Guerlain 2, Place Vendôme | 1 Palette, 5 Looks

By now, I think I’ve stretched this Guerlain review as long as I possibly can (without getting cyber-pelted with rotten vegetables, that is).  Today, I bring you the final installment, featuring 5 EOTDs.  But first:

I was looking at this row of swatches the other day, and you know what I realized?

Remember me?

Do you see the resemblance in color schemes?  No wonder the Guerlain 2, Place Vendôme palette ($85) popped out at me!  If you have no idea what I’m babbling about, note the resemblance between the shades above and my favorite painting of all time here, and then report back.

Today, I present to you 5 looks I’ve done so far using this palette.  I’d like to add that a) I’m not a makeup artist, and these are not going to look amazing, but guess what?  It also means you can probably do them too if you want to, and b) these are 5 looks I’ve created so far…as in, I’m sure there are many more floating out there.

What I’m wearing (in all 5 looks)

• Urban Decay Primer Potion*
• Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara (Thanks, Tracy!)
• Annabelle Smoothliner in Bronze, unless otherwise  noted (Tracy’s kind of the best)

This first look might just be my favorite of the 5.  I wanted to use that beautiful blue in the middle, while still creating something daytime appropriate.

• From the Place Vendôme palette: 5 all over the lid, 4 in the outer corner, 2 in the crease
• Also wearing: Milani Liquif’Eye Metallic Eyeliner Pencil in Gold, KATE Super Sharp Liner in BK-1

While I usually ignore those little pamphlets which often accompany palettes, I was intrigued by Guerlain’s ‘tone on tone’ technique, which uses the contouring shades (1-4).  The basic idea is to pair shades 1 or 2 with shades 3 or 4, the lighter shade all over the lid, and the darker one slanting downward from the outer corner/crease.  It sounds so stupidly simple (and it is simple to do), but looks amazing.  I hope you can see the beautiful dimension this technique achieves in the pictures below:

• From the Place Vendôme palette: 1 all over the lid, 3 applied in a slanted, upside-down teardrop shape from the outer corner/crease to the middle of the eye
• Also wearing: Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Smog*

Since green is my all-time favorite color, I decided to pull out one of my favorites and pair it with this palette.  The result was a neutral look with a hint of color.  As I mentioned in my previous review, the colors in this palette can pull warm or cool depending what you pair them with.  I used shade 3 in both the previous look and this one to demonstrate its chameleon-like qualities (just kidding, I happen to love the color.  No prior planning was involved.  Me trying to sound all look-into-the-future and always prepared, ha).

• From the Place Vendôme palette: 3 all over the lid
• Also wearing: MAC Warm Suede (LE) applied rather smudgily all along the upper lashline and concentrated at the outer corner, Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Smog*

Below is the first look I ever did with this palette.  I wasn’t altogether pleased with it, but thought I’d include it anyways.  If I were to redo this, I’d apply the navy blue much more heavily, since the pigmentation can easily be increased with a little water.

• From the Place Vendôme palette: 6 smudged along the upper and lower lashline
• Also wearing: Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Revolver*, Prestige Waterproof Eye Pencil in Granite (applied before 6 on the lower lashline)

And finally, a wearable smoky eye.  My pictures failed to capture the variations in color.  It looks like a flat blob of grey, but in real life it was a gorgeous transition from faded blue to dusky smoke (somewhat visible in the upper left hand photo).  You’ll have to trust me on this one:

• From the Place Vendôme palette: 4 all over the lid, 5 patted on top on the inner third of the lid and slightly into the crease, 6 blended on the outer corner.
• Also wearing: Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Retrograde*, Carmindy for Sally Hansen Forever Stay Eye Pencil in Pure Plum

As I’ve discovered, the key to making this palette work is to use no more than 1-3 colors at a time.  In fact, I think it works best when you coordinate 2 shades (such as in the tone-on-tone look) because it best allows the eyeshadows to complement each other, and highlights their nuances.  Of course, there are no rules in makeup, and I’m sure there are a plethora of other ways to work this palette.  And if I haven’t convinced you 2, Place Vendôme is worth it yet (it goes without saying that I give it an A+, yes?), check out the links below.

• Part 1 (packaging review)
• Part 2 (swatches & review)

And elsewhere on the internet:

• 3 more looks (all very different from mine, all very pretty) from Xiao of the apple-slicing cheekbones Messy Wands
• A glowing review via The Non-Blonde, also known as the review that finally convinced me to get the palette.
• A lovely review via Cafe Makeup.  Amy’s post features Rue de Sevres instead of Place Vendôme, but I think she brings up great points on how to get the most out of these palettes.

Full Disclosure: Press samples are marked with asterisks (*).  For more information, please see my disclaimer.

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