Nordstrom 2012 Anniversary - Laura Mercier Signature Color Essentials Travel Set

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is available through August 5th, 2012 but this is still available as a Nordstrom Exclusive. Link to kit here, not an affiliate link - I don't get anything if you click through or buy. :)

I posted a video finally once I chopped down all my gushing about the glosses too ;)

(video link here)

So I was fairly excited about the Nordstrom sale, a chance to get high end brands that are rarely in good kits or discounted. I originally thought I'd get the Giorgio Armani set with the Eyes to Kill shadow, but realized that the price felt too high for what I was getting, and the color wasn't special enough. Not to mention everyone says the L'Oreal Infallible shadows that I love are very similar type of formula but a little less complex. Anyhow, I went for the Laura Mercier set and I'm glad I did. Introduced me to some really fabulous products!

The powder palette which would seem like the star was one thing that's not super memorable.  I like the blush, kind of a dusty rose - good for slight contouring/shaping and generally just a nice muted matte shade.

(top to bottom: Vintage Pink, Morning Dew, Primrose, Topaz, Kir Royal)

The shadows are kind of generic, nice quality but not stand-out colors and not intensely pigmented.  I can understand in these Nordstrom sets, most were fairly every day neutrals, I imagine it appeals to a wider audience that way. A plummy purple with some sparkle, shimmery slightly warm taupe, shimmery light pink with some sparkle, very nice super light matte pink (texture is pretty excellent for matte).

One of the items I completely adore is a Caviar Eye Colour Stick in Twilight, it slides on like something ultra-slippery, but the amazing bit is that it sets rock solid in a minute or so. When swatching these on my hand, I tried to scrub off with water/tissue and it was not moving. Before going to dinner, I tried to wash off with regular soap and three pumps of soap it still hadn't completely come off.  Now for me, it isn't difficult to get off my eyes after a full day of wear because my natural oils break it down enough to come off with my face wash.

On the left is the Caviar stick in Sapphire (loved Twilight so much, I had to get another one :). On the right is Twilight. If careful, it can be used as eyeliner but it works lovely as a base or alone and smudged out.

It comes with a min Full Blown Volume Lash Building mascara, funky thing when I first got it - the product didn't extend to the bottom of the bristles. Took dipping into the tube probably 5 or 6 times before it was fully coated. It's somewhat wet but thick, I do need to spend a little time making sure my lashes are separated and not clumped together.

I forgot to get a picture of swatches on the Lip Glace glosses, on top is Sweetheart which comes in the kit and the bottom is Sparkling which I also bought today with Sapphire. Ahem. :)
Sweetheart is quite sheer, has some pearl but it's a very shiny glassy finish on the lips. I never would have thought I'd buy a high end lip gloss to be honest, but Sweetheart did something completely amazing.

As I have said many times in the past, my lips are very dry all of the time. They have been for my adult life, and probably before. Nothing ever really helps keep them from peeling during the day. They might be exfoliated to start, but by the end of the day there's goopy skin flakes coming off with my lip product. Even if I just wear a moisturizing balm!  I wore Sweetheart alone and over a historically drying lipstick (on me) several days at work. At lunch time, I wiped my lips clean and to my pure shock - no lip flakes! That is worth a high end price so I bought a more nude toned shade. :)

Not shown is also a Foundation Primer that seemed to give me several blemishes after using two days in a row, but I'll try again in a few weeks to see if it was just a coincidence.

Also not shown is the All Over Color eye brush, it's quite soft and comfortable to use. It's rather large  so a little tricky to use for crease, but great to packing on color and blending up to the browbone. Only complaint is the handle is so short, even in my short-brush-cup it gets lost.

Above I'm wearing Twilight at the lashline smudged up the lid, Topaz (assuming that's the taupe-y shadow) in the crease, Morning Dew+Primrose at the browbone.  Unfortunately I had switched to Sparkling on my lips, woops. :)  Vintage Pink on my cheeks.