Review: Christian Dior 5-Colour Iridescent Eyeshadow 539 Iridescent Leather, Fall 2008

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UPDATE 05/August/2008:
I went back to the counter to swatch 609 Earth Reflection to show you how the 3 light colours turn pale white on me. And it is true (at least on my skin) that Earth Reflection is a lighter combination of colours compared to 539 Iridescent Leather.

The kind sales assistance told me that I really don't need Earth Reflection since I have Iridescent Leather. (And she agreed that Iridescent Leather looks better on me.)

Here are the pictures:

I had been waiting for Dior Fall Collection 2008 to be released in Malaysia for the longest time. It was killing me looking at all the pictures of the Iridescent Quint 539 Iridescent Leather. I held on to many opportunities of getting other neutral eye shadows because I really wanted to try this quint as I thought it would be a good combination for my skin tone.

One product that I had tried many a time and passed over and again was also Dior's Iridescent Quint, Earth Reflection. I kept swatching it in the stores and told myself over and again that wouldn't be the right choice for me. Or least I had to wait till Iridescent Leather was released to compare the two properly. One thing I was very sure of was that 3 shades in Earth Reflection showed up rather pale on me and they all looked too similar.

I was right. My long and agonizing wait paid off. This is one purchase that I absolutely love and an instant love too.

Christian Dior 5-Colour Iridescent Eyeshadow 539 Iridescent Leather

What it does:
"Dior's 5-Colour Eyeshadow assortment allows you to create a multitude of makeup looks from the simplest, to the most sophisticated, depending on your mood."

What else you need to know:
"The light, smooth texture is easy to apply, offering incomparable staying power and a silky-fine finish."

Shades include:
"peach champagne shimmer, taupe shimmer, light gold shimmer, chocolate brown shimmer, and golden beige shimmer plus two double-ended sponge applicators." - Sephora.

Colour/Texture:
As mentioned above, it is stated on Sephora there are 5 shimmery shades, all of which are neutral colours. I know almost every girl who uses makeup have certain amount of neutrals in her collection. I bet you can easily find dupes of these shades in other brands. The first thing came to mind is one of the famous Wet n Wild eye shadow palettes.

Then what sets Iridescent Leather apart from other similar neutrals?

They are 5 harmonious earth tone that can be used alone or together. The colours are on the cool side, even the darkest Chocolate Brown Shimmer is a cool chocolate brown! (Is there such a thing as a COOL chocolate brown?) Anyway, they work very well for my Asian yellowish ashy skin tone. I don't know how and why but they really do.

The 5 colours remind me some of the colours in Bobbi Brown Chocolate Palette (Limited Edition) but better as all of which are beautifully shimmery. The kind of soft focus shimmery, not the loud sparkling shine. These are the kind of neutral shimmery eye shadows that everyone can wear, be it day or night time, regardless your age. Come on, I am almost 37 and I think they are great on me. Therefore, if you dare not to venture into other shimmery metallic eye shadows, worrying they are over the top, then you really should give this Dior Iridescent Leather a try. It just brightens up the eyes naturally.

The colour payoff is great. Being soft focus doesn't mean it sacrifice its pigmentation. All the colours show up well on my skin and there is no hard labour over laying colours. It's just few swipes and I am all set.

The other selling point of this quint is its texture. These Iridescent Quints are sooooo good because of their wet character. The colours practically glue onto my lids by its magnetic power. I never once have the problem of any colour crease or fade away when wearing these quint and it goes the same with Iridescent Leather. This even works for apply it as a liner on my lower lash line (as shown in the pictures below.) Mind you, I only applied the eye shadows dry and all colours, even the liner stayed out throughout the whole afternoon. Fabulous!

Wearing 539 Iridescent Leather:

Close-up:

Packaging/Price:
Dior has always been very classic about its packaging. The Iridescent Quints follow the sample principle. It's exactly the same as the regular eye shadow quints and its other palettes. It has a decent sized mirror, 2 useful sponge applicators and I like how 5 colours are stored in separate slots so they don't mix into each other, keeping each other shade clear and clean.

The price is 187MYR/54USD (cheaper in the USA due to exchange rate.) I know it's rather steep but its quality deserves every single cent you spend on it.

I will surely look out future releases of Iridescent Quints simple because of the excellent quality. I repeat it again, if the colours work for you, it's a great buy. It's just that simple with these eye shadow palettes! I feel like writing to Dior to tell them to keep only Iridescent Quints and kill the regular version as they just can't measure up. I didn't even bother to look at that new Earth Tones 673 (also part of the Fall Collection 2008) twice as not only it has strange colour combination but its much poorer quality in comparison. Once you tried an Iridescent Quint, you can't go back to anything less. Period.


Ingredients:

My Colouring:
MUFE Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream #4, Duo Mat Powder Foundation #202, Liquid Lift Foundation #2, light skinned Asian (Chinese), dark brown eyes, long black hair (mostly straight with some wavy bits), slightly dry facial skin that hardly breaks out, medium pigmented lips that are chapped easily.