Adventures in Eye Color with Dustin Lujan from Le Métier de Beauté

Dustin Lujan is a color genius. Naturally, he knows his Le Métier de Beauté line and the nuances of the colors. The unexpected ways he uses colors - and his hands and eyes - take him into genius territory.

Yesterday, at Nordstrom at Pentagon City, I was privileged to sit in his chair for about an hour. During that time, we talked up a storm, but Dustin also did much of my makeup. Today, I'll tell you about the eye shadows he selected for me. Because I trust him completely (rare for me), I let him choose whatever he wanted - even though I cringed when he picked up the orange shadow, and I was skeptical when he picked up the plum one. I was in his hands and ready to learn. Whatever doubts I had about his color choices evaporated as I watched the finished product (me) come together.

You can see our totally un-retouched photo here. A gal working at the store took it for us. Funny thing is that Dustin told me he always wanted to be tall. All he needs to do is hang out with me for awhile, and he'll feel plenty tall. I laughed when I saw this photo. I've literally lost two inches in the last few years, and I know it wasn't completely from having no cartilage in my knees. That disk out of my back may be a factor. Anyhow, I digress.

Dustin uses an eye shadow technique called Couches de Couleur, a signature layering application that creates a unique prismatic effect. The first shade he uses is intended to brighten the lid. The second shade should add warmth. The third shade is the color focus for the lid - it should show. The fourth shade adds depth. For my four layers, he selected four True Color Eyeshadows ($30): Angel, Innocence, Plum, and Sequoia, shown left to right below.


Angel is an icy pink, and swept over my lid, it did brighten it. Innocence looks anything but. I nearly died when Dustin reached for what appeared to me to be an orange eye shadow. But trusting completely, I said little. Once applied with a light hand, Innocence brought out the warmest tone in my skin and blended into me remarkably. Plum is a blue plum, and while I might not have selected it, it created a very pretty smoky eye for spring. That's the trend right now: the colored smoky eye. I had to admit, things were looking pretty good at that point (with a little Champagne pencil for contour). Then, Dustin reached for Sequoia and applied it near the lash line and started blending the color up and out. He finished up with Refresh, an eye brightening neutral color under my brow bone and over my concealer (I think he used it under my eyes). I'll tell you about Refresh later.

Here's a swatch photo of the four shades that Dustin used for my Couches de Couleur application. I applied them heavily with a sponge-tipped applicator for the photo, which was taken outdoors in sunlight. From top to bottom, and in the order of the technique, are Angel, Innocence, Plum, and Sequoia. Layered and blended, they produced a lightly plum-tinted, subtle smoky eye. Dustin combined all four colors on the edge of a flat-topped brush and lightly applied them as a liner under my lower lashes. After the shadows, Dustin finished his handiwork on my eyes with liquid eyeliner and mascara. More on them later.

I'll tell you about the lip colors he selected for me tomorrow. You already know that I was awestruck by the three new Crème Fresh Tints for Lips and Cheeks. I had a blast yesterday!

You can purchase Le Métier de Beauté at Bergdorf Goodman (where you can usually find Dustin), Neiman Marcus, and some Nordstrom stores.

Photos by BTiB