Auda[city] in Paris

Lancome Auda[city] in Paris Eyeshadow Palette ($68.00 for 0.72 oz.) is a smokier set of shades that mixes cool and warm undertones to create a gradient of color ranging from light gold to smoky purple to matte black. I think the color combination is more unusual but still familiar. The textures were very, very similar to Urban Decay Naked Smoky to me (all owned by the same parent) -- the mattes had a thinner, slightly dusty, "noisy" texture; there's a distinct sound that I can hear when my brush passes across the surface of them that I don't notice with a lot of other eyeshadows. It applied better than it swatched, and the product seems more buildable than anything else. I felt like my eyelids look a little drier with this formula on. The palette is best paired with your go-to primer, as it will help you get truer-to-pan color and greater intensity, though the wear with most shades was near to the eight-hour mark without a primer. I have a few of these shades as singles from several years ago (so I don't know if they have reformulated at some point in the last four or five years), but the versions in the palette are less dense and drier to me. The palette itself is large and feels a little bulky, but it contains a lot so I think it is travel-friendly if you don't midn the weight or are going for a longer trip; and I consistently had a little struggle getting it open (just doesn't seem to have a good groove to open for my finger/hand size, I guess!).

• Brand Description