Guerlain - Café Makeup

Guerlain Terracotta Four Seasons Bronzers: Nude, Natural Blondes and Medium Blondes

Apr 172013

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers2

Lately I’ve been testing three of Guerlain’s Terracotta 4 Seasons Bronzers in Nude 00, Naturel Blondes 02, and Moyen Blondes #04 ($75 each/ 0.35 oz.). These were part of a recent comprehensive release by Guerlain, which considerable expanded their shade range for the 4 Seasons line. You can see all of the shades here at The Beauty Look Book. These come inside a tortoiseshell compact that is both beautiful and quite strong and sturdy. The shape fits comfortably in a side pocket of one’s purse, beach tote or carry on.

Guerlain four seasons case

Although I am beyond pleased to see this French company offer shade ranges that will look beautiful on women of all skin tones, I chose Nude (Nude #00), Natural Blondes (Naturel Blondes #02), and Medium Blondes (Moyen Blondes #04) because they fell at the lighter end of the spectrum range to coordinate with my skin tone (MAC NC15/20, Chanel Claire/Ivoire, Guerlain #2).

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers3

Although the price point of these is high, the quality level is excellent. These are incredibly finely milled. Applying them is a luxurious feeling, and they meld beautifully to the skin. These bronzers would never even come close to highlighting or creating imperfections. The formula is truly superb. As you can tell, these bronzers each have four shades that allows you to emphasize certain tones in different seasons for different effects. I think the brush head would have be fairly small to get precise effects (something like a small face highlighter or small contour). I use my standard brushes and swirl over the top.

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers1

Here are my thoughts about the colors that I’ve tried on my skin tone. Starting with Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons in Nude 00, this color gives a barely perceptible, natural glow.

The slight pink mixes with the warmer bronzer colors to give a very natural finish. This adds a touch of natural color that helps me look alive, especially when I’m wearing a medium coverage foundation which covers my natural skin tone variation. It’s a good “winter bronzer” color, when you aren’t expected to show much sun (although it certainly could be worn by those with pale skin tones who love to enhance their natural coloring with just a touch).

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers No.002

Nude is a good daytime office bronzer, it doesn’t look like I’ve flown to Hawaii over the weekend. Instead it’s a “is she wearing bronzer?” type of natural look.

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers No. 21

Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seaonss in Naturel Blondes 02 gives me a standard bronzer look, sort of similar to Edward Bess Daydream in tonality. I cannot say it more accurately than this–> Naturel Blondes will be a perfect everyday bronzer for summer.

One of the quarters has a very slight touch of shimmer, which mixes with the other powders to give a natural skin effect. There is nothing over the top about this shimmer. Here is Liz wearing Guerlain Naturel Blondes, topped with Burberry Coral Pink Blush and Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Yu.

Nars Yu2

Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Bronzer in Medium Blondes (Moyen Blondes) on my skin tone is a high drama bronzer that I absolutely love.

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers No. 41

As the sun is filling out California spring skies, I’ve enjoying it’s beautiful glow. As with the others, the powder is excellent quality, so that it melds with my skin. Unlike the others, this one does give me a “I’m just back from Hawaii” tan glow.

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers No. 42

Although this color will not be for everyone (some may find it too obvious), I find that I love this bronzer particularly when I’m wearing nude tones (which otherwise cause me to fade out), or very vibrant corals and pinks (when my face needs some color for balance).

Here are swatches of all three shades, which don’t do the bronzers justice. One really has to try them on the skin to see how they look once applied.

Guerlain Four Seasons Bronzers4

A reader asks a good question–how does Nude 00 compare to last year’s Burberry Sheer Summer Glow palette? Here are some swatches that show that Burberry’s Summer Glow is swatching much more bronzy/shimmery than Guerlain’s 4 Seasons Nude 00:

Guerlain 4 seasons comparisons1a

Overall, this trio is a beautiful selection of shades. The quality is excellent, really worthy of a luxury line.

Available at Nordstrom.com and other Guerlain counters.

Cafe Makeup received Nars Yu without charge for consideration for review. This post includes affiliate links (for more information, see About Cafe Makeup)

Guerlain Terracotta Jambes de Gazelle Cooling Bronze Mist

Bronzers, Guerlain 9 Responses »

Apr 042013

Guerlain Jambes de Gazelle 1

This summer brings Guerlain’s Terracotta Jambes de Gazelle Cooling Bronze Mist ($59/ 3.38 oz/ 100 ml). This is a light, temporary tanner meant for the face and body. It has a spray top so that the colored liquid is controllable.

Guerlain Jambes des Gazelles 2

As with most Guerlain products, Jambes de Gazelle is lushly scented with a sort of luxurious tropical with a hint of coconut. There is hydrating effect, it leaves skin with a slight gleam of moisture. I don’t see any embedded shimmer or highlighter. It leaves skin lightly tanned on first spray, and can be built up for more intensity. It takes roughly a minute or two to dry, and I haven’t noticed any transferring once the liquid sets.

Guerlain Jambes de Gazelle 2

Here’s the final effect of the spray that we used in the photograph, above:

Guerlain Jambes de Gazelle

I actually didn’t notice any cooling sensation with my room-temperature bottle. I suspect that I would need to refrigerate first. Some may find the price tag a little high for the effect, however, I’m happy with the product. There’s something that I find very mood-elevating about Guerlain’s scents (in my spare time, I’m obsessing about which Guerlain fragrance must be on my shelf—any ideas?). Also, I like the “your skin but tanned and glowy” effect that doesn’t depend on artificial shimmer bits which can go all sorts of wrong in direct sunlight.

Bottom line, Guerlain Jambes de Gazelle gives a believable, temporary glow that is a nice transition product as we head toward summer.

This post contains affiliate links (for more information, see About Cafe Makeup).

Guerlain Sun Scrub Review

Bronzers, Guerlain, Skin care 8 Responses »

Mar 302013

Guerlain Sun Scrub1

Guerlain Sun Scrub ($65/5.1 oz.) has just been released for Summer 2013. This cleanser is unusual, with a niche appeal, yet fits a market need so well that it’s worth a look. This scrub has very subtle self-tanning properties that will appeal to those who frequently exfoliate. This will be a bit of a surprise to some, as the descriptive material does not mention this quality. I learned about the self-tanning aspect through my discussion with the extremely helpful Guerlain Las Vegas Boutique. We tried it, and it does work on us.

Guerlain Sun Scrub3

First, Guerlain Sun Scrub is an all-over body scrub. The tube is big, with a relatively generous 5.1 ounce. It has a lush, summer-in-St. Tropez scent that gives me a sort of relaxing “I’m on a beach” effect. The moisturizing gel has microbeads in the formula to give you a softening, moisturizing and exfoliating effect. According to Guerlain, the primary purpose of this product is to prepare the skin for tanning. I’ve used this all over, including on the face, without any breakouts or concerns and it’s quite a luxurious way to start your day.

Guerlain Sun Scrub

There are a group of women and men who exfoliate frequently, including those who use retin-based products or overnight exfoliators, masks, shower scrubs, Perricone MD Blue Plasma and/or brushes and textured cloths. Gentle, frequent exfoliation is a wonderful way to get glowing skin, but makes a self-tanner temporary. I haven’t wanted to spend time waiting for self-tanner to set and dry, only to start over the next day.

Guerlain, apparently reading our minds, has added a gentle, self-tanning property to this scrub that gives just a very subtle tan effect. So as you wash, you tan. If I were to estimate the effect on me, I would say it’s about 1/8 to 1/4 step between foundation shades. It’s a nice effect on winter-white skin. Of course, it’s Guerlain so it’s a flattering non-orange color. The effect is cumulative–if you wash twice in a row, the effect is stronger.

I realize that the price point and the niche appeal of this product will not have everyone rushing to the counters. Yet I found the idea ingenious, so I thought this was a review worth publishing for those looking for just a boost of color as we transition from winter to spring.

Guerlain Sun Scrub is available at Nordstrom.com and other Guerlain counters. I don’t yet see this on Sephora.

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Guerlain Coup de Foudre Eyeshadow Palette Review and Look

Eyeshadow, Guerlain 10 Responses »

Feb 272013

Guerlain Coup de Foundre1a1

Guerlain Spring 2013 Coup de Foudre ($59) eyeshadow palette was released in December (it is still available with free shipping at Nordstrom.com, miraculously). Many avid blog readers have probably already seen the palette in action. Cafe Makeup wanted to weigh in with its swatches and opinion–which is, bottom line, get it—get it now.

This palette has greens which act as non-neutral neutrals. These colors are so universal that this palette worked for both of us, with almost no effort, the first time. The combination of the beautiful pearly quality of the eyeshadows, the harmonious colors, and the shades chosen to work on a wide variety of skintones makes Guerlain Coup de Foudre an easy “yes.” In soft light:

I sort of love how none of these greens is a Pantone Color of the Year, but making anything really mainstream sort of kills things for me. Instead, you get a soft mossy green, a soft mint shimmer, a deep charcoal grey infused with green, and a soft coral. The texture is spectacular–it leaps onto one’s brush and applies effortlessly to the lid.

Guerlain Coup de Foudre

The shimmer of this palette loves the light. On Liz’s lids applied very lightly (she used the two deepest colors only, the left green and the green-gray). Of course, it can be applied more heavily if desired.

Guerlain Coup de Foudre 7a

Here’s a full face, which give a very neutral-with-a-green-kick impression:

Guerlain Coup de Foudre 2ab

Liz paired Guerlain Coup de Foudre with Tom Ford Private Blend lipstick in Spanish Pink ($48). As an side, here was our set-up for the shoot:

For other ideas for how to wear Coup de Foudre, see Messywand’s post creating three different looks including one incorporating the coral. Swatches:

Guerlain Coup de Foundre26

Overall–yes, you need it. We love Guerlain Coup de Foudre. It’s neutral with a twist, the texture is perfect, and its highle usable for everyday, elegant wear.

Available now at Nordstrom.com with free ship.

This post contains affiliate links (for more information, see About Cafe Makeup)

Guerlain Attrape Coeur Eyeshadow Quad Review and Swatches

Eyeshadow, Guerlain 9 Responses »

Feb 242013

Guerlain Attrape Couer 1

There have been a number of vibrant eyeshadow palettes released recently (color is back, baby!). In the mix of textures and offerings, I didn’t want to let the Spring 2013 collection season go by without a look at Guerlain Attrape Coeur Eyeshadow Quad ($59). This was the colorful palette this season that I found to be easy to use, gentle in color tone, and made of wearable vibrant shades.

Guerlain Attrape Couer 2

Guerlain’s Attrape Coeur has a shimmery white highlighter color, a soft lavendar, a vibrant violet duochrome and a deep complex dark purple-violet that is striking as a liner.

Guerlain Attrape Couer 6a

Guerlain Attrape Coeur’s color can be applied light and sheer so that it doesn’t overwhelm. These shades are vibrant. Although they can be built up, we found that applying them with a soft hand gave us a look that’s pretty but not too heavy.

Guerlain Attrape Couer 4

Here’s Liz wearing Guerlain Attrape Coeur with Tom Ford Cherry Lush lipstick and Burberry Coral Pink Blush.

Guerlain Attrape Coeur

The quality of Guerlain’s 4-color eyeshadow palettes is becoming well known. It’s no surprise that Guerlain Attrape Coeur is selling out. I noticed that it is still up for sale on Neimans and Saks websites, but seems to be gone from Nordstrom.com at this point.

Bottom line: Speak now (or forever hold your peace). This one’s limited edition. There are lines with more opaque shades out for Spring ’13 (MAC’s Spoiled Rich quad looks amazing on Mostly Sunny, but I don’t think it would on me and Temptalia certainly didn’t love it). For my aesthetic, I jumped on Guerlain Attrape Coeur and love it. I can use some of the vibrant shades with shell and brown neutrals, or on its own for a more vibrant look.

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