and fairy dust.

Okay, not really. The truth is, winged drag-queen fairy godmothers wearing Jimmy Choos and bedecked in dazzling sequined tutus made each one by hand, pouring the magic formula into each sleek Chanel tube.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shines in En Vogue (left) and Empreinte (right)

This limited edition $32.50 lip Lothario also has a dainty rose garden flavor and scent and tiny flecks of golden glitter that sparkle from time to time in the light. It glides effortlessly across my lips like a Pegasus soaring silently above the clouds.

It’s so slick and moisturizing that I was able to apply it without taking my eyes off of my iPhone while playing Bejeweled 2 this afternoon.

So what if it bails after two fish tacos? At least it sticks around for the horchata. We can’t all be annoyingly perfect, like that bubbly varsity cheerleader who sat right behind you in honors chem with her perfect hair and straight A’s…

No, I’m not bitter.

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Some products are fun to talk about, in part because of their names, like this new Rouge Coco Shine from Chanel. It’s sooo En Vogue. No I mean, that’s what it’s called. En Vogue.

It’s one of two new limited edition $32.50 Rouge Coco Shines released with the Summertime de Chanel collection, available now on Chanel counters and chanel.com.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shines in En Vogue (left) and Empreinte

Before my lips got En Vogue (okay, sorry — no more puns), just based on how it looked in the tube, I expected a brighter, warmer orange, but it applies more like a neutral pinkish coral.

I like it! And I also like the matte stain this lightweight, slick lippie leaves on my lips after it wears away (like the Laura Mercier Gel Lip Colours), which en Vogue’s case (was that a pun?) takes about three hours.

Well, the wear time varies… I get about three casual hours with it, or two if I’m just sipping coffee or tea. It usually won’t, however, make it through a meal.

Moisture and shine are two of the Rouge Coco Shine line’s shining achievements. All of the lipsticks I’ve tried from the line feel great, thanks to a hydrating formula (it has a light rose flavor and scent) that doesn’t dry out my lips.

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running thin |ˈrəniNG THin |
colloquial
1 My patience for eyeshadow looks involving more than two steps.

Okay, so maybe Chanel’s limited edition $42 Ombres Contrastes Duo in Sable-Émouvant from the new Summertime de Chanel collection doesn’t beam with the boundless possibilities of, say, a mega makeup palette packed with 99 shadows in every color of the rainbow.

And maybe it’s not interested in dazzling stargazers with sparkly disco glitter or lighting up lids with summertime teals, greens or golds — heck, it doesn’t even have any extra accoutrements, like a small tube of primer or a tutorial booklet.

But all that aside, it’s still one hell of a great date.

If it asked you to the movies, it would suggest Casablanca over No Strings Attached and Fandango the tickets ahead of time so you could both skip the line. Then, it would get you a big bag of popcorn while you freshened up (no butter, please), and snag perfect seats smack dab in the middle of the theater. No muss, no fuss.

With Sable-Émouvant, Chanel created a duo so elegant and effortless that I instantly forgave the brand for not releasing a summer quad in the collection as soon as I slipped it on my lids.

Just like the Ombres Contrastes Duos first launched in 2010, Sable-Émouvant blends with the grace of a swan. One minute, one brush, and I’m done.

And without a trace of fallout. None.

Despite only containing two shadows, the duo has as much flexibility as a good quad (perhaps more).

The lighter shade looks like a pearly golden peachy beige on my NC42 skin, and it reminds me of a creamier, soft-focus MAC Arena.

The darker shade, a purplish brown sheen, has blackened undertones when applied dry (amazing for smokey eye looks!), but it transforms into a pearly bronzed purplish brown with reddish tones when applied with a wet brush.

And when both shadows are mixed together, the resulting peachy brownish taupe flashes more purple when the light hits it just right. Super sophisticated, understated, and so totally Chanel.

Chanel Sable-Émouvant swatches from the left: lighter shade, darker shade, darker shade applied wet and both shades mixed together

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