Guerlain holiday 2011: Météorites Perles de Nuit.

today i finally want to review the Guerlain Météorites Perles de Nuit from Guerlain's holiday collection 2011. seeing the preview pictures for this look, the new Météorites was the item i mostly anticipated.
i ordered them right when they became available on douglas.de about a month ago, they cost about 44.90€ and are probably still available at many counters although they've sold out in a few online shops. like the regular version, this contains 30g of product, which is quite a good value for your money.
the packaging is beautiful and really showcase-worthy on your dressing table, it's similar in design to the regular container, but coloured in rich peacock blue with black enamel design in the middle of the lid.
the inside is of black plastic. it comes with an aweful black latex sponge which is a big turn-off for me. where are the velvet poufs? well, they weren't of high quality or even useful, but definitely nicer to touch and to look at than these nasty sponges.

with some codes i could grab a few nice goodies!

it comes in a box with black & turquoise zebra design inside

these Météorites have a peachy colour harmony, consisting of 5 different coloured pearls:

• a pearly golden tan/beige and a pearly white to enhance luminosity and add a nicely balanced glow
• a matte pink to brighten the complexion and make it appear youthful
• a matte peach to make your face look fresh and healthy
• a silver pearl of tiny glitter bits: well, i always remove these from my container whenever i use it.

together this is a soft peachy pink powder with pearl shimmer and tiny silver glitter bits (you can avoid these when you remove the silver pearls beforehand). i would use a softer brush (for example my Lunasol Powder Brush N (review) or my SUQQU Face Brush) than my Le Métier de Beauté Powder Brush (review) that i normally use to apply Guerlain's Météorites since i find that the finish of the Perles de Nuit is much glowier than of the regular version so i like to apply it more sheerly.
it adds some healthy brightness to my complexion and a beautiful glow. it has a strong soft-focus effect, even more than the regular version. my skin looks soft and even, unevenness and large pores are less obvious. these glowy Meteorites don't have that nice oil-control quality like the regular version, at least i get shiny a earlier with these than with the regular shades after about 5-6 hours.
i like to wear it sheerly all over the face, but if i'm in the mood for, i also use a smaller brush to add a bit more to my highlight-areas.
the pearls are scented of violets like the permanent Météorites, i'm not a fan of that scent (reminds me of eldery women) but i am used to it by now.

compared to the Météorites in #2 Teint Beige (review) which is the most similar (in my stash) to these colour-wise, the Perles de Nuit are more shimmery and have a more intense soft focus effect and create a pearly glow instead of the velvety satin-matte finish of the Teint Beige.

only slightly blended

tihilw

only foundation - with Guerlain Perles de Nuit

with Perles de Nuit - full make up

comparison

Météorites #2 Teint Beige - Météorites Perles de Nuit - Météorites Perles d'Or (holiday 2010)

Guerlain holiday 2011: Parure de Nuit.

i have it for about a month now and today i finally want to share my thoughts on Guerlain's Parure de Nuit powder from their holiday collection 2011 with you.
i ordered at douglas.de and with some coupons, i could grab nice goodies (check Frau Shopping for ongoing codes). it did cost around 55€ and contains 10g of product.
it comes in the same packaging like the Blush G, star product from their spring collection 2011 (reviewed here), but with a teal colour scheme.
there is a nice velvet pouch with teal lining. the glossy black compact has the powder and a big mirror on the upper compartment and a thin brush with teal dyed bristles in the bottom level. the brush looks exciting but i don't find it usable because it's too thin and too scratchy. the case is pretty but a bit too bulky.
the powder itself is beautiful to look at: it has a pinky beige base with 3 delicate peacock feathers embossed, the eyes as three dots of colour with a outer rim of white, the main part as a coral and a dot of teal in the center.
the powder has a clear sparkly overspray that can be easily brushed away before the first use. it's intensely scented of a sweet floral perfume, much stronger than the Météorites (reviewed here and here). this could be quite annoying for sensitive noses.

in sunlight

in daylight

with flash

in sunlight, without overspray

Guerlain Parure de Nuit swatched in sunlight: beige part - red part - mixed - mixed & blended

the packaging says this to be a Pressed Powder & Blush, and i also use it as that.
it has a silky texture with a very fine silver pearl. although i first hesitated to swirl my brush generously in the pan because of the 3 blue dots, i learned that they don't interfere much with the overall resulting colour as opposed to the coral parts - the result on my face is much too pink. the coral circles are highly pigmented and a few sweeps diagonally over the three coral dots make a pretty pearly pink blush. i find the blush colour just ok, though, a bit too ordinary.
i need to use a smaller brush to carefully concentrate on the beige part if i want to apply the Parure de Nuit to the rest of my face. the beige part is quite firmly pressed and doesn't have a high pay-off. it creates a pearl glow on my face when i use it as a finishing powder, not a subtle luminescence like the Météorites Pearls that also mattifies. it is a gorgeous glow, though, it polishes my skin beautifully without emphasizing on enlarged pored or tiny bumps. if i apply it a bit more intensely, i can also use it as a highlighter.
it doesn't have any mattifying qualities, so if i get shiny after about 4-5 hours, i can't retouch with this at all because the pearl shine particles would pile up and make me look very greasy.

overall i like this powder as a soft highlighter, but i don't prefer it over the Guerlain Météorites as a all over finishing powder. i think it's a beautiful finishing powder for people with normal to dry skin, but still find the handling quite uncomfortable. the blush colour you get from this is quite average.
it's not a must-have for me.

tihilw

 only foundation - with Guerlain Parure de Nuit all over the face)

here you can see the shine better, also the blush colour.

this is how it looks with a full make up.

Guerlain Météorites Perles in #02 Teint Beige.

i absolutely adore the look of the Guerlain Météorites Perles. the boudoir feel, the gorgeous packaging, the beautiful look of the colourful pearls... all this makes the using this finishing powder an absolute pleasure. i really love the velvety veil these powders leave on my skin that creates a perfected refined and illuminated complexion.
the Guerlain Meteorites come in 3 different colour harmonies that are available in the permanent range: #01 Teint Rosé, #02 Teint Beige and #03 Teint Doré. today i want to show you the Météorites Perles in #02 Teint Beige which is my newest acquisition, but i also own the two other versions - you can see a review for them here.
i do find the result of the powders different and beautiful enough to justify owning multiple versions and always wanted to get the last one as well. i recently heard that the Teint Beige would even make your skin look better than the other two, so the Glamour Shopping Week was the right time for me to finally snatch it.

luckily the discount code from parfumdreams.de was already available 1-2 weeks before the GSW started so i already own this little gem for a few weeks now.
the colour harmony in #02 Teint Beige is created to brighten and freshen up a dull skin tone (FYI the #01 Teint Rosé fights an uneven skin tone and brightens, the #03 neutralises a yellow undertone, making it appear more golden and brighter).
it contains five different coloured pearl types:

• pink to refresh a dull complexion
• lavender to brighten up
• peachy beige to give some warmth and freshness
• pearly/shimmery white & beige to add some glow and light reflection.

for this particular product, the brush for application is quite important. i never liked the result better than with the duo fibre brush by Artdeco or the Powder Brush by Le Métier de Beauté. they fit nicely into the container and have the right resistance and texture to pick up the ideal amount of product.
i apply the powder with my Le Métier Brush (review) by swirling the brush in the metal pot.

btw, mine came with an super ugly silicone sponge this time instead of a velvet pouf - is it something new? well, while i wasn't yet impressed by the pouf, i think this cute packaging deserves something better than that disgusting sponge?! i totally dislike it.

well, back to application: i strongly suggest you picking up the product directly from the pearls. this way you will get the true effect, very refining and soft focused to conceal minor blemishes and unevenness. shaking and holding the tub upside down while closed and then take the powder that collects on the lid, you will rather end up looking discoball-weird (especially in sunlight and strong direct lighting) since the powder amount that rubs off the pearls and collects on the bottom of the container contains a lot of chunkier glitter parts. you could also pick some of the shimmery pearls and remove it to get a less shimmery mixture.

although only sheerly, i find that this colour combination really does make me look bright, healthy and radiant. it would probably be the best choice for medium skin tones (the #01 is more brightening and the #03 is a bit bronzing). the pink pearls in this doesn't make me look pink at all nor does it play up the redness in my complexion. i especially appreciate it as a finishing powder over too pale, yellow or grey-toned foundations or BB creams. i wouldn't say that this is a highlighter at all, but at the same time it's more than a normal setting powder.
it does a good job at oil-controlling for my oily skin and keeps the soft luminous look for about 6-7 hours before i need to blot.

i've seen it for 36-45€ and think it's a good price for the overall product you get, plus with 30g it contains quite a lot and will last you a long time.

see more powder-reviews in my I'm digging powders!-series here.

concentrated powder

i know, you can't see a difference at all, but before someone asks for it...

tihilw

only foundation - with Guerlain Météorites Perles #02 Teint Beige

comparison

Guerlain Meteorites: #01 Teint Rosé - #02 Teint Beige - #03 Teint Doré

pearl harmony of #01 Teint Rosé

pearl harmony of #02 Teint Beige

pearl harmony of #03 Teint Doré

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

i have had this powder for months now, but never came to review it just because i'm absolutely underwhelmed by it. funnily enough, that's the case with many Laura Mercier products i've tried so far. i always see so many rave reviews for them, but with exception of Second Skin Cheek Colour in Orange Blossom (review) none of the LM products ever wowed me, and i tried quite a bunch.

the Translucent Loose Setting Powder comes in the normal LM tub with shimmery dark brown lid. it contains 30g of product which is in this case too much to go through ;) i bought it on ebay and paid about 26€.
the powder is very fine and smooth, it's a light yellowish cream colour and has a brightening effect that i think would appear as a white cast on deeper skin tones.
it sets foundations nicely but leaves me with a dull (but not totally matte) finish that i don't like for my powders. it doesn't contain any shimmer bits. this is not a bad powder by any means, but it's just not anything special. no refining effect, no glow (until few hours after application when it starts to melt into my natural oils).
even though this doesn't seem to contain bismuth, i still found it a bit itching on my skin when i wore it back in summer days.
the only thing worth mentioning is the excellent oil control ability when i wear it with Laura Mercier's Silk Crème Foundation (review). unfortunately this won't apply to combinations with other foundations. LM products just seem to work very well together, but i want to include excellent stuff into my make up routine, not only a hand full of mediocre products only because they work well together...
however, i haven't completely written off this brand, i still hope to someday, in some condition find them to work perfectly for me.

blended in

tihilw

no powder - with LM TLSP

ingredients: Talc, Magnesium Myristate, Nylon-12, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Lauroyl Lysine, Methicone, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Ultramarines (Cl 77007), Iron Oxides (Cl 77491, Cl 77492, Cl 77499.