Laura Mercier revamped quite a bit of their makeup recently with the Caviar Collection. The lipsticks, lip liners, cream shadow sticks and mascara have been completely redone with new formulas, colors and packaging. I received the entire launch in PR and have been playing with the items over the past few weeks. Here are my thoughts on each new product with swatches of everything below.
Caviar Stick Eye Shadow (new formula)
I’ve been such a long-time fan of the Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eyeshadows ($33 each) with my top three most-used shades being Rosegold, Copper and Cocoa. They really did improve the formula with smoother application and better pigment. I love that they don’t dry too quickly – I do have enough time to blend before it sets, but once it sets, it does not budge.
A lot of the shades have noticeable improvement in the finish and color payoff. Some of the shades in the original formula like Strapless barely showed up on me. Other more shimmery shades like Sugarfrost or Metallic Taupe were a bit chunky feeling with the sparkle but they have a better smoother texture now.
There are a few of the darker shades that apply patchy like Smoky Quartz, Nuit and Celestial Noir but they can be layered for smoother application – they just take a bit more layering and blending.
I’m very sad they discontinued Copper but Bobbi Brown’s Golden Amber is similar.
Caviar Extravagant Mascara
The new Caviar Extravagant Mascara ($29) is a hit for me. I don’t know that I could call it a must-have or favorite for my super straight sparse lashes, but I think it’s a great formula. It defines and lengthens without any clumping. The brush does an exceptional job at coating all the lashes. I do wish it had more volume but it didn’t smudge or clump and did a pretty good job at holding the curl. I feel like I have the saddest lashes in the world (even my dog Ollie has better lashes than me and my husband has AMAZING lashes) so if it works for me, I think there’s a high chance it will be a good one for most of you.
Caviar Smoothing Matte Refillable Lipstick
I love a good lipstick launch especially one with beautiful packaging. Unfortunately the Caviar Smoothing Matte Refillable Lipsticks ($45) were a miss for me. The pros include beautiful luxe packaging, smooth swatching, opaque rich color payoff, lots of bold colors. Unfortunately these didn’t look so great on my lips. I did not try every single color but I did swipe on 6 of them and all were very dry looking on my lips. I think they could be better if you dabbed them on as a stain but alone they looked very dry. I did love the pigment – they are one swipe wonders. The neutral colors unfortunately do not work with my undertone. I feel like none of neutral shades worked for my olive medium tan complexion. They made me look like death which is too bad because I’ve seen them applied in other videos and they are STUNNING! The bold shades have a better undertone but they are SO bold I would never wear them.
These are also heavily scented with an almost soapy-like floral rose. Granted the scent does fade after a few minutes after applying but it’s a scent my nose does not like.
The Caviar Lipsticks are a miss for me, however if you like a matte finish and find it challenging to find shades that are cool-toned enough, check these out. I know a number of you have told me my personal favorites for neutral lips sometime look straight up orange on you if you have fair or cool-toned complexion. This range has a lot of cooler undertones.
Caviar Perfecting Lip Liner
Last we have a look at the Caviar Perfecting Lip Liner ($29). You girls know I am pretty brutal with lip liner reviews but I want to add a disclaimer that it’s mainly because my lips are on the pigmented side so most of those viral neutrals that look stunning on 99% of you just simply do not show up on me.
I think the new formula is a very nice classic kind of lip pencil. No fuss, nothing fancy, great tones, good pigment. They do feel a little dry on the lips but I really like how they adhere to the lips and they have a relatively smooth looking finish. Lasting power is very good. They aren’t the best but I do like the colors and if you’re looking to try something new I think they are worth checking out since they have a lot of great tones.
Overall, I am very happy that the reformulated Caviar Stick Eyeshadows are a solid A+ formula still. I plan on taking a few of these with me on an upcoming trip. The mascara is also a solid A formula. I do like the tones and formula of the lip pencils, but I think there are better formulas out there like the new Glossier ones, Chanel, Pat McGrath, Huda Beauty to name a few. Lipsticks are a miss for me because of colors and scent, also I tend to not like matte finishes in general so I may have been a bit biased anyways.
You can find the Caviar Collection out now. Available at Nordstrom, Sephora, Kohl’s, Laura Mercier and all other Laura Mercier retailers. Have you tried any of the new formulas? What did you think?
Caviar Collection provided for review.
