Guerlain Christmas 2014 - L’Ecrin 2 Couleurs in Cygne Noir

And so we reach the Black Swan section of Guerlain Christmas 2014, with the release of the L'Ecrin 2 Couleurs eyeshadow palette in Cygne Noir, and very pretty it is too.  I rarely expect much from the eyeshadow duos from Guerlain (I've never bought one, for example), but this one did make me do a little "ooooh" of joy when I opened it:

Black and purple.  Shimmering black and purple. Actually, it is a slightly glittering black, flecked with gold sparkle, and a softly shimmering deep purple.  This set is perfect for releasing your inner goth.

I was delighted, and surprised at the level of pigmentation in the palette - for some reason, I'd been expecting the shadows to be hard and patchy in application,  I have no idea where I got this idea from, but I was more than happy to be proved wrong!

I'll be taking a closer look at Guerlain's two colour palettes from now on ..,

The Fine Print: Products featured this week have been a mixture of PR samples and private purchases. My bank manager is spending Christmas in the Bahamas.  That's not really a surprise.

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Guerlain Christmas 2014 - Gloss d’Enfer in Rouge Parade & L’oiseau de Feu

Alongside the Rouge G in Rouge Parade, and topcoat for nails in L'Oiseau de Feau, Guerlain have also released matching Gloss d'Enfers for Christmas.  The Gloss d'Enfers are hugely pigmented glosses, almost liquid lipsticks traditionally, so it's interesting to see a clear gloss in the formulation too,

Here you can see that Rouge Parade is an opaque bright fire-engine red, and L'Oiseau de Feu is clear gloss with a shimmering golden micro-sparkle whirled within.  L'Oiseau de Feu, like its namesake nail polish is intended for use as a top-coat for coloured lipsticks.

However, on swatching, we can see that the golden shimmer (being rather sparse, and very, very micro) of L'Oiseau is ... disappointing, so I tried it from another angle:

I couldn't see it on my lips either, so I gave up trying to photograph it.  A shame really, as it really was a clever way to incorporate both the yellow gold and lacquered red theme of the Coque D'or collection into the glosses,

Rouge Parade is a nice copy of the same Rouge G shade in gloss format, however.  If the Rouge G doesn't float your boat (what are you, dead?) then the Gloss d'Enfer, being lighter (and, of course, somewhat cheaper), might do the trick ...

The Fine Print: Products featured this week are a mixture of stuff I've bought myself, and items I was sent by the PR.

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Guerlain Christmas 2014 - L’Oiseau de Feu Topcoat for nails

There's been a nail polish in the last couple of Christmas collections from Guerlain, and this year is no exception.  Last year we had the sublime Sulfurous which might just be one of my favourite nail polish colours ever.  This year, there is a pale gold polish in Coque D'or, and this, a gold-leaf topcoat L'oiseau de Feu.

Now, straight off the bat, I'm going to come right out and say that I'm not really a fan of chunky polishes, or even glittery polishes at all come to that (bar glitter especially makes me feel a bit sick), and this is no real exception to that rule. However, if you're a fan of this kind of thing, then it's very nice.

You have to dab the polish on thickly, then re-arrange the gold to your liking once it's on the nail.  I find it a bit rough, but the gold is a nice shade, and it dries quite quickly.

Not a must-have for me, but it is pretty.

What do you think of chunky polishes and glitter?

The Fine Print: This week's features are a mixture of personal purchases and PR Samples.

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Guerlain Christmas 2014 - Rouge G "Rouge Parade"

I absolutely cannot resist a limited edition Rouge G. I've tried.  I swear I have, but every new collection, another one comes out, and bingo! My handbag gets ever heavier ...

This year's Christmas Rouge G is ... perfect.  Coated in glossy red lacquer, this is a gloriously bright and seasonally appropriate shade of poinsetta-red.

I think I got a bit carried away taking pictures of the untouched bullet, but there you go.  This is a striking, London-bus red shade, but it's the sort of red you can wear with literally no other makeup on your face and instantly look polished and pulled together.  That's the joy of red lipstick, they do all the hard work for you!

It's the usual Rouge G formula of intense pigmentation, a slightly glossy and deeply comfortable to wear lipstick, but this one is so pigmented, you do need a liner (as you'll no doubt be able to tell from the lip swatch below:

Don't be like me, line your lips first - in my defence I was chasing the light on Sunday afternoon to get these pictures taken, but I'll update instagram soon.

And, just because I can't resist:

All the pretty.  ALL the pretty ...

The Fine Print: This week is a mixture of purchases and PR samples.

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Guerlain Christmas 2014 - Petrouchka Eye and Blush Palette

Inside the rather forbidding oversize lacquered black packaging of the Petrouchka Eye & Blush Palette sits an incredibly pretty compact:

Fastened with a red silk bow inspired by the ballerinas who in their turn inspired the scent of Coque D'or, the palette is very pretty indeed.  Again following the red and gold theme of this year's Guerlain Christmas even the accessories are themed:

Inside the palette are five shades of metallic eyeshadows and four shades of blush:

Firstly, a closer look at the shadows:

From the top we have a metallic wheat shade, a pale gold, a light copper, a deep bronze, and a chocolate brown. The bottom three are deeply pigmented and buttery soft - almost creamy - when applied, but the two lighter shades have a slightly lighter colour pay-off, and I found them a little scratchier (and patchier) to apply:

That said, if you're a warmer-toned individual than I am, this is an incredibly versatile and beautiful collection of shades.  Just be aware you'll need to work harder with the lighter colours when applying.

Below the eyedshadows, we have four blush shades, two warmer (at the bottom) and two cooler at the top.  They swatch quite well, I've generally found the Guerlain blush formula quite hard and difficult to work with, but these are a nice texture:

Clockwise from top left there's a pale pink, a deep rose, a versatile coral, and a tawny peach,  This should cover quite a variety of skin tones - personally, I tend to tone my blusher along the lines of whatever lipstick I'm wearing that day - cool cheeks with cool lips, and warm cheeks with warm lips, so this is quite versatile.

I like that they've not wasted space in the palette itself for the (pretty but rather useless, as always) tools, every inch of the palette space is used for colour, and the tools are kept in the velvet slipcase, which fits both the palette and the tools very well.

If you're a Guerlain completist (and I freely admit I am), this isn't quite as good as the Liu collection from two years ago (which I'm still kicking myself for not picking up at the time, believe you me), but it's a million times better than the Crazy Paris eye palette of 2013.

Anything caught your eye?

The Fine Print: Products featured this week are a mixture of PR Samples and private purchases.

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Guerlain Christmas 2014 - Mereorites Perles D'Etoile

Christmas isn't Christmas (yes, I do know it's October, bear with me) without Guerlain's limited edition Meteorites.  After what was - for me - the relative disappointment with the design of 2013's Crazy Paris collection, this year's Coque d'Or collection is a return back to the beautiful design that I associate with Guerlain's Christmas collection.

The entire collection is themed around gold and red, and the Meteorites follow that right through from the gorgeous scalloped design around the tin, to the pretty red bow on the lid, this is a cute and pretty edition.

The bow is reflected again on the inside, on the red puff, which is an adorable touch.  The pearls are a bit different this year, however:

I can only see two colours instead of the usual five, and they're quite a bit warmer than the pearls in the last couple of editions, being heavily skewed towards the gold side:

There is, however, a surprising cranberry pink pearl in the tin this year:

I can see lilac, cranberry pink, bronze and white gold.  The perles are the regular size this year, but they are incredibly pigmented in comparison to previous years:

If you're worrying that this will make them unwearable, don't worry, the cranberry pink beads are few and far between, and the lilac and white gold/champagne shades are more in evidence in the tin than any other colour.  The coppery-bronze pearls add just a little shimmer to stop the powder from looking too flat or matte on the skin.

All in all this years perles are a winner for me, how about you?

Guerlain Meterorites Perles d'Etoile are available in-store right now at £37.50.

The Fine Print: Products shown this week are a mixture of purchases and PR samples.

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Coming this week ... Guerlain Christmas 2014!

... #It's the most wonderful time of the year ...

Nothing says Christmas in the Lippie household like the arrival of the Guerlain Christmas collection!  Over the course of this next week we'll be featuring all the picks of the beautiful, beautiful Coque d'Or collection.  Keep your eyes peeled!


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