Giorgio Armani Beauty Blushing Fabric Giveaway Contest

Congratulations to Anonymous in South Africa!

Giorgio Armani Beauty's Blushing Fabric Second Skin Blush ($38) is a micro-blend of water-soluble pigments that creates a luminous and luxurious fabric-like finish with incredible transparency. Inspired by Armani's finest couture fabrics - silks and chiffon - this sensuous "textiled" color wraps the skin in weightless perfection.



Blushing Fabric is like wearing a "colored layer of air" on your skin. Formulated with Armani's MicroFil 3D technology, it creates your "second-skin blush." The unique MicroFil 3D formulations in Armani makeup products are characterized by lightness and fluidity, facilitating seamless blending and layering to enhance the natural glow of the skin. I adore my Blushing Fabrics!



Thanks to a generous friend in the industry, I have one Blushing Fabric in #3 to give away. The tube is shown above. I can't swatch it for you (otherwise this tube would be used), but I can describe it as a gorgeous pinky peach shade. If you haven't tried Blushing Fabric, you have no idea what you're missing! Now's your chance. Here's the "fine print" for the contest.



There are a few simple steps to enter. First, all you really have to do is leave a comment on this feature. After you comment here, feel free to send me an e-mail at bestthingsinbeautycontests@gmail.com and identify your comment. You can never be too careful about sharing an e-mail address you care about on a blog, so feel free to follow this step (an alternative is to code your e-mail, e.g., myname at gmail dot com, in your comment).



You can earn extra entries. Follow this blog (through an e-mail subscription or though one of the many Google readers - see sidebar at right) to earn a second entry. You don't have to follow to enter. I want everyone to have a chance, but I also want to reward my followers.



You can earn a third entry by tweeting this contest. Just make sure to include "@BTiBeauty" (without the quotes) and the contest title in your tweet. I will tweet the contest this evening, and you can simply retweet it to earn that second entry. Only one tweet will be counted as an entry. I appreciate multiple tweets, but it's not necessary.



The deadline for entries will be Saturday, September 3, at midnight. The next day, I will use a random number generator (random.org) to select the winner. I will e-mail the winner on Sunday. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my message and provide a shipping address. After 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited, and another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your e-mail - and look in your spam folder - when the contest ends.



This contest is open to anyone anywhere. Here are the terms. I will carefully pack and ship the prize (as I always do). I cannot insure the prize for overseas shipment - it's amazingly expensive to do so because of the way I have to send insured mail. If it's lost or stolen in transit, I won't be able to replace it with another. I'll do my best on this end; let's see if your mail service does right by you on the other end if we have an overseas winner.



Good luck!



Photo by Best Things in Beauty

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Rouge d'Armani in Pink 525 from Jacquard Collection for Fall 2011

There are four new Giorgio Armani Beauty Rouge d'Armani shades that arrived with the Fall 2011 Jacquard Collection. My selection was Pink 525 ($30), shown at right. It's a silvery mauve pink - perfect for a lot of us, carefully aligned with fall's colors.



Rouge d'Armani is a long-lasting lipstick. It's not drying like some, although I don't get a full eight hours of wear from it (as advertised). I would have to stop talking, drinking, and eating. I don't expect eight hours of wear from any lipstick. The Rouge d'Armani lipsticks have a very soft and creamy texture. You may already know that the magnetic, snap-closure cases of Rouge d'Armani define the quiet elegance of the shades that lie within.



Here's an introduction to Rouge d'Armani from Giorgio Armani Beauty.



The lipsticks use Color-Fil technology. Giorgio Armani pioneered this breakthrough cosmetic color technology, which owes its highly innovative formula to a unique color bond agent. Color bond, the result of seven years of research and 20 patents, offers exceptional qualities of comfort, luminosity, and color intensity.



Color bond is a revolutionary polymer architecture with an exceptional property that weaves highly selected ingredients into a supple 3D matrix that adheres durably to lips. Its made-to-measure architecture, made of two “parts,” is able to unite two contrasting properties: hold and comfort. Its smooth surface optimizes light reflection, revealing a new color vibrancy.



The ingredients allow Armani Beauty to achieve the perfect formula, with exclusive emollients and "micronized" waxes that slip onto lips for a smooth, melting, comfortable application. The spherical micro-pigments fuse with the color bond agent for rich, vibrant color. There are two lightweight oils - one for perfect affinity with the lips for comfort, the other for a smooth and satin finish.



As you can see in my swatch photos, taken in full sun, but with my arm turned slightly away from the sun, the color of Pink 525 is a cool pink with slightly blue undertones. It adds a soft shimmer - a gleam, really - to my lips. On me, it's a perfect color, one I'm going to need to hoard. It offers medium coverage (I don't like opaque lipsticks very much), with enough color to light up my face and make my eyes pop blue.



As you can see from my two photos, as the ambient light increases, the shade becomes warmer, which means 525 will make a lovely transition from indoors to outdoors, leaving you with naturally pretty lips anywhere you go. That's a nice lipstick!



There are three more shades in the fall collection. Two are what Armani calls Beige: one a very light nude and the other a medium tone. There's also a Rouge shade, 406, that I swatched last weekend and showed in my shopping feature. It's too red for my face, but it will be gorgeous on anyone who can wear a vibrant red shade.



When you stop by your favorite Armani counter to check out the heart-stopping Jacquard palettes, make sure to look at the lovely new lip colors. I bought mine at Neiman Marcus.



Photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Scarlatto Blushing Fabric from Jacquard Collection for Fall 2011

Giorgio Armani Beauty has introduced two new Blushing Fabric ($38) shades with its new Jacquard Collection for Fall 2011. Don't be fooled by the dark tube of Scarlatto (#7), which gives you a clue to the color - but only a clue.



The color palette [of the Jacquard Collection] explores contrasts and the interplay of light and shade, creating a look that is both soft and intense. Satin half-tones, verging on pastel, aqua green, tobacco, and camel in desaturated shades, including scarlatto and deep violet. Silky glints on a floating haze of color.



That description of the collection is our second clue that the colors are divine on the face - so wearable, so elegant - the hallmark of Armani Beauty and fashion. I was able to show you a fuzzy photo of Camel and Scarlatto over the weekend. Now, I've got better pictures. I purchased Scarlatto (Camel will suit a different skin tone). I am totally smitten.



If you've never experienced the sheer nature of Armani's Face Fabric and Blushing Fabric, now would be a great time to get yourself over to an Armani counter. At Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria, they recently received new stock of some of the previously introduced shades (which are gorgeous), and the new shades arrived for purchase Monday. I had Scarlatto on my to-buy list.



When I went outside to take swatch photos, a little visitor landed on my hand. He distracted me immediately, so I decided to post his photo at the bottom of this feature. Something tells me that he and sumptuous fabrics might not be compatible, but that's another story. He stayed until I prompted him to land on a rose.



Scarlatto is sheer - beautifully sheer. I had to apply it fairly heavily with a sponge to show you the shade. You can start with a teeny tiny amount and build the color until your cheeks look exquisite. I made three swatches with a sponge, with the heaviest intensity at the top of my arm. You should use a synthetic brush to apply Blushing Fabric. A foundation brush or Armani's renowned Blender Brush ($48) would be perfect.



I hope you can see from the heaviest swatch at the top of my arm that the color is a warm rose. It's extremely close to the color I would blush naturally. Not too pink and not too brown, and it doesn't shimmer, it's literally perfect. Applied as a sheer veil of color, it's as pretty as it gets. I blush every time I apply it, and I've only had it in my house for two days!



What do you think? Is there a Blushing Fabric in your future? You can find the new Jacquard Collection at Neiman Marcus (linked above) or wherever you normally purchase Giorgio Armani Beauty. Scarlatto and Camel aren't available at Armani's Web site yet, but I'm sure they will be soon.



Now, for my little visitor...



Photos courtesy of Neiman Marcus and by Best Things in Beauty

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette (#1) for Fall 2011

Elegance is not being noticed but being remembered.

Earlier today, I featured Giorgio Armani Beauty's Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette in #2 for Fall 2011. Here's #1, a stunning "sister palette" that's equally elegant. Both are $59. Palette #1 combines my favorite green shades with rich purple, and the results of blending these shades may surprise you.



I swatched each shade individually, using a sponge-tipped applicator, and I took my photos in sunlight (which added a little extra shimmer). The shade at the top of this palette and near my wrist is a very light beige. It's a beautiful base shade, but can also be used as a highlighter. I am amazed that it picks up an ever-so-slight green hue when paired with one of the greens. I swatched clockwise. The shade at the right side if the palette is an interesting Army men's dress uniform green, but it has an element of forest green that makes it even more interesting (it's like PANTONE 19-5513 TPX or maybe 003300). I'm having trouble finding the right descriptor for the hue. Whatever color it is, it's stunning. Mint green, in a shade that coordinates perfectly with the darker green, owns the left side of the palette. The color strip at the bottom is purple, a rich, red-leaning purple.



As with palette #2, the shades in the #1 palette are gorgeous. The purple liner is exquisite when paired with the green shades. I've always loved the combination of purple and green in fashion, so Armani's pairing was a natural for me. Look at the sage green shade I created, shown at the bottom of my arm photo, by blending the two green shades! I think it's totally gorgeous.



Want to lighten up the darker green even more? Blend it with the beige at the top of the palette. Want a pretty blue-toned lavender rather than the rich purple? Blend the mint green with the purple shade. The results are surprising and delightful.



I'll go out on a limb and say you need one of the new Giorgio Armani palettes for fall. My regular readers know I seldom talk about my makeup loves in terms of need (after all, we do have to prioritize our expenses). You've seen the face and eye palettes here now (check out the Woven Face Color Palette if you didn't see it). Will you be shopping?



The new Armani Fall 2011 Collection is available at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria and Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase. That much I know for sure. That should mean your favorite Armani counter - at any store - will have it soon if it's not already on display. I know they are available on the West Coast, and they probably landed in Europe before they arrived here. The Armani Beauty USA Web site has not posted the palettes yet, but they will.



Photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette (#2) for Fall 2011

The new Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard palettes arrived at Neiman Marcus and Saks, and they are treasures! I purchased all three, showing you the Face Palette yesterday. Through experimenting with the Face Palette, I realized that the colors are beautiful when used individually, but when blended, they provide you with an opportunity for creative use of color.



The Jacquard Woven Eye Color Palette ($59) in #2 offered me an excellent way to show you. I applied all shades with a sponge-tipped applicator, heavily, and took my photos in full sun. The sunshine made the shades show a bit more shimmer than the colors have "in real life."



Here are the four shades in the palette. The top white pearl highlighter at the top of the palette is a pretty base or highlighter for the other shades. You can blend it on your brush with any of the other shades to add a pearly effect. I swatched clockwise, so the second shade down on my arm is the taupe on the right side of the palette. Steady my heart, it's gorgeous! The third shade is the grey on the left side of the palette. As you can see on the photo above, the taupe and grey take up the most real estate in the compact. Both offer a subtle shimmer - not as much as you see here. The brick shade at the bottom of the palette is a great liner shade, but...



You can create bonus shades by blending. I can't speak for Giorgio Armani Beauty, but I think that's the intent (and the beauty) of these Jacquard palettes. Blend the brick shade with the taupe shade above it, and you get the taupe shown below the brick at right. Every taupe lover is going to flip. This is only one example of the many colors you can create with the #2 eye palette. Want a grey-taupe blend? Mix the brick with the grey. Or mix the taupe and grey tones. What to add pearl to your taupe? Mix the taupe with the white highlighting shade. You get the idea - the choices are limited only by your imagination!



All of the shades blend beautifully. I have mixed them on my brush, as Loyd Cassler taught me when he was with Armani. Because the top and bottom strips in the palette are hard to "get at," I'd recommend a narrow eye shadow brush.



I adore my new Jacquard Woven Eye Palettes. I have one more to show you, the gorgeous #1 later today. The new Armani Fall 2011 Collection is available at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria and Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase. That means your favorite Armani counter - at any store - will have it soon if it's not already on display.



Photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard Woven Face Color Palette for Fall 2011

I was very excited when the new Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard palettes arrived at Neiman Marcus! I decided to show you the Woven Face Color Palette ($55) first because it was a curiosity to me. Although I'm sure you could wear these shades anywhere on your face, including your eyes, they are stunning when blended into one shade for the face - an exquisite highlighter.



Here are the four shades presented individually. My photo was snapped in sunshine (which has come and gone all day), and I swatched each shade with a sponge-tipped applicator. The top color strip, a shimmering yellow-toned ivory, is shown at the top of my arm. I think it's beautiful. The two shades of gold, one darker than the other, comprise the majority of space in the palette. The rose shade at the bottom is almost impossible to apply individually with anything except a very narrow brush. It's a pretty color, though. I took a close-up photo to show you.



Use of either gold shade - or the ivory - no matter what tool you use for application - provides a stunning highlighter. After I started playing with the palette, it became clear to me that the palette really shines when you blend the shades. I took a dense blush brush and blended all the shades together as evenly as possible, applying the swatch to my arm mid-way between my wrist and my elbow. The shade that resulted was gasp-worthy.



It's a golden, shimmering highlighter that's a rose-leaning gold with just the right amount of shimmer. The color definitely reflects sunlight.



You can see in my two swatch photos here that the blended shimmering gold has a warm pink hue. If you "lean on" your brush along the rose strip of the palette, it will be even more pink. If you avoid the rose strip, it offers a pure golden tone. The choice is yours.



I'm officially in love with my new Jacquard Woven Face Color Palette. It's available at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria and Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase. That means your own Armani counter will have it soon if it's not already on display.



I'll show you the eye palettes tomorrow. I think they are equally lust-worthy.



Update 6:46 pm: The swatches of the blended shade on my arm were taken in the same location. One was taken in bright light. Then the sun popped out (totally), and I got a brighter one.



Photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Saturday Shopping at Neiman Marcus with Chantecaille and Giorgio Armani Beauty for Fall and Holiday

With apologies to Gaia at The Non-Blonde, who wrote an ab-fab Bergdorf Goodman Shopping Report yesterday (I appear to be stealing her idea), I want to show you some highlights of my trip to Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria yesterday. Early in the morning, I attended a "Media Mavens" breakfast at which the talented Neiman Marcus team showed us the fall and winter shoe, fashion, beauty, and home style trends. Stay tuned for my feature about that. I'll publish fall trend tips tomorrow.



At the breakfast, Lisa Lingis gave us an introduction to Le Métier de Beauté's new skin care. I'll also be featuring that as our week starts. I've had an opportunity to try some samples, and I'm extremely impressed.



After the breakfast, where every possible taste for food and drink was generously satisfied, I aimed for the beauty department, where there were many lovely new makeup previews to tempt me. This past week, many testers arrived, but the products were not available for me to purchase. Because it was raining outside, I tried to swatch inside the store. My swatch photos were miserably dark, so I'll hold off on most swatches until I get my hands on my own beauties, presumably this week for the fall collections.



Chantecaille's New Classic Palette ($85) is shown in the photo above left. The new palettes with the gold overspray are always supremely gorgeous, and this one's no different. This in-store photo appears a little more "pink" than the colors looked to my eye. I swatched them, and the two eye shades remind me a lot of my favorite Tiger in the Wild neutrals. They aren't duplicates, but they are in the same color families. The palette is totally gorgeous, and I'm anticipating its arrival with excitement.



I also got to see The Evening Duo for holiday ($84), again appearing more pink in this photo than it is in person. It's Chantecaille's first-ever, limited-edition Swarovski crystal palette that you'll want to show off. I was able to get a "just OK" swatch photo of the duo shades in the store. With a champagne shadow that will light up your eyes and a liner to define them, this palette will make you an elegant holiday dreamboat. It will be available in October.



Chantecaille has lots of other exciting items coming with the holiday collection. A Poudre de Perle in South Sea Pearl ($55), a soft and illuminating golden pink with finely processed light-diffusing optics, will be packaged in a limited-edition gunmetal for holiday. It will remain in the permanent collection, but in the regular silver packaging.



Chantecaille's popular fragrances will be available for your holiday shopping in roll-ons. Available in Petals, Kalimantan, Tiare, and Frangipane, each will be housed in a faux-croc envelope-like pouch that color-matches the full-sized box of the fragrance. At $68, you'll want to pick up a few in October for holiday presents. You'll want to add another holiday value set to your shopping list. Chantecaille will launch a Candle and Roll-on Gift Set for $98. A full-sized scented candle and roll-on fragrance packaged in a brightly colored faux-croc zip pouch will be available for $98 in October. The sets will be offered in Frangipane and Tiare. As if that weren't enough, Chantecaille is also creating an Aromacologie Starter Set with a collection of its best-selling skin care in a convenient travel size. Priced at $180, it's a $209 value.



Chantecaille will also offer hand-decorated, signed, and numbered Swarovski-embellished bottles of its fragrances, created by Cimon, a world-renowned artist. Cimon's fanciful Swarovski-adorned small sculptures are priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars and collected the world over. Each dazzling bottle may be special ordered only at Neiman Marcus at Bergdorf Goodman, starting now, and your fragrance of choice will be delivered in the collector's edition four weeks later. The price is $600. The bottles are extraordinary.



After reluctantly leaving my friends at Chantecaille, I moved on to visit my friends at Giorgio Armani Beauty. All the new testers arrived Friday without product to sell. Take a look at these three beauties from the Jacquard Collection for Fall 2011 - one for face (#1) and two for eyes (the greys are #2, and the greens are #1)!



The face palette is shown at left, with the two exquisite eye palettes in the center and at right. Believe me, these palette will take your breath away if you love makeup as much as I do.



My swatch photos taken in the store were so bad, I'll only show you one.



I'll own these palettes soon enough, and I'll get photos worthy of their fabulousness. I took a lot of swatch photos in the store, but I didn't want to use a flash and wash out the shades. As a result, there wasn't enough light to get good color representations.



There are four new Rouge d'Armani shades on display for fall. Here's a swatch photo (taken in the store) of all four shades in pink, beige, and red colors. I'll be headed straight for Pink 525, shown at the top of my arm, when the products arrive.



I also got a peek at the two new Blushing Fabrics for Fall 2011, Camel and Scarlatto. They are sheer and stunning on the skin. Surprising to me, Scarlatto is absolutely fabulous on my fair skin. It jumped right onto my to-buy list.



I've got only a blurry, low-light iPhone photo snapped inside the store. It shows Camel on the left of my arm and Scarlatto at right. I applied each heavily with a sponge, and their sheerness is still evident. Totally gorgeous! Don't let the dark-colored tubes for these beautiful Face Fabrics scare you off. Try them.



Think I had fun?



Before I leave the subject of lust-worth beauty, let's take a very brief stroll around the Internet.



The Non-Blonde is leaving me with brush envy. See her feature on the Hakuhodo's G series Foundation Brush.

Messy Wands published a fabulous tutorial on mixing Le Métier de Beauté's Lip Crème shades. I've shown it to everyone.

Thanks to Daly Beauty, I'm going to have to go purchase Spa Wisdom Polynesia Monoi Miracle Oil.

Fab over Forty's feature on BECCA's Pressed Shimmer Powder intrigued me.

Café Makeup compared the exquisite Estée Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelée to some other popular highlighters.



All are worth a read. I've got lots of news lined up for this week's features. I'm excited about fall's fashion and beauty launches.



Photo at top courtesy of Neiman Marcus; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Sneak Peek: Giorgio Armani Beauty Blushing Fabric for Fall 2011

We're all excited by the new eye palettes in Giorgio Armani Beauty's Jacquard Collection for Fall 2011. I featured a sneak peek at the gorgeous colors last month. Did you know that there are two new Blushing Fabrics ($38) and that they are arriving with the fall collection? Camel (#6) and Scarlatto (#7) define the upcoming season.

Sophisticated Jacquard motifs woven into silk fabric are the inspiration for autumn's makeup lines, where color, radiance, and sensuality combine in gossamer textures. The color palettes explore the contrasts and the interplay of light and shade, creating a look that is both soft and intense. Satin half tones, verging on pastel - aqua green, tobacco, and camel in desaturated shades with Scarlatto and deep violet. Silky glints on a floating haze of color; this is makeup that mirrors fashion.

Blushing Fabric, unveiled in two new shades for fall, offers sensational texture for the cheekbones. Camel and Scarlatto are completely unexpected colors (let the tube colors be your guide - sorry about the dark backgrounds), but both will give a natural, radiant sheen by the almost imperceptible texture of this blush. Apply it correctly, and your face will have the perfect fall glow.

Blushing Fabric is a micro-blend of water-soluble pigments that creates a luminous and luxurious fabric-like finish with incredible transparency. Inspired by Armani's finest couture fabrics - silks and chiffon - when first introduced, this sensuous "textiled" color wraps skin in weightless perfection.

Blushing Fabric is like wearing a "colored layer of air" on your skin. Formulated with Armani's MicroFil 3D technology, it creates your "second-skin blush." The unique MicroFil 3D formulations in Armani makeup products are characterized by lightness and fluidity, facilitating seamless blending and layering to enhance the natural glow of the skin.

The Face Fabrics always sell out. Make sure to see the new shades when they arrive at your Giorgio Armani Beauty counter or online at Giorgio Armani Beauty.

Photos courtesy of Giorgio Armani Beauty

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Sneak Peek: Giorgio Armani Beauty Rouge d'Armani for Fall/Winter 2011

Megan Fox, in a simpler incarnation, posed with nude lips for Giorgio Armani Beauty's Fall/Winter 2011 Collection. I promised I would share more photos with you. I have four new Rouge d'Armani shades I can share.

Beige Rosé, shown at left, may - just may - end my quest for the perfect nude lipstick. I can't wait to see it.

Beige, shown at right, appears to be lighter - possibly too light for my pale face. We'll have to see these nude shades up close and personal to know for sure.

Rose Piqué de Mauve at left may be the one that makes my heart skip a beat - just because mauve is so flattering on my lips. Look at the color! Doesn't it intrigue you?

There's a red one too - Scarlatto - for those who need some drama for fall. It looks like a great red, not too cool, not too warm. Could it be the red Megan Fox was wearing here?

I don't have numbers for these lipsticks yet - only names. I'm sure they will be easy to identify once the fall collection is posted online and arrives at Giorgio Armani Beauty counters. I can't wait! I'm impatient for fall.

Photos courtesy of Giorgio Armani Beauty

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Sneak Peek: Giorgio Armani Beauty Palettes for Fall/Winter 2011

Featuring Megan Fox, Giorgio Armani Beauty is rolling out a sophisticated yet wearable look for fall. How Armani! I was able to get photos of the new palettes to show you, courtesy of my friends at Planète Beauté.

If you love makeup and you aren't following Planète Beauté, my first question would be, "Why not?" Planète Beauté was one of the first blogs I linked on my site. I was new to blogging, and I found their content to be superb. I was a bit jealous too because Europeans often get press releases about European collections before the information lands in the United States. Sometimes I think our photos arrive in the U.S. by raft - one that crossed the Atlantic in turbulent weather!

Go subscribe or follow Planète Beauté! Don't tell me you can't read French. Google Translate will help you.

As I started to write this feature today, in came more Giorgio Armani Beauty Fall/Winter 2011 photos I'll be able show you this week. I feel like I won the lottery - and I don't even have the products in hand!

For now, look at these beautiful eye shadows I have in my future. The jacquard pattern, inspired by couture textiles, gives the shadows a three-dimensional appearance. The Giorgio Armani logo ensures we make no mistakes about their exclusive origin.

These colors look extremely wearable. Each palette has a highlighter to illuminate and a dark color to use as a liner. Two shades of the same color (grey-blue, green, and neutral pink-browns) seem to take their inspiration from Pantone pages.

The palette with the black background below may actually be a face palette, with a highlighter, blush, and cheek color. Even it it's intended for the eyes, it would make a beautiful face palette to create a pink and healthy glow. I need to get my hands on it to see if the small sheer red at the bottom is large enough to use as a blush. You can tell I don't have complete information yet.

In the past, I've found that the European collections (or early photos) are occasionally slightly different from what we receive in the U.S. I've also seen the "look" photos differ from one continent to the next.

We may have to wait until late August or early September to see these beauties in person. That will be agonizing for those of us who buy everything Armani. I want to wear these now.

Photos courtesy of Planète Beauté

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Hot Collection Rouge d'Armani

The new, limited-edition Rouge d'Armani Hot Collection ($30) lipsticks from Giorgio Armani Beauty are "the new pink radiance." Six new shades offer you the opportunity to explore a palette of faceted pinks, all with a unique light-reflecting tint that produces a transparent wet finish. The shades flirt with raspberry and coral, reinterpret nasturtium and rosewood, and culminate in an explosively bright fuchsia.

I'm a little late to this party, which started in mid-June. I wasn't sure that these bright, vibrant shades would be my best. I wasn't able to resist for long. If it's Armani, I'm going to want it. I selected two shades and, luckily, purchased them when Giorgio Armani Beauty offered a 20% discount last week. Discounts can push me right over the edge of indecision!

I absolutely love the transparency of these long-lasting lip colors and the "wet" finish promised by Armani. It's different - and pretty. I purchased #521, shown at the top of my arm in the swatch photo, and #524, shown below. My photo at right was taken under cloud cover that was just starting to break up.

I hope you can see that #521 is a warmer pink than #524. Both are lovely on the lips. Bright, but not too bright, and absolutely perfect for sangria season.

The photo at left isn't a great photo, but is included just to show you why I no longer use pesticides and herbicides on my property. Can you see the little brown bunny to the right of my arm? He's just above the shade line, barely visible in the photo. I saw him feasting on clover. Too bad I wasn't taking a Rouge Bunny Rouge swatch photo!

Next time you are near an Armani counter, stop by to see the Hot Collection. You can find it at Armani Beauty's Web site and all Armani counters.

Photo at top courtesy of Giorgio Armani Beauty; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Giorgio Armani Beauty Gloss d'Armani - Part 3

I had decided to forgo a Part 3 on Giorgio Armani Beauty's new Gloss d'Armani ($28). I think I showed you enough to whet your appetites in my Sneak Peek, Part 1, and Part 2 - three features on one new lip gloss! Then Eileen left a comment about Rouge #400, a red she described this way.

Every now and then, a translucent red will come along that makes my heart skip a beat. #400 was just such a red. It's a beautiful, neutral red that is neither too warm nor too cool in tone. And, because it's a gloss, it has that all-important transparency and delicacy.

After that comment, I had to see it and, it turns out, buy it. Eileen was absolutely right. Gloss d'Armani is a red gloss to love. I can't wear red lipstick. I don't like to lead with my lips, and my coloring is so fair that it looks ridiculous on me. I can wear red gloss, as long as it's transparent and the shade doesn't lean orange. This is a perfect red lip gloss for me.

Here is a swatch photo of Rouge #400. My photo was taken in full sun. Isn't it gorgeous?

If this isn't your shade, check out my earlier features, linked above. They should tell you everything you need to know about Gloss d'Armani, Giorgio Armani Beauty's newest lip gloss sensation. It's now available at an e-commerce site, Nordstrom. Here's what they have to say about it.

More than a mere gloss…concentrated high-definition color-fusing shine, comfort, and lasting hold. Inspired by icons of the cinema, Giorgio Armani re-introduces glamour with Gloss d'Armani. Gloss d'Armani's flexible velvet applicator adds volume and defines contours instantly and effortlessly, with an expert touch. Color-Fil Shine technology boasts a translucent base that traps pigments and pearlescent particles for a hydrated, silky-smooth feeling without any stickiness. Comfortable, stay-fast color is like a second skin that remains true for eight hours without fading or migrating.

Nude beiges, at the heart of Armani's color DNA, are expressed in luminous tones, draping the lips in a sheer chiffon-like veil. Desaturated pinks, from rosewood to raspberry, add an extra dose of chic to your style. Like moiré silks, the plum shades combine shine and depth of color. Rouge 400, the incendiary signature Armani shade, now comes in a sheer version for an astonishing, explosive effect.

I'll say! Rouge #400 in Gloss d'Armani is a hit at my house. Thanks, Eileen! Anyone who wants to browse or purchase Gloss d'Armani should be able to find it at any Armani Beauty counter.

Photo at top courtesy of Nordstrom; swatch photo by Best Things in Beauty

More about → Giorgio Armani Beauty Gloss d'Armani - Part 3

Giorgio Armani Beauty Gloss d'Armani - Part 2

You knew I would buy more shades of Giorgio Armani Beauty's new Gloss d'Armani ($28), right? It didn't take me long. They arrived at Neiman Marcus on Friday, and aside from the "pastel tangerine" one I referenced Wednesday in "Part 1," I gave Kathy Shoreman, my fantastic sales associate, the go-ahead to select three more for me.

To recap, Gloss d'Armani is Giorgio Armani Beauty's newest lip gloss. Armani's exclusive Color-Fil Shine technology allows the texture of Gloss d’Armani to be compared to a weave that gently and lastingly adorns the lips. The secret ingredient, the Color Bond Polymer already found at the heart of Rouge d’Armani, has the ability to form a supple mesh that traps pigments and pearlescent particles. Thanks to its translucent formula base, the texture gives "full expression" to color.

Mirror oils (I have no idea what they are) increase its shine, while silicon oil leaves it silky-smooth and non-sticky. The comfortable, stay-fast color is like a second skin that The company says remains true for eight hours without fading or migrating. I don't get eight hours out of any lip product, but I get two to three from these, depending on what I'm doing.

On my first round of purchases at Saks, I bought Beige #100, Pink #501, Plum #600, and Plum #601. Yesterday, I picked up the shades shown at the top of this feature. Here they are, from left to right in that photo.

• Beige #103
• Rouge #403
  
• Pink #503
• Pink #504

The outdoor light was not ideal for my swatch photos this morning. The sun kept peeking behind the clouds and varied in intensity while I was taking pictures. The newest "batch" of Gloss d'Armani is shown on my arm in the same order, top to bottom, listed in the bullets above.

Beige #103 has much more color than Beige #100 (pop over to this link for the swatch photo from earlier in the week). It's a pretty nude with a hint of peach. The shade I call pastel tangerine, Rouge #403, is exquisite. The glimmering color will make you look snazzy. It's not as tangerine on my lips as it looks on my arm. Pink lips plus Rouge #403 = the perfect shade for summer.

Pink #503 is a pretty medium-toned pink-rose shade. Pink #504 is very light, but makes its presence known with a remarkable gleam. It will make a great topper for many different lip shades. You can see how different these two pinks are in the two shades at the bottom of my arm.

Gloss d'Armani has no discernible fragrance or flavor. It feels great on the lips. I can feel the gloss when I wear it, but it's not tacky, sticky, or heavy. I'm smitten. What more can I say? These new lip glosses make me happy. I've always been a Giorgio Armani Beauty groupie. Nothing changed with the launch of Gloss d'Armani.

With 18 shades, you are bound to find a few that compel you to pull out your wallet. They are available at Neiman Marcus and Saks.

Photos by Best Things in Beauty

More about → Giorgio Armani Beauty Gloss d'Armani - Part 2