GUCCI – Crystal Copper

From the 5 Gucci quads I got, Crystal Copper was the one that I truly believed it would never work for me. It looks very shimmery and dramatic and the shadow that stands out the most is the golden copper on the bottom left, it’s the kind of color that simply doesn’t work for me, I don’t know what I was thinking since I still got it… the quad has “Copper” in his name but I have willingly ignored that.  So, I still don’t like that shade of copper but the others on the quad … yes please… can I have a whole bunch of shades as interesting as these in my collection? That would make me soooo happy!

I knew this one was a risky choice, out of my comfort zone because of that copper shade, BUT because of the other shades I had to have it. And I was so right.

I don’t have a lot of swatches of these shades and with my current light setting at home there is no way I can manage nice swatches anyway, but here it goes…

The highlight shade is stunning, a complex irisdescent white gold. Depending on how the light hits it it’s more or less white. It has micro sparkles but it’s not overly shimmery or glittery, it remains an elegant shade.

The coppery shade has great quality but I won’t use it.. , it’s too dramatic for me but I admit that if you love coppery shades that have a shimmery-ish finish, you will love this.

The dark aubergine is a satin-matte with micro sparkles. Those sparkles are silvery blue but they are not a bad thing for the shade and it doesn’t destroy it, you can have some sparkle transfer underneath the eyes but it’s not chunky, it will just sparkle a bit and then the sparkling effect fades, on the shadow itself nearly immediately. It’s much less obvious than the glitter pans in the Tom Ford quads, that should not stop you from loving the quad. The texture of this shade is different from the other matte Gucci shades. It’s not as bold and opaque, it has a dark aubergine base but it  becomes more and more transparent the more you blend it, you may have some difficulties building it to a very opaque finish but on the other hand it will be impossible to fail the look. Working with Gucci shades is super easy, the blending is so easy that you think they blend by themselves, you make a mistake you wipe it off with your fingertip, that’s so easy.

I think the biggest strength of the brand is how easy the shadows blend, how effortless the application is and how many long lasting and complex colors they launched.

Speaking of which… that brings me to the brown/red/copper/I don’t know..I can’t describe type of shade, a satin complex brown/red brick shade, (?) with a gorgeous golden red hue depending on the angle, absolutely freaking gorgeous.

Update: the Tom Ford Burnished Amber is much much more red compared to this TF (in case you had that quad in mind…), if you pick the two bottom shades of the TF, when mixed they look a bit like this CC shade but sheerer and more red.

So let’s focus a bit on that brown-red-whatever shade…

It reminds of a mix that I do with the Laura Mercier Cocoa Velour as a base and the Nars Jezebel on top (Jezebel is in the top center of the Modern Love palette), but the Gucci is more subtle, more complex and stays complex and pretty for a long time. A burgundy-red smoky eye is the look I go for when I want to feel good and sexy, you probably also have a go-to killer smoky eye, for me it’s that one, now that I have the Gucci quad I consider myself fulfilled.

Don’t trust my ugly swatches, the Gucci is truly gorgeous, gives a whole new sens to “sex in a pan” and, as a very picky make-up lover, I can confirm I am fully and happily satisfied. This is the most sultry and flattering shadow in my entire collection. Full stop.

I wear this shadow on its own on the mobile lid and the crease, then a bit of highlight on the browbone area, then the aubergine on the botton lash line with a tiny on the outer v.

Just for the history, I discovered Laura Mercier Cocoa Velour a long time ago and it’s still the best cream eyeshadow I own, easy to blend, looks absolutely divine, well, Ellis Faas are as good but Ellis Faas packing is a nightmare. If I could have the Ellis Faas in the same packaging as the Laura Mercier I would be in Heaven. I love to wear the LM Cocoa Velour on its own or with a bit of Nars India Song or Jezebel on top, just on the center of the mobile lid. I know I have already shared that but when you love something that much you feel like you have to repeat it over and over again… 😀

The Rouge Bunny Rouge is not that similar to the Gucci red-brown shade but both have similar undertones, the RBR is darker, more dramatic and more opaque. It makes the Gucci the most adult wearable and sophisticated color of both.

The Chanel Sable Emouvant is another one that I wear but it doesn’t have the WOW factor.

If you mix both Tom Ford Silvered Topaz shades (at the bottom of the TF), you get a bit similar color as the Gucci Aubergine. On the swatches above I have swatched the two bottom shades of the Tom Ford quad in the middle of both TF swatches.

BOTTOM LINE

The quality is fantastic, in terms of colors, except for the copper shade that I don’t wear, the others are huge love. You can easily layer them, if you want to tone down the shimmer don’t wear the highlight as a base but just in localized areas. If you want to add more glow and sparkle, wear the highlight as a base all over the lid before you work with the others on top.

I love it… that red-brick shade is killing me…