I've swatched all the color products below. Laura Mercier Baked Eyeshadow in Black Karat is a gorgeous blackened gold. Black Karat is meant to be used both wet and dry. You can see how much more intense the shadow is when applied wet! It's worth noting that when dry, the shadow is a glitter-bomb. The particles are small, but get everywhere! Laura Mercier Kohl eyeliner in Black Gold is a darker gold with bronze tones. It's pretty and usable. Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Sparkling is a nice light peach gloss with some golden sheen.
Overall, the colors in the Laura Mercier gift were nice, but the products were quite miniature. The gift is not like the Sephora's 500 point perks of yesteryear that contained at least one full size product. I think it's become a better strategy to look for the sporadic deluxe sized samples offered in Sephora's emails if you're looking to get better gifts at a lower price point. Thanks for reading! Have you redeemd points for any of Sephora's 100 or 500 point perks lately? Do you wait for gift with purchases, or purchase as needed?
Love, Dovey.
your swatches look good! the shadow does seem quite pretty... but i skipped this. I really didn't think I would use this stuff (already have a deluxe of the radiance primer) and i'm happy to see that I am right! :) I want to save my points for something good! I'm thinking skincare, or the off chance that they actually do something like they used to!
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce, Keep saving; I saved forever and finally caved since this was a somewhat decent gift for me. I'm still hoping for the days of yore!
Deletelove all the colours, especially the gloss. I think I need such colour asap, always drooling over your perfect choices of peachy pink, peachy nudes (ok, this one was a gift but still :D) / Claire
ReplyDeleteHi Claire, Yay! I'm glad I'm imparting my peachy pink ways on you :D I agree, it was a gift, but it's def. in my usual color range.
DeleteI'll take your Mascara sample Dovey haha! I love that mascara-it works really well for me. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd use the rest of the stuff though even though it does look pretty! :)
Hi Tracy, if you were here, I'd def. pass it your way! It must be popular, since I've seen it around quite a bit. I'm glad I could cross this perk off your list!
DeleteI'd love to try Black Gold! That's totally the kind of color I'd use on my lower lashline VERY often! How well does it stay put for you?
ReplyDeleteHI Sunny, I haven't tried it yet for a whole day, but I had the exact same thought! It is really pretty on the upper too. Will have to re-comment after some more testing :)
DeleteWhat a lovely 500 point perk! I've been saving up my points but haven't spent money on anything lately. So I might not reach 500 soon, boo. I'd really love to try this! The Black Gold eyeliner looks gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie, it's a good set! I think it's not worth spending 'towards' but ok if you have points. I still feel like waiting for those sporadic good gifts is going to be my plan of action
DeleteI ended up cashing my points in this month for the Benefit the Porefessional Primer and the deluxe sized they're real mascara. I haven't tried either yet, but I can't wait! I want to use up a few more products first :D
ReplyDeleteHi Kelly, Oooh, I have a porefessional *I think* somewhere. I'm really curious about they're real; it seems to get a mixture of love and meh reviews.
DeleteI have over 1200 points exactly because I have NOT been liking most of Sephora's perks. But when I do see one I like, I am jumping on that. Most times I just get the mini facial cleansers that have been awesome for the gym! :)
ReplyDeleteAH, that's what happened to me too. There was a nice Caudalie one a couple months back that I just never got too, sigh. I hope Sephora will pick things up soon!
DeletePretty, but I didn't think it was the ideal set for me so I saved my points. The Radiance Primer isn't for my oily skin and I don't like to use my shadows wet generally, so Black Karat would have been wasted. The Black Gold eyeliner is absolutely GORGEOUS--but I highly doubt it would have lasted more than 20 minutes on my super oily lids. That leaves just the gloss, which seems like it just *might* be a tad too light and would wash me out :/
ReplyDeleteHi Becca, points saved then! I always find the sets tempting, but think twice about whether I'd actually use the things in them. I hope a good one comes up for you soon!
DeleteThanks for the review! i was very interested in this set bc ive had the 00 points sitting around but i will pass!!! the liner does look pretty though!
ReplyDeletePS: Love love love that you have been blogging so freq!! :D
Hi J, Thanks for the comment! I'm surprised myself at how often I've been posting; not sure how long I can keep this rate up, but I'll try. I was inspired by your month long blog challenge a while back :)
DeleteI have the Black Karat eyeshadow too and I prefer to use it wet because of its intensity. Black Gold looks pretty too :)
ReplyDeleteHi Memoiselle, I think I'll probably be using this mostly wet, unless I'm going for a fairy dust effect (not likely). I was surprised that I liked Black Gold; it's a good liner color!
DeleteI have Black Karat also and this is reminding me to pull it out and give it some loving. :)
ReplyDeleteThis appears to be a great perk but I either have or already used most of the items in it before and would have passed. Currently sitting at 700+ points and waiting for a really awesome 500 point perk as well!