I was very excited when the new Giorgio Armani Beauty Jacquard palettes arrived at Neiman Marcus! I decided to show you the Woven Face Color Palette ($55) first because it was a curiosity to me. Although I'm sure you could wear these shades anywhere on your face, including your eyes, they are stunning when blended into one shade for the face - an exquisite highlighter.
Here are the four shades presented individually. My photo was snapped in sunshine (which has come and gone all day), and I swatched each shade with a sponge-tipped applicator. The top color strip, a shimmering yellow-toned ivory, is shown at the top of my arm. I think it's beautiful. The two shades of gold, one darker than the other, comprise the majority of space in the palette. The rose shade at the bottom is almost impossible to apply individually with anything except a very narrow brush. It's a pretty color, though. I took a 
close-up photo to show you.Use of either gold shade - or the ivory - no matter what tool you use for application - provides a stunning highlighter. After I started playing with the palette, it became clear to me that the palette reall
y shines when you blend the shades. I took a dense blush brush and blended all the shades together as evenly as possible, applying the swatch to my arm mid-way between my wrist and my elbow. The shade that resulted was gasp-worthy.It's a golden, shimmering highlighter that's a rose-leaning gold with just the right amount of shimmer. The color definitely reflects sunlight.
You can see in my two swatch photos here that the blended shimmering gold has a warm pink hue. If you "lean on" your brush along the rose strip of the palette, it will be even more pink. If you avoid the rose strip, it offers a pure golden tone. The choice is yours.
I'm officially in love with my new Jacquard Woven Face Color Palette. It's available at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria and Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase. That means your own Armani counter will have it soon if it's not already on display.
I'll show you the eye palettes tomorrow. I think they are equally lust-worthy.
Update 6:46 pm: The swatches of the blended shade on my arm were taken in the same location. One was taken in bright light. Then the sun popped out (totally), and I got a brighter one.
Photos by Best Things in Beauty