I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends…

Dior Spring Collection 2012 called Garden Party Color Collection is just hitting stores this January.  It’s hard to believe that Spring Collections are here when the calendar just flipped over to 2012, but they are here. This Dior collection is inspired by the fantastic Granville garden of Christian Dior. Located on the cliffs of Normandy, the elements of strong winds seemed unsuitable for a garden, but his creative strength and relentless hard work defied nature. Today one can still admire the garden in bloom and in particular, the fantastic rose garden planted by Christian Dior’s own hands. It sounds lovely and wouldn’t it be fun to have a party there, like he used to host many years ago!

 

 

To me the star piece in the collection is the pale pink minaudiere.  For Holiday 2010 they created a minaudiere similar to this in black and with a ball clasp, now for spring 2012 it is a pale pink version and a double rose clasp adorns the top instead. Inside you will find a full mirror on the one side and three eye shadows, a Lip Maximizer and an Ultra Gloss on the other.  The lip products are protected by a silver flap door so no shadow residue will get in.  It’s available in two color families – the grey shades (top) are a Nordstrom and Dior.com exclusive and the brown/pink one (bottom) is more widely available. $75 each

 

     

 

 

 

 

There are also 2 limited edition 5 Couleur Palettes that are embossed with roses on a tulle pattern $59 ea. The one, Garden Pastels may be difficult for most women over 40 to attempt to wear, but the other, Garden Roses may have a larger audience.  Both are fresh and spring-like in their own way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the variety of shadows for the collection, there is a few new lipsticks and glosses and a nail lacquer duo that is rose scented and said to last up to 4 days after applying! $23 ea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lipsticks are lovely and soft spring shades.   The two lipsticks are in the Rouge Dior formula – a creamy longer wearing formula than Dior Addict. $32 ea.  The Ultra Gloss is available in Pretty Rose #452 and Party Lilac #396.  The rose is more of a coral rose and the lilac shade is a nice sheer shade.

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly, two other additions to the extensive Spring 2012 Collection are the new 3 Couleur palettes. I have not seen these in person yet, but the Smoky Roses (top) shades were highly missed when they released the 3 Couleur palettes last fall.  The Smoky Garden trio (below) is an online Dior.com exclusive.  I hope these are actually part of the permanent collection, but I have not heard for sure.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this collection.  I think most of it is wearable for women over 40, and it’s soft, pretty, and fresh.  I suspect the minaudiere will be popular and one of the first items in the collection to sell out quickly.