Lancome Color Design Eye Shadow: The New Black, Daylight, Click, Makeover

Beauty bloggers do the oddest things to amuse themselves. I'm sure you're familiar with these Lancome GWP eye shadow quads. You probably have severals of them around. I play with them from time to time, custom mix shades or add one  to whatever look I'm creating. It's nice to have options.

The other day I pulled out one of these quads I've had for months but haven't touched since the day I swatched and photographed the eye shadows. I think the almost-raspberry pink has put me off. I decided to do a full look based on this quad. Because it was there, pristine and barely touched...

What we have in this quad (all Lancome Color Design eye shadows are actually available as singles):
The New Black- Satin finish black with tiny silver glittery/shimmer particles.
Daylight- Matte warm off-white. Somewhere between Bobbi Brown's Navajo and Bone, only with better color pay-off but a little more chalky.
Click- Looks taupe in the pan, but more of a bronzed mauve with a metallic finish.
Makeover- Lancome describe it as "metallic electric cotton candy pink". I call it nightmare pink.

What I did:
Daylight makes a good allover base color and even opens up the brow bone area. A primer is non-negotiable here to make it look smooth and even.
Once the entire area was Daylighted out, I used contour and crease brushes to sculpt the lid and crease with Click. It gives a natural deep but not made up look, quite flattering, really. I built up the color by using a pencil brush to add another layer at the outer V.
The new black makes for a beautiful eyeliner. I like to used it with a damp brush, with or without a sealing agent (Paula Dorf Transformer). The end result is a shiny liquid black liner. Very chic.

Most Lancome Color Design shades I've ever tried are quite decent. The texture has improved in recent years, but it's a touch and go when it comes to individual shades- I highly recommend not ordering sight unseen, which shouldn't be a problem as Lancome counters are everywhere. At they're best, the colors are smooth, wearable and flattering, even if many lack a certain depth and wow factor.

Now, I still had Makeover unused. This pink monstrosity doesn't belong anywhere around my eyes. I can't even begin to tell you how wrong this color can be for me. But a challenge is a challenge and I decided to be creative and suck it up. I can wear pink blush, after all, the question is can I wear a metallic electric cotton candy pink blush?

Since the pans of the GWP are quite small, I had to find a suitable brush. Hakuhodo small flat top Yachio was an obvious choice, as it's really tiny and I could get the pigment evenly all over the brush without it touching any of the other colors in the compact. Makeover went on smoothly enough and the brush did a great job distributing the color, but the metallic electric finish is very very frosty. I experimented a little and discovered that taming the beast with Smashbox Softlights (most shades would work, as long as they're flattering on you) applied with a good powder brush takes away the metallic edge while allowing the healthy part of the pink to shine through.

Bottom Line: I ended with a very pretty look.

Lancome Color Design Eye Shadow ($17 each) are available from most department stores and lancome.com.

All photos are mine.

Lancome Magie Vintage 1950s Perfume And La Collection Reissue

I don't know exactly how old is my bottle of the original Magie by Lancome, but all evidence (the bottle, its stopper and the box) point to the early 1950s.  I bought it sealed a couple of years ago after I already had the modern (late 2000s) reissue and liked it enough to be curious about what it used to smell like. To my surprise, I think I prefer the new Magie to its predecessor. At least for the first 80% of the perfume's life on skin.

The 1950s Magie is an aldehydic floral with an ambery somewhat chypery base (though it's not an oakmoss bomb, more like a hint of that lost in a big vat of Chanel No. 5. Lancome created a mostly polite and demure creature, but with an edge. The predictable rose-violet-jasmine core is inflated by aldehydes and feels more than a little boring, especially if one already have several vintage gems of the same denomination. But I fully enjoy the drydown, since they no longer make them like that. It reminds me of all that's good in vintage Caleche and then some. This is where I smell and get the magic of Magie- she's a good witch, for sure, but neither like Glinda from OZ nor is she Professor McGonagall. There's a certain sultriness as Magie turns all amber, musk and skin, so I'm thinking Veronica Lake as a witch.

The new Magie from Lancome's well-crafted and tragically aborted Le Collection is more seductive at first. I can probably blame that on the vintage juice's age. It might have lost its girly figure, while the modern one is quite voluptuous for a floral perfume and a little indolic. The comparison to vintage Caleche is still valid in the beginning  and I definitely get the chypre structure here. March of the Posse found Magie way too sweet and ambery for her taste, to the point she actually used Bal a Versailles EdC to drown it. I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about, so this particular concoction sounds utterly insane to me. Then again March is a layering genius, so I'm taking her word for it.

The new Magie continues its journey in Caleche's footsteps, this time the modern reformulation that uses vetiver instead of all the good old stuff. I love vetiver, of course, and don't mind in theory, but finding this base in too many new versions of the classics has started to feel like an easy way out. We could all use a little more magic.

Lancome abandoned and discontinued its La Collection perfumes including Magie. I assume they found the cost of keeping a more exclusive high-quality line too high for their liking. Its not that their reps and SAs were ever good at selling the stuff. They all look a lot more comfortable pushing the insipid Magnifique. It doesn't endear them to me.

Top photo by me.
Veronica Lake and I Married A Witch film poster (1942) from imdb.com

Lancome Blush Subtil Mauve Coquette

One of the thing the people of Lancome really know how to do is blush. The colors of their permanent line have always been pretty and wearable, with the bonus of rarely getting discontinued. The textures have improved throughout the years, making them somewhat more delicate (I still remember the 80s version and can't believe we actually used that. Then again, most other brands were far worse).

Mauve Coquette is a medium shade, neutral-to-warm on the warm-cool continuum (see how it changes with the light in the photos), and tends to go with the wearer's coloring. On me it pulls warmer, but I saw it on a pale, pink cheeked face and it worked just as well. I didn't watch it very heavily here, so there's enough pigment to either go with a bold sculpted look or apply sheer and natural.

The texture is not quite matte but there are no obvious shimmer particles. Like all Lancome blushes it blends very well, despite not being the softest or silkiest. There are better and more refined formulas on the market that give the face something extra: a glow that's beyond face paint. But as far as traditional blushes go, this is quite nice.

Bottom Line: one of the best in the mid-department store level.

Lancome Blush Subtil ($29.50) is available from your local counters and lancome.com. Some shades can also be found at Sephora (Mauve Coquette is not online). Mine was a GWP (hence the packaging)  from one of the department stores (possibly Bloomingdale's, but I can't remember for sure).

All photos were taken by me.

Lancome Erika F Ombre Absolue Eyeshadow G40

Or: In Which I Tackle A Legend

I was never sure how much of the Erika F hype was because this specific Lancome formula is not available in the US (due to an ingredient that wasn't approved for use here), and how much was the product itself. A few months ago my beautiful sister got me the real thing overseas and I've been playing with it since.

My sister, by the way, was quite indifferent when she saw it. In her opinion this line doesn't compare to Chanel Ombres Contraste Duo, and I guess she's right. Quality-wise there are many better eye shadows out there. From texture to tenacity (and pigment integrity), Lancome Ombre Absolue is nice but far from perfect. Still, there is something about Erika F that makes it, indeed, very special.

Many a blogger has written about Erika F and found the color hard to describe. It tends to look a bit different in almost every picture and the swatches vary greatly between skin tones and the lights used. I also find a difference between the way it appears on my lids and the swatch. The skin in my area is darker, making Erika F appear somewhat sheer, depending on the brush I use. My perception is that the color is a khaki-based silver with just a little taupe that prevents it from being too cool/silvery. I'm very careful with silver eye shadows, but I find this one very wearable. As long as we're talking evening and night out makeup, that is.

I apologize to everyone who wears Erika F to the office/PTA meetings/vet appointments, but I don't know how you do it. It's so shimmery with visible glitter particles and attracts so much attention, I just can't see myself wearing it before sunset and without being dressed to kill. It's gorgeous, it catches the light and makes brown eyes really stand out, it can be applied on the lid and in the crease or even just along the lash line above a jet black eyeliner. It just isn't an everyday item.

Then there's also the issue of shimmer fallout and it drives me crazy. Using the best primer money can buy (Kanebo Sensai) helps a little, but I still end up the night with glittery cheeks. Then again, if one expects a flawless application it's better to stick out with Le Metier de Beaute and Edward Bess.

To read more and see pictures, swatches and comparisons to other sort-of-similar colors, please check these posts from The Beauty Look Book,  Pink Sith, Cafe Makeup and Blogdorf Goodman.

Lancome Erika F (#133) Ombre Absolue Eye Shadow G40 is available in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.  Prices vary by location and this is such a bestseller counters tend to sell out more quickly then they can restock, some patience and legwork might be needed if you or your loved ones are on a quest to find it.

All photos are mine.

Lancome Aquatique Waterproof Eyecolour Base

Lancome was a latecomer to the primer scene. Their MA maintained for ages that all you need under makeup is a good moisturizer and eye cream and color would stick and stay true all day. Those of us who've been using primers regularly would beg to differ, of course, and eventually Lancome released Aquatique Waterproof Eyecolour Base as an eye shadow primer.

One would think Lancome might have used the extra time for some serious R&D to develop a superior product. Well, in this case one is wrong. The texture of Aquatique is harder than most primers and almost waxy. It's spreads easier than I feared and creates the desired smooth canvas feel, but this kind of smoothness doesn't do much to make eye shadows stay in place. You feel like you're covering your lids with spackle but the color doesn't adhere to it very well. I've tried Aquatique base with numerous eye shadows from several brands, including Lancome, but the results were never as good as I get with other primers.

Bottom Line: They should stick with what they do best.

Lancome Aquatique Waterproof Eyecolour Base ($24.50) is available from most department stores, Sephora and lancome.com. I got the mini size as a part of a GWP.

All photos are mine.