Guerlain released this highlighting powder, Parure de Nuit, as the crown jewel of their holiday collection. The wispy, delicate striations of cascading feathers and the soft pink, coral and blue tones make me think this might be more appropriate for a spring collection, but it's pretty nevertheless.
With flash:
But why feathers? The description from the press release provides the missing piece of the puzzle.
"For Guerlain’s Holiday 2011 make-up collection Belle de Nuit, Creative Director Oliver Échaudemaison takes his inspiration from the legendary fragrance, Vol de Nuit (Night Flight). Evoking the changing shades of the night sky, he created daring tones that are both dark and dramatic with mesmerizing iridescent accents. With lacquered and blue-green details, the products are encased within boxes that reveal the blue and black zebra motif found on the original Vol de Nuit box design. Belle de Nuit is a sophisticated and enchanting limited edition collection that is as fleeting as nightfall."
Besides the gorgeous feather pattern, Guerlain did indeed add some very nice blue-green details.
The teal brush, cleverly tucked away inside the compact:
Teal-lined velvet pouch:
The interior of the box:
Here's a vintage ad for the perfume, for comparison of the pattern:
yesterdaysperfume.typepad.com
I like that Guerlain didn't make this powder quite so literal. Rather than repeating the propeller-inspired design of the Vol de Nuit bottle (which was also used for the perfumed shimmer powder for this 2011 collection), or using an illustration of an actual bird, the use of feathers merely suggest the idea of taking flight. Nice job, Guerlain.