My Hoard of Golden Beauty Treasures!

Selection of gold things that are perfect for the holiday season

Excuse the loads of "product porn"! But don't they make SUCH a luscious visual?

Here are some of the golden things I love. Sadly, a couple of them are limited edition and no longer available (although we can cross our fingers they'll be re-released).

Dior J'adore Essence de Parfum

Dior J'adore Essence de Parfum

At the risk of sounding cheesy, this is liquid gold in a bottle. We keep complaining about Dior reformulating its classic scents with cheaper synthetics, but this particular version went the other way. Made from expensive natural Rose and Jasmine absolutes harvested from fields reserved just for Dior, and blended with real Tuberose and a touch of Tahitian Vanilla to lend a bit of oomph (don't worry, it doesn't smell like dessert), this is a more linear/simple but drop-dead gorgeous flanker of the original J'adore.

The slimmer, smaller, hand-crafted signature bottle with the long neck is just a pleasure to look at as well.

Lierac Huile Sensorielle aux 3 Fleurs

Lierac Huile Sensorielle

If you're traveling to or living in some place dry, you probably appreciate the wonders of rubbing a silky oil into your skin and hair.

Lierac's Huile Sensorielle is less well-known as Nuxe's equivalent, but I love it for the delicate blend of fragrant white flowers (camellia, jasmine and gardenia) with argan, sweet almond, grape seed, and hazelnut oils. It's light but nourishing, and just lovely and subtle to smell on your skin and hair.

Just be careful to store it away from light and heat, as it is all-natural and can go rancid.

Guerlain Ombre Eclat

Guerlain Ombre Eclat

Well, this is the only item that is here just because of the packaging. That's not to say Guerlain eyeshadows aren't some of the most impressive on the market. But if you're looking to treat someone - or yourself - this holiday season, a richly-pigmented shadow in a beautiful gold compact, sheathed in its own suede sleeve, is one of those little luxuries that feels special to own precisely because you wouldn't buy it under normal circumstances.

Guerlain Sun In The City (Limited)

Guerlain Sun In The City highlighter/bronzer

This ridiculously beautiful powder is only there because it's so ridiculously beautiful; both to see and to use. It's one of the best golden highlighters for medium to dark skins, and it's just a shame it's not part of the permanent collection. The compact is also HUGE so you can sweep it down your neck, across shoulders, down the arms and legs for a golden-bronze sheen.

Sephora mono shadow in Girls Night Out, and Guerlain Terracotta Sun In The City

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre Vision (Limited)

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Vision

One of my favorite cream shadows in the world - bar none - Vision is just made up of gold flecks, so you look like you're wearing a wash of gold dust on the lids. There's no other color in the base. Just Tinkerbell dust that won't fall off onto your cheeks.

The bad news is it's limited edition and no longer available, but here's a cheap alternative!

Sephora's Precious Gold Luminizer costs a humble US$10 but it's SO fun. It's similar to Vision, but the proportion of darker gold flecks is higher than in the Chanel. Honestly though, on the lid, most people won't be able to tell the difference. 

Swatches of Chanel Vision and Sephora's Precious Gold Luminizere

I like to dab this onto the inner corners of my eyes, or the center of my lid on top of a neutral/matte eyeshadow look. It can be worn as a wash across the lids, but doesn't go on as evenly as the Chanel, since it's a gel, so it doesn't build up very easily. Still, for the price, who's complaining?!

Lime Crime Uniliner in Rhyme

Lime Crime Uniliner in Rhyme

Rhyme isn't a typical metallic liquid liner. It's made up of ultra fine gold flecks, so if you sheer it out, it almost looks like a sparkly gold shadow. It's fantastic as a holiday liner, and I've also used it many times dabbed on the center of the lids over other shadows.

Lime Crime Uniliner in Rhyme applied as liner, and spread as shadow

Other products:

• Revlon Nail Enamel in Gold Coin - this is a sparkly cool gold that's not glitter and not quite chrome either.
• Gold nail wraps from lightinthebox.com (these are available from so many places; I just inluded them because nothing looks quite like gold nail wraps)

Jazzed-Up Classic: Charcoal and Gold Eye with Scarlet Lips

If you're looking at a few posh dinners or parties (as we enter the holiday season) and want something that will be noticeable but not too typical or outlandish either, it's quite easy to just add a shot of gold to a more classic red lip look.

Instead of chunky glitter, which can look a little tacky, you want to go for something that is very fine-grained, and almost like large pigment particles. The alternatives are

• super fine micro-glitter (.04 micron and below)
• MAC Reflects pigment in Gold
• glittery gold liquid liner like Lime Crime Rhyme, which is made up of little gold flecks like MAC Reflects

Other things you'll need include: 

1. A dark almost-matte black shadow. I used the purple-black shade in the Rimmel Precious Crown quad for contrast with the gold.
2. Black liner or kajal.
3. Matte bronzer. I used MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Comfort.
4. Gold shimmery highlighter for the cheeks. My pick was Guerlain's Attrape Soleil but that is expensive and might be hard to locate, so any champagne gold highlighter you can find would work.
5. A favorite scarlet lipstick like MAC's Ruby Woo, which will more likely last through drinks and snacks. You don't want this shade to be too dark or brown. It should be RED.

 

Step 1: Just begin by applying the dark charcoal shade over your entire lid from lashes up to the socket line, right above your eye ball. Run a little along the outer halves of your lower lash line with a firm brush as well.

Step 2: Apply the gold sparkle. If you're using a loose pigment, you might want to mix a little with eye drops or some mixing medium (MAC Fix+, or liner sealant) before dabbing it on with your finger, over the inner half of the lids. 

It WILL dilute and make the charcoal shade you applied earlier a bit faded, but that's fine since you're creating a bit of a gradation from light to dark, inside-out anyway.

Step 3: For definition and contrast, run black liner along the inner rims of your eyes. This makes the gold really pop and look more vibrant.

Then finish by curling lashes and applying mascara or false lashes. I wouldn't go for dramatic lashes since they'll just detract from the whole eye look, but it's no harm if you want to wear them.

After everything sets, you might need to go back and apply a second layer of gold onto the inner corners at the lower lash line just to intensify the color further.

 

Step 4: On the cheeks, I applied bronzer for warmth and contouring, and then topped my cheekbones and brow bones with shimmery gold. This gives a beautiful sheen when the light hits and it looks even better up close.

Step 5: Finish by apply a scarlet lipstick. If you're going to be eating and drinking, then make sure you blot and reapply to prolong the wear. For a super-detailed tutorial on how to apply a perfect red mouth, watch Lisa Eldridge's video here!