Target

Gilt Groupe & Target have a pre-sell collaboration

I make no secret of my Target love. I think it’s neat that they do collaborations with designers to make special collections just for them. (*A few past designers were Anna Sui, Alexander McQueen and John Paul Gaultier, for example). The thing with these collections is that they fly out the door before some of you have a chance to go check them out.

6796f90a1112f02b target gilt groupe sale.xlarge Gilt Groupe & Target have a pre sell collaboration

Well, Target has decided to team up with online invitation-only sale site, Gilt Groupe, to provide an exclusive 36-hour preview-shopping event of select pieces from Target’s newest upcoming designer collaborations with John Derian, Tucker and Mulberry.

Now, I firmly expect this sale to sell out quickly, as there is usually a frenzy for these collections. So, I would def say that if you are interested in being a part of it, then you need to sign up for membership ahead of time. (*Just to let you know, I *do* get a referral bonus if you sign up thru my invite.)

So, tell me – does getting a head start ahead of the masses interest you enough to check out this sale, or are you going to wait until each collection comes out to see it in real life before getting anything?

dp seal trans 16x16 Gilt Groupe & Target have a pre sell collaboration

"This place is a link to Sanctuary, isn’t it?"*

Dec 3rd, 2008

by Paula.

2 comments

So I went to the dr. yesterday because I have been feeling kinda lousy. Luckily we narrowed down what it is and she gave me meds to get me started on the path back to normalcy. Now, when I got home all I wanted to do was relax while waiting for the meds to kick in, so I drew a really really hot bath with some Sanctuary Bath Relaxer in it.

sanctuary bath relaxer "This place is a link to Sanctuary, isnt it?"* I can’t begin to properly explain this scent to you, but I will give you my impression: it is just a warm, rich scent that smells just like a high end spa would smell (which is where it originates from) and just breathing it in deeply relaxes you immediately. This oil leaves you with an silky oily feel, but not overly dripping, just soft.

I know that after my bath, I felt much better (I am sure the meds kicking in didn’t hurt with that) and more relaxed. I can def reccommend this to anyone wanting to feel like they are being super pampered in a super spa, but for much less money. You can pick this up at Target, either online or in store for under $10. Enjoy.

*(That’s right – a quote from “Logan’s Run“. I’m a runner that didn’t get renewed and made it past 30 – ha!)

Petra Strand – Pixi display

Aug 24th, 2008

by Paula.

4 comments

Right at the beginning of the aisle in Target was the new diffusion line from Petra Strand, Pixi. She is calling this “Makeup to Wakeup” and it is very much about sets. Petra Strand Pixi display The display is all backed with the pastel green shade that is the coloring of the the packaging. With as much as was on display, it was almost a bit too much for me.

Up top there is a cream “mineral veil” compact foundation. (When did everything become “mineral veils and not foundations? Does that just sound too old fashioned and heavy? Or is it just trendy to say “mineral” in everything now? Anyway…) There are also three shades of eye brightener and a “Fresh Face Collection”, which seems like a grab it kit. Next to that, and what caught my eye, were three concealer tubes with what looks like a roller ball application. I am def going to go back and see what that is all about. Next to that are several lip glosses.
Next to that, and what caught my eye, were three concealer tubes with what looks like a roller ball application. I am def going to go back and see what that is all about. Next to that are several lip glosses.

On the next shelf and below you can see that this line is all about palettes and things that are meant to go together. In the middle are Lip Silks and Energy Blushes, which are helpfully numbered to go together. There is also something in the little white bottle called “Eye Colour Sealer” – not certain how that works, either. Next to that are the Lid & Line pencil liners and then 3 colors of gel liners, which are a black, deep navy and a dark green.
On the next shelf down are the over abundance of palette variety. What the other two lines lacked, this line more than makes up for. There are thirteen (13!) Eye Beauty Kits. These are shadow only palettes. Down a shelf lower, you will see that there are 3 Lip Glow Kits that are all lippie colors. You can also see in the lower right a Lume Lux Eye Palette and a Lume Lux Lip Palette, just in case any of the other mulitudes weren’t just what you wanted. Next to those palettes are three shades of mineral make-up, a set of travel brushes and then three shades of bronzer, too.

There are also two Water Blushes that seem to be modeled after benetint . The darker Chestnut Stain might be close, but the lighter Rose Stain is def no posietint.
Next to the stains is an eye primer, which makes me even more curious about the Colour Sealer. On the other side is really what I would say is the closest thing to a lipstick there, but really it was more of a moisturizing lip color, and there was only two of them.

Here’s a better pic of the a number of the glosses that there are. They call these “Lip Boosters”. Lots of claims on these: “Boost volume to improve lip contour by filling in fine lines. Provides maximum hydration and helps restore collagen, formulated for dry sensitive lips”. Okay, wow. That’s alot of talk for a shiny pretty for the lips, doncha think? These have a built in brush for application. Again, didn’t test these out for stickiness, because, really, isn’t that important, too? This is a better pic of the “Illuminating Tint and Conceal” tubes which has what looks to be a rollerball applicator. It also has an SPF 2o in it.

More go together products, this time the Lip Blush and the Sheer Cheek Gel. Again, these are also helpfully numbered to make sure that you get the most complementary shades together.
I didn’t play with these, but it looks like the Lip Blushes also have the brush applicator. I will have to go back and see how thick of a consistency the Sheer Cheek Gel is, and if its sticky. (I kid.)

In addition the the travel brush set, and keeping with the sets ideas, is the travel “Must-Have Kit”. It is an all-in-one kit that comes in three shades, “Pretty Perky”, “Bronze Bombshell” and “Ravishing Rosy”.
Each kit contains a full set of brushes, two eye colours, two lip colours and a cheek glow. Each in matching colour combos. (See? All working together…)

And, I am not sure if I mentioned it, but I wanted to let you know that there are also eyeshadow palettes available in this line. Seriously.
I gotta say that this line had the most variety of all three of the new lines at Target – to the most that I think it is too much. Do we really need 13! eyeshadow palettes to choose from? I know I don’t, esp if it is like any other palette I have ever bought in that I don’t use every color in it -
there is always that one that just sits there, unused, taunting me with its uselessness.

Again, must mention price points. Still a bit much for me, considering what upper brands I can get for right at or just a bit more than these. Granted there are items in this (and the other lines) that peak my interest, we will see if I actually buy in to these upper-mid range diffusion lines.

At least I like the fact that they are out there, if that says anything.

*If you missed seeing the other displays, here are the Jemma Kidd and NP set links.

dp seal trans 16x16 Petra Strand Pixi display

Napoleon Perdis – NP set display

Aug 24th, 2008

by Paula.

3 comments

Just around the corner from the Jemma Kidd display in Target was the display for the new Napoleon Perdis diffusion line NP set.
Not as brightly colored as the JK display, but looking like a compact set of essentials but with more variety in colors.

Top shelf was for the eyes. I noticed that he is not that big into pallettes with this line, like JK. On the top shelf are the 4 eyeshadow pallettes he has – 3 are brownish neutrals and one is a blue grey one.
To the right of those are the mascara and these neat two color loose powders with pointed sponge applicators. Some neat pairs in those sticks.

The next shelf was for the lips, with a range of lipsticks, some neat compact glosses (but unfortunately I didn’t see any lip brushes anywhere, so fingertip application it is) with a mirror in the lid.
He also had a lip stain and a plumper in tubes. Next to those were his lip gloss tubes, which were some nice deeper colors. There is one on the end that was a really bright red/pink with sparkles, tho. I didn’t test these, so I am not certain how sticky they are.

He had a nice range of lippie colors that felt good when swiped, but I’m not certain of staying power of these, either.
I do, however, really like the tubes themselves, with the color on top for quick id. That is not the actual lipstick product, but a nice insert at the end of the tube in plastic. (See it? My wrist strap was trying to point it out for you.)

Here is a better close up of the 6 gloss compacts. As you can tell, the available cotton swabs were used ever so carefully to get a sample of each of these glosses.

The only other true pallette I saw was for this concealer. Coming with its own brush, it looks like you can mix and match to get your own perfect shade, even if you have reddish undertones that need the green to balances.
He also has concealer in the tube with a click pen application. I know The Muse with definitely try that out just for the applicator alone.

Next to his concealer was his “Memory Foundation”, a compact powder foundation. It contains Australian Myrtle oil “which boasts healing properties for the skin”.
I am not certain how that works, but with 7 different shades, it looks like he has given enough of a variety for more women to try and find out for themselves.

On the bottom shelf was the face products. Included in this were these 4 baked color duos. They were not a bit shimmery, meant to be very matte. He also offers a travel brush set.
Just past the baked duos were three cream blushes, in stick form, and 4 “Mineral Veils”, which were his liquid foundations (you can kind of see where they are in the display in one of the upper pics). These still had the plastic on them sealed up, but they had a Tester sticker on them, so I expect to go back and check these out soon.

Overall, I think there is more variety in colors with this over the JK line, however they both have different packaging for what they do have. Again, still not digging on the price points overall, but after testing there may be one or two that I might need to get.

Up next will be the last new display that I saw, the diffusion line Pixi, by Petra Strand.

*Just in case you didn’t see the other displays, here are the Jemma Kidd and Pixi links.

dp seal trans 16x16 Napoleon Perdis NP set display

Jemma Kidd display

Aug 23rd, 2008

by Paula.

5 comments

The first thing I saw as I was “accidentally” walking towards the Beauty section of Target, was a new endcap – it was the new diffusion line from Jemma Kidd. It was all Hot Pink, Black and White:

It was the first day out, so only a couple of testers had even been touched. Lemme tell you – kid in a candy store being the first to play. They provided cottom swabs and a mirror that reminded me of a locker mirror for school. But! There was not a trash to be had. Even a tiny bucket. So, I got to carry used cotton swabs for the rest of my time there. Quibble, quibble.

Anyway, on the top row were the lip products. It included a lip pallette, lip primer, several glosses, a lip plumper and several lipsticks. Mostly neutral colors with a couple to pop.

The blue in the middle is the lip plumper, and the red tubes on the far end are very muted nudes are some kind of special tubes, but I am not certain what set them apart.

On the next shelf were the eyeshadows. There were only 3 shadow duos (not pictured) but they were each in the brownish family. As for the singles, they seemed fairly pigmented, with several neutrals and 5 vibrants.
These sell for $18, so I don’t know if they are a better deal than MAC, esp with the limited selections.

On the next shelf were three cream blushes (no shown) in a light, medium and darker shade. There were also 5 cream shadows I need to go back and look at. I passed right over them because I was so distracted by the glow from the 6 vibrant liquid liners, which include a brown, teal, and purple. In addition, there are mascara’s and also pencil liners. The pencils come in several colors to complement the liquids, and then also some very neutrals – some may have been brow pencils, too. There is also a brush set, with some travel sized brushes in a fold over pouch.
Lastly, on the bottom shelf are the face products. She has some tinted moisturizers, pressed powders and powder blushes – all in just three shades each. I just think that will not be enough shades to satisfy everyone, or allow enough people to use them. I mean, if you are going to charge MAC/Bobbi Brown/etc prices, you need to have enough variety to give people more choice. Just my opinion, of course.

Overall, there were some neat products that I saw on display. Sorry that I don’t know too many of the specific names, as I was just browsing around with all the other folks this fine Saturday. I may try to go back one night and try to get some swatches to pic.

I also have pics of the Napoleon Perdis and Pixi displays that I will be posting next.

*In case you missed seeing the other displays, here are the NP set and Pixi links.