Chanel FNO exclusive: La Provocante Rouge Allure Velvet Reviewed

Swatches from Left to Right: La Delicate, L'Infidele and La Provocante

Last week Chanel launched their Fashion's Night Out exclusive lip and nail twin-sets, fit for the annual shopping occasion, to excited fan fare. I got in on the action by going to the Chanel boutique and checking out the action, but first I went to Saks as Chanel was not ready to unveil their new collection. At Saks I found out that La Provocante was all sold out due to pre-sales ( they had 20) and they also informed me Chanel.com was out too! But as luck would have it , the Chanel on 57th st and Madison had them ( this information was as of last Friday).  I swatched all three lippies on my hand and determined that La Provocante was the color for me.

La Provocante is an autumn plum with cool blue tones, more so than red. I love the Rouge Allure Velvet texture on my lips, is the perfect amount of moisture without your lips feeling lacquered but not chalky matte either. My only problem was that I find this lippie really hard to photograph in the tube because of the tonality.

The other stand out from this collection ( on the lip side) was L'Infidele. Its a beautiful everyday rosey plum that I think would look great on everyone.  Unfortunately, I really wanted to like La Delicate but I just couldn't. The color on the website was so off, I had perma "huh?" face.
First off, La Delicate is described as beige but the color on the website is a pumpkin-esqe color. The pumpkin color made me want to try it. I LOVE me some orange! However, the beige in the tube, while looks ok as a swatch, casts a grey ashy cast IRL. Super unfortunate.

So here I am with the one that I love for my fall wine lips, La Provocante!

La Provocante Rouge Allure Velvet swatch

Chanel's FNO exclusive Provocation Nail Color and La Provocante Lipstick

Vamping it up for Schiaparelli & Prada: Impossible Conversations

Photos: Getty Images and Wire Image

Earlier this evening the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute 2012 Gala kicked off celebrating the new spring exhibition, " Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" with fashion houses, their designers and celebrities. While looking at the live feed of photos from twitter and Instagram got me excited ( LOVED Chloé Sevigny's look!), I couldn't help but notice that the Schiaparelli pink was dismal on the red carpet. The bright pink shade that is sure to fill up the exhibit hall wasn't on lips of our favorite actresses or models, instead vampy shades of deep berries, blackened plum seeped through as a pleasant surprise!
Maybe it was the off-again, on-again cloudy, foggy NYC rainy gloom that prompted the bold statement lips or maybe it was the juxtaposition of the exhibit itself. In any case, I can't wait 'til Thursday to check out the exhibit at the Met and will breakout my MAC Media or Chanel Maniac lipsticks for the occasion.

Top Five Beauty Trends for 2012

As we move on from 2011, do you think that we can hold fast to the colors and trends that have dominated the past few months? Will there be a victor from the hodgepodge of trends that have cyclically surfaced every 3 to 5 years?

To date, The Lipstick Index tried and failed to predict sales and trends and judging by the past few years we now can safely say that the Nail Color Index can attribute to the influx of spending in the nail care sector, so much so that Nail Color sales were $328 million in 2010, dominating over other color cosmetics.

Will Nail Domination continue in 2012? Here are my top 5 most- unscientifically hypothesized ganders for what 2012 will bring for us color cosmetic enthusiasts.


1. Beauty for the Ages

We all can generalize and say that gloss is for the teens and tweens, lipsticks are from the young adult to professional crowd and that everyone else just doesn't exist.. just kidding. Well, it sure does seem that way- the oldest beauty ambassador on the roster is Ellen DeGeneris who is in her Mid- 50's, well done cosmetic companies! But what about 50 and over? MAC Cosmetics answered the call of " All Ages" ( coincidentally their tag line) and will release the MAC for Iris Aphel collection this month. Iris is almost a centurion and is still fashionable in every way. Another cosmetic venture, Fabulousat60.com a lifestyle website for Baby Boomers who can also get their beauty fix.


2. Natural is as Natural Does

Cosmeticeuticals are once again up for debate. Borba has tried it and new products are coming soon that will give you all the nutrients you need so that your inner health is reflected on the outside, and it will taste good! I guess it beats the one pill to cure everything but also poses a problem if you have to have a mixed cocktail to strengthen hair, reduce oiliness in skin and boost the immune system..


3. The Unpredictable Coveted Beauty Collaborations

One day next year, or if I'm lucky enough to go to Japan in the fall, I will be able to order a lipstick alongside my Cassis Macaron at Ladureé. I'm so excited that Ladureé is stepping into the world of color cosmetics! Judging by the quality of their Candles, Fragrances, Teas and Macarons, their cosmetic collection will be nothing short of amazing! Other completely left-field-but-totally-can't wait collections include: Pantone and Sephora. On another note, why doesn't MAC partner up with Sprinkles cupcakes for some lip colors or nail polishes or better yet one of my favorite NYC stores, Opening Ceremony!


4. Global Beauty Love!

Some color cosmetics companies are good at others with this one, its teaching the US consumers about what is effective and special about products that do well abroad. For example, The BB creams that were released here didn't go so well. Why? because the Makeup Artists were not really trained to tell you what they were and how do they work! 
I think that more companies need to explore the Global Embrace, educate don't imitate nor dominate. Another example, if you are inspired by Baja Mexico, do your research, make the campaign look amazing and show how to work the colors, textures and tones into the everyday or special occasion looks.


5. The end of the Glittery Nail Struggle


I've posted before on my struggle with glitter nail polish, soaking doesn't work, rubbing takes off the color, not the glitter, twisting causes scratching on my nail surface..its a useless battle that has me sitting the bench instead of participating in the glitter party. Can someone please re-develop a formula so that glitter nail polish can easily be taken off without the threat of harming yourself in the process?


That is all for 2012.