Some artists wield pencils. Others command paint, clay, pen or pastels.
My medium of choice: cat fur.
Gurl, you don’t even know! My cat is one hairy beast. In fact, he’s so hairy that a sculptor could fashion a different life-size model of him out of stray tabby hairs and fur balls every week.
My second favorite artistic medium would have to be eyeshadow, I think, mostly because there are just so many different things you can do with it, and this new palette by Laura Mercier is unlocking my inner artiste, big time.
The $48 Artist’s Palette for Eyes (a Sephora exclusive) will have you itching to break out your makeup brushes. The six warm neutrals, and six cool pinks and purples, practically beg to be swept, blended and patted on lids in any number of enticing holiday eye looks.
Come to mama, smokey eyes!
Don’t even worry about busting your wrist while blending these eyeshadows. They’re pigmented, but the soft, finely-milled powders blend ridiculously well.
Like, if you love eye looks where all the shadows merge together seamlessly until you can’t even tell the individual products apart anymore, this is the palette for you. For super blended, blown-out eye looks, it can’t be beat.
But all that bad-@ss blending brawn comes at a cost — for me, the powders actually end up being easy to over-blend.
Because I have a tendency to go buck wild with my blending brush, it took me a few tries to get the hang of this palette. My first attempts were…kind of a mess, truth be told. The shadows ended up merging into each other, and I looked like I was only wearing a single shade, even though it was actually three or four.
There seems to be a trick to it — just chill the eff out, LOL! Cutting back on the blending definitely helped.
If you characterize your eye makeup style as minimal or streamlined, this palette could be a real showstopper for you — like if you tend to use just one or two shadows on your lids at a time, you’re set.
On the other hand, if you go in for looks with 4-5 shades and gradients up the wazoo, be careful with that blending blush…
You also may want to do your eyes first when working with this palette, since some of the shimmers exhibit a small amount of fallout (just a little; not much).
I think this is a gorgeous palette with a good mix of cool and warm tones, and if you like your eye makeup easy without a ton of complicated gradients, it should be great fit.
PRICE: $48
AVAILABILITY: Available now exclusively at Sephora stores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
WOW. This palette is absolutely stunning. And this is easily one of your best eyeshadow looks! Glad you got the hang of the blending because it looks great.
Erica
http://abundanceoferica.blogspot.ca
Thanks Erica!
Wow, Karen, this eye look is a showstopper. Can you do a tutorial on how to do it? (Or even just tell us in the comments what you did!). Love it!
Hi Pam,
Thank you! I listed a full breakdown of the shadows in the reply to Kristen. Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any questions. 🙂
Thanks a bunch Karen! This palette is going on my to splurge list!
So you think I’d like it? The colors look beautiful. And yes, can you break down your eye look? And also, what’s on your lips?
Hi my friend!
I have the full breakdown in the comment to Kristen. Let me know if you have any other Q’s about it.
Also, the lips are Laura Mercier’s Stickgloss in Brown Sugar. 🙂
I’ve had this sitting in my cart at Sephora.com for the past 10 days or so! I’m SO tempted to get it, especially since I have a code for the F&F sal!
Hi Aditi,
Oooh, what else is in your cart?
Karen that is one of the most incredible looks I’ve seen on you. You look AMAZING! I can’t wait to try my palette. Pics are all done and it’s time to dig in. I am so trying that look!
Hi Christa,
Thanks girl! Can’t wait to see this on you. I bet it would look amazing on your skin tone!
I got the first iteration of this palette, the colors a really pretty (this one looks gorgeous too!). These looks beautiful on you!!
Thank you, Natalie. 🙂 Hope you’re having a good week so far! Is it Friday yet?!
I adore African Violet and this post is a good reminder to pull it out for a fun spin on an intense smoky eye. Hooray for something new to try 🙂
Hi Alison,
It’s a wonderful shade. Seems like it’s always in the Laura Mercier palettes! Do you ever wear it wet? That’s my favorite way to work it.
This looks gorgeous! and have to side with Agata– what is on your lips?
Hi Andrea,
It’s Laura Mercier’s Stickgloss in Brown Sugar. 🙂
ho.ly.mo.ly.
This is amazing.
I LOVE the colors, and am super duper excited about the epic blendability! I have approximately 0 patience when it comes to blending…
Yup. This is going on my wishlist.
Hi Shannon,
You will LOVE how easy these are to blend. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this palette!
Going by the description of the palette.. It looks like my dream palette.. The truffle is scuh a beautiful coffee brown shade.. i am craving for hot cuppa of coffee!!
and wat a ravising Eye makeup dear.. truely loved the effect of blending.. I want this paletteee for sure… 😀 😀
Thanks!
What I adored about last year’s LMAP was the goof-proof-ness of it… since I am NOT an expert with a blending brush, this one was super easy for me to use. Of all the palettes I purchased last holiday season(a few since I was taking advantage of my employee discount), this one became hands down my favorite, go-to everyday use palette. I have hit pan on Vanilla Nuts, so I am glad to see it as a repeat. LOVE the look you did -please tutorial or list the shadows you used? gotta stalk my Sephora to see if it is in stock yet! Super psyched!
Hi Lorraine,
I’ve listed the shades in the reply to Kristen’s comment. Let me know if you have any questions!
This is exactly how I want my eyes to look for the next, oh, 3-4 months! I love a sultry, smokey eye for fall/winter. Awesome look, Karen 😀
Hi Jacklyn,
Thank you! I love me a smokey eye for winter too. What colors have you been wearing lately?
For a quick daytime smokey eye, I like to line my eyes with a brown pencil eyeliner (lately been loving Milani’s), then smudge it with a pencil brush dipped in MAC Swiss Chocolate. Then I gradually blend up towards my brow with Saddle and Wedge. Buff out any harsh edges with my face powder, add mascara, and I’m done!
STUNNING, Karen!! These eye looks really show off what a gorgeous woman you are! ZOMG, can we get a tutorial up in here?! Incredible work, and you are simply beautiful!
Hi Kristen,
One of these days I have to just bite the bullet and film the makeup process, LOL! This was kinda complicated, so for now I hope it’s okay if I list a quick breakdown. Here’s what I used:
Base: MAC Painterly Paint Pot
Brow bone and inner corner: Sparkling Dew
Crease: Fresco and Truffle Mixed Together, then and Bamboo applied wet (upper crease)
Lids: African Violet applied wet
Outer V: Violet Ink and Espresso
Water lines and upper lash lines: Chanel Cassis Eyeliner
Lower lash line: Kir Royal
Wow Karen.. thank you for giving me a tip on how to use African Violet! I recently bought this palette and was in love with all the darker/matte colors(Plum Smoke, Fresco, Violet Ink, Kir Royal, Truffle, Espresso Bean) but when I tried to use African Violet, one of the main reasons I bought this palette, it barely showed up on my lids no matter how much I packed on! I was really disappointed with it. I’m excited to try it wet and see if I get better results!
Thank you SO much, K-Dawg! I ordered this palette yesterday and I am so excited to try to recreate this incredible look you did! Blessings!
what a stunning look Karen! It’s seamlessly blended, and purple!! My favorite! African Violet and Kir Royale look so pretty.
Wow – this is easily the most beautiful I have ever seen you look! I recently got this and it quickly became my favorite palette. I now wish I had gotten last year’s version.
What a great palette! I feel like it would work beautifully on brown eyes. The colors work great with your skintone!
Maha Maven
Maha Maven Youtube
Sparkling Dew is so pretty in the swatch.
Gorgeous look you came up with! I just bought this palette cuz of this look! Thank goodness for sephora employee appreciation discount 🙂
OK, so I have been thinking about this palette and this look just completely sold it for me. Sephora, here I come!!!
That’s gorgeous! I love the fact that it’s full of pink shadows and that a lot of the shades are matte. I need this badly!
O M G! That eye look is SO beautiful on you! This palette looks great, thanks for sharing *promptly puts it on wishlist*
my god, woman! that’s some killer blending Skillz!
Absolutely gorgeous. And I love the case!
This palette definitely caught my eye when browsing Sephora a few weeks ago. Purple shadows are my favorite to wear! I decided that it wasn’t something I needed, and that I’d purchase UD Vice 2 instead…
The last thing I need is more eyeshadow!
(I want it.)
Thats a gorgeous look you created there Karen!
Omg Karen that first picture of you is mesmerizing, it belongs in a magazine.
Such a gorgeous look on you! I love it!
Wow, what a BEAUTIFUL look on you, Karen! I’m loving that you went for a monochrome face (eyes, cheeks, lips)–because you’re showing how very UNboring monochrome can be! (But dang it… I already have either four or five of these colors in another LM palette; gonna have to drag out all my palettes again and see how *much* I need this one. 😀 )
Oh, and you don’t even KNOW cat fur until you’ve had a Ragdoll, LOL…
How gorgeous are the shades in that eye palette!
Wow karen! That looks amazing! Gorgeous eye look on a gorgeous gal! I have similar skin tone and eyes and have always loved purple-violet e/s. That and neutrals – that’s it! I’m definitely thinking of getting this 🙂
Lmao I’d love to see some of your cat fur pieces! That cracked me up lol. That eye look you created is just beautiful. You are so talented Karen! This palette looks pretty awesome. I had no idea it existed before today but it’s definitely on my wishlist now lol
These colors looks amazing! Wish we had this brand here..
Karen, u look absolutely gorgeous.. I am still a student. I don’t want to buy same color repeatedly.. as I own Urban Decay Naked 2.. now considering buying some warm colors but not want to get Naked 1..the cool toned shades of this very palette match with Naked 2? u already posted the swatches but they can be deceptive on my screen..