Estée Lauder X Victoria Beckham Modern Mercury Highlighter and Bitter Clove Metal Eyeshadow Review

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This must be one of the most anticipated collaborations this year.  I was rather excited to read all the pre-launch press as I adore Victoria Beckham and the packaging is right up my alley. So I ordered a few items online from Estée Lauder website on the release day.

With much self-control(haha), I purchased the Modern Mercury Highlighter, Bitter Clove Metal Eyeshadow and Brazilian Nude Lipstick.

Today I’m reviewing Modern Mercury and Bitter Clove. Undecided at this point if I will be keeping Brazilian Nude(the packaging is so tiny:( ).  Below is a photo of Brazilian Nude for your viewing.

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Without further ado, here comes some photos of the gorgeous, sleek and sexy packaging:

modernmercuryfront

merdernmercuryback

bitterclovepackagingfront

bittercloveback

I think we all know when we buy luxury brands you are paying for the name and the luxe packaging.  I absolutely love the leather-feel, fluted black case with gold rims.  Admittedly,  I am not a fan of the clasp, it’s a tad too chunky!

Personally I think Victoria Beckham has created a collection that is a reflection of her, i.e very wearable, chic and sophisticated.  The price point could be lower however!

Modern Mercury is a rose gold with a metallic finish.  The texture is silky and smooth.  There’s hardly any powder kicked-up.  It is pigmented and can emphasise pores as well as skin texture with layering.  It wears well for 8 hours before fading away.  I love that it has a hint of rose and pink.  You can use it as a nude blush providing your skin can take it:) It is a lovely blush topper.  I love pairing Modern Mercury with Tom Ford Savage blush and MAC Highly Illogical(Star Trek Edition).

To satisfy my curiosity, I had a dig through my stash to see if I have anything similar.  I was a little surprised when discovering the darker shade in Tom Ford Moodlight is quite similar to Modern Mercury, around 90% I would say (it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as Estée Lauder owns Tom Ford).  Modern Mercury is slightly lighter.

exmodernmercury

Over to Bitter Clove, it is a bronzy green with fine gold shimmers.  It wears well over 8 hours with minimal creasing ( I do use Nars Prolong Wear Eyeshadow Base always). It looks much more intense and dark bronze in the pan.  When swatched with a single wipe, you can see the gold shimmers are suspended in a thin green film.  The shimmers thankfully stay put and I don’t end up with a disco face at the end of the day:( You can wear Bitter Clove as a sheer wash or build it up to a much more intense effect.  You will see in the heavy swatch below.  I have been pairing it with Tom Ford Spring 2015 Cream Eyeshadow or Urbandecay Naked Smoky and quite like the final looks.

I tried using Bitter Clove wet with a damped brush.  This would yield a darker shade with less obvious shimmers. To be honest, I don’t think I would use it wet again…just not my application preference.

I find the best way to apply Bitter Clove is actually using my fingers.  However this way you would get hard-pan quite quickly.

bitterclovecloseupThese swatches were taken by a large window in natural light. Both were build up heavily.

Here’s a video of the swatches.

Overall I love having them both.  Although they are not extraordinary shades that you would need.  Bitter Clove has won me over much more than I thought so I have ordered Black Myrrh.

Let me know if you have any questions.  The collection is selling fast so if there is anything you’re eyeing on, you need to decide ASAP!:)

Until next time.

Much love always,

Sandyxo

This post featured purchased item.  My opinions expressed here are honest and unbiased.

9 Comments

  1. 22nd September 2016 / 10:24 am

    Lovely swatches Sandy ! You know how much I want this collection and I’m very eager to pick Modern Mercury and the eyeshadows palette 😉
    Have a great day ! xoxo

    Kédidja

    • Sandyxo
      Author
      22nd September 2016 / 6:53 pm

      Thank you Kédija! Hope you get your hands on them soon! Thanks for stopping by!xo

  2. 23rd September 2016 / 8:43 pm

    Wow this collection is amazing ?, I want that highlighter so much, part of me wishes it sells out to save money ???, but I will just end up getting it on eBay for a much higher price tag, great review Sandy and I glad I found you. X

    • Sandyxo
      Author
      5th October 2016 / 8:32 pm

      Hi Esnath, you know what they say “Nothing haunts you like things you didnt buy”:) Victoria Beckham has done so well with this collection. Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it.xo

  3. 25th September 2016 / 4:41 pm

    Whole collection is amazing but that highlighter looks gorgeous! Love your swatches

    • Sandyxo
      Author
      5th October 2016 / 8:29 pm

      The collection is so luxe. I wish the prices were a little more wallet-friendly of course. Thank you so much for your kind comment as always.xo

  4. 17th October 2016 / 2:00 pm

    This collection Is absolutely amazing!! Just got my order and immediately fell in love with every pieces!!! ❤️

    • Sandyxo
      Author
      17th October 2016 / 7:22 pm

      Yes! I want every piece from this collection if my wallet wasn’t crying too much lol Thank you for stopping by lovely.xo

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