Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope Review, Photos, Swatches
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope ($95.00 for 0.49 oz.) includes five shades for eyes in shades of black, navy blue, warm pink, copper, and golden brown. The True Color Eyeshadow is a wet/dry formulation (at least, this is what it used to be touted as; current descriptions are less helpful), including the mattes (they don’t harden if you use water with them). According to the brand, matte and shimmer finishes are supposed to have full coverage, while satin finishes are supposed to have sheer coverage (but no specificity regarding wet/dry). There are a lot of Le Metier’s eyeshadows that I love, and I often like how they pair colors in their Kaleidoscopes, but unless every single shade knocks it out of the park, the price is difficult to justify, which is the case here. Two of the five shades are excellent, while two are middling, and one is particularly disappointing.
Onyx is a medium black with neutral undertones and a matte finish. It had mostly opaque coverage, though the texture is so silky and soft that it is prone to kicking up excess product, so it is best patted on gently to maintain intensity. It was fairly blendable on the skin and lasted for eight hours. As you might expect, there are lots of matte blacks on the marketplace, so there are plenty of dupes. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.
Sapphire is a medium-dark, navy blue with a pearly sheen that leans slightly purple. It had decent pigmentation, but it was certainly lacking oomph and needed to be layered two or three times to get really good, even coverage out of it. The texture was slightly dry, which made it a little harder to blend out. This was previously included in another Kaleidoscope, but it was much better that time, as it had a richer, denser texture that was less dry. It lasted for seven hours and had some fall out. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.
Smoky Quartz is a muted, medium pink with warm undertones and a frosted sheen. The texture was soft and smooth, but it was a smidgen dry, which gave it a powdery look when applied dry. It was easier to work with and had better, truer color payoff when applied damp. It wore well for eight hours before fading.
See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.
Carnelian Opal is a brightened, medium-dark copper with warm orange undertones and a frosted golden sheen. It was intensely pigmented both wet and dry, with the damp application yielding a slightly deeper color and more metallic finish. It wore well for nine hours on me. This is the type of quality I associate with Le Metier de Beaute, but it doesn’t make up for the first three. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.
Dark Citrine is a subdued, medium-dark brown with warm, yellow undertones and a gold shimmer-sheen finish. It had opaque coverage both wet and dry, though dry coverage gave it a smoother result. The texture was soft, smooth, and blendable, while the color wore well for eight and a half hours on me before fading. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.
Obsidian Odyssey
LELimited Edition. $95.00.
Onyx
LELimited Edition. $30.00.
Sapphire
LELimited Edition. $30.00.
Smoky Quartz
LELimited Edition. $30.00.
Carnelian Opal
LELimited Edition. $30.00.
Dark Citrine
LELimited Edition. $30.00.
See more photos & swatches!
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope
Le Metier de Beaute Onyx True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Onyx True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Sapphire True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Sapphire True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Smoky Quartz True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Smoky Quartz True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Carnelian Opal True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Carnelian Opal True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Dark Citrine True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Dark Citrine True Color Eyeshadow
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope,
Sephora My Boyfriend’s Jeans & Baby Blue Eyeliner
Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Kaleidoscope,
Sephora My Boyfriend’s Jeans & Baby Blue Eyeliner
These have such a cult following, but I’ve never made the leap. I remember seeing one a couple of years ago that was drop dead gorgeous and seriously appealed to me, but sold out in nanoseconds. I haven’t seen a grouping since which inspired that same gut reaction.
They seem to linger awhile now – I bought this forever ago! When they’re good, I love them, but I get annoyed quickly when they’re just so-so.
Dark Citrine and Carnelian Opal really save this kaleidoscope. So pretty, those two!
Those are pretty, but good thing there are dupes!
The kaleidoscope packaging and non traditional color pairings are neat in concept, but I don’t think the price is justified on these. Thanks for the review, I think it will save a lot of people $!
Thank goodness we can always just get inspiration from things like this 😉
These look amazing, I love copper and golden-brown eyeshadows so would love to try them! Looks like the grey and black would be perfect for a smokey eye too 🙂
It’s an interesting combo!
The stacked compact design is really cute, but for $95, the eyeshadows should be much, much better. Carnelian Opal is gorgeous, at least.
I agree — all shades need to be A-territory.
In reference to a post earlier this week, now this is really something that is beyond a price point I’m comfortable with for what it is. Can I afford it? Yes. That said, the only way I could see myself getting one of these kaleidoscopes is if there was one that performed A+ across the board, I loved every single color without question, and I was buying it for a special occasion (like if I were to be getting married). That’s a lot of stars that need to align before I’d take the plunge.
I’m completely with you, Audrey! I don’t think that this is a “on a whim” kind of buy for most. I know that I can afford it, but I can also tell you that as a customer, I expect that at $95, it will be an excellent product all-around – so I think it’s like you said, it has to be high quality and the exact type of colors you’d wear.
Sapphire is really disappointing! Maybe it’s just me, but for something like this I feel like it’s not worth it if even one of the non-neutral shades does poorly.
I agree, Izzy – everything has to perform well at $95. The colors are more dupable than not, so there’s no reason to spend so much and not get quality for it!
The packaging is lovely and it is a really nice combiniation of shades. But at this price point, I can’t do it with even one dud. I am going to try to dupe a similar look from my current stash though!
Hopefully you can dupe ’em, Katie!
Hmmm, the last 2 colors are gorgeous, but I’m not feeling this one. The packaging is very unique, but looks kind of clunky to use. I ‘m afraid of fumbling with this and dropping it. And it seems like a lot of the shadow colors just don’t go well with each other. And it’s very pricey.
It luckily sits open nicely, but it’s one of those things where I’m not sure it’s a real improvement over a traditional quad! I guess for this sized eyeshadow (they’re larger than MAC), maybe it makes sense to have them vertical vs. laid out in a flat palette.
The look you did with this is GORGEOUS Christine! Perfect for the season. Glad I have some of the dupes!
Thanks, Michelle!
The eye look you put together is so gorgeous! I can never justify the price with these, and I find the packaging bulky (although elegantly bulky haha). But, every time you review one, it looks so pretty on.
Thank you, Jennifer! I can see it being bulky!
Hi, Christine–
Do you remember what combination of shadows you used to get that smoky color in your outer corner/crease/lid area? It looks like you did Smoky Quarts in your inner corner and a mix of Carnelian Opal and Dark Citrine on the mobile lid, but what about the rest? I noted this beautiful eye look ages ago when it showed up in some blush photos and saved them to try it myself, but now I have the opportunity to ask. And by the way, just as a general rule, do you apply shadows in the same order (inner, mobile, outer, crease… or inner, outer, mobile, crease… or something else) every time, or change it up depending on the look you’re doing? Hope that’s not too many questions! Thanks in advance.
Hey Emily,
If I list the shades, they’re in order from inner to outer, and I am pretty boring and keep my placement the same, so it’s usually inner lid, middle lid, outer lid, crease, above crease, brow bone. Sometimes I use the same thing for outer lid/crease or crease/above crease. I typically apply in a similar fashion, but if I’m laying down a softer crease color as a transition/blending shade, I might apply that first since it’s almost like a “base” shade.
Smoky Quartz (inner lid), Dark Citrine (middle of lid), Carnelian Opal (outer lid and crease), Sapphire (crease) – it’s Sapphire layered over Carnelian Opal that gets you that smoky plum-purple 🙂
Hope that helps!
Once again, you went above and beyond to give a mini-tutorial on how you achieved a stunning eye look I couldn’t figure out on my own (just as you did when I asked how Senso plus Onyx could possibly make that beautiful taupe eye look with the GA eye tints!), but this time I was so rude I completely forgot to thank you for the effort! I do understand your order, but you’re absolutely right, it’s the smoky plum-purple that baffled me this time! 😉
In any case, THANK YOU. I have to say, I’ve learned more about mixing eyeshadow colors to get astonishing results from you than from any makeup artist or other blogger (mostly because, as I said, you are so generous with your time and don’t just say ‘I’ll do a tutorial’ and then never have time to get around to it, LOL). So I really appreciate it… and as thanks, I’ll probably keep asking when your end look stumps me!
Please feel free to ask any time, Emily! 🙂 I’m happy to share so long as I can remember.
I agree that the price would be justified if they all performed well. I do love the look you created with it though!
Thanks, Valerie!
I really like the concept of these and thankfully for my wallet their these are not available near me to look at up close. I have seen these in various blogs and Youtube videos. The price has always put on my blinders. I think you summarize it well. For, $95, 5 shadows is outrageous. So those 5 need to be gorgeous and spot on. I really love the Citrine. If it were a single, I’d get it. I’m glad you reviewed this though because I have always wondered if these were “worth it”.
If you ever want to try ’em, you can often catch their singles on sale on sites like HauteLook/Amazon’s MyHabit for about $20 a pop (instead of $30.
Great! Thanks..I’ve never hear of My Habit! Must check it out!
Too pricey and hard to come by for something so dupe-able and mundane.
Agreed!
The packaging is just so cool to me. I get a kick out of it every time I see it. So different! The colors aren’t too bad either. Carnelian Opal and Dark Citrine are especially beautiful
It is interesting! I am still undecided if I like it or not, haha.
Hmmm – lots of brands have trouble with navy and blues generally – I always look at the ratings for these colours as they are my favourites and I am often disappointed.
Whilst pretty, this product is not quite good enough for me to buy it. All the other colours are very dupable for a lot less (re Colour Pop).
As always Christine – your eye looks are lovely.
It’s a shame, because Sapphire in the previous release was much better and really pretty!
It’s gotten harder for me to get this brand for a reasonable price here in Canada, so I’ve lost touch with them a bit. Some of these colours are very pretty, but I don’t feel as sad about missing out on this as I have with previous kaleidoscopes.
Their accessibility has dwindled a lot in the U.S., too, and it was never that large to begin with!
Too many choices these days. I see a lot of these on the blogs sales. I only own one…..being sold only in Philadephia at that time. I had to pay for shipping from Saks and now shipping is free. It had a color green similar to Penelope which I missed. This company like many have gone downhill since it started. I think the VIP vault is a hit and miss. I think this brand was started by a bunch of Hollywood people.
I don’t know what happened to Le Metier over the years, but they don’t seem to have a really strong brand identity/path – releases are random with such limited distribution.
I waffled on this a bit, but ended up getting it because I love LMdB shadows so much and hadn’t bought anything from them in a while. I think that the sheerer color redeem themselves when they are layered in the LMdB technique.
I’m glad you ended up liking it, Jill! I’ve held off buying the Kaleidoscopes, but the color combo caught my eye on this one.
I like smoky quartz! Might just have to get Tisse Paris 🙂
It is pretty!