It’s My Instinct to Reach for Golden Browns: Dior Golden Browns Palette & Instinct Addict Lipstick

I like a good makeup challenge from time to time (like coral and reddish brown eyeshadows), but a lot of the time I prefer to stay in my comfort zone. Neutral smokey eyes with a lip color that doesn’t shout? Very me, and very Dior Golden Jungle! Have you seen their Golden Browns palette and Instinct Addict Lipstick?

If regular Dior pieces oozes luxury, Golden Browns Essentials for Radiant Eyes & Lips is practically the embodiment of it. I love the heftiness of luxury makeup, and Golden Browns is definitely one step ahead in the game! The packaging is made of metal, which holds fingerprints in the clearest way possible (believe it or not, the photographing session was completed with a pair of lab gloves). Once you open the compact, you get the panther eyeshadows on one side, and a flip top opens to the gloss. There are also two duo-ended applicators, with 3 sponge ends and one hair one. The overall visual presentation is quite stunning!

The eyeshadow side of the palette contains a beige (the sparkle you can see on the product photos is an overspray. Once it is scratched off, the shade just barely has a sheen), a mid-tone warm brown with a sheen, and a darker charcoal brown. Out of the three shades, the mid-tone brown has the best texture and pigmentation while the beige feels a bit powdery when swatched, and the charcoal brown needs some building up. Do note that these issues are not obvious on the lids though. They are more things that you observe when you swatch the shades.

The gloss is a pretty coral with some gold shimmer, but as it is rather sheer, it doesn’t do much to my pigmented lips. However, those who have less pigmented lips might be in luck! On me it looks and feels more like a balm with a bit of sparkle.

For my FOTD using this palette, I first lined my lash line with a black pencil liner (Urban Decay Zero) before blending it out with MAC 239. I then mixed the two darker shades together with 239 and applied all over my lids. I also added the darkest shade to my outer corners. After blending out the edges and highlighting my inner corners with the lightest one, I lined my eyes with a gel liner and applied quite a bit of mascara (Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum and Diorshow New Look Mascara are still my winning combo), that’s a simple smokey eye done! A quick dab of the gloss on my lips later, I was ready to zoom out of the door!

Despite the fact that the eyeshadows don’t swatch very impressively, they are pretty easy to work with. You can pick up individual colors with a brush like a MAC 239 if you are careful, but the medium shade is pretty tiny. They do blend easily however, and they don’t crease or fade on me after a long day. The color of the gloss more or less disappears on me, so what you see in the pictures is no different from my natural lip color. It is a bit tacky, but not greasy or sticky. I think Golden Browns is more like a collector’s item that is fabulous to look at and own, but you most probably have very similar items in your stash already (though then again, it’s Dior, and it’s panther print, so I can’t think of a reason not to adore it!).

“Wait Sunny, I think you mentioned something about instinct?”

OOO yeah! Since I was going out that day and didn’t want to carry the palette with me for touch-ups, I swapped my lip color to one of the four lipsticks in the Golden Jungle collection, Instinct Addict Lipstick.

The Addict Lipsticks have the same packaging as the Addict Extremes, only they are transparent and silver. There is hardly any smell I can detect, and the transparent part reflects light in an interesting way.

Instinct (#816) is a warm raisin/brick red with brownish undertone. The texture is very smooth and balmy, and it glides onto my lips like butter. It is sheer, but adds a decent bit of color to my lips. The finish is very shiny, so don’t be fooled by how the bullet looks!

Since it’s so smooth and balmy, Instinct only lasts about 2 hours or so on me, and if I drink or eat it wears off. The good thing about this formula is it reapplies easily. Even without a mirror I am not too worried about making a fool of myself. I can see them being great lipsticks for lipstick beginners (I was one really not so long ago)!

It’s not too much paired with the smokey eyes, and in general it’s a good one for autumn!

Have you picked up anything from the Golden Jungle collection? Is Golden Browns or Instinct something you would wear? How do you do a quick smokey eye?

Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx

Disclosure: The products mentioned in this review are provided by the PR for my consideration. All opinions are honest and my own. I am in no way compensated for this review. I have always been, and will always be committed ONLY to my readers.