Eyeshadow duos are back, though they’re $27.50 now. As with last summer’s duos, MAC doesn’t identify individual shade names or finishes.

Dynamic Duo 1 features a warm candy pink with gold duochrome shimmer, paired with a slightly chalky matte magenta berry (really the only shade that disappointed me at all in terms of smooth delivery of pigment). Dynamic Duo 2 includes a softly shimmery blue-silver and a vibrant matte cerulean.

Dynamic Duo 3 offers a shimmery blue-purple-steel grey and a matte teal (yowsers). Dynamic Duo 4 has a matte Pepto/Barbie pale blue-pink and a super-dark matte eggplant purple. All in all, the texture and color payoff of the duos is excellent.

The collection also features a few face powders. Pink Cult blush (repromoted from Jeanius) is a dusty bubblegum pink (Matte). I thought — from its name — that Magenta, a matte red-violet, process magenta, was a permanent, pro color (products with simple color names are often pro shades)… but I was mistaken; it’s limited edition. The blushes are $20 each.

Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish was originally released in 2006; recently repromoted in the Cindy Sherman collection of fall 2011. It’s a pearly warm-white shimmery highlight, $29.

I swatched the powders first lightly, then heavily.

The collection also includes three nail polishes (each $16). Vivid Effect is a red-pink coral, an intense hibiscus creme. In the Dark… Purple is grape. Screening Room is a green teal.

There are also four Eye Kohl (non-mechanical pencil) eyeliners ($15 each). Heirloom is a shimmery metallic dishwater blue-purple silver grey. Hyacinth is a satin (low shimmer) justice blue. Resort is a satin grape. Smolder (a permanent shade) is black.

The lips are probably my favorite part of the collection. I’d been vaguely regretting not buying Watch Me Simmer from February’s Shop MAC Cook MAC collection, but it’s already being repromoted, so I got my second chance.

Reel Sexy is a light coral pink Amplified Creme. Watch Me Simmer is a deeper warm pink. Pink Popcorn (Lustre) looks really lavender in the tube, but swatches on surprisingly pink. It’s a very sheer pink lilac with microscopic blue shimmers.

Wag of the finger to MAC for naming the fourth lipstick in this collection Heroine. MAC fans surely remember that there was a Heroine lipstick in MAC’s recent Wonder Woman collection. It was a Frost finish, and a completely different color (frosty red-brown). This Heroine is a grape creme Matte. The lipsticks are each $14.50.

There are also four Cremesheen Glass lipglosses ($19.50). Private Screening is a light warm pink. Star Quality is a bright red-pink coral, a color that J.Crew would probably call “melon.” Cinestyle is periwinkle, pale blue-purple. Colour Saturation is berry.

Reel Sexy is available on Nordstrom.com, Dillards.com, Bloomingdales.com, and MACcosmetics.com — happy shopping!

Pantone was a commercial printing company that became famous for their color standards. To make a long story short, they created books of color swatches and a system by which any of these colors could be consistently created. Some colors are created with the standard printing mix of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Others are “spot” colors, created from some combination of Pantone’s 13 inks plus white and black. What this means is a graphic designer in Phoenix can create a corporate logo in PMS 78 (Pantone Matching System), and it can be printed correctly in Iceland, India, or New Zealand, without calibrating it to another printed sample. The system is so pervasive that even national flags are described by PMS color.

And since 2000, for the prestige of the brand, Pantone has named a “color of the year.” I don’t always agree with their predictions; I wasn’t feeling “Honeysuckle” last year. Orange was pretty hot last summer — I think it hasn’t yet gone out of vogue. Regardless, I love orange, so I was very excited about the collaboration.

I originally expected to buy the collector’s set, $68. It includes everything I thought I would want: eyeshadow quad, lipstick, the blush duo, and single blush. The lipgloss and eyeliner were just a bonus! But the eyeshadow quad kind of talked me out of it. The texture was nice, but not, as Camel cigarettes used to say, pure swatching pleasure. The shades are all a little sheer (I built them up).

Scallop Shell is a sheer, satin, beige ballet pink. Carnelian is a satin coral with a few pink-gold shimmers. Sparrow is a cool, matte, slightly purpled bark-brown. Pavement is a sheer black satin with a few tiny sparkles. The eyeshadow quad is $28, if you buy it individually.

Tangerine Tango Cream lipstick ($18) is the flagship piece of the collection, and Sephora, you got me good. I love it. It’s a semi-sheer coral orange — and because it’s sheer, it goes completely warm-strawberry red-pink on me. Also because it’s sheer, it doesn’t last THAT long on my lips. The texture is glossy-jelly, not drying at all. It also has a sweet scent (gummi bears?) that I notice only when I’m applying.

Then there’s the lipgloss set, $20 (which is nothing when you consider you’re getting 4 glosses). But in what will become a recurring theme for this collection, I kind of wish they’d done individual products instead of a set.

The lipglosses are a nod to Pantone’s different finishes. Vivid is probably the truest representation of what “Tangerine Tango” is supposed to be. It’s the most opaque and the most red. Tangerine Tango Luminous is a little lighter, a little more sheer, and has gold sparkles. Tangerine Tango Opal is a little more sheer and a little lighter, with dense pink sparkles. But as you can see from the swatches, it almost seems like you’re buying three tubes of the same gloss. Tangerine Tango Glaze is a nice surprise. It’s a sheer, warm, grapefruit pink with pink and gold sparkles.

There are two blush options, a blush duo ($26) and a Prisma Chrome Blush ($16). The blush duo consists of Desert Flower (a matte, warm guava pink) and Coral (a deeper, more intense, watermelon pink with gold shimmer). The Prisma Chrome Blush was REALLY sparkly; I felt like there was nearly as much sparkle as color/pigment. It’s apricot with dense gold sparkles.

Not loving Apricot Brandy confirmed my decision not to buy the collector’s set.

I found the Tangerine Tango nail polishes to be surprisingly nifty… but I wished I could buy just one of them for $6, rather than all four for $24. Like the lipglosses, the nail polishes are an exploration of finish. The set contains Tangerine Tango Matte, Creme, Shimmer (sheer with tiny orange and pink shimmers), and Glitter (intense, autumn-leaf orange glitter in a clear base).

There’s also a trio of mechanical eyeliners ($22). Though these pencils were very soft and creamy, I was concerned about staying power. (Anyone own these and care to weigh in?) Meteorite is black, Tangerine Tango Twist is a sheeny satin bittersweet red-orange with pink and silver shimmers. Chestnut is dark brown.

The collection also contains a number of makeup accessories: “Tangerine Tango” brush sets ($68), false lashes ($28), eyelash curlers ($18), a makeup bag ($28). None of these made my have-to-have list.

Also, I do have to ding Sephora for their packaging on this collection: the outer packaging is absurdly wasteful (perhaps to discourage in-store shoplifting of what was sure to be a popular collection). I also disliked the translucent, non-attaching, magnetized lids on the eyeshadow quad and blush duo.

Are you an orange-lover? A Pantone-groupie? What did you love (and not love) about this collection?

The last few Chantecaille collections have centered around a four-pan palette, so let’s start with that. The limited edition Coral Reefs palette is $79, and includes three full-sized eyeshadows and a blush. When you finish a shade, there’s a pinhole in the back of the compact to help you push out the pan, so you can pop something else in there (which is nice, because empty palettes from Chantecaille are pretty expensive).

For the past several years the Chantecailles have donated a portion of the proceeds of these palettes to various environmental charities. When you buy a Coral Reefs palette, 5% ($3.95) will go to the Marine Conservation Institute. I guess 5% is better than nothing, but I think you buy a Chantecaille palette because their powders are exquisite and you love the colors, not because they’re making a donation.

The powders feature a gold overspray (which disappears quickly) and the embossed image of coral. The first shade (Pink Pearl) is a soft satin beige-pink with a very subtle, pearly tinge of gold shimmer. The second shade (Reef, also referred to as Sand on Chantecaille’s website) is a satin warm fawn-sand with very subtle, tiny gold shimmers. The third shade (Driftwood) is a satin, warm brown, redwood, mulch color with a few tiny bronze shimmers.

The blush is simply called Coral, and it’s a beautiful satin warm pink with tiny, subtle, glowy sparkles. Oh how I love a warm/coral blush.

There are three lip products in the collection, which I thought were all permanent additions to the line… though NeimanMarcus.com designates the Lip Chic and Gloss as limited edition.

Sunrise Lip Chic is a warm, tropical guava pink ($33). Lucky Brilliant Lip Gloss is a light, warm, sheer pink with gold shimmers ($32). Coral Lip Definer is a bright coral, a very orange pink ($24).

There’s one new Gel Liner Pencil, Espresso. But I was pretty sure I hadn’t yet swatched Hematite (which launched this past fall), so I did that one, too. These eyeliner pencils are $32 each. I believe Espresso is limited edition (but why?). It’s a dark cool brown, pretty much my perfect color for an eyeliner. Hematite is a sheeny, Batman-charcoal black-grey.

If you’re shopping online, this collection is available on NeimanMarcus.com (free shipping with code SPRINGFS), Nordstrom.com (free shipping), and Chantecaille.com (free shipping at $75).

Intensifying mascara is a tubing formula (comes off in warm water), that’s supposed to deliver flake-proof, smudge-proof, 16-hour wear. It has a fairly small brush, and (I’ve heard) gives very defined lashes. I haven’t had a chance to try this one myself yet. It’s $24.

The Long Wear Eye Pencils are supposed to be Bobbi’s gel liners in pencil form (faster, more convenient than a pot and a brush). These are super soft, super creamy, a pleasure to apply… but twice now I’ve tested Jet on a swatching day (applying only as tightline and liner on the top lashline), and it not only transferred to my lower waterline, it left ghosts under my eyes. I had better results when I lined the top lashline only — I guess these aren’t meant for tightlining.

Still, I love how blackened all these colors are, and you may have better results than I did. Jet is black. Smoke is dark, industrial, slightly blue, deep grey. Mahogany is a very dark cool brown (love). Black Navy is a very dark nautical blue (love). Black Plum is a dark, shimmery… black plum (I feel so uncreative for saying that, but it’s true). Hunter is deep, dark green. The pencils are also $24 each.

Then there are five new shades of Bobbi’s Long Wear Cream Eyeshadows. Cool Lilac is shimmery peony pink. Black Violet is shimmery black violet. Berry Noir is shimmery rusty, purpled red. Velvet Plum is metallic golden/bronzey-purple. Smoky Topaz is grey-silver-purple. These are — you guessed it! $24 each. You can see swatches of the rest of the permanent Cream Eyeshadows here… actually, don’t look. I did and I ended up putting four of them on my wishlist. (Shore, Sand Dollar, Cement, and Ash, I love youuuu.)

If you’re shopping online, get free shipping at Nordstrom.com (plus: free sample of Hydrating Eye Cream and mini bottle of Instant Long-Wear Makeup Remover with $75 purchase) and NeimanMarcus.com (free shipping with code SPRINGFS. Also, double points! And with your $125 purchase, free mini lip palette, plus mini Lash Glamour mascara).

Or shop BobbiBrown.com and use code BBTOGO2 on your order of $100 or more (through April 13) to get a free mini eye palette (containing White eyeshadow, Pink Pearl metallic eyeshadow, Velvet Plum metallic eyeshadow, Steel eyeshadow, and Charcoal eyeshadow), plus a sample of Hydrating Eye Cream.

Anyway, Estee Lauder’s summer collection (which gives me a bit of a 70s vibe) is on counters. The timing feels right — I think (in Texas) February was our spring.

For the past few years, Lauder has used the summer collection to reimagine a seasonal ideal they call “Bronze Goddess.” This year’s goddess is inspired by the Italian isle of Capri.

Estee Lauder is definitely still exploring the possibilities of their powder gelee formula: the summer collection contains an “all-gelee” eyeshadow quint called Bronze Sands ($45).

If this collection, as a whole, is meant to evoke the mountains, sandy beaches, and water of Capri, the eyeshadow palette does it very succinctly. The quint includes a frosty, shimmery, intense, carroty copper; a warm, iridescent, shimmery golden pearl white; a muted green-blue ocean shimmer; a tawny safari-gold shimmer/frost with a few silver sparkles; and a warm, sparkling satin rich-rust red-brown.

They say you can use the Illuminating Gelee formula wet or dry, but the pigments are already so potent, dry… does anyone use them wet?

Building on the success of the Intense Kajal Eye Crayons from the spring/Topaz collection, Capri contains one dual-ended Intense Kajal Eye Crayon Duo: Molten Lava/White Sands. I was excited to see a dark brown option in this formula, but in my limited testing thus far, the brown seems to produce more fallout than the black. The eye crayon duo is $24.

There’s also a Molten Lava nail polish ($19). It’s a deep, dark brown with tiny, subtle warm shimmers.

There’s a new Illuminating Powder Gelee for face, and I have to think this one is intended as cheek color (what do you think? How are you wearing it?). Shimmering Sands is $42, a bronze-rose with multicolored shimmer and tiny silver sparkles.

There are two Pure Color lipsticks ($25), both repromotes from the permanent line. Urban Auburn is a wine-red-brown. Tiger Eye is a shimmery, frosty, metallic, warm, iridescent bronze rose (similar to a heavy swatch of the Shimmering Sands powder, actually).

These lip colors seemed very “fall” to me, but didn’t Tom Ford also see spring/summer 2012 with a similar lip palette? Maybe we’re saying goodbye to “traditional” lip seasons. Maybe deeper hues look better on the deep (hopefully faux) tans of summer in Capri.

There’s also a new lipgloss: Shimmering Mirage ($22.50). It’s a super pale sheer yellow with gold shimmer and silver sparkles.

The return of Bronze Goddess also means the annual re-release of Bronze Goddess fragrance, as well as the launch of a new and limited edition Bronze Goddess incarnation.

Bronze Goddess smells like 70s coconut oil tanning lotion. Though it has been lovingly reviewed by many a fragrance blogger, it’s not my cup of tea. Robin of Now Smell This wrote a really excellent review and explanation of the history of this scent: in a nutshell, it was released as a body oil in 2006, then as an eau fraiche in 2007 when Mr. Ford did his infamous collaboration with the brand. It has been making an appearance every year since then, accompanied by “companion fragrance” since 2011.

I really do like Bronze Goddess Capri, though. Estee Lauder fragrances often have a very blended quality that makes it difficult for me to pick out individual notes, so all I can really say is that Capri smells very warm to me. I think it could lend an air of leisurely European-riviera-vacation to even a summer spent at home, so I’m really looking forward to making it one of my scents of this summer.

The notes of Capri, according to Estee Lauder, are cassis, mandarin, and lemon leaves (top notes), jasmine sambac, muguet, and peony (heart), and vanilla, amberwood, patchouli, and musk (base).

Both fragrances are $57 and should be considered limited. (The original Bronze Goddess won’t be back until next summer, and you never know when it might be permanently retired.)

The summer collection also repromotes Estee Lauder’s excellent (and under-appreciated, in my opinion) powder bronzers. Forgive me for not reswatching them, but you can see last year’s swatches of Soft Matte Bronzer, Soft Shimmer Bronzer, and Soft Duo Bronzer here. They are each $32. Bronze Goddess Luminous Liquid Bronzer is also back; it is $28.50.

The Bronze Goddess collection is available everywhere, but if you’re shopping online, you can get free shipping from NeimanMarcus.com (code FSMAR), Nordstrom.com, and EsteeLauder.com.

The stars of this release are two limited edition Shimmer Bricks (five-shade compacts which can be worn as eyeshadow, or blended together as highlighter). They are $39 each.

Swatched individually, the shades of Rose Gold are a shimmery peony pink, a beige shimmer with super-strong, pale, iridescent pink duochrome (you can see the beige in the photo, but the swatch looked almost totally pink in person), a shimmery rose-pink/rose-gold pink, a frosty rose-bronze, and a red-rose-copper frost.

Blended together, Rose Gold makes a very shimmery cheek color/highlighter. It builds to a surprisingly peachy/beigey sparkly pink. Here’s the light swatch of the blended shade:

And here’s a heavy swatch:

Wild Rose Shimmerbrick is more pink. The individual shades are shimmery lilac-mauve (with silver shimmer), warm (peachy) shimmery pink, a sparkly rose-violet pink, a shimmery violet-pink, and a shimmery cotton-candy-pink. They combine to create a surprisingly warm pink. Here’s the light swatch of the blended color:

And here’s a heavy swatch:

This collection also brings Rich Lip Color SPF 12 back into the spotlight. This “soft matte” lipstick formula debuted in spring 2011 and I’ve been loving it ever since. Of the six shades shown here, all are new except Lilac (which made a limited appearance a year ago), and all are permanent except Miami Coral (you know how Bobbi feels about corals). They are $23 each.

29 Beige Gold is a sheer beige pink. 30 Miami Coral is a light peach-pink. 28 Pink Peony is rose-pink. 27 Nude Rose is brown-pink. 26 Wild Rose is a cool violet-pink. 17 Lilac is a mauve pink.

The lipglosses are all the Rich Color Gloss formula ($23). Rose Gold is a repromote; the rest are new and permanent.

16 Pink Gold is a chewing-gum pink with gold shimmer. 9 Pink Sorbet is a slightly mauvey, blue pink with deep/subtle silver shimmer/sparkles. 10 Angel Pink is brighter and warmer, without shimmer or sparkle. 11 Rose Gold is a shimmery golden caramel. 12 Pink Cocoa is a brown/rose-purple duochrome with a subtle shimmer.

This collection repromotes Rose Gold shimmer wash eyeshadow and Caviar gel eyeliner (example 2), and though I’ve swatched them before, I thought I might as well swatch them again.

Rose Gold is a metallic rose shimmer. I may have previously described Caviar Ink liner as a very dark brown-black, but I think it’s almost more accurate to call it a “soft black.” It goes on dark, so if you don’t usually wear black eyeliner, this one may take you by surprise.

Bobbi eyeshadows are $24, her gel eyeliners are $22.

Bobbi’s Rose Gold collection is available everywhere, but BobbiBrown.com has a pretty nice GWP with $100 purchase: a little eyeshadow palette containing Navajo, Slate, Heather Mauve shimmerwash, Steel, and Caviar, plus a deluxe bottle of Instant Long-Wear Makeup Remover (valid Feb. 28 – Mar. 2) with code BBTOGO1.

Neiman Marcus is also in gift, and you can get the department gift with $100 purchase; the Bobbi gift with $150 purchase. Free shipping can be had at Neiman Marcus (at any price) with code SHIPNM.

The collection is hot, and for me evoked a sundrenched Caribbean island. Estee Lauder’s creative director Tom Pecheux says he was inspired by the Arizona desert. Either way, I feel warmer just looking at it. Topaz is a semi-precious gem that I first think of as yellow (though I’ve seen blue topaz as well). If, like me, you enjoy collecting random facts, click here to learn more about the gemstone.

The collection includes a Pure Color eyeshadow quint (possibly my favorite Lauder eyeshadow palette to-date) and their second ever Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee.

Pure Color Five Color Eyeshadow Palette 21 Topaz Mosaic is glorious. Every shade is so smooth and pigmented. The combination of colors is just neutral enough that I feel like I could wear it often, but includes shades I don’t already own (and suddenly need: orange, yellow). It’s versatile but not quirky or one-note. I really think this is the best Estee Lauder quint I can remember swatching.

The palette includes a satin pumpkin, a shimmery tawny golden sand, a satin daffodil yellow, a low-shimmer beige-peach, and a satin red wood-brown. It is $45, limited edition.

Modern Mercury (fall 2011) included Estee Lauder’s first Illuminating Powder Gelee, a shimmery “gel-powder” that could be applied wet or dry. Because it was the first of its kind, that sparkly beige-pink highlighter didn’t have a shade name.

This collection launches the second (also limited edition) Illuminating Powder Gelee, a shimmering, sparkling, warming golden copper highlight that can be used on eye or cheek. It’s 01 Topaz Chameleon, $40, and I swatched it dry (first lightly, then heavily, with a triangle sponge).

This collection introduces Pure Color Intense Kajal Eye Crayons, a chubby pencil eyeliner semi-inspired by the chalk-type kajal eyeliners you can so easily buy in India. The sales associate explained (and it makes sense) that the very sharp point will help you draw a more precise line.

Even though it’s a simple, basic black eyeliner (and maybe a silly thing to lust over), I adore 01 Dramatic Black. I tried it on at the counter and it went on so smoothly and easily. It was actually very easy to apply a thin black line to my inner rim (I tightlined with it, too). Since I applied in the afternoon on a cold day (difficult  to test heat-/humidity-proofing or wear time), I showered and napped in it — no fallout, no smudging.

The new Kajal Eye Crayon is not the same as taller, thinner Intense Kajal Eyeliner that just came out with the Cyber Eyes collection. These chubby crayons have a little less fallout, and they’re a little softer.

Whenever I see the word “kajal” or “kohl” on an eyeliner, I assume it’s meant to be used on the waterline (that it depends on the moisture of your eye to fix it). Kohls are usually smudgy when used on the upper lashline.

The Intense Kajal Crayons are $22 each, available in 01 Dramatic Black and 03 Dramatic Teal. And can you believe they’re limited edition?? Why oh why?

This collection includes three Sensuous Rouge lipsticks ($28, semi-sheer with a moisturizing core and a vanilla scent). 15 Sublime Nectar is new and limited edition, a sheer creme peach-pink. 03 Sensuous Nude and 02 Sultry Caramel are repromotes from the permanent line. (Sensuous Nude: a sheer peach caramel nude that I’m still in love with. Sultry Caramel: shimmery russet red-brown.)

There’s also a new, limited edition Pure Color lipgloss ($22.50). 50 Citron Kiss is sheer yellow with silver sparkles. As I learned with the yellow gloss in Alice + Olivia, yellow glosses settle down into a kind of honey color on the lips. Backstage at fashion week last September, Tom Pecheux explained that yellow gloss is the perfect transitional item to warm up your fall and winter lipsticks, and keep wearing them into spring. Try using it to tone down a too-bright red or pink.

There’s just one limited edition nail polish: 28 Teal Topaz ($19). I found a sales associate wearing it, and she agreed to be my hand model.

Teal Topaz is a teal creme that’s opaque in two coats (indoor lighting makes it look a little more green). I thought it reminded me of Ocean Dip from last summer’s MAC Surf Baby, but it’s deeper, more subdued, not as bright. The color also reminds me of this old Chevy I saw at a stoplight.

This collection is available everywhere Estee Lauder is sold, though NeimanMarcus.com is in gift right now (plus free shipping with code SHIPNM).

Do you love this collection as much as I do?

The collection includes one of Laura’s classic eye-and-cheek palettes (six shadows, two blushes — no lip products mixed in with the powders). The palette is $60, limited edition.

Buff Pearl is a beige-champagne-white satin. Tawny Apricot is a dusty rose satin. Rich Cocoa is a dark wood-/earth-brown matte. Pale Pink is a very whitened, very pale, ballet pink matte. African Violet is a shimmery violet-gold duochrome. Black Plum is a delightfully pigmented, dark, cool, dusty, muted, blackened blue-purple matte. Though these shades all feel really familiar, African Violet and Black Plum are the only two listed among Laura’s regular single eyeshadows.

Rose Desire and Fresh Peach are both new shades. Rose Desire is a blue (cool) rose pink; Fresh Peach is pinked peach with a few tiny sparkles (which give it a slight sheen).

The collection also features two Creme Cheek Colour blushes ($22). Oleander is actually a repromote from the permanent line. It’s a pigmented cool pink. Innocent Peach is a little more sheer. It’s a light peach-pink, and it’s limited edition.

There are three Sheer Lip Color lipsticks ($20). Baby Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose. Kissed Lips (new, limited edition) is coral pink. Nude Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose-beige-nude.

Naked Apricot and Tempting Coral are both “Lip Shines,” and I’m not exactly sure how to describe them. Potted glosses? Potted gloss-balms? They’re $22 each, both limited edition. Naked Apricot is very, very sheer peach. Tempting Coral is more pigmented, a red-berry-rose with gold sparkles.

The two cake eyeliners and two Eye Basics cream eyeshadow bases are repromotes (follow the links to revisit their original swatch posts).

Cake eyeliner is a dry “puck” of pressed powder, activated by water or a product like Laura’s Tightline Activator. You wet your brush, then muddle it on the cake until you achieve a paste the consistency of shoe polish. Apply your eyeliner and the cake will dry back to its regular state, ready for the next application. As you probably already know, a new cake eyeliner can be used with either water or Activator, but once you’ve used it with Activator, it won’t work with water again.

Mahogany Brown is dark brown.  Charcoal Grey (neither charcoal nor grey, really) is more like an industrial/nautical blue-grey. Cake eyeliners are $22 (and Tightline Activator is $20).

Eye Basics are $24 each. They are water-resistant, crease-proof, semi-matte eyeshadow bases containing vitamins and something called “Eyebright,” all meant to reduce inflammation. Flax is a manila-folder yellow-beige. Wheat is peach.

There were originally three nail polishes in this collection (including the mint green the model is wearing), but production issues resulted in the polishes being cancelled. My local counter put three other polishes in the display (rather than leaving gaps), but I didn’t swatch them since they’re not really part of the collection.

Spring offers two new Color Design Eyeshadow Quints ($49). Tendresse includes a pale, sheer, pistachio green; a mint-chip/Irish Springs green satin; a blue-green teal satin; a high-shimmer white; and a black with very fine, fairy-green sparkles.

Rose Romance features a shimmery pale white-pink; a low-shimmer peach sherbet; a satin candy rose-pink; a shimmery white-pink peony (slightly more pink than the first shade in this quint); and a shimmery satin dark red-purple-brown.

The collection also includes a limited edition embossed powder, La Roseraie ($42). I swatched the two shades individually with sponge-tipped eyeshadow applicators, then blended them with a triangle sponge (light swatch, then heavy). The flower is a warm, light pink; the “background” is a soft white. This product could be a subtle white-pink highlight, or a soft, sheer, light pink blush (depending on your skintone and how much of the “flower” you use).

There are also two Blush Subtil shades ($30), and “Subtil” is the operative word — these aren’t super loud. 361 Cosmopolitan Pink is a medium pink. 134 Tangerine Tint is a soft, pinked peach/tangerine (and I LOVE it. Of course).

There are three spring lipsticks, and the first is a bit of a mystery. It’s a French Touch Absolu, which means it comes in slightly posher, slightly more compact packaging. It’s also a bit more expensive ($35). The display unit, the Lancome website, and Lancome customer service refer to this shade as 316 Cotton Candy. But the packaging (both the tester and the actual product) say 316 Soft Marshmallow. Weird, but the two names refer to the same color. The lipstick is a warm, sheer, pastel pink (cotton-candy-ish, you might say).

The other two lipsticks are L’Absolu Nu (same formula, “regular” lipstick packaging, $29.50). Sweet Marmalade is a sheer peach-pink (#318 according to the display). Rose Candy is a sheer flamingo/strawberry candy pink (#314 according to the display).

There are three Color Fever Glosses ($26), which felt cushiony and not-at-all-sticky on my arm. 386 Green Petal is a very, very sheer mint green (clear, really) with a mint-scent and a medium number of green sparkles. 387 Tangerine Petal is a warm whitened-pink with pink and gold sparkles. 388 Rose Petal is a pale lilac pink with silver sparkles.

Finally, there are two Le Stylo Waterproof eyeliners ($25.50, mechanical). 600 Blanc is matte white; 502 Green Petal is a sheeny, springy, seafoam green.

You can pick up this collection anywhere, but if you’re planning to order from Lancome-USA.com, use code NEWYEARLAN to receive a four-piece gift with your $45 purchase. Valid through the end of the month.

Eyeshadow trio Douce France (named after a 1942 song by French singer-songwriter Charles Trenet) includes a satin/matte pale white pink with very tiny silver sparkles (it would be matte, but the sparkles give it a satin finish), a warm carnation pink, and a very nicely pigmented matte cranberry. It’s $45, limited edition.

Paramaribo eyeshadow duo (named after the capital of the Republic of Suriname, the smallest independent country in South America and a former Dutch colony. Where are you NOW, Carmen Sandiego?) includes a frosty yellow-lime and a shimmery browned golden olive. The duo is $34, also limited edition.

It’s a good thing Lhasa is permanent, because otherwise I’d expect it to cause a riot. It’s a shimmery grey-purple, $24. The shadow is named after the high-altitude Tibetan city, home to several major Buddhist temples.

There’s a new, permanent Soft Touch Shadow Pencil: sheeny cobalt blue Dark Rite. It’s $24, and NARS recommends wearing it as shadow, as base for powder shadow, or as eyeliner.

The collection also repromotes Larger Than Life eyeliner Abbey Road (peacock blue, $23).

Spring offers three lip choices, all new additions to the permanent line. Bilbao lipstick ($24, named after the city in Spain) is a warm brown-rose with a subtle sheen. It’s not a color I would normally swoon over, but it looks great paired with gloss.  Here’s a photo from a recent NARS makeover: Bilbao lipstick with Greek Holiday lipgloss.

Valparaiso Pure Matte Lipstick ($25, named after the city in Chile) is a red-violet-berry.

Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24, named after the flower) is a bright, warm, watermelon pink, my favorite color so far of this formula. It’s slightly staining, so color carefully.

There are two nail polishes in the spring collection. Diamond Life is limited edition, a shimmery pansy purple. Ecume (white creme) is a repromote. Both are $18.

There’s also a new, permanent addition to NARS’ blush lineup: cool, whitened, frozen-pink-with-super-tiny-silver-shimmers Gaiety. It’s $28, and I wish I owned the discontinued Chanel Narcisse so I could compare the two.

The collection also repromotes Albatross, the lovely, shimmery, permanent, white/gold highlighter. It’s also $28.

What will you be picking up from this collection?