A few of my favorite things - February 2014

          Along with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, I have A few of my favorite things to share with you today! February is one of my favorite color months. It gives me the liberty to wear pink, pink, and more pink! (As far as I'm concerned, pink might as well be a neutral hue). For this month's edition of A few of my favorite things, I've put together a list of the mostly-pink-themed accoutrements that I've been enjoying!

1. Kate Spade scarf 
I'm always happy to have a little Kate Spade on hand, whether it be a purse, perfume or pretty piece of another sort. This month I've been loving my pink spade-print scarf. It's a festive accent piece, perfect for February!

2. NARS nail polish in Schiap 
This Elsa Schiaparelli - inspired hot pink is a perennial pick for me, come February. While I don't often gravitate towards brights, hot pinks are always welcome in my book! I'd love to have the matching NARS Schiap lipstick; it's quite high on my current wishlist!

3. CHANEL Rouge Coco in Dédicace (click for review)
This cool, cheery pink has been a staple for me this month. (I had a  brief scare when I thought it had fallen out of my purse--- thankfully I found it the passenger side seat of my car). CHANEL Dédicace seems to have been a less popular pick from the Notes de Printemps collection (in the blogosphere at least), but it's a winner by me!

4. Diptyque Eau Rose perfume
When it comes to perfume, I'm a year-round floral kind of girl. When it comes to the winter months, I find myself gravitating to the full-bodied character of rose. I've been mixing up my rosy routine with a spritz of Diptyque Eau Rose. It's a fun take on rose, with sweet blackberry and lychee adding a delicious touch.

5. Cartier Goutte de Rose
I adore Cartier perfumes (composed by perfumer Mathilde Laurent); the natural minimalism of their scents resonates quite strongly with me! I had to pick up Cartier Goutte de Rose when it debuted last year, as I had yet to find a solid rose scent for my collection. I love how the scent strikes a balance between the sweet and mature aspects of this quintessential bloom.

6. CHANEL Perfection Lumiere foundation (click for review)
I hope you'll indulge me in my broken-record kind of endorsement of CHANEL Perfection Lumière! (It's been in a number of my A few of my favorite things posts already!) Lately I've been using this foundation along with my new beauty blender sponge, which tends to eat up the foundation, but provides a beautiful finish.

7. Illamasqua blusher in Nymph
I've become a bit more bold with blush lately. I'll use a liberal dusting, as opposed to my usual whisper. It's fitting for the pallor of my winter complexion, as well as adding a little fullness to my relatively thin face. My favorite blusher this month has been Illamasqua Nymph, a pretty candy pink!

          Thanks for reading! Do we share any favorites? What pink shades have you been wearing this month? What perfumes have you been gravitating towards?

Love, Dovey.

Butter London Keen, Trallop, and Lucy in the Sky nail lacquer (Boho Rock collection) review + swatches

             I'm a girl that loves spring! Along with the beautiful blooms and sense of renewal, I look forward to the delicate color collections that debut at this time every year. I'm excited to share shades from the brand new Butter London Boho Rock collection (Spring 2014) with you today, courtesy of Butter London --- I have a feeling you're going to share in my delight!

         I'm most keen on the pinky-peach of Butter London Keen! This crème shade has a peachy-clean feel perfect for spring. Peach shades can be difficult for me to wear; however, the generous dose of pink within Keen makes it look more natural against my skin tone.

        Butter London Trallop is a light caramel nude crème. I feel that this shade really channels the earthy aesthetic of the Boho Rock collection. And finally, for the girl with kaleidoscope eyes, I have Butter London Lucy in the Sky! This polish has an iridescent silver and gold glitter suspended in a rosy taupe base. The base is somewhat sheer, but can be built up to opacity in 3 coats.

         I've painted out some comparison swatches so you can get a better look at my Butter London Boho Rock shades!  You can see how Butter London Keen is more peach than pink when compared to NARS Trouville (click for review) and Essie Van D'Go. It's also slightly muted in comparison. I think it really helps to see Butter London Trallop swatched against Butter London Shandy (click for review) and Butter London Tea with the Queen, as nudes can really run a gamut. You can see it's warmer, darker, and less peach than Shandy, while it's lighter and less pink-brown than Tea with the Queen. Butter London Lucy in the Sky is quite unique. You can see it's cooler and more taupe when compared to the warm gold shimmer of Butter London Marbs (click for review). However you can see that it's darker and earthier than a platinum gold like SpaRitual Cassiterite (click for review).

          Overall I find the Butter London Boho collection (Spring 2014) shades shown here to be a nice new take on neutrals and naturals for spring. Naturally, I gravitate towards the peachy-pink of Butter London Keen; however, I definitely see Butter London Trallop and Lucy in the Sky finding their way into my spring rotation as well!

         Thanks for reading! Have you had a chance to play with the Butter London Boho Rock collection? What Butter London shades have you been loving lately? What neutral polishes are must-haves in your collection?

Love, Dovey.
Disclosure: This post contains product(s) sent to Cute and Mundane for consideration. The ideas and opinions in this post are genuine and my own.

CHANEL Rouge Coco Lip Color in Dédicace review + swatches

          I simply can't resist spring collections! The delicate optimism of pretty pinks and peaches never fails to delight. I find CHANEL Spring in particular to be perennially lovely; in fact, my very first CHANEL purchase was a Spring-series lipstick!

           As you might imagine, I spent quite some time poring over the CHANEL Notes de Printemps (Spring 2014) collection. It was hard to choose just a single shade from the bunch! Ultimately I decided upon CHANEL Rouge Coco Lip Color in Dédicace, a cool rosy pink. I tend to prefer pinks over corals and light-to-medium shades over full-force color. (And yes, I am a creature of habit).

        Compared to the other lipsticks available in CHANEL Notes de Printemps, CHANEL Dédicace hasn't received much attention on the blogosphere. It was challenging for me to gauge the color before purchase (though that didn't stop me from jumping to buy it!) Hopefully my swatches below will give you a better idea of what to expect.

        CHANEL Rouge Coco Lip Color in Dédicace is a medium rosy pink. The color has a definite cool character when worn (more so on the lips than in my swatch), though not in the sense of cool bubble-gum pink! I've compared it to a few pinks in my collection below. As you can see it's more of a red pink than Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake and Too Faced Lip Color in Razzle Dazzle Rose, both of which are cool pinks. CHANEL Rouge Coco in Dèdicace swatch is much more intense in color and shade than Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Pale Mauve and CHANEL Rouge Allure in Radieuse.

        CHANEL Rouge Coco Lip Color in Dédicace is a spring pink that makes my heart sing! Recently, I've been looking to build up my medium pink collection (I tend to favor lights, as you may know), so this is a beautiful starter! In addition to being a stellar spring pink, the formula on this particular Rouge Coco is quite comfortable and non-drying, even in the current wintry climate. Overall, the shade is a wonderful addition to my lip wardrobe!

         Thanks for reading! What are your favorite shades from CHANEL Notes de Printemps? What are your favorite shades of CHANEL Rouge Coco? What pinks have you been loving lately?

Love, Dovey.