The collection includes one of Laura’s classic eye-and-cheek palettes (six shadows, two blushes — no lip products mixed in with the powders). The palette is $60, limited edition.

Buff Pearl is a beige-champagne-white satin. Tawny Apricot is a dusty rose satin. Rich Cocoa is a dark wood-/earth-brown matte. Pale Pink is a very whitened, very pale, ballet pink matte. African Violet is a shimmery violet-gold duochrome. Black Plum is a delightfully pigmented, dark, cool, dusty, muted, blackened blue-purple matte. Though these shades all feel really familiar, African Violet and Black Plum are the only two listed among Laura’s regular single eyeshadows.

Rose Desire and Fresh Peach are both new shades. Rose Desire is a blue (cool) rose pink; Fresh Peach is pinked peach with a few tiny sparkles (which give it a slight sheen).

The collection also features two Creme Cheek Colour blushes ($22). Oleander is actually a repromote from the permanent line. It’s a pigmented cool pink. Innocent Peach is a little more sheer. It’s a light peach-pink, and it’s limited edition.

There are three Sheer Lip Color lipsticks ($20). Baby Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose. Kissed Lips (new, limited edition) is coral pink. Nude Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose-beige-nude.

Naked Apricot and Tempting Coral are both “Lip Shines,” and I’m not exactly sure how to describe them. Potted glosses? Potted gloss-balms? They’re $22 each, both limited edition. Naked Apricot is very, very sheer peach. Tempting Coral is more pigmented, a red-berry-rose with gold sparkles.

The two cake eyeliners and two Eye Basics cream eyeshadow bases are repromotes (follow the links to revisit their original swatch posts).

Cake eyeliner is a dry “puck” of pressed powder, activated by water or a product like Laura’s Tightline Activator. You wet your brush, then muddle it on the cake until you achieve a paste the consistency of shoe polish. Apply your eyeliner and the cake will dry back to its regular state, ready for the next application. As you probably already know, a new cake eyeliner can be used with either water or Activator, but once you’ve used it with Activator, it won’t work with water again.

Mahogany Brown is dark brown.  Charcoal Grey (neither charcoal nor grey, really) is more like an industrial/nautical blue-grey. Cake eyeliners are $22 (and Tightline Activator is $20).

Eye Basics are $24 each. They are water-resistant, crease-proof, semi-matte eyeshadow bases containing vitamins and something called “Eyebright,” all meant to reduce inflammation. Flax is a manila-folder yellow-beige. Wheat is peach.

There were originally three nail polishes in this collection (including the mint green the model is wearing), but production issues resulted in the polishes being cancelled. My local counter put three other polishes in the display (rather than leaving gaps), but I didn’t swatch them since they’re not really part of the collection.

Spring offers two new Color Design Eyeshadow Quints ($49). Tendresse includes a pale, sheer, pistachio green; a mint-chip/Irish Springs green satin; a blue-green teal satin; a high-shimmer white; and a black with very fine, fairy-green sparkles.

Rose Romance features a shimmery pale white-pink; a low-shimmer peach sherbet; a satin candy rose-pink; a shimmery white-pink peony (slightly more pink than the first shade in this quint); and a shimmery satin dark red-purple-brown.

The collection also includes a limited edition embossed powder, La Roseraie ($42). I swatched the two shades individually with sponge-tipped eyeshadow applicators, then blended them with a triangle sponge (light swatch, then heavy). The flower is a warm, light pink; the “background” is a soft white. This product could be a subtle white-pink highlight, or a soft, sheer, light pink blush (depending on your skintone and how much of the “flower” you use).

There are also two Blush Subtil shades ($30), and “Subtil” is the operative word — these aren’t super loud. 361 Cosmopolitan Pink is a medium pink. 134 Tangerine Tint is a soft, pinked peach/tangerine (and I LOVE it. Of course).

There are three spring lipsticks, and the first is a bit of a mystery. It’s a French Touch Absolu, which means it comes in slightly posher, slightly more compact packaging. It’s also a bit more expensive ($35). The display unit, the Lancome website, and Lancome customer service refer to this shade as 316 Cotton Candy. But the packaging (both the tester and the actual product) say 316 Soft Marshmallow. Weird, but the two names refer to the same color. The lipstick is a warm, sheer, pastel pink (cotton-candy-ish, you might say).

The other two lipsticks are L’Absolu Nu (same formula, “regular” lipstick packaging, $29.50). Sweet Marmalade is a sheer peach-pink (#318 according to the display). Rose Candy is a sheer flamingo/strawberry candy pink (#314 according to the display).

There are three Color Fever Glosses ($26), which felt cushiony and not-at-all-sticky on my arm. 386 Green Petal is a very, very sheer mint green (clear, really) with a mint-scent and a medium number of green sparkles. 387 Tangerine Petal is a warm whitened-pink with pink and gold sparkles. 388 Rose Petal is a pale lilac pink with silver sparkles.

Finally, there are two Le Stylo Waterproof eyeliners ($25.50, mechanical). 600 Blanc is matte white; 502 Green Petal is a sheeny, springy, seafoam green.

You can pick up this collection anywhere, but if you’re planning to order from Lancome-USA.com, use code NEWYEARLAN to receive a four-piece gift with your $45 purchase. Valid through the end of the month.

Eyeshadow trio Douce France (named after a 1942 song by French singer-songwriter Charles Trenet) includes a satin/matte pale white pink with very tiny silver sparkles (it would be matte, but the sparkles give it a satin finish), a warm carnation pink, and a very nicely pigmented matte cranberry. It’s $45, limited edition.

Paramaribo eyeshadow duo (named after the capital of the Republic of Suriname, the smallest independent country in South America and a former Dutch colony. Where are you NOW, Carmen Sandiego?) includes a frosty yellow-lime and a shimmery browned golden olive. The duo is $34, also limited edition.

It’s a good thing Lhasa is permanent, because otherwise I’d expect it to cause a riot. It’s a shimmery grey-purple, $24. The shadow is named after the high-altitude Tibetan city, home to several major Buddhist temples.

There’s a new, permanent Soft Touch Shadow Pencil: sheeny cobalt blue Dark Rite. It’s $24, and NARS recommends wearing it as shadow, as base for powder shadow, or as eyeliner.

The collection also repromotes Larger Than Life eyeliner Abbey Road (peacock blue, $23).

Spring offers three lip choices, all new additions to the permanent line. Bilbao lipstick ($24, named after the city in Spain) is a warm brown-rose with a subtle sheen. It’s not a color I would normally swoon over, but it looks great paired with gloss.  Here’s a photo from a recent NARS makeover: Bilbao lipstick with Greek Holiday lipgloss.

Valparaiso Pure Matte Lipstick ($25, named after the city in Chile) is a red-violet-berry.

Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24, named after the flower) is a bright, warm, watermelon pink, my favorite color so far of this formula. It’s slightly staining, so color carefully.

There are two nail polishes in the spring collection. Diamond Life is limited edition, a shimmery pansy purple. Ecume (white creme) is a repromote. Both are $18.

There’s also a new, permanent addition to NARS’ blush lineup: cool, whitened, frozen-pink-with-super-tiny-silver-shimmers Gaiety. It’s $28, and I wish I owned the discontinued Chanel Narcisse so I could compare the two.

The collection also repromotes Albatross, the lovely, shimmery, permanent, white/gold highlighter. It’s also $28.

What will you be picking up from this collection?

The Naturally collection is a fantasia on neutrals. MAC periodically revists this genre — their most beloved interpretation was probably 2008′s N Collection.

Naturally’s promo picture reminds me of a passage from Wuthering Heights: “bees humming dreamily about among the bloom, and the larks singing high up overhead, and the blue sky and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly.” It’s a quiet collection, but worth your attention.

Starting with the lips, there are four lipsticks ($14.50). A Perfect Day (Amplified Creme) is a muted, dusty, mauvey pink. Beach Sand (Cremesheen) is a warm tan, a rose-beige-brown. I think J.Crew might sell a knitted sweater in just this color. Sweet Sunrise (Lustre) is a pale, warm pink. Pillow Talk (Cremesheen, and a repromote from the Overnight Sensation Lip Bag in Nordstrom’s 2011 Anniversary Collection) is a warm, rosy brown.

There are also four Lipglass lipglosses ($14.50). Wee Coquette (originally released as a mini in 2010′s Tartan Tale and repromoted in MAC Me Over) is a very pale white-pink with silver sparkles. Fresh Air is warm, sheer pink with multicolored sparkles. Naked Space (a repromote from Neo Sci-Fi) is a soft orange with gold multicolored sparkles. Hot Spell is a warm, burned caramel with multicolored sparkles. All of the lipsticks and glosses are limited edition.

There are three new mineralize blushes ($22, limited edition). Subtle Breeze is a cool, candied rose. Fresh Honey is sherbet orange. Early Morning (my favorite) is a tropical red papaya, a sunrise color with a slight sheen.

Here are heavy swatches.

In what I think was a brilliant move, MAC also repromoted two Mineralize Skinfinish powders with this collection. Redhead and Blonde were two fabulous products to come out of a fabulous collection called Blonde, Brunette, Redhead. Redhead is peach with gold shimmer (and is the slightly more sparkly/shimmery of the two); Blonde is warm pink with a silvery sheen. These might be sheer blushes or highlighters, depending on your complexion. They are $28 each.

There are a handful of Mineralize Eyeshadows ($20). Daylight is a shimmery violet. In the Sun is a shimmery tomato with pale gold sparkles. Summer Haze is frosty peach-pink. The aptly named Cloudy Afternoon is a soft, cloudy, shimmery silver-grey. Twilight Falls is a gently sparkly, almost bruisey black-plum.

The collection also repromotes two permanent Eye Pencils ($14). I didn’t swatch Ebony because it’s black, but I thought you might not have seen Coffee. It’s a dark cool brown.

And last but not least, there’s a new brush in the collection. The 286 is $30 and it’s like a duo-fibre 224. It’s a ponytail fluffy blending brush. Black-and-white fibers usually mean a more sheer application of color (for example, the 187 or 188 stippling brushes might be good blush brushes if you have a heavy hand). Speaking of the 187, it’s repromoted in this collection, at its regular price of $42.

First, let me introduce the eyeshadow quad ($57, permanent). Eclosion includes a satin peach-pink, a sheer light beige-pink with tiny gold sparkles, a shimmery-satin rose-sand, and a satin red-purple-brown (lighter, brighter, more red than Magic Night).

The two eyeshadow singles are also a permanent addition to the line ($28.50). Tigerlily is a pale orange with a few tiny gold sparkles. Rose de Mai is a warm matte light pink.

Grenat ($29) is a Stylo Yeux waterproof eyeliner pencil. It’s a sheeny plush red-purple, and another permanent addition to the line.

And then there’s Ombre d’Eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow ($32) in 40 Source. It’s a repromoted shade, a pale, shimmery ballet pink.

For me, the most eye-catching item on the display was the stripey, limited edition Blush Horizon de Chanel ($58). I love patterned blushes, but I’m really bad at “color math,” so I can never guess what blended color they’ll produce until I swatch them. Blush Horizon de Chanel is a pink satin (warm, but unquestionably pink, not peach).

Another limited item in this collection is the Poudre Universelle Compacte (Natural Finish Pressed Powder) in Jasmin ($45). Jasmin is a sheer invisible golden peach beige with tiny golden sparkles. It’s much too subtle to use as a highlighter — instead, use it all over the face for a delicately warming golden glow.

Chanel is not always 100% consistent in its lipstick formulas. The Rouge Cocos, the Rouge Allures — they all have some shades that are sheerer and some that provide fuller coverage. There are five Rouge Coco lipsticks in the collection, and it seemed to me that the four new shades (particularly Superstition and Charme) were somewhat more sheer than the repromote.

Superstition is a muted nude beige-pink with tiny gold sparkles. Chalys (repromoted from last fall) is coral. Paradis is a cool flamingo pink with pink sparkles. Charme is a more muted mauve blue-pink. Destinee is a deeper blue-violet-rose.

There are two new shades of Rouge Coco Shine. Candeur is nearly invisible. It’s a very sheer, very pale baby pink with tiny pink and blue sparkles. Flirt (so pretty!) is a soft, warm guava pink. All seven lipsticks (Rouge Coco and Rouge Coco Shine) are $32 each.

There’s also a new Rouge Coco Shine Baume, which I didn’t swatch, because it’s clear. The balm is $32.50.

And there are two Crayon Levres lipliners ($29): Rose Corail is a sheeny, warm, strawberry-candy pink. Bois de Rose is slightly deeper and ruddier (more red) — and it’s more matte.

There are three Glossimers ($28.50). Bagatelle is Barbie-/bubblegum-pink with gold sparkles (and offers more coverage than the other two options). Petillant is clear with tiny pastel pink and purple sparkles. Bonbon is sheer pale pink with gold shimmer/sparkle.

There are also three nail polishes ($25). April is clearly the awesomest (okay, that’s my birth month). It’s a berry wine creme. May is bubblegum pink. June is the only limited edition shade, a pale peach/orange.

Last but certainly not least, the U.S. exclusive: Rose Topaz Rouge Double Intensite ($34). Rouge Double Intensite is a long-wearing, double-ended lipgloss. The colored end is super long-wearing (and kind of drying), so the clear gloss end keeps your lips feeling comfortable. Rose Topaz is a mauve rose.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any deals or gifts with purchase to tell you about, though NeimanMarcus.com and Nordstrom.com are both offering free shipping. (Use code SHOPNM on NeimanMarcus.com; no code required for Nordstrom.)

The Ultra Nude Eye Palette felt perfectly within Bobbi’s comfort zone.  (And we already know I have an infinite tolerance for neutral eyeshadow palettes.)

The palette is $45 and includes six shadows (plus a double-ended brush). Chino eyeshadow is a matte, soft fawn-taupe, a light sandpiper brown. Praline shimmerwash eyeshadow is a softly shimmery golden caramel brown. Pink Chandelier metallic eyeshadow is a shimmery/sparkly peach-pink-gold. Stone eyeshadow is a matte wood-brown-taupe, the darker, warmer complement to Chino. Champagne Truffle shimmerwash eyeshadow is a shimmery peach-gold, slightly deeper than Pink Chandelier. And Cocoa Berry shimmerwash is a very dark black-brown satin.

If I had one (trivial) complaint of this palette, it would be that many of the shades are quite similar in tone. I guess Pink Chandelier and Champagne Truffle are my lid options; Chino, Praline, and Stone are my crease colors; Cocoa Berry is my liner.

There are also two eyeshadow singles ($21). Bluebell eyeshadow (0F) is a sheer periwinkle/hyacinth (dreamy purple) blue. Ultra Violet shimmerwash eyeshadow (49) is a sheer heliotrope pink-purple with a medium number of tiny purple sparkles.

Though bright lips or bold eyes shouldn’t compete with your blush, you don’t have to go without it. Bobbi has two new shades to tempt you: Nude Peach (28) and Nude Pink (29).

I loooooove Nude Peach. It’s a warm guava-ish rosy peach with tiny silver sparkles for an allover satin finish. Nude Pink is a matte cool pink. The blushes are $24 each.

There are three Lip Color lipsticks in this collection ($23). Atomic Orange (0T) is aptly named. It’s blinding. I tried it on, and I both loved it and was scared of it. It struck me as a very “New York” color choice. It was also a little bit drying, so you may want to pair it with a gloss. Neon Pink (0R) is a bright, cool, electric-flamingo pink. Uber Beige (52) is actually a limited edition repromote, a peachy, rosy warm nude.

The three lipglosses ($23) are extremely sheer.

This collection also includes a limited edition felt-tipped eyeliner pen, the Ink Liner ($24). It seems absolutely identical to MAC’s Penultimate liner.

And there’s a Neons & Nudes satin makeup bag (6″ x 4″ x 2.5″). It’s $30.

That’s the collection, but I also have a few shopping tips:

• NeimanMarcus.com is offering free shipping at any price with code SHOPNM, plus you’ll get a free sample tube of Bobbi’s Protective Face Lotion SPF 15 with any $50 purchase (no code required for the freebie)
• Nordstrom.com (always free shipping) is offering a free deluxe size Everything Mascara and Crystal lipgloss with any $75 purchase (online only, one per person, no code necessary).
• BobbiBrownCosmetics.com (free shipping at $65) is offering a free “Bobbi to Go” set (4-color mini lip palette plus mini Crystal lipgloss) with your order of $100 or more. The code is NEON12, and it’s valid through January 6th. Or use code PLUM11 to get a free Treatment Lip Shine SPF 15 in Plumberry with your order of $65. Or use code GLOSS12 for a free lipgloss in Nougat with your order of $65 or more. The Plum and Gloss codes are valid until April 13. All codes can be used once per customer.

The Honourable Daphne Suzannah Diana Joan Guinness (born 1967) is perhaps the world’s best known living heiress. She is famously fond of fashion, friend of the late Isabella Blow and the late Alexander McQueen. She is also muse to Francois Nars (she has been the face of several recent campaigns, and Mr. Nars created an eyeshadow that bears her name).

Anyway, Ms. Guinness’s MAC collection includes an eyeshadow palette (Interior Life, $38), which is cool and pretty, but on the chalky side. Stratus (Matte) is a ghostly marshmallow-pastel-pink. Bruised Sky (Satin) is a dusty purple, deeper and more proper-purple than permanent shade Shale. Interior Life (Veluxe) is a smoky, blued, industrial-grey satin with pretty good pigment. Heather Belles (Satin, repromoted from Tartan Tale) is a chalky, sheer, near-black satin.

There are also three loose pigments ($20). Circa Plum is a repromote (from the Nordstrom-exclusive Colour Forms in 2008 and Rose Romance in 2009). It’s a bruisey, red-purple shimmer/frost. Aurora is a shimmer/frost muted silver-rose-brown. Nebula is my favorite, a satin-with-tiny-sparkles cool, earth-brown taupe.

This collection repromotes two permanent Powerpoint eyeliners (water-resistant, non-mechanical pencils, $15). Engraved is black. Grey Utility is blue-grey.

It also repromotes two permanent Brow Pencils (mechanical, $15): ash-golden Fling and java-dark-brown Stud.

One major source of excitement over this collection is the limited reintroduction of two of the Blush Ombres from 2010′s Spring Forecast collection. These “dip-dyed” blushes feature one color at the top of the pan, fading into a second color at the bottom. Since I did top/bottom/mixed swatches for Spring Forecast, I gave you light and heavy swatches this time.

Azalea Blossom is a cool pink with just a very few tiny sparkles (so it’s not completely matte). Vintage Grape is a red-violet. Both blushes are $26.

There are four limited edition Pro Longwear Lipsticks ($17). Seasoned Plum is artificial-grape. Approaching Storm is a rum-raisin, browned, bricky red. Red Dwarf is cool rose. Warp Speed is a sheer white frost.

There are also three limited nail polishes ($15). Endless Night (what a funny name for a light-colored polish. It’s not at all like NARS’ Endless Night) is a greyed beige-pink with pearly pink shimmer. When I swatched it, I thought of Chanel’s recent Rose Cache, but the two colors are not actually very similar. Hyperion is a polar ice blue creme. Blueblood is a very dark red-purple-brown. I’m dying to compare it to Tom Ford’s infamous Bitter Bitch.

Last but not least, there are four limited edition Cremesheen Glass lipglosses ($18.50). Borealis is a very sheer blue-grey with tiny, invisible orange-rainbow shimmers (I didn’t even notice them ’til I got outside). This color instantly made me think of Chillin’ from In The Groove. Japanese Spring is a pale, cool, cotton candy pink. Narcissus is a vibrant royal-orchid pink-purple. Richly Revered (repromoted from Semi Precious) is a rum-raisin red-rose-brown.

Love it? Hate it? Dying to hear what you think.

Tom Ford blushes are $55 each, and pigment is never a problem. As always, I swatched these lightly (to simulate on-cheek application), then heavily (to show the color as perfectly as possible).


Love Lust is a warm rose-pink with pink and gold shimmers. Flush is a satin coral pink, brighter and more saturated (more intense, more pink) than Love Lust. It’s like strawberry candy, and the sales associate said she particularly loves it on olive-toned skin. Flush has a very few tiny gold sparkles, but it’s nearly matte. Savage is a warm bronze shimmer with a pink-and-gold rainbow of tiny sparkles.


Frantic Pink is a pale, “frozen” pink with silver shimmers — though the color is warmer than you might think. It’s the lightest shade of the group, and the color Russ used on me in my first Tom Ford makeover (applied with the $75 Tom Ford blush brush, naturally). Wicked is a violet-pink, a “berry” pink. It’s shimmery, with pink-violet-gold-orange multicolored sparkles. Ravish is a burnt terracotta clay/papaya orange satin that reflects pink with a dulled sheen.

See any must-haves? Or is the price tag giving you pause?

Luckily, the magnificent Kate of Drivel About Frivol managed to swatch the new blushes in her travels through Asia. If you don’t already read Drivel about Frivol, it’s a GREAT (read: very dangerous) resource for swatches and “Face of the Day” photos of Asian brands.

I’ve heard that the new blushes are softer, creamier (they’re still powders), more pigmented, and longer lasting than the original blushes — though I haven’t tried one myself. The only Shu blush I own is M55 (which I got just before Shu left the U.S.), and it’s pretty pigmented. Click here to see previous blush swatches.






Kate says, “P light silver 005 and P light gold 010 are both sheer, with microshimmer and a very slightly gritty texture. P light pink 315 and P light peach 510 are both pigmented, silky, with a sheeny finish. 315 has a slight pearly pink/lilac iridescence while 510 gives a glowy neutral peach sheen. On skintones of NC/W15 and darker, they would both make beautiful, subtle highlighers.”

Unfortunately, Americans, the range of blushes you can buy is a much curtailed version of what was swatched here.

The new blush is called Hervana (her + nirvana), and “innocent” is really the best way to describe it. It’s a shy, light, pale, “frozen” pink, best for fair-skinned ladies. I don’t usually swoon for pink blushes, but this is so pretty and so natural on my cheeks (a very subtle pink flush with a subtle satin finish) that I actually really like it, especially for cold, colorless winter. It also has an enjoyable sweet floral scent.

Benefit gave me the opportunity to swatch Hervana for your shopping-preview pleasure, and it’s been raining continuously for the last four days. I took this photo under the awning of my garage.

Hervana looks like it might be closest to Thrrrob (which I don’t own, but I’ll try to get a comparison photo for you).

Benefit’s boxed blushes are $28 each, and I’m a long-time fan. Check out some of my other favorites: Coralista, Sugarbomb, and Bella Bamba.