Armani Eyes To Kill Quad No 12 Fatal

Fatal is one of the four new released Armani Eyes To Kill which aims to please the purple lovers out there, such as myself. I previously reviewed Medusa, a palette with gorgeous greens and a reddish brown shade. Today I will be talking about Fatal, No 12 and its twin No 8. So let's get started.

Armani ETK Quad No 12 Fatal

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Quad No 12 in Fatal consists of a matte purple (down), a mid-toned lila with gorgeous shimmer (second from down), a rather light shimmery pink (second from up) and a warm mid-toned brown which has a satin quality to it.

Arm swatch of Armani ETK No 12 from bottom to top

Fatal was the second palette besides Medusa which I purchased from eBay without knowing what I was getting, as I have told the story before. The main reason I was not sure was because on the picture it was looking like Armani ETK No 8 which I already owned. I brought out my palette and checked the picture with No. 8 carefully. The above brown shade was telling me that this one indeed had to be a new release. Even upon receiving it, I was not sure if they were different. Only after I laid them side by side...

Armani ETK quad No 12 (left) vs. No 8 (right)

... that I have seen, No 12 had darker colors compared to No 8. It was also more natural toned and less pink. The darker purple shades at the bottom of each palette looked almost identical in the pan, as well as the top shade of No 8 (right) and the second shade of No 12 (left).

Close up Armani ETK quad 12 (left) vs. 8 (right)

Once swatched side by side, the first thing you recognize is this gorgeous taupe color that ETK No 8 has. It is such a complex multi dimensionally gorgeous shade which made me buy the palette although I found two of the pinks (the top two colors) to be very similar on my skin tone (MAC NC 20-25). Another difference is the textures of dark matte purple shades. As you can also see on the swatches below, Armani ETK No 12 has a buttery dark purple, full on pigment whereas ETK No. 8 has a dry purple which doesn't perform as good as its counterpart from No 12. Swatches below are taken under sun light.

Comparison swatch under sun Armani ETK 8(top) vs. 12 (bottom)

As if it is not hard enough to decide between the two gorgeous palettes, now I would like to include a third one into the picture to make it even more complicated. Here comes Guerlain's limited edition Spring 2013 palette, Attrape-Coeur and there you see what a vibrant purple palette looks like. Cool bright white, vibrant flashy lila and a dark purple with gorgeous shimmer, this one is obviously not aiming to become an avarage everyday subtle palette but rather going for a special occasion look with lots of contrast if needed.

Armani ETK No 8 (left), Armani ETK No 12 (middle), Guerlain Attrape-Coeur (right)

Below I swatched all three quads heavily on my arm using my fingers. The photo is taken under sunlight. You see how vibrant Guerlain's take on purple palette is and how those shine gorgeously under sunlight.

Comparison Swatch of Armani ETK No.8, No.12 and Guerlain Attrape-Coeur

Now let's move on to the sample looks with Armani No 8 and No 12. For the below one I used Armani ETK Quad in Fatal, No 12. I applied the lila shade (second from below) on inner half of the lid, brown shade (top most) on the outer half. I defined the crease with dark purple shade (bottom) and highlighted the brow bone as well as inner lid area with the light pinkish lila tone (second from above).

Armani ETK No 12 in action, eyes closed

Armani ETK in No 12 Fatal is a wearable purple palette. It gives you the right amount of color without being over the top. The brown shade balances the purples and makes them more earthy, more natural. If you want to wear purples but in a low-key way while still going for a rather smokey eye look, this is your quad.

Armani ETK No 12 in action, eyes open

Armani ETK No 8 was the palette I purchased when I was in Breuninger Stuttgart to get my make-up done by Alex Rothe, Armani's national face designer in Germany. He picked up No.8 for my make-up at Armani Counter in Stuttgart Breuninger, saying this should make my eyes pop (you decide if it really does that by checking the eye make-up below). He used Eyes to Kill Single in No 9 (a peachy champagne color) as a base which made the whole eye look appear more subtle. I didn't do this below because I want to show the exactly how colors appear on my lids without modifying them with a base. He also made a nice twist on the eye make-up by using a dark green liner instead of a brown or black one. For the look below, I used a dark plum liner from Dior, which he himself found to be "boring" but I guess I don't mind being boring as long as it is purple ;-)

Armani ETK No 8 in action, eyes closed

As you see the difference of 8 from 12 is the bright taupe shade, which, in my opinion opens the eyes and provides more contrast to the crease color, which I personally like. For this look I applied the taupe shade all over the lid blending it with the light pink on inner lid. I then applied the dark purple on the crease to define the eye and highlighted the brow bone with the lightest pink from the palette.

Armani ETK No 8 in action, eyes open

Finally I would like to show you an eye make-up with Guerlain's Attrape-Coeur as a reference. For this look I used the light pink shade on half way to the inner lid then went for the mid-tones taupe for the outer lid, highlighted the corner and brow bone with white, then applied the dark purple on the crease. As you see Attrape-Coeur, when applied alone gives you a very vibrant look. I find it perfect for spring but for me it is way too much color for a day look and not easy to pull off. I have to try this one on a black base à la Lisa Eldridge, this may look gorgeous! (I will do that and post about it!)

Guerlain Attrape-Coeur in action

Final thoughts: As much as I love the quality of the Guerlain eye shadows, this particular palette was not an easy one to pull off for me and falls rather under my "too bright" category for a day look. From two of the Armani releases, my favorite one is No.8 because of the gorgeous Taupe. No 12 on the other hand has a smoother and buttery matte dark and a gorgeous brown. My perfect palette would be the taupe of No.8 placed instead of the second color from below (mid-toned lila) to No 12. I mind you, I am very difficult to please, especially when it is about purples!

Do you like wearing purples as much as I do? Which one is your favorite? Are you planning to get any of those?