Thursday, April 20, 2006

Guerlain - Meteorites Powder Balls



Introduction
Guerlain claims this is a god sent item which will make every woman beautiful. It combines multi-colored powders to reflect light on the skin so skin will looks glowy and perfect. Guerlain will release a limited edition of Meteorites powder every year during Christmas apart from the original Meteorites. I'm lucky to be able to collect most of them.

Texture
The powder is not as fine as other loose powder, scented with Guerlain's signature scent but pleasant.

Packaging
The container is made from cardboard and the pattern design is unique. Every year the color design is different. For example, the Christmas 2002 is red, 2003 is pink, 2004 is silver shimmer and 2005 is pastel multi-color. The best tool to apply this is using a Kabuki brush.

Price
RM165, 33g

Review
I started to collect those Meteorites powder balls since year 2003 and really enjoy it. They also have the compact pressed powder but the price is too expensive for me to collect.

Mystic
This is the original Meteorites which comes with powder balls in green, purple, gold, silver,pink and white. Guerlain only has 1 type of Meteorites at first and they just called it Meteorites. Along with the launching of Pink Fresh & Beige Chic, Guerlain has named the original as Mystic. This is the thing that a lot of women keep wondering about. I still remember when I was still a teenage, I was so curious about this. It looks so beautiful and doesn't look like an makeup item! It looks like delicious colorful candies! I finally got my hands on it few years ago and I fall in love with it since then. I applied it on half of my face and compare with the other half that is bare. The half with Meteorites on appeared brighter and smoother. I find it is matte and not shimmer as others claim.
I use it as all over finishing powder using a kabuki brush. I feel the normal powder brush doesn't pick up enough powder from the balls because the bristle is too soft. My Cat Cosmetics kabuki brush does a nice job on picking up the powder. If you find the balls flying out when you dip your brush in, here is some tips. I pressed the brush on top of the balls while swirling the brush and never dip the brush inside the balls. The kabuki brush also fit for this. I find the smell is pleasant but it will gone after you applied. The original packaging is bigger, flat and the powder balls are bigger which is show in the middle of my picture but only comes in 29g. The new packaging is like what we see now and comes in 33g with smaller powder balls.

Beige Chic
From Spring 2005. This suppose to be an LE item but I still saw them at the counter even after more than a year. As the name implies, the main theme of this Meteorites is Beige/Brown. It contains powder balls in gold, peach, brown. For those who find Mystic is too cool and appear whitish on skin, this is your choice. It gives a natural beige color on skin and even looks good on cool tone skin since the color it gives is barely noticeable. I don't find this Meteorites is shimmery and it gives a matte look on my skin.

Pink Fresh
From Spring 2005. This suppose to be an LE item but there are still available at my counters. The main theme for this Meteorites is pink beige. It contains powder balls in pink, beige, white, gold. This Meteorites brighten my face and give a healthy look. I don't see any shimmer on my face at all.

Red pastel Blushy Blush

From Christmas 2002 collection. The main theme for that year is red. This is the most beautiful Meteorites in my opinion. The red container is just so eyes catching and unique. It contains silver, pink and red ball. It is very glittery. Pale complexion might use this as blush too but the redness just doesn't show up on my NC30 olive skin. This is the favourite among my collection. I also got the pressed powder compact which is my precious. The powder features a shooting star coated with white shimmer and some red circles at side. Too bad I broke the powder while trying to remove the powder inside but it is refillable. The compact is the most beautiful thing I ever seen.

Reflects de Nacre
From Christmas 2003 collection. The main theme for that year is pink so this Meteorites comes in shimmery pale pink color. Contains balls in pink, silver, white. This is the only Meteorites that actually shows up on my skin. It gives a beautify pale pink sheen on my skin and make my skin like glow from within. It reminds me of the Benefit High Beam in powder form. It is not glittery as other LE Meteorites but still shimmery. I also got the pressed powder compact which is absolutely beautiful.

Midnight Diamond
From Christmas 2004 Midnight Diamond collection. The main theme for that year is black & white shimmer. Contains balls in gold, silver, red, & pink This is the most glittery Meteorites among all the LE. The container is in silver color which reflects lights in different angle and gives a kolaidoscope effect. It doesn't show any color on my skin, just glitter. Would be fun to wear at night and under spotlight.

Winter Radiance
From Christmas 2005 Winter Radiance collection. The main theme for that year is pastel colors so this Meteorites comes in pastel colors. It is quite similar to the original Mystic but the color is more pastel and light. This is not as glitter as other LE and it appears whitish on my skin. This is the least interesting among the all.

Guerlain - Silver Radiant Quad



Introduction
This is a quad from Guerlain Christmas 2004 Midnight Diamond collection.

Packaging
The casing is very unique, it has the same design of their Divinora blush but is in black color instead of gold. A layer of glass are on top of the black metal design and make the black metal shine like a semi-precious stone.

Texture
This quad consist of a cream eyeshadow in black with glitter, a cream highlighter in white/gold with multi-colored glitter, a lipstick and a lipgloss.

Price
RM165.

Review
When I saw the casing from the picture on the net, I know I must have it. It has 2 color, Silver Radiant and Gold Radiant. I've got the one in Silver Radiant. The black cream shadow is the exciting part of the quad. When it is new, it has a irridescent chunks of glitter in midnight blue on top layer. I'm so sad that the glitters are only a layer on top because they are so beautiful. They all gone when the shadow has been swiped. The cream shadow is a little greasy but great for lining and shading. I'm disappointed that the cream shadow appears just as black on skin, no glitter. The highlighter is very beautiful with big chunks of multi-colored glitter. It reminds me of fish scales! Although Guerlain said it is for cheeks but I use it as eye shadow to highlight the brow bone.
The gloss is nice, just like their gloss duo and non-sticky but the lipstick is a bit disappointed. It is a very pale pink that washes me out if I wear it alone. But i think the color combination of the lips and eyes does match each other. Imagine I'm doing a smokey eyes with the black then my lips of cause has to be pale. Overall the price is not justify for the quality of the product inside but I'm keeping it because of the packaging!

Stila - Angel Light Quad




Introduction
This is an Asian exclusive limited edition items. I believe it only being launched in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. Malaysia doesn't have Stila at that time yet.

Packaging
Unlike Stila's usual cardboard packaging, this time they use plastic.

Texture
Ultra fine powder, scentless.

Price
N/A.

Review
This eye shadow quad consist of shimmery pink, light seamoss green, sky blue & white. The colors look so ordinary to me in the compact and I thought I could find them anywhere in any brand. I was wrong when I tried it on my lids. The green really unique that I never seen it anywhere before and the pink looks so beautiful on lids. The white is shimmery but not frosty and the blue is a little less exciting color. All these colors shows up very well on my eyelids and I think it is quite pigmented. I decided to keep it after 2nd try on it and it is a limited edition item.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Guerlain - Terracotta Powder Kohl Aqua Blue



Introduction
This is a limited edition item from Guerlain Summer 2005 collection.

Texture
The powder is ultra fine, scentless and great staying power.

Packaging
The packaging is very exotic. The cap is in gold color with Middle East style motif. The tube is transparent which I greatly appreciate because their previous regular eye kohl tube is unable to see how much contain is left in the tube. There is a thin stick attach to the cap which you could pick up the powder from the tube and apply directly to eyes using the stick. What an innovative invention! Without the stick, I really don’t know how I’m going to pour the powder out of the tube. However I do not recommend to use the stick as applicator to avoid contamination. Normally what I do is I use an eyeliner brush to pick up the powder on the stick and apply on eyes. Oh my gosh, it even comes with a velvet pouch!

Price
RM90. Worth every single cents.

Review
This is really an item that everybody should have but unfortunately it is a limited edition item. The color is a very unique shimmery turquoise blue which I can't find anywhere. It has some green undertone in it and perfect to match with bronze or suntanned look. I love to use it to line my bottom eye lines. The powder has outstanding staying power which is normally weak in powder. I absolutely love this product. Very regret that I don't get some backup and now they are really hard to find.