Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection - LIU Holiday Collection

We have now crossed over into the month of November and I am goaling myself to be finished up with all of the holiday collections by the middle of December.  This will allow all of you the time to shop and purchase the items that you love the most (either for yourself or others) well before the crush of the last minute Christmas shopping stress.  So we have a month and a half for the rest of the holiday color, gift, and body product collections that have been released this year.  The Guerlain fall collection was a bit on the disappointing side however the holiday collection looks wonderful and I can't waiy any longer to start diving into the limited edition products and shades that are being released for this holiday season.  Guerlain can do a holiday collection like no one else, they are the masters at lovely shades that are perfect for any occasion and housing their makeup in packaging that just makes me feel like getting dressed up.

This collection is called the LIU collection and is inspired by the glamour of the Orient, one of my dreams has also been to ride on the Orient Express (reading Agatha Christie has been giving me dreams and ideas for many years now!) however since that wouldn't be happening any time soon, I will just have to go makeup shopping instead. 

I found this collection and all the information on the Nordstrom website, I just love how this company organizes their website and makes it so easy to find any collection that I need to.  "Inspired by Puccini's Turandot, Guerlain's LIU Collection epitomizes the seductive mystery of secret love. Golden mists, tapered cat eyes and sensuous red lips beautifully enhanced by the opulence of the Orient turn every woman into a heroine."  Puccini's Turandot is an Italian opera in which a suitor has to solve three riddles in order to marry his beloved princess.  It takes place in the Middle East so it is pretty easy to see the shades that inspired Guerlain.

Here is the collection!

Liu Holiday Collection Perfumed Shimmer Powder Face and Body - A light-as-air loose powder that enhances the face, body and hair with an iridescent, golden veil. A mere press of the bulb releases the powder, leaving Liu's mesmerizing aromas in its wake: a composition of aldehydes, sensual roses, vanilla, iris and woody notes. Many will recognize Liu's original bottle with its elegant black glass case and golden letters reminiscent of a Chinese tea caddy. A black woven bulb has been added to transform the legendary fragrance into a desirable and feminine makeup accessory.

Du Dragon Meteorites Perles Illuminating Powder - Météorites Perles du Dragon is named for the Year of the Dragon, and pays tribute to the mythical animal, a symbol of the emperor of China, whose primary source of power lay in a pearl, synonymous with happiness, wisdom and abundance. The harmony of six shades of pearls in an intense, iridescent monochrome palette is perfectly tailored to the holiday season. Like nighttime jewels, it cloaks the face in incredible radiance: pale pink and beige even out the complexion, white and gold illuminate, while plum and rosewood brighten areas of shadow and erase fatigue as the night goes on. The famous metal case, also embossed in black, is stamped with a golden rosette and bears the Guerlain signature.

Meteorites Wulong Exceptional Refillable Pressed Powder - Black Dragon combines six shades to ensure a pure, flawless and luminous complexion regardless of skin tone. Matte shades are paired with two white and gold illuminating shades that add subtle radiance. The delicate black-metal powder compact is sculpted with a gold mother-of-pearl rosette and tucked inside a black suedette pouch bordered with red stitching.

LIU Holiday Collection Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eye Shadow Palette - A precious quartet showcases a subtle monochrome palette for vibrant and refined eye makeup. The interplay of textures and colors allows you to effortlessly take your look from morning to night. Two matte and two iridescent textures are combined to perfection. Refined down to the slightest detail, the elegant golden case travels in a black suedette pouch with red topstitching.
- medium gold shimmer/medium rose satin/deep plum satin/deep plum bronze satin

LIU Holiday Collection Rouge Automatique Lip Color - Discover Guerlain's limited edition shade of Rouge Automatique lipstick. 
- Altoum: A gold adorned with beautiful tone-on-tone sparkle that is worn on bare lips to illuminate them with a sophisticated nude veil, as a top coat over another shade to add a precious glow or dabbed on the center of the mouth for daring plump lips.
- Lou Ling: An enchanting plum set off with a golden sparkle for a dramatic effect.

LIU Holiday Collection Nail Lacquer - Display ultimate sophistication on your fingertips and toes with two limited-edition nail polishes in stunning jewel tones.
- Altoum: a gleaming gold for a precious glow
- Lou-Ling: a stunning plum for a spellbinding look

I am so excited for some of the products and shades that have been released for this limited edition holiday collection!  I have never used the Meteorites highlighting product and I don't know that I plan to yet, I have never really used a highlighter before and while many ladies do love this product, I have heard that this is one of the harder highlighters to use and I doubt that I would get it right the first time.  I may change my mind on this product however I would not be until after I visited a counter (not the mini counter at Sephora, I mean one of the full counters at Saks or Nordstrom) and someone worked with me to make sure that I can use this product correctly.

My favorite piece of the color collection is the Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eye Shadow Palette, I love that it contains a rose and a gold hue so that I can create more a pigmented and dressed up rose gold eye look.  If I can only buy one item from this collection, this would be my top pick.  The next product that I would really love to own is the Nail Lacquer in both of the Altoum and the Lou-Ling shades, I don't own either a deep plum or a gold metallic foil yet so these shades would fill holes in my nail polish collection and I will both of them throughout the holidays and then again next fall.  The last piece that I must own from the color collection is the Lip Color in Lou Ling, however I would like to see more photos of this in order for me to determine if this gold-flecked plum might be a bit too warm for my skintone (I am not comfortable enough with the photo on this website to just order it right now). 

I love the packaging on the Perfumed Shimmer Body Powder and I almost want this product only to set out on my dresser.  My dream apartment in the city will be shades of reds and black and this bottle would actually be a great decoration for my living room, I love that I could use the powder and then use the beautiful bottle in a display.

This collection and the Chanel holiday collections are my two favorite so far, I don't know that I will find any others as lovely as these two and we looked at one of the best today!

photo courtesy of Nordstrom