I’m off to Seattle tomorrow to visit my brother who just moved there to work for Microsoft (he’s the smarty pants in my family…at 22 he’s managing a whole department of engineers!). From what I’ve heard from my mother it’s a rather depressing place. It rains all the time and most of the people dress in hoodies and sweats — clearly I’m going to need to brighten things up since I’m definitely one of those people whose mood is very much affected by the weather. To that end I’m leaving all my dark shadows and highly pigmented lipsticks at home and taking some finds from Estee Lauder’s new Pure Color Topaz collection with me.
The limited edition collection was conceived by the brand’s creative makeup director Tom Pecheux who used most of the products in the line to create the looks seen on Derek Lam’s Spring 2012 runway (Pecheux created warm shimmering eyes highlighted in yellow, lightly bronzed contoured cheeks, and a sheer golden lip). Fittingly Pure Color Topaz was inspired by a trip to Arizona because come tomorrow I will definitely be able to use makeup meant to give the illusion of being in an area with plenty of sunshine!
The collection includes eye, lip, and nail products, but the stand-out in my opinion is the Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée in Topaz Chameleon ($40). You can use it just as a highlighter on your cheekbones, but I’ve been using it all over my face. It has just the right amount of shine to give you that healthy glow but with a no-makeup look. Ever since it ran out I’ve been lamenting that I didn’t stockpile the brand’s Opulent Shimmer Powder, which is no longer being sold, now finally I’ve found something that works equally well. Also worth singling out is the nail shade, Teal Topaz ($19), because whatever nail polish Pecheux comes out with always seems to sell out, and the collection’s gloss shade, Citron Kiss ($22.50). At first I thought yellow gloss…weird…but it’s actually not! It’s one of those shades you have to try to see for yourself that it’s actually pretty versatile. It’s the perfect alternative to a light pink or as a layer over lipstick (all the models at Lam’s show were wearing this shade).
