LM Ladurée Archives - Makeup Museum: Where Cosmetics & Art Intersect

I'm thinking there has to be a vintage makeup fan among Les Merveilleuses Ladurée's design and marketing team, since their holiday 2019 collection carries on the tradition of yet another popular motif for beauty packaging: the swan. This graceful bird also ties into the company's commitment to infusing their line with the style introduced by the Merveilleuses. Let's look at the collection and all its downy soft details.

Can I just say how much I love the color scheme? The blue is so perfect – not too bright, not too aqua, not too dark – and plays amazingly well against the pink and white of the makeup shades and swan imagery. First we have the brightening powder. The outer case depicts a swan holding a rose in its beak, while the powder itself is embossed with a white swan swimming in a pastel-colored lake.

Next is this beautiful set containing a double swan-embossed blush and lipstick, housed in a blue embroidered pouch with a tiny silver swan for the zipper pull.

Lastly is the star of the collection, a white swan-shaped jar filled with blush "roses". LM Ladurée is famous for their blush resembling rose petals, but these are next level.

I couldn't bear to open the blush itself, but it looks like this.

(image from bonboncosmetics.com)

Even the box is gorgeously printed with pristine white swan feathers.

So how do swans relate to the Merveilleuses? Prior to becoming Empress in 1804, Josephine was one of the most revered Merveilleuses, possibly even more so than Madame Recamier. While the more over-the-top Merveilleuse trends generally died down after Napoleon rose to power, Josephine was still considered a top arbiter of style. During her time as Empress she also adopted the swan as her signature motif. According to the Met: "At the approach of danger, with feathers puffed up and anxiously hissing, these birds protect their young within the wall of their white wings. Napoleon's consort, Josephine, and her children were frequently compared to a swan and its cygnets. The swan was chosen as her symbol by Claude, wife of Francis I, the French Renaissance king whom Napoleon greatly admired." Thus the reason for the abundance of swan decor at her and Napoleon's residence, the Château de Malmaison.

(image from wikimedia.org)

(images from ssa.paris.online.fr)

(image from the National Gallery of Victoria)

(image from metmuseum.org)

The Empress even had black swans imported from Australia and kept them as pets, along with emus and kangaroos. Sadly the swans outlived her. :( Anyway, while the swan motif correlated more to the aesthetic of a post-Directoire era Josephine, its incorporation into LM Ladurée's holiday collection is a subtle nod to one of the original Merveilleuses.

In addition to serving as one of the Empress's emblems, swans have a long history in the world of cosmetics, most likely since they are one of the symbols associated with Aphrodite/Venus, goddess of love and beauty.¹ Vintage compacts with images of swans abound.²

(image from pinterest)

This one has a really interesting history behind it, the Etsy seller dug up some great information on it.

(image from etsy)

(image from ebay)

Coty's "Golden Swan" sets were perennial holiday favorites from about 1950-1955. I stumbled across some newspaper ads for them, and lo and behold this great blog on Coty's history had an actual photo.

(images from newspapers.com and cotyperfumes.blogspot.com)

I couldn't find a real-life photo of this swan lipstick bouquet but it's fantastic. I'm guessing they're copying and expanding on the concept of Max Factor's popular flower pot lipstick set, which debuted in 1969.

I couldn't resist picking up a few vintage swan items for the Museum, including these adorable lipstick hankerchiefs (ca. 1940s-50s) and a lipstick case (ca. 1980s).

I think this vintage powder jar may have been LM Ladurée's inspiration. They came in a variety of colors, and the little niche created by the swans' wings was intended to store a lipstick.

All of these are lovely, but Tetlow's Swan Down face powder and accompanying ads are my favorite vintage swan-themed pieces…and they don't even depict swans on the outer packaging! Tetlow's Swan Down powder was introduced in 1875 and sold through the early 1930s. Collecting Vintage Compacts has a very thorough history of Henry Tetlow if you'd like to read more.

I was so pleased to get this one in good condition for the Museum along with an original ad.

While the one I have is in good shape, I'd love to own one of these boxes that still has the swan insert!

(image from cosmeticsandskin.com)

As was the case for many goods in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Tetlow's used small trading cards to advertise Swan Down. The portraits depict various stage actresses and other fashionable ladies of the time. The fan shape is a nice touch.

(images from worthpoint.com)

Another item I've become rather enamored of are vintage swan's down puffs. Before the dawn of synthetic brushes and puffs, in the Western world swan's down was one of the most common materials to apply powder in addition to silk and lambswool. The swan's down really is incredibly soft! (I forgot to take a picture of the vintage puff I bought…stay tuned for an update.)

I would love to try it out and compare it to my softest squirrel hair brushes but it's so fragile I'm afraid it would get ruined. And as I learned, vintage swan's down puffs are not cheap, especially the ones with sterling silver handles (drool).

(image from rubylane.com)

Fast-forward to the 21st century, when some more swan-themed items joined their vintage counterparts. Here's what I'm sure is an incomplete group. Also, I guess I should give an honorary mention to Etude House's 2015 Dreaming Swan collection, which oddly enough did not feature any swans on the packaging.

Who can forget the frenzy over the makeup for the 2010 film Black Swan? This kit contained each element of the look.
Monica Rich Kosann designed the Swan Dreams powder compact for Estée Lauder's holiday 2018 collection.
Too-Faced's holiday 2018 Dream Queen set also featured swans.
One can never have enough novelty lip glosses.
Sugar Cosmetics chose a swan for their clarifying sheet mask packaging.

Finally, here are the other contemporary swan treasures in the Museum's collection: a Paul and Joe eyeshadow from their fall 2010 collection and Guerlain's spring 2018 Blanc de Perle compact, which was a collaboration with Ros Lee.

So that about wraps it up! What do you think of the swan motif both for Empire-era decor and makeup? Which piece here is your favorite?

¹Swans are also associated with Apollo and music so that explains their inclusion in LM Ladurée's holiday 2017 collection, which shows them with a lyre.

²Tons of other vintage non-makeup beauty items use swans in their advertising and packaging, including Dior Miss Dior perfume, Cashmere Bouquet soap, Swan soap, and J. Lesquendieu face cream. Obviously I want to keep the focus on makeup but they were worth a mention.

I'm kicking off summer with a very sweet smackdown! Because it involves macarons (or as MM staff calls them, "fancy French cookies"), I've selected the Museum's education specialist, Cookie Dreamer Babo, to serve as referee. I also needed to keep an eye on him and the others to make sure they didn't eat the makeup as I was taking pictures. 😉

Given LM Ladurée's fight with Bésame, you can guarantee that she's one of the feistier combatants the Museum has had in the ring despite being a relative newcomer to the makeup world. But more importantly, the current battle is not the first time LM Ladurée has squared off against Lancôme…and now it's time to see which of these venerable French brands wins their second bout. Let's get ready to rummmmbbbblllllle! *ding ding*

LM Ladurée gets off to a strong start with eyeshadows and cheek colors encased in illustrated macaron packaging a variety of delightful shades. While they are mini sized – although not with a mini price tag, mind you, which is why there are only 3 compared to Lancôme's quartet – LM Ladurée's prowess lies in the details.

Blammo! That's the sound of the adorable border of macarons on the side of each box delivering a sharp upper cut to Lancôme.

In addition to macarons, there are what appears to be profiteroles in the lineup. LM Ladurée is really bringing the heat!

Finally, each color is embossed with LM Ladurée signature "merveilleuse" silhouette.

But what Lancôme lacks in detail it makes up for in size and authenticity. This blush set comes in a cheerful patterned box with two generously sized cushion blushes and two macaron-shaped application sponges.

Ka-pow! Lancôme's very realistic packaging packs a strong left hook to LM Ladurée's daintier collection.

Looks like LM Ladurée is getting a tad bit overcome with the size and durability of Lancôme. While the sponges are soft, the plastic packaging of the blushes is way sturdier than LM Ladurée's cardboard.

LM Ladurée is down! Cookie Dreamer Babo is giving the count…six, seven…no, WAIT! There's been a breaking development! LM Ladurée is getting up and retaliating with quite the unexpected weapon: a beautiful face powder shaped like an elaborate pink cake, complete with delectable embossing.

Another development! Lancôme just called for a timeout and claimed LM Ladurée was fighting dirty since the cake is much bigger than the other items, but Referee Cookie Dreamer said it's fair play because it looks so tasty. Not sure I agree with his rationale, but Babos aren't known for being bright and he is the referee, so back at it they go.

We have a fight for the ages on our hands! Will Lancôme's incredibly realistic and more economical set come out on top? Or will LM Ladurée's attention to detail and last-minute cake surprise triumph over her fellow French foe? Tell me in the comments!

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Based on an informal poll I conducted on Instagram, the overwhelming majority of people who answered (92%) indicated that although the holidays are over, it's still acceptable for me to continue blogging about holiday collections throughout the winter. Consider this one on LM Ladurée's beautiful holiday 2017 the first in a series of holiday catch-up posts. 🙂

The collection seems to be loosely based on the idea of a masquerade ball, a theme popular among many beauty collections that stretches back decades. As the Bal Masqué in cosmetics could be another entire post, I'm choosing to focus on the most prominent motif of the Ladurée collection: the fan. It appears at the bottom of this printed bag used to contain body wash, lotion and hand cream, with a young lady coquettishly peeking out from the edges.

Along with the black cap and shoe, the fan differentiated the leg-shaped lip glosses from last year's version. I still say they're one of the weirdest makeup items I've come across.

The fan also appeared on the side of this face powder box.

The box's top is adorned with a masked woman who shyly looks down and also at us, depending on the angle. This packaging technique was a definitely a trend in 2017, with both MAC's Rossi de Palma and Smashbox's holiday collection featuring a sort of shape-shifting design.

But the standout use of the motif came in the form of a fan-shaped compact, which contains blush and highlighter embossed with a delicate lace pattern. The compact's silky pouch features several elaborate fan designs, along with pairs of eyes shown both closed and peering out from the black background, lending an air of mystery. The rich red tassel hanging from the fan's base adds vibrant color and a touch of movement.

As with the lyre motif from their fall 2017 collection, I suspect LM Ladurée was inspired by the fashion of Les Merveilleuses as well as vintage compacts. Let's take a peek at the stylish ladies of the Empire era in France (roughly 1795-1815). The history of the fan as accessory in Europe is far beyond the scope of this little blog, especially since there is such a tremendous wealth of resources on the subject, but I'd like to share a few examples of fans during the time of Les Merveilleuses. As you can see from these fashion plates, the fan was de rigueur. Here are just a few of the literally dozens of plates I found from this time period depicting women holding fans of all shapes and colors.

(images from pinterest)

I'm no fashion historian, but it seems that fans were made to accommodate a variety of events and different hours of the day, given the ornate one shown with a wedding dress (left) and one meant to be carried with a more informal day dress (right).

(images from metmuseum.org)

Some examples of fans carried during the late 1700s-early 1800s were included in the wonderful exhibition "Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion." The fact that the image of a woman holding a fan was chosen for the front cover of the exhibition catalogue demonstrates that the accessory was indeed a must-have, at least for certain occasions. While the fan was certainly popular before this time and continued to be ubiquitous until the early 1900s, the accessory seems to have reached the height of fandom (sorry, couldn't help it) in the Empire era.

(images from napoleon-fashion.com)

I'm pretty sure these sorts of images were what inspired LM Ladurée to go with the fan motif. But I wonder, as with previous releases, whether they were also looking at vintage compacts. Fan-shaped compacts aren't new; in fact, as we'll see, they're over 70 years old. Over the years the fan shape has been utilized for makeup mirrors and to hold perfume…as well as some rather unfortunate-looking (read: ugly) makeup compacts from Maybelline in the late '80s. I've included the ads for these abominations solely for your amusement. Even though they're in black and white, I can see in my head crystal clear how cheap and tacky these compacts would look in person.

However, long before Maybelline butchered the fan-shaped compact, Wadsworth released some lovely ones in the 1940s. Henriette, the New York division of the Kentucky-based Wadsworth, started producing these around 1941 and Wadsworth started selling them under their own name in 1946 (yet advertised them as new.) The last mention I saw of the fan-shaped compact in ads was in 1949, so I guess they had fallen out out of favor by the early '50s.

Naturally I had to pick up one for the Museum's collection, along with several ads.

These must have been quite popular, or at least Wadsworth hoped they would be based on the amount of advertising and the mind-boggling number of styles. In my searches I came across at least 20 different designs. While I would have liked to have gotten my hands on one of the compacts shown in the ads, this one was just as gorgeous and in great condition so I snapped it up.

It's hard to make out from the illustration, but I think it may have appeared in this 1946 ad.

Here are a few more that I enjoyed.

(image from etsy)

These two are from Henriette.

(image from pinterest)

While not quite in the same elegant spirit as some of the others, I like this one because it's a reminder that Wadsworth/Henriette was a leader in manufacturing novelty compacts, such as the table and dice compacts. And although I couldn't find one for the fan-shaped compact, I also think the company must have had a patent for it since I didn't come across any other brands with this exact shape.*

(image from pinterest)

But why a fan-shaped compact? It's not clear why Wadsworth decided to make these, but the clipping below suggests a "Chinese influence". I'm not sure which is more cringe-inducing: the sexist title or the cultural appropriation outlined in the article itself.

Then again, Wadsworth may have been ripping off Spanish flamenco dancers based on this 1948 ad, so it's hard to say which culture they were appropriating.

Still, it's difficult to say definitively whether Wadsworth was truly choosing to dream up some idealized notion of Chinese culture via a fan-shaped compact or whether it was just another odd design to add to their arsenal. By and large the designs and ads seem to rely on the common perception that fans were simply a sophisticated fashion accessory, and they seemed to be more inspired by European fans of the 18th and 19th centuries than anything else.

Getting back to the LM Ladurée collection, I believe it was the result of, once again, a combination of two key influences: Empire style in France and vintage compacts. I really like the way they've intertwined the two this time, and even without considering the references I've discussed here, the collection is beautiful on its own.

What do you think? Do you have a preference for either LM Ladurée or the Wadsworth compacts?

*There was another fan-shaped compact made around the same time, but not nearly as common as Wadsworth. Near as I can figure they were manufactured in Japan under the name Pink Lady. I couldn't find much information on these, other than they were modeled after more traditional Japanese fans than European-style ones and had faux pearl clasps. I also think they were sold empty and you could put a powder refill or any other items of your choosing, sort of like a pill box with a mirror that could also be used for face powder.

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As with their spring 2017 collection, I suspect LM Ladurée was looking to the past when creating their fall collection this year. (Same with summer 2017 which for some reason I completely forgot to write about!) A lyre is kind of a strange motif and I thought it was the first time it had appeared on makeup, but as usual it has appeared on vintage pieces. Before we get to those I want to take a moment to drool over the details of this truly resplendent highlighter.

Whoops, just realized the compact in this photo is upside down. Sigh.

The box is outfitted in a creamy powder blue color, reminiscent of Wedgwood ceramics, and features some lovely silver embossing.

The compact packaging is a dazzling sparkly silver with the lyre motif in blue and more yummy silver embossing.

Another scrumptious detail awaits on the interior of the palette – an elegant blue wallpaper-like print with musical instruments in white.

And here's the highlighting powder itself. I'm positively enamored with the swans, as they look even more elegant in the powder than in the outer packaging.

I thought a lyre was kind of a weird choice for a highlighter, especially with the addition of the swan. The swan design may have been borrowed from clip art (which I've suspected before with LM Ladurée), but as we'll see, perhaps the company really did get inspiration from the lyres prominent in French Empire-era art and decor, which, in turn, drew on the depiction of the lyre in Greek antiquity.

It's entirely possible that LM Ladurée was referring to the revival of ancient Greek style in post-revolution France. We know Les Merveilleuses imitated the flowing togas seen in ancient Greek sculpture, and both the lyre and the swan are historically associated with the Greek god Apollo as he was the god of music. (In fact, many depictions of lyres in ancient Greek coins and and vases show the lyre arms as swans or other birds). The lyre was particularly popular towards the end of Louis XVI's reign and remained so throughout the Restoration, so roughly from the 1790s-1830s. I found one example that's similar to the swan/lyre motif from the LM Ladurée highlighter as well as some other interesting lyre depictions which may point to the inspiration for the design.

This photo is blur-tacular but you can just about make out the swans on the lyre.

(image from newel.com)

Some Merveilleuses and their ilk were represented playing lyres and sporting the classical Greek revival or Empire style attires popular in their circle.

(image from the-athenaeum.org)

(image from mystudios.com)

(image from syuminiki.tumblr.com)

If you look closely at the lyre in this 1800 fashion plate, you'll notice a swan – not forming the sides of the lyre but hidden in a cutout at the bottom.

(image from pinterest)

In addition to the examples above, LM Ladurée shared a very interesting photo on their Instagram yesterday. Granted, it was in relation to their holiday collection, but it seems my hunch about them actually looking at French furniture and art might have been correct. This was the photo they posted, a view of the Grand Salon in the apartments of Napoleon III in the Louvre.

Do I spy…lyre-back chairs?! Indeed! I don't think they have swans for arms, but this may have been what LM Ladurée's designers and marketing people were looking at when coming up with this highlighter. Here's another view.

(image from flickr)

Napoleon III's reign was considerably later than the time of Les Merveilleuses, so I'm guessing the lyre's popularity stuck around until the end of the 19th century. So while these particular chairs may not be Empire-era, I still find it fascinating that LM Ladurée posted this – it seems more plausible that they were looking at opulent French decor rather than clip art when designing their fall highlighter.

Anyway, the brand's spring 2017 powder box looked so strikingly similar to some vintage Terre de Retz boxes that I just had to poke around to see whether they may have been drawing on any vintage references for the fall collection in addition to post-Revolution French decor and art. Given what we've seen above, I actually don't think LM Ladurée was influenced by vintage items, but it was pretty neat to see that the motif had appeared previously. The earliest makeup packaging to include a lyre symbol came from Harmony of Boston and Leichner. The excellent Collecting Vintage Compacts blog has a very thorough post on the former so I'll direct you there for the full history, but here are some examples of powder boxes from that company.

(images from collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com)

I was unable to pull together a full history of Leichner, but the short version is that it was founded in Berlin by Ludwig Leichner in 1873 and focused on stage makeup. But by 1902 Leichner's face powder was being imported to the U.S. for sale to the average woman, i.e., non-actresses who didn't require grease paint, just a subtle dusting of powder. I'm assuming the lyre was a nod to Leichner's profession as an opera singer.

(image from ebay)

(image from pinterest)

(image from sheaff-ephemera.com)

I believe this is a slightly later version of the face powder (ca. 1930-40s), but the packaging kept the lyre motif.

(image from ebay)

Now for some compacts, which obviously date a little later than the powder boxes. This Stratton features a beautiful muse playing the lyre with a lush trail of peacock feathers floating behind her.

(image from pinterest)

These other compacts all have ties to music, so it's not surprising they made use of a classic music motif. The story behind Volupté's "Pianette" compact by is a little murky and I doubt there's even any truth to it, but it makes for an intriguing marketing campaign.

(image from rubylane)

Apparently it was introduced in late 1948 as "a replica of a tiny piano that served as a marriage proposal".

(image from worthpoint.com)

The full story is that the Pianette was inspired by a "hand-carved compact that an admirer presented to a famous European concert pianist at the end of an especially triumphant tour. On the back a marriage proposal was inscribed – which was accepted!" I have no idea if that's true, but it's a pretty good story nonetheless.

Most fittingly, the lyre was used on musical compacts. I love the idea of having a little song play while I touch up my powder. 🙂

(image from antiquesatlas.com)

(images from thefashionstudio.com and thevintagecompactshop.com)

I couldn't find much on the ones above, but I'm guessing they're from about the same time as this Elgin musical compact. Elgin introduced a collection of musical compacts in late 1952, and 2 years later the "Ring Bearer" compact joined the lineup. There were a number of different designs, including a couple with musical instruments, but the Ring Bearer was the only one that had a lyre as far as I know.

(images from rubylane)

Boy, they really put on the marriage pressure, right? I mean, you could use that extra compartment for any number of items besides an engagement ring…but I guess then they couldn't call it the "Ring Bearer". The ad copy is notable for being a reminder of what it was like back then for women – apparently your happiest moment was supposed to be when your man proposed, rather than, say, getting your Ph.D. Don't get me wrong, being engaged is a very happy time, but it's pretty insulting to say that it's THE happiest. Women have life goals other than marriage that may make them just as happy. Sheesh.

Getting back to the LM Ladurée highlighter, I think it was well-crafted with lots of meticulous details. I can't be sure whether the brand was really inspired by French Empire style or if they simply grabbed some clip art, but I do think them posting a photo of chairs with a nearly identical lyre motif as the one used for the highlighter wasn't accidental – it is quite possible LM Ladurée is in fact drawing on historical resources. In any case, it's simply a beautiful piece both inside and out.

What do you think?

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It was love at first sight with this precious doll-shaped powder box that Les Merveilleuses Ladurée released in honor of their 5th anniversary. I mean, even the outer packaging is gorgeous. As a collector, I was also overjoyed to receive a free tote bag from the seller, which I used as a background for these photos – isn't it pretty? There is also a beautiful rose shaped blush with the same outer packaging that I have on its way to me, but the star of the show is clearly the powder.

Both whimsical and sophisticated, this delicate doll figurine is outfitted in a sumptuous blue velvet dress with a purple satin ribbon.

It looks like it might be heavy in the photos, but it's actually very lightweight and seems quite fragile – I was so afraid it would shatter if I dropped it.

I wonder how many people bought this to actually use it and not collect. While the velvet dress is lovely, you'd have to be really careful to make sure the powder doesn't get all over it.

When I first laid eyes on this my makeup historian sense was immediately tingling; somehow I just knew this design wasn't new. Upon searching for vintage doll powder boxes I came across many different kinds, most made of porcelain or ceramic, but the ones made of papier mache stood out to me. That particular material jogged something in my brain and I suddenly remembered where I had seen them before.

Yup, at the 2014 Makeup in New York exhibition! How could I forget? I guess I wasn't paying attention to the labels on these even though I took photos of them, LOL.

Terre de Retz was a line of doll-shaped powder boxes introduced by famed French department store Galeries Lafayette sometime around 1920. This blog post had the full scoop on them and led me to buy this book. Yes, I bought an entire book on perfumes just to get the tiny morsel of additional information it had on these powder boxes, and also because I had totally forgotten they were in this book as well. Anyway, they were designed by Georges Duchesne (most of them are signed G. Duchesne) and came in a wide variety of styles ranging from Marie Antoinette-era fashions to 1920s flappers. I suspect Terre de Retz was the inspiration for Ladurée's anniversary item, as both are constructed from a paper-based material and the general design for some of the Terre de Retz figurines is the same (i.e. the way in which the powder box is hidden and fits into the top part of the doll).

(image from cleopatrasboudoir.blogspot.com)

The ones that appear to be the most common are these masked figurines and ones dressed in a mid-19th century style (at least, they resemble that period to my eye).

Some other ones I liked:

My favorites though were the ones that most resembled the Ladurée figurine. While these ladies flaunt a more French Revolution-era style in terms of hair and makeup, they have voluminous blue skirts, fans and necklaces.

This one also has a bow. I really wanted to buy it but it's missing the bottom part of the box, plus, as I sadly discovered, Terre de Retz figurines are not cheap. This one is going for $695 on ebay and the lowest price I've seen for one so far is $299. Maybe someday I will have one for my very own but not right now!

(images from rubylane, ebay and pinterest)

While I have no proof that Ladurée drew on Terre de Retz for their 5th anniversary powder box, it would be quite a nice nod to their French heritage. In terms of a more modern, artsy take on figural powder boxes, I'd dearly love for a company to collaborate with this contemporary artist – while she doesn't make powder boxes to my knowledge (only figurines), I think she'd come up with some amazingly imaginative designs given her style.

Thoughts?

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In the spirit of Black Friday, which we celebrate in the U.S. by trampling each other to score cheap TVs and the latest must-have children's toy, I thought I'd put these ladies in the ole MM boxing ring to duke it out. I found it pretty interesting that two companies decided to release vintage-inspired brush holders for the holiday season. At first glance, they don't seem so different – both are from similarly sized brands, blonde with perfect cherry-red pouts and dainty pearl necklaces, but as we'll see each have their own unique secret weapons.

It's gonna be intense, so…let's get ready to rummmmbbbblllllle! *ding ding*

In one corner of the ring we have the Bésame brush holder. With her bouncy ponytail that also acts as a handle and makeup straight from the 1940s, this girl packs a strong punch. Bésame is also available at Sephora, which could be seen as an advantage over her opponent.

But LM Ladurée won't be pushed around so easily. She boasts an equally jaunty hair style with a striped bow, but her thick black eyeliner proves she's not playing around. Her eyes seem to be closed, making her face (in my opinion) less creepy than Bésame's somewhat lifeless stare. LM Ladurée is only available in the U.S. through international sellers, making it more difficult to track down. However, this could be also be an asset in that hard-to-find items can be seen as more special than readily available ones.

While both appear to be made from ceramic, there are significant differences: Bésame's shine and heftier weight pits her directly against LM Ladurée's featherweight feel and matte finish. Bésame may be bigger and stronger, but what LM Ladurée lacks in brawn she makes up for in agility.

And while the size disparity doesn't seem that big at first, adding brushes is the true size test. As you can see, Bésame edges out LM Ladurée in terms of storage space.

I predicted this was going to be a particularly intense smackdown, and I was right. Things are getting ugly! LM Ladurée has seized Bésame's ponytail and is ferociously yanking her head around. Bésame swiftly retaliated by tearing off LM Ladurée's hair tie. Well, as long as they're not going for their jewelry I guess it's fair game. Oh, I take that back! They have now ripped off each other's necklaces…I just hope LM Ladurée doesn't reach for Bésame's earrings. Hoooooo boy! Someone's gonna get KO'ed soon, so in these final moments, tell me who you think wins. Will Bésame's larger size and ergonomic shape take down LM Ladurée? Or will LM Ladurée's international status, more subtle matte finish and lightweight feel allow her to cleverly maneuver past Bésame's blows?

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Two French brands wanted to go up, up and away this spring with some balloon-themed offerings…but only one will make it to the stratosphere. Let's get ready to rummmmbbbblllllle! *ding ding*

On one side of the ring we have Lancôme My Parisian Pastels Shimmer Cube. A très cute girl wearing a pink top, polka dotted skirt and pink shoes sets out for a stroll with her dog on the rooftops of Paris. The bunch of colorful balloons she holds seem ready to take flight, all set to join the others floating in the distance. I'm not sure who was responsible for the illustration (I don't think it's Kerrie Hess, whom Lancôme worked with previously) but it's so perfectly Parisian.

The metal tin is tough enough to withstand any blows from its opponent.

Even the dog has a pink collar! Lancôme deals a strong right hook (bite?) with this detail.

Les Merveilleuses Ladurée's spring palette, however, isn't getting knocked down so easily. Ladurée retaliates with a lovely palette adorned with vintage-inspired illustrations of hot air balloons peacefully drifting against a pale blue sky. The purple ribbon, while delicate and silky, is actually a practical addition as it functions to keep the palette closed.

While Lancôme's illustration may have been completed by an actual artist and Ladurée's balloons resemble the results you'd get if you searched "vintage hot air balloon wallpaper" (seriously, try it), we don't know the name of the Lancôme artist; therefore, the illustration's power is somewhat diminished. Plus, Ladurée at least attempted customization of their slightly generic, clip-art-esque dirigibles. The details on the larger balloons, like the large script "M" and the signature cameos that are featured on nearly all products in the makeup line, pummel Lancôme's rather plain versions.

The inside of the palette features more delightful balloon illustrations and an elegant layout overall, in stark contrast to the interior of the Lancôme tin, which looks painfully similar to children's crayons or chalk.

But wait! Lancôme reveals a secret weapon to hold off their adversary: a truly magical ad for their spring collection. This is a huge turn of events! Ladurée has no such campaign for their spring lineup.

Lancôme's sturdy metal case, chic Parisienne, and surprise attack with a whimsical promo all prove they've got the capacity to flatten their rival. But despite this, LM Ladurée's larger size, dainty yet resilient ribbon, and variety of balloon designs full of vintage charm may still send Lancôme down for the count. Which one will be deflated…er, defeated? Tell me in the comments! (Also tell me whether you think either of these designs surpass Guerlain's Poudre aux Ballons, or this excellent 2013 ad.)

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