Lisa Eldridge Grace Ring Part 1 – Why I bought it & Unboxing

Welcome! If you are thinking about investing in a piece of jewelry by Lisa Eldridge, you have come to the right place! I had been thinking for a long time to purchase a ring from her collection. The reason why Ι hesitated is the price tag, which is an important fraction of my salary (and some of her rings exceed my salary – hint: by saying exceed I mean oh, by far!). Despite the price tag, Lisa Eldridge rings have had great success as they were sold out very quickly after the launch. Even when a model comes back in stock it is a matter of hours for it to sell out. I bought the Grace ring in oval cut, and I am going to introduce it to you today!

If you have not heard of Lisa Eldridge, she is an amazing, renowned makeup artist, who has collaborated with many important makeup brands and celebrities. She is currently the global creative director of Lancôme, she has written a book about the history of makeup, and earlier this year she launched her own jewelry line.

Her jewelry line consists of silver and golden rings with precious or semi-precious stones. By the way, I saw a comment on Instagram by her, in which she said she would bring out earrings sometime in autumn! (who’s excited??). As she explained in her YouTube video where she introduced the ring line, a lot of work has been put in the making of the rings.

How it all started

One marvellous thing about her jewelry line is that her rings had actually become famous before Lisa even knew that she would launch a ring line. How? Ever since her older videos, you can spot Lisa wearing initially one and later two rings while doing makeup. Her audience (including yours truly) were charmed by them and soon enough some people started selling rings labelled under her name. According to an interview she gave to Vogue, when Lisa found out, she was flattered of course, but she saw that the quality of those rings had nothing to do with hers or what she would label under her name. Thus, the idea of a jewelry line was born.

Why I wanted to buy one of her rings

The way stones are cut. What makes the rings special is that the stones which are sourced naturally from all over the world and are cut with the old way of cutting stones. Lisa has said that modern cuts produce more facets on the stones. Therefore, stones become more bling-y with the modern cut. On the other hand, the old cut feels more natural and organic. I guess that it lets you see the actual stone better, while it still preserves enough shine.

The people who make them. Firstly, through all those years of watching her videos, I feel that I know Lisa. We have the same taste, I see her work and I am sure that everything has been done with great attention to detail. Secondly, I like the fact that she collaborates with William Welstead and other expert gemologists who pour their expertise into those rings. Thirdly, I like the fact that small family businesses are involved and that they are paid fairly.

Quality versus quantity. Ι decided to spend no more money on makeup or clothes for the next 6 months. Exceptions are super good deals and items I absolutely need and I am out of. This way I am going to compensate for the price of the ring. In general, this period I am in the process of changing my shopping habits. I want to buy fewer but higher quality things, as I want to make more use out of them, and I hate clutter.

Why I bought the Grace Ring

The colour. From the sneak peek pictures Lisa had published, the Grace ring had stuck to me. I LOVE the colour. It is icy light blue and overall amazing. I have been wearing silver jewelry for more years than gold ones. Therefore, I found the silver ring setting to be much more wearable for me.

The feeling. From the name of the ring, Grace, I instantly knew that Lisa named the ring after Grace Kelly. I know that this naming part is purely marketing. However, this ring is indeed elegant, and it makes me feel calm. It is like a calm force, gentle but powerful.

The size and shape of the stone. I really like the fact that the stone is not tall enough to stick out of your hand. I like that it is flat and wide, because this way you enjoy more of the colour. It is also good for practical reasons. For example, it wouldn’t be nice to walk with your ring being caught in other people’s clothes.

Unboxing

Once you open the carton package from the mail, you will find a wrapped square-shaped box with small stickers with the Lisa Eldridge ring logo. Her logo consists of her initials, where the letter “e” was altered to resemble a lip print, which I think is gorgeous.

When you unwrap it, you can see the aubergine-hued square box with her logo embossed in gold. Once you open it you can find the actual packaging of the ring, together with a small card. The card also has her logo, and on the other side there is a handwritten message by Lisa herself: “Love, Lisa x”. I really like this direct, personal touch.

Packaging

As Lisa said in her launch video, the packaging is inspired by an american vintage rouge pot from 1914, with scaling its proportions. I believe that the puff you get has the same dimensions as the original one, at least as far as I can tell from her video where she shows the puff.

You can actually find a photo of the original rouge pot that was the inspiration for her packaging on page 179 of her Face Paint book. There is one more photo of the pot on the back cover of the book as well.

The boxes are made of vegan suede, which is really soft and pleasant to touch. The boxes are handmade by a company in Norfolk that has been crafting jewelry boxes for big jewelry houses for years. They also embossed her logo onto the lids. The boxes come in red (with pink interiors), pink (with red or pink interiors), and lavender (with lavender interiors).

The puffs are inside her boxes are a replica of the original puff which is inside the vintage rouge pot. Below I list the components of the puffs, as described in her video:

• vintage beads from 1920’s, 30’s, 40’s
• celluloid sequins from 1920’s and 30’s
• vintage fabric
• tea stained puffs

^ Photo of the puff on the back cover of the Face Paint book.

As Lisa has said, the process of sourcing all those components has been very difficult, and I completely see why. Even sourcing one of these requires so much time and energy, let alone three kinds of vintage materials. The parts are put together by Jessie’s aunt in Crete (Jessie is a makeup artist who works with Lisa Eldridge and she has appeared in some of Lisa’s tutorials).

I really love my puff, and I can polish my ring with it. As Lisa said, it makes the connection between her jewelry line and makeup stronger. I love having a replica of hers!

I am going to write more details, including a review of the ring, in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

xo, Helen