Treatments -Elizabeth Arden - Eight Hour Cream
celegia 12/2/2012 3:36:00 AM
I read tons of fashion magazine from the US, UK, France, Japan (yes, but I only look at the images). There is always the same advice: Eight Hour is the wonder cream that you can use on every inch of your skin. (even if it contains parabens...) So I overcame my rejection of parabens and I decided to buy it. Actually, in Italy this cream is more difficult to find than a Japanese who doesn't love Prada, but after a long research I found it. After one week of use I can say that it's smelly, sticky and oily but it is really effective. The first night I warmed it in my hands then I splatted it everywhere: face, lips, elbows, knees and heels. Gross! I disgusted myself (and sadly my husband too), but the morning after my face glowed and my body was supersoft. And I slept just four or five hours! Nothing like that happened when I use La Mer or Sisley or La Prairie. Of course, its effect depends on the condition of your skin, but if you have normal/dry skin without any problem like me, you'll be amazed by Eight Hour! UPDATE 12/10: WARNING! After two weeks, I have noticed some pimples on my cheeks and around my lips. So please, be careful!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Christian Dior - Addict Extreme 
celegia 8/13/2012 1:04:00 PM
I must admit that I'm very impressed by the quality of Dior Addict Extreme lipsticks. For years my signature lipstick has been Rouge Coco 05 Mademoiselle and I thought to have found the Holy Grail using it everyday: classic packaging, perfect coverage and flattering color. But last June I received a free sample of Dior Addict Extreme in Lucky, n. 536, the same shade wore by Kate Moss in the magazine ads. In the beginning I "forgot" it in the bottom of my bag, because the tube looked very shockingly pink. Nothing against Eighties style, but it simply doesn't fit me. So I decided to give it away. Luckily I didn't! After the first try, I've become addicted to Lucky. It's absolute perfection! The color, a watery strawberry red, is close to Rouge Coco Mademoiselle, just a little bit pinker and less red-brown, but the texture is heaven! It gives the sensation of a lipbalm on lips with the bonus of a color that can last for hours with the help of a lipliner for contouring. Okay, I confess: J'adore Dior!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Chloe - l'eau de chloe
celegia 5/9/2012 6:35:00 AM
Spring, spring, spring! How is the best way to celebrate it? With a new fragrance, of course. A fresh scent that first tickles your nose with effervescent lemon and then makes you enjoy a playful accord of chypre rosewater. It lasts for hours and, by fading, leaves on your skin a watery and very elegant note that it's more uptown girl than dusty granny. The square bottle with its light green ribbon puts me in a positive mood. It all conjures to make me think about a lazy stay on the grass during a breezy and sunny day.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Chanel - Blush Horizon de Chanel - Soft Glow Blush
celegia 4/10/2012 1:16:00 PM
This blush is ok: soft and smooth on the skin without the awful glittering effect, but I wonder why Chanel put it on the market when it's clearly not as good as the Soleil Tan of Spring 2011 collection. Bronze Rosè had a larger mirror and its stripes were wider, so it offered a complete range of colors from pink to peach and bronze. The mirror of Blush Horizon is smaller and the stripes are thinner. It's impossible to blend tones well and the result of blending is an ordinary pinkish color. Rather than presenting new products each season, it would be better for Chanel to keep on selling what it worked before!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Ralph Lauren - Blue for Women
celegia 1/22/2012 3:03:00 AM
I received this fragrance as a Christmas gift form U.S., because it's not available in Italy. It was in a box with Romance and Ralph for women. Blue is all about being clean and sporty, while European scents are so deep and focused on seduction. I was extremely impressed by it from the very first time. For me Blue is a scent right for a blond american girl walking barefoot on the beach, something like Brooke Shield in Blue Lagoon. So cool! Because it's aquatic and lightly flowery I don't suggest to wear it for a big night. It's better to use it in the morning to have a gentle kick or for a relaxing walk in the afternoon. It reminds me of Fifth Avenue by E. Arden, but it's less lemony and more grassy. For its good staying power Blue is definitely a yes!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum
celegia 10/28/2011 12:01:00 PM
Last Saturday I went to a departmnet store for trying some new fragrances for winter. BV was on a shelf with Prada Candy, Fan by Fendi, Valentino's scent and Body by Burberry. I thought that the packaging looked very boring compared to the other fancy ones, so I sprayed BV on my wrist without paying much attention. On the way back home I started to smell a very nice scent on myself. I realized that It was BV because it was unequivocally leathery. Since then I'm in love with it. I didn't imagine that I could wear leathery scents because I hate Hermes Kelly or Eau des Merveilles, so edgy and masculine. But Bottega Veneta is "buttery" and sweet. It reminds me of lipstick stored in a precious leathery box. At the beginning it is just a generic blend of pepper and orange, but in the drydown...whowww, no patchouly, just powder, leather and heaven that lasts for hours! It's feminine class in a bottle!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Chanel - Rouge Allure Velvet
celegia 9/25/2011 4:51:00 PM
Look at those glossy, shiny lips! They look so dated and old. Come on! Who wants to be brought to 90's "Girl power" events again? Chanel is changing our tastes. We all want a full mouth with intense, deep colour. That's why Rouge allure velvet is made for. It's like having your mouth first treated with powder and then with lipstick, as women did during 40's. But luckily nothing so uncomfortable. This lipstick blends fast on your lips like real velvet and it mattifies in one, two minutes. It's like having a pampering cover on your skin. That's comfort and a genius for winter. The colour doesn't fade, as it happens with most reds of Rouge Coco. N. 34 La Raffinee is the best tone ever for brunettes and for blondes with golden, honey locks. It's a dark rose in the sun that becomes more red with the artificial lights. Really refined and classic. With its matt tones it enhances and sculpts perfectly the lines of the lips. Buy it before it goes sold out. Throw out your bunch of glossy-gloss tubes. From now on you can't be up without a soft, velvety mouth that never shines. EDIT 10.5.11 I tried all the eight shades of Rouge Allure Velvet when I had a makeup lesson by nice Ezio, italian make up artist for Chanel. For reference my skintone is NW25-NC20, my hair is medium brown with sand highlights and I have goldenbrown eyes. La Ravissante: I like it, but it's very orangey. Looks better with a full makeup treated face. La Caline: not impressed by that. A plain cold rose. La Raffinee: as I wrote before, the "it" colour of the range. L'Exuberante: too pink for my skincolour. La Distinguee: I bought it too. It's a luminous peach rose, perfect for day. La Fascinante: a bright red that it's too much for everyone except for Dita Von Teese and a few others. La Somptueuse: a very classic, deep red with warm tones. Perfect for fall. L'Exquise: I was tempted by that. It's a very flattering brown red that looks good even in the sunlight. EDIT 10.16.2011 I've taken away one lippie because after a month of daily use I've noticed that my lips are much more dry. Use always a balm before applying it. I didn't do it so now I'm back to Rouge Coco Mademoiselle that never disappointed me!
14 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Chanel - Rouge Coco No. 21 - Rivoli
celegia 8/10/2011 1:28:00 PM
Once Yves Saint Laurent said that the best makeup for a woman is passion...but cosmetics are easier to buy. Saint Laurent worked in Paris and the classic look of a parisian girl is cherry lips, porcelain skin and dark eyes. Every woman knows how hard is to find the perfect cherry tone. None wants orange, purple or -bleh- brown lips. For me Rivoli could help you to show the best red lips ever if you follow the next steps. First: check it on your lips. It looks almost blue red on my hand but it's a bright plum red on my mouth. Second: it's a very pigmented colour so if you don't feel confident with it, dub it on the center of your lips and blend it with the tip of your fingers to achieve the "bitten lips" look. In this way it won't disappear right away. Third: use it on balmed lips. Fourth and most important: you can use Rivoli as a blush if you put it on the apple of your cheeks and blend it with a brush. With Rouge Fatal nail polish Rivoli rocks!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Chanel - Chanel No 18
celegia 7/10/2011 6:19:00 AM
For me wearing a fragrance is like telling a story about yourself. The best story that you can tell. That's why I usually use fragrances that inspire me and make me dream about them. Sometime a brand like Chanel can help. Books are full of captivating stories about the creation of fragrances by Mademoiselle and her perfumers. Chanel n 18 is said to be the jewel-like scent. Unfortunately I don't think about jewels when I smell it. The opening is all about grapes and wine. It reminds me of the Fleur de Vigne de Caudalie based on the fragrances captured in a vineyard. After one hour n 18 becomes more "chanely" and I can smell musk and rose with a touch of amber. The longevity is poor: after three hours I can barely sniff an undertone of musk on my skin. Nothing impressive. Considering the high price I'm saving my money for a less ordinary scent.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Chanel - Sycomore
celegia 7/9/2011 12:28:00 PM
This scent is my new summer addiction. I must confess that at first spray I thought it was ashy and weird. Soon after that weirdness became something amazing. A fresh blend of incense and green leaves perfect for the wet heat of these days. At the end Sycomore warms lightly becoming powdery and ambery. I can even smell a hint of iris in it. Totally hooked, I started researching about it, finding that many men wear it. Strange! For me this fragrance is all about feminine sensuality. The first idea of Sycomore belongs to 1930 when stunning androgynous beauties of the big screen like Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich were admired by everyone. Sycomore would have been the signature scent for that kind of woman. Imagine a party with Mademoiselle Chanel and her decadent, rich friends. Opulent drapes, velvet carpets and girls with oriental dresses and pearl satoires smoking long cigarettes. When I wear Sycomore I feel like I'm back in such a voluptuous time!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Bronzers -Chanel - Soleil Tan de Chanel - 547 Bronze Rose
celegia 6/25/2011 1:34:00 PM
There has been a lot of talking about the royal wedding. I'm totally stuck in the "princess mood" and I have skipped all the eccentric colours for my face...But even for a wanna-be princess, summer is coming. Looking at pictures of a radiant Kate after honeymoon, I struggled to be like that and I started searching for a product with peachy-rosy/golden tones. After reading about this product in a magazine I thought to have found the key to get the best Katie look. As jmh wrote I was interested in bronze corail before, but it went muddy on my fair olive skin. At the end I bought bronze rose. It makes my face bright and luminous in a peachy velvety way. The package is smart with its large mirror. I love the brush: it's supersoft and smooth. You can use it to sculpt your cheekbones using the darker tones or to give colour blending all the tones and applying them on the apples of your cheeks. About colours: they are gorgeus and the shimmery is so light that you can barely notice it on the skin. The brown tones aren't flat and the lighter tone is an enlighter if applied under the eyebrows. The rose tone is a perfect blush for winter. Great value! With a pink gloss and blue and black eyeliner everyone can get ready for royally sunny days!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Revlon - Pink in the Afternoon
celegia 5/27/2011 10:20:00 AM
Remember the last scene of "Breakfast at Tiffany's"? You see an "it girl" with a glamorous raincoat, ballet flats and a sleek ponytail. You think how you could look like her. Yes, you own a raincoat, same kind of shoes and, if you spend enough time, you can arrange the hairstyle. But there must be something that you miss... Wake up! It's the make up. A light cover for your face that could transform every girl from kitch to chic. How can you achieve Holly/Audrey look? It couldn't be easier! You need transparent powder, soft smokey eyes (brown or grey doesn't matter), green or blue eyeliner blended with black one and rosy blush. Don't forget a generous hand of lenghtening mascara. And voilà, the last magic touch! A gorgeous lipstick, called "Pink in the afternoon", right to make your lips fuller. Apply it lightly because it's pasty and you don't want to look like your old aunt. Unfortunately you may not end up looking exactly like Holly if you don't have a wet cat!
19 out of 23 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Chanel - Beige
celegia 5/10/2011 1:25:00 PM
I smelled this fragrance for the first time when I went to the Chanel store in Florence. I wanted to buy Cuir de Russie. The shop assistant was from Paris: a tall brunette with an adorable french accent. She wore the Chanel uniform: tweed grey cardigan, white shirt, black trousers, long pearl necklace and a lovely 2.55 bag on the belt. She told me that Cuir de Russie, like n 22, is better for mature women. It was summer and she told me that Beige was her fragrance since she had moved from Paris to Italy. I decided to try it because I was impressed by her class. After one or two hours this fragrance warmed on my skin and it became gorgeous. At the beginnig it's the lighter version of another Exclusif, Gardenia, then it becomes soft, like honey mixted to beauty powder, with a hint of iris in the drydown. I think Beige is the glowing accent when you can't go wrong with style. It's the most wearable and modern among the Exclusifs because it doesn't smell old or heavy like many of them. Maybe you don't want to use it everyday but you must have it on your dressing table, such as a great lbd, a red lipstick and a silk scarf!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Yves Saint Laurent - Faux cils - noir radical
celegia 5/3/2011 9:49:00 AM
Some years ago I tried the regular Ysl mascara effect faux cils and I really liked it. It gave me fabulous lashes, long and quite flirty. So I thought this one should be even better and I decided to give it a try. When I was at the counter I was impressed by the colour of this product. It gave me the best black shining lashes ever and I got it. But at the end of the day I was so disappointed. I had bad raccoon eyes because it's true: this mascara smudges like crazy. When I tried to remove it from my eyes I couldn't do it completely, because, although I have a very good make up remover, it looked like the mascara was stuck around my lids and inside my eyes. All the operation hurt like hell!! My opinion is, if you don't mind showing big black smokey eyes and you have enough time to spend for washing up your face, try it. But be careful if you wear contact lenses. You could have a bad allergic reaction!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -BeneFit Cosmetics - BADgal Lash
celegia 4/23/2011 1:33:00 PM
I think that this mascara is not "bad" at all. It gives just the right amount of lenghtness and fullness without the bang factor. It's perfect for a daily use if you have to stay all day at work or if you are busy at home because it never clumps or smudges. But when you want to dress up for a night out it's not the one to choose. I've given it three lippies because for me the european price is ridiculous. I don't put it in the high end range but in the drugstore distribution.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No