Like most of you, I spend most of my time at an airport in the Duty Free zone, even if I rarely buy anything there, because let’s be honest, we all know that stuff there is overpriced by like 20-30% at least. While browsing Sephora I stumbled upon this familiar Givenchy trinket from a few years ago, re-released for Fall 2014 – Les Mini Prismes Travel Exclusive Palette. Normally I’m not one to buy into the hype of designer makeup, but at “only” $39, this would give me the chance to try the brand’s eye shadows, powder, and blushes, all while being travel-friendly.
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| This cute little travel palette looks like a jewelry box. |
The palette itself is actually a lot smaller than one would think. To me it looks like a tiny version of a jewelry box, with three drawers, and a magnetized opening at the top with a little mirror inside. Like many Givenchy products, this palette comes wrapped in real soft black leather, but I also noticed strong smell of glue, so it needs to be aired out for sure.
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| The packaging features genuine leather case adorned with the brand logo print. |
The top level houses a mini-version of Le Prisme Yeux Quator eye shadow quad in Purple Show 71; full-sized palette retails for $57. The quad features four shimmery shades: pastel apricot, soft pink, burgundy, and brown’ish mauve. I must say, I was surprisingly disappointed with the quality of Givenchy eye shadows, all of them seemed gritty, chalky, and offered low to moderate pigmentation at best.
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| Top “shelf” contains a mini-version of Le Prisme Yeux Quator eye shadow quad in Purple Show 71. |
When applied over primer, however, they performed a lot better, but that’s what eye primers do, they make crappy eye shadows work. Once I figured that out, the formula actually wore really well throughout the day, with no fallout, and the colors stayed vibrant and crisp. Another pro I can add is that they blend really well, so even a newbie can diffuse the lines properly, making it look more professional.With all that said, I don’t think I’ll ever purchase another Givenchy eye shadow product.
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| Top drawer houses a mini-quad of Le Prisme Visage Mat Face Powder in Beige Mouseline 84. |
The next drawer houses a mini-quad of Le Prisme Visage Mat Face Powder in Beige Mouseline 84. It has the finest milled formula I’ve ever experienced from a powder, and feels like silk going on. That was a 180° turn from the eye shadows! It contains skin-perfecting and light-reflecting particles that blend in seamlessly, making the surface of the skin look more smooth and even, while staying insivible to the naked eye. This powder also has mattifying properties, although that effect lasts 3-4 hours at best.
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| Middle drawer contains Le Prisme Blush quad in Vintage Pink 22. |
The last makeup drawer contains Le Prisme Blush quad in Vintage Pink 22; full-sized palette retails for $44. It’s really impressive! The formula is ultra-fine, just like the powder, and offers great pigmentation and buildable coverage. It blends well, and diffuses beautifully with just a few brush strokes. This is truly a gorgeous, universally-flattering color, that will work best for fair to medium complexions. Oh my combination skin this blush lasted at least 7 hours before I noticed first signs of fading.
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| Bottom drawer contains 2 mini brushes. |
Bottom drawer features two tiny brushes – one for powder and blush, and the other one for eye shadows. I can’t see myself using either of them, but they might come in handy for midday touchups.
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| Swatches of eye shadows, powder quad swirled together, and blush quad swirled together. |
Do you need this? You need this if you’ve always wanted to try Givenchy products but were put off by the prices. At $39 Les Mini Prismes is still more expensive than, let’s say, tarte palettes that are five times bigger in size, but as far as luxury brands go, this one is definitely on the “steal” end of the price spectrum. It’s also a great size for traveling! You don’t need this, if you are a makeup perfectionist and want every single pan to be fantastic quality, but the eye shadows in this one left a lot to be desired.
THE VERDICT
73%, C – major points deducted for smelly packaging and very poor eye shadow quality.
In terms of quality, I was very underwhelmed with the eye shadows, and it looks like my girl Kath TheFabzilla was not too impressed with them either. The powder was great, but I can see it being used up rather quickly – after swatcing, the “peaks” were noticeably smaller. Even the full-sized version lasts about a month with daily use, according to several reviews. Now, the blush is a rare treasure, it was an absolute delight to be introduced to! I decided to return this palette back to Sephora and pick up the full-sized blush instead, I feel like I will love that purchase so much more.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
$39 USD. Available at Sephora and Duty Free locations.
It’s a bummer that this didn’t work out, but it’s an adorable concept from a high end brand!
This is such a bummer it didnt work out and that the shadows were less than great. They look super gorgeous thought. 🙁
I absolutely fell in love with this when I saw it on Sephora. But I am so happy that I read your honest review. Because of the glue smell, the poor quality eye shadow, I don’t feel the need to buy it now. Altho it is so cute and it would be great to try out the powder and blush, I probably wouldn’t use the applicators and I don’t really need some not-so-good shadows. Plus, I had assumed there was lipstick in there somehow
WOW. I was lusting after this, but honestly I really appreciate your review. I probably would just choose one item and not this since it seems they skimped on quality. Too bad!
Thank goodness for your review! Totally cute idea but I’m glad to save my money.
Too bad you didn’t love it, because it is so pretty!
I have heard good things about Givenchy lip and face products. These have a little too much shimmer for my taste and appreciate the honest review 🙂
That packaging is so nice!
Thanks for your honest review! I think the idea is adorable,and almost thought it was worth it!
This looks so awesome, it sucks that it wasn’t an A!!
I love samplers like this, but sounds like this one was a bust. I just read a review about another Givenchy eyeshadow palette, and it also got the big thumbs-down, which I don’t understand, given how a lot of these products are all made by the same labs.
This looks like a very tempting way to test out the line. However, I think I would want to try their lippies instead of the eyeshadows. They look more exciting to me when I read blogs.
$40 for this itty bitty thing??
What is it with these higher-end brands? As much as they cost, you would think they would have better color payoff. Womppppp.
Makes me think of a product sold through some ladies with pink cars!
Love the packaging, too bad about the eyeshadows, that’s a deal breaker for me.
Well that’s disappointing to hear about the shadows.
Great review. I skipped this and bought the other e/s palette, it was a disappointment too quality-wise, grr!
This set looks so cute! Too bad the eyeshadows aren´t very good.
It looks like a great idea, but not me.
This is so adorable!
Oh my gosh – the packaging… I would expect the quality for this to be much better considering the price tag. It’s a bummer they are not very good.
but, but, but ….. the packaging is so amazing?!?!?!?!?!