Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette for A Night At The Opera Holiday 2014 Collection, Review, Swatch, Comparison & FOTD

It must be the worth thing ever to have a public holiday on Saturday. It is then two days of shopping break. Possible I can use it as rehabilitation if there wouldn't be internet... Hmmm...

I have already started to tell how excited I am to find it out that Guerlain's Holiday Collection theme is Russian Ballet and some of the items are named after Stravinsky's timeless compositions. I wished there would be Rites of Spring (my favorite) in the names but I believe since it is a Christmas collection, it wouldn't be so appropriate after all. Check out my previous post to see a lovely gloss named after Firebird, one of his early works. Today it is about Eyes and Blush Palette Petrouchka, named after the composition which is known to be the piece "Stravinsky become Stravinsky". It all makes sense that it is the center piece of the collection as well.

Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette comes in a compact which is similar to their limited edition blushes, such as Madame Rougit. It comes wrapped in a red bow, with Guerlain's logo on it. It is indicated inside the package that this can be used as a hair band. Inside the box there is a velvet pouch with pockets. Inside the pockets there is a mini red cheek brush and a sponge tipped applicator for eyes. I don't find them very useful unless you would like to touch up during the day.

Package content of Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette has two tiers, the top one has five eye shadow shades. They are embossed with Guerlain's name. It is composed of warm shimmery naturals which are very finely milled with buttery texture. Almost all of them apply beautifully on the lids, the lightest two shades being a little sheer. The gold shade has the worse color pay off but the darker shades are all very smooth and pigmented and makes it up for the gold one.

Top layer of Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

The shades are as follows:

Top most: A warm ivory with shimmery finish.

2nd from top: A neutral gold with shimmery finish. This is the one which applies semi transparent and lack a bit of pigment.

Middle: A gorgeous mid-toned copper with shimmery finish. This shade was included also at Gueriain's 2012 and 2013 Palettes (comparisons are at the end of this post)

2nd from bottom: A deep warm brown with red undertones. I love this shade for the outer corner. If you have green eyes, you need this shade! *winks*

Bottom: A very deep natural brown with shimmery finish. This shade has the less shimmer compared to the others, which is great if you want to use it on the crease or for definition.

Swatch of eye shadows, Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

The second tier of Petrouchka Palette has four different brush shades. I was a little skeptical since I know that Guerlain blushes doesn't swatch very well and they are rather hardly pressed. So was not the case with the Petrouchka blushes. All of the turned out to be smooth to touch and very pigmented. I also found the sizes of the pots large enough for application since I like using smaller brushes in general. The smaller ones can be easily used by a large eye shadow brush and bigger ones are perfect for mid-sized blush brushes (I used Suqqu cheek with these and it was perfect for the size).

Bottom layer of Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

The shades are as follows:

Top left (small pan): Light cool pink with shimmer particles on a satin base

Top right (large pan): Mid-toned berry with satin to matte finish, this shade is so beautiful for fall and winter, it applies and blends beautifully.

Bottom right (large pan): Mid-toned red coral with satin to matte finish. Lightly applied to the apples of the cheeks, it gives a wonderful natural flush.

Bottom left (small pan): A light tan with satin to shimmery base and some shimmer particles. It is one shade I did' know how to use. It could make a good subtle contour but it is more shimmery than the other shades. Any ideas here?

Swatch of blush shades from Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

Below I applied the lightest shade on the inner corner, orangy copper all around the lid, warm bronzy brown at the outer lid and deepest brown at the crease. I lined my eyes with Urban Decay 24/7 in Twice Baked and added Lance Grandiose Mascara on the lashes. 

I found that the eye shadows apply even more beautifully than they swatch. They blend effortlessly but they can still be noticed, meaning they don't over blend. I have tested the eye makeup over 14 hours and it looked freshly applied even after that.

In-action: Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

Below I have applied the berry shade as a contouring blush, then added a touch of the coral shade on the apples of the cheeks for freshness. I also used the light pink as a highlight by picking it up by a later eye shadow brush (Suqqu Eyeshadow L). On my lips I am wearing Gloss D'Enfer #901 L'Oiseau De Feu (reviewed here).

FOTD with Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette

I also decided to try the look with a edgier lip, below is the same eye placement and blush as above, combined with MAC Matte Lipstick in Styled in Sepia (reviewed here). I know it is not that Guerlain but I think it brings this look more to life.

FOTD: Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette, MAC Styled in Sepia

Now on to comparisons. I have been collecting Guerlain palettes since a few Holiday Collections, so I was curious how similar they are. Below you can see Liu Palette for Eyes and Lips from 2012 and Crazy Paris Eye Palette from last year. First about the package, although I love the eyes colors from Liu Palette, which I keep on wearing because of that one taupe I can't get enough, I am principally not a fan of lip and eye palettes since eye shadows dusts over the lipstick making it turn messy in time. Crazy Paris was really not my favorite palette (hence I have never reviewed it here) because of awkward shade combination of cool and warm shades which doesn't go all that well together and a repetition of copper and gold from the previous year. They both had around 10.2 to 10.5 g of product and a bigger bulkier package.

Guerlain Petrouchka Eyes and Blush Palette is more compact than the other two, takes smaller space and has more products inside, a generous 11.9 g. In terms of design and packaging, it certainly wins the price among the others.

Comparison of Guerlain Holiday Palettes from 2012, 2013 and 2014,  Liu, Crazy Paris and Petrouchka respectively

As far as the uniqueness go, the upper three shades are very similar to other two palettes, copper shade is repetitive all through the years, ivory and gold are also very close to other releases. The bottom two shades are more unique as well as the Guerlain Holiday Palettes go and it has the new blushes to try so it is still justified even if you own the other palettes in my opinion. Finishes of all three palettes are very similar.

Swatches of first three shades from Guerlain Holiday Palettes, Liu, Crazy Paris and Petrouchka

It was a long review, congratulations if you have made it to the bottom. Check out this beautiful movie from Petrouchka Ballet, starts from 30th second. The first theme and the second theme played are so lovely. The whole atmosphere also reminds me of a Christmas market, so fits to the mood.

Final thoughts: This years Eyes & Blush Palette from Guerlain, Petrouchka doesn't disappoint. It manages to fit almost 12 g products in a rather sleek case. All the products are finely milled and apply beautifully. Check out the comparison swatches above if you own one of the previous palettes though since there are similarities. 

What do you think about blush and eye palettes in general? Do you find them useful?