lancome

Lancôme’s betting their latest vibrating mascara wand will work wonders on your lashes. Ôscillation Intensity PowerMascara ($34) is basically an upgrade of the company’s O.G. Ôscillation, which was one of the first pulsating wands to shimmy across makeup counters.

Like its predecessor, it oscillates an astounding-sounding 7,000 times per minute (dude, that’s a lot!), but Lancôme says this one’s fuller brush helps it wrap each lash with more mascara for a bolder, longer lash look. And the mascara itself? According to Lancôme, it contains the highest concentration of carbon black pigments on the market.

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Lancome’s Natural Juicy Tubes should come with a warning for pet moms that reads, “‘It’s better to apply your Natural Juicy Tubes before (and not after) your cat/dog/hamster/fur baby comes over for a snuggle session.” Last night I slicked on a layer of Dot Apricot, one of six sheer shades in the limited edition Yayoi Kusama collection ($15 each), before Tabs climbed onto the bed for his nightly post-gravy petting, head butts, biscuits and chin bites, and by the time we finished, I had enough cat hair on my lips to weave a friendship bracelet.

It’s uncanny! The thick (even thicker than a MAC Lipglass), gooey formula must be made out of melted fur magnets… I seem to remember the limited edition Natural Juicy Tubes I tried last year feeling lighter, smoother and less sticky than these.

Each shade also sports a different signature fragrance. Dot Apricot’s subtle citrusy apricot is my fave, with Happy Honey (yup, it smells like honey!) a close second. The scents, and the light honey flavor that each of them has, fade after about five minutes on my lips.

I do the artwork on the tubes, though. Lancome tapped the Princess of Polka Dots for the designs, Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese artist known for her use of repetition, pattern and accumulation.

If you like ’em too, you might want to make your move before they say sayonara from Lancome counters for good.

When I’d tried those other Natural Juicy Tubes from Lancome last year, it had been right after the company reformulated the line. Like those, these are made without preservatives, and with Hungarian honey, royal jelly, shea butter and annatto.

Dot Apricot (left) and Happy Honey (right)
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Whatever you do, keep flaky lips far, far away from the Lancôme L’Absolu Nu lipsticks ($29).

Lancôme’s new lippies come in 16 shiny, translucent shades that look and feel like they were influenced by the delectable $28 Dior Addicts, with a similarly slick, ultra-thin texture.

When I applied a layer of shimmery Coral Sand (the one with silver micro-glitter shown at the top) yesterday morning, I didn’t realize how dry my pucker was at the time, and Coral Sand was not forgiving at all. It latched on to every little flake, emphasizing the facts that 1) I really needed to exfoliate, and 2) I was probably more than a little dehydrated.

But after I scrubbed my lips with Lush Lip Scrub and had a glass of water, L’Absolu looked much better. No more flakes, and my kisser shined like freshly polished jewelry with a slight coral tint.

The strong lip-sticky fragrance, a cross between baby powder and roses, mellows out after about 15 minutes, which is great because that’s right around the time I think it would have gotten annoying, LOL!

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To sleep, perchance to dream of disappearing dark circles with the new Lancôme Teint Miracle Instant Retouch Pen ($29.50).

Lancôme calls this illuminating instrument a multipurpose foundation in a pen. Micro-fluorescent particles in the formula supposedly mimic a surge of natural light to illuminate and smooth the skin while reducing the appearance of imperfections on the face.

Brilliant! So does it work?

Well, I think that depends.

Do you adore YSL’s Touche Éclat? It looks like Lancôme does. The similarities between YSL’s award winner and the Teint Miracle Instant Retouch Pen are recognizable from a mile away — the pen packaging, the brush tip, the whole illuminating angle. It’s Touche Éclat déjà vu in a less expensive ensemble ($29.50 vs. $40 for Touche Éclat).
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I guess Lancome really wanted to cover all of their bronzing bases this summer because they released a whopping six Star Bronzers ($35 each) — three with their Natural Matte finish, and three with a finish called Natural Glow.

Gotta love having a wide range of options, right? Especially when it comes with a cool design on the pan.

One option, however, that Lancome did not include with these is a less expensive one, as $35 seems like a lot (the MAC Bronzing Powders cost $23; Urban Decay Baked Bronzers, $26).

For these, Lancome used a blend of mineral pigments and something they call “absorbent micro-spheres,” which is fancy talk for something that’s supposed to keep them looking and feeling smooth for a long time. I gotta say, the shade I tried, Natural Matte in 03 Sunbath, does look and feel pretty great — silky, and not heavy or chalky at all. It’s a warm orangey brown with red undertones, and I’m a little surprised by how much I like it, considering the finish is matte (I usually prefer bronzers with a little shimmer because I think it makes them easier to use).

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I wonder how peacocks feel about Lancome’s shimmery Color Design Shadow & Liner Palette in Kissed By Gold ($48). Perhaps I should ask the one that cruises the walkways where my in-laws live near verdant Haiku Gardens. He’s such a show-off, that bird, always flaunting his glossy feathers for all the world to see (sometimes from the back of pickup trucks!). I guess I can’t blame him, really. I’d probably do the same thing if my feathers shined like that. 🙂

I bet he’d still be a little jealous, though, of Kissed By Gold’s approach to these classic, summery shades because something tells me these shimmery bronzes, golds, pinks and browns would look lovely on tail feathers (and tanned skin).

The palette is one of the latest additions to Lancome’s line of Color Design Shadow & Liner Palettes, a family of color-coordinated eye palettes released earlier this year, and it’s one of the shiniest high-pigment palettes this particular bird has seen in a while.

Even though there’s also a matte here, it’s the shimmery shadows that steal the show. On skin they glow like peacock feathers (in a more neutral palette) and polished chrome, and I’m reminded of the mirror finish of an Urban Decay shadow sprinkled with a dash of elegant Dior.

The moment my brush met the first highly pigmented pan I called “DAY-UM!” out loud. Not only do they look great, but they also blend in the blink of an eye! Seriously, if basic eyeshadow colors are like day-old coffee, then these are like espresso brewed by gold medal baristas — intense, rich and opaque.

After playing with the Kissed By Gold yesterday morning, I decided to collect EVERY SINGLE PALETTE from the line…

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