So, confession time: when I arrange things, I really need them to be symmetrical. In nursing school I was once told that everyone has some degree of OCD-ness, and mine manifests in liking 'nice' numbers (like perfect squares) and symmetrical shapes. You're probably wondering what his has to do with this post, but basically, I was getting ready to post about the Maybelline Eye Studio quads, but when I went to go take a picture of all of them it bothered me a LOT that 11 did not make a nice shape so I went looking for the one I had missing and bought it today.
Maybelline Eye Studio quads are part of Maybelline New York's spring collection and were also released with mineral baked shadow duos (which looked nice, but didn't pique my interest). I saw them first before Christmas at London Drugs, and was struck by how 'Asian' the display looked... it reminded me a lot of the displays I saw in drugstores in Japan! Naturally I had to take a closer look, and while the display only offered a tester for the Sapphire Siren quad, I was impressed with the texture (soft) and pigmentation (decent) of the shadows swatched with my finger and was totally ready to pick up a few... until I found out that they were 12.99$! I thought this was too expensive (though this is in line with the pricing of KATE's palettes so I'm not sure why I have such a double standard) so I passed, and went on with my errands.
Eventually they popped up at WAL-MART and Superstore for a more palatable price of 10.00$ CAD so I picked up one, then two... got a couple with Christmas gifts and then when ALL the stores had them I bought them during the BOGO sales (or with gift cards - I had one for Shoppers Drug Mart for instance). Soon I had most of them (save for the elusive 12th quad) and now that I had all of them I figure it's a good time for a review and swatches :)
These aren't done in any particular order, simply just what got edited first and whatnot. These are all 12 quads currently available in Canada (I have no idea if there are other colours in other countries - well other than Japan, I know they have their own colour lineup which I am coveting).
These swatches are done on bare skin, no base, and all the photos were taken with no flash. I will use these eye shadows with my usual UDPP+Paintpot base if I'm wearing them though. They blend really easily so you need to be careful with blending, and show up much more on the lid if you use the sponge applicators... which I don't. Total brush girl. Irresistibly Ivy is probably the most reliably pigmented of all of the quad (I think) and is nice for a neutral day... if I don't feel like using the turquoise colour which I really like :)
Sapphire Siren was the quad that caught my attention but it was one of the last ones I picked up. These shadows were not as pigmented on the lid until I used a blue base (I used MAC's Otherworldly) and it's probably an eye more suited to night time... I wore it during the day anyway:
Yeah I totally match my eyeshadow to my shirts a lot of the time XD;
The light blue in Spirited Seas is a really nice silver in real life, and I love love love the highlight shade. If I was less lazy I would use it instead of my Besame shadow all the time, but as I am trying to hit pan on that (still) it will have to wait.
Pink Persuasion is the only quad I found disappointing. The pink barely shows up and the black is more matte with some sparkles versus a shimmery black (which is what I wanted). The silver shade is really nice, but I haven't found the right base to make this 'pop' yet. I hope I do, as I love wearing pinks! Mad for Mauve is nice for a neutral eye, but I am still trying to figure out HOW to wear that moss-green... so no FOTDs that I am happy with to show off yet.
I took all these pictures this afternoon but it was going between sunny/cloudy as you can tell. Sunset Seduction was the quad I picked up today (so I have no real thoughts about it yet) but Taupe Temptress was one of the first ones I picked up, and I like it for a neutral eye. I wish the burgundy was less brown though. Oh well!
These are definitely my 'Top 2' Eye Studio quads, with Give Me Gold being #1. I use it the most (the yellow is GORGEOUS and sparkly) but Copper Chic was the only one I could find for a while and it's a nice, no-thought work-appropriate eye.
Give Me Gold on the lids...
And lastly, my 2010 lucky colour...
These quads are FAIRLY similar except for the very last shades, but I'm OK with owning both since I can't return either, haha. I like Purple Icon a bit more (I love the shade on the end) but I initially couldn't find so I picked up Legendary Lilac first... I wear these over Stila's Violent smudge pot. I tried these over a pink base and they... were so not purple. Which I probably should have expected, but oh well.
Purple Icon over Stila Violet Smudge Pot
Things I love about these: Payoff is decent, quality is much better than most drug store quads (Cover Girl, L'Oreal, Older Style Maybelline), colour combinations are interesting and the eye charts on the back (oops no picture) are easy to follow for nice eyes
Things I'm Eh About: I sort of broke the Give Me Gold case trying to pry it open the second time I opened it, and there are no testers for quads other than Sapphire Siren
Things I Don't Like: These are pretty expensive for drugstore stuff, so I'd buy them on sale, but I do think the quality is comparable to KATE so I think they're worth the 10$
Must-haves: Give Me Gold
Skip: Pink Persuasion
Hope these swatches helped!
hey justine,
ReplyDeleteWow, that is one gorgeous collection of quads! I think Maybelline has really stepped up their game with this series of palettes. They are available over here in Singapore as well, for around the same price as they are in Canada. I just got the March issue of Allure and I love how they did the model's eyes in the Maybelline ad with Sapphire Siren.
I get OCD about collecting stuff too, like I had to get all the purple-themed Dior quints at one time despite the fact that many of them had similar shades ;-p
Hi Haru,
ReplyDeleteI hope this is the end of my OCD with makeup!! I've been pretty good about not needing to complete collections otherwise ;)
There are several similar shades in these palettes but it's mostly the highlight/medium brown shades which I'm okay with.
imma still hunting down the japanese exclusive ones for u
ReplyDeletei see them here but i am not sure if they are the usual or the japanese collection. i am just not familiar enough. for example they have the green in the number u said but not the pink
but then i go to another store and their numbering is different
so one of them is carrying the japanese collection but i dont know which. omg!!
@Yumeko
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you for still hunting!! You better be getting some reset in between! I'm pretty sure the NA quads are different from the Asia/Japan quads (they're not all gradients) so I'm sure whatever you find will be find. Except can you pick up a random one so it still makes a rectangle?? 14 is so awkward XD;
This is probably the problem with Japan having so many exclusives!! That numbering system makes no sense at all to me XD;
In Malaysia, i saw my local drugstore selling these palette for MYR30 which is less than USD10
ReplyDeletebut look at your collection, i think u hunt down most of the palette in the world. haha
@ning*star
ReplyDeleteI definitely have all the quads available here! There are some Asia/Japan-exclusive quads that I am eyeing as they don't SEEM to be in the regular range... unfortunately how Maybelline numbers and labels each item seems to change country to country :S.
Gorgeous! I love especially the purple one on you! Gorgeous! =D
ReplyDeleteyour swatch is a little hard to see
ReplyDeletebut thanks for sharing these swatches :)
I think the lilac one is similar to tokidoki purple palette
do u think so?
@Kathi
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathi! I'm starting to try out more drugstore makeup... I think I'm a bit maxed out on high-end brands right now, haha.
@SuPeachChaya
I'm not used to taking swatches but I'll definitely work on ways to improve how they show up! I actually liked the texture of the purple palettes better than the TKDK palettes - they're about the same but these are so much cheaper and less bulky - though the packaging for the TKDK palettes is certainly tempting! The colours are very similar though :)
holy cow jealous :-D I aim to collect 'em all hehe :-D
ReplyDeleteYou look lovely in sapphires :D