Laura Mercier Lip Watercolours - Medium

Best thing I ever owned! Please bring it back!! My friends want it!

Beautiful compact which looks elegant when I take it out of my purse. Great colors for me (NC 15 - MUFE 117 for reference). This was a gift from my sister who believes my back problems stem from all the makeup which she thinks I trot around in my purse...lol.

I had no idea how much she paid for it and it has come in handy especially when I travel.

As the prior reviewer noted, the only trick is to find the mix of colors which suit each person. I have been lucky in that most of the colors are flattering on me even if I don't mix them -- and when I do, I have gotten some lovely combinations.

The colors are like a stain so don't expect any shine. The balm does work very well to prep the lips for the color but I still get a bit of dry lip so I use my LM colored lip balms on top of the color mixed.

I do love this palette and would expect it lasts a long time.. I won't repurchase it however.

LE 2009 Summer Fresco Collection


Product - This palette comes with 6 shades of sheer, buildable creme lipcolors ("lip stains" in beige, fuschia, cranberry, brown, red, light peachy pink) and one larger pan of Lip Prep balm/primer.


LIP PREP... is a baby pink in the compact, but wears more like a colorless balm; texture is soft and supple, not sticky, not thick, not waxy, not heavy, with a very faint hint of mint. Does a nice job of priming the lips to take on the lipcolors.


LIPCOLORS.... According to LM advisors, the lipcolors are designed to be layerable without getting muddled together and are not the same formulation as the LM Lip Stains; this is true. In the compact the colors are very rich and deep and vibrant. On the back of the palette the lipcolors are simply numbered 1 through 6. Shades 1 and 4 are beige and brown and are primarily to lighten or deepen your custom shade. The colors are all very richly pigmented, moreso than I expected, and perhaps also too pigmented for this palette to be foolproof - a little dab of color goes a long way, so you have to be very precise when mixing custom shades. The texture of the lipcolors is smooth, silky, super easy to spread and blend on the lips, with no noticeable scent. The lipcolors also feel very lightweight, which is good if you're expected to mix or blend or layer to get the desired shade. The lipcolors are perfectly formulated for layering/mixing, and the final custom color is quite malleable. After layering on 2 shades (over the Lip Prep) my lips didn't feel heavily coated at all. The lipcolors all have a matte finish, maybe slightly satin, definitely not glossy, and do stain the lips nicely.


COLOR ASSORTMENT... I'm NC25 with strong yellow undertones, and as I already noted, the lipcolors are quite rich and very well pigmented. The cranberry color (shade 3) is the only one that doesn't clash with my coloring when worn alone. Which means that I have to use the beige or brown (shade 1 or 4) as a base before adding the smallest dots of fuschia, red, or peachy pink (2, 5, 6); so I'd run out of beige and brown long before making a dent in any of the others. Conversely, if I start with the fuschia, red, or peachy pink, it's virtually impossible for me to achieve a wearable shade without tons of blotting and the addition of copious amounts of beige and/or brown along the way. Overall the color assortment doesn't work for me - the deeper custom colors are too dark and dramatic, and lighter custom shades are too vibrant against my skintone. I can temper these custom colors by layering a lighter or warm-toned lip gloss over the top... but that would defeat the purpose of this palette. The fuschia and the red (shades 2 and 5) are cool toned, and the cranberry and peachy pink (shaded 3 and 6) are warm. I am sad that the color assortment doesn't really work for my coloring - it seems a waste not to get much use out of half the shades. I loved the idea behind this palette and really wanted to make it work for me, and truly I tried tons of combinations to little avail. I'll be returning to my old sheer lipsticks with my tail set firmly between my legs :(


Comparisons - The texture is lighter than the potted LM Lip Stains. Feels much lighter than lipsticks in general, because such a little amount packs so much pigment you don't need to apply much at all.


Packaging - Slim, sturdy palette with six wells of color, one well (twice the size of the lipcolors) for the Lip Prep, and a brush well; includes double-ended lip brush. The brush heads are slightly smaller than the LM full size Lip Brush, but they're still usable and of good quality; the only drawback of the short-handled double-ended brush is that when I use one end, the other end gets residual product onto my hand.


Overall - Great if you want to customize your lipcolor and like a matte/satin finish. Lovely product and great quality, but not the right assortment of colors for me (NC25 with strong yellow undertones). I think palettes like this would find wider success if they were offered in cool and warm toned palettes instead of Fair and Medium. Retails for $48. continued >>