CHANEL. Not For Just The Heavily Perfumed Afterall

So call me crazy, but for some reason I have always been weary of buying cosmetics from CHANEL. I think it was for the same reason that I shied away from Lancome. I don't know why, but both their counter artists are always garishly made up (not in a cool MAC way) women who reek of perfume and look at you funny if you actually want to purchase something and are under the age of 30 (phew that was long). They tend to be the stereotypical make up artist (no offense), the one you wouldn't want to touch your face.

Anyways, back to CHANEL. Again, I have avoided them, but then I saw this:

Sigh. I am in love. This is the Collection Essentielle De CHANEL (shown in Lumiére Naturelle, $85). I just received this as a Birthday gift and it is awesome. It comes in a pouch that also houses an eye shadow applicator, lip brush, and blush brush. The brushes are crappy, but so are all brushes that come with things of this nature. I used the sponge to apply the shadow and was amazed. The sponge picked up the color. When I tried to use my Bobbi Brown Eye Shadow brush nothing happened. The shadows are in wearable super silky shades that (when used with the sponge) go on almost creamy. The colors show up, which is great since too many companies today are doing consistencies that are so sheer they take 20 strokes to actually look like anything.

The lip colors are all pretty hues of different natural pinks, some with shimmer. The blush is a tanner looking version of NARS' Orgasm. Today I just used my fingers (clean ones mind you) to apply to my cheeks and it worked out very well.

I wanted the palette because I wanted something I could travel with. Now I need to get some mini brushes.

And The Ridiculous Cost of Creams and Potions Pt. 2

For about a millisecond I was impressed with the line Natura Bissé. From Spain-exclusive to stores like Neiman's, Barney's-they are known for two lines, The Diamond line and their Glyco Peeling products.

These are okay if you have the money, but why spend $225 for the Glyco Extreme when you can buy something that works exactly the same by MD Skincare for under $100. They say it has 60% exfoliating ingredients. This sounds very impressive because you think "Wow! That is so strong, like something in a doctor's office". Yeah, no. This is just a gimic because with a pH of 4.5 it doesn't actually do much. Spa can do peels above a 3.3, doctor has to do anything lower. When they say 60% exfoliating ingredients, they mean 60% of the ingredients listed are exfoliating NOT that they have a 60% strength.

It definitely makes your face tingle, which is what most people look for. If you like to feel like it's "working" buy it and waste $225. Or get Appleseed Resurfacing Peel by Fresh for $145 and feel better that you weren't scammed in the morning. Okay, maybe you'll still feel scammed.

Their Diamond line which is 3 different weighted creams, all supposed to do everything you would want a cream to do is another disappointment. Their key ingredient is Artemia Salina which they tout as Marine Extract and don't you know? It's supposed to re-energize the skin to give it a glow. What they don't tell you is that by Marine Extract they actually mean Sea Monkeys. Look it up on Wiki, seriously.

If you want to spread some Sea Monkey's on your face and don't feel like spending $300 buy an EcoSphere, drain it, and break out the pistol and mortar to create a paste of the little buggers. I am of course joking though, but it is the same thing.