Dior Golden Snow 5 Couleurs Eye Shadow Palette

Dior released two LE eye shadow palettes for the holidays, the warm, brown based Golden Flower, and the cooler toned Golden Snow. I recently picked up Golden Snow from the lovely Camille at the Dior counter at the Bay City Centre. All photos taken with flash on NC 35/40 skin ($61.00 CA).

 Dior Golden Snow 1-5: clockwise from upper left (1), ending with center shade (5)

Golden Snow 1 (upper left) - a satiny white frost with a pink undertone. Excellent pigmentation and texture. Cool in tone but not too stark.

Golden Snow 2 (upper right) - a warm, yellow toned medium gold glitter which is similar in texture and finish to Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eye Shadows. It feels creamy and powdery simultaneously. I did have a little fall out with this shadow, but it wasn't a major problem. You will want to use this over an eye shadow primer or base and pack it on with a stiff flat damp brush or your fingers.

Golden Snow 3 (bottom right) - a semi sheer charcoal satin which leans slightly blue. This shadow was semi sheer, which means you would have to pack on 2-3 layers to get it to be really dark and opaque. If you are looking for a soft charcoal/graphite type shade to wear in your creases this would be a good one as it goes on very soft.

Golden Snow 4 (bottom left) - a beautiful creamy and opaque taupey mauve shimmer. On my skin it pulled more mauve, but it does have a hint of grey in it that keeps it from looking overtly purple. Such a pretty and soft colour! Definitely my favorite in the palette.

Golden Snow 5 (center) - a white semi sheer glitter which is powdery texture wise. The glitter is finer than in shade 2, but the texture is quite a bit more powdery. Again, a sticky eye shadow or primer and a stiff and damp brush or fingertip will work best for this shadow.

Initially when I swatched this palette I was a bit disappointed because the colours didn't seem that unique and the textures were a bit too powdery for my liking. After I created this quick look my opinion of this palette improved quite a bit. The mix of warm and cool tones works quite well and the taupey mauve shade (#4) is so pretty and versatile - I can see it working with greys and browns.

Grade: B+

Overall I think this is a good palette - it doesn't blow me out of the water, but I think that the quality and shade range is good enough that you can get numerous pretty evening looks out of it. Here is an EOTD I did with the palette - full tutorial to follow!

J

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MAC Prepare For Pleasure Lipstick Review, Swatches and Photos

MAC's Divine Night collection is in North American stores (and available online) now! Jill suggested I check out Prepare For Pleasure lipstick after she saw the collection in person, so I made a special trip to take a look.

Prepare For Pleasure is described as a clean magenta red with a Cremesheen finish. It's got a slightly shiny finish and it's got cool undertones. I'm a sucker for a red lipstick, so I bought it without even trying it on first. It's limited edition. 

Prepare for Pleasure is in special packaging. The box is a shiny black with gold writing (rather than the usual white writing). 

The tube too has gold instead of the usual silver and it doesn't have the slight sparkle that the usual lipstick tubes have. 

Prepare for Pleasure has a slight sparkle to it, though it's more evident in the tube than on my lips. 

I really like how easy this lipstick is to wear. It's bold and it's red but it's got sheerness to it. 

Swatched on NW15 skintone - one swipe

Swatched on NW15 skintone - three swipes

Here it is on me. 

This is a fun red to wear. It's light, sheer and has some shine to it. Perfect for the holidays. Oddly I find Prepare For Pleasure a little thick and sticky when it's on. It feels heavier than it looks, but that isn't an issue, just a little odd. 

This shade would work on many skin types. It seems to have enough pink to it to work with warmer skintones (see Christine from Temptalia wearing it here), and is cool-toned so it works on fair skin (like mine). 

Shop the Divine Night collection here.

Lipsticks in the Divine Night collection are a little bit more expensive due to the special packaging - $19.50 CDN/$16.50 USD

MAC Divine Night Mineralize Blushes Review, Swatches and Photos

MAC's Divine Night holiday 2013 collection, features three LE Mineralize Blushes: Lured to Love, Talk of the Town and Lavish Living ($32.50 CA/$27.50 US). These LE blushes are housed in matte black and gold packaging special (and more pricey) for the holidays. Photos in natural light on NC 35/40 skin.

MAC Mineralize Blush: Lured to Love, Talk of the Town and Lavish Living

Lured to Love - Described by MAC as a "coral pink base with pink frost", Lured to Love is a light pinky coral blush with a satin (not frost) finish. The texture is fairly powdery and the finish subtle but fresh on my medium skin tone.

Talk of the Town - Strangely described as a "warm brown base with yellow bronze" by MAC, I would describe this as a frosty pinky beige highlighter with iridescent pink pearl.This blush will not give much colour to most skin tones, and because of the heavy frost, you won't want to build this product up of the skin. Pretty, but a light hand is warranted.

Lavish Living - Aptly described by MAC as a "violet with silver pearl base with gold pearl", this blush is medium dark plum with slight grey overtones and fine silver shimmer. The most strongly pigmented of the three, this blush is also the most unique in terms of colour - I can't think of another blush like it. This blush will be amazing on darker skin tones.

I like that MAC offered three blush shades in one collection that are all very different. I also appreciate that they explored the darker end of the blush spectrum, though my feeling is Lavish Living will prove a challenging colour on most. My reservations are that the formula is powdery and the finishes of Talk of the Town and Lavish Living are very frosty for everyday wear. 

Grades: 

Lured to Love: B -

Talk of the Town: B-

Lavish Living: B