Estee Lauder - New Palettes Are In

I believe I've mentioned that I primarily wear Estee Lauder and Illamasqua. I don't think you could get any further apart in terms of target audience but frankly, I don't give a shit. These brands work well for me and I love their colors. Estee Lauder is great for work make-up. They do subtle elegant colors and as one blogger put it, and I apologize, I don't remember which one said it, You can always count on Estee Lauder for a boring brown eye palette. Well, there is a new sheriff in town and while he's not sending Lauder into it's off-spring MAC's territory, there is some gorgeousness going on. Plus, easily 12 hour wear and easy to build application. Plus, the new palettes are easily laid out to help you do a look you will love. Work diagonally one way and be subtle. Work the other half of that X and get a more glam look. Of course you can also do whatever you want.
These are being released in duos and quints. I picked up two quints and one could not live without duo. Here's a pic:

Gah! That glare! Dang it! Well, you can pretty well see. I think I have another shot of Waves...if I do I'll post it. The lighter lid shade on the left is a champagne color. It has some shimmer to it and I fell in love. I love ocean-y colors and this stole my heart. I've not worn these yet, I wanted to swatch them all pristine.
Emerald Oasis also has shimmer in it, though I didn't get it successfully photographed. The camera seemed to eat the shimmer. Film Noir there, tried to hold it's own with that lower darker color but it's sadly represented. It's  much more shimmery in real life.

The other palettes I felt were safe and already done and I told my buddy who was selling me these that. These are the only two larger sets that I felt I couldn't dupe on my own.
See the point about the X usage? Film Noir, for example, if you use the white on the lid and the taupe in the crease, with the matte black center as your liner, that's a nice look for day; Then if you go for the gunmetal on the upper left on the lid with the sparkle in the opposite corner as the crease and the matte black center as a liner, or even the sparkly black, for that matter, you can create a more dramatic look. Use the white shimmer as a highlighter! Do the matte black shadow as an eyeliner and go over it with one of the shimmers. Nice! These offer a lot of flexibility and lots of fun experimentation time, if you're willing to put it in. YUM!

I think Estee Lauder does some of the most elegant packaging around, in fact, I believe they are known for it. Used to be that mint green...remember those from your Mom's vanity? I do! However, today they are gold and lucite and nothing you'd mind pulling out of your purse to use the mirror at the table in a restaurant, know what I mean? You're not going to whip out your Maybelline compact at the dinner table but Lauder you just might. My only complaint is that these are bloody difficult to open. I usually have to slide a nail in the crease and pry, and as we all know, nails are jewels, not tools!
If all the experts are right and all we're paying for at the department stores is drugstore stuff in prettier packages...it might be worth it.

Nice reflection of my drapes there... **facepalm**

I hope you've enjoyed our little sojourn into one of my other beauty loves: eye makeup. I will likely post some more periodically, but don't expect to see the green eye of Sauron on here much! LOL! I did a close up of my eye on my camera phone so my friend the make up artist could see the cool thing I'd done (with turquoise metallic liner pencil..OOOOO!) and it seriously looks like the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings only green. I've been accused of having witch eyes most of my life so a nod out to a certain Russian who said "You know what you have? You have eyes like the wolf. That's what you have. Eyes of the wolf." nodding seriously. My friend was quick to jump in and explain that to a Russian, that is high praise as the wolf is almost revered in Russian culture as being fierce, independent and wild. I'll take that over witch eyes any day of the week!!

**Blinks eyes wolfishly**


Incidentally, these wolf eyes are actually grey so I'm very interested to see what Film Noir does to them. With the right application, grey shadows can make my eyes almost translucent in color, which is COOL. We shall see!

Happy Wolf Blinking!!