Marimekko for Avon Palettes

On this latest home visit, I had a chance to go through some of my things and re-discovered several things that were buried away in them. Among these are 2 brand new Marimekko for Avon palettes that I had totally forgotten about! So what do I do but bring them back to Japan with me?


Marimekko for Avon Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow Palette and Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palette. All pictures taken in door with flash, unless otherwise noted.

I actually have all 4 palettes, as each Poppy Bloom and Poppy Bouquet is actually a pair of Eyeshadow and All-over Face Palettes. However, I bought just the Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow and Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palettes first, found them rather pretty and so went chasing the other Poppy Bloom All-Over Face and Poppy Bouquet Eyeshadow Palettes after. Throw in the fact that I've been moving about for the past 7 years, first across the ocean and back, then across the country and back, then across the ocean again, the later 2 palettes were packed separately from these first 2, and I couldn't find them on this last visit. I don't think I lost them, I hope not at least, but they're somewhere in the mountain of boxes in Grandma's basement that will take me more than just a week to dig out. So yeah, just these 2 for now.

Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow Palette and Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palette.

These palettes were honestly too pretty (and somewhat impractical) to use, and that was why I couldn't bear to touch them back them. Too bad Avon really haven't been keeping their cool and creative limited edition collaborations going, because I remember drooling over the Cynthia Rowley for Avon All Over Face Powder the same way, versus shrugging my shoulders at the more recent collections now. Anyway, I do know cosmetics do expire, and this time around I finally found the courage to "ruin" their perfect surfaces and swatched these Marimekko palettes. I'm actually really amazed that the eye shadows and blush are still very soft and smooth! The pigmentation level is hit and miss though, probably because they're not exactly fresh, and partly because their quality is consistent with most Avon products, i.e., totally hit and miss.

- Poppy Bloom Eyeshadow Palette: just look how pretty this thing is! The black outlines of the flower are actually the plastic compact, so it can be a bit tough to get to the colors in the inner ring, center of the flowers, and that tiny little stem at top right there, but hey, that's just a small detail not worth fussing over. Also, there's only one color in this palette that's pigmented and the rest is sheer. Again, minor detail. It's so pretty to stare at, don't you think? :P

- Big flower: shimmer, medium intensity. A peacock green that pigmented enough to be used as a liner color when layered. It's actually very similar to the peacock green liner in T'estimo Layered Impact Eyes in 03 Beige minus the fine teal shimmers. And because it's not as pigmented as the T'estimo color, it can be used on the crease. Good thing there's plenty of it ^.^
- Bottom flower: satin, very sheer. A muted leaf green with a slight gold sheen and is frustratingly sheer. I layered several times just to get that weak swatch there.
- Right flower: satin, very sheer. A fleshy pink that's sheer like the leaf green.
- Center ring: satin, very sheer. A sheer ecru.

Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- Poppy Bouquet All-Over Face Palette: I was much more tempted to use this palette, because that golden pink (the big flower) is much more wearable to me than the peacock green in the Eyeshadow Palette. There are 2 pigmented colors in this palette too, so that's one up from the Eyeshadow Palette!

- Big flower: metallic, medium intensity. I'm describing this color in the same format as I would an eye shadow because this metallic pearl pink with gold iridescent sheen is just as beautiful on the eyes as it is on the cheeks. I know it doesn't appear very pigmented in the swatch, because it's not a dark color, but compare it to the dustier pink to the right that's much much sheerer while being darker and you'll see what I mean. I'm happy there's also a lot of this color!
- Center ring: This is definitely a blusher. It's a berry color in the pan but swatched a much brighter plush red pink with a neon pink iridescent sheen that you can't really see from the swatch. But hell, I'm actually glad there's only a ring of it and a tiny section of the stem at top right, because eeek, it's really pigmented! I would swirl just a tad of this color and go over the bottom flower to lighten it up a bit before application.
- Center core: a sheer and translucent off white highlighter. I'm not sure why this color is even here, because I almost dig the whole thing out just get that pathetic and barely visible swatch.
- Bottom flower: another definite blusher, a satiny dusty pink that looks shimmery in the pan but goes on with no apparent shimmers. As you can see, it's also very sheer.

Picture taken in natural light without flash.