Flashback Beauty Friday 35: Lancôme L.U.C.I. Eyes

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I'm back with quite an interesting, innovative piece of beauty history for Flashback Beauty Friday, both in terms of packaging and product. If you missed last week, it was a look back at single eyeshadow compacts from Urban Decay and how they've changed over the years. Today, I'm going back to Spring 2008 and Gucci Westman's final collection at Lancôme as artistic director.

The Spring '08 collection was titled L.U.C.I. which stands for Luminous Colourless Colour Intelligence. It was all about iridescent light and transparency, such as the colours you see on butterfly wings or a shimmering shell and how they reflect and change in the light. As is usual with Lancôme, they had different shades in different parts of the world and actually now that I think of it, I have several lipglosses and a lipstick, also from this collection (some being US exclusive shades if I remember correctly). The item I have to show you today is the L.U.C.I. Eyes, Light Colour In Motion - Eyeshadow Duo in 01 Ray Of Green Light. Now this also came in blue, both available in the UK and likely Europe, but there was a bronze which was the only shade available in the US (I think), but Asia had all three colours.

The compact is really weighty and shaped like a shell with the Lancôme rose incorporated and apparently designed by fashion designer Alexis Mabille. The compact has a slight pearlized sheen to it and the layers are really interesting for a makeup item, it's more like a piece of art.

It comes in a lined, velvet, drawstring pouch.

The box reads "experiment no-layer light on your skin. Apply the duo on the eye zone and on other rounded surfaces of the face (except lips) for a "Ray of Light Effect". Your beauty radiates".

Inside you have two shades of eyeshadow, a bigger one, the teal green and then a more luminous shade that shifts dramatically in the light and can create cool looks layering with the coloured shadow. Although this was hailed as quite a futuristic, scientific take on makeup, it reminds me so much of the Lancôme 90's Chrysalis collection which also played around with supposedly "white" shades which changed colour when layered. In that case, it was black as the base and you applied a colourless shade over the top and depending on which one you'd bought it turned purple or blue or green. They had eyeshadow duos and nail polish duos, which I had and that collection is one of my all-time favourite beauty campaigns ever (but more on that another time).

There's a mirror inside the lid with a pearl...I'm a sucker for pearls and shells to be honest.

It comes with a leaflet of ideas on which colours to apply where and here's what's written.  

Lancôme invents colourless colour to reveal your natural glow. 

• New generation of colourless colours which defract 100% light: Photonic Technology 
• Mineral structures create dazzling light 

Gucci Westman's tips: 

Do not hesitate to play with the two shades and to apply one on top of the other! Apply the white shade over the colour; the colour awakens, is transformed and its reflections become ultra-bright. Alternatively use the white as a base under the coloured shade; the white will provide the coloured reflections with a subtle depth.

I've swatched them above.  From top, the teal shade, the light shade, then the last swatch (bottom or left) is the lighter shade over the top of the teal.  The photo doesn't really capture the movement of the colours, but you get an idea.  I've reached for this quite a lot over the years, as I really like the colour.  It was the amazing compact I was drawn to though, it's just stunning.  Do you remember this collection?