Gucci Beauty has arrived in the US. I ordered several items sight unseen from Saks based on online stock swatches, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. After a few days of testing I am happy to report that I very pleased with my purchases, especially since I ordered everything without seeing them in person first.
The items I ordered:
- Magnetic Color Shadow Mono ($37 each for 2g/0.07 oz) in Starlight, Sunstone and Oxydus
- Magnetic Color Shadow Duo ($49 for 2.6g/0.09 oz) in Aristocratic
- Audacious Color-Intense Lipstick ($39 for 3.5 g) in Spring Rose
- Vibrant Demi-Glaze Lip Lacquer ($32 for 6 ml) in Spring Rose
My favorite items out of my first look at Gucci Beauty include the Magnetic Color Shadow Mono eyeshadows. The colors I ordered are all shimmery with a very smooth and velvety texture. The shimmer is finely milled and the colors have a complex mix of sparkles making them multi-dimensional and quite naturally stunning on the lids. I find them to have medium to full coverage. These apply naturally on the lids but have buildable and layerable pigment. I used all three shades together and found that they layered on top of each other quite nicely. Starlight is a cool champagne with slight taupe notes, Sunstone is a warm peachy champagne in the pot but goes on neutral-cool on my olive skin, Oxydus is a warm bronze with a hint of olive.
The Magnetic Color Shadow Duo in Aristocratic has a soft matte neutral-cool brown and a medium-toned purple shimmer. Both of these are also very soft and easy to blend with decent pigment. Aristocratic ordered has a softer look and finish compared to the singles I ordered, but still shows up on the lids. It’s a good basic everyday kind of duo although if I had seen it in person I would have probably skipped it. If you’re a lover of matte shades or colors with a slight hint of shimmer this is a good option. For me, I need something more pigmented with more pop, I find NARS Brousse to be a similar but better choice.
For the lips, I ordered Spring Rose in the Audacious Lipstick and Lip Lacquer. Both are very nice. The Spring Rose Audacious Lipstick is a neutral pink beige rose cream that gives rich smooth coverage. I found it glided over the lips very easily and covered the entire lip with two swipes. Some full coverage lipsticks can look dry and I found the Gucci Lipstick gave a nice soft lush velvety finish. It has a noticeable sweet floral-candy like scent which I found nice and non-irritating. The scent fades on the lips after a minute. Lasting power of the lipstick is quite good. I’m very impressed. I have mixed feelings about the Spring Rose Vibrant Demi-Glaze Lip Lacquer. I found mine to be very sheer. It is similar in color to the lipstick, but sheerer and lighter in color and has a little bit of sparkles mixed in. Based on the name, I expected a full coverage or at least medium coverage gloss. Spring Rose isn’t invisible, but rather in the sheer-medium range. I would have liked more coverage but it does show up alone and it layers nicely over the lipstick. The scent of the gloss is significantly stronger than the lipsticks. For me, it’s not a deal-breaker and I’ve been able to wear it with no issues. (I can’t wear older Lancome or Estee Lauder lipsticks, glosses, juicy tubes etc. because those are too strong, but I am able to wear the Gucci.) Those who are super sensitive to fragrance may want to wait to try before buying.
All items swatched side by side with different lighting (please excuse the typos below, the Aristocrat Duo label is supposed to say Aristocratic Duo):
Close ups:
Without flash:
Overall I’m really pleased with the items I bought. The quality of the Gucci Beauty line is quite excellent and I think the lasting power and textures are exquisite. I will definitely be purchasing more of the lipsticks after I see the line in person. I’ll be investigating the eyeshadows more as well, but the online swatches make it difficult to tell the true color or complexity so I’ll be testing before buying any more. If the rest of the glosses and duos are as sheer as the ones I bought I’ll be skipping the rest of the other options. I’m undecided about the packaging designs. They are distinctly Gucci and quite sturdy, but I’m not sure I like the look of the beauty line packaging. It seems flashy to me, but I shouldn’t be so judgmental about it since it’s functional, sleek and well-made.
You can find Gucci Beauty online at Gucci, Saks and Neiman Marcus. I ordered mine items from Saks. If you’ve tried anything from Gucci, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
