Laura Mercier’s Summer In St Tropez: Limited Edition Baked Eye Color Quad

Laura Mercier's Limited Edition: Summer In St. Tropez

Laura Mercier’s Limited Edition: Summer In St. Tropez

i have to say i’m very conflicted about this quad.  it’s probably one of those items that i know i should return, but i just can’t bear to.  look at it!  aren’t the colors gorgeous? then you notice it’s half the size of an iPhone 5.  the price of this is $44 for .07oz.  as a point of comparison, Laura Mercier’s single baked shadows are $24 for .06oz.  this means you’re paying almost twice as much for an extra .01oz of shadow and color variation.  i don’t know about you, but i’m thinking that makes it pretty poor value.  maybe i would have felt slightly better if there weren’t 3 shades of blue in the quad.  another color in place of the teal would have given it more versatility.  however, all 4 colors are unique in the baked shadows collection.

L to R: Pearly Pale blue, Matte Teal Blue, Pearly Dark Bronze, Deep Cobalt Blue

L to R: Pearly Pale blue, Matte Teal Blue, Pearly Dark Bronze, Deep Cobalt Blue

this is what the palette looks like with 3 swipes from my shadow brush, no primer.

L to R: Pearly Pale blue, Matte Teal Blue, Pearly Dark Bronze, Deep Cobalt Blue

L to R: Pearly Pale blue, Matte Teal Blue, Pearly Dark Bronze, Deep Cobalt Blue

when used wet, the colors become a lot more vibrant and lust worthy.

Matte Teal Blue and Pearly Dark Bronze Inner Corner Pearly Pale Blue over Matte Teal Blue

Inner Corner Pearly Pale Blue over Matte Teal Blue, Matte Teal Blue and Pearly Dark Bronze. Wet Cobalt Blue on lower lash line

this is how it looks when the colors are applied dry.  so far, nothing impressive.  in fact, sometimes it applied a little patchy, and i noticed the Matte Teal Blue fading a bit after 5 hours or so.  based on this look, i would have sent the palette back pronto!

Matte Teal Blue and Pearly Dark Bronze Inner Corner Pearly Pale Blue over Matte Teal Blue

Inner Corner Pearly Pale Blue over Matte Teal Blue, Matte Teal Blue and Pearly Dark Bronze. Wet Cobalt Blue on lower lash line

here’s a close up of that look.  i lined the lower lash line with the wet version of Cobalt Blue.  you can see how it intensifies the color.

wet versions of Pearly Pale Blue, Pearly Dark Bronze and Deep Cobalt Blue

wet versions of Pearly Pale Blue, Pearly Dark Bronze and Deep Cobalt Blue

here’s a look i did when i played with most of the colors wet.  isn’t it a dramatic difference?  the shimmers show up a lot more, and the colors not only intensify but develop depth and interest.  it creates a really high impact look.  i’ve been playing with makeup seriously for a year now and asking my boyfriend to grade my looks.  this look was the first look that earned a 10.  first look in a year guys!!

to create this look, i used my Sigma E57 and E20s.  i ran a finger through water and used the water droplets on my finger to damp the brush and patted/swirled the damp brush on the color.  don’t make the bristles too wet, otherwise the color will turn into a water color texture that’s a bit too runny to work with easily.  it did take a little time to build, but i haven’t had a lot of experience working with foiled eye shadows.

so i bet you’re wondering what’s my conclusion for this palette.  for myself, i’m going to keep it.  i feel slightly guilty about it, but i’m keeping it for 3 reasons:

1.  i’ve been looking for a good cobalt blue, and when wetted, Deep Cobalt Blue fits the bill.

2.  look at how satisfying the Pearly Dark Bronze is!  the sparkle, dimension, and intensity just can’t be beat.

3.  i can’t return the palette that earned my first 10 from my boyfriend.  it now has historical and sentimental value!

but what about my recommendation for you?  like i mentioned before, it doesn’t have great value, it’s not the easiest to work with and lacks versatility, since it’s mostly blue.  i’d say skip it, and save your money for something better unless you fell instantly in love/lust with 2 of the colors, and you really don’t have something similar in your collection.  if you sleep on it for a couple nights and you just can’t get it out of your head, then be my guest.

Readers, what do you think?  is it worth it?  do you have similar colors in your collection?  leave me a comment down below!

Eye Palettes in Divergent Multi-Piece Collector’s Kit

today, i’m going to give an in-depth look at the eye palettes included in the Divergent Multi-Piece Collector’s Kit.  there are 3 palettes named after the factions in the books: abnegation, erudite and dauntless.  each palette comes with 4 shades and 1 transformer shade.  what is a transformer shade you ask? basically a glitter shade for you to mix with the other colors for a different effect.  since tris, the heroine, was born into abnegation, let’s start with that.

Abnegation Eye Palette

Abnegation Eye Palette

 

L to R: Altruistic Almond, Golden Honesty, Intrepid Moss, Bold Expresso, Transform

L to R: Altruistic Almond, Golden Honesty, Intrepid Moss, Bold Expresso, Transform

 

Golden Honesty, Intrepid Moss and Bold Expresso. Moss and Transformer on lower lash line

Golden Honesty, Intrepid Moss and Bold Expresso. Intrepid Moss and Transformer on lower lash line

The four regular shades in this palette are all nicely pigmented, goes on smoothly, and blends out well.  Altruistic Almond is a matte, skin-toned beige.  use this color as a highlight under your brows or over your entire eye to establish an even base for the other colors.  it’s slightly darker than Urban Decay’s Foxy.  Urban Decay’s Habit is very similar in shade but pinker in tone.  Golden Honesty is a very pale yellow gold.  i used it as an inner corner highlight in my look, but it’d make for a really good lid color too.  i really love how it brightens the eyes.  Intrepid Moss is a shimmery, muted olive green.  it’s a great medium shade that you can do a lot of different things with.  here i’ve used to to transition between Golden Honesty and Bold Expresso.  another idea would be to pair it with Dauntless Ink in the Dauntless Eye Palette to create a smokier night look. Bold Expresso is a dark matte brown.  this is a nice basic dark color that plays nicely with the Abnegation and Erudite Palettes.  blend it out for a day time look, like i’ve done, or build it up to your heart’s content.  the glitter shade in this palette is Transform.  it’s the worst out of the 3 transformer shades but, by no means, a complete dud.  it looks silver in the pan but is really more like a clear coat with silver particles.  i used it on top of Intrepid Moss on the lower lash line, and you can see it just adds a little bit more glitter to the look.  there wasn’t really much fall-out when used with my Sigma E20S (improved short shader) even when i brushed it on instead of patting it on.

i love the colors of the Erudite Palette, but i have a major gripe with the names.  the erudite faction wore blue and valued intelligence and knowledge.  they studied, experimented, and engineered.  do the colors or names in the palette reflect that?  not to me!  if i had to choose, i would have named this palette amity.

Erudite Eye Palette

Erudite Eye Palette

L to R: Choose, Humble Sheen, Peaceful Shimmer, Radiant Initation, Burnt Mahogany.

L to R: Choose, Humble Sheen, Peaceful Shimmer, Radiant Initation, Burnt Mahogany.

Humble Sheen, Peaceful Shimmer, Burnt Mahogany. Choose on inner corner Peaceful Shimmer on lower lash line

Humble Sheen, Peaceful Shimmer, Burnt Mahogany. Choose on inner corner
Peaceful Shimmer on lower lash line

Choose, the transformer glitter shade for this palette, is a sheer pink glitter.  it’s not pigmented on its own but will give a pink tint to what it’s on top of.  it’s less patchy than Transform.  there’s also no fall-out issue, if you use a light hand, even if you brush instead of press on the glitter.  i was pretty impressed by this.  Humble Sheen is a shimmery vanilla beige. Peaceful Shimmer, the transition color you see in the middle, is a shimmery peach.  Urban Decay Chopper is quite similar but Peaceful Shimmer has a little bit more peach and a tinge of pink to it.  it’s a beautiful color that causes me to reach for this palette often.  Burnt Mahogany is a rich, red, shimmery brown.  it’s very pigmented and easily blended out.  it’s a very satisfying color and my second favorite of all the eye colors in this collection.  all three of the colors that i mentioned above are buttery in texture, rich in pigment, and easy to work with.  in fact, i feel these 3 shades are just a tiny bit better in quality than all the rest of the eye shadows in the collection. Radiant Initiation, however, is slightly less pigmented.  it only takes a couple of extra passes though so no huge complaints here.  Radiant Initiation is a pale taupe with a light sheen. use it for an every day nude look, or use it to help blend out the dark edges of your smokey looks.  i’ve used it for a nude look below.

Humble Sheen in inner corner, Radiant Initiation, Abnegation Stone

Humble Sheen in inner corner, Radiant Initiation, Abnegation Stone

Dauntless, the faction tris moves to, is the last of the eye palettes.  this is a very dark, smokey palette where even the transformer glitter shade is pigmented.

Dauntless Eye Palette

Dauntless Eye Palette

Erudite Sapphire with Dauntless Ink. Serene Vanilla with Transform on top. Transform dabbed in center. Diverge on lower lash line

Erudite Sapphire with Dauntless Ink. Serene Vanilla with Transform on top. Transform dabbed in center.
Diverge on lower lash line

i did an arm swatch of this palette too, but all of them came out so inaccurate i decided not to post them.  Serene Vanilla is a light creme with slight sheen,  i prefer to keep it on the inner corners or on my lid but you can also use it to highlight under your brow. it’s buttery texture makes it easy to apply.  Erudite Sapphire is a deep smoky midnight blue with a slight sheen.  unless you’re really packing it on or using a base under it, it’s going to look a little darker than it looks in the pan.  Dauntless Ink is a matte black.  it’s not quite as pigmented as Urban Decay’s Blackout, but it’s still quite pigmented.  it’s more pigmented than the black in my Smashbox eye shadow trio in Twilight and my Bobby Brown Day To Night palette in Caviar.  Erudite Sapphire and Dauntless Ink are both easy to work with although not as buttery as some of the other eye shadows. Diverge is this palette’s transformer glitter and is a sparkly, smokey olive green.  it has some pigment on its own, but i still prefer to layer it on top of another color or else do a couple of extra passes.  in the look above, Diverge is on its own in the first third of my lower lashline and on top of Dauntless Ink on the rest.  i have a small obsession with green so this is my favorite transformer shade.  again, there was minimal fall-out even when brushed on.

Abnegation with Dauntless Ink in outer corner.  Humble Sheen on top.

Abnegation Stone with Dauntless Ink in outer corner. Humble Sheen on top.

Abnegation Stone is a shimmery medium taupe that’s buildable to dark.  it’s more buttery in texture than Erudite Sapphire and Dauntless Ink.  the shimmer gives it nice dimension and interest, making it my favorite of this palette.

i really enjoyed most of the colors in this collection.  though, i wish it had come out during winter season instead of now, when i’m tired of smokey looks and nudes and ready for bright colors.  as i’ve said before, i think the collection has great value.  there aren’t really any duds that i would avoid.  just a couple that take a little extra work.  the lip glosses are probably the most disappointing part of the collection.  they don’t really do anything besides moisturize my lips; though, they are good at doing that!  this collection has really changed my mind about the quality of Sephora’s eyeshadows, and i’d definitely encourage you to pick it up if you like the colors and can find it in stock.

Readers, what do you think of this collection? did you enjoy the looks? leave a comment down below!