REVIEW: YSL Couture 5-Colour Ready to Wear Palette in 02 Fauve

For all the brown eyeshadow lovers out there - you must, must read this. I've been sent one of YSL's new palettes, the 5-Colour Ready To Wear Palettes, in the shade 02 Fauve and I come bearing good news! If you're interested in other shades, you can see them on YSL's website.
Packaging The solid gold bar is lovely to look at, but boy does it attract finger prints. But it's slim, shuts perfectly and comes with a mahoosive mirror, and great quality applicators - an eyeliner brush, a thin sponge and a thick sponge. I noticed that the packaging wasn't as extravagant as many of their other products which often put me off paying their high price tag as I feel like I'm paying more for the packaging than I am for the product - but in this case, I was happily proven wrong.
Formula Having revered the Chanel eyeshadow formulas since forever, I wasn't sure whether what the other designer brands offered really compared. Let's just say YSL does.
Initially the formula looks slightly shimmery, but in reality they're all more of a satin finish. They're quite tightly packed so you're going to need something rough, like the applicators they provide. These are roughed up sponges, so do amazingly to pick up colour. I'm usually one for using the MAC 224 for all over eyeshadow, and that works really well - but something like the MAC 239 doesn't pick up and blend out colour quite so well.
The blendability is bloody fabulous, and perhaps the most outstanding part of this palette. The colours play a role, but on the whole, the blendability of the shades is what lets you create the softest, glowy brown looks with the palette.
The staying power is also great, with it lasting much longer for me than MAC and Urban Decay, and lasting me a good 8 hours, but not looking as fresh as the ranks of Chanel and NARS - but still definitely there, just a bit faded.
Colours My initial thoughts were that the colours in this shade were a bit dark for my every day looks, but this actually pushed me to experiment with mid-toned browns. If these are up your street, you probably can't choose a better palette.
You can tell these shades were chosen carefully, because despite the base shade being warm, the rest of the shades balance this out by being cooler. This gives it a bit of a lovely taupe hue. I also love that while the shades are different shades of darkness, that the intervals are quite small, which means any look can be super blended, gradient, and soft :)
YSL actually provide a little booklet with three looks based around using the base colour (the lightest brown) and the highlight (the cream shade) as the bare minimum. The three looks add 1, 2 and then 3 colours on top of this. Here I've shown you two - one which is the one with one added colour, and another which I whip up when I just CBA.
The #1 Day OR Night Look

This is my preferred look with this palette, and it involves just darkening the outer corner with the third darkest shade. The thick liner also adds to the drama of the look which makes it great for the nighttime. It gives a played-down smokey eye look which is perfect for either day or night time. To be perfectly honest, this is my first choice for my wedding day so far!
The "I CBA" Day Look

This is a common option for one of those "popping out" days. In addition to the base and highlight colours, I just simply lined my eyes with the darkest shade using the eyeliner brush included. It saves the faff of gel/liquid eyeliners, and creates lashes that look super full at the base! Because the eye colour is still light, your lashes still stand out great in front of your lid :)
Overall..
I'm sure everyone has their share of shimmery dark browns, but this palette offers the satin version that can be so much more classic and everyday-friendly. I don't use these words lightly, but if you love soft, easy, neutral looks - this palette is a must have.
This palette is available for £39.50 from John Lewis.
Yu