Sunday, October 16, 2011

YSL Midnight Garden Ombres 5 Lumieres

About two or three weeks ago I went to Nordstrom to buy a present for one of my friends, and I ended up looking around at the makeup counters. I passed by the YSL counter with no intention of buying anything. That is, until something sparkly and beautiful caught my eye: the YSL Midnight Garden collection!

The first thing that I noticed was the Ombres 5 Lumieres palette. I am not a huge fan of YSL palettes, and I have never been tempted to buy one before. But when I saw the palette for the Midnight Garden collection, I instantly fell in love <3 The palette I am talking about is the #11 in Midnight Garden and it is the named after the collection. I was so love-blinded that I purchased it without a second thought. Once I had it for a couple of days, I hesitated slightly because it was VERY expensive. Thus I wanted to conduct a thorough examination of this palette in order to determine whether I should keep it or not.


#11 Midnight Garden ($56) has 5 colors that are inspired by the fall and holiday season. The colors included are: A dark teal with aqua shimmer, a burgundy with cranberry shimmers, a sheer mint loaded with aqua sparkle, a cool lavender with aqua shimmer, and a plummy purple with aqua shimmer. Notice that the aqua shimmer is a big theme in this palette, as 4 of the 5 colors have it. When thinking of purchasing this palette, remember that YSL is an expensive high end brand, so the price tag is expected. I want to make sure I definitely love this palette because it is very expensive!

Swatches!

Colors swatches on my hand without any base or primer

 So far, I really like the colors. They have good pigmentation on their own, but I prefer to apply them over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy, because that way the shimmer and the color will be very intense. My favorite color so far is the teal~!

Any CONS?
I have noticed that sometimes when you blend out the colors, they blend out too much and they look a little muddy. Sometimes you also loose most of the shimmer in the eyeshadow. But that is why I use the Pixie Epoxy, so that the colors remain vibrant and shimmery.
And I love the packaging because it is so sleek and fancy, but I hate how it gets super visible fingerprints on the compact's surface.

Verdict
I am keeping it. Why, you ask? I absolutely love all the colors in the palette! The pigmentation is also decent, but they look amazing over the Pixie Epoxy! The colors last all day on my lid as well. Besides that, this is my only YSL palette, and the only YSL eyeshadows I own. I don't know if I will like any other YSL palettes in the future, so I think it would be good to keep this palette.  I think this will be a palette I will enjoy using all year round!

Rating: 8/10 (-.1 for price, -.5 it could have better pigmentation, -.5 for slight shimmer fall out)
Recommend? Yes, if you love bolder colors, and you love high end brands.
Repurchase? No. It is too expensive for a backup, and I don't think I will be using up the palette that fast.
*EOTDs coming soon!
*If you are thinking of purchasing this palette or anything else by YSL, I advice that you wait until Sephora's Friends and Family Sale on October 20th. You get 20% off your entire purchase!

10 comments:

  1. I have a couple of YSL palettes, and the over-blendability thing seems to be true across the board, so I've taken to using a pencil brush to blend where necessary.

    This is GOOOOORGEOUS. I'm crazy about that shade you've swatched all the way to the right. The aqua sparkle is TDF!

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  2. @Vijii S: That is a good tip! Haha, yeah!! The color is phenomenal. all the colors in the palette are~

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  3. That is such a pretty palette, I wish I knew how to rock dark shadows like you do, then I'd be able to rock a palette like this!

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  4. @emmabovary: I am sure you could totally rock it! The palette can be versatile, so you can mix it with other neutral colors, or you use the colors as liners.

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  5. This is so pretty! I think it was Karen's post @ Makeup & Beauty Blog where I first saw pictures of this palette and I was like "oh no... don't get me tempted with a YSL palette." I don't know if I could justify the price tag but it sure is beautiful!

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  6. such pretty colors! what a great palette, great review!

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  7. Oh my goodness, this palette is just gorgeous! Can't wait to see it on you!

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  8. This palette is so pretty! I have yet to buy a YSL palette but I can see why you would be tempted! Can't wait for your EOTD!

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  9. @Stephanie C: Yeah it definitely not cheap Dx

    @CottonCandyINK: Thank you!

    @Popblush: Right?! I shall post my EOTD soon :D

    @Stacey: Yes, I was VERY tempted!! It will be posted soon :D

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  10. :O I love this palette

    *googles to find the UK price of this*

    I've never been a big YSL fan but I'm loving this!

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Thank you for taking the time to comment <3 I appreciate every single comment I receive ^_^