Tag Archives: guerlain

Is Guerlain’s $95 Gold and Diamond Powder Worth It?

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When the Guerlain Parure Gold Skin Diamond Micro Powder launched in September 2024, it was not even on my radar because of the price alone. However, over time, so many luxury beauty reviewers were praising this powder as the best alternative to their holy grail face product: the iconic and now infamous Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder.

When my makeup obsession began in 2014, I only cared about face powders to set my concealer and help lock in my makeup for longevity purposes. I had closer to normal skin at the time, so as the years went on and my skin became drier, I only needed powders to set the concealer under my eyes. Every so often I would fall prey to the hype surrounding a powder, but there was never one that I fell in love with for putting all over my face until the Dior Powder No-Powder. I had several that I really liked, but Dior’s was an actual love. That product caused my interest in powders to soar, but none since then have even come close to surpassing that one. This is largely in part to the sheen of the powder and how intensely it blurs and evens out my skin.

The reason this is important is because the most I ever spent on my precious powder was $45 for 11g. Because I was working through two different shades, I have not yet panned one, and it has taken me nearly four years to get this far with the Dior powder. So, there was no way I was going to spend $95 on something else, even if it turned out to be the most magical makeup product on the planet. I waited, very impatiently, until this powder could be found for a deal greater than 20% off. I was so excited when that eventually happened via Flaconi and I snagged it for 56 Euros!

The photo below shows how it looks (top left) compared to the Hourglass (top right) and Givenchy powder (mini on the bottom). Please ignore the tape covering the holes. This is my way of maintaining control over how much comes out at once.

The texture of the Guerlain powder is very fine and smooth, but dry feeling. Despite the product name, which sounds like it should be super radiant, I cannot see any shimmer nor sheen when I apply this to my skin. This powder completely mattifies without the skin looking dry. It also leaves a slight veil of color and is a little blurring.

I was pleasantly surprised that Deep works for me, even though it’s a neutral color (warmth would suit my undertone best). I kept hearing how comparable Guerlain’s powder was to Givenchy’s, and they do feel similar to the touch, but the way it actually looks on my skin reminds me more of the Hourglass Veil. The main difference though is that the Hourglass Veil isn’t as translucent and it provides some coverage to aid in creating a smooth canvas, moreso than through means of blurring. Because it’s easier to see the Hourglass powder on my skin, it’s less forgiving during the times of the year when I’m at my lightest. Because Guerlain’s is similar to Hourglass, but sheerer, it’s like having an even better suited replacement.

My most blurring powder is the one from Dior, second comes Chantecaille’s Perfect Blur, and then Guerlain’s is third. Technically, the reformulated Givenchy Prisme Libre Powder has the same amount of blurring capabilities, but I only liked it under my eyes as it left my face looking too matte. When it comes to the kind of finish I want on my skin, I still prefer a product with a sheen. Even though Guerlain’s powder is mattifying, if my foundation is hydrating enough, this powder eventually allows for the oils to come through as the day goes on in a controlled manner that allows for some glow, but never enough for my naturally dry skin to appear oily.

I always applied the Milk Hydro Grip eye primer to my under eyes and then put the KVD Good Apple concealer on top before setting it with the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish powder. This trio of products was the best way for me to keep my dark circles covered all day.
When I tested out my usual pairings with the Guerlain powder instead, I was shocked to see that it held up nearly as well as Charlotte Tilbury’s. When I tried the KVD concealer with just the Guerlain powder, it lasted longer than if I use KVD together with Charlotte’s without the Milk primer. The more I used Guerlain’s powder, the happier I became with the results and being able to skip the step of using Milk’s primer! The Charlotte Tilbury powder is part of my Project Pan, so I am continuing to stick to my usual routine, but every so often I’ve been using the Guerlain powder for my under eyes as well. Although I still wish the Guerlain powder had some sheen, I recognize the fact that it might not have looked as nice under my eyes if this was the case.

As much as I like this powder, I still keep circling back to the price and being unable to understand why the hype for this is so intense. There aren’t a ton of reviews on YouTube, but I see a lot more of my fellow makeup lovers championing it on Instagram. This is a great product, but I just don’t see how it’s $95 kind of great.
Perhaps I just don’t get it because I don’t have the right skin type to be able to fully appreciate its capabilities. So, I’m going to try and look at its worth from different angles.

The easiest defense for the cost of this powder is the price per grams. This contains a whopping 35 grams. The Hourglass and Givenchy powders would cost way more money if they had the equivalent amount of product. The Guerlain Parure Powder has enough powder in the jar to last me a lifetime, but will it? It has a PAO symbol representing 12 months. In addition, I start to get squeamish about using any makeup older than five years old. If it looks, smells, and performs the same, I might continue to use it a few more years after that, but I do not use makeup indefinitely. The “it’ll last me forever” line is one that I say sometimes, but it isn’t an actual selling point for me.
If I’m able to use this powder happily for 5 years, it would essentially be like paying $19 a year to use it. That still seems steep to me considering I like this, but I’m not in love. Since I bought this at the discounted price of 56 Euros or $58 USD, that’s about $11.60 per year. Factoring how little product I use and how many other powders I have in my collection, this is more acceptable to me. I am satisfied with the powder for the price that I paid.

Another contributing factor to the high price tag could be the expensive ingredients. There’s supposed to be real ground up 24 karat gold, crushed diamond powder, and perhaps they are even charging more money for the fragrance that’s included considering how expensive Guerlain’s perfumes are. My counterpoint to those is that gold and diamonds are so low on the ingredient list that they have no actual impact on the overall look of the product on the skin. They are too small to contribute to the radiance level and they don’t give any benefits to the skin. Their only purpose is to add to the luxury factor of just knowing it’s in there. As for the parfum, it’s not the signature violet smell that I loved in the original meteorites, but it’s still nice. However, I prefer for my makeup to not have any scent at all, so this is actually one point against them. There are times when I was going to reach for the powder, but my husband was in the room, so I didn’t. He’s sensitive to smells and opening the jar causes powder to permeate the air, which lingers for 5-10 minutes. So, the perfume in there actually prevents me from using it as often as I would like.

As for the packaging contributing to the price, this is just plastic. It has a pretty gold colored lid and comes with a thick luxurious puff. In fact, Guerlain’s puffs are the nicest ones that I own (that come included with the makeup I bought). Considering Guerlain has such stunning Meteorite tins, I can’t imagine the Parure packaging being more expensive than those. So, I don’t think the packaging is enough of a factor either.

There are other points that could be made, but the bottom line is that even if I can calculate how it adds up to $95, I don’t see the value for myself. At a sale price though, I kind of get it. I’m content with my purchase, though I still believe they should sell a mini.

That’s all for today! I hope this has been helpful or at least an interesting addition to the growing debate regarding luxury goods in this economy. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Guerlain Ombres G Quad Wild Nudes and Tower 28 Mascara

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This quad was on sale via Douglas, and I’ve wanted it for ages, so I snapped it up! I had completely forgotten that the eyeshadows in here were set into pans and are not the same eyeshadow formula as the initial Ombres G launch from the permanent range. If you look at marketing images, they look like baked eyeshadows without a pan, but only the original releases are this way. It’s a big deal for me because the non-pan eyeshadows are a more special texture and typically cost more to make. The baked gelee formula helped make the hefty price more palatable, so when I learned the newer launches weren’t the same, I said I wouldn’t buy them. Oops!

The colors are pretty, though very soft, muted, and natural on me. Shade 2 doesn’t really show on my eyes. I hoped Shade 1 would give me more dramatic depth. Shade 4 is quite pretty. Even though I have to be in a specific mood to want to wear pink, this is at least one of the types of pink I like. Shade 3 is pretty, but I can’t help but compare it to Shade 1 in the Royal Jungle palette that I love way more! It’s because the color in the Royal Jungle palette has a lot more pigment and sparkle. Wetting it makes it even more intense. Shade 1 from Wild Nudes is a satin and I will almost always prefer a shimmer over a satin.

Because the colors don’t show up intensely on me, I can’t really get much variety. I’m actually okay with that because I don’t expect too much from a quad. If I can get one very pretty look and wear that repeatedly, that’s fine with me. The unfortunate aspect is that Royal Jungle does that for me already, so I should have just stuck to using that one.

Guerlain Royal Jungle Compared to Wild Nudes

In terms of this eyeshadow formula, it’s a very smooth, finely milled powder. I definitely like this more than Tom Ford’s standard powder formula. However, I do still like Tom Ford’s wet/dry formula over Guerlain’s baked gelee one. I also still prefer Guerlain’s first release of permanent eyeshadows over the more normal powder one. My original review of Royal Jungle can be found HERE.

The Wild Nudes eyeshadows blend easily. They are opaque, though with a medium amount of pigment that’s slightly buildable, but not by much. They are soft to the touch, but not creamy and doesn’t have slip to them, so I don’t have to worry about creasing. There are no longevity issues either.

When I did an eye look combining shades from both palettes, I realized that other than the pink, the parts I liked about it were mainly from Royal Jungle. It’s only the black shade that is a bit of a dud in my quad. So, I also get some use out of having Wild Nudes to be able to use the dark brown matte even though I’d prefer if it was deeper.

Overall, this palette is nice, but not entirely worth the price I paid for it (even on sale). However, eyeshadow minimalists might love this one. For those wondering how I feel about Royal Jungle since my last review, I can say that I still enjoy it and that one was at least worth the discounted price.

As a bonus unofficial review, I wanted to mention that I’m wearing the Tower 28 MakeWaves mascara in all the eye photos. I purchased a travel size mini six months ago, but only started using it a few times within the last few months. It was such a hyped up mascara in 2023 that I could only deal with FOMO by stating I’d get it when it released in a smaller size.
I have to say that I was not impressed. The formula was on the dry side, or rather, I couldn’t get much product on the mascara wand and had to dip in repeatedly. And then in order to get my lashes to look how they did in photos, I had to build up three layers (which I normally stick to one or two at most). Even with the extra layers, the end result wasn’t better than what I can get with my other mascara favorites in terms of length and volume. Granted, it’s possible that the full-size gives better results if the stopper isn’t so tight on that tube or perhaps mine partly dried already. Some mascaras in the travel size can perform differently than the full-size. I won’t be investing more money to try and investigate further though. I give allowance to the possibility that it could be different, but I’m personally going to treat this as an accurate representation of the full-size.
On the positive side, I give credit for it not clumping or flaking, even with extra coats. Plus, the brand states that this mascara is intended to give “amped-up, natural-looking lashes” when I prefer more dramatic lashes. Influencers are the ones that hyped it up to be more my style. For those that want length and volume while also looking more on the natural side, I recommend Benefit Cosmetics Bad Gal Bang. It’ll give similar (but even prettier to me) results in less coats.

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Hourglass vs Guerlain Powders

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Hourglass and Guerlain are the two most hyped brands I’ve seen when it comes to all over face powders that give a blur and sheen but aren’t shimmery enough to be considered highlighters. So, when I saw both brands release actual highlighters and noticed how similar they were, I had to buy them.

Hourglass Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette

This palette has a net weight of 9 grams for $64. It was originally released for the holidays in 2017, but they brought it back for a limited time in 2020. I purchased this in May, but as of August, it’s still available on multiple retailers’ websites.

The Hourglass powders have a sheer base to them, which is why they appear sheerer in swatches than the ones from Guerlain. However, the Hourglass powders are much more reflective, as can be seen when applied to my cheeks. So, they end up making a bigger impact with my usual application method. They are meant to be used wet for more intensity (with a spray or primer) or dry. When I apply them dry, they’re at my maximum shimmer comfort level (unless I use a light hand and blend them very well), so I don’t use them wet. The Guerlain ones can also be applied wet too, but the difference is minimal compared to the jump in intensity when the Hourglass powders are used wet.

Guerlain Pearl Dusting Palette

Also known as the Meteorites 3-in-1 Highlighting and Illuminating Pressed Powder Palette, this has a net weight of 8.5 grams for $65. So, it’s slightly more expensive for a bit less product. The compact is huge with a lot of wasted space, though the packaging feels luxurious. Both palettes have mirror-finish plastic packaging, but despite the Guerlain one having less makeup inside, it’s a bit heavier. I suspect the actual mirror inside the Guerlain compact is heavier than the one in the Hourglass and accounts for the difference in weight.

The visible sheen on the surface of Hourglass and Guerlain’s trio powders are unlike any other highlighters I own. This is probably due to the addition of pearl powder which both brands cite as the main contributor to the beauty of these highlighters. Even though a sheer base, in theory, seems like the Hourglass powders would look better on my skin, the micro pearl particles are whitish, which doesn’t look as complimentary to someone like me with a yellow undertone and dark skin. The base pigment in the Guerlain highlighters help match me better, with the exception of the pink one.

All Guerlain Meteorites have a lovely violet scent that I enjoy experiencing whenever I open the containers. I have a keen sense of smell, so perhaps I’m more sensitive to fragrances than most people, but the violet scent in this trio is way more intense than the regular meteorites. It’s on the cusp of headache-inducing. It takes a few hours before I can no longer smell it on my face, which is not something I ever experienced with the regular meteorite pearls. I bought this a month and a half ago, and even let it air out for a few hours, but the scent is still as present as the day I bought it. I can tolerate it enough to keep using it, but if you’re sensitive to smells I would caution against buying this.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Hourglass powders don’t have as much color to them, are smoother to the touch, easier to blend, are buildable and highly reflective. The Guerlain powders are more pigmented, stick where they apply, and have an impactful sheen without being blinding.

I’ve always favored Guerlain Meteorites over the Hourglass Ambient Powders, but when it comes to their highlighters it’s not as simple to decide between them.

Neither of the pink shades from Guerlain and Hourglass are flattering on me. They’re too stark on my skintone and look more white on my skin than the actual white pan powders.

The other two Guerlain powders are probably the most flattering on me and more of my style, though I have to tolerate the smell to wear them. I still think the other two Hourglass powders are beautiful. Lucent Strobe makes the most wearable-impact of them all, as it’s intense but not as icy.

The best uses of the Guerlain Trio I’ve found is using Gold alone, Amber alone, or mixing the Gold and Amber shades together. It tones down the yellow base in Gold while amping up the intensity that Amber doesn’t have on its own.

The best use of the Hourglass Trio I’ve found is to use Pure Strobe as an inner corner of the eye highlight and Lucent Strobe as a spotlight/pinpoint highlighter. I basically use a regular highlighter along my cheeks and at the very highest point of my cheekbone add Lucent Strobe to make that spot stand out even more. All that these Metallic Strobe powders really need is to be mixed with something deeper, and then the outcome is much more to my liking. In the photo below, I used Nabla’s Amnesia highlighter, which is not an example of a deeper highlighter, but of one that’s on the more subtle side that was amped up by Lucent Strobe.

The shades in the Guerlain Pearl Palette better compliment my skin tone than the Hourglass Metallic Strobe Palette. Both brands advertise these products as “universal” highlighters, but I don’t believe this to be the case. They can be used on a wide range of skin tones, but none were catered to me, not even the Guerlain trio. I still really enjoy them anyway and don’t regret my purchases.

-Lili ❤