L'Oreal Colour Riche Collection Privée Nudes - Doutzen, J-Lo and Freida

Since it seems that this range is going to stick around for a bit, I felt it appropriate to share a review and some swatches today. Now, I am not certain if this collection is Limited Edition or intended to be a part of L'Oreal's permanent range - which would be lovely! - but I am awaiting L'Oreal's response to my e-mail on the matter. We'll see! *fingers crossed*

* EDIT* - L'Oreal responded to my e-mail (quite quickly, I might add!) and this collection IS permanent!

To give you my uncomplicated and flat out honest opinion, I think this collection is a wonderful idea. The aim of this collection was to present a neutral nude shade for all complexions, ranging from the fairest of the fair to the deepest of the deep and anywhere in between. The USA version of this collection as explained by the brand - I'll touch on the difference between the US and UK collections in a moment - features Freida Pinto (honey skin tone), Jennifer "J-Lo" Lopez (medium-olive skin tone), Doutzen Kroes (fair-light skin tone), Eva Longoria (light-medium skin tone), Julianne Moore (fair skin tone) and Liya Kebede (deep skin tone) as "spokeswomen" for each individual shade which bears their names. In the UK, instead of featuring J-Lo, the website features Cheryl Cole for "brunettes with fair complextions" (which, uh, hello? ME!) but I'm not entirely sure if this is exclusive to the UK as I've seen it on some US based blogs - I included this in my inquiry e-mail to L'Oreal and I will update with an answer. L'Oreal UK's website also includes an interactive poll where you can enter your hair color, skin tone and  desired look for L'Oreal to suggest a shade for you. According to my brown hair and very fair skin for a touch of "softness" I was suggested Julianne's Nude - ironically, one of the ones that I do not have. Remember though - the questionnaire is meant to be used as a guideline; Wear what you want because you like it, not because it is what you are "supposed" to wear!

The three shades I have in my collection as of right now are Doutzen's Nude, Jennifer's Nude and Freida's nude - but in all honesty, I want to haul the entire collection. #dontjudgeme

Doutzen's Nude is the lightest of the bunch by far - it is a very sheer blue based baby pink, and was sadly a miss for me. It doesn't really appear in the actual bullet or in the swatch, but this has a shimmer to it that wasn't really all too flattering on me - it gave more of a silvery cast on the lips rather than a sheer pink. It was kind of a let down for a couple reasons; one, being that when I saw this I thought it would be perfect for my skin and two, I LOVE The Victoria's Secret Angels and since she is one of them - well, you get the picture.

Jennifer's (J-LO's) Nude - Does anyone else feel weird calling J-LO by her actual name? I feel like I've always known her as J-LO so she doesn't seem like her name would be Jennifer. Either way, this is my FAVE out of the three. It's literally lovely - a rosy toned medium nude - and it literally goes with ANYTHING. It has a semi-opaque creamy finish, but not as opaque as the average Colour Riche shade (such as Fairest Nude). This has become one of those "staple shades" in my collection (A la MAC Blankety), if I'm not sure what to pair with a certain look - this shade usually completes and polishes it.

Freida's Nude - This is actually the shade that I anticipated the most - these were launched in the UK before here in the States and everytime I saw swatches I swooned over this one. Don't get me wrong - I love it. It's a mauve-y nude shade for goodness sake, of course I like it! But - this one does have slight textural issues like Doutzen's Nude. Not nearly as sheer, but the fine micro-shimmer isn't the most comfortable on the lips. Otherwise, the hue of this one in and of itself is divine!

Overall, the formulation of these really does stay true to L'Oreal's Colour Riche line - the cremes are amazing while the shades with a bit of frost have a slightly uncomfortable wear (though some perform better than others as Freida's Nude wore more comfortably than Doutzen's Nude). Out of these three, you immediately need Jennifer's Nude and I would probably pass on Doutzen's Nude - there are so many translucent baby pink shades available on the market with more lip loving formulas.

I will update this post as soon as I receive a response from L'Oreal, but in the meantime...I may just haul the rest of the collection!