First, Armani has created two limited edition three-color palettes. The first is Madreperla Harmony #1 (for face and eyes). You can use the three shades individually as eyeshadow, or blend them together as a face powder. The eyeshadows are softly shimmery/satin warm white, softly shimmery pale gold, and a satin pale khaki-gold. Together they make a gently shimmery pale gold highlighter (which my Armani sales associate likes, even on her African-American skintone. She focuses her brush on the lower half of the palette, because the “green” turns golden on deeper skintones).

This palette is sold as a regular black compact for $59, OR there’s a really exclusive edition with a mother-of-pearl lid. It’s a Saks exclusive, only 3,000 were made, and it’s $98.

The second palette is Madreperla Harmony #2, and though it’s “just” an eye palette, I wonder why it couldn’t be a face palette too. The eyeshadow shades are softly shimmery white, softly shimmery golden sand taupe, and a satin lavender. Together they make a silvery beige (especially if you stay out of the purple) that’s just barely frostier than the Harmony #1. This palette is only sold in the “classic” edition for $59.

There are three holiday Eyes to Kill Intense potted eyeshadows ($32). These are “damp powder,” loosely pressed, highly metallic eyeshadow, and they’re actually quite versatile. I swatched them at full volume, but they can be quite subtle when worn sheerly.

#17 is a cool, shimmering, sparkling silver. #18 is a shimmering, sparkling pale gold — and when I swatched it, I thought “this is my favorite”… until I swatched #19, a shimmering, sparkling paler gold, a white gold. It actually looks like 17 and 18 mixed together in the pot, a silver-gold mix.

And finally, there are four Gloss d’Armani shades ($28 each). Gloss d’Armani lipglosses are fairly sheer (I swatched these “heavily” to show the color, but they’re sheerer than they look here). They go on light and unsticky, then thicken on the lips for longer wear.

Beige 104 (beige?!?) is a russet brown-red. Pink 507 is mauve pink. Plum 603 is rum-raisin red-chocolate-brown. Plum 604 is the sheerest of the group, a blue-violet that my sales associate says is doing really well as a color-altering lipstick-topper.

You could bid on Madreperla palettes 1 and 2 in the BeautyBloggers.org charity auction (Harmony #1, Harmony #2). Or code GAHOLIDAY1 will take 20% off your order at GiorgioArmaniBeauty-USA.com.

The mood of this collection is “cozy-sexy.” The star palettes (two quads for eye and a four-shade powder for face) are embossed with a woven print that was supposedly inspired by Mr. Armani’s pillows.

Both the eye palettes, the face powder, and three of the four lipsticks are dreamily sheer — punctuated by the bold Scarlatto lipstick and Scarlatto blush.

The eye palettes are $59 each, and the compacts have a magnetic closure. Eye Palette 1 features a sheer grey-green satin; a low-shimmer Aspen/mint green; a greyed, muted forest green soft-shimmer; and a black violet matte.

Eye Palette 2 (the palette Megan is wearing) includes a shimmery, sheer, blue-white; a shimmery smoke-blue; a shimmery brown-grey silver taupe; and a soft red-brown matte.

I wondered if these palettes represented a new formula from Armani. The shadows are soft and silky, literally like the slip of silk over your skin — but the colors are on the sheer side.

The Face Palette is $55, and I think its four-shade design would let you use it as either highlighter or a soft blush. I swatched its four shades separately with eyeshadow applicators. Those colors are shimmery warm white with a few gold sparkles; shimmery, tawny golden sand; shimmery peach beige; and shimmery red that reflects pink/violet.

Then I swirled a triangle sponge through all of the shades and swatched it first lightly, then heavily. The four shades together add up to a shimmery, warm, pink-beige highlight. But if you focused your brush more on the red shade, I think the result might be more blush-like.

I also swatched the two new Blushing Fabric creme blushes both lightly and heavily. Camel is a matte yellow-peach. Scarlatto is a sheeny, duochrome, almost metallic desert rusty rose-pink. Blushing Fabric blushes are $38 each.

Finally, there are four new Rouge d’Armani lipsticks in this collection ($30 each, and I think they’re all limited edition). 107 (“sheer beige”) is sheer warm pink with subtle sparkles. This is probably the sheerest, subtlest Rouge d’Armani lipstick I’ve swatched. It’s the color of lip balm.

108 (“pink beige”) is sheer peach with a very subtle shimmer. It’s also pretty quiet. 525 (“sheer mauve”) is mauve-pink with subtle sparkles. 406 (“scarlatto”) is an intense, cool, cherry/pink red. It’s the shade Megan is wearing in her photo.

I didn’t swatch it, but this collection also introduces the new Eyes to Kill Excess (Extra Volume Mascara) in Night Violet ($30, limited edition).

They’ve just released six new pink shades of Rouge d’Armani lipstick ($30). Important: these six are limited edition and will not join the permanent line.

Pink 519 is bright, warm pink (corally compared to the others here, though I wouldn’t have called it coral by itself). Pink 520 is violet/fuchsia-pink. Pink 521 is warm blossom pink. Pink 522 is raspberry pink. Pink 523 is a bright blue-pink. Comparatively, Pink 524 is more muted, less saturated, and not quite as blue.

See any you love? The Rouge d’Armani lipsticks are going to need a roundup post of their own pretty soon.

I tried on Rouge 402. My first thought was that the formula was not quite as light, cushiony, and unsticky as the Lip Shimmer formula. The color was also more sheer than I expected. But the craziest thing is that the formula seems to thicken on the lips. After about a minute, the gloss gets thicker and stickier. I can see why this might be appealing: it doesn’t go on super sticky, but then it lasts like you wouldn’t believe.

Beige 100 is milky-beige clear. Beige 101 is pale pink-beige with tiny silver sparkles. Beige 102 is a more pink pink-beige with tiny silver sparkles. Beige 103 is light warm pink with tiny pink sparkles. Brown 200 is purple-brown with tiny multicolored sparkles. Rouge 400 is bright red, the most pigmented of the group. Rouge 401 is red rose with gold multicolored sparkles. Rouge 402 is sheer red-orange with pink and gold sparkles. Rouge 403 is sheer pink with dense, bigger pink sparkles. Pink 500 is sheer, cool, cotton candy pink. Pink 501 is a warm pink with very tiny pink sparkles (not nearly as peach as Beige 103). Pink 502 slightly deeper and more pink (cooler) than 501, and it has tiny silver sparkles. Pink 503 is deeper, more violet-rose with silver sparkles. Pink 504 is clear with pink and blue sparkles. Pink 505 is fuchsia with pink and blue sparkles. I definitely recommend clicking on these photos to view them at full size.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t fit all 18 shades on one arm. Rather than swatch the last two or three shades by themselves, I decided to re-swatch the Beiges and the Pinks as well — for comparison purposes — without the distracting brights (Rouges, Pink 505).

Plum 600 is berry-smoothie-pink with tiny, multicolored sparkles. Plum 601 is cranberry colored. Plum 602 is grape with purple sparkles.

Armani recently introduced seven new shades of LSF (including more decimal places than ever before). So I swatched the new shades together:

Click here for my previous swatches of Luminous Silk Foundation.

3.75, 4.75, and 5.25 look more pink than the old shades. 5.75 looks peachy. And I’m glad Armani brought back some darker shades with 10, 11.5, and 13.

I also wanted to show you all the shades together, so you could compare undertone and depth of shade. Narrow swatches were the only way to fit them all on one arm.  (Obviously I still need to do a full set of blended out swatches, but that’s a project for another day.)

Luminous Silk Foundation is $59.

Armani is re-releasing their permanent Bronzer #1 (brown with some gold shimmer, $49), though I’ve heard that the summer edition will have a shiny bronze logo top, similar to the holiday highlighter (gold) and the spring blush (blue-purple).

There are also four sheer, beautiful summer lipsticks. If these are the same price as other Sheer lipsticks, they should be $27 each (compared to Rouge d’Armani’s $30). 34 is a tomatoey, slightly browned red. 35 is a warm red strawberry pink. 36 is a warm strawberry-candy pink. 37 is a sheer pale peach pink.

This summer, Armani reprises the Blushing Fabric creme blush formula ($38) with two new shades: terracotta-red-with-a-few-silver-sparkles #4 and violet-pink #5. Like Armani’s Face Fabric foundation, these buildable gel-cremes have a slippy, silicone-y feel. They’re packaged in squeeze tubes.

The collection also includes a lovely, limited edition eyeshadow quad ($59). The shades are warm brown shimmer, beiged pink shimmer, golden-copper shimmer, and a luxuriant light gold shimmer. Texture and pigmentation are both excellent… but Sabrina of Beauty Look Book recognized this quad’s similarity to Chanel’s Spices quad. Check out her swatch comparison; it seems like you wouldn’t need both.

Lastly (and not swatched), the summer collection includes Eyes to Kill Waterproof mascara in black-brown ($30).

All in all, I approve. I particularly like Blushing Fabric #4 and the lipsticks — I’ll report back after I’ve had a chance to try them on. Are any of these pretties calling your name?

I’m happy just to watch Rhona work with other customers (I learn something new every time) — but when she finished with her last appointment, Rhona said, “Why haven’t I ever done your makeup?” and sat me down in her chair.

Her makeover was just perfect. It was exactly what I would have done for myself (if I had the skills of a pro artist).

Here’s what she used:

FACE

• Face Fabric #2 (best applied with fingers, Rhona says, and water-resistant for summer)
• Set with Lasting Silk UV Powder shade 3.5 (though I think I might be shade 3)
• Sheer Blush (powder) #2
• Fluid Sheer #2 to highlight

EYES

• High Precision Concealer #2. Rhona applies this from lash line to brow, (1) as a base for her shadows, and (2) to erase any discoloration, and start the eye at “skin zero.” Concealer can also behave like a basic brow highlight, and — even on its own — makes the brows look more defined.
• Eyes to Kill Intense eyeshadow #5. I told Rhona I usually go for warm greys, so she chose this copper shadow as a lid color to take me outside my comfort zone. When I swatched the Eyes to Kill Intense shadows, I mentioned they were versatile: you can apply them as a sheer, lightly shimmery wash or build up a more metallic punch. Rhona pressed the shadow on (lash line to crease), and kept her application light.
• Maestro (powder) shadow #5 (a salmon color) in the crease
• Maestro (powder) shadow #2 (champagne) as a brow highlight
• Smooth Silk Eye Pencil #6 (green)
• Eyes to Kill mascara
• Brow Pencil #3

LIPS

• Rouge d’Armani 105
• Lip Shimmer 1
• Lip Liner #10

I really loved all of her color choices. The copper shadow and green eyeliner were both beautiful. And best of all: the Eyes to Kill Intense shadows are waterproof, sweatproof, creaseproof, flakeproof, and 24-hour wear. Am I ready for summer or what?

I also should mention that my experience began with the application of Armani’s new Regenessence skincare line: serum, moisturizer, and eye cream. These feel (and smell) absolutely amazing.

I said there were 12 permanent shades, and you may be wondering what happened to shades 1 and 3. I don’t know why, but the release of these two colors have been delayed. My sales associate said to expect them in June, and I will absolutely swatch the range again when those two become available. Until then (for your reference), shade 1 is Blast of Blue; shade 3 is Purpura.

Lust Red is a blackened red purple. Pulp Fiction is a steely cornflower (blue-purple). Gold Blitz is bronze. Khaki Pulse is olived golden brown. Sweet Fire is peony pink. Champagne is pink champagne. Rock Sand (which I am unable to say without getting The Police song stuck in my head) is white. Airy Jade is slightly blued silver. White Punch is peach. Moonlight is ice blue.

I swatched these shadows with a sponge-tipped applicator, and I definitely went for full metallic volume, but Eyes to Kill Silk/Intense shadows are more versatile than that. Last time national artist Tim Quinn was at our counter doing makeovers, I saw him use his fingers to lightly smudge one of the Eyes to Kill shadows onto a customer’s lid, for a sheer wash of color. Definitely feel free to experiment if you get a chance to play with these.

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The theme of the spring collection is the transition from winter to spring — the quality of the light at this time of year, the way plants begin to break through the ice and frost, and colors begin to emerge. Armani made up a word to encapsulate this idea: Transluminence. And I’m not opposed to their word creation; if you search for “transluminence” you will only find Armani results.

You may also see this collection called “la femme bleue” — that name was the concept behind the Armani Spring/Summer 2011 fashion show, where these products first debuted.

The Transluminence eyeshadow quad is $58, and includes a blue-purple satin/low-shimmer, a teal shimmer, a soft, sheer-ish, (almost blued) white lustre (“frozen silver,” says makeup artist Linda Cantello), and a dark taupe satin. Good lord, it’s sexy. The word “taupe” comes from the Latin name of the European mole, and this shade is literally the color of his fur.

As pretty as the quad is, the biggest reason you should be jumping up and down over this collection is the Transluminence eye pencils.

Last year for spring, Armani released a limited edition pencil called White Contrast. It was a medical miracle. A scientific breakthrough. It came in just one shade (black), and it was SO black. (They named it white contrast because your eyes looked so bright in comparison.) Though it was an ordinary pencil, it was the softest thing imaginable. It melted onto your skin — it literally went on like liquid. You had a short amount of time in which you could smudge it, and then in a few seconds, it dried down matte. And once dry, it did not move. You could wear it on your waterline, you could use it to tightline, you could use it on your lashline… it was incredible.  Last year, my counter sold out in two days — they were already out by the time I was there to swatch the collection.

This year, that pencil is back, and he brought friends! The 01 Transluminence eye pencil is the same black as last year.  02 is cool brown; 03 is forest green (and it reminds me a lot of Laura Mercier’s old Emerald Cake Liner).  These are $27 each, and I would strongly recommend you jump on them as soon as possible.

There are three Rouge d’Armani lipsticks for spring, but only one shade is new. 518 reminds me of Chanel Boy. It’s a pretty, sheer, blue-pink. I didn’t reswatch 503 and 508, but they are also repromoted with this collection. Rouge d’Armani lipsticks are $30 each.

There’s a new, limited edition powder blush for spring ($49). It’s very similar in color to the 518 lipstick. It’s a chilly, matte, blued pink, like spring just edging out from under winter’s thumb.

There’s also a new, limited edition shade of Micro-Fil Loose Powder ($49). It’s the mostly finely milled powder you can imagine, and it contains these superfine pink sparkles. Applied correctly, the white powder will be invisible — I was just trying to make sure you could see the sparkles in my photo.

This collection is already for sale online on Nordstrom.com and GiorgioArmaniBeauty-USA.com.