Caving in...Le Metier de Beaute Eye Shadow: Alexandrite

My fellow beauty bloggers have an overwhelming power over me and other like minded beauty obsessed freaks. If we see repetitive pictures of  simply gorgeous cosmetics we melt like the gooey Spongebob Square Pants popsicle all over my daughter's arm on a hot day.

This is how I felt seeing so many pictures and reviews for the brand, Le Metier de Beaute. I've seen so many gorgeous pictures and reviews from my fellow bloggers but I didn't know anything about this company. 

I am so thankful we live in the GOOGLE era...I did some digging and found it's origins....Founded in 2007 by a  daughter of a chemist, Joanna V. Austin and makeup artist Justin Henry. The rough translation of the brand name would something like craft/trade of beauty. It launched at Henri Bendel in NYC on May 1, 2007. I can't give a total store count but I do know it has made it's way to Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, (select) Nordstrom and if you aren't anywhere nearby those counters there's always the online site. 

I finally bit the bullet and decided to make my way to the Nordstrom - downtown, SF to plunk down some cash for LMdB loot, this also was my birthday gift. 

I like to say that Nordstorm is my favorite place to shop for makeup but this one time, I may have to retract that statement. Why was the LMdB counter empty? I had random makeup artists checking up on me and they didn't really know much about the line so all they could do was stock check. I remember asking Joey, via Twitter, about what shadow should be my first? And of course being the Taupe HOORS that she and Pink Sith are I went with Corinthian - but it was sold out. That's just my luck! My next choice was Jojo - sold out. How about Spicy? Also SOLD OUT!  I kept going back to this lovely reddish - plum with a bit of a golden sheen, Alexandrite. I could also be a bit biased as my real name is Alexandra (just saying). Luckily, it was available to come home with me.

And here it is swatched on my arm (NC 42 for reference):

This applies not entirely sheer but also doesn't pack a whole lot of pigment in the first layer. It is also based upon your skin tone. Since I'm on the tan side, I will apply up to 3 layers on my lid. I don't go heavy handed and I blend with a fluff brush so it doesn't look scary heavy. It goes on like a dream, a little sheer but it's beautiful, buildable and not at all patchy!

I get it now...I understand the hype.

The size of the pan is pretty decent, 0.18oz and the feel of the shadow compact is reminiscent of NARS packaging. Not at all a bad thing.

I'll come back with a FOTD shot because I also bought a lip gloss, La Belle (SURPRISE, SURPRISE) that I want to feature as well.

Final Assessment - I will not rest until I make Corinthian mine! I am not the biggest fan of Neiman Marcus but I may have to make my way to the LMdB counter just so I can have the proper guidance on the brand. Because of the high price, I'm only picking the shades that I just LOVE! That said, I am hoping that I don't fall in LOVE with the entire collection.

Alexandrite is part of their permanent collection of 32 shades. This was bought by yours truly - $30/USD at my local Nordstrom.