Laura Mercier Fall Favourites Face Palette Collection (Saks Exclusive)

One of the most beautiful and practical sets of the season comes from Laura Mercier. The Fall Favorites Face Palette Collection is centered around the color palette, but also includes a a full size black mascara and three brushes- cheek, lip and eye. The brushes have short travel size handles but are otherwise full size, high quality and help one get the most of the palette. I wish Bobbi Brown would take notice and do the same with some of her face palettes.

The colors are neutral, wearable and very flattering. I already have a full size pan of Coffee Ground, a matte taupe, which I use often and always pack for travel. As you can see, it coordinates well with the other shades Laura Mercier has included here- Bamboo, Rose and Stellar. The four eye shadows are versatile, perfectly coordinated and are truly great for a day-to-night look. I swatched them very lightly, but the colors can be built for more drama if needed. They have a soft texture and a luxurious finish that fits this set very well.

The blushes are quite universal. I can wear both and also like mixing and blending them together. I could have lived with less shimmer, but it's not too bad. I swatched the colors more heavily then I wear them, to make sure you can see the difference between Spice and Apricot Blossom. A lighter application gives the face a natural healthy glow.

Out of the three lip colors, Crystal is a sheer gloss with very little pigment. I don't wear it on its own, but it's great either mixed with the other two or topping a different lipstick. My favorite thing to do here is blending Black Currant and Orchid together for a juicy and rich neutral color that's dark enough to look sexy but isn't too bold.

The only issue here is the size of the pans. The eye shadows are quite narrow and cross contamination is very easy, especially when using good brushes (like the ones that came with this collection). Still, as long as one is mindful things can be kept fairly clean. I've been putting the palette to good use in the last few weeks and have a feeling I'm going to run out of several colors within 6 months or so.

Bottom Line: Between the pretty packaging, tools and the work horse colors, this is a big winner.

This particular Laura Mercier Fall Favourites Face Palette Collection ($125) is a limited edition and exclusive to Saks (in store and online). Other department stores have different sets for fall 2010 with other colors and products (Neiman's has no lip products but includes more eye shadows and a pencil liner).

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette- Sneak Peek

While I passed on the entire Chanel Holiday 2010 Collection, the newly released limited edition Collection Essentielle de Chanel (aka the Paris-L.A. Palette) had me clicking "add to bag" faster than my Buffy can say "purrr". By the way, the highly-coveted Les Regards de Chanel eye palette is back in stock for a limited time, so those who missed it the first time around get another chance to buy it.

This is just a little preview since I only got the Collection Essentielle de Chanel the other day and didn't even swatch it yet. I plan on wearing it exclusively over the weekend so I'll have something to report early next week. In the meantime, here's a quick overview and impression of the collection:

The Paris-L.A. palette looks nicely edited. On the website they call it "a plum harmony", though the cream blush is more of a beige peach and the lip colors (two glosses, one cream lipstick) seem red-based in the pan. The eye shadows are ivory and two plum/mauve colors that look neutral and polished. There are also two shades of concealer, which is an excellent approach- it allows you to mix and customize your concealer for a perfect match and tailor it to your needs in different areas of the face.

The applicators that come with the palette are tiny and other than the lip brush not too useful (a sponge applicator? seriously?). They are placed inside special slots in the Chanel velveteen pouch, which is an improvement and a nice touch. All in all, I can't wait to start playing.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A

As promised, here are photos and full descriptions of the colors in the Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette. You will have to forgive me for the lack of swatches-I just haven't had the time (I'm trying to keep several balls in the air as we speak and I still owe several of you emails and replies. I'll get to it as soon as I post this).  I did my best to give as detailed a description as possible.

The palette contains:

3 eye shadows

3 lip colors- 1 is a liquid lipstick, two glosses

2 cream concealers

1 cream blush

General observations:

1. Collection Essentielle de Chanel is quite neutral in coloring and mellow in pigments. The eye shadows lean a little cool (just a little, though), the lip colors are on the warm pink side and a little shimmery, the blush is warm  apricot beige and both concealers are yellow toned.

2. The overall look you will get from the palette is almost-nude. It's office-appropriate and is perfect for a French-inspired face. All you need to add is a black eyeliner and mascara.

3. The color intensity could have been better. The shades are very low-drama and I haven't been able to build them. At all.

4. The applicators are crap. I don't even like the lip brush because it has a blunt end.

Eye Shadows:

What you see in the pan is exactly what you get. All three shadows are matte, which I love- very different from the Holiday Quad and its baked glitter texture. They are reasonably smooth but lack something to feel truly luxurious. The ivory one does not show on my skin at all. It's comparable to Bobbi Brown's Navajo and I guess would work in a similar manner if you subscribe to Bobbi's way of doing eye makeup of starting with a layer of invisible base color. I don't and this annoys me to no end. I would have liked a delicate non-shimmery highlighter that opens up the area under the brow bone.

As for the two mauve-plums, they are nice and create a natural almost-naked-but-not-quite look. The lighter shade is nearly the natural color of my lid. The darker one is not dark enough to be a real liner on me. At first I hoped these colors would make an elegant and subtle smoky eye, but they're simply not smoky enough.

Lip Colors:

The lip colors are best described as warm reddish pink. The dark(ish) liquid lipstick loses the very little shimmer it has in the pan when applied and is a very pretty light berry color- dense but not completely opaque. It's flattering and easy to wear alone or topped with a gloss.

The ligher gloss is a sheer shimmery pink. My natural lips are too dark for it to show, so I only wear it atop a lipstick. The texture is lovely- Chanel really knows how to make a lip gloss. The middle color is a red berry with golden shimmer. It's pretty and can be lightened by mixing with the light gloss or used to give the cream lipstick some extra punch.

Blush:

We don't get many cream blushes from Chanel, at least not as singles, so this is exciting, especially since it's a great product. My skin tone is probably the darkest that can work with this specific color. If you have a tan or are naturally darker than my pale olive skin (NC 30-35ish, but not quite) it's probably too light for you. The blush is sheer and shimmery- on a darker skin it might actually be a very nice highlighter. I can wear it alone but think it's prettier over a powder blush- it tones down the more aggressive Nars Dolce Vita, for example. I apply it with Julie Hewett Cheeky blush brush.

Concealers:

Chanel makes excellent face products and these concealers are no different. They are on the yellow side and I wear the lighter one better but mix a little of the darker concealer in it for custom color where needed. They give excellent coverage and blend perfectly.

Bottom Line: Collection Essentielle de Chanel is nice but a little underwhelming and is definitely not for those with darker skin tones. If you're trying to decide between this one and the other limited edition, Les Regards de Chanel eye palette (back in stock for now), I'd recommend the latter, unless you're utterly in love with the blush.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available now from chanel.com.

All photos are mine, including these two bonus ones starring Lizzy and Sophie:

On Color- Part 1

My post on MAC's C-Shock collection has earned a bunch of comments and many more emails. Apparently, this love-child of Boy George and a parrot managed to seriously annoy people. Still, there are a few fans of these colors, and like Toya has mentioned in her comment, a woman who has dark enough skin can pull some of it off. I know what she means. I own several green and blue eye shadows and wear them often (separately, of course, and blended with neutrals so they only give a little pop of color). However, this collection is too much for me, so I leave it to those who know what they're doing with fuchsia. And to the teenagers who need something to play with while wearing 80s-inspired clothes and dream about being Lindsay Lohan. After all, like another commenter has said, they should be able to do that and learn the hard way. I agree. There's something wrong with a teen who only experiments with Bobbi Brown nudes.

Speaking of which, the complete opposite of the MAC collection is Bobbi Brown's Stonewashed Nudes for fall. The centerpiece of this look is the Stonewashed palette, which is expected to be the new sensation, like its predecessor, the Chocolate palette from last year that was sold out everywhere before July was over, has reappeared on eBay, bringing out insane bid wars and prices. The palette is another brilliant idea: A collection of wearable neutrals in stone, taupe and grey. These muted colors are flattering to almost everyone and create a sophisticated look. The undertones here are cool and instantly transform you away from the warm, bronzed summer hues into a crisp, fall look.

There's no doubt that both this palette and the entire collection are very pretty. The question is, should I (and you) hurry up and buy it before it's gone?
With the exception of the darkest shadow, Espresso (which is my favorite one here), all the other colors are only available as a limited edition in this palette. Out of these special six, the lightest one, Navajo, is too pale to even show up on my skin (just like last year's Bone). Bobbi's shadows are beautiful, but not very pigmented, which makes many of them useless for me. The one other shade in this collection that I would have bought as a single is Rock Shimmer. The other are nice, but I wondered: How exceptional are they?

Surprisingly enough, not all major brands have a selection of taupe and grey washes. There a few here and there, and you may own them. I'd suggest taking a look at your stash to see if you already have what it takes to create the look. If you don't, consider buying this palette. Taking into account that a single Bobbi Brown shadow is priced at $19, a 7-color collection for $50 is a good offer. I decided to only get the Espresso shadow, knowing from experience that this is the one I'll be reaching for the most. I already have a good cream liner that goes with it and several light colors for the lid, so I'm all set.

Coming Next: Lip Color. Glosses and lipsticks that go with the Stonewashed look and the best fall colors.

Tropical Dreams

I really wanted to love the limited edition Sand & Surf eye palette from Bobbi Brown. It’s pretty. It’s shimmery. It almost sings of summer on the beach (okay, the Shore for us, Jersey girls).

But I had to ask myself the question: How many aqua eye shadows does one really need?

The answer, unfortunately, isn’t five.

I had to face reality and admit that Bobbi’s light-colored shadows don’t work for me. They are too pale and too sheer, and in most cases don’t even show on my skin. This collection is labeled as ultra-sheer, which doesn’t bode well for me. Actually, I can't say that I'm too impressed with the way they look on the very tanned model. Too California Girl, not much sophistication.

I also have an issue with the whole suggested "look". You don't need to work very hard to realize that the only new product here is the eye palette. The single shadows (Bone and Banana) are part of the regular collection (and I can't wear either one), just like the mascara (in brown and black) and the gel eye liner (black, sepia and espresso).

To sum it up: I'm disappointed. It's interesting to note that the most sensational limited edition from Bobbi Brown was created around simple browns, while everything since (remember the horrible Orchid face palette?) was seriously lacking in oomph. It's too bad, really, because this beachy theme could have been done much better, and the eye shadows look so pretty. While in their compact, that is.



However, there is a tropical beach look that is as wearable as it is beautiful. Earlier this week, I received the "Beauty Benefits" catalog from Bloomingdale's (the one with the hot pink cover). It's full of pretty little things, but one that really caught my attention was Bronze Tropiques from Lancôme. Now, I don't know if it's actually available at their Lancôme Counter, because it hasn't been officially launched , and the web site only offers a sneak peek. But Lancôme boutiques (or at least, the NYC one) already have it, and I had the good fortune to actually play with them at the Manhattan store.

To my delight, the colors are very wearable and flattering, from the light turquoise shadow in one of the two eye palettes to the pretty Juicy Tubes. There's something for just about everyone in this collection. The bronzing pressed powder comes in two shades. My medium-tan skin tone can carry both, so I guess that it depends on application. The two darkest Juicy tubes (one is more berry while the other is a rich caramel) are great (if you're pale, there are also two lighter ones in peach and pink).

I already mentioned the eye palettes: both are great, one has the aqua color, the other is more conventional, but very pretty and still uses the tropical theme successfully. If eye shadow quads are not your thing, there are two super pigmented loose powder shadows. One is bronze, the other one in a lovely pink hue. Both are extra shimmery. If you’re not afraid of high octane color and have excellent brush skills (unlike me, who would end up with this thing in my cleavage and on my cats’ whiskers), then it’s worth trying.

The collection also includes three lipsticks and a couple of pencil liners. No new Artliner, though.

There was only one (literally) sour note in there. Tropiques is a fragrance that was previously limited to duty free shops around the world, and now brings the glory of mango to Lancome boutiques . I should have known better than to spray something with a tropical name on my fruit-repellant skin. I can’t deal with Escada-like scents. It didn’t sit well with neither my body chemistry, nor with Andy Tauer’s L’Air that I was wearing. As far as I’m concerned, the perfect fragrance to wear with Bronze Tropiques is Monyette Paris. All of the island feel, none of the fruit.

Charmed

Over a month of using Bobbi Brown's infamous chocolate palette has taught me three things:
1. I really like the almost neutral look for eyes. Most of the time.
2. If you start wearing the new fall look in July, you'll be tired of it come September.
3. Brown is nice and all, but a night out on the town requires a bit more than that.

Which means that I was more than ready for something new. Enter Sephora (or rather- enter me entering Sephora). At first I was about to buy Smashbox' Electric eye shadow quad that I've been eyeing for some time. I'm still coveting a teal shadow, but the gold and the bronze were just a bit off. The gold had too much yellow in it, and the bronze a bit too light and too similar to other things I already have.

Instead, I found Lorac's Snake Charmer face palette. When I saw it online (the picture I'm using here) I wasn't impressed, but I can tell you that the colors in this photo are a bit off. In reality they are deeper and browner, the gold has no greenish undertones and the other colors aren't pinkish. I even liked the blush. It is peachy, but for once not too coraly to make me look like a tropical fruit (I'm not a fan of Nars' Orgasm). It actually looks fresh and flattering.

The shadows have a lot of shimmer without tackiness, the light colors are, indeed, highlighting (my brow bone rejoices) and the royal brown is a perfect evening shadow. It's dark, deep and shimmery and looks absolutely gorgeous. It gave me exactly the look I wanted.

I also have to add that the compact itself is adorable. The snakeskin and little red jewel are cute and different. Much better than the usual black plastic cases you see everywhere.

So there I was, with an almost done face: subtle but festive eyes (I added liquid black liner- my trusted Lancome Artliner), fresh faced, but what about the lips? I needed something different there.


My choice was another Lorac (I was at their stand, after all), Lip Intensity gloss in Daring. It was, indeed, a very daring color. In this case, the sample picture is really true to life. It's a deep wine color that looks bold and intense as promised and is not for the faint of heart or the pale of skin. The texture of this gloss is more like a liquid lipstick. It's thick (needs a bit of practice to get it right), opaque and covers well. I absolutely love it.

Both the gloss and the palette are exceptional in quality. Highly pigmented, applies well and stays put for hours. I'm pretty sure that it's the first time I bought anything Lorac, but it looks like I'll be coming back for more. They have an extensive selection of lip colors and several interesting eye shadows. Sadly, none of them was teal.

In the Shadows

The coming fall is a great season for eye shadow. Everyone is talking about shadows and from the look of it, it seems that everyone is also buying them. The chocolate Bobbi Brown palette has been talked about everywhere, but there are other beautiful options out there. The question is: Do I really need more eye shadows?



I might need a good highlighter under my brow, but as I've mentioned, they are hard to find. Especially non-shimmery ones. I like this trio from Stila. the one in the picture is Forest Clove, but there are two other trios, all look lovely, but the light ones are all shimmery, and until I actually try them on I can't tell if they even show on my skin.


Cargo's Ten Thousand Islands is gorgeous, and has everal optional looks- warm and cold. I love this blue, but I vowed to turn it down a notch for the upcoming season, and I do worry that I'm reaching a certain age that vibrant colors might no longer be apropriate. But it is so beautiful...
I love the slate and silver. These colors do look good on me and might be the thing for an evening look. The ecru and chocolate might be redundant, considering the Bobbi palette.


Looking at this limited edition Smashbox Quad I'm questioning my resolve about bold color. I love the teal, though I'm not sure how well it works with the other colors when it's actually on one's face. Probably as a liner. Can it be considered a fall color/look? Probably not, especially with the yellow gold. This one is something I know that can work on my skin, but I'm uncertain about the whole look for the season. It's more summery, and I already have Chanel's Gold Rush quad.

Looking at all this, I think that I should be looking for a duo compact, definitely not a palette. Hopefully, something interesting would pop out in a month, just in time for the season. Right now, it looks like slim picking.

Brown

Is there a beauty blog that didn't mention Bobbi Brown's chocolate palette lately? I almost missed my chance of getting one, because I was taking my time deciding that I really need some new brown eyeshadows, while these slick things were selling out like crazy.

There's something weird about a new line for fall that is becoming sold out by mid-July, and I wonder what was the beauty blogs' contribution to the Bobbi Rush (or for the Azuree oil craze, for that matter). Are we the ones creating the hype? Bobbi Brown's chocolate cherry nail polish is no longer to be found. It disappeared even faster than the palette. But I've already seen some great alternatives elsewhere. One of the magazines had Christy Turlingtom wearing something similar by Maybelline. I might check it eventually, but right now I'm actually on a light color kick. It's still summer, after all.

But back to the brown shadow issue. We all have them in the depths of our makeup drawers. I have a cognac color from Elizabeth Arden, an earthy brown from Clinique, a Chanel bronze and probably another one or two. None of them were part of a full palette, as brown seems to have gone out of favor in the last few seasons. I preferred shimmery golds and sexy khakis. So, all of a sudden brown looked fresh and new.

I started playing with a sample of Max Factor's MAXeye shadows in Connoisseur. The highlighter part of it, like just about any cream, beige or light mocha shadow I've ever tried, did nothing for me. It just looked dusty. The two darker browns were nice, though. The darkest isn't dark enough to also double as a liner on me, but the colors are blendable and the result was pretty. However, the shadow's quality leaves a lot to be desired. They don't stay put for very long, and depending on the amount of color I applied, they creased and/or faded within a few hours. They don't come with an applicator, which is fine with me. I prefer to use brushes, and the shadows did yield nicely to my brushes and went on well both dry and wet. But, as I said, they fall apart way too quickly.

While this experiment's results were decidedly underwhelming, it did make me decide that I need to invest in a good brown palette. Thanks to Annie from Blogdorf Goodman I learned that Nordstrom.com still had them (though my local store was out of the Bobbis, as were all the other department stores in Paramus) and I managed to score one. Once it arrived, I was really happy that I did.

Again, the lightest color, bone, is completely useless to me. This is the only color from the palette that can be purchased separately. So, if you are somewhat olive-skinned, you don't need to bother with this one. It's invisible. What does work as a nice highlighter is the lightest shimmery shadow. It's very light and has more shimmer than pigment (not in an over-the-top way), but it doesn't need to be more than that, especially for daytime. The darker colors are all very pretty, can be blended and layered to your heart's desire, and the darkest one is just perfect as a daytime liner.

I'm not crazy about the double-ended brush that comes with the shadows. It's too thin for my liking, so I'm not using it.

It's amazing how beautiful this look can be. I seem to have forgotten how well these colors work for me, especially with black liner (I've been working my Artliner ever since I started using this palette) and darker lips (see my new Holy Grail). By the time fall is actually here there'll have to be some new sensation, because I'm already wearing this look every day.