Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Couture Variation 10 Palette

Beautiful packaging as expected from YSL and the palette contain colours I would use especially in Winter where I like to use cool colour eyeshadows. YSL never disappoints me with the quality of their eyeshadows, very pigmented, smooth and the powder doesn’t go everywhere. However, the palette is slightly expensive as there are affordable brands in the market that has similar quality. Having said that I do own their palette because of the beautiful packaging.

BRAND: Yves Saint Laurent is a luxurious French brand that has been popular in both the realms of fashion and beauty since its establishment in 1961.   PRODUCT: This palette includes ten complimentary shades in a range of colours and finished. There are four different variations available: Tuxedo, Nu, Paris, and Underground.   Tuxedo – is a combination of cooler toned blues, purples, and greys. Designed to create dramatic smokey eye looks. Nu – is a variety of neutrals and browns. The shades neutral to warmer toned, and designed to create every day makeup looks. Paris – includes pinks and mauves with neutral undertones. Designed for day-to-night transition. Underground – is predominately cooler toned navy blues, and designed for dramatic dark looks.   I was after a more natural palette that suited olive skin, so I opted for the ‘Nu’ variation. It is the only palette where all the shades suit warm toned skin, as I find that cool and even neutral toned shades look dirty on my clients with that nice olive complexion. (In saying that, I have fair skin and absolutely loved how the other palettes looked on my skin, especially the blues in the Underground variation).   PACKAGING: As with all YSL products, the packaging is a major drawcard. The sleek black with gold design gives is that high-end feel, and the sturdy packaging stores and protects the shadows nicely. Another positive for me is that the case has a click closure, rather than the magnetic kind, which gives me more confidence that it won’t spill throughout my makeup case. The included brush is also really nice and effective to use, far superior to the sponge applicators most palettes come with.   SHADES: The palette includes a combination of light and dark colours, with finishes ranging from matte to shimmer. These colours in order are:   1.      Creamy beige – base shade, matte finish. 2.      Creamy peach – light shade, shimmer finish. 3.      Soft champagne – light shade, shimmer finish. 4.      Taupe – light shade, shimmer finish. 5.      Gold – medium shade, shimmer finish. 6.      Deep champagne – medium shade, shimmer finish. 7.      Copper – medium shade, shimmer finish. 8.      Chestnut brown – dark shade, matte finish. 9.      Bronze – dark shade, shimmer finish. 10.   Chocolate brown – dark shade, matte finish.   QUALITY: The shadows all perform well, but some are slightly better than others. The pigment in the shadows is good, but I wouldn’t rate it as highly as the ABH, Lorac, and Urban Decay palettes I have used. I also find that the warm colours just aren’t quite as vibrant as I would have liked them to be. In saying that, the shadows are not bad. They blend really well, are buildable, easy last throughout the day/night, have minimal fall out, and do not settle into lines and creases.   PRICE: The palette retails at $135, which I think is a little steep when you compare the quality to that of other more affordable brands. However, based on the price of the single YSL eye shadows and the inclusion of the dual-ended brush, it does work out more economical if you are looking at purchasing eye shadows from YSL. I use this palette a lot with my clients so I don’t regret the purchase, however unless you plan on using this palette religiously I wouldn’t recommend breaking the bank for it.   VERDICT: This palette provides beautiful eye shadows that are suited to neutral-warm skin tones. The quality is nice, but personally I don’t think it justifies the hefty price tag. I also feel that most of the shades have cheaper dupes that perform just as well if not better. I wouldn’t repurchase this palette, and I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone unless you are a massive fan of YSL shadows and plan on using it day in day out. Based on value for money, I can only give this a rating of 3/5.   Pros – elegant packaging, high quality dual-ended brush, variety of colours and finishes, blendable, buildable, minimal product fallout, suitable for sensitive skin, suitable for warm skin tones. Cons – price, colours not as vibrant as expected, cheaper dupes available. 

I decided to splurge and purchased this palette a couple years ago. There are two different variations; #1 Nu which is a nude palette featuring warm-cool neutral shades, and #2 Tuxedo (pictured above) which features a combinations of blues, purples, and greys. I decided to purchase #1 Nu as I thought I would get more use out of it, and hopefully justify the whopping $135 price tag.   The packaging is cute, it is sturdy black plastic with a gold YSL logo featuring on the front. The palette has a click closure, which I much prefer to the magnetic ones. Both palettes offer 6.5g/0.22oz of product, which works out slightly more economical than the other YSL eye shadow palettes.   This nude palette has ten shades; a base (#1), light colours (#2, 3, 4), medium colours (#5, 6, 7), and dark colours (#8, 9, 10). There are three with matte finishes (#1, 8, 9), the rest having a beautiful shimmer finish. Shade #9 has the YSL logo pressed into it, and adds that expensive feel to the palette. The shades apply pretty similar to the images you can find online, but I would say the shimmer finishes are much more shimmery (and beautiful) than I was expecting. A quick description of each shade would be: -      #1: light beige, matte finish, base shade. This shadow applies nicely, and I find it improves the application of other colours if I apply to my lids first; -      #2: light peach, shimmer finish, light colour. This colour is brighter than most peach colours in other nude palettes, colour payoff is good and beautifully shimmery, but I find the shadow can be a little crumbly; -      #3: champagne, shimmer finish, light colour. The cooler toned shadow has good colour pay off, and a beautiful shimmer (even frosty) finish; -      #4: light taupe, shimmer finish, light colour. This shade is less shimmery than the others, so I find it better for every day looks. However the colour pay off on this shade is not great and requires layering; -      #5: gold, shimmer finish, medium colour. I also use this for every day looks, colour pay off is better than #4 but not as good as some of the other shades; -      #6: medium taupe, shimmer finish, medium colour. This colour has good pay off, a beautiful frosty finish, and is my favourite shade in the palette; -      #7: burnt orange copper, shimmer finish, medium colour. This shade has a great colour pay off and is so unique, having a much more orange tone compared to other copper shadows I own; -      #8: chocolate brown, matte finish, dark colour. I have warm skin, and since this is a warm brown with red undertones it suits me perfectly! Many taupe brown look dirty on my skin, so I am in love with this eye shadow. The colour pay off is good, the shadow is buttery, and there is no fallout; -      #9: bronze, shimmer finish, dark colour. This shade appears to have a much more dimensional shimmer, and is just beautiful on; -      #10: dark brown, matte finish, dark colour. I would consider this dark brown a neutral tone, perhaps leaning towards cooler. The shadow is buttery, has good colour pay off, and is perfect for adding dimension to your eye makeup. I have found that many of the colours in this palette dupe the Urban Decay Naked palettes, but in my opinion the performance just isn’t as high. Based on this, I would recommend the UD palettes over this YSL one as they are cheaper, include more product, and are more consistent in regards to quality and colour payoff.   PROS: -      Some unique shades; -      Cute reliable packaging; -      Super shimmery finishes; -      Matte formula is just beautiful; -      Shades go together well.   CONS: -      Pricey; -      Inconsistency in colour payoff; -      Can easily find cheaper dupes for most shades.

I'm a sucker for packaging and that may be the only reason I bother buying this or any other YSL palette. For an eyeshadow from a prestige brand, this is the least impressive I've come across in awhile. I prefer wet application as it's just not opaque/vibrant enough otherwise. Colours are definitely pretty but colour payoff is not what it should be. Perhaps this is a "more mature" brand and not meant for the early-20's market, and the muted colours are intentional? Who knows. But it for the packaging but not for the colour payoff.