Sandra‘s Closet

NARSissist (NARS∙is∙sist) (n.) – lives by her own rules, not afraid to express herself in every look, mood or attitude. Effortless charm with a bottomless makeup bag.

One to watch. Eight to swatch. The NARSissist keeps her eyes (and options) open with the limited edition Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette that features eight dual-intensity eyeshadows and a specially designed wet/dry eyeshadow brush. The perfect tool for traveling with shades for a neutral or dramatic look.

Shades include: All About Eve, Madrague, Fez, Bali, Coconut Grove, Madrague ll, Nepal, Ashes to Ashes, Brousse, Mekong, Bellissima, Lhasa, Bad Behavior, Dogon, Pandora.
NARSissist Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette will be available for CHF 95.- from March 2015 in Switzerland.  In other countries already for sale online. Double-takes never looked so good.

LoL, Sandra

Still: Courtesy of NARS

While the looks and not to forget the accessories are always amazing at 3.1 Phillip Lim, the same can be said about the beauty. NARS and Phillip Lim have a long standing relationship as the beauty brand has been responsible for the makeup at the designer’s New York Fashion Week shows for the past 14 seasons, and now they’re finally teaming up for a limited edition nail polish line.

The collection that will hit the counters on August 1, 2014 includes nine limited edition nail shades inspired by the “colors that exists in the shadows“.

Shades include: Anarchy (Angora), Wrong Turn (Graphite), Shutter (Black Sea Green), Other Side (Bitter Chocolate), Gold Viper (Champagne), Crossroads (African Violet), Hell-Bent (Lacquer Red), Dark Room (Blue Denim) and Insidious (Black Bronze).

TO SHOP THE 3.1 PHILLIP LIM F/W 2014 COLLECTION, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of NARS and 3.1 Phillip Lim

Last Sunday evening, the 2014 Golden Globe Awards were held in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton. American Hustle was responsible for the most wins (three, including best movie in the comedy/musical category); other multiple-category winners were Dallas Buyers Club, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Breaking Bad and Behind the Candelabra. But of course, we all might be even more interested in the gowns spotted on the red carpet.

One of my favorite looks was worn by Sandra Bullock. The brunette actress went for a bright gown, sporting a striking pink, black and blue Prabal Gurung dress teamed with Lorraine Schwartz jewelry with her hair pulled into a side ponytail.

YOU CAN ORDER SANDRA BULLOCK’S COLOURFUL DOUBLEFACE SATIN V-NECK GOWN HERE.

Fellow nominee Cate Blanchett took home the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her role in Blue Jasmine and striked a pose in amazing lace backless Armani Privé couture gown. Personally speaking, this is how a winner should look like!

Her makeup was done by Jeanine Lobell who used NARS Love Blush from the Final Cut Collection along with Eyebrow Perfector and Brow Gel.

NARS Final Cut Collection for Spring 2014 (coming out in February).

Bringing world class sustainable luxury centre stage, the blonde actress paired her couture gown with a pair of earrings from Chopard’s Green Carpet Collection, featuring marquise-cut white diamonds (11 carats) set in a laurel design, crafted in 18-carat Fairmined white gold. She also selected a white diamond line bracelet (35 carats) set in platinum, and a white diamond ring featuring three stacked rows of brilliant-cut diamonds (6 carats) set in 18-carat white gold.

Founder of the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC), Livia Firth says, ‘Cate Blanchet is both a fashion icon and a woman with an intuitive grasp of the issues that matter. By choosing to wear Chopard jewels for the Golden Globes, she is supporting a profound and dynamic shift toward sustainable luxury that affects change right at the beginning of the supply chain among artisanal miners.’ If you like to find out more about the dynamic project, please click here for a previous post.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Steve Granitz/WireImage – © Jason Merritt/Getty Images – © Getty – Courtesy of Nars

In a bold new collection for NARS, designer Pierre Hardy brings his fresh color palette to the iconic beauty brand. Inspired by his S/S 2013 shoe collection, Hardy’s offering includes six color-forward nail polish pairings and two richly-hued blushes.

Nail polish duos come housed in a small shoebox with dust bag (a nod to Hardy’s own footwear packaging), while the high voltage blush palettes go graphic with shimmering gold overspray of the designer’s signature cubic print.

NAIL POLISHES

ETHNO RUN orange, navy
SHARPLINES peach, burgundy
VERTEBRA coral, dusty rose
EASY WALKING rose gold, camel
SHARKS yellow, lavender
VENOMOUS  gunmetal, black (exclusive to NARS boutiques and narscosmetics.com)

Nail Polish Pairs CHF 49.00 each

BLUSHES

ROTONDE tiger lily
BOYS DON’T CRY pink grapefruit

Blush Palettes CHF 68.00 each

The NARS Pierre Hardy collection will be available on May 1, 2013.

There is no denying that this NARS designer collaboration is amazing. Graphic prints and sculptural designs are Pierre Hardy’s forté.

Wouldn’t his iconic rose gold-plated 3D cuff complement your new manicure perfectly?

TO SHOP PIERRE HARDY SHOES, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Nars and Pierre Hardy

Bourjois is celebrating its 150th anniversary and I received a package filled with some amazing products that made my heart leap for joy. My favourite: “My lips fashion book” with the wonderful ROUGE EDITION collection of 18 lip shades direct from the runway. Of course all those hues are pretty tempting, but FUCHSIA is the must-have lip colour of the season!

Here is my list of the best fuchsia hues available at the moment.

ROUGE EDITION by Bourjois in 07 Fuchsia Graffiti
Calling all fashionista’s out there… this new lipstick is for you!  The perfect shade for your new season outfit! Available now for CHF 18.90

ROUGE VOLUPTE SHINE by Yves Saint Laurent in 06 Pink in Devotion
An innovative and comforting lipstick enhanced with fruit extracts rich in vitamins and antioxidants that leave lips visibly softer and smoother with up to eight hours of hydration.
Available now for CHF 50.00

SUPER STAY 14 HR LIPSTICK by Maybelline in 160 Infinitely Fuchsia
This lipstick won’t weigh you down. Super rich colour with super staying power. No dragging. No drying. No letdowns at all. Available now for CHF 16.90

GLOSS D’ENFER by Guerlain in 471 Prune Zip
Intense colour and shine for a bare lips sensation in fuchsia.
Available in Switzerland from May 2, 2013 for CHF 43.00.

SATIN LIP PENCIL by Nars in Yu
A modern, long-wearing, vitamin-enriched formula in a jumbo pencil format to provide great wear and intense color with a satin finish. Use for lining, all-over shading, or pairing with another lip product. This hue is inspired by the romantic garden in Shanghai’s old town.
Available now for CHF 45.00
(This is the shade I am wearing on my lips on the photo in the first collage).

HEAT WAVE SUMMER 2013 by Smashbox in Fuchsia Flash
Make your pout shout with this mega-juicy gloss that is part of a collection of 4 vibrant shades.
Available now for CHF 40.00 the complete set exclusively at Marionnaud.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of the brands and © Sandra Bauknecht

Fresh and fierce, strong and sexy; the NARS Spring 2013 Color Collection introduces a vibrant, ‘90s-esque palette that sets the tone for a season of audaciously feminine looks.

The ’90s have been back on the runways and this is the perfect make-up to complement your revived look. François Nars has created a collection that heralds spring’s arrival with shades ready to make a graphic statement. Look your best as the face of the campaign, model icon Stella Tennant.

The collection will be available in Switzerland end of February 2013.

Another great product will be launching in March 2013: The long awaited, skincare infused Radiant Creamy Concealers from NARS, that had been spotted during New York Fashion week S/S 2013 when the house’s make-up teams were using them backstage. They come with an amazing creamy liquid formula and will be available in 10 different shades for CHF 40.- each.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Nars

A Small World hosted the pre-launch party of Zurich’s new hot spot Aura last Thursday.
The location is gorgeous, home to a bar and smoker’s lounge, a restaurant and a nightclub which can be booked for special events. The large room is surrounded by projectors that can be part of a presentation or show.

Getting ready at home, I put on some upbeat music that got me psyched for the night. Great for dancing, I chose a pretty short dress and comfortable boots. 
My look: Knit dress by Alexander McQueen, purple “punk”-style fur bag by Tom Ford, overknee boots by Gucci and cocktail ring by Roberto Cavalli.

With night in full swing and the lights low you can afford to get stronger with your makeup. I went for smokey eyes paired with dark bold lips. Here are all the products I used:

FACE
1 NEW Teint Visionnaire by Lancôme
Launched this month, this first hi-tech make-up duo pushes the concept of perfect skin to an all-new level by the help of a high-coverage corrector enriched with vitamin CG and a perfecting foundation that reconciles perfect coverage, a natural finish and skincare efficacy.
2 Maestro Eraser by Giorgio Armani (the perfect lightweight concealer)

EYES
3 Pure Chromatics Collector’s Palette Arctic Night (limited edition) by YSL
4 Eye Color Quad in 10 Titanium Smoke by Tom Ford
5 Long-Wear Eye Pencil in Jet by Bobbi Brown (glides on smoothly, stays in place for hours)
6 NEW So Intense Mascara in Black by Sisley
The most innovating mascara that thickens, lengthens, curls and nourishes in one.
Easy application! In Switzerland available from February 2013.

LIPS
7 Cremestick Liner inVelvetella by MAC
8 Rouge Dior in 786 Mysterious Mauve by Christian Dior

CHEEKS
9 Bronzing Blush Duo in Orgasm/Laguna by Nars (for the ultimate sun-kissed radiance)
10 Météorites Wulong by Guerlain (pressed powder, great for highlighting)

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Aura, A Small World and © Sandra Bauknecht

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

I came back from my amazing road trip through the US this week and left immediately to Munich for a day with Bobbi Brown. Stay tuned, I will tell you all about it very soon.

During the last 5 weeks, I went through 9 states – Illinois, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Nevada, California, Hawaii and Texas – and besides the horrible hail storm in South Dakota, I was blessed the whole time with beautiful sunny weather. So I was quite shocked when I got back to Switzerland where there was no sign of summer at all. Surprisingly, I found severe hail damage in my garden, my pool cover looked like shot with a pump gun. What a subtle irony! And when I experienced a mini tornado yesterday at Lake Zurich, I was inspired to this outfit.

Mini Tornado in Zurich on July 21, 2012 (Photo via Tagesanzeiger)

Invest in some great fall key pieces. Bottle green is one of the hottest colours for the season. Peplum hems appeared on many runways and are one of the most flattering trends. A trench coat is a true classic piece that works for so many occasions and definitely belongs in your closet – with Burberry you cannot go wrong. Finally, add a piece of colourful statement jewelry.

Mid-length cotton-gabardine trench coat by Burberry London, fine-knit wool peplum top, bottle-green De Manta leather tote, skull-print modal and cashmere-blend scarf, skull-embellished umbrella, all by Alexander McQueen, stretch-leather skinny pants by Yves Saint Laurent, multi-stone cuff by Emilio Pucci and ‘Original Tall’ Wellington boots by Hunter.

Nars Fall 2012 collection offers for your eyes and nails some icy shades with stormy names:

Vent Glacé (Glacial Wind) Duo Eyeshadow, CHF 59.-

Storm Bird Nail Polish (Limited Edition), CHF 32.-
Both available from August 2012.

Good news: The weather forecast says that the arrival of summer is close in Zurich. Let’s hope that the weather gods will be merciful.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Nars

Get a taste of India with one of the season’s more vibrant collaborations, the designer Thakoon Panichgul of Thakoon has made a limited-edition series of six lacquers for Nars, who did the beauty look for his show, based on the brights from his S/S 2012 runway. “The prints in that collection were inspired by the rich color palette of India, the spices, the holy festivals,” Panichgul says. Please click here to shop Thakoon’s beautiful S/S 2012 collection and here for more  information on the designer.

Those new bold nail polishes shades are the perfect choice for your colourful statement in the new season.

From left to right: Anardana (azalee rosa), Ratin Jot (orchid lilac), Amchoor (yellow), Kutki (light blue), Koliary (cyan blue)

The gorgeous shades will be available this month for CHF 32.- each. But there is one exception:

Lal Mirchi (mandarin red) will only be available at NARS, 413 Bleecker Street in New York City.

On my nails: Kutki, my favourite shade of the collection. Light blue and turquoise are the must-have colours for your summer manicure!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Nars and Thakoon, © Sandra Bauknecht

Today, I would like to introduce you to Yves Saint Laurent’s newest nail polishes duos Les Manucure Couture Les Fauves that are available now in four different combinations, only in selected department stores for CHF49 each.

Duo N° 1 – Griffe Dorée – Gold and Black Shatter

Duo N° 2 – Griffe d’Argent – Silver and Black Shatter (on my nails below)

Duo N° 3 – Griffe de Sable –  Beige and Black Shatter

Duo N° 4 – Griffe de Jade – Khaki and Black Shatter

What looks like you just stepped out of a nail salon is actually quite easy to apply yourself and it is a lot a fun watching the effect happen. So how does it work exactly? Shatter polish is a special top coat applied over your regular nail colour that gives a “crackled” effect on the finish. As the shatter coat is matte, you can apply a topcoat for a high gloss finish if desired.

OPI was among the first ones to introduce the shatter polishes. Below you can see some of my favourite combinations.

LoL, Sandra

OPI Spark de Triomphe (gold) with OPI White Shatter on top

NARS Ecume (white) with OPI Blue Shatter on top