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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Laura Mercier Laura's Luxe Colour Portfolio: A Review







If there's one thing I can't get enough of in my collection, it's a good neutral palette. I'm not a bright blue eyeshadow person by any means...but even with my neutral looks...I still want them to be...well, special...in some way. When I saw this palette I thought it would be a great way to try a new type of product from Laura Mercier...because like many...I love me some Silk Creme Foundation and Mineral Foundation. Now that's holy grail crap right there. So here's the run down....


Laura Mercier Laura's Luxe Colour Portfolio
$78.00 ($170 value)
6 eyeshadow shades
3 Tightline Cake Liners
2 Second Skin Cheek Colors
Instructional Insert
Mirror included
*I purchased this palette at Sephora*



Morning Dew, African Violet, Violet Ink
Lavalier, Grey Onyx, Expresso Bean
 Morning Dew-matte cream African Violet- light pinky/purple with gold duo-chrome
Violet Ink-matte eggplant shade
Lavalier-light silver shade, satin finish
Grey Onyx- taupe/silver shade, satin finish
Expresso Bean-matte brown shade

Going into this purchase I knew this would be an everyday, wearable, nothing crazy palette. A neutral purple and grey eye...but I didn't expect it to be so...not that special. Don't get me wrong, the shadows were great...buttery smooth, pigmented, blends like a dream...I just didn't feel like I looked especially...special. The finished look, while pretty, did not feel high end or luxurious. I felt I could get the same look, from any other brand, for a much cheaper price. The only shade I felt wasn't like any other shade I had in my collection was African Violet...a purple/gold shade but I don't feel like this shadow alone was worth an $80 palette. Don't get me wrong, I love what I've tried from the brand and this certainly isn't going to stop me from trying more...I just need to be a little more careful with my choices.



Black Ebony, Bleu Marine, Mahogany Brown


The Cake liners, I really enjoyed. I loved the soft, yet still defined finish of these liners. I like that this palette included a basic black, a warm brown, and a pretty navy blue...to mix things up a bit. The liners are activated by water, which does add a little bit of an inconvenient factor to the equation...get water, find liner brush, mix liner...apply and then if you want to change colors...clean off brush...cause the colors will mix and muddy each other up. These are not liners that I would choose to use if I was in a hurry either. You have to get the perfect water to liner ratio or your liner will be goopy... or thin and watery. But if I have the time and patience...I do enjoy the finished look of these liners. Oh yeah...and word of advice...use water with these liners...I tried to be lazy and use my Fix Plus instead...I was a smudgy, hot mess by the time I walked out the door for work.



Barely Pink, Lotus Pink
Barely Pink-very light, baby pink, matte finish
Lotus Pink-bright peachy/pink, matte finish

The blushes were lack luster for me as well. The shade Barely Pink was properly named...cause it barely showed up at all...and if a blush won't show up on my palest-of-the-pale complexion, I don't know who this blush is intended for. I got nothing...I could give my cheeks half of a pinch and get more color pay off than that...and I'd save myself $80. The brighter shade, Lotus Pink, was a pretty peachy pink that is flattering on the cheek...but the last thing I need in my vast blush collection is ANOTHER peachy pink...again nothing super special.

Overall, I was not wowed by this palette. I bought a neutral palette, and I got a neutral palette...as in nothing special or out of the ordinary...middle of the road...very safe. I am still very interested in this brand. I will still try products from this brand. This is a great brand...I know this...because they can have my Silk Creme Foundation when they pry it from my cold dead fingers...

The Look...



For this look, I used Morning Dew as a brow bone and inner corner highlight, African Violet on the entire lid, and Violet Ink through the crease and outer corner of my eye. I lined my top lash line with Black Ebony and ran the left over product on my lower lash line. I softened up the lower lash line with a small amount of Expresso Bean on the outer corner and African Violet to the inner part of my lower lash line. I finished with two coats of mascara on the top lashes and one coat on the bottom lashes.
I applied Lotus Pink to the apples of my cheeks and blended back into the hairline. On lips I applied Buxom's Big & Healthy Lip Polish in Gabby.




7 comments:

  1. omg your eye makeup is gorgeous!! I wanna scream out why is there no comment?!
    Love this look!
    xx

    and great photos. I can never take a decent picture for eye makeup :(

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    1. Ahh! thank you again! I'm a brand new blogger so I don't think anyone has even looked at my posts yet...but I'm glad you like it. I've found in my few short months of photography experience, I get better photo results if I take the photo from about an arm's length distance away from my face and then later crop the photo to zoom in. This seems to work better than taking the pic close up from the start...maybe that'll help! thanks again for the comments!

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    2. Aha, I have to try it out! thank you for the tips :) good luck
      xx

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  2. Your results look great to me. Very good photography, too. (By the way, you don't look "palest of the pale" to me. That phrase would describe me, but you look at least two shades darker than I!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you...and these pictures are a tad deceiving, bronzer and photo shop can do wonders!

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  3. Cool! I like this palette!
    Alice

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    Replies
    1. It's a really nice basic palette to have...I've had a lot of fun playing around with it!

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