GUCCI – Autumn Fire

When the Gucci beauty line was launched, I immediately ordered the eyeshadow quad Tuscan Storm. That TS quad left me wanting for more, exactly 4 more.

What I am going to share with you starting right now is:

• was I too greedy ? (well I know the answer, I just can’t help it, it was the “Tuscan Storm” love effect that blinded me…) or
• was it reeeaaally worth it?? Knowing the price for each quad is high and even varies depending on where you buy it.

After Tuscan Storm, I bought Autumn Fire, Serpentine Envy, Pink Flamingo and Crystal Copper.

I am splitting the post per quad and today I will show you Autumn Fire. The other 3 quads, as well as more swatches of Tuscan Storm will be published during the week, one post at a time so that I can handle it 🙂

AUTUMN FIRE

I have been using it in different ways, some methods work, some not as good but it’s essential to take note that I am over 40, I have olive green eyes, seriously hooded. I hate metallic finishes. This is not a commercial review, this is just to help you IF you are in the same situation or if not, at least help somehow with my thoughts on this sophistical-ly expensive quad.

The swatches

Except for the dark brown shade which is fully matte with an excellent texture, the others have between satin and metallic finishes (some would call these shimmery, for me it’s more in between shimmery and metallic).

The burgundy purple shade is satin, and the other sheer ones (the yellowish copperish.. beige and the coral) more on the metallic side.

I need to stress that the colours are complex, I have a hard time describing… so please head to Tara for her great description 🙂

I noted that if I apply them with a large fluffy brush (for ex. Mac 217) instead of a laydown brush (Mac 239) these metallic shades become more wearable and look more subtle and elegant but applied like that, the result is not as opaque. That is the case with all my Gucci quads, a fluffy brush can often save a shade that doesn’t work with a flat laydown brush, you will see that in Serpentine Envy or Crystal Copper.

Speaking of brushes… If you have a look at their brushes, their laydown is made of pony hair which is a type of hair that applies product quite heavily, the intensity of pony is similar to goat bristles (providing the density is equivalent). That means to me that they may go for a heavy mobile lid application. OK, I might be taking this too far and maybe I am wrong 🙂 but this is why I often try to buy the brand’s brushes, because the application should match the texture and quality of the shadows and it is often the case, Charlotte Tilbury for example, I find her brushes to match really well her quads or face products.

So, since I don’t like pony brushes, I won’t purchase them because pony is often too rough on  my skin for a daily use and their laydown brush costs 67 CHF (approx 70USD). I am the first person to admit that luxury has a price, but comm’on, be reasonable Gucci. That is absolutely unacceptable – you can do whatever you want of course but for 70USD I can buy a hell of a brush and have many options. It says it’s “handcrafted”. Is “hand crafted” same as hand made ? or can you actually play on the words… ? ok so it says it’s hand crafted, don’t know where (maybe it’s written on the packaging). Koyudo have excellent pony brushes for approx 15USD. Anyway, just saying.

If I use all the shades except for the coral one, I love it. The best application on my eyes is the burgundy purple on all the mobile lid up to the crease with a fluffy brush (the application is bold but plays with transparency), then the yellow beige on the browbone (it’s ok, not too obvious). The brown on the bottom lash line and a tiny bit on the outer v.  It’s not tacky at all, works with my olive eyes.

The coral shade is gorgeous but adds a bit too much shine and on my aging lids it doesn’t look that good. If you can pull it off, then it is an absolutely gorgeous shade.

In the following swatches, it’s only the Autumn Fire yellow beige (on the left) compared to the lightest shades on all the other Gucci quads I own, AF =Autumn Fire, CC=Crytal Copper, PF=Pink Flamingo, SE=Serpentine Envy, TS=Tuscan Storm.

It’s often a good thing to see them all together to compare the finish.

I was looking for dupes, just to confirm if I really needed it or not.. Please excuse the horrible mistakes of my awful depotting life…

To be honest with myself, I didn’t need this one, the Burberry Mulberry is better for my lids, not exactly the perfect dupe but dupe enough, actually I prefer the Burberry but the Gucci is excellent too.

The sheerest shade is not a shade that I will reach for unless I use the palette, if you look at the lightest swatches shown above, the Tuscan Storm is much better for me, the TS is more subtle and still complex enough to really capture all my interest.

If you click on the picture, the colors may render better.. I don’t really know why… 🙂

The coral is not a shade for me, but the color pay off on the lids is excellent, I just don’t enjoy this kind of finish on myself. Many of you will truly love it though. All the Gucci shades (even the sheer ones) have an amazing grip on the lids, not only the color intensity stays put but it lasts.

I prefer the two Rouge Bunny Rouge (V Lyrebird and FT Sunbird), they are less metallic and look much better on my lids. I know the color is not the same but it just follows the idea of a complex pinkish coral.

The dark brown on the Gucci quad is excellent, it’s a good one IF you don’t already own Mac Corduroy or TF Cocoa Mirage for example. The color -IMHO- can be dupeable enough at least by these two, the only moment when it doesn’t it’s  when you apply it with a pencil brush: the Gucci is more smoothly buildable and with a similar amount of product/strokes, the result with the Gucci will not be as dark, which can be a good thing for some, a bad for others. For those of you who need an effortless application, the Gucci matte shades are absolutely fantastic, they build softly and gradually. With the TF and the Mac you get a darker application.

Bottom line

I really love Tuscan Storm, it did something to my brain and made me buy other quads without pondering if it was really worth it 😀

I admit the quality of Autumn Fire is great, I find the mattes even better than Tom Ford mattes for most of the ones I own. The shimmery shades are up to Suqqu quality but in general the ones I see in the quads I got are more opaque, this is why Suqqu is more appropriate for me than Gucci. Except for Tuscan Storm which is just spot on for me in terms of texture, quality and shades.

If you love strong colors with a lot of shine, the Gucci shades, even if the metallic finishes will be a huge love for you but if you have dupes, you will have to ponder if you really want to splurge OR if you can skip it and get something else for the price… My choice -now that I know, would be the Burberry Mulberry, the RBR FT Sunbird and the Mac Corduroy. Every one has a browbone highlight so those 3 plus a subtle browbone shade would be a great replacement if you want to skip this Gucci 🙂

I hope this helps but if you have any question, you know you can ask me 🙂

If you want to know the ingredients, please click on this picture… they are listed for all quads.