Monday 8 August 2011

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.

LMDB+Silk Road1
Flash

LMDB+Silk Road6

LMDB+Silk Road3


TAPESTRY
Silk Road+Tapestry3

Silk Road+Tapestry1


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
Silk Road+Damask1

Silk Road+Damask2


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
Silk Road+Ikat4 copy

Silk Road+Ikat1


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
Silk Road+Brocade3

Silk Road+Brocade2

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.
LMDB+Silk Road11
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?

10 comments:

  1. I wish they'd come back to the UK!!!!!!!!! I miss them :(

    xo
    Sara

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  2. Every shade looks stunning against your skin!

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  3. This is just beautiful! I'd love to see some looks done with the colours. The Brocade is probably my favourite with Tapestry close second.

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  4. Oddly enough, as someone who is very pale, I think Damask is the only shade there I would wear. I have similar shades from Shu and they look amazing as a lid wash or as an accent with a more cream shade as a wash. I'm NC15 with blue eyes and red hair.

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  5. I am literally green with envy that you have this already!!!! So so pretty, it is my aim in life to collect ever kaleidoscope Le Metier ever make. They are so versatile and make me try colours that I would never previously have thought would have worked. I have barely bought any other eye shadows since I tried Le Metier as they all seem inferior (with RBR/Edward Bess the exception to this). THanks for the review & swatches x

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  6. I'm still loving Silk Road so much. I have very fair skin and didn't find the outcome bruise-y looking at all! Sheesh I hope not. If anyone thinks the look I posted was bruise-y then it's time to fess up! LOL I've been having a lot of fun playing with different combinations with this palette. I should really get around to posting some more looks. Can't wait to see how it looks on you!

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  7. Such beautiful pictures!! Thank so much for sharing this. Have you tried to layer any of the colors? How has that worked for you?

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  8. I do really like the look of this, but I don't think I could pull off these colours, I can see that it will work better on your skintone/colouring than mine, I bet you will get some quite dramtic looks from that x

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  9. @dailypolish: I hear you, unfortunately I still think we have a while to wait. I think a lot of people will be happy to welcome them back with open arms!

    @Jamilla Camel: Thank you! It's taken longer for me to crack this one but now I've figured it out, I love it!

    @Madame Gourmand: They're gorgeous colours, aren't they?

    @GreatSheElephant: I bet it would look stunning as a sheer wash of colour, especially with your colouring. I discovered that layering over Tapestry really brings life to the plum. I'm very pleased I persisted with this one!

    @LL: I know what you mean about the kaleidoscopes making you try new colours. I love that they make one raise an eyebrow but try anyway. The beauty in this one is definitely in the layering. I'm still working out if I should try and get the Splendid Frost palette. I spotted it on Nordstrom's website and it's still calling to me!

    @PP: I think I've cracked it now. I didn't think it looked bruise-y on you at all. But I think that, like GSE, Damask looks stunning on your colouring. I do love how LMdB push me to try things I wouldn't ordinarily pick out.

    @Elvira: Thank you. I tried more layering after your comment and realise the beauty in this is definitely in layering the gold over the plum. It brings out the gold accent in the plum beautifully and adds incredible dimension. I might try and do some layered swatches as I think that might be useful.

    @Replica: This is definitely more on the dramatic side. It's warmer than some of the others but I've found the varying the ratio of the warm:cool makes it more accessible. I'll be interested to see what you think to the look I just posted.

    Jane x

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  10. Hey good news all if you are looking for silk road I have some left!!! I work for Le métier in Vegas so u can send em to you... We don't ship internationally (well only to Canada) so let me know if you need one or any others I'm pretty good at finding them!

    Alex
    Text 702.722.7400
    Counter 702.731.3636 ext 2118

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