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Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit Review, Photos, Swatches

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit

A Palette Inspired by the French Cinema

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit ($95.00 for 0.49 oz.) consists of four eyeshadows inspired by “the spark present throughout the French cinema New Wave.” The colors can be worn alone or layered over each other (part of the brand’s methodology).

Nouvelle is described as a “sheer mink negative.” It’s a warm peach with a frosted finish and a kiss of pink. The color payoff is rich and opaque, not quite the sheer color they described it as (so for some, this is probably a good thing!). It had a lovely soft, finely-milled texture that felt buttery and smooth. Chanel Complice is similar but less reflective, a smidgen darker. theBalm Stubborn is warmer, less pink. Urban Decay Scratch is fairly close, though a little pinker.

Gamine is described as a “satin pink celluloid.” It is a blue-based cotton candy pink with a soft frosted finish. The color payoff was fantastic, and the texture was soft, smooth, and blendable. MAC Dynamic Duo 4 is sheerer, less frosted. Guerlain Boulevard du Montparnasse is similar, a smidgen darker. MAC for Miss Piggy is sheerer, less frosted. MAC Feather Pink is cooler-toned, almost lilac.

Icon is described as a “silky matte Parisian mauve.” It’s a soft pink-tinged mauve with a matte finish. It had a soft, smooth, and finely-milled texture that yielded rich color. Inglot #399 is frosted. Guerlain Boulevard du Montparnasse is similar but satiny. MAC Neo Nebula is shimmery. Urban Decay Bordello is darker and frosted.

Fin is described as a “smoldering black carbon.” It’s a rich, deep, dark black with a fine dusting of multi-colored shimmer (which you don’t really notice when it is applied). The pigmentation in this is so, so rich. The texture is soft, smooth, and not a bit powdery. As far as comparably rich in pigment black eyeshadows go, Urban Decay Blackout is similar but has a more matte finish; Milani Pitch Black is also similar; and Make Up For Ever #4 is entirely matte and has no shimmer at all.

The palette is high quality from top to bottom, and really, the only reason it lost any points was because of Nouvelle, which was described as sheer but is, in fact, quite pigmented–for most, this will be received as great news.  When I tested these shades for wear, they wore for eight hours with no fading or creasing.

Each eyeshadow is just over 0.12 oz., which is double the size of most eyeshadows.   To put it into perspective, a MAC quad is the equivalent of paying $200/oz., and the Kaleidoscope is $194/oz.  Note:  my packaging is sample packaging, while retail versions are packaged in the brand’s signature black; the packaging rating reflects the retail packaging.

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit Review, Photos, Swatches

A
10
Product
9
Pigmentation
10
Texture
10
Longevity
5
Application
98%
Total

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Gamine Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Gamine Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Icon Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Icon Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Fin Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Fin Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Eyeshadow

Le Metier de Beaute Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Metier de Beaute Eyeshadow

44 Comments

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baby in a corner Avatar

I have boulevard du montparnasse which has a similar ethos (i wouldn’t say dupes) and which was expensive! I love the eye look you did though Christine!

Kate Avatar

I’ve been going back and forth between ordering this one and ordering the Chauvet Pont d’Arc kaleidoscope. I’d decided on the latter. Now your swatches make me want this one. ARGH!

xamyx Avatar

$95 USD does sound like alot, but when you consider many of us don’t think twice about laying out an average of $20 USD for a single shadow, it’s not that bad (especially when many of us buy more than 1 or 2 singles at a time). The only thing keeping me from picking one up is the inconvenience of having the only option of buying from NM, although the packaging *almost* makes me want to make the effort.

As an aside, I would have loved to have seen the black shade used in the eye look you did, just to see how it blended with the pinks.

mirian Avatar

I was thinking about getting this for my mom for christmas, except that she doesn’t wear black! She wears all the other shades 🙁 if it was a warm, brown it would’ve been a perfect quad

Sasha Avatar

If I understand correctly, the black is supposed to be used as an eyeliner. Perhaps she might use it for that purpose? Seems like a trend of soft/neutral colors and a black for lining purposes.

Jocelyn Avatar

Individually I love these colors, and more importantly, I’m a HUGE fan of QUALITY. Unfortunately, I find the palette uninspired as combined. Just looks like a bunch of pink when combined. Wish there were a greater range of colors. Thanks for the review, Christine!

Marta Avatar

Gamine is lovely but too easy to dupe. I really like Icon, reminds me of Mac’s Quarry and MakeUpGeek’s Unexpected… I love dusty mauvish matte pinks, especially in winter. But the black shade is a deal breaker, as I know I’d never use it.
The look you made was awesome! I like soft pink looks, they’re femenine and fun, and it really brightned your eye (I imagine both of them lol)

Megan Avatar

And actually–thinking about it now–I’d tell you to pass on both NL and NV and try Chauvet Pont d’Arc! Still available; very pretty. With a blue liner shade that is out of this world.

Joni Avatar

Oooh this is exactly the kind of thing I love.
Almost want to buy it just for the inspiration behind it…I think I’ve been taking too many cinema courses.

Sasha Avatar

Nouvelle and Icon are gorgeous. Agree with a commenter below, this looks like a lovely palette for a wedding. I already have Chanel’s Eclosion quad though so I dunno if I could justify dropping this much money for another pink palette.

Stacey Avatar

The one that I always wanted is the one with that blackened green. The rest of the eye kits dont bring into variety. My suggestion as always is 2 eyeshadows, one blush and one lipstick or gloss. The kit is handy for traveling…..but again, the colors dont suit me…for a non-caucasian skin.

Sandy Avatar

Hmm doesn’t look like anything special to me. And on my darker skin, I’m not sure how the colors would work. Guess you saved me $95, Christine!

Rachael Avatar

I regularly spend $80+ for Guerlain but I just can’t bite the bullet for this brand. This is a set that could have changed my mind though. I love the colors. Too bad I already have Guerlain’s Boulevard du Montparnasse. I think for me its the packaging. For $100 (after tax) I want something truly stunning (though its heavier and arguably less portable). I did see a kaleidascope of red lippies I liked.

Becca @ The Beauty Sample Avatar

Icon has to be one of the most beautiful mauve eyeshadows I’ve EVER seen. And that black…good heavens is it beautiful. I’m not usually impressed with black shadows anymore, but this one is utter perfection. I have never spent so much money on an eyeshadow palette before, but I’m thinking I might need to buy this one 🙂

Mariella Avatar

I’m sure the texture is wonderful and all that but at close to 100 dollars (and probably over the 100 dollar mark in Canada) for 4 eye shadows, even if these were colours I absolutely loved, I just could not justify spending this much on eye shadow. There are excellent, truly excellent shadows out there for far less than this costs. The fact that the colours don’t appeal to me at all (I’m not big into pink toned shadows) makes it even easier to give this one a miss.

Yellowlantern Avatar

Icon is the only color here that seems fairly original and less dupeaple, at least in my collection.

Fin reminds me of a blacker version of MAC Smut. It’s lovely, but I suspect that the shimmer nuance is going to be hard to notice on the eye (especially for someone like me who wears only a hint of black just to darken the crease and never as a lid color).

Yes this is me talking myself out of an expensive purchase! I want to try LMDB eventually, but I think I’ll save it for a different product.

Hana Avatar

So pretty! This is totally not a need but I really want it! I’ll probably check it out at the counter first to see how much I love it in person.

Emma Lynn Avatar

I would love to get one of these as i always think the colours look stunning but here there £75.00 which is for once with exchange rates about the same u pay in the states but still a lot of money… 🙁
tho maybe santa will help me win the lottery this exmas and then the price wouldnt matter at all hahahah x

Christy Avatar

I would definitely buy this if I didn’t have to pay my electric bill, lol! Seriously, the eye shadow sounds absolutely divine, and since my daughter has basically the same taste in makeup as me, it is something that we would get quite a bit of use out of. Thanks for your review!

Coraline Avatar

I got this at the counter and it came in the silver packaging. Maybe it’s because it’s part of the winter collection? I remember a previous winter release with silver packaging as well.

SheDaisy Avatar

This looks lovely – I think it will be nice on light tones (I’m medium), so I’d pass.

I did stop by Le Metier’s counter and got two of their mini polishes – I can’t believe I paid $10 & $15 each for tiny bottles that weren’t even full – did you find that you had to close the bottle a shake just to get anything on the brush?

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