The new Laura Mercier Luxe Colour Portfolio ($78)

Driving to Sephora this morning — actually, Starbucks. That was the cover story I told El Hub, as he didn’t need to know I intended to look at more makeup. (Him: “Babe, do you REALLY need another lipstick?” Me: “Um, yes.”)

So, driving to “Starbucks” this morning, I saw a gal driving a car with a license plate frame that read, “I’m going to Starbucks. Get out of my way!!!”

Haha! That’s how I feel sometimes about Sephora (and Starbucks)…

At Sephora I bumped into some new spring products from Laura Mercier, like the Luxe Colour Portfolio.

Laura’s palettes rarely let me down… I love how she puts her colors together, balancing wearable shades with fun twists here and there (like Bobbi Brown meets NARS).

It’s elegant, but not too safe, and that’s one of the things I absolutely adore about her stuff. Especially her palettes.

The $78 Luxe Colour Portfolio comes with six powder eyeshadows and three cake liners in a mix quiet grays and taupes punctuated by rich purples, browns and an indigo blue. It also houses two pink powder blushes — one shimmer and one matte — for naturally flushed cheeks.

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Wearing Laura Mercier’s new Crème Cheek Colour in Oleander ($24) from the new Arabesque collection for spring 2013

In the comments this week, quite a few folks have asked, “What blush are you wearing?” which I take as a testament to Laura Mercier’s fabulousness.

You know something’s going well when after almost every pic you post of yourself, someone wants to know what you’re wearing on your cheeks.

I’ve been wearing the two $24 Crème Cheek Colours, Oleander and Praline, from Laura’s new Arabesque collection for spring, and both of them love mugging for the camera.

They photograph really well and do a bang-up job of brightening, both in front of and behind the camera. Both of them give a nice flush to cheeks without looking overdone, or like you’re wearing too much makeup (perfect for a first date).

The colors aren’t new, but their packaging is, and thank gawd! — because the old packaging used to be a bear to close. Technically, both are re-promotes from the permanent collection.

I’ve actually worn the pink blush from this release, Oleander, off and on since 2007.

Swatches of Oleander on the left and Praline on the right

Oleander

Praline

Laura Mercier Repair Eye Serum…a secret to crease-free under-eye concealer!

Ooh! I picked up a great makeup trick last week from Courtney, a makeup artist/MBB reader/self-professed crazy cat lady at the Laura Mercier counter inside Saks in San Francisco’s Union Square.

Here’s the deal: I asked Court if she could recommend any secret weapons from Laura Mercier’s line — awesome products that maybe a lot of people didn’t know about — and she pulled out Laura’s Flawless Skin Repair Eye Serum.

This stuff is bright and tight. It contains green and white tea, arnica extract, caffeine and geranium to tighten skin and has a brightening pearlescent pink color.

Courtney’s trick? She uses it on herself and her clients as something of a primer for under-eye concealer.

Pat a minuscule amount — just a smidgen — beneath your eyes before concealer, let that sink in for a minute or two, and then apply your regular concealer on top.

BAM! It’s like P90X for concealer. You should see fewer concealer creases, all-day wear time and a lighter look from your concealer overall.

BEAUTY FUN FACT: according to Courtney, Laura Mercier uses Shu Uemura technology in all of their skin care.

Courtney said that a bunch of the makeup artists at Saks use the serum this way as a primer for concealers, and it doesn’t just work with Laura’s line. They also do it with concealers from other brands.
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Wearing Laura Mercier’s new Stone Grey Eye Pencil ($20) from the Arabesque Spring 2013 collection along my lower lash and water lines

I’m having a very hard time not referring to Laura Mercier’s new $20 Stone Grey Eye Pencil (from the Arabesque Spring 2013 collection) as, “Stone Cold Grey.”

And it’s all this man’s fault: Stone Cold Steve Austin.

I watched a lot of pro wrestling with my younger brother when he was kid, and back then Stone Cold Steve Austin was, like, a big, big deal.

For the record, it was usually my brother’s idea. I’d walk into the room while he was glued to the TV, his eyes wide with excitement, and ask, “Why are you watching that? You know it’s all fake, right?”

“Shut up, it’s real!” he’d reply, only taking his eyes off the action for a second.

Now, all these years later, I know how he must have felt, because the same thing happens to me when I’m watching The Hills…

Okay, tangent! Back to Laura’s Stone Grey.

One of two pencils in the Arabesque collection, this rich, pigmented cool-toned grayish blue, a limited edition piece (the other Arabesque pencil, Midnight Bleu, hails from the permanent collection), has a matte finish — almost like Stormy Grey liner’s shy cousin.

I think it looks lovely layered beneath Blue Zen eyeshadow — the one from the Free Spirit Palette — or by itself along lower lash and water lines.

If you’ve been wanting to test the waters with a blue liner but haven’t felt like diving into the deep end with a shockingly bright electric blue, this is the pencil for you. The grey really tones it down, keeping it quiet and soft.

It’s the kind of thing you could wear to work without your co-workers saying, “Ohmigod! Are you wearing blue eyeliner today!?” between TPS reports.

On my lash and water lines, it lasts from 5-6 hours, with minimal fading around the 4-hour mark, but touchups are easy, thanks to a soft, smooth texture.

Stone Grey Eye swatch

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Wearing colors from the new Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour Palette in Free Spirit ($48), from the new Arabesque collection for spring

This — THIS! — is one of the reasons I love Laura Mercier. First time I saw her new $48 Baked Eye Colour Palette in Free Spirit, I thought, “There’s no frickin’ way I’ll be able to pull that off.”

I thought the colors were way too cool for me, and that the pastels would appear chalky and entirely unwearable on my warm skin tone.

But then I started playing…

And, like she does so often, Laura came through. Again, she found a way to make seemingly safe shades interesting, unusual and, I think, totally wearable.

At first glance, these colors might not get your heart pounding, but give ‘em a chance. Dig a little (NOOO! — not literally into the pans, of course!), and you might just find something surprisingly beautiful hidden within something so seemingly subtle.

It happened to me with this palette.

A couple of its pastels do seem pretty typical, like the lightest blue, Soft Cloud. It’s pretty much your run-of-the-mill shimmery blue.

And then there’s Pink Tutu, the light pink on the far right — a competent but uninspiring shimmery pink. Neither one will set any records for originality, and you can probably find dupes from other lines.

Oh, but the remaining three shades — the dark blue on the far left, and the two darkest shades guarding the center — they hold the keys to this palette’s true power.

My favorite’s the one in the middle, Satin Ribbon, a gorgeous coppery bronze with blackened undertones.

From the left: Blue Zen, Soft Cloud, Satin Ribbon, Bare Yoga and Pink Tutu

SO BEAUTIFUL! It makes my head spin. And so complex. If you wet your brush first before applying it on your lids, the copper tones come out to party, looking rich and bright. I didn’t expect something like it from a palette with pastels.

Bare Yoga, seated to Satin Ribbon’s right, also blew me away. It’s my second favorite of these colors. Despite how basic it looks in the pan and when swatched dry, this mauve really grooves when you start buffing, revealing a purply brown personality. I love the way it looks blended into the crease with Satin Ribbon on my lids.

And then there’s Blue Zen, the darker blue on the far left, and the Clark Kent of this palette. A mild-mannered mid-toned blue by day, he flexes his stormy gray muscles when faced with buffing.

From the left: Blue Zen, Soft Cloud, Satin Ribbon, Bare Yoga and Pink Tutu applied dry, then wet for more intensity and shine