As you may have noticed, leopard print, while always a classic, is particularly huge this season (especially for accessories). So it's appropriate for Dior to have released this beautiful palette as part of their Mitzah Bricard collection, which pays homage to Dior's muse/creative consultant and her love of leopard print. The collection is available exclusively at Sephora in the U.S., having been released previously in other parts of the world. You can check out their blog post on it, but here is the background from Dior's website:
"Christian Dior admired his beloved muse, Mitzah Bricard, as much for her refined and distinguished taste as for her mysterious personality that inspired him throughout his career. Legend has it that Mitzah used to wear a panther print chiffon scarf at her wrist to hide a scar. Fascinated by her elegance, Mr Dior decided to include this magnificent Jungle motif in his collections from 1947 onwards. 'Madame Bricard is one of the rare people for whom elegance is their sole reason for living,' Christian Dior." Two things I find interesting: 1. is leopard print the same thing as panther? 2. the whole leopard/panther print that Dior included in his designs was based on this woman's way of concealing a scar. I wonder if he would have been as intrigued by this print otherwise.
Here is Mme Bricard. She is quite stylish, mais non?
(image from dior.com)
Now that we've covered the history behind the collection, let's get on to the most exquisite piece of it, the eye shadow palette.
With flash:
I'm not really sure how or why Dior is coming out with all these very inspired pieces, but I'm loving it! And I must admit this lovely palette in particular was one of the reasons I caved on some beautiful Christian Louboutin leopard-print pumps back in the summer (eek!) But why stop at shoes? In in honor of the current craze over leopard print, it's time to have an old-fashioned palette smackdown. It's gonna be a rumble in the jungle, Makeup Museum style!
Hopefully you remember the the Dolce and Gabbana Animalier bronzer released earlier this year. If not, here are some pics.
So looking at those vs. the Dior Mitzah palette, who wins the battle of the leopard print? Will the history and glamour behind Dior's offering, along with its bigger size, crush D & G? Or does the Animalier bronzer, with it modern spirit, sex appeal, and shimmer have the edge? Let me know in the comments!