Laura Mercier Pine Bronze Sateen Eye Colour from the Canyon Collection, Fall 2011

There are six eye shadows on display with Laura Mercier's Canyon Collection for Fall 2011. After agonizing over the lovely choices, I selected Pine Bronze Sateen Eye Colour ($22), a limited-edition shade that launched with the collection. It's a perfect fall color.

Five of the new shades are Sateen Eye Colours.

• Canyon Clay, a limited-edition warm-toned putty pink
• Cedar, a limited-edition brown-toned yellow
• Gold Dust, shimmering, pale golden yellow from the permanent collection
• Pine Bronze, a limited-edition olive/khaki green with a taupe cast and gold shimmer - the one that dazzled me
• Stellar, also from the permanent collection, a pale pink

There is one Luster Eye Color shade, Chocolate, a shimmering, rich brown. All together, the shades present a palette of the earth's majestic tones, inspired by the lush, engaging colors that dance off canyons at sunset.

Burning sunsets of ambered gold, lush green foliage, and rustic copper canyons...Eyes are dusted with natural neutrals with golden highlights.

Here's a photo of Pine Bronze in the compact. It looks pretty in the pan (it was the tester that lured me), but even better on the eyelid. The complexity of the shade was hard to capture in a swatch photo. I took photos at three different times of day, in lighting from overcast to bright sunlight, and I snapped only one photo that is an "adequate" portrait of the shade.

The photo at right shows a heavy application with a sponge-tipped applicator in full morning sun. I hope you can see that the green is a taupe-green blend enlivened with shimmering gold. Pine Bronze is aptly named. Some may see it as bronze with a khaki cast, while others will see a khaki that leans taupe. Either way, it's a gorgeous color.

Pine Bronze is beautiful on the eyelid when combined with golden shades. I tried it as an accent shade with two golden bases: a shimmering yellow gold and a satin-finish rose gold. Both looks were stunning. I'll be playing with this one for weeks, wearing it, I'm sure, before its season arrives.

Pine Bronze could not be a more enticing seasonal shade. I love fall fashion. I'm captivated by the rich colors, often with a touch of ornamentation that signals a return to luxury after summer's casual end. This year, my autumn look will be complemented by this gorgeous Laura Mercier eye shadow.

You can find the Canyon Collection at the Laura Mercier Web site and all Laura Mercier counters in the department stores. I bought mine at Neiman Marcus.

Photo at top by Laura Mercier; other photos by Best Things in Beauty