Or, The decline and fall of the seasonal makeup collections.
And here, ladies and gents, we can observe up close how a fix point in the beauty world vanishes – the seasonal makeup collection. Only the high-end behemoths do them still, MAC (whose seasonal collections used to be awesome) has left for the greener pastures of celeb collabs, and innovative, young beauty brands never bothered with them from the beginning.
So let us pick through the dregs of Fall 2018 makeup collections round-up and see what comes up.
Chanel – Apotheosis
Luca Pica didn’t, predictably, reinvent the wheel with an all-matte collection that mostly reads nude and red, but then, she manages to take a trend (matte everything) and make that Chanel-esque. Do I want to buy anything? No. Are the products in itself of solid quality and style? Yes. (Swatches at MakeupandBeautyBlog, The Happy Sloths, Ommorphia.)
The burgundy, Rouge Noir-lookalike matte nailpolish will fly off the shelves, and I can see people gravitating towards both eyeshadow quads. One is all nude, one includes a bright marine blue. The lip crayons come (of course) in shades of Pica’s trademark red, and are more satin than matte. (Also matte? The packaging.)
Dior – Dior en Diable
Big hair, virtually no eyebrows and an orange lip?! The Eighties called and want their look back! Peter Philips takes the whole warm reddish everything trend, and gives it a spin. Absolutely superfluous? Yes. Do I see anything that truly stand outs? No. Of course, cheek product lovers everywhere will be tempted by the Nude Skin Luminizer in six shades, and there’s a new blush formula called Couture Colour Long-Wear Powder Blush in nine shades.
Also new and limited edition (the cheek products aren’t), are the lip products: a lip stain in two shades of red, and a lipstick touting ‘comfort & wear’ in six shades. I’m, as always, iffy on the quality of the eyeshadow quints. (Some pretty pics at Rouge Closet.) Nothing new here.
YSL – The Yconic Purple collection
The good people at YSL (thank you, Tom Pecheux!!!) apparently decided that they’re bored of the warm toned stuff everywhere and threw out a purple collection. I want to kiss them. It’s a nicely curated first seasonal collection for uber-makeup artist Pecheux, and it also manages to include a novelty product, the Couture Chalks, little chubby pencils for eyes, lips and cheeks in black, white, gold and black.
The eyeshadow quint pairs earthy tones with grey and lilac, and the highlighting powder leans pinkish gold. (Some swatches and pics at Kleo Beaute!) Everything comes in a snazzy glossy lilac ‘envelope-style’ packaging, and I like!
Lancome – Lancome x Proenza Schouler
Lancome has snatched up designer duo Proenza Schouler for a fall collab that is big and colourful and downright cheerful. Try as I might, I can’t detect a theme in the selection of colours, but I’m not mad at it – it’s bold, full of jewel tones, with slightly gimmicky products they love right now (remember the macaron-style lipbalms two season’s ago?). For this collection, it’s ‘lip kajals’ – basically a chubby stick/lip gloss duo. (Right.)
The eyeshadow palettes comes in warm and cold (10 shades each) and apparently have an interesting formula: a mix of cream and powder – a must-swatch before buy! Also, new matte shakers (three shades, pinks and a purple)! Yay! (Swatches at Get the Gloss, BritishBeautyBlogger and Makeup.com.)
NARS
I’m totally baffled by the random selection of products in this Fall collection. I mean, does the combo of brow pencils, eyeshadow quads and a lip palette make your heart sing? (Swatches at BlushingNoir, A Little Bit and MakeupandBeautyBlog.) I’m just – confused.
Sure, 8 shades of brow pencil seem nice and inclusive, but a lip palette is always so cumbersome (if you aren’t a MUA). The two quads seem nice enough (what a surprise, earthy tones). (And strangely evocative of Charlotte Tilbury.) But surely, NARS, you could do better?!?! (Also, the promo pic – straight out of the Stepford Wives.)
Bobbi Brown – Camo Luxe
A surprising hit for me is BB this season. While I find the camo-packaging and inspo a bit problematic, there’re my two must-haves of the season in there. There’s a combo palette of six neutral eyeshadows and a very glowy highlighter. Not my cup of tea, but if those shades fit your bill, why not?
Three neutral nude lipsticks (okay), nailpolish (whatever, it’s dark and sparkly and you can get it at every drugstore), and their eponymous gel liner (swatches on Chicprofile). And then. AND THEN! Look at the two Luxe Eye Shadows, one in a multicolour dark green (swatch at BritishBeautyBlogger), and one in a goldish shade.
These are the only two items that excite me in any way this Fall. And isn’t it an absolute joke that one of the most boring brands ever comes out with something like that?! The mic, it dropped, and I salute you, people at BB.
