YSL Scandal Collection Couture Palette

If I were a real makeup collector I'd have snagged each and every one of YSL's Couture Palette Collector, would have found a way to display them, and never ever used them. I do nothing of te above. I pick the ones with colors I know I'll use again and again, place them unceremoniously in the drawer where they fit the best and are easily accessible, and use them at whim, usually pairing one or two colors with stuff from other brands, to create a look I can wear for the sake of my face and not as a fashion statement. I'm a makeup heretic.

Yves Saint Laurent with his models, “Liberation” collection, 1971

The reason I picked Yves Saint Laurent's new Scandal Collection Couture Palette was not the evocation of the spring/summer 1971 range originally maned "The Liberation Collection", and described by some critics as "Ugliest Fashion Show In Paris". The outrage came for the most part from the designer's claims that he was inspired by the elegance of the war years and the Occupation (that's the Nazi Occupation, by the way), and the public, whose memories of the years of deprivation and restriction in the 1940s were still very much alive. Maybe they didn't want to go back to  square shoulders, short draped dresses, knee-length skirts, platform shoes and exaggerated makeup. You can't really blame them, and I tend to give a serious side-eye to anyone who romanticizes the 1940s. Yes, the aesthetics were striking in some cases, and the movies showed stunning clothes and makeup, so let's look at the photos but not forget what else was going on in the world.

Fashuon faux-pas or not, it was a seminal moment that inspired retro trends of the 1971 (just look at the above photo of Yves Saint-Laurent and his models wearing the Scandal collection). However, i picked this particular palette because it's a) stunning, and b) continues the quality improvement of textures and pigmentation in YSL palettes.

As usual, this is a five color quint, and some of the possible combinations are bolder than others. The eye shadows are dense in pigment but soft to the touch and for blending, can be patted, layered, diffused, and used damp for lining or emphasis. The jewel tones can each serve as the star of its own little show, and you can go by the general YSL suggestion on the box bellow or do your own thing:

The swatches above were done with a generic synthetic brush, barely touching the surface, just to show you how much impact the pigment has on skin even without trying. Even the highlighter is beautiful, and applied with an appropriately small yet fluffy brush can be used on the cheekbones or in the sweet spot on the temples. All colors have a certain satin glow without actual particles (you can bring them to an almost metallic level by foiling). Reddish and burgundy eye shadows are very much on-trend this season, so finding ways to make the middle color work for everyday looks has been fun (the mattes in Lorac Pro 3 are your friends).

Bottom Line: not just for the die-hards.

YSL Scandal Collection Couture Palette ($60, made in France) is available from Nordstrom and select YSL counters.


1971 Photos: Foundation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent