Lancome Le Monochromatique Review & Swatches

Lancome Le Monochromatique is a new eyes, cheeks, and lips cream-to-powder tint that acts as an eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick which launched in nine shade selections for $25 each. I headed to Nordstrom and picked up one shade to try out sadly, they didn’t have the really bold, bright red shade I wanted called Soiree so I ended up with a bright pink called Petit Bisou. I was going to buy a few more shades but decided against it since I wanted to try the formula out first.

Here’s my review, swatches, and thoughts on Lancome Le Monochromatique!

Lancome Le Monochromatique arrives in a 0.13 oz small eyeshadow compact. It’s a pretty simple packaging that reminded me a little bit of Illamasqua Eyeshadow. I’s a fairly simple packaging and should store easily as well as travel lightly. The middle of the powder has a rose motif but this disappears fairly quickly after using the product.

Lancome created the Le Monochromatique to use as an eyeshadow, lipstick, and blush. The idea is to multitask with one formula. I love this idea as I do so like a product that gets me out the door quickie in the morning not to mention it sounded like a great weekend makeup product as I could dab it on and just go. The shade I choose was Petit Bisou which is a blue-based pink that reminds me of NARS Angelika Blush with refined silver sparkle. The sparkle wasn’t noticeable when I applied this in front of my bathroom vanity mirror in the morning but when I headed outside it was very noticeable. My first choice was actually the bold, bright Lunar red called Soiree but my counter didn’t have it in stock sadly.

Interestingly enough these appear much more vibrant in the pan but apply a lot more naturally and sheerer or at least the shade I purchased did. The formula has a soft, thin cream texture which is matte in finish (yes, there’s that microfine sparkle in the mix but the finish overall, is a matte one). It blends fairly easily onto my drier skin and provides a nice sheer touch of pink to my cheeks, eyes, and lips. You can build the color up however, no matter how you apply it never comes across as too much or too bold. The color itself is very vibrant in the packaging but applies a lot more subtly with a natural finish. The glide is easy on my cheeks and across my lids but I felt like the formula felt a little drier on my lips so in my look below I’m wearing a bit of gloss on top of the color for moisture. I felt like the formula wore very close to my skin and was quite seamless with the longer wear of a stain as the color simply wouldn’t quick and stayed on for several hours before I removed it at the end of the night. It remained quite fresh looking without fading.

It did feel like a one trick pony for me or at least the color I choose was. The pink looked best on my cheeks but I wasn’t terribly impressed with the shade on my lips as it looked dry nor on my eye lids as as it looked quite sheer and only provided a sheer wash of color in this area.

I’ll be the first to admit Lancome Le Monochromatique is a little disappointing in the pigment department. I think the colors come across so bold and beautiful in promo images as well as in the compacts but once you apply them the color is a lot more natural and sheerer. I think this could be either a good thing or a bad thing. A good thing because if the idea of such bold shades scare you they do apply more natural. But disappointing if you wanted something louder and more dramatic.

Lancome Le Monochromatique is available now.

Anyone try them?

Do share your thoughts on the formula!

Where to buy

Nordstrom Macy’s Lancome Lord & Taylor