Dior Enchanted Rose #451 Addict Gloss ($29.50 for 6.5 ml) is a new sheer shimmery peach gloss for holiday. It has a soft peachy pink base with gold and peach shimmers. It was love at first sight since I have a major weakness for peachy lipglosses. The color is on the sheer side so you may find it similar to many other peaches that provide a soft transparent peach tint.
Swatched:
For skintone reference I’m wearing NARS Tinted Moisturizer in Groenland mixed with Edward Bess Dewy Complexion Perfector in Medium (see swatches here):
Dior Enchanted Rose looks most similar to MAC Dynasty at Dusk.
Dior Enchanted Rose is a beautiful easy to wear sheer gloss. It adds just the right amount of sheen to any lipstick. If you already have a lot of sheer peachy glosses you may want to skip, but it’s definitely worth checking out at your nearest Dior counter. I bought mine online at Nordstrom.com.
Tom Ford Toasted Sugar Nail Lacquer ($32 for .41 fl oz/12 ml) is a permanent shade from Tom Ford Beauty and re-promoted this holiday. It’s a creamy nude with a bit of warm peach making it the perfect nude nail polish for me. It applies smoothly with two coats although I prefer three for more coverage. I’ve had this color for almost a year now and worn this many times – I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed it yet. If you’re looking for a nice subtle nude that doesn’t look like death on the hands, you may want to check out Toasted Sugar.
With three coats:
Without any flash in late afternoon (cloudy weather):
More swatches:
Comparing Tom Ford Toasted Sugar to a few other nudes shows there is a slight difference in undertone. You can definitely get a similar effect from other colors. Below is Chanel Emprise is a lot peachier (reviewed here), JinSoon Nostalgia is lighter (swatched here), Dior Grege is more tan (swatched here), YSL Beige Leger is almost pink by comparison, Deborah Lippmann Naked is lighter and more flesh colored (swatched here).
One last shot of Tom Ford Toasted Sugar:
I really love this color even though the price is ridiculously expensive. Most nudes tend to be on the sheer side requiring three coats which can make the color look thick on the nails. Tom Ford Toasted Sugar works well with both two or three coats without looking thick. I’m only on day two of my manicure for this review, but on past wears Toasted Sugar seemed to last better than most Tom Ford creams wearing well through day 4.
Dior has released two new quints for the Golden Winter Holiday collection in Golden Snow #644 and Golden Flower #634 ($60 each for 6g/0.21 oz, limited-edition, Nordstrom.com). Both contain a mix of shimmers and sparkly metallics. The colors in each palette are soft, smooth and easy to blend. Pigment level with the shimmery colors is medium but easily layerable. The sparkly shades in gold and silver are sheerer with a slight transparent-like base but they give a healthy dose of sparkle that applies evenly over the lids. I prefer to skip the sparkly shades for every-day wear, but when I tested them I found they worked best layered and pressed over the other colors to add glitz and shine. Pressing lightly helps minimize fallout.
Swatched side by side:
Golden Snow #644 is a cool-toned palette. It has a shimmery cool opal pink, a glitzy gold sparkle, a white sparkle, a light shimmery purple and a dark blackened-navy shimmer. It goes on very cool on my olive skin, but is still wearable by itself without having to mix in other shades. I do prefer something that is a bit warmer with less contrast but the colors are quite lovely on. It has a similar feel to last year’s Fairy Golds but Golden Snow is much cooler-toned (comparisons below).
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Golden Flower #634 is my favorite of the two palettes. It has a warm golden peach-pink shimmer, a soft champagne sparkle, a bronze metallic and a warm coppery brown along with a glitzy gold sparkle shade in the middle. This applies very natural on my eyes. It has a similar feel to many other warm neutrals but most other palettes do not have the same combination of colors in one compact. You can get the same effect combining Dior’s old Couture Golds (from a few holidays ago) with Chanel Spices. I do find the bronzey colors in Golden Flower unique and very pretty. This was enough for me to justify this palette.
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Two comparisons below to last year’s Dior Fairy Golds (more nude/mauve) and Chanel Spices (sheerer and less sparkly).
At first glance I thought Golden Snow might be similar to Le Metier’s Saint-Domingue (Saks Exclusive, reviewed here) but swatching side by side shows they are quite different.
Overall Golden Snow and Golden Flower are beautiful holiday palettes. You may want to try recreating the palettes with singles or mixing palettes you already own. I personally prefer the Golden Flower even though it has a similar vibe to past holiday Armani and Dior palettes. The colors are stunning for the holiday with the added sparkle shades which are beautiful to layer.
Both palettes retail for $60 each and are limited-edition. I bought mine from Nordstrom. You can find them now at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks and all Dior beauty counters.
Diorific Nail Lacquer Frimas #318 ($26 for 12 ml/0.40 fl oz, limited-edition) is a new shade for the holiday. It’s a cocoa-mauve nude-pink infused with gold and silver shimmers making it somewhat complex and a bit difficult to photograph. In the bottle it appears to be a light mauve pink. On my olive skin it turns more cocoa and darkens. From what I’ve seen, it looks different on everyone making it unique.
The complex shimmers glow in the sun:
Dior Frimas is a pigmented shade. The shimmers/tiny glitters apply smoothly and evenly although they are on the large side making the contrast with the gold and the mauve visible. I applied it with two coats:
More swatches show how it looks mauve in some photos but brown in others:
Overall Dior Frimas is a lovely unique mauve-cocoa. I think it would flatter a number of skintones for those looking for a neutral but different nude-mauve kind of shade. The color is limited-edition. For holidays Dior seems to be releasing certain shades at select counters. I couldn’t find Frimas at many counters so I’m not sure if it’s exclusive to some stores. I bought mine from Nordstrom. You can find it online now at Nordstrom, Neimans and Saks.
On my radar right now: Burberry Beauty Nail Polishes have arrived! They are listed for $21 each, I’ve spotted 17 colors online at Nordstrom (some are available for pre-order) and 4 shades available online at Burberry (there’s an exclusive gorgeous gold shade!). Have you tried these yet?
@evachen212 has an instagram snapshot of the new upcoming Urban Decay Naked3
@JessiHogan gives us an Instagram sneak peek at Tom Ford Spring/Summer
Rouge Deluxe shows us a sneak peek at Chanel Beauty Spring
Temptalia swatches two stunning Tom Ford reds in Shameless and Vampire Kiss
Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday! I did some damage restocking on Drybar staples at Sephora earlier. So many new things out for the holidays – trying to make a list and narrow down picks!
Giorgio Armani’s star product for the holiday is the Eccentrico Face Palette ($88 for 8g/0.27) a limited-edition highlighter palette. The palette has one tier of powder with a silvery overspray and small flat face brush underneath. The powder below the overspray is a mix of pinks, orange and a cool white shimmer. Mixed together you get a beautiful pink glow. Although this is called a face palette, I think this is best used as a cheek blush or highlighter. The quality of the powder is excellent – it’s finely milled and the shimmer is very refined and natural making the skin glow. It’s dark enough for me to wear as blush alone. My feelings about this are a bit mixed mainly because of the price. At $88, most other Armani palettes in this range have a cheek product plus three eyeshadows. I do realize this comes with a little brush encased inside, but I still think this one is definitely overpriced. Armani does have discount promotions through their own beauty side occasionally (most I’ve seen is 20%) which could bring the price down to the $70ish range. Still I think this should have been priced in the same range as their eyeshadow quads at $59 (even if it is a luxury holiday and limited-edition product).
The packaging:
With overspray:
Partial overspray:
Most of the overspray removed:
Swatched:
Comparisons show that Eccentrico has a soft quality that makes the skin glow. The shimmer is finely milled versus a high shine frost. Comparisons below to shades that have unfortunately all been limited or discontinued, but I hope this helps to gauge the level of pigment and shimmer:
Overall a lovely blush palette with exquisite packaging. However it’s one I just can’t get really excited about – especially with other palettes this holiday like ones from Hourglass and Chanel which are more affordable and still unique and creative (in my mind). I will get a lot of use out of Armani Eccentrico – it’s a lovely wearable pink that is safe. As usual your mileage may vary with this. I know some who absolutely love it. I agree that it’s lovely – for me at $88 I expected more. I tried tracking this down at counters but couldn’t find it anywhere in store. Others have had better luck though.
