Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Understated Elegance: Dior 5 Colour Iridescent Eyeshadow in 609 Earth Reflection

I've recently come to the realization that I may have finally gotten big eyeshadow palettes out of my system. It's not that I don't reach for the ones I have in my collection - I do all the time - but at some point, you just start accumulating doubles and triples of the same shades over and over. So, I think I'm done on that account (watch me as I pick up another neutral eyeshadow palette in a couple months' time...), which of course doesn't mean I'm not interested in eyeshadows anymore. I've simply switched my attention to singles, duos, trios, quads and quints, like this one: the Dior 5-Colour Iridescent Eyeshadow in 609 Earth Reflection ($62 for 0.21 oz).
I've actually had this on my mental wish list for a very long time, but just couldn't quite pull the trigger. Last week, I spotted it on an Instagram sale (watch out, blog sales, there's a new kid on the block!) for $30 with shipping, and so I wasn't able to resist it any longer.
Here's the deal: from swatching Earth Reflection multiple times in-store and reading reviews online, I knew it wasn't going to be anything earth-shattering (har har) in my collection. I could probably find near dupes scattered among my other palettes and singles. But! But there's just something so luxuriously elegant about Dior quints. From the simple packaging to the effortless formula inside, they're oh so very chic. They're not trying hard to impress with their pigmentation, texture, complex shimmers or uniqueness. They just are what they are. And I quite like that.
After playing with the palette for a couple days, here are my general thoughts: it's a great basic palette for fair and light skintones. I believe medium and dark skintones may have issues getting a complete eye look out of the palette, due to the fact that it contains three very light shades and the darkest shade is more or less the same depth of MAC Satin Taupe, which I know is a lid shade for most (I've always used it in the crease and outer corner in the daytime on my fair skin).

All five eyeshadows in Earth Reflection are shimmers, or pearl/frost finish (not metallic, not glittery, just smooth sheen). While for some it may be a deal-breaker, I was able to get a balanced look using just the quint, since the darkest shade I used in the crease isn't very reflective when blended out on the eyes. Another thing worth noting is that the three lightest shades (a warm champagne, pale pink in the middle, and ivory pearl) come across quite similar on the eyes - I wish especially there was more variation between the pink and ivory.
But other than those slight drawbacks, I very much enjoy Earth Reflection. The two taupe shades are absolutely stunning, and I was happy to see that I could use the lighter taupe on the lids quite easily for an everyday look. As you can see below, for this post I did more of a smokey eye using the darkest shade to add drama, but you could also get a barely there look with this quint using the champagne on the lid and the light taupe in the crease; quite similar effect to my beloved Shiseido Luminizing Satin Trio in Nude. The texture is smooth, easily buildable and blendable, and I haven't noticed any fallout on the eyes during application or wear time.
Dior 609 Earth Reflection swatched clockwise from top left corner, with the pink in the middle swatched last
I don't know you guys, there's just something about this that I deeply enjoy. I can definitely see why these Dior quints are so popular - they're just so effortless. I already know that I'll be taking Earth Reflection with me when I travel, simply because you can do a whole eyeshadow look in minutes without thinking about pairing shades together or their careful placement.
In the face shots, I'm wearing lighter taupe on the lids with a bit of champagne layered over it in the centre, darker taupe in the outer corners in a more cat-eye/ elevated shape, lightest ivory in the inner corners, and the combination of taupes on the lower lashline. I've also tightlined my upper waterline with Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Black Noir. I'm wearing Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Getaway Red with Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil on the cheeks and Essence Stay With Me Lipgloss in Candy Bar on the lips, since the weather suddenly turned very summery here in NYC.
Do you own any of these Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadows? What is your favorite colorway? Do you prefer smaller palettes like this or the larger ones with 10+ shades?

21 comments:

  1. Instagram sales are dangerous let me tell you lol these look beautiful on you. I have a single dior quint, and it's very purply, so it doesn't get as much love as it should, but the shades are beautiful and this reminded me to take it out to play with tomorrow.

    Enjoy your new quint!

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  2. It works beautifully with that lip color! It's not exactly Dior's most exciting 5-piece palette, but the shades are very pretty.

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  3. So beautiful! You look gorgeous as usual. I have quite a few Dior quints because I'm a fan girl but I didn't pick this up. I love the browns which I have dupes for and I dint work with pinks much. There was a time when there was always one pink shade in every quint. It was quite annoying actually. Glad they moved out of that phase!

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  4. I don't like huge eyeshadow palettes either. The only big one is Sleek - Arabian Nights but these are 11/12 perfect shades for me. I stick mostly to monos, but I'm trying to switch to a system of self-made quads.
    I like the design and the size of the Dior quints, but I am not able to use their colour composition. Even the limited cuir canage or pied de poule has a shade which is too light for me. I barely use light colours and dior is the wrong label for brown palettes without gold/pink/apricot/champagne and/or smokey eyes shades without pearly white. I think that palette suits you well. :-)

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  5. This looks lovely! I'm always more tempted by the colourful releases but I can easily see this one being a very nice workhorse type of quint. And probably way more practical for my lifestyle, lol. I'm quite fair as well and often use common "lid shades" in the crease instead. I think this is part of why I've gone off larger palettes- there are just too many darker shades that I will never manage to put a dent in.

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  6. I love Dior quints, though I don't have this one and it's discontinued *sulks in corner*. I really Incognito which was another older neutral palette, and I'm always right on the new releases each season! I know some like Christine from Temptalia don't love them, but something about the formula or the design just gets me every time! xx

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    1. Hmm... maybe watch out for those Instagram sales if you want to snag this one ;) You know what, sometimes I really don't agree with Christine's grading - I feel like she's usually interested in the most pigmented products on the market, and I'm not all about that all the time. Alsok, her swatches unfortunately don't work for me; on my skintone, the shades look completely different than on her!

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    2. Will have to :D I think it'd probably a skintone thing- I'm really pale like you and medium shades are dark enough to be crease shades or smoky eyes shade, so palettes that are solely medium to dark toned look great on her but will just be too much on me! And I agree, softer shades can be really flattering and wearable for day to day :) I use Christine's swatches as more of a marker- if it's too light for her it's probably perfect for me lol!

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  7. This is one of my oldest and most favorite eyeshadows! It's really beautiful. I don't wear it so often - I mostly dig it out in the summer - and I always wonder why I put it aside when I do. I don't think I've ever used the pink shade, but I get so much wear out of that gold and those taupes! The finish is really beautiful on these, too.

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    1. Hahah, I was just thinking that Earth Reflection is kind of an old school product :) Have you considered layering the pink shade over a cream base? When I looked at the swatches carefully, the pink almost seems to have a gold duochrome, so maybe a golden base would bring that out a bit more? I need to experiment!

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  8. my first high-end quad were Dior and Guerlain, I'm working on Panning Dior quint Petal Shine (my favorite) and Spring Bouquet (least favorite not because of the quality of the eyeshadows, they are outstanding but because it is really for cool skin tone and i'm quite warm)
    I also have Misty Mauve (LE), Rosy Tan (LE it think really similar to earth reflection), Ready to glow (LE), Nude Pink Design, Golden Savannah (LE), Bonne Etoile (LE), Endless shine (LE) and Amber Design. I need to used them more, Golden Savannah and Rosy Tan are the best in the bunch and Amber Design and Nude pink design are the "worst" but still better then MAC eyeshadows

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    1. I remember when Spring Bouquet came out! I'm cool-toned but using those shades consistently would be difficult for me as well. You have such a beautiful collection of Dior quints! Weren't we all lusting after Rosy Tan when Lisa Eldridge used it a couple times in her tutorials? I also remember admiring Bonne Etoile when it was released, but wasn't sure I'd get much use out of all the shades. I agree, MAC eyeshadows really aren't the be all end all of eyeshadow formulas anymore.

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  9. I feel a similar way about quads and quints (though I own none). Something about durable packaging, luxurious, easy-to-coordinate, effortless shades makes me want to shell out exorbitant amounts of money for this sort of thing. I'm thinking particularly about Dior, Guerlain (Turandot), and Chanel...all of which are far out of my price range.

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    1. LL, do you just wear singles or do you like the bigger palettes? Yeah, the price tag on these luxurious quads or quints is hard to swallow - I only ever start considering one when I have some money in my PayPal account from online shopping cashback websites. I guess it's somehow entertaining for me to buy luxury beauty products with cashback saved from purchasing toilet paper or rice, lol.

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  10. Beautiful on you, and I definitely agree about the value and beauty of a Dior quint - I myself only own one (Fairy Golds) but have used it to death and love it very much, so I'm looking forward to picking up another at some point in time. I find that in recent times they have a glittery shade included in each quint which has put me off buying them? Maybe I should look to the permanent line for my next quint.

    Also - Candy Bar! I forgot how gorgeous that gloss is, in fact how amazing that old essence product is! I think I have all of the shades in that formula if memory serves?

    Side note: I'm back into working on my Project Use It Up after your words of encouragement and a short break - mixing my Chanel lippy with a lipliner to spice things up and pushing my way through the foundation too ;) Thanks for the inspo!

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    1. I think Dior just gets it with these quints... I haven't swatched very many of them, I didn't know they now have glitters - I guess the question is whether it's good adherent micro glitter or just obnoxious sparkle :( Yep, this Essence gloss is pretty stellar! I wish we had easier access to their LE collections, and that we had sister brand Catrice in the US too; although I'm hoping they'll have that in Italy when we travel later this year.

      I'm so glad you found some motivation to work on your Project! Layering and mixing products is the best - I'm really over my foundation but mixed in with something else, it's okay. And, spoiler alert, I already finished a couple products! Woohoo!

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  11. I think you've struck gold, Monika! For $30 it is a steal and I really like this one on you. Like you said, it is quite basic but I think it is basic with a twist.

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  12. Seriously great buy!! I've always loved the look of the Dior quints, and have one in my cart that I should just pull the trigger on ha ha!! What mascara are you using here?? Your eyelashes are killing me, as always - so jelly!!! xo

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    1. Hahah, thank you, Goomie! It's that Heroine Make Volume & Curl mascara I've just reviewed - I still don't really like it, but I think now I can make it look a bit better than in the beginning. I've recently loved the Laura Geller GlamLash though, it was amazing.

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  13. i have a couple dior quints, and ive always wanted this one. it looks lovely on you...so i think i think i might need now lol

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  14. yay for instagram sales! i used to buy a lot of high end products from bloggers. it always saved me money and i just cleaned them up myself. why pay more when you don't have to right? this is a really pretty light natural palette for you! the colors aren't as vibrant as i would prefer though.

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