Sandra‘s Closet

One of the biggest make-up trends for summer is a supernatural look with the emphasis on the lips. A radiant skin with glowing cheeks is important. The lips are coloured with see-through lipsticks and glosses in sorbet-coloured hues. Vibrant and colourful are the nails in eye-popping shades like blue and green. Nail lacquer has really become a fashion statement like a must-have accessory.

Here is all you need for a supernatural look for summer that is easy and fast to achieve, that will make you look much younger and that works perfect on hot days. If you like, you can add a touch of mascara. Please find herewith my favourite products for this season.

LoL, Sandra

1 This spring Estee Lauder has stepped up their nail game by introducing sixteen nail polishes in a new long lasting formula.

The king of color, Creative Director, Tom Pecheux has created the mesmerizing shades of which eight are limited, among them the extravagant hues: Wicked Green and Wild Blue. My must-haves! CHF 34

Wicked Green

Wild Blue

2 Dior Summer 2011 is Electric Tropics, and the stars of the collection are two bronzing powders, called Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder.

The one that I use is the lighter one with a soft pink tone, so-called Aurora (001), see photo to the left.

The darker powder is named Sunset (002) and is slightly peach-coloured.

One-shots

CHF 68.50 each.

3 Dior’s Electric Tropics Collection also includes two catwalk duo nail polishes.

These are the vibrant orange Aloha (638) that I wear below and the bright jelly pink Paradise (558). Each is packed with a super glossy topcoat to add a special flash of shine to your summertime nails.

One-shots

Available now for CHF 54 each duo.

4 Dior Addict Crystal Gloss – Jelly Gloss Spotlight Shine comes straight from the runway, it features a featherweight formula with a flash-plumping, “spotlight shine” effect.

Shades Available:

Sweet Peach (047) – the one I use
Luminescent Peach (087)
Luminescent Rose (077)
Sweet Rose (037)

CHF 44 each

5 Lancôme’s new L’Absolu Nu is a bare lip sensation!

Enriched with enhancing pigments to reveal the radiance of beautifully replenished lips, it enhances your natural lip tone in a veil of shiny, translucent colour while leaving them moistured for up to 8 hours. My favourite tone is 302 Voile de Rose.

CHF 44

6 A flawless complexion and peach-soft skin! Moisturization and radiance in one easy step.

HydraQuench Tinted Moisturizer by Clarins continously moisturizes and colours the complexion with a transparent finish, giving it a natural radiance and healthy glow. It protects against UV rays (SPF 6, 100% mineral filter), pollution and free radicals. Available in several shades to suit all skin tones.

Available starting Mid April for CHF 49

7 Colour Quench Lip Balm by Clarins provides you with long-lasting shine and moisture.

The best is the fruity flavour that makes you want to lick your lips all the time. This ultra-shine gloss helps your lips to appear fuller and more beautiful day after day.

My personal favourites are:

04 Rasberry Smoothie
05 Delicious Plum
06 Sweet Papaya.

CHF 26 each, available Mid April in 8 different shades.

8 Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Balm by Clarins – an innovation from the Clarins Laboratories.

This is an amazing product which combines crystalline transparent colour with the repairing benefits of a lip balm. The minute you apply it, you feel a unique sensation of softness and comfort. Trust me, it works!

Available in three colours:

01 Crystal Coral
02 Crystal
03 Crystal Red

CHF 35 each

Get your sword and parrot ready for some nail fun in May with the new OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection featuring six limited edition cool pastel lacquer shades and the treasure trove, so-called Silver Shatter top coat, a crackling shimmery two-texture silver finish, following on from the success of OPI’s Black Shatter top coat.

Disney’s highly-anticipated fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is directed by Rob Marshall and features an all-star cast, including Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.

Jump on-board the Black Pearl to find your own treasure with those new shades:

Sparrow Me the Drama, a cool shade of pink. Steady as She Rose, a pearly pale pink. Skull & Glossbones, a desirable nude with a hint of pale khaki grey.

Mermaid’s Tears, a sea foam pale pastel green. Stranger Tides, uncharted shade of oyster. Planks A Lot, a lavender purple shade.

And apart from The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection, OPI has more exciting news. Due to its big success, the Shatter line will be expanded in May with the addition of three new trendsetting shades: Blue, Navy and Turquoise.

With nautical hues of cobalt, indigo and sapphire, these blues provide the perfect look for summer nails in one simple step. Inspired by graffiti art, Shatter leaves behind a crackled, two-texture finish when painted over any dry OPI hue. Adding top coat takes Shatter from matte to glossy in seconds.
Cannot wait to dip my finger nails in those hues!

LoL, Sandra

For sensual, rocking hands, Dior is launching a new collection of nail varnish colours, hitting the stores in Switzerland this Tuesday, March 1st. The collection’s absolutely beautiful five urban shades are indispensable accessories for a resolutely rock look.

But the best is yet to come: For even more depth use the ultimate Rock Coat, a smoky veil of lacquer, for a mysteriously seductive effect. This key element of the “Rock your Nails” maxim, with its semi-transparent black formula, coats the varnish with a veil of grey, intensifying the colour and transporting it to an even more rocking universe. The newly smoky shade becomes more intense and enigmatic.

Like all classic top coats, Rock Coat extends wear and increases shine!

The new top coat won’t make a shade that doesn’t already exist somewhere but is the perfect alternative to transform the colours you have at home into something new and different. Imagine with one bottle, you will have twice the colour range for your nails.

Please have a look below at my review to see photos of my favourite colour Nirvana with and without the Rock Coat. I am predicting a fast sell out, so you’ll have to be quick when it’s released.

The pleasure of getting dressed, down to the tips of your fingers. Please, ladies, no excuse, rock your nails!

LoL, Sandra

# 997 Blue Label: A deep blue. A signature rock essential to wear any time, anywhere.

# 804 Perfecto: Almost black. Experience any hour of the night, at your fingertips.

# 824 Underground: A mysterious brown. An enigmatic, urban universe.

# 887 Purple Mix: A smoky violet. An enticing shade for a sensually charged slow dance.

# 704 Nirvana: A grey-green. Mixing a masculine vibe with the ultra-feminine in a promise of paradise.

Nirvana on my nails with a regular top coat

Nirvana with one layer of the black transparent Rock Coat

Left Nirvana, right Nirvana with Rock Coat head-to-head

Photos: Courtesy of Dior and @ Sandra Bauknecht

Pearls and Chanel go hand in hand. Coco Chanel’ s belief that „the light-reflecting property of pearls enhanced a woman’s natural beauty by bringing a delicate luminosity to her skin“ inspired Peter Philips, the Global Creative Director of Chanel make-up, to design the S/S 2011 Les Perles de Chanel make-up collection. He used the iridescent reflections of pearls to flatter face and fingertips.

Some products were seen already on the runway, please click here for my previous post.

There is no doubt that the three limited nail polishes will be absolute bestsellers.

511 Pearl Drop – white pearl

513 Black Pearl – pearly grey shimmer with deep blue and green reflections (so hot!)

515 Pêche Nacrée – soft tender peach

The limited edition Ombres Perlées de Chanel eyeshadow palette is also among my must-haves.

It includes beautiful shades that you can play with, perfect for summery smokey eyes: Blanc Perle, Rose Porcelaine, Violine Clair, Gris Vert and Gris Noir Scintillant.

Another gorgeous product is the limited edition Poudre Universelle Shimmering Powder in Rose Merveille – a pale pink with subtle sparkles that will make your skin look fresh and radiant.

The Glossimers are available in two new shades: Nakkar (raspberry) and Aragonite (iridescent white).

The S/S 2011 Les Perles de Chanel make-up collection is available now in the US, other launch dates (depending on where you live) are January 8th and January 28th, 2011.
Please contact your nearest Chanel beauty counter for further information.

LoL, Sandra

As Chanel is always a big trendsetter for make-up looks, I was eager to have a closer view at what is coming next for S/S 2011.

Since 1994 (the launch of Rouge Noir), Chanel has consistently turned out must-have nail polishes. So what is it going to be next spring?
Et voilà, question answered: It will be all black and white.

But it would not be Chanel if it was an ordinary black. Black Pearl is more a metallic green-gray colour reminding me of an oil-black sheen. On the toes, it was all about Pearl Drop, a milky white, beautiful for summer.

The make-up itself was focused on the eyes, emphasizing them with a smokey look. Peter Philips, Chanel’s gobal creative director of make-up, used an emerald tinged onyx black shade and for the lips and cheeks just a little rosy shimmer. It might seem a little dark for summer but I always like the spot on the eyes. Very pretty!

A total invention was the sleek hair with a liquid eye pencil line down the model’s center part. Who is up for this?

By the way, the show was absolutely amazing, more coming soon…

LoL, Sandra

Sounds unreal, but it is true. On September 10th (also known as Fashion’s Night Out ), Chanel will be launching another limited-edition make-up collection in honour of their Soho shop reopening. Chanel`s highly-anticipated Peter Marino-redesigned shop on 139 Spring Street in New York ( +1 212 334 0055) will be the only place to get the so-called “Soho Story Collection” that includes the following gorgeous products:

Soho de Chanel Palette (with the four letters of Soho engraved in the powder)

Quadra Eyeshadow Palette Stupendous (beige, brown, prune and steel)

Rouge Coco Lip Colour Stunning (beige pink)

Glossimer Star (light shimmery pink)

Rouge Allure Stunt (soft mauve)

Nail Colours Strong (blackberry glitter) and Steel (grayish blue glitter)

The new shop has even got its own campaign featuring plus size model Crystal Renn and Lagerfeld’s muse Baptiste Giabiconi.

So, New Yorkeresses, get your hands on those pieces and ship them to your fellow fashionistas around the globe. Thanks!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Chanel

Last year at the first Fashion’s Night Out, the launch of Chanel’s mint green nail polish “Jade” went done in nail polish history. Peter Philips, global creative director of Chanel make-up, started a hype that has not come to an end yet. Fashionistas all over the world have craved for the limited vernis colours since then.

This fall at the second Fashion’s Night Out hosted by Vogue , that will take place in 16 cities around the globe (like New York, Paris, London, Berlin and Tokyo) it won`t be any different.  
The world’s biggest shopping event stands for a fab night with late store opening hours, fashion shows, pop-ups and exclusive offers.

Chanel will launch the very limited Les Khakis de Chanel, a collection of 3 Le Vernis Nail Colours that can be worn alone or combined for a camouflage effect. With the ongoing military trend, the shades in so-called Khaki Rose, Khaki Brun and Khaki Vert are a must!

Get ready for Sept 9th (like Berlin) or Sept 10th (like New York )! Book your flights, call your girlfriends in one of those 16 metropoles and  pray for the grace of the Beauty Gods!
Nothing else will help…

I will be on the field in London that night!

LoL, Sandra

Chanel is not only creating one It-nail polish after the other, the French house is also inspiring the fashion world to invent new names for colours.

In the beginning of the year, there was Particulière 505 that led to “greige”, gray + beige, and for this fall it is going to be Paradoxal 509, a mixture between gray + violet, so-called “griolet”.

The shade is absolutely amazing and works with everything, a perfect companion for fall. It looks so much more purplish in the bottle than it appears on the nails. Pray for the grace of the beauty gods to get one!

LoL, Sandra

The OPI Swiss Collection for Fall 2010 will be in stores from August 1st and includes some beautiful shades. My favourites are the teal colour along with the shimmering blue. But I am wondering why there are so many reds, probably because of the Alpine country`s flag. I am living now in Switzerland since over 5 years and I immediately associate it with snow, so as for me a sparkling white is definitely missing.

I am always a huge fan of OPI`s names for their nail polishes. Please enjoy those for the Swiss edition. They are truly irre-swiss-able: I`m Suzi & I`m a Chocoholic, From A to Z-urich, Color So Hot it Berns, Just a Little Rösti at This, William Tell Me About OPI, Ski Teal We Drop, Diva of Geneva, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, Glitzerland, Yodel Me on My Cell, The Color to Watch and Cucoo for This Color.

But I am wondering why a reference to “banks” is missing. Here is my suggestion how to name it: U-B-S-ecrecy!

LoL, Sandra