Sonia Rykiel x Lancome Parisian Fresh Spirit for Fall 2016

France (and of course its landmark city of Paris) is having its well-deserved moment in the limelight this season, and when 2 iconic French brands come together, the result is a truly special collaboration.  The Sonia Rykiel x Lancome collection is very chic and wearable, and yet it manages to throw a few fun punches in a concise 12-piece capsule collection.  I have some of the items and would like to show them to you over a couple of days.  At the heart of the collection are 2 maxi palettes, and for today I’d like to focus on pretty pinks and purples in the Parisian Fresh Spirit, and the blush and lip colors in matching designs!

This Sonia Rykiel x Lancome collection features packaging designed by another French icon – street artist André Saraiva.  He cast the pieces in signature Sonia Rykiel stripes and quirky illustrations of various accoutrements that are synonymous with the Parisian cafe culture.  The pieces that I’d like to focus on today bear the striped packaging, although having played around with various bits of the collection, I don’t think it is necessary to follow strictly by design, but rather all the pieces in the collection complement each other perfectly.

Sonia Rykiel x Lancome Maxi Palette in Parisian Fresh Spirit is a 9-color eyeshadow palette that bear hues of pink-mauve-purple.  I love these slim, elongated palettes ever since Lancome came out with them last year, as they are sleek and contain a good variety of shades and finishes, and the dual-ended brush is functional too!

Hidden under the metallic swing cover on the right end of the palette are the brow highlight and 2 liner shades.  Personally, I don’t see the need for a cover since all the shades are powder and there isn’t any cream pans in the palette, and it can be rather unwieldy at times, but not a big deal.  And for those who struggle with color placement, there are 2 illustrated suggestions to get you started on the mirror.

Here are the corresponding swatches:

From left to right, the shades are:

1. Light warm-toned pink with a satin finish
2. Medium warm-toned rosewood with a good dose of pink shimmers
3. Pale pewter shimmer with a translucent base
4. Medium taupe with a lush satin finish
5. Medium mauve with a good dose of violet shimmers
6. Medium-dark plum that pulls slightly brown with a soft matte finish
7. Pale pink with a matte finish
8. Dark eggplant with a matte finish
9. Dark purple with a duo chrome violet cast

I was surprised by how Parisian Fresh Spirit pulled warm against my skin tone, but in this case it worked in making the shades more flattering and grown up than dolly pink.  More importantly, all the shades in this palette have a lovely silky texture.  The pigmentation of the few matte shades are a little soft for my liking, and needed more swipes to show up in the swatches above, but I generally did not have any problems applying them with a brush.

For this eye look, I started by applying shade 4 all over my lid, followed by 5 on the outer third and shade 6 to darken the outer v.  Thereafter, I dabbed the translucent shimmer shade 3 on the center of my lid, and lined the outer half of my lash line with the dark purple shade 9, continuing on the lower lash line as well.  Finished with the shimmery rosewood shade 2 on the inner corner and blending into the lower lash line.  I also went under my brow bone with the highlight shade 7, but it blends out completely invisible.

I will share the full look with you in a short while, but first, I’d like to also introduce 2 other products from the Sonia Rykiel x Lancome collection.

Ever since I first tried Lancome’s Blush Subtil Cushions [here], I have been enamoured with the formula.  For this collaboration, Lancome has taken 2 of their top-selling shades and repackaged them with the limited edition designs.  Splash Corail comes with the Rykiel stripes, and is a beautiful neutral-toned pink that blends out so naturally that it gives that flush-from-within look!

What is innovative in the Sonia Rykiel x Lancome collection, is the appearance of these Parisian Lip Crayons.  These are dual-ended lip pencils bearing a tinted balm on 1 side, and a matte full-coverage lipstick on the other.  This is perhaps my favourite way of achieving that bitten lip look that is so popular with the Koreans right now.  Simply apply the tinted balm all over the lip first, then the more intense lipstick on the center of the lips.  Smack the lips together a bit and viola!  There are 4 shades of these in total, 2 in each design.  The one shown above is the shade French Baiser, and the swatches are as follows:

And putting all 3 products together, here is the full makeup look!

I’m afraid any attempts at ombre lip or bitten look get lost on my camera, but this is quite a lovely day look that I’ve taken to wearing to work since receiving the Parisian Fresh Spirit maxi palette.  The Parisian Lip Crayons are incredibly handy and long-lasting too, and have been residing in my handbag permanently.

I have some of the nail polishes and more makeup from the Sonia Rykiel x Lancome collection to show you, so do check back again soon!  Meanwhile, the entire range is now available at Lancome counters, so feel free to go and visit them in person!

_{This post featured products that were kindly provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}