Laura Mercier’s spring collection appeared on counter, and the promo photo on the display literally stopped me in my tracks. The model is GORGEOUS, but the image also seemed so different from recent Laura Mercier collections. Less… studio, I think. Anyway, I love it.
The collection includes one of Laura’s classic eye-and-cheek palettes (six shadows, two blushes — no lip products mixed in with the powders). The palette is $60, limited edition.
Buff Pearl is a beige-champagne-white satin. Tawny Apricot is a dusty rose satin. Rich Cocoa is a dark wood-/earth-brown matte. Pale Pink is a very whitened, very pale, ballet pink matte. African Violet is a shimmery violet-gold duochrome. Black Plum is a delightfully pigmented, dark, cool, dusty, muted, blackened blue-purple matte. Though these shades all feel really familiar, African Violet and Black Plum are the only two listed among Laura’s regular single eyeshadows.
Rose Desire and Fresh Peach are both new shades. Rose Desire is a blue (cool) rose pink; Fresh Peach is pinked peach with a few tiny sparkles (which give it a slight sheen).
The collection also features two Creme Cheek Colour blushes ($22). Oleander is actually a repromote from the permanent line. It’s a pigmented cool pink. Innocent Peach is a little more sheer. It’s a light peach-pink, and it’s limited edition.
There are three Sheer Lip Color lipsticks ($20). Baby Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose. Kissed Lips (new, limited edition) is coral pink. Nude Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose-beige-nude.
Naked Apricot and Tempting Coral are both “Lip Shines,” and I’m not exactly sure how to describe them. Potted glosses? Potted gloss-balms? They’re $22 each, both limited edition. Naked Apricot is very, very sheer peach. Tempting Coral is more pigmented, a red-berry-rose with gold sparkles.
The two cake eyeliners and two Eye Basics cream eyeshadow bases are repromotes (follow the links to revisit their original swatch posts).
Cake eyeliner is a dry “puck” of pressed powder, activated by water or a product like Laura’s Tightline Activator. You wet your brush, then muddle it on the cake until you achieve a paste the consistency of shoe polish. Apply your eyeliner and the cake will dry back to its regular state, ready for the next application. As you probably already know, a new cake eyeliner can be used with either water or Activator, but once you’ve used it with Activator, it won’t work with water again.
Mahogany Brown is dark brown. Charcoal Grey (neither charcoal nor grey, really) is more like an industrial/nautical blue-grey. Cake eyeliners are $22 (and Tightline Activator is $20).
Eye Basics are $24 each. They are water-resistant, crease-proof, semi-matte eyeshadow bases containing vitamins and something called “Eyebright,” all meant to reduce inflammation. Flax is a manila-folder yellow-beige. Wheat is peach.
WHY WHY WHY does every LM palette have African Violet?
It’s like the LM equivalent of BB Navajo LOL