I’m going to say up front here, that Spring collections aren’t my strong suit. My personal preference leans to the Fall/Winter collections. For the most part, Spring tends to be light, sheer, pastel… and pink. I can handle light and sheer but pastel and pink aren’t attributes I particularly prefer for makeup. I think Dior did a fairly good job for Spring 2012. Remember the Garden Roses collection? The Rosy Glow blush in Petal did so well that they have made it permanent, the last time I checked at the Dior counter. I specifically asked the SA and she confirmed it, and I am very pleased because I’m a picky person, and the fact that blush made it to my top pick for 2012 is really saying a lot!
The Cherie Bow Spring 2013 collection sparked a lot of interest towards the end of 2012. If there is one thing Dior does well, it is their imagery and the romanticism they project. For Spring 2013, Dior went all out to be girly and sweet and faith! Nothing is more girly and sweet and romantic than pinks and ribbon bows.
I particularly like how Dior makeup and Dior couture remain consistent in their approach to a season, and in staying true to the roots of Mr. Christian Dior. Dior Spring 2012 makeup was all about roses because that is what Mr. Dior loved, and when Raf Simmons debuted his couture collection at the House of Dior, they filled the rooms with millions of roses. I love that symbiotic relationship that transcends seamlessly through a brand. Brands that showcase different approaches for their couture and makeup line jars with my sense of symmetry.
This year, Dior took on the houndstooth print for their makeup, and the imagery of ribbons and bows. What does this bode in terms of fashion, I wonder. Will we be seeing houndstooth and ribbons and bows on the runway this year? Ah, I guess we’ll have to wait and see 😀
For now, this is the Dior Cherie Bow Spring 2013 collection. I have decided to take this on by way of an overview of the collection, telling you what I think in gist and then, I’ll take on each item individually in separate posts (or at least those that interest me most) so we have one single point of reference. Ok with all that? Now, grab a cuppa tea or coffee, sit back and let’s take a look at the collection 🙂
As with all seasonal collections, Dior has pulled out all the stops, introducing a collectible palette, new eye products, eyeshadow quints, trios, lip products, nails, and importantly for me, blushes! Dior seems to only release 1 new blush each year and I’m a big fan of their blushes so seeing new ones meant I had to get them. All of them! (Thankfully, that just means 2 😉 )
A surfeit of pink! Yet, Dior being Dior, they managed to work in their signature grey tones into the eye palettes which is great because pink, pink and more pink can be a bit trying. So here’s some of what the Cherie Bow collection has to offer and the local prices.
- 3 Couleurs Cherie Bow Edition #731 Smoky Rose – RM158
- Palette Cherie Bow #001 Rose Poudre – RM230
- 5 Couleurs Cherie Bow Edition #724 Rose Ballerine – RM210
- Diorblush Cherie Bow Edition #659 Tender Coral – RM143
- Dior Addict Lip Glow Colour Reviver Gloss – RM95
- Dior Addict Lipstick #687 Espegiele – RM98
- Nail Glow – RM75
- Twinset Eyeshadow #060 Grey Sigh and #530 Beige Ribbon – RM112
- Dior Addict Lipstick #457 Candide – RM98
- Diorblush Cherie Bow Edition #729 Pink Happiness – RM143
Palette Cherie Bow #001 Rose Poudre
This is Dior’s star product collectible palette for the season, which is shaped like a bow. The cover is shades of pink with a matte enamel finish and you get in the palette, 3 eyeshadows, 1 eyeliner and 1 lip colour/gloss. The palette comes in 2 shades – #001 Rose Poudre featured here and #002 Rose Perle a much pinker palette.
As with all Dior palettes since their Miniaudiere, the lip gloss is covered with a metal flap, which I repeat, is all sorts of genius! I must say I wasn’t ready to like this palette very much but boy, do I have to bite my tongue! The secret to the practicality and useability of the Rose Poudre palette is in the inclusion of the grey and black shades alongside the pink. This is what makes this palette wearable! The quality of the shadows are, I find superior to that found in Dior’s previous collectible palettes. Here then, is a palette that is not only gorgeous to look at, its actually pretty decent!
Swatches Left-Right: Dior Lip Glow Colour Awakening Lipgloss, Dior Cherie Bow Rose Poudre palette – shimmer pink, shimmer grey, matte black, cream black liner, pink lipgloss
The Lip Glow is, I believe a repeat product from a previous collection. Its quite interesting as it adjusts to your lips and body so it will not look the same on everyone. I’ll review that separately because interesting is interesting 🙂 As for the Cherie Bow palette, the pink is pretty much a highlight shade, and does not pull very pink, while the stars (to me) are the deeper grey and black tones. Layer it all over each other and you have a very classy, elegant sophisticated eye. The gloss is pretty much clear. I dug into the product hoping to get some colour but there isn’t much, as you can see.
3 Couleurs Cherie Bow Edition #731 Smoky Rose and 5 Couleurs Cherie Bow Edition #724 Rose Ballerine
Firstly, can I just say how much I love the houndstooth design printed on the palettes this time around? I think its gorgeous! But I must say that whilst I do think Dior has stepped up their game when it comes to their 5 colour eyeshadow palettes (see Golden Savannah, Aurora, Couture Golds and Night Golds) Rose Ballerine took me all the way back to the time when Dior eyeshadow palettes were known for being light, sheer and uninteresting.
The combination of colours in Rose Ballerine quint held promise but the swatches just prove a little too sheer and light for my tastes. I did manage to use them, but I can’t say I love it enough to rave up and down about it.
Ditto the Smoky Rose trio. I was disappointed with the combination of colours offered. 3 pale pinks do nothing for the eyes. What I did was layer them over a black liner base and then, I end up with a beautiful, elegant eye. But on its own, sorry, disappointing. The swatches below should tell you just what you need to know.
Swatches (1) Smoky Rose Trio: Matte pink, Smoky Pink (metalic pink), Base (very pale pink); (2) Rose Ballerine palette: Shimmer darker pink, Shimmer light pink, Shimmer light taupe, Shimmer beige, Metallic white
If these are shades you may like then the quality is really quite impressive. However, based on my skintone which is already pretty much on the fair end of the spectrum (Diorskin foundations in 010 Ivory) I am personally not terribly impressed. I do have a couple of looks I’ve done prior, to see how they fare, and as I said, they work. Barely. So if anyone is interested, I’d show them but if no one is, I won’t 😛
Twinset Eyeshadow #060 Grey Sigh and #530 Beige Ribbon, Addict Lipstick #457 Candide and #687 Espegiele
The Twinset Eyeshadows are a new product by Dior. What it essentially is, is a dualended pen with a creamy pencil shadow at one end, and a powder shadow on the other. I know it gets a lot of interest because this is so new to Dior, but I am uncomfortably reminded of Stila Convertible eyeshadows, and I wasn’t terribly keen on those 😛 Still, innovation is good so I’ll take them for a spin and let you know what I think 🙂
Swatches Left-Right: Addict Lipstick Candide, Espegiele; Twinset Eyeshadow Beige Ribbon pencil, powder Grey Sigh, pencil, powder
I received the Addict lipstick in Candide which swatches as you can see here, a sweet almost opaque pink. On my lips however, it washed me out so badly 🙁 So, I hoofed down to the counter to pick up Espegiele which is a slightly deeper more translucent rose-pink that is a colour I wear more often. It looks better on me, but I’m not in love. Its distressing, because I love Dior Addict lipsticks and had never really found a colour not to like! *wails*
Diorblush Cherie Bow Edition #729 Pink Happiness and #659 Tender Coral
I saved the best for last, naturally 🙂 For me, the true stars of the Cherie Bow collection are the 2 limited edition blushes, with the lovely houndstooth print. I was sent Pink Happiness but I knew my life would not be complete without Tender Coral so I picked that one up too 😀
The minute I saw them in the collection, I knew I had to have them. I mean, blushes + me = duh! No brainer! 😀
Each blush comes with a matte and shimmer side, like the regular Diorblushes (I really have to talk about these in detail some day!) The shimmer isn’t strong and in your face, serving to help add dimension which means you can eschew highlighter.
I found that the 2 blushes have slightly different textures in the pan. Pink Happiness has a slightly harder texture and the colour comes off more sheer and light, while Tender Coral is more pigmented.
Swatches (1) Pink Happiness – matte warm pink, slightly shimmery cool pink; (2) Tender Coral – matte rose coral, slightly shimmery rose coral
If you notice the glitter on my hand, rest assured its not from the blushes. This is the perils of repetitive swatching 😛 The blush shades are very lovely and I am very happy to add them to my collection. I’ll have something more detailed come up in a later review but I personally think these are worth checking out 🙂
Nail Glow, Serum de Rouge, Vernis
The Nail Glow is a really fascinating product. It is supposed to impart a healthy glow to your nails, making the nail bed look pinker and your tips looks whiter. Almost like a one step French Manicure. I thought it was useless for me initially, since I do not have long nails, but I must say that for someone who doesn’t wear polish, this is the perfect way to get healthy looking glossy nails. I’ll tell you about this separately too, but yes, do check it out at the counter. Fascinating! 😀
There are 2 Serum de Rouge lipsticks in the collection – #250 Tulle Pink Serum and #630 Arabesque Pink serum. I checked them out at the counter but I found Tulle Pink Serum much much too light for me, and Arabesque Pink Serum too glittery. I love my Serum de Rouge but again, I was disappointed in the colours.
As for the Vernis, there are 3 limited edition colours – Rosy Bow (creamy pink), Tutu (light creamy pink) and Gris Trianon (Creamy grey) but nail polishes aren’t my strong suit so I didn’t pay much attention to them.
Overview
I love Dior collections but Spring collections don’t quite do it for me. On an overall basis, I’d say that the items I think most worth picking up are the Diorblushes which I think are quite quite lovely. If you like pink lipstick, then do check out the Dior Addict Lipsticks which come in 4 shades of pink, none of which I am particularly thrilled about. If you are a collector, then I do think the Cherie Bow palette in Rose Poudre is worth considering, because the quality of the shadows in there are much better than some of the other limited edition palettes I’ve tried. I’m not crazy about the eyeshadow palettes this time around, although the quint comes in a deeper toned Rose Charmeuse palette that might fare better in terms of pigment. Generally, I’d say this is pretty much a hit or miss collection. A hit if you like the sort of colours and textures on offer, but a miss if you don’t. I personally am underwhelmed. So, I hope to have Dior step up their game for their other collections in 2013!
Have you seen the Dior Cherie Bow collection? Its out in stores. Is there a specific item you’d like a review on?
I went to check out the counters last week and the Dior counter in Isetan KLCC had the testers out but were missing some products. Isetan The Gardens didn’t have the testers out yet but they have the stock in. If you’ve seen the collection, I’d love to know what you thought. Also, feel free to let me know which item you’d like a more in depth review on. I have a couple lined up but I’m taking requests 🙂
Paris B
Dior Cherie Bow Spring 2013 collection is limited edition. Items and prices are as set out above.
Actually Mr Christian Dior’s favourite flowers were lily of the valley. http://www.dior.com/magazine/en_gb/The-Loveliest-Lily
When Mr Dior died his coffin was piled high with his favourite flowers. That’s the thing about brands today, they spin tales and legends of their heritage just to sell more products. Dior does it, Chanel and other brands too. They dont respect their heritage at all. Dior renamed themselves, abandoning the Christian because its too old fashioned. Look at YSL, renaming it SLP. If the luxury brand’s founders were still alive they will weep at how their brands have been maligned.
Thanks for the clarification, Veronica. It would seem there is definitely some PR spinning going on. Maybe roses sound more romantic than lilies? I did read that Mr. Dior was into flowers in general 🙂 As for the YSL-SLP debacle, oh don’t even get me started on it! Its come to the stage I’m not going anywhere near their fashion arm. SLP just doesn’t cut it 😛
Oh the YSL debacle is horrendous. I don’t know what the new direction is for the house!
Nevertheless PB your reviews are a joy to read. I’m not fond of spring collections myself, more of a fall/winter girl. Too much pink! But the Cherie bow palette has really nice greys and blacks! Very sophisticated
I’m watching the YSL-SLP saga and am just wondering when it’ll stop. The interesting part is that they keep the signature Y in certain items but drop the Yves. And the cosmetics line is still YSL. Clearly no symmetry there! I’m glad you found the review useful 🙂 I was prepared to dislike the Cherie Bow palette but it turned out well so at least its promising!
The collection looks amazing, however, I prefer to have cosmetic items more bright and shinny in spring and summer! anyway, thanks for your effort.
If you like something bright and shiny, then the Dior collection will fit the bill – its pretty shiny! LOL!
I am the same! 😀 When the fall collection pop up in stores I am all over them but spring … meh. This year is different though, Guerlain, Chanel ‘and’ Dior this time have wonderful collections. Your swatches of the quad really got me thinking that I have to check it out, I was sure to check out the cream e/s though … and of course the nail polishes!
Oh I am definitely keeping an eye out for Guerlain’s Spring collection. That one looks promising! Chanel didn’t interest me much primarily because the blush was too warm and the horrible baked shadows were present. Ugh! I don’t know why they persist with that formula. Dior is hit and miss for me. Some items are interesting and potentially promising, some are stars and some others are misses 😀 Hope you pick up something nice!
I stopped at the Dior counter at my local department store to check out the new twinset eyeshadows just yesterday. I only meant to take a quick look but the SA there ended up giving me a complete eye and lip look using the spring products. I totally agree with you that there’s just too much pink overall in the eyes, so I only walked away with the grey twinset eyeshadow and the Lip Glow Colour Awakening Gloss.
How nice of the SA to give you a makeover! Its the best way to know if a colour or product works. Did you like the Grey Twinset shadow? I haven’t gotten around to wear it yet – still unsure how best to 😀
I liked it. Easy to use, and it looked really good layered over Benefit’s cream eyeshadow RSVP.
I love your reviews, they are so thorough and detailed and contain so much more information than you can get from any source, thanks! I don’t normally use nail polish either but crave a lovely manicured nail. I am anxious to try The Nail Glow, I’m glad you suggested it.
Thank you – I’m glad its been useful! I will try to show some pictures of how the Nail Glow works on my nails. But generally, I think its quite a promising product, particularly for us who do not use nail polish often 🙂
*gasp* The tender coral blush. I HAVE to get it!!!!!! Looks so pretty on the pan and the swatch too…
Yes! Tender Coral is really lovely – time to pay the Dior counter a visit? 😉
This 5 couleurs looks amazing and I love the name but this pigmentation ruined it… Im so curious about this rose glow for nails! After years of wearing crazy, neony or very dark colours- now I wear only nudes 😀
I would love to know what do you think about spring 2013 YSL palettes! 🙂
The Nail Glow is essentially transparent but it does make naked nails look better 😀 We don’t have YSL locally so I can’t check out the collection 🙁 But I looked up images online and it would seem that its also pale and shimmery… and pink! >.<
I have Tender Coral and it looks beautiful! On me, it looked more of a pinky coral without pulling much orange at all 🙂 I just think there’s really too much pink, and the light colours just don’t show up on my skin. Perhaps it will work better on someone more tanned? The pigmentation and texture on some eye palettes are quite disappointing, especially when we KNOW that Dior can do much better than that. Oh well, next time 🙂
I like Tender Coral for this too – that it isn’t at all orange which is great! I think on tanned skins, they’d look like they’re just wearing shimmer so this collection might be best for the very very very fair >.< Still, the only way now is up! 😉
I was definitely lemming the Garden Roses collection from last year, the imagery and packaging for that release was just gorgeous, and like you, I’m not even a huge fan of spring makeup. This year I felt a little meh after seeing the press release. I actually like the bow palette more now that I’ve seen your review, but the rest just isn’t very impressive to me. I’m glad to hear the Nail Glow actually works though! When I first saw that, you should have seen my extreme skeptical face hahahah. I was like….are they trying to put a new spin on plain old clear nail polish?!
I think Garden Roses was gorgeous. That Petal Glow blush really sealed the deal for me 🙂 I think the bow palette is very pretty, both to look at and if you get #001, practical to use. The others can be held off 🙂 You wouldn’t have been the only one raising an eyebrow at the Nail Glow. I did too until I slicked it on my nail and then, I was like “Ooh nice natural-almost nails!”
I fell in love with many items when the ads were out. I was dying for the Bow palette in particular. However, when I checked it out, I was so utterly disappointed I didn’t get a thing.
On the contrary, I fell so in love with Chanel’s, and spent some $400 (including the permanent Chanel CC cream).
I am waiting for Guerlain’s, because I want to check out the green palette that Temptalia has not reviewed. Quite sad that the meteorites and the purple palette were reviewed poorly by Christine, because I was aiming at the Spring Meteorites much more than Christmas’s.
I don’t think this collection is for you at all, Jyoan! 😀 Whereas, you were right to go for Chanel – their colours would definitely suit you. Did you pick up the blush? Its so pretty, but too orange on me. I was terribly tempted by the highlighter powder because it was just so gorgeous, but the SA pissed me off over a separate issue and so I was remarkably biased against the brand and didn’t think about the powder again 😛 Just saw another review pop up and am tempted though 😛
I’m waiting for Guerlain’s too. I have heard that the Meteorites aren’t as wonderful as previous versions, leaning more pink or powdery, but I’ll wait to see it in person before judging! I think Xiao has a review of the Green palette and it looks good 🙂
Hmmm… Pink Happiness & Tender Coral… I read so many of your entries and with each entry, it makes me want to purchase them but with each trip I make to town, I always ended up NOT getting them. Frustrating and yet a way to save money. Ha!
One can never have enough blushes. I’ve quite a few and I wonder if I need another pink or coral but then again, oh-so-tempting…
Never a better way to judge if something works, by trying it yourself, Callie! Its what I tell everyone 🙂 Half the time I get tempted by stuff online but by the time I see them, I’m all mehh… is that it? 😛 As for blushes, erm… I don’t want to count anymore. my drawer is packed >.<
Hmm…I don’t know. Nothing really caught my eye. 🙁 And I’m not a fan of palettes that have cream and powder products in pan forms together.
But I’m usually more excited for Fall/winter collections. Spring collections are usually too pastel for me.
On the bright side, money saved. Woot! 😀
I heart coral peachy blushers and this one looks so springlike. Actually didnt know there’s a coral version til I read it here! Now I really want this. 🙂
In all that surfeit of pink, this coral blush really stands out as pretty outstanding 😀 Have you checked it out?
I like the look of the Addict lipsticks for me. The Twinset will be interesting. Not sure if it’s for me yet.
Got the review on Twin Sets up! Not sure if that makes you more interested or less haha 😉