Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed and Pure Chromatics in Nº 9

When I laid my eyes on these two beauties from YSL’s summer collection (product information and photos are here), I knew I had to review them first! Read on to see what I think about Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed and Pure Chromatics in Nº 9.

Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed — indirect natural light

Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed — under direct sunlight

Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed ($60) is described as a “satiny light, rosy apricot”, and that is how it translates on my skin. It consists of rose, brown and apricot powders embossed in a python print in a beautiful brown compact. The finish is not shimmery, but instead the skin looks lit up and alive. This is a light bronzer that will wear beautifully on fair to medium skin, especially for very fair skin who have problems with bronzers looking dirty on their skin. I love the big surface area for the apricot shade, which is such a universally flattering blush shade.

Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed — separate / swirled together

My only annoyance with this bronzer: as soon as I apply it on my face, I could smell the product on my brush! The product has a makeup-y fragrance, but it quickly dissipates in less than a minute. I wish it wasn’t scented at all.

The shades of YSL Nº 2 Sunkissed remind me of my (still) holy grail bronzer from last summer, Dior Aurora, so I wanted to post comparison swatches of the two. It turns out, they are not similar at all. Sunkissed is lighter and pinker, but they do have that same beautiful finish.

Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed (finger swatch, brush swatch) vs. Dior Aurora

Pure Chromatics in Nº 8 — indirect natural light

Pure Chromatics in Nº 8 — under direct sunlight

JLo in “Waiting For Tonight.” That is what I think of when I see this palette. Pure Chromatics in Nº 8 ($74) is a shimmery palette of champagne, medium beige, coppery brown and olive green. This palette is unapologetically shimmery. I’ve never seen so much shimmer packed into one eyeshadow quad before. The medium to dark shades have a more visible shimmer, while the champagne shade highlights my brow bone perfectly.

I found a few issues with this palette. First, the lack of variety with eyeshadow textures turned me off. It is very hard to wear on its own. It’s just a lot of shimmer, shimmer, SHIMMER! The beige or olive shade would make beautiful matte/satin eyeshadows, and would make this a more wearable palette. Next, the eyeshadows are very soft to the point that they ended up falling down to my cheeks. It’s nice, but these problems and the non-unique colours make this easily dupe-able , so I don’t think it’s a must-have.

Pure Chromatics in Nº 8 Swatches

Wearing Terre Saharienne in Nº 2 Sunkissed and Pure Chromatics in Nº 8

What are your must-haves from the collection so far? I bet Nº 2 Sunkissed will be a hit for sure!