Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette (#2) for Fall 2011

The new Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard palettes arrived at Neiman Marcus and Saks, and they are treasures! I purchased all three, showing you the Face Palette yesterday. Through experimenting with the Face Palette, I realized that the colors are beautiful when used individually, but when blended, they provide you with an opportunity for creative use of color.

The Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette ($59) in #2 offered me an excellent way to show you. I applied all shades with a sponge-tipped applicator, heavily, and took my photos in full sun. The sunshine made the shades show a bit more shimmer than the colors have "in real life."

Here are the four shades in the palette. The top white pearl highlighter at the top of the palette is a pretty base or highlighter for the other shades. You can blend it on your brush with any of the other shades to add a pearly effect. I swatched clockwise, so the second shade down on my arm is the taupe on the right side of the palette. Steady my heart, it's gorgeous! The third shade is the grey on the left side of the palette. As you can see on the photo above, the taupe and grey take up the most real estate in the compact. Both offer a subtle shimmer - not as much as you see here. The brick shade at the bottom of the palette is a great liner shade, but...

You can create bonus shades by blending. I can't speak for Giorgio Armani Beauty, but I think that's the intent (and the beauty) of these Jacquard palettes. Blend the brick shade with the taupe shade above it, and you get the taupe shown below the brick at right. Every taupe lover is going to flip. This is only one example of the many colors you can create with the #2 eye palette. Want a grey-taupe blend? Mix the brick with the grey. Or mix the taupe and grey tones. What to add pearl to your taupe? Mix the taupe with the white highlighting shade. You get the idea - the choices are limited only by your imagination!

All of the shades blend beautifully. I have mixed them on my brush, as Loyd Cassler taught me when he was with Armani. Because the top and bottom strips in the palette are hard to "get at," I'd recommend a narrow eye shadow brush.

I adore my new Jacquard Woven Eye Palettes. I have one more to show you, the gorgeous #1 later today. The new Armani Fall 2011 Collection is available at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria and Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase. That means your favorite Armani counter - at any store - will have it soon if it's not already on display.

Photos by Best Things in Beauty