L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow Comparison Swatches (and another eye look!)

Hi All!

I just wanted to show you some comparison swatches featuring the L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow. I started looking at these colors going "You know, these are so basic, they must be really similar to something I already have!" Well, yes and no. There are definitely similar colors in my collection but, I am happy to say, no dupes. Now, I didn't dig out every eyeshadow and palette I have, but I grabbed the likeliest suspects, and I tried to swatch readily available colors that you folks might recognize or have experience with, so you'll get a better idea of what these shades look like in real life. I know, I know... This is my second L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow post in a row, but I'm really excited about these! I'm going to throw in a couple of really bad shots of another look I did with these yesterday at the end of the post, so if that's all you're interested in, feel free to scroll right on down :) It might be worth mentioning that the L'Oreal shadows stained where the others did not; the worst offenders were Amber Rush, Continuous Cocoa, and Midnight Blue. However, I haven't had any trouble getting them off of my eyes with my regular makeup remover (it's not a waterproof makeup remover, either).

On to the comparison swatches!

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Iced Latte at the top, followed by Stila Kitten, Urban Decay Sellout,  Urban Decay Sin, Urban Decay Virgin

Comparison Swatches for L'Oreal Infallible Iced Latte

As you can see, Iced Latte is more yellow (as opposed to pink or peach) and more shimmery/ frosted than the others; Kitten comes closest finish-wise, but has a more of a salmon/pink base.

In this picture, L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Bronzed Taupe is on top, followed by Urban Decay Sidecar, Urban Decay Smog, and Urban Decay Darkhorse.

These are all fairly different; I thought that Smog would be pretty close, but it's more yellow; Bronzed Taupe has more silver in it than Darkhorse, making it lighter.

Next up is L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Amber Rush on top, followed by Urban Decay Baked, Urban Decay Toasted, and NARS Lola Lola

Wow, this one surprised me! I guess I hadn't realized how much pink was in Amber Rush, I thought it would be close to the way I remember Baked. Toasted is actually pretty close, but it's less shimmery than Amber Rush and has pieces of bigger silver glitter in it. Toasted has a sheen where Amber Rush has a metallic finish, and I think these are significantly different because of the finishes even though the colors are in the same ballpark. However, if you've got Toasted and don't reach for it very often, you probably don't need Amber Rush in addition to it.

Next up is L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Continuous Cocoa. The closest color I found in my quick look was Urban Decay Darkhorse, which is not as dark and has more yellow in it. Continuous Cocoa is on top:

And finally, the only blue I found to compare to L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Midnight Blue is Urban Decay's Deluxe Eyeshadow in Adore; the L'Oreal is on top:

Midnight Blue is darker and has more shimmer, and a touch more purple than Adore.

And here is the look I did using these colors yesterday:

I used NARS Smudgeproof base with Bronzed Taupe from lashline into the crease, Iced Latte from the brow to the crease, in the inner corner, and on the bottom lash line, Continuous Cocoa in the crease, and Midnight Blue smudged into the lashline on top and the outer third of the bottom. I also used Revlon Vintage Lace (a matte ivory) as a highlight just under the brow and in the inner corner to tone down the intense shimmer in Iced Latte. Haha, after I did my makeup, my boyfriend said "You did something different with your eyes than what you usually do!" Yes, I replied, and I told him I was using my new L'Oreal eyeshadows (he reads the blog, so he knew what I was talking about)! So there you have it, something different and fun!

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow

Oh. My. God.

I honestly haven't been this excited about an eye shadow formula in a long, LONG time. Have you guys seen these things yet? They're awesome! I hear they've been out in Canada for quit awhile now, but I've only seen them pop up at my local Bed Bath & Beyond, and they've only been there for a couple of weeks. I suspect we'll see them appear at drugstores in the next month or so as they clear out the holiday displays.

So, these claim to be 24 hour eyeshadows... I can't say I've tried that, but I've been wearing the first shade I bought, Bronzed Taupe (890) fairly frequently without any kind of base, and the only time I had any sort of creasing was when I used it sheer on the lid with a different formula of shadow blended in the crease, so I suspect throwing a different formula into the mix (and in my crease, no less) was what caused the issues, so I don't know that this would work as a base for other shadows. Otherwise, I get a full day of wear with this looking shiny and beautiful by the end of the day, no creasing. That being said, I think that I may like using these over a base better than on a bare lid, simply because the base provides a smooth and uniform surface for the shadow to sit on, and helps cancel out the color of my skin, giving me a brighter, truer shadow. A base is completely unnecessary if you're only worried about fading and creasing, though.

The formula itself seems to be a loosely packed powder with a tendency to crumble apart, but not in a dusty way. It's like it's a little bit moist... and it is such a creamy powder! These are all densely pigmented, too. The jars come with a little stopper to help keep the product packed down so that it doesn't crumble in the jar and make a mess everywhere, with the shimmerier shades being more prone to this crumbling action than the satin shades. However, I haven't had any of mine get crazy crumbly; just a  few areas around the edges maybe, or places where I dig up a little with my nail. Why would I dig these up with my nail, you ask? Well, I apply these with my finger to get a really opaque and dense wash of color, but they blend out like crazy so they end up covering a much larger area than the place where you actually put them down. Which is awesome, actually; you can do a solid wash of color and get it sheer around the edges. However, it's so pigmented that if I just want to place a little bit of dense color in one area and not blend out, I find scraping a tiny bit up on my nail and placing it where I want it on the lid so that it will be the right size once it's mashed down is the best way to do it. Incidentally, the packaging on these looks a lot like the Armani Eyes to Kill eyeshadows, and they seem to be very similar in texture and consistency, although I've only swatched the Armani shadows at the counter, and not since I've worked with the L'Oreal formula. I believe this to be the first drugstore iteration of this kind of moist powder eyeshadow formula.

So, I bought Bronzed Taupe (890), a shimmery warm brown, first, and then went back out and picked up Continuous Cocoa (891), a dark cool brown with a satin finish, Iced Latte (888),  a very shimmery cream with golden undertones, Midnight Blue (889), a velvety royal blue base with violet and blue shimmer, and Amber Rush (892), a shimmery warm bronze.

Ok, I'm about to bombard you with a lot of pictures. But I want you to be able to see what these look like!

This is the base of the pot of shadow: you can see the shadow color through the clear lucite base.

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eye Shadow in Bronzed Taupe 

 And the lid of the jar has a sticker with the information on it:

L'Oreal Infallible Bronzed Taupe

 And then when you open it up, you see the little plastic stopper with "Do Not Discard" printed on it:

The stopper! You can use this to stamp the shadow back down into place if it gets messy. 

 And here is the shade. Look at how nuanced that color is!

L'Oreal Infallible 24 hr. Eyeshadow, Bronzed Taupe 

 And swatches! Both are dry, but I've blended out the swatch on the right:

L'Oreal Infallible Bronzed Taupe

And here is Bronzed Taupe on my lid:

I've taken pictures of the next four that I bought together, so that this won't be the longest post ever.

These are pictured in the same positions in each photograph:

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Continuous Cocoa

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Iced Latte

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Midnight Blue

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Amber Rush

For the following pictures, I've done a heavier swatch on top, and a blended out swatch on bottom:

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Continuous Cocoa

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Iced Latte

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Midnight Blue

I've included two photos of Amber Rush; the top one shows the light hitting it, so you can see the kind of metallic finish this one has; the bottom one is more shaded, and shows the depth of the shade a bit more accurately.

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Amber Rush

Amber Rush again! 

So, I know you're probably sick of pictures, but I included a look that I did using Bronzed Taupe from lashline blended up above the crease, Urban Decay's Sellout blended from the crease to the eyebrow, Iced Latte as a highlight under the brown and in the inner corner, Amber Rush on the lid, and Midnight Blue blended lightly into the crease and under the lower lashline.

So there you have it! I have absolutely been blown away by these shadows. They are, simply put, amazing. Period. I cannot believe you can find this formula in a readily available drugstore line.   You need these in your life! Has anyone else tried these yet? Are you as excited as I am about them? I don't know maybe the excitement will wear off, but as you can tell, I'm over the moon about these, and I can't believe there hasn't been more buzz about these yet! Oh, and I almost forgot; these have .12 ounces of product in them (compare to Urban Decay's .05 ounces...), and I got mine from Bed Bath & Beyond for $8.79. If you're interested in the science behind these shadows, read up on them on L'Oreal's website here. Pretty nifty!

NOTD: Sally Hansen *NEW* Hard as Nails in "Tough Taupe"

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the slow week over here! "Real Life" has been plenty busy; I caught the mother of all colds and had to host company for the holidays for a week on top of it! The house is finally back to normal; it's just me, my boyfriend, and our three lovely cats! I am still trying to finishing up my final paper (I know, it's so bad... It is long overdue, and I want so badly to feel inspired about my topic, but I'm not, and it's coming out at a slow trickle), but I promise I'll try to post more regularly!

So, without further ado, onto the pretties! I'm showing you Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails in Tough Taupe today, which is actually more of a warm purpley-grey cream. I wouldn't call this taupe, but it's gorgeous! I know I have several shades like this one, but I am such a sucker for them. This seems to be a new iteration of the "Hard as Nails" line; the bottle is a new shape, and the cap is black rather than white. It doesn't even look like the website has been updated with the new bottle yet! I found mine on a special display at K-Mart, and it was only $1.99! Although the bottle does contain slightly less polish than is standard, at .45 ounces. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the way this went on, too; the brush is long and thin, but the bristles are flexible, so it's easy to paint on color precisely. Because the handle of the brush is so long, though, make sure you let excess polish drip off before you start painting your nails, otherwise you'll end up with way too much lacquer pooled around your cuticles! It wore really nicely, too. The first time I painted my nails with this, I got 4 days before it started chipping like crazy, and I'm usually lucky if I get 2 full days without chips! Now, the second time I painted my nails with this color, it chipped after my usual 2 days, but this still averages out to be better than most polishes! Maybe not Tough as Nails, but after having trouble with Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri line chipping on me if I look at it wrong, it's comforting to see a polish that wears a little better than average from their line, since it's so affordable, readily available, and they tend to have colors that I really like.

On to pictures!

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, Tough Taupe

Tough Taupe!

Here is Tough Taupe in less light

And here's Sally Hansen's Tough Taupe in more direct light! 

Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails brush

So there you have it! I'm excited to try more colors from this line since I've had such good luck with this one, and it looked like the range was big enough that I'm sure I'll find at least another shade or two that I'll like. Have you guys tried these yet? I haven't noticed the new bottle anywhere other than my local K-Mart, but I expect we'll see these rolling out to drugstores everywhere in the next month or two!

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipsticks in Romance, Feline, and Everlasting

Hello!

I've had a couple of the CoverGirl Lip Perfection lipsticks before, and recently picked up a couple more; I have to say, everytime I wander over to the Lip Perfection display, I am impressed with the color choices. I think that of all the drugstore lines, Lip Perfection has the most unique shades and finishes, from pink frosts and red metallics to iridescent purples. If you are hankering for a kind of "crazy" lip color and don't want to spend much on it, it's worth heading over to your local drugstore and seeking out this line!

The shades I'll be showing you today are Romance (265), Feline (385), and Everlasting (345). But first, let's talk about the formula in general. It is a fairly thin (as opposed to thick and creamy) formula, and as such, it tends to emphasize lines on the lips even though the color doesn't collect and settle into the lip lines. CoverGirl's website claims that the Lip Perfection lipsticks are "enriched with a silk moisturizing complex" and that they will "help sustain moisture levels," completely transforming lips in 7 days of use. I don't think this is the case for me; I wouldn't be able to wear these 7 days straight without some seriously chapped lips! These don't accelerate the drying process of my lips, but they do nothing to improve the condition of my lips, or even protect them the way that some non-moisturizing but thicker formulas will. However, the upside of this thinner, dryer formula is that it stays put without migrating longer than creamier formulas will. These lip colors are also intensely pigmented; I can get full coverage with just one swipe, although I usually add a little more to try to provide a bit more of a cushion. I don't notice any taste with these, and the scent is pretty innocuous, standard "lipstick waxy", but fades quickly. A great thing about these that I like is that the ends of each lipstick has the color of the shade in the tube, so if you have multiple tubes, it's easy to tell them apart without opening them or flipping them upside down and checking the name. However, the case (a metallic deep violet grey) does hold fingerprints like the dickens, so if this is a pet peeve of yours, be warned! You can find these lipsticks at most big box stores and drugstores; they will run you about $6, depending on where you find them, though you can often find CoverGirl on BOGO1/2 if you wait and watch sales.

Now, moving on to the colors! Let's start with Romance, shade 265. This is definitely my favorite of the three; it's a beigey pink with a hint of flattering iridescence. It's just a step into the pink side of a nude lip color, and goes with a lot of different makeup looks, while still brightening up my face more than a traditional nude lip color.

The case! They all look like this, just with different shades represented on the bottom lucite covered portion. 

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Romance

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Romance; look at that fine shimmer! 

Swatch of CoverGirl's Romance

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Romance on the lips

 And in the following picture you can see what I mean about these showing lip lines, despite not settling in to them:

CoverGirl Lip Perfection lipstick in Romance

Next up is Feline; admittedly, this is not the most flattering color on me ever. I wanted a kind of retro frosted yellow-pink to wear with my Star Trek: TOS uniform. Note: this did not look great with my red dress! Despite not loving the shade on me, I think it's a pretty pink that might work well for someone else. Plus, I kind of dig the name!

CoverGirl's Feline! 

Feline, twisted up

Swatch of CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Feline

Wearing Feline on my lips!

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Feline

Finally, I bring you Everlasting! This shade is really amazing; it's difficult to find finishes like this from most drugstore brands. It's a brightened  burgundy with a metallic finish and glitter strewn throughout, yet it doesn't feel gritty on the lips. The finish on this actually reminds me of the Kat Von D Foiled Love lipstick. It's a showstopping color, I just wish it didn't emphasize lip lines so much! I'm sure with a bit of gloss on top of it, that wouldn't be nearly as noticeable.

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Everlasting!

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Everlasting; enlarge this to get an idea of the shimmer and flash this shade has! It's really neat. 

Everlasting; Check out the texture of the product, it'll give you some idea of the glittery/ metallic finish

CoverGirl Everlasting 

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipstick in Everlasting

I just had to include a blurry photo of this on the lips to give you an idea of how much of the metallic finish/ glitter translates; quite a bit, actually!

Blurry/sparkly CoverGirl Everlasting

Final verdict? These are worthwhile lipsticks, and I'll continue to go back to this formula, even though it isn't perfect. I'm very pleased with the range of colors, and it's a great lipstick option conveniently available wherever CoverGirl is sold! And while I wish these were more moisturizing and didn't emphasize lip lines, they are pigmented enough that I can get away with some lip balm underneath them, and still have what amounts to full-finish color. Have you guys used these lipsticks yet? There are a ton of really neat colors I want to eventually pick up, I'd love to hear which shades have worked for others!