Laura Mercier Artist's Palette For Eyes - Review and Swatches

 

I have been keeping my review for this palette under wraps for awhile. I probably should have done it sooner as I believe Laura Mercier released this for Holiday 2012. I bought this in December and as of a week or so ago I still saw them for sale in Sephora stores. It appears to no longer be available on sephora.com or on the Laura Mercier website. So if you want one, hurry up and run and buy one! I believe almost all of the colours in this palette can be purchased separately in Laura Mercier's permanent line of eyeshadows. So if you miss out, and you see a colour or colours that you like, you can still get what you like for the most part. The individual eyeshadows though are $23 U.S. and $28 Canadian. If you like Laura Mercier eyeshadows, this palette is a super deal since their eyeshadows are ridiculously expensive.

 

Before I get to the nitty gritty, I have to say that I love this palette. I am really impressed. I was wearing this palette almost non-stop for a few weeks there. The palette was $60 Canadian and it retails for $48 in the U.S. Not cheap, I know. I had some gift cards and a discount coupon at Sephora so I didn't feel the pinch. I know this is pricey, bit I think it is worth it, even if I had paid full price.

 

The palette is in a rough cloth purple snake skin cover and it has a fold over magnetic closure. This palette would be great to pop into your purse or overnight bag. Very travel friendly and it is not cumbersome to lug around. I have a pic below with a pen on top of it to show you the true size.

 

 

 

This palette has 12 eyeshadows, 6 are shimmers and 6 are mattes. Some bloggers have said that they disliked the shimmers and returned this palette as the colours did not show up on them. I agree that some of the lighter shimmers are not crazy pigmented, but they show up on me just fine. To me they are kind of natural looking but give your eyes big pop. I can not stress enough how good this palette would be for someone who is a professional or works in an office. None of the colours in this palette are obnoxious and every colour you need to create a variety of professional, neutral, yet put-together looks is in here. If you aren't adventurous with make-up and just want to be able to look polished for work or when you go to parties or functions, this is the palette to get. If you have a lot of makeup (like me) and want a solid, compact, versatile palette for go to work looks, this is the one. I occasionally travel overnight for work and do presentations. This is the palette I am now going to be taking with me for those trips. 

 

 

 

 

The palette looks to be purple themed, but it's not. There are only two purplish colours in here. The mattes are fantastic. Some of the best I own now. I don't get excited about neutral browns too often, but the matte browns in here are exceptional. They are Cafe au Lait and Coffee Ground on the middle of the second row above. Those two are my favourite colours in the palette. A close second would be Plum Smoke and Deep Night. Okay, let's cut to the swatches.

 

 

Chocolate, African Violet, Sable, Guava, Cameo, Sunlit

 

The top row is pictured above. Chocolate is a shimmery golden brown which has a bit of red or purple in it. African Violet reminds me of pinker version of MAC's Trax. Sable is a shimmery grey brown. I can't put my finger on what it reminds me of. A lot of people will really like Sable. It's a bit like a grey mink. Guava is unusual. I have never seen anything like it. It really makes your eyes pop. It's like a tropical pink with some cream in it. Looks great with black or brown gel liner. It looks great on its own too with mascara. Cameo is my least favourite colour in the palette. It's a yellow orange brown. It does not go with my colouring at all. Maybe J. Lo would like it. It's very beachy looking and has a Miami vibe to it. Finally, we have Sunlit which was the surprise for me in the palette. It's a golden colour which can spell disaster for me usually, but this colour is super unique. It actually works on me and I think it would work on almost anyone. It really makes my eyes pop and it brightens my whole face when I wear it. This would be a great colour to wear in the summer when you want to look awake, sun kissed and natural.

 

 

Vanilla Nuts, Plum Smoke, Cafe au Lait, Coffee Ground, Deep Night and Rich Coffee

 

Vanilla Nuts is the perfect neutral lid colour. It looks amazing with Cafe au Lait and Coffee Ground. Vanilla Nuts reminds me of MAC's Brule only Brule is satin and is a bit more pigmented. Plum Smoke is gorgeous. There are a million dupes out there for this colour, but the quality of this eyeshadow is superior to other colours like it. Cafe au Lait reminds me of better version of MAC's Wedge or Cork. This colour is superior in pigmentation, colour payoff and shade. You all know how much I like my MAC eyeshadows, so for me to say that is a pretty big deal. Coffee Ground is the perfect dark brown colour for me. It is now my favourite dark brown period. Deep Night is out of this world. It is the perfect matte navy eyeshadow. The pigmentation is off of the hook and the quality is fantastic. Finally, we have Rich Coffee. It's a dirty black if that makes sense. It's a bit grey. I like it, but I have similar colours that I prefer in my stash.  

 

All of the colours in this palette are super blendable, soft, silky and last all day long. I have worn some for 18 hours plus (with a primer) and they stay true and stay put. Very long lasting. I can't say enough about how much I like this palette and how much use I am going to get out of it. I am very pleased with this purchase. Ingredients are decent. One last thing, each eyeshadow in this palette is 0.03 oz. or 1g. MAC's are 1.5g or 0.05 oz. to put that in perspective. The individual Laura Mercier single eyeshadows are 0.09 oz. Although the singles are expensive, you get a hell of a lot of product. That being said, the eyeshadows in this palette are a good size for a palette and you get 12!  

 

Overall Palette

Packaging: 10/10

Pigmentation: 9/10

Easy to Work With: 10/10

Longevity: 10/10

Texture: 10/10

Price: 8/10

Ingredients: 8/10 

Travel Worthy: 10/10

Attractiveness of Product: 7/10

Would I buy this again? Hell Yes (if I could) 

Overall Rating: 9.5/10