One more addition to my stash from the Armani Manta Ray Fall 2009 collection, Silk Lipstick 93.
FYI – I believe the Giorgio Armani Beauty Website has the swatches/descriptions of Silk Lipstick #92 and #93 switched.
#92 is the black plum shade, while #93 is the pale mauve rose color. An accurate comparison picture can be seen in Biteki’s September Issue which I’ve scanned HERE in a previous feature.
Comparison pictures here to other lipsticks that aren’t exactly dupes, but in the same color family, left to right:
Chanel Wild Tulip Hydrabase, MAC Naked Paris, Giorgio Armani Silk 93, MAC Curiositease, MAC Viva Glam VI Special Edition, MAC Scant, MAC Midimauve
I just received my September Issue of THE BOOK from Neiman Marcus. Inside their beauty spot feature this month they have revealed the names of the long-awaited upcoming Eyes To Kill Palettes: Steel Black, Gunmetal Gray, Rouge Iron, and Brown Copper. Each retail for $58.
Scan from September’s Beauty Spot:
Picture from the July 2009 Instyle:
Scan from Biteki’s Beauty Book Cover (featuring the red palette):
Scan from Biteki’s September Issue:
I’ve also seen the pictures of the red palette in last month’s Marie Claire. Based on the above scans, I’m not quite sure what to make of the purple palette. InStyle’s photo definitely makes the purple look more on the deep/plum side while Neiman’s promo photo shows a lighter more vibrant purple.
Guess we’ll have to wait and see when it comes out.
Also new out for Armani is their Eyes to Kill Mascara, and New Maestro Single Eyeshadows have been trickling in stores, but have yet to be seen online anywhere. As far as I know, not all stores have received the new shades, and different stores have different shades in their stock. Armani is in the process of discontinuing their original formula eyeshadow and has replaced them with their Maestro Formula. For more details, check out these articles:
I’m one of those people who always uses lipliner with lipstick & gloss. I find that it can enhance certain tones and define the lips nicely especially with natural or nude looking shades. Therefore I find it’s one of my beauty essentials. I’ve swatched (on bare arm, equivalent of MAC NC30) all my natural lipliners, hopefully this will help you make a list of what to check out and try in stores!
1. MAC Oak 2. MAC Honey B. 3. MAC Whirl 4. MAC Gingerroot 5. MAC Subculture 6. MAC Sublime Culture 7. Giorgio Armani #1 8. Giorgio Armani #10 9. Giorgio Armani #13
1. Bobbi Brown Beige 2. Bobbi Brown Heather Beige 3. Bobbi Brown Blush 4. Bobbi Brown Ballet Pink 5. Bobbi Brown Pale Pink 6. Bobbi Brown Naked 7. Bobbi Brown Cocoa 8. Bobbi Brown Blondie Pink 9. Bobbi Brown Sandwash Pink 10. Bobbi Brown Brownie Pink 11. Bobbi Brown Mauve (now named Pink Mauve) 12. Bobbi Brown Slopes
* Note that Bobbi Brown has reformulated her lipliners at least 3 times, the shades swatched are from her current collection of lipliners
This an update to the post below with scans from the Biteki Beauty Book & one from Maquia featuring the fall collections. I’ve scanned most of the pages of the little book with the exception of some Asian brands that I’ve excluded. For photos from other magazines, check one post below.
For my own product photos of some recent fall collections, check out these links:
Happy Friday! I’ve recently gotten into Japanese magazines such as JJ, Biteki, Maquia, and Voce thanks to one of my favorite beauty blogs Haru’s Rouge Deluxe. Luckily, there is a Mitsuwa Marketplace near me which has a bookstore inside which has allowed me to find these magazines in Southern California.
This month the September issues have released their fall lookbooks with photographs of the fall releases of numerous brands. Unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese, but luckily, there are many items that release products with numbers in their color name which makes it easy to match the number to the product color names by doing some research . Here are a few pictures of some of the collections I found interesting:
Here is a series on some taupe eyeshadows. For me there are numerous shades that could qualify as “taupe”, these mostly range from neutral to cool-toned taupes. For most of the pictures, I’ve included MAC Satin Taupe to help you gauge the colors in comparison to one another. Also note there will be some repeats in some photos!
MAC, Becca & FACE Stockholm Eyeshadows:
MAC Pigments, Paul & Joe Pearl Powder, MAC Solar Bits:
Bobbi Brown Metallic, Bobbi Brown Shimmerwash, Laura Mercier, Scott Barnes Eyeshadows:
Bobbi Brown (some repeats to include Fawn Shimmerwash):
More Laura Mercier & Scott Barnes:
Chantecaille Eyeshadows:
YSL & Chanel Eyeshadows:
Christian Dior, Calvin Klein (original discontinued line), NARS Eyeshadows:
Urban Decay & Giorgio Armani Shadows:
Jouer, Le Metier de Beaute, Shu Uemura & Trish McEvoy:
Last week I received a preview e-mail from Giorgio Armani about their new Manta Ray Collection featuring 5 eyeshadow duos, 2 silk lipsticks, 1 blush, and 1 lip shimmer.
Their star product of the season features their new eyeshadow duos with a snake-like embossed surface described as follows: “Inspired by the precious and luxurious materials used in Giorgio Armani fashion accessories, the palettes offer a beautiful selection of color harmonies inspired by nature. The collection features subtle hues that offer a new take on the timeless color “Greige,” create by Giorgio Armani. The rich filtered eye tones, presented in a matte Greige compact, give depth and mystery to the eyes with subtle contours and highlights.”
I stopped by Saks and was surprised to see these in store already. The counter did not have testers, nor did they receive everything in the collection yet, but did have all the shadow duos, Blush #12 (pale whitish pink shimmer) and Silk Lipstick #93 (plum-brown cream).
I ended up purchasing the following two items:
* Manta Ray Eyeshadow #1: Described as “charcoal and greige,” this duo seems more like an intense satin black and soft grey/brown/beige with plum undertones. At first glance it looks like a plain brown, but I compared it next to a few other shades and it seems to have slight pink/plum undertones.
* Sheer Blush #12: I am a huge fan of Armani blushes and was really excited about the new #12. It’s described as a “pale raspberry” but this is quite misleading since it’s actually a super pale cool-pink shimmer with lavender undertones. Luckily the counter did have a tester of this item. The makeup artist assured me it went on differently than it appeared in the pot. She dusted a bit on and sure enough, it went on a pretty glowy light pink. Your mileage may vary on this one, so definitely try it out before purchasing.
Close up (clickable so you can see the slight shimmer):
Comparisons, left to right: GA #1, GA #12, GA #11
Comparisons, left to right: MAC Sheertone Shimmer in Shimmersweet, GA #12, Chanel Silk Dream
Above are some comparison pictures to help give a better idea of what the new blush looks like. Overall thoughts are undecided. I usually love Armani, but the look created in this collection isn’t the most flattering. The concept of the eyeshadows are unique but $32 for an eyeshadow and $42 for a blush is pretty steep – I feel like I should have gotten more for my $$$.
For other Giorgio Armani Features, click HERE to see the new Maestro Eye Shadow extensions, Summer 2009, and some Bronzer comparisons.
