Le Métier de Beauté Silk Road Kaleidoscope

The Silk Road Kaleidoscope is part of Le Métier de Beauté's Autumn collection. As ever, the shades are a mixture of warm and cool. They can be layered together using the Couches de Couleurs technique or used alone. The inspiration for this particular collection is the silk, satin, spices and jewels that made the journey from East to West on the "Silk Road".

It's an interesting combination of colours and I feel I understand the choices better knowing inspiration behind it. It's darker and less neutral than other kaleidescopes I've tried. The purples are stunning as is the brown with copper reflects but the warm, golden copper shade really scares me! It's probably the most pigmented of the four too. I'm always willing to give it a try when it's Le Métier though as often the results are surprising.

Flash

TAPESTRY

Tapestry is probably my favourite of the four shades. It's a beautiful, cool plummy shade shot with gold. It reminds me a little of MAC Trax but without the bronze tone. For me, this is the more versatile as I can use it as both a lid and crease colour.

DAMASK

Damask is a really warm, rich colour. It's very pigmented as I mentioned and is buttery smooth to apply. I applied this all over as lid colour but found it was just too warm for me, even when I layered the other colours over it. My most success has been using this as a small hint of colour, either using it lightly to blend out the crease or tapped on to the centre of the lid. For me, this is a case of a little goes a long way! I think it would look amazing on darker skin tones.

IKAT

Ikat is another rich plummy colour. Described as a silk-matte pinot noir, this is much deeper and more current-y than Tapestry. It has a smooth texture, despite being a matte and I like using this on the outer corner or the crease to darken. Someone commented that this palette looked too bruise-y for their fair skin and I think if there's a colour that has potential to look a touch bruise-y it's this one. Especially if you struggle with these sorts of colours. However, with the quality of these eyeshadows they're easy to blend out to avoid them looking like a block of harsh colour.

BROCADE

Brocade is a dark chocolate speckled with pretty copper reflects. Nothing chunky of course and as yet I've not spotted any fallout. Like Ikat, I've only used this on the outer corner and in the crease. It would be interesting to see how the colours would look as a gradient using the kaleidoscope bottom to top from the lash line. I will of course investigate!


The colours below were swatched on unprimed skin and this photo was taken in bright sunlight.

L-R: Tapestry, Damask, Ikat and Brocade

I haven't got any looks to share with you just yet but I will do a post on my return if anyone is interested. The Silk Road Kaleidescope costs $95, I believe it is available at Le Métier counters but I haven't spotted it on any of the websites as yet. For those of us in the UK and Europe, you will still need to find a friendly pal in the States to get hold of this one. I still have no news of a return date but I'm ever hopeful!

What do you think to this palette? How would you wear the colours?