ByKat Hours Updated
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Sponsored Post: Kat’s Lancome House of Color Video

A few weeks ago Lancome asked a few of their favorite style bloggers to create short films inspired by the colors of their Color Design 5 Pan palettes, and I was honored to be included. They sent me the Lancome's Color Design 5 Pan palette in Taupe Craze (which I truly do love and have been wearing to death), and my cameraman (aka my husband) and I got to work filming, mostly in our Brooklyn Heights apartment and on The Promenade, which is a few blocks away. (We did the filming a few weeks ago, so I'm about five months pregnant in the vids… )

You know that mythical object that beauty editors always talk about, the perfect beigy pink eye shadow that makes you look like you're wearing nothing and instead just look totally awake and alive? It exists — and it's in this palette. So I kept thinking about those rare mornings (rare for me, at least!) where you get up and the world is so full of possibility and promise and you can't wait to tackle your to-do lists, and you actually do look awake and alive.

The other thing I kept thinking about was diamonds. My other favorite color in the palette, this dark dark brown (intended to line your eyes), has some serious sparkle to it. I'm always wary of sparkly makeup, especially for work,  because it can go wrong in so, so many ways, but this one just looks revitalizing and flattering. You can see it sparkling both in the case and in some of the close-ups of my eyes. My beloved right-hand diamond ring (which I feel like I'm always mentioning on this blog) makes a fairly prominent appearance in the video, as do my dangly diamond earrings that I wear for most major social occasions.

Without further ado, here's the video!

You can find out more about the palette by checking out some of Lancome's social channels, including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. And, like I mentioned above, I'm only one of videos that Style Coalition did — they've been releasing one every day on the Style Coalition YouTube channel! The other bloggers who I'm honored to be among include What I Wore, M.I.S.S. Omni Media, College Fashion, Karla Sugar, Style Observer, nitro:licious, Dramatis Personae, The Jet Set Girls, Beauty Sweet Spot, My It Things, Afrobella, Pretty Shiny Sparkly, Fashion Pulse Daily, Chic Galleria, ThinkThruFashion, Eye4Style, Closet of Style, The Curvy Fashionista, and Beauty Blogging Junkie. I agree 100% with College Fashion and Dramatis Personae, both of whom mentioned the eyeshadow's long-lasting qualities — it really does stay put for 8-12 hours.

(The hubs and I shot the raw footage — but huge, huge thanks to Style Coalition and IKA Collective for doing such an awesome edit. Oh, and thanks to my friends who came over for a dinner party and wound up getting roped into filming the toasting scene — they are now having an amusing discussion via email critiquing their toasting styles. Ah, lawyers. Oh! And huge thanks to my old friend Michelle of Thursday Night Smackdown, who graciously let me use brownie shots from her drool-inspiring (and hilarious) food blog.)

Disclosure:  I received compensation for shooting this video, and was gifted with the Taupe Craze palette.

Readers, what luxury makeup indulges do you like the most? How often are your “wake up and conquer the world” days?

46 Comments

  1. Kat, congrats on the baby and on the video!

    General question for the ‘rettes – do you wear eyeshadow regularly? I normally just wear eyeliner and mascara to work. I think a line of eyeshadow on the upper lids only in a color that contrasts with my eyes makes them look more open. I wear glasses and I find eyeshadow makes my eyes look smaller (they are rather small to start with). Also, in summer when I’m sweaty, if I wear anything other than waterproof mascara it just gets all over the place. Any tips or ideas?

    1. I wear eyeshadow regularly for work. I have blue eyes and (currently) blond hair, with fair skin. I have found that shell pink or champagne colors make me look more awake. I wear a plum colored eye-liner and black mascara. I don’t do any “contouring”, although I’ve seen it look really good on people before.

      When I’m not at work, during the summer I will just wear mascara and tinted moisturizer. No point in sweating it all off in the Texas heat!

      What a fun video! Brownies made me hungry :)

      1. I don’t even know what contouring is! (Google tells me it’s a makeup application technique.) Honestly I’m not very good at makeup. I always thought it would be fun to know how to play with it more.

        And yes, brownies, yum. I want one too.

        1. I’m terrible with make-up, too. I absolutely cannot apply mascara without getting it all over my face. Luckily, I’m in the New England area where many people don’t wear it anyway…

          1. Really? Mascara has always been a staple for me, without it I look about 14 and half asleep. It’s hard to imagine an area where it isn’t used so frequently. (I’m from PA)

    2. For eye makeup, I usually just wear eyeliner and occasionally mascara to work. Eyeshadow is a sometimes thing, but if I do it’s a sheer beige with a sheer pink layered on top.

    4. I wear brown copper eyeliner from Laura Mercier, black Lancome Definicils mascare and Lancome gaze eyeshadow. Every day. Work or play. That’s it. Gaze is a very light light champagne/cream color with a hint of warmth and a tiny bit of shimmer. Tiny – ok for work. Its a staple. I thought they discontinued it and totally freaked out. But they didnt! I cant do anything mroe compliacted and whenever I aim to try and learn I just get bored and end up with new unused eyeshadow in some drawer in the bathroom.

      1. I’m so glad I’m not the only one – I have a ton of barely-used makeup that I can’t be bothered to learn to apply.

    5. I have Halle berry type skin tone ( sadly nothing else about me resembles her) and unless it’s a smoky eye , eye shadow doesn’t seem to register on my skin. So I save it for when I go out on weekends for dinner or the rare party.

    6. I am late responding, but I wanted to comment on eyeshadow.

      If your eyelids are basically the same color as your skin and you just want a fresh look, you don’t need eyeshadow.

      However, many of us have skin on the eyelid that appears darker than the rest of our skin (really, it’s just thinner) and it can give us a tired look.

      I wear an eyeshadow base in a skin color, and then a tiny bit of peach shadow just slightly darker than the base color in the crease – right where the browbone stops and the eye socket begins. Then I apply liner on my upper lash line and mascara. It’s a minimal wide-awake look, not a super made-up look. The eyeshadow base is a liquid type, which helps everything stay put all day. I use Trish McEvoy Base Essentials in Demure and for the crease, Trish McEvoy glaze eyeshadow in Rose Quartz.

      (I don’t work for Trish McEvoy – I just checked in my makeup bag to see what I was using.)

    1. Vegan Sandals? You are NOT supposed to eat your SHOES! I have a nice pair of sandals, but they are LEATHER. That is not VEGAN, but who cares since we are NOT eating it. I supose you could get some hemp sandals from Hugo Boss, but they are SO expensive. I perfer the sandals I got at Lord and Taelor for $37.50 (with the COUPON). If you dont have but still want a COUPON, you can always get 20% off just by aksing them.

        1. I LOL’d.

          Can I be friends with the person who made the brownies? They look divine.

    3. Dressy or casual?

      If casual, I love my Tevas. Love them to death. They are fabric and rubber, so I guess they’re vegan.

  3. Moo Shoes has a good selection, and if you want something young-looking and very inexpensive most of the shoes at Gojane.com are incidentally vegan.

  4. I like the look of these palettes, but really struggle choosing eye-shadows and makeup in general. I am very fair skinned with large blue eyes, and most colors end up looking very dark on me. Can any of you ladies let me know which of these palettes would be the best color combo for me to try?

    1. I am very fair skinned/blue eyed as well and often wear either a light peach shadow (like the top stripe of the compact above) or a silvery champagne color (like the one on the right of the middle block of 3). I have found that I need to go surprisingly light to not overwhelm my complexion. Also, actually wear a coppery rather than black or even dark brown eyeliner, which tends to soften things a bit.

      I would go to a good, high end makeup counter (I think Laura Mercier is my choice for grownup, good quality subtle makeup) and have someone help you. If you find a shade that works, you may be able to replicate it in a cheaper brand.

    2. I have similar colouring and my go-to day-to-day palette (from Clinique, called “Teddy Bear”) is quite similar to the one at the top of Kat’s post. I find that a sort of nude/beige/very light brown palette (usually with dark brown or black eyeliner along my top lid) opens up my eyes nicely and tidies things up sufficiently for work without making me look like a drag queen.

    3. It sounds like you have a similar complexion to me. I generally wear light pinks or light taupes, similar to the palette Kat demonstrates in this post. Though not a Lancome color, my favorite eye shadow is Stila. I can’t remember the name of the color I use, but it’s similar to “kitten” on the sephora website (and may actually be that color).

    4. I cannot recommend Urban Decay’s Naked palette enough. Tons of “nude” shades to choose from, so obviously, they won’t all be nude for you, but they give you options for punching up the color for a night out. (FWIW, I’m also VERY fair, with blonde hair, and green/hazel eyes.)

    5. I’m also super fair skinned with medium brown hair and blue eyes. My skin’s super temperamental, so I tend to stick to Bare Minerals makeup for the most part. I use the Vanilla Sugar shadow under my brow bone, Soft Focus Explore in the crease, and Peach Puff on the lid. The darkness/intensity of the shadow really depends on how much you apply, but for the most part I use a fairly light hand and it looks like minimal/no make-up. I use Stila Smudge Pot liner as well (whatever the black one is called), applied with a very thin brush.

      1. I have olive skin and brown eyes/hair (but that’s more silvery lately). Anyway, I am allergic to the red dyes in makeup – hard to figure out but true…began 10 years ago. So, I cannot wear the pinks and blushes for eye shadow and no more burgundy-ish nor purple-ish eye liners to tone down the harsh blacks. Have been relegated to the copper eye shadows and pale thin white ish for up near the eyebrows. Black, copper, navy eye liner. So boring and really, IMO not the best. Even NARS consult moved me into that. They had me buy some greens, but every time I think it looks odd.

        Thoughts? Similar challenges with the allergies.

        Just yesterday I tried a MAC purple (dark not obvious) eye liner and after sleeping, my eyes are red, swollen, and lots of discharge which coats the eyelashes…so it really is an allergy. Sorry for the TMI !

        Thanks Corporettes out there.

  5. Very nice video. I think I’ll try the Sienna palette though. I’ve got an eyeshadow trio from Smashbox, which wears well, that is similar to the Lancome version in this post. The other colors on the Lancome site are gorgeous. I wish I could wear the greens, but any green on my eyes makes me look like an abused wife or zombie, take your pick. I’ve got a light olive skin tone, dark brown hair, nearly black eyebrows, and very dark brown eyes, therefore, it’s the taupey-natural colors for me.

  6. Kat, I really like the jacket/blazer that you’re wearing — the lapels are feminine and different!

      1. Color me jealous of your new purse! If I hadn’t bought a new (yellow) Cole Haan last month I’d have considered going for it too.

  7. South Asian ladies – what eyeshadow colors are “nude” for you? I’ve been looking for the past year for that holy grail eyeshadow that brightens up my eye without looking too done and it’s driving me nuts. I try describing the color as “champagne”, “coffee-colored”, “tan” and somehow, all I get matched with are these coppery colors, which are nice, but not what I’m looking for. I refuse to believe the color I’m looking for doesn’t exist. Help!

    1. South asian complexion ranges a gamut of colors. What shade are you? I would try and play with the cheap ones first.

      1. Hmmm, I don’t know how to describe it (although some desis are so skin color obsessed, I shouldn’t be having a problem, lol). I would say that I run towards the medium/light medium brown color. NC42 in MAC, golden medium in Bare Minerals. I suppose I’m a rosy cappuccino-ish color, so I like yellowish foundation to cancel out some of the red in my complexion.

        1. Ohh that is a good way to describe skin tone. I am trying to think of a way to describe mine and answer your question and the closest thing I could come up with is “a cross between a cardboard shipping box and a redwell file”. Not sexy at all.

          Anyway, I really like my Smashbox “center stage” trio eyeshadow. The medium brown shadow is a little darker than “nude for me”.

          1. LOL I wanted to say that I was cardboard-colored also. I will definitely check our Smashbox, Bobbi Brown and MAC. Thanks for the suggestions!

    2. Ru, try Bobbi brown….cannot recall names but great eye colors for cappuccino skin….lovely lip colors too. Plenty nude for desis eye colours.

    3. I like MAC eyeshadows for my (medium … approximately milk chocolate) desi skin… though I can’t remember the color I use!

  8. While I love this blog, and know Kat needs to support herself, it’s weird to read posts she was paid to do. The video is awkward…I just feel like this kind of marketing is icky and manipulative.

    Cheers to Kat for being VERY up front about the reason for the post though

  9. I’ve been getting a lot of use from my palette as well– the colors are just so great on it, and so versatile. I love that I can wear one or pile them on. Can’t wait to see how long it holds up in the horrible summer heat & humidity!

    Congrats on le bebe! How exciting for you!

  11. Don’t know if anyone else has this issue but up until recently I had the hardest time getting eye shadow to stay put. It always creased and smeared well before lunchtime. I discovered Urban Decay’s product which is like glue for eye shadow…it is awesome and I encourage anyone who wears eyeshadow to try it. It keeps your makeup looking fresh ALL day.

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