Giorgio Armani Spring 2010: Nude Contrasts

My Armani guy at Saks called me to tell me they got the spring collection in so I rushed over to check it all out. It was all very soft, light, airy and spring-y, reminds me of something a fairy would wear. Very pretty, sparkly and eye-catching! They didn't have testers yet, but they let me play with the eyeshadow palettes since lately they haven't been sent testers until a few weeks after they receive shipment of the product to sell.

The collection consists of:

* 2 new Silk Lipsticks: #98 is a pale pink shimmer, #99 is a neutral-warm pinky rose (similar to Nars DV but warmer)

* 3 new Lipshimmers: #62 is a pale buttermilk-cream color, #63 is a sparkley beige, #64 is a shimmery pale pink with a hint of peach

* 2 new Nude Contrasts Palette (4 Eye Designing Colors): # 1 has a pale iridescent baby blue, golden sand, matte black, pale sparkly ivory, #2 has a light golden nude sparkle, shimmery soft pink, matte black, and pale warm cream shimmer

* 1 new Eyeliner (didn't catch the actual name): 01 is a pure black

* Shimmer Powder 5: repromoted from holiday, a sheer pale sparkle powder (very very sheer)

So far, I believe only the eyeshadow palettes are available online at Giorgio Armani. I'm not sure when the rest of the collection will be up online though.

A couple spring previews from the February 2010 issues of Voce & Maquia for more views:

The haul: Nude Contrast Palettes 1 (left), 2 (right), Silk 98 Lipstick,
Lipshimmer 63 (top), Lipshimmer 64 (bottom)
Close Up of Nude Contrasts 1 & 2

Swatch of #1

Swatch of #2

Lipshimmers & Silk Lipstick

Swatches on bare skin, L to R: Lipshimmer 63, 64, Silk Lipstick 98

Here's a look from Biteki, while I can't read Japanese, it indicates the MAC Lipglass is 2N, so I'm assuming the lipstick is also from MAC Warm & Cozy collection. Please note my camera washed out the color on her face, so it looks like she is barely wearing anything - I did the best I could, but hopefully it will give you an idea of how to coordinate the #1 palette. Can anyone translate?


Overall thoughts: The shadows are surprisingly pigmented for lighter shades and they are more sparkly than most Armani shadows which typically have finely milled shimmer. The swatches make the colors all look similar, but in real life they are more contrasted with each other. I think these will make a really pretty neutral eye that will go with a lot of different shades.

The lipshimmers are pretty, #64 is the frostiest gloss I've ever seen from Armani, but still lovely. It reminds me of MAC Prrr & Bobbi Brown Pink Sugar though, so if you don't have access to Armani or want to shell out $$$ for the gloss, you can definitely find cheaper alternatives.

Silk 98 is pretty, it's a more pink version of MAC Plink! but still on the sheer side. I might go back for 99 at some point because it looked like a pretty rosey pink without shimmer.