YSL Beauté Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eyeshadow Palette for Summer 2012

YSL Beauté's new Summer 2012 Look display had two new Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eyeshadow Palettes: #8, Sand, and #9, Stone. There's supposed to be a third, #7, Shell, but I didn't see it. You can see all three at Chic Profile. I wanted to purchase one. I hesitated for maybe 10 seconds and selected #8. Neutrals and I get along. Then I started swatching and selected #9 too. I couldn't leave one behind, even though they are slightly pricey at $52.

Today's spotlight is on #8, Sand, with its clear inspiration on the sands of a summer beach. A palette of easy-to-wear shades, Sand should delight anyone.

I always use (and swatch) my eye shadows dry. I like a subtle look, and my pale face doesn't need the intensity a damp application offers. For my swatch photos, I used a sponge-tipped applicator and swatched clockwise, starting with the top left gold shade at the top left in the palette. My photos were taken in almost full sun. There were high clouds that "dampened" the shimmer in the swatches.

The gold shade, like most that attract me, is shimmering and gorgeous. This one has a touch of peach in it, adding warmth and separating it from other golds I've purchased this spring. The neutral ivory also has a slight peachy-pink cast, making it a lovely base shade for the rest of the colors in the palette.

They grey is grey. On first glance, I thought it might have a touch of green in it, but that doesn't show on my skin. It's a nice grey - not too dark, one that you could use for a smoky eye during the summer when you don't want to look "overdone."

At the bottom of my arm, the copper shows exactly what I expected, a deep sand, touched by the sun - a color that will make your eyes pop. Variations of this shade have, in my opinion, become an emblem of this year's eye looks.

While I wouldn't call this palette unique or to-die-for, I bought it (and I have enough makeup for life: proof that it's got a lot of curbside appeal. I think it's lovely.The left side makes one nice warm duo, and the right side offers a cool one. I'm not at all sure that was intentional, but I like that feature.

I purchased my new Pure Chromatics palettes at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie. With Mom still in the hospital, I haven't had time to put together more than one feature per day here, so I'll show you #9 tomorrow. Sorry about that!

I've checked for availability, and it looks like all the online and in-store sources have the new YSL Beauté Summer 2012 Collection, so hop over to your favorite store to see it!

Photo at top courtesy of Nordstrom; other photos by Best Things in Beauty