Lancôme Declaring IndigoIt's off to France for the inspiration for this make-up collection from Lancôme's artistic director, Aaron de Mey. His über-cool reactionary style and exceptional talent for colour combine with Lancome's resources and expertise.
The core of the collection is a deep indigo, punctuated with gold and scarlet. The Palette Liberté (€45) for eyes uses two royal blues (one shot with golden sparkles) and two golden shades. The party season will kick off early with La Rose Liberté powder (€42), which gives a champagne sparkle to complexion, shoulders and décolleté. Magnifique!
Bobbi Brown Nude Eye PaletteThis nude palette will see you through the season beautifully with its mixture of matte, pearl and metallic textures. It's the perfect choice if you're going for the understated look, or want a neutral eye to pair with this season's bright berry lip shades (more of which next week). (€60)
Armani Eyes to KillGiorgio must have been getting in some target practice on the shooting range when inspiration struck. How else to explain the bullseye design of the new eye-palette sets. Three harmonious tones combine satin and metallic finishes for a killer finish. Centre stage is the dark eyeliner with a middle ring of luminescent highlighter and an outer circle of deep metallic. While the effect is on trend, it remains understated – this is Armani, after all – and the metallic shades say lustrous, not lurex. (€68)
Dior's Five-Colour Eye PaletteThe beautiful textures in these multi-shade sets make them a make-up artist's favourite, and this latest mix doesn't disappoint. Mauve, grey and purple shades are complemented by a shimmering black. (€35)
DOING MY ROUNDS of the beauty counters this week, I was struck by the sheer abundance of gorgeousness on offer.
Put it down to the times we are living in, where small luxuries mean so much more and we must cut our cloth according to the width. Well, we women have had a lot of practise budgeting household expenses over the years . . .
Chanel’s Gloss Palette
The Lido beach, Venice. The Cruise 2009 ready to wear clothing collection from Chanel. So beyond fabulous that I won’t even try to put it into words. Instead, I urge you to watch it for yourself on chanel.com (go to Fashion, fashion shows and then Cruise 2009). Be warned: you may come away wondering just how much beans on toast you have to serve your family to get “the look”. Thankfully, the show inspired creative director Peter Philips to use the Venetian colour palette in his autumn make-up collection. The Murano eyeshadow quartet uses aquatic shades to sublime effect, but for full-on drama, the Eye Gloss palette is unbeatable, with its innovative gloss textures in shades of pearl, gold, red black and black. The silky texture can be applied with fingers and can be worn as subtle or dramatic as you dare. The red black is also a winning lip stain (€51).