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:
I’m sure you’ve already seen the previews of the holiday colors from The Lancome Blog. One can never really tell what to expect from backstage or runway photos. I was expecting a steel grey with a hint of blue but what arrived was a blue with slight grey tones in a metallic finish. The red shade Le Rouge L’Wren 020 (reviewed last week here) seems more holiday-appropriate but the blue shade is still lovely nevertheless and it is indeed swoon-worthy.
Here it is with 2 coats, no base or top coat:
I was prepared to do a full comparison to steely greys but since it’s definitely more blue, I searched through my stash for blue-greys. Here it is compared to a few other blueish shades, l to r: NARS Full Metal Jacket, Rescue Beauty Lounge Stormy*, Lancome Le Gris L’Wren 021, MAC Blue India
* The Nars & RBL shades were previously featured here.
Overall thoughts: Lovely color but I prefer the red one released in the holiday collection. In terms of the finish/texture Le Gris L’Wren gives full coverage with 2 coats but I found it slightly goopy making it a bit difficult to apply evenly. Do note that I am a bit clumsy when it comes to self application of nail polish. Not everyone will find this hard to work with. The metallic finish makes it a bit streaky if not applied with a steady hand. To me, Le Gris L’Wren seems like a pearl version of MAC Blue India. Still Lancome has caught my attention and I hope they will continue to release more shades in the US.
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.
Lancome and stylist L’Wren Scott have released two mini nail polishes for the holiday collection in Le Rouge L’Wren 020 (deep sparkling red) and Le Gris L’Wren 021 (shimmery steel blue-grey). Both are indeed swoon-worthy and I opted for the red one today since there’s nothing like a good red nail polish to make a woman feel like a woman.
Le Rouge L’Wren is a deep wine red with tiny red micro-sparkles that are slightly brighter than the base. From arm’s length you can’t really see the shimmer but the finish is glossy and the red is uber sophisticated. It has just the right amount of red to prevent it from being too vampy. I know I have similar shades in my nail polish stash – I just haven’t pulled any to compare. Off the top of my head I don’t think any have the same red sparkle quality. Now if I could only find a lipgloss the same color …
The holiday nail polishes ($14.50 for 6 ml) come in a mini version of the full size ($18 for 10 ml). It has the same style packaging but comes with a black twist off cap instead of silver. They are too cute!
Here is Le Rouge L’Wren in action:
Applying Bobbi Brown’s Kir Sugar Lipgloss over MAC’s VGVI Lipstick:
Getting ready to go out:
Just posing:
I did get the blue-grey one too. That color will be reviewed soon.
I picked up two more items from the Dior Holiday Collection – the Dior Minaudière in Pink Golds 002 and the 5 Couleurs Gold Edition in 5 Golds 001 (see Part 1 here). Both are elegant, stunning and perfect for taking the holiday season.
The Dior Minaudière in Pink Golds 002 ($80) comes in a heavy but small clutch and contains three sparkley eyeshadows (dark plum, silvery plum taupe and light opal pink). There are two glosses, also sparkly pinks. The detailing on the compact is absolutely divine. I like that there is a slim swiveled covering over the glosses to prevent any debris from the shadows from mixing with the gloss. I’ve never been a fan of Dior’s trendy-packaged items but this clutch was just too pretty to pass up. The colors are dupeable with similar other brands and colors but there is no substitute for the luxurious soft texture and quality of these eyeshadows. They have a multi-dimensional quality that no photo or swatch can truly capture. I love it and also purchased the grey version from Saks (coming soon). It’s not the most practical compact but every once in a while I’ll see something so pretty I really don’t care that it’s impractical.
Beautiful detailing (the tag comes off):
Close up of the eyeshadows and glosses:
The new quint in Five Golds 001 ($58)was one of the items I was most excited about. This one has been a bit tricky to locate. I checked my local Nordstrom, Neimans and Bloomingdales and all had the tester but no product to sell yet. They said their shipment had been delayed for this item. Being the impatient girl that I am, I searched the web and found it online at Sephora. This quint seems different than the regular and iridescent formulas because it’s labeled “Gold Edition.” All the colors are a powder formula but there is no quilting imprint. Also, the bottom left pearly shade seems to have a slight cream-glitter finish. Those who cringe at glitter need not worry – the glitter is fine so it’s not over the top. I would describe the colors as a midnight black with silver microsparkles, a warm copper-gold blend, a warm bronze, silver, and beige-opal sparkle.
Stay tuned for more posts soon. I’ll be reviewing a few holiday palettes in the next few days. I’ve already taken photos but I’m not 100% happy with the results so I’ll have to redo them. Clouds and rain have made taking photographs a bit challenging. Here’s a sneak peek of the Laura Mercier Color Wardrobe for this year. Hope all my lovely readers are having a great week!
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.
On the nails, Chanel Cosmic Violine, top from Banana Republic
