Dior Golden Jungle for Fall 2012

"In February 1947, Christian Dior presented his first collection to the international press in the Dior salons of Avenue Montaigne in Paris. Along with the Huit and Corolle lines that would inaugurate the era of “The New Look,” the couturier revealed another of his favourite themes: Leopard Print. Fashion editors were smitten, the room burst into applause and women rediscovered the mysterious allure of this iconic, timeless print.

At once avant-garde, sophisticated and sensual, the Jungle Motif has been a signature of the House of Dior from its debut. Actress Marlene Dietrich and the muse and friend of Mr. Dior, Mitzah Bircard, were its first fervent ambassadors. With each decade and runway show, variations of leopard print are cleverly reinterpreted by Dior Couture.

In the Dior Autumn/Winter 2012 makeup collection, Tyen revamps the Jungle Motif with another hallmark of Dior, a touch of shimmering gold, embodying the luxury of the urban jungle and inspired by the deep, earthy tones of the jungle."

I don't know about you but I absolutely loved the Jungle theme the minute I saw the first promo pictures!

Golden Jungle Palette

While beautifully packaged in a sturdy silver, the Golden Jungle Palette is not just about the looks. The eyeshadows offer color saturation and excellent pigmentation under a overspray of sparkle and the non-sticky lipgloss a high shine and visible plumping.

Available in : 001 Golden Khakis, 002 Golden Browns

5 Couleurs Designer All-In-One Artistry Palette

Revisiting the usual 5 couleurs palette by adding eyeliner, all is at hand for the perfect matching eye look. I found the color payoff to be decent but not extraordinary on the lighter shades and actually really good on the others. The color range on the other hand was fantastic!

Available in : 308 Khaki Design

3 Couleurs Glow

I don't think I could get over how amazing the sliding case is haha... I wasn't really sure about these shades but the ivory shadow proved to be really well pigmented without being too harsh and the sheer sparkle absolutely fantastic with its pink and green particles. As for the liner, the color saturation was simply outstanding.

Available in : 551 Ivory Glow, 651 Nude Glow

Addict Lipstick

Completely different from what I would have expected, these Fall shades deliver a natural look instead of a heavy or creamy glaze. I found it very refreshing and I can already see myself wearing them a lot, especially considering how moisturizing and comfortable they feel on the lips.

Available in : 646 Wild, 816 Instinct, 852 Fatale, 962 Daring

Le Vernis

Bengale is a very warm and yet somehow muted hot chocolate brown. It has a slight purple hue that definitely sets it apart but what I would love the most is how deliciously creamy it looks on the nails. It dries darker on than in the bottle and if you could get instant "chocolate comfort" just by looking at your nails, this would be the shade to wear! Application was perfect and easy in 2 self leveling coats. This is 2 coats plus topcoat.

Amazonia probably is the most anticipated polish of this collection and I can gladly tell you that it has found no dupes in my stash. The strong cool tone combined with a darker khaki prevents it from looking similar to other military greens and I love how elegant and edgy it is. Formula was just as perfect as Bengale and you're also looking at 2 coats plus topcoat here.

Golden Jungle consists of an almost foil gold with lots of sparkle and a khaki crocodile leather effect topcoat. The box comes with instructions and states to wait a maximum of 2 minutes before applying the topper but what it doesn't say is that the crocodile effect takes a good 5 minutes to achieve so you should take that in consideration should you want to go for a quick manicure. This being said, I found the gold base to be a huge win on its own and definitely worth buying the whole set. I'm still undecided about the crocodile look as a full mani though, I think I'd rather use it as an accent. This is one coat of each shade and topcoat.

The Golden Jungle collection is already available in boutiques and beauty corners worldwide and retails for :

Golden Jungle Palette  $70/ £52/70€

5 Couleurs Designer  $59 / £40 / 55€

2 Couleurs Glow  $48 / £34 / 43€

Addict Lipstick  $30 / £24 / 31€

Le Vernis  $23 / £18 / 23.40€

Vernis Golden Jungle $30 / £24 / 32.60€

To finish this review, here's a quick, natural, eye look I created using all 3 palettes and as a bonus the Golden Jungle Collection making-of video ;-)

What do you think? Are you in the mood for Fall yet? What about the "crockle" effect?

*products provided for review*