Giorgio Armani Beauty Eyes to Kill Intense - Madre Perla for Holiday 2011

Giorgio Armani Beauty's Eyes to Kill Intense ($32) is perfectly named. The three shades in the Madre Perla Collection for Holiday 2011 are not your wear-to-work eye shadows. They offer something extra for your evening events - and it's intense.

Holidays are a time to celebrate, and the three shades in Madre Perla will make your your eyes dazzle for your festive events and romantic dinners. They say there's nothing more flattering than candlelight. Apply one of these holiday shades and smile across the table with confidence that you look eyes will be magnetic - like molten metal.

During the recent Giorgio Armani Beauty Friends & Family event, I took advantage of the discount and ordered two of the three new, limited shades for holiday. You can still get a discount at the site, but these two shades are currently sold out. Just check out the codes at this link.

I ordered #18, Gold, and #19, Gold and Silver (Note: the Armani Beauty Web site calls these shades #2 and #3 - figure that out). I'm always smitten with gold eye shadows, so they were a natural for me. The third shade, #17, Silver, was nagging me, but I was able to resist. I don't go out at night enough to warrant a purchase. Plus, I already own numbers 11, 12, and 16 - all of which are silvery.

These were difficult to photograph without a shadow. I needed to turn them toward the sun, and that didn't work well on the ground in my driveway. So I propped them up in the window well of my car's back window and managed to get a wide expanse of color, with the shadows from the sides of the pots showing only on the left side of each. The blended Gold and Silver, #19, is shown at the left in the photo directly above, and Gold, #18, is on the right. Both look very light when illuminated by full sunshine.

They were even harder to swatch! The shades dazzle in sunlight. To me, they are metallic. One could definitely call them sparkling. Gold is swatched at the top of my arm, and Gold and Silver is shown below. I swatched them with a sponge-tipped applicator (fairly heavily) and took my photos in full sun. I might have been more successful in achieving an even application using a brush.

The shade called Gold is a pure gold. Gold and Silver, a blend, is an interesting shade. It looks like a subdued gold to my eye, but the camera picks up the silver in the blend. It's a great hybrid of the gold and silver. You can see both shades running through the pot.

Eyes to Kill Intense has a unique, high-tech approach to color with these new shadows. The innovative hybrid texture, which is not a powder, nor a cream, acts like a smooth, lasting color film. The formula is composed of an unprecedented association between binder elements and pearls that creates exceptional luminosity, depth, and intensity of color. A high-resistance bi-polymer enables the formula to perfectly fit the contour of the eyelid, with cushiony suppleness.

Armani says you can apply these shadows dry or wet to obtain any finish from satin to lacquer, subtle to dramatic. I'm working to achieve subtle. Offering 24-hour wear, the Eyes to Kill Intense shadows are waterproof and sweat-proof. They slide on and stay on. You can apply them with fingers or a brush, although I think a brush gives me more control. Armani's Color-Fil color matrix formula blends and layers without creasing or flaking, and these shadows are extremely long-lasting. Even their shine sticks around. With the holiday shades, the shine won't fade until you're ready to remove it.

If you want to light up your holiday look, these Eyes to Kill Intense shadows are a perfect option. Just don't buy them for everyday wear (unless you party a lot!). Plan to look like a celebrity when you wear them.

Photos at top courtesy of Giorgio Armani Beauty; other photos by Best Things in Beauty