Giorgio Armani

When It Comes to Burnished Brows and Long-Lasting Formulas, Giorgio Armani Beauty’s Eye & Brow Maestros Give a Command Performance

August 29th, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

Wearing the new Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye & Brow Maestros in 1 Jet Black, 9 Gold and 2 Wenge Wood — Sporting the new Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye & Brow Maestros in 1 Jet Black (on my upper lash lines), 9 Gold (lower lash lines) and 2 Wenge Wood (brows)

OK, don’t worry. We’re going to get through this. You’re going to put down the 20-pound tabby, and step away carefully…

Not yet! Wait for me to give you this signal [I demonstrate a gesture with my hand].

I know, it’s hard because he’s so soft and cuddly, but you have to trust me on this. He really likes his deep-tissue kitty massage, and if you stop abruptly, he could just go off, and no one wants that.

Alright, are you ready? Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon, and then you’ll be able to devote your full attention to this thought: shiny eyebrows.

Yup, you heard me. Shiny eyebrows.

Kind of weird, right? You wouldn’t think it would work…but it does when Giorgio Armani Beauty does it.

Unlike most brow fillers, their nine creamy new $34 Eye & Brow Maestros have the slightest hint of a sheen. The sheen is supposed to get brows looking as natural as possible by simulating your hairs’ natural shine (as in the hair on your head!).

Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye & Brow Maestro in 1 Jet Black — 1 Jet Black

Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye & Brow Maestro in 2 Wenge Wood — 2 Wenge Wood

Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye & Brow Maestro in 9 Gold — 9 Gold

Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye & Brow Maestro Swatches from the left: 1 Jet Black, 2 Wenge Wood and 9 Gold — Swatches from the left: 1 Jet Black, 2 Wenge Wood and 9 Gold

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Giorgio Armani Beauty’s New Fall 2014 Eyes To Kill Liners Have Killer Shine

August 28th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Wearing Giorgio Armani Beauty's Eyes To Kill Liner in Rose Iron — Wearing Giorgio Armani Beauty’s Eyes To Kill Liner in Rose Iron

With his heat ray vision, Superman has eyes to kill.

Medusa has eyes to kill (well, turn you to stone, but that’s basically the same thing).

And now, with new Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Liners (called Ametista, Oro Oscuro, Perla Nera and Quarzo on the website), we mere mortals can also have eyes to kill.

Shiny eyes to kill, because when I wear these liquid liners on my lash lines, I feel like I have shine for days, yo!

But it’s an unusual shine…

Starting at the finish

“Muted metallic.” That’s how I describe the finish. Mind you, it’s not as frosty or shiny as some metallic or glitter liners, like the kind you might see at Urban Decay or MAC, some of which reflect so much light that you can look like you’re wearing a costume if you go too far with them.

There’s no mistaking these for matte — that’s for sure — but the shiny finish seems softer to me, more diffused and more elegant than the finish that a lot of other shiny liners have.

Giorgio Armani Beauty Eyes to Kill Liner in Rose Iron — Rose Iron on my lash lines, MAC Smolder on my water lines, and Armani’s Black Ecstasy Mascara on my lashes

Not everyone is gonna get the distinction. Like, El Hub, adorable yet clueless dude that he is, he probably wouldn’t get it. “What’s the big whoop?” he’d say. “They just look shiny to me.”

Now, if you’re the kind of guy or gal who carries eight different black liners in your makeup bag and can quickly rattle off their names and differences, you’ll probably appreciate these and their muted metallic finish.

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Liners from the purple shade on the left: 3 Mercury Nude, 2 Acid Gold and 3 Rose Iron — Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Liners from the purplish shade on the left: 3 Mercury Nude, 2 Acid Gold and 3 Rose Iron

Easy-peasy application

As for the formula itself and the way these feel, one word: bomb. They’re sort of halfway between a liquid and a cream, almost like a watery gel, and it makes them easy to control, especially with the included, fine-tipped brush applicator. With it, I can easily draw skinny and thick lines with sharp edges in a single swipe.

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Liner — With a MAC Lipglass for scale

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Turn on Your Eye High Beams With the Giorgio Armani Beauty Fall 2014 Fade to Grey Eyeshadow Palette

August 20th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Wearing the new Giorgio Armani Fall 2014 Fade to Grey Eyeshadow Palette, $88 (!)

Words one does not expect to hear at a Giorgio Armani Beauty counter: “Where’s, like, the dollar menu?”

Because everything is pricey! — like this new $88 eye palette from Giorgio Armani’s Fade to Grey fall 2014 collection.

That’s a lot of glow, yo.

The sleek, stylish black packaging houses two absolutely beautiful eye luminous shimmer shadows, side by side — one, a warm, shimmery golden peach, and the other a purply taupe-ish grey.

On lids, these shadows are like Buzz Lightyear, reflecting light to infinity and beyond. The super shiny finish makes my eyes look BIG, doe-eyed and bright, and the effect is even more pronounced when I incorporate a dramatic mascara, like Armani’s new Black Ecstasy, which I’m wearing here.

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Wear Giorgio Armani Cheek Fabric in 503 Daybreak With Black, Grey or Taupe Smokey Eyes This Fall

August 16th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Daybreak.

Wasn’t that an Ethan Hawke movie about vampires?

Or was it Daybreakers?

Sorry… Never mind. 🙂

Giorgio Armani’s $46 Cheek Fabric in Daybreak 503 might not have enough bite for the Ladies League of Plush Pigment Vampires because 1) its apricot sheen is surprisingly subtle on skin, and 2) it’s almost $50.

But if you don’t mind spending a pretty penny (or rather, 4,600 of them) and like makeup that doesn’t look obvious, or you want a blush to wear with bolder eye looks, ch-ch-ch-check it out…

When I want to keep the focus solely on my eyes, like when I’m a wearing a black, gray and/or taupe smokey eye look, I’ll apply Daybreak and swipe a pale nude gloss on my lips.

On my combo dry/oily skin, I get about between 8-10 hours of wear from Daybreak (from about dusk till daybreak, in fact).

Even though it’s super subtle (and perhaps too quiet for some), I think of Daybreak as one of the more interesting blushes I’ve ever worn because of the way the powder lays on the skin. It’s as if it clings to the surface, and it almost feels like I’m wearing nothing at all. Très elegant.

The color is kinda interesting, too. The apricot pigment shows up on my cheeks but still lets a lot of my natural skin tone through.

Apparently, Armani designed it that way. They combine pure pigments with a transparent base, so that when you apply the blush to your skin, it looks soft and luminous.

Daybreak is part of the permanent line and was recently re-promted with Armani’s new fall collection. It’s available now with the rest of its fall cohorts.

PRICE: $46
AVAILABILITY: Permanent, and available now at Giorgio Armani Beauty counters and online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+

Intensify Your Gaze With New Black Ecstasy Mascara by Giorgio Armani Beauty

August 13th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Giorgio Armani Beauty Black Ecstasy Mascara — New ‘Black Ecstasy’ Mascara by Giorgio Armani in Obsidian Black ($32)

Yup, someone’s been watching re-runs of The Hills lately. 🙂

My Tivo recorded a massive 45-episode marathon last week.

To quote El Hub when he saw them in the menu, “Holy sh*t!”

I wore Giorgio Armani Beauty’s new Black Ecstasy Mascara in Obsidian Black ($32; one of four shades) during an epic 8-hour binge this week.

A recent addition to the brand’s permanent line (available now in three shades exclusively at Nordstrom, but coming to Giorgio Armani Beauty counters and giorgioarmanibeauty.com this September in four shades), ‘Black Ecstasy’ Mascara is designed to create longer, denser, thicker lashes to allow you to deliver intense gazes…

That intensity came in handy while I re-watched season two of The Hills and repeatedly shot disapproving glares at Spencer Pratt.

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Giorgio Armani’s 4-in-1 Multicolor Eccentrico Illuminator Face Palette Is Full of Surprises

November 6th, 2013 by Karen 11 Comments

Wearing the new limited edition $88 Giorgio Armani Eccentrico Face Palette

Oh, boy. I’ve been procrastinating for the past 45 minutes. I don’t even know how it’s 6:45 right now. It’s like, I took these goofy-@ss pictures, watched 15 minutes of Flowers in the Attic on Netflix (so bad it’s good), played with the new MAC Masterclass Brushes for a second, did some swatching, and now it’s almost 7, and I have absolutely nothing written except for a bunch of crazy talk.

Whatever. We’ll just call this phase of the blog, “The ramblings of a crazy cat lady,” or “The eccentric ramblings, and occasional blush reviews, of a formerly somewhat sane woman with a penchant for felines.”

Anyway. This palette. Giorgio Armani. Holiday. “Eccentrico.”

I feel like that’s a metaphor for my life right now.

I walk around looking relatively normal…

But I feel like this inside…

Yeah.

This looks like a pretty standard peachy pink highlighter when you open it. I expected something, I dunno, more like MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle, or a warm rosy gold like the new BECCA highlighter.

But then I brushed off the top layer, a very pretty golden overspray with a warm golden sheen finish, and all hell broke loose.

Which reminds me, I watched four episodes of My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding yesterday, and the words “bling” or “bling-tastic” were spoken at least 15 times. I loved it. And those cray-cray dresses, OMG!

But enough about that. Back to the pan…

When I brushed off the overspray, I actually went, “SHUT UP!” Things got really, really interesting.

Was it $88 interesting? I don’t know, but stuff was hiding under that overspray — beautiful sections of bright, beautiful hot pink, white, orange and lavender, like totally frickin’ rad street art or something.

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The new Giorgio Armani Face & Eye Palette in Scarabeo for a Colorful Pink and Green Update to Your Makeup Bag

August 13th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

Giorgio Armani Scarabeo — Wearing Giorgio Armani’s Eye and Face Palette in Scarabeo ($88)

I don’t follow any hard-and-fast rules about wearing colorful eyeshadow during the day, but if I do have many errands to run or expect to interact with lots of different people like I did today — the teller at the bank, the chatty checker at Tar-ghay, other personal assistants at Petco — then I like to keep whatever colors I’m feeling fairly close to my lash lines. That way I can get my color fix on without feeling like I’m wearing a ton of disco makeup on my eyes. Plus, it’s easy (and you know I like that).

Giorgio Armani Scarabeo eyeshadows — The eyeshadows

Today I was in the mood for green and grabbed the pricey new $88 (!) Giorgio Armani Face & Eye Palette in Scarabeo, one of two new Giorgio Armani palettes released for fall.

Giorgio Armani Scarabeo eyeshadows closeup — A closeup of the eyeshadows

I know. That price is insane! You kind of have to be a big Armani fan to even consider it.

With really expensive palettes like this two-tier one from Armani (the shadows are on a level beneath the blush), I usually prefer neutrals, because at least that way you can wear them daily to try to get your money’s worth.

Giorgio Armani Scarabeo blush — The shimmery light pink blush

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The New Giorgio Armani Summer 2013 Face & Eye Palette Makes Me Wanna Be a Billionaire…So Freakin’ Bad

May 10th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Wearing the new Giorgio Armani Summer 2013 Eye & Face Palette on my cheeks and eyes

Rest assured that when you wear Giorgio Armani’s Summer 2013 Face & Eye Palette, you will not look like…

You just won the 2013 Jell-O Wrestling World Championships
You just crushed a can of PBR against your forehead
You opened your eyes this morning and let out a 30-second-long barbecue potato chip-tinged burp that someone heard on the other side of town

Rather, when you brush the shimmery golden bronze highlighter on your cheeks and any combination of its three accompanying powder shadows on your lids, you’ll look more like you spent the day channeling Jackie O. on the Greek coast with a pair of Stephen Bonanno Palm Beach sandals, oversized glasses (of course) and a Lily Pulitzer shift dress.

Even if you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing with this two-tiered eye and face compact, you almost can’t go wrong because the long-lasting powders hug skin like skinny jeans hug hips.

They’re just plain easy to wear.

The golden peachy bronze highlighter in the top pan and the beige, brown and peach eye shadows in the bottom pan are like good pieces of jewelry that go with everything. You could dress ’em up with RiRi Woo red lips and a body-con bandage dress, or dress ’em down with your favorite Clarins gloss and a sundress.

The sky’s the limit. 🙂

And even if you totally botch that brown smokey eye you were going for (been there, done that about 1,622 times), don’t fret. You can buff it out with a few swipes of your MAC 217 (or something similar), as the soft powders are totally unlike magnets or the Borg (read: they offer very little resistance).

Seriously, even if you can’t blend for sh*t (don’t worry!), you could do a look with these that would make even the most seasoned makeup nerds recognize.

Giorgio Armani Summer 2013 Face & Eye Palette swatches — Swatches from the left: the beige, peach and brown eye shadows; and the peachy bronze highlighter

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