Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel

As I write this, the sad news broke of Sonia Rykiel’s passing today at the age of 86. A true visionary and a woman who made knitwear über-cool, she left her mark in the world of fashion and her work continue to resonate today. Au revoir, madame Rykiel.

The 2016 Fall season has been churning out some really lovely beauty pieces, and one collection I was particularly excited about was the Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel collaboration. A joint creative effort between Lisa Eldridge, the brand’s Global Creative Director, and the fashion house’s head Julie de Libran, the collection draws inspiration from the St-Germain-des-Prés district of the 6th arrondissement in Paris, a quadrant that’s famous for its cultural heritage. The packaging giving a nod to the free-loving Parisian style and iconic boldly striped knitwear that the house of Rykiel is known for. Continuing this theme, the shades of both palettes also provide plenty of mix & match options — much like Rykiel clothing does, in fact.

Sonia Rykiel (May 25, 1930 – August 25, 2016)

Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel Collection launch party, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris (image: Lancôme)

Classic Sonia Rykiel knit pattern (2014 Collection)

Saint-Germain-des-Prés (credit)

Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel | Saint-Germain & Parisian Spirit Palettes

Both Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel palettes have 9 shades to play with; on the left-hand side are 6 complementary and graduating hues (berry for Parisian Spirit, blue-green for Saint-Germain), while on the right-hand side and under the metallic flap, you’ll find 1 matte base shade and 2 bold shimmers. All can be applied either dry or with a dampened brush, with the exception of the mattes that could potentially become damaged if dampened. Each palette also comes with a dual-ended brush (synthetic fibres) and is well-sized as well as quite useful for creating a variety of looks.

Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel | Saint-Germain & Parisian Spirit Palettes

Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel | Saint-Germain & Parisian Spirit Palettes (brush detail)

Parisian Spirit, limited edition (CAN $75.00) | A mix of both cool and warm tones in mauve-berry hues, suitable for a broad range of skin tones.

Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel | Parisian Spirit

Saint-Germain, limited edition (CAN $75.00) | The more cooler-leaning of the two palettes with 3 matte shades in total, and while not as colour saturated as Parisian Spirit, is probably made more wearable due to the subtle impact of the shades.

Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel | Saint-Germain

There are pros and cons to the Lancôme x Sonia Rykiel palettes; I really love the slim cases and how easy they are to travel with (no need to lug around a ton of eyeshadows) and the shade selection for both manages to be cohesive yet still varied enough to provide several makeup options to help take your look from day/casual to night. The fact that the brush is basically full-sized and not the dinky-small variety, is another plus. On the con side and by looking at the two, I was sure that Saint-Germain would be my fave but unfortunately the shades turned out to be a little too cool for my skin tone and definitely need more work for the colour payoff I was looking to get. Parisian Nights, on the other hand, is spectacular and really easy to work with. Plus it makes my green eyes pop … but in a good way.

Available September in store & online