October 30, 2009

Clarins Palazzo d’Oro Collection Review, Swatches, and Photos

The Muse knows you love to hate her because she gives you a bad case of makeup lemming. Would you be so kind as to let her do it one last time before the weekend starts?

Let me introduce you to the Clarins Palazzo d�Oro Collection. Prepared to be wow’ed girls (and guys) this is probably the most luxurious set this season, nothing has topped it and I’m doubtful anything will.

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Jump for it!

With a focus on a festive gold color theme this collection is both elegant, luxurious, and utterly beautiful. Weighing in at $57 for the Clarins Gold Attractions Face Palette and $66 for the Clarins Gold Attraction Eye Quartet & Liner Palette the price could be deemed a bit too rich for some. That’s why you have the Muse though to convince you how much you need it.

Both $57 and $66 is a small price to pay for each piece as both the quality of the makeup and the weighty compacts are quality pieces to add to your collection if you like a more posh makeup item. Where as some brands will put out a gorgeous looking palette you might take note that once you get the item in your hands it’s not nearly as nice as it looks. The palette may feel a bit flimsy….not the case with these. Each palette is quite a heavy piece, very, very lush. They are made up of a plaster like design in gold. Fact is even if you aren’t planning to buy I urge you to your Clarins counter to experience how truly great these are as I’m very impressed with packaging never mind what’s inside.

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Now…most important after packaging would be the contents. Sometimes you get great packaging minus awesome contents. It’s been known to happen now hasn’t it?

Good news. Both the inside and the outside are fabulous.

Clarins Gold Attractions Face Palette is an acquired taste as if you aren’t a shimmer lover it might not be for you. However, if you love shimmer as much as I do, this will surely make your day. No over spray here kids, it’s full on shimmer straight through. The formula of the powder is a tiny bit gritty but for the most part blends easily leaving behind a golden dusting of fine sparkle. I thought it was a bit too much for my face but for body it’s ideal and in my photos below I used it as an eye shadow. It works a treat as an eye shadow and gives just the right amount of golden sparkle to lids. Pair it up with a dramatic cat eye or a bit of brown liner on the lower waterline and you’ll be sporting a glamm’ed up festive party look for the Holiday.

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Sporting a light dusting of Clarins Gold Attractions Face Palette on face and eyes.

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Clarins Gold Attraction Eye Quartet & Liner Palette is just as gorgeous as the powder. Clarins took the time out to create simple, easy to apply instructions for the palette which creates a total of four looks. I attempted two this week and will try the other two next week. Each look is better than the last in my opinion. The palette comes with four shades of shadow and one liner. You’ll get a orangey gold shade, a chocolate brown, a pale beige pink, and a lighter brown. All the shadows are richly pigmented with a beautiful silky formula. The liner is a deep chocolate brown with a creamy, powder-like formula.

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Various looks created using the Clarins Gold Attraction Eye Quartet & Liner Palette (by the way I’m wearing the Tsumori Chisato for Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited in the first two photos).

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Overall, Clarins Palazzo d�Oro Collection was an absolute joy working with and is my favorite Holiday Collection to date. The palettes are luxurious and very posh but still manage to remain practical and easy to use. Although a little high in price I deem them very worthy of picking up as they are truly special pieces. In a sea of ho-hum Holiday Collectons, Clarins Palazzo d�Oro stands out as a true masterpiece.

Gorgeous, truly gorgeous. Muse Approval for purchase. This one is a keeper.

Loves it.

The entire collection is available now from http://us.clarins.com

Disclosure: The following item was provided to Musings of a Muse by a PR firm for review purposes. For further information please see my FTC Guidelines or my Disclosure/Disclaimer posts.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • su-pah

    yes, you have given me a bad case of lemming! 🙁
    want that gold powder! want, want!

    love the eye makeup. i guess i have too many similar eye shades so can recreate but that gold powder – must have! espesh with me being a big fan of clarins glow-giving stuff.

    • the Muse

      isn’t it incredible? Su-pah I’m here to tempt you into getting it 😀

    • the Muse

      of course Liliana 😀 I was being every so careful and didn’t swatch but I’ll try to update later with swatches 😀 I was being selfish haha! It feels like a beauty vault item 😀

  • The Mighty J

    Oh I picked up my pieces last night – they are very, very, very nice and dare I say the E/S palette is better than Guerlain’s as I was every disappointed with Guerlain’s holiday e/s palette this year.

    • the Muse

      I couldn’t agree more J! I didn’t haul Guerlain Holiday this year as it was just a regular boring brown palette. But this…this was stunning. Are you amazed by how heavy each palette is!? I like how many looks I can get from it too 😀 who knew four colors could create so many looks 😀

      what else did you get? I’m gagging for the mascara and lipstick.

  • pickledgreens

    It looks great on you, and I’m heading out to get this today. 🙂

  • Christy

    So pretty! The eye shadows look like great amped up staple colors. I must run to the mall and have a look.

    • the Muse

      christy well worthy of a haul. Beautiful pieces and the best Holiday collection I’ve seen to date 😀

  • Vonvon

    Can’t wait for this colleciton to reach our shores……

    The colors of the eyeshadow palette are so beautiful and the face powder looks very nice.

    And the color from the face palette on your lids are really pretty…a subtle hint of color with shimmer.

    • the Muse

      hi vonvon!

      It’s a keeper, really pretty, elegant palettes 😀

      Thanks for the lovely comment!