Let's Talk About: One Product From Each Line

This post actually started as an "Ask The Non-Blonde" thing, as a reply to many similar emails asking the same question about different brands: What is the one product I should get to fully appreciate the line? As I was compiling my list and looking over my notes and your comments, I realized this would be a better subject for an open thread. Here are my own suggestions (and, yes, I'm cheating by recommending more than one item when applicable), but I'd really like to hear from you, so please chime in and tell us which products represent the best of the best- what would make someone new to the brand a true convert?

In alphabetical order:

Armani- Eyes To Kill Mascara, Rouge d'Armani lipsticks (avoid the lip wax).
Aveda- It's been years since I've bought anything Aveda, but I used to love their hair care line.
Bliss- Everything foot related.
Bobbi Brown- Long Wear Gel Eyeliners, brushes
Burberry- neutral colored eye shadows, lipstick and lipgloss
Buxom- mascara
Cargo- palettes (great value, great quality, lovely presentation)
Chanel- foundation, single eye shadows, Rouge Coco lipsticks
Chantecaille- the beautiful palettes
Cle de Peau- skin care (and then some), lipsticks
Dior- eye shadow quints (the singles are also gorgeous)
Dolce & Gabbana- lipsticks, eye shadow duos (the quads are a bit oddly edited in my opinion)
Edward Bess- brushes, lips products, eye shadows... absolutely everything just skip the mascara for now (the new formula will be out soon, though)
Estee Lauder- skin care
Givenchy- mascara
Guerlain- Meteorites, anything Terracotta, Rouge G (skip the mascara)
Hourglass- Film Noir mascara, lipsticks
Julie Hewett- Cheeky cream blush
Kanebo Sensai- skin care (best in the known universe), body care, lipstick
Lancome- mascara, skin care, blush, Artliner
Laura Mercier- brushes, palettes
Le Metier de Beaute- the eyeliner pen is phenomenal, but also you will want to start at the top: Kaleidoscope kits and Peau Vierge tinted moisturizer. You'll never be the same again.
L'Occitane- hair products, body products (be suspicious of their face creams)
Lorac- palettes, single eye shadows
Makeup For Ever- Aqua Creamliner
Nars- Soft Touch Shadow Pencil, brushes (skip the lipsticks)
Paula Dorf- brushes, Transformer
Shiseido- skin care, lip crayons
Shu Uemura- blushes
Sisley- skin care, eyeliners and lipsticks
Smashbox- brushes, Limitless Liquid Eyliner Pen, Soft Lights highlighter
Sue Devitt- Intensifier Eye Pencil
Trish McEvoy- brushes
Urban Decay- eye shadow primer, liquid eyeliners
Yves Saint Laurent- eye shadow duo and singles, luminizing powders

Your turn!

Let's talk about it: NARS Bento Box Lip Set

This is an open thread about one of the most sought-after (at least in theory) products of the season- the Nars Bento Box lip set.

When I first received the press release about the limited edition Bento Box I did several things:
1.Got a serious case of the Covet
2. Added my name to the wait list on Nars website
3. More coveting
4. Reminded myself that Nars might be my least favorite brand when it comes to lipsticks.
5. Told myself to shut up. Coveting resumed.
6. Pondered the $125 price tag. Can it be worth it?
7. Deciding it probably isn't.
8. Wondering if I'm missing something.

Now here we are a month later. The set is available from Nars website as well as from Barneys, Neiman and Saks. It hasn't sold out yet though it's been out for a week now and supposedly there are only 1000 Bento Boxes in the US market (1000 more will be offered in the UK). I'm still looking at the photo and trying to figure it out.

The colors are pretty straight forward- one is a gorgeous red, the other is a dark pink. The Japanese aesthetics and the concept of lipstick in a cup you slowly apply with handcrafted tools are elegant and appealing. It says "luxury", which is probably why the Bento Box is so attractive to me. In theory.

Now, NARS promised the lipsticks are a new formula enriched with vitamin E, which is a very good thing considering their regular lipsticks are much too dry for me. Still, are they on the same level as Kanebo Sensai,  Cle de Peau and Tom Ford? Is the packaging really worth the price hike? And what about the brush? It looks  like a cousin of my beloved Nars Yachiyo blush brush with its hand-spun black wisteria handle. I use lip brushes quite often, but this is one brush category I never found a huge difference between top and mid-level brands as long as they're thick enough. Besides, if I were to drop top dollars on a special lip brush I'd probably go with this one:

That's the Kolinsky large craftsman lip brush from Hakuhodo, a real Japanese brand that makes professional makeup brushes (hakuhodousa.com).  Their entire Japanese Tradition series is on my wish list as well as the red-handled S100- they look exquisite and will probably get a lot more use than any two lipsticks in a cup.

What do you think: are you buying the set? Have you seen it in person? How do you feel about this product in general? Please share any thoughts you have about this.

Photos: NARS and hakuhodousa.com

Let's Talk About: To Prime Or Not To Prime

I made a remark here last week about the importance of using primers and received a few comments from readers who find face primers too slippery or oily and quite counterproductive- if the primer slides off one's face so will the rest of the makeup. Not a good idea, right?

The thing is that there many (many!) types of primers on the market, including some more suitable for oily skin. I know some people can't deal with silicones and I've had one experience with a face primer that clogged my pores. Even among silicone primers not all are created equal- some are thicker than others. And then there are the non-silicone primers: mattifying, brighteners and others. My favorites are from Shiseido, Cle de Peau and Laura Mercier.

The question is: Do you prime? Why or why not? Did you try but gave up on them? Please share your experience, recommendations and/or any requests.

Photo of Greta Garbo, 1928, myvintagevogue.com