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Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette ($95.00 for 0.06 oz.) is a new and limited edition palette that contains four distinct shades of eyeshadow. It’s described as “a harmonious blend of deep sea blue, algae, lagoon turquoise, and shimmering, crest-of-a-wave white.” The reason why it’s a whopping $95 is because the lid of the compact is decorated with mother-of-pearl. To put the price in context, Giorgio Armani’s comparable palettes retail for $59, so the packaging upgrade is really coming in at a $36 price tag. I know in the past, Giorgio Armani has made a regularly-packaged version available, but I haven’t seen it online and don’t have confirmation that it is even available.

The first shade is a muted, dark blue with a hint of teal. It has a frosted sheen and so-so color payoff–the pigmentation improves a bit when it’s applied to the lid but not significantly. It was soft to the touch and felt really smooth. MAC Pre-packaged is more intense, bluer. Guerlain Les Gris is darker. Bare Escentuals Water is very similar with less sheen. MAC Bold Babe is a little lighter.

The second shade is a blue-based violet purple with blue shimmer. The pigmentation is decent but not fully opaque. It had a fairly smooth texture with a finely-milled feel. Urban Decay Ransom is less blue-toned. MAC Deserty Cloud is similar but a little less blue-toned. Urban Decay Blue Bus looks very similar. MAC Parfait Amour isn’t quite as blue-based.

The third shade is an aqua-blue with a green-gold iridescence. This shade had good color payoff. The texture was soft and finely-milled, so it applied smoothly. Milani Caribbean Sea is lighter. Urban Decay Aquarius is darker. Guerlain Les Aquas is bluer. Tarina Tarantino Violet Storm is greener and darker.

The fourth and final shade is a warm white with both shimmer and glitter–it had a chunkier texture with more obvious sparkle. It had some fall out both during application and during wear. When I applied it to the lid, it skipped a bit, too–it did not want to apply so opaquely there. It’s similar to a slew of shades, including MAC Pearl, Buxom Sheepdog, theBalm Sassy, and MAC Forgery.

Ecailles Black Pearl is a decent-to-good palette, but it’s not exceptional in quality. The pigmentation leaves something to be desired as the bold, intense pans don’t quite translate when applied to the lid.  Interestingly enough, I did not like it over NARS Smudgeproof–it did not want to blend and seemed to skip and just apply unevenly.  It was better over bare lids, where it did blend better and apply more evenly.  I also had no problems applying or blending these shades over Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Shadow.

I’m always disappointed in how little Giorgio Armani’s eyeshadow palettes contain–just 0.06 oz., when the average full-sized eyeshadow (yes, just one!) is 0.05 oz. (like MAC, Urban Decay, etc.). Seriously, I do a double-take every time I read the pack of the palette! I’m like, “No, it’s a typo!” But in the interest of playing devil’s advocate, it’s unlikely that you’ll make it through the wells here unless you’re using these shades on a daily basis. Just consider how long it takes you to get through the few eyeshadows you’ve hit pan (or even finished) on!

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

B
8
Product
8.5
Pigmentation
8.5
Texture
9
Longevity
4
Application
84%
Total

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette

Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette
Giorgio Armani Ecailles Black Pearl Eye Palette over Make Up For Ever #8E

17 Comments

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Liz Avatar

looks beautiful. I know it’s only okay in quality but my birthday is Friday and this is an excellent present to myself.  It will go well with the saks exclusive madreperla palette I bought myself for Christmas lol.

Cat G Avatar

I really like the first color, the blue/teal one! All the colors together are really complimentary too, which I appreciate. I wish the quality was higher.

Eilkas Avatar

There is another palette that comes with the summer collection, but it is a set of sheer ocean inspired grays with a bit of blue. The colors create a light, misty look–totally different from the palette you’ve featured. It is the usual $59, comes in a plain case, and is rather mundane.

The palette you’ve featured is definitely a collectors item and is in limited supply worldwide.

Kafka Avatar

It looks very pretty on you and, somehow, to me, the colours look much better in the swatches than in the pan. But $95??!??!  Completely ignoring the issue of the smaller quantity, I don’t think I could ever spend $95 on an *eyeshadow.* My inner cheapskate wakes up and starts flailing around like an angry zombie. I’ve spent crazy, crazy amounts on a single book (though it was a collector’s item) and way too much on things like boots or bags, but an eyeshadow? Just. Can’t. Do. It.   

Yasmine Avatar

95 bucks ?? WTH ?? No but seriously come on ! They are pushing it honesrly !! I don’t care how good the quality of a product ! As far as I’m concerned it just ain’t worth while .. :/

Quinctia Avatar

The compact is so pretty, the colors seem nice, even though I don’t personally think they all go together.  I wouldn’t wear the more purple leaning blue with the other three.  I’m kind of tempted.  However, I seem to only want to wear my Urban Decay shadows 90% of the time.  I don’t know if I can justify this, because I don’t know how often I’d actually use it.

Galuchka Avatar

Man these are such pretty colors! If anyone has a reasonable dupe, especially for the 2 middle shades (of course as an addition to the comparisons of Christine, which I greatly appreciate) please do tell!
95$ on such small amount is beyond stealing in my opinion 🙂

wwendalynne Avatar

I adore these colours, but I simply cannot justify the expenditure.  I’m not really a palette person to begin with as I find I gravitate to one or two shades at best and the rest are left to dry out in the pan.  I typically buy my shadows as singles.  A weird fetish of mine.  But I’m still thinking about the TT palette.. LoL..  This one, I’ll be taking a pass.

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