CITYist

You wake up in the morning, and you know that today will be one of those days. A million thoughts race through your head as the steaming water from the shower tries to calm your already panicked body. You’ll be done with work at 7, but the cocktail party to celebrate your friend’s engagement is at 7:30, and you can’t be late. You can change into your dress in the third floor ladies’ room, but you won’t have time to redo your makeup; and, thanks to Rimmel London’s new spring collection, you won’t need to.

One good reason to avoid the temptation of winter hibernation is this year’s holiday makeup collection from Chanel. With warm blends of chocolates and pops of vivacious fuchsias, they’re anything but December drab—in fact, with a name like Les Tentations de Chanel, they’re downright decadent. The Les Tissages de Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Effect is just as classic as a Chanel tweed suit (even looks like one), and the special edition Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow in Tentation Cuivré is the ideal mix of dramatic browns and subtle pinks. Take a look after the jump for a few more reasons as to why we’re already counting down the days until Christmas—or at least until we make it to Chanel boutiques and department stores when the collection hits the stands this month.

While being called catty isn’t exactly a compliment, cat-like eyeliner is certainly attractive. This Fall, walk the catwalk with MAC’s Fabulous Felines line, which celebrates the daring, mysterious and unpredictable side of the fairer sex. The collection draws inspiration from the eyes, coats and personalities of three distinguished breeds—the wild leopard, the captivating Russian Blue and the sleek Burmese. Depending on your mood, choose from a selection that includes glamorous golds and royal purples or subdued olive greens, and finish the look with the aforementioned swooped cat eye (the Superslick Liquid Eye Liner should do the job). And the MAC nail colors we were raving about yesterday? We’d say definitely the perfect complement.

Paying homage to Coco Chanel’s mixture of black and white hues and masculine and feminine undertones, Chanel’s Fall 2010 makeup collection makes skin and lips a soft, neutral palette for bold, dramatically dark eyes. Light pinks and corals on lips play background to a quartet of shadows in peach, deep eggplant and smokey greys. The Ombre Essentielle shadow sets the Autumn feel with a chocolate grey and khaki green, while Chanel’s pick for the ultimate Fall nail color is Paradoxal, a deep grey lavender. Top off the look with smokey eyeliner in Cassis, a dark plum, and you’ve got an Autumn look dramatic enough for the theater.

Even though it isn’t even officially summer yet, (though we are very grateful for the recent shorts weather we’ve had in New York) we can’t help but get a bit excited for December and January—for the 2010-2011 Chanel Resort Collection, that is. And though we obviously can’t wait for those free-flowing florals and bright blues, pinks and greens to hit stores come winter, we’re equally anticipating the makeup used at the show in Saint-Tropez. After all, they looked pretty good on our girls Heidi, Natasha, Jacquelyn and Karolina.

The last thing you want to do before a trip to the beach is powder up and apply some bronze and a dab of lipstick. Well, at least if you want to hit the waves – and on a hot sunny day, why wouldn’t you? By the time the sun sets, your skin should be a-glowing. But if it’s not, the MAC To The Beach summer collection, available through July 2010, provides a sun-kissed alternative. The bronzers and body oils hint a touch of the sun, while the bright-colored nail polishes, eye shadows and lipsticks are eye-catching and can easily go from day to night.

MAC, apparently, has no problem sourcing mainstream or obscure subject matter for beauty fodder. Now, they have a whole line inspired by, of all things, paper. So if you’d like to look like a porcelain figurine or some relic of ragtime piano parlors gone-by, then Prêt-à-Papier is for you.

MAC’s creative team decided to challenge itself by using this unconventional object for inspiration, and the result is a line of lipsticks, blushes and pencils in petals and nudes.

Sleek glass design? Flashy LED screens broadcasting images? Must be Time Square. Or, better yet, a MAC store in Time Square. The wild makeup retailer, known for its ostentatious storefronts, will be opening a 1,700-square foot flagship next Thursday—hoping to catch the eyes of MAC junkies and open-jawed Time Square tourists alike.

For those who consider make-up an art, MAC is providing some new markers, pencils and paints for your palette—in the form of eyeliners, lip stains and a use-anywhere “greasepaint stick.”

Available starting next month in MAC stores, Art Supplies (ranging from about $14 to $17) comes in electric shades of emerald green, lavender and bright berry pink.

Just in time for summer comes the only accessory you ever really need: a light, yet high-impact, lip-gloss from Estée Lauder. The Pure Color Glosses will hit counters in June, and will dazzle in 34 different shades, three different finishes, plus a custom collection of six glosses by Tom Pecheux, world-renowned makeup artist and Estée Lauder’s creative makeup director. With colors ranging from nudes to berries to plums, pick up everything from Opulent Opal, Peach Sizzle or Raspberry Pop, toss in your bag, and hit the beach.

Beauty wonderland Sephora is a playground for cosmetic enthusiasts and an unruly jungle to the uninitiated. Into this midst of beauty products in all shapes, colors and sizes emerges Tarina Tarantino’s eponymous new line, a collection of whimsical, sparkly products seeking to stand out from the pack. With any luck, Tarantino’s cited influences of 60s psychedelic art, glam rock and the Japanese “culture of cute” will help her do just that. The line covers the spectrum of beauty products from eye shadows and liners to lip glosses and powder. Each playfully titled cosmetic (Sparklicity Shimmer Dust, Dollskin Powder) comes in pale pink and silver packaging, further advancing Tarantino’s concept of “makeup-as-accessories.” For beauty obsessives of the girly persuasion, we’d say anything produced in The Sparkle Factory (Tarantino’s Los Angeles headquarters) will be sure to please.