Elizabeth Arden Golden Opulence makeup collection

Elizabeth Arden’s autumn/winter makeup range has to be my favourite makeup collection from them yet. The limited edition Golden Opulence range* consists of four capsule pieces, and ticks all the right boxes in terms of exciting packaging, wearable shades and just the right amount of Christmasy-feel to it.

The star of the show for me has to be the Beautiful Colour Highlighter, which comes embossed with a beautiful swirling design (I am such a sucker for this type of thing!). There are three shades of shimmery powder in the compact (bronze, gold, champagne), which are just about large enough to use alone, but also work beautifully well when swirled together and dusted across the face. The powder has been infused with light-diffusing minerals, so is very flattering and if you only buy one piece from the collection, I’d make it this one!

Continuing on with the special packaging theme is the Golden Opulence Eye Shadow Quad. It features three brown and gold shades plus a beautiful emerald green, making it a really wearable palette. I tend to avoid brighter colours, but I’ve been loving this combination. The emerald looks lovely used in the corners of the eye for a pop of colour or could be blended into the crease for an alternative to the traditional smokey eye.

I am a *tiny* bit anal about my choice of liquid liner and tend not to vary from my trusty DHC one these days, but I have to say I’m impressed with how the one from this collection performs. It’s a felt pen style liner, which I always find much easier to use than the traditional liquid liner brushes (although not so great for very thin lines). The nib is nice and flexible, making it easy to get a good flick and the ink itself comes out jet black. It also doesn’t smudge on the lids, even after a sweaty spin class, so high fives all round for Elizabeth Arden.

The final part of the collection is a Luminous Lip Gloss, which adds a high shine finish with just a hint of colour. I’d love to see them bring out some more limited edition lipstick shades once in a while as they seem to always do glosses (which I’m not a huge fan of), but if gloss is your thing, then this is a lovely one to have.

Golden Opulence should be hitting counters about now and is also available online from Elizabeth Arden. Prices start at £18 for the lip gloss and liquid liner and go up to £29 for the highlighter.

What do you think of the new makeup launches from Elizabeth Arden?

*PR samples