After seeing all fall palettes from Guerlain in person at Nordstrom I added Les Noirs 09 ($59) to my collection of Les Bois de Rose 04, Les Gris 05 and Les Fumés 06. The Les Noirs 09 is a classic smokey eye palette with a soft matte black, a gunmetal frosted grey, a satiny dove grey and a pale frosted pink. The colors are simply breathtaking in the compact and apply with a smooth soft finish. The pigment on these shades is soft to medium. The frost for the 3 shimmery shades is simple and uncomplicated. The shimmer is visible on the skin but not overly frosty or glittery.
I played with this a few times this week. The quality and texture of the shadows is excellent however I’m not sure the colors are best suited for me. I find that dark grey and dark black shimmers can be difficult for me to pull off on my eyes and skin. To date, one of the few classic black/grey/cream palettes that work for me is Edward Bess’s Soft Smoke Trio. I also adore Bobbi Brown’s Black Plum Shimmerwash Eyeshadow as a dark black (on me) because it has a bit of brown and plum to give it depth on my eyes.
I typically need to layer blacks and greys over something with a bit of warmth or shimmer such as a dark bronzey-brown liner or cream in order to prevent the colors from looking too harsh or too dull. Most dark blacks wash out my skin. My experience with Les Noirs is typical of my experiences with most classic smoky eye palettes. The greys all looked similar on my skin and eyes even when layered. The pale frosted pink washed my eyes out. The palette is still gorgeous – just a bit more high maintenance for me. Chances are I just need more experimentation with this to get the layering technique down better – but after my first two tries, I know this will require a bit more practice for me to get the colors to work with my olive skintone. I find that applying the darker gunmetal with a damp brush will bring out the shimmer and depth. Lining with the matte black with a fine tipped brush (also damp) brings out the intensity as well.
Comparisons to a few other brands: MAC Shimmertime Pigment, Armani Maestro 29, Guerlain Les Noirs, Chanel Gris Exquis, MAC Black Tied, Burberry Midnight Black, MAC Knight Divine
While Les Noirs is a gorgeous palette, I don’t think it’s very unique. That being said, I think it’s hard to create a good classic smoky eye palette that doesn’t seem too basic. Have you checked out Guerlain fall yet? What are your thoughts? Did you try Les Noirs?
Guerlain Les Fumés 06 is a neutral palette suited for light-to-medium toned skin women like to contour the eyes with variations of flesh-toned natural colors. This one appears to be the least shimmery out of the three I bought. It has more of a satiny-finish on all shades with the exception of the silver on the far right. The colors clockwise from left are a satiny grey with plum (very soft shimmer), dusty rose pink matte, silvery cool toned grey with a tinge of mauve, dark dusty bark-like brown.
At first glance, I was initially worried these might look muddy on the skin. The nude-mauves and nude-browns while gorgeous had me concerned that these might look ashy on the eyes. Upon application this morning, I was pleased to find out the colors are not muddy at all – but you do need to use a moist base to help pick up the colors. The darkest brown shade at the bottom is slightly ashy though, I recommend trying to apply directly over a gel eyeliner or with a slightly damp brush (emphasis on slightly so you don’t ruin the powder). This is a fairly neutral palette on my skintone. I’m not sure how this will translate on tan/darker skintones. It might be too nude to show up.
Although neutrals often seem very unoriginal, I couldn’t find anything quite similar. After swatching this on my arm, I thought the dusty-pink and silver looked remarkably similar to NARS Grand Palais (Fall 2011). I highly recommend you see Amy’s review at Café Makeup (she has a few links to some looks of this on the eyes). I do not own this duo as I passed on the fall collection from NARS entirely. I did swatch it at counter and based on my recollection, the rose was too warm for my taste. Guerlain’s Les Fumés works better on me. The dusty pink is slightly darker than my skin so for me, I wouldn’t apply it with a heavy hand.
Today, I applied this quad as follows:
Step 1: Apply Laura Mercier’s Gold Metallic Creme shadow as a base
Step 2: Apply the dusty pink on lids, heavier near lash line, lighter closer to brow
Step 3: Apply the silver frost on top of pink and blend like crazy
Step 4: Apply the taupe-mauve (left shade) on outer corners inwards to mid-point of eye
Step 5: Take the pink shade one more time and apply from inner eye (close to nose) and blend outwards
Step 6: Take the darkest brown shade with a slightly damp brush and trace along lashline for definition
I’ll need more practice, but so far, I love it. They layer together wonderfully. Here are comparisons to the closest shadows I could find – no dupes, but I hope these help you! I suspect there are closer dupes that I’ve missed, this palette looks extremely familiar, perhaps it’s close to one of the 6 Couleurs from last year?
Bottom Line: I’ve ignored Guerlain for some time for a number of reasons such as high price points, bulky packaging, lack of interest in the color options, inconsistent eyeshadow pigmentation, heavily fragranced products. The products have always been of high quality but I’ve normally been more drawn to brands like Dior and Chanel. However reviews on other blogs have helped tremendously. In addition, since falling in love with their Lingerie de Peau foundation, innovative blushes and bronzer and now with the release of these quads, Guerlain has caught my eye. These quads are truly amazing – there is a wide selection of colors and finishes. The mattes are divine and shimmery colors finely milled and well designed that everyone is bound to find one to suit their preferences.
I don’t need any more eyeshadows, but I can’t wait for these to arrive at counters near me so I can play with the other colors.
Guerlain Les Gris 05 seems to be ideal for a dramatic smokey eye with a cool-toned finish. The palette seems to have a good mix of matte with shimmer. The texture is smooth and pigment is nice. Initially I was torn between Les Gris 05 (see it on Best Things in Beauty) and Les Noirs 09 (see it on Makeup and Beauty Blog). I decided to opt for the blue-grey palette because it seemed more unique to me. The descriptions of the colors from left clockwise: a sheer neutral-cool matte grey, a soft silvery shimmer with a very slight mauve tinge, a brilliant silver metallic, an intense dark navy-teal with finely milled shimmer.
I pulled a few classic smokey eye palettes from Dior and Edward Bess. To date, Edward Bess Soft Smoke is my holy grail smokey eye palette (most others are too ashy or harsh for my skin). For all three, I would say the Dior is the most silvery-blue, Edward Bess is the classic, Guerlain’s Les Gris is a blue-grey version of the classic smokey eye.
Update: Thanks to the keen eye of my readers, some pointed out that Les Gris appears similar to NARS Dogon. (Great eyes!) I pulled this out to compare and noticed I actually do have quite a few blues from NARS. NARS Dogon’s blue is similar in the compact but darker. (Note these were taken early morning without direct sunlight so Les Gris may look different.)
Here are just the blues:
Here is everything from each duo: NARS Brumes, NARS Thunderball, NARS Dogon, NARS Tzarine (I apologize for the crappy swatches) compared to Guerlain Les Gris
The verdict on similarities:
Guerlain’s top silver-mauve looks like the silver in NARS Okinawa
Guerlain’s bottom teal-navy is NARS Okinawa’s blue+Thunderball mixed
Guerlain’s left matte grey is similar to NARS Brumes’ grey, but Guerlain is more cool toned
Guerlain’s brilliant silver grey is unique in my eye
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Guerlain 04 Les Bois de Rose is an iridescent quad with a soft pearly white, medium cool rose frost, taupe-grey-mauve shimmer, and a plum brown. The texture is soft and easily blendable. I’ve had good experiences with the prior releases from Guerlain, but found their older quads a bit dryer in texture making them hard to blend and requiring heavy application. The new Écrin 4 Couleurs appear to be much softer and smoother in texture, yet have excellent pigmentation.
The shimmer in this quad is on the medium-to-high side, some might find this too frosty. It’s almost as sparkly as some of the Bobbi Brown Metallic Shadows but not quite as metallic-like. I applied this today over UDPP on the eyes using the sponges on one eye and my regular brushes on the other. The sponges work just fine but I prefer the brushes for a better application.
1. Apply white shade on lids (about 1/2 way from lash up to middle of eye)
2. Apply the right taupey shade on outer corners inward to middle
3. Apply rose frost from inner corner (part closest to nose) and blend towards outer corner mixing with the taupe
4. Apply the darkest shade to line and smudge along upper lashes
I’m sure there are similar colors out there, but I couldn’t find a quad from Chanel or Dior that was exactly the same. I did pull out my Armani Eye Mania 05 and Dior Pink Idol quint to compare for you. Those weary of pinks because of getting that pink-eye look need not worry with the Guerlain. I avoid pinks like the plague but the Guerlain Les Bois de Rose works beautifully.
This fall Guerlain has released a stunning collection for fall. The standouts for me are the Écrin 4 Couleurs: nine eyeshadow quads in a diverse range of shades from neutral to colorful to dramatic ($59 each). Each palette is encased in a heavy-weight luxurious compact. I love that each palette comes with a unique mixture of finishes (matte, satin, iridescent). I’m one that prefers a finely milled shimmer in shadows to add depth to the eyes, but find the matte colors in each are equally beautiful as they do not fall flat like some mattes tend to do so.
The colors designed by Guerlain are all exquisite. It was hard to pick just one and I was eager to order even before seeing or trying these in person. You can see all nine colors 01 Les Violets, 02 Les Bleus, 03 Les Verts, 04 Les Bois de Rose, 05 Les Gris, 06 Les Fumés, 07 Les Cuirs, 08 Les Perlés, 09 Les Noirs previewed with details on Café Makeup and swatched on Yuki’s Lazy Channel. Thanks to their lovely previews I narrowed down my initial picks to 04, 05 and 06. I have been further tempted to purchase one more, but am going to wait for the next beauty event.
I have yet to play with these as they just arrived yesterday from Bergdorfs, however, my initial thoughts are that these appear to be highly pigmented, versatile, classic, polished and well designed. Even the neutral palettes seem fresh and unique compared to what we’ve seen in past years – something I think can be difficult to do given all the innovative products various brands have released in recent years. I definitely think the packaging and design is an improvement from the past quads. I only have 3 quads from Guerlain (here and here) and as you can see from the comparison below, I don’t find myself using them frequently.
Each palette comes in a black slip case (which I usually toss) and a tiny booklet of instructions/how-to’s. I haven’t tried these ideas yet but thought I’d include it for your reference. The diagrams, while detailed and inspirational, rarely work for me as my eyeshape rarely is the same as what is on the pictures.
Last fall Guerlain released a stunning collection of luxurious eyeshadow palettes with 6 shades per compact at jaw dropping price of $85 each. Amazing reviews, detailed features and lovely how-to’s complete with swatches tempted me from Karla Sugar, Temptalia, The Non-Blonde, Café Makeup and Yuki’s Lazy Channel (to name a few). I must admit I was very tempted. Yet when I saw these in person, as lovely as each palette was, I could not bring myself to spend a full $80+ on a single item. Irrational, I know. Buying multiple eyeshadows individually can easily exceed a total price of $80, still $85 on a single item was too much for me to swallow given the neutrality of each palette (they seemed very basic when I swatched them in person). The fall offerings this year seem better suited for me in terms of price and color selection. There is more to choose from, a more diverse range of textures in each palette and the price is lower making it easier for me to justify.
Detailed reviews and swatches to come soon on each palette. Have you seen the new quads for fall in person yet? Initial thoughts? Did you love last fall’s collections? Is there something I missed that I need to go check out again?
Chanel, Dior and Guerlain have all designed stunning bronzers for this summer – the most beautiful I think I’ve ever seen. I splurged on five and featured Chanel Bronze Corail & Bronze Rosé here and Dior Aurora and Sunset here. I have not yet featured Guerlain but several have asked for comparisons asking which one is best. Others have asked if I could compare Chanel to other summer collections such as Lancome, Estee Lauder, MAC.
I have a sizeable bronzer stash (I always want to be tan) so this summer I decided to go for the ones that seemed the most unique – namely Chanel, Dior and Guerlain. I have not checked out the other brands this year and most likely won’t since I already splurged on five pricey ones all before May/June when the real summer season begins. I definitely could go the rest of my life without buying another bronzer (or another piece of makeup for that matter).
Here are all five lined up plus swatches and further down, my thoughts and comparisons on Chanel Bronze Rosé, Chanel Bronze Corail, Guerlain Terra Inca, Dior Aurora and Dior Sunset.
Chanel Bronze Rosé
Chanel Bronze Corail
Guerlain Terra Inca
Dior Aurora
Dior Sunset
Swatched in different lighting, all with a very heavy hand:
I’m currently working my way to a NC40/Chanel Beige but I’m not quite NC35 yet. I am back to a Chanel Shell Teint Innocence and my Vitalumiere Aqua B20 is now too light. My thoughts on bronzer is that I’m open to anything. Orangey, brown, gold, pink, peach – I’ll wear and try almost anything. Note that I don’t love ones that look orangey but I don’t hate them either. If you pushed me to pick just one of the new summer shades I would probably be very upset. I like options. But here is what I’ve observed on each. Do note these were swatched with a heavy hand and that what you see on the arm is definitely not what you would see on the face.
Chanel Bronze Rosé 537 ($50) & Chanel Bronze Corail 547 ($50) – These are luminous and glowy but not frosty. I’ve taken a soft powder brush and swiped these up and down to blend/mix and then apply on the apples of the cheeks. If you’re the type of person who is afraid of bronzer or find most are too dark/muddy on you – Chanel’s are the perfect hybrid between bronzer and blush. The fact that there are 4 stripes in each compact allow you to get something that shows dimension without looking like a true bronzed-bronzer. The texture is so soft and glows. Pigment is soft to medium but totally layerable. It’s the goof-proof bronzer. I don’t think you can overdo it. So easy to use, apply and coordinate with virtually any eye or lip look.
Guerlain Terra Inca ($70) – Gorgeous but oh so pricey. I found this to be more of a highlighter. It’s not as frosty as some previous Guerlain Limited Edition Bronzers. If you remember Orient Sun, Terra Inca is a lighter softer less frosty version of Orient Sun. It’s like a softer more luminous MAC MSF. It’s absolutely beautiful but after applying it on my face, I could tell it’s not for everyone – the shimmer factor might be a deal breaker. It’s not as frosty as Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks – but you can definitely see it on the skin. The compact is magnetic which I find different. The packaging and design are absolutely stunning but not the most easy to use and must be used with care.
Dior Aurora ($46) & Dior Sunset ($46) – These are the least shimmery but still very luminous on the face. I prefer these for the most beautiful design and functional packaging. They give the best bang for your buck and I love that the brush is stored in a separate pouch instead of being inside the compact (does anyone ever use those dinky brushes anyways?). I will say these are very warm-toned. Aurora doesn’t go on orangey but the warmth might not work on everyone. Will this work on NC40’s? I can’t say for sure, but my Dior sales rep is around NC40-45ish and she was wearing Aurora beautifully when I purchased mine. That being said, test it out yourself first to check. Sunset is swatched with a SUPER HEAVY hand and looks orangey on my arm but on the face it is not orangey unless you pack it on. I wore it yesterday for Sunday Brunch and it gave a healthy warm tanned glow.
So which one is best? That is a tough pick. You definitely don’t need all of these, but I’m obsessed with bronzer like I’m obsessed with peach blushes and taupe eyeshadow. If I could only pick 2 – it would be Chanel’s Bronze Rosé and Dior’s Aurora, although Sunset by Dior is gorgeous as well.
I hope this helps you see a side-by-side comparison. There is no substitute for trying these on in person. If you go to the counter, I highly recommend you try these on the face and not just on your arm or hand. A good brush makes all the difference (versus your fingers).
I’m a neutral lover at heart but brights are nice to wear in sheer washes mixed in with neutrals. For coordinating brights I don’t there are any rules you need to stick to. Just experiment with different combinations of colors to see what you’re most comfortable with. I mainly pick out colors depending on the occasion or what clothes I’m wearing for the day (one example here with a yellow top, bright coral cheek, coppery bronze eye and nude gold lip). I usually go for something that is as natural as possible and here are a few things I go by:
Brighten the face by applying bronzer first then layer a soft wash of bright pink or coral or peach on top
Mixing pinks and peach blushes together can add depth and dimension
Can you match your lip color to your blush? Sure! For example using different variations of pink can create a pretty coordinated look
You don’t have to match lips and cheeks, having a bright coral cheek with a sheer bright or soft pink lip can work well too
If something is too bright, you can sheer it out with a soft blending brush or by adding a paler shimmer color on top
A few ideas – use these for color ideas rather than the specific name of the brand or product.
* Tip – At a national artist event for NARS, the artist blended Goldfinger with Nepal together and it created the most beautiful soft rose gold shadow. When using bronzer and a bright blush, I usually apply bronzer first, but most artists at events apply bronzer as the final touch.
* Tip – For the eyes, layering colors can be done by applying the lightest shade first, then the cream, and finally the bronzey powder on top. For MAC Fleur Power Blush, I find it so universally flattering it will go with either a bright lip and a pale lip, or the bright and pale mixed together for a softer peachy glow.
* Tip – Mix pinks and peaches by layering them on top of each other on the cheeks. Depending on your mood or preference, you can adjust the color by applying one color more heavily than the other.
* Tip – Coral blushes can be coordinated with either bright pinks or bright peaches for lips since many have both pink and peach mixed in.
You may notice there are no nail polishes featured in any of these looks. I think bright nails can be mixed and matched in almost any combination to work with a variety of looks. I hope you found this mini series helpful. Summer collections are about to trickle in soon – so I’m sure there will plenty of inspiration for all of you in the upcoming months!
If you have any tips or want to share how you wear brighter colors, feel free in the comments! Makeup events with a good artist can be incredibly useful for tips, tricks and ideas on how to incorporate new things with well-used loves 🙂
