Laura Mercier Glamour Wardrobe

The main piece from the holiday 2012 sets from Laura Mercier was the Glamour Wardrobe (£65 but I bought this on sale for £32.50).

The set offers an impressive range of products; 8 eyeshadow,5 lip glazes and 5 sheer cream colours.

The double decker palette comes contained within in a zipped pouch and has a good sized mirror.

The top layer contains the shadows and two mini eye brushes (one is dual-ended with a smudge/crease brush and the other is a long tapered blending brush).

  

The shadows are: 

Buttercream (matte) Yellow toned cream

Peridot (luster - limited edition) shimmery cool green,  

Heather Plum (luster - limited edition) shimmery cool plum,  

Midnight Navy (sateen - limited edition): deep navy blue

Coffee Ground (matte) deep brown

Cherrywood (luster - limited edition) shimmery warm rusty brown

Sandstone (sateen) sheer  peach

Sable (sateen) cool grey taupe.

 

The pigment is quite good, they blend well and last all day with an eye base. I would say though that  the lusters feel very soft, almost too much so they are better to pat on rather than sweep.

The lower level contains a lip brush and lipglazes in;  

Chambord: fuchsia

Sugarplum: sheer peachy pink

Papaya: sheer peach

Dolce: peachy beige

Brick: warm red.

  

The lipglazes are mostly leaning warm but all are wearable due to the sheerness. They feel a bit tacky and have an average wear. 

Finally you have the sheer creme colours; 

Rose Glow: shimmery pink

Pink Veil: peach/coral

Golden Glow: shimmery golden champagne 

Bronze Veil:  sheer warm bronze.
The creme colours do not feel sticky or greasy and I find all colours flattering (even the Bronze Veil).

There is one negative I have about this palette and its not the products inside which I think good quality and allows for endless looks, but the actual packaging. Its rather bulky and though the swivel layer I thought nifty, in use I think its rather awkward and cumbersome, especially if you usually stand with palette in hand when doing your make-up.
I think this is still around so I would recommend it if you are not easily irked by packaging like me as I think the shade range is both extensive yet universally wearable and the brushes are good quality.

Ingredients:

I bought this from John Lewis

Laura Mercier Starlet Mosaic Shimmer Bloc

Featured in the fall Film Noir collection, the Starlet Mosaic (£31) is my first foray into the LM shimmer blocs. The blocs are meant to be used to brighten and illuminate the eyes, cheeks and body.


Starlet Mosaic features a pink, peach, warm brown and frosty white. All shades have heavy shimmer. The effect reminds me very much of the Bobbi Brown shimmer bricks, though I found this to have better pigment and to not be as frosty.


Unfortunately like the shimmer bricks, whilst I find the shades nice as a wash on the eyes (though Starlet Mosaic is predominately too warm in tone for me) with the cheeks it looks too sheeny and is prone to highlights pores. I like more natural looking highlighters and when I first put this on it was just screaming at me so I had to really buff it in to tone it down. That is not to say I can't use this, but on the cheek area I do have to apply it with just the barest of touches.

All colours swiped together below:

In terms of feel and wear, I have no complaints as it feels very smooth and lasts extremely well.
Unless I saw a shimmer bloc that I wanted to use on the eyes only I would likely not buy one of these again, whilst I do like the warm illumination it adds to my complexion its just a bit too shimmery for me.

I bought this from John Lewis

Laura Mercier Illuminating Eye Colour: Gilded Bronze

The Holiday Art Deco Muse collection focuses on metallics for the eyes and rich reds for the lips. The four quilted Illuminating Eye Colours instantly stand out.


I am not into high shimmer/metallic finishes such as these, but upon swatching I didn't have any doubt in my mind that at least one needed to come home with me.

 
The pigmentation is phenomenal, I actually try to apply this lightly such is the intensity.The shadows are embossed with a quilted pattern, it applies extremely smooth and blends well. The shade I bought, Gilded Bronze (£20), applies a lot cooler than it looks in the pan and though its called bronze, I would describe this as a taupe.

As the natural light it so bad here at the moment, I have taken a photo in natural light and with a flash as below:

 
I think its a beautiful shade and I am very tempted to go back for more.

I bought this from John Lewis

Laura Mercier Crème Smooth Lip Colour

Quite a few brands have brought out new lipstick formula's this fall, the focus being on rich, highly saturated colours. The Crème Smooth Lip Colour are meant to give the  "ultimate in colour, texture, and finish" well you can't ask for more than that can you?

All the colours I swatched at the counter most certainly were pigment heavy and gave very good coverage. Now there is a lot of pigmented lipsticks on the market, where they usually fall down is the texture/feel, unlike a lot of them Laura Mercier's do not feel drying or drag on application (though I wouldn't go so far as to label them moisturising).
Another aspect of this type of lipstick is the weight and unfortunately I don't think these have been able to give a lightweight feel,  its not uncomfortable but there is that bit of heaviness. In terms of wear I found both colours to last well and not bleed.

I of course bought the most sedate looking colours (I'm nothing if not consistent), though the collection has some lovely reds and deeper hues.
Rosewood is a medium rose, shown below


Spiced rose is a dusty pink, which leans slightly cool, shown below,


Both shades (£20 each) have a very slight sheen in the finish.
Swatched below: left is Spiced Rose, on the right Rosewood

The case has a more sleek, less bulky looking design which I liked as it just looks a bit more modern than the normal LM lipstick packaging,
Overall I'm quite happy with these and might go back for a darker berry shade that caught my attention.

I bought these from John Lewis

Laura Mercier Signature Colour Essentials Travel Set

I was very pleased to see that we had the Nordstrom "Exclusive" travel set here in the UK.


At £50 I think its a very good deal, you get a Eye and Cheek palette that includes: Second Skin Cheek Colour in Vintage Pink (dusky pink), Eyeshadow duo in Morning Dew (matte off white) and Primrose (warm sheer pink with tiny sparkle) and Eyeshadow duo in Topaz (satin finish taupe) and Kir Royal (deep plum with tiny sparkle).

 
 

The shadows feel smooth and blend well. Though I find Primrose makes me look a bit tired, the other shades are very wearable. The blush applies smoothly and has very good pigment and wear.
You also get a travel size All Over Eye Colour brush, Full size Caviar Eye Stick Colour in Twilight (medium shimmery grey)

 
Travel size Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara in Black, mini Foundation Primer (30ml), and full size Lip Glace in Sweetheart (baby pink).



The brush is good for applying base shades and it really can pack colour on.The mascara is good for lengthening and doesn't smudge.
Though the lip glace formula is a bit too sticky for my liking, I really like the subtle glossy pink look.
The eye stick can be used lightly or built up to create quite a smoky look, it blends in well and really lasts. The primer is the only thing I'll not use as it doesn't agree with my acne prone skin.

Whilst you may well have similar colours in your collection, its really nice having them in one set; they are just very easy to wear and overall flattering. Sets can often have a lot of duds but I think this is very solid and I would recommend.

I bought this from John Lewis

Laura Mericer Cinema Noir collection: Organza Nail Lacquer

The Cinema Noir collection includes 3 limited edition nail shades. As the brown toned shades looked rather warm I went for the lightest shade Organza (£12.50).

This is the first time I've tried a LM nail varnish, and I am impressed. Its fast drying, the colour does not fade and this wears better on me that the majority of brands (I don't tend to go more than 2 days without chips but can get a good 3 days with this)


Unfortunately this shade isn't quite right for me. It a very pretty sheer golden beige infused with multi coloured shimmer, with gold being the most dominant. Its just slightly too warm against my skin and looks a bit off.

Ingredients below: it does not contain formaldehyde, toluene, or dibutyl phthalate (DBP).


I bought this from John Lewis

Laura Mercier Cinema Noir Collection: Mystere duo

The Mystere duo (£18.50) from the fall Cinema Noir collection immediately caught my eye. Its a cool toned duo featuring a matte clay taupe and a deep shimmery navy blue.

(I took my pictures near an open window hence the rain droplets)
The colours are beautifully saturated and create a smoky and sultry look. They feel quite smooth and have great pigment and very good wear.

Unfortunately I have a major problem with these and that is how they apply; its patchy and looks dry. I find trying to blend these near impossible and it just looks a bit messy. I've tried different primers and using none and still I get the same result.
The below picture is the best I can get using all my blending might.

A beautiful colour pairing let down by a sub par formula, you can call me disappointed...very...

I bought this from John Lewis

Laura Mercier Spring Lingerie Collection: Kissed Lips

The Lingerie Collection is certainly alluring with its range of predominately subtle, romantic hues, colours that I would normally make a grab for, yet I picked up just one item.
The eye & cheek palette contains colours very similar to what I already have so I am trying to be sensible and not give in to it, the cream blushers contains ingredients that I normally avoid in terms of acne and the Lip Shine's were just too sticky for my liking. However the one limited edition lipstick in the collection I could not resist.
Sheer lipstick in Kissed Lips (£16.50) is a fun bright pinked coral. I only need one application of this to achieve the level of colour I want so its very buildable and not necessarily what one would expect from the name sheer.
One swipe of lipstick below

It feels very smooth going on and has a moisturising balm like feel, I was therefore surprised to see that it shows up any dry areas, so for me I have to make sure the area is very smooth before application.
After trying the shade it dawned on me that the colour seemed familiar. I often layer lipsticks and realised this was close to two of my Chanel shades I often use together.
I swiped the LM 3 times on the left and on the right two swipes of Chanel Monte-Carlo and then one swipe of Misia.

The colour is definitely a good one for a pop of a wearable bright, however I don't really like how I have to prep the skin prior to use, so for me this was one of those items I should have looked at, marvelled at the prettiness but then moved along.

Ingredients

I bought this from John Lewis