I was able to play around with my new Dior Summer Quints a bit more and find them amazing! Please note the swatches don’t do the actual product justice, these were swatched on a bare arm so the color on the lighter shades don’t show up as well with the flash washing it out a bit.
If I had to pick 1 quint for the summer, it would definitely be Ready-To-Glow, it just seems more unique to me. Although Crush Glow is equally gorgeous, I know I will get good use out of both! The pigment is medium-to-rich, texture easily blendable, finish is glowy and shimmery. The frost is definitely on the higher end, but I don’t find these overly frosty. That being said, I typically only use 3 shades at a time from a Dior Quint. Using all 5 just isn’t very practical for my eyeshape and skintone, although the concept is quite appealing. I simply cannot pull off that many shades at once on my small eyelid area.
Dior Ready-To-Glow 649 + Comparisons:
Dior Crush Glow 659 + Comparisons:
* Note for Lexi – I know you wanted a dupe for the center shade, I compared it to MAC at the counter today, it’s most similar to Paradisco, but the Dior is a lot more pigmented, and a bit lighter – I tried to save my hand swatch, but it didn’t last the car ride home
I won’t be swatching the comparisons. It took a great deal of effort to find dupes because the colors just seemed so unique to me. The Dior Summer Quints all have a multi-dimentional quality which creates a “glow” like the names imply. YMMV depending on your screen, but I couldn’t find exact dupes for any of the Summer Quints, so I pulled what I thought was the closest in color family to provide a comparison and help you gauge the colors depending on your computer screen.
While $58 USD is pricey for an eyeshadow palette, if you factor in the convenience , quality, pigment and price per eyeshadow, it comes to about $11.60 for 1.2 grams. My MAC Eyeshadows range from 1.3 to 1.5 grams for $11.00 (pro-palette form) or $14.50 so if you think about the price in those terms, Dior isn’t really too bad. Overpriced, yes, but RIDICULOUSLY overpriced, no. (Then again, this is only my opinion.)
I didn’t see much else featured in this collection – they are featuring 3 of the Lip Polishes 001, 002 and 003 (which were a Sephora exclusive before) along with some of the new Addict Glosses. There is also a liptint/lipgloss charm in a heavy silver compact with chain. The tester unit wasn’t set up fully, and it seemed to have random testers put in the empty slots. My SA at Nordstrom said she hadn’t received everything yet and wasn’t sure when the rest would be arriving, so I’m not sure if there are any nail polishes or blushes featured with this collection.
Dior Summer 2010 has arrived in-store with two stunning quints, Ready-To-Glow 649 and Crush Glow 659. This is only a preview, I don’t have swatches, comparisons, or a full review yet, but stay tuned for an update in the next day or so. Both come in the Iridescent Eyeshadow formula and retail for $58 each. Indeed the names are suitable for both palettes because they radiate pure lovely glowiness when you open the compacts.
Ready-To-Glow 649 is a neutral-cool palette. It seems like a more neutral variation of Smoky Crystal 089, which I’m completely in love with, but the new summer quint has less intense-contrasts in colors and softer more muted shades.
Crush Glow 659 is the warmer variation, which I am happy to report isn’t too warm as I had initially thought it would be based on preview pictures. Still, it’s on the warm side, but lovely and very wearable.
I haven’t had a chance to test these on my eyes, but the testers at Nordies were extremely soft and pigmented. It seems that the summer collections come out earlier every year. This collection seems suitable for spring, although their Spring Lace Collection was equally stunning and suitable for spring. I’m just happy they released a mini collection that seems to be well suited for year round – at least in Southern California.
Again, note that my work is copyrighted, please do not republish or hotlink my photos. Thanks!
One of my very first posts focused on 3 Lunasol Eyeshadow Quads I was lucky enough to get thanks to my wonderful sister while she was in Japan. I’ve received requests for more reviews on Japanese brands, which I would love to do, but I have a very small stash of items that come directly from Japan. I realized I never swatched these, so thought this might be a good time to give a more in-depth review.
I discovered this brand thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, Haru at Rouge Deluxe. I’ve been a long-time fan of hers and her blog is one of my daily reads. I highly recommend you check out her blog (the Lunasol tag is linked above) for more pictures, swatches, reviews and lovely EOTDs.
Beige Beige 01 is reported to be the brand’s Number 1 seller in Japan and comes in the Skin Modeling Eyes formula. It has 3 variations of beige plus 1 glimmering chocolate color. I’d describe this as a true classic beige eyeshadow palette for light to medium to medium-dark skintones + a natural chocolate liner shade that softly defines the eye.
I love the fact that the Lunasol website has a “How To Use” diagram for each eyeshadow palette by formula which I find incredibly helpful, even though with beige colors, it’s hard to go wrong any way you apply the colors. This palette gives you a great fail-proof set of beiges that will give you an enhanced but naturally defined glowing eye look.
Swatches top to bottom are in same order as diagram above, A, B, C, D:
Look I did today with the Lunasol Beige Beige Quad using NARS St. Barts + South Beach Multiples blended on cheeks, NARS Serato dusted on top, MAC Teddy Eyeliner, MAC Spice Lipliner, D&G Sparkling Lipstick, MAC Moth to Flame Dazzleglass.
Are there dupes for this quad? Probably yes, but I haven’t found any other brand that can replicate the texture and pigment of these eyeshadows. The palest shade is the most sparkly, border line glittery, but the others have a sophisticated shimmer that is very flattering and natural looking. The pigment for this quad is very high in my opinion, it has the buttery soft texture of colors from MAC’s Starflash Eyeshadows but better pigment. The swatches on the skin don’t do this quad justice for how the colors look on the eyes! Unfortunately, the pigment did not translate onto my arm.
Chantecaille’s Les Dauphins Palette & Bourbon Rose Lip Chic are more beautiful than words can describe. I’ve been thinking of how I can give a review that does justice to the Les Dauphins Palette – and all I can say is I think it’s a must-have for those who love soft spring-like neutrals and especially those who love taupey shadows. Bourbon Rose is the softer color out of the 2 spring lip chics. It’s a natural rosey pink – similar to Tea Rose, but slightly lighter and has golden shimmer.
Another view with flash:
Without flash:
I haven’t had time to do swatches of this palette, but Karlasugar has already done an amazing feature on all the items – so I highly recommend you check out her post if you haven’t already.
I played around with the palette at Neimans and the color on the dolphins is an overspray. The shadows and blush all have a lovely subtle shimmer. I’m typically not a huge fan of split-pan shadows or blushes, but all the colors in this palette are so pretty, I don’t mind.
This is the planned look of the day with the Chantecaille Dauphins Palette & Bourbon Rose Lip Chic.
Cheeks: Giorgio Armani Blush 1 Chantecaille Dauphins Palette Eyes: Chantecaille Dauphins Palette Giorgio Armani Eyeliner #12
Lips: MAC Naked Rose Lipliner Chantecaille Bourbon Rose Lip Chic MAC Full For You Plushglass
Outfit: Jcrew Button Top Banana Republic Beige Pencil Skirt Jimmy Choo Black Pumps Gucci Princy Tote
My Armani guy at Saks called me to tell me they got the spring collection in so I rushed over to check it all out. It was all very soft, light, airy and spring-y, reminds me of something a fairy would wear. Very pretty, sparkly and eye-catching! They didn’t have testers yet, but they let me play with the eyeshadow palettes since lately they haven’t been sent testers until a few weeks after they receive shipment of the product to sell.
The collection consists of:
* 2 new Silk Lipsticks: #98 is a pale pink shimmer, #99 is a neutral-warm pinky rose (similar to Nars DV but warmer)
* 3 new Lipshimmers: #62 is a pale buttermilk-cream color, #63 is a sparkley beige, #64 is a shimmery pale pink with a hint of peach
* 2 new Nude Contrasts Palette (4 Eye Designing Colors): # 1 has a pale iridescent baby blue, golden sand, matte black, pale sparkly ivory, #2 has a light golden nude sparkle, shimmery soft pink, matte black, and pale warm cream shimmer
* 1 new Eyeliner (didn’t catch the actual name): 01 is a pure black
* Shimmer Powder 5: repromoted from holiday, a sheer pale sparkle powder (very very sheer)
So far, I believe only the eyeshadow palettes are available online at Giorgio Armani. I’m not sure when the rest of the collection will be up online though.
A couple spring previews from the February 2010 issues of Voce & Maquia for more views:
The haul: Nude Contrast Palettes 1 (left), 2 (right), Silk 98 Lipstick, Lipshimmer 63 (top), Lipshimmer 64 (bottom) Close Up of Nude Contrasts 1 & 2
Swatch of #1
Swatch of #2
Lipshimmers & Silk Lipstick
Swatches on bare skin, L to R: Lipshimmer 63, 64, Silk Lipstick 98
Here’s a look from Biteki, while I can’t read Japanese, it indicates the MAC Lipglass is 2N, so I’m assuming the lipstick is also from MAC Warm & Cozy collection. Please note my camera washed out the color on her face, so it looks like she is barely wearing anything – I did the best I could, but hopefully it will give you an idea of how to coordinate the #1 palette. Can anyone translate?
Overall thoughts: The shadows are surprisingly pigmented for lighter shades and they are more sparkly than most Armani shadows which typically have finely milled shimmer. The swatches make the colors all look similar, but in real life they are more contrasted with each other. I think these will make a really pretty neutral eye that will go with a lot of different shades.
The lipshimmers are pretty, #64 is the frostiest gloss I’ve ever seen from Armani, but still lovely. It reminds me of MAC Prrr & Bobbi Brown Pink Sugar though, so if you don’t have access to Armani or want to shell out $$$ for the gloss, you can definitely find cheaper alternatives.
Silk 98 is pretty, it’s a more pink version of MAC Plink! but still on the sheer side. I might go back for 99 at some point because it looked like a pretty rosey pink without shimmer.
The highly anticipated Jet Set collection from Edward Bess finally arrived at my front door! Krista from Bergdorf Goodman was kind enough to tell me about this set a few months ago and put me on the wait list. Luckily it arrived just in time for their $25 off $100 event!
The set is exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman and retails for $125 but you can also purchase the items individually. Inside the kit:
Island Escape Eyeshadow Trio – Comes with an ivory shimmer, a matte medium brown, a matte smokey brown. Great pigment and easily blendable.
Island Rose Compact Rouge for Lips & Cheeks – This is a bright watermelon almost-fuschia pink cream with no detectable shimmer in the pot. Even though it looks and swatches bright, it wears very natural and gives a nice pink glow. The texture is creamy and easily blendable.
Natural Lipliner – A creamy twist-up neutral pinky-brown.
I’m doing a tag-team post with the FABULOUSLY AMAZINGKarlaSugar for the Edward Bess Jet Set. She brought all of us a Sneak Peak of the Jet Set with details and prices (items can be purchased individually) last month. Just posted today, check out her blog for the Swatches of the Holiday Jet Set with comparisons too!
Close up:
This was the look I did today with the kit and it lasted pretty much all day with the exception of the lips after I had my lunch.
Face: Edward Bess Island Rose on cheeks
Eyes: Laura Mercier Platinum Metallic Cream Eyeshadow Edward Bess Island Escape Trio: pale ivory on lid, medium 1/2 way up lid blended, dark as a smokey liner (so it was a gradual dark at lash line to lighter up the lid) Le Metier Tamarack Eyeliner D&G Mascara
Lips: Edward Bess Natural Lipliner Chanel Formentera Aqualumiere Edward Bess Sweet Dreams Lipgloss
Overall thoughts – My readers know I’m a fan of Edward Bess products as great line for wearable classic neutrals. For this kit, I have mixed feelings mainly because of the high price tag. The quality and pigment of this kit is just as good as everything else I’ve tried from his line, and I know I will get a lot of use out of each product from this kit because the colors are very wearable and give a natural and pretty polished look.
For me, the winner in the kit is the Island Rose Compact. It looks very bright in the pot and swatched, but blends out to give a perfect natural pink blush. It’s similar to Bobbi Brown’s Raspberry Pink Pot Rouge but warmer and slightly more dewy. (Check karla’s blog for swatch comparisons.)
I like the eyeshadow trio and lipliner for the quality and convenience for a no-fail everyday look, but I feel like the colors can be easily duplicated with other brands. That being said, I do like everything, but if I had seen/tested them in person, I think I would have probably splurged on some more lipsticks from the line.
Anyone else get the Jet Set? What are your thoughts and how are you coordinating the products with your current makeup stash?
Here is Day 2 of my Paul & Joe collection featuring 4 of the seasonal eyeshadow palettes. These currently retail from $38 to $40 USD and come in a cute mirrored compact along with a double sided brush/applicator. The textrue/pigment of these palettes is just as good as the single eyeshadows. I’m not a huge fan of the applicator-brush, but then I rarely am with any brand for eyeshadow palettes.
Great neutral colors for both warm and cool tones.
Swatches of the Holiday 2009 Palettes, Mesmerize 001 (cool toned):
Spellbound 002 (very warm):
Swatches from Spring 2009, Ingenue 001 (more neutral):
Starlet 002 (neutral but cooler toned):
For other blogs that have pictures of the palettes, check out:
