Greetings, young lady. I wanted to show some swatches of the Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden collection this afternoon (lip, eye and face shots are coming soon).
Some observations from the swatches…
- The white eyeliner, one of two liners in the collection, feels harder than usual for Dolce & Gabbana. It’s much creamier than most of them are, but the purple one’s just as tough as usual.
- Platinum, the one solitary nail polish, looks much greener on NW20 skin than than it does on me (I’m an NC35). I think it’ll look straight up silver on yours truly, but on NW20 it’s more of a greenish gray.
- There are just two lipsticks and glosses in the release. The coral-ish lip gloss seemed very out of place to me at first (straight out of Mad Men), but, um, after I thought about it a little, I think I can see what Dolce & Gabbana was going for. I like the way it contrasts with the pale pastels. As for the other gloss, the pale pinkish violet, it has micro bits of silver glitter that you have to look closely at to see.
- Of the lipsticks, one’s a shiny light violet, and the other’s a shiny pink. Oh, and did I mention they’re shiny. I mean VERY shiny. I can’t tell much from my arm (I have yet to try ’em on my lips), but I do detect a scent. I haven’t tasted them yet, but they do smell pretty good… It’s that classic rose lipstick scent.
- And then there’s the Illuminator in Eva, a powder highlighter. It may be too light for me, but on NW20 it looks like a lovely gold. It might be better for lighter lasses than brown gals. I think it’s just gonna look chalky on me. I mean, I suppose tanned lovelies could use it underneath the arch of their brows (the brow bone) as a highlight color, but that’s really a limited use.
Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden Swatches on NC35 Skin
Swatches from the left to the right: Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Eden (first four); Eye Colour Duo in Romance (fifth and sixth); Crayon Intense in White (seventh) and Crayon Intense (eighth)
Shine Lipstick in Romance, Shine Lipstick in Love, Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Bon Bon and Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Secret
Illuminator in Eva on the left and Intense Nail Lacquer in Platinum on the right
Swatches with the flash
Swatches without the flash
Swatches on NW20 Skin
Intense Nail Lacquer in Platinum; Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Eden (second through fifth); Eye Colour Duo in Romance (sixth and seventh); Crayon Intense in White (eighth) and Crayon Intense (ninth)
Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Eden (first four); Eye Colour Duo in Romance (fifth and sixth); Crayon Intense in White (seventh) and Crayon Intense (eighth)
Shine Lipstick in Romance, Shine Lipstick in Love, Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Bon Bon and Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Secret and the Illuminator in Eva
Swatches with the flash
Swatches without the flash
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Katie says
It’s crazy how the different skin tones make the purple eye liner look like completely different colors!
Karen says
Oh, I know. Isn’t that nuts?
dani@callitbeauty says
i agree with katie! the purple liner has a duo-chrome quality to it that’s apparent on darker skin but it just looks straight up purple on the lighter skin.
also, i REALLY like the lip products. especially Love and Secret.
Karen says
Hi Dani,
My skin always tends to bring out blue tones…
Anywho, it looks like the lip products are the winners in this release! 🙂
Rae says
Okay, this collection is… ridiculous. Ridiculous! It’s SO pretty! D: The quad is too sheer for my tastes, but the lip colours all look incredible.
Thanks for the swatches, Karen (& Mrs. Mysterious Arm!)
Karen says
You’re welcome, Rae! Glad you like the collection. 🙂
Tracy says
Wow-I agree with Katie too about that purple liner! So weird that it’s completely different on the two skin tones. The lippies look lovely!
Karen says
How do you feel about the coral gloss, Tracy? Yay or nay?
Nicki says
I want!
Karen says
Glad you like this collection, Nicki!
Tania says
Karen,
Was the title of this post a reference to Pretty Poison’s “Catch Me I’m Falling?” If you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about then youtube it sistah!! You won’t be disappointed. Plus the gal in the video has big hair and a fringe jacket.
Karen says
GURL, I danced to that jam at the eighth grade dance!
mint says
it might also be the lighting and camera angle that effects the swatch colours too.
anyhow those look amazing, I love the nail lacquers.
Karen says
My skin tends to bring out blues; Mystery Arm’s usually brings out more plummy tones.
Chris25 says
The purple liner looking different on different skin tones is why I swatched so many nail polishes on my own blog. I already know that a certain shade on a fair lady will look majorly different on a golden goddess. Back to the D&G collection: Shine Lipstick in Love looks lovely!
Karen says
Yes it does!
House Of Photo Props says
Can’t wait to see the look you create!!
Karen says
What do you think of the collection?
Kana says
I LOVE the colors! Oh my, this will definitely set me back on my trip to Japan. *sigh* I have to save every penny I can. I always look forward to all the things i cannot get.. hehe 😛 I guess you can say I’m somewhat living through your makeup devotion. I think i’ll have to grab a few of the ilpglosses, though they’re to die for! 😀
Karen says
Hi Kana,
Oh, how awesome. Do you have your ticket yet? When are you going? I’ve always wanted to go there.
Jen W says
I’m loving the look of the ultrashine lipgloss in Secret. very Prada 2010.
not such a fan of the pale pastels- I think they would look a bit silly on me.
Karen says
Ya know, at first I wasn’t sure if I would be able to rock these either, but I think if you just do one shade on the lid, and then perhaps add a pop of liner it could be very wearable.
Sarah says
These are a lot more grey than I thought they’d be. Still soo pretty for spring though!
Karen says
Yeah, me too. I was hoping for more of a greenish gray rather than a straight up gray, but I do like how it contrasts against the pale pastels.
gio says
Thank you for the swatches. The Shine Lipstick in Love looks gorgeous!
Karen says
You’re welcome, Gio!
Have a great Tuesday.
Olga says
great swatches, now I want the whole collection! 😀
Karen says
Awesome, Olga! What pieces are you most excited for?
Nina says
the lip products – <33333 !!!!
Karen says
Yah! What do you think of that Mad Men orange gloss?
Nina says
it makes me want to wear a tight dress and put my hair up …. 😉
Karen says
Yeah! And wear gloves and a hat that match with my pocketbook. 😉
Sarah says
Really pretty!
Kim says
Please thank Mystery Arm for the help here! These colors look great on you and I’m sure your FOTD is going to be beautiful. I’m a bit bummed about the white liner. Have you tried UD’s Yeyo? I think that might be the winner for me since I love the UD texture. 🙂
Karen says
I will send along your thanks to Mystery Arm, LOL!
I’ve heard of Yeyo but haven’t tried it. Are you gonna wear it along the lash line?
Kim says
I think so, unless it makes me look (more) like Boo Radley! 🙂 I liked your idea of wearing it over black for an extra pop, though. I get so excited about white and silver that I actually will take the time to play with them a bit. I might even see how it acts on my waterline. I know, gasp!
Karen says
Go for it, girl!
I’ve tried white liner along my waterline and feel like it looks too stark. It looks fab on Heidi Klum, though (she wears it all the time).
If the white’s too stark you could also try a very light peachy pink. That’s what I use.
Oh yeah, the pop over the black is cool! Here’s what it looks like!
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/mac-makeup/mac-fabulous-felines-a-cat-lady-tribute/
Jackie says
Karen-
Any dupes for the nailpolish? Is it silver?
Karen says
Hey Jackie,
I’ll have a swatch up in a little bit. It’s a very interesting color — not a straight up silver, but more like a silver/taupe/green. I can’t think of any dupes off the top of my head…
Dea says
OMG – the eye colour quad is sooo pretty for spring!!! But I can’t and I won’t affort it… Can I?! *hhhmmmm* No, I can’t… But I would if I could!
-> Does anybody know what I’m talking about?! 😉
Karen says
I certainly do. I have the same conversation with myself often when it comes to shoes, LOL!