Laura Mercier Nude Smoky Eye Palette Review, Swatches and Photos

I remember some time last year Laura Mercier released a nude eye shadow palette set, and fortunately I was traveling through the States at the time. To make it better, that’s also the time they had their 20% sale on. So I have no idea what came over me when I decided to not purchase that palette. I figured I had enough nudes at home to last me a few life times, probably don’t need another.

Well turns out you can never have enough nude palettes and I’ve regretted that poor decision ever since. So when I saw this and another palette I’ll be reviewing in a couple of weeks, I decided to just go for it. Clearly I did, and I have no regrets 🙂 I may be swimming in an ocean of nude palettes, but I’m happy!

This palette is a little different from the traditional eye shadow palettes that Laura Mercier releases, in the sense that rather than coming with 10-12 shadows, it contains four neutral shadows, one powder eyeliner and a set of three dual ended brushes.

Generally I think Laura Mercier brushes are on the quality end, I own a number of their full sized brushes and their pony-tail brush is hands done my all-time favourite blending brush. That said, I didn’t find the brushes provided particularly useful. They didn’t seem to be a good fit for the look I was going for (e.g. would have preferred a fluffier / thicker shader brush for the lids), but this is purely subjective. Personally I’d rather a smaller palette and lower price without the brushes.

Now on to the good bits, the eye shadows! I was very surprised by how pigmented and silky these were. I know it seems cliché, but it really did apply like a dream / was finely milled etc. I don’t know why I expected less from Laura Mercier, I think the last shadows I tried from them were their baked kind which left me less than impressed. And I’ve always known matte shades to be difficult to master so I was shocked that Laura Mercier created mattes that reminded me of Tom Ford quality.

I think my favourite was the cake eyeliner, when swatched dry it’s pretty much just a smudge, but use a damp brush and this is as pigmented as many gel eyeliners, if not more! It’s incredible. I personally would have preferred a black liner rather than a deep brown, but that’s just because I tend to use black. Be sure to work quickly though, because the liner does dry pretty fast. A big plus for me!

As you can tell, I’m highly impressed by this palette! If it didn’t have the brushes this most likely would be one of my favourite palettes to date 🙂 If you have the budget, I think it is worth the $95USD price point online! Hopefully it will hit Australian counters soon 🙂