Edward Bess has released some new things for holiday this month including his new South of France face quad and two palettes Berry Chic and Back to Basics (see sneak peek here and also featured on The Non-Blonde). These items literally just arrived at counters to Bergdorf Goodman and the palettes are now on EdwardBess.com. First up is a review on his newest Quad Royale palette, South of France 01 ($45 for .25 oz/7 g), a beautiful glowing opalescent powder quad of pale shimmers. The palette is inline with this year’s holiday theme of subtle-glow and has the slightest bit of overspray on top (at least it appeared so in my eyes). Underneath the powder is still shimmery and glowy and beautiful. The colors from the top left clockwise are: soft cream beige-peach shimmer, soft nude pink, soft darker nude pink, subtle golden pink beige. When mixed together the effect is subtle and South of France gives the cheeks a soft pale opal pinkish glow that is understated but visible. Using the brush in the compact (soft and fluffy) gives an ultra sheer wash. I prefer using a denser blush brush (like Bobbi Brown’s or Shu Uemura’s) for a more visible look.
With the overspray and a high flash, the powder simply glows:
In direct sunlight, overspray removed, without the flash you can see the palette is subtle and not overly frosted. Here you can’t really see the glow well, but this gives you a good look at the base colors and undertones of each shade. Note that even with the overspray gone it still glows depending on the angle you hold this against the light.
See here this still glows when held at an angle:
Note this is swatched with a very heavy hand, on the face it’s lighter and more subdued:
Here are his two Quad Royale quads, South of France 01 (more pink and glowy) and Summer in Capri 03 (more contoured and peachy, reviewed a few days ago), I’m hoping there is a #02 to be released soon, maybe for spring?
Overall I adore. Subtle, refined, and absolute glowy perfection. These are sheerer than his cream highlighter in Sunlight so if you want something more visible I think you will be happier with the creams. I tried to think of something I could compare South of France to but just couldn’t. The mixture of gold, pearl, beige, pink in South of France is just gorgeous and the powder gives depth with the darker tones of the bottom left corner shade. Is this a must-have? Absolutely yes. If you asked me to choose between the two quads, I would not be able to, I need both.
