Eye candy spectacular! Guerlain Edition, mostly meteorites

I can never keep up a diary for more than a month or two, so I wasn’t sure how long I will be able to keep this blog up. Four months later, I’m still enjoying it now as much as when I first started, and I hope you do, too, dear readers. Besides, it’s my 42nd post and I like 42 because of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so to celebrate I will be showing off some of my prettiest (and most expensive T.T) makeup.

Due to glowing reviews and ravings from some friends, I finally decided to go for the pre-2014 Guerlain Meteorites perles in Teint Rose last fall. Little did I know back then that would fuel a meteorite obsession. All the meteorites pearls come in a box, with a pad in the jar, on top of the pearls, for padding (not application). If you like pretty makeup, pretty pictures, or Guerlain products, then settle down into your chair and be prepared for all the eye candy coming up. Now then, shall we introduce today’s stars?

Météorites Perles D’Azur, Emilio Pucci

Seller description: Multicolored little pearls are adopting their summer wardrobe. The signature print-a blue flower interlaced with swirls and flames-is a motif inspired by the iconic Pucci archival print, “Winter Capri.” Encased in Emilio Pucci–adorned packaging, they are enriched with a corrective blue pearl to create a flawless complexion. Formulated like the classic Meteorites Pearls, the Pearls d’Azur beautifully adapts to the demands of the sun by combining six colors that even out and correct every skin tone. Featuring blue and pink to counter the yellow tones in tired complexions for a corrective effect, beige and orange to warm up the complexion and create an even tan for an evening effect and ivory and white-gold light reflectors for an illuminating effect.

Pearl count: 9 white, 18 gold, 10 beige, 13 pink, 7 aqua, 13 orange.

It is slightly more shimmery than the old regular meteorites, teint rose, and have a slight warming/bronzing tint. I would assume it’s similar to one of the darker colors from the new regular line. You can probably use it as a finishing powder if you have light/medium or darker skintone, or to warm up your skintone for most, or as a bronzer for REALLY pale skintone. But really, meteorites are more finishing powder than bronzer/blush etc.

Météorites Perles Du Dragon

Seller description: Named for Year of the Dragon and to pay tribute to this mythical animal, a symbol of the emperor of China, whose primary source of power lay in a pearl. The harmony of 6 shades of pearls in an intense, iridescent monochrome palette is perfectly tailored to the holiday season. Like nighttime jewels, it cloaks the face in incredible radiance: pale pink and beige even out the complexion, white and gold illuminate, while plum and rosewood brighten areas of shadow and erase fatigue as the night goes on.

Pearl count: 32 white, 15 gold, 13 plum/purple, 6 pink and 5 rosewood. 

Haha, according to description there should be 6 colors but I counted 5, oops. I’ve got bad eyesight and was too busy trying to get good lighting before the sun set to really scrutinize the pearls. The 32 white is probably two colors combined. The dragon pearls are slightly more shimmery than the old teint rose, and it gives a champagne glow. It would be a good subtle highlighter or a nice finishing powder for evening events. I wore it during the day, and it gives a more satin/dewy finish rather than the matte/satin finish of teint rose.

Regular Meteorites Teint Rose

Seller description: Guerlain Météorites Pearls is an illuminating finishing powder, formulated to boost your natural radiance while evening out complexion. It’s been reformulated to incorporate the brand’s exclusive stardust technology which diffracts light upon contact to instantly envelope your skin in a halo of light. How to use: Apply the powder evenly to the entire face to set makeup and improve hold. For a boosted radiance effect, illuminate the curved areas of the face by tracing a “G” from the center of the forehead toward the top of the cheekbone, then from the bridge of the nose toward the chin.

Pearl count: 12 purple, 8 green, 10 champagne, 9 white, 8 gold, 15 pink

It’s a lovely product, with a slight mattifying effect for oily spots and a slight glow for the shiny spot. If you have very dull or very oily skin, or your makeup looks too flat/shiny, this gives you a natural finish. If you are looking for a mattifier or luminizer, then you will be disappointed. You can still get the old meteorites at some places, but if you are wondering how it compares to the new meteorites, I did happen to get a sample of it awhile back……

A ton of blogs did a comparison of the two formula’s overall, the new one is more shimmery than the old one basically. I decided to do a pearl by pearl comparison with 10 firm rub on skin, 5 firm rub on paper to see what’s really different about them. The new yellow (anti-dullness) are more matte, slightly paler/pastel rather than yellow. It doesn’t show up as much on my skin and is more of a pastel yellow matte instead of gold shimmer. The new purple (catches the light) have a bit more pay off and seems to have a slight pink tint while old have a cooler tint. The new white glitter (reflects light), pink (reveals glow), ivory/champagne (illuminates) and green (anti-redness) are all more powdery and give more payoff than the old, otherwise same color.

Because it is so sheer, it’s difficult to capture the color on the skin, so I did heavy swatches and also included how the powder looks on the tissue I poured the pearls out onto. It’s not ideal, but this should give you an idea of the difference in color.

Meteorites Asian Seasons Miniature Pearl Collection

Every year, there are limited edition stuff released that are only in Asia. You can get them, overpriced, from some international sites. I couldn’t resist the pretty packaging and got mine from Izzy’s Beauty since my friends said it’s legit. They are every bit as adorable as I expected……

However, despite the fact there’s a big fragile sticker on the box, one of the pearls broke, boo! That’s not anyone’s fault but anyways. I kind of expected it to be cardboard packaging but…..no matter how pretty it is, it’s cardboard, it’s paper, and when I pay $50+ for so little products (1/2 the amount of pearls but more expensive than a full size jar) I want it to be in something luxe. I will not be buying future minis, since it’s more quantity and cheaper to go for a full size metal jar of meteorites.

Brush/Application: There is a pink bristled Guerlain brush for the pearls, which I tried in store and now have a mini version from the set. It is scratchy and you don’t need it to enjoy the meteorites. Basically the point is that a soft and fluffy powder brush won’t pick up much powder from the pearls so if you want a similar effect you want a firmer and denser powder brush to use with the meteorites. Some people also shake the tin a bit or invert it to get more powder for brushes to pick up. I just use a firm/dense brush, swirl generously and apply generously.

 Parure Du Nuit

Seller’s Description: This silky soft face powder is composed of pale pink, white, deep pink and blue green shades that unify and highlight the complexion. A 2-in-1 powder: Pressed Powder-Swipe the 4 shades in a vertical movement and apply all over the face. Blush-Swipe along the 3 peacock feathers and apply on the top of the cheeks for a rosy healthy glow finish. The black lacquer case conceals an extremely soft brush made of blue-green goat hair perfect for application.

There are quite a few high-end brand that includes a complimentary pouch with powder compact, but most of those velvety pouch do not have a satin lining like this one. I do wish the outside is a bit fancier, there’s no pictures/engraving or anything on the black compact, but I love the attention to details. They not only made sure the product is of good quality, but all the add-ons are just as good instead of being an afterthought from the well-made pouches to the brush. The brush is not amazingly soft and silky, but  it is not as scratchy as the pink Guerlain meteorites brush. The goat hair bristles picks up the powder easily and the aqua color is the same as the satin lining of the pouch.

I was so excited to get it that I immediately digged in. I swatched on my hand, individually, together, used the brush on my face etc before I remembered I should’ve take pictures. So, that’s why you see a little tint of beige on the pink dots and some powder on the edge of the compact. Oh well, detailed picture of it under slightly different lighting.

I looked through a ton of pictures online before buying and while it claims to be a highlighter, I was worried it’s going to be too pink. Well, the background is actually more beige than pink, so you can actually use it as a blush, highlighter or all over powder. Here are the swatches of everything mixed together, which gives you a cool pink glow and can be used all over using a fan brush if your skin/foundation is too matte. You can pick out the top right and bottom left corner (background) to highlight above the cheekbones, or swipe diagonally along the pink dots for a subtle blush.

And that’s all of my prettiest new editions. For more eye candies I’ve got, check out this past post about my powder compact. Or for more pretty meteorites, read on. While most of the ones I have are out of stock, there are lots of limited editions that are in stock right now. From top left, they are Crazy Pearls, Paradise Pearls (most department stores), Blanc Pearls (old ones), Light Is In the Air Pearls (only on Ebay right now), Aquarella (new release), and Blanc Pearls (new release).  You can find the Crazy Pearls, old Blanc Pearls and quite a few mini sets from international/asian sites like Izzy’s Beauty. The new releases haven’t come out yet, I think, which is good since my wallet will need at least a couple months to recover before I splurge again, lol. And that’s that, enjoy!

UPDATE: Light is in the Air meteorites is actually Teint Rose in a LE jar, so if you find the new meteorites (Clair) too powder/shimmery and wants Teint Rose, you can get this at Ebay. According to the US Guerlain Rep I contacted, Aquarella is not and will not be available in US. It’s an Asian release and currently only available on eBay (as of 5/26/2014).