Among Guerlain’s Spring Exotic Paradise Collection, they also re-released their single eyeshadows–ten of them. They boast that these are the largest eyeshadows you can find, weighing in at 3.6 grams and priced at $34 each. I’m sure that number means nothing to you, so let’s compare to MAC’s eyeshadow, which is 1.5 grams at $14.50 a pop.

MAC Eyeshadow = $9.67 per gram
Guerlain Eyeshadow = $9.44 per gram

WHAT? How can that be? How can Guerlain be less expensive than MAC? Is the world falling to pieces? So yes, despite quibbling over $34 eyeshadows, you do get more for less on a per-gram-basis. Of course, many of us have dozens of eyeshadows, so the usability factor comes into play. I know that there are only a few eyeshadows that I’ve used so often that I’ve “hit pan” on, so the last thing I need as a selling point is anything being the largest eyeshadow on the market. It doesn’t hurt, though! I would rather get more bang for my buck–I’m certainly not complaining over the size. But I would be satisfied with a smaller price tag and a smaller eyeshadow, too. Enough on price–you’re not looking at Guerlain because it’s cheap–onto the colors!

Eyeshadow Breakdown

Precieux is a frosty white shade–far too white for me to pull off personally.

Charnel is a peachy shade, a color that I don’t feel is given enough due by cosmetic companies. I think it will make a nice highlighter as well as all-over-the-lid wash shade.

Fauve is a dirty strawberry-copper color. I like it, because it’s not a color I’ve seen dozens of times in the past six months.

Cuir is a gorgeous, warm-toned bronzy brown. It has subtle shimmer and it feels smooth and buttery when swatched. I really liked this, but I decided to pass because the Exotic Paradise quad has the most gorgeous brown ever.

Coquin is a soft, low-shimmer, pastel pink. As you can see, it doesn’t give a lot of color on my bare skin. I think it’s a lovely color, and over a good base, I think it would stand out more.

Fleuri is an almost-warm lavender with gold shimmer. It looks really lovely when swatched, and it has one of the best textures of the ten colors. I was all over this one, because it’s unlike other colors I own. If you have MAC’s Lotusland, you have something similar, but without the gold shimmer effect.

Fume is a soft brown-gray. This color may be a little dull or boring to look at, especially sandwiched between Fleuri and Emeraude, but it’s actually a very versatile shade. It’s a good color to own if you don’t already have something similar.

Emeraude is a gorgeous, silky deep olive green with gold sheen and shimmer. It has a lot of green in it, despite being deeper and having olive tones. I love greens, did you expect me to live without this?

Nuit is a smoky gray-black shade. For me, it didn’t swatch as nicely as the others, because it didn’t go on that pigmented, despite looking quite dark in the container. I didn’t find anything unique or standout about this shade, so it’s not on my must-have list.

Indigo is a dark medium blue with subtle sheen and not too much frost in its finish. Unfortunately, MAC completely oversaturated 2008 with this blue shade, so I’m all dark medium blue’d out. Guerlain’s Indigo looks and swatches pretty–nothing wrong with it–but I didn’t need this color so I skipped.

See more photos & swatches…

140 Precieux, 141 Charnel, 142 Fauve, 143 Cuir, 160 Coquin

142 Fauve, 143 Cuir, 160 Coquin, 161 Fleuri, 180 Fume, 181 Emeraude

161 Fleuri, 180 Fume, 181 Emeraude, 182 Nuit, 190 Indigo (blue on the top)

Guerlain’s Exotic Paradise Collection saw the release of four new shades of KissKiss Lipstick and four new shades of Kiss Kiss Maxi Shine Lipstick. All of the lipsticks retail for $30 a pop, which makes them pretty pricey for most of us. To be honest, I liked all of the new shades, but I wouldn’t say any of them are absolute must-haves.

I think the Maxi Shines are the perfect answer to anyone hunting for a subtly pigmented, sheer lipstick that goes on smoothly and gives a nice sheen. Grenadine Shine was particularly lovely for me, just because it is a subtle coral, making it an easy, everyday shade for me to wear. I was thinking Forever Beige would be a nice way to do a more neutral lip that wasn’t nude, but I wasn’t lovin’ how it turned out in my lips, so I’ll probably have to take that one back. On the other hand, Flushy Beige is a really lovely shade of rosy beige, which is incredibly natural-looking when applied but it amps up my natural lip color quite a bit. It makes my lips look slightly puckered, flushed, and subtly pink.

Right now, I’m leaning towards giong back and picking up Corial Passion and Baby Shine. I have some cool pink lipsticks, but they tend to be too cool to wear easily, so Baby Shine might give me a less intense cool pink to wear more often. Corail Passion is coral, and well, I love coral lipsticks–do I need to justify it anymore?

See swatches & lip swatches!

Row 2: Pomme du Desir, Orange Interdit, Cerise Tentation; Rose Impudique, Corail Passion;

Pomme du Desir, Orange Interdit, Cerise Tentation; Rose Impudique, Corail Passion;
Forever Beige, Flushy Beige, Candy Shine, Honey Shine, Baby Shine
Grenadine Shine

Flushy Beige, Forever Beige, Grenadine Shine

Grenadine Shine

Forever Beige

Flushy Beige

Guerlain’s Exotic Paradise Collection featured three stunning shades of KissKiss Gloss ($28.00).  I was just so drawn to the glosses, because they looked stunning (and Guerlain packaging is tops)–most especially together. I have to admit that these colors do remind me more of summery months than they do spring, but whatever, I’ll take pretty colors any day of the year, seasonally appropriate or not!

Pomme du Desir is a springy golden-toned green gloss that goes on pretty sheer, but the green glitter flecks are noticeable.  I find the gloss kind of cools down my lip color when worn alone.  It is similar to MAC’s Springbean lipglass (or was it lustreglass?).

Orange Interdit is actually fairly stunning.  It just has so much multi-colored glitter in the sheer formula.  It reminds me of dazzleglass in that sense.  The photo of the gloss on my lips doesn’t do this gloss justice at all when it comes to just how dazzling the glitter looks.  It’s very fun and OTT in a way, because it is quite glittery.

Cerise Tentation was my least favorite of the three, because it’s a sheer wash of coral-red (which pretty much just adds a little more red tone to my natural lip color) and not quite as much sparkle as the other two.

KissKiss Gloss is scented with Guerlain’s strawberry-rose scent (I think it’s something like this…).  I don’t know, I just remember their Meteorites reminded me of Mr. Bubble (not in a bad way, but it was an interesting connection for me).  The glitter in the gloss does feel a bit gritty once all of the gloss fades (about three hours later for me), but MAC Dazzleglass does the same for me (but doesn’t last as long), so it’s probably not a deterrent for most of you.  I gotta say that pulling out a green gloss can be quite fun, especially when people’s eyes bug out and they go, “GREEN?!”

See swatches and lip swatches!

Second Row: Pomme du Desir, Orange Interdite, Cerise Tentation (first three are the glosses)

Pomme du Desir

Orange Interdit

Cerise Tentation

Guerlain Exotic Paradise Collection is my favorite spring launch so far.  (I admit, NARS’ Heart of Desire Collection looks very promising!)  I’ve seen a fair amount of the spring collections released, and I really fell in love with Guerlain’s presentation, mix of colors, and especially the Exotic Paradise quad ($58.00). Guerlain has some of the best packaging of the higher end brands, because each product is housed in a metal compact/casing. It just feels more luxe than plastic, you know?

The Exotic Paradise Quad comes with four shades of shadow perfect for spring–pastels, but they’re not typical pastels. Trust me when I say the pastel green is *beyond* stunning! The pastel green shade is a vibrant springy green with gold sheen. The peachy shade is a smooth, silky peachy shade. The pastel pink is a rich, cool medium pink that goes on like butter. And the brown shade? Deliciously luxe and smooth with a warm, deep brown base and gold sheen. The brown is actually one of the most stunning shades of brown eyeshadow I’ve seen!

What really stood out to me about this uad is there was a good mix of pastel looks that could be made, but I could also go darker just by adding the brown shade with any of the other colors. The quality of the shadows from the texture to the pigmentation is oh-so-amazing. Each shadow, without exception, went on prettier than appeared, smoothly, and felt like silk. No dreaded chalkiness, no disappointment in color here. In these photos, you’ll notice there’s an overlay of a greenish-gold in the shape of flowers/leaves. This design does disappear after you use your shadows a few times, but it doesn’t matter. The shadows look incredible–even better–without this overlay.

I’d also like to take a quick minute to talk about Guerlain’s Ombre Eclat Duo Liner ($52.00) in L’heure de Nuit (which, if my terrible French works, means the hour of night or something to that effect). Pricey, but ridiculously luxe in packaging (gold-colored metal casing) and texture, so it’s definitely something I recommend to those who tend to buy high end brands like Guerlain. It’s a very practical product in which you’re given a very light shade and a coordinated dark shade, so you can use the product as a highlighter, liner, or just shadow. It’s interesting that it was out on display as part of the spring collection, just because it’s so much darker than the rest of the line.  It’s not on my must-have list to recommend to you all, but I thought I’d give you my take on it!

Where To Buy

You can find Guerlain’s spring launch (plus many other brands’ spring collections) over at Nordstrom.com. Don’t forget they’re doing their large GWP right now!

Stay tuned for more reviews & photos Guerlain’s spring launch! But for now, take a look at more photos of the quad, duo liner, and swatches…. but of course!

Guerlain | EXOTIC PARADISE | Spring 2009

A hymn to the glory of nature

As the winter days come to close, Guerlain rejoices in the frivolity of the season that heralds happiness and abundance. With the spring come new hopes and a carefree spirit, boosted by luxuriant and jubilant nature. To celebrate the triumph of spring, Olivier Échaudemaison has created a rich collection drawn from an eccentric, eclectic garden of Eden, a colorful kaleidoscope of nature’s prettiest, most sensual colors and organic delights.With his exotic palette, he concocts color that stirs optimism, awakens purity and arouses a desire for paradise that hibernates within every woman.

Ombre Éclat 4 Shades

• 404 Paradis Exotique

KissKiss Gloss

• 804 Orange Interdite
• 805 Cerise Tentation
• 806 Pomme du Desir

Ombre Éclat – Single Shadow (3.6g)

• 140 L’Instant Precieux (Pearly)
• 141 L’Instant Charnel (Velvety)
• 142 L’Instant Fauve (Sparkly)
• 143 L’Instant Cuir (Sparkly)
• 160 L’Instant Coquin (Velvety)
• 161 L’Instant Fleuri (Pearly)
• 180 L’Instant Fume (Pearly)
• 181 L’Instant Emeraude (Sparkly)
• 182 L’Instant Nuit (Sparkly)
• 190 L’Instant Indigo (Sparkly)

Ombre Éclat Eye Primer

Using a neutral skin color, a radiant beige, this unifying base was specifically created to prime the skin for makeup and guarantee perfect hold. It is also formulated as a treatment enriched with smoothing and moisturizing agents, in order to protect the delicate skin on the eyelids from the damaging effects of time and environment. It smoothes and revives the eyes at once, creating the ideal base for impeccable eye makeup.

KissKiss Couleurs Precieuses

• 557 Flushy Beige
• 558 Forever Beige
• 559 Corail Passion
• 579 Rose Miami

KissKiss Maxi Shine

• 624 Candy Shine
• 646 Honey Shine
• 647 Grenadine Shine
• 671 Baby Shine

Ombre Éclat range Duo & Liner

• 383 L’Heure de Nuit

Available: Currently available online at Nordstrom.com and Neiman Marcus, should be in stores now or soon.

See more images!

Guerlain Paradis Exotique Spring 2009 Collection

I hope to have more information and photos for you all soon! But for now, enjoy these preview photos of the latest from Guerlain!

See more product photos!

Source: Iswii.net