[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] I can remember all the Dior launches that I’ve been to, from Parisian adventures to exquisite floral garlands set in a London chapel and an ice-themed dinner, complete with a beautiful St. Bernard to greet us at the door. It’s one of the reasons that Dior features so heavily in my make-up collection, going back to 2008. So, I’ll explain about the current Dior collection for the festive season and why Dior is so good at referencing its heritage in everything it does.
Founding designer, Christian Dior, made stars his talisman (talismen?) after finding a metal star in the street by coincidence. He was somewhat superstitious and took the find to be a mark of destiny and good fortune. The stars shown in relief on the stunning matte lipstick in shade 999 are the perfect reference back to Dior’s good luck icons. If this needs to be part of your future, you can have it engraved as a complimentary service. There are four shades – each is £45 HERE. If you’ve ever seen a Dior handbag, you’ll know that the cannage stitching is a key element for their core collections and, inspired by 18th century canework, features in their make-up too. The Dior Forever Glow Luminizer Powder in iridescent and golden glow with hyaluronic acid is the perfect canvas for cannage. It’s £55 HERE.
I’m realising now would be a good time to pop a picture of my Lady Dior Palette from 2011 (it was inspired by Princess Diana). During Covid I reshot all of my collection – Dior, Chanel, YSL, the much missed Versace beauty line, and more. I posted daily with updates and history until we could go out again.
More stars and cannage on to this deliciously seasonal palette called Fiery Circus which has a plum shade that is so perfectly right now. With the best will in the world, I can’t shoe-horn five colours on each lid so I sort of see these five couleur palettes as two lots of two with a highlighter that serves both. The deep plum I think I’d wear entirely alone with a lot of black kohl and black mascara. Look at the stitch detail! It’s just so clever and I appreciate the extra mile and effort that has gone into Fiery Circus. There’s a plum version called Plum Parade but it’s just a bit too purple for me to know quite how to wear. They’re £55 each HERE.
Speaking of purple, it’s a good time to slot in the Tailleur Bar palette from 2010 – an homage to Rene Gruau, Dior’s favoured illustrator.
The Rouge Dior Sequin Liquid Duos are quite the surprise – they’re not at all what I would pull of the shelf for myself but in fact, once on, they’re pretty stunning. One end is a liquid lipstick and the other end is gloss that brings a wash of shine that looks juicy and plumping.
The biggest surprise is the shade Ribbons – the paler of the two. I like it so much, especially as it has unexpected but light handed shimmer. Flame is just a little bit too brickish for me but there are ten shades so probably something for everyone. Of course, you can wear either gloss or lipstick alone and I like the flexibility of that. They’re £45 each HERE.
Now, this little hero is something of an underdog in the Christmas glamour stakes because it just doesn’t look like much. However, I’m wearing Forever Glow Maximizer on my eyes, cheeks and lips to show you just how versatile a product it is. I wouldn’t use all together but I’d definitely mix and match. It’s super sparkly so it feels that the natural place for it for me is on my lids as I’m not that keen on high shimmer on my cheeks. I’ve taken a wash of the sheer gloss in the Sequin Liquid Duos over the top of Forever Glow Maximizer and love it for a icy winter evening look. Also, it’s called Abracadadior and that needs a round of applause all on its own.
The Garden Clutch from 2012 – a remarkable piece of beauty engineering – behind the silver lid are two lip shines. Roses were Christian Dior’s favourite flower and in fact, he became something of an expert flower grower at his garden at Milly-la-Forêt – something heavily reflected in his couture designs.
I’d really forgotten about the glamour of Dior – their festive gift range has really sparked me up and given me ideas as well as memories – there’s a stunnnnnnning candle HERE that’s all almonds and cotton candy, the loveliest of gift sets (the Lip Glow & Baume with pouch takes my vote) HERE, and the only advent calendar that I have the remotest interest in – yes I mean the £6,400 HERE ;-).