Guerlain Place Vendôme and Rue de Sèvres from the Champs-Élysées for Fall 2010

By popular request, here are two more Guerlain eye palettes from the Champs-Élysées Collection for Fall 2010. Finding them at Saks, sampling them, just looking at them, and finally swatching and applying them gave me an endorphin rush. I wanted it to linger. I wanted to save them for times when I needed a pick-me-up. They are that exciting!

My photos are a little dark - sorry! I had a choice of very shiny photos taken in sun, with the silver compacts reflecting light, or photos taken in indirect light. I chose the latter. Even with the photos taken within 10-15 minutes of each other, my arm appears to be a different color. I selected the photos that showed the truest shadow shades.

I'll try to give you "a little color" on the shades in these two lust-worthy compacts. Each bears the name and address (number) of a Guerlain boutique in Paris. The first, with blue in its center, is #2 Place Vendôme, has shades of iridescent ivory, deep grey, sheer copper, shimmering beige, intense indigo blue, and a navy-plum liner. The arm photos are shown clockwise from the lightest, highlighting shade in the top left of the palette. The interior indigo blue shade is fifth from the top, and the liner is shown under it. Each compact has its own liner, a nice feature that adds special value to these eye palettes. You can see the liner on the right side of each palette.

I applied several layers of the shadows to photograph them, but the choice is yours. You can apply these creamy powders with a light hand or build the color on your eyelids. I think it would be hard to overdo most of them. One exception is the indigo blue. It's really blue!

Place Vendôme has a few shades I'm going to wear out - right down to the bottom of the plan! I love the four shades that circle the blue center. The iridescent bone is a shimmering highlighter that will look fabulous under the brow, in the center of the lid, or in the inside corners of the eye. The sheer copper and beige shades have a subtle shimmer to them. While they appear to be similar on my arm, they offer two intensities of the same family. The liner has a navy-plum cast to it. It's dark and a shade that I can wear, so I'll enjoy experimenting with it.

Rue de Sèvres (#29) is very a different palette. Although the highlighting and interior turquoise shades shimmer, the rest of the colors are mostly matte - grey and taupe. The liner is dark brown, coordinating perfectly with the family of shadows.

Again, the shades are shown on my arm in the photo at right, starting with the lightest, highlighting shade at the top and rotating clockwise around the compact. The "interior" turquoise shade is the fifth one from the top on my arm, and the liner is shown under it.

I love all the shades in Rue de Sèvres. While the shimmering turquoise will be limited to the lid on my eyes, gals with darker skin are going to have more flexibility in its application. The greys and taupes are everyday shades that will get a lot of use. The same goes for the brown liner.

What makes my heart flutter with these palettes is how sheer the colors are, with the exception of the liners. The wearable shades, punctuated by a few pops of "real color," offer an abundance of flexibility in creating looks for fall and winter. If you can't figure out how you should use the shadows, directions come with the palettes, giving you a hint of Guerlain's intentions for their application. You can use the paint-by-numbers approach for a dramatic effect and smokey eye, or just do your own thing, taking advantage of the sheer formula to "swipe and go" on your way to work.

As I mentioned in my post on #68 Champs-Élysées, the first thing you notice about each palette is its weight. The palettes are heavy. Before you even open one, you get a sense that there is something very special in your hand. The silver case, the lacy cut-outs, the bee etched into the design - all of the compact's features contribute to its glamour.

Then you open the palette, and the wow factor magnifies. When you open the compact, you see the double-ended brush and a protective covering that is carefully designed to flip out to the right. The black cover protects the eye shadows from any damage. Only after you flip up the cover, do you glimpse the eye shadows and liner - color-coordinated beauties. Guerlain calls them "tailored harmonies." Opening one for the first time is like discovering a secret.

There are five palettes in the fall collection. The two I didn't purchase are very different. 10 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois has shades of beige, golden bronze, and brown. It's absolutely gorgeous, and if I didn't have hundreds of new eye shadows in these brown-toned shades, I would have purchased it. I may still (she says with a grin). The other is 93 Rue de Passy, with pink, smoky pink, grey, and taupe shades. Most pinks don't "work" for me. I try to avoid pink and red-toned shades on my eyes because they bring out any redness in my eyes or lids. There will be plenty of gals for whom these shades are perfect.

There you have it! New eye palettes from Guerlain that you really need to see. I didn't even mention the price; each is $84. You can find Guerlain's Fall 2010 Collection at many the department stores, including Saks, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus. Next, I'll show you the lip colors and blush I purchased. More beautiful makeup!

Photos by Best Things in Beauty