Giorgio Armani ‘Madreperla’ Face Palette Luxury Edition Holiday Color 2011 (swatches & review)

Merry Christmas my beauties!

I must have been a VERY good girl this year, because look at what was waiting for me under our Christmas tree: Giorgio Armani’s Luxury Edition Madreperla Face And Eye Palette! I also happen to be married to the most amazing man on the planet, who not only accepts my ~~addiction~~ passion for beauty products, but indulges me on a way too frequent basis … I’m guessing he was the one to put in that good word for me with Santa (as well as allowing me to open this gift early, so I can tell you about it)! Part of the Holiday Color 2011 Collection, this Madreperla Palette was released in two specific formats – one, in an art deco inspired compact case, and the other, covered in beautiful mother of pearl, or “madreperla”. Refinement & sophistication combined with a sublimely beautiful product, this ‘Madreperla’ palette bears a unique provenance as well:

“Precision work done entirely by hand in the purest tradition of luxury craftsmanship: a silver logo adorns this exclusive limited edition case, which just 3,000 women in the world will have the privilege of owning”

I am now one of those 3,000 women!

The outer box, in Armani’s signature black packaging and understated lettering.

I really like it when the name of the produced is also printed on the top flap, as I prefer to store my palettes in their boxes and this makes it easy to recognize amongst the rest.

The simple, yet elegant inner velvet sleeve, useful in adding another layer of protection for the compact.

The little card that was included, shows the name of the item on one side, and the other side (not shown) depicts a “how to use” diagram – unnecessary in my case, but perhaps useful for those unsure of how to make the most out of this palette.

The above photo of a nautilus shell (sliced lengthwise), displays its incredibly ethereal and luminous “nacre”, or mother of pearl interior.

Presenting: Giorgio Armani’s ‘Madreperla’ compact. I have become transfixed, staring at its pearly surface; not only is this beauty made by hand, but the surface is so smooth to the touch, that your hand literally glides across its face.

The above secondary view of the compact, was taken without flash in order to emphasize the prismatic effect of some of the colours that can be found in mother of pearl.

This eye and face palette that comes in three varying golden hues, is just perfect for the holiday season that is upon us, but will also serve equally well the rest of the year. The silken powders are exceptionally finely milled, with absolutely no chalky residue or fall out, and even though there is shimmer visible, it applies in such a subtle way as to resemble more of a “glow” on the face, as opposed to a frosty finish. The company describes the three colours as “sand, champagne, and aqua” and while I completely agree with the first two descriptions, the third one had me completely baffled – until I noticed very faint blueish undertones in the bottom shade, which don’t particularly show on the face when applied, but add an extra layer of depth and overall luminosity. On the eyes, I have used this palette in several ways: 1) as a highlighter under the brow bone and the inner eye corner, 2) as individual eyeshadow shades, and 3) all three shades blended to form one unique eyeshadow colour – even without primer, the shades easily lasted about 6 hours before I noticed any visible creasing. On the face, I have used it primarily to highlight the upper cheekbone area, and there again, the glow lasted approximately 6 hours before it settled into more of a pearly sheen.

The top “sand” shade, is the palest of the three, and the one with the highest gleam factor.

The middle “champagne” shade is not only the most golden of the three, but also the largest size-wise compared to the other two.

The bottom “aqua” shade is the most muted of the three, but still provides an excellent glow when applied.

The following are all on foundation primed skin, using Giorgio Armani’s new ‘Designer Lift’ Foundation in #5.5 (not yet reviewed), and are swatched in descending order of shade, from the top to the bottom of the palette, as follows:

“sand” applied wet (on the left), and dry (to its right)
“champagne” applied wet (on the left), and dry (to its right)
“aqua” applied wet (on the left), and dry (to its right)

The above swatch seen in sunlight, gives an extra golden warmth to the three shades while blurring any colour distinctions, making them all appear somewhat similar.

Seen in natural indoor lighting, the three shades take on a more silvery hue and emit a much cooler vibe.

With flash, the pearlized glow of the finish is quite evident, and you can just start to make out small differences between the three shades. While it may not be very evident in the photos, the shades are more pigmented when applied wet, but not significantly so – just enough to add some extra zing, if desired.

The following swatches are of the three shades blended together (dry), on foundation primed skin (same as above).

Sunlight once more serves to bring out this palette’s luminous golden glow.

While natural light tamps down its warmth, there still appears to be tinges of gold to add visual interest.

A final view taken with flash emphasizes this palette’s gorgeous radiance.

In the above photo, I applied the palest shade on the brow bone, and the three colours blended together were swirled lightly along my upper cheeks – I love how it adds such a pearlescent glow without any sparkle!

Final thoughts: As predicted, this is definitely “the year of the highlighter”, and the higher end brands have truly outdone themselves with their offerings. In comparison to several other releases this year, most notably CHANEL’s ‘Lumière Sculptée’ (previously reviewed here), and Laura Mercier’s ‘Rose Rendezvous’ (previously reviewed here), the ‘Madreperla’ palette falls somewhere in between; not as silvery or as powdery as the CHANEL, and certainly not as coppery or as shimmery as the Laura Mercier, this is the most natural-looking highlighter of them all, most probably due to the fact that there are three shades which, when swirled together, add a realistic depth, and the multi-hued golden theme will compliment basically every skin tone. This palette is also available in the regular compact finish, bearing the exact same product inside but at a significantly lower cost, although I must confess that apart from totally loving this highlighter, I am completely obsessed with its pearly shell (must be the fact that I’m a water sign)! You can be sure, that I will be taking every opportunity I get, to proudly display this beauty – I see plenty of “touch ups” in my future!