Now that most of the spring collections are released let’s have a look at six of them I chose (Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, YSL, Clarins and Nars) and let’s find out what’s new, what’s old and what’s plain boring! Hopefully this post will be your guide through the jungle of releases, because, tbh, we too are overwhelmed when we step into that Douglas or Sephora chock-full of new stuff.
Every season I stare at the press releases of the upcoming releases and hope that I’ll find something exciting and new. More than often, though, I find the same products and colour schemes through every release for that season. Pastels in spring, bronzers in summer, jewel tones in fall and gold and red everything for Christmas? We’ve seen it all. But that’s not exactly a bad thing, because it gives you, the consumer, an astonishing range of products to choose from (or not, and duping it from your stash). This spring, it’s safe to say that the big high-end cosmetics companies are still on board of the pastel train with a few pops of colours and an emphasis on luminous skin.
Guerlain – Les Tendres
Calling its collection ‘tender’, Guerlain gives us a lot of skin enhancing products (its famous Meteorites pressed into a compact, for example) and a rosy blush (in ‘ballz’ form, turning their usual game upside down in making their blush into a cute little box of ‘Perles de Blush’). A new product is their BB cream-like Baby Glow that offers a slightly tinted, illuminating base with SPF and a lot of perfume. Try before you buy! Nails are a barely there pink, lips are either peachy or a soft orange (both in their new KissKiss formula) with some shimmer (am I the only one to find those names overly cutesy? KissKiss, Baby Glow?!). Both of their limited edition eyeshadow palettes feature some pastel shades with stronger accents, one in blue, one in green. I’ve to say that I find the look on their model quite jarring – the heavily lined eyes don’t translate the soft and natural look they want to promote with this collection. If you’re a Meteorites fan, the compact is a must-have (but it’s permanent, so don’t worry if you don’t want to commit just yet), and if you’re enarmoured to the blush ballz, keep in mind that the box is much smaller than their usual meteorites box, but the amount of blush is still larger than in most pressed versions.
Chanel – Reverie Parisienne
Inspired by springtime gardens (in Paris! Not the plebeian garden plot behind your house!) this large collection gives you everything. Lipsticks in various textures, eyeshadows, blushes, you name it. And everything is pink or coral. (Kidding, nearly everything.) Let’s start with the blushes, because one of them is the star of the collection, the pretty, flower-embossed Jardin de Chanel. It IS awfully pretty, so pretty, in fact, that I was near loosing my head over it when I swatched it in store. It’s a soft pink with shimmer that would suit everybody who is fair or medium-toned. But it’s the same price of a Tom Ford blush, and for that price I’d expect something better and more unique, which this one isn’t, unfortunately. The other blush is coral and there’s nothing else I can say. There’re two quads, but only one is LE (the warmer one of the two), and it features a white, pink, green and brown colours. The limited edition nail polishes were much sought after collection pieces in former times. These three are a magenta, a dusky purple and a streaky whitish green with lots of pearl pigments (hence the streaky-ness). The only one worth getting is dusky Tenderly, but I’ve the feeling even this one can be duped easily. For lipsticks, we have six – a set of two colours in each formula, which is matte (Rouge Allure Velvet), very-pigmented-not-really-glossy-but-not-matte-either Rouge Allure and shinyglossybalmy Rouge Coco Shines. The colours range from peach/pink to coral to a raspberry pink, from soft hues in the more emollient formulas to vibrant and strong colours in the Velvet and Allure formulas. Pick your poison – or don’t, keeping in mind that Chanel comes out with solid, wearable colours in every collection.
Dior – Kingdom of Color
The Dior promo pic nearly jumps at you through the page with its strong and vibrant colours. Woohooo, a different concept for spring you might think? No need to get excited because the pic is kind of misleading. The star of the show is the lip, cheek and eye palette Kingdom of Colors. This houses cream products with powder products in one palette, and I’m completely turned off by this. Eyeshadow crumbs in your highlighter or lipstick? Yuck. Drying out cream products because they can’t be sealed off properly in a palette? Yuck. You’ll find two powder eyeshadows and one powder blush in this compact, together with two shimmery nude lipglosses, a silvery highlighter, an eyeliner, one lipstick, a shimmery cream eyeshadow and a skin base in there. The two quads are aptly named House of Greens and House of Pinks because they’re varying shades of pinks and soft greens. Like the palettes, the Rouge Baumes may seem colourful, but are completely everyday appropriate. If you’re in the market for a balm-like texture with a hint of colour, go ahead. Of the two blush products, one is remarkable per Dior’s press release because it bears the coat of arms of Monsieur Dior (as most products of this collection) and one because it’s a cheek and lip tint. It gives a rosy tint to your cheeks and lips and is very easy to use – unlike some tints! Everybody and their kitchen sink seems to be excited about the fact that Dior came out with a matte glitter topcoat with hexes and bar glitter in yellow, green and light blue, but trust me, go and have a look at indie polish companies who have already left that trend behind for more exciting topcoats.
Clarins – Garden Escape
A garden theme! What a surprise for a spring collection theme! (Not.)
Well, Clarins is famous for its well-catered collections, and this one isn’t any different. Wearable colours and textures, solid and yeah, a bit dull. The eyeshadow palette consists of six shades of green, pink and brown, the blush in the Rouge Prodige formula is a nice pink, and for lips we get two pinkish sheer and glossy lipsticks, and six balmy lipsticks in various colours (but don’t worry, because they’ll only tint your lips anyway). Plus, two tint in oil glosses that provide some instant TLC and but not much colour for your lips.
YSL – Desir de Jour
Ah, we stray from the garden theme! Desir de Jour seems different, but then – it isn’t.
Yes, it has Cara Delevingne staring at you in a sultry manner while dropping her shirt in the promo pic, but don’t be fooled. Her makeup is totally nice instead of naughty. Palette with nude, brown and pink shadows? Check. Blushes in pink and coral? Check. Two sheer and glossy lipsticks in pink and red? Check. Well, even the new product that YSL launches in this collection is a sheer, very glossy lipgloss – a tint in oil formula that doesn’t scream as much ‘pleasure and sensuality’ to me but ‘hey, interesting new formula that could be nice for dry lips in winter’. In comparison to the Clarins formula, those really tint your lips. To show the ‘rebel spirit’ of this collection YSL adds a glittery white and glittery black nailpolish. Well well well. You little rebels, you.
At this point I’m ready to jump out of the window (into the next cherry-blossom bedecked garden, most likely) but hey, there’s the Nars Spring collection!
Nars Spring 2015
Nars proceed with its ‘Portraits by the Artist’ series, and this one for spring is a nude. And its face is Tilda Swinton. So, let me tell you why I love the whole concept:
First, it has nothing to do with birds, bees, gardens, you name it. Second, its face is Swinton, who is 55 and not your generic pretty model. Third, it takes its topic (nude) and doesn’t stray from its path for one step. You want nude? You get nude. Lipglosses, lipsticks, blushes, eyeshadows? Nude. It mixes warm and cool tones with a healthy dose of silver shimmer and might not as easy to wear as it would seem at first glance. Also with nude tones, the wearability depends a lot on your skintone. It’s refreshing and gives that old spring = pastel theme an unexpected tongue-in-cheek twist.
There you have it. Dreams, gardens, tender love and gardens. Honestly I was a bit shocked how same-y five of those six collections I chose to have a closer look at seemed. If I had to choose some products for me, I’d have a look at the new tint in oil products. Also, those yearning for a pressed version of Guerlain’s illuminating Meteorites, finally get a chance to get them while it doesn’t break the bank as some of their limited edition compacts in former times. You’ll also find some solid and wearable lipcolours in various formulas in spring-y colours. Same with blushes. If you’re in the market for an eyeshadow palette, you’re also able to pick the one best suited for you from various brands if you’re a sucker for that green/brown/pink colour scheme. As always, swatch if you can!
