Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill #20, #22 and #23

Of the four limited edition Eyes To Kill released as part of the Armani Écailles collection, I ended up purchasing #20 Obsidian Black, #22 Écailles and #23 Madre Perla at Selfridges in London.

#20 Obsidian Black is a stormy blackened green with emerald and blue shimmers.

#22 Écailles is a pale silver mixed with metallic sea blue.

#23 Madre Perla is a shimmery pearl white with flashes of oyster pink and light green. The iridescent effect resembles that of a dragonfly wing.

Prior to this, I owned just two ETK in #3 Purpura and #4 Pulp Fiction.

Swatched below on bare skin (from left to right): #3, #4, #20, #22 and #23.

As you can see, most of the shades are heavy on the sparkle factor, with #20 Obsidian Black being slightly less shimmery than the rest. All of these feel wonderfully velvety smooth to touch and are easy to blend. I prefer to apply these with my fingertip as using a brush seems to result in a more patchy and sheer application. Using my fingertip turns out to be much faster for achieving an even, more intense application. For lining the lower eyelid, a flat eyeliner brush works best.

For the first look, I used #20 from the upper lashline to the crease, #22 in the middle of the lid and outer half of the lower lashline, and #23 over the browbone area and the inner half of the lower lashline. Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Sequins was used to line the upper lashline.

These wear quite well without the help of any primer, although after eight hours, there was some minor creasing at the inner corners. After 15 hours, the crease extended across two-thirds of my upper eyelid (basically along the fold) but the eyeshadows applied above the crease remained pretty much the same as when freshly applied. There wasn't any fallout or smudging onto the lower eyelid as the day passed.

For the second look, I used #22 from the upper lashline to the middle of the lid and #23 from the middle of the lid to under the brow, and along the lower lashline. MAC Pearlglide Intense Eyeliner in Undercurrent was used to line the upper lashline.

If you're a lover of all things shiny and sparkly, these new Eyes To Kill shades are not to be missed. Their more affordable "cousins", L'Oreal Color Infaillibles, have a similar texture but not such complex shades, which helps to justify Armani's premium price point. (Armani is also owned by L'Oreal).

Do also check out Pink Sith's review of #20 and #23. Armani recently opened their first counter in Singapore at DFS Galleria in Scotts Road (see Makeup Stash for pics and the price list), where the Eyes To Kill retails for S$41. That makes it about the same price as the US and significantly cheaper compared to the UK (£26/S$52), France (€36.50/S$59) and Switzerland (CHF50/S$67).