Giorgio Armani's Kaleidoscope collection just launched at counters here in Switzerland. I was eagerly anticipating this collection for its six new limited edition Eyes To Kill shades (Scaranbeo edition) which have a duochrome finish. This is the only autumn collection that has been released so far here amongst the prestige brands.
The collection also includes two limited edition Scarabeo Kaleidoscope Face & Eye Palettes and six new Rouge D'Armani lipsticks.
The Eyes To Kill have a dreamy velvety texture and the duochrome finish is gorgeous. The only boring shade that can be easily duped is #35 Silver Chafer which did not appear to be a duochrome to me. Sara BeauTime has excellent comparison swatches of these shades with earlier ETK shades so do check out her blog. There are also close-up pics of the ETK on Kai's Obsessions.
After swatching these, I settled on #34 Blue Beetle, a stormy dark blue/green, which was the most intensely pigmented shade in this collection.
The two palettes come in Armani's usual glossy black lacquer cases. These have a rather odd oval shape. The cases snap close with a magnetic closure. The lack of a traditional clasp make these feel less secure than I prefer. Made in Italy, each palette contains a sheer blush (10g), three powder eyeshadows (1g each) and two sponge applicators.
Both the blush and the middle eyeshadow shade have a shimmery overspray that rubs off at the first swipe. The blush in the #1 Mystic Blue palette is not as shimmery as it looks in the pic below. The purple overspray on the middle blue shade is quite deceptive as the color underneath is quite different, a turquoise blue that reminds me of MAC Parrot. See more pics on Sara BeauTime.
I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of the eyeshadows. Extremely velvety smooth to touch, they produce great color payoff with just one swipe without needing any primer underneath.
The blush in #2 Venomous Green has more subtle overspray than #1 Mystic Blue and should be easy to pull off for light to medium skintones.
Again, the pale green overspray on the middle eyeshadow shade is deceptive as it rubs away to reveal a deep green.
I fell in love with the dirty dark brown shade with bronze flecks at the first swatch.
Swatches of Venomous Green on the left half and Mystic Blue on the right half of the pic below.
The new Rouge D'Armani were all very attractive as well with beautiful color payoff and a moisturising finish but I decided to skip these as I simply have too many lip products.
I came home with both palettes, ETK in Blue Beetle and a Gloss D'Armani Plum 602 that was on clearance sale. If you have access to an Armani counter, the Kaleidoscope collection is well worth checking out. The products are definitely on the pricey side but this is truly the most unique and stunning collection I've seen from Armani in recent times.
