Dior Cannage Whisper Grey 002 Eye Palette

Dior Cannage Whisper Grey (Gris Soupir) 002 Eye Palette was first released as a limited edition item for Spring 2011. Charlestongirl reviewed it on Best Things In Beauty back in January and the palette sold out before I had a chance to blink, so I was thrilled last month to see it was (quietly) re-launched as a Neiman Mrcus exclusive.

The packaging is lovely, of course. Dior Cannage items always are- the quilted faux leather compact with the little charms that spell "DIOR" is fun and makes me smile. It can make a lovely gift for any Dior fan and I wish it was refillable/removable and could be used with various other Dior sets. But it's the actual product that counts, and after playing with it for over a month I'm a little torn.

The quality of the eye shadows is great, don't get me wrong. They vary in finish from very frosty to almost matte, so they can be layered, not just blended. The one thing that bothers me is that the three lighter shades are so decidedly silver-based I have a hard time wearing them together because of my own coloring.

The colors are: a very light whisper pink with shimmer, a silver cool taupe, a frosty eggshell white and an almost-matte dark taupe gray. I swatched them in the order of their placement in the compact, and also added a comparison to Dior single eye shadow in Beige Print.

Now, all of these colors are wearable and very pretty. However, I find myself never using them as a palette for a cohesive look and rather pairing them with other eye shadows to avoid a frosty snow queen look. Even the silver taupe which looks amazing in the compact or by itself is better off without its siblings from the Cannage Whisper Grey palette; it's a major flaw, in my opinion, because the whole point of buying a palette is being able to put it in a makeup bag and go, without having to over-think it.

Bottom Line: gorgeous but a little too challenging and high maintenance. Cool blonds will probably wear it a lot better as a set.

Dior Cannage Whisper Grey 002 Eye Palette ($62) is a Neiman Marcus exclusive. It's once again sold out online but many counters still have it.