Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette for Holiday 2014, Review, Swatch & FOTD

You might have noticed that I was silent a few days. This is what happens if your company sends you for training at a hotel which has a free casino entrance. Last time I gambled was eight years ago, so I thought I can give it another shot. I know the topic is taboo for some, but here is my approach, gamble small amounts and leave the game before everything is gone. I invested three cinema tickets to start with, left with seven of them, more than the double. Only works if you wait some years before you gamble again, beginner's luck is real (last time I have won as well!). Oh and be sure not to drink too much. Those drunk guys who must have realized I was sober were also investing on my box on black jack. They must be thanking me as well *grins*. There was one who asked for additional card after hitting black jack, can you imagine? Never drink and gamble ;-)

Giorgio Armani's Holiday Palette Orient Excess is one of my last reviews of this season. It is an interesting one, very different from others that I have reviewed so far. It has no sparkles and the shade selection is very wearable. Today I would like to tell you how I feel about it...

Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette for Holiday 2014 comes in a chic clutch

It seems there are two kinds of holiday offerings. First there are sparkles and glitters everywhere, eyes, lips, complexion, you name it. Secondly there are travel products with palettes, sometimes accompanied by some minis. They also come in clutches or bags. This year, Armani took the second approach. Orient Excess Holiday Collection offers a palette with translucent face powder and an eye trio with three very wearable, satin shades. Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette comes in a small deep blue clutch, very lovely and tiny. You can fit the palette inside and probably one lipstick along with that. Matching to the clutch, the palette compact is also deep blue instead of black.

Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette has two tiers. The top tier has a translucent finishing powder. It is not shimmery and the shade is not very white. It blends onto my complexion if I apply it all over with a soft face brush. I suspect with a denser brush you can get a slight snow witch look, something I don't usually go for. I was first thinking I can apply it to the high points of my face to get a subtle highlighter effect but it turned out to be rather sheer for this type of usage. On the powder there are icicles embossed but after a few usages, they disappear.

Close up of first tier: Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette

The second tier of Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette has an eye shadow trio and two sponge-tipped applicators. The shades are subtle with satin finish. On the eyes they apply almost matte to satin. The texture of the eye shadows are different than smooth metallic and very complex eye shadow formula of Armani, such as the ones of Organica Palette. They are lovely if you are after a subtle smoky eye but not that unique if you are expecting something special to Armani.

Eye shadow trio, second tier of Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette

The trio consist of the following shades:

Left: A very deep cool brown with very subtle golden shimmer. This shades apply very nicely on the eyes. I have used it to intensify the crease, I didn't experience any fall-out and it blended beautifully. It was also deep enough for my drama-loving heart.

Middle: A mid-toned blue silver with a tad of green and satin finish. It is the most unique shade of all and really lovely on the eyes. If you can't wear silver, like me, there is a good chance that this shades works on you. I like applying it all over the eye and intensifying it with the brown shade for an interesting combination.

Right: A mid-toned to deep bronze gold with satin finish. This shade didn't apply as intense as I would like it to me and on my lids, it ended up looking the brown shade sheered out. I wished it would be more of an antique gold with maybe a tad of more shimmer or lighter for the inner corner.

Close-up: Eye shadow trio, second tier of Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette

Swatches: Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette

Below I am wearing the bronze shade (right) on the inner and outer lid, silver (middle) on the middle, deep brown (left) on the crease. I like how the silver shade combines with the brown and bronze and I really like the unique undertones of the silver shade.

In-action: Eye shadow trio from Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette

Here is the complete look with Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette on the face and eyes. I am also wearing Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro in 401. I think the eye look goes perfect with red lipsticks. On the cheeks I applied Tom Ford Wicked. I am also testing Burberry mascaras at the moment, below I am wearing Bold Lash Mascara.

FOTD: Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette and Lip Maestro #401

Check out beautiful photos and swatches of Jenny too.

Final thoughts: All in all I like Giorgio Armani Orient Excess Palette for travelling. I am especially fond of the middle shade in the second tier, which is unique to my stash. If you are new to Armani though and if you are in the market for complex metallic light weight formula for which they are known, you may want to save for another palette, like Organica.

In USA Giorgio Armani is having 20% off at the moment for orders over $75 at their website (not affiliated).

Do you like glitter and sparkle for holiday or do you rather invest for wearable palettes and sets at this time of the year?

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eye shadow, FOTD, Giorgio Armani, Holiday 2014, limited edition, palette, powder compact, review, swatch