The new 20-piece Laura Mercier Master Class Colour Essentials Collection eye and cheek palette ($125) looks a little like a day planner from 1998, or like a chic clutch you might take to an event where all the ladies are wearing dangerously high heels and carrying ridiculously tiny purses.
Still cute though, I think, especially with the brown and gold tortoiseshell-like trim.
The limited edition holiday 2015 palette comes with 12 powder eyeshadows, three blushes, two powder liners (for tightlining), a black eye kohl and two brushes, and it’s about two degrees of separation from Laura Mercier herself, because she handpicked all of the products.
I mean, it’s not like hanging out with her over tea and scones (I wish!), but it’s almost like having her do your makeup.
Almost.
LOL!
With such a wide variety of colors, finishes and formulas, the palette is packed with creative possibilities for endless looks ranging from day to night to nude to smoky.
Of course, there are some standard-issue beige and bronze neutrals in the mix for nude looks. They’re useful; I do wish that a few of them were matte browns, although, let’s be real here…that’s what I always wish! 🙂
The intense jewel tones make the palette much more interesting to me, especially since they aren’t all just mega-shiny shimmers. Matte blue Sapphire and deep green Jacquard, for example, look amaze buffed into the crease. Both are blasts when you’re in the mood for something a little colorful but not OTT.
I like that there are so many useful, but not boring, colors in this palette, ya know? And with 20 products to choose from, you can also mix many of them together to create completely new colors, which I’ve done with great results.
In terms of value, $125 is a serious chunk of change, but Laura Mercier is a high-end brand. Her Eye Colour singles regularly cost $24 each. The 12 in this palette would otherwise cost $288 (!), not including the other eight products you also get, so it could be a great value, especially if you love Laura Mercier.
The $125 Laura Mercier Master Class Colour Essentials palette includes…
- 12 0.05-oz. pans of powder eyeshadows (Laura’s regular Eye Colour singles are larger at 0.09 ounces each), including matte beige Buttercream (a re-promote), shimmery plum Posh Plum, shimmery gold Etoile, shimmery peachy pink Allegro, shimmery deep plum Minx, shimmery rose gold Quartz, satiny silvery neutral champagne Stellar (a re-promote), satiny medium brown taupe Topaz (a re-promote), matte medium blue Sapphire, shimmery greenish blue Bohemia, frosty grayish green Dahlia and matte greenish blue Jacquard
- 3 0.1-oz. blushes in shimmery golden bright coral Sweet Mandarin (a re-promote), shimmery beige-pink Winter Bloom and shimmery, rosy berry Rich Raspberry
- 2 0.05-oz. tightline cake liners in matte black Black Ebony and matte brown Mahogany Brown
- 1 0.03-oz. Kohl Eye Pencil in Jet Black
- A double-ended Flat Eyeliner/Pointed Eye Liner Brush (it’s functional)
- A double-ended Eye Colour/Corner Eye Colour Brush (kinda scratchy)
All of the products in the palette are impressively pigmented (even the tightline cake liners), but definitely don’t forget to tap off your brush to unload any extra powder when using the eyeshadows and blushes. Go tap, tap, tap…and then throw in a few extra taps for good measure, because the powders are VERY soft and seek out brush bristles like little magnets.
It’s easy to overload your brush. Then before you know it, you’ve got fallout, and girl! — who has time for fallout when there are more pressing things to worry about, like what the hell happened to Glenn on The Walking Dead? Here’s my take on it: I don’t think the writers are ever going to let the audience know exactly, in no uncertain terms, what went down. They’re going to leave us wondering about it forever…
Sorry, you know I had to squeeze in at least one zombie ref. 🙂
The $125 price, again, does seem reasonable to me for a Laura Mercier palette of this size. If you’re looking for a versatile palette and you like Laura Mercier, you can find it now at Laura Mercier counters, the Sephora website and other places online.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
That first set of swatches is EVERYTHING! <3 Beautiful. Laura definitely chose well 🙂
She sure did!
This palette is stunning on you! What lip gloss are you wearing?
So many great colors in this palette. I think the blushes are especially pretty. Though, I have to say that the idea of tightlining with powder makes me a little anxious. I do realize it’s not mandatory to use them that way, though. 🙂
I like the jewel tone colors in the palette! Minx and Posh Plum are very pretty!
The Walking Dead is killing me! I think the mid-season finale is coming up and I bet they’ll still leave us hanging. I started watching The X-Files in Netflix. Some of the technology stuff is outdated, but the stories still hold up.
You look FABULOUS in her colors in that picture!!!!
I had this and I debated after using it a few times if I should return it or not. I finally decided last night, for me, I don’t like it enough. The main reason, as you mentioned-lack of mattes and the mattes that are in there don’t perform well in practice. They need a base. They sheer out. I was finding myself pulling from other palettes and at this price, I’m not happy with that. I also think a bronzer and highlight instead of 3 blushes would have been better. I like the brushes she included and everything else is nice.
OHHH, tempting. All the colors look great. Very sophisticated. I like that they went with 3 blushes instead of a bronzer or highlight shade since those really vary by skin color so it’s hard to get a good universal shade!
And no African Violet, gasp! 😉 I have a previous year’s double decker contraption, despite being super short handled the brushes it came with are some of my all-time favorites. I like the shadows and blush, love the cake liners but I do admit to forgetting to use it when it’s packed away in a palette liner this. If it’s not a must have for you but you’re interested, I’d recommend waiting – these often end up discounted somewhere like Gilt or on lauramercier.com ?
I had a day planner exactly like that, same leather! But it was lectures and deadlines in there in 1998, not pretty shadows.
I had to Google this because I couldn’t remember exactly what he said, so here’s a direct quote from showrunner Scott Gimple (part of the statement that he put out after that episode aired): “In some way, we will see Glenn, some version of Glenn or parts Glenn again, either in flashback, or current story, to help complete the story.”
So we don’t know how, or when, but we will see Glenn again. Hopefully that means we’ll find out what happens to him, even if it means he’s a zombie. We need closure!
Wow, that is a seriously beautiful palette.
I think Glenn is alive, I think he crawled under the dumpster. If you watch the scene when they fall off the dumpster, you can see that they’re pulling at Nicholas. The angle is all wrong for it to be Glenn. He got walker guts on him, which allowed him to hide.
Also, there are leaked photos of filming with Glenn and he’s with a new character that hasn’t been introduced yet. So it can’t be a flashback.
I love the colours of the eye and cheek pallete! Also the lipsticks seem very pretty.
Your makeup is to die for! LOVE the look you did with your eyes and lips!!
I want it even more now that I don’t have access to a Sephora!! 😉