The many shades of purple… Guerlain Jeu d’Ombrelles Eyeshadow Quad
Guerlain Jeu d’Ombrelles Eyeshadow Quad ($59.00) is the other new product featured in Guerlain’s Cherry Blossom Collection. You can expect to see the eyeshadow quad hitting counters in the next two weeks or so.
Guerlain describes the four shades as: pink and white tones with violet and mauve. For some reason, I was surprised with how the colors actually swatched — this just didn’t strike me as a definitively cool-toned, purple-inspired kind of quad, but that is very much what it is. In order to swatch with meaning, I pretty much wiped off the overlay prior to actually doing swatches. The results are an icy white-pink with soft shimmery sheen, a deepened eggplant plum with a matte finish, a fresh, medium pink with subtle shimmer/sheen, and a matte cool-toned medium purple.
The shades don’t immediately say “unique, buy me!” but I don’t think I have exact dupes in my collection. If I had to list MAC dupes for these shades, I’d suggest Crystal Avalanche, Shadowy Lady, Sweet Lust, and Fig. 1/Satellite Dreams — none of which would be that close. It’s just one of those situations where the shades don’t look particularly original and yet somehow they’re not exactly repeated shades either.
All four eyeshadows swatched smoothly, felt like silk, and were decently pigmented. Both the matte shades felt soft to the touch and didn’t feel or look chalky. The other two shades are noticeably shimmery, but they didn’t feel frosty on me. (They may appear frostier on darker skin tones, though.)
Like the Cherry Blush Blush, it’s housed in an elegant black lacquered compact. The total eyeshadow weight is 0.20 oz. (0.05 oz. per shade), which means you are getting a good amount of product per shade. The compact also includes two double-sided sponge applicators, but I only found them useful for swatching and wouldn’t use them for actual eyeshadow application myself (I’m a brush snob, what can I say?).
Bottom Line: I like this eyeshadow quad, but I’m not quite in love with it yet. It’s very soft, pretty, and certainly reminiscent of spring. The more I use it, though, the more I appreciate it for its subtly and how easy it is to use (all four shades coordinate really well with each other, since they all lean a little purple).
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 5/5
Recommendation: If you like purple eyeshadow, this just might be a match for you.
Availability: January 2010
See more photos and swatches…
A little on the pricey side, but I am loving those matte purples and the frosty highlighters. Might be looking into these when they come out.
Ooh, pretty. I have this already, but haven’t tried it yet, it’s too pretty, lol.
Been meaning to say, you are so lucky to be sent things like this to try out! I need to start a blog too.
Mind you, I would never ever have as much time to put into it as you do.
lol, I understand! But if and when you do… do let me you know what you think
I’d die to see your Guerlain collection!
Have you played with the Voyage powder? I’ve never seen one in person or had one sent over, and at $170… haven’t splurged yet!
I have only tested it on my hands, it’s very pretty, the colours are slightly different than in the old one and the blocks are smaller. The compact is also very heavy, and looks a bit like a pebble.
I have never paid $170 for my voyage powders, the new Imperial one I got for $132, and this one I paid about $130 for as well (long live eBay, lol!). I’m still missing one Voyage Powder from my collection that I’m desperately trying to find, it’s the Midnight Diamond one from about 5 years ago, seen it on eBay a couple of times, but they sold for more than I wanted to pay for them, however, now I will pay whatever it takes to complete my colection, lol. (I’m also missing another one I think it’s calle Rose Eclat, but that’s less pretty, so not too fussed about it.)
Aww!! I can totally understand… if I have most of a product line, I want all the shades/variations… just to be complete!
Love the packaging, love the blossoms. But, not impressed with the colors. I’ll pass on this one. I would rather work with Fig and Sweet Lust.
Hate, hate the texture of Sweet Lust myself!
Love me some Fig. 1, though!
Those are some nice perky spring colors. They look like they are a lot of fun to wear.
They look quite pretty, but I have a couple of questions. Is the outer packaging as lovely as the inside, and are the foil-ed looking parts on the shadow just an overlay?
Hi Jezi,
There’s a photo of the outer packaging in this post, and the shimmery parts are an overlay.
I think the packaging is more pretty than the shadow is good…..the colors are kind of meh :/
Pretty, but I’m not excited for them. I think I have a few that are close enough to go without this.
the packaging and design is just brilliant, but i have eyeshadows with those similar shades. as much as i would love for this to be part of my little collection, it’s just out of the price range for me
The shadows are pretty but not worth 59 bucks.
These are pretty but not heart stopping unique to me, but I will definitely check this out when it comes out because the whole collection is so pretty.
that overspray is darling, but it does make it hard to get a sense of what the colors underneath will look like. I’ve seen much more beautiful matte purple shadows too. Lancome has some especially pretty ones.
It definitely does! The way it would swatch with the overlay mixed in is totally diff!
i love the colors but the price just killed it.
Ah, so pretty, but I think it’s a little plain and a little light for me. I doubt the pink would show up different than the white. Love the two purples though.
For some reason I prefer higher end brands like Guerlain and Chanel and I’ve been debating whether I should get the Spring 2010 Chanel quad which are just browns (which i have way too many of them! :X) but I like this Guerlain quad. But for these colors I think I would just get a MAC dupe for the pink and plum. I just dont think 59 dollars is worth this quad but I heard the voyage powder is good.
i heart the colors, but i have lots of purple shades as well. i don’t think i will miss them. i love the design though! was the pattern ruined when you swatched? that’s what i am worried about if ever i will buy lol.
Yes, the pattern goes away once you use it!
Hi! Can you do a look with this? tia
It’s too old to use now, sorry Yen!