Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Capri Eye Shadow Quad: The Rundown

Finally! I have gotten around to reviewing the Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Terra Azzura Capri eye shadow quad from the delightful Summer 2012 collection. I’ve had a few weeks to road test this product and see how versatile it is and how the shadow formula behaves.

Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Eye Shadow Quad in Capri–French Riviera memories!

The Product Details

There are four (4) colors in this quad chosen to replicate a feeling of being in the French Riviera at summertime are as follow:

A shimmering ecru
A smokey brown
A satin pink
A semi-frosty peach coral

At first glance if you think you’ve seen a quad like this you probably have. MAC’s Call Me Bubbles quad that came out for Spring 2012 for Shop MAC/Cook MAC is almost identical at first glance. But unlike with MAC’s quad, I found all four colors in the Guerlain palette to be buttery smooth with amazing color payoff. More often than not I got too much product on the application with less effort than with my MAC shadows. For darker-skinned beauties NC/NW40+, these colors will definitely work for you however I would suggest using either a white eyeshadow on the lid, or a light color eyeshadow pencil such as Make Up For Ever’s Shadow Pencil in Pearly Peach (26E) or Urban Decay’s 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Sin.

Guerlain’s new eye shadow palette by Emilio Pucci–Great for everyday!

The palette seems like it is all warm colors but there is enough neutrality for it to look nice on all skintones. Even with my screaming red undertones all of colors complimented me very well and I found myself reaching for this palette more often than not. Out of all of the colors, the cool dusty brown and peachy orange are my favorites for a surprisingly wearable summer smokey eye. The pink color is nice but as I have the Les Roses palette and this one is more matte, I use to enhance the peachy orange shade moreso than on its own. The beige color is fabulous as a highlighter or a light wash of shimmery ercu across the lids.

Guerlain by Emilio Pucci swatches from bottom: Kohl Kajal, Eye shadow palette (no flash/HDR)

I would highly suggest using the included custom applicator to apply the shadow. My MAC brushes didn’t seem to play very well with this. And if you have oily eyelids as I do, definitely use an eyeshadow primer like Too Faced Shadow Insurance and a cream shadow as a base such as MAC’s Quite Natural or Painterly paint pots, or Maybelline’s Color Tattoo 24hr cream shadow in Tough as Taupe or Pomegranate Punk. Total weight by volume of all four shadows is .24 oz which is a very healthy amount compared to MAC’s usual .17 oz total weight for a quad.

Final Recommendation

While the price point is quite high ($59), the different finish of the case and quality of the eyeshadows (and big mirror in it) more than qualify the price. For women of color, the shadows do not turn ‘ashy’ but to make them pop I would suggest using a cream shadow underneath either a few shades lighter than your coloring or use a white shadow pencil. All colors are easily blendable and while this pallete is showcased for Summer, it is a lovely one to have year-round for olive to dark-skinned beauties.

The Guerlain by Emillio Pucci Capri eye shadow palette is a limited edition item and is available at Nordstrom, Sephora.com and NeimanMarcus.com

Back of Capri eyeshadow palette by Guerlain by Emilio Pucci

The velvet sleeve for the eye shadow palette–a true identifier of luxury cosmetics

Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Eye shadow quad – Flash

Guerlain by Emilio Pucci swatches from bottom: Kohl Kajal, Eye shadow palette (flash)

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Preview: NEW Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams!

Score one for the Sephora inside JCPenney for this one!

It’s late May, which means Miami Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week approaches…and so does new MUFE launches!

It turns out not only has Estee Lauder surprised me this week, but so has Make Up For Ever. They have added four (4) new aqua cream shades for eyes and cheeks that are so vibrant, so gorgeous, I had to acquire a few of them.

The four (4) new shades are:

23 — Acid Green (straight up frosty chartreuse green)
24 — Yellow (semi-matte taxicab yellow)
25 — Pastel Blue (frosty pastel blue–stunning!)
26 — Purple (looks a lot like the legendary #19 that never made it to the US on initial product launch)

The Aqua Creams I bought–so happy! (w/ flash)

Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams are my favorite cream shadows to use in the summer and in hot humid climates like Florida. I have tested these extensively in the hot July Florida weather and they hold up beautifully! The price has gone up to $23 per pot but you only need very little to get intense color payoff. If you think you can get the same kind of payoff with Maybellene’s Color Tattoo cream shadows, you are sadly mistaken. They are extremely good for a drugstore product but nowhere near the longevity and pigmentation as MUFE–especially if you have oily eyelids like I do.

These aqua creams are available NOW at Sephora.com. GO, GO, GO!!! But before you leave skid marks, check out the picspam!

Swatches from top: #26, #23, #24, #25 (flash)

The Aqua Creams I bought–so happy! (w/o flash HDR)

Gorgeous, perfect for summer and could probably withstand a nuke blast w/o creasing

#23 Acid Green: Stunning alone or under NARS Rated R green shadow

#25 Pastel Blue: An excellent choice to make brown eyes pop

#26 Purple: A long time coming and the PERFECT base for MUFE Eyeshadow #92.

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Illamasqua Human Fundamentalism: PicSpam!

Came home today to the most wonderful package from the UK. It was the pieces I ordered from the Spring/Summer 2012 Human Fundamentalism collection!!

Sit back, relax and enjoy the eyeshadow product PicSpam. A review will follow in a few weeks but as these pieces are starting to slowly appear on Sephora.com (with a Not In Stock message for now) I wanted to give my readers a quick look and swatches for reference.

DISCLOSURE> I own stock in LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Henessy) which is the parent company of Sephora.

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Preview: Guerlain by Emilio Pucci [Summer 2012]

I love Guerlain. And I love Pucci. Put them both together and it rockets right to the top of my Summer 2102 beauty shopping list.

Natalia Vodianova--the face of Guerlain looking gorgeous for the Emilio Pucci Summer 2012 collection (Source; British Beauty Blogger)

Les Meteorites Pearls D'Azur tricked out with the Pucci art on the tin for Summer 2012 (Source: British Beauty Blogger)

Terra Azzura blush/bronzer with Emilio Pucci motif--amazing! (Source: British Beauty Blogger)

There are eleven (11) pieces in this special collection. According to ChicProfile.com, here’s a breakdown of what’s included:

Terra Azzura Bronzing Powder & Blush

Formed with the iconic Emilio Pucci logo, it has separate bronzer, blush and possible highlighter strips that when all used together provides a bronzy blush glow to the skin. I’m a fan of the Terracotta bronzer so I’ll more than likely pass on this.

Meteorites Perles d’Azur

The world-famous meteorites highlighters that are more than worthy of their reputation. I own the Cruel Gardenia highlighter and the color is amazing on dark skin. If you’ve ever wondered if this would work for you definitely give it a try!

Terra Azzura Brush

This is in pretty Pucci print case! More than likely I’ll get it because it’s Pucci, my mom wore Pucci in the late 70’s so I’m programmed to want it.

Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette

#13 Capri (consists of a cream, pink, coral and brown shades)

Mascara Le 2 de Guerlain by Emilio Pucci

Indigo (dark indigo blue mascara)

Terracota Khol Kajal

I first saw this last year in the Guerlain boutique at the France Pavillion in EPCOT center in Disney World. The creamy smoothness of how this applied to my eye and the pigmentation really impressed me. Turns out this product had been out of the Guerlain product line for several decades but was being reintroduced to consumers. It is offered regularly in a dark black but for this collection it comes in a beautiful cobalt blue. Definitely picking this up.

Terracotta Kohl Kajal (source: ATime4Beauty)

Terra Azzura Vernis

I don’t remember Guerlain ever having nail polish before so this is a first.

#01 Paradisio (coral pink with a dazzling brilliant finish)
#02 Riviera (electric blue indigo with a metallic finish)

Terra Azzura Gloss

#10 Porto Fino (Coral pink)
#11 Porto Ercole (Chocolate)
#12 Porto Azzuro (Indigo blue)

The international release date is scheduled for 3 June 2012. In North America (more specifically the United States) It is possible that it could be released earlier by online retailers such as Nordstrom.com, NeimanMarcus.com and Bloomingdales.com. I will keep you posted if anything changes. Lemming for swatches? Then check out ATimeForBeauty’s website for more! The website is in Russian but if you’re using Google Chrome as a browser you can easily get a ‘close to English’ translation.

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Shop MAC Colour Added Eye Shadow Quad: The Rundown

When I heard the Shop MAC collection had an eye shadow quad with two Veluxe Pearl shadows, I immediately thought, SOLD!

Shop MAC Colour Added Eye Shadow Quad -- 2 Veluxe Pearl shadows, no waiting!

The Colour Added eye shadow quad consists of four (4) colors: Laundry Daze (S), Colour Added (VXP), PrePackaged (VXP) and Self-Serve (S). Laundry Daze is a satin-finish shade with a slight yellow tint. Colour Added is a light yellow shade with a pearl sheen while PrePackaged is a dark teal. Self-Serve is a smokey dark grey color with a satin finish that is an absolute pain in the proverbial to swatch and has the worst color payoff of the entire group. Still, it’s a shade I could care less about as the other three work fabulously together and are very well pigmented.

From left: Laundry Daze (S), Colour Added (VXP), Pre-Packaged (VXP) and Self-Serve (S) (flash)

From left: Laundry Daze (S), Colour Added (VXP), Pre-Packaged (VXP) and Self-Serve (S) (no flash)

Colour Added (VXP) is slightly more yellow than Going Banannas (F/Dare To Wear) and is more pastel yellow on my NW43 skin than Three Ring Yellow (VXP/Cindy Sherman). I have heard some blog reports that Three Ring Yellow and Colour Added look the same on them. Perhaps this is the case if you have yellow undertones (NC range) but as I have cool red undertones (NW) the color difference is very apparent. Three Ring Yellow actually has more of a green cast on my skin than yellow. Colour Added is very buildable and has excellent color payoff as I’ve come to expect from Veluxe Pearl finishes.

From left: Going Bananas, (F) Colour Added (VXP), Three Ring Yellow (VXP)

Laundry Daze (S) is a satin finish that looks obviously ‘flat’ next to the uber-shimmery Crystal Avalanche (VXP). This makes a great brow highlight shade as it is not very shimmery and blends easily. It does appear to have a slight lemon cast to it when swatching but it isn’t easily apparent. I had no performance issues with this color which is surprising as I am not a fan of MAC’s satin eyeshadows.

From left: Crystal Avalanche (VXP), Laundry Daze (S)

Self-Serve (S) is obviously darker than Copperplate (M2) and has more grey and no sparkle in it as compared to Hocus Pocus (S). Perhaps it’s because it takes time to ‘break’ it in but I found swatching Self-Serve got easier the more product I got on the brush. Of course this means I’d wind up eventually using more product. As this is my least favorite color of the quad (and honestly, it isn’t what drew me to it) I don’t consider it a knock on the value of this palette. Consider it the ‘Crazy Memaw‘ of the quad and roll with it.

From left: Copperplate (M2), Self-Serve (S), Hocus Pocus (S)

Pre-Packaged (VXP) has a brighter blue cast than Deep Truth (F) and brighter than Plumage (M) which has no shimmer. The color swatches beautifully and when blended with the yellow Colour Added produces a subtle smokey green that adds to the mystery of your eye look. I love this shadow on its own but combined with the other two it looks amazing! Even the Crazy Memaw color of Self-Serve takes a little of the shine off to give it a different effect.

From left: Deep Truth (F), Pre-Packaged (VXP), Plumage (M)

Unlike with the Call Me Bubbles quad, Colour Added is more ‘in your face’ and edgy. If you want to add more dimension to your eyeshadow collection or want to try something different, I think you will be pleased with it. Folks who are ‘color averse’ may want to either skip this or swatch in person before making a decision. For olive to dark-skinned girls I think this is an amazing quad to have. Just make sure to use a pale base on your eyelid (MAC Soft Ochre, Painterly or Nublie paint pot, or Crystal Avalanche eye shadow) before applying the Laundry Daze or Colour Added or else the color won’t pop as well or last as long.

The Colour Added quad retails for $38 USD, is a limited edition item and is available at all MAC locations (freestanding and counter) and at MacCosmetics.com. International release is slated for March of 2012.

Dramatic look from Colour Added quad, Quick Sizzle on lips, and Florida cremeblend blush on cheeks and Chromaline gel liner in Black Black (NARS Pure Radiant tinted moisturizer in Polynesia on face set with MAC Careblend powder in Dark)