Dolce & Gabbana — Summer Preview — Laguna Eyeshadow Duo
Laguna Eyeshadow Duo ($36.00 for 0.17 oz.) is new for Dolce & Gabbana’s summer collection (due out in May), and I’m excited to show you a sneak preview of this perfect-for-summer duo! It includes a softly teal-shimmered muted sky blue and a rich, blackened forest green with gold and green shimmer.
At first, I thought that the bluish side was like Benefit’s Mermaid Eyeshadow, but it’s not. It’s more like a blue version, if anything, but after looking at both, they’re definitely not similar. The forest green shade originally reminded me of NARS Night Porter, but the finish is softer and smoother and it’s a shimmer/sheen rather than a glitter finish.
The texture of Dolce & Gabbana eyeshadows is amazing. It’s soft, smooth, and buttery. I love that Dolce & Gabbana puts out colors amongst more muted shades, too, because I think it gives them more variety. But even better is that their colors actually show-up true-to-pan!
Surprisingly, Dolce & Gabbana is cheaper by the ounce than NARS Eyeshadow Duos–$211/oz. vs. $228/oz. (and not so surprisingly, cheaper than NARS, Make Up For Ever, and MAC singles), but you do get the luxe, “gold” metal casing for your buck, too (but it does hold fingerprints as is typical with metal packaging). I’m actually surprised that these are priced so similarly to NARS Eyeshadow Duos, because the Dolce & Gabbana line-up is more comparable to Chanel and Dior in terms of pricing, typically.
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- Product: 29/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love really smooth eyeshadows that go on like butter, Dolce & Gabbana Eyeshadow Duos hit the mark. If you’ve been hunting for a blue that’s not too bright or overwhelming, you may find this duo works well. I think this duo in particularly is suitable for both cool and warm skin tones, too!
Availability: May 2010 at Saks Fith Avenue
Bobbi Brown Color Strips Collection: Aquamarine Palette
Bobbi Brown Aquamarine Palette
($60.00) includes five eyeshadow shades (Lightening , Aquamarine, Storm, Ivory, and Grey Sky) and three pot rouge shades (Sand Pink, Pale Pink, Powder Pink). This is the third palette from Bobbi Brown’s Color Strips Collection, which also featured Bonfire and Orchid.
- Ivory is a cool-toned white beige with a matte finish.
- Lightning (Sparkle) is a shimmering softened gray with silver shimmer.
- Aquamarine (Metallic) is a muted sky blue with a frosty sheen and shimmer.
- Grey Sky is a medium gray with almost a brownish-taupe cast with a matte finish
- Storm is a deepened blue-black with a matte finish.
The Aquamarine Palette is more on the cool-toned side, so it’s definitely more suitable for those with cooler undertones. However, it’s not unwearable for those with warmer skin tones, but you’ll want to mix and match with some slightly warmer hues just to bring everything together. What I really like about this palette, though, is that the shades work really well together, like in the Bonfire Palette.
For a review of the Pot Rouges, head on over to my Orchid Palette review, which includes the same shades of Pot Rouges. The packaging remains the same as the other two palette variations–sleek Bobbi Brown case that opens up with plastic “windows” that keep out dirt and dust from the products (which is really something you don’t see often and much appreciated).
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love a cool-toned smoky gray eye, you might dig Aquamarine.
Maybelline Eye Studio Copper Chic Eyeshadow Quad
Maybelline Eye Studio Copper Chic Eyeshadow Quad ($9.99) is a stunning combination of slightly warmed-up neutrals. I was really hoping Maybelline was going to knock it out of the park with this combination, but they didn’t quite hit the mark for me. They’re so-so but just not stellar. I’d still consider it pretty good by drugstore beauty standards, though–but it’s only decent against popular favorites like MAC, Make Up For Ever, and Urban Decay.
It includes a champagne-pink with a frosty finish, subdued copper, muted golden bronze, and darker chocolate bronze with light gold shimmer. My biggest issue with these eyeshadows was just that they applied sheerly, so it was difficult to get as much dimension as I’d like on my eyes. Like the other Maybelline palettes, these are softer eyeshadows that have to be applied with less sweeping and more packing/tapping techniques.
These excel best over a more metallic base (think MAC Indianwood or Rubenesque Paint Pots), because these eyeshadows grab onto the base well and then you can get the colors to pop and look more like themselves! I’m still, overall, impressed by the quality of the Maybelline Eyeshadow Quads, but none have been quite as good as Good with Gold thus far.
More Maybelline Eye Studio Eyeshadow Quad Reviews…
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- Product: 24/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you’re looking for soft, almost velvet-textured neutrals, you might like Copper Chic for a budget-friendly option.
Availability: Target
Spring Pastels with Maybelline are a Little Too Light
Maybelline Eye Studio Legendary Lilac Eyeshadow Quad ($9.99) includes an icy silver with very faint, icy lilac shimmer; a lilac-lavender with gold shimmer; a blue-based blue-purple with subtle gold shimmer; and an eggplant purple with red undertones. This is probably my least favorite Eye Studio Eyesahdow Quad I’ve tested–it’s very faint overall. The pigmentation just isn’t there in three of the four shades (all but the eggplant-y one). I like the concept of four different purple shades, but I must say the blue-based purple might have been nicer with another, stronger medium purple with red undertones.
The eyeshadows themselves are soft and smooth, they just lack pigmentation. I’ve been happier with some of the other variations in this product type, like Good with Gold. This is definitely a skip variation to me — if the colors had more pay off, it could be a nice a way to try out purple eyeshadow, but since they’re already so soft, it’s hard to build up the intensity with these.
More Maybelline Eye Studio Eyeshadow Quad Reviews…
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- Product: 22/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: Skip this one — it’s just too faint — unless you love really soft, subtle color!
Availability: Target
Lancome O My Rose! Collection: Pop ‘n Green Eyeshadow Quad
Lancome Pop ‘n Green Eyeshadow Quad
($42.00) is a sultry blue and green palette for spring. It’s surprisingly un-spring-like and yet it’s not totally out-of-season either. It’s almost like the perfect accompamiment to a gloomy, rainy day–and I do mean that as a compliment!
Pop ‘n Green includes a bright silvery-white with shimmer; a greenish-gray with taupe with a more metallic finish; an olive-green with a subtle yellow-olive sheen/pearl (not really shimmery); and a blue-teal with soft silver shimmer over a pearly sheen finish. I don’t have colors quite like the olive green and teal in my collection–similar, but the pearly finish makes them distinctive against anything I might already own (all of which are either more matte or shimmery). I think it would have been cool for the entire palette to have the same pearled sheen finish, actually.
The green-gray-taupe shade is so-so; a little on the sheer side, even though it has a kind of “wet” look to it, I wish the pay off was more. The silver shade has decent pigmentation, but it’s not as color-rich as the olive green and teal are. I like the palette, though I can see this not being something for everyone. I like the way it fits a different side of spring; not the blossoming, pastel side, but the cooler, rainier weather. I think I’m really swooning for that green, though, and I must say, I’m a sucker for olive greens, so…
It’s like I’m in love with half the quad, but the other half is just so-so–the pigmentation is perfect and the texture isn’t as smooth as the good half. I do like that the other half makes sense, though–you can wear these four shades together or variations of three of the four.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love cooler, non-traditional spring shades, you might find Pop ‘n Green to your liking!
Availability: Nordstrom
Bobbi Brown Color Strips: Bonfire Palette
Bobbi Brown Bonfire Palette ($60.00) is an eye, cheek, and lip palette from Bobbi Brown’s Color Strips Collection, which [again] includes three palette variations. Bonfire is more my style than the other two variations. By the by, Aquamarine is the third variation, which I won’t be reviewing at this time! It does, however, have the same Pot Rouges as Orchid Sparkle, which I reviewed earlier, so it’s like… half reviewed
Pot Rouge
- Tawny is a brownish-red–it’s not a brick red, and it certainly doesn’t scream “RED!” but it’s in there. Creamy, opaque, and smooth.
- Fresh Melon is a brightened coral-peach with a creamy and opaque look. This can be worn as a very subtle blush or lip.
- Calypso Coral is a bold, tropical orange-coral with the same creaminess of the other shades of Pot Rouge. This is definitely a more fearless coral, though, because it is fairly bright. You can pat less on to get a less intense look, though, which is nice.
Eyeshadow
- Bone is a softened white-beige with a matte finish. Kind of a classic shade–easier for me to wear with my warmer skin tone than whites.
- Cafe Cream (Sparkle) is a shimmered medium coffee brown with an almost taupe-gray tone to it. It looks almost wet when used, and the fall out isn’t too bad.
- Bonfire is a rich copper with a metallic finish. Think MAC Amber Lights with a smoother finish. This is the “bright” shade in the palette, while the other shades are designed to coordinate with this one.
- Cognac is an intense shade of coppered chocolate brown with an almost burgundy sheen. This shade is truly lovely–I fell completely in love at first swatch. It’s one of those shades that I could see myself buying the palette for.
- Caviar is a dark black-brown with a matte finish. I like this more with the Bonfire palette than the Orchid palette, but I also wish they varied it, so there wouldn’t be any repeats between the three palettes!
It has the same sleek packaging as Orchid, so my thoughts remain the same on that: well-done, practical, and keeps everything as clean as can be in a palette.
I think these eyeshadows work better together than the ones chosen for the Orchid palette as well. I can definitely see many different combinations with these five shades. I also like the shades swatched smoother and more pigmented–there was only one iffy shade (Cafe Cream), but it was still decent and not so troublesome (unlike Orchid Sparkle).
I know that I’m personally more drawn to Bonfire (hey, I like me some warm shades!), so I’m definitely going to try to do a look with this palette later this week or next!
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’ve wanted to try Pot Rouges, this is one way to try three at once… and get some eyeshadows as a bonus!
Availability: BobbiBrown.com, Nordstrom
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