Lancome has released a limited edition eyeshadow palette, Auda[city] in London, for the makeup holiday shopping season that was inspired by the streets of London and created by celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge.
And I won't be buying.
I'll admit when I heard this was created by Lisa Eldridge—even though I know she is Lancome's Global Makeup Creative Director—I immediately wanted to buy it. Lisa Eldridge is the quintessential woman to me. She is gorgeous, successful, sophisticated, and incredibly talented. I have watched her videos on YouTube for years and always find her knowledge, experience, and talent refreshing.
Added to that, this palette was inspired by London, which is one of my favorite cities. I used to live in the United Kingdom, and going to London was always so exciting for me, so I like the London connection. Thankfully, however, I've never been someone to have sentimental attachments to names of cosmetics, so that's not really an issue for me here.
But I have to say, despite my admiration for Lisa Eldridge, this palette really disappoints me. Lancome traditionally isn't celebrated for the quality of their eyeshadows, and the Audacity line especially is known for its high price tag and lackluster quality.
I couldn't help but feel that would be the case with this one as well, and after seeing swatches on Temptalia's blog, am convinced that the quality is just not there, especially for the price.
In addition to the quality, the color selection here feels really uninspired to me.
Photo: Tempalia
On the positive side, I think this palette incorporates a broad selection of colors that range from warm brown/orange, pink, green, and smokey. It also feels obvious that a makeup artist designed this palette since the color selection seems as though it would work best for a makeup artist. This is something that I think is important to remember and keep in mind. A lot of palettes (especially contouring palettes!) are not meant for the average consumer who only does makeup on herself. Palettes have traditionally been made for makeup artists who need a variety of colors to complement different skin tones. Parts of the Audacity in London palette could work on a true array of skin tones (which is awesome), but if you're only using it on yourself, there are bound to be colors in here that you just don't prefer.
Personally, I know I would never touch any shade right of the purple. So anything green and after would not get use from me. The colors are simply too cool for my skin and my preference. As far as the shades I would use—the warm browns, oranges, pinks, and mauves—I have those shades in spades in my collection.
Let's talk about price. This palette is a whopping $69, which is incredibly high for an eyeshadow palette. There are 16 shadows, which is a nice selection, and 0.58 ounces of product. To put that into perspective, Too Faced's Chocolate Bar palette also contains 16 eyeshadows, but has 0.62 ounces of product, and costs $49. And I can only assume the Chocolate Bar is of superior quality to the Audacity in London, making this palette overpriced by at least $20.
The value of the Audacity in London palette went even further down for me when I thought about palettes with similar color selections.
If you put CoverGirl's The Roses and The Goldens together, you get this palette:
Wet N Wild's Comfort Zone palette also bears a strong resemblance:
Photo: Temptalia
The CoverGirl palettes have been praised for their quality, and Comfort Zone is the drugstore iconic equivalent of the Naked palette. I have owned The Roses and Comfort Zone (both have been decluttered) and was incredibly happy and impressed with their quality. Having seen the swatches of the Audacity in London palette, I'm inclined to think it is on par with (if not worse than) the quality of these very inexpensive palettes from the drugstore.
I think $69 is far too much to pay for an eyeshadow palette of "meh" quality. Especially when there are so many options that are incredible at lower prices, even in the drugstore! Since Lisa Eldridge is Lancome's Global Makeup Creative Director (and has been for a while), it wouldn't surprise me if the Audacity in London palette is marketed as her creation simply to sell more product when they know the quality isn't on par with other mid-range and high-end brands. Given her title, I would think she has a hand in creating most of what Lancome produces, so it's a little odd to me that this palette is specifically marketed with her name on it.
Either way, this palette was just uninspiring for me in every way. The color selection was bland and overdone, it's not cohesive enough to be used fully outside of makeup artistry, and the quality left much to be desired. And I won't be buying.
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