Le Metier De Beaute Beauty Vault VIP - Spoilers

[Geek2]

I haven't received mine yet. Not sure how this one is going to work for me based on the posts, I guess I just have to wait and see. I was able to blend the blue one in the palette from last time so hopefully this color is something that will layer with others if it doesn't work on it's own.

 

[Shauna999]

I haven't received mine yet. Not sure how this one is going to work for me based on the posts, I guess I just have to wait and see. I was able to blend the blue one in the palette from last time so hopefully this color is something that will layer with others if it doesn't work on it's own.

I bet you'll love it!! I would've been thrilled but I've received a lot of blue eye shadow in the vip program. There's so many fab colors out there & I'm absolutely in love with their shadows, I wish they'd get away from blues. Oh well.. Beggers can't be choosers /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> .

 

[tazdvil]

http://shop.jillharth.com/collections/stars/products/baked-marbleized-eyeshadow-whirlwind

Is this the shadow?

http://www.locally-yours.nl/shops/item/baked-marbleized-eye-shadow

Or this?

There are a few other sites with the same thing....

I've been Leary this year because the quality of the palette just wasn't le métier. I couldn't imagine them having leopard print on their bronzer, not with the level of class they have. So I poked around and checked out this month's.... There are a few different brands with the same name and style of product. If this is the case, it's time for me to bow out after three years. I signed up because I love their makeup and I don't feel like I'm getting that anymore... It feels like I'm getting a product they order just for these boxes.....

 

[Lisa424]

http://shop.jillharth.com/collections/stars/products/baked-marbleized-eyeshadow-whirlwind

Is this the shadow?

http://www.locally-yours.nl/shops/item/baked-marbleized-eye-shadow

Or this?

There are a few other sites with the same thing....

I've been Leary this year because the quality of the palette just wasn't le métier. I couldn't imagine them having leopard print on their bronzer, not with the level of class they have. So I poked around and checked out this month's.... There are a few different brands with the same name and style of product. If this is the case, it's time for me to bow out after three years. I signed up because I love their makeup and I don't feel like I'm getting that anymore... It feels like I'm getting a product they order just for these boxes.....

Yes I think that is the same shadow. If that's what they're doing it's really shady!

 

[Hshaw05]

http://shop.jillharth.com/collections/stars/products/baked-marbleized-eyeshadow-whirlwind

Is this the shadow?

http://www.locally-yours.nl/shops/item/baked-marbleized-eye-shadow

Or this?

There are a few other sites with the same thing....

I've been Leary this year because the quality of the palette just wasn't le métier. I couldn't imagine them having leopard print on their bronzer, not with the level of class they have. So I poked around and checked out this month's.... There are a few different brands with the same name and style of product. If this is the case, it's time for me to bow out after three years. I signed up because I love their makeup and I don't feel like I'm getting that anymore... It feels like I'm getting a product they order just for these boxes.....

Wow that's really weird those look like the exact same thing AND same name?! I think this will be my last year as well I wasn't excited about the extra for being a continuing subscriber either, I thought it would be something more useful... I did like the palette, but it does seem a little like it's not the same brand... Hopefully the rest of the year isn't too bad...

 

[Shauna999]

Honestly, this is completely disappointing if their just throwing their label on a wholesale product. Ive never seen any other marbleized products by LMdB- has anyone else? Now , I'm questioning if this is really one of their brushes... /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Geek2]

Wow, if they include totally different products in these boxes, made with lower quality than their actual line sold on their website and elsewhere, it's really disappointing.

 

[boxesandboxes]

Honestly, this is completely disappointing if their just throwing their label on a wholesale product. Ive never seen any other marbleized products by LMdB- has anyone else? Now , I'm questioning if this is really one of their brushes... /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

WHOA. I love the original products. I havent actually tried the ones from this year yet.  Anyone going to reach out for clarification of what is going on?  They were bought, I believe. 

 

[Shauna999]

I'll shoot them an email later today for an explanation. Ill let you ladies know what they say- my guess is that they'll be pretty transparent- I hope!!

 

[naturalactions]

Honestly, this is completely disappointing if their just throwing their label on a wholesale product. Ive never seen any other marbleized products by LMdB- has anyone else? Now , I'm questioning if this is really one of their brushes... /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Wow, if they include totally different products in these boxes, made with lower quality than their actual line sold on their website and elsewhere, it's really disappointing.

They did this last year with the make up remover. It looked like it was being sold wholesale on amazon and when @@LisaLeah reached out this is the response they gave her then. 

 

They replied and gave (in my opinion) a very honest and transparent response.

This is what they wrote....

We developed our make up remover almost a decade ago, in conjunction with a manufacturing partner.  We shared the costs and in return gave them the right to sell it direct, should they want to earn back those costs.  We are assuming that the listing on Amazon is them doing what is within their rights.

Meantime, this make up remover has been only used in The John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman and as a back bar item at our make up counters - never sold.  We get thousands of requests a year to sell it, and do not.

It's an expensive product to manufacture and features a lot of process technology to produce.

We sent it out in the January box as a test to see if our fans liked it.  We do not see the VIP program as an individual product per month, but as a collection you amass over 12 months.  So the items all work together.

We hope you use the make up remover and value it as part of the larger program.  We would love your feedback on its performance.

XO

LMdB
 

Hopefully @@Shauna999 will get a good explanation/response too for the background on both products this month.

 

[ny10011]

They did this last year with the make up remover. It looked like it was being sold wholesale on amazon and when @@LisaLeah reached out this is the response they gave her then. 

 
 
Hopefully @@Shauna999 will get a good explanation/response too for the background on both products this month.

Thanks for putting this link up, I joined MUT solely because I was so taken aback on this issue (long time LmdB user, new VIP subscriber). Looking at the website linked I am concerned that not only is a leopard bronzer very similar to last months box (https://leesib.com/shop/makeup/cheeks/bronzers/safari-mineral-bronzer/) but there is a half/half bronzer/blush that looks like Romeo&Juliet by LMdB (https://leesib.com/shop/makeup/cheeks/blush/baby-doll-and-natural-glow-duo-compact/).

More concerningly the liquid eyeshadows just launched by LMdB look so incredibly similar to ones on this website it is eery:

The new LMdB liquid shadows: 

https://instagram.com/p/7OJ5JflZgS/?taken-by=kayla_lemetier

The cheaper liquid shadows:

https://leesib.com/shop/makeup/eyes/eye-shadows/luxury-liquid-shadow/

I understand that alot of companies use white label product, there are wholesaling issues and other big brands share alot in the back end (eg Tom Ford, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder tie ups etc).... BUT LMdB is selling as a small artisan/craft label of high end quality at very high prices. Coming on the back of so much negativity around the brand is just feels really sad and disappointing we are having these conversations. It is a mark of how little trust I now have in the brand that while there isn't any proof that these products are the same, I could well believe it now.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Shauna999]

I got a response from LMdB - see below. I greatly appreciate their transparency. I think part of the purpose of the Vip program is to try out new & different formulas to see our reactions as their market. I've definitely learned a lot about the industry as a whole from their response.

"Hello Shauna,

There should never be a concern regarding Le Metier de Beaute products. Any such talk is from less informed beauty consumers who are confused. We direct manufacture over 90% of our products and license over $400MM of R&D patents. This is substantial and much greater then most other brands in the beauty industry. Our products and their performance speak for themselves.

The beauty industry - specifically cosmetics - is 97% - 99% brokered product made by three manufacturers. So many of the department store and specialty store products that you buy, no matter how high end the packaging might seem, are the same formulas you see in mass retailers.

Le Metier de Beaute product does not fall into this situation. We have taken large strides to create our own, unique and dynamic, supply chain. This allows us to own our formulas and produce custom products. Most of our products are actually patented formulations.

The VIP program is different. This is an opportunity for us to trial new formulations, new ideas, pre launch products or get feedback on existing star products. This year we are widening our approach and expanding our trials. We are trying out our own formulas or buying some formulas we like, to see how clients react. We understand that we will receive a wide array of feedback. It's hard to get such a wide and diverse customer base to like everything. Dustin Lujan, our Global Artist, who is overseeing the product selections, is working hard to put together a compelling and challenging program for all of you.

We are sorry if some of the people engaged in the program are disappointed. We are willing to discuss this with them in a one on one fashion. However, we do not, nor would we, partake in online message boards. It's counterproductive to what we are working to accomplish at Le Metier de Beaute.

Hope this helps to give you more perspective. While we appreciate your offer to address concerns or offer perspective to others, we would rather you spend your time enjoying our products.

XO

LMdB"

 

[naturalactions]

Thanks for posting their response. It's a good reminder for me that this program is not only about getting current LMDB products at a killer prices but helping the company with their vision.

I do wish the mailings included an info card that explained why the product(s) that month was selected, what type of feedback they are looking for and where to submit it. I would not normally reach out to them unless my product was broken or defective, so if I knew they were sending us a test product that feedback would be helpful with, I would probably make more of an effort to actually give feedback. Although, if an item is a VIP exclusive or is a pre-release, I probably would not make as much of an effort.

For those of us who were in year 1, it seems that our feedback on their cream shadows was heard loud and clear as I have not seen anything like those enter their line of products at all!! So even though they may not "partake in online message boards",  perhaps they still read them.

 

[Shauna999]

Thanks for posting their response. It's a good reminder for me that this program is not only about getting current LMDB products at a killer prices but helping the company with their vision.

I do wish the mailings included an info card that explained why the product(s) that month was selected, what type of feedback they are looking for and where to submit it. I would not normally reach out to them unless my product was broken or defective, so if I knew they were sending us a test product that feedback would be helpful with, I would probably make more of an effort to actually give feedback. Although, if an item is a VIP exclusive or is a pre-release, I probably would not make as much of an effort.

For those of us who were in year 1, it seems that our feedback on their cream shadows was heard loud and clear as I have not seen anything like those enter their line of products at all!! So even though they may not "partake in online message boards", perhaps they still read them.

I totally thought about those cream shadows too /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I think they probably see a lot of feedback from this forum-- I think I may start sending a monthly note to supply them with feedback. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[ny10011]

Thank you for posting their response - very much appreciated. 

I am not particularly assuaged by it to be honest. The fact that the PRODUCTION of beauty products is centralized by only a couple of key producers/factories is not new news. The fact that packaging is used to differentiate in the beauty halls is not new news. High end brands still design and determine alot of their products and formulas (ie Tom Ford brand does not simply walk into an expo and pick up already produced eyeshadow and simply repackage them while another brand takes the exact same eyeshadow and does the same. Alot of their formula will be based on shared knowledge with other stable brands like B Brown and so on down the line - frankly I am not upset about sharing of resources if the quality is there. I took the time to check this with a couple of friends who work in the industry - they have been brutally honest about how unromantic much of it is but also appalled that anyone would state that 90% of beauty products were merely "brokered" and imply that products were not designed to spec for specific brands). 

Moreover the email response criticized other brands for using brokered product and stating LMdB would never use that in an LMdB product. However it then went on to say that that was exactly what they are doing for the box subscription. I would not have subscribed if I was aware that LMdB was using this as an opportunity to test products that are NOT of its usual standard/production in order to see how 'fans' react. I subscribed because I spend so much on beauty products I thought it would be a way to give me a monthly hit of fun and new products from one of my favorite brands without a trip to the beauty department where I would purchase more through lack of discipline. 

I am fine if LMdB wants to use this as a trial for products and formulations that don't meet its usual production standards -  but they should have stated that as part of the description of the VIP up front and I would have approached this differently.

As said, they have lost alot of support in the blogging fraternity from their past actions, their continual release of kaleidoscopes that used repeat shades under different names became frustrating and my level of interest in the kaleidoscopes really dropped when the quality of choices dropped after the great releases a few years ago. Charleston Girl even mentioned outright that the brand was aware of this lack of faith - Le Métier de Beauté is well aware that they lost some of you along the way during the last few years. Trust me, they are going to rope you back in. I've already jumped back on board. http://bestthingsinbeauty.blogspot.com/2015/06/le-metier-de-beaute-is-back-brand-is.html

It was the reappointment of Dustin that made me think that things were changing for the better at LMdB and pushed me over into subscribing to the box program. Unfortunately I am just too disillusioned at this point I think and speaking for myself (and only myself as I can) I  will look elsewhere from now on as the constant issues have just left me flat and disappointed.

 

[Geek2]

Thank you all for sharing your information and well thought out views/opinions about this. I do appreciate the fact that they don't try and engage people on message boards etc instead they focus on running their company which they should be doing. I do hope, however, that they take what people say on message boards and beauty blogs into an account when designing future formulations and their products plus the future products released to the VIP program. I'm personally disappointed because I joined to receive products from a very high-end brand at a great price point. I was excited about receiving products from a brand sold at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, which are places I don't shop at. I just don't see the product we received last month as being at the level of quality that is something that would be sold at Neiman Marcus. The colors were OK but just the way the glitter shadows are, didn't impress me as being high quality because I have used Chanel, Dior and YSL shadows over the years and their quality is far superior to the palette we received from this box. The quality was more similar to mid to low priced eye shadows. I signed up for this program thinking I'm going to receive high quality products and didn't know I was going to be part of their test user base. Had I known that, I wouldn't have signed up because of the price point. I'm not looking to be anyone's tester at this point especially not at this price point. I can just go and buy any of the shadows from the lines I mentioned above and call it a day because at least I'll know I'm paying for quality and won't be disappointed. This is leaving me with mixed emotions and I really do hope that they sort this thing out and the next products we receive are their actual formulations made with the same high quality ingredients and packaging that is sold at Neiman Marcus and elsewhere and not some random lower quality makeup product lots made just for the people part of this program.

 

[paperclipcat]

Hmmm...  I would think that a company such as LMdB would have a PR team.  A message board is a FANTASTIC way to reach out to your customer. (Unfortunately, I now feel like the LMdB doesn't really have the customer in mind)
 
I'm new to the program, but part of the reason I signed up for it is because I thought I was going to get to try great LMdB products for significantly less than if I were to purchase these products at Neiman Marcus.
 
It's disappointing to find out that what I am being sent is a tester, and not an official LMdB product.  I did not sign up to be a tester for the company.  I wanted to explore the existing line. 
 
I absolutely feel slighted by LMdB for sending me a products that another company can afford to sell for $16. I thought I was going to receive "quality, design and craftsmanship in every product." I guess Jill Harth can also use the same tag line for their eyeshadow.

 

[Bitcat]

Because it's LMdB, one of my favorite makeup band, I register an account for posting my very first post in Makeuptalk.

I want to echo ny10011, Reija and paperclipcat.

Almost every LMdB product I have amazes me a lot, it really has "quality, design and craftsmanship". I don't know how to put a picture here to show my LMdB collection, but I want to express my love about LMdB. The product speaks. I swaped or sold a lot makeup products of other high-end brands, but never LMdB (and Chantecaille).

This is my second year. I wish I was informed about the trial, with such immature "LMdB products", in the "VIP VAULT" (not "EXPERIMENTAL GUINEA PIG") program of this year before I registered, and then maybe I will plan to buy more those star products directly. Therefore, I feel so disipointed with this year that probably won't register for another next year. Maybe why my feeling is this strong is because I live in a place without a counter of LMdB, and usually I must go abroad or make overseas purchasings to get LMdB. Attending this program is not easy for me, but (regular) LMdB products make me go for it.

Thank you all for sharing information or thoughts in this forum. Thank LMdB for releasing so many wonderful products in the past, and I know there will be more in the future.

 

[ny10011]

Hey guys,

I am currently moving & so downsizing my collection (of makeup as well as bags and all sorts.... ah the joys of apartments!). Given the commentary on prices and accessing LMdB here am wondering If anyone is interested in purchasing LMdB kaleidoscopes? I have some that have only been used 1-3 times and are in excellent condition.

I am willing to sell them for $30-$40 and the excellent condition ones include: 
 - Obsidian Odyssey kaleidoscope (limited edition) still selling at Neimans for $95 now

 - Chauvet Pont d'Arc

 - Nouvelle Vague

 - Cheeky Chic

 - After Dark  

Apologies if this is annoying to you all - but before I photograph everything and do a big listing I figured best to talk with LMdB lovers about this and see if anyone was even interested! 

 

[Geek2]

@@ny10011 it's best to post any sale/swap etc in the classified section of MUT https://www.makeuptalk.com/f/forum/343-buy-sell-trade-swap/