Le Metier de Beaute Femme Fatale Kaleidoscope Review & Comparison

Mid-April was the time when Le Metier released their online exclusive new Kaleidoscope, called Femme Fatale. I couldn't find any reviews online back then and it was almost certain that there would be just a few days before it would eventually sell out. At the promotional e-mail next to the photo of Kaleidoscope, it was written "Take a risk" with capital letters. I checked out the international shipping option and found out it was as expensive as the Kaleidoscope itself to send it to Germany so it was out of question. I contacted my friend Mari, or maybe even she contacted me before knowing that I would love to get my hands on that piece. I replied her e-mail, saying "I don't know how this one performs, but I am willing to take the risk!". Only after I got the following response, I have understood that I sent the e-mail to LMdB customer service instead of to Mari and they replied back "I think you will be pleased, it is really gorgeous."

My Kaleidoscope travelled some distances until here. Firstly it visited another state where my brother in law lives. He was kind enough to take it with him and travelled to some other cities in Germany with it before it eventually came here. In some of the photos below, you will see some small pieces cracked and second shade from top got loose of its housing and fell down, but as you see there is only some minor damage on its surface. I feel so lucky that it is still intact after all the miles! The package is the same as all other Kaleidoscopes, on top there is the gorgeous mirror. It is such a practical yet an elegant design and very travel friendly.

Here are the list of the shades and how Le Metier de Beaute defines them (from top to bottom):

Oyster: satin shimmery dust (#1 in the photo below)

Once swatched, the first tier (#1) is very close to my skin color, a bit cooler, therefore does not show up intensively. It is a satin color with very subtle shimmer, I found #1 to be very useful to tone down other colors as needed. #2 is a midnight blue with ruby sparkles which is what is meant as jewel tone by LMdB I suppose. It is a gorgeous complex color but is rather on the dry side, so for the color intensity a wet application can be needed. #3 is a bronze brown leaning olive green on me. #4 is a warm purple which is rather satin than matte and also rather a bit dry, similar to #2 in consistency. As LMdB recommends the colors to be layered, I also swatched them all together to show the resulting color once all are applied from top to bottom. The mix of colors is a gorgeous complex taupe leaning purple.

I really like LMdB's layering technique and partly used it for the eye look below. I applied #1 completely on my eye lid. Then padded #3 starting one third away from inner corner all the way to the outer corner. From two third of the lid from inner to the outer lid I applied #2 on top of the other two, and defined this look further by using #4 on the crease. 

I really like Oyster getting more and more complexby each added shade on top and reaching the layered taupe on the crease. The resulting look reminds me of Suqqu Ex-13 from their summer spring collection. Which makes me ask myself why I haven't published the review of Suqqu palettes although the post is ready since ages *deep sigh*. Temptalia also has a gorgeous eye makeup with Femme Fatale using the shades rather seperately, which you can find here. 

Femme Fatale is released right after Melange de Colour Fashion Eye Palette which houses 18 true color eye shadows from Le Metier de Beaute. Below I tried to find similar shades from this release to put together Femme Fatale Kaleidoscope.

As you can also see from the swatches, there are no shades which come close to #1 and #4 of Femme Fatale. #2 is close to L5 but they are not dupes as L5 is lighter and doesn't have the complex shimmer of #2. #3 is also darker and leaning more olive than L1. 

Final thoughts: I love the "warm bronze shades reaching purple leaning taupe" look I created with Femme Fatale. I need to play with the palette a little bit more to explore some of many other possibilities. It is a pity that this product is sold out but may be released again so make sure to sign up to LMdB's mailing list. If the consistency of #2 and #4 would be a bit creamier, I would be head over heals with this one. It will still be one of my favorites for spring and also for upcoming fall since I find that the colors are suitable for all year around. All in all, another gorgeous Kaleidoscope which makes fun to play with.

Have you ordered Femme Fatale? Do you like the color combination?