Product Review -- Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette

There are so many gorgeous new palettes coming on these days that it's difficult to choose between them.

I mean, I'm on a budget so as much as I'd like to buy every new palette that comes out, I've got to be a bit more selective.

I was drawn to the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette primarily because of the shade range -- they are a lot of lovely warm tones that are perfect for fall and a good variety of light, mid-tone, and dark shades.

I've had good experience with Lancome shadows in the past too, so I was relatively confident of the quality as well.


The palette comes in black plastic compact with a Parisian skyline scene etched in the cover. There is a decent size mirror inside that is pretty useful for doing your makeup, so it's a good travel palette option.

The palette also include a double-ended brush with synthetic bristles -- one end is a flat shader style, while the other is a fluffy blending style.

Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette

Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette brush

There are 16 shadows included: Filigree, pale gold shimmer; Choquette, pale peach matte; Parfait, pale pink matte; Joie, golden bronze shimmer; Voyage, muted mauve matte; Sante, tan matte; Exhibition,mauve shimmer; Zip Me Up, dark purple shimmer; Volcano, silvery gray shimmer; Audacious, cool brown shimmer; Couture, dark brown matte; "It" List, black matte; Kitten Heel, peachy gold shimmer; Tenacity, purple-y taupe shimmer; Clock Strikes 12, gray metallic; and Nuit, black metallic.

Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette

From l. to r.: Filigree, Choquette, Parfait

From l. to r.: Joie, Voyage, Sante

From l. to r.: Exhibition, Zip Me Up, Volcano

From l. to r.: Audacious, Couture, "It" List

From l. to r.: Kitten Heel, Tenacity, Clock Strikes 12, Nuit

While I like many of the shades, this palette is a disappointment on the whole.

Many of the shadows are dry and stiff, so they can apply on the sheer side and sometimes look a little patchy. It isn't the usual Lancome formula because I have a single of Kitten Heel and it's much smoother and creamier than the version in the palette.

This isn't to say that the palette is unusable -- I can get some very nice looks from it, but they definitely do take a little more work, i.e. packing on more color, using a colored base, blending a little more. I don't mind doing that with some shadows, but when I pay $68 for a palette, I expect a higher quality product.

I mean, I recently purchased the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette, which contains slightly less product but is $14 less and is much easier to work with.

So if you're choosing between the Auda[City] in Paris and other palettes, I definitely think that there are better options out there. I'll get plenty of use out of it, but it's certainly one of those products I regret buying.

You can purchase the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette at Lancome, Sephora, and department stores that sell Lancome.

Have you tried the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris Palette? Are you a fan?