Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs #17 Les Violines, Review, Swatch, Comparison & FOTD

I hope you are all having a great weekend. We are having visitors over the weekend, so I thought I would write a post quickly before they arrive and share my thoughts about one of the three newly released Guerlain Quads, which will join the permanent line. I was very impressed when I played with them yesterday (check the swatches of all the three palettes here). Reading the comments on Instagram and the blog,  I have noticed there was more excitement for #17 Les Violines there, so let me start with this one.

What makes Guerlain #17 Violines special is its finish. The palette is composed only of satin to matte shades which are very soft and finely milled. Although these are so soft, I haven't experienced fall-out during the application. The intensity of the application can be tuned depending on the fullness of the brush or the layers you apply. With one pass, you can achieve a sheer coverage, with multiple passes or a fluffy brush, you can get full on effect, which is still soft due to the shade selection. I have introduced the shades in my previous post, which you can check here.

Below I am wearing pale pink (top) all over the lid as a base, soft mauve (right) in the middle and mid-toned plummy pink (bottom) on the outer corner. I defined the outer corner and crease with the deep plum (left). I lined my eyes with Guerlain Eye Pencil #02 in Jackie Brown, which is my go to eye pencil for soft looks and applied Rouge Bunny Rouge Modelling Mascara in Witchery which I am loving at the moment (review coming up soon) on my lashes. 

It is getting hard for a palette to be very unique in my stash but Les Violines accomplishes it not only with its finish but also because of the tones. Just when I was thinking that I have all the plummy purply colors out there, I was surprised to find out I don't have anything like it. The closest which I can think of is Burberry Complete Eye Palette #06 in Plum Pink because the finish is close, but it turns out that Plum Pink is warmer and has more brown/beige tones once compared. Also Plum Pink has mostly satin shades while the shades in Les Violines are more matte. Burberry is releasing another plummy pink palette for this fall which I will introduce you during next week, I suspect that one can be closer to Les Violines, so stay tuned.

Another palette which crossed my mind when I see Les Violines is Guerlain's Turandot, which must be one of my all time favorite Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs. It was unfortunately a limited edition item but if you happen to have it, below you see that they are not even close. Turandot is warmer and the plums in this palette are redder. I also thought about Chanel Hesitation from 2014 Fall Collection (reviewed here), but Hesitation is also redder. Nice thing about these comparisons is that I end up noticing unexpected things, this time I found out Hesitation minus the gorgeous sparse shimmer is very close to bottom shade of Turandot, which means those of you who own Turandot can give a second thought in investing for Hesitation :-)

I wore Les Violines yesterday and I was impressed by the longevity. I applied my make-up at 9am (over Nars Pro-prime) and at 11pm almost everything was gone other than my eye-makeup, which was looking fresh with no signs of fading. Usually I don't have problem with longevity but I often experience fading after 6-7 hours mark, which means the shades doesn't look as vibrant or fresh as it was applied, which is not the case with just a few brands, like Suqqu, some of Tom Ford and latest palettes of Chanel. I am happy to report that Guerlain is now included in this extreme wear accomplishment list. If you have oily lids and happened to try Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs please leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts about the longevity.

Brows:

Final thoughts: Loving it, #17 Les Violines might become my daily affair for a polished daily look. I can't recommend it enough if you like these tones as much as I do.

Guerlain Kiss Kiss Collection is now available in the States, UK and it will be released in a few weeks time in Germany and rest of Europe. Palette will cost around 53 EUR in Germany and $60 in the States, Escentuals (not affiliated) from UK has a Guerlain sale going on, and offers 10% on all Guerlain products, this is where I got mine. The palettes are permanent, but I know it is still hard to wait ;-)

How do you feel about palettes with just matte shades?