The ethereal Laura Geller delivers a spring glow

By Nicci Jordan Hubert

I had the pleasure of attending makeup phenom Laura Geller’s spring launch party, a breakfast at her adorable flagship studio–which Laura calls her “living laboratory–on the Upper East Side.

At nine-thirty in the morning, I have to admit I was still in need of my morning coffee. The NyQuil I had inhaled the night before hadn’t yet worn off. But my morning grump was about to be put to the test. Upon entering the store, I was greeted by the Laura Geller team, a dozen-or-so glowing, beautiful, smiling faces. These were people who knew how to sell their brand, because I didn’t spot a single case of dark circles. And dammit, the frenetic positive energy was infectious. Now, after a chat with Laura’s international makeup artist Johnny Ottavino–a man with more joy at 9:30 am than the entire cast of Sesame Street–and with a fully-leaded coffee in-hand, I was buoyed into a cheery mood and ready to survey the goods.

And goods they are. Of course, Laura’s makeup is renowned, but I must admit that while I’ve heard the buzz for years–including Shyema’s raves over the Baked eye shadows and Caulk concealer–I’d never tried her products myself. So, I began the scientific testing.

Because her spring line is packed with new products, I started there. First came the new Air Whipped Lip Wear. Laura claims the colors are universally flattering. Dubious, I tried the Magenta mousse, which in the tube looked too bright and pink. But it surprisingly flattered me–it was bold but not too bold, pink but not too pink. And it was soooo soft. It literally felt like butter. The lipstick/lipgloss hybrid is long lasting, moisturizing, and entirely un-sticky. I am in love.

Next, I sampled her new Baked Striped Delights palettes. I was lucky enough to chat with Laura herself about these products. There was genuine pride and joy in her expression, and a seriousness of conviction to never sacrifice quality. She demonstrated how to use the Baked products, which are made in Italy on terra cotta stones. She said that while they’re technically for either wet or dry use, she insists that wetting your brush and creating a mousse is where you’ll see “the best impact.” Needless to say, she was right. The texture of these products is truly impressive. A lot of wet/dry powders on the market tend to develop a hard shell after getting wet. Not Baked. The palette–featuring gorgeous, summer-glow hues–turned into a moussey consistency and otherwise retained its pressed powder perfection. The pigmentation was powerful, too. A little goes a long way.

Soon enough, the party chatter simmered, allowing Laura to give her official presentation. She demonstrated many other new products with a wonderful mixture of humor and pride, including her “lash stain” At Long Lash, and her Brightening Spackle primer in Ethereal.

The only product I wasn’t entirely sold on was her Baked Eye Rimz shadows, which for my taste were too colorful and sparkly to work well as eye liner. But hey, if that’s you’re thing…

What are your favorite Laura Geller products?