I am reviewing palettes: Taupe Temptress and Irresistibly Ivy

I had high hopes for these palettes after reading them being alluded to department store brand eyeshadows in current magazines, however I was very disappointed in their overall quality.

Although they appeared very pigmented and and silky when I first tested the consistency out on my hand, I found that the eyeshadows just "sat on top" of the skin and did not have any "hold" and could be brushed off too easily. It was also disappointed that the colour payoff and texture were not consistent in both palettes-- some shades were pigmented and for some, I could not build any colour onto the eyelids. Having used an eyeshadow primer, I achieved better results, but without one, I would never recommend using these palettes. I also did not like the packaging because it felt flimsy and poorly made.

Although the TEXTURE of these eyeshadows are very comparable to the shimmery shades from Stila, the metallic shadows from Shu Uemura, and some Veluxe Pearl finishes from MAC, they are not as pigmented and cannot achieve the same smooth and blended quality.

For under $10CAD a palette, these eyeshadows are a great deal for occasional makeup wearers.

First off, let me start off by saying that I love MAC shadows because of the pigmentation and lasting power but am equally as smitted with some drug store brands.

I received the Taupe and Gold palettes through ChickAdvisor. At first touch they feel velvety smooth and the colour looks really bright and vibrant. On application, the colour is quite sheer and quite sparkly. If you're looking for a work/day look, I would be careful as the shimmer is quite apparent. You may be better off using it for a night out. Having said that, if you want a nice colour payoff, it's going to require lots of layers. I would have preferred a lot less shimmer and a lot more pigmentation. It also fades quickly, even under UDPP so if you want it to last, you may need to carry it around for touch-ups.

I was excited to try the two maybeline eyeshadows when I received them. I was disappointed. For a drugstore eyeshadow, the color payoff was ok. I expected more from it given that the color was so vibrant while looking at it. I found it a bit too light/pale and you have to apply a few coat in order to get the color thaty you want. I found that the pink/purple has chunky glitter in it; at the end of the day, the glitter will fall under your eyes. The texture is velvety, but the color fades throughout the day even if I've used a primer before. The plastic box is kinda cheap looking and the brush that comes with it is useless. I tried wearing all the color in the palette......I either look like a disco ball with all the glitter or like I'm not even wearing any eyeshadow. I had to use different color with the shimmery palette to balance the glitter because there was not a matte color that came with it.

Over all, if you don't like shimmer eyeshows, don't buy this because you will see chunky silver glitter under your eyes. The color last for a few hours only, and you need to wear a few layers in order to get a nice vibrant color. It's an ok product, not the best though.

I received the Mad for Mauve and Green with Envy palettes to test from ChickAdvisor. I was super pumped to try them out, as I have wanted to try experimenting more with different colours. Overall, I would agree with many of the other reviews. The shadows produced a lot of shimmer, but not a lot of actual colour pigmentation. The depth of colour was more suited towards a daytime look, but the shimmer made it more suited towards evening. I think that if I wanted to wear it for evening, I might have to use another shadow to get enough colour for the sort of dramatic look that it is supposed to give. The shadows blended very well, but maybe almost too well. The colours just seemed to blend together and didn't give much of range. I checked out the Maybelline website, and found they had a really neat tutorial on how to apply the shadows for maximum effect. I think it might be helpful to have a little more info on the package. Overall, fairly standard drugstore brand eyeshadow. Lots of shimmer, but not a lot of colour.

I received two palettes from Chickadvisor, Taupe Temptress and Spirited Seas. I really want to like these eyeshadows but I found they came up short when trying to get a full look from them. The individual colours meld together when trying to blend them, Taupe Temptress left me looking like I had two bruised eyes, overall the palette did not complement my individual colouring. Spirited Seas was more complimentary and I found the colours fun to use when mixing them with other brands from my makeup bag. I was able to create two looks from Spirited Seas, a smoky look with the bronze shadows and a dramatic look with the blue shadows.

The shadows are not highly pigmented and while they look shimmery in the promotional material, I found them too sparkly to use together. Unless I used UPDD or Shadow Insurance, I found they faded very fast I would not recommend using brushes to apply these eye shadows since you end up with sparkle overload under your eyes and cheeks, sponges are better, they also apply better when wet. I would like to try another quad from this line again ( with other products I already have) so I may try this product again.

For this review, I got to try out "Taupe Temptress" and "Spirited Seas." I don't buy a lot of drugstore eyeshadows because I prefer highly pigmented ones, and I don't usually find that in the drugstore.

Most of the eyeshadows in the palettes I received are very sparkly, but low in pigment. Note that I always use an eyeshadow base to prevent the colours from creasing, and I did get a little bit of creasing on these at the end of the day.

"Taupe Temptress" gave me a gorgeous romantic look as it applied more sheer than it appeared on the pan. The result was a no-fail blended look. I tried a more dramatic look from "Spirited Seas", but because of the pigmentation I had to use another eyeshadow to bump up the look a bit. Using the palette alone, I failed to create a dramatic look.

Overall, I prefer a more complete palette with shimmers and mattes. I wouldn't recommend these because it is all very sparkly, which is great in moderation, but not so great as a full eye look.

I received "Green with Envy" and Taupe Temptress" to try out which was great, because I have recently colored my hair amber/copper and have fair skin. These two color palettes are very complementary for me. I agree with my fellow reviewers and found that it didn't have enough pigment to make a statement but had just enough pigment and sparkle to be subtle. It created a nice color wash on the eyes. I personally love a lot of sparkle in my makeup and so this is a great addition to my makeup collection.

I also wear contact lens and found that the sparkle didn't irritate my eyes which is a big plus!