FOTD: Red Lips from NARS

I woke up this morning to dreaded rain in San Francisco (and it's still raining as I write this) so I decided to sass it up a bit and try my new red lips I bought from NARS over the weekend at the Nordstrom Trend Show.

Let me just tell you that I haven't done red lips in sooo long but it's the big thing for the fall and it's so festive, I'm actually in a better mood with them on!

Get the look with NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella ($23 US) and line your lips with NARS Lip Liner Pencil in Salsa ($19 US).

I also paired this bold lip with light eye makeup and bold, black liquid liner to offset the entire look.


I know many out there are scared of the red lips but I firmly believe that we call all pull it off. All you need to do is shop around, test them all and find the right shade for you. If you don't believe me, stop by their counter one day; during the trend show, NARS claimed to have 22 shades to choose from.

So go and sass it up this weekend ladies!

Enjoy!

Nordstorm's Fall Cosmetics Trend Show

I just came back from a flurry of lip gloss, eye colors, perfume, and face creams; you name it, it was there at Nordstrom's Fall Cosmetics Trend Show at the Downtown San Francisco Centre.

The day started off bright and early (8:30am on a Saturday!) where professional representatives from the likes of Laura Mercier, Chanel, Philosophy, Clarins, M.A.C., Estee Lauder and so much more were there to tell us what the new fall trends were. And it was very apparent that the look to go for this season was radiant matte skin (if you're thinking of the cakey, thick, face of the early 90s, think again), bold black eyeliner, and beautiful plush red lips.

During show, they raffled away tons of freebies - a couple of Mercer Street Salon San Francisco gift certificates and cosmetic goodies from Bobbi Brown, Nars, Prescriptives, and Shu Uemera to name a few. Unfortunately, there were over a hundred beauty enthusiasts at the show and I didn't win anything. Maybe next time, but that didn't mean that I didn't have a great time perusing the counters testing makeup and getting free samples.

I decided that my first stop would be the Nars counter to search for my perfect red lips. I tried one of their lipsticks at first and then one of their Velvet Matte Lip Pencils. In comparison, the lipstick was dry and getting drier by the minute so I decided against that even though the color was a beautiful deep red and opted for the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($23 US) in a similar color, Cruella. These lip pencils contain silicones and special emollients that help your lips stay moist and last long.





My next stop was the Bobbi Brown counter. I had never heard of a gel eyeliner before and always used pencil or liquid so I thought I'd give it a try. Currently, the have a cute little Long-Wear Eyeliner Set that includes 2 of their Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black and Chocolate Shimmer, a mini eyeliner application brush and a mini Everything Mascara. This set is only $38 US and if you want it, you have to act fast. I hear it's really hard to get and the 5 they had at the counter were gone within the first 45 minutes!

Finally, I stopped by the Chanel counter for a makeover. I tried their new Holiday Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow in Radiant Gems. It features a cinnamon shade, silver, rose and a shimmery white. The makeup artist applied the cinnamon-y color on my top lid with the rose color right above that and highlighted with the white shimmer. Underneath, she lined my eyes with a gray and black pencil and blended in the silver shadow to create a kind of smoky eye that wasn't too dark because it wasn't on top as well. She very thinly lined my top lip with a black pencil just to create definition. She also put the silver in the inner corners of my eyes to make my eyes really pop.



I really liked the techniques used but I wasn't quite sure if the shades were really for me since they were a little warmer than I normally wear. The eye makeup was also a lot more than what I'm used to wearing too, even for an evening face. Here are my attempts to take my own pictures in the bathroom. Let me know what you guys think!