Laura Mercier Fresco Beauty Collection for Fall 2009
Inspired by the nature-like colors found in Italian Fresco paintings, Laura Mercier introduces her Fresco Collection. Eyes are soft and diffused, layered in earth toned shades of Satinee Crème Eye Colour with a pop of teal for accent. Crème Cheek Colour Pots in Sienna Sunset and Soft Apricot enhance the cheeks with a hint of creamy colour and tinted, soft-focus loose powder. Lips complete the look in rich autumnal hues with Laura’s perfect artist palette, Lip Watercolours; containing a prepping lip balm and six pigment saturated stains. Welcome Fall looking ethereal, feminine, imperfectly beautiful.
Creme Cheek Colour ($34.00)
Soft Apricot
Sienna Sunset
Eye Basics ($24.00)
Wheat
Satinee Creme Eye Colour ($22.00)
Ecru Silk
Teal Cashmere (New)
Amber Velvet (New)
Pink Chiffon
Stone Suede
Cake Liner ($22.00)
Mahogany Brown
Thickening & Building Mascara ($20.00)
Black
Lip Watercolours Palette ($48.00)
Laura Mercier Limited Edition Lip Watercolours, inspired by a painter’s palette, are comprised of universally flattering lip colours that compliment all skin tones. The customizable palettes offer highly pigmented colours designed to be applied with the fingertips.
Fair
Medium
Available: On-counter August 2009. Now available online at www.lauramercier.com.
Laura Mercier’s Gilded Garden Collectiondebuted for the spring season with several fun, perfect-for-spring products. The collection included eyeshadows in Lilac, Marigold, Orchid, and Pink Tulip ($22.00 each); Stickgloss in Azalea and Tiger Lily ($20.00 each); and Lip Stains in English Rose and Hibiscus ($20.00 each); and the Gilded Garden Mosaic Shimmer Bloc ($38.00).
The Gilded Garden Mosaic Shimmer Bloc features a pretty flowery pattern in it, which just screams “SPRING!” to me. The two large flowers in a coral-pink and fuchsia-pink are slightly raised. They’re raised enough that I wasn’t able to swatch through to see if they go all the way through the powder. (But I’m hoping they do.)
This Shimmer Bloc is much like Bobbi Brown’s Shimmerbricks in the texture and finish–smooth, but still quite frosty. If you’re not a fan of noticeable shimmer/frost, then I’d definitely stay clear of this. If, however, you love Shimmerbricks, you’ll want to check out Laura Mercier’s Shimmer Blocs.
The overall color you get when swirling the entire Shimmer Bloc together is a almost neutral-but-slightly-cool, frosty pink. It can be used as a blusher or to highlight your favorite pink blushes.
Laura Mercier’s First Blush Collection recently debuted at retailers and Nordstrom.com. I believe just this morning it launched on LauraMercier.com, as well! It’s a fairly small launch, relative to many of the other major beauty brands this season, with just a palette, brush set, three lip plumpers, and two nail polishes.
The First Blush Palette ($55.00) contains three eyeshadows (Buff, Tawny Apricot, and Granite), two blushes (Blushing Peach and Blushing Pink), and three lip glazes (Flushed, Natural, and Naked). My favorites of the palette are both blushes; they’re both soft, smooth powder blushes in complimentary tones. The peach is soft and light, while the pink is pretty neutral and subtle. The eyeshadows didn’t impress me overly so, as I’ve definitely seen these shades many times before. Buff was a little chalky, which totally turned me off. The lip glazes were pretty, but I imagine they are at least semi-sheer when actually applied to lips (my swatches ran thicker). The shades of lip glazes are flattering on most skin tones, and they’re soft and springy for sure.
The First Blush Lip Plumpers ($30.00 each) are pretty, but with a price tag like that, I had to pass. I don’t need a lip plumper, so I see no reason to pay that much for a Laura Mercier gloss (their Lip Glace is $22 a pop). Pink Pearl is a sheer, pastel pink–not terribly unique–but it’s a face friendly color that works easily and can be used everyday. Rose Flush is a brownish red that goes on sheer and glossy. Similarly, Peach Glow is just as glossy, but the color is a brighter coral-orange shade.
I didn’t have much time to play with the brush set, though from what I could tell, it felt nice enough. I have plenty of brush sets myself, so I don’t see myself buying more at this time, which is probably why I didn’t fight through the crowd at the Laura Mercier counter to see them better! The nail lacquers were also being used, but they were both soft, subtle shades designed with spring in mind.
Laura Mercier First Blush Collection for Spring 2009
First Blush Face Palette ($55.00)
Laura Mercier’s new limited-edition First Blush Face Palette conveniently offers everything you need to create a soft, romantic look. Two gorgeous cheek colors give cheeks a flushed glow in Blushing Peach or Blushing Pink. Lips look natural yet perfectly feminine in Flushed, Natural or Naked, while eyes look neutral and pretty in Granite, Tawny Apricot and Buff.
First Blush Mini Brush Set ($50.00)
Laura Mercier’s new First Blush Mini Brush Set makes it simple to accommodate your early spring essentials with this soft pink cosmetic bag complete with all the brushes you need to achieve romantic eyes, cheeks and lips. The First Blush Mini Brush Set contains a mini Cheek Colour Brush, Angled Eye Colour Brush and Pull-Apart Lip Colour Brush. A perfect companion to the First Blush Face Palette.
Lip Plumpers ($30.00)
Pink Pearl, Rose Flush, and Peach Glow
Nail Lacquers ($15.00)
Nude Peach and Sheer Kiss
Available: Now at Nordstrom’s! It was also available in-store at Neiman Marcus.
A little late, but better than never, right? Here are photos and swatches of Laura Mercier’s Master Tool Box ($68.00) that came out for the holiday season. But guess what? You can save 25% with code HOL25 now through January 10th, 2009. So hey, maybe being late WAS a good thing after all The lip palette has Tea Rose, Pink Champagne, Cinnamon, Amaretto and Garnet Lip Colours. The eyeshadow palette contains Morning Dew, Rose, Fresco, Chocolate, Twilight Grey, a mini Black Violet Kohl Eye Pencil.
The palette is very universal–I can see it working on everyone, which is always a good thing to see. I hate when a palette is pretty, but I can’t get it to work for my skin tone! The shadows are smooth, buttery, and the pigmentation is there. The colors look just like they do in the pan; it’s a huge pet peeve of mine when a shadow looks one way in the pan and totally different on the skin or during application. The lip colors are pretty tame, but there is a nice berry shade for holiday parties and winter outings.
The lip palette has Tea Rose, Pink Champagne, Cinnamon, Amaretto and Garnet Lip Colours. The eyeshadow palette contains Morning Dew, Rose, Fresco, Chocolate, Twilight Grey, a mini Black Violet Kohl Eye Pencil.
