Stila: Warm Eye Shadow Trio Palette

The Breakdown

Brand-Stila

Color-Warm Eye Shadow Trio Palette

Packaging- Sturdy and sleek black plastic, looks like NYX eyeshadow trio packaging.

Thoughts-I got this in a Stila value pack while I was wandering the aisles of COSTCO with my dad. I was really surprised to see this at a wholesale store, but was excited none the less. It also came with a small One Step makeup same, a half size the black Smudge Pot, a deluxe sample size of Lash Visor mascara and a #30 dual ended eyeshadow brush for about $20. I think you can get the trio itself at Sephora.

Ummm, I've heard great things about Stila products, there are a few YouTube beauty gurus that love their stuff. That being my motivation, I went ahead and picked this up.

It is a trio, but I can't see myself ever pairing any of them together. The colors don't really compliment each other well. In the pan, Lame looks like a buttery yellow with shimmer, Chloe is a bronze-y metallic shade with chunks of glitter and Kitten is a pale glittery neutral pink.

The quality of these shadows drive me nuts. Lame and Chloe are pretty much poorly pressed pigments. They crumble so easily and unless you layer them, it is difficult to get anything other than glitter. The shadow itself is not that pigmented, it seems that the only color you get is from the chunky glitter. Kitten (the pink) is a lot better qualitywise, and I can see why it is such a popular Stila shadow. It does have chunky glitter, but goes on much smoother and is no where near as soft as the first two.

Overall- Meh, I'm not really feeling this. I like using Kitten on single shadow days, but I wouldn't use Lame or Chloe unless it was over a matte shadow with actual pigmentation. There is just too much glitter and they are way too soft. Be prepared to look like a resident of Pixie Hollow because even with a primer I couldn't see using them without having to spend five minutes afterward sweeping glitter off my face.

Star Rating- 2/5, I really like Kitten and the other products that came in this set made this buy worth it. I just don't like the trio itself. Lame and Chloe get absolutely no stars.

Swatches

The Front

The Label

The Shadows: L-R: Lame, Chloe, Kitten

Swatches-Single above, Multi below;(L-R: Lame, Chloe, Kitten)

Notice that it falls apart, you lose tons of product

Revlon: Colorstay Quad in Copper Spice (01)

The Breakdown

Brand-Revlon

Color-Colorstay 12 Hour Eye Shadow-Copper Spice (01)

Packaging- Sturdy black plastic with a clear window, comes with two sponge tip applicators

Thoughts-I bought this because I realized that I didn't want to wear BE Gal Pal with my ruby red commencement dress. So the day before I ran out to Target, saw this and took advantage of the sale price as well as an instant $1 off sticker.

I have to say that I love Revlon's Colorstay line. From the lipglosses, to the shadows and eyeliners, I love them all. what I like most is that they are such high quality products and completely worth the money, so long as you pick ones according to your skin color.

So, clearly this is a quad of complimentary colors. The first is a creamy beige, the second is a pale pink, the third is a cinnamon-y brown and the last is a dark ashy brown. They are all very smooth shadows with a slight sheen and no shimmer to speak of. When combined, they really do compliment each other, unlike some of the other quads I've seen.

Overall- If you haven't figured it out already, I love this quad. It's great because it can give a no fuss natural smoky eye AND has three great single shadow day eyes. I reach for the beige or the pink when I want to have one of those simple subtle shadow + black/dramatic liner days. The cinnamon-y one is great too as an all over lid color for shadow+mascara evenings. The darkest one has been relegated to shadow liner/outer V duty.

Star Rating- 5/5, This was a great buy, as soon as I come across another one with colors that I like I'll pick it up in a heart beat.

Swatches

The Front, Warning: MAJOR glare!

The Label, it comes with instructions!

The Shadows + 1/2 of the Included Applicators (the other is a standard "spade- shaped sponge tip)

The Swatches, Moving from top to bottom. Single Swatches above, Multi below. The lightest shadow is underlined in black liner

L'OREAL: Adventurous (114)

The Breakdown

Brand-L'OREAL HIP

Color-Adventurous (114)

Packaging- Really nifty plastic packaging with the shadows in the front and a back compartment with a mirror and a sponge tip applicator

Thoughts-Ummm, it think this is one of those YouTube made me do it kind of purchases. It was one of my early drugstore shadow purchases and I probably hadn't done enough research before I sought this out. I did watch a lot of vids reviewing this, but didn't do read enough beauty blogs, and that coupled with a $5 L'OREAL HIP sale art CVS led to this purchase.

So the HIP line of products promises higher quality and highly pigmented drugstore products. I don't have a lot of personal experience, but apparently the quality/pigmentation of these duos tend to be all over the board. I only own two (the other in a cream/green that I butchered trying to depot, so it won't be making an appearance here) from this line, so I'm only going from what I've read or watched on YouTube.

The shadows themselves are silky and in the case of this duo, pretty well pigmented. As you can see from the swatches below, it is pretty easy to build up the color to exactly what you see in the pan. They have a nice sheen but no real glitter so fall out doesn't really happen.

The left is a taupe-y color with cool (by MAC standards) undertones. It's really a really neutral shade, but it is very close to my NC35-37 skin, so it doesn't show much. The right color is a bright pink with warmer (redder as opposed to bluer) undertones. It is supremely bright and intense, but goes on patchy and doesn't blend very well. I'm not a big fan of how it looks against my cool-toned (again, by MAC standards) skin.

Overall- I really don't like this. I don't see how these colors go, I've tried different lid-outer V and lid-fake crease combinations and I can't for the life of me figure out how these are supposed to be worn together. I don't think I'll ever wear the pink side and I've already relegated the taupe to brow highlight. I really wish I hadn't wasted my money and picked this up. If you are any darker than NC30 or you have yellow undertones, I would NOT recommend buying this.

Star Rating- 0.25/5, Full of fail, very bad choice on my part.

Swatches

The Front

The Label (not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud of my camera's focusing ability)

The back compartment w/ included sponge tip applicator

The Shadows

The swatches- Single above, Multi below

CoverGirl: Shimmering Onyx

The Breakdown

Brand-CoverGirl

Color-Shimmering Onyx

Packaging- Fairly sturdy plastic for a drugstore shadow

Thoughts- I needed a black shadow so I could practice smoking out my eyes without having 3 shadows of the same color family. I saw on youtube (pixiwoo's channel to be exact) that it didn't matter that you didn't have multiple coordinating colors for a nice smoky look, all you really need is a blendable shadow and an equally blendable black shade. Originally I wanted the NYX single shadow in Black, but I didn't have an Ulta near me at the time so I settle for this.

This shadow falls in the Single shadow line from CoverGirl. I picked it up at a local CVS for $3.29, I wasn't really looking for high quality, just something that I could practice with. In the pan, it looks like a dark black with chunky silver and black shimmer. On the lid, if you don't layer and blend it enough it comes off as a charcoal gray with silver and black sparkle. Layering gives the color intensity that I was looking for.

This is a drugstore shadow and it is black, so expect some fall out, but not nearly as much as you would think. The bigger glitter bits fall down, but the finer shimmer stays put, which is good enough for me. I use this for everything, smoking out shadows, setting liner, on its own as a shadow liner. It's amazing, the glitter/shimmer is just large enough to reflect the light and make your eyes look that much more interesting.

Overall- This is seriously one of my better shadow buys. The price and quality of this shadow blows me away, so much so that this has been upgraded from practice shadow to my official go to for a non-brown smoky eye. Get it if you need a black shadow and you can't get a hold of anything else.

Star Rating- 4.95/5, I fully recommend this one.

Swatches

The nice clear cover, made of thick plastic

The Shadow

Single on the left, Multi on the right

Clinique: Lucky Penny

The Breakdown

Brand-Clinique

Color-Lucky Penny (shadow)

Packaging- Silly little Clinique Sample Packaging

Thoughts-So a few years ago, I was buying the Clinique Touch Base for my mineral shadows when the nice MA at the counter decided to throw in this sample container for free. A part of me thinks that she took pity on my broke college student-ness, but the rest of me was just excited to get a free shadow. At the time BE Gal Pal and Clinique Blue Lagoon were the only shadows I owned. Also, if you read through those reviews, you can see that I was going through a single color, sparkly lid phase.

Anyway, Lucky Penny is another permanent shadow in the Color Surge Eyeshadow Super Shimmer range from Clinique which retails for $14. This again means that it has boatloads of shimmer, but it seems that the shimmer in this is slightly larger than that in Blue Lagoon. You will experience fall down with this, so be ready to touch up the tops of your cheeks and under your eyes when you use this. Despite the glitter, it has a very smooth texture and is has just the right "consistency."

Colorwise, in the packaging Lucky Penny looks is a very shimmery rose gold color. It's not too bright so it would do well in everyday looks, but has enough shimmer to handle nights out. When you apply a thin dusting the color comes out more of a tan-gold, but as you build the rosiness really shows.

I don't use this much anymore, but only because my Touch Base has long since died and I can't bring myself to pay $16+ on an eyeshadow primer. Someday I'm sure I'll give in, but for now this shadow has been set on the back burner.

Overall- I like the color and the ability to layer to intensify the shade, but it is supremely glittery. Use some sort of sticky base or else there will be glitter everywhere. Also, I recommend not putting any sort of powder on your face until you are finished applying this shadow so you can get rid of any of the fall out.

Star Rating- 3.5/5, It's nice but I do need a base for it, so stars off.

Swatches

The dinky sample packaging

The shadow

Single on the left, multi on the right

Clinique: Blue Lagoon

The Breakdown

Brand-Clinique

Color-Blue Lagoon (shadow)

Packaging- Shiny front with a nice little mirror on the inside. Standard but sturdy.

Thoughts-For a while Clinique was the only makeup brand I could wear. When I was younger there was no such thing as affordable mineral makeup and my super sensitive skin couldn't handle anything that wasn't from Clinique. Now, I'm not gonna lie, I picked this up for a debut (18th b-day party for you non-filipinos) when I was in my everything I own must be blue phase. Thankfully I've grown out of that...seriously.

I picked this up at a Clinique counter at Macy's, I don't believe in online makeup shopping unless you have already seen the color in person. It retails for $14, at least now it does, it may have been a dollar less a when I bought it a few years ago. You get a lot of product for your money, it's about 1 1/2-2 inches wide and 1/2-3/4 of an inch long and holds 0.09oz/2.5g.

This is a Clinique product and therefore it is really high quality. The shadow is soft enough that even the fluffiest brush can pick up color but not so soft that it breaks apart when the bristles touch the surface. This shadow falls in the Color Surge Super Shimmer range of Clinique shadows and, like the name states, it has boat loads of shimmer. Shimmer though, NOT glitter. The sparkle is very fine and doesn't make you look like you just threw a handful of glitter at your face. It is also difficult to build it so the payoff is true to what you see in the pan. In my experience, it seems that the Color Surge Shimmer shadows have the sheerest payoff off all of Clinique's shadows, but at the same time they do have a fair bit of pigmentation. They are about half as intense as they show in the pan when applied dry and fall just shy of hitting exactly the same color when applied wet.

The color of the shadow, Blue Lagoon, looks like a duller, grayer version of periwinkle blue with a silver shimmer. It's a really nice color when you look at it from that point of view...not so much when you compare it to my skin color. The fall down from the shimmer isn't too bad so you don't have to worry about fixing up your foundation.

Overall- It's a nice color but I just don't see myself ever wearing it again. I found that darker blues compliment my skin as well as my wardrobe a better than this. It's good quality but anyone with coloring similar to mine should probably pass on this one. Anyone with more olive toned than yellow or much lighter skin (NC 15-30) might want to swing by the counters to see it up close and in person.

Star Rating- 2.5/5, Seriously don't think I'll ever wear it again.

Swatches

The Packaging...shiiiiny

Label! You can see my camera...kinda

The Shadow

Single swatch on the left, Multi on the right. Both are dry swatches

bareMinerals: Gal Pal

The Breakdown

Brand-bareMinerals

Color-Gal Pal

Packaging- Standard loose shadow pot with a plastic sifter.

Thoughts-Oh loose shadows...I have issues with them. I'm not too proficient with the whole makeup application process so loose shadows make things somewhat difficult for me. I ended up picking this up at Sephora for $13 during my mineral makeup kick a few years ago. It used to be my go to shadow anytime I wore makeup (which back then was very, very rarely) but now it has been moved to the back burner simply because my collection of shadows is a little larger than before.

Gal Pal is a rosy-pink shade that falls in the glimmer collection of bareMinerals shadows. This means that although the shadow has some very fine shimmer, it does not make your eyes look like a disco ball. The pigment of the shadow itself is matte and with no real sheen, but the shimmer picks up light so the overall effect is definitely not matte.

Unfortunately, since it is a loose shadow, there will be some fall down when you put your makeup on, but once you've got it on your lids it doesn't go anywhere. It's nice because the micro glitter isn't traveling all over your face as the day goes on. You can't really build up the color too much, but it does provide a really nice wash of color on my lids when I choose to use it.

Overall- I generally use this shadow for lazy days when all I want to do is slap on a one color and a bit of mascara so I can race out the door. I probably wouldn't use it for any multi-shadow looks, but it really is a great shade for those times that smoky eyes aren't entirely appropriate but you want a bit of color on your eyes.

Star Rating- 3.5/5, I like it, but I don't seem to be reaching for it as often as I should be to get my $13 worth.

Swatches

Note: No matter what lighting I used (natural, fluorescent, under a lamp, with flash, w/o flash...you get the picture) I couldn't get the photos to turn out as true to color as usual. So when you look at these just know that the shadow is not nearly as brown as it appears. It is pink shadow, leaning towards rose NOT dusty rose.

The label

The shadow

Single swatch on the left, Multi on the right