Review | Dior Smoky 3 Couleurs Ready-to-Wear Smoky Eyes Palette in 961 Smoky Violet

Part of the Dior sliding palette range and a new Spring 2012 release, 961 Smoky Violet is a trio of complementary purple-pink hues. It has been referred to as Smoky Roses – I’m not sure if this is a working name or its name in North America/Europe.

A breakthrough makeup innovation introduced by Dior: an unparalleled sliding compact that reveals a 3-couleur eyeshadow palette to get catwalk smoky eyes in 3 easy steps.

The smart palette features soft powdery textures for an effortless and made-to-measure smoky eyes effect. The extremely bendable base perfectly preps and colors the eyelid, while the eyeshadow duo offers different effects: more matte for a natural ready-to-wear style or more shiny for a glamorous couture style.

– Dior

The plastic insert offers a pared-down explanation of the shades (Base/Soft Smoky/Couture Smoky) but you are free to work the palette any way you want, of course. ;)

Comprising a plum, a violet and a lilac-tinged pale pink, these matching hues easily take you from day to night, thanks to their different intensities and textures.

The velvet plum is a sophisticated greyed purple/mauve that works both as a lid and contour colour on my hooded eyes. It is sheer-to-medium in pigmentation and though it doesn’t have intensity, this quality makes it ideal for contouring.

The shimmery violet is shot through with iridescent multi-coloured sparkles that are intensified over a cream base. This is a beautiful strong shade that can be worn on its own on the lid or as an accent on the lash lines (it lasts very well on the lash/water lines, sans an eyeliner base).

The satin pale pink base with a hint of lilac is both pearlescent and a touch cloudy, an ideal shade for unifying both the plum and the violet. It is soft and subtle, working well as a base shade.

The highlight of the palette is undoubtedly the sparkly violet with its rainbow shimmer. It’s pretty enough on its own but really pops when worn wet or over a dark base (I love it over a black cream shadow). I’ve actually worn my preview sample in a variety of ways but this one above, with the two purples over a black base, is my favourite. :)

That said, I really like the subdued nature of the dusty plum – smoked out or on its own, it has a certain understated classiness.

Designed to be easy-peasy compacts for makeup neophytes and aficionados alike, the distinguishing feature of these lightweight sliding palettes is their pop-up mirror.

In Singapore, these retail at S$70 and will be part of the Dior permanent makeup range.

Video source: Dior