This past weekend I had a much needed girls’-day-out in LA. On our list was a stop at Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills to check out the newly launched Tom Ford beauty line and of course our favorite girls at the Edward Bess counter. I didn’t expect to see anything new from his line (although I’ve been eagerly waiting for his eye bases to be released) but spotted a new Quad Royale in Monte Carlo 02 a beautiful highlighter quad of peachy goodness ($45 for 0.25 oz/7g). Being the peach fanatic and EB fan that I am, I snapped one up immediately without even trying it at the counter (I had other blushes on that I was testing from another brand).
Monte Carlo 02 is the third Quad Royale face highlighter Edward Bess has released. It has four colors in a black mirrored compact, all different variations and intensities of peach shimmer. The lightest shade is a pale champagne but the others are darker and more pigmented. I previously featured Summer in Capri 03 and South of France 01 in prior months and love layering them over his Daydream Bronzer or other blushes to add a soft glow. I find they are perfect for my medium skintone to add a subtle highlight to brighten the face. Monte Carlo is also a highlighter but I find the colors darker so this could also work as a blush. I do find it more pigmented and more shimmery than the others but in a beautiful sense (it’s not overly frosted). The texture is similar to that of the other quad royales: smooth, finely milled shimmer and easy to blend on the face for a natural glow. I do find it a bit harder in texture compared to his original version of the Daydream bronzer which is the one I have featured in the past. The Quad Royale still applies smoothly and easily on the skin. Monte Carlo has no detectable scent. I love the brush that comes in the compact – it’s a step up from most compacts other brands have and is usable to dust the cheeks evenly with color. Here are all 3 of Edward’s face quads plus a few more close up shots:
Outdoors, cloudy lighting, no flash:
Ingredient listing (clickable for larger viewing):
On the face it applies shimmery. I have worn this as a blush alone but prefer this layered over another semi-matte to fully-matte product (whether it is blush or bronzer). I was hoping for sun this weekend but it was overcast. Here are the best swatches I could manage:
A few comparisons to other peachy blushes and bronzers. There are others I could have pulled but right now I am limited on time so I pulled a small sample to help give you an idea of the color. Please note that right now I do not have time to accommodate extra comparison or dupe requests.
Swatched left to right: Bobbi Brown Nectar Shimmerbrick, Dior Aurora, Edward Bess Summer in Capri, Edward Bess Monte Carlo, MAC Ripe Peach
Bottom line: love. It gives a natural peachy glow with a subtle refined shimmer. Pigment is sheer but noticeable on the skin with one swipe and it is also layerable for more color. If you have Summer in Capri, do you need Monte Carlo? They are similar in color but the Summer in Capri has bigger portions of lighter shades while Monte Carlo has more peach. I think they are different enough to justify both. Is Monte Carlo a must-have? In my opinion yes, even with the dozens of peachy shimmers I already own, yes.
As of this past weekend I was not able to find this anywhere online for sale. I do know the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus counter has this. I highly recommend you call them to order if you’re interested. I have not yet checked with the Bergdorfs counter.
