Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill #11 and #12

These two palettes have been released a few months ago but they just arrived here in Switzerland. I was really interested in the taupe #11 Mystery and when I saw the purple, #12 Fatal, and swatched it at the counter I really fell in love with these fresh and luminous shades.

This is what Armani says :

Giorgio Armani introduces four new Eyes to Kill Quad Shimmers featuring iridescent, eye-catching colors with electric shine. Real innovation in the formulation of a powder eyeshadow: an intense formula that melds perfectly with a satin, pearly veil producing amplified light effects. Irresistible with its extremely soft, sensorial appeal, the eyeshadow arms the eyes with a flawless weapon all day long.

Hmmmm…

• Irresistible ? yes. They are gorgeous wearable shades, nice satin or pearly finish depending on the shades, perfect for any occasion (work, evening).
• Innovation ?? I don’t see innovation here because once I started using them I realized I had very similar shades in my collection, it’s actually intriguing how close these are to the Chanel quads below. Is there any link with their creative director ? Otherwise I just don’t get it but it seems like they have been copied.
• Lasting “all day long” ?? definitely not on my eyes, even with a primer. I noticed that after 3 hours the application fades and it barely shows anymore. I apply my makeup at around 6h30 in the morning, if I was relying on these palettes to keep me looking fresh and prepped all day long they would miserably fail.  I am not saying that I necessarily have the Russel Howard’s effect at 10:03 but I know that if I want to look like I still have makeup on at 10:03, I definitely need to add some other item to help, for example a more intense lipstick paired with them.

If  you look at the Chanel quads  (Prelude and Vanités) you can see what I mean.  The formula and finish is different but the shades are so incredibly similar !

Armani Mystery vs Chanel Prelude (US) 

I love both palettes and when you love taupe shades these two will appear absolutely irresistible.

Just keep in mind that there is a Chanel US version with square pans and a Chanel EU with round pans. Here I am talking about the US formula.

• The lightest shade is more obvious and shimmery on the Armani (but gorgeous), the Chanel it’s just luminous (less shimmery) and can be worn as an all over base. The Armani is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but for more ageing lids like mine the Chanel is more appropriate.
• The light taupe shade is a bit lighter and has less shimmer on the Prelude, it makes the Prelude more wearable for day time.
• The medium brown taupe shade is very similar on both palettes, the Chanel is a bit more interesting, has a more luminous finish without being shimmery. The Chanel lasts more than the Armani.
• The darkest shade is more intense on the Chanel, more blendable, the Armani is not powdery but compared to the Chanel, the Chanel has a more silky finish. Again the Chanel lasts more than the Armani.

You may already know how much I love the Prelude quad, I have a little review here with some pictures, this quad is often in my favorites  coming with me everywhere I go.

I prefer square pans in compacts rather than thin pans where it’s more difficult to use brushes without accidentally touching the side pan.

Here I have tried to swatch the Armani shades on the left with the equivalent Chanel shades on the right.

Armani Fatal vs Chanel Vanités

The Armani Fatal is a more wearable palette for daytime, more discrete than the Chanel but I prefer the Chanel Vanités (so Chanel wins again…). It’s just so suspicious how these are similar shades !

• The lightest shade has more lavender pink in the Armani but it just disappears quite quickly, I prefer the color of the Armani which is more unique but the Chanel lasts longer.
• The next pink lavender shade is more beautiful on the Armani but again, it just disappears and I cannot manage to layer the color properly to give it a decent lasting power.
• The gold purple shadow doesn’t have a great texture on the Chanel, it’s volatile and not very easy to layer and blend but the color is more unique. The problem is that the Armani, again, easily disappears after 3 hours wear. Once applied (with a bit of work) the Chanel lasts for quite a while and the gold is really sitting beautifully on top of the burgundy purple.
• The dark purple on the Chanel doesn’t have an extraordinary texture but it’s more interesting than the one on the Armani, the Armani after 1 hour loses absolutely all interest, it’s still there but it just faded way too much to look like it has been placed there deliberately.

The new Armani compacts have a second compartment where they store the applicators but since I find that useless, I removed the bottom part and stored my setting powder there.

It came out in one piece :

You could put more shadows or a blush, but you will have to stick them with double side tape or something similar but it’s handy if you want to keep a few things in the same place…

The quality is better than the old Armani palettes, it has been improved for sure but there is still room for more upgrade.

Shame the lasting power is that terrible on my eyes, otherwise they would be just fantastic. If you have them, did you find a way to make them last a decent amount of time ?  I saw a few reviews but nobody is mentioning the lasting power, I’ll be glad if you could share 🙂

thanks !

PS : sorry for the terrible pics… works at home make the process of taking pictures quite tricky at the moment…