Thursday, October 11, 2012

Dior Grand Bal Collection Carnet de Maquillage Makeup Palette for Glowing Eyes and Lips for Holiday 2012

I finally got swatch photos yesterday afternoon. Am I relieved! One of the first I snapped was this a glamorous holiday palette from Dior. I really like it, even if it is a bit of a gimmick.

The Dior Grand Bal Carnet de Maquillage Makeup Palette for Glowing Eyes and Lips ($85, Faud à Paupières, Eyeliner & Gloss) is a limited edition. "Inspired by the dance cards held by young women in the eighteenth century to help keep track of their dance partners, this essential beauty kit will become a must-have for the modern party lover. The glamorous gold clutch features a pearl eyeshadow duo of platinum and gold, two shades of gloss, a huge mirror, and deep black eyeliner for quick touch-ups."

It has the most amazing closure - at first appearance a gold bar that slides into the hollow "clasps" that you see at the top and bottom in the photo above. The gold bar turned out to be the eyeliner!

The star this season is the Grand Bal Palette. An elegant gold clutch that houses a duo of dazzling gold and white eye shadows, two shining lip glosses, and a deep black eyeliner to accent the eyes.

You won't be able to create a complete holiday look with the Carnet de Maquillage Makeup Palette, but you'll find it provides a nice accent to any look you create.I just can't imagine partying with it in my handbag - as pretty as it is. I like to travel light - and super-light for parties.

The gold and silver highlighting powders can be used on any part of the face. They will give you a high-wattage look if applied heavily and a pretty accent if applied with a light hand. The two lip glosses are sheer. One offers color, the other doesn't. The two little applicators are the usual - for use only in a pinch.

I swatched the highlighting powders and the lip glosses. I didn't bother to swatch the eyeliner. Black is black, right? This one is a charcoal black (not deep black as advertised), and the tip is prefect for applying the creamy liner in a thin line above the lashes - the way I like it.


Look at these colors! The antique gold and slightly blue-toned silver (on my skin) are metallic in finish. They leave no doubt that they are party colors. I applied my swatches heavily with the usual sponge-tipped applicators.

I love both shades. I just can't figure out how (or why) Dior described the silver shade as white.

The glosses won't steal the show from your eyes or cheeks. They are as reserved as the metallics are bold. The gloss on the left in the palette (under a protective lift-up cover) is basically clear. The pretty warm pink is even prettier. Use them to top your evening lip color.

I love the eyeliner. Using is as a gold bar to close the palette by "threading it through" the top and bottom clasps is a brilliant design. I've never seen anything like it.

Plan to party this holiday season? You need Carnet de Maquillage Makeup Palette for Glowing Eyes and Lips. Collect Dior? Ditto. Just love makeup? Check it out. You may like it as much as I do.

I purchased mine at Neiman Marcus. Nordstrom has it too, so I would guess you can find it at all Dior counters.

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

6 comments:

lovethescents said...

Really beautiful compact and eye shadows. The lippies are just too sheer. They really won't do a thing but add a bit of gloss. They might have chosen one with more pigment for variety!

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Lovethescents,

Definitely, the glosses are sheer. I agree, lip colors would have been more useful.

Becca @ The Beauty Sample said...

This is pretty to look at and will no doubt make a great collectible item, but I don't know that I would want to spend $85 for this. The eyeshadows are just a little too metallic for my taste (I have pretty small eyes and eyeshadows that are too shiny/metallic close them up)--definitely too metallic to use as a highlighter on my skin (and the silver would look garish on my skin tone). The glosses are too transparent and the eyeliner would probably smudge all over my eyes within a minute. :/

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Becca,

It's a collector's piece for sure. I'll bet you like the eye palettes better. Stay tuned.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Charleston Girl! I know it's not about Dior, but I thought I will ask. :) What new Armani quad will you recommend for somebody with light skin and hazel eyes? I am thinking about buying couple but I don't have Armani counter close to me. I would appreciate it so much! Thanks, girl!

Evelyn said...

At the counter today, the SA combined the two eyeshadow shades and I was surprised how pretty they looked together. Reminded me a bit of last year's Armani Eyes to Kill in (I think) no. 19 - the gold and silver together. Not pretty enough to warrant purchasing - as nice as the colours and presentation are, I think the reds/golds in the Guerlain holiday palette will see more use. By the way, love your reviews and really look forward to them! (Though it did take nearly 30 tries to get the characters to enter correctly ...)