Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette in 1 Review, Swatch and FOTD

July 30, 2011

I wore my latest purchase – the Giorgio Armani Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette in 1 today! It is lovely – the shades are not what I would usually go for in a daytime look. To my pleasant surprise, I was able to pull them off without looking too heavy.

This whole palette feels very luxurious to use (of course it comes with a high price tag). The couture inspired jacquard pattern design is aesthetically pleasant, and this pattern is firmly embossed so it doesn’t come off after a few uses, unlike some other brands. All shades are moderately pigmented for a refined and sophisticated finish with a a creamy and silky smooth texture, in line with the classy Giorgio Armani’s signature looks.

Shades Description (from lightest to the darkest):

– dove-grey with an icy green sheen in a sparkly luminous finish.

– shimmery minty green in a sparkly luminous finish

– army green with fine shimmer

– eggplant in a matte finish

EOTD:

Upper: I applied a very sheer wash of the army green all over my socket to create some depth, then I smudged the eggplant shade along the lash line and the outer v. I then dabbed some dove-grey on the inner corner.

Lower: Minty green along the lash line then I filled the outer corner with the eggplant shade.

On a side note: I just bought a macro lens after so long! These close up shots were taken by the macro lens and I am really happy with the result 🙂

Overall Look:

Other products used on my face:

Cheeks: Giorgio Armani Jacquard woven face color palette

Lips: Giorgio Armani Sheer Lipstick Rouge Transparent in 36 Sunset Pink

The Jacquard Eye Color Palette retails for $135 in Australia, which makes it the most expensive eyeshadow palette I have ever owned!

{ 28 comments }

Labels: EYESHADOW • FOTD • Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani Fall 2011 Jacquard Collection – Woven Face Color Palette Review and Swatches

July 28, 2011

I went ecstatic today when I was told there is a Pre-launch of Giorgio Armani Fall 2011 Jacquard Collection to their regular customers. As soon as I saw the preview pictures that were floating around the internet, I knew I wanted to have everything from that collection! I was absolutely thrilled too see that everything is just as gorgeous as I anticipated it to be. So I picked up two Jacquard woven eye color palettes and one Jacquard woven face color palette.

As the name suggests, each palette comes in a jacquard pattern design with the GA logo embossed in the middle. All shades are extremely wearable and perfect for fall – ranging from an illuminating highlighter to medium and rich shades in muted hues. I felt this collection from Giorgio Armani has outdone their previous and permanent collections. The textures and pigmentation are incredibly high quality and luxurious.

A closer look.

Here is a review for the face palette for today. It is probably the most practical face palette I have ever owned, as it has multiple uses as a highlighter, cheek color, bronzer and can even be used on the eyes!

Shades description:

– a highlighting shade – pearly white with a frosted sheen

– shimmery sandy beige – has a hint of taupe with a frosted sheen

– shimmery tan copper – not as frosty as the above two which is excellent when used as a light bronzer

– a deep strawberry red – extremely rich and pigmented

Swatches in order of the shade description:

Far right is the mixed color of all shades:

Swatches on my face: I personally found that the finish is too frosty for my liking if I mix all the colors together, hence in my swatches below I have applied the colors separately.

First Look: Applied the red shade on the center of my apple then layered the two lightest shades on top of my cheekbone.

Second Look: Applied the bronzey shade along the hollow of the cheek as a contour then added the beige shade on top of the cheekbone just to make it pop. ( no blush is applied)

Last but not least for those of you who have missed out on the Chanel Joues Contraste Blushes in ROUGE, the red shade in the Giorgio Armani Jacquard woven face palette is surprisingly similar but more wearable as you can make it more muted by mixing or layering with the rest of the shades.

Bottom Line: Absolutely love it! The texture and pigmentation of these palettes are superior to previous collections. A must have for the Giorgio Armani makeup fans!

FYI The Giorgio Armani Jacquard woven face palette retails for $90 in Australia. I will be reviewing the eye palettes very soon so stay tuned 🙂

{ 22 comments }

Labels: BLUSH • Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation Review

July 7, 2011

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation is one of my holy grail foundations. I have been using it ever since it was first launched! I am switching between many foundations, but this is the only one that I rely on when I have important occasions to go to. For example I wore it for my engagement party, on my wedding day, and any other events that I want my face to look “naturally flawless”, luminous and most importantly – to photograph well.

Some background information:

– Oil Free in a fluid texture

– Made in France, housed in a weighty glass bottle

– Natural finish with a sheer to moderate coverage

– My shade is 04 Light Sand which matches me perfectly

What I love about this foundation:

– I love the texture, it glides on the skin like silk and feels weightless.

– It is an all year round foundation for me. I like to use it in summer because it is long lasting and controls the oil. It is also ideal for winter as it works effectively with dry skin as well. It sinks into your skin and doesn’t enhance any dry patches on the skin.

– Love the natural and luminous finish. The coverage is buildable – on a normal day I would just use 1 pump for a sheer coverage but good enough to hide 70% of my imperfections. For special occasions I use 2 -3 pumps for a flawless coverage and yet still look natural. It is long lasting and stays fresh for a whole day.

– It looks good in day light, night time, and as mentioned earlier, it photographs extremely well! I want to mention that the makeup artist who did my makeup for my wedding, she had 2 huge closets of makeups!! (I am not kidding). After trying on so many options we still went for this one.

What I don’t love about this foundation:

– None haha..if I really have to be picky, I would say it feels slightly more silicony than other foundations because of its silky texture. However it is by no means full of silicone unlike the smash box primer…If your skin reacts to silicone you might want to try out a sample of it first.

As usual, I applied Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation on half of my face. I only used half a pump hence the freckles on my face are still showing through a bit, which I don’t mind as I find it quite natural.

What is your HG foundation and I am curious to know which foundation did you wear for The Big day?!

{ 48 comments }

Labels: FOUNDATION • Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani Sheer Lipstick in 36 Sunset Pink Swatch

June 29, 2011

I certainly have an addition to lipsticks, or more specifically, sheer lipsticks. I just love the fact that they are fuss free – I can apply it without even looking into the mirror, and because they feel emollient and moisturising on the lips I can use them as a replacement for lip balm. If you are into the sheers like me, then Giorgio Armani’s Sheer lipstick range is worth checking out. I have recently got myself the Sheer Lipstick Rouge Transparent in 36 Sunset Pink from its 2011 Summer Heat Collection.

As usual, the packaging of Giorgio Armani is always understatedly chic. Although the tube is made of plastic, it has a frosted finish with some nice weight to it.

Since it’s a sheer lipstick, the bright red from the tube translates into a sheer coat of pink coral color with a translucent finish on my lips. The intensity is easily buildable. I swatched it with 3 swipes to achieve my desired finish. I like it as much as the Chanel Coco Rouge Shine – they both have a balmy and smooth texture without any shimmer in it while providing a veil of luminosity to the lips with the right amount of color.

Overall thought: What a nice range! It deserves more hype. I will certainly be looking into it further..:-P Actually I have already regretted that I didn’t buy the Sand Dune Beige #37 which was the shade on Megan Fox’s lips for the Summer Heat Campaign.

{ 5 comments }

Labels: Giorgio Armani • LIPSTICK

Giorgio Armani Intense Eyes To Kill Eyeshadow in 8 Nola Swatch

June 17, 2011

There is no way I can leave the Giorgio Armani counter empty handed. Along with my recent lipstick purchase, I also bought a few GA Intense Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadows. Today I want to talk about the shade 08 NOLA which is a beautiful champagne color that really wowed me when I swatched it in real life.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with these shadows, basically they have a hybrid texture of powder and cream. They are extremely pigmented and have a high voltage shimmer. I have previously reviewed the shade 15 NOIGA and 13 NOIFA – they were released as Limited Editions from the Holiday 2010 collection and now they have been re-promoted to the permanent line.

My overall thoughts about the new ones remain the same as these previous two. The only difference I want to mention is that I feel the new shadows are more loosely packed compared to the LE ones – the texture is more of a hybrid between cream and pigment as opposed to powder. Some of the testers at the counter all shattered into pigments..the SA recommended to use the included insert to press firmly onto the shadow to make it stay intact after use each use.

The shade 08 NOLA is a peachy bronzy champagne color in the pan, but shows up as a true champagne color on the skin.

Judging by the picture below, you will know that I am quite obsessed with champagne colors. It is just the most flattering color to highlight the inner corner, and I always prefer to use cream based products because they last longer on the tear duct area than the pencil eyeliners.

CLOCKWISE:

MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque

Bobbi Brown Cream Shadow in Beach Honey

Stila Smudge Pot in Kitten

Stila Shadow Pot in Honey

Just to compare these products:

1. Mac Paint Pot is so dry and chalky after a few months of use (as you can see in the picture) so I won’t buy anymore paint pots…

2. Bobbi Brown Beach Honey is a nice base for the eyelids, but not shimmery enough as a highlighter.

3. Stila in Kitten and Honey appears to be the closest dupes, but I prefer GA Nola which has a purple tinge to it.

4. Giorgio Armani is the most pigmented and long lasting shadow out of all these – a little goes a long way and both the color and the sheen stays on for an entire day. So this one is definitely the keeper!

FYI Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Eyeshadow retails for $49 in Australia.

{ 12 comments }

Labels: EYESHADOW • Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani Rouge d’Armani Lipsticks 102 and 105 Swatches

June 14, 2011

Giorgio Armani Rouge d’Armani Lipstick in 102 is my most recent lipstick acquisition. It is a very close dupe of Rouge d’Armani in 105 which is my all time favorite lipstick and unfortunately it was released as limited edition.

In general the Rouge d’Armani lipstick line is fantastic. They have medium coverage, are moisturising, long lasting with a glossy finish – everything you ever want from a lipstick! My lips are really dry lately due to the miserable cold weather here and many lipsticks make my lips look even more dry and flaky. Rouge d’Armani is an exception because it layers on the lips in a silky veil that feels like a lip balm and doesn’t accentuate any dryness.

A closer look at 105 and 102.

Although 105 and 102 look pretty identical in the tubes, when swatched on the skin 105 is more beige whereas 102 has a more pink tone it.

I have previously reviewed 105 but I felt the pictures in my previous review didn’t do its justice. It looked so much better in real life so I’ve decided to take some better swatches of it as I have got a better camera now. It is a beautiful nudish beige with a glossy sheen.

Swatch of Rouge d’Armani in 102, slightly less beige if you pay very close attention to it.

Verdict: Although they are pretty similar my preference still goes towards 105. It just has this transparent sheen that makes my lips look really soft and delicate.

{ 4 comments }

Labels: Giorgio Armani • LIPSTICK

BECCA Lost Weekend Eyeshadow Palette FOTD

June 6, 2011

I have previously reviewed The Becca Lost Weekend Eyeshadow Palette and as I promised – I just did a FOTD with it. This makeup was focused on conturing – Becca Lost Weekend Eyeshadow palette was used to contour the eyes and all along the side of the nose. I also thickened and extended my eyebrows on both ends so they connect to the contours on the side of my nose bridge . On my face, lots of bronzing shades were used to contour the cheeks. Lip color was tossing between a berry or a nude shade – in the end I opted for a glossy nude shade.

This is the final look:

A quick rundown on the products I used.

FACE PRODUCTS:

Dior Extreme Fit Foundation: I will be doing a review for this foundation this week. Overall it is a natural looking foundation with decent coverage that hides all my freckles!

MAC Bronzing Powder: applied the brown shade down the side of my cheeks to the jawlines.

Nars Blush in Madly: was applied along the hollow of the cheeks to the temples.

Guerlain Meteorites in Beige Chic: started from my cheekbones to the temples.

EYE PRODUCTS:

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Eyeshadow in Suede: was used as a base color all over the eye socket area to make the colors that were applied later pop out more.

Becca Lost Weekend Eyeshadow Palette: layered the shimmery mauvy shades with the matte mauvey shade all over the eyelids up to the sides of my upper nose bridge. The medium brown shade was then applied from the outer edge of the eyelid and blended into the crease, creating a v shape.

Majolica Perfect Automatic Liner: for upper lash line

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliner in Rose Platine: was all along the lower lash line, intensified at the tear duct areas.

Lancome Le Crayon Khol in Brown: used to darken the outer edge of the lower lash line.

Laura Mercier Eyebrow Powders

False Eyelashes: Princess Lee Criss Cross in 7. (picture of it can be found in my previous FOTD)

A closer up shot:

Lip Product:

Giorgio Armani Rouge d’Armani in beige 105. (reviewed here)

{ 10 comments }

Labels: BECCA • CHANEL • DIOR • EYELINER • FOTD • Giorgio Armani • GUERLAIN • MAC • NARS

My Favorite Perfumes

May 28, 2011

One of my readers asked me what are my favorite perfumes. It is quite hard for me to pick because my preference for fragrances changes in different seasons – I wear totally different perfumes in winter time to summer time .

In this post I am just going to show my all time favorite classic perfumes. They have been around for a long time – with a new perfume being released every week I have yet to find any that could replace them. I will always re-buy them if they run out.

I don’t have a preference for a particular scent, the ones I picked fall into different categories:

STEP OUT OF SHOWER – does it make sense? I am obsessed with this scent though!

Amazing Grace by Philosophy: My top pick. I love it so much I even bought a roller version of it so I can carry it with me everywhere.

Banana Republic: It is also beautiful, definitely good value for money.

VANILLA – with a hint of sweet note

They are my “dating” perfumes, the kind of scent guys are attracted to. I use to wear them religiously when I was dating my bf (now hubby) haha. He loves them

Addict by Dior

Armani Code by Giorgio Armani

CITRUS AND JASMINE

Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana – citrusy, perfect for summer.

Daisy by Marc Jacobs – Jasminey, although it is such a common scent there is something about this one that makes it so appealing to me. I am pretty sure my next perfume purchase will be the Eau So Fresh Daisy by Marc Jacobs

NEROLI / ORANGE BLOSSOM – I am totally crazy about this scent right now.

Orange Blossom by Jo Malone – the best one in the market! To me it smells the most pure out of all the orange blossoms in the market.

Neroli by Laura Mercier – this one is not in my all time favorite fragrances list. I don’t like it as much as Jo Malone’s – it is more warm than JM so I reach for this one more in Winter.

On a side note, I like to layer Orange Blossom with French Lime Blossom or Nectarine Blossom and Honey by Jo Malone – they combined into the most unique and captivating scent.

{ 5 comments }

Labels: Dolce & Gabbana • FRAGRANCE • Giorgio Armani • Jo Malone • Laura Mercier • Marc Jacobs • Philosophy

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