plaid & leather

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This is MAC Living Legend lipstick, from their new The Matte Lip collection, much blotted. Their matte formulas are not my favorite (neither my favorite matte formula (NARS velvet matte lip pencil) nor my favorite MAC formula (creamsheen)), they can be patchy and drying at their worst, but they are mostly good (you have to asses on a case by case basis, not uniform in behavior, which is usually the case anyway no matter the brand). For the right color, more than good enough.

[I’ve only just noticed how well it matches my bag! This is what happens when you consistently go for the same shades regardless of context.]

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I like the plaid contrasted with the leather here. Especially such a bright plaid with black leather.

This is not a bad formula for an interesting outfit: put together two very different outfits, each reflecting a uniform aesthetic, wear half of one and half of the other. Or put together three, or four, and so on.

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This is an Essie polish in Dressed to Kilt, a dark blue-toned red from their fall 2014 collection. Once you find a red lipstick you like, try to find a nail polish in that color (or vice versa), odds are good you’ll like it on the nails as well. I should do a post trying to match a lipstick to this. Don’t let me forget.

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Allsaints leather jacket, J Crew oxford plaid shirt (I kind of went to town in the J Crew fall sale…you’ll see), Express tuxedo leggings, New Balance Stadium Jacket sneakers, Free People tote, double-sided faux pearl earrings (eBay, originally a Dior design. Quite cool, I think, though maybe better to wear only one at a time).

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Gold Trench No. 4

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For an effortless, sheer shadow with low-level sophisticated shimmer, look to the Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows. The Burberry makeup line is nice across the board, great formulations for lips, base, eyes, face, but for the most part I think it’s too expensive to be truly tempting, and their colors are overwhelmingly neutral. If I am up for the Burberry price tag, I go to Chanel (blush, lipstick), Dior (eyeshadow), or Guerlain (bronzer), where the options are iconic, proven, and where I’ve made happy choices in the past.

That said, these eyeshadows are really so nice. They are not highly pigmented (one popular way of determining the quality of a shadow) but we do not hold this against them as it is not their purpose. Their purpose is to be uniformly pigmented and slightly creamy in texture (imagine the texture of a Dior shadow with half the pigmentation) such that they give a foolproof wash of color that is ideal for a polished, understated look. Their colors are virtually all shades of beige and brown, and they are lovely.

I plumped for the shade Gold Trench #4, a beautiful pale gold (I wish this were the color of my trench coat). As if I needed yet another gold eyeshadow. I also like Pale Barley (silvery taupe) and Midnight Brown (chocolate brown). Great for an easy single shadow look.