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As makeup lovers we tend to amass quite a large collection, but we all have our favored treasures. I was hoping we could share and discuss some of our most special items.
I don't necessarily mean favorites. I mean:
- Sentimental items
- Limited Edition collector items
- Next-Level-Dazzlers (items that take our makeup to the next level, and just make us feel glamorous and extraordinary)
Bring out your goods! 🙂
omg omg omg!!!
I love this thread! I have a few treasures that I can't wait to share. I will post them later when I can take a pretty picture.
ok part 2 of my post, as i said i would !
SHISEIDO eudermine revitalizing essence. the full truth here is that i got this for the bottle. designed by serge lutens to commemorate the product's 100th birthday, i was so in love with it. i used the actual product some, but with no regularity. recently, though, i've been using it every morning, and i love it. it claims to help your skin retain moisture, and i say...yep. it does.
SERGE LUTENS ambre sultan cloche. my mom surprised me with this cloche back from the serge lutens boutique in paris for me a few years ago. while i'd never actually been there myself, i'd suggested she go and she had such a wonderful experience. it is my favorite perfume of all time. because this is one my mom brought back, i found myself using it less and less because i wanted it to last forever. (i actually now have another bottle which is the one i reach for. i imagine i'll still use the cloche up, but now i can milk it for a little while longer). a true treasure.
NARS blush, exhibit a. i just adore this as an object. i don't wear it that often, even though i think it's glorious on the skin. more than anything, it just screams GLAMOR and WOMANESS to me and i want to have it in my collection forever and always.
Jem you have such a beautiful and thoughtfully curated beauty collection.
THAT SHISEIDO BOTTLE
OK, I tried to keep it to one-in-the-world items and things I can't replace or dupe easily.
Jo Malone cologne in Plum Blossom: My Nordstrom painted bottles a few years ago, and this may be the most beautiful thing I own. Unfortunately, the scent isn't my favorite—it's a little overpowering for me—but the beautiful bottle makes up for it.
Dior lipstick in Dolce Vita: A lovely BT'er sent me this in a trade, and the packaging is just gorgeous (and a bit rude looking if you have a dirty mind like me). The tube impressed me so much that I bought another tube in a different color this winter. If I was rich, I'd collect these tubes.
Bite lipsticks in a custom shade and Kale: The custom shade is special because, duh, it was made only for me. I also had it made before Bite had the matte Amuse Bouche line, and while I liked many Bite colors, I didn't like the creamy formula, so it was special to get something made to my exact specifications. And Kale I bought for myself as a 30th birthday gift. The color is insane—green!—but I adore it.
Illamasqua blush in Lover: This was back from the days of Illamasqua being sold in the US (and at Sephora). While you can now get them shipped from the UK, I miss the convenience of Sephora, so until the line comes back, I probably won't purchase anything else. This is also the most beautiful, natural orange blush, a color that if I really had to pare down my collection, it would be a keeper.
Make Up For Ever brush in 152 and Wayne Goss brush in 13: These are probably the most expensive brushes I own (maybe $40 each?), and while I tend to use drugstore ones happily for everything else, I couldn't find less expensive dupes. The shape is perfect for applying blush, and they're so soft.
Wayne Goss brush in 02: I think this may be marketed for setting powder under the eyes, but I use it for highlighter. It rivals my pet hamster in terms of softness, and she's nowhere near as good at applying highlighter. 🙂
@TKLJI love my Bite lipsticks too! A couple of my custom colours are among my treasures, as well, but the price rises at the lip labs make me reluctant to use them as much as I would otherwise. Have you ever gone back to have any colours re-made once one is finished? Or is that your first custom colour?
Kale is also a great shade, but I can't seem to wear it very much, unfortunately. Good on you for rocking it!
@suessquatsch The price hike has really turned me off the lip lab, and frankly, from recommending it to anyone else. I had this made back in 2014, and there's still tons of it left (I've never finished a lipstick). This was before the AB line had come out, so if I ever needed to replace it, I'd just get a dupe in that line. I even chose the citrus scent at the lab because it was so different from every other lipstick I owned—and now that's how ABs smell. So at least I'm not completely out of luck if I ever need a new one. 🙂
@TKLJI can definitely see your point about choosing not to support the lip lab after their extreme price hikes, and that is good that you can now get something very similar in the AB line. If I weren't so madly in love with Bite, I would probably be able to resist going to the lab when I'm in Toronto this year, but I am afraid that I will not be able to resist... I know logically that it does not make sense to pay almost three times the price that I paid last year in NYC, but I'm curious about the custom colours, and I think I need backups of my bespoke lipsticks because I haven't been able to find good dupes for either of them.
The Jo Malone bottle should be refillable if you decide one day that you want to use it for a scent that is more you!
Also, don't worry about the Illamasqua lover, I have yet to see anyone successfully pan an Illamasqua blush unless they were a pro artist, haha. But I have ordered from the UK site, and they are SUPER lovely.
I bet your hamster was glad your sprung for the Goss brush. That line made me giggle. I love your Bite custom shade!
I Don't have a lot of sentimental objects. I have held onto this Dior eye compact for over 10 years though. The name is earth reflection. It was the most I ever spent on makeup at the time $65. I got lots of compliments whenever I wore it, obviously I loved the top two colors the most. I love the Becca rose quartz especially the rose colored compact. The guerlain meteorites are my first and only, so far 😉 . I hope to acquire more things that are ore collectibles.
ok, i ADORE this thread. my relationship to makeup has had many twists and turns, but it's very foundation is rooted in the intimacy and relationships i form with these lovely objects.
this is part 1. i have a part 2 coming when i get home tonight 🙂
NARS x SARAH MOON 'look closer' eyeshadow quad. not only are the colors in this quad made for me (black, warm-neutral brown, a taupe, and a sheer wash) but i was already a huge fan of sarah moon's work. i've never been so inspired by a collab, and this is also the most beautiful packaging i've ever seen in my life.
NARS x ANDY WARHOL illuminator 'silver factory'. this is an older collab and i was not tuned into the makeup world to know it was happening when it was. to say i'm an andy warhol acolyte would be an understatement. a fellow BTer sent this to me so i could have a piece of the collection. bless you, you know who you are.
VICTOR & ROLF flowerbomb edp customized painted bottle. i know that these hand painted bottles are things they do everywhere, but this bottle was picked up for me from my dad for my 30th birthday. so it instantly became the most beautiful object i owned, in my eyes. despite it's ubiquity these days, flowerbomb is a scent i'll always hold close to my heart, too, as when it first launched (and before it took off into the stratosphere of perfume history) i was living in new york and it reminds me of being with the first love of my life. it always provides an intense Proustian experience.
3 lipsticks !:
What a gorgeous bottle!!!!
My Anastasia Lavish palette! It has the world's ugliest packaging but it was one of their earliest palettes (it may have been their first palette release?) so I treasure it dearly. And I kind of love it for its ugliness. The shadows are very pretty but I barley ever use it.
Adding: Too Faced La Creme Color Drenched
Lipstick in Naughty Nude. It was the lipstick I wore to all the services after my dad passed. It's sad but I have very specific memories of putting it on in the car and my mom asked what color it was and it was something for us to talk about and break the silence while we were riding home from the cemetery. I don't care how bad that tube of lipstick goes. I will never ever get rid of it. It's a connection to that day that is weirdly meaningful.
@starsandbucks sorry to hear about your dad. I lost my dad 4 years ago and I understand the need to have something to break the silence. Sending you (((((hugs)))))
@starsandbucks I'm sorry to hear about your dad :(. I understand what you mean though. It is meaningful and sentimental.
I suck at list-y type stuff because I always feel like I'm forgetting something.
however, these are some of my most treasured beauty items off the top of my head
Clockwise, from bottom left:
guerlain poudre de soie - this would probably be my 'next level dazzler'. It's sooooo flattering on the cheekbones but so beautiful I can't bring myself to use it but for super special occasions. The design is a pinwheel, but my husband is Dutch so every time I look at it, it makes me think of a windmill (and therefore, him)
handbound and hand painted Houkodou echizen lacquer brush - I sat on this one for a year, going back and forth, back and forth on purchasing it. The craftsmanship is exquisite, and every time I use it, it makes me happy. Plus it's extremely soft squirrel hair so it feels divine!
givenchy confetti prisme - I was waiting and waiting and waiting for this to come out, and it never ended up being released in Canada. Several weeks later, I received an unexpected package at my door from a family member; they had found it while passing through Europe and decided to pick it up as a birthday gift. I appreciate it for the sentimentality of the gesture, but also for the movement in the compact. I could (and have) gotten lost in staring at it for hours.
givenchy le rouge, Kyoto edition - this was a gift to myself for my 35th birthday. Leading up to that birthday was a very hard year for me, for a number of reasons. Several months beforehand I decided I wanted my gift to myself to be something to remind me of how much beauty there is all around us. It might just look like a lipstick case to some, but each one was handfoiled in gold leaf and then painted by Hiroto Rakusho, a master gold and silver leaf artisan. I'm not really into Marie Kondo, but every time I touch this piece it sparks joy in me.
That lacquer brush is gorgeous, reminds me of a box my mom always had on her dresser growing up.
Oh my goooooooooddddddd