Giorgio Armani • Nude Contrasts Palette 2 • Palettes

Where To Buy?

Aneesa on 3/9/2010 8:57:00 AM more reviews by Aneesa

Age: 36-43   Skin: Dry, Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I have read the review of the previous reviewer, and I must humbly disagree. Initially I thought GA had lost the plot in bringing out what is essentially a monochromatic palette. How this was supposed to make one's eyes pop, I wondered. But on a whim, I bought this palette (and the Nude Contrasts Palette 1 subsequently too), and began to play around with it. Yes, it is shimmer, boarding on sparkly. Yes, you have to be careful or live with fallout. But when it works, does it work! I used the white (which is a very warm white) as a highlighter on the brow bone, and the inner corner. The shimmery pink went all over the eye, except for the widest strip closest to the lash line. The sand colour went over half my lid (from lash line upwards). This effectively created a shimmery, pale understated smoky eye. But still fairly unassuming. Then (and I suppose this is the essential step), I tighlined my top lid with the black liner. Wow! The effect was truely amazing. With the focus being on lips this season, I find that this palette gives a very polished look to the eye, without detracting from a bold lip. I am alreadly looking around for a backup.

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*TOP REVIEWER* MaryEllen on 3/8/2010 9:29:00 PM more reviews by MaryEllen

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

I love light eye shadows, so I thought I'd love this palette. Wrong! I read the review on Karla's blog (http://karlasugar.net/2010/02/armani-spring-2010-nude-contrasts/), but bought it anyway. She was dead-on in every facet of her review. This palette has a narrow strip of a shimmery sand color; a wider strip of shimmery pale pink; a thin stripe of matte black; and a narrow strip of a shimmery warm cream shade. I used the cream as a base, with the pink all over the lid, the sand at the outer corner, and an extra little dip of cream at the inner corner. First, the shadows are not at all "creamy," so they were a bit difficult to apply evenly. Second, these colors are not shimmery, they're sparkly--not glittery, but sparkly enough to leave fallout under my eyes (grrr!). Third, the colors together on the lid just looked like a big mass of sparkly, somehow slightly chalky, mess. And finally, they creased (over my usual UDPP base, which never fails me). I didn't even try the liner--I finished the look with Fresh's charcoal liner and Eyes to Kill in gunmetal. Adding insult to injury, the palette is $58. It it so going back tomorrow. In general, I like Armani's cosmetics, but the misses are big, big misses, and this is one of them, alas.

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