I have exciting news for those in Southern California: this Saturday, May 4th, Le Métier de Beauté’s very own Mikey Castillo and Ivan Castro will be in store at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills from 10 am to 5 pm. Both are fresh off the Oscar de la Renta Spring Bridal fashion show and will be at the Beverly Hills store this weekend to do current spring, upcoming summer and bridal looks for those who schedule an appointment.
Le Métier de Beauté fans will have the opportunity to experience the line in its entirety and receive a makeup application or skincare consultation from the line’s leading experts. I have had my makeup done by Ivan before and can’t rave enough about what an extraordinary artist he is.
Call the Le Métier de Beauté product specialist Scott Reyes (310) 550-5900 Ext. 2087/2027 to make an appointment and let the Le Métier team work their magic on you. I’d recommend calling soon to reserve your appointmet. Neiman Marcus currently has their Scent Event going on through the 5th of May which is a tote filled with fragrance samples. The Le Métier de Beauté counter will be having an extra gift as well (TBD) – call Scott for more details.
Personal recommendations and ideas for other places to check out nearby:
Neiman Marcus Beverly hills also has the full Tom Ford Beauty line, Edward Bess has a counter there, they have the most amazing shoe department
Saks Fifth Avenue next door has Dolce & Gabbana Makeup
Barneys New York is a few blocks away and has the best fragrance boutique including Serge Lutens, L’Artisan, Frederic Malle, Byredo, Le Labo, skincare such as Aesop and Sunday Riley
Bouchon Bakery is at the Montage
Sprinkles Cupcakes and Ice Cream Shop is also in the area
Le Métier de Beauté’s latest in skincare is their Ultra Hydration Eye Mask Duo ($150 for a set of 8 duos). They kindly sent one duo to test. The Ultra Hydration Eye Mask Duos come in individually sealed packets. Inside are two seaweed-based discs cased in a thin tray. The discs are shaped to fit the under-eye area and are designed to be placed under the eye area for 15 minutes. Le Métier de Beauté says that these eye masks will hydrate, re-energize, restore, diminish redness, sooth lines and reduce under-eye puffiness. How did the masks hold up for me? This is what I experienced:
I applied these Sunday morning after cleansing my face. The packets have a convenient peel-back corner making them easy to open, however the design of the discs in the tray seemed to be on the delicate side so I recommend opening on a solid flat surface. The discs themselves were flexible and easy to apply and felt like second skin. Upon application my eyes felt an instant soothing cooling sensation. I liked that they adhered well to the skin without feeling tight. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything this good on my eyes – 15 minutes later I didn’t want to take the discs off (but I did). I’m at the stage in my life where I don’t have under-eye wrinkles or lines (yet) but in the mornings I do have extra under-eye puffiness so I am religious with my morning coffee or espresso to help me wake up and reduce puffiness slightly.
The main difference for before/after was in the overall feel of the under-eye area. My eyes felt well-hydrated and significantly less puffier than they normally are in the mornings. I suspect that the eye mask performance is similar to other skincare items in the sense that you can only really measure the impact to one’s skin after extended use. Still, the way the mask felt on my eye blew me away. While the price is a bit steep at $150 per set of 8 (breaks down to $18.75 per duo) I am ready to splurge on a full set. These are packaged conveniently to easily slip into one’s purse or gym bag. The way these de-puff make these a must-have for me for beauty emergency or work/stress meltdown situations. (I could have used one of these about six months ago at work.)
As far as I know, these have hit stores now. They are expected to be released online soon (will update when I find out more information). Are these must-haves? For me yes – I will be ordering soon (I’m waiting for a counter to have a really good gift-with-purchase promotion). The ingredient listing below:
A few other things from Le Métier de Beauté that might interest you:
There’s an 18-pan eye shadow palette coming out for spring, retailing for $95. It has a mixture of previously released shades and new colors. I have yet to see it in person but Scott Reyes from Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills kindly sent me a few photos from his counter.
In addition, Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills released two exclusive lip crèmes last year called Bloom (flesh-cream nude) and Catherine (pale champagne frost), $36 each. I called them a few days ago and they still has some left in stock. I haven’t reviewed them, but I will include a few photos below. From my testing – these are VERY nude and pale. For me they work best when mixed with other shades. For more detailed info and excellent reviews, I highly recommend you check out Beauty Professor and Cogitation Project.
Palette photo courtesy of Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills. Gloss photos my own.
All items are limited. (Click for larger viewing.)
Neiman’s Beauty Week is coming up on the 23rd of February. If you’re interested I recommend calling soon for a pre-sale. I’d recommend Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills (310) 550-5900 Ext. 2087/2027 (especially if you’re interested in their exclusive glosses) and ask for Scott Reyes. Tell them I sent you!
Have you tried Le Métier de Beauté Ultra Hydration Eye Mask Duo? Or other Le Métier de Beauté skincare items? What were your thoughts?
This post contains a press sample sent free of charge for review. For additional information please refer to the About/FAQ section.
Dior’s Golden Jungle collection for fall has been out on counters in the US for about a month now with the exception of one nail color called Bengale #615 ($23 for 10 ml/0.33 fl oz). This shade is a medium brown cream and currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Dior.com in the US. It just arrived last week in stores at the Neimans counter near me. The coverage is smooth with a naturally glossy finish. If you look closely at the bottle under the light you will see tiny bits of silver shimmers suspended. Most of my non-shimmer Dior shades have the tiniest bit of micro shimmer infused in the colors. Unfortunately these aren’t visible on the nail but it does help give the colors a bit more depth. I had hoped Bengale would be a warm soft brown with pink tones like the promotional photos. In real life it’s a darker brown with the slightest hint of green undertones on my skin. It’s still lovely for fall, just not quite what I had expected.
Here you can see the sparkle:
Here it is with two coats (no base or top coat):
Many have been wondering how this compares to other browns such as Chanel Khaki Rose and Dior Underground. I’ve pulled out a few colors to swatch side by side: Chanel Particuliere, Chanel Khaki Rose, Chanel Khaki Brun and Dior Underground.
Although Dior Bengale wasn’t quite what I expected, I still find it very unique in the sense that it’s a true medium brown on me, something I was lacking in my collection. It gives a nicely polished look that can be easily incorporated into my work wardrobe for fall. It’s conservative, polished and neutral. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for me, I give it a thumbs up (although I can’t say I think it’s a must-have).
Did you check out anything from Dior Fall? Thoughts?
Le Métier de Beauté has released another Haute House Hues Lip Crème Lip Gloss Duo called Indian Summer ($65 for 0.44 fl oz/13 ml). The two new shades are called Ginger Snap, a sheer sparkly warm pink and Copper Leaf, a warm metallic coppery orange bronze.
Both are labeled as the Lip Crème formula, but it Ginger Snap is more glossy and sheer than the typical Le Métier Lip Crème. It goes on fairly sheer on the lips giving a tint of sparkly pink. It’s quite stunning in the tube and naturally pretty on the lips. I think this shade works for me alone, but I think most will find it sheer and prefer it over lipsticks.
Copper Leaf is highly pigmented with a lightweight mousse-like creme feel. It’s on the orangey-side of copper but not overly so. I think this would look lovely on darker skinned girls. I like it but think it would be more flattering if I had a tan. This shade did bleed a little while wearing this. I recommend using a lip liner with a non-glossy texture to help matte-out the lip area.
Here are the Lip Crèmes swatched, Ginger Snap, Copper Leaf, then mixed together (Copper Leaf dominates even when mixed in equal parts)
Comparisons to other Le Métier de Beauté lipglosses:
Swatched comparisons to other Le Métier de Beauté lipglosses: Nadine is more pink/red (not photographed above but swatched below), Ibiza is lighter and more pink, Toffee Creme is more neutral/brownish, Summerland has loads more sparkles and more pink/sand.
I like them mixed best but my love for Le Métier de Beauté lip crèmes and glosses still burns strong. Both are fairly unique for the colors I own. I don’t think you’ll find dupes in the Le Metier line (which is nice). For reference, the spring pinks lip creme duo was reviewed last month here.
There are two additional items in the collection, two orangey nail lacquers. I decided to pass for now, but I’m looking forward to upcoming Le Métier de Beauté releases (more kaleidoscope kits soon please!). I found my lip crème set in-store at Neiman Marcus. It should be available at all Neiman Marcus Le Metier locations.
I’ve been a long-time fan of Bobbi Brown’s Long-Wear Cream Shadows (her regular version). Staples in my collection include easy-to-wear classics such as Ballet Pink, Sandy Gold, Sand Dollar and Sand Castle (now discontinued). They’re compact and have a soft velvety smooth texture that makes them easy to apply with fingers or her cream shadow brush. Recently, she released a number of new shades in her Long-Wear Eye Collection and Miami Collection. I picked out a few shades recently from both: Nude Beach, Bronze Sugar, Smoky Topaz and Velvet Plum ($24 each). All work well alone or as a base under powder shadows. Occasionally I will layer the darker shimmer shades with a powder shadow to help blend colors or intensify certain shades. They are extremely versatile and I like the quick and easy swipe-and-go application these offer. For me they last all day from morning to afternoon. Near the end of the day they do start to fade like most creams do, but I like that these don’t budge on my eyes.
Nude Beach is my new holy grail perfect nude. It has a bit of shimmer and gives a luminous glow. It’s similar to Shore (which I have swatched below) but brighter and slightly less grey. I still adore Shore, but Nude Beach has the perfect amount of shimmer to prevent this from looking flat. It’s a medium-toned nude which matches my Chanel B30 skin exactly.
Bronze Sugar is a highly metallic warm bronze. Note that these new shimmery shades are her regular Long-Wear formula, not her Metallic Long-Wear formula (which I did not like at all). There is a silvery sheen to some of the shimmery particles making this sparkle. I found this one dried quickly on my lids so it required fast blending. Times I did not blend fast enough it dried on the lids and did not budge. If you have oily lids you will like these. If your lids are more normal or on the slightly dry side, you might want to apply a good dose of eye cream first.
Smoky Topaz is a taupe-lover’s dream come true. It’s a high-sparkle taupe/mauve/grey. Check out Karla Sugar’s swatches to see how it looks on different skintone and applied with a heavier hand. On her it appears more silvery, while on me it’s more taupe.
Velvet Plum is a bronzed-plum. It’s very similar to Bronze Sugar but dries with a plum finish. If I had thought about these longer, I would have opted for Velvet Plum and skipped Bronze Sugar.
Note that I applied these with Bobbi Brown’s Cream Eyeshadow Brush with medium intensity. You can definitely layer these easily for more pigment. The shimmery shades from the recent collections do have a bit more kick/sparkle than her other cream shadows, but I find them still very wearable for everyday. Bottom line gorgeous. Also, Best Things in Beauty has me wanting Candlelight.
I found mine at Neiman Marcus but these should be at all Bobbi Brown counters now.
Thanks to Best Things in Beauty for keeping us up-to-date on the latest releases from Le Métier de Beauté. Among all the store exclusives, my favorite collection includes the latest design by Ken Downing: the Haute House Hues Collection which includes a Lip Crème Lip Gloss Duo ($65) in Mum’s the Word and Two Lips and the new Snappy Dragon Nail Lacquer ($18).
The Lip Crème Lip Glosses are perfect for spring. Mum’s the Word is a bright pink with cool undertones. When I saw it featured on twitter I was a bit scared. My counter did not have testers of the items when they arrived but I am glad I purchased. The Lip Crèmes are a highly pigmented liquid creme gloss. They aren’t high shine but aren’t fully matte or satiny either. More of a hybrid lipstick/gloss. Mum’s the Word can be applied heavily or sheer for a soft tint. I was surprised at how wearable it is. If it’s too bright for you, you can always mix it with other glosses to sheer out the color.
Two Lips is a slightly shimmery nude pale peach. The texture applies a bit dry and emphasizes the lines in the lips, but let it sit for a minute and it warms up nicely to apply more evenly. The pigment is quite opaque and covers the entire lip. It gives me a nude-peach lip look which I think will go nicely with a smokey eye.
Here are comparisons to a few other shades:
Snappy Dragon Nail Polish is a shocking bright pink. It’s VERY bright, almost fuschia. There is a neon quality to this shade so it was a bit difficult to photograph. The finish is a satiny semi-matte. Two coats and you get full rich coverage. I’m still partial to the high-gloss finish nail polishes, but this one you can easily just add a clear top coat to achieve the shine.
Compared to the ShoKen Pink from spring/resort, Snappy Dragon is more fuschia/rose with blue tones. ShoKen Pink almost looks orange next to it because it has so much neon in it.
Overall perfect for spring to summer. The colors are fresh and naturally flattering. The lip cremes go perfectly with a simple bronzer or the latest Blush Kaleidoscope kit. To date I believe the collection is limited edition and exclusive to Neiman Marcus.
A quick look at the latest from Le Métier de Beauté: re-release of their limited Blush Kaleidoscope (swoon!) and Limited-Edition Haute House Hues Lip Crème Lip Gloss Duo in Mum’s the Word and Two Lips and the new Snappy Dragon Nail Lacquer. More detailed thoughts, photos and swatches to come this evening, but I can tell you – call your Neimans counter ASAP if you’re interested. The Blush Kit arrived in very limited supply.
