Although there are a few exceptions, the general consensus in the beauty blogging world (if there is such a thing) is that eyeshadow tends to be a product that is worth investing in as drugstore offerings are a gamble, typically with little pigmentation, glitter overload and/or dry textures. Being generally impressed with the L’Oreal brand, I’ve been eying these quads for ages but have been hesitant in forking over the $12 CDN on something that can’t be returned — you cannot return drugstore makeup in Canada, if you weren’t aware — and could likely be a dud, but the shades looked nicely put together with a variety of depth and texture in shades, coming with a good deal of product, housed in the nice gold packaging… Yesterday I went into Lawton’s (a Canadian drugstore) and spotted these on for $7.99, I couldn’t resist.

I haven’t heard really anything about these shadows despite the constant blog perusing that I engage in and considering how impressed I was with the shadows, colour me surprised. Here I am yet again, talking about a product without mentioning what it is actually called and any sort of details about the shade, — I can’t help that this has me rather excited. I quite enjoy how these L’Oreal shadows do not have a name suggesting some ridiculous claim (L’Extrordinaire, anyone?) but rather gave it a sensical name, Colour Riche Eye Shadows, that is. They had a great selection of shades but I was drawn to 527 Sultry Seduction for its inclusion of a light shimmery shade, a medium-toned shade reminiscent of MAC Satin Taupe and the inclusion of two dark colours with minimal shimmer.

I’m tempted to say that formula-wise, these are my favourite drugstore eyeshadows in this quad form, with strong pigmentation, a blendable texture that reminds me of Urban Decay shadows — albeit with a slightly drier texture in some darker more matte shades, but impressive as a whole. They remind me of the Maybelline Eyestudio Quads, except with slightly stronger pigmentation and longevity and more of a variety in textures (i.e. shimmer vs. mattes). From washing them off from swatches and seeing them wear throughout the day, I would say the longevity is good but not amazing on my crease-prone lids, comparable to Urban Decay shadows — I have heavy-lidded eyes that despite not being oily or having smudging problems, tend to be prone to creasing, for reference.

Sultry Seductress strikes me as an everyday palette that is on the smokier side and can definitely be transitioned into evening with the inclusion of the darker shades – there are much more ‘neutral and subtle’ palettes in the range, without the inclusion of darker shades but being a fan of outer corner definition, this sort of palette was of far more interest.

Out of the four there’s only one frosty shade but it’s not overly frosty. It’s a pearly shade with neutral undertones, slightly pink in tone but with a hint of silveriness to it. The texture and pigmentation was rather impressive of this one and as a whole it reminds me of the lightest shade in my MARC JACOBS THE STARLET PALETTE. The fantastically textured and pigmented, warm taupe shade reminded me of the cult favourite MAC Satin Taupe and didn’t disappoint on the quality front – it was shimmery but not frosty. The darker shades were where I was particularly impressed, to tell you the truth — the slightly-warm toned medium-dark plummy-purple shade was fantastically pigmented despite its sheeny texture and the graphite shade, with some micro glitter in the pan (but doesn’t really appear swatched) was surprisingly pigmented and workable on the lid. The two darker shades aren’t the softest of shadows, with textures reminiscent of MAC’s velvets such as Sketch, but they weren’t difficult to work with in the least and high end shadows of these textures tend to have the same shortcomings. Although it has no truly matte shade, this palette impressed me with its darker colours and less shimmery finishes and ability to create a defined slightly-smoky plum-toned eye without incorporating another palette. There was some fallout with the lighter two shades, but it was extremely minimal for the darker ones, I’m pleased to report.

So here I am in the library at school, compelled to write a post detailing the budget-friendly quad that worked to create my kind of eye with minimal effort and a flattering result.

 Note: These swatches were not heavy but rather a moderate swipe on bare skin

 

What are your favourite budget eyeshadows? Have you tried any shades from this line?

Maggie, x.