I am like a bird. I like all things shiny. This is my ode to Guerlain Holiday 2010.

This quad is my second from Guerlain and I'm hooked! I'm lemming the limited edition purple pearls and the gold shimmer spray that were also launched with this Holiday Collection but funds are short at the moment so I may not be lucky enough to procure them before they're gone. A shame.. but life goes on!

Velours d'Or contains a medium peach-gold, deep raspberry-violet, mauve with grey base, and a solid black, all housed in the most luxurious rounded gold compact with black plastic hinge. The mauve isn't as unique as it looks in the pan. On my eyes, it's a rather neutral color. Overall, this is a convenient smoky eye palette without using your typical whites and silvers. I love gold and purple on the eyes so this quad is perfect for me, even though the shades are dupable, other than the mauve duo-chrome in the bottom left corner.

The gold is sparkly yet sheer, reminiscent of many Asian eyeshadow quads like Jill Stuart's Jewel Eyes! I don't love it but I definitely don't hate it. The other shades are of a satin finish, not matte but not loaded with shimmer, either. But forget the color; I'm going to have to work around the bumble bee embossed in the gold shadow because it's just too cute to wash away with a brush. The raised honeycomb patterns on the other three shadows are also lovely but the bee is the star of the show! The colors are pigmented enough for me, as they are near the quality of Chanel, but the case is admittedly more beautiful to stare at than the standard black squares of Chanel.

Most of you know I splurged for the new Guerlain Ecrin 6 Color Palettes a month or two ago and I was ultimately disappointed. I assure you, though, this palette is worthy of its $59 price tag. These four shadows can be easily built up to your desired intensity and the frosty gold shade provides a nice contrast against the satin finishes of the other three shadows so it's a justifiable purchase!

RAEview's Rating: A-