Le Métier de Beauté Summer Night's Dream eyeshadow palette review + comparison swatches

         Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a tale set in the context of the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. There are several intertwined storylines, brought together by the machinations of mischievous fairies. Perhaps the most provocative tool of fairy magic employed in the tale was the Love in idleness, a white flower turned purple when struck by cupid's bow. When juice from the transformed flower is applied to closed lids, a person will fall in love with the first thing he or she sees upon waking. As you can imagine, this leads to quite a bit of comedic misadventure!

         Le Métier de Beaute has tickled our fancy this summer by creating a palette inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream: The Le Métier de Beauté Summer Night's Dream Kaleidoscope Eye Kit.  I've been delighting in this set, thanks to LMdB, and have a review to share with you today. It's a collection of four lovely colors with which to anoint to our lids --- don't worry, they aren't quite as potent Shakespeare's fairy flowers, but be forewarned, you still just might fall in love!

          The Le Métier de Beauté Summer Night's Dream Kaleidoscope Eye Kit is packaged in reflective silver plastic packaging. It has a hinged mirror on top and four pull-out layers, each with one eyeshadow within. The shades were designed to be layered from top to bottom using LMdB's Couches de Couleur (Layers of Color) technique.

          You can see the Shakespearean inspirations in the name of each eyeshadow. The colors included are as follows, from top to bottom. Midsummer is an ethereal pink-gold. Fairyland is a silver-flecked grey. Athenians is a warm bronze. Love-in-idleness is a deep indigo blue shadow.

           I've swatched the Le Métier de Beauté Summer Night's Dream Kaleidoscope Eye Kit below, along with a few other colors in my collection so you can get a sense of the nuances in each shade. MAC Vex eyeshadow is very similar to Le Métier de Beauté Midsummer; both have an oyster base and a pink sheen. MAC Tzarine eyeshadow has a similar intensity to Le Métier de Beauté Fairyland, the latter has more pink tones, while the former has more gold tones. NARS Lola Lola eyeshadow (see story of how I purchased it here) is similar to Le Métier de Beauté Athenians, however Lola Lola is more red toned, while Athenians has more gold shimmer. Chantecaille Black Tip from The Sharks palette (reviewed here) looks similar to Le Métier de Beauté Love-in-idleness in the pan, however they are quite different when swatched. Chantecaille Black Tip is a much more brilliant blue, while Le Métier de Beauté Love-in-idleness has a blacker base and an indigo sheen.

          I love the combination of misty cool tones with warm hues in the Le Métier de Beauté Summer Night's Dream Kaleidoscope Eye Kit, as I regularly employ this kind of contrast in my everyday routine. The colors are beautiful and practical, befitting an Amazonian or Fairy Queen --- and perhaps even your lids this midsummer! The limited edition Le Métier de Beauté Summer Night's Dream Kaleidoscope Eye Kit ($95) is available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman (if interested, call for more info at 212-872-8612).

         Thanks for reading! Have you read or seen A Midsummer Night's Dream? What Shakespearean plays are your favorites? What was the last LMdB product you tried?

Love, Dovey.

P.S. For more Le Métier de Beauté, be sure to check out my review of Le Métier de Beauté True Eye Color in Nutmeg.
Disclosure: This post contains product(s) sent to Cute and Mundane for consideration by PR. The ideas and opinions in this post are genuine and my own.

Le Metier de Beaute True Colour Eye Shadow in Nutmeg review + swatches

          It's that time of year when everyone seems to be cradling a pumpkin spice latte. It's an autumnal taste people can't seem to get enough of. (You might remember the minor pandemonium caused by the rumored 'pumpkin spice shortage' piece published in the Wall St. Journal earlier this month). So, what is 'pumpkin spice'? It's not pumpkin flavor, to be sure. It's more like the supplemental spices that one would find in a pumpkin pie, at the heart of which is nutmeg: a spice capable of upturning the corners of any mouth at first whiff. In addition to beautiful flavor, the nut has golden orange tones that coordinate effortlessly with the gourds and falling leaves of autumn. Today I'll be sharing a review of  Le Metier de Beaute True Colour Eye Shadow in Nutmeg, which embodies both the color and spirit of its namesake nut!

          Le Metier de Beaute True Colour Eye Shadow in Nutmeg has a rounded black casing with a rubberized feel. It's similar to NARS packaging, however the surfaces are flat, not rounded. There's a mirror embedded inside the lid. The eyeshadow contain 0.13 oz. of product (compare to 0.05oz for a MAC eyeshadow). The shadow is smooth and pigmented. According to Le Metier de Beaute's website, the shadows are quadruple milled.

          Le Metier de Beaute Nutmeg is an orange copper eyeshadow with a golden sheen. I was surprised at how orange it was when swatched, I had imagined it to be more gold. You can see that it it's quite different from the gold tones in Urban Decay Half Baked. Nutmeg is more orange and less coppery than Urban Decay Chopper. (Both Half Baked and Chopper were from my Urban Decay NAKED2 palette reviewed here). Urban Decay Penny Lane looks is a coppery orange that looks quite orange in the pan (see it in my Urban Decay Vice palette review here). It is still less orange than LMdB Nutmeg. Laura Geller Creme Brulee is a much darker and more coppery.

          This fall I'll try to step outside of my comfort zone and add a dash of 'Nutmeg' into my makeup routine. It will certainly add a nice autumnal glow to the looks I'm attempting. Thanks for reading! Have you tried Le Metier de Beaute True Colour Eye Shadow in Nutmeg? What are your favorite LMdB eyeshadows? Have you reached for any copper or orange tones this fall? Are you a pumpkin spice latte person?

Love, Dovey.

Disclosure: This post contains product(s) sent to Cute and Mundane for consideration by PR. The ideas and opinions in this post are genuine and my own.

Le Metier de Beaute' Breathless' Kaleidoscope review + swatches

          For Fall 2012, Le Metier de Beaute channels the glamour of Hollywood and classic cinema in their newest lip kaleidoscope. The Le Metier de Beaute 'Breathless' Kaleidoscope features bold red lip colors, as well  as pretty glosses to mix things up. It's a beautiful take for fall, and has me looking forward to the holiday season when these colors will take center stage.

          The Le Metier de Beaute 'Breathless' Kaleidoscope is packaged in reflective silver plastic packaging. It differs from the black packaging of other kaleidoscopes, presumably because silver better complements pink and red tones. The LMdB Kaleidoscope appears to be a paperweight, however I was surprised to see that it was actually light in hand. I was pleased to find a flip top mirror, which makes application with the kaleidoscope self sufficient. When the mirror is flipped open, there was a continuation of the silvery packaging at the inner top of the package with the LMdB logo. The silver mirror on mirror effect is pretty cool. I only wish the visible magnet and the white plastic hinge had been embedded to make things even more perfect.

          The construction Le Metier de Beaute 'Breathless' Kaleidoscope complements the film theme of the palette. The circular shape and moving parts remind me loosely of an old movie film projector. As you can see the colors can be flipped out of the packaging on a hinge. While having all four colors flipped out at once looks cool, it's not the most practical. I like to pull out only one or two at a time. The four colors in this lip palette can either be worn alone or used together. Le Metier de Beaute's 'couches de couleurs' technique suggests for the palette colors to be layered upon each other in order from the base upwards. From the bottom up, the four colors in the Le Metier Breathless Kaleidoscope include: Celluloid, Beau, Existential, and Cinema.

          I've swatched the colors in Le Metier de Beaute 'Breathless' Kaleidoscope below, in the order from bottom to top. There are two sheer glossy sparkly colors and two pigmented matte colors. Celluloid is a sheer strawberry red pink with sparkles. It has a softer feel than the mattes. Beau is a bright pink red satin color. Existential is a sheer mauve gloss with sparkles. Cinema is a strong red that leans slightly cool. When all four colors are layered in the 'couches de couleurs' format, the result is a cheerful pink red that has shine.

          The Le Metier de Beaute 'Breathless' Kaleidoscope is a fun set for the red lip lover. It can be worn now, and will likely prove useful when mistletoe season rolls around. One can use the 'couches de couleurs' technique, other creative combinations, or each color alone to achieve a number of looks. Thanks for reading! Have you tried the Le Metier de Beaute 'Breathless' Kaleidoscope? Have you tried any other LMdB Kaleidoscopes? When in the season do you usually start pulling out your red lipsticks?

Love, Dovey.

Disclosure: This post contains product(s) sent to Cute and Mundane for consideration by PR. The ideas and opinions in this post are genuine and my own.

Le Metier de Beaute CHEM60 Pro-Peel & GLOW10ai Mask experience

            Recently I was invited by Le Metier de Beaute to preview their new at-home facial peel at my nearest Nieman Marcus counter. This Saturday afternoon, I stopped by the Neiman Marcus on 737 North Michigan Ave. to see what what it was all about.


          The Le Metier de Beaute CHEM60 Pro-Peel and GLOW10ai Mask Set (shown above) is a 15 minute at-home salicylic and glycolic acid facial peel designed to give professional spa-like results. The peel is a two step process that can be used once a week. The CHEM-60 Pro-Peel is the first step, which can be applied for 60 seconds (or up to five minutes). Its purpose is to desquamate skin cells. After washing off with warm water, the GLOW10ai mask is applied. The mask has a white glue-like appearance and a thick consistency. It should be applied thickly, as it will help peel off the upper skin layers and unclog pores. It takes around fifteen minutes to completely dry, at which point you can pull it off. I had a test patch run on my hand, and indeed it did result in a brightened and smoothened appearance. Although the treatment did seem to work, I was not offered an actual facial peel experience so I cannot report those results at this time.

         While at there, I did dabble in a few pieces of makeup since this was my first time at a Le Metier de Beaute counter. I was hoping to try the famed LMdB Corinthian, but sadly it was missing from the shadow selection. I did receive a nice touch-up with the Powder Rouge in Fresh, which was very pretty. I also got to try Purple Haze, which I recognized as a popular limited edition item from the Ken Downing collection from Fall 2011.

           I asked a few questions about the other skincare in Le Metier's line (shown above), as my sales associate was quite knowledgeable about skincare.  I learned about the Daily Refresh Tonic and Daily Renew cleanser. Both have a gorgeous peppermint scent, which I really liked. I'll keep these in mind for the future.

          The Le Metier de Beaute CHEM60 Pro-Peel and GLOW10ai Mask Set ($260 for 4-5 uses) is available for presale and should be available at counters by November.  From a product perspective, I think this may be worth a look if you are a fan of Le Metier de Beaute skincare. As for my first experience at a LMdB, I have mixed feelings. I was excited to take part, brought my camera and came prepared to report on an experience. Unfortunately, there had been a mixup with my appointment time. My experience ended up being a more like a customer question session, instead of a facial product experience. It was different than I had expected, but I still had a good time. Should I have ever the chance to try the peel again, I'll know what to do. Thanks for reading! Have you had the chance to try the new Le Metier CHEM60 Pro-Peel and GLOW10ai or LMdB skincare? What are your favorite peels?

Love, Dovey.

Disclosure: I was invited to partake in this experience by the company's PR. The ideas and opinions in this post are genuine and my own.