Dior's Spring 2012 collection, aptly named Garden Party, is inspired by the garden surrounding Christian Dior's home in Granville, France. This collection is available at all Dior counters, Sephora, and online. This collection features 12 new products in total, of which two are online exclusives, and they are all limited edition. With this collection, Dior has released two "Garden Edition" 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palettes, which feature rose and lace embossing on four of the five eyeshadows (the centre eyeshadow has Dior's logo embossed on to it). Each palette comes in Dior's signature deep blue mirrored compact with the logo in silver on top, and includes two double-sided sponge-tip applicators. It contains 4.8 grams of product in total, and retails for $60.
The top left shade is a light-medium chartreuse green with shimmer in a frosted finish. The texture is soft and smooth. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly lighter and more yellow than MAC Lucky Green.The top right shade is an almost silvered white with shimmer in a frosted finish. The texture is soft and smooth. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is similar to MAC White Avalanche.The bottom right shade is a light-medium aquamarine teal with shimmer in a frosted finish. The texture is soft and smooth. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and more teal than MAC Shimmermoss.The bottom left shade is a pale butter yellow with shimmer in a frosted finish. The texture is soft and smooth. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more yellow than MAC Nylon, and lighter than MAC Ricepaper.The centre shade is a pale pink with shimmer in a frosted finish. The texture is soft and smooth. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is less cool than MAC Pink Freeze, and lighter than MAC Swish.
I used to think that Dior's eyeshadows weren't that great and certainly not worth the price, but this palette has changed my mind completely. All five eyeshadows are phenomenal, not just in texture, but in pigmentation and colour pay-off as well. In terms of formula, these really reminded me of Estée Lauder's Pure Color Gelée Powder Eyeshadows, which are also fantastic. I realize that pastels aren't for everyone, and the five shades in this palette alone might not create the most versatile looks, but they would be gorgeous blended in with some darker or brighter shades. A lot of people might look at this palette and think, "Oh, pastels aren't for me." But I never look at the colours in a single palette as being unwearable — there is always a way to make an eyeshadow colour work (now, I'm talking about shades, not formulas, 'cause some eyeshadows are horrendous to work with!) and look good. It's just about how comfortable you are wearing them. I will agree that $60 does seem rather steep for a five-colour eyeshadow palette, but actually, in terms of cost per gram, it's almost the same as MAC's single eyeshadows. So, if you're looking for some pastel shades (whether to be used on their own, or with other shades), definitely look into this palette. And the rose embossing is just too gorgeous to pass up on!
I saw this in a magazine this morning and even though I would never wear those colours it's SO gorgeous I want to own it. I don't have any Dior makeup - this could well be my first.
ReplyDeleteYou might find the other palette (Garden Roses) more wearable if these aren't to your taste! ;) But it's true, this palette is gorgeous -- kind of reminds me of French macarons! You should go to a Dior counter and play around with these! It makes me happy just looking at them, lol. :)
DeleteI saw the Dior palettes recently but didn't have the time to swatch them. I'm too dark for these cool toned, pastel-ish shades :) I'm too much of a dark shadow lover, don't know why.
ReplyDeleteOh by the way, do you have any suggestions how I can make the Metal X shadows work for me or should I not try? I picked up Red Hot Copper and Black Carbon as I love the shades..but Red Hot Copper (wearing it with De-Vil on top and some Legendary Black in the crease) is creasing on me today and I'm feeling a bit sad...what's your take on it?
I do agree that the Dior palettes were more designed for fair to medium skintones this time around... :( I think Dior is releasing a fairly dark palette with their Anselm Reyle collection for Spring, though (I'm not sure how widely available this collection is going to be, but it's in all the fashion magazines right now!).
DeleteDo you use an eyeshadow primer underneath the Metal X? If not, you can try a good primer (I've heard Urban Decay, Too Faced, and NARS make good ones that keep shadows on all day without creasing.) Metal X, which I have used in a lot of make-up appointments recently, won't crease with lots of powder eyeshadow on top, at least for a few hours... But Metal X isn't a product that is guaranteed not to crease, unfortunately. :( Another thing you can try is to dust a light layer of transparent powder containing silica (e.g. MAC Prep + Prep Transparent Finishing Powder) on top of the Metal X before going in with your powder eyeshadows. This should also help prolong the wear of it! :)
The only reason I don't pick up Dior palettes is because I don't know what to do with those light shades. Most of their quints (5-colored-palettes) have like two light shades and those shades kind of look bad on me. I'm an NW43 and the only highlight shade that works well on me is like MAC's Patina. Ricepaper and Grain just look..too shimmery if that makes any sense?
DeleteI do have a Dior trio and it's the Smoky Khaki one. I like it but I don't love it.
I use Urban Decay's primer potion underneath Metal X but it did crease. I should try the transparent powder or maybe apply Metal X on top of the powder shadows rather than underneath to get a nice metallic finish. I shall try that this weekend when I have more time and patience :)
Thanks Denise, you're a gem.
Anytime, Fieran! Let me know how it goes with the Metal X. :)
DeleteAnd, yes, I totally understand that Ricepaper and Grain would look too ashy/light on an NW43 skintone as a highlighter... Have you tried Bamboo?
Hmm, no, not tried that yet :) Will have a look next month when I can allow myself to buy makeup after the New York haul. Thank you!
DeleteWell, the yellow shadow ensures that I will never be tempted to pick it up. I really hate yellow shadows. I'm sort of on the prowl for the perfect non-yellow but not too pale gold. How do you wear yellow on the eyes, Denise?
ReplyDeleteHey, Liz! Okay, so I totally wore this palette today! The yellow shade in this palette doesn't really end up looking very YELLOW, per se, but more like... MAC Nylon. And I used it in the inner tear duct, put the green shade all over the lid, the teal shade in and slightly above the crease, and then blended MAC Robin's Egg in the crease, and MAC Plumage in the outer corner. The result was a very cool "peacock" effect!
DeleteIf you're talking about BRIGHT yellow, it'll look good all over the lid, and then you can do a similar "peacock" effect with greens and blues, OR you can do a "sunset" effect, and use oranges or reds or pinks. Those are the easiest ways to incorporate bright yellows. :) The key is to use yellow as a pop of colour mixed in with other shades, rather than just using it alone as the only colour on your eye. Some of my favourite bright yellows: MAC Pro Longwear Eyeshadow in Sunny Outlook, MAC Going Bananas, and MAC Chrome Yellow.
Have you checked out MAC Ricepaper? It's a light peach-based gold, so it's not as pale as something like MAC Nylon. :)
Sorry to interrupt. I have Going Bananas and it's a very, very flattering yellow. Liz, I'm like medium dark and I shouldn't be wearing yellow but Going Bananas is so forgiving. Hmm, I should probably start using mine again. *goes back to lying underneath her rock*
DeleteI love Going Bananas, too. :D It sucks that it was limited edition, though. Hopefully, MAC will bring it back in a collection this year...
DeleteHey, thanks for the tips, you two! And Fieran, there's no *interrupting* on the web, hahaha. :)
DeleteI'm not too familiar with MAC shadows as I'm a sucker for palettes, but I was thinking of getting Shale and will check out Ricepaper and Going Bananas. Denise, thanks for the detailed instruction on using yellows. Peacock effect sounds amazing. I'll have to "brush up" on my technique! >;D
Ricepaper and Shale are lovely colours -- you should also check out All That Glitters, which is my go-to neutral eyeshadow (I've used up three pans already!). Going Bananas was a limited edition colour and isn't available anymore. :( If you're really interested in it, MAC Goldmine + Nylon mixed together looks quite similar!
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