You’re my obsession, Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour in Black Karat ($22).
You Are An Obsession
Laura Mercier
Unsung Heroes: Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Alloy
Lately Laura Mercier’s Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Alloy ($22) has been totally twitching my tail.
I’m not sure if it’s more because I just recently re-discovered my love for Laura Mercier’s permanent line (oh hai, Black Gold and Stormy Grey), because Chanel’s new Harmonie du Soir Quad keeps begging me to find her an appropriate playmate, or just because it’s one of the best taupe products I’ve ever tried. Or maybe a combination of all three.
Whatever the why, with Alloy, the beauty gods granted all of my taupe eye makeup wishes.
Is it neutral enough to flatter warm and cool skin tones? Yup.
Does the finish look alive (and not flat)? Yes again. In fact, I think the glistening metallic finish is just luminous enough to qualify as awesome.
Does it last long enough? I think so. How does eight hours sound?
Does it spread, layer, buff and blend like a dream? Yes, yes, yes and yes. 🙂 All thanks to an epic creamy formula.
Laura Mercier Kohl Eye Pencil in Black Gold Fuels My Love for Messy Rocker Chick Looks
Most gilded liner groupies would be content to have MAC Powersurge tucked away in their makeup bags… Not this gal. I dream of a day I fling my drawers open and nearly drown under a deluge of shimmery bronze and gold liners!!
Greeting me like a friendly face on this path to gold and bronze liner glory is Laura Mercier’s Kohl Eye Pencil in Black Gold, $20 and available now in Laura’s permanent collection.
Darker than Powersurge and more gold than bronze, from its name, I thought this shimmery kohl would be darker, like a black liner lightly brushed with golden pearl, but it looks like more of a 50/50 split between black and gold to me. When I hold the swatch up to the light and wiggle my wrist, I see flashes of both beautiful shades.
Cool.
Makeup mavens may growl at its tendency to migrate. Although Black Gold clings to water lines fairly well (as long as I apply two layers, I don’t even need touch-ups), the smudgy, soft texture gets happy feet on oily lids, which is a little ironic considering its name. I’d say it behaves better than buttery MAC Feline (which I still love), but if your lids are oily at all, starting with a primer, and then setting Black Gold with a shadow on top, should discourage it from transferring into your crease when you blink.
Legions of Lip Liner Lovers Look to Laura Mercier Lip Pencils for Smooth, Creamy Color
Wearing Laura Mercier Lip Pencil in Coffee Bean
Freaks. Crazies. Zealots.
Those who don’t understand often refer to us by those terms…
No matter. At some point — and it’s usually when you find yourself laughing hysterically while clutching two handfuls of lip liners and foaming at the mouth — you realize THIS IS WHO I AM! 
I am the lipstick lovin’ girl who finds the prospect of a fresh crop of fall lip liners to wear with rich reds, plums and browns even more thrilling than watching Ryan Gosling bust out the Dirty Dancing moves.
Yes, strangers accuse me of radical lip liner love. Do they have a point? Absolutely. But I don’t think it’s fair to call me an addict, per se.
More like a devoted practioner. A lip liner champion. A fighter for lined lips everywhere!
The latest addiction addition to my list of loves? — these two new members of the Laura Mercier Lip Liner permanent line ($20 each).
The shades I’ve been switching back and forth between — True Red and Coffee Bean — are two of seven new pencils in the line. The others are Carnation, Crushed Berry, Deep Wine, Praline and Warm Poppy.
I love the way warm True Red works with NARS Heatwave lipstick and MAC Lady Danger, and Coffee Berry, a rich brown, pairs perfectly with MAC Paramount.
Coffee Bean on the left and True Red on the right
[Continue reading…]
Laura Mercier’s Lightly Luminous Crème Smooth Lip Colours Will Last Through Lunch
Laura Mercier Crème Smooth Lip Colour in Spiced Rose
Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Okay, so it wasn’t that long ago. More like last year. But nevertheless, last year at this place I’m talking about there lived a lipstick lover who, despite her best efforts, couldn’t find a long-wearing, moisturizing lipstick to save her life.
Every time she came close, she would fall into despair, with the contender leaving her parched pout just as dry and cracked as before.
Not one to give up easily, our lipstick lover looked and looked for the elusive creature, only to come up empty handed. Disappointed, she began to doubt that such a creature existed at all, and then one fall (this fall, actually), a field of moisturizing lip products sprouted up on shelves!
She saw Make Up For Ever’s glossy new Aqua Rouge Liquid Lip Colors and the Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipsticks from Hourglass, which covered her matte bases, but she still needed something in between…
Her heart longed for a shiny, long-wearing lipstick — but not too shiny — packed with pigment and comfortable to wear.
Just then, something caught her eye over at the Laura Mercier counter…
From the left: Crème Coral (a tawny peach), Rosewood (a warm dusty rose) and Spiced Rose (a rose beige)
It was Laura’s new $26 Crème Smooth Lip Colours, available in 18 shades.
I’ve been getting to know a few of them this week — tawny peach Crème Coral, warm Rosewood and rosy beige Spiced Rose — and they make a pretty good first impression.
Effortlessly lightweight, natural-looking and oh-so-moisturizing, they also have a semi-luminous finish with a light shine.
One rich layer of the unscented, unflavored formula, which Laura loaded with olive oil and vitamin E, completely covers my lips with color and eradicates any flakes.
From the left: Crème Coral (a tawny peach), Rosewood (a warm dusty rose) and Spiced Rose (a rosy beige)
Crème Coral
[Continue reading…]
I Won’t Keep You in Suspense: That’s the New Laura Mercier Eye Colour Duet in Suspense on My Eyes
Oh! — about the eye makeup I wore in yesterday’s NARS Foreplay review, that’s the new limited edition Laura Mercier Eye Colour Duet in Suspense ($22), part of Laura’s fall 2012 Cinema Noir Collection.
The cute case houses two powder matte shadows — a neutral beige and a plummy brown. Before I tried them on, based on how they looked in the pan, I wasn’t expecting to be thrilled, but then I got ’em on my eyes.
WOW! The texture of both of these shadows? Kind of amazing. They’re so soft that they almost feel creamy. Super easy to blend, too, and not a lick of fallout, either.
I think both colors go really well with bronzed brown and plummy brown eyeliners, like MAC Teddy and Becca Cabrera.
For my lips and cheeks in that look yesterday, I borrowed the idea from some of the fall campaign looks I’ve been seeing from NARS and YSL, pairing a strong eye with a bold lip, in this case a warm, shimmery brandy.
With the eyes and lips serving as focal points, I wanted to keep my cheeks more subdued, so I went with a matte peachy pink blush (all the deets are down below).
If you like the idea of looks that combine bold eyes and lips but feel like they can go a little overboard, you could opt for a nude lip shade instead (the Too Faced La Crème lip cremes have lots of nude shades to choose from), or skip the darker liner I’m wearing here on my lower water line entirely.
Or, you could use a lighter white or flesh-colored liner along your lower water line to create a wider-eyed look, and for something like that you might try MAC Eye Kohl in Fascinating, NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Rue Bonaparte, Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in Champagne or Dolce & Gabbana Khol Pencil in True White.
Tightlining With Laura Mercier’s Liner in Deep Teal? Piece of Cake
Just a few shots of the new Laura Mercier Tightline Cake Liner in Deep Teal ($22) from the new Cinema Noir collection.
I used Laura’s Flat Liner Brush ($22) to apply.
Tempting Tuesday Cat Treats, and Swatches of Yves Saint Laurent and Laura Mercier Summer 2012
No, I’m not eating cat treats. 🙂 I may be a crazy cat lady, but I’m not quite there yet.
Tabs ran out of his favorite treats last week, Turkey Temptations, so I thought we’d try something new.
He’s very picky when it come to his treats (I’m sure you’re overwhelmed with surprise, haha), but he really likes these Feline Greenies Dental Treats I found at Pet Food Express.
He even follows me around the house when I walk around with the bag…
That’s how I am about these Gluten Free Cocoa & Vanilla Bunny Cookies from Annie’s.
When Annie says, “You can’t eat just two!” she is NOT kidding around. They’ve got that addictive crunch, the taste of vanilla and cocoa, and a single serving is just 120 calories, which is about 24 of the tiny cookies.
I don’t really go out of my way to eat gluten free, but the lack of gluten sure isn’t hurting these. YUM!
Tasty or not, however, they can’t satisfy my appetite for makeup…
Neither can the 15-piece YSL Summer 2012 collection, but it’s giving it the old college try!
Now that Majorelle Blue mascara and I are like *this*, I’m tempted to pick up the purple version, Signature Violet.
I swung by the YSL counter over at Nordie’s this afternoon to take a closer look and get some swatches…
The Terre Saharienne Poudre de Soleil Bronzing Powder SPF 12 in #1 Sun-Kissed Touch and #2 Healthy Glow ($50 each); Golden Gloss in #3 Golden Shell, #4 Golden Pebble, #5 Golden Pearl and #6 Golden Sand ($30 each); Dessin du Regard Waterproof Eye Pencils in #7 Luminescent Gold and #8 Azure Blue ($28 each); Volume Effet Faux Cils Waterproof Mascara in #9 Charcoal Black, #10 Burnt Brown, #11 Signature Violet and #12 Majorelle Blue ($30 each)
Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eyeshadow Palette in Shell, $52
[Continue reading…]