I couldn’t resist. Pretty packaging, sparkly black gold + shimmery cool taupe and I was sold on the Minaudière in Grey Golds 001 from Saks. You saw my feature of the Dior Minaudière in Pink Golds 002 last week. Here are photos of the Grey Golds version – my favorite of the two options and as far as I know, exclusive to Saks in the U.S.
On the nails, Chanel Cosmic Violine, top from Banana Republic
The Grey Golds version has a black with gold sparkles, cool shimmery taupe, and a lovely warm white-gold sparkle. The eyeshadows apply true to what you see in the pan. They are softer in texture than the quints making them easier to blend. All shades are very shimmery.
The lip colors are a bit more deceiving. In the compact you see a dark vampy plum and a white-gold sparkle. When you swatch them, the plum actually applies more red and the white gold applies even more sparkly than what you see in the compact.
Here are the shadows of the 2 clutch palettes from Dior:
Holiday palettes and kits are being released everywhere and it seems like there’s something new from Bobbi Brown every week. I can hardly keep track. Bloomingdale’s has a new exclusive holiday set this year called the Everything Eye Kit ($85). It comes with a 5-pan eyeshadow palette, full-sized Everything Mascara in Black and a new Thunderstorm Gel Eye Liner.
The palette contains a mix of regular, sparkle and shimmer wash colors. Inside it has (left to right) Navajo, Gold Bar Sparkle, Quarry Shimmer Wash, Pink Copper Sparkle and Caviar. Navajo/Caviar are repromotes. Gold Bar and Pink Copper are labeled as “sparkles” but they seem remarkably similar to those Diamond Dust shadows Bobbi Brown released around 2006. They don’t seem like her regular sparkle shadow formula in the sense that they aren’t chunky but they do have quite a bit of sparkle. Quarry is a gorgeous silvery smokey shimmer – I wish she would release this in a full sized individual color.
Thunderstorm Eyeliner is a new exclusive shade. It’s a dark neutral grey with tiny silver sparkles. It looks remarkably similar to the other darker blacks and greys in the container. I would say Thunderstorm is a less blue version of Graphite Shimmer Ink.
Here it is compared to Graphite Shimmer Ink, Black Ink, Caviar Ink and Gunmetal Shimmer Ink Gel Liners from Bobbi Brown. When you scroll down to the swatches you’ll see the difference between each color. In the pots they all look the same. On the skin it’s a bit different. (Note: A number of these were from various GWPs over past years but I’ve lost track of which ones I received as gifts.)
My thoughts: It’s a pretty set but not a must-have for long-time Bobbi Brown fans – this set will probably be a replica of what you already own. If it weren’t for the GWP for beauty benefits at Bloomies I probably wouldn’t have bought this kit. I do think it’s a great starter kit for those who are looking for a good set of wearable and highly versatile shades. If you don’t have a good dark eyeliner, Bobbi Brown’s Gel Liners are among my favorites. Thunderstorm is a lovely dark smokey shade that will define the eyes without looking too harsh. The sparkle shadows are beautiful and aren’t over the top when applied with a light-to-medium hand.
Do be aware the palette is fairly tiny – it seems to be a trend for many brands this year. If you want a more detailed breakdown of what this costs based on full-sized gel liner and mascara you get:
$21 = regular cost of gel liners
$22 = regular cost of everything mascara
$42 = what you pay for the palette, which is about $8 per shadow (times 5) + whatever you want to estimate for the cost of the dual-ended mini brush
I personally would rather pick out full-sized individual items and pay more for colors I really like. I’ve never been a fan of Bobbi’s mascaras so the one from this set will most likely be gifted away. As much as I love sets and palettes, I am DYING for Bobbi Brown to release individual eyeshadows like she used to – in shimmer wash and metallic formulas please! I am hoping all these companies will get out of the palette trend come spring.
I am usually able to resist Guerlain because of the hefty price tag but occasionally cave every now and then. One of my favorite Asian blogs Yuki’s Lazy Channel had a lovely preview of the quad & meteorites – I am always amazed at her excellent swatches and photographs. The holiday display was up at Nordstrom and both my mom and I were in total awe at the elegant packaging. She was convinced that I needed the pretty shimmer spray (if you see the packaging at the counter, you’ll see how fun it is to play with it), but I was able to convince her that I would never have an occasion to wear something like that. The Guerlain rep wasn’t there so the sales associates had a bit of difficulty locating where the holiday items were stashed. Luckily they found the quad and I left a happy camper.
Velours d’Or #410 ($59) is a gorgeous palette of gold mixed with contrasting darker colors in purple and charcoal. The gold resembles 24K gold but has a sparkling sheer finish instead of a solid metallic finish. The other shades aren’t completely matte in the compact but apply more like a matte on the skin (although if you look closely or apply over a cream base you may be able to get some shimmer to show). My mom fell in love with the deep purple and wished she could buy it on its own. The packaging has a cute embossed honeycomb bumble bee theme.
Swatched on bare skin by swiping my finger across the shadows and then onto my arm:
I personally don’t have many shades this dark because I don’t use them frequently. I pulled Dior’s Night Butterfly and Armani’s Eyes to Kill #3. As you can see they haven’t gotten much use yet although for this holiday season, previously released palettes seem more season appropriate than what is currently being released.
Rich in pigment and easy to blend. Beautiful to stare at. I’ve still managed to avoid caving on the $84 eyeshadow palettes. I still sneak a little peek everytime I stop by the Guerlain counter. I still can’t pull the trigger but at the same time I don’t know how much longer I can resist! $59 for a quad is still hard to swallow but is still significantly more justifiable than $84.
I spotted a preview of Dior’s Holiday Minaudiere from British Beauty Blogger back in July and have been dreaming about the holiday collection ever since then. The clutch-like compact they designed this year is beautiful! Kari from Fab Over Forty showed us the Saks grey version earlier last week and as soon as I saw it I ran to my Nordstrom to check out the pink version. I put it aside as a pre-sale item for an event but picked up a few other things from their holiday collection that they had in stock (hence the title “round one”).
What I picked up: Pink Stiletto #234 Addict Lip Gloss, Endless Shine #529 Quint, Timeless Gold #226 Nail Polish & Czarina Gold #916 Nail Polish
Endless Shine Quint – This one comes in the Iridescent formula and all shades have a high level of frost, much like Earth Reflection, Goldfever, Crush Glow, Ready to Glow etc. The colors are highly pigmented and smooth making them easy to blend. This quint seems better suited for spring or summer but is still neutral enough to pull off year round. It’s beautiful and much more wearable than the quints from the past few seasons (Misty Mauve, Crush Glow and Ready to Glow). I rarely wear all five shades at one time – there’s simply not enough space on my eyelids to fit all the colors. They do layer and blend together beautifully. Do I think it’s a must-have? Dior quints have beautiful pigmentation and complex colors that you can’t easily find elsewhere. However I think you can definitely find similar shades in other lines. I personally could not find any dupes – the closest quad I could find was Chanel’s Shimmering Dunes which is significantly less frosty and still different among all the colors.
In direct sunlight:
*Updated* better swatches than my original ones:
Chanel Shimmering Dunes versus Dior Endless Shine:
*Update* Comparisons to a few other quints so you can see how different Endless Shine is:
Pink Stiletto Lip Gloss – This is one of those colors that made my jaw drop. It’s a gorgeous light warm pink with gold flecks. Very sheer but just absolutely stunning in the tube. I couldn’t find anything similar – it’s like a pink version of Bobbi Brown’s Rose Gold Gloss but with gold flecks added. Simply stunning. From the photos you may think it resembles MAC’s Nymphette – but it’s very different. This is one you have to see in person to really see how beautiful it is. I haven’t noticed much of a difference between the original addict reflect gloss and the new formula except the packaging/tube size. These are still smooth with a high gloss finish. Lasting power is not the best.
Timeless Gold & Czarina Gold Nail Polishes – I was pleasantly surprised by both shades. There were no testers at the counter yet because they didn’t receive their display but I knew I had to have them both. Timeless Gold has a similar finish to Silver Pearl from last spring. High frost, rich pigment, almost foiled-like finish but has a non-streaky finish. Czarina Gold is a black-gold with a somewhat sheer formula. You will need 3 thin coats for a full finish but it’s also stunning. When I first pulled my other black-golds I thought “oh no, I’ve wasted another $20-something on a color I already have dupes of.” I will say from arm’s length it looks similar to D&G Stromboli and MAC Seriously Hip, but the Czarina Gold is the best in my opinion because the base has the slightest hint of plum-brown which prevents it from looking greenish as some black-golds can look.
Left: Timeless Gold
Right: Czarina Gold
Another interesting detail I noticed – Dior has changed the brush this season to have a wider/flatter tip that is slightly chiseled and tapered. See below how it compares to the old version and also Chanel’s brush tip. I can’t say I like one over the other, although this new chiseled tip is very unique and had me ooohing and aaahing as I was swatching the colors.
Comparison shades: I could not find a dupe for Dior Timeless Gold, although Chanel Kaleidoscope is strikingly similar. The differences are that the Dior is less streaky but it lacks that greenish/olive tinge that the Chanel has.
Czarina Gold comparisons: What you see in the bottles is slightly deceiving, scroll down for the swatches to see what I mean.
The collection is absolutely stunning. When I went to the counter they didn’t have the display unit up but my sales associate pulled everything for me to see. They didn’t have the Five Golds Quint for sale (although the tester is to die for) and the other gloss was way too glittery for my taste. I was surprised there wasn’t anything for the cheeks this season but was happy for my wallet. I passed on all their “sets” (minaudiere excluded) because I felt like the full sized individual items were better suited for my coloring.
I picked up the two new products released this holiday for Chanel: Tentation Cuivrée Quadra Eyeshadow ($56) & Splash Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow ($32). In addition to these two, there are a few repromotes such as Cassis Eyeliner (reviewed here), Espresso Eyeliner and Misty-Soft Duo (reviewed here).
* left to right: wearing Khaki Rose, Splash, Tentation Cuivrée
Both are beautiful but not entirely unique. All of us Chanel lovers have been waiting holding our breath to see what the Holiday Quad in the Euro formula will look like. I’ve tried the round-pan formula at a few Chanel Studios (which carry import collections) and was never impressed. I found the pigment sheer and texture powdery. The Tentation Cuivrée quad is not quite as powdery as most I’ve tried and I was surprised to find out pigmented the colors were. You’ll see my swatches below without any base (it’s incredible in my opinion). However, after swatching this quad at home I saw how it was quite a bit more sparkley than I observed from swatching in-store. It must have been bad lighting. Still gorgeous but the colors have these uber tiny micro glitter particles and a higher level of shimmer (much like Paul & Joe’s lighter eyegloss shades reviewed here).
I’d describe the colors as light pink with gold sparkle, neutral ivory with sparkle, warm medium-light brown with gold sparkle, deep warm chocolate shimmer (love this last shade). There is a difference between the lighter shades, but on the eyes, they both look the same, at least on my skin.
I’ve compared it to single shades and a few other quads. I personally prefer the older square pan eyeshadow quads and current singles, all of which have a more sophisticated luminous glow (rather than super-sparkle). Take note I’m not claiming any are dupes, these are simply comparisons to help you get a better idea of what the quad looks like. The singles below have a more finely milled shimmer quality. Those who have Chanel Ivory and are familiar with MAC Pigments know that Chanel Ivory is a softer more wearable version of MAC Vanilla Pigment. Both have this lovely opalescent almost duochrome quality. The light shade in the quad is more basic in undertone, but more glitzy in sparkle. (Does that even make sense to anyone? I feel as though I’m not really communicating what I see properly.)
Note that Nomade didn’t swatch so well on my arm, but it applies so much better on the eyes. Trace is warmer and less red than the quad. For the bottom left shade in the quad I couldn’t find anything with the same undertone and deepness – all the other shades I looked at were lighter, less pigmented, or more red/purple/or darker.
Splash Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow is like a liquid-and-slightly-warmer version of Taupe Grisé. I envisioned Splash to be a light silvery blue or a light greyish color. Instead it’s more of a medium taupe grey. These come in a glass tube with part clear liquid and part pigmented liquid eyeshadow. To apply, simply shake the tube, apply the sponge tip directly to the eye and then blend. I like to blend with my fingers. Since Splash is a darker shade, I find it takes more careful application on the eye compared to the other lighter colors like Source & Sand etc.
Overall thoughts: I prefer the older US Chanel quads. I find the holiday quad a stunner, but the shimmer level is a bit outside of my comfort zone. Still the pigment is amazing and shades are very blendable. The liquid eyeshadow is stunning, but if you already have Taupe Grise you might find it redundant to own both. Definitely check it out if you’re a taupe lover.
The Le Cirque Kaleidoscope Eye Kit by Le Métier de Beauté ($95) was launched a few weeks ago and it is truly stunning. This kit has one of the most unique color combinations I have ever seen – I don’t think I have ever seen a palette quite like this. Each shade has a complex mix of colors that give off a luminous sheen. It’s beautiful when layered (from the top shade to the bottom) and extremely versatile for a subtle daytime look and gorgeous for evening as well. I’ve been eagerly anticipating this ever since the lovely Gaia gave us her preview on The Non-Blonde (about 2 months waiting!). My kit didn’t come with the colors named, but you can see the color names on Gaia’s blog and note that each color is currently not available for sale individually.
There are four shades in the kit. All are shimmery but not overly so. The shadows are high in quality, soft and easy to blend. The texture is hard to describe, but this palette seems to be softer than most other Le Metier shadows I’ve tried which allows you to blend all over the eye with ease. I agree with Gaia’s review that they are slightly powdery with a bit of residue after you swipe the product with the brush, but there is no fall out when applied to the eye. I would have never thought of combining these shades together, but when applied the final result is gorgeous.
Here are my descriptions:
The top shade is a multi-dimensional color, light beige-grey with an opalescent pink & green sheen. I couldn’t find anything like it. It reminds me of colors like MAC Hush and Vex in that there is a slight duochrome quality, but the Le Métier is not as frosty, it simply glows. I’ve compared it to MAC Vex (more pink and lighter) and Paul & Joe #18 (more silver, no duochrome).
The second shade is a shimmering (slightly frosty) neutral taupe. I’ve compared it to MAC Satin Taupe and Le Métier Corinthian. It’s almost an exact dupe to Corinthian, but the Le Cirque taupe has less silver shimmer making it less frosty and more glowy.
The third shade is a shimmering plum-brown. I’ve compared it to Bordeaux (almost an exact dupe, but the Bordeaux is frostier and has more red) and also Stila Twig (darker, more pigmented and more brown). The Le Cirque shade has this special red sparkle flecks that the other shades do not.
The bottom shade is a deep smokey brightened purple. It’s more intense than Le Métier’s Water Sapphire and deeper in color. This shade is the least shimmery but it does have a subtle sparkle which gives it some depth.
The top shade (when photographed at an angle, you can see the green in it):
Top shade comparisons:
Second shade:
Second shade comparisons:
Third shade:
Third shade comparisons:
Bottom shade:
Bottom shade comparisons:
If you own Bordeaux or Corinthian, you may think you won’t be needing this kit. I wasn’t able to compare these in person before purchasing it but I still think it is well worth the price given that Le Metier Individual Eyeshadows cost $30 each. I like that the shadows in the Le Cirque Eye Kit have this luminous quality that allows you to layer each shade and get a soft or deep glowy eye. The compact comes with a mirror that flips up. I find it a bit difficult to hold in my hand and apply with this mirror, but I suppose it could be handy for touch ups.
At this time I do not know if this kit is limited edition or not, I have yet to see a Kaleidoscope Kit that is permanent, so this is one thing I would recommend you get now so you don’t regret missing out once it’s sold out.
Those not familiar with this line, Le Metier de Beaute is a luxury brand available at Bergdorf Goodman, select Neimans and Nordstroms, Fred Segal and various boutiques and salons. Check their website MetierBeaute.com for listed locations. I have a number of reviews on this brand you can check out by clicking the Le Metier de Beaute label below or on the sidebar.
Per request, here are the close ups and swatches of the Le Metier de Beaute Eyeshadows that I own. Note that these are the shades that are available for purchase individually (all kits that contain limited colors have been excluded, also by request). These swatches aren’t the best – so I highly recommend you do your own research to get a better idea of what these will look like. I find most of the shades apply true to what you see in the compact. Those who are critical of my lack of diversity in color selection, note that ALL of these were purchased sight unseen so I had no idea what I was going to get at the time I ordered these throughout the past year and a half. I have to say given the fact that I did not have immediate access to see these in person, I am very pleased with what arrived.
I have been to an actual counter on three occasions (Beverly Hills twice and San Francisco once). Unfortunately in my excitement I neglected to check out the shadows in detail as I was more focused on the lip items.
So onto the shades. The colors in the Persephone Eye Kit (Rose Champagne, Canvas, Sequoia and Alexandrite), also available individually, have already been featured. Check out my review here for those close ups and swatches.
Swatched over slightly moisturized skin:
Without flash, outdoors with slightly cloudy lighting:
Sugar
Mulberry
Jojo
Corinthian
Spicy
Bordeaux v Alexandrite
Milan
Water Sapphire
Innocence* (note that this is the original Innocence, I have been told that there is a new version which is deeper and more dramatic as you can see in the photo Panties from MUA provided me here)
I’ve reviewed a number of these shades in detail on previous posts. Use the Le Metier tag below to search through the archives. All are extremely high quality and rich in pigment and super easy to blend and layer. They have a gorgeous glowing quality when mixed together give a sophisticated eye.
These currently retail for $30 each and come in a small black mirrored compact. Bergdorfs is having their $25 off $100 gift card event starting tomorrow. As far as I know there is no other promotion going on with the counter and standard shipping is around $12ish. Neimans still also has some Beauty Week gifts going on to tomorrow. You might want to inquire into your local Neimans to see if they carry this line and if they have any GWPs left. Instore usually has more inventory than online.
On the nails, Chanel Cosmic Violine, top from Banana Republic
