Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour

Laura Mercier's latest eye shadow, Baked Eye Colour ($22) has to be sampled to fully appreciate how nice it is! By baking the powders, Laura Mercier has created beautiful, marbled shades that flatter the eyes, glide onto the lids, and provide smudge-resistant, lightweight color that lasts all day.

These eye shadows are prettier on the skin than they are in the pan. There are six lovely shades. Ballet Pink (really peachy gold - or golden peach) is shown above. Black Karat (really an olive brown, but described as black gold with gold pearl) is shown at left.

The additional shades are:

• Terracotta (warm copper),
  
• Lagoon (bold turquoise),
  
• Petal Pink (soft pale pink), and
  
• Violet Sky (rich indigo violet).

Ballet Pink, shown above, isn't really pink on the lids. You can see in my swatch photo at right that it's a golden peach. I didn't purchase it originally because I didn't want a pink eye shadow. It's anything but. I did purchase Black Karat on the first go-round, which captured me as soon as I got it.

My photo at right was taken outdoors in full sun. I applied the luscious shadows with a sponge-tipped applicator to get you a good view of the actual shades. Ballet Pink at the top is a beautiful shade that you can wear alone when you are in a hurry, as a base shade for layering, or as a lower lid color paired with a deeper color for contour. Black Karat is a complex shade, with "notes" of olive green, brown, and gold. I don't "get" the black description - other than the way it looks in the pan.

There's a darker photo at left, included to give you a second "exposure" so that you can see how the shades might appear in different lighting. Both shades shimmer in a good way. I think they will appeal to every age group. You can apply them wet or dry. If you apply them with a wet brush, the color will be intensified. I am perfectly happy with how they look applied dry.

Even though I must have enough eye shadow to sink a sailboat, I am very happy to have these two Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colours among my choices. You can see them at any Laura Mercier counter. I would advice you to try them in the store, rather than purchasing online - if you can. The colors are deceptive in the pans, and the swatch photos online are misleading. I purchased mine at Neiman Marcus. I know they are also available at Saks, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom.

Photos at top courtesy of Laura Mercier