Review & Swatches: Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden Collection

Valentine’s Day may be over, but romance is never out of style! Dolce & Gabbana is out to prove it with their new Secret Garden Collection for spring 2011. Pastels and pinks (with a few colorful surprises) will allow you to create sweet and romantic looks—check out the collection!

Lip Gloss, $29
Ultra Shine Lipgloss — Secret
Ultra Shine Lipgloss — Bon Bon

Lipstick, $30
Shine Lipstick — Romance
Shine Lipstick — Love

Eyeshadow
Smooth Eye Colour Quad — Eden $59
Smooth Eye Colour Duo — Romance $36

Eyeliner, $29
Crayon Intense — White
Crayon Intense — Lilac

Luminizer, $47
The Illuminator — Eva

Nail Lacquer, $20
Intense Nail Lacquer — Platinum

I wore a few items from Secret Garden (my first Dolce & Gabbana ANYTHING!) and immediately fell in love with how luxe everything is; from the outer packaging, to the compacts, to the product—it’s all so pretty and detailed.

The Eyeshadow Smooth Eye Colour Duo in Romance contains an icy silver shade with a matte soft charcoal. Both shadows are very smooth to the touch, almost velvety. I didn’t experience much fallout with either of these shades, but noticed that the silver was perhaps more pigmented than the charcoal (I expected the reverse).

The Lipstick Shine Lipstick in Love is actually my favorite product of the three I tried. It’s a darling sweetheart pink that gives medium coverage and plenty of shine without looking frosty. This might not be for those who are sensitive to fragrance, as it contains a perfume-y version of what I commonly refer to as “lipstick smell”. It’s a decadent lipstick that I thought lasted longer than average, and felt great on my lips.

The Illuminator Glow Illuminating Powder in Eva is a golden-beige highlighting powder with micro-shimmer. It’s perfect for dusting on all of the high points of the face to create contour and points of light for an ethereal glow. What I liked about Eva was that it’s very subtle and doesn’t make the skin look like a moonbeam! I felt like I could really be precise with it, without worrying if I was wearing too much. I apply this just above my blush, along the bridge of my nose, and a dab in my Cupid’s cusp on my top lip to create definition.