NARS Spring 2013 and more from Voce

The February issue of Voce comes with a extensive catalogue of the Spring 2013 collections from 58 brands. Biteki and Maquia also produce similar catalogues but Voce usually has the most comprehesive version. It's a very useful guide for planning one's purchases and also keeping track of all the different releases.

Supermodel Stella Tennant is the face of NARS' spring collection, which will land in Japan on 15 February. NARS Japan uses numbers for shades, instead of the English names. The collection includes two Duo Eyeshadows (Mad Mad World and Bouthan), a Single Eyeshadow in Persia, a Dressed to Kill Lipstick, a Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in gold, a Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Cythère, a Blush in Seduction and a Nail Polish N in Disco Inferno.

The Laduree spring collection turns out to be more extensive than I earlier reported. Not only are there three Mini Face Color Trios and two Cream Cheek Bases, there will also be a new Lip Lacquer (3360yen, 5 shades), Creamy Eye Color (4200yen, 6 shades) and Pencil Eyeliner (2625yen; 4 shades of which 2 are LE).

The Face Color Rose Laduree Mini Case is limited edition and will retail for 1575yen.




For Suqqu (out on 1 Feb), I think I can safely skip the three new Blend Color Eyeshadow palettes although they are limited edition.

The Face Color Palette and Eyeliner Creamy EX02 in deep navy with blue pearl look very promising though. Everything in this collection is limited edition.


I'm looking forward to the minty blue tones of the YSL collection, set for release on 18 January. It also includes four new shades of Glossy Stains (Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres).


Love this swatch collage of the new Jill Stuart Nail Lacquer R (out on 11 Jan).

Addiction lands in stores on 11 Jan. There's no sign of the compact case with the dinosaur print listed, so I'm not sure if that will be released for sale.

Three (out on 16 Jan)

Lavshuca, due out on 1 Feb.


Brigitte's spring collection, which is already in shops, includes Nudy Contrast Powder (1470yen, 2 variations), Marble Creamy Cheeks (1050yen, 3 shades) and Creamy Shimmering Eyes (1260yen, 3 shades).

Kate (1 Feb) will release four Goldish Eyes palettes (1680yen), Jewelry Mode Eyes GN-2, Slim Gel Liner Pencil (1260yen, 2 shades) and Teary Drop Liner (1260yen, 2 shades).

Visee (18 Jan)

Les Merveilleuses by Ladurée Spring 2013

The Spring 2013 collection by Les Merveilleuses by Ladurée will feature two Mini Face Color Trios (6300yen), two Cream Cheek Bases (4410yen) and a Face Color Rose Ladurée Mini Case, to be released on 30 January in Japan. See another pic on Abe Sawako's blog and here.

Ladurée will also launch a new powder foundation on 27 February. Pics below tweeted by Eclat.

Lush 2013 - Valentine's Day, Mother's Day & Easter

Here's a sneak peek from the "New Year's Revolution Edition" of Lush Times at what the creative folks at Lush have lined up for the next few months.

From the Valentine's Day range, only the Willow Pattern soap with its "A Thousand Rose Petals" scent looks interesting to me.




A cheerful and suitably pretty collection for Mother's Day, which falls on 10 March in the UK.



Lush puts their quirky spin on Easter with a raspberry scented Easter Egg Hunt soap and a chicken-shaped bath bomb.

Boxing Day Bargains

The Boxing Day sales are off to a roaring start here in London. I hadn't planned to shop much on this trip but still, it was difficult to resist picking up a few bargains.

At Fenwick's, I snagged the last Clinique Taste of Honey coffret (£20; originally £30) of four Almost Lipsticks in Black Honey, Luscious Honey, Shy Honey and Flirty Honey, as well as the final bottle of Shu Uemura UV Under Base Mousse Tsuya from the Karl Lagerfeld collection (£16; originally £29).

The Laura Mercier Petite Baked Eye Color Trio in Golden Metallics was marked down to £10, half of its original price.

At Space.NK, I picked up the Stila Seeing Stars Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner Set for £12.50, also 50% off the original price. That works out to just £2.50 per eyeliner.

At House of Fraser, I picked up a couple of Biba tops.


Plus a Ted Baker bag at 30% off.

Stocked up on my favourite Cranberry range at the Body Shop. The shower gel was dirt cheap at just £2 while the hand soap was £2.50.


The coup de grace was finding the Lush Wonderful Christmas Time gift box at Victoria station for 50% off. In the UK, Lush holds a sale only once a year that starts on Boxing Day with their holiday collection and gifts all at half price. Their gift boxes usually sell out incredibly fast so I was ecstatic to discover this. Another Lush store that I visited in Reading on Boxing Day had completely sold out of the gift sets.


My husband has been buying this for me the past couple of years. So glad we decided not to purchase this earlier before Christmas!

Nestled amidst a sea of packaging peanuts are 24 of the limited edition holiday products. It's a generous bounty that can last me well until next Christmas, judging by past experience.

Santa's Sack Bubble Bar.

Sandy Santa Sugar Scrub.

Rocket Reusable Bubble Bar

This winter in London has been one of interminable rain but nevertheless, it's been wonderful being able to spend time with my family in one of my favourite cities and re-charge for the new year. Hope you've had a lovely Christmas as well!