Tabs has been a regular crankypants all afternoon. I guess he doesn’t like it when I gush about something other than him, like the new $59 5-Couleurs Designer Couture Colour Eyeshadow Palette in #774 Golden Savannah — or more succinctly, Golden Savannah, “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!!”
But I do have a tendency to exaggerate when I’m smitten. 🙂
Tabs doesn’t care. All he sees is me paying attention to something else, which is a big no-no around here.
“Gah! I just want to play with Golden Savannah all day long,” and, “I’ll never let it leave my side! Golden Savannah is coming with me everywhere.”
I think he’s extra ornery because the palette’s name reminds him of a cat he used to know, a sleek Savannah named Goldie. They dated briefly one summer until she suddenly and unexpectedly left him for a blue point Siamese who lived up the street.
Then, of course, when Tabs rocketed to plus-size kitty modeling super-stardom, Goldie started calling again, but Tabs’ heart had already been broken, and he wouldn’t give her the time of day.
It’s a story as old as time itself, but I digress…
So the name! — whenever I say it out loud, I can hear Tabs cursing me under his breath.
Oh, well. I’m willing to risk the wrath of Tabs for this one, because I think it’s one of Dior’s best, most beautiful palettes in years.
Doing the makeup math
The $59 price, while annoyingly high, doesn’t seem exorbitant considering the quantity and quality of the colors this quint contains. Taking everything into account, I think the price, while typical for Dior, is actually a pretty decent deal, or so I’d like to think, and it compares well on price to less expensive department store brands like MAC.
With Golden Savannah, you get five 0.04-ounce pans of product for about $12 each — similar to the $12 MAC charges for their 0.05-ounce refill pans (five MAC refills would cost $60, or $1 more than the cost of the quint).
But there’s no two ways about it — Golden Savannah isn’t cheap. Thankfully, it also delivers a knockout on quality.
A sheen that shines
Starting with the finish, I think it’s absolutely beautiful and unlike anything else I have in my kit.
It’s as if Dior took a typical sheen and cranked it up to something between a sheen and a shimmer. Golden brown Soba Eyeshadow’s soft shine comes to mind, but even it doesn’t rise to Golden Savannah’s level.
When I’m wearing any of the shades in this palette, I feel like my lids just glow!
More than that, they glow without drawing attention to my fine lines, which is more than I can say for many products with similarly shimmery or metallic finishes.
5-Couleurs Designer in Golden Savannah #774 (left) and 5-Couleurs Designer in Khaki Design #308 (right)
A palette for makeup newbies and seasoned veterans alike
Makeup neophytes, Golden Savannah could be a great place to start your eyeshadow journey because it packs so many wearable colors into a single glamorous space, and these are colors you could incorporate into countless makeup looks down the line.
If, however, you’ve been around the makeup block a few times, it might still be nice to have these basic colors grouped in one central place, reducing the amount of rifling you have to do through drawers. 🙂
And if you need a little more convincing, take a look at the dark brown shade in the lower left-hand corner. Pretty interesting, right? I can’t think of another color quite like it, not to mention one with a finish like this.
It’s no basic brown, no ma’am. From certain angles, on my NC42 skin, I see khaki, and sometimes even a little purple, showing through. Outside in direct sunlight, I even see flashes of gold.
I think all of it together — the colors, quality and total package — makes this palette something unique.
A few ideas for looks
What about applying everything here at the same time? You could pop all of these shades on your lids for a multicolored khaki, brown, bronze and gold look.
Or, and this is my favorite way to wear the Golden Savannash palette, just wear one of the powder shadows as a single shade on your lids. I wing it out a little in the outer corners for a feline look, line my eyes with the purplish brown Becca Cabrera (I like how the purple looks with the khaki and gold tones), and finish with one or two coats of mascara. Quick, easy, elegant.
The palette would also be a great one to use for an easy cat eye look like this. Use either the golden brown or bronze on the lid, the glittery gold in the center to highlight, and then line with either the khaki or brown shade.
Simply put, Golden Savannah is easily my favorite Dior palette to date. Lots of pigment, easy to blend, and I barely detect any fallout at all. Without question, it’s getting a coveted permanent spot in my everyday makeup bag (the bag where I keep all of my go-to colors).
PRICE: $59
AVAILABILITY: Coming soon to Dior counters and dior.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+ (pricey, but it flirts with perfection)
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
MEOW! You look great Karen. 🙂 Your makeup looks have been incredible lately.
Headbutts and purrs from your niece Scherbs. 🙂
Aww, Scherbs! I need some kitty love. Tabs has been extra emo today and has been giving me nothing but grief all day long.
I’m definitely going to buy it, the colour works so well on a lot of skin tones :). And yes, we love neutrals! Soooo pretty!
Gooooo neutrals! 😀 I have a feeling y ou’ll love this quad, Teri!
Your best look ever!!!!
You’re so sweet, Virginie! Thank you. 🙂
This one makes you look effortlessly beautiful! I am loving it myself and I don’t usually gravitate towards bronzes that much. Its perfect! 😀
It does look perfect!! Dang. I can no longer ignore it now! Must take a look at it in person! So pretty on you!
Gah, that’s so pretty! Now I wish I had picked that for my birthday gift instead of the other palette I chose. 🙁 This is truly so lovely, and it would have had a few brothers and sisters in my traincase (my other quints).
I love these colors! don’t own any of these palettes but they look amazing gigi.
You look gorgeous! I already own many neutrals, but I’m glad I picked this up. I love that it has enough variation to take it from day time to night time!
You look gorgeous! I love this palette, it has some beautiful shades.
Ahh yes. Golden Savannagh is absolutely gorgeous! This will probably do more night out looks for me rather than day looks. Gorgeous night out looks nonetheless. 🙂
Yeah, I definitely need this one. They are ALL so pretty (though I could have done without that sparkly middle shade). I am obsessed with the soft, satiny-brown at the top left though.
This is really really pretty on you, Karen. Sorry to hear about Tabs’ love life, but it sounds like he won in the end. 😉
I knew I’d need this one! I kind of wish there were one more mid-toned shadow in it, because it’d make the quint more versatile but really, it’s autumn and I should have the right to do some smokey eyes!
Ahh this is the first Dior palette ive wanted in a while!!!
What else are you wearing with this look? The whole package (your face!) looks beautiful.
You look gorgeous! $59 did seem like a lot until you broke it down – that actually is a decent price for a top notch palette. I think most of us balk at that price because we are used to palettes at the drugstore and even some Sephora brands costing $20 to $40 less. And that looks like a great neutral palette that would work to take on vacation or travel.
Hey Karen! Your math makes perfect sense to me! I’ve never picked up a Dior palette before because I thought it was unreasonably expensive but now it sounds very reasonable, haha. Do you have any other palette recommendations for lighter skin tones?
Gorgeous palette and look!
That is a gorgeous eye look!
I also wanted to tell you that I used my UD El Dorado today. It was to draw lightning scars on the kids’ foreheads for their Harry Potter Day at daycare, but I still used it. They picked the color and thought it was the most awesome thing. 🙂
You look gorgeous in this pics. Love the makeup. Please share your lip and blush choices so I can try and recreate 🙂
Looks like a gorgeous palette for Fall!
This is a gorgeous palette! I need more eyeshadow like I need another cat, but boy do I want this!
This palette is just gorgeous! Most beautiful fall palette I’ve come across this year, and even for a few years.
I have heard so much about the Dior Palettes, I’m definitely saving up for this one when it launches here!