Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Eyeshadow Quad

If someone offers you an Armani eyeshadow palette, you say yes, right? That is how I ended up with this unassuming black glossy goodness in my possession! My friend and fellow blogger, Donna of Not Just Inside, and I were discussing Armani when she claimed she had an eyeshadow quad of theirs that she never used as the colours were too dark for her and offered it to me. To say the angels sang is an understatement. I have only briefly delved into the world of Armani Beauty as the products are just a little out of my price range but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want them in my collection. The next time I met Donna, she had this in hand and my knees were weak.

This is the Eyes To Kill Eyeshadow Quad in ‘Maestro’ and it was love at first sight. I love a good grey eyeshadow look – which is big this Autumn/Winter, don’t ya know?! – but I definitely don’t wear them enough so I was excited to delve into this palette and create some. The packaging is gorgeous – weighty, luxurious, glossy, classic… everything you would expect from a more luxury brand. The lid lifts to reveal the four shadow colours which obviously were designed to work together. The lid holds a generous mirror.

The layer of shadows also lift to reveal a space for two double ended eyeshadow applicators. Now Donna had already used/lost one of these so it was absent when I received the palette but let me tell you, there was no disappointment there. To me this is the biggest negative about this palette. With such a prestigious brand, surely they could offer something better than an oul sponge-tip but if not, I’d rather they just left them out altogether. I just find them rather insulting! The fact that they went to the trouble of designing the palette around their storage just seems absurd. I have already thrown out that one remaining offender.

Now although I was absolutely delirious to have this in my possession, I actually wasn’t expecting too much from the eyeshadows. I don’t have too much experience with more luxurious and expensive brands but it seems to me, from the many reviews that I read, that these brands often charge extortionate prices for ‘sheer’ eyeshadows. This practice seems incredibly questionable to me. I just cannot comprehend sheer shadows yet that is what I expected. Boy, was I wrong?! Let’s take a closer look at the shades.

The first shade in the palette is a gorgeous pale pearlescent silver. While it may pass as a white in the palette, on the skin it is obviously more of a silver and perfect for a very soft eye look. It could be worn alone for every day, as a shimmery highlight shade on the inner tear duct or in conjunction with the rest of the shadows in the palette.

The second shade is more of a light to medium silver shade which also has a pearlescent finish. This is one that would look great teamed with the other colours in the quad to create a smokey eye.

The third shade is a matte dark grey – a colour I actually do not own by any other brand. It is the teeniest bit chalky when applying but it doesn’t hinder its performance whatsoever. It is still pigmented and obviously an unusual shade if I don’t own it elsewhere.

Where most brands fall down is their black eyeshadow so I was absolutely bowled over by this one. I assumed this would translate as a dark grey on the skin but it is ebony black and incredibly pigmented. Take another look at my single swipe swatch a few photographs ago!

In all I was blown away by the quality. Well, not the quality so much as the pigmentation which I was just not expecting. Every shadow was a dream to apply and blend, as well as lasting well throughout the day. Each colour also worked beautifully together making this quad a dream to use alone without the help of additional eyeshadows. I love the fact that there are two mattes and two sheens adding a great variety to it. I just cannot fault it.

According to the Brown Thomas website, there are eight quads available including this one and all seem to contain four complementary colours that would work together. There are three neutral ones containing a lot of browns that I could see proving very popular and I have my eye on ‘Bourdoir’ which features reddy-purple burgundies – perfect for enhancing green eyes. Of course, the price is an issue at €58.50 a quad but what would you expect from Armani?! To me, this is the ultimate self-indulgent treat but a worthwhile one that you would actually use and appreciate.

You may remember a few weeks ago, I did a Friday Face using the Maestro palette which you can see here. For a review of Armani’s Nail Lacquer click here or their Rouge Ecstasy Lipsticks click here.

 What do you think? Is it a thing of beauty? And would you fork out €58.50 for it?