Edward Bess Quad Royale in Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is the darkest, and possibly warmest, of the three Edward Bess Quad Royale palettes. I naturally veer towards more cool toned or neutral colour palettes, so I was intrigued to see how I would get on with this.

Unlike many of the other Edward Bess cheek products, the Quad Royale palettes are not scented. The powder is finely milled and all four of the colours in the Monte Carlo quad contain shimmer. The shimmer is very refined and imparts a subtle sheen so you're not going to look like a disco ball mixing all four colours together. A light sweep across the whole pan can be used for a subtle glow or you can pick & mix from the four colours to create the perfect highlight or cheek color. You can also use the individual shades on the eye. Although the colours are quite sheer they are buildable .

When I uploaded my first batch of swatch pictures, I realised the lightest colour (#1) was invisible in the images. I took some further pictures with heavier swatches but I included one of the original images so that you can see a less intense application of the colour. NB. I used my fingers for the blended colour swatch. If you sweep the brush included in the compact across all four colours, you can get a much lighter application of colour.

I had a go at using the colours as eyeshadows. I get on fine with the top two shades (#1 and #2). Although the lightest colour barely shows up on my arm, it works well as a base to even out redness on my lid. Using these top two colours, I get just a hint of shimmery colours which works well with a bit of liner and mascara. I tried adding the darker two colours but I didn't feel it suited me. I'm generally nervous of peachy shades on my eye anyway.

On my cheeks, I get the best results if I use a light hand and a loose fluffy brush. On my fair skin, this palette is dark enough to wear as a blusher on it's own but it is also possible to apply over a matte blushers to add a sheen.  To pull off such a warm colour, I find I need to keep everything else warm. It doesn't really go so well with my trusty taupes so instead I need pair with warm browns.

Clockwise from top left: MAC Golden Lariat, Monte Carlo, Orgasm Illuminator and Smashbox Silhouette

From left to right: Smashbox blusher, Monte Carlo, MAC Golden Lariat and NARS Orgasm Illuminator.

I wondered if I had any similar colours in my collection. I thought Golden Lariat from the MAC Wonder Woman collection might be a good match. Side by side, I think Monte Carlo is more of a peachy coral to Golden Lariat's golden tan. Smashbox Blush Rush in Silhouette in definitely more tan and obviously contain no shimmer. NARS Orgasm Illuminator is probably the most similar in colour although I feel it's more pink toned than Monte Carlo.

I think the beauty of the Quad Royale palettes is that you can adapt them to suit your needs by selecting the most appropriate brush and also customise the colour by selecting more or less of particular quadrants. I think that Monte Carlo would be well suited to medium to dark skintones and also those who enjoy warm, peachy tones. I think of it as having a very sunny beach holiday feel and I imagine it would be handy for enhancing summer skin. 

The Edward Bess Quad Royale in Monte Carlo costs £35 and is available from Zuneta. If you're interested in reading about the other two palettes, I can recommend Visionary Beauty's review of South of France and the Beauty Look Books review of Summer in Capri.


Disclosure: This item was sent to me without cost for review.

Steal: BECCA Pressed Shimmer Powders at 50% Off

The BECCA Online store are having a 50% off sale of several soon to be discontinued items. I was delighted to the Pressed Shimmer Powders amongst the items on sale and promptly placed an order for Nefertiti and Princess.

I placed the order on Monday morning and my parcel arrived today. I thought I would share a few quick photos for anyone who was considering a purchase. I haven't had chance to play with them yet so this is just a look at the pans and some quick swatches. The lighting isn't good enough today for anything more.

Natural light. L - Nefertiti, R - Princess

With flash

My initial thoughts are that both colours are very pretty. The powder felt lovely and soft as I swatched. The swatches are quite a few passes over the skin to show the colour so they seem to offer a sheer but buildable colour. I think Nefertiti will make a nice highlighter shade and I imagine I will also be able to use it apply a sheen over blushers. I suspect I will use Princess as a blusher. My apologies that this isn't a more thorough review but I wanted to show you them before they sell out and are gone for good!

The Pressed Shimmer Powders are priced £15 each and there are four shades available. The other two shades are Gypsy - a bright golden pink and Odette - a golden peach pink. The other items that are on sale are the Fine Loose Finishing Powder (£13), Line + Illuminate Liners (£8.50) and Antibacterial Jumbo Pencil Sharpener (£5). Although I was momentarily tempted by the Line + Illuminate Liners, I remembered the problems I had with Belize. Admittedly, I do use the liner end quite a lot.

Postage cost £3.50 but shipping is free if you spend over £35 (sorry for my earlier gaff!). There are limited supplies so I think the sale will last as long as stock is available.