Le Metier De Beaute's Splendid Frost Holiday 2010 Kaleidoscope

So recently I swapped for LMdB's Splendid Frost 2010 Kaleidoscope with the lovely Claire and after a few months of enjoying the palette, it is time for me to review it.

In the first few weeks after receiving this palette, I shifted from being excited and enthralled to totally obsessed with kaleidoscopes. I wanted to have them all! Now that the "honeymoon" phase is over, I can finally see this palette for what it actually is and be honest and fair with my review.

I think that the colours in this palette are to die for! The individual colours would look beautiful on their own for when you don't have enough time to apply all four colours. The shades in this kaleidoscope kit are called: 1. Crystal Ball 2. Empire 3. Rockette and 4. Sugar Plum

Splendid Frost

The eyeshadow application technique recommended by Le Metier is called "Couches de Couleur" (the layering of color), whereby each shade is selected to evoke four elements in a sequence of crescendo: 1. Warm 2. Cool 3. Hot 4. Cold.

Crystal ball is the first (Warm) shade in this eye kit and it is just superb. No words can describe my love for this eye shadow. The colour is a pewtery, silvery champagne with gold and pink shimmer/sheen that is subtle and can only be seen in certain angles and lighting. The slightest touch with an eyeshadow brush will pick up enough colour for one lid. It is soft but with minimal fallout and the finish is metallic. LOVE. I want to buy another kaleidoscope kit just for this colour.

Crystal Ball

Empire is a dove grey with a matte finish. It is the Cool shade in this kit. I think this shade is only slightly cool, on swatches it looks almost neutral and therefore it would look good across all skintones. The texture is divine, however it is a lot less pigmented than Crystal Ball and I am a little disappointed to be honest. Nevertheless, it is a pretty colour for everyday wear and I am a fiend for greys! :)

Empire

Rockette is the Hot shade in this kit. It is a pretty peachy pink with gold shimmer. Rockette is, too, a little sheer and I needed two swipes for my swatches. Rockette can be used as a blush which is just perfect for travel. The texture is slightly different that the other shades in this kit. I found that the texture is not as soft and buttery as Crystal Ball, Empire or Sugar Plum. Out of the four shades, Rockette is probably the biggest disappointment for me.

Rockette

Sugar Plum is a dark navy blue with a metallic sheen and red shimmer throughout. It is the Cold shade and eventhough I gravitate towards warm neutral eyeshadows, Sugar Plum made my heart skip a beat. Admittedly I have been showing a lot of love for dark blue/navy eyeshadows but this eyeshadow would make it into my "Top 5 things you grab when your house is burning down and you have 60 seconds to get out" list. I just don't think that there is anything else from LMdB's regular line of eyeshadows as well as any other brand's eyeshadow line that can compete with this kick-ass eyeshadow. Honestly, no pictures can do Sugar Plum justice. You have to swatch it to believe it! The pigmentation and texture are not as good as Crystal Ball, but its close!

Sugar Plum

Dry swatches on an unprimed arm are shown below. Two swipes for Empire and Rockette were required to obtain the colour shown. The last swatch is the result of the Couches de Couleur technique. As you can see, the resulting colour is a beautiful complex taupe with a metallic sheen and pink, red, and gold shimmer. You can see that the final swatch has a considerably less metallic finish than Crystal Ball (which is the base, and most pigmented shade out of the four) and this is due to the layering of Empire which has a matte finish. Rockette and Sugar Plum adds warmth and contrast and adds gold and red shimmer to the final result.

Dry Swatches



Dirty Fingers :)

I also did quick swatches of the four shades using my Shu Uemura Cream Eyeshadow in P Beige. I love using Shu's cream eyeshadow as a base because it is slightly tacky and very creamy. P Beige is a perfect match for my eyelids' natural colour, and it covers minor flaws to create a perfect canvas for eyeshadow application.

I only used one swipe of each colour this time. Using Shu's cream shadow, the swatches turned out to be slightly more pigmented. The most obvious difference can be seen on Empire and Rockette, which required two swipes to achieve the same colour without a primer.

Dry Swatches with Shu Uemura P Beige as primer



The kaleidoscopes come with a handy mirror as well, as shown in the picture below.

Bottom Line: At USD $95 dollars, these kaleidoscopes do cost an arm and a leg so it would have to be pretty darn perfect before you pull the trigger and purchase the palette. If you can live with having two out of four shadows being on the sheer side, this palette is for you. For me, personally, the colour selection is just divine and if I have the chance to purchase a back-up, I would, because I don't think I can live without Crystal Ball or Sugar Plum in my life.

Till next time!

xoxo,

Cindy