While on a recent shopping trip, my eye was drawn to an endcap. I usually always glance over endcaps to see what is new or if there are any BOGOs or products w/ an added gift, but this time my attention was drawn to a new Maybelline display. They had shadow palettes and new eyeliner pencils. I love eyeshadow and I love automatic liners PLUS I was armed w/ coupons AND there was a BOGO50% so
obviously these new products were going to be mine.
I love greens but usually of the bright or neon variety...forest greens aren't my piece o' cake. There was a palette of greens but most of the colors didn't scream out to me. I am not super huge into blue shadows and the pink one was okay. I imagine I'll end up buying the neutral palette eventually. I ended up getting
10 Amethyst Ablaze, which had some really fun purples. I also picked up a Master Drama™ Cream Pencil in
405 Vibrant Violet.
The liner was around $7.99 and the palette was $9.49 before tax. They are new products, however, so I expect that the price will drop. I imagine you'll be able to find these palettes and liners in any drugstore that stocks Maybelline. I am assuming they are going to be in the permanent line but as of right now stores appear to only have a couple of each color in stock.
I keep wanting to refer to these new Color Explosion™ palettes as quads, even though there are five shadows. But they're meant as a quad...
kind of. The top shimmery color is a glitter "top coat", meant to be applied over the finished look to add shine.
According to
Maybelline's website, these palettes are:
- Ophthalmologist-tested. Safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers.
- Explosive pigments sweep on for the truest color payoff. Exclusive luminizer unleashes a surge of color.
- Sophisticated color, ignited by an exclusive luminizer, reveals amazing color highlights."
Now onto the swatches. The first picture is w/o the glittery "luminizer" and the second one has the glitter over top. The top row is swatched over Too Faced Shadow Insurance and I think it makes a huge difference. The bottom row is swatched over bare skin.
These shadows are very similar to the Eye Studio® Color Plush™ Silk Eyeshadow quads in that they are all incredibly shimmery and are soft. They blend together nicely but they did leave a fall-out dusting. I notice w/ Maybelline shadows that the dark color is either excellent or not so hot and in this case, that dark plummy purple looks too close to the midtone blueish-purple crease color when applied on the eye. My problem w/ the highlight shade offered has nothing to do w/ the shadow itself but more due to the fact that I don't like to use colorful shadows as highlights. I prefer either whites or cream colors so a shimmery lilac isn't doing it for me. The lid color is bloody amazing - a warm pink-purple w/ gold shimmer. However, if you use this quad w/o a primer or sticky base underneath, you won't get incredible color pay-off and you won't get the noticeable gold shimmer. The crease color and the outer-v color look nearly identical when applied to the eye w/o a primer. The luminizing top coat has a strange feel to it - it feels almost like a cream shadow when you tap your finger in it. It consists of shimmer and chunky glitter. I applied a very thin layer of LASplash's Proof Sealer and then used the sponge tip to pat it over. You do lose a bit of the color, whether you use a sticky base or sweep it on w/ a brush. Overall, this isn't the worst thing you could spend your money on. Some of the colors offered are nice and not often seen in a drugstore setting and that lid shade is to die for. The glittery top coat I could do w/o, especially since it tends to go all over the place, even though it is pretty. I would definitely recommend using a primer underneath - I used TFSI and the look I did w/ this palette lasted 12 hours of wear. Wearing the colors on bare skin is probably just going to result in patchy pigmentation and possible creasing. Moving onto the eyeliner.
I initially bought this in 405 Vibrant Violet but due to wacky packaging and my impatient stupidity, I ended up breaking it. Since I liked the consistency, I picked up another one in 400 Midnight Master and the packaging was still weird - it reminded me of trying to get a new Stila lip Glaze to come out - I sat there twisting and twisting and twisting for a good two minutes before it finally started to appear. The other thing I noticed is that it may be automatic (which is frickin' awesome) but it is not retractable. The black is pretty black. Not as dark as Stila Kajal in Onyx or my beloved MAC Kohl Power Feline, but it's blacker than UD's Zero and the Tarte emphasEYES™ on me for sure. I only have one swatch picture. :)
This liner is really creamy and smooth but I don't think it's any longer lasting than pretty much every liner I own. An hour or two and it's gone from my waterline. I don't ever use pencil liners anywhere besides my waterline so this product may last longer on the actual eyelid. I didn't notice any smudging w/ this liner.
Maybelline's website says
Experience the new generation of liner: - Oil-free cream formula holds the highest concentration of pigments for more intense eye drama.
- Smudgeproof and waterproof for 16 hours.
- Most intense line for lasting drama.
- Safe for sensitive eyes and ophthalmologist-tested.
- Contact lens safe."
All things considered, this liner is really nice. It doesn't replace Milani's Liquif-Eye liners or MAC's Feline in my favorite category, but I would definitely consider repurchasing.
